Chapter 1: A Surprise From The Stars

[Location: Canterlot Castle – Celestia's Bed Chamber]

[Time: 1:15am]

Celestia, the princess of the sun and the sole ruler of Equestria, entered her private room to finally sleep for the night after a long day of work with royal officials, poloticians and overall princess buisness that still needs to be worked on, that will unfortunately be move to tommorow's work.

Being a princess meant she was an alicorn; one of the many races of the pony species that had all attributes from the other three races. And being an alicorn, she was massive in height and build, even though she didn't work out. Her fur was as white as clouds and her mane flowed gracefully like a calm river, flourishing its brilliant array of blues, teals and pinks. Her wings were also large, each wing reach as long as her full height, with her horn's matching her entire arm's length.

She also wore an assortment of expensive clothing and jewelry, such as a one-shoulder split dress, with a gold necklace holding a purple gem in the center. She also wore various rings around her arms, each signifying her age with each a gift given every 100 years. Lastly, she wore her crown on her head, resting neatly behind her horn.

Walking towards her wardrobe, she used her magic to open its doors; the left door had a built-in mirror. A shimmer of light bounced off the mirror, catching Celestia's attention. She took a quick glance at it, seeing only the reflection of the moon. She turned her head to look out of her open balcony, the urge to go outside, pulling her away from her need to rest. Unfortunately, she couldn't fight the urge she felt and walked to her balcony, gazing at the moon's beauty, the mark of the pony covering the entire celestial body.

"The mark of the pony", as some called it, brought Celestia to tears whenever she looked at it. This mark was there because of her, because of what she did. All because she couldn't save her little sister, and she still have to pay for her own mistakes.

Celestia sobbed on the spot, holding her muzzle, almost falling to the ground, only catching herself by the railing.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could help you, but I can't. I wish you could forgive me, because I can't." Celestia sobbed through her tears, the little makeup she wore running down her face.

Her sobs grew louder and heavier as time went by; Celestia continuing to apologize, and her crying drew the attention of a guard outside. The sudden knock on her door caught her off guard, as she shut her mouth to quickly shut up.

"Umm, your highness? Sorry to intrude at such a late hour, but I was wondering if you're alright? I heard crying, and I wanted to come check on you to make sure you were safe. May I enter?" A voice Celestia vaguely remembered hearing, waited patiently for her reply.

Celestia picked herself up from the floor, wiping her tears from her face and straightening her posture before allowing the guard on the other side to enter her room.

Walking in was one of her many royal guards, wearing your typical gold armour. This guard, in particular, was a lieutenant, lieutenant Silver Thorns. He was a silver furred pegasus, with a dark grey mane and tail, which had small streaks of lighter grey scattered about.

The armour he wore was typical to what royal guards wore, consisting of a large chestplate with their recognizable blue star gem in the middle. Along with a pair of vambraces, a tasset, a pair of greaves, and a helmet, which had a large light blue crest on top. The entire armour was made of a durable metal alloy and then coated in a gold coloured paint. Underneath all that armour was a one-piece black suit that helped in mobility and to protect sections of their body the armour didn't cover and to also make wearing the armour more comfortable.

Silver also had a weapon on him; held in his right hand. It was a spear that reached well above his own height, yet it barely had it to Celestia's chin. The handle was made of a special wood, known as Iron Wood; known for its unique properties similar to various metals, and the blade was made from the same metal alloy as his armour, which nullified any magic it came into contact with.

"I'm sorry to intrude, my princess. I heard crying coming from your bedchambers, and I wanted to make sure you were alright." he said, bowing before her and apologising.

"I assure you, lieutenant; I am quite alright. You didn't need to come check on me for such a silly thing." Celestia assured Silver she was fine and he didn't intrude on anything important.

"Princess, it's my job, and the job of every royal guard to protect your physical and mental state." Silver explained, taking his helmet off and placing it on the nearby table before resting his spear against the wall.

"So please, tell me. What is it that is bothering you?" Silver asked, looking towards Celestia and revealing the large scar that plastered the right side of his face.

In the mirror, Celestia saw her makeup dried up and smudged across her face; her eyes were red and sore from her sobbing. Even though she tried to hide her feelings from her guards, Silver seemed to be very keen, and knew she couldn't pull herself out of this situation without physically pushing him out, which she did not want to do that.

With a heavy sigh, Celestia walked to her bed and sat down, gesturing Silver to come sit down next to her. Silver was confused and a little hesitant, but any orders from the princess must be met, so he sat next to her, wondering what she wants.

"Do you know the story about of pony in the moon?" Celestia asked, getting a nod from Silver.

"Yes, I do. It's an old foals tale my mother used to tell me and my little sister. Though I never believed the story to be true." Silver said.

Celestia wanted to say the story was actually true, but she didn't think she was in the right mind set to talk about it, at least not yet.

"Once upon a time, there were two sisters who ruled Equestria. One ruled during the day, and the other ruled at night." Celestia began the centuries old tale.

"For many years they lived in peace, protecting their citizens from any harm, either during the day, or during the night." Celestia continued, till Silver spoke up.

"But sadly, the youngest of the two sisters, began to become jealous of her sister, the ponies of Equestria always slept during her night." Silver continued the story, Celestia almost thanking him for taking over.

"The eldest tried to reconcile with her sister, but her efforts were unheard as the darkness within the youngest grew even more, until it consumed her entirely, turning her into..." Celestia continued, but Silver cut her off to speak.

"Nightmare Moon." Silver whispered, Celestia shaking a little from the name alone.

Silver saw how Celestia reacted to that name, wondering if she had some history with somepony like Nighmare Moon. So, for her own mental stability, he continued the story for her.

"After becoming Nightmare Moon, she shrouded all of Equestria in an enternal night, blocking out the sun." He said, and Celesria didn't speak up, so he continued.

"When her sister discovered what she had become, a fight broke out, their battle destroying the castle they lived in for so long." Silver continued, which is when Celestia spoke up again.

"What a beautiful castle it was." Celestia said under her breath, and Silver caught it, yet he focused on finishing the story.

"The fight lasted only minutes, as Nightmare Moon wasn't held back by her love for her sister. The eldest, seeing no other way, came up with a plan to stop her, permantly." Silver said, which then Celestia shouted out of nowhere.

"AAAHHHH!!! It wasn't on purpose! I didn't mean to send her away! It was an accident! I didn't want to lose her!" Celestia cried and shrieked, grabbing onto her mane as her body slouched over itself, tears falling from her face and ruining her makeup further.

"Your highness! What's wrong?! Speak to me!" Silver stood to his hooves, taken aback from Celestia's sudden outburst.

"It's all my fault! It's all my fault!" Celestia yelled, but it was obvious she completely forgotten Silver's existence.

"I'm so sorry. If I could swap places with you, I would. But I can't, I just can't." Celestia kept muttering, her voice becoming quieter with each word.

"Princess, you need to calm down! I can't help you if you won't communicate with me! Who are you talking about?!" Silver raised his voice, hoping to snap Celestia out of her stupor.

He seemed to get through to her when she stopped her muttering. When she lifted her head up slowly. Silver saw her make up was now all over the place, smeared across her face from her crying and rubbing.

"M..my, my sister. Luna." Celestia whimpered, causing Silver's face to morph into confusion and shock, his eyes as wide as they can be.

"Sister?!" Silver shouted, and Celestia nodded, "I...I didn't know you had a sister. I don't think anypony knew you had one." Silver said in disbelief.

"Well, she did disappeared nearly 1000 years ago." Celestia said, her crying stopping only momentarily till it continued.

Silver wanted to know more, as the gears in his head worked to put all the information he was learning together. If he wanted to learn more, he needed to ask his princess what happened to her sister, which felt too evasive and disrespectful for him to ask, but his curiosity pushed him forwards.

"Princess, I hope I am not asking too much, but..." Silver held his breath only for a second to think, "What happened to your sister?" He finally asked, yet she didn't respond, untill she lifted her head up moments later.

"She's there." She pointed her finger towards a direction behind him and he followed the direction.

Silver saw Celestia pointing at the very thing he was afraid to be true, the moon. Celestia said the story of the pony in the moon was true. A tale describing the relationship between her and her sister, her sister's transformation into Nightmare Moon, and then her banishment, but that part of the story wasn't true. Celestia banishing her sister was on acciden because the artifacts she used, the fabled Elements of Harmony, used her as a vessle to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon to restore balance to the world.

Silver was completely taken aback, never expecting the story he heard so many times to be true. It sounded so fake, but here was Celestia, saying it was true and seeing it as the worst day of her life. Silver knows the heartbreak of losing family, but he could never understand the bond Celestia had with her sister if she still regrets it after all these centuries.

"I'm... I'm sorry, princess. I could never truly understand what you went through or what you are feeling now. Losing a family member is hard, I know." Silver said, his eyes still locked onto the moon, his opinion of the mark changing completely.

Celestia looked up at him, his scar was the only thing she could see physically, but all she saw was sadness in his blind eye, just like her own sadness.

"I understand, but you don't need to apologise. You have nothing to be sorry about." Celestia said, as she walked to the balcony, Silver following her from behind.

"I know, but I do know what it feels like, and pardon my language princess, but it hurts like a bitch." Silver said, Celestia chuckled when he swore.

Celestia never broke her eye contact from the moon, like a moth to a light bulb. She was just transfixed to it like many nights, but unlike many, there was somepony with her to gaze with her, and she felt a little happier because of it.

"I wouldn't want to make it hard for you anymore princess, but if you want some help to ease the pain, just come talk to me. I learned it helps when you talk to somepony about it." Silver said, as Celestia finally looked down at him.

"I understand what you mean. I am glad you came to me, because I do feel a little lighter now. Maybe we should talk with eachother more." Celestia said, her bright smile back on her face.

"Yeah, maybe we should." Silver said, happy to see his princess's smile back on her face.

The two kept star gazing, talking about their families, specifically about their little sisters. But when Silver needed to leave for the upcoming guard rotation, his eyes spot a strange anomaly in the sky. His eyes squinted and saw a star, much brighter than any of the other stars around it. He pointed this out to Celestia, and she was puzzled about what it could be.

"Could it be a supernova? I read something like that somewhere in the library." Silver asked and Celestia shook her head.

"I don't believe it is. No star chart I read or wrote had a star in that position in the sky." Celestia explained, until her eyes caught something.

"Wait a minute..." She squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look, when she noticed a slight change in the star's glow.

After a few second, the white glow of the star transition into a hot firery red, the light bending around a form inside the fire ball. Celestia realised they weren't watching a star or a supernova event, but an asteroid with an unknown size, barrelling towards them at speeds she knew was too fast for her own comfort. All Celestia knew about it was its trajectory, and it was headed for Canterlot City itself.

"Lieutenant Silver! Tell every guard you come across to be ready for immediate evacuation! I want everypony ready! When that asteroid hits, I want all civilians in the nearby area of the landing site to be evacuated and brought to the castle!" Celestia ordered Silver, and he nodded his head saluting her and heading to grab his stuff.

"Good! Now hurry, before..."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

Before Celestia could finish her sentence, a massive explosion erupted through the whole castle and the entire city, alongside with the heaviest shaking that knocked everypony off their hooves. Celestia looked to see where the asteroid should be in the sky, but didn't spot it at all, and all the colour under her fur had drained.

Celestia ran out to see the damage to the city, but was relived to see no crater, no fire and no damage to the city whatsoever. But then she wondered where the asteroid actually impacted.

"PRINCESS!!!" Another guard, one of the unicorn race, bursts through her doors, huffing and puffing, a panicked look on his face.

"Private?!" Silver was taken aback, but he could hear and even see the chaos that was happening down the hallway, "Status report! What the hell is happening?!" Silver demanded, and the guard said they have a massive problem.

"Something hit the royal gardens! We don't know what, but we are starting a blockade around it! Is there anything you want us to do, your highness?!" The new guard past on the information he had, but from how he spoke, he barely knew what was happening.

"Thank you for the information, private. I believe it is best to continue with this blockade. Whatever this asteroid is, it isn't a normal one." Celestia said and she let the guard leave to join the other.

"Lieutenant Silver, I want you to join the blackade! I will be there in half an hour! Relay this to the others!" Celestia order, and Silver asked what she was going to do.

Celestia said he didn't need to worry about that, all he needs to worry about is to make sure everypony in the blockade is doing their part. When Silver saluted and left, she calmly walked to her wardrobe. She eyed the frame of the mirror carefully, her eyes focusing more on the corners, specifically the little bumps in the corners.

She moved her hand to the top left and bottom right corners, placing her fingers in specific locations and pressing down into the bumps, sinking into the frame like buttons. The mirror hissed with steam, as the sounds of locks was then heard clicking from inside. Celestia released her hands from the frame and she opened the mirror like it was its own door, revealing a collection of very powerful weapons behind it.

Among these weapons was a simple looking long sword, the only unique design it had was its sun inspired handle. Another trinket was a helmet, designed similar to the helmets of the royal guard, but had more sun motifs like the sword.

Celestia grabbed a hold of the sword's handle, and the red crystal in the sword's pommel glowed as a small burst of flames travelled up the sword from bottom to top. Grabbing her helmet didn't cause any special effects, but as she wore it on her head, small white wings flashed into existence on each side of the helmet.

[Location: Canterlot–Royal Gardens]

[Time: 1:42am]

Once all the guards in the castle got the proper orders and were able to organise with each other, they quickly created the planned blockade around the crater the asteroid created. The size of this crater was larger than anypony would've expected. It was about 20 meters in width and 12 in depth. The damage around the crater when the asteroid impacted the ground has been cleaned up, so the blockage can be created.

The blockade was made up of every race in the royal guard, with earth ponies making the front lines of the blockade because of their physical strength, unicorns behind the earth ponies as support and artillery, and pegasi creating a dome blockade in the air for air support, or incase their opponant could fly. The blockade surrounded the crater from all angles, both on the ground and in the air, and if anything wanted to escape, it will have to get through Equestria's highly trained guards.

The guards began to wait for any new orders to be given, as all they were doing at the moment was waiting. Nothing was coming from the crater, so some guards believed they shouldn't have this blockade up and they should clean the place up.

"Ugh! Why are we just standing around?! Can't we just take care of the problem and get back to our normal schedules?!" One guard complained, getting a few agreeable murmurs from other guards across the blockade.

"Yeah! We've been standing here for 10 minutes, and no pony has told us anything!" Another guard complained, ryling up the whole blockade.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" A loud booming voice shot through the gardens, as everypony looked to where the sound came from.

"You should all be ashamed! You are following the orders from the princess herself! If you want to leave, go ahead! Don't come crying when the rest of us inform the princess of your treasonous act!" One of the top 8 Captains of the royal guards, barked at all the guards, daring them to betray their current orders and kingdom.

The Captain, Captain Snow; a large earth pony with white fur and a grey mane and tail, his features aged from stress from serving many years in the royal guard. His armour was the same as Silver's, like all royal guards, but his armour plates was more thicker and he had the pieces Silver's didn't have, which gave him less mobility, but his immense strength and combat abilities and highly trained skills allows him to fight beyond most ponies with the same armour. Snow also had a large scar across his face like Silver, but this scar was much older, and much larger than Silver's as there were stories surrounding his scar, from a fight he had with a manticore or after he was splashed with lava. Nopony knows how he got his scar, and Snow never shared where his scar came from.

The blockade went silent, not wanting to argue against one of the strongest and scariest Captains. Snow had a track record of disciplining his stallions with very harsh punishments, it would make the fabled Changling Queen look like a saint. Thankfully for all of them, Snow stopped yelling at them, but he was annoyed that so many gaurds he is in charge with are such morons.

"If I ever hear another negative comment about this blockade or the orders we have been given by her majesty, then I'll make sure you wished you were dead, cause I'll make Tartarus look like paradise!" Snow shouted, his voice reaching across the whole blockade. Even another Captain who was in the castle at the time stiffened from Snow's boominh voice.

"Alright, I think you had your fun, Captain!" Everypony turned to see Princess Celestia walking towards the blockade, but they were all shocked when they saw her wearing a helmet and wielding a sword.

Next to her, was a nurse pony, named Mint Candy. She wore your typical nurse's scrubs, colour a light mint green. She was a unicorn, covered in light green fur, more saturated than her scrubs, her mane and tail having the same colours and pattern as peppermints. She was also holding a medical kit, ready for any medical emergencies.

Celestia walked through the blockade, the guards making a path for her to walk, as she stops next to Captain Snow. She thanks him for keeping everypony in line, and Snow just bowed, thanking her for her praise. She smiled, but her smile didn't last long as it turned into a frown when she looked back towards the crater, now looking over the edge to see inside it.

Inside the crater was shocking, as she saw a metal ball in the center of the crater, but it only has a few scratches on it, which was surprising, since she believed it was the asteroid she saw falling from the sky. Looking away from the object for the moment, she eyed the pegasi in the sky and checked everypony for a certain one. When she spots her target, she called for him to come down and accompany her to inspect the object personally.

"Lieutenant Silver Thorn! I would like you to join me and Nurse Mint Candy to inspect this strange object! I believe your skills will be helpful, just in case!" She called, as Silver followed her order and flew down next to her.

Everypony was confused why she wanted somepony like Silver, as he had a reputation of starting fights with others, yet she wanted him to accompany her personally.

"Thank you for giving me such a role, your highness." Silver said greatfully, bowing to her.

"You're quite welcome, Lieutenant. Now, let us waste no more time and see what we are dealing with." Celestia said, and Silver agreed along with Mint.

Silver went down first, sliding down the crater walls, whilst Celestia carefully floated both her and Mint in her magic, as she touched down and gently placed Mint down on the ground, Mint thanking her.

Now they were infront of the strange object, its features more noticable, like the red glass and the lining that wrapped around the glass and further down the object, only to be blocked by the ground to see where the grooves went. Celestia, in her mind, believed it could be a door of some kind, but had no proof to claim her theory.

"So, any ideas on what this thing is?" Silver asked, and Celestia said she might have an idea.

However, before she could speak any further, yells from the guards above caught their attention, as they turned to where the noise was coming from.

"Oi, stop! Citizens are not supposed to be here! Leave before... h...hey!" A guard, Silver recognising the voice as Captain Snow, turned to see somepony tumble down the small cliff before he could tell who they were.

As they fell over the edge of the crater, they rolled across the packed dirt, and before they could smash into the object or anypony else, Celestia stepped in their way and caught them, before they could get hurt.

The pony Celestia caught was a female earth pony, with caramel orange fur, and a dark yellow mane and tail. She wore clothing akin to a mechanic, wearing copper goggles with red lenses, a stained white shirt with a brown, oily overalls on top.

"Caramel?! What in Tartarus do you think you are doing here?!" Silver roared in anger, pulling the girl off of Celestia and starting shaking her to high heaven.

"Um, princess. Do you know who she is?" Mint asked, and Celestia said she didn't, but could theorised who she was to Silver.

"Dammit Caramel! Why must you be so idiotic! You know it's dangerous and stupid to bypass a blockade!" Silver kept yelling at her, then stopping as Caramel felt dizzy.

"I c...can't h...help it." Caramel said, dizzy from Silver's shaking.

Whilst Silver continued to yell at Caramel, the both were interupted when Celestia cleared her throat, gaining their attention.

"I believe this is the sister you talked about before, am I correct?" Celestia asked, getting a nod from Silver.

"Yes." He said, standing up, Caramel joining him, "This is Caramel Sweetheart. She is my little sister and a recent engineering apprentice in the castle." He explained, as Caramel removed her goggles from her eyes to the top of her head, revealing her bright creme yellow eyes.

"At your service princess! If you want anything mechanical repaired or upgraded, I am your girl!" She said, a bright smile plastered across her face.

"Well, it is nice to meet you miss Swertheart..." Celestia spoke, but Caramel quickly cut her off.

"Um, princess, do you mind calling me by my name? I don't like being called miss, makes me sound old." She asked politely, but that didn't stop Silver clobbering her over her head, yelling at her she cannot cut their princess off for any reason.

Celestia seperated the two of them, saying it is her pleasure to call her Caramel, if its makes her feel more comfitable, and looked to Silver and told him off for hitting his sister, saying she never took any offence from her cutting her off, only that she may have a lack of any social cues. Silver apologises, confirming Celestia's therory, telling how Caramel barely has any friends growing up, so she never learnt basic social behaviours, which is why he sees her as a menace.

Silver looked around for his sister, but was a little panicked when he couldn't find her, by when he heard the banging of metal on metal, he was furious when he turned to see Caramel banging a wrench on the object's hull.

"I've never seen any material this durable before? I wonder what I can... HEY!!!" Caramel was mummbling to herself, when she was suddenyl pick up by Silver.

"Sis, I can understand your fascination with new tech, but we don't know what this thing is, so it is best for you to stay back for now." Silver said, about to walk off, but he took a quick glance through the red glass and stopped walking.

Celestia noticed this and asked if he was okay. Silver said he was fine, but said she needs to come here and take a look at what is inside. Celestia asked what it was, but Silver said it was best for her to take a look herself. Celestia didn't know what Silver saw inside, only that it wasn't anything good.

She approched the object, as she twiddle her fingers, hoping what was inside wasn't anything horrifying. Unfortunately for her, when she was able to look inside the object's red glass clearly, her face morphed into a mix of horror and shock.

Inside was a young boy, but it was hard to tell how old he really was, as he wasn't a pony, or any creature Celestia has ever seen. The boy only had hair on the top of his head, which was very spicky and full. The only other place that had visable fur was the strange monkey tail he had. Other than that, he was completely bald, pale skin covering his whole body. The boy also wore some strange clothing unknown to her. Other than the strange looks and the strange clothing, she was horrified to see a child inside this... thing. The boy was even asleep.

"How is this possible?! Who's child is this? why are they inside such a strange machine?" Celestia began to ask questions to nopony in particular.

Silver had the same questions, as the memory of the object; thought to be a astroid, came flying down from space, lit on fire.

During Celestia rammbling, the child inside began to stur, as his eyes opens. Celestia saw this and looked at the child, both their eyes meeting. Celestia looked carefully and saw the boy's onix eyes, and vise versa for the boy seeing Celestia's own. Celestia only saw innocence inside him, his eyes telling her everything she needed to kno.

Giving the boy a warm, motherly smile, she placed one of her hands onto the object's red glass, and promised the boy she will get him out of there. The boy only tilted his head in confusion, making Celestia giggle, as she ordered everypony to find a way to help open this object up.

"Yes Ma'am!" Caramel saluted.

"As you wish princess." Silver bowed.

"Of course, your highness." Mint nervously nodded.

Everyone began to observe and feel the object for any sign of an opening, which was easier said than done, as all they found was crevasses lining the pod, but even though they concluded this was the way inside the object, the supposed door was stuck, and none of them could pry it open.

Silver said they can get some of their stongest guards to help pry it open, but when he looked over to Celestia, he saw not just worry, but also panic in her eyes.

"Princess, calm down. Everything will be alright. Just take some deep breaths, it'll help." Silver tried to calm Celestia down, but his words landed on deaths ears.

Celestia didn't understand what she was feeling. Rationally, she knew the child was safe, but the small space and the inability to open the door freaked her out. Her breaths increasing, as they also became heavier as her heart pumped faster and her mind telling her only one thing.

("SAVE HIM!!!")

"Princess, calm down! It'll be alright! The boy isn't freaking out, so he's fine! You don't need to..." Silver tried to reason with Celestia, but his grip on her dissapeared when a sudden gust of wind exploded from her.

Silver, Mint and Caramel were thrown back to the edge of the crater, and the pegasi above struggled to keep their formation from the sudden gust coming from below. Silver was the first to recover, able to see his princess gripping the object tightly, her muscles tensing under the pressure she was exerting.

Celestia dug her finger deep into the crevasses of the object, the metal slightly bent and dented. The boy inside became startled, as the gust of wind rocked the object around, and Celestia's sudden and forceful grip scared him, causing him to crawl to the back of the pod, away from the angry lady on the other side.

Celestia saw how scared the boy was, as she gave him another motherly smile, saying she isn't going to hurt him. She could tell he didn't understand what she said, so she decided to calm the boy down, after freeing him.

Gripping tighter into the seems, she began to pull the door off, but she wasn't making any process. So, with all of her might, her muscles began to enlarge, not enough to looked completely jacked, but big enough to be noticeable. With her increased muscle mass, her strength also increased and the door began to budge. Celestia screamed, placing one of her hooves on the object to keep it in place, as the door began to rip off.

Silver and the others watched in awe at the level of strength their princess was displaying. They knew she was strong, but never in their lives would they see someone as strong as her, performing a feat that would take multiple of their strongest earth ponies to perform together.

Celestia finally ripped the door off, sending it flying out of the crater and having it land far outside the blockade, causing many of the guardsman who couldn't see inside the crater to put their guards up, thinking they were being attacked, but the pegasi above were able to calm them down, saying it was the princess's doing.

Celestia, after taking a few deep breaths, lowered down to her knees and looked inside, seeing the boy inside trying his best to stay as far away from her as possible. Celestia was saddened from the boy's frightened face, but she needed to make him feel more comfortable enough to gain his trust, but to also pull him out of the object.

Giving the child a warm, motherly smile once more, she spoke to him as softly as possible, "Do not worry child, it's alright. I am not going to hurt you. I am sorry for scaring you, I didn't mean to do it on purpose." Celestia said, offering her hand.

The child looked at her hand, hesitant to remove himself from the back of the object, but with sudden bravery, he moved closer, Celestia not moving as she kept her warm smile. The child touched Celestia's hand, feeling how soft her fur was, but also how warm it was. With how soft and warm her hand was, it helped the child move closer and grasp his little hands around two of her fingers. Celestia felt a feeling alien to her, but also familiar as the boy pressed his head against her, seemingly asking her for head pats. Celestia was happy to ruffle the child's hair a little, as she placed her hand on his head and ruffle with a little.

Celestia took this as a sign to bring her other arm into the object and place both her hands under the child's arms. She was happy to see the child didn't flintch, keeping his eyes onto hers. When she fully removed the boy out of the object and Celestia stood to her full height, everypony who was able to see inside the crater were shocked and horrified.

"A child?! Why was there a child inside?!"

"What kind of fucked up parents does that foal have?"

"This cannot be real, right? This has to be a dream?!"

The guards kept up the questioning, not believing what they were seeing. That was when Silver walked up to Celestia, wondering how the child got into this situation in the first place. Celestia had the same question. The question about his parents made her stomach queasy. She never met any parents that would hate their child so much, they would send them into the harsh enviroment of deep space. She wasn't as tech savy as Caramel clearly was, but she knew the boy was sent here for a reason. What that reason was, she doesn't know.

"Dammit Caramel! Can't you wait for more than two seconds!" Celestia turned to see Silver arguing with his sister, trying to rip her out of the object she place herself in.

"Let's n...not w...worr...ry about the...em princess. L...let us...s worry ab...o...out the child. I want to make sur...re he is perf...f...fectly healthy." Mint said and Celestia agreed, knowing the health of the boy was the most important agenda on her ever exspanding list.

"W...wait, please! I think I found something!" Caremel yelled, as Celestia and Mint turned to see Silver trying to pull Caramel out from her legs.

"You can look at it at another time! It is way passed midnight and I want you to get your sleep! So please, let go already!" Silver tried his hardest to persuade his sister, but was unsuccessful.

"Almost got it..." Caremel said, when she yelled out, "GOT IT!!!" Caremel pressed a button, and all of a sudden, noise started to come from the object.

Everypony silently listened, but all they heard was some static. Celestia asked what she did and Caremel said she believes she had found some recorded audio, but was a little sad that the file holding the audio was corrupted, saying it was the reason why they were hearing static.

"I didn't understand anything you just said, but I'll say you just broke something." Silver said, causing Caremel to pout and say she didn't do anything.

But before their argument could go further, the static seemed to turn into crying. Celestia wondered if this was the boy's cries, as she looked down to see him sleeping in her arms.

"Omc, yes! Some of the audio is still intact! Quiet everypony, we can learn something from this." Caremel happily cheered, as she crouched down to listen in closer.

Silver wanted to argue, but for some reason, he knew whatever information this 'audio' had, may allowed them to understand why the boy was here in the first place.

"...Izz...Izz... zz...amed thizz..zz..z to h...h.ddd zzz.zz distant planet c...ccalled Earth." A masculine voice spoke up, his voice seemingly muffled from something, which Caramel believed it was becuase the microphone that recorded this audio happens to be on the inside of the object.

"The p...peoplezzz on that w...world have low power lev...velzz and are...ern'ttt technolo...ggical ad...zzz...vvanced." The voice spoke again, some of them feeling insulted by being called weak and not having highly advanced technology.

"I t...tthink he'll do...zzz well there G...gine." The voice spoke again, the sudden appearance of a name gaining their attention.

"Goo...od thing is it's not an extremely valuable world, so I'm hoping it won't even show up on the Frieza forces radar." The man said again, making everypony worry about some of the information that sentence has.

Celestia can already feel happy, knowing the boy was sent away with good intentions. Whatever this Frieza force is, it is dangerous enough to make the parents of the boy send him away for protection. If the person speaking was one of his parents. But she couldn't understand why their planet wasn't highly valued, seeing how they have some very powerful ponies and objects. Was the Frieza force not aware of such artifacts, or were they so powerful that they weren't worth the time to get.

"Iff...zzz...f your f...father isz...zzz wr...rong about this, then we'l...ll...l come and g...get you immediately." Then a feminine spoke, catching everypony except Celestia off.

"Lis...sten, szzz...on. You do what it ta...ta...akkes to survive, g...got it!" The masculine voice spoke again, confirming he was the boy's father.

"W...we'll szz...zsee you very s...szzzoon." The feminine voice spoke again, her voice over the static sounding sad.

Then a brief moment of silence, and soon enough, they heard the inside machinery of the object activate; something Caramel confirming to everypony what they were listening to, and they heard the feminine voice yell, but with the static, the muffling and both the object and the engines made it hard to listen to.

"D...T FO...r...T..., KAK...T!!!" That was when the audio stopped playing, leaving everypony silent to their own thoughts.

This silence was broken by Silver, commenting that he didn't expect this night to happen the way it unfolded.

"I don't think any of us could predict what this night had in store for us, but we should always move forwards." Celestia said, as she looked down to the still sleeping boy in her arms.

"Well, I think it is best to discuss what we just learned." Silver said, getting a nod from Celestia.

"Yes, I think we should. From what I learned is that the ponies who were talking are his parents. I think that fact is very clear." Celestia said and everypony agreed.

"And I believe we learned one of their names. I think the mother's name was Geeney?" Caremel said, obviously butchering the name.

"I believe it is pronounced, Gine." Silver said, as he then said, "Another thing that is very clear, is they sent their son away for his own protection. But from what, we don't know." Silver said, which Celestia spoke up.

"Maybe it has something to do with this "Frieza Force". Whatever that is, it isn't a good thing." Celestia said, pointing out the name the supposed father called.

"What could it be? It could be a force of nature, but using the word, "Radar", it might be a army." Caramel suggested, which Celestia said it could be so.

"Well whatever the Freiza Force is, we don't know much. One thing we should find is the kid'ss name. Is there any evidence of it in the record?" Silver said, turning his head to Caramel who slowly went through the recorded audio, until the very end.

She kept replaying it, like she might have found something. After she replayed the 2 second long section of the audio many times, she pushed herself out of the object and asked anypony if they could understand what the audio was saying, as she believed she has found the boy's name.

"D...'t for...rzz...t us, K...karro...ot!!!" She replayed it once more, and a few more times and waited for answers from everypony around her.

"I hear, Kakeroot." Silver said, and from the face his sister gave him, like she ate a 10 foot wide lemon, said everything about that name choice.

"I...I...I he...hear K...k...ka...ka...rot...tt...to." Mint said, stammering from the all the eyes on her when she spoke.

"Close, but I think the name is Kerrotter." Caramel said, then getting a swat from Silver, saying her choice was as bad as his.

Celestia watched the two siblings bicker, and their arguing woke the boy up, but he didn't seem upset, as he let out a small yawn and watched the two sibling curiously.

"Oh, well hello little one. Did you have a good nap?" Celestia asked, having the boy turn his head to hers.

"Hey, mind telling me your name? I know you have one, but we are struggling what that name is. Can you help us?" Celestia cutely asked the boy, but it was obvious the boy didn't understand what she was saying as he just tilted his head to her.

Celestia found that so cute, but her attention was brought to Mint, who said to speak some of the names to him, "Maybe he'll respond to one of those names." Mint suggested, and Celestia was happy about such an idea.

Celestia raised the boy topppp her face, and she spoke some of names to the boy, but he kept his confused face, meaning neither of them were right.

"What about you princess? You haven't given your idea for what the name sounds like." Silver said, her face meeting his.

"Oh, um, well..." Celestia stopped to think, trying to put together the right name, and with the boy right in front of her, she'll know the name will be right or wrong. "What about, Kakarot." She said, and the boy quickly responded to the name, seemingly recognising it, as he started laughing.

Celestia smiled brightly, her own laughter matching the cuteness of the boy's as she kept saying his name and the boy become more and more happier. Celestia twirled and jumped around, as she tossed the boy in the air a little, as the boy laughed even more.

"Well, at least we know what to call him now." Silver said, happily watching Celestia play with the boy, now named Kakarot.

"Aww, that is so adorable! It's like the princess is his own mother." Caramel cooed, barely able to contain herself from pouncing at her princess and snatching the boy away to play with him herself.

Celestia contemplated what Caramel just said. Even though Kakarot had parents already, who are still most likely alive and will come back after some time, she couldn't help but fantasise about Kakarot being her own son.

"Kakarot." Celestia spoke, feeling the name through her lips and tongue, then smiled, "My little Kakarot." Celestia said, bringing Kakarot in her chest, listening to the boy's laughter, which brought her the joy she had lost for so many years.

[Chapter End]