//------------------------------// // Fourth Sign: Part 2 // Story: Equestrian Epoch: Final Hope // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// What Lies Ahead ***Day 1*** It had been nearly twenty four hours since the launch of the Sentinel, and so far all was quiet. The stars and planets passed by their gargantuan vessel in a blur, they were going fast, although it didn't feel like it, they were bypassing all the known and unknown planets as if they were just a mere stone's throw away. Currently Twilight had called a war meeting to update her fellow Knights on their situation and destination. There was a large table in the center of the room. The surface of which was crystal clear, which looked similar to their displays on the bridge. Twilight lit up her horn and immediately the screen glowed. It shined for a few seconds before projecting a holographic image of the Sentinel and the stars around them. Needless to say, it was impressive to all, even Twilight. "Okay, this is us," Twilight picked up a metal pointer with her telekinesis and tapped the image of the Sentinel. "With the help of the mage society and engineers, we were able to create a sort of makeshift interface for the Book of Doom. Somehow this book is linked to the recent happenings that have plagued our world." "So we're usin' that book to help us find where the Envoy and Erebus are hidin', right," asked Applejack. "Yes, based on our current heading, and after doing some serious number crunching, we'll arrive at our destination in less than a week." "A week! Damn Twi, I knew we were going fast, but not that fast! You sure this ship will get us there in that time," asked Rainbow Dash astonished. "Very sure, believe me, you aren't the only one who's blown away," chuckled Twilight. "They know we're coming, if that shadow thing from when we left means anything then they're definitely anticipating our arrival," said Bright Blade. "So much for the element of surprise, guess we'll just have to rush in and hit them with everything we've got, guns blazing and all that," said Rarity. "Oooh, does that mean I get lead the attack, cause I wouldn't mind, I got plenty of guns," said Pinkie Pie. "Just a figure of speech darling," corrected Rarity. Twilight sighed, "Anyway, we don't know what we'll be facing once we get there, so I suggest everypony take the time to train and get acquainted with their Centaurus powers. That's all I have for now, we can keep the ship on autopilot for now, but I'd like for some of us to maintain a presence on the bridge at all times in case something goes wrong. Till I can work out a shift schedule, I'll take first watch; anypony who wants to volunteer after me can come to the bridge in three hours. Dismissed." With that the grouped dispersed into the ship, there was still a lot to explore about their Sentinel, it was massive. Certainly it could hold a good number of the populous within it. It came with all the modern accommodations, a war room for starters. A giant gymnasium to train and keep in shape, a large mess hall, with automatic food servers, built in Garden Park with a view of space. Even multiple living quarters, the main ones were kept close to the bridge, so there wouldn't be that much a mad scramble to reach it. Many decided to head towards the gymnasium to hone their Centaurus Elementus powers, and hone they did. The entire place looked like a battlefield; it was about the size of five hoofball fields, a high ceiling and plenty of wide open space to maneuver in. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in their Centaurus forms. RD was flying overhead, launching wave after wave of prismatic wind. Applejack countered her attacks by firing energy blasts with every punch she threw. The two of them would sometimes break off their long range attacks and go for close combat. Every impact shook the inside of the room with great force. "Heh, that all you got Applesnack," chided Rainbow Dash. "Please, Ah ain't even warmed up yet Rainbow Crash," countered Applejack. The two were on the ground now, assuming a fighting stance. Applejack kept her arms in and her fists balled. She remembered seeing boxers a while back using such a technique, she had to hand it to them, throwing punches with your forelegs was hard enough, but having to balance on your hind legs while somepony was throwing punches at you, that took real coordination. Luckily for her, she had arms, and four legs to stand on, so she could keep the majority of her attention focused on movement and striking. Rainbow Dash stared down her wife, arms stretched out to her sides. The crystal wing blades kept a spiraling wind of multicolored air around her arms, ready to be launched at any time. She had to admit, fighting in this form was pretty awesome, she felt freer, and all her previous limits in flight were gone. Which made sense seeing as her body was made of pure energy now. The Centaurus Elementus allowed them new avenues of combat that she didn't even know existed, not to mention, it made Applejack look surprisingly hotter to stare at. "Are ya goin' to just keep starin' at me or are ya goin' to fight," asked Applejack playfully. "That depends on you, whenever you stop checking me out, I'll stop," said Rainbow Dash. They could both sensed the other smirking. Even though their faces were made of energy, they could sense when the other was making a facial expression. The two centaur mares shifted around, waiting for the slightest hint that their opponent would attack. Applejack saw a glimmer in Rainbow Dash's eyes; the Knight of Honesty sprinted forward. Rainbow Dash saw this and flapped her wings, propelling her towards Applejack. Applejack threw a straight right punch; Rainbow Dash went with a flat palm strike with her left hand. The two attacks met in the center, causing a shockwave of orange and spectra energy clash against each other. The powers grinded, roared, and bellowed. AJ's green eyes shimmered with power, as too did RD's rose colored eyes. Suddenly the two opposing powers reached a breaking point and exploded in a blinding flash of light. When it faded, both mares were returned to their normal Elemental Armor. Soon their armor shimmered away, returning to their necklace forms. Both mares' right and left hooves held at the center, staring at each other intensely as they continued to stand on their hind legs. After a minute they returned to standing on three hooves, keeping contact with opposite hoof of the other. Applejack grasped Rainbow's hoof and brought her in for a passionate kiss. The cyan pegasus did little to resist her wife. When they separated, the two leaned their foreheads on one another. "Cheater," said Rainbow Dash. "Ah don't remember either one of us sayin' that kissin' wasn't allowed," said Applejack. ***Day 2**** Things were going smoothly, Twilight had figured out a rotating shift schedule so as to allow everypony to get some sleep while they weren't active and moving about on the Sentinel. Currently in the gymnasium, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were working on a new strategy for combating the Envoy. One that utilized Rarity's Tri-Diamonds, Fluttershy's Spirit Beasts, and Pinkie's Merry-Go-Rounds, after a few hours of practicing and going over different maneuvers the three mares decided to take a break and head to the mess hall. The food line was good today, well, it was always good considering that the ship only had seven occupants. The automated food server in the kitchen was actually a magical food processor. The kitchen had been fully stocked with all manner of ingredients, spices, and foodstuffs. They only had to speak into the microphone near the line and the food would be generated and placed on a tray for them to eat. Once all three of them had gotten their food, they made their way to a table near the window. As they ate the trio of mares looked out the window. During their journey they've seen beautiful nebulas, and quasars, even newborn stars and red giants. All the things they had learned about space in school was now on display for them to see. "Beautiful isn't it, my designs don't do it justice," said Rarity. "I think you captured the essence of space really well," said Fluttershy. "Yes, but now I can't go back and redo them, seeing all this has greatly inspired me and allowed me to think of new ways to make my latest line even better, but now it has been seen, nothing to do about it now." "I wish the twins could see this, they'd be totally excited," said Pinkie Pie. "You know, once this is all over, do you think the Princesses will allow the Sentinel to be like a tour ship you know, 'Come one, come all, join us on the good ship Sentinel and see the wonders of the galaxy!'" Both Rarity and Fluttershy chuckled at Pinkie's proposal. Though it wasn't a bad idea as far as they were concerned. Not much need for a giant warship once the war was over, a tourist attraction would make good use of it. As they went on about how they could bring up such a proposal to the Princesses the three of them couldn't help but notice Twilight getting food at the kitchen. She was nose deep in her notes and was barely paying any attention to where they were. They thought it best not to disturb her; in that state of mind they'd have to threaten to destroy a book in order to snap her out of it. Fluttershy couldn't help but notice something peculiar. On Twilight's food tray, was an assortment of food that looked, well, it looked weird. There were hay fries dipped in chocolate sauce, a daisy and daffodil sandwich with slices of lemon in it, and a couple slices of pizza with hot sauce dripped all over it. And Twilight couldn't even handle spicy stuff to begin with. Once her tray was out, Twilight took it into her telekinetic aura and trotted off out of the mess hall. Rarity and Pinkie Pie saw that Fluttershy was staring at Twilight with knowing look as she rubbed her chin. "Fluttershy, darling, is there something wrong," asked Rarity. "Hmm – What – Oh nothing's wrong, nothing at all!" "So why were you staring at Twilight," asked Pinkie Pie. "Staring, I wasn't staring!?" "I'm afraid you were darling, rather intently I might add." "Fluttershy, I know Twilight has a great flank, but you can't be staring at her like that, she's with Bright Blade and you're married to Big Mac," scolded Pinkie Pie. Both the white unicorn and cream colored pegasus just stared at Pinkie Pie as she ate her food, acting as if she didn't even say anything weird at all. "Excuse me, what did you say Pinkie?" "What, I said it wasn't right to –" "Yes, yes, not that part, the part about Twilight," said Rarity. "Oh you mean about Twilight's flank being great eye candy?" Fluttershy and Rarity couldn't help their left eyes twitching in unison. "Ooookaaaaaayyyyy…Well then, ahem, our friend's attractive features aside, there's no denying you were staring at her Fluttershy," said Rarity. Oh please I don't know if I'm ready to find out that another of my friends is a closet fillyfooler, thought Rarity. "Well…" Fluttershy was twiddling her forehooves nervously, not sure if she should even say anything for fear of a backlash from the lavender mare. In the end she sighed heavily and resolved to tell them of her observations. "Okay, I'll tell you, but just so you know I'm only guessing, I'm not sure alright!" Rarity and Pinkie nodded in confirmation. "I think Twilight might be pregnant." The two mares' jaws nearly went through the floor. That was a bigger bombshell than they were expecting from Fluttershy. "F-Fluttershy how did you arrive at such a conclusion, s-she's not even showing," said Rarity. "I didn't need to see a bulge to know, all I needed to see was her food tray. The foods she had on there were almost exactly like the things I ate when I was pregnant with Swift and Spring, also…" "Also," inquired Pinkie. "Bright Blade did mention to me that Twilight was feeling sick during the time we spent in Manelan, throwing up in the mornings and sometimes in the afternoons. Again, I'm only speculating." Flutteshy said. This was unexpected. Twilight hadn't said anything to them, and yet she took on this dangerous mission knowing she was pregnant, with a developing foal. "When you spoke to Bright, did he seem like he knew," asked Rarity. "Not that I could tell, from the way he talked about it, he thought Twilight had some sort of bad stomach virus," said Fluttershy. "Well that's weird, why wouldn't she tell him? This is super-terrific news," said Pinkie Pie. "Well, I have nothing if not free time to kill. Perhaps I could find out," said Rarity as she took a sip of her cider. ***Day 3*** Twilight was lying on the soft green grass, looking up at the millions of stars through the observation window above her. So many stars, so many planets, Twilight always knew that their world couldn't be the only one in existence in the vastness that was space, just one world couldn't hold all the power of magic, just like the Mana Network, everything was connected. No doubt the universe outside that glass barrier was even grander and more powerful than she could possibly imagine. Tapping into the very power of the universe, what could one do if that were possible, pondered Twilight. Could I bend the laws of physics, break them, rewrite them even? Although…if I did tap into that much raw mana at once, would it overtake me, swallow my soul and essence? Would my mind become one with everything leaving my body an empty shell…? "Twilight…?" Maybe I'm over thinking it, there's no way I could tap into that much power. The only other time would be when I'm consumed with rage…I hate that form. All that power and I'm reduced to wanting to do nothing but destroy… "Twilight..?" Then again if I could somehow master my rage I could wield its power more efficiently! But how would I go about it, maybe I could –! "TWILIGHT!" The lavender mare was snapped out of her internal dialogue and back to reality. She looked up and saw that Rarity was standing to her left looking down at her and tapping her right hoof impatiently. "Rarity, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "Well, I saw you come in and I thought to myself, 'I really haven't spent any time in here,' so I just decided to come and join you. If that's alright with you darling," asked Rarity. "Not at all," said Twilight, patting the empty space next to her. Rarity tucked her forelegs under and laid down on the grass the same as Twilight, both unicorn mares staring out into the galactic expanse that was before them. Twilight saw, out of the corner of her eye, that Rarity would sneak glances at her belly from time to time. She didn't think anything of it; Rarity was often sizing them up, jotting down mental notes of each pony's measurements. Twilight didn't mind it, but it often made her feel like she was probably gaining weight or getting a little to pudgy. Although, when the white unicorn mare poked a hoof at Twilight's side, that's when she started to get a little edgy, and why was she even poking her side to begin with. "Rarity, is there any particular reason why you're touching my side," asked Twilight trying to hide her annoyance. "Twilight dear, I'm not one for roundabout wordplay, especially when it comes to a friend, so I'm just going to ask you point blank," said Rarity in a serious tone. "O-Okay," said Twilight, feeling a little bit nervous. "Twilight Sparkle, are you pregnant?" The magical mare's eyes went wide as saucers; she jumped up to her hooves and jerked her neck back and forth, looking for anypony who might've overheard her. She then took Rarity's face into her hooves and brought it close to her face. "Who told you, how did you find out, did you tell anypony else, does Bright know, you didn't tell him anything did you, do the others know!?" Rarity used her hooves to gently grasp Twilight's, bringing them down off her face. "First of all, darling: don't touch my face like that again. Secondly: don't touch my face like that again, and third: nopony else knows. Flutteshy might and Pinkie Pie, although really it's just a hunch on Fluttershy's part," answered Rarity. "So…so you're the only who knows, for sure!?" "Well with the reaction you just gave me I am." Twilight released the tension her forelegs and slumped back down onto the ground. "Twilight how far along are you?" Twilight looked up into the concerned eyes of her friend. "Right now…at least four weeks along…" "And the father, it's Bright Blade?" "Of course he's the father!" Twilight snapped. Rarity brought up her forehooves up in a defensive fashion. "Calm down darling I was only asking." Twilight cast her eyes downward, ashamed at how she reacted. "I'm sorry, I'm just… a little on edge right now." "Why haven't you told Bright Blade of the good news yet, I'm sure he'd be happy know he's going to be a father," said Rarity. "Because he doesn't need that kind of distraction, if he's too busy worrying about me, he can't fight at his full strength…" "And so the best solution is to keep it secret and only let yourself worry about your unborn child?" "It's not the best solution, but it is a temporary one," confessed Twilight. Rarity placed her right hoof on the bridge of her nose and shook her head back and forth, she loved her friend dearly, but sometimes Twilight's logic was a little off on some subjects. "Well, do you know if it's a colt or a filly," asked Rarity. "I haven't gone to the doctor to check yet, but…I can tell, it's going to be a colt," said Twilight. "How do you know?" "I just do, well that, and the Reality Window spell I cast eleven years ago said we'd have a colt and a filly, and the colt looked a bit older than the filly so –" "Hold on, you've seen them!? And what's this about a Reality Window spell!?" Twilight blushed embarrassingly, she then began telling Rarity about the time she cast the spell eleven years ago. During the time when Bright Blade was changing between alicorn and earth pony, she had cast the spell for fun, not knowing that the young colt had feelings for her, nor did she know that her feelings towards him were slowly developing towards romantic. When Twilight was done, Rarity just sat there, mouth agape. "Rarity?" "Y-Yes darling, I'm alright. So, from the sounds of this spell it appears that we all survive this little endeavor," said Rarity, feeling reassured that they would be victorious. "The spell is more like fortunetelling than an actual spell to see the future, it doesn't definitively mean we'll succeed," said Twilight solemnly. "I envy you, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash," said Rarity, staring off wistfully into the distance. "What do you mean," asked Twilight. "You four have each other's special somepony; mine, Fluttershy's, and Pinkie's await us back on Equestria. And I'm also a little jealous that you got pregnant before me," Rarity jabbed Twilight in the shoulder. "Just when I decided to finally have foals with Spike you go and beat me to the punch." Twilight and Rarity shared a laugh at that, but Twilight's expression changed from amused to serious rather quickly. "Wait a minute, what do you mean 'have foals with Spike?'" "It's just as I said darling, I don't need to go into greater detail do I," asked Rarity. "NO! No, it's just, sometimes I keep thinking of him as my baby dragon, rather than what he is now, a strong, mature, and powerful drake. And you got to admit, it's a little disconcerting to hear my best friend talking about doing…those things…with somepony I've raised since he hatched," said Twilight. Rarity let out a very ladylike chuckle, "Well I could just as easily say the same thing about you darling, seeing as how Bright Blade is a bit younger than you, despite your young appearance." "Ugh, please, I don't need to hear another joke about my age gap with him! I get enough of that with Luna and Celestia during our afternoon tea sessions," groaned Twilight. "And don't even get me started with Cadance! She's the worst of them all, calling me a 'cougar!' I don't even know what she's referring to, cougars are an extinct predator species, how does that even relate to me!?" Rarity had to turn away to hide her reddening cheeks as she tried to stifle her laughter. A 'cougar', oh Princess Cadance we so have to meet more often! "Rarity Unicorn are you laughing at me!?" "Not *snicker* at all *snicker* darling." Rarity's lips were rippling on the verge of full blown laughing fit. "You realize I'll teleport you to the nearest airlock and jettison you into the cold, airless, recesses of space, right?" Twilight warned. Twilight's threat did not seem to faze the fashionista in the slightest, as she couldn't hold it in any longer and broke out a full laughing fit, rolling on her back, holding her sides. Twilight wore a deadpan expression as she watched the spectacle before her, seriously considering letting this mare float in the cold nothingness of space. In space, no one can hear you laugh, or so the theory states. Now might be a perfect time to test it. After thinking over the action for a few seconds Twilight came to a conclusion. No, Spike will tear apart all of Equestria if he found out I threw Rarity off the ship. Oh well. "Ha, ha, yes it's funny," deadpanned Twilight. Rarity finally seemed to calm down long enough to take in air. After regaining her composure and wiping the tears from her eyes, Rarity faced her now peeved friend. "I'm sorry Twilight, truly I am. Please forgive me." "I'd forgive you if you told me what it means to be called a 'cougar,'" said Twilight. "Are you sure you want to know," asked Rarity. "Yes." "Really sure?" "Yes!" "Absolutely sure?" "Rarity!" "Alright come here then," said Rarity motioning with her hoof. Twilight huffed in annoyance and lent her friend an ear. Rarity leaned in and whispered into her ear. Twilight's expressions varied over the course of the explanation, from confused, to intrigued, to surprise, and finally to shock. Without a moments warning Twilight teleported away from Rarity, leaving her friend lying on the grass alone, with a devilish grin upon her face. "I asked if you were sure~" said Rarity in a singsong like voice. "Really Twilight dear you can simply adorkable sometimes." Purple energy flashed before Rarity, with Twilight standing in the same spot as when she left. "I am not ADORKABLE!" Twilight then teleported away, yet again, leaving Rarity alone and on the verge of another full out laughing fit. Bright Blade was on duty, gazing out the window of the bridge as the stars and planets passed them by. His thoughts were serious as he went over the events that have passed. Bright cursed himself, he felt weak, and useless. His eyes lowered and now rested on the Element of Hope that rested around his neck, a trace of a scowl appearing upon his face. You created me to be your instrument to save others and give them hope, Epona grants me a flesh and blood body and I can't even protect my friends! I've put them in danger and now a little foal will grow up without her mother! I did better when I was a construct! Maybe I should've stayed like that…! Bright Blade felt a stinging sensation in his heart when he said those words. They carried a dual weight. The alicorn stallion thought that with his new lease on life he could do better, but the loss of Broadside and Ballista hit him harder than he let on, they were his friends and he couldn't even get to them to fight against the Envoy, what's more, he was weaker than them, not having the power of Centaurus Elemnetus. Bright Blade didn't want to rely on that power, he knew why, but he couldn't let Twilight find out or the others. No…Xiaon will be strong enough, and with my armor it'll only make it stronger, I don't care if I have to –! At that moment Twilight appeared in a flash of purple light on the bridge of the Sentinel, Bright sensed her arrival as the golden alicorn turned to look in her direction, thankful for the distraction from his depressing inner thoughts. "Twilight what's up, you're shift doesn't start for another six hours, you feeling alright," asked Bright Blade. "Oh, uh, nothing – I just wanted to come up and keep you company is all," said Twilight. Bright was skeptical about her reason, but decided to let it slide nonetheless. "Well why don't you come stand next to me." Twilight seemed somewhat embarrassed about something as she trotted over to Bright's right side. The golden alicorn stallion flexed out his wing and draped it over Twilight, bringing his marefriend closer to him. She seemed a bit nervous about being in his wing embrace, which was puzzling sense he hadn't seen that look on her face since the first time he did it back during the war. "You okay Twi," he asked. "Yeah, I'm fine…" Twilight looked down at her hooves for a moment, not making eye contact with the stallion. "Bright…are you happy…with me?" Bright Blade turned his head to face his marefriend, a shocked expression upon his face at her words. "Of course I'm happy with you Twi, why wouldn't I be?" "It's just; sometimes I think you would be better off with a mare closer to your age, like Apple Bloom, or maybe Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?" Bright Blade let out an exacerbated sigh, "Twilight I love YOU, and only YOU. And besides, I like Apple Bloom, but not like that, and call me crazy, but I think I don't stand a snowball's chance in Tartarus of dating either Sweetie or Scoots, even if I wanted to." "But still…" Bright Blade raised his right hoof and bobbed Twilight on the head, a little love tap. Twilight began rubbing the spot where Bright had tapped her and she now stared back at her coltfriend, with the alicorn only smirking at her. "What was that for," she asked. "You can be so adorkable sometimes Twi," said Bright. "I am not adorkable," said Twilight pouting like a school foal. "Heh, heh, yep, just face it, you're my adorkable marefriend," Bright leaned forward and kissed Twilight on the lips, she was taken by surprise, but only for a second as she leaned forward and returned the kiss. The stallion ended the kiss and looked deep into his love's eyes, "and I wouldn't have it any other way." Twilight scooted closer to Bright Blade, resting her head on his shoulder as the two of them continued to gaze out into space. Unknown to Bright Blade, Twilight instinctively started to rub her belly, mindful of the life growing within her; she then looked back up at the stallion, contemplating. "Bright, do you ever think about the future," asked Twilight. "All the time," he answered. "Do you remember that Reality Window spell, from way back, that I casted?" "Yeah…kinda hard to forget something like that." A noticeable blush started to reappear on his face. "Do you ever want to make that into an actual reality, to…to have a family with me…?" "I'd like to make that reality real, one day, but in a way I'm a bit nervous about becoming a father someday," said Bright. "For now, all we can do is live on and try to make the most of our time, even this moment." Twilight stared back into the void of space, her head still resting on her coltfriend's shoulder. I know you'll make a great father… What does the future hold…? Find out in Part 3 of the Fourth Sign Arc!