//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Twilight's Voyage // by ProfCharles //------------------------------// Fifteen years after Nightmare Moon’s banishment... The sharp clop of hooves on marble echoed throughout the eerily silent halls of Canterlot Castle, perpetually coated in an orange glow from the angry sun outside. The pony whom the sounds originated from hurried past empty rooms, abandoned guard posts and bare walls, before reaching a pair of massive, golden doors. Pausing, he shivered, feeling the waves of power emanating from the room. Three short knocks broke the ever present silence, followed by the slow creak of the great doors as the opened, admitting the night blue unicorn. He quickly trotted up to the the throne at the end of the room, and its inhabitant. “Princess Celestia,” he said, bowing to the large white alicorn, her pastel mane blowing in a nonexistent breeze. Exhaustion was clearly stamped on her face, whilst a golden light emanated from her horn, her magic constantly keeping the sun at bay.. “Arcane Scroll,” Celestia replied, her normal calm and grace replaced with weariness. “Your Highness, when was the last time you slept?” Arcane asked, worry wrinkling his brow. Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. “I haven’t slept since... since I banished my sister. I have... Nightmares.” Arcane Scroll took a step back with surprise. Princess Luna had been banished to the moon fifteen years ago. “Princess, I—” Arcane began, but Celestia cut him off with a wave of her hoof. “No Arcane, not Princess.” She sighed again. “My parents are dead, my sister is gone. I am your sole sovereign now. I am your Queen. Not that I deserve it.” “Very well, Your Majesty.” Arcane bowed again. “We have finished the evacuations. All those who are fleeing are now on the starcraft.” “All those who are fleeing?” Celestia asked, her tone dangerous. Arcane gulped. “There are reports of some ponies—mostly the old—who have elected to die here on Equis, rather than in, and I quote, ‘Some strange metal contraption’. We have done everything we can to persuade them otherwise, but they are quite stubborn. I doubt even you could change their minds.” “Very well.” Celestia sighed. “More burdens on my shoulders. What of the other nations?” “They finished their exodus last week. Their craft have already left the system.” “I see.” Slowly, laboriously, Celestia stood up, her horn still lit with magic. “So its just us then.” Together, they walked down the hallways, open windows displaying the devastation laid upon the land. Where once there had been lush fields, only scorched wasteland remained. Forests were missing, with only burnt stumps indicating they ever existed. Rivers and lakes were dry, leaving empty hollows where they once flowed. In the center of it all sat New Canterlot, a gleaming machine of steel, one of the three newfangled starcraft to help the ponies of Equestria escape the hell their world had become over the last fifteen years, the other two being the Cloudsdale and the New Manehatten, both already in orbit with their precious cargo. And hanging above them was the reason for it all. Red and angry, the sun hovered, gripped in a solar storm, its ferocity never seen before. The only reason Equestria had lasted this long was because Celestia had spent every moment since the fiery orb became unstable pacifying it, and the toll was clearly shown on her face. A Chariot—one of the newer, vacuum-sealed machines, rather than a traditional pegasus pulled chariot—was waiting for them, ready to take them to the starcraft. One short, quiet flight later, the scenery flying past at incredible speeds, and they arrived at New Canterlot, their new home. “Welcome, Princess,” a guardspony said, bowing low. “Queen. I am now your queen,” Celestia corrected. To the guard’s credit, he didn’t react to the proclamation at all. “Your government awaits you at the royal observation lounge,” he informed her. The guard led Celestia and Arcane Scroll through the steel hallways, a clear contrast to the marble of the palace. Somber faced ponies lurked in the adjoining corridors, watching in silence at the procession. A small pegasus filly, her coat light green with a white mane, approached the group. She looked up at Celestia for a moment, before leaning in and hugging the large white alicorn. Celestia stopped as the ponies surrounding her gasped. “You’re so pretty,” the filly said, “pretty and sad. Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t be sad. So I’m giving you a hug. Hugs make everything better!” Celestia stared in shock at the filly clutching her leg, before cracking a small smile. “Thank you, little one. And your right—hugs do make everything better.” The filly grinned up at Celestia, before letting go and scampered of, only pausing to give a quick wave. “I haven’t felt like smiling in years,” Celestia said wondrously, reaching up and touching her face, where the smile remained. “Prin—Your Majesty,” Arcane prompted. “We have to keep moving.” “Of course.” They continued their journey, and arrived at the observation lounge with no further distractions. There the members of Her Majestie’s Parliament stood, a window set in the far wall, Old Canterlot standing proud, its white walls washed with orange light. “My Queen,” Arcane Scroll said. “The communication system is online. Everypony can hear you.” Celestia nodded her thanks. “Mares, stallions, my little ponies. This is your Queen speaking. Today is a tragic day for ponykind. But also a great day for ponykind. Today we leave our homes behind. Today, we travel to places we could never of dreamed of before. Before the sun grew wild, before my sister fell to darkness. The last fifteen years have been hard on all of us. But not once did we give up. Not once did we despair. Not once did we falter in our search for a solution. And we found it—the starcraft. Designed to take us to the stars, so that we may begin anew, they are our greatest achievement as a race—and our greatest hope for survival. We step into a new dawn today, my little ponies. A new future for our people. And we will embrace it. Today, we say goodbye to our world, and hello to a whole new one. Captain Wing, you may begin.” Celestia’s voice fell silent, replaced by the equestrian national anthem, as the engines roared into life. The ship vibrated, and the view dipped, the land falling away as they rose upwards into space. To Celestia, it felt like it took mere minutes for them to leave the planet, passing the solitary moon, her sisters face still engraved upon it, Luna’s tainted soul still bound within it. “Celestia, its time,” Arcane eventually said, forgoing all formalities. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. A moment later, the light on her horn winked out. The effects were instantaneous. The sun flared, tendrils of fire lashing out at the planet below, cleansing the surface of everything. A second burst and the moon was treated to a similar fate. Again and again, the sun lashed out at the planet, as if making up for the fifteen years it’s fury had been bound by Celestia’s magic. “It’s over,” Celestia said, a tear flowing down her cheek. “It’s finally over.” She swayed, unnoticed by the other ponies watching the destruction of their home, before collapsing, their startled exclamations being the last thing she heard before unconsciousness took her. --- 985 years later... "I'm tardy! Tardy–tardy–tarrrr-dy!" Twilight Sparkle cried out as she rushed down the gleaming steel hallways of the New Canterlot Space Station, hooves clacking against the metal floor, the occasional viewport offering brief glimpses of the infinite majesty of space. The narrow halls of the space station were like an old friend to her—born and raised in the metal space station, it was all she knew. She paused, trotting on the spot, and looked at a holo-screen on a wall, ignoring the news report on the continuing war with the Confederacy of Species, instead focusing on the clock in the corner of the screen. Oh no, I'm tardy! she thought with a panic, the word ‘tardy’ reverberating around her skull. Wait, I have an idea... Pausing, she slowed her breathing. She needed to concentrate if she wanted to pull this off perfectly. Scrunching her eyes up, she focused on her horn, drawing arcane power into it. With an ease born of practice, she then concentrated on her destination—the teleport pad outside her teacher’s office. This was the most important part, for if she missed her destination, she would end up as a pancake on the far wall, thanks to magic’s weird quirk of negating the conservation of momentum—and with the space station traveling at 30 KM/h around the star of Equis-2, momentum was something Twilight was keen to keep. Twilight’s horn glowed briefly, followed by a purple flash; and the world changed. Sparks shot away as her hooves made contact with the magically charged floor, the archaic red and gold runes guiding her jump. Opening her eyes, she looked at her new location—her teacher’s study. Glancing at an antique clock—made with real wood—on the wall, Twilight realised that she had made it just in time. She made one final check to ensure her navy uniform—a plain black jacket with a yellow sash; indicating her role as a military scientist—was straight, although it still clashed with the unicorn’s purple fur, before approaching the door to knock. "Come in, Twilight," said a warm and motherly voice, the doors opening before she had a chance to knock. Twilight entered the room, bowing deeply before the inhabitant within—a large, gleaming white alicorn with a pastel mane. "Admiral-Queen Celestia. And Fleet Admiral Spitfire!" Twilight said with surprise, throwing a sharp salute that nearly gave her a black eye. Admiral Spitfire, a yellow pegasus with a flame like mane, chuckled, her golden sash over a white admirals jacket bobbing up and down with her. "Well, you did say she was eager, Your Majesty." Celestia gave a slight smile at this, which would have gone unnoticed, had Twilight not been familiar with her mentor’s moods by now. She never seems truly happy, thought Twilight. I don’t think I have ever seen her laugh. "Do you know why I asked you to come here, my most faithful student?" Celestia asked, cutting straight to the point, as always. "No, Your Majesty." "You are here because I believe it is time for you to move on." Twilight cocked her head, confused. "Excuse me, Your Majesty? "Twilight, you are to no longer be stationed with the science division upon Canterlot. I am assigning you to serve on an Imperial Navy exploration vessel." “You’re sending me away? Did I do something wrong, Your Majesty?" Twilight said, feeling the fear of failure creep up on her. "Of course not, you silly filly," Celestia said with that small, yet sad, smile. "It’s just that I don’t feel you have a future here in Canterlot. Due to our... unusual relationship, I cannot guarantee fair treatment among the senior officers. Some may seek to curry favour with me by accelerating you through the ranks faster than you deserve, or perhaps prevent you from doing anything to keep you safe. You are a very special young mare and you deserve to grow, at your own pace. I feel that this can be best achieved away from Canterlot and my influence, on a ship that will spend many months in deep space." "But I'm happy here, by your side," Twilight adamantly argued, stamping a hoof. "Are you?" Celestia countered. "All you seem to do is either spend time with me or with your work and your books. Do you even have any friends on Canterlot? That is not the life of someone who is happy, that is the life of someone lonely. And loneliness is a terrible thing to inflict upon yourself." Twilight sunk her head at these words of wisdom, even if she silently disagreed. She didn’t need friends—she already had Spike and Shining Armor, although the latter had been too busy to visit lately, and books were an adequate replacement. At least books didn't judge you. "That is why I have proposed that you be moved out of my command chain and into Admiral Spitfire's," the Queen continued, oblivious to Twilight's doubts, gesturing to the yellow pegasus beside her. Twilight's head shot up, eyes boggling at the proclamation. Ponies never moved between the different command structures in the Imperial Navy—you were sorted into one of the five fleets and remained there for the rest of your career. This, of course, encouraged interfleet rivalries; although it mostly manifested as harmless pranks during shore leave. "That’s right, kiddo." said Spitfire, ruffling Twilight's mane with a yellow hoof. "You work for me now. And have I got a nice spot on a good ship for you—The Ponyville, an experienced exploration ship, with a brand new prototype ‘Gallop’ engine. When I mentioned to Her Majesty that I was having trouble finding a suitable Science Officer after the last one retired, she suggested you immediately." "Thank you, Your Majesty." Twilight paused and thought for a moment. "Wait, Science Officer? But I’m just a cadet!" Spitfire nodded. "That’s right, kid. Consider this your first promotion, Science Officer Twilight Sparkle." “You see, Twilight?” Celestia said. “You would never have gotten this opportunity if you were still in my command structure.” Maybe this move wouldn’t be so bad after all, Twilight thought, dumbfounded by her new rank. "Um, if I may ask, but what about Spike?" she asked, growing concerned for her number one assistant. "Spike? Who’s that?" Spitfire looked at Celestia questioningly. "Spike would be the baby dragon she has been raising in her free time. She managed to hatch his egg as part of her entrance exam into the Arcane Science division of the navy." Celestia answered. Spitfire raised her eyebrows in surprise at this. Very few ponies were able to do that, the test secretly being a method of seeing how applicants coped with stress and failure. She realised just what a talented young unicorn she had been given. Spitfire made a mental note to get Celestia a nice thank you present—maybe a cake, with real icing. "I am sure I can make arrangements for you to bring him with you," Spitfire reassured. "If you do a good enough job on The Ponyville, then maybe one day I will see you on my support staff. Anyway, I had best be going. I cannot afford to be away from the front lines for too long." She threw a salute and walked out. After Spitfire had left, Celestia turned back to her student. "Twilight, come here please. I have something to give you." "What is it, Your Majesty?" Twilight asked, approaching Celestia. "It’s a surprise. Now close your eyes and stick your hoof out." Celestia smiled, a mischievous undertone highlighting her words, Twilight approached the alicorn and followed her instructions. A moment later she felt something click around her fetlock. Opening her eyes, she gasped. "An omniwatch! Oh thank you thank you thank you, Your Majesty." Twilight stared at the device. Incredibly rare and expensive, omniwatches were the pinnacle of micro-computing. Celestia held Twilight’s hoof and turned it over, revealing the customised strap depicting her cutie-mark—a purple star surrounded by six white stars, with a seventh behind it. "Now then, my most faithful student, you had best go back to your quarters and start preparing. I'll send you a recommendation list on what to pack. The Ponyville leaves at the end of the week. Dock 23; look for a Captain Rainbow Dash," Celestia instructed Twilight. "And don’t forget to tell your family." "Yes, Your Majesty," Twilight said, before deciding to throw decorum to the wind by hugging the Queen, barely holding back a sob. "I'll miss you, Your Majesty." "And I you, Twilight Sparkle." After a moment, Twilight ended the embrace and turned to leave, when a thought struck her. "Your Majesty, how did you know I was on the other side of the door? Celestia smiled. "It’s simple, my little pony—I saw the flash of your teleport underneath the door frame." --- "Are you sure we are going the right way?" Spike asked from Twilight's back for what felt like the hundredth time as they wandered down yet another gleaming steel corridor, their cart of luggage trundling along behind them. A week had passed since Twilight’s meeting with Celestia and the pair were making their way to the docks, where The Ponyville waited for them. "Yes Spike, I'm sure. Ah, here we are; junction 12B. Now according to my directions, we need to take a left here followed by two rights. Or was it a right followed by two lefts?" Twilight replied, a thoughtful expression on her face. Spike smacked his face with his hand. "Twilight, why don't you use the omniwatch?" he asked. "Oh, I didn't think of that!" Twilight exclaimed. She brought up her hoof and started messing with the controls on the device. A holographic interface popped up and after a small amount of experimentation, Twilight found the correct route to docking bay 23. Wandering into the massive hall, the first thing she noticed was the teeming crowd - dock workers preparing the ship, crew saying goodbye to families, merchants selling last minute "essentials"—including a few bottles of Apple Family Hard Cider, which was as rare as blue diamonds. The hubbub produced by the crowd was so loud Twilight had difficulty thinking and Spike had to resort to tapping her on the head to grab her attention. Looking back she saw the diminutive dragon pointing at something ahead. Following his outstretched claw, she gasped and fell on her rump, nearly dislodging Spike. Beyond the docking bay doors, The Ponyville could be seen in all its enormous glory. From the outside it bore the appearance of a long cylinder with a pair of rotational thrusters, a set of autocannons and two plama lances running along its sides, but Twilight knew that its outer shell was just hiding its true majesty. From her studies of the ship, she knew it had four decks to it, each one wrapped around the central gravity core that ran the length of the ship. Due to the nature nature of the gravity core it had to be parked in zero gravity conditions and a steady stream of traffic was flowing between it and the dock. This was her first time seeing a spaceship first hand and looking at it, Twilight suddenly felt very small. This is just a small exploratory vessel, with a crew of 150! she thought I can't imagine how big the capital ships must be. Spike tapped her head again, this time pointing to a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane hovering in the air, directing the dock workers. At this distance Twilight couldn't see her rank, but the blue sash she wore indicated that she was part of the command structure. As she approached, Twilight noticed that she had captains’ pips. Glancing proudly at her own brand new officer’s pips, she moved forwards. "Excuse me, but are you Captain Dash?" "Yes, I am," the Captain said without looking around. "Something I can do you for? Oy, you! If you drop that box I will personally throw you out of the nearest airlock!" "Uh, I'm Twilight Sparkle-" Captain Dash's head snapped around. "Finally, you're here! We've been waiting ages for you. Look, I'm a little busy—I thought I told not to drop that box! Look, just go speak to Commander Applejack would you, she'll sort you out." With that she flew into the air and resumed yelling at the dock workers. Twilight glanced around and quickly located the orange earth pony with a blue sash the Captain had indicated. "Well howdy there, Sugarcube. I reckon you're Officer Sparkle, on account of you being the only officer not to check in yet. And this must be your assistant, Spike, right? I'm Commander Applejack and it is a pleasure to meet you," the earth pony said as Twilight approached, grabbing her hoof and shaking it vigorously. "Y'all met the captain yet? Don't worry about her, she always gets stressed before a departure. Nerves you see." Applejack caught a look of concern in Twilight’s eye. “But don’t worry, once we are on the ship she’ll cool down. She's a good captain, and I’ve served under a fair few of them.” Twilight extracted her hoof from Applejack’s Iron grip. “Well thats good to hear. To be honest I've never left Canterlot, so I’m a little nervous myself.” Spike snorted. “Twilight, you’ve never left the palace district, let alone the station.” “I have too!” Twilight snapped back. Spike merely raised an eyebrow in response. “It was before you were born.” Spikes eyebrow remained in place, causing Twilight to sigh in defeat. “Anyway, we need to be moving, the shuttles are here,” Applejack said, indicating with her head to a group of small Chariot class vehicles lining along the dock. “Why don’t we just teleport across?” Twilight asked. “Teleportarium’s broken,” Applejack replied. “Hoping you can sort that out actually, our last Science Officer couldn’t figure it out.” “Oh, well I should be able to fix that. Arcanophysics is my speciality, after all.” Twilight paused and thought for a moment. “Why did the previous officer leave anyway?” “Medical reasons,” Applejack replied. “We had to go down to a planet to recover a downed probe. Turns out the fool is highly agoraphobic.” Twilight gulped audibly. “A planet? But they’re dangerous! They have volcanoes and earthquakes and storms and lightning and floods and—” Applejack cut off the frantic pony with a well placed hoof. “Easy, Sugarcube, easy. Planetside missions are always voluntary, and we’ve never had an incident with them before.” “I-I see,” Twilight said once Applejack had removed her hoof. “Welp, here’s our ride.” Applejack nodded at a Chariot that had just drawn up. “Come on in, I’ll give you the grand tour of the ship.” Together, they climbed into the Chariot and in moments they had left the dock, heading for The Ponyville.