Chapter 1: Arrival
It was just another one of those nights in Equestria, Celestia had already lowered the sun to make room for Luna's night. As Celestia passed her sister, she bid her good night and went to bed. Luna walked to her bedroom balcony to take watch over her little ponies.
A few hours had passed and Luna looked bored out of her mind. " Yet another uneventful night. I wish something would happen during my nights. I mean, Tia gets to have all the fun when things happen just because everything happens during the day!" Luna pouted.
She looked up to see a strange sight. A dark cloud formed in the night sky. It began increasing in size and rotation speed rapidly. It looked like a mini hurricane. Luna heard what sounded like thunder coming from it, then a huge explosion. The clouds where gone, but in it's place was a strange silver object. She stared at it blankly as she tried to understand what had just happened. She failed to realize that the silver object was hurdling towards her at ever increasing speeds. At just the right moment, Luna realized that it was getting dangerously close to her and jumped out of the way.
The silver object crashed straight through the first wall, scraped up a lot of the tile and concrete off the floor, and embedded itself partially in the wall opposite of the first wall. Luna, with a dazed look, slowly got up and looked at the wall that used to be behind her before she jumped out of the way. She began to walk back to her room when a large group of guards burst through the door.
"Are you alright princess? We heard a loud crash and came here as fast as we could!" said a rather tall white stallion.
"Oh, yes I'm fine. Just something weird happened..." Luna said, hoping to leave it at that. This was almost exactly what she asked for! She asked for something to happen an it did. She wanted to find out what it was on her own.
"Are you sure princess? You aren't injured are you?" said another guard.
"I'm fine, it's nothing I can't handle," Luna said with a scowl.
"Very well princess, we will leave you alone." And with that, Luna was by herself again.
She began to assess the damage done to her room when she saw the silver object that flew after her. It wasn't much more an object than a small metallic box, 1' x 1' x 1'. She moved closer to the box to get a better look. The first thing that cought her attention was that the box didn't seem to have taken any damage at all dispite crashing through a wall and digging up her floor. The second thing that grabbed her attention was a single orange light that flashed slowly.
This box seriously confused the princess. Is something in there? If there is, how do I get it out? Luna thought. She looked over the box again and saw no latch or buckle was on it, only that single light. Luna was a little hesitant to touch the box, but how else will she know what the box was? She tried to pick up the box with her magic, but as soon as her magic touched the box, it canceled out the spell. This frustrated the princess, but it also worried her. How can a box be immune to magic?
She looked back one more time at the box. The orange light was still flashing. Luna hung her head and sighed, " here goes nothing..." She slowly moved her forehoof to the light. Just before touching it, she hesitated, took a deep breath, and tapped it quickly before pulling her hoof back as quick as she could. The orange light went out, and a few moments later, the light stayed a solid green.
------------------------------------------------------RC-626---------------------------------------------------------------
RC-626 REBOOTING............DONE
BEGIN DIGNOSTIC
SCANNING INTERNAL SYSTEMS............................DONE
RESULT: NO INTERNAL DAMAGE
SCANNING HARDWARE CONNECTIONS.....................DONE
RESULT: ALL CONNECTIONS ARE SECURE AND ARE FUNCTIONING NORMALLY
SCANNING EXTERNAL SHELL..............DONE
RESULT: NO DAMAGE
DIGNOSTIC COMPLETE
BEGIN LIFE AND AREA SCAN
---------------------------------------------------Luna's Room-----------------------------------------------------------
The box began to make a soft humming noise immediately after the green light turned on. Luna stared at the light in genuine confusion.
"What is this thing?" Luna questioned.
A very small portion of the box pulled out of the top left corner and flipped over. Soon after a green light waved around the room and stopped on Luna...
------------------------------------------------------RC-626---------------------------------------------------------------
LIFE FORM FOUND!
SCANNING.................................................DONE
RESULT: EQUINE, SENTIENCE=UNKNOWN; REQUIRES FURTHER ANALYSIS, GENDER=FEMALE.
CREATING 3-D IMAGE............DONE
CONNECTING TO SATELLITE.....................................................ERROR
RESULT: FAILED TO CONNECT, SATELLITE DISTANCE IS TOO GREAT TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION.
SET PRIORITY OF PRODUCTION OF SATELLITE PROBE=4
CONTINUE SCAN
---------------------------------------------------Luna's Room-----------------------------------------------------------
Luna was wide eyed when the light hit her and stayed there. It stayed on her for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity to her. The light began moving again until it reached every little nook an cranny in the room, then shut off.
------------------------------------------------------RC-626---------------------------------------------------------------
SCAN COMPLETE
RESULTS: ONE LIFE FORM WAS DETECTED, ROOM CLEARANCE IS TOO SMALL TO GO INTO FULL FORM, GPS LOCATOR WAS UNABLE TO STATE CURRENT LOCATION.
TRANSFORM SHAPE TO LAST SENTIENT LIFE FORM ENCOUNTERED
---------------------------------------------------Luna's Room-----------------------------------------------------------
Luna is now questioning if it was a good idea that she had pressed the flashing light in the first place. After the green light passed, the humming became a little louder, but not loud enough to cause any commotion. Without warning, the box seemed to have exploded. The room was filled with the brightest white light and the thickest smoke imaginable. This temporarily blinded her and caused her to cough like she had the whooping cough. When she regained her sight, she used her magic to clear out the smoke. She finally got the rest of the smoke out of her lungs and the room was clear of any smoke. She glanced at where the box used to be, and her eyes went so wide that you couldn't even see the ring of her eyes anymore.
"I don't believe this!" Luna shouted. "This isn't possible!"
Where the box was, the is now a human lying unconscious on the ground.
Chapter 2: Questions and Unheard Answers
Luna immediately began forming the teleportation spell to get to her big sister's room as fast as possible. With a burst of light, she was in Princess Celestia's sleeping chamber. Luna shook her sister vigorously, causing Celestia to push Luna off of her with excessive force in the shock.
“WHO DARES TO AWAKEN ME LIKE THIS!!” Celestia shouted with her Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Ow... That really hurt Tia...” Luna grumbled as she got up off the floor.
“Luna!?! Oh my, I'm sorry. Why did you wake me up at this hour?”
“Oh, right! Your not going to believe this, but there is a... Human... on my bedroom floor,” Luna said with a nervous smile.
Celestia stared at her sister with disbelief. “That's not possible Luna, no human has been on Equestrian soil in centuries. I hope that this isn't just one of your pranks, you know nopony ever wakes me up without a valid reason,” Celestia said with a serious face.
“Oh, trust me, this isn't a prank. You know as well as I do that humans aren't a joking matter. But lets hurry! He might be awake by now, and there is no telling what he will do,” Luna said as she charges up the teleportation spell again. And with another burst of light, both of the regal sisters were back in Luna's demolished room. Luna immediately fixated her eyes where the still unconscious human lies. It only took a few moments for Celestia to find him as well.
“What happened here?” asked Celestia. She sat down on a cushion as Luna filled in the details of what occurred. Of course she left out the part about asking for something like this to happen, but the rest of it was just like it had happened. Luna took a quick glance over to the human. He had begun to move.
“Oh, my akin' head...” grumbled the human. “Did someone get the number of that nuke that hit me?”
He sat up slowly and began to rub his face. He lazily opened his eyes and began to look around. A large room, torn up floor, hole in the outside wall, cracks in the wall behind me, a bed, several dressers... His train of thought was cut short by a large white horse like creature when it spoke.
“This can't be real...” Celestia whispered.
“Hmm?” the human hummed as he twisted his head towards the source. “Who or what just spoke?”
Celestia wiped the look of fear off of her face and looked at the human with another serious look. “It was I who spoke. Who are you and what business do you have here?”
“Oooh, this is interesting! A sentient life-form that I haven't encountered yet,” the human said with a chipper tone. “This is going to be fun!”
“Do not avoid the question human! Who are you and what business do you have here!” Celestia shouted with obvious annoyance.
“Who, me? Oh I have many names. Hellfire, Cooper, and Todd are just a few. But if your going to call me anything, call me Cooper,” said Cooper, with his right hand formed into a finger handgun pointing up. “Now here's a question for you: Who are you and your friend there?”
Celestia sighed, “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, and this is my sister, Princess Luna.” Before she could ask him again about what business he had in Equestria, he put on a bright smile and bowed.
“My apologies, I had no idea that I was around royalty. So to answer your question, my business here is simply to learn everything there is to learn.”
“I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to be here in Equestria. Your kind hasn't been here in centuries, and for a good reason as well. Goodbye Cooper,” said Celestia as she began to prepare a return spell. Cooper stared at the alicorn's horn as the golden aura surrounded it. He blinked, and he saw a series of spell variables floating around the horn. Time seemed to slow down for Cooper as he read the spell variables, revealing a simple return spell. But there was a problem with the variables; he realized as soon as he would be hit by the spell, it would hurt like a bitch.
Time resumed the normal speed as Celestia released the spell on Cooper. He whispered something incoherently as the spell bounced off him and onto a plant on the other side of the room. The plant disappeared to who knows where, and Celestia looked at him in disbelief. She charged up the spell again and released. Again Cooper whispered something, but this time the spell did absolutely nothing when it hit him. Celestia now looks at him with anger and a fraction of fear. Cooper only smiled.
“Hey now, you should really take a look at your spell variables before you launch them at someone. Do you realize that if that were to hit me, I would be lying on the ground screaming in pain when I land back on my home world? I'm sorry but I can't leave this planet yet. I haven't even begun to learn the basics of this world. So, if you'll excuse me I will be finding something to learn from,” Cooper said as he spun around on one heel towards the door. Celestia was grinding her teeth from the frustrating creature in front of her. Never had there been anypony that could just deflect her spells like they where nothing at all. She charged the spell one more time and released at the human with his back turned. It struck him and he disappeared instantly. Celestia let out a breath and felt her calm down considerably without the human in her presence.
Celestia was just about to speak to her sister when the area where the human was began to fill with a black hurricane and a huge explosion of white light and thunder. When both of the sisters regained their sight, the human was standing there with his arms crossed and tapping his foot on the ground.
“What did I just tell you? I can't leave here, and that if I were to get hit by that spell I would be in great pain. And what did you just do? You used that spell on me! If I wasn't so resistant to pain I would still be on the ground back home screaming,” exclaimed Cooper. “What's the big deal with me being here? Why is it so important for me to be gone, huh?”
Celestia sighed in defeat. “Humans had once existed in Equestria, they advanced so quickly in technology. They shared their knowledge and technology with us for the longest time. But the humans had a very short temper, and thus began to fight each other and all that was around them. Their weapons started out with simple swords and spears, but they quickly began to create weapons like guns that could kill at long distances. They began to wipe each other off the face of Equestria. My sister and I had to stop the humans from taking the lives of ponies, gryphons, otters, and zebras alike just because they felt like it. Both of us and many of the Royal Guard began to erase the very existence of humans from Equestria. Not a single human had survived our attacks, and we thought that we could live in peace again now that we don't have to worry about the humans killing anypony. You have to understand that we don't want a repeat of the past now that we have a time of great peace. I just got my sister back just a few months ago and I don't want her or I to worry about a threat as great as a human to be here again...”
Cooper raised his hand, as he had heard enough. He took a deep breath. “I can see why you would be worried with my arrival, but you don't know me. I'm not the kind of guy that just goes out looking for a fight. I am a defensive fighter at the most. But that's besides the point, I can't leave this planet just yet. I have specific instructions that if I where to find a planet with life, I must stay there until I have learned everything that I can before I leave.”
Luna stepped forward and said, “Can you teleport again?”
“Huh? Sure, I guess...” Cooper said with a questioning gaze. He then whispered something as he vanished and a black hurricane formed a few feet away and with a flash of light he was there.
“That's what I saw when that box crashed through my wall!” Luna exclaimed.
“Really? The only two people that can do this kind of teleportation is me and... never mind. That's not important right now.”
“You and who?”
“Again, not important. He shouldn't be able to find me here. And you said something about a box?”
“Yes, a small metal box fell out of the sky, crashed through my wall, and wrecked my room. There was a flashing yellow orange light that I hit moments before it exploding into you.”
Cooper thought to himself for a moment. Hmm... Could he have changed me into my compact form to try and get rid of me? That doesn't sound like him though. He would have torn my body apart and thrown them all across the multiverse... Maybe I changed myself? ...No, I would have a memory record of that. So what the hell happened?
Luna stared at the human. There was something about him that seems... different from the other humans she knew. It wasn't the hair style, nor was it the kind of clothing he's wearing, it was something about how he acts. That's whats different. There was also something else that she feels that is different about the human. He has somewhat of an aura of power about him. But humans can't use magic..... can they? She shook her head, and looked back at her sister. Celestia is too busy glaring at the human to even notice that Luna was thinking about him.
Cooper looked directly at Celestia. “I want no quarrel with you. As I have stated earlier, I am here only to learn. Will you allow me to do this?”
Celestia was a little shocked that he would actually ask permission. Before he proved that he can't be sent back, so does this mean that he has respect for royalty? “Yes, but we will have to go over terms for an agreement.”
“That's fine with me. As long as I learn, I'll be happy.”
----------------------------------------A few hours of Bargaining later-------------------------------------------------------
“Do you agree to these terms Cooper?” asked Celestia.
“I do, and I will be leaving for this 'Ponyville' in one week's time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find myself a bed. From what I can tell, it's about 2 in the morning and I could use some rest. Good night princesses.”
“Shadow Wing will show you to your room,” added Luna.
“Thanks.”
Cooper opened Luna's bedroom door to see a Night Guard standing there waiting.
“I assume you are Shadow Wing?”
“I am, now follow me creature.”
Cooper raised an eyebrow. Creature huh? Look who's talkin'. A fucking pony with bat wings, now THAT'S a creature. They walked down 37 corridors, down 3 flights of stairs, through 6 doors, and they finally reached their final destination: His temporary room. Shadow Wing took guard of his door so that he doesn't try something stupid during the night. The room was fairly large, but very bland. Not really enough to talk about. Just a bed, a dresser, and a mirror. There was a single window that was on the right side of the bed. Cooper took a deep breath and his chest opened up and released a small metallic orb. The orb flew out of the window and up into the air.
“I'll check the connection tomorrow. For now, I'm goin' to bed.” murmured Cooper. In ten seconds flat, he was out like a lamp.