Courier in Equestria: Intro, part 6

All righty guys, due to some comments on how it was confusing when Anonymous was using his implants, he now uses a special syntax when he's giving specific orders to his cybernetic systems.

 

>Day 11, Equestria.

>You are Anon.

>You've reached the safety of civilization, or so you hope.

>As for right now, you're approaching a p0ny's home in an orchard.

>Applejack offered you housing for helping her friend.

>As you approach the house, you now notice some of the same writing you've seen on some of the structures here.

>It's far too ordered, it can't be random.

>Apparently when the Changeling Queen shoved her language into your brain, she didn't care to include written language.

>Then again, you doubt that the Changelings even had written language.

>It's now in the evening, the sun beginning it's unnatural decent towards the horizon.

>Sooner or later you're going to need to figure out why this planet has such an odd rotation.

>You reach and knock on the front door, being careful to not hit it too hard.

>"Come on in! We're waitin' on ya!"

>You fumble with the door, opening it and coming inside.

>You're greeted by several individuals, all with "cutie marks" pertaining to apples.

>To be expected, you guess.

>Someone in the family having an orange there would certainly be a scandal.

 

 

>"Hello again Ahnon! This is Big Mac,"

>She points her hoof at one of the larger ones.

>His glare seemed to pierce your soul.

>How horrifying.

>He obviously didn't trust you.

>"And Granny Smith."

>She points towards the oldest, on the right.

>She didn't seem to pay you much mind.

>The one thing that you found interesting, however, was that her eyes showed that she was older than her body was.

>Not in the "I'm blind" sense, but in the "I've seen some shit" sense.

>"And this is Applebloom."

>"Hi! Jacky said you might be scary, but you don't seem bad!"

>Come on, say something.

"My... pleasure to meet you all. I'll try not to be a hindrance."

>That'll work.

>"Well, enough o' that!"

>Applejack goes to get, what you assume to be, dinner.

>This is when Applebloom speaks up again.

>"So, Mister, how do you keep balance on only two legs?"

"It comes naturally to me, as much as walking on four does to you. My feet are also a bit wide, which helps as well."

>"Maybe I can try to walk on two legs all the time! I can get a..."

>She's promptly cut off by Applejack, who brings back food.

>Made of apples.

>Entirely.

>Apple pie.

>Apple fritters.

>Apple juice.

>Apple sauce.

>Sliced apples.

>She sets it down on the table, and the family begins to dig in.

>You, of course, try to crouch as non-awkwardly as possible while trying to consume applesauce out of an undersized bowl.

 

 

>"Mister!"

>Applebloom speaks up again, after slurping down a helping of ground apple product.

>"What's up with your left foreleg?"

"Oh, this? It's made of metal."

>"Why?"

"Because I said so."

>You internally chuckle, as a disappointed expression crosses her face.

>"Well what's it made of?"

"Metal."

>You take another bite of an apple slice.

>"What kind of metal?"

>Oh boy.

"It's made from advanced titanium, iridium, and chromium alloys, reinforced with a graphine weave. The motion is controlled by an electroactive polymer weave. The circuitry that controls the polymer is linked by light fiber optic cables for lagless information transmission, and cryotron relays. Does that answer your question?"

>The child opens her mouth, as if to speak, but closes it once more, with a look of shame and confusion crossing her face.

>Everyone gives you a strange look, and Big Mac continues to glare at you.

"She asked."

>With that, you finish your slice of apple.

 

 

>AppleBloom wisely refrains from asking any more questions about you.

>"Ahnon, where do ya come from?" Granny Smith asks you.

"A long ways from here. I got... Lost."

>"So are you wantin' tah get home then?"

"I certainly am, but I don't know where my home even is."

>"Well, we'd certainly be glad tah help ya if Ah can."

"Question, Applejack."

>"Yeah?"

"On my way here, Lyra told me someone lived here that may be able to help me. Do you perhaps know a 'Twilight'?"

>"Do Ah know her? Shucks, she's one of mah best friends!"

"Do you think I could meet with her? I was told she may be able to help me."

>"I'll go see her for ya tomorrow, and see if Ah can't get her to come over here. No offense, but Ah'd think you'd terrify a few people. You didn't exactly receive the warmest reception at the hospital."

"That works. I have nothing if not time, it seems."

>And you could have some time to study your logs.

>"Do they not have cutie marks where you come from, Ahnon?" She asks, after a slight pause.

"No, we don't. Our talents are self defined and changeable. Most of us do not care to bind ourselves to a single concept, idea, or thing for our entire life."

 

 

>"Well how do ya know what another person does?"

"Usually by what that person wears. If he wears a uniform, he is a soldier. A lab coat, a scientist. So in a way I guess our clothing is analogous to your marks."

>"So what does that make you then?"

"That... Is a complicated answer. And the hour grows late. I'd be more than happy to tell you later."

>"Ah don't see how complicated it could be, but if you say so. Follow me, Ah'll see ya to your room."

>The rest of the evening passed uneventfully.

>For the next few hours, you attempted to read and analyze the data topics you acquired, gaining a bit more perspective on how the device you used worked.

>It could be possible to build a device, you figured, that could link to the original back on your world.

>And if that could be done, you could be sent home.

>For now, you're more than happy to go to sleep.

>You curl into your far-too-small bed, and allow yourself to drift off.

 

 

Day 12, Equestria.

>A light buzzing in the back of your consciousness announces that you've had the optimal amount of sleep.

>You sneak out of the house, being careful not to wake anyone.

>It's barely light outside, the first traces of light beginning to appear from the local star.

>As you close the door, Applejack approaches you.

"I see you're up early."

>"Of course. Ya gotta get up early to buck apples, it's coolest in the mornin'. Lot less tirin' then doing it in the hot of day. And it's going to rain later today, and bucking apples in the rain ain't no fun neither."

"Point taken. Wish some assistance? I doubt Twilight will be up this early."

>"Sure. You could probably buck them off with your arm, just make sure not to hit it too hard."

>You spend the next three hours lazily punching trees and collecting apples, while allowing your mind to wander.

 

>"Can Ah get an answer?"

"To?"

>"Mah question Ah asked earlier. About what you were."

"Oh, of course. I was a courier. I delivered things."

>"That didn't take long."

"Was, being the key word there. I was... Attacked while delivering something very important. A small piece of metal with some very valuable information on it.

>"Why did they attack ya?"

"The usual. Power, money, influence. The man tried to kill me. He shot me in the head, left me for dead in a shallow grave."

>"That's... horrible, Ahnon. Ah'm sorry."

"I'm long since over it. In the end, it actually saved my life. But that's when I took off my old courier outfit, put on a new one. Most of the time I wander around the Mojave, my home country, and help people. Or tinker with things. Or take care of my city."

>"Ya have a city?"

"Yes. It's one of the few jewels of my world. New Vegas..."

>"Well, ya certainly didn't strike me as a mayor type."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" You ask, in a mock offended tone.

>"A-Ah, well, Ah didn't mean it like-"

"Applejack, relax. I was joking."

>"Ah, right. Sorry."

>You shake your head and get back to work.

>It was about 10, by your clock.

>Applejack had wandered off about 30 minutes ago, to go get Twilight.

>For now, you decided to rest by the fence, tinkering with your right arm.

>You closed the paneling over your power socket, making sure it wasn't vulnerable, and reinforced some of the more vulnerable joints.

>You also decide to do a quick check up on your wounds.

[Run: Analysis: Personal current injuries]

>[Complete.]

>Your injuries had healed completely, it seems. Only your arm was worse for wear, and that never mattered anyways.

>You pull up your pip-boy, and resume your analysis of the data.

 

 

 

[Twilight's Perspective]

 

>You are Twilight Sparkle.

>And you are about to go crazy.

>The princess has just sent you a letter saying that something RIPPED space open.

>And she wants you to investigate it.

>Nothing had that much power except for Discord.

>Bending space? Sure that's possible.

>You can even bend it to link two points.

>But to cleanly rip it?

>Has another Draconiquis appeared?

"Spike, get me my compendium on spacial anomalies!"

>"Before or after I get the other fifty books you asked me to get?"

>You look over to see him nearly fall down the steps carrying a small pile of books.

>Grabbing the books with your magic, you go through them intensely, trying to glean any information you can about what's going on.

"No... no... That doesn't match... No..."

>As you're going through "Spacial rifts and you, everything you need to know about extradimensional travel" you hear a knock on the door.

"Coming! Give me a second!"

>"Twi, this is important!"

"SO IS EVERYTHING ELSE I'M DEALING WITH!"

 

 

>Time for your favorite pasttime!

>Panic attacks!

>You begin to hyperventilate, feeling as if walls are closing in around you.

>Beset by your mental attackers, you flee into the corner, and cower and shiver.

>"Twi? Y'all right?"

"Eeeeeh. No. Please come in..."

>"All right, but if Ah-"

>She opens the door and walks in, and promptly is aghast at what she sees.

>"Twi... Uh... What happened?"

>As you continue your slow, deep breaths trying to calm yourself, Spike runs over and shows Applejack the letter.

>The letter detailed that Celestia detected some extremely strange energy popping up around Equestria, and that a huge spike came from near the changeling hive to the south.

>It also detailed Celestia wanted Twilight and her friends to investigate.

>"Ah think Ah may have a answer to Celestia's question. Maybe."

 

 

>You begin to recover a little bit, enough to stand up and ask,

"What? Please, explain."

>"Well, ya see, ah was out buckin' apples because Cider season is coming up soon, and I saw some big mean lookin' thing come out of the Everfree holding Lyra."

"What did it do to her!?"

>"He turned out to have saved her from some of the changeling creatures to the south a' here. Anonymous, he said his name was, said he came from there."

>You calm down now, a potential solution now in reach.

>You're no longer in danger of failing horribly, being taunted for your lack of ability, and being pushed to magic kindergarten for incompetence.

"What's he like? Where's this Anon from?"

>"He said he was from some "Mojave" place. Ah've never heard of it before."

"Neither have I..."

>You quickly run through some of your geography books and maps.

>"He also asked tah see ya. He said you might be able to help him."

>What? He asked to speak with you?

"Okay, just let me grab some things! Can you help me carry some of it?"

>"Uh, just what exactly do you- UMPH"

>You cut her off and you begin to load her down with various writing materials and books.

>You do the same to yourself, making sure you had as much as you needed to do a complete analysis.

>A whole new sentient species, from another land!

>How exiting!

"Come on Applejack!"

>You rush out the door, Applejack on your tail.

>However, you once again forgot to bring Spike along, in your excitement.

>Sighing heavily and sadly, the under-appreciated, stunted dragon moves to clean up the mess you made in your haste.

 

[Anon's Perspective]

 

>You are anon. And you are witnessing one of the strangest acts of nature you've ever seen.

>And you've seen some shit.

>A cloud, a single cloud, has set over the orchard. In a matter of minutes, it grew to a tremendous size, comparatively, and began drenching the orchard.

>You sat, slack jawed, confused, and wet, as you watched the thing vanish just as quickly as it came.

>What is going on here?

>Atop the single remaining cloud, you saw something... Cyan.

>Or was it light blue?

[Run: Vision: Magnification: 150%]

>[Complete]

>A pony.

>With wings.

>Is sitting.

>On a cloud.

>Well, stranger things have happened.

>You take a bite of an apple you grabbed, then yell,

"Hello up there!"

>Bad idea.

>The pony perks up, and moves its head to face you.

>As soon as its magenta eyes meet yours, its eyes widen with alarm.

>It takes off in a flash of colors, dissipating the cloud it was riding on.

[Run: Vision: Magnification: Reset]

>[Complete]

 

 

>Even with your implants, your eyes could not track the thing.

>It flies behind you, and before you have time to react, it hits you in the back, shoving you face first into the road.

>"HA! Gotcha! N-"

>You spit the dirt and blood out of your mouth from the contact, and reach your arm around.

>You attempt to grab the thing, but it takes off before you can.

>This thing was annoyingly fast.

>And it ruined your apple.

>As you propel yourself back up, you're hit again, this time in the chest.

>You flip back up, pumping additional power into your ocular sensors.

>You finally get a bead on the fast moving pony, and dodge her next dive at you.

>"Rainbow Dash!"

>Applejack's voice.

>"Stahp that this instant!"

>Approaching from the trail, you see Applejack accompanied by a Purple unicorn.

>You assume it to be Twilight.

>"Rainbow, what are ya doin'?"

>This "Rainbow Dash", she seems to be called, adopts a more aggressive posture, settling on the ground before speaking.

 

 

>"This monster was trying to steal from your orchard! I saw him eating one of your apples!"

>"He ain't no monster Rainbow. This is Ahnon."

>"Hmph. He sure LOOKS like a monster."

>You brush yourself off.

>"Ahnon, this is Rainbow Dash. She can be a bit rash sometimes. And this is Tw-"

>"Himynameistwilighthowareyouwhoareyou?!" Twilight punctuates this well constructed sentence with a high pitched squeal.

"Come again?"

>Twilight squeals again before talking again.

>"Hi! I'm Twilight Sparkle! Your name is Anonymous, right? Oh, so much to do!"

>She begins to levitate a blank book and begins to write things down.

>What she's writing is beyond you, however.

>Rainbow Dash now seems to be sulking by the fence.

>"I don't see what you're getting so worked up about, Twilight. We get visitors though here all the time."

>"Because!"

>Twilight pulls out several of her books out, showing them to Rainbow.

>"His species has never been encountered before, even mentioned!"

>"So?"

>"So, we have a lot to learn!"

>"Fine. But leave me out of it."

 

 

>With that, she flies off.

>How unnecessarily hostile.

"Is she all right?"

>"She's fine." Applejack says. "She's just been fretting about getting into the Wonderbolts recently."

"Wonderbolts?"

>"They're the best fliers in Equestria." Twilight responds. "But enough about us, I want to know about you! Where do you come from? What's your country like? What kind of creatures live there? How come we've never heard of you? Are you isolated? Do you live underground? What abo-"

>"Twilight, give him some room and take a deep breath."

>Twilight takes a deep breath and seems to calm down a little bit.

"I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Lets take a seat and get comfy, yeah?"

>You and Twilight sit down by one of the trees in the orchard that was already bucked, as Applejack continues her work. Twilight sets the collection of books beside her

>"Lets start with the simple stuff. What's your full name?"

"Anonymous."

>"That's not much of a name."

>Neither is Twilight friggin' SPARKLE, you think to yourself.

"Nevertheless, it is what everyone calls me."

>"All right then. What does your species call itself?"

"Human. We are the only sentient species where we come from. Listen, you seem like a fairly intelligent sort. Let me try to explain this for you."

 

 

>You pull out the holo-projector in your arm.

[Run: Display module 071: Planet: Current]

>[Insufficient data points to accurately create]

"Can I see some of those geography books and maps you have there?"

>"Sure," She floats them over to you.

>You look through them quickly, and hopefully get enough information to display the planet.

[Run: Display module 071: Planet: Current]

>[Insufficient data points to accurately create]

[Extrapolate from known global data points, estimate new data points]

>[Complete]

"All right. This..."

>You project a small picture of the planet in front of you.

"Is your planet. I do not quite know what you do and do not know about the universe, stop me if anything confuses you, or if I go too fast.

>"Wooooow... Sure! Okay!"

"As I said, this is your planet."

>You zoom the chart out, now showing the entire solar system.

"Your system has 5 other planets that I've detected, orbiting around your star."

>"Hold on, what do you mean going around the star? Our sun goes around us! It's the princess that raises it every day, and moves it along it's path."

"Wait, how?"

 

 

>"Every day, she gets up and moves the sun."

"That's... Quite literally impossible."

>You zoom in to the the sun itself, showing it in comparison to the planet.

>She stares at it intently, obviously experiencing internal conflict.

"I believe..." You go back to the planet. "That your princess may just be turning the planet."

>You show the planet turning in its irregular cycles.

"But in any case, that's not the point. This next part may boggle your mind a little bit."

>You begin to zoom out the star chart a bit more.

"You see, your sun, your star, is one of very, very many others. And around one of those others, is where my planet lies. I don't come from your planet at all."

>She sits there dumbfounded, with the look of someone who just ate a whole uncooked ginger root.

>"Bu... Eh. We always thought the stars... Were set in our sky. Tiny little lights. I thought those... other planets, you're talking about, were just wandering lights."

"That's understandable. My people thought something similar, long ago."

>"Just... Just how advanced are your people?"

"Not as advanced as you'd think."

>You slump against the tree, and sigh deeply.

"My people, a long, long time ago, relied on precious resources we dug up from the ground to create energy. Stuff your species calls uranium, and oil."

>"The poison rock? How do you get energy from it?"

"Everything has energy in it. But we used it to create wondrous things. We used it to power great machines of industry and entertainment, to power our vehicles and engines. But we began to run out of both."

 

 

>She continues to stare intently, focused on your every word.

"Another property that Uranium has... It's very volatile. Applied correctly... It can... destroy. Horribly. On a scale you cannot imagine. When we began to run out of ways to make energy, our countries across my word exploded into conflict. Some countries and communities were able to create energy other ways. Some harnessed the power of the sun, the wind, or even heat from the core of our planet. But those countries were rolled over and destroyed."

>Her look is now approaching one of horror.

"Eventually, only two countries remained intact in the entire world. Everyone else had been conquered, killed, or fell apart. These two countries fought over what little resources were left on the planet. As the war dragged on, and more and more machines of war were invented, one side decided enough was enough."

>"What did they do?"

>You began to run a simulation of what happened to Earth.

"They loaded Uranium into warheads, missiles, capsules, and began to launch them at each other. Nearly everything on the entire face of the planet was destroyed, set ablaze. Almost everything of the old world perished. Our ice caps blackened, and our seas turned green. The sad thing about Uranium, besides it's destructive capability, is its ability to spread radiation. Radiation takes a very, very long time to go away, and if people are exposed to too much of it, they'll start to feel sick, and feel as if their skin is burning. Eventually, radiation will kill someone."

"But not everyone died. Some people were able to find shelter. Some hid for many, many years underground, waiting to go back to the surface. Many of these people vowed to not make the mistakes of their ancestors. And so, humans came back to the face of the planet we had ruined."

 

 

>"What... Why did they do such a thing? Why did they decide to kill each other? If they both had uranium, that means that they'd surely just kill each other!"

"I think that myself sometimes. But when people could see the nuclear apocalypse coming, some tried to prepare. A team of people tried to invent something called the GECK. This device was supposed to purify water, advance growth of plants, and get rid of the radiation. That's what led me here."

>"But how did you even get here?"

"I got here looking for a way to make the GECK bigger. I was experimenting with new kinds of energy, looking for a way to power the device, so I could begin to undo some of the damage my ancestors did. My search led me to a kind of energy that seems to lie under space itself, able to pull energy and matter from other points in space. While experimenting, I accidentally teleported myself here."

>She seemed, now, to be deep in thought.

>You both sat in silence, wind whispering in your ears.

>"Anon... That's horrible. What happened. I don't..."

>She takes a deep breath.

 

 

>She doesn't seem particularly interested in writing in her books any longer.

>You feel kind of guilty for ruining that youthful excitement with such a horrible bombshell.

>You turn your holo-projector off.

"Sorry if this wasn't exactly what you expected. My species has made more than it's fair share of mistakes."

>"I... Need some time to think about this. I'll come back tomorrow."

"I'll be here. Not like I'm going anywhere."

>You chuckle.

>She wordlessly lifts her gear back onto her, and walks off to get Applejack.

>You continue to sit, and contemplate truly how much Humanity has messed up.

>If you could help it, you had to keep these ponies from making the same mistakes Humanity did.

>You pull yourself up and decide that you need to find something to occupy yourself with.

>Meat was no longer a concern, the apples providing sufficient calories to maintain your cybernetic systems.

>You were burnt out on studying, further study would result in diminishing returns.

> Perhaps you could help around the farm?

>Applejack did mention it was cider season.

>Apples are needed.

>No, that's a job of manual labor.

>What about something to help speed the process up a bit?

>To create a machine, you needed a workshop.

>You'd need to create tools capable of recreating the machine to get home, as well.

>That's as good a place to start as any.

>But you were not about to start building lean-to's all over people's property.

>It could be possible to add some tools to your cybernetic arm, but that would take more resources, and you lacked the smelting facilities, metalworking facilities, and raw ores to create what you needed to.

>Back to square one.

>You resign yourself to studying the logs more, hoping tomorrow would open new possibilities of action.