Tempest was lying on a fluffy bed of cloud, taking a nap like he often did, when a strange noise in the distance caught his attention.
"What's that weird noise?" Tempest mumbled to himself. Shrugging, he plopped his head back down and promptly closed his eyes to sleep again, when... There was the noise again! Now irritated, Tempest got up and grumpily stretched before flying down to find the source of the noise. His wings caught a wind current, allowing it to carry him in the direction he wanted to go. Finally, it came into view. It was a strange capsule of some kind, and it looked like it could fit a whole town of ponies inside. Hidden behind the cover of trees, Tempest doubted anypony could see it from outside. He swooped down, gracefully landing on the green grass. Then, the noise sounded again. Is was an awful noise, like a pony's stomach growling, but louder. The machine hovered in the air, barely lifted off of the ground. In the half open doorway of the machine flashed a golden hoof and a light aqua tail, like a scared mouse poking it's head out for a brief moment to survey the area.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" Tempest yelled to the machine. He got no response. Grumbling under his breath, Tempest spread his grey wings and flew up to the door, which was flapping in the turbulence. Tempest peeked inside the machine, only to find a golden pony with an aqua mane and tail sitting to the left in what appeared to be the machines' "driver's seat". Tempest considered his options for a moment. He could just leave now, and it would all be over with, or he could stay and find out what this machine was. Hmm... Well, I know I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't find out what this thing is, so I'd better look into it. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Tempest thought. He nodded and zipped inside, closing the door behind him.
"Hey! Who are you? What're you doing?" Tempest asked again. The pony jumped. It was a unicorn, her green eyes round with shock.
"Wha? W-who are you? What are you doing in here?!" She stammered.
"I could say that same thing to you! What is this thing?" Tempest retorted, irritated.
"You- you can't be here! Leave, now! Before it's to-" a loud beep cut her off, and the machine began to shake violently.
"Ahhh!" Tempest and the unicorn cried in barmony. With a whiz and a loud BANG, gravity shoved Tempest against the closed door with alarming speed, causing pain to flash through his back and wings as he groaned. The unicorn to his left was pushed back in her seat which, luckily for her, was padded. It also probably helped that she was strapped in.
"What's... Going... On?!" Tempest spat out in between shallow breaths. I guess being forcefully shoved against something really knocked the wind out of you.
"I- I don't... Know!" The unicorn responded, her voice strained. Then, all of a sudden, they lurched forward.
"Ahh!" Tempest went flying, only catching himself with his reflexes, his sudden wing flaps keeping him safe above the machines' floor. Breathing heavily, Tempest allowed himself to sit down, catching his breath.
"Well... That was certainly..." The unicorn paused, "Interesting."
"In-? Interesting?! We almost died! I don't even know who you are!" Tempest ranted at the unicorn. How could something like that happen, and she only call it 'interesting'? It was dangerous! Life threatening!
"I-I'm sorry... But, I don't know you either! You just stumbled into here without a second thought!" The unicorn yelled in her defense.
"Well, sorry, Mrs. I'll-build-a-noisy-machine-and-not-expect-anyone-to-ask-questions!" Tempest raved sarcasitically.
"Wow! Really nice comeback there," The unicorn rolled her eyes, annoyed. "It's not my fault you poke you head in where it doesn't belong!"
"It is my business when you disturb my nap!" Tempest countered. Geez, the nerve of some ponies. The unicorn sighed, taking a deep breath before exhaling.
"Okay, look. This is going to get us nowhere. How about we just introduce ourselves for now and then we find out what happened, okay?" The unicorn proposed, her eyes challenging Tempest to dare try arguing with her again.
"Fine," Tempest sighed, "I'm Tempest Wing, but I prefer Tempest."
"Well, It's a pleasure, Tempest. I'm Seafoam Sunset, but you can just call me Seafoam. I'm an inventor," Seafoam explained, holding out her hoof in a friendly manner. Tempest shook it, the anger boiling inside of him beginning to die down.
"Alright, so where are we? What happened? And, what is this thing?" Tempest asked, impatient.
"I'm searching our coordinates as we speak, I don't know what happened, and this is a machine I built. A, uh... time machine." Seafoam weakly whispered the last part, and Tempest's eyes widened.
"A time machine? This?!" Tempest questioned, appalled. A time machine! How was it even possible? Time machines were impossible, right?
"Yes... Er, at least, it was meant to be. I'm not trying to boast, but I'm pretty tech savvy, and pretty smart, too. I thought I would try my hoof at building a time machine... But, I don't think it works," Seafoam explained, looking rather embarrassed. "It's silly, I know."
"You can say that again," Tempest mumbled sarcastically.
"Hey! What did you just say?" Seafoam demanded, angry.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Tempest reassured her nonchalantly.
"Uh huh..." Seafoam nodded, unconvinced.
"Alright, so, you said it was finding where we are?" Tempest asked, suddenly interested in changing the subject.
"Yeah, it's almost done." As soon as Seafoam spoke those words, a little beep sounded and a string of numbers came up on a screen in front of her. Seafoam looked at them closely, studying the numbers one by one. Her eyes slowly began to widen in disbelief, her face turning to Tempest.
"It-It says... It says were in... outer space..." Seafoam's voice was barely audible. Wait, what?