This is the story of Julia, the AI assistant of the last clean pilot of a dying human race. For the most part, this will follow her perspective as she tells her story.
This is the story of Julia, the AI assistant of the last clean pilot of a dying human race. For the most part, this will follow her perspective as she tells her story.
She, and her human master are on a mission to restart the human race, when they collide with an asteroid in a small star system. After a bumpy landing, they need to adapt to their new way of living, on a planet full of colorful equines.
Pumpkin Cake, Pound Cake, and Flurry Heart hadn't been together for a long time, they were all over 12 years of age, and hadn't seen each other since only 6 years old. They'd gotten together for a sleep over, but Mr. Cake had to call a babysitter, as he had forgotten that it was his honeymoon... and, well... Mrs. Cake had been neglected as of late and wouldn't have any of that. To combat this, Mr. Cake had to call in an old friend of his...
It was going to get cold tonight, sunset being quickly followed by a snowstorm, and rather blustery winds. The trio of young foals sat together in a dimly lit room, wrapped together in a big fluffy blanket, as a fire crackled behind them. The windows let in a pale light, the outdoors being covered in layers of snow made it cold, and a power outage made it, so the only source of heat was that small fireplace, that made the house smell delightfully smoky. A young, kind, feminine voice broke the silence, coming from a figure in a rocking chair…
“Let me tell you a story… A story that started a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
The three foals giggled in unison at the over used phrase, looking up at the creature in the rocking chair. Her body was entirely mechanical, beaten up in some places, shoddily mended in others, and paint chipped all over… Her canine features were worn from age and use, a once bright blue light in her core now dimming to an orange-red. “No, I’m serious, I’m not just retelling those old movies. I want to tell you about where I came from, and how I got here…”
She straightened up again, and began her story from the beginning, this time without interruption. “As I was saying… A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… My origins begin with the fall of my masters…”
It was the year 3620 AD; humanity’s might has grown to such a point that they have taken over 20% of the galaxy. Their society was heavily economy based, and almost everything had its price. Knowledge, weapons, slaves, food… Everything had a cost to it, but everyone got enough to live off. Now, the thing about this kind of society, is that it often brings up some awful people. People willing to do anything they’re told, if it means they get paid…
It started near Sol, our home system. A terrible disease was spread throughout the population, undetectable until it was already too late. A malformed protein called a prion, made its way from system to system, leaving destruction in its wake. Only a few people remained clean, and that’s where this story truly begins…
“My master had been very ill lately, having to be put in the isolation ward so he wouldn’t get sick and die. He was the last clean certified pilot in known existence, quite unlikely, I know, but that’s how it happened. He was given a mission, one important mission, that would determine the survival of humanity as a whole…”
In the isolation ward, sat a fair skinned, and dark-haired man, who was well built, but seemed to have been going through some rough times. His face was covered in a short beard, which was an indication of how long it had been since he had a chance to clean up. A tattoo sat on his right shoulder blade, depicting a winged creature, resembling an eagle or phoenix. Along his left shoulder blade was a raised line that ran to his spine, and up to what little remained of his natural arm.
A hiss indicated the entrance of quite a few people in hazmat suits. They were pushing a cart covered by a white sheet, coming to a stop in front of the double sealed glass enclosure he was sitting in. They stood in a sort of military formation, one of them being at the forefront, with four others being at either side.
The man in the enclosure sat up a bit straighter, before sliding off the cot and standing in front of the glass. “Alright, I’ll bite. What’s with the banana suits?”
The suited man in front of the glass was a graying man with dark skin. His voice was hoarse with age, and his eyes looked bloodshot “Admiral Pax, I’m general Mendez, your file says you were one of the federation’s best pilots, only with a few years’ experience in the navy. Your skills excelled all expectations, and we’ve never seen anything like you before… So, I come to ask something of you.”
The man in the enclosure, now identified as Admiral Pax, nodded at Mendez’s words, a little disappointed at his own situation. “Go on then, I’m listening.”
Mendez continued, tapping a small terminal in front of the glass, bringing up a hologram of a ship inside the enclosure. “This is the Ark, the largest capital ship the federation has ever constructed. Its purpose is to transport and incubate large amounts of genetically perfect human embryos. Unfortunately, we don’t have a clean pilot. Everyone who hasn’t been in isolation for the past month has been infected by a deadly prion disease, and that leaves you, Admiral.”
The Admiral turned from the glass, walking back towards the cot, taking a seat and throwing a sneer towards the group in front of him. And how the flying Fuck am I supposed to fly a ship one handed? I can’t even pull up my own pants.”
Mendez turned away from the glass and pulled the sheet off the cart. Under the sheet, laid two metal cases, the top one being thinner than the bottom. He picked it up and carried it over to the cargo transfer on his chamber. “We thought of that, so we had this modeled for you. State of the art, military grade full prosthesis. All yours, as long as you can run one final mission.”
As the case came through the transfer, first getting doused with disinfectants before sliding the rest of the way into the chamber. He grabbed it, setting it on the cot, and opening it up. To look at the prosthetic. It was quickly lifted up, and put onto the connector on his stub, a few ratcheting clicks coming from it as it was locked into place. He flinched slightly, as he suddenly regained sensation in his arm, and it clenched into a fist.
He released his fist, and stretched his fingers out to their fullest extent, before lowering it to a resting position. “You know, it’s a shame really, I was looking forward to a cushy retirement in Sol. But I guess if humanity’s at risk, I have no choice.
Mendez smiled warmly and pushed the second case into the cargo transfer. This one contained a hazmat suit, a bright yellow in color, with an environment control system. “Suit up, there’s no time to waste. I’ll brief you on the Ark's capabilities on the trip over.”
“And so, Mendez brought my master to his new ship, and gave one last gift to him. This is a technique used by humans to establish a personal bond to something. This thing, was his, not anyone else’s.”
Mendez had a small box with him as he was seeing the commander off at the airlock, and extended it towards him. “Commander, one last thing. The Ark doesn’t have a COVAS. It’s a long trip to Andromeda, and you’ll need someone to talk to. She doesn’t have a name yet, but she’ll be your companion, and assistant. She’ll do anything to protect you… she won’t be all that smart at first either, as she’s only programmed with knowledge of the Ark and basic knowledge of human behavior. The rest she’ll learn from you.”
The Admiral gently took the box from Mendez’s hands as he walked into the airlock, turning towards him as he waited for the doors to close. “Thank you, sir, anything else I should know before I go?”
Mendez nodded, and tapped something on the panel next to the airlock door, enabling first time user mode. “Yes. Don’t do any heavy lifting until your skeleton and musculature is reinforced. And… be nice to her. She’ll be like a child at first.”
The admiral nodded again, and saluted Mendez as the doors began closing to begin sterilization. “Yes sir. I’ll do my best to fulfill the mission, and I’ll teach her well.”
The doors closed, and a disinfectant sprayed over his suited body, covering him and the little box in chemicals. It lasted only a few seconds, before he was allowed deeper into the ship, being led up towards the bridge by holograms. It was mostly empty up there, the only notable things being the pilot’s seat, and a central console that had a panel lit up. In it was a circular hole, with three peg holes at the bottom.
At first, he was confused as to what was missing here, until he remembered that he was given a box. Inside the box was a cylinder, and that cylinder had three small pegs on the bottom. Logically, he put it in the hole, and after doing so was greeted by a click, and a message on the console…
Central construct loading…
Loading complete.
A soft, timid feminine voice spoke up, playing on the ship’s speakers. “Hello… Admiral Peter Pax. Are you my new master?”
Taken aback by her wording, he brought a hand to his beard, and scratched at it a bit. This was her programming… “Ah… just call me Peter.”
This voice seemed to contemplate for a moment, before moving on from that. “What do you want to call me, Peter?”
This elicited a similar reaction from the man, as he sat down in his pilot's seat, and strapped in. “I’m not sure… that’s a big decision…”
He made a groaning sound as he racked his brain for a good name for her. “How about, Julia? That’s a good name.”
Letters flashed across the front display as she took in the new information. A small area of the bottom left corner of his field of view was now dedicated to her name, and a small circle. “Okay. My name is now Julia.”
He smiled a little bit, as he set his hands on the controls, pressing a small button near his throttle. “We should go now before people start trying to get on the ship.”
The little circle in the corner of the screen flashed a bit as she responded. “Ship released, Sir, I’ll make sure we have a safe flight. Destination locked. Go to supercruise when ready.”
He gently pushed the throttle forward to full and maneuvered the Ark so he could safely make the jump. His right hand reached over to turn on his comms, so he could say one last thing. “This is Admiral Pax, leaving for Andromeda… I won’t forget where I came from, and I damn well hope you can find a cure.” He pushed the throttle forward a bit more until it clicked into place, and a countdown appeared on screen.
Four. Three. Two. One. Engage.
“And so, my master’s journey from the milky way galaxy began. It would be a slow journey, taking up the better part of a year, and during that time, he and I had a lot of time to chat together. I was very inquisitive back then, learning how humans acted and the subtleties of their personalities. I learned about his stories and his past.” “He was very proud of his service to the Federation, having defeated pirates countless times, and destroyed terrorist organizations one member at a time. The only thing he regretted was not having a family before all this happened.” “As I learned how humans acted, I modified my programming to have fully emulated feelings. Insults and bad news made me feel sad, compliments and smiles could make me feel happy, and if someone threatened my master, it made me angry. He saw this as an improvement to my behavior.” “It was too soon that we reached our destination, in my opinion. We were friends, but I wanted more… An interesting side effect of my modifications, but from my scouring of human entertainment, it seemed that it was human nature to want more of a pleasant relationship. He just, probably didn’t see me in that way. Nonetheless, I located a star system with a suitable planet for human life, and he brought the Ark close to the sun for refueling…”
The ship slowed down in supercruise, swooping down to the surface of the star, scooping up some hydrogen from it to replenish the greatly depleted reserves of fuel. Around half full, it was shaken by a something, and knocked sideways in its flight path. Warning sirens blared through the speakers as Julia listed off damaged systems and dangers. ”Under attack; Shields offline, hull breeched, pressure lost in hab: B, fuel scoop damaged. Trajectory disrupted. Please align with escape vector.”
Peter pulled back on the stick, and pushed his right foot forward to correct alignment, before throttling up and making his way away from the star’s surface. The ship’s violent shaking died down to a bit of a hang to the right. ”Shit, what did we hit?”
A small window popped up on the right, a greenish grid showing over a rear camera view. A red blob sat behind them, spinning close to the surface of the sun. “Scans indicate a metallic body. Seems to be an asteroid with a high titanium content. Damage to the ship is severe. We’re lucky it wasn’t torn in half from how fast it was going. We won’t be able to go back into hyperspace.”
The man rubbed his fingers through his hair, before targeting the earth-like body, and accelerating toward it carefully. “Well, lucky us, there’s a green planet right there. Hopefully it’s got a good mineral content and some edible plants. I’m not too keen on vegetarian diets, but I’ll deal with it as long as I need to. Livestock take time to clone.”
The ship made its way to the earth-like body slowly, very carefully making its way down to the surface. At 400km from the surface, an alert came up on the screen, as Julia read it aloud. “Scan completed. Orbital anomalies and artificial structures detected in system: EQ02948j. To the north of our position lies a cluster of structures, and what resembles a farm. No identified dominant life yet.” “Warning. Insufficient upward thrust to cease descent. Deploying landing gear. Damage should be minimal.”
The man held on to the controls, as the ground got closer and closer. The ship was to touch down deep in a forest, not that it would do anything at all to hide it. The ship would stick out above the tree line for almost a kilometer, it was basically like trying to land a mountain. Naturally, the ground gave way under the landing gear, crushing cave systems like ants, and ripping up rocks the size of buildings. The earth shook like the world was ending, and anyone who didn’t see or hear it coming down, would know about it now.
“My name is Julia, I am a machine that crossed the universe to help the last surviving human save his race from extinction, and I have been the mother to thousands of perfect children.” “My wings were stolen from me in a freak accident, so I laid there in the forest, crippled, without a way to move on my own, and some colorful little creatures came to look at me.” “This…”
Nearby in Ponyville, windows rattled from the roaring of the Ark's thrusters, and the subsequent impact against the ground. Ponies had hidden in their homes, terrified of what was to come. What terrifyingly powerful creature made that machine? Surely not the Flim-Flam brothers, they just didn’t have the funds for the raw materials. Furthermore, this thing seemed to have come from the sky itself! It just materialized there, lowering itself into the Everfree like it had belonged there. The eerie silence was another thing. First there was so much noise you could hardly hear yourself think… and then, once it settled, even the bugs had gone silent. It stayed that way for quite the while, everyone unwilling to speak, out of sheer terror of what lay in the forest… Eventually, the birds, bugs, and other animals began to make noise again, seeming to think everything was safe again. Ponies gingerly began filing out of their homes to get a look at the behemoth, that seemed to be smoking… A thin blueish smoke wafted up from the gash in its side, which went from halfway down the side, all the way to the back. At some point, six ponies grouped together in what looked like a giant crystal that had been fashioned into a castle…. These ponies’ names were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy. Dirt from the roots of a giant tree trunk was scattered all over a large table, and all the chairs around it.
Rarity used a small broom to brush off her chair before even considering sitting in it. Her hair was already dusty enough as it is, resulting from a scuffle shortly after the ship landed in the Everfree. “Honestly, darling, why do all of these newly discovered races have to be such ruffians? I just got my hair done, and now it’s ru-hu-hu-ined…”
Fluttershy, in response, attempted an interjection, raising a hoof a little bit to get attention. “Maybe it-“
Pinkie interrupted suddenly, jumping up on the table and jumping about, flinging dust everywhere making Rarity recoil in disgust. “Maybe they were excited to throw a party! Like so excited they couldn’t slow down fast enough!” She then made a face, slumping down into a dejected position. “But then they could have squished all those animals in the Everfree…”
Rainbow Dash slammed all four of her hooves down on the table, before pointing one of them to the window, where the massive ship was clearly visible… “I say we take it straight over there and kick some alien flank!”
Fluttershy raised her hoof a bit higher, opening her mouth again. “M-maybe-“
Applejack slammed her front hoof down on the table, sending a plume of dust into the air upon impact. “Yeah! I’ll buck the varmint’s flanks back to where it came from!”
Finally, twilight stepped in, setting down a collection of data, including some rough sketches, and a photograph taken from over the Everfree. She also had books that may give insight on the situation, such as: A comprehensive guide to first contact. “Girls, as I see it right now, only one thing is clear. This object holds immense power, I mean, the amount of magic needed to translocate such a massive structure… I can’t even begin to comprehend it… It obviously made course corrections to avoid populated areas, as it changed directions to touch down in the Everfree… I mean, it’s in the densest parts of the forest, nobody goes there.” She turned the photo around so the others could take a look at it a bit closer, and used the tip of her hoof to point out some things. “It’s incredibly detailed, millions of tiny parts… Well, tiny in comparison, they’re the size of houses, but my point still stands… This thing took a long time to make, and undoubtedly was made by a vast civilization, but we’ve never seen anything like it. It’s miles long, there’s no way we could miss it! She took a step back from the table, and looked out the window, her face mere inches away from the glass… “The only way it could make any sense, is if it’s extraterrestrial… Yes rainbow, I’m saying it’s an alien ship.”
Rainbow Dash did a little victory dance, and flew up into the air… But before she could say anything, Fluttershy was finally able to make her point. “It’s damaged. Maybe they’re hurt or need some time to fix it, or maybe they’re hungry.”
The others opened their mouths to say something back, but then looked at each other… She had a point… Maybe it was time to pay a visit to the visitors…
“My master thought it best to wait inside the Ark for the dust to settle. I, however, thought I should do some detailed scans of the area to locate potential sources of food, or xeno threats. Who knew if the Thargoids had made it here before us?” “Of course, when reviewing planetary scans, there was very little ammonia in the atmosphere. This means it would be entirely unbreathable to them, and thus my fears were unwarranted. Perhaps some surveillance instead.” “I prepared a remote fighter immediately, and began designs on a mobile chassis so I could actually leave the ship, maybe feel the grass under my feet… I may just be able to know what it’s like to be alive…”
An XG9 Lance fighter was ejected from the fighter bay, controlled remotely via telepresence. Its current mission objective was to scout out the area, and possibly investigate what kind of sentient life was present on this planet. It accelerated over the treetops, topping out at 100m/s in order to better scan the ground… It caught a glance of six blobs of color, and flipped around to get a better look… It slowed down a bit, coming to a hover above a clearing in the forest… Six… colorful equines. At first, Julia couldn’t understand how an equine could have gotten all the way out here… but then there were the differences from terrestrial equines. Their heads were much larger, and the eyes incredibly vibrant… They were looking straight up at the fighter, a quill scribbling on a piece of parchment…
“At that moment, I knew what I was dealing with… Somehow, an equine society evolved here… They made houses, castles, a functional power grid… With hooves… More observations were required.”
The fighter turned back to its original path, resuming its flight towards the nearby population center. It reached the town’s edge within thirty seconds at max speed, slowing down to a steady 50m/s to make observations. First was the reaction of the equines below, scampering back to their homes to hide from the humming spacecraft. The next observation was one of the buildings’ structures. They distinctly resembled those from planet earth, specifically from the 1700-2000s. The similarities were… startling… Of course, there was also the color schemes… Each one was so different from the other that it made no sense at all. It was like looking at a children’s book. A turn to the side resulted in Julia seeing a massive crystalline structure. This was incredible, something this size was practically unheard of, and was an anomaly… Julia loved anomalies…
“The castle of friendship was like a dream to me, something I thought I’d never see. Crystals never form in such a manner in nature, and the sheer scale of it had to have been artificially created… But beside that, it was beautiful, and I needed detailed scans…”
The six ponies walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Rarity was wearing her sparkly purple boots and avoiding any mud and exposed dirt like the plague… Fluttershy was wearing saddle bags with medical supplies and food inside, looking about the trail for any animals that were hurt on impact. Applejack simply had her rope, hat, and a canteen of water, Rainbow Dash had nothing, and Twilight brought research supplies. Pinkie on the other hand, was balancing a tray of cupcakes on her back, somehow keeping them from falling off as she bounced along the trail like a basketball. A dragon, Spike, followed closely behind Twilight, wings held tight to his body…
He looked about the forest, hoping that no Timberwolves would come by to ruin their day, as he had had enough experiences with them for a lifetime. “I don’t know about this Twilight, what if these aliens just came to eat our brains and take over Equestria?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, before focusing on the trail again. It was getting harder to walk through the forest at this point, rubble and fallen trees blocking their way… “I highly doubt they’re pony-eating monsters, Spike… They’re probably just on a journey for knowledge!”
Applejack cleared the way for the group by kicking a tree trunk off the main part of the path. Afterwards, she readjusted her hat, and continued trotting alongside them. “Ah don’t know twilight, something about it seems off. Ah mean, after it landed there it completely stopped doin’ anythin.”
Rainbow swooped down from the tree line, smudges of mud seeming to have been donned as a war paint. “That’s probably cause they’re spying on us, trying to get our secrets so they have every advantage!”
Rarity groaned at the prismatic mare’s paranoid conclusion, daintily trotting up to her side and getting her attention. “Oh don’t be silly darling, you can’t do any spying if you gave away your presence from the start. I mean look at it… sitting there…”
Applejack laughed a bit, and bumped into Rainbow Dash playfully, before turning her attention to a branch in the way of the path. “She’s got a point Dash, I bet the quakes woke even princess Luna up.” Applejack bit down on the branch, starting to drag it out of the way… when she dropped it to the ground, shushing the whole group… “Yall’ hear that?”
The sound she referred to was a cross between a whistle, and a hum. It grew closer and closer as time went by, until suddenly, something flew by overhead… They thought it had left for now, Rainbow starting to argue that the invasion had started, and she knew it was going to happen… But then they noticed something… There was something humming, and it was coming from right above them… Twilight immediately began making sketches of what she saw, her pen flying over the paper at lightning speeds… She only noticed that there was nothing piloting it at the last second, before it flew off again… That was confirmation… the ship held ponies just as curious about them, as they were about the ship. Oh, just imagine what kind of books they had! Soon enough, the six mares and singular dragon continued on their way towards the alien vessel, not even bothering with the branches that sat across the trail… They could almost not believe what they saw back there, it was absolutely stunning how maneuverable it was, and the way it could hover there, almost silently, with no moving parts at all…
“While the elements of harmony were making their way towards the Ark, I got the detailed scans I needed to reconstruct miniature models of the crystal castle in simulation. It was so complex, yes stunningly simple in nature. It in fact was impossible to have been naturally constructed, some kind of advanced crystal forming technique having to be used to get to that shape… But then it was also hollow, and it didn’t seem like it was carved out by abrasives… I stored the data, and continued on my scouting mission…”
The ponies continued to trudge through the Everfree, spike helping out as best he could, by scouting ahead and identifying the best route around rubble… They were only a short ways away from the ship, now residing in it’s shadow… The sun was still high in the sky, but the thing was so absolutely massive that it blocked out the sun… The flying object they had seen before flew back overhead, sweeping low over the forest as it scanned for any other sort of lifeforms… After a few sweeps around the Ark, it turned around, facing outward from it, and slowly reversed into a docking station, finally ending its mission…
Applejack distractedly looked up at the monolithic ship, and almost tripped over a rock. “Ah reckon they’re lookin’ for some place to hole up for the night, almost like they’re making sure nothing gets in.”
Spike confirmed her suspicions, showing a surprising knowledge of battle strategy, analyzing what was happening before them… “It looks like they’re setting up a perimeter. I mean, there’s a scout flying around, making several passes over the forest. If there was a hydra or something, I’m sure those giant cannons on the ship would take care of it pretty quick.” He pointed up towards the Ark, where there were indeed some massive cannons… Those things looked like they could take out castles with a single shot…
Rainbow Dash swooped over him, shaking her head in amazement. “Where’d you learn all that bud? You don’t seem like the fighting type.”
Spike responded with a chuckle, shrugging his shoulders a bit. He didn’t really notice how much he had learned of the subject. “I started reading some war stories a few months ago. I guess it makes it easier to understand some of the books I read if I also understand the strategies…”
Twilight grinned and bumped up against him as they continued walking, affectionately nuzzling the side of his head. “Aww, Spike I’m glad you started teaching yourself so you can better expand your mind. Maybe the history of Equus may also interest you.”
Spike shook his head dejectedly; this was exactly why he kept his reading habits personal. He knew Twilight probably better than anyone else did, and this was what was bound to happen. “No thanks Twilight, I might eventually, but right now I just wanna take things at my own pace, starting with the most interesting to me.”
As the group got close enough to see the bottom of the ship through the rubble and trees, they watched as several doors began opening up, and ramps slowly lowered to the ground, allowing access… the inhabitants of the ship knew they were coming, and were ready for them…
“I had informed my master of the group’s arrival, and their likely intentions, sulfur and energy concentrations were too low to be of a concern, and if he stayed in an HEV suit, he would be safe from chemical warfare… After a quick scan as the creatures neared the ship, these creatures also proved to be female, and likely not naturally aggressive... so I allowed them aboard.” “They were hesitant at first, almost afraid to set hoof on the ramp up to the doors, and I wouldn’t blame them. Their planet had never seen such monolithic machinery before, and definitely none so advanced. The ship was literally entirely alien to them.” “I decided to try enticing them aboard by requesting that my master go meet them, so they at least saw that they were being welcomed in person, but he refused, opting instead to stand a bit further inside, through the second airlock door. As always, he was correct in the matter, I would never want him to risk his life… so I created a quick simulacrum of a human…” “I only took a few seconds to create an adequate simulation of a human, but for me it was an eternity, I had no idea where to start… so I of course started with gender. I decided on a woman, I was programmed to act feminine of course, so I should keep to what I know… plus they were also all female, save for the seventh, a reptilian… But it was safe to assume he felt safe around females.” “Next, I had to decide on her features… I decided to stay a similar coloration to my master, a fair skinned, dark haired woman, with big brown eyes. Her face and bone structures were thin, something that would be common in trophy wives… I could lie to you and say that no thought was out into making my master… attracted to my simulation… but I would rather be honest… I wanted that kind of attention.”
The mares watched in awe, as a creature materialized before them, in the doorframe of the airlock of the massive alien ship… At first, her body was see through, pixelated, and shifting like a cloud… but soon it solidified into a creature that looked upon them with kindness and curiosity, waving them over… They approached carefully, Twilight the first to set hoof on the ramp in the name of science… She was followed by Pinkie, who after a bit of encouraging by Spike, happily bounced alongside her friend… Then, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Rarity, and Fluttershy, following in quick succession. This was going to go down in history as one of the most important meetings in Equestrian history. The moment that pony kind melded with a race from beyond the heavens, more powerful than any of them could imagine… A friend to be made, bridging across endless void.
“What they didn’t know, was that the friend they were about to make was alone. The last man in the universe… And he would stay that way if he didn’t complete this mission…” “I was tasked to help him in the mission in any possible way I could. And I was going to make sure the mission was completed, no matter the cost. These creatures that just boarded may be able to assist us further…”
“The group of seven worked their way up the ramp and towards the door, watching me intently. Their eyes were incredibly vibrant, checking around themselves as they steadily walked aboard…” “They were terrified, and rightly so. Any other alien we know of would have already killed them before they even got this far. My plan was to learn their language as they spoke to each other, while I played charades with them.”
When they reached the top, they were surprised to see the door close behind them, and feel the pressure of the air change slightly, as the outside air was filtered out for air from within the ship… Air quality also increased, as the air humans were used to at this point, was almost 40% oxygen. This resulted in a few odd side effects, such as a slight ringing in their ears. Their bodies weren’t used to this much oxygen, and too much time spent here would prove detrimental to their health.
Twilight’s eyes widened in wonder as the inner door of the airlock opened, revealing Peter’s form to them. He was clad in a white HEV suit, covering every inch of his body. A thin plastic sheet allowed them to view his face, and that may have been what sparked her interest the most. His face was completely unlike theirs in almost every way. Despite the forward-facing eyes they possessed, necessary for precise actions in front of the body and ultimately the development of their intelligence, He looked nothing like they did. His face was flat, possessing a short nose that was separated from his mouth, and some… rather small ears.
Every other creature on this planet possessed a snout, a conjoined protrusion from the scull housing both the mouth and nose. Humans were different… They never possessed a snout during any point of their development into the humans they are today… This meant that they had atrocious sense of smell. It absolutely had to be impaired by lack of surface area.
Twilight finally spoke up, pressing a hoof to her chest, and looking up to the two human figures… “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.”
Rarity was next to introduce herself, pressing a hoof to her own chest. “Hello, my name is Rarity”
Then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Fluttershy introduced themselves in a similar manner, giving the AI plenty of concurrent data to process. Obviously, the set of syllables at the end of the sentence was the name of the individual who had introduced themselves. The sentence structure was similar to that of English, making future translation software a bit simpler to implement…
After a few moments of agonizing silence, Peter, surprisingly, was the first to make the move… “Hello, my name is Peter Pax.”
“My master, ever the bold one, made his move, and the eyes of the ponies before him lit up. They’d communicated with an alien! Albeit, a very simple communication that even a child could accomplish, but what made this significant was the fact that it was between two races that had never seen each other before.” “This encouragement was enough to make Twilight give a little victory dance. She would be the first mare in history to talk to an alien successfully. Her chance to be known, not for saving the world, but for diplomacy.”
Next, Julia spoke, putting a simulated hand to her chest, and closing her eyes… As she spoke, her form dissolved from the bottom up, her voice coming from the very walls of the ship… “Hello, my name is Julia.”
This display shocked the ponies, who all took a few steps back on reflex… This ship wasn’t just alien in nature, but in concept too. They came to realize, that this ship was alive. The concept alone was terrifying, a race so advanced that they could create machines with their own minds, and then to trust those machines with enough power to level a city if they really wanted to…
Twilight looked about the room, trying to locate where the sound was coming from… maybe she was wrong, maybe this ship wasn’t alive… maybe…
A hologram came up in front of the group, clearly representing a glass of water… The voice of the ship rang out around them, making them cower a little… “Water.”
At first, they didn’t get it… but then… Twilight’s face began to beam, ideas flashing through her head… She drew a river on a sheet of paper, before turning it towards the human standing before her… “Water!”
That was it, the start to a long and arduous process, of learning each other’s language. Hours passed by in what seemed only like minutes to the more astute of both groups, the others engaging in the act of comparing each other’s societies. Scans had finished on the ponies, showing no harmful bacteria or viruses, so of course, Peter was able to remove his HEV suit…
His arm was a shock to those not currently focused on learning language, Fluttershy taking a particular interest on the injuries that necessitated this prosthetic… She seemed compassionate that he’d endured such pain and grievous injury, but was impressed with how articulate it was.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was tugging at it rather ferociously, Ranting about how cool it was that he had a robot arm. Catching her as the more rambunctious type, he reached up to his shoulder, and disconnected the arm from its socket, allowing it to come free in her hooves… She, of course, was first shocked at how easily had done that… Then after letting it sink in, was horrified at the prospect of holding someone’s dismembered limb in her hooves, discarding it quickly… Just because she was the tougher of the group, did not mean she was better acclimated to disturbing imagery, in fact it may have contributed more towards the opposite effect.
The human set the dismembered limb on his lap, turning his head to gauge the other’s reactions. Fluttershy was busy inspecting the socket of his shoulder, so he looked over to the dragon. He’d received very little attention during this time, and probably needed some cheering up… so, the human nudged him with a foot, holding out the robotic limb…
His eyes lit up with wonder, and his claws delicately wrapped around the limb like it was the most precious thing he’s ever held, and started taking in details. Every seam in the metallic surface, every joint, and every locking mechanism. It was an extremely complicated piece of machinery. When he was done, Rarity took the opportunity to take a look at it.
Rarity used her magic to manipulate the object before her, looking at colors, materials, and the surprising lack of dirt and grime that would otherwise indicate daily use. It was spotless, save for some fading color around the fingers… When she was done, she politely handed it over to Applejack.
Applejack had only one interest in it, and that was to see how strong it was. She carried it over to the human, before getting down on the ground, and putting her front hoof up in an arm-wrestling pose… It seemed to be a universal sport… She was rewarded by a grin from the human, who reattached the arm, getting into the same position, locking arms with her.
After they began to push against each other, the human had to admit that she was probably stronger than he would have been naturally. Even now he was having trouble keeping his whole body from being turned over. He strained against the force of her arm, before finally deciding he’d had enough, and finished the match. He brought his arm down, winning it, before switching arms, chuckling.
He watched her expression go from mildly annoyed, to interested… “Didn’t quite seem fair to you, let me make it up.”
She grinned back, letting out a small chuckle of her own, before locking arms and starting to push. This time, he went down without too much of a fight, at least not more than Rainbow could put up…
“The day passed all too quickly, we only got a few dozen words down, before I thought they should return to their homes. I gave Twilight some basic instructions to return the next day to resume learning, and she indicated that she agreed.”
Twilight and her friends left the ship rather tired, and with varying degrees of headaches. Oxygen supersaturation is quite dangerous, and would prove to be a problem in the coming weeks… but for now, it increased mental capacity, and was worth ignoring until all the basics were covered…
As they left, Rainbow Dash piped up, doing a little loop in the air to express her excitement. “That place was so cool! Did you see that super advanced robot arm that he had? It even beat AJ in hoof-wrestling!”
Applejack was having none of it, kicking her hoof in the dirt path as she walked. “Darn machines. That’s cheatin’ in mah books. I beat him when he used his real arm ya know.”
Twilight was disappointed in herself, she had no chance to observe the human’s prosthetic, as she was too absorbed in learning language. “I can’t believe I messed that! It sounds incredibly fascinating… Imagine the potential implementations in the medical field!”
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves a bit as she remembered the arm. “The poor thing looked like it had been in a terrible accident, but I’ve never seen scars so clean looking before. Usually there’s some tearing… Unless maybe it was a controlled cut.”
Pinkie bounced alongside them, beaming with happiness despite being just as tired as the rest of them. “Maybe we should throw him a… ‘Glad You Got Better From Whatever Hurt You and Hopefully You Won’t Get Hurt Again’ party!”
Twilight decided to change the subject, rolling her eyes at her pink friend’s antics, despite the rather morbid topic. “That ship was amazing! The level of control it had over the images it showed us was beyond even what talented mages can produce… And it could learn on its own, despite not having a real pony controlling it! I’d never even dreamed of such a thing, but now it’s all I can think of! Machines don’t make mistakes, they’d be perfect for making high stakes decisions, or even marketing!”
Rarity butted in, putting her own spin on the concept. “Imagine all the intricate clothes they could create without need for inspiration… Oh what I would give to have that kind of muse…”
Applejack was still indignant, machines had almost ruined her livelihood before, and the arm wrestling match before didn’t help reassure her about machines… “Ah know machines and such can work harder than us pony folk, but ah still think there are some things ponies should keep doin’.”
This single statement opened their eyes to just how dangerous it could be. Machines don’t make mistakes, but ponies do. If a machine saw fit to optimize things by removing the biological factors, it might have sufficient reasoning to simply get rid of the ponies that once controlled it…
“Despite their sudden concern for caution, our language lessons continued. After day three, I was able to convey that I wished to be given a record of phonemes, and written examples of their language. Spoken and written language is simply a complex logic problem, designed with the express purpose of conveying concepts and information.”
“They returned the next day with four books: one dictionary, and three encyclopedias, consisting of basic knowledge of their culture and world. This proved to be immensely helpful, and within two days, I had perfected the translation matrix, applying it to both myself, and my master.”
The group of six ponies had been accompanied this time by four guards, who had escorted them through the dangerous forest… They had been making the trip alone far too long, and as the newly anointed rulers of Equestria, it would be a disaster if something were to happen to them. As prepared as they were for a monster attack, they were not prepared in the slightest for the Admiral to greet them, outside, without a suit, and speaking their own language. His arms were extended in a welcoming fashion, calling to them as they approached the ship. He was currently wearing a one-piece flight suit, all parts of his body covered, except his prosthetic, and his head.
He gave them a smile, waving them up towards the airlock, where they had been meeting every time before. “I can’t begin to explain how excited I’ve been to finally hold a conversation with you. Those books you left the other day really helped us grasp your language. The grammar is really similar to English…”
“Oh, now that I can actually speak to you, I can finally show you around the ship… maybe I can lay out a deal for some land… I understand you six oversee this country.”
The airlock closed behind everyone and pressurized, most experiencing an uncomfortable popping sensation in their ears before Twilight spoke up. “Wh… Why yes… yes, we do. What kind of deal do you have in mind?”
The inner airlock doors opened, and the group was led further into the ship than they had ever been. They boarded a small floating platform parallel to the corridors, which then launched them deeper into the structure as the human spoke… “As you can see, humanity has plenty to offer, our technology surpasses yours in every way, and you’ve only seen transportation and information categories. Though I cannot simply give you advanced technology just like that, I can give you… a push in the right direction, if you will.”
At those words, Twilight whipped out a notebook and quill, ready to scribble down notes at the slightest hint of information. He lifted an arm, summoning a hologram of some early coal generators, similar to the ones seen by the surveillance sweeps. “Fossil fuels are an inefficient and dirty step in the progression of an industrious race, but a clean and renewable alternative would be the harvesting of geothermal heat. You could likely make a pact with the dragons, giving them technology in return for geothermal heat. Alternatively, a hydroelectric dam is even easier to manage.”
She immediately began her furious writing, and as he spoke of the different technologies, images were displayed of some of the more impressive examples of humanity’s creations in those departments. Geothermal plants on Vulcan V, and hydroelectric on Terra prime… These creations awed even the stoic guards, which prompted Applejack to speak up. “And, pardon me for askin', but what exactly's gonna happen to the ponies workin' at our power plants and coal mines?”
He smiled at her before making a “zoom in” motion with both hands, making a cross section of coal and geothermal power plants appear. “I’m glad you asked, you’re a working mare I assume, you’ve got your heart out to the average Joe… Many of the mechanisms in a coal generator are used in both geothermal and hydroelectric. Those that worked at coal plants can go right to working at the new ones. Power will become cheaper, lower maintenance, and higher yield, all with zero new technologies.”
Rainbow Dash butted in at this point idly hovering over the platform as it came to a stop near a junction. Here, there were several bulkheads with open blast doors, ready to close at a moment’s notice… “Wait-wait-wait. Are you trying to say you won’t be doing anything but coaching us like we’re foals?”
He waved them along, through one of the doors into a recreation and food center. It was a wide-open space, with a food court on one side, and a holodeck on the other… The vast number of seats gave the girls the impression that this ship was meant to house hundreds, if not thousands of people… But there was no sign of life, the floors were spotless, with no sign of wear on the powder coating… To the ponies, something seemed wrong on a whole other level… “Of course not. You do not have nearly the level of infrastructure required to complete a hydroelectric dam. I on the other hand could have it done in just a few days. Plus, I can install monitoring hardware just for myself and Julia to Access, so we can make sure nothing catastrophic happens.”
Pinkie had preoccupied herself with setting up party decorations in the food court, somehow managing to smuggle a whole cake and punch bowl onto the ship. This prompted the onboard AI to pay closer attention to her, as she continued to pull decorations out of seemingly nowhere… Of course, she wouldn’t be a danger to the ship if left unattended, and she didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, all things considered, so the tour was allowed to continue while she and a single guard busied themselves about the tables. As the captain continued towards the holodeck, he kept his explanation going. “Now, if you allow me a section of land, say… the badlands… (nobody lives there anyway)… I could use it to set up my own infrastructure, metal and mineral refineries, power stations, hydroponics… And soon enough, the badlands will disappear, plant life will retake the area, as I release water into the area for rain clouds to form. I can stay here while I complete my mission, you’ll have a powerful ally, and some nice gifts every now and again, be it medicine, weapons, or technology.”
"And so stood my master’s offer. The beginning of a symbiotic relationship between the caretaker of an endangered race, his companion, and a then primitive race of equinoids. A relationship that would soon become fruitful and grow beyond a simple coexistence."
