Prologue - The New Dawn

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A silvery blue sky was filled with scattered white clouds. On the ground, swamplands were filled with exotic animals unique to the land, with trees bending over, framing the sky and surrounding a small bench, out-of-place in the alien world. Three bodies dominated the sky. One had a greenish hue, and stripes of various shades, it could be seen just hovering at the horizon, two-thirds of it hidden by the world itself. Near the green giant, was a smaller moon, which was orange and smooth. At best guess, it might be a world of sand, or liquid. With so little definition it was the only explanation. Directly above the land was a bright orange star. It bathed the land in an amber glow, and on the bench, in the middle, reading a book and enjoying it all, was a young man named Eli Wallace.

"MWAH!" A bird's call rang out. Eli lowered his book, and looked towards the source of the noise. He saw one of his favourite creatures: the Starbird. It was a dirty red bird, with white streaks extending throughout its plumage. In flight it looked like an explosion, with rays of white pointing outwards along the wings from the middle of the creature's body. The Starbird flew to Eli and landed on the bench to his left and Eli could see it up close. It's beak was sharp and black, sharp enough to be used for tearing apart small creatures. But in spite of this, Eli knew it was meant to be a herbivore, even though that term had no real meaning here.

Eli and the Starbird looked at each other. He knew there was no real intelligence there. But he made sure it would seem like there was. The Starbird would act friendly and kind to any human and act like it understood them. As Eli looked at the Starbird he knew it wasn't his best work, but it was his first, and that's why it was his favourite. Designing creatures was a hobby he picked up to pass the time, which he had plenty of. He give them minds and personalities, and learned to create worlds for these creatures such as the one he was on now. He called it Endobah. A moon in orbit around a gas giant. He made other simple moons that would occasionally pass nearby, but he would never visit them. They were only there to make the sky just a bit more interesting.

Endobah was a great place to rest, and that's what he did, rest. He patted the Starbird on the head. It looked at him and looked down at the book in his right hand.

"This?" Eli asked the bird. He flipped through the book, "just some medical information. Thought I'd go over it again. Might have missed something the first few times."

"MWAH!" the Starbird went.

"I know, but..." Eli responded. "Something might come to me, some idea I never thought of before. I need to find a way to help them." He looked back at the bird pausing for a minute before continuing, "you know it's almost time. It'll be a change...I'm so used to being alone...but I miss them...this is certainly a good thing."

The Starbird cocked it's head.

Eli laughed and responded. "I don't know either."

On Eli's right a black remote was lying. He set the book down and picked the remote up. He then pressed a few buttons and suddenly a loud noise came from behind him. Eli stood up and turned around, he saw a black Stargate before him spinning as it connected to his destination. The Stargate was built directly in the ground. He knew this made no sense in or out of context. But Eli didn't care, and he liked the appearance as two trees on either side bent towards the 'gate, framing it in a way. It wouldn't have looked as good on its stand.

As the spinning stopped, a silver energy wave emerged from the gate, settling into a flat puddle, which Eli recognized as the Stargate's event horizon.

"See ya," Eli said to the Starbird. Petting it on the head again.

"MWAH!" it responded as Eli walked towards the Stargate.

After he stepped through he ended up in a very familiar place, the Gate room of the Starship Destiny. Mostly empty, save for two consoles and two sets of stairs at the opposite end. The stairs led to a catwalk which allowed people to overlook the room from above. The 'gate shut down behind him as he walked through the room, and through the doors on the main level. He ended up on the Destiny's Observation Deck. As he looked out the large panoramic window, he could see streaks of blue extend over the ship as it proceeded to travel faster than light. He left Observation, and walked over to the Control Interface Room, which was dominated by the Apple Core. So named because it looked like a grey apple core that went from the floor to the ceiling in the centre of the room. It allowed Eli to control every system on the Destiny. Of course he didn't need to use this room, just like he didn't need to walk through the Stargate. But he did prefer it. It made everything feel more real.

He walked directly up to the main console, connected directly to the Apple Core. After pressing a few simple buttons, he read what was on the screen and then, simply smiled.

Far away, on another world, a young blue pegasus, with a technicolour mane and tail, and a picture of a thundercloud on her flank, was in her hometown's local library, a tree, lying face-down on the floor. A storm was brewing outside, a storm she helped create. Typically, during these events, she was up in her home high above the cloud layer, but during those times, other pegusi would small talk her to death. Normally she didn't mind this, but today was not a normal day. Today she didn't want to talk to anyone. Unfortunately, she has very caring friends.

"We could play truth or dare!" said an annoyingly cheerful purple unicorn with stars on her flank. Then again, at that moment, the pegasus found everything annoying.

"No!" she replied.

"Game of Life!?"

"No!"

"Checkers!?

"No!"

"Monopoly!?"

"I said 'no' dammit!!" The pegasus snapped at her friend, who recoiled. She suddenly felt bad. "I'm sorry Twilight, I just don't want to do anything right now," the pegasus said as she put her face down on the floor.

Twilight sighed. "Fine. Fluttershy, what about you?"

A yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, and three butterflies on her flank, responded in a soft and timid voice. "Oh, no, I'm fine."

"You sure? How 'bout we make smores?"

"OO! Smores are delicious! I love smores!" Fluttershy replied.

"Great!" said the purple one. "Rainbow Dash!?"

"What?" replied the blue pegasus, her voice muffled by the floor and her legs, which her face was buried in.

"We're making smores!"

"I heard."

Twilight paused before continuing, "Do you want smores?"

"No."

Twilight was visibly concerned. "Hey Fluttershy, why don't you start without me, Graham crackers are in the cupboard."

"Oh, um, okay," The quiet pegasus replied.

She disappeared into Twilight's kitchen, so Twilight turned her attention back to her other winged friend.

"Rainbow?" she asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"No," the pegasus responded, her face still hidden.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Well, I'm not going to push it," she said. "But I am worried about you, we all are, and whatever is wrong, it will get better. I mean it's not like anyone died!" Then Twilight realized something, "no one died right?!"

"No."

"See! Just please, try to enjoy yourself. This can't be good for you."

Twilight was no expert on psychology, and Rainbow knew it. "How do you know?"

"I don't," she replied. "But I know you've been wallowing in self-pity for the past week and you're not getting any better. Anything that's not that, is going to be an improvement. Just try to have a good time. Pleeeaaase! Not just for me, but for yourself as well."

There was no reply for a few seconds, then Rainbow lifted her head and looked at her friend. She sat up, glancing around the room, appearing a bit drowsy, and said, "you said something about smores?"

Twilight smiled. Just then, Fluttershy asked in a soft voice from behind, "um...where are the marshmallows?"

"Pantry."

"Oh," she disappeared again in the kitchen.

Twilight turned back to Rainbow, "you okay?"

"No," Rainbow replied. "But I'll try to be."

"Good."

At that moment, Fluttershy flew out from the kitchen with smore supplies. A box of chocolate and a box of crackers in her forehooves, and a bag of marshmallows and a metal skewer with a wooden handle in her teeth. "Ooo ants snores!?" She asked with a smile.

Deep within the Starship Destiny, were rows upon rows of pods, containing the only humans alive on the ship, sleeping in a form of suspended animation. Over 60 people were in the pods, unaware of the outside world.

Just then, at the end of one of the banks, a pod began shutting down. The door on the front raised into the ceiling and a man walked out dressed all in black with a name tag that read "Young". He looked around the room, puzzled.

Just then, an odd sound emanated from the rear of the ship, followed by an odd sensation, as if everything distorted itself and quickly returned to normal. He immediately recognised it as the ship's FTL drive shutting down...or powering up. There was no way to know for certain. He noticed almost directly across the hall, one of the pods was completely offline. No lights whatsoever were coming from it. Young stepped down from the raised platform in front of the pods and walked up to the damaged pod.

"Damn," he said.

Then, from his left, he heard a familiar voice say, "Problem?"

Young looked towards the source of the voice. It was Eli, the man who Young knew was supposed to be in the broken pod, he was leaning against a console at the end of the room. "Eli," he said, smiling. "For a minute there, I thought you were dead."

"Hmm?" Eli was confused, then he looked at the pod in question. "OH! Yeah, that, well..."

"Doesn't look like you got it to work."

"Yeah, about that...um...I didn't."

Suddenly, Young was confused. "Oh...okay. Then how are you still alive?"

"Well...technically I'm not."

"Ah! So I'm hallucinating again," Young said, smiling again.

Eli chuckled a bit. "No, not really," He responded. "Come on, let's go for a walk, I got a lot to tell ya. Plus, there's a great view outside the observation deck."

Eli was smiling as he crossed the room and passed Young, walking right out the door of the stasis hall. Young followed.

As they walked down the hallway, Eli shared his story.

"So, I had two weeks to repair the pod and get in before I had to shut down life support," Eli explained. "I knew that whatever the problem was, I had figure it out well before then."

"...and you didn't," Young added.

"No, I did...that was the problem."

Young gave him a curious look.

"It was a week and a half after you entered stasis when I figured out the problem: A few overloaded circuits. Couldn't repair them, and had nothing to replace them with, so--"

"--you couldn't fix it."

"No, I couldn't. Now I knew I had to find a way to survive, and my first thought was the shuttle. It had its own life support system, which would have needed less power. But unfortunately, it didn't have enough power to last me three years. I was going to transfer some of the power from Destiny, whatever wasn't needed for the jump, and that would have worked...if I did it a week earlier."

"So it was too late."

"Yeah. So I thought I was out of options, then I realized...the chair."

The two of them arrived at one of Destiny's elevators, Young pressed the call button and the door opened up. "The chair?"

"Yep!" Eli smiled as the two walked right in.

Young pressed one of the buttons on a console on the right side of the elevator. The doors closed in response.

"I used the chair to upload my entire consciousness into Destiny's data banks and I let my body die," the elevator door opened, signifying they reached their destination. They both walked out. "Brilliant huh? By the way, someone might want to do something with it. I just left it there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well I could have disposed of it, but I figured we might need it. Not that I could go back in, I mean it's dead, it's useless, but an old DNA sample might come in handy," Eli smiled.

"Huh..." There was a pause as they continued walking. "Sorry, Eli."

"For what?" Eli asked with a chuckle.

"Well, you had to die for the rest of us," Young responded. "Plus, you had to spend all that time alone." Then Young looked like he had some revelation. "Did you ever get Ginn and Doctor Perry out of-"

"-No! No, they're still stuck in there, so yeah. I spent all that time alone." He sighed. "Kept myself busy, though. Looked through the database searching for something that might help TJ and Doctor Park."

"...and?" Young asked, hopefully.

"Nothing...sadly. I tried to pass the time, wrote a few books, created some virtual environments with Destiny's simulation software."

"Great." Just then, the two of them arrived at the Destiny's observation deck. "Maybe I'll check 'em out sometime."

"Yeah, I'd love to see if I can get people into them through the neural link. I haven't gotten a chance to test anything yet."

"Because you haven't had anyone to test on."

"Yeah." Eli chuckled.

They both walked up to the railing at the front of the observation deck, and looked out the large window. The Destiny was pointed directly towards a red dwarf star. Both men knew the ship was going to dive into the star to refuel.

"So you turned life support back on?" Young asked.

Eli shook his head, "No...not yet, there's plenty of oxygen left from when I uploaded."

"Hmm, well I assume the stones were where we left them," he started walking away. "I'm gonna go contact Homeworld Command, they're probably waiting for me."

"Um!" Eli got very nervous. "Actually Colonel!"

Young was already halfway to the exit, he turned around. "Problem Eli?"

"Huge, actually...a few days after I uploaded myself, we were knocked out of FTL."

Young suddenly became very interested. "By what!?"

"A supernova. We were near the edge of the galaxy, a star somewhere exploded and we were forced out of FTL." Eli was hesitant to continue. He didn't want to tell Colonel Young because he was afraid of his reaction. But he knew he had to. The Colonel would have discovered eventually, and he was the best one to tell the rest of the crew. So Eli had to tell him first.

"...okay...so?"

"A few seconds later, we were hit by the supernova itself...it did a number to the shields. On a hunch I opened the solar collectors and was able to get some fuel, but it wasn't enough. We didn't have enough fuel to complete the jump to the next galaxy. Plus we couldn't refuel at a star because of the drones."

Young began to realize what Eli was trying to tell him and wanted him to skip to the end. "How long have we been out?"

Eli either didn't hear him or wasn't listening. "So I began to look through the FTL manual and found out how to throttle down the drives, but it turns out a small drop in power meant a large-"

"-Eli!" The Colonel said, growing frustrated with the young genius. "How long have we been out?"

Eli paused for a few seconds, before looking Colonel Young right in the eye and saying, "Twenty-seven years."

Young nodded...he understood.

"Could be worse," Eli said, pausing for a second. "Listen, I did the best I could."

"No, no, it's fine," he responded with a reassuring smile. "Not your fault Eli."

"That's why I woke you up early. I thought you should be the one to tell everyone."

"Well then, Homeworld Command can wait." He walked up to the railing. "After twenty-seven years it's unlikely they have someone on constantly anyway. Or that their device is even on, so..."

There was an awkward silence between the two for a minute before it was broken by Eli. "Sorry, Colonel," He said.

Young looked out the window...looked back at Eli and said quite simply. "For what?"

"Well I...oh!" He chuckled.

"We're alive Eli, that's all that matters...we're alive."

In a tree-shaped library, a storm was still brewing outside, and two little ponies were playing a game.

Fluttershy moved a piece across the checkered board with her teeth. "Checkmate," she said with a smile.

"Uh!" responded Twilight. "How are you so good at this?"

"Oh, Angel bunny loves chess," she replied. "So I get lots of practice."

"The rabbit plays chess?"

On the other side of the room, Rainbow Dash was eating a smore, taking small bites. Dozens were made before the trio ran out of chocolate, at which point Fluttershy and Twilight began a game of chess.

Twilight wanted a rematch, so the two were beginning their second game. Apparently forgetting the winner was supposed to play against Rainbow Dash. Not that Rainbow cared. She only agreed to it to make Twilight happy. Her mind was focused on what happened a few days earlier. An event she would have rather forgotten.

Rainbow was looking around the library, trying to find something to take her mind off things. Eventually her attention drifted to Twilight's bookshelf. Normally Rainbow wasn't that interested in books, but today was not a normal day, and she was bored.

One book grabbed her attention, it was called "The Battle of Mote." She flew up to grab it in her forehooves as Twilight and Fluttershy began arguing over the rules.

"Wait, you can't do that!" Twilight exclaimed.

Fluttershy set down the pawn she had in her mouth. "No, you see, it's called en passant," she explained with a smile. "Just because you move your pawn two spaces, doesn't mean you can escape my pawn."

"I'm going to look this up," Twilight began walking across the room.

"Be my guest," Fluttershy responded in a smug tone.

Then Twilight noticed Rainbow holding one of her books, looking at it. Twilight recognized the spine.

"OOO!" She exclaimed. "That's a good one."

"You've read it?" Rainbow asked.

"No, but I've heard good things. Though if you want to read it, you might want to read this one first," she levitated a book off the shelf with a purple glow. "It takes place earlier."

Rainbow looked at the book, it was called Starland.

"It's about the exploration of a strange new world, very far away," Twilight explained, her left forehoof pointed towards the sky.

Rainbow grabbed it in her forehooves and flew down to the floor, dropping the books. "Thanks Twilight...I'll check 'em out," Rainbow said. She grabbed Starland in her mouth and walked over to the other side of the room, near the door.

Twilight then found her chess rule book and opened it up. After a few seconds she declared, "Okay, you were right, that's legal," as she walked back to the game.

Rainbow flipped open the book with her nose and began reading, as Twilight and Fluttershy continued their game. Time went on, as Rainbow continued to read, and Fluttershy and Twilight continued to play. Moves were made and pages were turned.

Rainbow sometimes reacted to what she was reading, as if she was actually there. A look of shock would appear on her face, a gasp, as characters were placed in danger and exiting twists were revealed. She got deeper and deeper into the book, and soon enough, it was like no one else existed.

Eventually, Fluttershy and Twilight's fifth game was drawing to a close. Fluttershy moved her bishop forward, halfway across the board with her hoof, when Twilight said, "You know you act like a different pony when you play."

"I do?" Fluttershy responded as Twilight moved a piece.

"Yeah, you act a little more aggressive than normal."

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy responded, cowering just a bit.

"Don't be sorry Fluttershy," Twilight responded. "In fact, I approve. It's good to have a worthy opponent, one who's aggressive in the right circumstances. We should do this more often."

"We should," Fluttershy responded with a smile as she grabbed her queen with her teeth and moved it along a diagonal.

Twilight then moved her rook to the other side the board with a purple glow. "Check," she declared.

Fluttershy began to focus on how to get her King back into safety when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Both turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow," Twilight announced.

Rainbow Dash was still focused on her book.

Twilight got louder, "Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash looked up, her attention finally broken. "Huh?" she said.

"Could you get the door?"

"Oh!" She stood up and walked towards the door as the others turned their attention back to the game board, which neither wanted to leave.

Things were getting too intense on the game board for either pony to move. Fluttershy was winning, but Twilight thought she might be able to catch up.

Rainbow opened the door with her hoof and looked outside. In the rain was a purple dragon with green scales. He was soaked in water, but he didn't seem to care. He just stood there...

"Checkmate," went a soft voice from the other side of the room.

"Arg!" Twilight cried in frustration.

"Spike?" Rainbow said inquisitively.

At that moment Rainbow heard hoofsteps behind her before the two other ponies appeared next to her. Then Spike sniffed and Rainbow realized, not all that moisture was from the rain. The young dragons eyes were bloodshot. He was crying.

"Spike, what's wrong?" asked Rainbow Dash as she got closer.

Spike sniffed a few more times before saying three simple words that shocked all those in attendance.

"I hate her!"

Chapter One - The Wars Begin

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It was in the early morning just outside of Ponyville, as Rainbow Dash was getting ready for a very special trip. Her saddle bag was on the floor of her house, as she began to load it with books she thought she might need during the trip. Equestria's capital city of Canterlot wasn't that far away, a few hours at most, but she and Twilight would be staying there for at least a week, so she wanted to be fully prepared.

"So, you'll be gone for a while, huh?" asked Stardrop, Rainbow's caramel-coloured roommate. She had a cutie mark of three raindrops and a blue mane. They shared a home made of solidified cloud floating just a few feet above the cloud layer, with another pegasus.

"Yep," Rainbow replied to Stardrop.

"Who's in charge of weather control while you're gone?"

"Gibbs."

"What!? You mean the new guy!? He just came here a few months ago. He's still getting used to our protocols!"

"So? He's got plenty of experience, and I trust him."

"What if he changes things to suit his preferences?"

"I gave him specific instructions not to."

"Couldn't you have found anyone else!?"

Rainbow responded in a frustrated tone. "Okay, you want to be in charge of leading and organizing the activities of 38 pegasi?!"

Stardrop just looked at her for several seconds until finally responding. "So Gibbs is in charge?"

"Yes," Rainbow replied with a smile.

"Okay, good to know. Have fun on your trip." She then proceeded to the upper level of the house.

With her saddlebag loaded and buttoned up. Rainbow tried to put it on. She ducked her head under the strap and lifted it up as it slid down her back. She had to move her wings around so the bag wouldn't restrict her ability to fly. It was times like these she wished she had a horn. Thankfully her teeth weren't very sharp.

After her wings were positioned on the outside of her bag she flapped them a few times to ensure she could comfortably move them. She then had to buckle the strap so it wouldn't fall off in flight. Reaching under her belly with her teeth, she grabbed the strap, which was already threaded through the buckle, and pulled until it felt just short of too tight. A quick roll onto her back allowed the bar to fall into one of the strap's holes, holding the bag in place. She then had to wrestle the strap into it's keeper, so it didn't hang underneath her.

Making sure everything was secure, she got up onto her hooves, and walked outside. Stepping off the cloud she spread her wings, flying gently down towards the centre of Ponyville. Not many people were out this early, many seasonal salespeople were just beginning to set up shop in the town square, and some of the permanent storefronts were just beginning to open. But customers were still few and far between. Many were likely still trying to wake up.

From the air Rainbow could see the town Library directly off one of the side streets. So with a slight twitch of her wings, and an adjustment of her tail, she turned towards her destination. As she got closer another twitch of her wings followed by excessive flapping allowed her to gracefully land on her hooves. She walked to the library door and knocked three times.

Rainbow waited patiently by the door...or at least she tried. After a few seconds she sat down and waited. A minute passed, she knocked again. Annoyed, she was going to start on without her friend, when suddenly, the door opened and a familiar purple unicorn appeared in the door frame.

"Sorry Rainbow," Twilight said as she walked back inside. "I'm still packing."

Rainbow followed Twilight inside and spotted an empty saddlebag on the floor. "Still!? Looks like you haven't even started."

"Huh?" Twilight followed Rainbow's gaze to the saddlebag. "Oh! Yeah, I've been really busy. You hungry?"

"Starving!" replied Rainbow as she followed Twilight into the kitchen.

"I'm making daisy sandwiches, you want anything special on yours?"

"No, a-er..." Rainbow thought for a minute. "Tomato and black pepper."

Twilight telekinetically pulled a tomato out of her fridge, and quickly rinsed it off in the sink, before chopping it up into slices. "Thanks for this by the way," Twilight said. "You know I hate travelling alone."

"Yeah, no problem."

Rainbow sat down at the kitchen table as Twilight quickly assembled the two sandwiches.

"I'm hoping to keep busy," Rainbow continued. "The Wonderbolts are apparently holding trials next week in Canterlot. So it's good timing on our part."

"I'll be sure to cheer you on," Twilight responded as she brought the food to the table.

Silence lasted for a few seconds as the two fillies ate, until Twilight broke it.

"I'm going to have to shut down the Library while I'm gone."

Rainbow swallowed her bite. "No one to watch it?"

"I can't trust anyone but Spike and he's in no shape to do anything." Twilight then hit her forehead with her hoof in realization, "oh fudge, I'm also gonna need someone to check up on Spike!"

"You don't think he'll be alright?" Rainbow asked. "I mean it's been a few weeks."

"I think he's getting worse," Twilight said. "I don't know what to do."

"It’s impossible to tell what’s happening inside another pony. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what’s happening inside ourselves."

"Is that about Spike or you?"

Rainbow shrugged her forelegs as she chewed another bite before swallowing. "Where is he now?"

"Sleeping."

"So what are you thinking?"

"I could have someone watch him. Make sure he eats, can't trust him to do that on his own."

"Who?"

"Well, can't ask Pinkie or Fluttershy because they might try to cheer him up."

"You think that's a bad thing?"

"No, it's their methods, Pinkie would throw a dozen parties, more likely to anger him instead, and Fluttershy would just shower him with attention, which I already tried, and it just made things worse," Twilight explained. "And I can't ask Rarity for obvious reasons."

"So that leaves..."

"I guess I'll ask her on our way out of town."

Rainbow decided to eat her last bit of sandwich before responding. "Twilight, Applejack's farm is on the other end of town, opposite Canterlot."

Far away, the Destiny was travelling at Faster-Than-Light speeds through space. Within the ship's control interface room, a man with curly hair, and a white shirt, was working on one of the room's consoles. On a nearby console, a woman with straight dark hair and a purple shirt was also working. Doctor Dale Volker and Chloe Armstrong were their names, and both were exhausted.

Just then, Doctor Volker, who was leaning against the right side of the console, stood up straight and said, "I think I got it."

That got Chloe's attention. She walked over and looked over Volker's shoulder. "That could work," Chloe said, she started walking back to her console. "Let's try it."

Just then, Colonel Young walked in. "Try what?" he asked.

"Oh!" Chloe responded. "Well, you know how Eli can only talk to one of us at a time and how much of a nuisance that's been?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." to the right of Chloe's console was a grey ball made of metal and glass. She picked it up and gently tossed it in the air. It started floating five feet above the floor. At this moment Volker tapped a few buttons on his console.

Suddenly a familiar voice emanated from the ball. "Hello?" went the voice of Eli Wallace. "Testing testing. Hey Colonel."

"He can talk through the Kinos?"

"Yeah!" Chloe said with a smile.

Volker elaborated, "It took a lot of work. Had to code a vocal synthesizer for him, because we're literally creating sound from nothing."

"Great," responded the Colonel, obviously not caring. He quickly moved on to more important priorities. "How are the dome repairs coming."

"Should be done by the end of the week," Chloe responded.

Young nodded. "...and when is that?" he asked.

"Yeah, isn't the week over?" Volker asked. "I thought it was Friday."

"I thought it was Wednesday," Chloe responded.

"What day is it anyway?" Volker asked. "Eli?"

"Don't ask me," the Kino responded. "It's been 27 years, I lost track, I don't even know if it's day or night."

"Well, anyway, in a few days," Chloe put them back on track. "We put both repair bots on the job, so they should be done soon."

"Good," the Colonel responded. "Those seeds T.J. found on the planet a while back are starting to grow some fruit. She could use the extra room."

"Colonel!" A woman appeared from one of the hallways leading into the room. "We need to talk."

"Hey Camile," said Keli.

Camile Wray was taken aback. "Eli?" she asked.

Volker responded, "We found a way to get him to talk to us through the Kinos, I had to code an entire-"

"-Well that's great," Wray said, unaware of her interruption. "Bet it'll make your life a lot easier."

"Yeah," the Kino went.

Volker looked dejected and Chloe just smiled, suppressing a laugh.

"Oh! Colonel, I just finished the latest round of psych evals," Wray said. "Morale is down, and I think it's getting worse."

Young replied, "Any solutions?"

"Well the biggest problem is the fact that we haven't heard anything from Earth."

"Well, not much we can do about that," the Colonel explained. "We have someone on the stones 'round the clock, but if no one's on the other end..."

Everyone knew Colonel Young was referring to the communication stones. Created long ago by the people who built the Destiny and the Stargates. It allowed them to switch bodies with people on Earth when they touched a stone, and placed it on a special device which amplified the signal so it could stretch across the billions of light years to their home planet. The biggest problem with it, they required someone else connected to the stones on Earth, and after 27 years, there didn't appear to be anyone waiting on the other end.

"Well, we need to do something," Wray mentioned the obvious.

"Decent food," Volker said. Everyone looked at him. "Sorry."

"Actually, that's a good one," Chloe said. "I mean if we can find anything like wheat or rice on the next planet, we can grind it down to flour, and I can make a cake or pie or something."

"OO! I like that idea," Camile said. "But I doubt it'll help in the long run."

Eli was the next to speak, "How about shore leave?"

Everyone turned to look at the floating orb. It began spinning around back and forth to look at everyone.

"Vacation? Time off?" He elaborated. "A chance to get off the ship."

"Eli," Wray replied. "We get off the ship all the time."

"Yeah, I know, through the Stargate. But everyone who does is too busy collecting food or water to enjoy themselves."

Volker was the next to speak. "Well, what are you suggesting?"

"If we find a suitable planet I can delay the jump timer for a few weeks...I think. It'll give people time to relax before Destiny forces an FTL jump."

"Eli," Chloe responded. "We did that before, remember? The obelisk planet?"

"Yeah, and people loved it...at least I thought they did."

"...and they wanted to stay behind."

"...and they all died," Eli finished. "Remind people of that and it's unlikely to be a problem this time."

"Worth looking into at least," Young replied. "Keep an eye out for-"

Just then, Destiny left FTL and a spacial distortion spread throughout the ship, interrupting Colonel Young.

"...for worlds that might be appropriate," Young finished as he grabbed the radio clipped to his belt.

"Look for something tropical," Camile said. Chloe responded with a laugh.

"Morrison," the Colonel spoke into the radio. "What've we got?"

The voice of Doctor Helladius Morrison came over the radio. "Two planets in range, one might have some food, the other is apparently pretty barren."

"We'll send teams to both, Brody says he needs minerals for the fab." Young released his radio button and spoke to the people before him, "Good work, people."

Young left and was followed by Camile, leaving Chloe and Volker alone with the Kino.

"Good work Dale," Chloe said before she began to leave, grabbing a notepad.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Eli responded.

"Oh, it was nothing," Volker responded.

Chloe just laughed as she left the room, followed by the Kino.

Volker went back to work on the control panel. A smile emerged on his face.

The sun was rising at Sweet Apple Acres as a young, energetic and cheerful, yellow filly was carrying a basket full of muffins through the orchard. She had a pink bow in her red mane, and was wearing a saddlebag full of books. Her name was Apple Bloom, and she needed to begin her daily trek to school very soon, but earlier that morning she noticed her sister, Applejack, was not at breakfast with the rest of her family. She was in the orchard, a tree had caught a very deadly fungus and she needed to dispose of it. But she was so caught up in the work, that she forgot to feed herself.

She was walking through the orchard, looking for her sister, when she heard hoofsteps behind her. Turning her head she saw a familiar purple unicorn.

"Twilight!" She said, dropping the basket. "What brings you here?" She had a mild southern accent that many found quite adorable.

"Oh, hey Apple Bloom," the unicorn responded. "Have you seen your sister?"

"Actually, I was looking for her too, and I don't have a lot of time," she explained. "I thought she was around here, but maybe I'm mistaken."

"Hmmm..." Twilight began looking around, then suddenly, she noticed something. "There's a hill over there," she said, pointing behind Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom grabbed her basket and ran for the hill. Once she arrived, she was quickly joined by Twilight. Apple Bloom began looking around the orchard from the higher ground they found when suddenly, she saw her goal.

"Dare sha aa!" She said through muffled teeth, pointing off in the distance. Twilight couldn't see anything, but she knew better than to question the eyes of an Earth Pony. She ran off after the little filly.

Eventually the two reached an orange mare, with a blonde mane, and three apples on her flank, pulling a wagon with a chopped down tree in it.

Apple Bloom was the first to speak. "SIS!" she said, dropping the basket. "You forgot breakfast."

"I had an apple," the mare responded with an accent that was slightly thicker than her sister's. "Twilight!" Applejack said, acknowledging her friend.

Slightly out of breath, the unicorn smiled. "Applejack, I need to ask you a favour," she said.

Apple Bloom interrupted. "You need grains! An apple just isn't enough, you know that," she said, paraphrasing something her older sister said many times before.

Applejack was about to respond, but she knew her sister was right. The older Earth Pony reached down to the basket and took a bite of muffin. "Thanks, little sis," she said. Moving on, she turned towards her friend. "So, Twilight, what brings you to the farm?"

"Well," the unicorn explained. "Me and Rainbow Dash are going to be in Canterlot for a few weeks-no jokes!" she interjected before Applejack got a chance to speak. The Earth Pony closed her mouth. Twilight continued, "...and I'm a bit worried about Spike, he's been spending most of his time in bed and I've had to force him to eat. So I was hoping I would be able to get someone to check on him every day. Bring him food, make sure he eats it, try to get him out of the house at some point..."

"OOO," Applejack was hesitant. "You know normally I'd love to help Twi, but things are pretty hectic on the farm, we got some weird fungus going around, turns out it's on a bunch of trees, I'll have to chop them all down, and we're also having some pest problems on the north field, and harvest is just a month away. I'm really sorry Twilight I wish I could-"

"I'LL DO IT!" said a small, sweet and excited voice.

The two looked down at Apple Bloom. "Are you sure Apple Bloom?" Twilight asked.

"Of course," she responded.

"I don't know, Apple Bloom, once you make a promise, you need to stick with it, and you can't forget," Applejack explained.

"Said the pony who forgot breakfast."

Applejack ignored her little sister. "Can't you find someone else?" She asked Twilight.

"Well, no one I can trust," she said.

"Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked.

Twilight just shook her head.

"Rarity?"

Twilight responded with a dirty look.

"...oh...right."

"Oh, come on sis," Apple Bloom responded. "I know I can do this. I pass through town every day anyway, and who knows, it might be a great way to earn my cutie mark!"

"I don't know...Twilight?"

"Well, if she thinks she can do it," Twilight responded. "I have no reason to doubt her."

Applejack thought for a minute, before continuing with a sigh. "...fine, but don't expect me to bail you out if you can't keep up."

"Yes ma'am!" She responded with a salute. At that moment Apple Bloom noticed the position of the sun and realized she needed to get to class. "I got to go!" she said, running off.

"Wait for me!" Twilight yelled. "Thanks anyway, Applejack!" she said to her friend before speeding off.

"Good luck," Applejack yelled towards the speeding unicorn. She looked toward her wagon, remembering what she needed to do, and it saddened her. She grabbed the basket of muffins in her teeth, before continuing her trek to the barn.

The Destiny was quiet. A few hours ago, two teams were sent through the Stargate, to two different planets, to look for supplies. The teams had plenty of time to gather supplies and return to the Destiny, and all the rest of the crew had to do was wait.

Destiny's bridge was very large. Dominating the centre of the room was the command chair, which was currently empty. On each side of the chair was a console for controlling the ships many systems.

Behind the chair was the main entrance to the bridge, which opened on a platform slightly higher than the front half of the room, with a railing dividing the two halves.

Three workstations were at the front of the bridge, facing three windows, overlooking the ship itself. Sitting at the centre workstation was Doctor Nicholas Rush, a man with a long hair and beard, wearing a white and green shirt, and a green vest. To his left, wearing mostly black, was Lieutenant Matthew Scott, and the two were talking.

"Brody's been obsessed with that thing," Scott explained.

"Well, we can't really blame him," Rush replied with his distinct Scottish accent. "It'll certainly make life on the ship a lot easier."

"...yeah."

"I'm just surprised we found it."

"Well, you can't be too surprised, I mean Eli knows every last crevice of the ship now."

"Well, no, what I mean is, I'm surprised it's here," Rush explained. "When the Ancients launched the Destiny, the original intention was for the crew to be supported in its mission by supplies from Earth, not be left to fend for itself...not that I'm complaining."

"But a mission this important, they would probably want heavy redundancy," Scott looked out Destiny's windows. "You can't rely on anything out here."

"...yeah."

"Anything interesting?" The Colonel's voice appeared behind them. Scott looked and saw him standing at the entrance to the bridge, with Chloe at his side, and a Kino floating behind them.

"No sir, it's all quiet," Scott responded.

"Good, last thing I want to do right now is anything," Young said, leaning against the railing behind the command chair.

Scott and Chloe laughed at the Colonel's statement. Scott turned around and looked out the window. Suddenly, he went very serious. "Huh," he said.

"What?" asked Chloe.

"...Thought I saw something." Suddenly, a beep came from Scott's console, he looked down. "I did! Sir, three ships just dropped out of hyperspace."

"They look familiar?" Young asked as walked over to his chair. Chloe walked over to far right workstation at the same time.

"No, not really."

"This can't just be a coincidence," Rush said. "We're in the middle of empty space."

Chloe sat down at the far right console and began pressing a few buttons. She looked intently at the console, examining the ships. A few more button presses and a revelation came to her.

"Oh, my god!" she exclaimed. "They're Nakai!"

"Who?" Scott asked.

"The aliens from the first galaxy? Nakai? I never mentioned that? No?"

"How do you know that?" Young asked.

"The radiation from the engines, the signatures are identical to Nakai ships."

"They don't look anything like the...Nakai ships we met before," Rush said.

Eli responded over the Kino, "27 years."

Young knew what that meant, he knew these aliens were not nice, he knew what he had to do, he grabbed his radio. "Gate room, this is Young."

In the gate room, Corporal Barnes was standing at one of the room's consoles when she heard the Colonel's voice. "I need you to recall all teams immediately," the Colonel's voice went.

Barnes grabbed her radio, and responded. "Yes sir." A few console buttons pressed and the Stargate began to dial.

Under an orange sky, Adam Brody was loading a large dark stone onto a floating platform called the Kino sled. He was exhausted and the hot sun was not helping. Thankfully the desert fatigues the military provided were light enough to keep him relatively cool...but not by much. He started walking back to where several loose stones were sitting, when suddenly a voice came over his radio.

"Brody, this is Destiny."

Brody grabbed the radio off his belt. "This is Brody."

"Colonel Young is recalling all teams."

Shock and confusion went over Brody's face, "What? When!?"

"Immediately."

Brody was exasperated. "Okay, we aren't exactly close to the Gate, it'll take us at least ten minutes to get there."

"I'll inform the Colonel, Destiny out."

Brody returned the radio to his belt. "Damn it," he said. "All right! We need to start heading back to the Gate, now!" He announced to the five other people he was with, some military, some civilian. The team started grabbing all they could to begin the trek to the Stargate.

On Destiny's bridge, things were tense.

"Do they know we're here?" Young asked.

"Probably," Rush responded. "But they haven't done anything."

"Well that's a good sign," the Kino said.

"Not too sure about that, Eli," Scott responded.

Just then, a voice came over the radio. "Colonel, Brody said his team are at least ten minutes from the Gate," Barnes said as the Stargate dialed once more.

"Roger," the Colonel responded over the radio. "What about T.J.'s team?"

"Dialing them now sir."

"Colonel," Chloe said, "They're heading straight towards us."

"How long?" Young asked.

"Five," she responded, "maybe six minutes, I'm not sure."

"Well then we have plenty of time," Scott said. "I mean we were able to hold out for hours before."

"27 years Lieutenant," Rush responded. "Who knows what kind of weapons advances they've made in that time."

The three ships continued towards their enemy.

Chapter Two - Internal Conflicts

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The Nakai ships were flying straight towards the Destiny, as Colonel Young gave the order.

"Turn around, get us out of here!"

"Yes sir!" Scott responded.

The Destiny did a loop upwards and back, speeding away from the enemy ships.

A few seconds later, Chloe spoke, "They're gaining rapidly, we might have bought a few minutes at most."

"That might be enough," Scott pointed out. "I mean, they don't want to destroy the Destiny, so by the time they try to board us, Brody's team should be back and we can jump to FTL."

But the eternal pragmatist, Rush, objected. "They'll have to collapse the shields Lieutenant," he said. After all, the shields were needed to jump.

On the streets of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was waiting. She knew her friend would return in a few minutes, so when that didn't happen, she got annoyed. Always the impatient one, she decided to walk around, actually do something beyond sit in one place. She was about to enter her favourite sweet store, Sugarcube Corner, when suddenly, she stopped short. She realized: her friend, Pinkie Pie, was probably working the store front; so, she decided against entering. Pinkie was one pony she did not want to talk to.

Rainbow turned around and began walking back to where she came from. As she was walking down the street, she began thinking about that event many weeks ago, the day she lost her closest friend. She wanted to forgive, but couldn't coax herself to do it. Her head was held low, so she didn't see two ponies turning a corner directly in front of her. Their presence startled her, and when she looked up, she was face to face with the two ponies in the world she did not want to see.

One was a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail and three diamonds on her flank; Rarity was in shock at seeing her friend, she quickly put on an awkward and obviously fake smile. The other was a pink earth pony with a curly pink mane and tail, three balloons on her flank, and she was holding a box in her mouth by a string of twine; Pinkie Pie was surprised to see Rainbow as well, but she didn't try to hide it.

Rarity was the first to speak. "Rainbow Dash!" she said. "It's so good to see you!" It appeared her face was going to crack with all the effort her smile was taking.

"Rarity," came Rainbow's simple reply.

An awkward silence descended, Rainbow looking as if she was trying to kill Rarity with her gaze. "So, what are you doing today?" Rarity asked, trying to move the conversation along.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for Twilight."

"Twilight?" Rarity asked nervously.

"Yeah, we're going to Canterlot for a few weeks. She just headed off to Sweet Apple Acres to find somepony to watch after Spike, after all, he's not doing so well, emotionally," Rainbow explained. "Do you have any idea why?"

Rarity's face featured a mixture of sadness and guilt. "I am so so sorry!" she said in a desperate and pleading manner.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to him."

Pinkie remained silent. She just kept staring at Rainbow.

"I tried, I don't think he believes me."

Pinkie placed her box down on the ground.

"That shock you!? After what you said!? You know, it's one thing to turn a guy down, Rarity, it's another to-"

"I'm sorry," Pinkie interrupted Rainbow. "I'm really, really sorry."

Rainbow looked at Pinkie, noticing her pleading eyes. A long silence settled, until Rainbow said, "I know."

At that moment Rainbow walked around her two friends, and continued on her way. She headed straight towards the library, and decided to wait for Twilight there.

The three ships were still chasing the Destiny.

"How could they be tracking us?" Young asked.

"Must be the Gates again sir," Lieutenant Scott replied.

"It has to be," Rush explained. "There's no other way for them to track us."

"So, we can't use the Gate anymore?" Chloe asked.

"I guess not."

"Colonel?" Corporal Barnes' voice came from the radio.

The Colonel grabbed his radio, "Yeah?"

"Lieutenant Johansen's team just got back."

"Great, any word from Brody's team?"

"Nothing, sir."

In downtown Ponyville, Twilight and Apple Bloom were just entering the square.

"Just make sure he eats, and don't push him into leaving," Twilight explained. "I think it causes more problems."

"Got it!" said the young filly.

"If he needs anything, like a shoulder to cry on, don't be afraid to offer."

"No problem!"

"Just...don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Apple Bloom paused in her tracks at that point, confused as to what Twilight meant...she decided to roll with it. "Uh...okay," she said, running to catch up to Twilight.

"...and most importantly, don't let anypony else talk to him, especially Rarity."

Apple Bloom was about to ask her why, but she quickly remembered what Rarity's sister, and Apple Bloom's best friend, Sweetie Belle, told her a few weeks earlier. She knew exactly why.

The two of them were walking through the town square, when they saw a yellow pegasus talking to one of the shopkeepers. As she was walking away, Twilight took the opportunity to talk to her best friend.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight said.

"Oh! Hello Twilight," Fluttershy said in a very soft manner. "What are you doing out this early?"

"Oh, I'm actually heading to Canterlot for the next few weeks!" Twilight explained. "There are some books I found in the Library that might be unique. So the Princess wanted me to bring a few to Canterlot so she could get a good look at them."

"Oh, I see," Fluttershy looked a bit worried. "How long will you be gone?"

"A few weeks, Rainbow is going with me; I hate travelling alone."

"Oh, well, I hope you have a good time, I'll see you when you get back." Fluttershy then grabbed Twilight in her forehooves. Twilight reciprocated the hug.

Just then, a bell sounded in the distance.

"Oh darn!" said Apple Bloom. "I got to go Twilight! I'll check on Spike after school."

"Okay, thanks, and good luck!" Twilight replied, as Fluttershy let go of her.

"You too!"

As Apple Bloom ran off, Fluttershy looked at Twilight. "What's wrong with Spike?"

As Twilight began walking back to her library, Fluttershy followed. "He hasn't been eating, he spends most of his time in bed, he's taking this whole thing pretty hard," Twilight explained.

"I don't blame him," Fluttershy replied in a sad tone. "So what is Apple Bloom doing?"

"Oh! I just asked her to check on him on a daily basis, that's all," she explained. "Can't trust anypony else."

"Well...um...what about me?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't trust me?"

"Oh...uh," Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and scratched her head. Fluttershy was very sensitive, so Twilight didn't want to hurt her feelings, so she tried to be as gentle as she could. "Well, I certainly trust you Fluttershy, it's just that...uh..." she didn't know how to continue in a gentle manner. "It's just that...well...you can be...a bit...over...zealous......at...times."

Several awkward seconds passed between the two ponies. Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry when Twilight decided she should qualify her statement.

"It's that you care too much! I mean, I figured you would try too hard to make him better, when he might be better off if he was left alone with his thoughts." Twilight explained. "But look, if Apple Bloom needs help, I'll tell her to go to you."

Twilight could tell Fluttershy was not too thrilled. "Oh, it's okay Twilight," she said, trying to put on a happy face. "It doesn't matter anyway. I have enough to handle at home. I don't have the time to help Spike, and I'm glad you found somepony to take care of him."

"Oh, okay," Twilight said, a little wary. "Are we fine?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Another round of awkward silence descended upon the two. Twilight awkwardly shuffled her hooves.

"Well," Fluttershy broke the silence. "I got to go feed the birds and bunnies and snakes and...stuff."

"Oh, yeah, I'll see you when I get back!" Twilight responded nervously. "Bye!"

Twilight didn't know if she hurt Fluttershy's feelings, but she also knew, if she did, that she couldn't do much about it. She needed to go!

To the Library the young unicorn went, to meet with her other winged friend.

Adam Brody and his team continued to run at a moderate speed across the rocky plains on an alien planet. Many of the civilians were out of breath, but knew they had to carry on.

Ahead of Brody, to his left, Lieutenant Vanessa James was holding a rope attached to one of the two Kino sleds. She was pulling a lot of weight, but because the sled floated around a foot above the ground, it was very easy to pull...no friction. All she really needed to do was guide the sled so it stayed with the team, and ensure it kept up with them.

Just then, several stones fell off the sled, and Brody stopped.

He yelled, "James! Wait!" James stopped, noticing the stones that fell, she pushed the sled back to where Brody was quickly trying to pick them up. The rest kept moving.

As they were reloading the sled, James asked an essential question: "Why do you think they called us back?"

"No idea," He replied, dropping a stone on the sled, nearly out of breath.

"They didn't say?" James asked, dropping another stone on the sled.

"Nope."

"You didn't ask.

"No, I didn't."

"This soon...they might be under attack."

"We don't know that."

"Yeah...but the Colonel wouldn't have recalled us if," she paused as she was lifting another stone. "If it wasn't urgent."

"What's your point?"

"I'm saying we should all be running a little faster."

"Yeah, if we want to kill ourselves," Brody explained pragmatically, dropping the last stone on the sled. "We'll get there soon enough."

"I knew we should have trained you guys harder," James replied, grabbing the rope.

"I got the sled, you go!" He quickly tossed James a remote and threw his own backpack on the sled. James ran off trying to catch up to the other team members who were running towards the Stargate.

He began pushing the sled forward, worried more stones would fall off.

"They're almost on top of us," said Eli. At that moment, three monitors began to descend from the bridge's ceiling as the bridge itself descended into the hull, covering up the front windows. The bridge had entered battle mode.

"Eli?" Young asked.

"Sorry, I guess my panic triggered it."

The Destiny was built to handle a lot. It needed to be, this far out, on a mission of such importance. But even with all their advanced technology at the time, the Ancients were not able to build anything invincible. After the 50 or so million years the ship was flying, the fact that it was still in one piece was nothing short of a miracle.

During the short time the humans have been on the ship, they've brought the ship through hell and back, and they were likely to do it again, very soon.

"Sir, they're within firing range," Scott announced

"Target all weapons," the Colonel ordered.

All of Destiny's turrets turned towards the rear of the ship, placing the enemy in their sights.

The atmosphere on the bridge was tense. Just then, one of the enemy ships fired a single bright white energy shot towards the ship's port side. The entire ship shook violently. On the bridge, a component overloaded sending sparks across the room.

"Return fire!" the Colonel ordered.

Most of the Destiny's weapons began firing back yellow shots at the other ships.

"Damage report!"

Chloe responded, "Shields are down by nearly twenty-five per cent!"

"Sir, we're barely leaving a dent," Scott reported.

"We're getting a message," Rush reported.

"Let me guess..." Young replied.

"...Surrender," Rush said, confirming Young's suspicions. "We have to get out of here."

"Not until Brody's team is back."

"They hit one of our shield generators," Chloe explained. "The others are compensating, but if another gets hit we won't survive the jump!"

"Divert all power to shields! Evasive manoeuvres."

At that moment the Destiny began twisting and turning. Avoiding the weapon's fire from the other ships.

Six people were crossing the rocky plains on an alien planet, carrying several dozen pounds of rocks. They were not expecting to have to make only one trip to the Gate, but urgency demanded it.

Adam Brody was pushing most of the material on the Kino sled. The rest of the team, including Lieutenant James, was much further ahead of him, carrying the rest of the stones in backpacks. Suddenly, James looked up and saw before her, the Stargate, less than two minutes away. She reached into a pocket and pulled out the remote and began searching for the command to dial the Gate.

In Destiny's Gate room, the Stargate lit up and began to spin. Barnes grabbed her radio.

"Sir, we have an incoming wormhole!"

Young grabbed the radio, "tell them they're running out of time."

As the Gate activated, James grabbed her radio and said, "Destiny, this is James, we're coming in."

"Roger, this is Destiny, you're cutting it close," Barnes' voice came over the radio.

James picked up the pace running to the Gate, as all the others began entering the Gate James slowed her pace. She put her arm into the event horizon, holding it open for Brody, who was still a minute away, with the sled.

"MOVE!!" James screamed.

On the Destiny, the Stargate was connected as several crew members were resting on opposite sides of the Gate room, ensuring that the area immediately in front of the Gate was clear. A woman with short, blonde hair named Lieutenant Tamara Johansen was one of the many who were waiting as explosions rocked the ship. She walked up to one of the men who just arrived through the Gate.

"Sergeant Graham," she asked. "What's taking them so long?"

"Brody fell back earlier," he said. "I guess Lieutenant James is waiting for him."

Just then, through the Stargate, came the Kino sled. Followed by Brody, who tripped and fell forward, accidentally pushing the sled forward, and sending it flying across the room. Corporal Barnes stood out in front of it, with her hands held out to catch it before it flew through the main hallway. It pushed her back and she fell on her backside.

James emerged from the Gate and was perplexed, seeing Brody on the ground. The event horizon of the Stargate suddenly disintegrated in a bright flash of light as the Gate closed. This was quickly followed by a burst of CO2 from the power conduits in the floor, on either side of the Gate. It was needed to cool the Gate's capacitors, which were of the highest grade, and the highest fragility.

T.J. acted fast, grabbing Barnes' radio which was left next to the console.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the quartet were still trying to protect the Destiny.

"Shields are down to twenty per cent!" Rush announced in desperation. "We have to go now!"

"Not yet!"

"Colonel," the voice of Destiny's Chief Medical Officer came over the radio. "Brody's team just arrived."

"GO! NOW!" The Colonel ordered.

Then the entire crew could feel a spacial distortion go through the ship as Destiny reentered FTL.

As everyone on the bridge began to relax, Colonel Young spoke. "Okay, Chloe." she turned and looked at him. "We need to know everything."

Canterlot was a city of majesty. Built many centuries ago in honour of the royal house, located near the peak of the tallest mountain in Equestria. Nearly the entire city was built within the castle itself. White stone walls surrounded the perimeter, and within was a bustling community, filled with ponies from all walks of life.

In one area of the city, two newcomers were wandering the streets, trying to blend in. One purple, one rainbow. They weren't very successful.

"So where do they live exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend.

Twilight replied, "I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've been at this end of town." She was reading off a piece of parchment levitating in front of her face.

"You grew up here."

"Not really, my parents moved recently, so I'm not sure where exactly they live."

The two continued to walk down the streets. Twilight then noticed one of the street signs. "I think..." she trailed off, walking down the street ahead of Rainbow.

"Wait up," Rainbow said, catching up to her friend. Twilight had stopped at a boxy, blue-brick building.

"I think this is it," Twilight said. She walked up to the front door and knocked with her forehoof, three times. Rainbow stood next to Twilight as they waited for someone to answer the door. When suddenly a gray unicorn with a purple and white striped mane answered the door with a carrot in her teeth.

The carrot flew up in the air, encased in a purple glow as she threw up her hooves. "Twilight!" she yelled, hugging her daughter.

"Moooom! Please," pleaded the embarrassed unicorn. She broke from her mother's grasp. "This is my best friend, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, as she gestured towards the blue pegasus.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am," Rainbow said, holding out a hoof.

"Oh, please," said the elder pony. "Call me Daystar!" She shook Rainbow's hoof. "Come on in." The three ponies walked into the house. "You two have lunch?"

"No, we, um...we just got into town," Twilight replied.

"Well then, hope you like leftover spaghetti and hayballs!" Daystar replied. "Darklight, baby, Twilight's here, she brought a friend!" She yelled towards the upper level.

"A friend!? She has friends now!?" asked a voice from upstairs.

Twilight's ears flopped downwards in embarrassment.

"Yes, remember!? That's why she moved to Ponyville!?"

"OH! Right!!" Daystar smiled at her daughter before her husband began to speak again. "What's up with that anyway, I thought we sent her to learn magic, not remedial social skills!"

At that point, Twilight's eye started twitching in what Rainbow presumed was anger or annoyance.

"Babe," her mother replied to her husband. "You do realize Twilight can hear you, right?"

"Of course!"

"Right!" Daystar began walking into her living room, to the left of the front entrance. "Don't worry about it Twilight," Daystar explained. "He does the same to your brother."

Twilight wasn't moving so Rainbow pushed her friend to follow her mother. As the two followed Daystar further into the house, they ended up in her kitchen, where a pot was cooking on low heat. Daystar began telekinetically stirring the pot when Twilight looked at her mother and asked, "How is Moonlight anyway?"

"OH! Um," Daystar looked away, searching for the words to say. "He's...doing...stuff?" She said with a smile.

"You don't know do you?" she replied.

"No, no, he writes all the time!" Daystar walked over to her fridge and opened it, looking inside. "...well...sometimes. He's living in Haywood now!! Would you two like anything to drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Rainbow?" Daystar asked.

"Got any soda?" Dash replied.

"Oh! Of course." Daystar levitated a bottle to Rainbow.

She grabbed it in her hoof and opened it with her mouth as Twilight continued the conversation. "Haywood huh? So...how are things going there?"

"Have you heard of a little film called Skamper!?"

Twilight paused, "No."

"Well, there's your answer," Daystar replied. "But, at least it got made. So that's good."

Rainbow was drinking from the bottle the two were talking, she then stopped to say, "I'm sorry, I'm confused."

"Moonlight Sonata, my little brother," Twilight explained. "He's a..."

"He's a filmmaker," Daystar interjected. "Not a very successful one, but he's trying."

"I didn't know you had a brother," Rainbow replied.

"I never mentioned him?" Twilight asked. "Not once?"

Rainbow shook her head.

Suddenly both girls heard a voice from behind them, "Twilight, my darling little girl!"

A blue unicorn stallion, around the same height as the two girls, stood behind them.

"DAD!" yelled the young unicorn, excited to see her father. She grabbed him in a big hug.

"Twilight! My big girl!" he said, hugging her back. "What happened? You used to be smaller."

Twilight rolled her eyes as the two separated, "Oh! Dad, this is my friend, Rainbow Dash; Rainbow, my dad, Darklight Horizon."

"AH! Yes," Darklight said, shaking Rainbow's hoof. "Rainbow Dash, I've heard absolutely nothing about you! But I'm sure if I did it would be mostly lies anyway."

Rainbow noticed the smirk on Darklight's lips, so she decided to play along. "OH, I'm sure they would be," she said. "After all, honesty is not her strong suit."

Once again, Twilight's eye began twitching.

"Still!?" Darklight continued. "I thought she would have grown out of that, I mean I remember when she was a little foal, she'd-"

Suddenly, Daystar interrupted, "Okay, food's ready! Who wants food!? Eat food now!!!" Saving her daughter from further embarrassment.

The Destiny had several storage rooms throughout. Most contained devices, parts and supplies left behind by the Ancients. The crew still did not know what was in most of them and had only gone over a fraction of it, but some things were more urgent. In one of the storage rooms, the dozens of Ancient crates that it contained were since moved to other parts of the ship. The room had to be completely cleaned out for a special project. It was ideally located, close to the Destiny's infirmary.

Within the room, Lieutenant Tamara Johansen was examining a wall. She found a small port that could be used to supply power directly from Destiny's reactors, like a cigarette lighter in a car, but much more powerful. Perfect for her project. As she was looking around the room, figuring out where she was going to place everything. Colonel Everett Young approached her from behind.

"T.J." he said, getting the officer's attention.

"Colonel," she responded, turning around.

"You said you needed to talk."

"Yeah," she said, almost hesitant to continue. "The supplies we got from that last planet. Turns out most of it was toxic."

Young laughed slightly, as if to say, 'figures.' "How come you didn't pick it up on the planet?"

"Well it wasn't exactly a common toxin, in fact I've never seen anything like it before. But according to the database, it can be pretty deadly. Though, hypothetically we can use it as an aesthetic, so that's good."

"Well that's perfect. How much of it can we eat?"

"Well, Camile said we might be able to eat for another day, but after that..." she trailed off. "We'll have to find another world to scavenge from."

"We'll use the shuttle," Young said. "We use the Stargate it's like ringing a dinner bell."

It was only a few hours since the attack by the Nakai, and the crew was still on edge.

"Are we sure that's how they found us?"

"No, but it's the best lead right now. We have nothing else to go on...better safe than sorry."

"Yes, sir."

"So," the Colonel asked, looking around the room. "This is where it's going to happen."

"Hopefully, if we can find the parts to build some of those pods."

"Well, we'll find something," Young explained. "The sooner the better, I know Eli would love to walk around the ship again in his own body."

"Yes, sir," she responded.

"Is there anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Good, carry on," the Colonel said, leaving the room.

T.J. continued to look around the room. Determining where she would place the pods, as well as work benches and other things she will need, in her new cloning lab. She smiled.

In the home of Darklight Horizon and Daystar, there was a room with walls covered in framed paintings. Landscapes of the Equestrian countryside. Portraits of all sorts of ponies, from all walks of life. Even some abstract work which could not be categorized by a rational mind. Each unique, and all works of art.

"Wow, these are amazing, Mom!" Twilight said, admiring one particular abstract which featured a door sitting in a mysterious void, on a checkered tile floor which appeared to be collapsing.

"Well, I try..." Daystar responded with a chuckle.

"Where is this!?" Twilight asked, pointing to a painting of a beautiful valley.

"Oh, that is in Pyrona," Daystar explained. "We vacationed there a few years back."

"Oh! Must have been fun."

"It was." An awkward silence fell over the room. So Daystar decided to fill it. "Why'd you come here, Twilight?"

Twilight turned to look at her mother. "What?"

"Why'd you come here?"

Twilight gaped, slightly confused, "I need a reason to visit my parents?"

"Twilight, this is the first time I've seen you since you were accepted into Celestia's School."

Twilight paused for a minute, shuffling her hooves, "you saw me the day after..."

Her mother responded with a look that said, "really!?"

Twilight said, almost guiltily, "it was Rainbow's idea. I didn't even consider it."

"So you just forgot about us?"

"I didn't forget about you, I just...I," Twilight was on the brink of tears.

"Twilight," Daystar said, attempting to calm her daughter. "I don't want to give you a hard time, I just want to understand why I haven't heard from my little filly in so long."

"I've...been busy."

"Too busy to write a single letter asking what's going on in our lives? Too busy to visit us even once? You didn't even know your brother's special talent."

"I...I just...forgot," Twilight looked down in shame. "My studies have filled my mind so much that my own family was pushed out. I'm sorry...I'm sorry I'm such a terrible child."

"Honey," Daystar said, shocked. She walked over to her daughter and held her in a one-hoof hug. "You're not a terrible child. You're fulfilling your dream, I can't fault you for that. I'm so proud of you. I just wish I knew what was going on in your life from you, rather than find out about it second-hand from the Princess."

Twilight backed away in confusion. "You talk to the Princess?"

"A few times, she's invited us to the royal palace for tea."

"Oh," Twilight was a bit confused.

"Just...write us in the future, tell us what's going on."

"Okay, mother."

"...and write your brother too," Daystar asked. "I'm sure he'd love to hear from you...and beg you for contacts."

Twilight chuckled.

In deep space the Destiny was once again, drifting. Having dropped out of FTL hours ago, the crew was merely waiting for the shuttle to return with the supplies they needed to continue their journey.

Colonel Young was just arriving on the bridge, clipboard in hand, where he saw Doctor Volker working at a console with Brody looking over his shoulder.

"Gentlemen," He said, approaching the two. "Give me good news."

"Well, we finished repairs to the damaged shield generator," Volker replied.

"Thanks to the spare parts I stockpiled it was pretty easy," Brody explained, almost bragging.

"Good, let's just hope we don't need it," the Colonel sat down in the big chair, just as Rush came in.

"Ah, Mister Brody," he said, gesturing to the man with laptop in hand. "Just the man I wanted to see."

"What for?" Brody asked as Rush walked over to the front of the bridge to one of the neighbouring consoles, placing his computer on the console, and opening it.

"We've been working on new programming for the shields," at these words, Colonel Young became very interested, he got off his chair and walked to where the two were standing. "I was going to ask you to go over the calculations."

"What's the plan?" Brody asked, leaning forward in front of the screen, to get a better look.

"I was just about to ask the same thing," Young said from behind them.

"Well, the shield operates by cycling through various frequencies, and the closer the frequency matches the attack, the less damage we take," Rush explained.

"Yeah, I already know that, so?"

"Well, this program is designed to analyse how well each frequency absorbs an attack, and then alter the cycle to better respond to it."

"Didn't we try that before?" Young asked, slightly skeptical. "'Cause I'm pretty sure it didn't work."

"Well, then we were focusing exclusively on one frequency," Rush explained, a bit frustrated. "The shields will still cycle, but they'll spend more time on the frequency that will respond best to the attack. In theory, we should be able to cut damage by at least fifty per cent, once the shields adapt."

"Once they adapt?"

"Well at first, the shields won't act any differently then they normally do, but in the long run, we'll take less damage...in theory."

"What do you mean, 'in theory'?"

"Well I haven't had a chance to test it yet!"

Young paused for a minute before asking the most important question: "What's the downside?"

"In theory," Rush paused for a second before continuing, "none, even if they respond with a completely different attack, the program is designed to immediately revert to the standard programming. We'd sustain some damage, but in the long run, we should still get out of our next battle relatively unscathed."

"So why doesn't Destiny do this to begin with."

Brody responded, "Destiny isn't capable of this kind of reasoning."

"Exactly," Rush continued. "The only thing capable of pulling this off is a digitized human consciousness."

"Eli," Young said. "He's okay with this?"

"Well, it was his idea."

Just then, a series of beeps came from one of the consoles.

"Colonel," Volker announced. "Three Nakai ships just came out of Hyperspace."

"What?!" Young asked, shocked. "How'd they find us!?"

"I don't know."

"The shuttle's still on the planet," Rush said. "We should recall it."

"Good chance those ships will open fire the moment they leave the atmosphere," Brody responded.

"Ideas!" Young requested.

"The Gate!" Volker replied. "We tell them to wait, jump now, and drop out later when we're still in range so they can dial in!"

"They're miles from the Gate, they'll never make it on foot," Rush rebutted, "and if they use the shuttle, the ships will notice."

Young's brain began cranking.

"They're still out of weapon's range," Volker announced.

"Brody," Young said. "Do you think this program would work?"

"Assuming Eli can fill in the gaps, yeah!" Brody responded.

"Get it working Rush," Young said as he sat back in the main chair. Then, by pressing a button on his console, he activated the subspace radio.

Down on the planet, Lieutenant Matthew Scott was picking fruit off a tree when he heard a voice come over his radio. "Scott!" It was Colonel Young, his commanding officer.

He pulled a mysterious green fruit off the tree and after dropping it in a bucket he was carrying, activated his radio. "Yes, sir," he said.

"I need you all back here now, some old friends just got back."

"What!?" Scott said in shock. "I mean, yes, sir!"

Scott turned his attention to his group. "Alright everybody, listen up! Grab what you can and get to the shuttle, we need to double-time it, let's go!" He yelled in his loudest, most commanding voice.

Scott then proceeded to follow his own orders.

The Destiny was still drifting above the planet, as Rush attempted to install new programming for the shield.

"Alright, Colonel," Rush explained. "I'll need to reset the shields to finish this, but it means they'll be offline for a few seconds."

"Do it," Young responded, slightly hesitant.

Just then, the voice of Master Sergeant Ronald Greer came from behind him. "How in the hell did they find us!?"

Greer entered the bridge, and was followed closely by a Kino.

Volker was the first to respond, "I have no idea."

As Greer walked over to the far right console. Young walked over to Volker, and said, "Then go find out."

Volker got up and ran to one of the consoles on the side of the bridge, as Young took his place.

Rush announced, "Okay, collapsing shields."

"Colonel!?" Greer asked.

"It's alright Sergeant," Young responded.

On the planet, a dozen or so people were packing baskets of fruit in Destiny's shuttle as Scott sat down. He was worried. He knew the shuttles shields would hold, but only for so long against the new weapons of these mysterious aliens, the aliens that once kidnapped his girlfriend, the aliens that have been stalking the Destiny across at least three galaxies now, and the aliens that wanted nothing less than to conquer the ship he called home. He knew he couldn't allow that, and he knew he had to protect those in his charge. He knew he had to return to ship. The question was: How?

Chapter Three - Friendship is Hard

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At Ponyville Elementary, the final bell rang, ending classes for the day. All the little ponies were packing up their books and galloping out the front door. In one of the classrooms, young Apple Bloom was among the last to leave. Her head was in her saddlebag, which was resting on the floor. She pulled her head out and grabbed a book off the desk, and slid it into the bag before closing the flap on top.

As she slid the bag onto her back, one of her classmates approached her from the side. An orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane.

"Hey, Apple Bloom," the pegasus said. "You coming to the clubhouse? Sweetie Belle says she has some new ideas."

"Oh, hi Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom responded to the pegasus as she was walking out of the classroom and into the hallway. "What kind of ideas?"

"I don't know, I think she want's it to be a surprise. But I bet it'll be awesome!" A huge grin appeared on her face as she followed her friend.

"Oh, okay, well I'll definitely meet you there," Apple Bloom responded.

"Wait," said Scootaloo. "Meet us?"

"Oh, I have to take care of something," Apple Bloom explained.

"What?"

The two fillies exited the school building and walked towards the centre of town.

"Twilight asked me to check up on Spike every day, and I can't let her down."

"Oh, well then I'll come with you."

"NO!" she said rather forcefully, stopping in her tracks. "I mean, I'm sorry Scootaloo, but Twilight said no pony else is allowed to visit."

"Oh...okay." The two continued to trot along in silence until Apple Bloom arrived at the Ponyville Library.

"You gonna wait outside?" Apple Bloom asked.

"No, I'm gonna head off to the clubhouse," Scootaloo responded with a smile. "I'll see you there!"

"Oh, okay."

As she was trotting away, towards Sweet Apple Acres, she yelled back, "you'd better be there. I refuse to start without you."

"I'll be there!"

Apple Bloom was about to knock on the door, before realizing Spike was unlikely to answer. So she reached into her saddle bag and fished out the key Twilight gave her. Unlocking and opening the door, she walked in, knocking on the already open door. Just to be polite.

"Spike!?" She yelled, looking for the young dragon.

She kicked the door closed behind her, and looked around the library. "Spiiiiiike!?" She walked up the stairs to her right. At the top she saw a wicker basket containing a blue bundle which she could see moving up and down.

"Spike?" she said. There was no response. "It's me, Apple Bloom."

"What do you want?" Spike voice came, quite forcefully.

"Um...well, I heard Twilight left town for a couple days, so I figured if you're all alone here, you might want some company," she said with a smile. Apple Bloom would have told him the truth, that Twilight specifically asked for someone to check up on him, but she knew that was a bad idea.

The young dragon was silent.

"Hungry?"

He remained silent.

"I have an extra sandwich from lunch." Apple Bloom reached into her bag and pulled out a paper sack with a sandwich in it. It wasn't an extra sandwich, it was her only sandwich, she didn't eat lunch because she wanted to give it to Spike. Because of this, she was quite hungry, but she didn't care, because she knew she could eat seconds and thirds at home, and then dessert, and more dessert. It was going to be a good night.

She walked over to Spike, walking around to where she assumed his tail was so if he did pop his head out, he wouldn't have to look at her upside down. She dropped the bag on top of him and continued to smile.

His head peeked out from under the sheet; he looked at the bag, looked at Apple Bloom and her wide smile, and covered his head again.

Apple Bloom didn't think her job would be this difficult. She thought she'd just remind Spike to eat and he'd eat. She wasn't going to force feed him, but she knew she had to do something. Twilight was relying on her.

She crouched down on the floor. Folding her arms into a comfortable position as she began to talk to the young dragon.

"I heard what happened," she said. "She's wrong..."

Spike cringed, Apple Bloom could tell from the way the sheet moved.

"...in every way she could have been wrong."

Spike peeked over the sheet again.

"You're not a-"

Spike held out a claw, silencing her. "It's not that simple Apple Bloom," he said.

"You wanna talk about it?" Apple Bloom asked. She was both genuinely curious and concerned.

"Not really," he said, covering his head again.

"Well, you wanna eat?"

"No."

"Have you eaten at all today?"

"No."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"No."

"Can you eat anyway?"

Spike once again lowered the sheet. "Twilight asked you to come here, didn't she?"

"No!" Apple Bloom said, almost insulted. Technically that was true.

"Then why are you asking me to eat?"

"Because I'm worried about you."

Spike looked at her, and he saw nothing but sincerity. He pushed himself upright. Sitting in his bed, he looked at the bag, looked at Apple Bloom, grabbed the bag, reached in, pulled out the sandwich, and began to eat it.

Apple Bloom smiled.

The atmosphere on Destiny's bridge was tense. As three enemy ships were closing in on them, the ship was holding position.

"Rush," Colonel Young asked. "How long is this going to take!?"

"Another minute Colonel," Rush replied.

"Sir," Sergeant Greer asked his commander. "Are we sure this is the best time?"

Young explained, "we're going to need those modifications Sergeant."

Meanwhile, at the back of the bridge, a woman wearing sunglasses and carrying a black stick was entering the room. Doctor Volker was still working at one of the side consoles when he noticed her.

He rushed over to help her. "Lisa," He asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Heard they found us again." Doctor Lisa Park said, she was blinded not long before the crew entered stasis so long ago, when they attempted a risky refuelling manoeuvre. She was still getting used to navigating the ship without being able to see it. "Do you know how?"

"Not yet, but I'm trying to figure it out," he said leading her to the console he was working at.

"Any ideas!?"

"Well it can't be the Stargate, we didn't use it."

"Could they be tracking our FTL drives?!"

"I don't see how," Volker replied. "It's not like we leave any residue behind, and even if we did, they couldn't follow it in hyperspace."

"Well it's not like we continually broadcast our location," Lisa said, jokingly.

Volker then looked at her, a shocking epiphany came to him.

"Wait," Park said. "You don't think..."

"It's possible."

"But they would need..."

"The seed ship."

"Telford's seed ship? That was destroyed."

"They could have salvaged it."

"No, no, no, the drones would have been on them."

"When we first met the drones it took them hours to wake up."

"Oh, my god, Dale."

"I know, I'm on it."

At that moment, Volker began typing away on the console.

On the planet below, Lieutenant Scott was waiting in the shuttle with around a dozen people, including T.J. and a large man named Varro, as Camile's group arrived.

"Alright, we're here," she said, carrying a big basket of fruit and followed by five others, each carrying similarly sized baskets.

As everyone got on the shuttle, Scott pressed a button on the overhead panel. "Colonel," he said as his voice was transmitted to Destiny's bridge. "We're just about to take off."

"Negative Lieutenant, hold your position, wait for my signal." Scott heard from Colonel Young.

"What is he waiting for?" Wray asked as the shuttle's rear hatch closed up.

"I don't know."

On the Destiny, Young was looking at his console's display as the bridge entered battle mode. "They're almost in weapon's range, Rush we need those shields."

Brody replied as he stood next to Rush, "We're almost there Colonel."

"Eli!?" Rush asked, "are you ready."

"For a while!"

Greer announced, "Sir, they're firing!"

Several bright white energy beams streaked through space, directly at the Destiny.

The Colonel yelled, "Rush!"

"We have shields!" Rush responded as the beams impacted on a yellow forcefield surrounding the Destiny. The ship shook from the impact. The Destiny's many turrets fired back.

At that moment, the Colonel steered the ship towards the enemy, or at least, that's what it appeared at first. As the ship dove towards the planet below.

"Scott," the Colonel's voice came over the shuttle's radio. "Take to the air, we'll meet up with you."

"Yes sir," he responded. The shuttle's engines fired as the ship lifted up off the ground.

The Destiny continued to shake from the impact of enemy weapons. Until the shaking stopped just as suddenly as it began.

"We adapted," said the Kino.

As the Destiny continued to fly towards the planet, the enemy ships released several smaller ships, which began hurtling towards the Destiny.

"Colonel," Greer announced. "We got incoming."

"How many?" Young asked.

"....a lot."

There were nearly a hundred ships heading straight towards the Destiny.

Like a cloud, they swarmed the ship. Destiny began to rock once again from weapons fire.

From the main chair, Rush said, "Eli."

"On it," Eli announced, "they're using a different type of weapon."

Very quickly the shaking stopped once again.

"Good work Eli," said Colonel Young.

"It was pretty easy, considering."

Volker was the next to speak. "What do you mean!?"

"They're not fighters," Eli the Kino explained. "They're drones."

"What!?" Rush said.

"I thought they were Naka," Brody said.

"Nakai," Eli said, correcting the man. "They're both, and they're beginning to hit us."

The ship shook very slightly.

"Got it...heh, that was easy."

Just then, a beeping came from one of the consoles on the big chair.

"Colonel, the shuttle's on approach," Rush said.

The Destiny had already entered the planet's atmosphere and the shield was the only thing preventing the ship from burning up, unfortunately, this also meant it couldn't protect against other things as well.

The weapons began to affect the ship that much more, as the ship shook and components blew.

"Destiny!" went Lieutenant Scott's voice over the radio. "We're right under you."

Just then the ship rolled over, the top facing down. Destiny's shuttle followed suit. Rose up to the Destiny and locked in place.

"Shuttle's docked," Brody announced.

"Colonel," Rush said. "We're moving way too fast, we're gonna hit!"

"Not if we jump first," said Young.

"Here!?"

By this point, atmospheric friction was no longer a concern for the Destiny, it was replaced by a bigger problem rushing to meet the ship, and as it fell towards the ground, it turned to point upwards, away from the planet.

"Wait, not yet!" Rush yelled in desperation as he typed away on one of the consoles. "Now!!!"

The Colonel pushed a button and the engines that spanned the rear of the ship lit up. Suddenly the ship jumped to FTL as millions of tons of soil flew upwards at several-thousand-kilometers-an-hour in its wake.

Above the planet the atmosphere experienced a firestorm, burning along a single column where the Destiny was pointing, and blooming outwards, but quickly dissipating.

It was a good thing the planet was uninhabited, at least in the area where the Destiny jumped.

The three ships witnessed the devastation, as they recalled their stolen drones.

On Destiny's shuttle, the security of docking allowed it's occupants to relax. Through the window one could clearly see streaks of blue light flowing over the ship as it travelled at faster-than-light speeds.

As the rear hatch opened Rush's voice came over the Shuttle's radio. "Lieutenant Scott to the bridge."

Scott looked back and locked eyes with Wray. He got up, out of the pilot's seat, and began the journey to Destiny's bridge.

The Colonel turned around in his chair, and looked at his crew. "So, do we know how they found us this time?"

"I think so," said Dale Volker leaning against a railing.

Everyone looked at him. "Well, I mean I don't know, but, I mean, it's the best lead we got."

"...and..." responded the Colonel.

"Well, actually Lisa came up with the idea," Dale explained as Park stepped forward, "kinda."

"We realized the only way for them to track us would be for them to follow us," she explained, "which would be impossible while they're in hyperspace. Or to locate us once we dropped out, which would only be possible if we broadcast our location."

"But we don't do that," Brody said.

"Well, actually..." Volker began to trail off.

Just then, Scott and Wray arrived on the bridge. "Colonel," Scott said, acknowledging his commanding officer.

"What'd we get?" Young asked.

"Hopefully enough food to last a month," Camile replied. "Including something that looks like an apple."

"Yeah," Scott rebutted. "'Looks like.'"

"Well that's good, considering," Volker said. "You see, Destiny's actually been broadcasting our location out the whole time...it's the subspace link to the 'gates and Seed Ships."

Before the Destiny was launched, so many million years ago, the Ancients sent out a fleet of Seed Ships ahead of Destiny to seed the Universe with Stargates, map out a course and allow easy access to supplies. The subspace link allowed the 'gates, Seed Ships and Destiny, to work together in unison, and was required for the greater mission.

"The subspace link is heavily encrypted," Rush explained. "They couldn't just intercept it."

"They wouldn't need to," Lisa rebutted. "If they had the subspace transmitter from a Seed Ship."

"What seed ship?" Scott asked.

"Telford's," Volker explained. "The one that was destroyed in our first encounter with the drones."

Camile was confused. "But you just said it was destroyed."

Brody sighed in realization, "the transmitter could have survived, if so, they could have easily salvaged it."

Silence fell on the bridge as everyone realized the implications.

"So...How do we deal with this?" Young asked.

"Well," Volker explained. "The Destiny already downloaded all the information about this galaxy from the Seed Ships, so we can do without the link for the time being."

"So, you just turned it off?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, the only downside is the 'gate, we can't dial in as easily. We'll have to manually enter Destiny's address into the remotes, which'll change every time we drop out of FTL."

"Can we even use the 'gates?" asked Wray. "I mean, safely?!"

"Well, it's possible the...Nakai...don't have the means to track the signal from an active 'gate." Rush said. "We just assumed they could because we didn't consider anything else."

"Only one way to find out," said Brody.

The city of Canterlot was a busting city with a vibrant social scene during the day, but at night, things were a lot different. Unlike Manehatten, the nightlife in Canterlot was relatively calm. Ponies partied and celebrated as they would in any town, but their numbers were small, so the events never spilled out into the streets.

Not to say the streets were vacant. For instance, on one particular street, a pony named Rainbow Dash was trotting along in the direction of the royal Castle, her mane messy, her eyes droopy, and her smile dopey. She would have flown, but knew it was likely a bad idea, given how much she had to drink. The night was young, but over for her. While the Canterlot nightlife was enjoyable, it just wasn't her scene.

She arrived at the castle gates and nodded to one of the guards whom she recognized from their arrival earlier that day. Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight were staying in the castle for the next week or so. As Rainbow headed to her suite, which she shared with Twilight, she debated to herself whether she should go straight to bed or stay up for a while, reading.

If anyone told her a month ago, she'd spend most of her free time reading books, she would have called them an idiot. But in the past few weeks, she couldn't get away from them, it was like an addiction. She basically became Twilight with wings.

Arriving at the door she pushed the latch down, and the door open. Inside the square room, adorned with blue, she could see Twilight, on the right side of the room, sitting in front of a desk, reading a book.

Twilight heard the door open and turned to see Rainbow Dash. "Oh, hi Rainbow, did you have fun?" she asked.

"Well, you were right, it was a bad idea," she responded. "Everyone's too cliquey."

"Clicky!?"

"Yeah, they stayed in their little groups, not really talking with anyone else," Rainbow continued. "I spent most of the night sitting at the bar."

"AH!" Twilight responded. "Did you try to talk to them?"

"Yes, but they would just ignore me, or insult me."

"I see! So, I guess that's why you're back so early?"

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "It might have been funner if I had a friend with me," a big grin was plastered on her face.

Twilight paused for a second, sighed, and smiled, "Okay, fine, I'll go with you tomorrow."

"WOOHOO!" Rainbow said, throwing her forehooves in the air.

Twilight walked back to her book. "But tonight, I got work to do."

"So, what are you reading?" Rainbow said, as she walked to the beds on the left side of the room. Her bed was the one closer to the door, and her saddle bag was sitting on the floor, next to it.

"Nothing special, just somepony's personal diary, seems pretty old," Twilight turned to look at Rainbow, she had her face buried in her saddlebag, looking for a book. "You?"

Rainbow pulled her head out, book in mouth. Spitting the book on the bed she responded. "Oh, Ice and Fire, it's about a single young filly who has to journey across the land to defeat an ancient evil." She gestured wide, swinging her right forehoof to the side, and smiled.

"Oooo! Wait, what land?"

"Calforia."

"That doesn't exist."

"Yeah," Rainbow said, slightly annoyed. "That's why they call it fiction." She jumped on the bed, moved the book in front of her, flipped it open to her bookmark and began reading.

A few seconds later Twilight pulled open a drawer on the desk, a move that was accompanied by the sound of wood scraping on wood. Rainbow looked up. A quill and bottle of ink, both encased in a red glow, emerged from the drawer, and landed on the desk. The scraping sound returned as Twilight closed the drawer.

Rainbow returned to her reading, only for it to be interrupted by the sound of a quill scraping against parchment. She looked up again. Twilight was taking notes. Rainbow tried to get back to her reading, but the sound was too grating to continue.

"ARGH!" She yelled.

Twilight looked back. "What is it!?" she asked.

"Nothing," Rainbow said, obviously irritated. "I'm going outside." She closed her book and started walking to the window.

As she pushed it open Twilight asked, "Do you think it's a good idea to be flying right now?"

Rainbow walked back to the bed and said, "What are you? My mother!?" She grabbed her book and flew towards the window, impacting the brick wall to the window's right.

She fell to the ground, and was dazed for a few seconds before shaking her head violently to come to her senses.

"You okay!?" Twilight asked.

"You know, maybe I'll grab some coffee," Rainbow responded. She stood up and walked out the front door.

It was a dark night in Ponyville, the streets were bare, as almost every citizen was fast asleep. But in one of the many shops, a pink pony was just getting ready to begin her night. Pinkie Pie carefully stepped out the front door of Sugarcube Corner, gently closing the door behind her, the locking latch clicking into place.

Turning to face the street, she took in her surroundings. The town was dimly lit with buglights, just enough light to tell Pinkie Pie she was the only one awake in the immediate area. She began walking towards the centre of town.

Pinkie's recent bout of insomnia meant some awkward visits in recent days and nights, so her closest friends decided to cheer her up, mostly out of annoyance. She didn't know the details just yet, all she knew was that she was supposed to meet up with them, this night, in the town square. But whatever they had planned, it was going to be interesting.

As she entered the town square she saw Rarity and Fluttershy talking under a buglight, Fluttershy was the first to notice the Pink Pony. Waving, Fluttershy directed her friend towards the two with a big smile on her face.

As Pinkie trotted towards her two friends, Rarity turned her head to look at the new arrival.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity said, with a big smile on her face, hiding her worry.

"So, what's this surprise!?" Pinkie asked with an obviously faked enthusiasm.

"We just need to wait for Applejack," Fluttershy responded, the only one with a genuine expression on her face. She wasn't worried or depressed, because she had enough faith in her friends to know they would resolve everything on their own. After all, she had her own anxieties to worry about.

"Oh," Pinkie replied. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Uh, Applejack's bringing us to a dive bar on the other end of town," Rarity explained.

"It's not a dive bar," Fluttershy quietly explained.

"It's probably mostly line-dancing and banjos."

Suddenly a voice from the shadows spoke, "There are no banjos." Applejack emerged from the darkness scaring the trio.

"Oh, you heard that!?" Rarity asked.

Applejack just nodded before saying, "they have the best drinks and music in town, it's a great place."

"Right!" Rarity responded before saying, "lead the way."

Applejack crossed the square as she spoke, "you've been doing that a lot lately."

"Hmmm!?" Rarity said, following with the rest.

"Puttin' your hoof in your mouth."

Rarity's ears flattened against her head in embarrassment. "I know."

"How's he doing anyway?" Pinkie asked.

"Who?" Applejack asked.

"Spike, Rainbow said you were looking after him."

"Oh, no," Applejack explained. "I'm much too busy. Apple Bloom volunteered."

"Oh, well, did she say anything?"

"Not about Spike."

"Oh."

"I hope he's okay," Fluttershy said.

"Me too," Rarity interjected, saddened.

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it.

The group walked in silence for a few minutes, until Rarity broke it. "So, Pinkie, I have to ask, this morning, what was that apology to Rainbow Dash about?"

Applejack's first thought was, There she goes again. After all, if Pinkie did want to share that information, she would have done so on her own.

So Applejack expected Pinkie's next sentence to be: "I don't want to talk about it."

Instead...she said, "I told Rainbow Dash I loved her." The other three ponies stopped dead in their tracks, and Pinkie continued walking right past Applejack.

Pinkie noticed she had moved to the front of the pack. Her head darted back and forth, before she noticed the others standing behind her, dumbfounded.

She turned her whole body to face them before asking, "what?"

"I'm sorry, I'm a little confused," Applejack said.

"Uh!" Pinkie began to explain, a bit exasperated. "I love Rainbow Dash, I'm 'in love' with her, as in romantic love."

Rarity was the next to speak, "but that would mean..."

Pinkie quickly interjected with heavy sigh and an almost defensive tone, "Yes! I'm gay! I'm a biiiiig lesbian! Is there a problem!?"

The group began saying "No, no, no," each in their own way. Before Rarity began to explain, "Problem!? NO! It's just...a little surprising, dear. I mean, honestly, if I expected any of us to come out, it would have been Applejack." Rarity quickly realized what she said, and was shocked it came out of her mouth.

Applejack was also shocked, and turned her head shooting Rarity a look that might have killed her if it were possible.

"Fluttershy," Rarity said. "Could you do me a favour? Next time I say something like that, kick me in the face!"

"Huh?" Fluttershy responded, slightly distracted.

Before Rarity could continue, Applejack spoke up. "Well, Rarity's hoof-in-mouth disease aside, are you sure that's it?"

"What do you mean?" Pinkie replied.

"Well, I doubt you telling Rainbow Dash you love her would be enough to get her to hate you."

Rarity interjected, "I don't think she hates her." Applejack looked at Rarity as she continued, "I think Rainbow just feels uncomfortable around her. She hates me, not Pinkie."

"Well, I don't think that's true either," Applejack continued. She turned her head to look back at Pinkie, "But what I'm trying to say here is, Rainbow wouldn't change her feelings towards you just because you told her you love her. If anything, she'd be flattered, but that's it. Are you sure there's nothing else?"

Everyone looked at Pinkie intently, waiting for her response. "No," she lied. "Nothing else happened."

"Hmmm," Applejack knew when to let things go. "Alright, we should get going, I need a drink."

"Fantastic!" Rarity replied as she followed Applejack and was followed by Fluttershy.

Pinkie hung back as the others continued on. Hanging her head in sadness.

"PINKIE!" came Rarity's voice.

"I'm coming!" Pinkie replied, catching up to the group.

In the skies above Equestria, a dark blue, winged unicorn was soaring through the sky. The air was crisp, and the sky was clear, it was, in her mind, a perfect night.

Princess Luna was sure on this night to place the moon in the exact location it needed to be in. She wasn't going to have a repeat of last month's mistake, when Hoofston was flooded due to unexpected tides. Thankfully no one died, and she was given the opportunity to learn from the mistake. After all, Celestia made several mistakes in her duties which were much more devastating. But they were mistakes she only made once.

It was times like that, Luna wished the responsibility didn't rest on her shoulders, or anypony's shoulders. She wished the sun and the moon could maintain themselves, but they couldn't, so here she was, ensuring the moon was in the exact position her advisers suggested. A task she could have performed from her room in the castle, but she wanted to ensure there were no mistakes.

"Perfect," she said, as she dropped her hooves to admire her work.

Her wings flapping in the night air, Luna began to think about what she should do now. She wouldn't need to do any more work for a few more hours, so she had some leisure time. It was something she was not used to. In the early days, before her exile, she remembered having to deal with state work this late at night, but now, more than ever, people spent the nights avoiding work. She considered visiting one of the many night clubs in town, but she didn't want to cause a scene.

With a twitch of her wings, she decided to fly back to the castle, taking her sweet time, enjoying the night air. It was a beautiful night, so she didn't want to waste it. Circling Canterlot, taking in an aerial view of the city, she slowly made her way back to the Castle.

Expecting the place to be mostly vacant, she was surprised to see, on one of the Castle's many roofs, a single blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, sitting, a closed book to her left, a mug of hot...something, in her hooves, and her back to Luna.

Luna knew exactly who this pony was, the famous Rainbow Dash, one of the six that cleansed her of her corruption nearly two years earlier. She owed her life to this pony, and her friends, but that wasn't a big priority at the moment.

Luna landed as gently as she could behind Rainbow.

"MMMM," Rainbow said, as she took a sip from her mug. "Royal brew."

She continued to drink as Luna slowly, carefully and silently walked toward her. She reared up on her hind legs, and at the last moment realized what would likely happen, were she to scare the pegasus. The spilling of, what Luna could now see as, steaming hot coffee, and admission to the local burn unit.

Luna lowered her front hooves back to the ground and let them hit with a slight click, which she noticed grabbed Rainbow's attention.

"It is the best brew in Equestria," Luna explained with a smile as Rainbow's head turned around. "It had better be, I flew all over the world looking for those beans."

"Princess!" Rainbow stood up rapidly, saluting the Princess, and inadvertently dropping the mug in the process. Luckily it was caught in a blue glow before much of the precious liquid fell out, and it was returned to Rainbow.

"Lower your hoof please," the princess replied. As Rainbow complied, she continued, "and call me Luna."

"Yes, ma'am," Rainbow said, taking the mug in both hooves. "I mean...Luna," she smiled.

"You're Rainbow Dash, correct?" Luna asked.

Rainbow was drinking the coffee down, and as she finished, she lowered the mug and nodded.

"I never got to properly thank you for what you did so long ago."

"OH! Don't worry about it, it was nothing," Rainbow said, as she flipped her mane back, still as smug as ever.

"Nevertheless, thank you, for everything."

Rainbow replied with a simple smile, primarily because she didn't know exactly what to say without outright rejecting the Princess' gratitude.

"So," Luna continued on, trying to make conversation. "What brings you to Canterlot this evening?"

"Oh, me and Twilight are staying for the next few weeks, something about a bunch of books she wants to show Princess Celestia," Rainbow said, not really caring. "But I am going to try out for the Wonderbolts!"

"AH! Yes, I heard they are holding try-outs this week. They asked me to be one of the judges."

"Really!?"

"Yes, well, I was one of the founding members."

"Wha!?" Rainbow asked, a bit dumbfounded. "I did not know that."

"Well, it was a long time ago." Luna began walking forward and sat down to the right of Rainbow Dash, looking at the night sky. "Before my exile."

"Um," Rainbow turned around once again. "Pr-Luna."

Luna turned to look at Rainbow.

"...what was it like?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, your exile," She asked, a bit hesitant. "On the moon for a thousand years, it must have been boring."

"Well, it is a bit of a blur," Luna explained, somewhat confused. "I think I was asleep for most of it. I don't remember much...Darkness... I knew it was a thousand years, but I don't actually remember the time passing...if that makes any sense."

"How'd you get out?"

"I don't remember," Luna never confronted her lack of memory regarding her exile before, in fact, until she said it aloud, she didn't actually think it was true. It made no sense, and it scared her. She was desperate to change the subject. "What book is that?" She asked, pointing at the book to Rainbow's left.

"Oh!" Rainbow said, picking up the book, "Ice and Fire, it's-"

"OH! I love that one! 'Tis my favourite!" Luna said, suddenly excited for some odd reason.

"You read this?"

"Yes, well, long ago," Luna explained. "I read the entire series, all seven books."

"There are nine," Rainbow said, smug once again.

Luna was a bit surprised. "UH! He must have written them after my exile. I thought he would have told me if he was planning more."

"You were friends with Greyquill!?" Rainbow said, a bit surprised.

"More than that," Luna said with a smile and a wink.

Rainbow was a bit surprised, and she didn't hide it.

"One must have hobbies," Luna explained.

The two mares smiled at each other before bursting into laughter.

It wasn't everyday one of Equestria's rulers made a new friend.

Chapter Four - Love and Discord

View Online

The Townhoof was a humble little establishment on the edge of Ponyville. From the outside, one could not see much behind the smoked glass.

Within, the lighting was dim. It was just bright enough for one to identify their surroundings. The brightest area was the bar, immediately to the left of the front entrance. Behind it stood a tall, dark-green pegasus, who was pouring a small amount of liquid from a large bottle into a small glass of ice. He then took another bottle and filled the glass with its contents.

To the right, was a seating area, with chairs surrounding a dozen or so tables. Most chairs were arranged to face the back of the room, where a raised platform was loaded with large speakers and other equipment. In the middle of this stage, sat a single mint-green unicorn, guitar hanging from her neck, microphone in front of her, levitating within a golden glow.

Standing near the front entrance was security. A single dark blue unicorn. Tall, and slender. Not what some would call imposing, but it was likely he had some spell he could use to subdue rowdy patrons, which might be what his cutie mark of a red and green shield indicated. At least, that's what Rarity was thinking as she entered the establishment, following Applejack, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. The quartet admired the elegant, yet simple, venue, as Applejack made her way to the bar.

"Evening Applejack," said the bartender.

"Hey, Vermouth," Applejack replied. "You know what I want."

"That I do, how 'bout your friends?" He responded, looking at the three other mares who entered with her.

"I'll have a Martini," Rarity said.

Fluttershy was the next to order. "Scotch rocks, please," she said in her typical, sweet voice.

"Yes, ma'am," Vermouth replied.

Rarity and Applejack's eyes went wide, and their heads turned slowly to the left, to look at Fluttershy, who was watching Vermouth prepare the drinks.

It took Fluttershy a moment before she realized her two best friends were staring at her. She began to cower and ask, "W-why are you looking at me like that?"

Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but instead asked, "Where's Pinkie?"

The trio looked behind them, to the middle of the venue, where their friend was standing, dumbfounded, almost hypnotized, staring at the stage.

It was at that moment that Applejack noticed the unicorn on stage was singing, a song about...actually, she wasn't sure what. But nonetheless, it seemed to get Pinkie's attention.

"...always tryin' to be myself, but I don't remember who I am,"

Pinkie's attention was glued to her. It was as if she saw nothing else, and was completely unaware of the world around her.

Applejack heard Fluttershy speaking, something about Pinkie's drink, Cherry...something. She had no idea. Applejack was too focused on Pinkie herself, to worry about what she might end up drinking.

The unicorn continued to sing.

"I see your face, every time I close my eyes, close my eyes."

What Pinkie saw on stage amazed her. It's not like she never listened to music before, but nothing like this. It was almost hypnotic. A bit relaxing, and the tone of the singer was almost seductive. She was mesmerized.

"...I remember beings on the stage, trying to tell me not to be afraid...."

The words she heard did not matter. It was everything about the singer that she noticed. The way her forelegs swung outward while she was singing, as if to illustrate something. The golden sparks flying from her guitar as her magic made the music for her. The way her mane flew around as her head pitched back and forth. This mare was not just singing a song, but baring a genuine emotion from the depths of her soul.

The truth was, Pinkie had never actually seen live music. Okay, that wasn't entirely true. There was that rock band that came to Ponyville a few years back: Collective Foal. They did a show at the town hall. She went to see them and thoroughly enjoyed it. But looking back she noticed something. The band didn't really care. They were having a good time, obviously, dancing around the stage, but they were indifferent to their own music. Like they were just going through the motions. Not really having any sort of real, authentic, emotional response. It was likely because many of their songs were written by others, and formulated to elicit mass appeal by the public. Those that they did write, were likely played so many times, that they eventually lost all meaning to the band.

It was just words, and words have no meaning except to those who speak them, and often to those who hear them. These words had meaning to everypony in attendance, but no pony more than the one singing them.

"...close my eyes, close my eyes. You're always in my miiiiiiiiiiiind...miiiiiiiiiiiind"

All this was going through Pinkie's mind, as she heard the music, and it continued as the song ended. She couldn't help but clap her hooves on the floor in approval, and not just mild approval either...

"WOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed. A big grin on her face accompanied the applause. She noticed the young mare was almost surprised at her's response. Pinkie doubted she never heard approval like that, but it was probably just unexpected.

There wasn't a large crowd. Outside of Pinkie and her friends, there was a table near the front with two colts sitting down, watching the stage, and one older mare off to the right, oddly quiet, slowly nursing what appeared to be sparkling water, though that was unlikely. It didn't appear to be an enthusiastic crowd.

"Um," the singer said with a smile, "thank you."

Their eyes locked, and Pinkie's mile wide smile faded into a dopey grin.

"I'm going to take a break now," she continued. "So, enjoy yourselves, keep drinking. I'll be back."

At that moment, to Pinkie's left, Applejack approached her and handed her a drink while balancing a bottle on her head with no apparent effort.. "You okay?" she asked.

Pinkie grabbed the red frozen beverage, threw away the straw, downed the whole drink in three gulps, and dropped the empty glass on a nearby table.

Rarity cringed. "Darling, didn't that hurt?" she asked.

Pinkie looked at Rarity, blinked two or three times, and after a few seconds, responded. "YES!" she said, relatively quietly, while gripping her head in her forehooves. After a few seconds she dropped her hooves to the ground, and began stretching her face in an attempt to rid herself of brain freeze.

Fluttershy had a hoof to her mouth in shock, her other hoof holding her scotch. Rarity looked at her yellow friend, "you shouldn't have ordered her a frozen daiquiri."

"I'm sorry," she responded.

Pinkie was shaking her head vigorously, as she finished she began talking again! "AAHH! Okay, I'm good," she said, jumping to the left to face her friends, the smile returning to her face.

"Well, that's fantastic, Pinkie," Applejack responded. "Come on, let's have a seat." She walked past Pinkie, to one of the tables; followed by Rarity, Martini floating in front of her; and Fluttershy, flying with her glass in hoof.

"Um," Pinkie said. "Go on, I'll catch up."

The three looked at her. Applejack then looked back at the bar, looked back at Pinkie, and smiled. "okay sug'," she said. "Good luck." They walked to the table.

Pinkie looked back at the bar, and noticed the unicorn, who was on stage a few minutes earlier, talking to the bartender. Pinkie began to walk towards her.

As she approached the unicorn, Pinkie's legs began to freeze up. It wasn't normal for her to be this afraid. She was willing to face down two fire-breathing dragons, not at the same time though; an embodiment of the spirit of chaos; an evil pony of the night; a psychotic best friend; an army of kidnapping canines; a swarm of devouring demon bugs; even a giant hydra; and she had never truly been this scared. Not since...well, just before her last real conversation with Rainbow Dash.

Perhaps that was why Pinkie was having such a hard time speaking right now. She was afraid history would repeat itself. Then again, if she changed her approach, maybe things would end differently. Plus, her doing nothing would likely make her feel a lot worse.

Pinkie took a deep breath before continuing, ensuring she had enough oxygen to complete what she was about to say: "Hello."

The green unicorn looked back at the source of the greeting. It was the pony from earlier, the one who really loved her song. A pony she recognised from around Ponyville.

"Hey! Pinkie Pie right!?" She asked, holding out a hoof.

Pinkie shook the unicorn's hoof in greeting. "Yep," she said, with a big smile on her face. "How did you...?"

"What are you kidding!? You're pretty well-known in this town."

"Oh, heh, yeah, I guess," Pinkie admitted humbly, blood rushing to her cheeks. "And you're..." Pinkie rushed around in her head finding the mare's name, "Heartstrings right?"

"That's what it says on the poster," she said, pointing to the front door. Pinkie followed her hoof, where she noticed the mare's image, plastered on the window, her name in big yellow letters.

"The Townhoof Tavern presents: Heartstrings! and her amazing lyre!

It also had today's date plastered on it: October 11th, 4932.

"Oh...heh," Pinkie replied, embarrassed, a nervous smile was on her face as she turned back.

Heartstrings was certainly amused. "Can I buy you a drink?" she offered.

Pinkie was already beginning to feel the effects of the drink she just inhaled way too fast. She did not need another.

"Sure," she replied cheerily.

As the Destiny was coasting through the galaxy at faster-than-light speeds, most of the ship's crew was sleeping. After all, they determined it to be nighttime for some reason. Before entering stasis, the ship's crew set their time according to the time it was on earth, specifically, at Homeworld Command, where Earth's communication stones were located. Since they lost contact, they had nothing to base the ship's time on, so day and night was selected almost arbitrarily on the Destiny.

Almost the entire ship was quiet, except for the bridge, where a young man with hair brown was going through the ship's database.

As he passed through page after page, he grew more and more bored, and more and more frustrated.

"UGH!" he exclaimed in frustration. Doctor Elliot Boone decided to stand up and walk around the bridge, hoping it would relax him. Examining records of every gated world in the galaxy would drain the enthusiasm out of anyone. It didn't help that there were thousands of gates, expected given the galaxy's size, each with dozens of pages detailing the initial scans done by the Seed Ships, so long ago.

He was looking for a world that would be a nice vacation spot for the crew. Lord knows they needed it...lord knows he needed it. But he was sick of it. No one else was helping him search, he was alone in this. Then again, he never asked for any help, but no one offered.

Boone was frustrated, angry and sad. He missed his family: Christine, his wife; and Marielle, his eighteen-month-old daughter. Actually, she was probably in her 30s by now. That scared him. His own daughter was older than him, possibly even had children of her own, and she likely had no idea why her father was never in her life. So right now, all he wanted was to go back to Earth and tell her how sorry he was, how much he missed her. Tell her that he never wanted to leave her, and if he could go back, he'd change everything.

He would have never gotten into computer engineering, he would have never joined the Icarus Project, he would have never stepped through the gate, and he would have never gotten into that pod.

He never thought he would be in there for 27 years, it was completely unexpected. From his point of view, it was like his age doubled overnight.

The worst part was: he never saw Marielle with his own eyes. He missed his daughter's birth while he was at Icarus, and kept putting off vacation time to see her, since computer problems were so frequent there. Yet another regret.

He did eventually see her, but through the eyes of another. The communication stones allowed that. But there was no way for her to understand that the man in front of her was her father. Especially considering he looked completely different almost every time.

His only hope was that his wife one day explained to Marielle what happened, and she didn't resent him for it. Perhaps the program went public, and everyone understood. But he couldn't know for certain, and it killed him inside.

He left a cup of some juice near the bridge's central chair. It was an odd beverage, from a fruit they discovered just a week ago. It tasted like a cross between a mango and a potato. It's possible it might be considered a vegetable, but he figured it was best not to over-think it. They managed to create a tasty beverage out of the...plant. Much more enjoyable than straight water, and worked relatively well with Brody's moonshine. He picked up the cup of non-spiked juice and took a sip, hoping it would calm him down. He wished he there was a bit of alcohol in it.

It was the lack of knowledge that bothered him the most. If only he knew for certain that Christine and Marielle were okay, then he might be able to sleep a little bit better. Christine, she must be in her 50s by now. Did she move on, assume he's dead? Did she decide to wait for him? Was she even alive? All this tore him up inside, and aggravated him so much, eventually, he snapped.

Screaming in frustration he threw the half-filled cup across the room, to the back of the bridge, through the open door. Nearly missing a shocked Chloe Armstrong, who just about to enter the room.

Boone was frozen in surprise, he was not expecting anyone to come by this late. Realizing he needed to react or at least move, he put his hands in his pockets and casually greeted her, "Hey."

Chloe was a bit apprehensive as she entered. "Hello Doctor Boone," she responded. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "So, what brings you here this night?"

"Oh, couldn't sleep," Chloe explained, as she approached the front of the ship. "Figured I go over the shield logs." She sat down in front of the far-right console, opposite Boone. "What have you been doing?" she asked with a genuine curiosity.

"Oh, I was searching the database for a vacation spot," Boone explained.

"Oh, anything interesting?" she asked.

Boone took a deep breath and replied, "Not yet," as he sat down at the far-left console, and got back to work.

"Need a hand?" she asked.

"No, no I'm good," he replied.

As the two got to work, Boone took off the blue jacket he was wearing. It was very dusty, and since it was his only set of clothes, he hadn't bothered to wash it recently. It just wasn't worth the trouble...yet.

A silence descended on the Bridge, the only noise coming from the FTL drive. Boone felt uncomfortable, so he decided to break it.

"So, how are things?"

"Oh, pretty good."

"Really? How's Scott?" Boone didn't want to bring it up, but he was also desperate for conversation. Chloe looked at him. "Small ship."

Chloe sighed in resignation. "So you know?"

"...yeah."

"I just wish he told me."

"Maybe he thought it wasn't a big deal," Boone theorized as he continued to flip through the database.

"Not a big deal?" Chloe was shocked, her attention turned from the console, to be completely focused on Doctor Boone. "His ex is also his coworker. Most of the time he spends away with me, he spends with her. That's not a big deal?"

Chloe was talking about Scott's relationship with Lieutenant James. The two of them were very close before their arrival on the Destiny, but Chloe only learned about this recently, and was not too happy about how she found out.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"I'm not upset that he's working with her, I'm upset he didn't tell me about it, like he was hiding it."

"You think he was cheating on you?"

"No, I-I don't know."

Another, much more awkward silence descended. "Well for the record, I heard they never actually broke up."

Chloe looked at him as if to say, "you're not helping."

"Sorry."

The two turned back to their work, before Boone asked another question. "We haven't got a connection on the stones yet, have we?"

"Hmm?" Chloe asked, before realizing what he was asking. "Oh, no, not yet. Colonel Young thinks Homeworld Command may only be checking the stones once a year."

"Great...so it could take a year before we contact them."

Chloe was curious, "You worried?"

"We've been out of contact for 27 years, yeah, I'm worried." Boone tried to get back to work, but his curiosity was peaked.

"What do you think might have happened?"

Chloe began thinking. "Uh...well, by now the program probably went public. Everyone knows about us. Heh, we might even be national heroes," she added with a chuckle.

Boone laughed too. That thought made him happy, that everyone might know he wasn't to blame for leaving his family. He wondered why Chloe didn't mention her family. Did she not care about them?

"You?" Chloe asked, almost as a courtesy.

"I don't know, all I keep thinking about is my daughter."

Chloe didn't ask to elaborate, because she already understood to a certain degree. Matt was also worried about his son. That was the worst part of their absence. The people with kids back on Earth, never saw them grow up, and those children were without their parents. Chloe could only imagine what that was like. Even the thought pained her deep inside. She already lost her father, he died saving the rest of the Destiny crew, but the thought of never knowing him, she couldn't tell if it was worse.

Boone went back to his work.

"I don't know, maybe I overreacted," Rainbow Dash said.

Both her and Princess Luna were still on one of the castle roofs. They were lying on their backs, looking up at the stars.

"From what you say, it sounds like she was very aggressive," Luna responded. "Perhaps it was a natural reaction. Once could even claim self-defence. I am just glad I never needed to contend with that type of reaction."

Rainbow thought about it for a few seconds...it certainly felt like a natural reaction at the time. But she definitely understood why Pinkie responded the way she did. It was fear. Fear of losing Rainbow. But Rainbow also knew that there was more. She knew why she reacted the way she did, and she also knew it wasn't a natural reason. It was anything but.

She never told anyone about it. The only one who knew was Gilda, and that was only because of her involvement. Perhaps it was time to change that.

"It wasn't," Rainbow said.

"Pardon?"

"It wasn't natural or self-defense," Rainbow said. "Luna, can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," Luna replied. "I have become a bit of an expert at keeping secrets. I am sure you are unaware of Celestia's real mane colour."

Rainbow turned her head to look at Princess Luna, who merely touched her nose in response. The two of them laughed again. Something they've been doing all night.

When they calmed down Rainbow explained. "Well, this is a lot bigger than that. I need your word you will never tell anyone, not even Princess Celestia," she said, pointing a hoof at the princess, in an attempt to drive the point as far as she could.

Luna was hesitant, but agreed. "Very well, what would you like to tell me?"

Rainbow was also hesitant. She stood up before properly sitting down and facing the Princess. Luna noticed this and did the same. This was a big deal for her, but she knew she had to tell someone, and she knew she could trust Princess Luna, even though they only just became friends that evening. But, Luna opened up to her, now, it was time for Rainbow to reciprocate. This was her biggest secret, one she couldn't even tell her best friends, and she was going to tell the ruler of this nation all about it.

"Have you heard the of the name, White Snow?"

It was a late night at the Townhoof and Pinkie decided to spend the rest of the evening there. After all, she was never one to miss a party.

But that wasn't the only reason. As she looked up on the stage, she saw why she was there.

Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack had all left, they needed to wake up early the next morning, leaving just Pinkie and Heartstrings.

Of course there were others in the bar, but Pinkie didn't notice them, nor care about them.

In front of her was a simple dark brown drink. Must have been her third or fourth that night. Right now, her attention was focused on the stage, with the alcohol buzzing in her head. The guitar was gone, and in its place was a golden lyre with eight strings, but it wasn't floating. In fact, the unicorn's horn was quiet. A stand was placed for the microphone in front of her, and she was leaning back on her hind legs in a sitting position. Her left foreleg was holding the lyre, while her right foreleg was ready to play it. This was her last song of the night, and she was going to do it right.

The strings were plucked in a melodic pattern, as the mare sang.

Take me now, filly here as I am
Pull me close, try to understand

Words flowed through her mouth like a river. It was the most beautiful sound to ever meet Pinkie's ears. She tried to lose herself in the music.

Come on now, try to let me prove
The love I feel, when I'm in your hooves
Hold me close, come undercover
They can't hurt you now...

As the song ran on, Pinkie was rocking back and forth to the music. Letting it dictate her movements. It was such euphoric experience for her.

Come on now, try to understand
The way I feel, under your command
Take my hoof, as the sun descends
They can't touch you now, can't touch you now...

Normally she spent her life jumping off the walls, but tonight, she didn't want to. The sound calmed her...relatively, and it made her very happy. It was like a drug.

Because the night, belongs to lovers
Because the night, belongs to lust

It could have been the song itself, or it could have been the sound of Heartstrings voice, or it could have been the alcohol. But the funny thing was, alcohol normally got her jazzed up, so that couldn't have been it.

I believe it's time, too real to feel
So take me now, take me now, take me now.

Heartstings ended her song with a flourish, and thanked the crowd as they applauded. Next to Pinkie, there was only one other pony in the bar, one of the two colts she noticed when she arrived.

"Goodnight everypony," she continued, "get home safe, don't drink and fly."

To her left, sat an open case. Heartstrings placed her lyre in it, and closed the lid. She needed to pack up her equipment for that night. Pinkie hoped there was something she could do to help.

She approached the stage as Heartstrings was placing a pair of bongos across her back.

Heartstrings noticed Pinkie and reacted. "HEY!" She said, "You saying goodbye?"

Pinkie was taken slightly aback by this. She thought for a second that maybe she should. It's possible Heartstrings was just acting nice, and this was some subtle cue to back off. Then again, that could just be the fear talking. She came to ask a question, and dammit, it was going to be asked!!!

"No-no...I was going to ask if you needed help."

"With?"

"Um...with your stuff!?"

Pinkie thought for a minute that Heartstrings might say no, which she could've, very easily.

"Oh!" Heartstrings smiled, "sure!" she said. Her horn glowed as her guitar entered a soft, guitar-shaped, black, leather bag; and floated towards Pinkie. A leather strap hung down from the bag, and as the bag was placed on her back, the strap underneath was buckled.

"Hold on," Heartstrings said as she balanced the bag on Pinkie's back before, quite suddenly, the strap tightened! It nearly scared Pinkie, she was not expecting it.

Heartstrings then turned away, packing the rest of her gear, A small saxophone and harmonica, as she said, "You break it, it's your head."

Pinkie's eyes went wide, but when Heartstrings looked back with a clever smile, Pinkie's expression turned into a sheepish grin.

All the gear was packed up, as the sax and lyre cases were strapped to Heartstring's bongos, one on each side, and the harmonica was slipped into the guitar case on Pinkie's back.

"Alright, let's go," Heartstrings said as she walked towards the front door. Pinkie followed in her wake, with a smile on her face.

On the Destiny, Doctor Boone's research was going really slowly, and as he got further into the database, he began to feel that he should either lower his standards, or give up. The deeper he got, the longer it would take to get there. The crew needed some time off sooner, not later. Some time to get their minds off their troubles.

He was kidding no one. He was really thinking about himself, not the crew.

Suddenly, standing right behind him, was Chloe Armstrong, apparently done whatever she was doing.

"Let me help you," she said. It almost sounded like an order.

He made a look that said, "fine," as she took the console next to him.

"What exactly are we looking for?" she asked.

"I told you-"

"I mean precisely," she interjected before he got upset. "What stats are we looking for?"

"Well," he began to explain, "first off I'm looking at the basics." He pointed to his screen, "like this one: we got oxygen, CO2, nitrogen, worth looking at." He pressed a button, turning the page. "Next, Gate location, could be important. Here, it's located in a temperate zone, that should be good. Then there's possible life forms. Hope there's nothing too dangerous. Here it's saying: precursors of civilization and..." Boone stopped, his interest peaked, as was Chloe's. He read on. "Diverse biosphere, yellow dwarf star, gravity similar to Earth's, and....What the-?"

"What?" Chloe responded.

"Am I reading this right?" he asked as he pointed to the screen.

"I think so...what does it mean?" she was confused.

"I don't know, I've never seen that flag before," as was Boone.

"Eli!?"

The young Mr. Wallace appeared before her. "Yo!"

"What is this?"

He looked at the screen, looked back at her. "Um...you mean 'exactly'?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know."

Chloe was surprised.

Boone asked, "What?"

"He doesn't know."

Boone was surprised too. "I guess we have to go there to find out."

"Should we tell Doctor Rush?"

"He probably wouldn't like being woken up this late."

"I'm sure he won't mind once he finds out we found a planet flagged 'Mission Critical.'"

"Probably not, but it can wait till morning."

Chloe paused. "So...guess we found a vacation spot."

A few blocks away from the Townhoof, a small two-story apartment complex stood. On the second floor, two mares were walking down the main hall.

"...and that's how music saved Ponyville!" Pinkie explained.

"Good thing you knew their one weakness," Heartstrings replied with a chuckle. "You know I remember that, one of them ate my birthday pie."

"Aww, it was on your birthday?" Pinkie was a bit saddened to hear this.

"Heh, yeah, my cousin Candy Stripe bought me another one though," Heartstrings said. Trying to ease Pinkie's feelings. "Or...at least she tried, before the dang things tried eating the town."

"Yeah, Twilight really screwed up that day!"

"You gotta introduce me to her, she sounds like a riot!"

Pinkie giggled softly.

Heartstrings stopped at a door labeled 212, before levitating a key from a side pocket on one of her cases.

Just then Pinkie asked, a bit confused, "birthday pie?"

Heartstrings paused, "I like pie!"

As she opened the door to her domicile, the two stepped inside.

The walls were painted a pale yellow. To the right of the front entrance was a sitting room with several cushions scattered around. To the left was an open kitchen, almost merged with the sitting room, except for a single counter-top crossing and dividing the room. On the other side of the room, were two closed doors, behind which held who knows what.

"Here," Heartstrings said, interrupting Pinkie's thoughts. "I'll take that." The guitar case on Pinkie's back levitated off her, as the strap that was holding it in place unbuckled.

As she brought all the equipment through the door on the right, Pinkie could see a drum kit in the room. Some type of practice room she guessed. As Heartstrings closed the door behind her, Pinkie opened her mouth wide and yawned. Her rear dropped and she brought a hoof to her mouth to cover it. This prompted an appropriate inquiry from Heartstrings.

"Tired?" she asked. "Where do you live?"

"I rent a room over Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie said as she finished her yawn.

"That's on the other side of town," she said pausing to think. "You're staying the night!"

"What?" Pinkie asked, as a shiver ran up her right-back leg.

"Yeah, it's no problem, I have a double-wide bed, should be big enough for both of us," she looked at Pinkie, whose face went beet red. "To sleep," she clarified, "and nothing else."

"Oh! Heh!" Pinkie responded in relief with a smile.

Heartstrings then continued, "I mean you're cute and all, but I'm just not that kind of mare."

Pinkie's face went red again and her entire body tensed up. Heartstrings trotted over to her kitchen as she proclaimed with a smile. "AH! There it is!"

Pinkie smiled sheepishly.

Tears were flowing down Rainbow's face, the pain, despite being years old, was still fresh. She didn't even truly realize how much, until that moment.

Luna was shocked at what Rainbow just told her. It chilled her to the bone. She knew ponies like that existed, this was not news, but to hear it in such detail from this point of view, was extremely shocking. The tales she heard in the past were sanitized. This one was not.

"Oh...my," Luna's response came. It was all she could think to say.

"They told me I was the lucky one," she continued. "But it didn't help. I heard it's called 'survivor's guilt.'"

Luna was speechless. She didn't know how to react. So she merely sat there, waiting.

"I think that's why I..." Rainbow choked up, but she didn't need to complete the sentence, the Princess knew what she was going to say.

Luna couldn't think of how to respond. She was still trying to comprehend it. But nonetheless, she realized just how strong Rainbow was.

"It shouldn't still get to me, but it does, and I...I..." Rainbow quickly broke down into tears.

Just then, Luna grabbed Rainbow in a hug, and said the first thing that came into her mind. "Rainbow, it's okay, it wasn't your fault, it's over now."

"I know, I just...I'm so weak," she cried, quietly, lest someone overhear her. "It's been so long, it shouldn't still get to me but-"

"Rainbow, you are not weak, you are among the strongest ponies I know," Luna explained. "To go through all that and still be able to make friends, trust them, and keep such a cheery demeanour? That is nothing short of astonishing."

A smile crept onto Rainbow's face as she pushed the Princess away. "You think so?" She asked.

"Yes, most definitely."

Rainbow thought about that for a minute. It made her feel just a little bit better. In fact, just telling the Princess made her feel just a little bit better.

It was at this point, Rainbow realized, she should tell one more pony. Pinkie deserved that much.

The next day was a big one for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Or at least it would be once Apple Bloom arrived.

"What's taking her so long?" came the voice of a young white unicorn with a pink and purple mane, named Sweetie Belle.

"She needs to take care of Spike," Scootaloo explained to her companion.

The two were waiting inside the Cutie Mark Crusaders Headquarters. The Crusaders were a small group, consisting of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Their goal: to earn their cutie marks. A milestone in everypony's life, when they discover their special talent, they are automatically granted a mark on their flank symbolizing it. It was the goal of these three ponies to travel this road together. Just the three of them. It was their number one priority, but it wasn't their only priority.

"She's been there for two hours, what the hay?!" Sweetie Belle continued.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she should be there, serve him his food, and split, what's this hanging around for hours!?"

"Maybe she genuinely enjoys his company. Spike's a nice guy, he deserves better than a that."

"I'm not saying he doesn't, I'm saying there are more important things in this world," Sweetie Belle responded, as she crossed the room to the window closest to town. She was trying to watch out for the third member of their group, and so far, she was absent.

"What's with you anyway!?" Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle turned around, perplexed.

"You seem so..." Scootaloo was searching for the word, "...anxious. Relax. She'll be here."

"She wasn't yesterday," Sweetie Belle rebutted.

"Well, that's because she was taking care of Spike," explained Scootaloo. "And if you hung out with us at lunch you'd know that!"

"Well, I was getting my plan ready."

"Yeah, you haven't told me about that yet," Scootaloo realized.

"Well, that's because you wanted to wait for Apple Bloom."

"Well, now I'm fine not waiting, tell me!"

"Well, if you think she'll be here, then we'll just wait for her, I hate repeating myself."

Scootaloo had another thing to say, "well in the meantime, relax, and stop being so mean, you're acting like your sister, or Diamond Tiara."

Sweetie Belle was shocked! "You take that back!!!" she yelled, pointing an accusatory hoof towards her winged friend.

Scootaloo didn't respond to Sweetie's request because out the window she saw a familiar face, "OOO! Look at that," she said.

Sweetie Belle turned around, saw Apple Bloom running across the orchard, straight towards the clubhouse.

"Come on!" Scootaloo said. Sweetie Belle would have stopped her so they could continue their conversation, but the pegasus had already left. So she decided to let it go and followed her friend outside.

The two waited for Apple Bloom at the base of the ramp that leads up to the clubhouse.

As Apple Bloom approached them, she slowed down and they noticed she was breathing heavily. She lowered her head and tried lying down by slowly lowering herself to the ground, continuing to pant, trying desperately to catch her breath.

Scootaloo was the first to ask, "Did you run all the way from-" but was interrupted by Apple Bloom, who raised a hoof to silence her.

"Just...uh...gimmea...dang...I'll...woo...it's...hubbada."

"I'm gonna wait," Sweetie Belle said, as she dropped her rump right where she was standing.

Heartstring's music, See Your Face and Because the Night, originally written by Miss Kim Schmidt and Bruce Springsteen, respectively.

Chapter Five - The Game Never Ends

View Online

Ponyville is a small and quiet town, with several small storefronts, each with their own quirky design. Jester's Joke Junction was shaped like it was wearing a jester's hat; Sugarcube Corner was built to look like a gingerbread house; and Strawberry's Sarsaparilla Shoppe was topped with fruits and berries at the tips of the rooves...yes to the untrained eye, there would appear to be more than one roof. But one store that was relatively unassuming, one store that had little in the way of quirks to it, was the storefront of the local Blacksmith.

Identical to almost every other building in Ponyville, yet shorter. It was only two stories tall, with a thatched roof. The second floor was very small and was only used for storage, however the main floor was much more spacious and was much more presentable. It's interior walls were a light orange colour and were adorned with all sorts of tools and equipment, like hammers and axes; and some more complex devices, like scooters and safety harnesses for mountain climbing. The shop was empty, save for one of its proprietors: A caramel-coloured pony appropriately named Caramel. He had a pencil in his mouth and was writing...something. Every word he wrote was well thought out and with purpose, and all were rendered moot when he vigorously scratched it all out.

Grabbing the paper in his mouth, he chewed it up and spat it into the wastepaper basket across the room. He then reached under the counter to grab another piece of paper and began writing again. After a while of focused writing he was interrupted by a ringing bell that signalled an opening door. He looked up, pencil still in mouth and noticed a familiar face looking at him.

"Applejack!" he exclaimed, dropping the pencil.

"Hey, Caramel!" the farm-pony replied. "Is it fixed yet?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, walking to the middle of the wall on his left as Applejack walked to the counter. Hanging on the wall was a yoke he repaired earlier in the week. "I had to replace the pins at the top with a new steel we got. Hopefully they'll last longer than the old ones."

He pulled the yoke off the wall and let it drop on his neck, as he turned around he noticed Applejack reading the paper on the counter.

She read aloud: "I don't know why you're not there. I give you my love, but you don't care. What is right? What is wrong? What is love?"

"Okay, it's not great."

"It's not bad either," Applejack replied. "Is this directed towards someone?" She asked with a sly smile.

"...perhaps," he said as he walked back towards the counter.

"Have you talked to her?" she asked in a sympathetic tone.

"Not since our date two weeks ago," Caramel replied. "You?"

"Last night, we went to the Townhoof."

"...and?"

"She didn't mention you."

"Did you mention me?" he asked as he placed the yoke on the counter.

"No," Applejack responded a bit perplexed.

Caramel sighed, "sorry, it's just a bit frustrating. I thought we had a good time, and then I don't hear from her for a two weeks. Normally I'd expect to get ready for our second date."

"Why don't you go see her?"

"I did!" he exclaimed, raising his forehooves for effect! "But she wasn't there, or I'll bet she was, and she's avoiding me."

"Now you're just being paranoid."

"Yeah, paranoid, not wrong."

Applejack could tell that Caramel wasn't just paranoid...he was scared, and who could blame him!? This was a pony that was burned by love way too many times. For instance: his last girlfriend dumped him on Hearts and Hooves Day, which everypony knew was the worst possible day to do it. It told Applejack she either intentionally hurt him, or simply didn't care. Seriously, who does that!?

"This is your fault," Caramel continued. "You fix it!"

"How is it my fault!?"

"You talked me into asking her out!"

"It's something you wanted to do anyway!"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have actually done it because I'm a coward!"

Caramel had a crush on her best friend for years, and Applejack knew all about that for nearly as long as she's been friends with Caramel. But, it was only recently that she told him to act on it.

"You know," Applejack said pensively. "You two are perfect for each other." A smile emerged on her face. "If you really want I'll talk to her next chance I get."

"Thanks," he pressed a button on the register. "That'll be 38 bits."

"Golly!" she said. "What's it made of, solid gold!?"

"HEY!" Caramel said, shocked at the insinuation. "We only use high-quality metals here."

Several thousand light-years away, in the middle of a barren desert, all that stood was a simple ring, standing vertically and embedded in a pedestal. The pedestal had a ramp leading directly up to the middle of the ring. It was completely quiet and half of it was buried in sand. Until this moment.

The ring suddenly began to glow brightly and spun rapidly, knocking much of the sand off, until stopping just as suddenly as it began. An energy force came from the ring, rushing forward before settling into the Stargate's silvery event horizon.

Very quickly, a small brown sphere emerged from the gate, and began moving around the landscape.

Eventually, it began speaking. "Nothing too interesting, sand as far as the eye can-wait."

Off in the distance, a green patch was spotted.

"There's some type of oasis over there. Might have food." Of course only one side of the conversation could be heard. "Five...maybe ten minute walk."

Less than a minute later, a group of six humans walked through the Stargate. Lieutenant Matthew Scott, Master Sergeant Ronald Greer, Airman Maurice Dunning, Doctor Elliot Boone, Doctor Dale Volker, and Doctor Rachel Inman.

Inman took a deep breath inward. "Much less humid than the last planet," she commented. "Kinda nice."

Dunning responded as he put on his military-issue shades, "If you say so." He was not a fan of the heat.

All were wearing beige fatigues, provided by the military. It was designed to disperse the desert heat, and hide them, if need be.

"Eli!?" Scott yelled at the Kino. Off to the Stargate's left.

"Huh!?" Eli said, before realizing his speakers weren't that loud. He floated over to the team.

When he arrived, Scott asked a very crucial question. "Which way?"

"Oh!" He turned to look in the direction the gate was facing. "Just over that dune, you can't miss it."

The entire team followed Scott as he proceeded towards the very large sand dune, with Greer taking up the rear.

"Keep it open for a second," Eli said, to no one on the planet, "I'm going to look around."

The Kino began flying upward, to try to get a bird's-eye view of the area.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wormhole, Adam Brody and Colonel Young were at one of the two consoles at the rear of the gate room.

"Call me if anything happens," Young said just before he left.

The corridors on the Destiny were not exactly cheery. Very dark earth tones, and in some areas, some type of mist leaked from some faulty components of the ship's cooling system. Thankfully it wasn't causing any major problems, and the coolant wasn't toxic. So fixing those components was a low priority. But it was still depressing.

Young arrived at the Control Interface Room, where Rush, Park and Lieutenant James were all working. Well, Rush was working, Park and James were merely talking.

"So, there might be people?"

"Well, a civilization," Park explained to James. "Maybe...possibly...actually, it's unlikely. According to the database, 'precursors of a civilization' just means a civilization can develop, not that it would. Typically other forces would delay or cancel the development of a full-blown civilization as we might know it."

"Well, I can only hope you're wrong," Colonel Young said, interrupting the conversation, causing James to stand at attention and acknowledge the presence of her commanding officer. "At ease Lieutenant," Young said as he walked over to Doctor Rush, who was sitting in front of one of the consoles, writing in his notepad...his almost-full notepad.

"Anything new?" Young asked Rush.

Rush placed the notepad down on the console with a sigh. "No more than we had this morning," he explained. "All we know is that we have a planet that is important to the mission and might have a civilization on it."

"Yeah, what does that mean?" James asked. "'Important to the mission'?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out since this morning," Rush explained. "But there is nothing in this database. There might be something that was kept on the original seed ship, but unless we re-establish the link, we have no way of knowing."

"Yeah," Young responded. "We're not going to do that. Regardless, if there is a civilization there, we'll need to find a way to establish contact, and it's unlikely they speak English-"

"Yeah, thought of that, and so far, no translators or anything on the ship either," Rush explained. "So, I think Ms. Armstrong and I should be on the first team."

"...and why's that?"

"Well, she knows more alien languages than anyone else on this ship-"

"-two-"

"-and outside of Eli, who can't really leave the ship, I'm the best mathematical mind we have."

Young nodded before craning his neck to look at the two women across the room, he quickly remembered he would need to talk to get the attention of one of them. "Doctor Park?"

The blind scientist took a second to respond, "can't really argue with that, Colonel."

Colonel Young paused for a minute before continuing, "Alright, I'll consider it."

Just then, Brody's voice came over the radio. "Colonel! We're gonna need you back here, now!"

Apple Bloom eventually caught her breath. The trio had since moved into the clubhouse, and Sweetie Belle was just getting ready to tell the whole group, all two of them, what her plan was.

"Okay Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said. "We're all ears, what is your 'master plan'!?"

A very enthusiastic smile was on the young unicorn's face as she got ready to tell her friends, "Okay, get ready!" They were ready. "We're going to become...Cutie Mark Recruiters!!!" she ended with a flourish, raising her forehooves in the air.

Her friends were unimpressed. "What?" asked Apple Bloom.

"We're going to recruit more ponies into the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Both her friends looked at her a bit dumbfounded.

"WHAT!?" Scootaloo asked, mouth agape.

"Well I can't dumb it down any more than that!"

"NO!" Scootaloo yelled, a bit frustrated. She quickly regained her composure and continued, "Why?"

Sweetie smiled, as if she expected this. She began to explain. "Throughout pony history, young ponies have been where we stand now. Frustrated and perplexed about why they haven't found their cutie marks." Her voice began to crack as she got more and more excited. "And they've always stood alone, until we came around. We decided to do this together, but we won't be the last to face this challenge. We should teach the next generation what we've learned, and help them do the same thing, together!" Her smile was wide and she was quite excited.

Her friends were not.

"So..." Apple Bloom began to explain, just to ensure she understood. "Your plan is to recruit more ponies-younger ponies-into the Cutie Mark Crusaders so they can find their cutie marks together and for us to teach them how to do it?"

Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously, her smile refusing to fade.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way Sweetie Belle...but..."

Scootaloo interrupted, "-Why!? I mean seriously, how is that supposed to help us earn our cutie marks!?"

Sweetie Belle was incensed, "That's not why!! I mean it might happen, we could earn teaching cutie marks-but that's not why!!" She snuck between her two friends, turning so they all faced the same direction, so quickly the others didn't notice until she was there. She grabbed them both in her hooves before continuing. "It's for our legacy!" She said, holding out her right forehoof for dramatic effect.

"What?" Scootaloo asked, her face squished in Sweetie Belle's foreleg.

"Our legacy! Something for everypony to remember us by!" Sweetie explained. "As the founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!!! This ensures it can go on without us!"

Both paused, before responding...with a laugh. "Oh Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said, slipping from the unicorn's grasp. "We have our entire lives to worry about that kind of thing, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Yeah," Apple Bloom elaborated, also slipping from her grasp. "Besides, all three of us are still blank-flanks, what can we teach them: How to fail at getting our cutie marks!?" Apple Bloom was still smiling even though that was something that she wouldn't normally admit so readily to. But...if you can't laugh at yourself... "Let's wait until one of us get marked before we do something like this."

Sweetie Belle wasn't smiling anymore, she was quite saddened by this turn of events. "Oh...okay," she turned to go outside, so she could mourn her plans in peace. "I'll tell everypony, it's all cancelled," she said as she walked out the front door.

Both had already turned to see Sweetie Belle leave behind them. Neither really thought Sweetie Belle would have been so emotionally invested in the project, and they both clued in pretty quickly.

Scootaloo was the first to speak, "Well, now I feel like a right mule."

Apple Bloom responded simply, "yep."

As the six-member team crossed the desert planet, boredom set in. Someone had to break the almost eerie silence.

"So," Dunning said pensively, "what do you think is on that planet?"

"What planet?" asked Doctor Boone.

"The one you found last night."

He paused for thought, "could be anything at this point."

"Well, we can guess."

Awkward silence descended on the group, before Greer broke it. "Sunshine, sandy beaches, green alien women..."

That managed to get a chuckle out of almost everyone in attendance.

Scott was next to speak, "crystal clear lakes."

"High mountain ranges, and someone selling telescopes," said Volker.

"Chocolate," said Doctor Inman.

"Chocolate?" asked Scott, a bit curious.

"Well, I hope," she responded.

Dunning was one of the last to answer his own question, "coffee."

"Now," Greer said, "that'd be nice."

As everyone laughed, Boone began to think what he'd want to see. But could not think of anything...except... "A way home."

Everyone went silent.

Much higher above the ground, the Kino was floating, watching the team below. It was an exciting experience for Eli Wallace, because it didn't feel like he was looking through a Kino, but as if he was actually there. Flying above everyone, it was almost surreal. Back when he was a flesh and blood human, Eli remembered having dreams of flying. It didn't happen often, but whenever he managed to realize he was dreaming, he willed himself upwards. Essentially turning gravity off. It was fun, and something he missed.

The closest Eli manages to get to dreaming now are the simulated worlds he built. Close, but they don't have the same feel of a dream.

All that was going through Eli's head when he noticed an odd blur in the desert sands.

"Huh..." he said. To see if he could spot it again, he decided to pan horizontally. Then back again. He jiggered back and forth, trying to spot what caused the blur, when it came to him. "Brody!!!"

In the Destiny's gate room, Adam Brody's attention turned to the Kino. "Yeah?" He said calmly.

"Call them back!" the Kino said. "Call them back, now!"

"What?"

"Just do it!" Brody picked up the radio, but before he could make the call, Eli interrupted him. "Wait! Tell them to be subtle about it."

Scott and his team were continuing through the sandy desert when his radio came to life.

"Um...Lieutenant, you might want to make your way back right now," went Brody's voice.

"Sorry?" Scott responded, slightly confused.

"Eli thinks you should start heading back."

Scott was suddenly very worried. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll...uh...we'll start heading back."

Scott turned around and was about to tell everyone head back to the gate when suddenly: THWACK! Greer was knocked down by an invisible force and his weapon went flying.

Scott readied his rifle, only to be similarly knocked down, along with Dunning. The three civilian members of the team reacted, Inman and Volker hit the deck, while Boone took out a pistol he brought with him, and pointed it at what he thought was one of the creatures, only to be knocked down with the others.

With a grown, Scott turned around to take a look at his surroundings, and saw his rifle float up in the air and aim at his head. He could see a shimmer in the air where the creature's camouflage was imperfect. But it was then that he discovered that this wasn't some native creature.

As the cloak deactivated, he saw a figure with blue, semi-transparent skin and glowing eyes; wearing a black, skin-tight suit. He recognised it easily from the descriptions given by the Colonel, Doctor Rush, and Chloe. It was the aliens that have been stalking them across at least three galaxies.

It was the Nakai.

Sweet Apple Acres was a very large orchard, spanning hundreds of square kilometres, and because of its large area, it contained many interesting landmarks. Such as the Honeycrisp hills; Zestar River; and, at the furthest edge of the property: Styre Gorge.

It was near Styre Gorge, where a young white unicorn was sitting. Her gaze looking over all that she saw below her. She sat on one side of the gorge, while on the other, far below her, was a dense forest. She looked at it, trying to see if she could spot some form of activity, but there was nothing, it was quiet. Not that she really cared. She was only watching the forest to distract herself from her own thoughts.

She distracted herself so well, she didn't hear the hoofsteps behind her, until it was too late. A blob of yellow sat down beside her and spoke.

"You okay?" asked the friendly earth pony.

Sweetie Belle lied, "Yeah, I'm fine." ...badly. Her head was held low, and her voice was somber.

Apple Bloom couldn't think of what to say, so she figured a bit of probing might yield some ideas.

"So...where'd you get that idea anyway?" she asked candidly.

"What idea?" Sweetie Belle asked, her interest and mood slightly elevated, as she looked at her friend.

"For recruiting."

"OH!" She explained. "Well I thought it was only a matter of time before we got our cutie marks, and I knew that the club should go on. So, I...I..."

Sweetie Belle was hiding something and Apple Bloom knew it. She remained silent, knowing Sweetie Belle hated awkward silences.

It took a few seconds before Sweetie Belle continued. She sighed, as her head drooped. "Do you know about my great-uncle Ambrosia?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "No."

"Well neither did I," the unicorn explained. "He died last week."

"Oh...um," Apple Bloom was never good with this kind of thing. She didn't know what to say last time, and she didn't know what to say now. She remained silent, but for completely different reasons.

"I never knew him. So I tried to find some information about him. You know what I found!?"

"Um..." again, Apple Bloom did not know how to respond. At least not without making an ass of herself.

"Nothing."

Now Apple Bloom was just confused. "Pardon?"

"I found nothing. Mom says he was always the quiet one. He didn't do anything, he didn't leave anything behind. The only sign we have that he ever existed is a few photos and a letter from the Baltimare Hospital, telling us he died of ponmonia."

Apple Bloom was confused, "I'm sorry, but what does that have to do with-"

Sweetie Belle's head snapped in Apple Bloom's direction, startling the young earth pony. Sweetie explained, "I don't want the same thing happening to me. I want to leave something behind."

Apple Bloom realized it was exactly the same thing she said earlier, and even with a bit more added, it still didn't explain everything. "Sweetie Belle, we already told you-"

"-we got plenty of time," Sweetie Belle interjected. "I know, but..." It was hard for her to continue, but she said it anyway. "I'll bet Scootaloo's parents thought the same thing."

Apple Bloom didn't know what to say, but she didn't need to say anything, because Sweetie Belle continued before she got a chance.

"Apple Bloom, our best friend could have died. If we didn't try curling that day, she would have been with them, and she would've...she would've..." Sweetie Belle couldn't continue, her eyes tearing up.

Apple Bloom grabbed her friend and held her in a tight embrace. It was now she finally understood. "So," she asked, "when are we going to meet these rookies?"

Sweetie Belle backed up. "What?" She asked, perplexed, looking at her friend.

Apple Bloom explained, "you went through all that trouble, it would be bad if it was wasted."

Her friend smiled wide.

"OKAY!" She exclaimed excitedly, wiping her eyes. "So far I have four committed and another three on the fence but I'm sure they'll all sign up eventually, assuming they don't get their marks before then."

Apple Bloom followed her friend as she began trotting back to the clubhouse.

"I figure the best way we can initiate them is by getting them to demonstrate their commitment by showing some kind of attempt. We can either-"

"-Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom interrupted the young unicorn.

"Yeah!?"

"Let's not tell Scootaloo what we just talked about."

"Well, I thought she'd be a part of the recruiting!" She asked, a bit perplexed.

"No, no, no, no, I mean...about why you want to do this."

"Oh," Sweetie Belle said, still a bit perplexed...until. "OOOOOH!! Okay, yeah, you're right."

The two proceeded towards the clubhouse, continuing to discuss their plans.

The Destiny was a large and odd ship. From above, it looked like a misshapen arrow. At the rear of the ship were the FTL drives, which went from one side of the ship to the other, and appeared as a glowing blue stripe. From the side the ship almost looked like a flat pancake, except for the rear, where a pyramid-like structure was located. This was the main living quarters of the crew, and in one quiet little corner, in a quiet little room, young Chloe Armstrong was resting after a long day...until...

"Chloe!!!" the image of Eli Wallace exclaimed.

She was sound asleep.

"Chloe!!!" he tried again. "Chloe-Chloe-Chloe-Chloe-Chloe-Chloe-Chloe!!!

She began to stir.

"Chloe!"

She reluctantly opened her eyes.

"Eli," she said, only half-awake. "What is it?"

"We need you in the gate room!

"...why?"

"It's your old friends, they ambushed the team on the planet."

Chloe blinked a few times, before realizing exactly what that meant. She was fully awake now, and turned to sit on the side of the bed, covering herself with the blanket. "Eli..."

A second later he realized what she was trying to say. "Right," he said, as his image faded into nothing.

"They just appeared out of nowhere," Brody explained.

"How many?" asked Colonel Young.

"I count eight."

"The bigger question is: How'd they find them?" Park asked.

"They've been waiting for us," Rush answered. "They probably have teams at every gate they could find."

"This is going to be a problem," Young said the obvious.

Just then, Lieutenant James entered the gate room, fully suited up, with a small team backing her up, "Colonel."

"Stand by, Lieutenant."

"Sir?"

"They're holding hostages, Lieutenant."

"We should start negotiating," Brody said.

But Doctor Rush rebutted, "We already know what they want, and we're not going to give it up."

Destiny.

"Still," Young explained. "It could buy us some time."

Scott wasn't worried, at least, not too much. He saw the Kino far above him, watching them, he suspected the Stargate was still open. The Colonel knew they were in trouble, and would likely send reinforcements thorough very soon. But he couldn't rely on that. He began trying to think of a way they could get out of this.

He got to his feet and noticed his rifle was taken by the aliens.

One of them began talking...well, he made these clicking sounds that Scott presumed were language, so... He moved his pistol in a way that told Scott he and the other hostages should bunch together. They complied.

"Greer," Scott whispered.

"Sir."

"You still have one of those charges?"

"Yes, sir." Both men tried to avoid moving their lips too much, so their captors wouldn't notice.

"I have a plan," he explained. "But we'll need a distraction."

The Kino floated down, closer to the ground, and a clicking noise came from it.

"This is the Destiny," Chloe said, through the Kino. "Release our people now!"

"Ah, yes, it is our servant," said the Nakai leader.

"Not anymore."

"Yes, well, nevertheless, we will allow your people to evacuate the ship to this planet, and turn it over to us peacefully."

"Chloe?" Colonel Young said.

Chloe responded in English, as opposed to the language of the Nakai, which the others just heard as a series of random clicks. "He said he'll allow us to evacuate to the planet, and turn the ship over to them."

The Colonel was swift in his decision. "That's not happening. Keep 'em talking."

"What should I say?"

"Doesn't matter, think of something."

Chloe went back to the console, and pressed the microphone button. "Why would we do that?"

"To save your people."

"What assurances would we have of our safety."

"None," the alien replied. "Or, we can merely kill them now." He pointed his pistol behind him.

"Wait!"

He let the pistol fall.

"We'll need time to get everyone together."

"You begin sending people now."

All Scott could hear was a series of clicks coming from one of their captors. He wasn't sure what they were saying, but it didn't matter. The plan was ready. He reached up behind him into his backpack, and grabbed what he needed, waiting for Greer's signal.

Patience was something he needed right then, they all needed it.

A few seconds later, Greer said, "Sir."

Scott reacted, "Three, two, one..." On zero, the plan was enacted. He pressed a button on the device in his hand and threw it right at the nearest enemy.

They fired at the charge, but it was futile. Three explosions surrounded the group, as they covered themselves. Scott turned and looked at the result. He saw three soldiers, all were knocked to the ground, but one took the brunt of the force, his skin burnt and he was not moving.

He rushed one of them while they were disoriented and took their weapon, quickly firing it at point-blank range. He spotted the other soldier who was just getting up, fired at him as well.

Scott then quickly took in his surroundings. The three civilians were already running towards the gate, and Greer was wrestling with one of the soldiers. Another two were on the ground with severe burns, and another, possibly unconscious alien was lying near Dunning, who had an alien standing over him, pointing his pistol at the Airman. Scott reacted firing on the alien, and running over to Dunning, helping him to his feet.

"Sorry, sir," Dunning said.

"Don't worry about it Airman, get to the gate!"

Scott aimed the stolen pistol at the two grappling soldiers, and when Greer managed to push the alien away, Scott didn't hesitate to fire.

Greer looked at his commanding officer, "Thank you, sir."

"Get our weapons."

The two men then grabbed all four of the guns that the aliens confiscated, and began their trek back to the gate.

"Wait," Scott said. Greer turned back, saw his commander looking at one of the dead alien bodies.

The team in the gate room watched the carnage over the Kino.

"Oh my god," Chloe exclaimed.

"Shut it down," the Colonel responded.

With a flash, the gate disengaged.

As the three civilians ran as fast as they could to the Stargate, they saw the wormhole shut down, allowing them to dial the gate back.

Volker reached into his pocket, grabbed the remote, and began dialing. He had to work off of memory to dial the exact address where the Destiny was located. They reached the gate and it began spinning. As each symbol locked in, they saw Airman Dunning just coming up over the sand dune. He was followed a few seconds later by Greer and Scott, who were carrying between them, an alien who was either unconscious or dead.

As the third symbol locked, the two finally arrived at the gate and Scott asked, "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Inman said, just as an explosion rocked the ground next to them.

Scott looked up behind him and saw one of the aliens alive and aiming his pistol directly at them. The left side of his face was brown and burnt, and his suit seemed to be torn and possibly melted along the left. It appeared that side took the brunt of the blast.

Scott returned fire and the alien ducked behind the sand dune. "Volker!?" He yelled.

"Chevron five encoded!" He reported. Only two more symbols left, they needed to buy the necessary time to finish dialing.

But Greer noticed they didn't have that time. He saw movement in the clouds. "Sir!" he said.

Scott looked towards the sergeant as he looked towards the sky. Following the man's gaze, he saw what could only be a ship honing in on their position. Scott hoped that was their only backup. He continued firing on where he thought the alien was. When suddenly.

"Chevron seven locked!" Volker announced as the gate connected. But it was too late, the ship was fast, and it was already on top of them, it fired directly at the team, thankfully missing the gate and wormhole, as they dove out-of-the-way.

As the ship turned to begin another pass, most of the team fled into the Stargate, Volker and Boone carrying the dead alien through. But before he could get through, Scott was once again, under fire, he returned fire, but it didn't help him.

The alien continued to fire at the human, refusing to let up. Until he was knocked in the head, landing in the sand he turned and saw the assailant, the sphere he was communicating with earlier. It hit him again and again, until he grabbed it, and threw it as far as he could, but it just flew back and hit him again.

Scott used this opportunity to dive through the gate. As he arrived in the very familiar metal room, he fell flat on his face. Getting up he noticed there were a few scorch marks along the floor. Apparently the alien's aim was a bit better than they thought.

The gate shut down behind him, and he saw the ship's Chief Medical Officer running down the main hall with a gurney, ready to treat any injuries.

"Lieutenant," he was approached by Colonel Young.

Scott managed to get to his feet. "I'm fine sir," he explained.

"What's with the dead body?"

"I figured we should find out how they managed to hide out there, maybe find a countermeasure."

The Colonel nodded, "Good work."

The ship jumped to FTL.

It was a quiet night in Ponyville. The stars were bright and the sky was clear, and at Sweet Apple Acres, all the little ponies were getting ready to go to sleep. There were only two bathrooms for the whole family, which was certainly better than most households, and right now, one pony was taking full advantage of it.

Scootaloo was obsessed with oral hygiene. When she was much younger she had a terrible toothache and was almost paranoid about getting another one. She brushed as much as she could' ensuring every little speck of food vanished from her mouth. She then pulled out the dental floss, wrapping it around each of her hooves and cleaning the tight space between her teeth. It took a lot of skill to do this without magic, but she learned, a long time ago.

Then there were the other parts of her mouth. She ran the tongue scraper across her tongue, with...well...you don't want to know what came off. It satisfied Scootaloo to see the crap that she collected. It meant she was actually doing something. Though it did bug her that more ponies didn't bother with this. One thing she dreaded when she got older was romance. To think that virtually every colt in town failed to clean their mouth as much as she did, and she might have to...well...

She shoved those thoughts out of her head and moved on to the final step. Before being interrupted by a knock at the door.

"What are you doing in there!? We're just going to bed, not a night on the town!" Apple Bloom screamed at the door.

"Gimmie a minute! I'm almost done!" The young pegasus replied, before pouring the green liquid into her mouth. She began swishing and gargling the concoction over and over...until eventually her mouth started burning and she spit it out.

She smiled at the bathroom mirror, admiring her work. Shining white teeth with no imperfections. It was a masterpiece.

She then hopped off the stool she was standing on, and went out the door.

A yellow blur rushed past her and closed the door. Disorienting her for a second.

She then proceeded to the big bunk bed that was built for them, modified from Apple Bloom's old bed. A quick hop and a flutter of her wings were enough to get her up there. She settled herself for a night of sleep.

As Scootaloo went to bed, she knew one thing was certain, she finally accepted her new life on the farm. After the accident she wasn't sure she'd get used to anything ever again. But now, things felt natural to her. She welcomed the mundanity of it all, and was a bit afraid of it all changing again. At least now, she knew she could adapt.

Eventually, Scootaloo noticed the sound of the bathroom sink turning off right before a very sleepy Apple Bloom emerged from the bathroom. She trotted right to her bed, and jumped in to rest after a very long day. But her friend wasn't having it.

"Hey, Apple Bloom," said the orange pegasus.

A drowsy Apple Bloom responded. "What is it Scootaloo?"

"You asleep yet?"

Apple Bloom paused for a second to digest the idiocy of that statement. "Tryin' to."

"Oh...what do you really think of Sweetie Belle's plan?"

"It's fine."

"Really? I'm still not sure why she'd even bother."

"You think we'll forget about you?"

"What!? No!"

"Okay."

"No one's allowed to do that!"

Apple Bloom giggled.

Scootaloo went quiet before asking her next question. "How's Spike doing?"

"He's fine."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"You sure are spending a lot of time with him."

"If you say so." Apple Bloom's patience was wearing thin.

"I mean if he's doing fine I don't-

"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom saw the top bunk shake just a bit.

"Yeah?"

"Sleep!"

"Right!"

Apple Bloom shut her eyes and began to relax...when...

"I mean the only explanation I can think of is-"

"Scoot!!!"

"Right! Sleep! Sorry! Night!"

The two finally began to rest to prepare for the day ahead, which they would need much rest for.

Caramel's poem, What is Love, originally written by Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello.

Chapter Six - Fall of the Legend

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The room was dark, the air was smoky, the noise was deafening, and the ponies were excited. It was nighttime in Canterlot, and the party was just getting started. The Pasture wasn't exactly the most popular nightclub in town, but it did have the best music, at least in Rainbow Dash's view. As the young pegasus was sitting at the bar, watching the dance floor, her eyes fell on her two best friends, a purple unicorn, and a blue unicorn wearing a short yet elaborate dress.

Rainbow hoped she was the only one who knew precisely why the blue one was wearing a dress, after all, there was only so much Luna could do to hide her identity, and if someone else noticed, a riot could break out. The Princess' mane was tamed to be less conspicuous, her wings were hidden within the outfit, and she used a simple cosmetic spell to make herself shorter. It was so simple, and worked so well...but she was still Luna, and if somepony was looking for the lunar regent, they would have no trouble spotting her.

As music pumped from large speakers in front of the DJ desk, Rainbow watched her friends dance. Luna raised her hooves in the air with breathless enthusiasm.

All your dreams are made
When you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade
Today's the day that all the world will see

Twilight's movements were a bit less controlled. Those who might not have seen Twilight dance before, might have thought the mare was having a seizure, but that was not the case.

Another sunny afternoon
Walking to the sound of my favourite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon

Rainbow's attention drifted around the club as she nursed her Kamikaze, a drink that was as enjoyable as it was potent. Eventually, as her eyes landed on the front entrance, she saw an entourage of pegasi enter the establishment. Among them, one caught her eye. She was wearing a white dress, had a light orange coat, and a mane like a brush fire.

Need a little time to rest your mind
You know you should so I guess you might as well

To Rainbow Dash, Spitfire was a legend. The one pony she looked up to more than any other. The pony she wanted to be. As Rainbow watched her, and the rest of the Wonderbolts enter The Pasture, Spitfire turned her head to face the bar, and her eyes locked with Rainbow's. A giant smile suddenly appeared on the face of the Wonderbolt captain, as she waved to the blue pegasus at the bar.

Rainbow quickly downed her drink, turned to the bartender and said, "Another!"

The white unicorn before her began filling the glass as she heard a voice behind her. "Rainbow Dash!" it called out.

The blue pegasus turned around, and tried to act cool. "Oh, hey Spitfire, what's up?"

"Not much, what are you doing outta Ponyville?" asked the captain of the Wonderbolts. "I mean, besides the obvious, it's not 'til next week."

"Yeah, Twilight hates travelling alone, so..." Rainbow gestured towards the purple unicorn on the dance floor.

"Ah, Twilight, she's..."

The music continued playing.

What's the story morning-glory?
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell
Need a little time to wake up wake up

"...is she...dancing?"

"Yeah."

"...huh..." A concerned Spitfire turned back towards the bar and looked at the unicorn behind it. "Double C.C. on the rocks my good man."

"No problem, doc."

'Doc?' Rainbow thought as the bartender began preparing the mare's drink. It was then the young pegasus noticed her own beverage was still sitting on the counter. She grabbed it and continued drinking.

"You'd better not make me look bad," the orange mare said, sipping her beverage.

"Huh?"

"At the try-outs," Spitfire explained. "I invited you for a reason."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it."

"Really?" Spitfire asked, a bit sceptical. "You know it's not all about speed right? There's the freestyle acrobatics portion; the accuracy test; the endurance run; and finally, the gauntlet," she said with a smile.

"Gauntlet?" Rainbow asked, a bit scared.

"Yeah, so you'd better not wimp out or anything."

"What makes you think I'd do that!?" Rainbow said, trying to laugh off the issue.

"Most ponies do, especially when they see it," Spitfire explained, taking another sip. "Not that it's dangerous or anything, but it can look that way."

Just then, the blue mare felt a pair of hooves grab her from behind in a hug and nuzzle her mane.

"MMMM...you smell nice," Twilight said, under heavy intoxication.

"Why do all my friends keep hitting on me!?" Rainbow said with frustration.

Twilight was incensed, "I'm not hi....Pinkie's gay?"

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "How'd you-!?" She didn't need to finish that question, she already knew. "...yeah."

"Oh, well anyway, you smell nice, but your mane's a bit rough, what do you use!?"

"Twilight, have you met Spitfire?"

"SPITFIRE!!" the bookworm released Rainbow and grabbed the other pegasus. "You smell nice, too."

"Thanks," Spitfire said with a laugh.

"...and your mane's so soft."

"I'll bet."

"Rainbow, you should use her shampoo."

"Well somepony needs some fresh air," Spitfire declared, downing the rest of her amber beverage and squirming out of Twilight's grip. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Sounds lovely." Rainbow didn't notice Luna next to her until she began speaking. The princess was very good at being discreet.

"Hold on, I gotta settle up," Rainbow said.

As she was about to reach under her wing. Spitfire interrupted her. "Oh don't bother. Rye!" The bartender looked at her. "Put their drinks on my tab!"

"Sure thing, doc!" He replied.

"Let's get out of here." Spitfire started towards the front entrance, before stopping, and suddenly being very unsure of herself. "Back way!" She declared as she started trotting in the opposite direction.

As they trotted toward the exit, one word remained on Rainbow's mind. "Doc?"

"That planet is essential to the mission!" Destiny's lead scientist pleaded in desperation.

"We can't risk another encounter, Rush." their leader explained succinctly.

Every senior crew member was on the bridge to discuss the situation: Rush, Wray, Scott, Greer, TJ, Volker, Brody, a Kino, and Colonel Young himself was appropriately sitting in the captain's chair.

"So we're just going to run! AGAIN!" Rush was frustrated, and rightly so. In the last galaxy Destiny visited, they had to skip over most of it because of the attack drones. A weapons system that was created by a long-dead race, and threatened to destroy the ship. Their only option at the time was to run. So they did, and now, twenty-seven years later, they faced the same problem, from a different enemy.

"Well," Young responded calmly. "Unless anyone else has a better idea."

Silence fell upon the bridge, until..."I might," Volker said quietly.

Everyone looked at the astrophysicist in anticipation.

"Don't leave us hanging," Lieutenant Scott demanded.

"Well," Dale explained. "I'm with Rush, this planet is important, and it might have some people on it who we could trade with or...something...and the planet itself could hold some clue to the mission, and normally, it would take us a couple weeks to get there, which the aliens probably already know and are anticipating."

"So?" the Colonel's interest was peaked.

"Well, if we throttle up the FTL drives, and make a beeline straight there, we could probably make it in a day or two."

"...and we beat them to the planet," Camile said. "But, how long will they take to catch up?"

"That's not the question," Chloe explained with a bit of excitement. "The real question is, how long will they take to find us on that particular planet. I mean they'll have to scour every single one, with limited resources."

"Unless they know how important that one is," Young stated pragmatically.

"Well that's likely," said the Kino.

Rush was suddenly worried once again, "Colonel-"

"What kind of risks we lookin' at?" the commander asked Volker directly.

"Well, it'll drain the power to nothing, but there are plenty of stars we can refuel from once we fall in-range."

Brody interjected, "it's a bad idea to cut it that close, we should plan a pit-stop on the way."

Volker paused for a second. "Actually, I already did that, but we can squeeze in another one."

Young stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, do it. We'll figure out something better when we get there." The colonel started leaving the bridge. "Call me if anything changes."

Rush walked across to Volker's seat as the man went to work. "Well that was easy," said the ship's lead scientist. "Are we sure this'll work?"

"Nope."

"Colonel!" Wray yelled as she caught up to their leader.

Both were in the hallway just outside the bridge.

Young barely broke his stride as he asked the IOA representative, "Something else Camile?"

"I was just wondering what your plans are once we get to the planet," she explained.

"That depends..." he trailed off, not really sure how to continue.

"Because if there are people there, they should be warned an army of aliens might come after them."

"Well, you got a point there," Young stopped dead in his tracks. "So if we can even find a way to communicate with them, I'll...uh...I'll give you the honours."

As he continued on, Camile responded sarcastically, "Thanks." She continued to follow him to the elevator.

As Young pressed the call button, he asked his companion. "So, how's the food?"

"Edible," she said with a chuckle as the two quickly boarded the elevator. "But since you bring it up, I'm not sure we'll have enough if we don't plan a few stops on the way to the planet."

"Well, when we fuel up there might be a gate or two in range."

"Assuming we won't have anyone waiting for us."

As the doors opened Young looked at her and said. "Well, looks like we've got some work to do."

They began their trek to the mess hall.

The streets of Canterlot were mostly vacant that night, as a quartet of ponies were wandering around. No particular destination was in their minds as they trotted along, they were just walking and talking, nothing more.

"...and then, Rarity had the bright idea to try and make a disguise," Rainbow explained flying a few inches above the others. "But here's the punchline: it didn't look like a dragon, I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a dragon."

The group arrived at some type of square, dominated by a fountain, which Spitfire led the others to as she asked, "How's that now?"

"Okay, it was green, which is fine, I'm sure there are plenty of green dragons; but it had gems sewn into it-"

"HA!" the lunar princess screamed.

"I know!" Rainbow threw her hooves up as they arrived at the fountain. "...and the horns were huge-I'm sorry, no dragons have horns bigger than their head! Plus, it didn't help that we had eight legs."

"Spider-dragon," Spitfire said, before she quickly dunked her head under the water. A move which surprised everyone in attendance. As she pulled her head out, her wet mane swung over her back. She looked at her companions, on either side of her, and said, "You might want to move."

They all took a few steps behind the mare, before she bowed her head and started shaking it vigorously, spraying water on either side of her. She then followed by swinging her head back and forth and then running her hoof through her mane to straighten it.

"Ah, that's nice," she said as her mane fell down, into a whole new style.

"......and a ribbon around the neck," the blue pegasus continued.

Spitfire turned around, and looked at Rainbow Dash. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"You look different," the young pegasus replied, a bit perplexed.

"Oh, yeah, I just had to rinse that out." As everyone looked at her, she responded with a chuckle. "Hey, a girl's gotta let her hair down once in a while, right?"

As Spitfire started removing her dress, Rainbow lowered herself to the ground and had a startling realization: she was witnessing a side of Spitfire she'd never seen before. It was a side that was more casual, more relaxed, and was actually kinda weird...in a good way, of course.

The Wonderbolt threw her dress over her back and said, "All right, let's go."

As the group continued on down the boulevard, Rainbow was about to continue her story, when a still-intoxicated Twilight spoke up. "Spitfire! You're a doctor!?"

Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Spitfire responded. "Why you ask? Need some medical advice?"

Twilight began blinking a few times, "Yeah, how do you stop the buildings from spinning?"

Spitfire merely laughed as she passed Rainbow Dash, who suddenly noticed, for the first time, Spitfire's cutie mark. It had a simple design, featuring some type of white staff, with two white snakes coiled around it, and topped with a pair of white wings.

While she wasn't an expert on cutie mark identification, there was one thing she was sure of: That, was a medical cutie mark.

How did she not notice this before?

"Rainbow?" Luna spoke up. She also held back, and was standing right next to her friend. "Are you all right?"

The cyan pegasus looked at the princess, and said simply, "yeah, I'm fine, I just realized something."

"What is it?"

Rainbow looked at Luna and said, "It's not important." Before trotting ahead toward the rest of the group.

Ponyville wasn't as much of a bustling night-spot as Canterlot. While a few establishments were open late at night, the crowds in the streets were almost non-existent, and the skies were nearly devoid of pegasi...with the solitary exception of a single yellow pony.

Fluttershy's cloud was dangerously close to the Everfree forest, but she didn't know, or care. Her eyes were pointing toward the night sky as she laid down, her back on the soft, fluffy, white cloud.

As she lay there, alone with her thoughts, a single tear fell down her face. Confused, Fluttershy brought her hoof to her eye, to clear it away.

As she stared at her hoof, perplexed, she noticed a cloud moving across the sky. Fluttershy wasn't sure where it was going, but she was certain it wasn't aiming for her. So she paid it no mind as it ended up right overtop of her. Until it suddenly released a torrent of rain.

"AAAHHHH!" the animal lover got to her hooves with a scream as the cold water hit her.

The cloud was suddenly kicked away by a dark figure, ending the impacting storm. As Fluttershy swiped her damp mane out of her eyes, she could clearly see the culprit.

"I'M SO SORRY!" A blonde and grey pegasus pleaded with her, her voice soaked in panic. "I didn't see you there and it's a new design, very fragile! Are you all right!?"

Fluttershy looked and her and simply said, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, maybe I can get you a dry cloud or-"

"Dee!" Fluttershy said, holding up her hooves in an attempt to calm the frantic mare. "I'm all right."

"Really?"

"Yes, a-a little startled, b-but I'm fine."

Dee was a little hesitant to move on, but did. "Okay," she said, quietly.

As Fluttershy shook most of the water off, Dee watched the normally very perky pony, who now appeared melancholic.

As the grey mare was watching, her eyes began moving in opposite directions. It was a part of a severe ocular problem she had since birth that only manifested when she was thinking too much. So it happened a lot.

"So...how are...stuff...." she asked as Fluttershy started using a tuft of cloud to dry off.

"Oh...stuffs...good," the timid pegasus responded, a bit confused.

"Okay..." Dee flew down and sat on the cloud next to her.

Fluttershy was perplexed. "Um...weren't you doing something?"

"Oh, nothing important, and I kinda want to take a break anyway." Dee refocused her eyes so she could get a good look at the mare next to her. "What's new?"

"Um...nothing really."

The disabled pegasus wasn't having it. "Fluttershy, we're friends right?"

"Y-yes, of course."

"Well, then you know you can tell me anything right?"

"...Yes..."

It took a few seconds before Dee finally responded. "Fluttershy, I know something is wrong, so please, stop it."

Fluttershy looked away, out over the horizon, and said simply, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay!" came a cheery voice from behind the yellow mare. She flew up above the cloud before continuing. "But if you change your mind, you know where to find me!"

"Okay." As the mare flew away, Fluttershy yelled after her, "DEE!"

She stopped and turned around.

"Thanks," the yellow mare continued.

The weathermare quickly saluted before flying away, leaving Fluttershy alone once again.

She looked at the town below, and smiled, content with the fact that she would always have somepony.

As Spitfire, Rainbow, and her friends wandered the streets of Canterlot, the conversation went on. From stories about Rainbow's adventures, to the wacky antics of the Wonderbolts.

"A Whole Cake!" Spitfire screamed as the others laughed. "He honestly thought he could eat the entire thing!"

"Did he?" Twilight asked.

"...That's not the point," Spitfire explained.

"We should introduce him to Pinkie."

"I doubt anything'd happen there," Rainbow explained.

"Why not?" Twilight asked, still intoxicated.

An awkward silence descended for a few seconds, until Spitfire broke it. "Okay," she said, "We need to get you some water!"

The orange pegasus looked around, and took off in a direction to Twilight's right. As the rest of the group followed her, they found themselves in a small park.

The physician ran towards a drinking fountain, that topped a brown, stone pedestal. Walking around it and pressing a button on the top, she looked at Twilight and said, "Drink up!"

"Nah, I'm good," The unicorn responded.

It was at this moment the fountain turned off, and Spitfire got a look that showed she was not happy. She began staring at Twilight, leaning closer and closer over the fountain, as Twilight backed away in response.

It wasn't long before the stare-down became too much for the magician, and she gave in. "All right! All right! I'll drink! Just stop!" the unicorn screamed.

Spitfire smiled and turned the fountain on again, as Twilight got up on the stone dais that surrounded it, and began drinking.

"So," Spitfire said, ready to make conversation. "You worried about the try-outs?"

"Huh?" Rainbow suddenly turned her gaze up to look at her hero. "OH! Not at all! I'll show everypony what it really takes to be a Wonderbolt."

As Twilight finished drinking, Spitfire looked at Rainbow with a mix of confusion, surprise and worry. "Well," she explained, eyelids lowered. "I don't know, there are a lot of tight spaces you need to fly through, and I'm not sure your ego will fit."

The drunk unicorn responded to this with a large burp and a burst of laughter. She fell on her back in hysterics. Luna just smiled, and Rainbow frowned.

"All right Dash," Spitfire said, as she approached the blue pegasus. "I'm going to offer you some advice: Nopony likes a show-boater, and nopony likes an egotist. Say everything you need through your performances. I need you to look good out there, not sound like a jerk."

Rainbow then laughed nervously as she leaned away from the mare before her.

"Come on," the doctor said, throwing her dress towards Twilight and taking to the air. "I gotta make sure you can handle it."

"What!?" Rainbow asked, extremely perplexed.

"Canterlot Stadium!" she declared with pride. "I can have it set up in a matter of seconds, you're gonna show me what you're capable of."

"Oh, come on," the pegasus whined. "It's late, shouldn't we go to bed!?"

"UGH! You'll never be a Wonderbolt with that attitude." Spitfire smiled cheekily.

Rainbow's eyes went wide. She flew up to meet the other pegasus, and said, "Let's do this!"

The orange mare smiled in response and flew off, as her budding-protege followed.

As Twilight watched the two leave, she noticed a white glow come from behind her, and a very recognisable Princess Luna appeared next to her.

"Come," her highness said. "We must take flight."

As Twilight got onto the princess' back, she levitated both dresses into her forehooves and asked, "We going to follow them?"

"Yes, but first, we must acquire popcorn."

Lieutenant Tamara Johansen had many skills, including basic medicine, combat, and wilderness survival. But one skill she never managed to acquire, was the ability to mentally block outside noises and other such distractions while working. An ability she wished she had at that very moment.

She tried to concentrate on the sample currently under her microscope, while loud grinding noises were flying just a few feet away, as Adam Brody was cutting a large piece of metal.

The grinding kept going on and on as she tried to negotiate a tiny glass needle into a small cell, and missed.

Slightly annoyed the medic spoke up. "Brody!"

"Yeah," The engineer said, as turned to face her, leaving his protective mask obscuring his face.

"Do you have to do that now?" She was quite annoyed at the man, even though she knew he wasn't to blame.

He lifted the hood, "Well, you said you needed these pods as soon as possible, so..."

"Yeah, but...you think you could take a break?"

Brody sighed and quickly gave in. "Yeah, sure." He removed his facemask and the power cable from the cutting grinder.

As Tamara looked back at the microscope, she slowly inserted the tiny glass needle into the cell, when suddenly-

"What are you doing?" Brody asked, taking a swig from his canteen.

Without taking her gaze from her work, she answered. "I'm getting the zygote ready for cloning...removing the nucleus."

TJ negotiated the nucleus into the needle, and once it was removed, she quickly pulled the needle out, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Brody wasn't exactly clear what she seemed so stressed about, but was also afraid to ask. He watched the psudo-doctor take a small vial from some type of stand next to the microscope, and used a micro-pipette to pull some of the fluid out and place a single drop on a glass slide.

"What is that?" he asked.

Johansen looked at him, eyelids lowered.

"Sorry, I'll just-"

"-no, no, it's fine, it's a bit of Eli's hair, I mixed it in a solvent from the database, it's supposed to leave the nucleus intact."

"So you only have to deal with the good parts."

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "That's the idea at least."

As she placed the slide under a second microscope and tried to find a perfectly functional nucleus. Another guest arrived in the clone lab.

"Hey," Doctor Volker greeted the two, as Brody raised his canteen in greeting and TJ ignored him. "How's the uh...how's the cloning going?"

"Fine," the Chief Medical Officer replied succinctly. "Why?"

Volker stammered a bit, "Well, we'll be dropping out soon to fill up and get ready to throttle up the drives. The problem is, once we do that, we don't know what kind of effect it'll have on the ship, and I heard the early stages are pretty sensitive, I just wanted to know how far along you were."

"She's trying to find some useful DNA for Eli," Brody explained.

As Volker gave a look of comprehension, the engineer continued, "Why? What do you think'll happen."

"Well, we don't know," the astrophysicist explained. "Oddly, there's nothing in the database."

TJ looked up. "You have no idea?"

"Well, I don't think it's dangerous, I mean, they'd warn us if it was...right?"

The three looked at each other, with anxiety.

"There's probably nothing to worry about," Volker said, with a reassuring chuckle...mostly for his own sake. He suddenly regretted this idea.

"Come on! Move those wings!"

Rainbow's attention was focused on the ring before her, she was trying to fly fast enough to impress the Wonderbolt, while still managing not to kill herself. She passed through the ring effortlessly, tucking her wings in briefly to avoid injury and disqualification.

The course was laid out in a very complex manner. Several rings were placed at the top of large steel poles of varying heights. The rings themselves were glowing various colours. Blue rings, she already passed through; red rings, she passed through, and touched; purple rings were far ahead on the course; and the green ring before her was her next target.

This one was a bit bigger than the last, so she didn't bother to tuck her wings in as she glided through. She needed them spread out to make the sharp dive down to meet the next ring, far below at the bottom of the stadium.

As she passed through, Rainbow felt the tip of her right wing impact something. As she pulled up sharply, she turned her head and saw the ring she just passed through, glowing a bright red.

"Damn it," she cursed. Focusing back on the job at hand, she looked for the next green ring. Quickly banking to the left, she passed through another ring. Sharp bank to the right, another ring.

As Rainbow zoomed through the agility course, her mind was buzzing. Worry and fear that she would get too many red rings, that she wouldn't make it in time, and Spitfire would yell at her for it.

The prospective Wonderbolt found herself clearing the final rings, when dead ahead, Spitfire was floating in place, whistle around her neck, goggles on her head, and clipboard in her hoof. As she cleared the final ring, Rainbow reeled back her wings in an attempt to stop, worried she wouldn't slow down fast enough to not hit her idol.

As she stopped inches from Spitfire, Rainbow could hear cheering from the stands. "GO! RAINBOW DASH!!!" Princess Luna yelled.

The Wonderbolt hit a button on her clipboard and said, "a minute fifty-eight point seven. Pretty good...but..."

As Rainbow followed her gaze, she lifted her goggles and saw several red rings assorted among the course.

"I count six reds."

Rainbow smiled sheepishly.

"Still, that's not bad, better than me the first time."

"Really!?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Spitfire explained as she flew behind Rainbow. "Which means you have to work harder."

Rainbow was shocked, "Uh, Spitfire." She turned to face her de-facto trainer. "Don't you think it's time to call it a night? I'm really tired and the try-outs aren't for another week!"

"You're giving up this easily?"

"No, I'm just really tired, and my wings are starting to hurt," Rainbow explained, rubbing her back. "What's with you? You used to be a lot nicer."

"Well, I don't want to see you fail," Spitfire explained succinctly.

The recruit sighed, "Why do you care anyway?"

"Well, Rainbow, you're one of the best that I've ever seen. You have the potential to be captain one day."

The blue mare smiled at this.

"So, if you can't make it past the try-outs, no one will, and if that happens, I'll never retire."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "Retire?" She always thought, if she made it on the Wonderbolts team, she'd be flying alongside the legendary Spitfire...Doctor Spitfire.

"Yeah. I want to open my own medical practice," she explained with a smile. "Can't do that if I'm still a part of the team."

As Spitfire looked down at her clipboard, Rainbow began to think. This was her life dream, and this mare cared more for it than she did. Albeit for her own personal reasons, but it was still perplexing to her.

"You know, Rainbow, you're right, let's-"

"One more round!" the blue pegasus said with a smile.

Spitfire was surprised. "Really? ...okay...um...let's get into position."

They flew across the stadium to the starting ring. Spitfire pressed another button on her clipboard, and all the rings flashed white, then purple, except for one green one, which they were flying toward.

"So, Spitfire." Rainbow asked, "How'd a medical doctor join the Wonderbolts?"

"You don't know?"

"Um...I forget."

"Well, they were looking for a team medic, but needed somepony who could also keep up with them. I had the skills and the speed, so they hired me. I didn't actually join the official team until one of their members had to drop out because of a broken wing. I subbed in, because I was the only one who actually knew all the routines, and could pull them off. The rest is history."

"Hmmm."

Spitfire stopped in her path, and turned around to face Rainbow. "Do you know what it's like to do something you have no real passion for?" she asked quickly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's fun and all, but it's not what I ever wanted to do with my life."

Rainbow asked the crucial question: "Then why don't you just quit?"

She scoffed at the idea, "and leave my friends hanging? Never!"

They continued flying. "So...how'd you become captain?"

"The last captain didn't have my integrity, and I was the most senior member."

"I...see."

As they approached the green ring, Rainbow lowered her goggles and got ready to start again, waiting for Spitfire's signal.

"Okay," she said, taking position. "Let's do this."

The former medic looked at her clipboard and said simply, "forget the time." She dropped it, and lowered her goggles. "We'll do this run together, I'll take the lead."

"Really?"

Spitfire nodded and positioned herself in front of Rainbow Dash. "Stay close, I'll show you how it's done!"

The two took off, straight towards the green ring.

As the sun rose in Canterlot, Rainbow laid on her bed, head at foot, face down, wings spread out.

A moan came from the blue mass, accompanied by a similar sound from a similar mass on the neighbouring bed, this one hidden under the thick covers.

The two ponies were in pain, for very different reasons. As a knock came at the door, Twilight screamed in pain, pushing the pillow on her head just a bit harder.

"Come in," Rainbow announced.

As the door was encompassed by a golden glow, it swung open, revealing a tall, white, and very regal pony. Her mane flowed elegantly from her head in several different colours, almost as many as Rainbow Dash's.

"Princess Celestia," Rainbow was amazed by the presence of Equestria's ruler, but she was too sore to physically respond to her majesty's presence.

"Oh crap," Twilight said, in frustration. She came out from under the covers, her head still throbbing, and tried to get her bloodshot eyes open.

"Twilight Sparkle," her majesty whispered. "My sister warned me about your condition." She magically wheeled over a cart with a brownish-green smoothie, and two plates loaded with pancakes. The princess then levitated the smoothie over to Twilight and said, "drink up."

As the unicorn drank the concoction, Celestia levitated one of the plates to Rainbow Dash, who thanked the solar regent and began eating.

Once her beverage was half-finished, Twilight took a break and said, wide-eyed, "Woah."

The princess giggled a bit before explaining, "It's a powerful treatment. Are you all right now?"

"...a bit."

"Good, because-"

"-OH!" Twilight said, inadvertently interrupting her teacher. "I forgot, I learned another lesson."

Celestia smiled, "Is that so?"

"Yes, one should never drink alcohol...ever."

The princess laughed at this. "Oh, Twilight, that's not true, you just need to learn some self-control. Don't drink as much as you can. Learn to pace yourself, and drink plenty of water."

"Oh...okay."

Celestia smiled before continuing. "That's a lesson I had to learn myself a very long time ago, much harder than you just did."

"Really?"

"Of course, I was once young and foalish too Twilight, but that's not why I came to see you this morning. I just heard from the Canterlot City Hall. Lunar Productions filed a permit to do some filming in downtown Canterlot."

"Who?"

Celestia was surprised at this question. "Um...that would be Moonlight's film company. You know your younger brother, Moonlight?"

"Oh...right."

"He's going to be in town, and I thought you should know." The princess began to walk away, and said, "I won't be needing your assistance today Twilight, perhaps you should go see him, his train will be arriving at 2:15."

"Yes, thank you princess."

As she was about to leave, Celestia turned toward the blue pegasus. "How are you feeling Rainbow?"

"Sore..."

"I'll send up my best masseuse."

"Oh, that'd be great."

The princess left the room, leaving the two ponies to discuss the situation.

"So...we should pace ourselves," Rainbow said.

"Yep."

Morning Glory originally written by Noel Gallagher of Oasis.

Chapter Seven - I Never Had to Clop on Wood

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Destiny's bridge was quiet as the ship flew through the corona of a red dwarf star. There wasn't much to do since Destiny's autopilot directed the refueling process. So Volker used this opportunity to rest his eyes.

Slowly flying over the photosphere the ship deployed its solar collectors and dropped into the star.

It was at this moment, that Destiny's chief scientist decided to enter the bridge, to observe his subordinate's progress, and he was not happy.

"Mister Volker!" he shouted, waking the astrophysicist.

"I'm up!" he yelled, scrambling to look over the console in front of him.

"I assume you are done re-calibrating the FTL drives."

"Yeah," Volker explained. "We're all ready to go once we're out of range of this star."

"Good," Rush said, as he took his place in the captain's chair.

Silence once again descended on the bridge, but the feeling of Doctor Rush's presence took away his ability to relax. It was going to be a long day.

Not far away, on the ship's observation deck, Lieutenant James was reclining on one of the many chairs looking out over the front of the ship.

It was always a show when the Destiny performed a star-dive, as she liked to call it, and she always hated to miss it.

As the ship rose out of the star's photosphere, she could see the arching of many solar flares dancing around the ship. It was beautiful, almost magical. There was nothing quite like it.

From behind her, a noise came, a spinning cog, followed by a door sliding open. James turned around to look at the new arrival.

Chloe Armstrong didn't notice the lieutenant's presence as she entered the observation deck. Her attention was focused on the small computer in her hands. She was a few feet from the door when she finally looked up and saw her.

The young Ms. Armstrong paused, thinking whether she should stay, or leave.

"Hey, Chloe," James said.

Chloe gave a polite smile before walking to the table and chairs that were on the opposite side of the room.

An awkward silence descended on the deck. James tried to ignore Chloe's presence, but the thought of the young woman judging her was getting to the soldier.

She got up out of her seat, and crossed the deck to sit in the chair next to her.

"How are things?" James asked awkwardly.

"They're fine," Chloe said, typing away on the laptop in front of her.

"That's good. I mean I was just worried that-"

The young Armstrong suddenly stopped typing and turned to look at the Lieutenant. "What do you want James?"

She paused to collect her thoughts. "Matt didn't mean anything by that, you know that right?"

"You mean by not telling me you two had a history?"

"...yes."

Chloe sighed, "Vanessa, that's not the point."

"I know...and...he should have told you. But you have to realize something: Matt's an idiot."

The two women had a laugh.

"At least, when it comes to these types of things," James continued. "He's never made the best decisions in his life, but he means well."

Chloe lowered her head. "I know."

The two sat in silence for a minute, watching as the ship passed through the star's corona.

"You don't hold any of this against me," asked Lieutenant James. "Do you?"

Chloe looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry about it."

The stress imposed on the leader of a group of humans, separated from their loved ones, and the resources of their home planet, could be overwhelming. Not only did the crew of the Destiny have to survive, they had to remain sane, and that was a challenge in and of itself, especially since they lost contact with Earth. The communication stones were the crew's one link to earth, and their sanity. Now that it was gone, Colonel Young's job got much harder. But he would never give up. The way he saw things, if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.

The doors of the elevator opened abruptly, startling the veteran soldier. Colonel Young exited the elevator and proceeded directly to the bridge.

"Team's back," he announced to the two crew members before him. "They didn't find much though."

"Well, it was a desert planet," Rush explained. "What did you expect."

Young stood next to the Destiny's chief scientist as he said, "You know, I know it's a comfortable chair, but...you can get out now."

Rush gathered his notes, and left as the Colonel took his position.

"Are we out of the star yet?" he asked the astrophysicist in front of him.

"Uhhh...just about," Volker said.

Pressing a button on the console next to him, he announced, "Attention all crew..."

"We're about to make the jump to FTL, stand by." James and Chloe heard over the ship's speakers.

"You know," said the Lieutenant. "He's never bothered announcing an FTL jump before."

Most of Chloe's attention was focused on the computer in front of her. "Well, this isn't a normal jump."

She looked at the young woman with a touch of fear. "It's safe right?"

She looked at the Lieutenant, and paused for a second before nodding her head. "Yeah, sure." Her attention was turned back to the laptop.

James' concerns weren't settled.

A disturbance reverberated throughout the ship as it jumped into FTL. Which was accompanied by an expected glow from the front window of the observation deck.

What was not expected, was the fact that the glow did not go away.

"AH!" Chloe said, shielding her eyes.

"Well," James said. "This is new!"

"Come on!" The young Ms. Armstrong grabbed the computer in front of her. "Let's get out of here!"

They quickly evacuated the observation deck, closing the door behind them.

James grabbed the radio from her belt.

As Volker sent the ship into FTL, he was lucky to be looking down at the time, as suddenly a bright glow started shining through the front windows. Much brighter than anything they were used to.

Colonel Young shielded his eyes from the light, but it was too intense for just his hand to do the job. The light was almost painful. "

Doctor Volker reacted quickly, sending the bridge into battle mode. As it lowered into the chassis of the ship, the light slowly went away. Allowing the Colonel to recover from the sudden bombardment.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Volker explained.

"Colonel," Lieutenant James' voice came over the radio. "There's a bit of a problem on the observation deck, I think we should lock it down."

"It's probably every window on the ship," Rush explained.

"Lock down the observation deck," the Colonel ordered, before pressing the PA button on his console. "Attention all crew, due to an unforeseen side-effect of the FTL enhancements, I ask that you stay away from any and all windows on the ship. That is all."

"There," Rush announced. "No one's getting in the dome either."

The Colonel got out of his seat. "What if there's someone in there, Rush?"

"Well they can still get out."

"Alright then." He turned his attention to the other scientist in the room. "So, what was that."

Volker was working hard at the console in front of him as he responded. "I'm trying to figure that out."

Twilight and Rainbow were patiently waiting at the Canterlot rail station for the 2:15 train from Phoenix. Well, Twilight was waiting patently...Rainbow Dash was sound asleep, curled up in the middle of the platform.

The purple unicorn was a bit nervous. She hadn't seen her younger brother in years. Not since she entered Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. While she was enrolled there, she spent her entire time on the castle grounds, far away from her parents and Moonlight Sonata. The only reason she managed to maintain a relationship with her older brother, Shining Armor, was because he enlisted in the Royal Guard at around the same time. So they encountered each other many times on the castle grounds. But Moonlight, she never saw, and looking back, she never tried to. But that was about to change.

Suddenly, the sound of a train horn in the distance, shook Twilight out of her thoughts and woke her winged companion.

Rainbow Dash rapidly jumped to her hooves, as Twilight leaned over the rails, watching the train roll in, a huge grin on her face.

The train pulled into the station, and slowed to a stop. Very quickly several ponies started flooding the platform.

Twilight searched the crowd.

"So," Rainbow asked. "What's this guy look like?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, before she realized: "I forget."

Rainbow was nonplussed.

"Alright!" came a commanding voice from the other side of the platform. "Everypony listen! We have a lot of filming to do and only two weeks to do it!"

"We know that!"

"Good!"

Rainbow and Twilight turned to look at the commotion. Flying above a small crowd of ponies was a red pegasus stallion.

"Now, we have two floors of the Doubleappletree booked. So accommodations shouldn't be a problem." One of the crowd members raised a hoof. "Yes, Suave, we do have a suite booked," the stallion said with a tint of annoyance in his voice. "Now, I want everypony making sure their equipment is all in order, and see you get a good night's rest. We're gonna start filming tomorrow, I want everyone, cast and crew, to be well-rested, and not half-asleep or barely hanging on with a caffeine dependency! Alright! Go!"

The crowd dispersed, and Twilight noticed, to her right, a cargo container being unloaded, as several wooden crates were sitting in front of it on the platform.

Twilight approached the crates, and was startled by a voice suddenly screaming, "RED!"

The red pegasus quickly flew over to the cargo container. "Yeah!?"

"Crate S!" said the disembodied voice. As Twilight began moving to get a better look, the two continued talking.

"It should be right in here."

"Well, it's a big car, so you should be a bit more specific!"

"I don't know, it's...somewhere." Red looked around.

"If we left her in Phoenix--"

"We didn't! I saw it loaded onto the car myself, it's here."

The other pony didn't respond, he was too busy focusing on the mare who just walked into his field of view. A very familiar mare.

Twilight could see the pony before her. He was pretty short and scrawny for a stallion. His blue coat and slicked-back mane made him look very familiar to the young unicorn. There was no doubt, here he was, her little brother, Moonlight Sonata.

Red noticed the change in atmosphere, and turned to follow his gaze to the unicorn behind him, who was quickly joined by blue pegasus. He quickly flew up and said, "Hello, can I help you with anything?"

Twilight cleared her throat before proceeding. "Good afternoon, my name is--"

"--Twilight Sparkle!" Red interrupted her, a big grin on his face. "Oh, my, it's so good to see you again!"

Twilight cocked her head.

"It's me...Red Rain...I was your neighbour for like, ten years!"

"Oh, I must have forgotten all about you. I'm so sorry."

Red's face was frozen in shock.

Twilight's friend tried to move the conversation along. "Hey!" she said, flying up to meet with the stallion, and shaking his hoof. "Red Rain? Name's Rainbow Dash! Twilight's best friend!"

"Oh," he responded, slightly confused. "Nice to meet you."

"RED!" the blue unicorn at the back shouted. "Crate S!"

"Moonie...it's...it's Twilight..." he said, pointing at the mare behind him.

Moonlight gave Twilight a very aloof, almost dead-eyed look. "That's great--CRATE S!!!" Just then, his ears perked up and he held up a hoof. "Wait..." he said.

Trotting off to his left, he left Twilight's field-of-vision again, all the crates blocking him. Twilight stood where she was, as Rainbow and Red flew closer. Eventually, a large wooden crate levitated within a greyish glow, out of the car, and Moonlight lowered it gently onto a nearby dolly.

"Okay," he said, with a big grin on his face. "Cargo's fine, we just need to get it to my hotel room."

"Great!" Red responded.

"You don't look particularly relieved."

"That's because I wasn't worried."

Sarcastic laughter came from Moonlight's mouth. "Alright, I'm going to head to the hotel, you think you can manage things here?"

"Of course," Red said, hoof on his chest. "How can you have any doubt?"

"Well, you know, there's a first time for everything."

Red merely smiled at his friend's comment. "I'll meet you when we're done here."

"Great, now, am I forgetting anything?"

"The reels?" the pegasus colt replied, pointing to another crate.

"AH!" The crate levitated towards the blue unicorn, and just before he was about to stack it on top of the other crate, he stopped. Considering the situation, he levitated 'Crate S' off the dolly, and placed the new crate underneath it.

Rainbow and Twilight watched all this happen quietly. Rainbow because she was unsure of what to do, and Twilight because she was scared.

Eventually the unicorn mare took a deep breath, and approached her brother. "So...Moonlight, it's good to see you again," she said with a big grin.

Moonlight settled his cargo, before turning to look at his sister, moving only his head.

"I'm sure," he said, eyelids lowered. "I heard you moved to Ponyville, what are you doing in Canterlot?"

"Oh, I'm in town on official business, and when I heard you were going to be in town as well, I thought we could catch up."

"Oh lucky me." Moonlight's sarcasm was palpable. "I just happen to visit at the same time as you. Apparently someone hates me."

Twilight was taken aback. "Um...."

He turned to look at his sister, with nary a hint of joy in his face. "So, let me get this straight: After twenty-three years you decide that suddenly you want to get to know me? What is it? You suddenly had a change of heart? Just now, you suddenly started caring about ponies other than yourself!?"

Her eyes went wide.

"You know what Twilight? I don't care. I! Don't! Care! I just don't care. Okay? Look, I'm gonna be in town for over two weeks, so do me a favour and stay as far away from me as you can, that way I don't have to see you and I might be able to enjoy my time here and get some work done. Alright? Good!"

As Moonlight trotted away, pushing the dolly away from the station, Twilight just stood there, dumbfounded. She could feel a sharp pain in her heart as the two pegasi floated next to her.

"You...uh...you okay?" Red Rain asked, with genuine concern in his voice.

"Wha...what just happened?"

"Well, apparently, he doesn't like you!" Rainbow replied.

Twilight's eye twitched. "THANK YOU RAINBOW! I HAD NO IDEA!" she screamed.

Rainbow cringed in fear.

"Why? What did I do?"

The two mares turned to look at Red. He merely shrugged. "If there's a reason it never came up."

Twilight looked around, still aghast at what just happened, before Red broke her train of thought.

"So, you really don't remember me?"

Twilight looked at him, guiltily. "I'm sorry," she said.

Red Rain merely sighed. "It's okay, it's not your fault, I guess I just wasn't that memorable...bit of a blow to my ego though," he finished with a laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I never really forgot about you," Red gave her a shy grin. "You see...um...when we were kids, I sorta had a bit of a crush on you."

Twilight turned bright red. "Really?"

"Well...yeah," he explained with a smile. "I mean, you're pretty, you're smart, and you're really cool."

"What?!" Rainbow said, a bit confused.

"Um...thanks," Twilight replied with a smile, ignoring Dash.

"Look, I can talk to him, but I can't guarantee anything, your brother can be pretty stubborn."

"Yeah." Twilight's smile faded.

"Why did you come here anyway?"

"Huh?" the purple mare said, a bit perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he's right, you two haven't seen each other in years, why do you suddenly want to talk to him?"

"Well, it's a...bit of a long story."

Red looked at the mess of crates behind him, as some ponies were looking through them. "We got time."

Apple Bloom had fallen into a routine. It had only been a few days, but already she managed to adjust to her new responsibilities. She didn't need to remind herself to visit the library after school again, nor did she end up halfway down the path home before remembering her new job and running all the way back into town. She didn't know if this was a good thing, or a bad thing, but she wasn't upset by it.

The yellow earth pony hopped down the street, wasting no time as she approached the library. Knowing Spike was unlikely to answer, she immediately opened the front door and was surprised to hear some noise from the kitchen.

"Spike?" she called.

The young dragon stuck his head out from the kitchen entrance.

"Apple Bloom!" He said, waving her in. "Come in!"

The young earth pony was confused. It appeared, between the last time she saw Spike, and now, he made a colossal improvement. He was out of bed! That was a miracle in and of itself!

She followed him into the kitchen.

On top of the stove, a large stock pot was steaming. Spike stirred it with a large wooden spoon as Apple Bloom sniffed the air.

"So, you hungry?"

"Um..." she responded, still confused. "Well, I was gonna ask you that."

"Brought me another sandwich huh?" He turned to her with a smile on his face.

Apple Bloom blushed a bit, suddenly very nervous. She sniffed the air again. "Cream of Daisy and Iris, with a dash of Violet." Her eyes went wide. "That's my favourite! How'd you know!?"

"Really good memory," he explained tapping the side of his head. "Applejack once mentioned it."

Apple Bloom was very happy about this. But still, something bothered her. "You know, you didn't have to do this, Spike," she explained.

"Oh, you've fed me enough, it's my turn," he said, still stirring the pot. "But...that sandwich..."

Apple Bloom reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the bagged sandwich. Giving it to Spike, he quickly pulled it out of the bag, and cut it in half with a knife he already had out, quickly placing each half right next to soup bowls on plates he already had out.

Taking one last sniff of the soup, and a sip from the spoon, he declared, "I think it's done!" Before grabbing a ladle that was also out, and scooping some soup into each bowl.

He grabbed both plates, and hopped off the stool. Carrying the dishes across the room.

As the two sat down at the kitchen table, they began eating quietly.

After a while, the silence began to eat at the young dragon. "So...what's new?" he said, trying to make conversation.

Apple Bloom swallowed before answering. "Well...Sweetie Belle's been trying to get more ponies to join the Crusaders. We're supposed to meet some of them today."

"Big initiation rite?"

"Well, something like that," she said with a smile.

Spike idly stirred his soup before asking his next question. "So, I guess that means you'd mind if I came with you?"

Apple Bloom's mouth was full. "Waht?"

"I gotta get out of here, do something, and I was hoping I could hang with you...or...something." Spike slouched in his chair just a bit, trying to make himself invisible. Was it too soon to ask?

Apple Bloom swallowed and smiled, he wanted to leave the library! Twilight's gonna be so happy! "Of course Spike! You can be an honorary judge!"

Spike righted himself and smiled in turn. "Great! It sounds like fun!"

The two went right back to eating, a bit faster than they were before.

A small ice cream parlour in downtown Ponyville was loosely packed with a few ponies. Of note were two mares sitting at an empty table.

"...and that's when Candy said, 'Oh, well then nevermind.'"

The pink earth pony giggled at the green unicorn's story. Mostly because of her delivery.

"So basically," Heartstrings continued. "We wasted the whole day. The entire project was completely pointless. But at least we learned we should let our friends deal with their relationships on their own. In fact, I'm willing to bet, if we did nothing, they would have gotten back together sooner."

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin before responding with, "probably."

"So, what are your friends like?"

"Um...well, they're all pretty fun. Fluttershy's really cool, she once faced a dragon head-on when he tried to attack us."

"Really? I heard that mare was afraid of her own shadow."

"Yep, but she ended up talking him down, making him feel guilty."

The musician jerked her head back in confusion. "I gotta meet this mare."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, when Twilight and Rainbow..." Her smiled faded.

"Something wrong?" the unicorn asked with genuine concern.

Pinkie's grin returned quickly. "It's fine! OO! Ice cream."

Heartstrings followed Pinkie's gaze behind her, and saw a grey unicorn mare levitating two dishes on a platter. But her eyes were suddenly drawn to the big clock tower, which suddenly appeared in her field of vision. "Oh, my," she said, slight panic in her voice. "Is that the time?"

Pinkie followed the unicorn's gaze. "Yep!"

"I must have lost track of time," she quickly got to her hooves. "I really have to go, or my boss is going to kill me."

"Oh, no! But, what about your ice cream!?"

The server placed a hot fudge parfait and a banana split on the table.

"How much for the glass?" Heartstrings asked with a straight face.

Perplexed, the server simply answered, "Um...I don't know."

"Look, I'll bring it back later today."

The server merely sighed and trotted away. "I don't get paid enough for this," she said.

"Pinkie, I'm really sorry, but, we should definitely do this again."

Pinkie smiled.

"Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

"Great! Lunch?"

"Sure!"

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow," and with that, the green mare cantered off with her parfait.

The smile on Pinkie's face slowly faded into a small grin. Staring at her banana split, she merely sighed. She couldn't even bear to eat it, not when Rainbow was still mad at her. She had tried to forget it, but now that the memories were back, they weren't going away.

A gust of wind suddenly blew through the town and a very colourful envelope landed straight into the banana that dominated the dish. An event that broke Pinkie's train of thought.

Confused, she picked the envelope up, and read the front. It was addressed to somepony named Strawberry Reef. Who would name their foal Strawberry Reef? She lived all the way in Sugar Cove. That was very far away, it would take her at least a few hours to get there, even by train. So it would be much trouble if she wanted to return the envelope to its rightful owner. But there was something very special about this envelope. Pinkie could detect a party invite through a block of concrete. But this was somepony else's invite.

Eventually, her principle to never open another pony's mail was overpowered by her principle to party-hardy. Tearing open the envelope with much gusto, she quickly read the contents. A birthday party for a mare named Fizzypop, a party that had already started without her.

With a sharp gasp, she jumped up and ran straight for the train station.

After a few seconds, Pinkie arrived back at the parlour, slid the entire sundae down her throat, and dropped a few bits on the table before taking off once again.

It was quiet on the far side of Sweet Apple Acres, as a young orange pegasus approached the headquarters of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo knew that none of her friends would be arriving for a while. Sweetie Belle was rounding up the new recruits, and Apple Bloom would likely be spending the next hour or two with Spike. She was all alone.

Perfect.

The orange filly entered the clubhouse, and quickly looked around.

"Hello?" she called out.

No response.

Joyously running straight to the Victrola on the other side of the room, Scootaloo pulled out a single record from the cabinet underneath.

She removed the vinyl platter from its sleeve and placed it gently on the spindle dominating the top of the player.

Scootaloo carefully moved the needle to the exact track she wanted, and flicked a switch on the side, causing the record to start spinning.

She moved to the centre of the room, closed her eyes, and raised her forehooves in the air before the music started playing.

As the young pegasus heard the bass start up, she began moving her hips in time, until it hit a spontaneous flourish, at which point she landed on all four hooves and began moving her entire body to the beat.

I've been workin' so hard
I'm searchin' my heart
Been looking, for love
Oh, tell me what I've got
I've got this feeling
That something's missin' in me

She moved her hooves side to side, taking a spin or two. She did not decide her movements. Scootaloo let the music do that for her.

I'll hit the ceiling
To find my destiny!!!

She wasn't just listening to the music, she was a part of it.

Tonight, I gotta cut loose
Hoofloose, kick off my steel horseshoes
Please, Plumsweet, kick me off of my seat

Scootaloo was so absorbed in the song, she did not notice a yellow filly, and her dragon friend, enter the room.

Duck, Roseluck, let's go before we're struck
Lose your blues, everypony cut hoofloose

They stood there, as Scootaloo landed from her spin, and stared them straight in the eyes. A deep red appeared on the pegasus' face.

You're playin' so cool

Spike acted quickly, grabbing the filly's hooves, and spinning her around.

Obeyin' every rule

Apple Bloom quickly joined her friends, pointing her forehooves in opposite directions as she bobbed her head.

Dig way down in your heart
You're burnin', yearnin' for a song

The trio moved in perfect sync.

Somepony to tell you
That life ain't passing you by

Apple Bloom jumped up between the other two, and quickly grabbed Spike's claws, taking the other filly's place.

Scootaloo did not mind.

I'm trying to tell you
It will if you don't even try

As the two spun together, their winged friend began swinging her head.

You can fly if you'd only cut loose
Hoofloose, kick off your steel horseshoes

Apple Bloom could feel the heavy guitar riffs roll through her spine; she bucked her legs back and forward, separating from Spike.

Oohee, Daisy, shake it, shake it for me

Spike took a spin and started shuffling his feet.

Oh, Seaglow, come on, come on let's go
Lose your blues, everypony cut hoofloose

As the music calmed down, so did the trio, and Spike was the first to actually speak.

"...cut hoofloose," he sang, in sync with the song.

"...cut hoofloose," Scootaloo and Apple Bloom joined in. "...cut hoofloose-ah!"

The energy in the room was thicker than cement, as the group continued singing.

"You've got to turn it around," yelled an out-of-tune Scootaloo.

"...and put your hooves on the ground," came a smooth-sounding Apple Bloom.

"Now take control of your soul," Spike sang with as much energy as he could muster.

The music picked up once again, as Apple Bloom ran straight for Spike.

I'm turning it loose!

He grabbed her hooves and she flipped through the air, landing on the other side.

Hoofloose, kick off your steel horseshoes

They began spinning in each other's embrace.

Please, Plumsweet, kick me off of my seat
Duck, Roseluck, let's go before we're struck
Lose your blues, everypony cut hoofloose
Hoofloose, kick off your steel horseshoes
Please, Plumsweet, kick me off of my seat
Duck, Roseluck, let's go before we're struck
Lose your blues

As the song came to a close, they all danced together, hoof in hoof and hoof in claw.

Everypony cut, everypony cut
Everypony cut, everypony cut
Everypony cut, everypony cut
Everypony, everypony cut hoofloose!

As the three landed from their performance, a young white unicorn just stared at them.

"You didn't invite me?" asked Sweetie Belle.

The lobby of the Doubleappletree was very large and spacious. Dominated by warm tones, orange, red, and yellow, it's layout was elegant and functional. At the front, facing the street, were large bay windows that allowed plenty of light in, as well as allowing anypony to look outside.

As one entered they would find the Portage, the hotel's main restaurant, to their right. To the left, further down, was the main desk, where many ponies were working, and many more were waiting. However, closer to the front entrance, was a small waiting area, with cushions and tables, where young blue stallion was sitting, waiting.

In front of his face, a copy of Discovery Magazine was levitating in a greyish glow. Just low enough, so his eyes could look at the front entrance.

As he read quietly to himself, he could see, in his peripheral vision, a red stallion enter the lobby.

Setting the magazine down, he quickly trotted over to his best friend.

"RED!" he yelled, getting the pegasus' attention.

"Oh, hey Moonlight," he responded with a smile. "What's up?"

"Where were you?" Moonlight replied with anger in his voice. "Everypony else was here an hour ago, what took you so long?"

"Oh. Well, Twilight and Rainbow offered to take me out for...wait what comes between Lunch and Dinner?"

"What!?" Moonlight was aghast.

"What?" Red was confused.

"Why did you have...food...with them?"

"Alright Moonlight, I don't know what your problem is, but Twilight is a nice mare."

"Yeah, and you're not biased at all," Moonlight said, eyelids lowered.

"Okay, I'll admit she's still pretty hot, but that's besides the point."

"You don't know Twilight like I do."

"I lived next-door to her for ten years, I think I know her pretty well."

"You didn't know her at all, you two never talked, you just crushed on her from the other side of the block. Let me tell you about Twilight: She's cold, bitter, and uncaring; and I don't know about you, but I want nothing to do with that mare."

As Moonlight started walking to the elevators, Red caught up with him.

"She's changed, Moonlight."

The blue unicorn stopped in his tracks, looked at him and said, "Ponies don't change, Red." Before walking away once again.

Sweetie Belle led the way out of the clubhouse, her friends, and Spike, following her lead.

"Come on, they're waiting for us!" the excited unicorn screamed.

The trio followed in her wake. As they approached the treeline, Scootaloo slid up to her yellow friend and asked a simple question that had bugged her for a while. "So, why is Spike here?" She asked quietly.

Apple Bloom looked behind her, noticing Spike was out of earshot. Lowering her voice, she explained, "He wanted to come, and I couldn't say no, this is a big deal for him, he hasn't left the library in weeks."

Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom. "You sure that's the only reason?"

"What are you getting at Scoot?"

"Oh...nothing," the young pegasus said with a coy smile.

Apple Bloom was about to respond when the aforementioned dragon interrupted her.

"So, who are the new recruits?" He asked.

"Oh, they're waiting near Styre Gorge."

"Why there?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I'm not sure, it was Dairy's idea."

So the four continued the trek to the other side of the orchard.

"Dark matter," said Volker in a very matter-of-fact way.

"Dark matter?" Young asked, in a very confused way.

The Control Interface Room was one of the few places on the ship with no windows. The ideal place to discuss the situation at hand.

"Well, we can't be sure, but it appears that way," the astrophysicist explained, as he leaned against the centre console.

"We don't even know how the drives work," said Adam Brody from the other side of the room. "I mean it's all just guess-work. But typically, you know those streaks of light that..." He began motioning over his head.

Colonel Young nodded.

"Well, we figure that, that's just dark matter impacting on the shields, and now that we're going that much faster, we're hitting more dark matter, which is amplifying the effect."

"So, what can we do about it?"

Brody and Volker just looked at each other, before they turned to look back at the Colonel, and Dale merely shrugged his shoulders. "The good news is," he explained. "The light seems to be dimmer on windows facing the sides and rear of the ship, which should...should be good."

Colonel Everett Young looked at the floor briefly before continuing, "So how long is this going to last?"

"Until we drop out."

Adam interjected. "Which brings us to our next problem." He shuffled some papers before continuing. "Normally, we have to run the drives for a minimum of four hours before dropping out, and due to the alterations we made, that number has gone up."

Colonel Young just looked at the engineer, waiting for him to continue.

"We're going to have to wait a little under 12 hours before we can drop out."

"So..."

Volker quickly explained, "It'll drain our power to almost nothing. We'll barely have enough power to run the lights."

"Will we still be able to refuel?"

"Yeah," Brody said. "But we'll be cutting it way too close. We'll have to find a suitable star that's within the tiny margin between when we can drop out and when we end up draining our fuel tanks."

There was a slight pause before Volker spoke up. "I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good idea."

Young looked at him. "Find a star we can refuel at."

Doctor Volker simply sighed, before the Colonel continued.

"So, in the meantime what can we do about the light?"

Both looked at Brody for the answer.

"...Curtains," he said.

Styre Gorge was deep and wide. In fact, to call it a gorge might be inaccurate, since the side opposite to Sweet Apple Acres was much lower. But that was its name, and nothing would change that in the near future.

At the top of the cliff side, four young foals were waiting. One of them, a unicorn filly, was burying small tiny objects in the ground with her magic, as three fillies and a dragon crossed the clearing.

"Alright girls," Sweetie Belle announced. "Meet the new Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

The four new recruits quickly stood in a line, as the white unicorn told them to earlier.

As she cleared her throat, Sweetie Belle began gesturing to each of them, starting with the blue colt on the far left. "Ink Jet." Next to him, was a light purple unicorn filly with a blonde mane. "Dairy Milk." Next to her was a very young Appaloosan. "Pip, and..." On the far right, was a grey pegasus colt named, "Rumble!"

Sweetie Belle then gestured to her other friends. "And you all know Scootaloo and Apple Bloom."

"Hi-Hello," the two waved to the new recruits.

After a brief pause, Sweetie eventually acknowledged, "oh, and Spike."

"Hi."

The white unicorn went straight to business. "Alright! Each of you have two minutes to show us what you're made of. Pip, you're first."

The excited little earth pony went straight to work as the rest sat down to watch. Off to the side were several sticks and plates. He grabbed them and carefully placed each of them in the ground. He followed this by placing the plates on top of the sticks, and spinning them. Once all three were spinning, and not falling off, he lifted the middle one, and placed it on his nose. Reaching to his left, he pulled another out of the ground and balanced it on his hoof, and then followed with the left side. He was doing it. A smile appeared on the young colt's face.

His audience applauded, at act which suddenly caused him to lose all concentration. He lost his balance and fell flat on his face, right before three plates shattered on his head, one at a time.

As he looked up, he saw Sweetie writing on a clipboard. "You get an A for effort. NEXT!"

Pip got up and sat down as Dairy Milk took his place.

"Alright!" She said, with a great amount of energy, "do you want to see something amazing and spectacular!?"

Nodding, sounds of approval, and Pip rubbing his head, all came from the crowd before her.

"Then feast your eyes on this!" she screamed as a yellow glow came from her horn, and behind her, two cannons went off, launching bright lights into the sky, which eventually exploded into bright sparkles of yellow light.

Spike leaned towards Apple Bloom and said, "Probably look better at night." She smiled.

Then, Dairy raised her hooves in the air, as a series of explosions went off in front of her, one after the other, from the left, to the right.

As the last explosive went off, an ominous sound was heard.

Crack!

Dairy looked down. Where she had buried the fireworks, a crack was slowly moving across the ground.

Everypony in the area began noticing what was going on, but only one of them realized the real consequences of this.

"DAIRY!" Apple Bloom yelled.

The young unicorn looked up.

"RUN!!!!"

The cliff began breaking away, and Dairy legged it as fast as her hooves could carry her.

But the cracks did not stop. Due to what Apple Bloom presumed was some type of ripple effect, the cracks began moving straight towards them.

All eight ran in the opposite direction, with all the energy they had. Fear was their motivation, and it was powerful.

The sound of their hoofsteps was overshadowed by the sound of the cliff collapsing behind them, and that only intensified the fear. Which for one, was so strong, she couldn't focus on anything. Scootaloo's eyes began to blur, so much that she didn't see the stone sticking out of the ground that her hoof impacted on.

As the others made it to the tree line, Apple Bloom spun in place, only to see an orange pegasus wipeout on the ground.

Spike was taking up the rear, so he was quickly able to help the young filly to her hooves.

"Spike!" yelled the yellow earth filly.

But it was too late for both of them, as the ground collapsed beneath the two children, sending them into the gorge below.

Sweetie Belle grabbed her earth pony friend before she did anything stupid.

Tears appeared in Apple Bloom's eyes as she tried to run after them. "SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!"

HoofFootloose originally written by Kenny Loggins.

The characters of Fizzypop and Strawberry Reef were created by ItsTheWhinyGuys for his story, Happy Birthday, Fizzypop.

Chapter Eight - Critical Mass

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As the ground collapsed beneath the young dragon, he found himself doing the only thing he could think to do: Stay on top. He quickly lost track of his winged companion, as they both tumbled down into the gorge below.

The rock Spike was on, he clung to with all his might, refusing to let go. It wasn't long before the stone impacted the ground and shattered, knocking the wind out of him. He tumbled across the rubble that arrived before, as giant stones fell around him, and on top of him.

The two Crusaders and four recruits watched their friends fall into the gorge below, helpless to save them. It wasn't long before the ground stopped breaking apart before them. Likely stopped by the tree roots below, thought Apple Bloom.

The yellow filly squirmed out of her friend's grip, and ran to the new cliff edge, looking down into the gorge below. "I don't see them!" she cried.

"I'm sure they're fine Apple Bloom," said her unicorn friend.

"Hold on!" came a voice from their left. Ink Jet was looking into the gorge below, holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

"Why do you have binoculars?" Apple Bloom asked.

He looked back at her and said, "Why do you not?"

When Spike finally came to, he found himself surrounded by suffocating darkness. Trying to move was futile. He was truly trapped.

"Spike!" a voice called out. He wasn't sure who it was, but he was certain they were going to help him.

"HELP!" he cried out.

He could feel the stones above him move around, until a single beam of light broke through. This was his chance, he used all his strength to push the last few stones out of the way and wiggled himself out. Scootaloo was floating above him, her face showing confusion as she helped lift Spike out of the rubble.

"Thanks Scootaloo," he said as they began climbing down the mountain of stones.

"You okay Spike?" She asked with genuine concern.

As they reached the ground, he smiled. "Better than I was, thanks."

"You sure?"

"Yes, why?"

Scootaloo pointed to Spike, gesturing up and down.

He held his claws out in front of him to get a good look. His eyes widened in shock.

"I found them!" Ink Jet screamed. "A-wait...huh...that's weird."

"What's weird?" Apple Bloom asked, quite worried.

"I'm not sure that's Spike."

Dairy was sitting next to him. She quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked down into the pit. After a few seconds of watching, she finally spoke, "It's him." She slowly lowered the binoculars and said, "We need to call a few ponies."

"What's wrong Spike?" Scootaloo said, noticing the panic in his face.

He continued to stare at his claws, which were a bright shade of blue. "We need to get out of here," he said, succinctly.

"What? Why?"

"No time, follow me." Spike ran straight to the nearby river, and noticed a few rocks resting within, that likely weren't there earlier. "This way!" he said, pointing to his left.

"But it'll be faster if we go the other way!"

"We can't, it's downstream, we need to go upstream!"

"Why!?"

"I don't have time to explain! Just follow me!"

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Once they were several dozen metres away, he dove into the water and began scrubbing himself with his claws.

"What are you doing!?"

"Get in and clean yourself!"

Scootaloo was still confused, but realized whatever the reason Spike had, it was very crucial that she listen. The young pegasus dove in, and tried to clean her coat. But with no soap, that was going to be a problem.

"Use the sand," Spike screamed, as if he read her mind. She took a clump of sand and rubbed it into her coat. It hurt a bit, but something told her this was much better than the alternative. Perhaps it was the urgency in Spike's voice, or that she just nearly died. Thankfully, her wings allowed her to fly just above the tumbling debris.

They kept washing themselves, both worried about what would happen if they didn't, but only one knew exactly why.

"Ionizing radiation," Dairy Milk said as she led the others away from the gorge as fast as she could.

"What!?" Sweetie Belle screamed in shock.

"What's that!?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It's a type of energy that's very dangerous," Sweetie Belle explained. "It could kill somepony unless they're careful."

"How do you know that's what's down there?" asked Rumble.

"Spike!" Dairy responded.

"SPIKE!?" everypony else screamed.

"Dragon scales change colour when they're exposed to this kind of stuff."

"How come I didn't know that?" Sweetie asked herself.

"Wait!" Apple Bloom was confused. "How do you two know about this stuff?"

"I read a lot," the two unicorns replied in sync. They both looked at each other.

"Where are we going anyway!?" yelled a blue colt.

Dairy slowed down to a stop, and the others followed. "We might have to split up," she said.

In downtown Ponyville, a small store front was calm and quiet, as a young earth pony stallion, was flipping through a magazine. It was exceptionally quiet on this day, and Caramel was hoping it would stay that way.

As he turned another page, the front bell rang. A sound that was accompanied by a very loud, green unicorn.

"Is this love!?" cried Heartstrings. "That I'm feelin'! Is this the love!? That I've been searchin' for!!!" She spread her hooves wide, spinning across the floor, an ice cream parfait levitating behind her. "Is this love!? Or am I dreamin'!? This must be love! 'Cause it's really got a hold on me."

"Does it now?" Caramel replied, as she ended her spin right in front of his desk. Her spine bent over backwards, looking at him upside down.

"Hmmm..." She put a hoof to her chin. A move that looked very odd to the young stallion. "I hope so. I can't stop thinking about her."

"Can you think about your job?"

"I can try." She smiled and flipped back onto all four hooves.

As she trotted around the desk, eating the parfait, Caramel watched her. "You didn't get me anything?" he asked.

"Well, I thought I would have finished it there, but I lost track of time. Had to cut my date short."

"Mmmhm. Who's the lucky mare anyway?"

"It's Pinkie Pie!"

Caramel finally looked up from his reading material. "Pinkie Pie? The crazy baker, friends with Applejack?"

"That's the one!" Heartstrings said with a smile.

"Ugh!" Caramel hung his head in despair. "Really? Her?"

"What's wrong with her?"

"Well, nothing, except the fact that she's completely nuts!"

"She's not completely nuts!" Heartstrings was obviously offended.

But Caramel didn't let up. "You're right, she's mostly nuts--ninety-nine-point-nine per cent nuts!"

"I'll admit, she has some quirks and can be a bit overzealous at times, but she's kind, caring, and really, really cute," she explained with a smile.

The young stallion thought it over. "Yeah, I'll give you that, she's definitely cute."

Heartstrings giggled a bit before trotting over to the left side of the shop, where a few musical instruments sat. As she levitated a ukulele and closely examined it, Caramel continued, "So...Pinkie, isn't she friends with--"

"Yep!" Heartstrings moved onto a large amplifier. As she carefully removed the back plate, she asked a very crucial question. "Have you talked to her recently?"

"Not for the past two weeks."

She started examining the innards of the giant speaker as she said, "Perhaps I can get Pinkie to put in a good word for you." Her voice echoing within.

A ringing suddenly came from the front door.

"Caramel!!"

The stallion's attention was diverted. At the store's entrance stood a young purple unicorn, with two earth ponies on either side.

"Dairy, what's up!?" He asked.

"There was a landslide at the farm," Apple Bloom said, slightly panicky.

"Spike turned blue!" screamed Pip.

The blacksmith turned to his best friend, and employee, who had already removed herself from the amp. "Get the kit," he said.

The rooms at the Doubleappletree were of a decent size for what the crew needed. All were well-furnished, with a bed, dresser, and at the far end, a small table where one could work or play cards.

But Red Rain wasn't taking advantage of that right then. Lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, he thought about the events of the day.

They arrived in Canterlot, Moonlight's sister showed up, Moonlight told her off, Red hung out with her and her friend for a few hours, he arrived back at the hotel, and Moony was as stubborn as ever.

He knew it shouldn't have bothered him, but it did. Why did it bother him?

"I should do something," he said to himself. But what? Moonlight certainly didn't want to see Twilight, and forcing him to see her would only end badly. So what could he do?

He closed his eyes in thought, trying to come up with a proper solution to his problems...or more accurately, his best friend's problems. Then his eyes snapped open as a cagey smile appeared on his face.

He hopped out of bed, and trotted straight towards the table by the window. Noticing the complementary stationary, he went straight to work. Grabbing the pen in his right hoof, he started by writing three simple words:

"Dear Rainbow Dash."

Ponyville was an odd little town. One of the few towns bordering the Everfree forest, it was also one of the few towns that wasn't dominated by any single pony race. Founded by a group of earth ponies, it wasn't long before the town was settled by a group of pegasi from Cloudsdale looking for work. They were the ones who established the Ponyville Weather Service.

It was several decades later before unicorns started settling the area. Some for academic research, some to sell their products, some were artists, some were technical experts, and one was a young filly when her older brother dragged her to the small town.

This former cynical teenager eventually grew to love Ponyville, and returned to the beautiful hamlet once she earned her PhD in Molecular Chemistry at Manehatten University. In a way, following in her brother's hoofsteps.

The blue unicorn adapted quickly upon her return, taking her role as the local chemistry expert. Her biggest project in recent history was the creation of a safe, non-toxic, insect repellent for use at Sweet Apple Acres. But more recently, she fell into a rut, with no major projects left. Bored with life, she needed fun, she needed excitement, she needed--

A knock came at the front door, rousing Paradigm out of her thoughts. As she rolled off the sofa and landed gracefully on her hooves, another knock came.

"Hold on, I'm coming," she said. A bronze glow encompassed the door, as it swung open, and she saw a mint-green unicorn standing there, with a yellow earth pony at her side.

"Paradigm!" the unicorn said. "Is your brother here?"

"Uh...yeah," she turned back. "Paradox!"

A brown earth pony stallion with an hourglass cutie mark, identical to his sister's, emerged from the kitchen on the other side of the room.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Get Mercury," Heartstrings explained. "There's been a landslide at Sweet Apple Acres."

"What!?" Paradox trotted up to the door. "Is anypony hurt?"

"No," piped up the young filly. "I don't think so...not yet."

"Wait--wait," his sister interjected. "I'm about as concerned as the next pony, but why do you need us?"

"Spike was there," Heartstrings explained. "He turned blue."

Paradigm quickly walked away, trotting up the nearby stairs.

"Where's Mercury?" the green unicorn asked, refusing to waste any time.

"I think she's overseeing a small rainstorm near the Everfree Forest."

"Okay, good we'll-"

"Alright, let's go!" Paradigm appeared at the door, pushing her brother out and locking the door behind them. "Move it!" she screamed, leading the way to Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom quickly following.

Heartstrings turned to face Paradox. "Go get Mercury, we'll meet you there," she said, trotting away.

The bottom of Styre Gorge was wide and wet. Running down the middle was a wide, shallow and crystal clear river which a light purple dragon was quickly crawling out of. Looking carefully at his claws, Spike's fears were not eased. His bright purple complexion had not fully returned. He knew it took time, but it could also mean something much more dire.

"So," said the orange filly next to him. "You gonna tell me what all that was about?"

Spike started walking upstream, away from the pile of rocks the two had emerged from.

As Scootaloo caught up with him, he answered as succinctly as he could. "Do you know what radiation is?"

She shook her head.

Spike hung his head, he didn't want to have to explain it. Looking up again, he continued. "It's basically a poison, but it's not from plants or animals, it comes from rocks, just being near it is dangerous."

As he looked to his left, the young dragon noticed his orange companion went missing. He looked behind him, spotting her further back.

"We...we've been poisoned?"

Detecting the worry in the young filly's voice, Spike quickly walked up to her. "It's alright," he explained with a smile. "We washed most of it off, and there's medicine that'll help us, but we have to hurry, we can't get it down here."

"Oh-okay." Scootaloo recovered and started following Spike out of the gorge.

As Caramel, Dairy Milk and Pip stood at the edge of the gorge, one thought rolled through the elder stallion's mind. "That is one hay of a mess," he said.

"I think some stones made it into the river," cried Dairy, as she looked down through the binoculars.

"Really? Let me see." He grabbed the binoculars, and looked down into the river. Sure enough, several stones fell straight into the water, and were likely being eroded as they spoke. Freeing up his eyes, he continued, "This might be a problem."

"We got the suits!" screamed Sweetie Belle from behind them. She was carrying a wagon full of orange, plastic suits. "All sizes!" She shrieked.

Following close behind her, Ink Jet and Rumble were carrying wagons also full of similar suits.

"And the medicine?" asked Dairy Milk.

"Over here," said Rumble.

Caramel inspected the suits as Dairy grabbed the pills. "Suits look good, hopefully we won't need them."

"What about these?" Dairy asked, pills in hoof.

"Perfect," He said victoriously. "Alright, everypony take one pill, just to be safe."

As Dairy began distributing the medicine, Caramel looked out over the cliff face. Over the horizon, he could see the sun was only a few hours from setting. It was going to be a long night.

To some, the Pasture was one of the fanciest restaurants in Canterlot. To others, it was the most pretentious. But to one young stallion, it was merely the place with the best food in all of Equestria. Which is exactly why he decided to end his first night back in his hometown at this humble little establishment. Of course he wasn't one to make his favourite restaurant look bad, so of course he wore his favourite white shirt and blue tie, in order to keep up appearances.

As he trotted through the front door, Moonlight walked right up to the podium, where a white unicorn mare with an orange mane was standing, reading over a small magazine.

"Hello," he said, getting the host's attention.

"Oh," she quickly put the book down. "Welcome to The Pasture."

"Yes, I have a reservation under 'Sonata.'"

"Ah, yes sir," she said, looking at the reservation book before her. "A member of your party has already arrived."

Moonlight raised an eyebrow, "Just one?"

"Yes sir, and..." She placing a hoof on the reservation book. "We received this message for you: You're parents are running a bit late, and they ask that you start without them."

At this point, Moonlight was extremely perplexed. He was only supposed to meet his parents, Daystar, and Darklight. Who else was here?

As he followed the host to his table, he saw the intruder: A cyan pegasus mare, with a multi-coloured mane, wearing a violet dress. It was the same mare he saw with Twilight earlier that day.

Moonlight hung his head with a sigh, and proceeded to the table. At least it wasn't Twilight, just her friend.

Taking a seat next to the mare, he looked at her with a look that said, 'I'm not happy."

She merely smiled.

"Your server will be right out to take your drink order," the host said, before trotting away.

"Hi," said the pegasus, holding out a hoof. "Name's Rainbow Dash."

The unicorn merely looked at her hoof for a few seconds before responding. "Moonlight," he said, grabbing her hoof.

The two sat in silence for several seconds before he suddenly burst out saying, "This isn't a set-up is it?"

Rainbow was taken aback. "Oh, I hope not."

Paradigm, Heartstrings, Applejack and Apple Bloom strolled through the orchard, on the way to the site of the disaster. As they walked, Apple Bloom just got more and more scared. What if Spike was already beyond help, what if he was going to die? It would be all her fault.

The four arrived near the cliff edge.

"Holy Hannah!" Applejack screamed. She knew exactly where this cliff was supposed to end, and it wasn't this close.

"Applejack!" Caramel called out to the earth pony, beckoning her forward.

The group trotted over to the blacksmith and the four foals he recruited.

"We got a map," Paradigm announced, pulling it out of her saddlebag, and rolling it on the ground in front of them.

"Okay, let's figure out what we need to do first," Caramel explained.

"Regarding what?" asked the orange mare. "I think the only priority, is making sure Scootaloo and Spike are safe."

"Well, they're alive, I'd say it's a non-issue, I'm more concerned about the public."

"We should still go find them."

"Agreed, but first, we need a plan. Now, since you brought it up, Spike and Scootaloo--"

"Hold on!" Dairy interrupted. "Where's the doctor?" she asked, looking at Sweetie Belle.

"The doctor was really busy, he said he couldn't come out," the young unicorn. "But, they said we should just bring them over as soon as we can."

"Fine," Caramel continued. "In the meantime we'll give them a high dose of Simtex to stop them from getting sick. Now, I'm more worried about contamination of the water supply." He pointed toward the gorge on the map. "Where does this river lead?"

"Everfree Lake," Applejack said.

"Alright, we'll need somepony to-"

"I'm on it!" Heartstrings said, quickly turning to run off.

"Hold it!"

She turned around, to look back at her best friend.

Pointing to one of the fillies he said, "Sweetie Belle is it?"

"Yep!" the young unicorn said with a smile.

"Good, go with her."

"Wait!" Applejack objected, quickly trotting up to Caramel. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Certainly," he replied. "Besides, she might learn something."

"Alright." Applejack turned to look at the two unicorns. "But be careful!"

"Natch!" Heartstrings declared as the two galloped off.

"Alright," Caramel continued. "Next, we're gonna need to meet up with Spike and Scoots to get them the drugs real quick."

"I'm going," Applejack said, quickly trotting off.

"Wait!" he said.

She trotted back.

Taking a quill out of his saddlebag, he explained, "They went north, upstream, so you'll have to take this path." He started tracing a route for the others to follow.

"Got it," Paradigm said, rolling up the map. Turning to Applejack, she took the lead. "Let's go."

The two mares trotted off. Leaving only Caramel and the remaining Crusaders. "Now," he explained, looking over the gorge. "We need to figure out exactly what we're dealing with..."

The two blue ponies sat in silence. Slowly nursing their beverages. Normally Moonlight wasn't much of a drinker, but tonight was a different night. Already on his third Scotch Rocks, he was certainly feeling the buzz.

His eyes moved over to Rainbow, who was looking down at her empty glass, when he decided to just ask. "So, you're Twilight's friend right?"

Rainbow looked up. "Yeah," she said with a smile.

"Uh huh. So, who invited you exactly?"

She looked down, and back up again, almost ashamed of the circumstances. "Red Rain told me, and so I talked to your parents, and they said they would love to have me join them."

"So...where are they?"

Rainbow looked around furiously. "I don't know," she said.

"Uh huh." Moonlight was skeptical.

She fidgeted in her seat before speaking again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," he said, bringing the drink to his mouth.

"Why do hate Twilight?"

His eyes shot open. Lowering his glass slowly, he turned his gaze back to the mare before him. "Because when we were kids, she never cared about anypony other than herself...and I doubt that's changed."

"Well...it has."

He looked at the young mare, before looking down at his glass. "Did Twilight ever tell you about how she got her cutie mark?"

"Yeah, she got it passing the exam to get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

"Did she tell you that herself?"

Rainbow paused for a minute, not sure where this was going. "Yeeeeaaaah...?"

"Well do you want to know how I heard that story?"

With a bit of fear, she responded. "Sure."

"So, there I was, at home, alone, Cadance, my foalsitter, had stepped out for a few minutes, but I was okay, I was always a bit independent anyway, when Twilight and Mom and Dad come home from her exam. Now, I noticed she got her cutie mark, and I was curious, I thought she'd want to tell me, but do you know what she said?"

"Um...no?"

"She ran up to me and asked, 'Where's Shining?'"

Rainbow stayed silent.

"She didn't want to tell me, she didn't even care. She took off to find him and I found out a few days later that she didn't hesitate to tell him. I might as well have been a ghost in that house. I didn't even know she was leaving to go to the school, until a few weeks later, after she left."

"Wait," Rainbow interrupted. "Why didn't your parents tell you?"

"They thought she would. They didn't know her that well."

"So...You're mad at her now, because she was mean to you as a kid?"

"No. No, no, no. If she was mean to me, I'm sure that would be an improvement. She pretended I didn't exist. I was a stranger to her." Moonlight looked down at his glass in contemplation. "Maybe I'm just an idealist, but I thought older siblings were supposed to, if nothing else, protect and love their younger siblings. Not ignore them. It made me feel worthless."

The pegasus was speechless. Words could not comfort this stallion, she knew that. But one thing bugged her.

"What about Shining Armor?" she asked.

Moonlight turned to look at the mare next to him. "What about him?"

"I mean, do you two get along?"

"Yeah, sure, I mean...well...it's complicated."

"Well...we got time," Rainbow said with a smile.

"Yeah." Moonlight smiled for the first time that evening. "It's not that simple either."

She knew it would be better to just drop it. "Okay, well, anyway, Twilight's a lot nicer than she used to be."

"Yeah...sure," he said, still skeptical.

Rainbow hung her head.

Just then, a purple pegasus mare came holding two large dishes on a large platter.

"MMM...food," the unicorn said enthusiastically.

Scootaloo and Spike continued along the river bank, silence save for the bubbling brook next to them.

"So," Scootaloo said, trying to make conversation. "Where'd you learn to dance like that?"

"Huh?" Spike flashed back to the moment when he and Apple Bloom arrived at the clubhouse that evening, watching Scootaloo bust a move. "Oh, well, I could ask you the same thing."

The young filly giggled. "Well, I've been doing it a lot recently."

"Scootaloo!" Further ahead on the path, the two kids spotted two mares up ahead, an orange mare, and a blue unicorn, who just lowered the map in front of her face and rolled it into her saddlebag.

"Applejack!" Scootaloo screamed.

The unicorn quickly ran up to the two children, pill bottle levitating in a bronze glow next to her. "You two need to take these."

Spike spoke up, "So you all know about-"

"-about the radiation? Yeah, we're taking care of it," Paradigm said, giving each of them a dozen pills.

"Um..." Scootaloo looked at the pile of pills in her hoof. "Do you have any water?"

A bottle levitated out of her saddlebag, as Spike swallowed them dry.

Popping a few pills into her mouth, she took a drink of water, swallowing them down. "Give me a minute," she said.

Looking over the gorge, Caramel didn't have much to do. He focused his binoculars on one of the stones below.

"They don't look radioactive," he said. "In fact, I have no idea what they are."

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Apple Bloom with genuine concern.

"Well, we won't know how dangerous it is until we know what it is." Lowering the specs he quickly declared, "We're gonna need to get a sample. Boys!"

Ink Jet, Rumble, and Pip all stood at attention. Awaiting their orders.

"Go to the farmhouse and ask Mac where the rope is. Get as much as you can, and see if you can find a pulley system."

"Yes sir!" They said in unison before running off.

"--and some wood!" Caramel screamed before turning back to the gorge. "I see some obsidian down there, in some of the rocks," he declared. "But that doesn't tell us much."

"Is Spike gonna be alright?" came a young, timid voice.

Caramel looked down at Apple Bloom, who was standing to his right. He turned to face the young filly.

"I hope so," he said with genuine concern. "I mean they weren't down there very long, so that's good, and I'm sure Spike took the right precautions. The biggest danger is if they inhaled anything, but there are spells that can treat that." He put a hoof to his chin. "I'm pretty sure Paradigm knows how to do that, I forgot to ask."

"It's my fault," she cried as tears rolled down her face. "I should have never brought him along!"

"Apple Bloom!" Caramel leaned down and put a hoof around her shoulders. "It's not your fault, you had no idea something like this would happen, you had no idea any of this would happen. Besides, I'm sure he's going to be fine."

"Really?" she said, her tears subsiding.

"Yeah, besides, it's probably not that dangerous, we would have picked it up sooner. We'll know once we get our hooves on a sample."

Apple Bloom sniffed up her tears, and tried to put on a brave face. "So, um...how do you know Spike knows why he turned blue?"

"Because the rest of us know from him," Caramel explained, standing up straight. "It's a bit of a long story. Twilight was running some weird experiment, and it went bad. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt, but she did notice Spike's scales changing colour, into a bright blue. It wasn't long before we found out that Twilight's experiment released a small amount of Alpha radiation, not enough to hurt anypony, but enough to trigger Spike's...reaction."

Apple Bloom giggled.

"Actually, it's kind of a good thing you brought him. Without Spike, we would have never known of the danger. You and him might have saved all of Ponyville."

The young filly smiled.

As Paradox led the way to Sweet Apple Acres, he was accompanied by three beautiful mares. A white unicorn with a purple mane, who insisted on coming once she heard her sister was involved; A yellow pegasus with a pink mane who was concerned for the local wildlife; and a gray pegasus with a blonde mane named Mercury Bubbles, but everyone just called her Dee.

As the group approached the border of Sweet Apple Acres, Dee asked the first question she could think of, "So, who's been called?"

"Everypony, I think," Paradox explained. "My sister should be meeting us there, and Heartstrings and Caramel, and I have no doubt-"

"Ceh...Caramel!?" Fluttershy asked, slightly panicked. As the entire group stopped, looking back at her, her eyes started darting around frantically. "Um...oh, come here little squirrel!" she cried, running off into the orchard.

Paradox was dumbfounded. "What was that?" he asked.

Dee trotted up to the stallion. "She's been acting weird all week."

"Well, whatever it is, it has something to do with Caramel." He brought a hoof to his chin. "Hmmmm...."

"Is it really important right now!?" Rarity asked, trotting past them. "Come, we must hurry," she said, proceeding down the path.

The two scientists followed closely.

Rainbow Dash slowly trotted through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, a dark cloud hanging over her head. She had just arrived from her dinner with Moonlight, which his parents never showed up for, and what happened during the dinner did not do any good for her outlook. Right now, she needed a friend, and one particular pony knew her time had come again.

"Is everything alright Rainbow Dash?" came a voice from behind her.

Rainbow turned around, and saw the Princess of the Night wearing blue and white striped shirt, smiling, her mane frazzled, and a cup of coffee levitating beside her.

"Oh," she responded, lowering her head again, "hey Luna."

"You appear to be in despair," the princess said, trotting up to her newest friend. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I've...just been thinking."

Taking a sip of coffee, she continued. "What about?"

"My friends." Rainbow finally raised her head and looked directly in Her Majesty's eyes. "Things have gotten more and more strained, and I'm worried."

"Six very different personalities," Luna explained. "It's not surprising that you all would not always get along."

"Yeah...I guess, but...we're not just any group of friends." She flew upwards, over the princess, her dress flapping in the wind. "We're the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. If we...what if we're no longer friends? What could happen?"

The princess looked up quizzically, "What is the cause of such thoughts?"

Rainbow slowly returned to the ground. "Moonlight, Twilight's brother," she explained. "It's been years and he still holds a grudge against her, for things she did when they were foals. I thought things would go back to normal, that we would all become friends again, but now, I'm starting to think that won't happen."

Luna looked up at the young pegasus, and simply said, "Come with me." Before trotting off down the hall.

Not far from the edge of Equestria's newest cliff, Caramel was working, sketching some sort of diagram on a piece of paper. His attention focused solely on the task at hand, so he didn't bother trying to listen to the two young fillies sitting on the cliff-edge.

"I'm really sorry about this," Dairy said.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Apple Bloom responded. "You didn't know this could happen, and no pony got hurt."

"Except Scootaloo and Spike."

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine," she explained. "Besides, Scootaloo's used to brushes with death."

"Whatcha writin'!?" came a tiny, sugar-coated voice from behind them.

The two fillies turned around, Sweetie Belle and Heartstrings were back from their journey.

"Oh," Caramel looked at the young unicorn. "It's a diagram for a...something." He turned to Heartstrings. "Anything?"

"No trace of radiation in the water," she explained. "But we put up a few signs along the edge...just in case."

"Great," he said, getting to his hooves.

"Sweetie Belle!" A bright white unicorn burst from the tree line, running straight toward the young unicorn.

"Rarity!" The young filly shrieked.

The elder unicorn grabbed her sister in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Rrrrrr!" came Sweetie Belle's muffled voice.

"Well, we're back and...Rarity?" Applejack said as she arrived at the small clearing.

Caramel had already gotten back to his drawing as Sweetie Belle used the opportunity a distracted Rarity gave her, and ran straight past the stallion screaming, "Scootaloo!!!"

The young pegasus was tackled to the ground. "Sweetie Belle," she said. "It's alright, I'm fine!" Then...she noticed something. "Sweetie Belle?"

The young filly was crying. "I was so worried about you. I'm so sorry, this was all my fault."

"No it's not," she replied with a chuckle. "It's Dairy's." Her eyebrow went cross.

"I didn't know that would happen, I'm really sorry."

Applejack took the reins of this discussion. "It's alright sugar cube, don't worry about it," she said in her most motherly tone. "Whatcha drawing there Caramel?"

"Just something we're gonna need," he said with a smile, and a pencil in his teeth.

"Alright!" came a distinctive Maresachusetts accent. "We got wood, we got rope, and we got Mac!"

"Eeee-yep!" Standing next to Pip, a tall Red Stallion was pulling a wagon filled with all the supplies Caramel needed.

"Perfect!" the blacksmith stood up and ran toward the equipment. "All this is perfect." He ran back to the cliff edge. "Heartstrings!"

The green unicorn joined him, both looking over the gorge.

"What do you think?" he asked. "A hundred...Two hundred metres?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Somepony needs to get a sample."

"Oh." A sly smile emerged on her face, she looked over once again. "Let's say one-fifty, to be safe.

"Smart, check the rope."

The unicorn trotted to the cart, as Mac released himself from it.

"So, what's the plan?" Mercury asked, flying over the earth pony.

"Take a look," he said.

She landed and took a good look at the diagram, as Paradigm and Paradox joined her.

"We need to get a sample."

All three looked up at him and smiled. Mercury's eyes beginning to drift, as they often did.

"Come on everypony!" He said to the crowd. "Time to start building!"

But as almost everypony started gathering around Caramel, Rarity broke from the group, and trotted straight to her sister. "Come Sweetie Belle, we must leave."

"Rarity!" Caramel's voice came over everypony's heads. "Come on, the more we have, the faster it'll get done."

"Rarity?" a small voice came next to her.

She turned, surprised to see Spike actually willing to talk to her, she opened her mouth to respond, but wasn't given the chance.

"I forgive you," he said quickly.

"What?"

"Yeah, I know you didn't mean it," he continued, rubbing the back of his head. "And I know you didn't want to hurt me. I mean hay, it's not like it wasn't true. I am a-"

"-Spike, I didn't-"

"-Can we just forget about it?" the young dragon said, holding up his claws. "I forgive you. Can we move on and stop acting weird?"

The young mare grabbed Spike in a big hug and screamed. "Oh, Spike! I'm so happy! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Can you get off me now?" Scootaloo asked the white filly on top of her.

"Ah, you know there's a joke in there," Pip said, appearing from nowhere.

"Can it, Pip," the pegasus said.

Paradigm suddenly cleared her throat, getting their attention. "I just remembered, we still haven't given Spike and Scootaloo a proper decontamination."

"Oh," Rarity replied, releasing the dragon. "Well then, we'll leave you to that. Come Sweetie Belle."

"Um...actually, you just hugged Spike, and she hugged Scootaloo, so..."

Rarity's eyes widened.

The Canterlot Royal Library wasn't as big as the Canterlot Archives. In fact, it was about the same size as any average public library in Canterlot. But it was unique for several reasons. The first being its location. It was at the bottom of the castle's main tower. Beneath the throne room, and the royal princesses' personal living quarters. Conveniently located for the benefit of the royal family. It was also split into several sections, not just by topic, but by level of security. Which was what stood out to Rainbow, as she followed the Princess of the Night, now dressed in full regalia.

"So...is there some story about friendship you want to show me?" the young pegasus asked, as they passed through a high-security gate, which swiftly closed behind them.

"Nope," Luna responded playfully.

"Is there some magic spell that can repair our friendship?"

"Nope."

She picked up the pace and began trotting next to the princess. "Is there some dirty secret in Twilight's family you want me to know about?"

Luna giggled a bit before responding, "no, but even if there was I'm not sure how that would help you."

"It wouldn't, but it would give me a good laugh."

As the princess laughed at Rainbow's joke, the young pegasus began letting her eyes wander. Unlike the more public areas, all the bookshelves in this area were neatly organized. Some sections were behind more security gates, but others were open to anyone who got past the first gate.

Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway, and the princess approached one of the gates. Rainbow got curious. Luna's horn began to glow, and it shot a beam of light at the single gemstone that stood for a lock on this gate. The beam then reflected back, hitting the gemstone that dominated the centre of her breastplate. Then Rainbow heard a click, and the gate swung open.

"Okay, that explains why we needed to go back to your room. But what are we doing all the way back here? And why would any book be so secret, you would need to put it behind all this security?"

Luna looked at her with a sweet smile, and trotted through the gate.

Even though this was a high security area, ponies would still be able to see them through the bars. That is, until they turned the corner at the end of the short hallway. This far back in the Library, no pony would be able to see them, and no pony would be able to see what would happen next.

Luna reached up to the book shelf, and tipped back a single blue book. Then she moved her hoof across the shelf, until it landed on a red book, which she tipped back. She repeated the action with a green book, and that's when the young pegasus heard another click.

The bookcase slowly moved backwards, into the wall, before quickly sliding straight up into the ceiling. Rainbow's jaw hit the floor.

"Follow me," Luna said, as she descended the stairs before her.

It took a few seconds for the young mare to return to reality, before she finally followed.

A blue glow encased one of the large two by fours, as it lifted up, and positioned itself against two other pieces of wood, bracing them at a forty-five degree angle.

Applejack had a hammer in her mouth which she swung at the nail that was already embedded in the wood, adhering it to the structure.

They were almost done the project, with all of them working, it only took a few minutes, even though only a few of them even knew what they were building.

It appeared to be made of three different sections. First, the base, which was on the ground. It had a large piece of wood running horizontally, across the back, and the front rose up at a right angle, straight into the air, with angled wood to hold it in place. At the top, another piece of wood jutted out, being braced by three more pieces of wood, holding it in place from below, and from the sides, and the most interesting part of the structure, was the metal hook that was hanging from the end.

"Alright," Caramel declared, as Applejack hammered in the final nail. "Looks like we're done!"

"So, what exactly is this?" Rarity asked. Her mane was tied up with Apple Bloom's bright pink bow, and her face was devoid of makeup. An abnormal look for the unicorn, but it was necessary, since she wasn't leaving Sweetie Belle, and Sweetie Belle refused to leave.

The only two that managed to get away were Spike and Scootaloo, but only because they were in need of medical attention.

Caramel smiled, and quickly moved the contraption so the front sat directly at the edge of the cliff, with the hook hanging over the gorge. "We're going to lower somepony down, so they can get a proper sample of that rock."

"Hold on!" Applejack interrupted. "Why can't Derpy fly down and grab one instead?"

Dee hated that nickname. She ignored the farmer's faux-pas and quickly explained, "Are you crazy!? No pony can go down there without a hazard suit."

Caramel nodded. "Mmmmhmmm, and those suits don't account for pegasus wings. It's impossible to fly in them."

"They don't?" asked a white unicorn.

"Nope, but you're pretty smart Rarity, maybe you can design something. Now, we just need a volunteer. Perhaps somepony who could easily manipulate the stones." He looked directly at Rarity.

"Oh no," she replied. "I'm not wearing that...thing...orange is such an awful colour."

Rarity didn't notice the daggers Applejack shot with her eyes.

"Fine." He turned to the only other unicorns in the area, both of which were standing by the supply wagon. "Ladies?"

Paradigm and Heartstrings looked at each other. The green one pulling out a bit and yelling, "Call it!"

As Paradigm was lowered into the gorge, being supported by three strings of rope on a simple pulley system, she was very nervous. Her fate was in the hooves of the ponies above. Not a situation anypony wanted to be in.

At the top of the cliff, the device was being held in place by a large red earth pony sitting on the back of it. His large bulk was perfect for 'shifting the centre of gravity,' as Caramel put it.

The ropes hanging from the contraption were strung over a simple pulley, then back down into the pit, only to come up again, and over another wheel on the pulley, and leading away from the device, to a tree where another pulley was tied up with rope, the main rope strung through, and Caramel, Paradox, and Applejack all holding on, steadily lowering the blue unicorn into the gorge.

As they lowered the rope, most of which was still on a spool being levitated by Rarity, the silence got to Applejack. "So, Rarity, what brings you to the farm?" she asked.

"Well," the unicorn explained. "I came to see to my younger sister. I overheard Paradox and Mercury talking, and when I heard Sweetie Belle was here, I insisted on joining them."

"Yes," the brown stallion said. "She was very persistent."

"Fluttershy was with us, but she ran off on our way here."

"Wait!" She released the rope, "Fluttershy was here!?"

"Applejack!" Caramel screamed.

"Caramel, didn't you hear this?"

"Yes I did, but can't we deal with the matter at hoof!?"

The rope wasn't moving anymore. Caramel was holding it to the ground.

"Yes, it is odd, she actually ran off when Paradox mentioned Caramel's presence."

"Oi," the stallion put a hoof to his face. Paradox looked back at his friend and smiled with the rope still in his mouth."

"Did something happen between you two?" the unicorn asked.

Heartstrings interrupted from the device. "They went on a date and she's been avoiding him ever since." She was standing there with Mercury and the rest of the Crusaders. Their job was to watch the equipment and ensure nothing went wrong. If something did go wrong, they would fix it, or holler and scream.

"Oh..." Rarity responded. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it," Caramel replied.

"I need to have a talk with her," Applejack said. "Where is she?"

"Can it wait until Paradigm get's back here?"

"Yes, Applejack," Rarity responded. "We'll finish this and then we'll find Fluttershy and talk to her together."

Applejack scoffed. "Fine." She quickly returned to the rope, and helped them lower the unicorn further into the gorge.

As Rainbow followed Princess Luna further and further beneath the castle, the princess' horn a lit, she knew what she was about to see was a unique experience. But she didn't know why, or what it could be. It wasn't long before the passage opened up into a large room. The ceiling alone was almost as high as the ceiling in the main throne room. The walls were a bright white, and she saw several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Which the princess lit with a quick glow of her horn.

It was then that Rainbow got a true sense of the size of this room. It was huge, bigger than the throne room. She had a hard time believing they were underground, because there was no way any room or building could be this big and buried underground. All her best tricks she could perform in this room. But that wasn't relevant to the task at hoof.

The room could possibly be classified as a warehouse. Within Rainbow saw several large items covered in large white cloths. She wasn't sure why though.

The room was certainly rectangular in shape. To her right, it was only a few metres to the nearest wall, the other one was much further away, and across from her, it was probably fifty metres to the wall...maybe. Rainbow was never really good with numbers.

Luna navigated through the various objects, and Rainbow eventually followed. She wasn't sure exactly what was stored down here, but there was a lot.

Eventually, the princess stopped in her tracks, in front of one of the objects. Rainbow looked up at it as the cloth was magically pulled down. Her eyes went wide. She always wondered where they stored Discord.

"We keep Discord down here, it makes it all the more difficult for him to influence anypony," Luna explained. "As you can see his prison is perfectly in tact, not a single blemish on the surface."

"I see..." Rainbow replied. "So..."

"Do not worry about Discord or Equestria, worry only about your friends. If the Elements need to be reassigned, we have plans in place."

"Really?"

The princess nodded sagely. "Of course Rainbow, you do not need that much pressure. My sister and I will manage Equestria's safety. You manage your friendships."

Rainbow's eyes drifted across the room as she thought about what the princess just said. "What is this room anyway?"

"We fill it with artifacts that we want to keep out of the public eye," Luna explained. "Only me and my sister are allowed to access this room, and anyone we allow to visit for a short time."

At the far end of the room, Rainbow noticed a large circular object that almost touched the ceiling. It was the tallest thing in the room. "What's that?" she asked, quickly getting into the air, and flying towards it. The princess followed.

As she got closer, there were several odd and curious things about the object. It was circular, as she noticed earlier, and it looked as if it should have tipped over. She noticed under the cloth, some type of ramp.

As princess Luna approached, she quickly pulled the cloth off the object, revealing it in a grand flourish.

It wasn't just a circle, it was more like a ring. It was a brownish-black colour, save for several white triangles evenly spaced across the entire object. In between each of the triangles, Rainbow noticed four spaces, each encased in some type of arc. She flew closer and noticed each of the spaces contained an odd symbol made from circles, dashes, and wavy lines. It was only barely visible.

The ring itself was attached to a base, the ramp she noticed earlier. It was a lighter brown, but more importantly, it was not symmetrical. On one side, was the ramp, but on the other side, opposite the ring, was nothing.

"What is this?" the young pegasus asked, tentatively.

"We don't know."

She looked back at the princess in shock.

It was a long and lengthy trip down into Styre gorge, and that odd and sudden stop she experienced didn't help matters. Paradigm hated long waits, it was one of the reasons she didn't want to come down here. The radiation didn't bother her at all, she had the suit for that.

Eventually, the trip was over, and her hooves landed on the rubble below. After releasing herself from the pulley, she pulled a pickaxe out of an orange saddle bag strapped to her suit, along with a grey cylindrical container and a special wand with a red tip. As she moved the wand over the rubble, it wasn't long before the wand turned a bright green. She found what she was looking for.

Taking the pickaxe, she broke the stone she found into smaller pieces. Screwing open the container, she picked up the stones with her magic, and packed them inside. She couldn't be certain these were the stones they needed, but it would have to do, at least for now.

Strapping herself back to the rope, she grabbed two ends of the rope in her magic, and began pulling them back and forth, in a predetermined pattern to signal the ponies up top.

"Alright, pull her up!" Heartstrings announced.

The three ponies, began pulling on the rope as Rarity ravelled it back onto the spool.

"You know," Applejack explained. "We could have used less rope."

"Yes," Caramel rebutted. "And not only would that have made her harder to pull up, but it would have also increased the strain on the rope, making it more likely to snap."

It took them a few minutes to fully raise the unicorn. When she finally arrived at the top of the gorge, Mac finally stood up, off the device, as Heartstrings moved it back with her magic. Everypony kept their distance as Mercury grabbed a nearby cloud, and twisting one end of it, she squeezed the bulk of the cloud with her foreleg, sending a blast of water at the blue unicorn.

Paradigm responded by emptying her saddlebag, and allowing all equipment to be washed off as well. It wasn't long before the process was complete and she removed her hazard suit. "Damn I hate these things," she declared.

"Did you get it?" Caramel asked.

"Of course," she said with a false confidence.

"Great!" He took the canister and held it up.

"Alright Rarity," Applejack's voice came from behind him. "Let's go find Fluttershy."

As the two mares trotted off, Caramel bit his lip. "Do you ladies mind running the analysis without me? I gotta check this out."

"What?" Paradigm said, a bit surprised. "But-"

"Don't worry about it boss," came a green unicorn, smiling. "Go, we'll take care of everything."

"Great," he said, trotting off to join Applejack and Rarity.

"What's that about?" asked Paradigm.

Heartstrings smiled.

Fluttershy's animal friends were all gathered around the young mare at the far side of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Alright," she declared, with a voice she thought was authoritarian, but just came off as cheery. "There are dangerous things near Styre Gorge at the moment. Everyone needs to be very careful and stay away from that area. Please?"

"Fluttershy!" A gruff voice came just beyond the trees, as all the animals scurried, or flew, away.

"Applejack?" She quickly flew over to her friend. "Oh, is everypony all right?"

"Scootaloo's fine, Spike's fine, but I wanted to talk about you."

"M-me?"

Rarity was close behind. "Darling, we know about you and Caramel. Why have you been avoiding him? He is quite the gentlecolt."

But Fluttershy's attention was elsewhere. "Rarity! What happened to you!?"

Her eyelids lowered. "Don't ask."

Applejack moved her back on topic. "Forget that, Fluttershy. Why are avoiding Caramel!?"

"Oh, um...it's...it's hard to explain."

"Well, try. We got time."

"It's...it's complicated."

"Darling," Rarity responded. "How complicated could it be? Just tell us about it. We're your friends."

"I...I don't want to."

"What was that?" Applejack asked.

"I said I...I don't want to talk about it."

Applejack was normally a very patient pony. But it was at this moment, her patience ran out.

"We call it the Ring," Princess Luna explained. "But we don't know what it is, what it does, where it came from, or who made it."

"What?" Rainbow turned to look at the princess. "But I thought you knew everything!"

She giggled softly, "Not quite."

Rainbow turned back towards the structure.

"All we know for certain is that it is over five thousand years old."

This got Rainbow's attention. "What!?" she turned to look at the princess once again. "But...wait...doesn't that mean it-"

"Pre-dates The Cataclysm, yes."

Rainbow just looked at the device again. "But...how?"

"We don't know."

Approaching the Ring itself, she touched it with her hoof. "You don't know what it is?"

"No clue, and we have had many ponies working on this. A lot of ideas were proposed, but none of them could be proven."

"Well...I think...I mean..." Rainbow began rubbing her head furiously. "I think it might be a gateway or something."

"What?"

"Yeah, I remember reading about this in a book, it was called Black Hole. There was a device shaped like a ring that could send ponies to the stars."

"But you cannot be sure that's what this is."

Rainbow's voice went shaky. "Well, no but this ramp." She quickly walked halfway down it. "It goes up the ring, and from there, nothing. What else could it be?"

Luna rubbed her chin. "Interesting idea. But we'll never be sure. Come, it's late, and I must still raise the moon."

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow replied as the Princess led the way out of the room. She quickly replaced the cloth covering the Ring.

"You know what Fluttershy!?" Applejack yelled as loud as her lungs would allow. "You're really good at pissing me off!"

"Applejack!" Rarity said in shock as the young pegasus started to cower.

"Everyday the same thing: 'I'm too scared, I'm too frightened,'" she said, mocking the timid mare. "Well, you know what!? I'm sick of it! You see this is why you'll always be alone Fluttershy, because you're too darn stupid to know what a good thing is, and to grab it while you can, and I'm just sick of it! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you! And I'm sick of everything you do! You darn wimp!!!"

Tears burst from the yellow mare's eyes as she quickly flew off as fast as she could.

"Applejack!" Rarity was incensed.

"It had to be said Rarity."

"APPLEJACK!!!" Not far away, a young earth pony stallion stood, with fire in his eyes.

"Caramel, I'm sorry but-"

She never got to complete that sentence as a hoof hit her square in the jaw.

Falling straight onto the ground she brought a hoof to the impact point, and felt something wet. Looking at her hoof, it was blood.

"YOU BITCH!!!" He screamed.

Applejack quickly got to her hooves and tackled Caramel to the ground. "AHHH!!" she screamed.

The two began grappling and pummeling each other.

Rarity knew she had to do something, but her skills in this area were limited. So she did the only thing she could think of, unsure if it would actually work.

Encasing both ponies in magical grips she quickly pulled them apart.

"Now!" she screamed. "What is the meaning of this nonsense!?"

"He hit me!" Applejack screamed.

"She made Fluttershy cry!" Caramel rebutted.

"I know," Rarity deadpanned. "I saw. But that does not mean you two should be fighting."

"I beg to differ!" Applejack said as she tried to squirm out of the magical aura.

"Now, both of you are going to talk this out before-AH!"

It didn't take Caramel long to escape from Rarity's hold, and the resulting break in concentration caused her to drop Applejack as well.

The two ponies ran for each other, each raising a hoof in the air, and the moment they both made contact, everything went dark.

As Princess Luna threw the cloth over Discord's stone prison, neither pony noticed a small crack appear at its tallest point.

Is This Love originally written by David Coverdale and John Sykes of Whitesnake.

Chapter Nine - Take Back the Friendship

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As Luna and Rainbow trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle, a thought came to the younger princess.

"Rainbow, I ask that you not speak to anypony regarding what you saw under the library."

"What? Why?" the young pegasus asked.

"It's intended to be kept a secret. Nopony is to know."

Rainbow was perplexed. "Then why'd you show it to me?"

The princess paused before answering. "It seemed necessary."

"Luna!" Further down the hall, a concerned Princess Celestia trotted towards the two ponies. "Where have you been?"

"What is the matter sister?"

"I didn't want to lower the sun until the moon was ready."

"Oh, is it that time already?"

"Yes, sister."

"Then come!" She trotted down the hall, behind Celestia. "We must make haste!"

The Princess of the Day looked down at Rainbow Dash. "What were you two discussing?"

"Oh..." Rainbow said, acting nonchalant. "Nothing much."

"Sister!" Luna called from behind the monarch. The two ponies galloped on ahead.

Heartstrings gazed out the window. The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the orchard below. The peaceful serenity running in sharp contrast to the events of only a few hours earlier.

Rarity's voice echoed easily over the trees. As everypony ran in the direction of her cry, they eventually came upon the mare, who was sitting in front of the unconscious forms of Applejack and Caramel. Both were taken to the farmhouse to treat their injuries and allow them to rest.

Many questions were asked. The answers were clear: Applejack made Fluttershy cry, and Caramel wasn't happy about it.

Heartstrings would be lying if she said the story didn't perplex her. She never knew the stallion to be violent. But of course, everypony probably has their limit, and seeing Fluttershy cry was likely his.

As she looked out the window, a rustling sound came from behind her. She turned her head as Caramel started to stir.

"Ah!!!" He screamed, bringing his hooves to his head.

Heartstrings trotted over to the earth pony. "Woah," she said. "Relax. You've been out for a while there."

"What happened?" he groaned.

She quickly explained. "You and Applejack got into a fight."

He paused for a second, processing the information. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember." He lied back down as he continued. "She-"

"-made Fluttershy cry, I know."

"Ohhh...." he moaned, as his friend brought an icepack to his jaw. "Where is she?"

"In another room. We thought we should keep you two separated."

"Smart."

Turning his head, he saw a glass of water. Reaching to grab it, the unicorn intervened, levitating it towards him.

As he took a drink, his thoughts began wandering. "How's the analysis coming?"

"Oh!" Heartstrings got very excited. "Paradigm and Mercury finished it a few minutes ago." She floated a piece of parchment over to him. "Thought you might want to read it yourself."

Sitting up in bed, he held the icepack in one hoof, the note in the other. "Low radioactive output...theta radiation...mostly harmless." He looked up at the green unicorn.

"Keep reading!" She still had a huge grin on her face.

As he continued to read, it wasn't long before one of his eyes went wide with shock. He turned to look at Heartstrings, who was nodding vigorously with glee.

"Where's Applejack again!?"

The orange earth pony sat up in bed. She adjusted the bandage around her head, trying to loosen it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Need anything? Ice?" The yellow filly next to her asked.

Applejack shook her head, then quickly grabbed it with her hooves, cringing in pain. "How's Caramel?" she asked, under squinted eyes.

"You got him pretty good." The young filly smiled. "Can you teach me to fight like that!?"

"No way Apple Bloom, fighting is wrong."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You shouldn't do it, and I shouldn't have done it either. I let my anger get the better of me. That was wrong."

"Is that also why you yelled at Fluttershy?"

Her eyes went wide as she heard this. Thankfully, a knock came at the door before she could respond. "Come in!" she hollered.

The door swung open, revealing a green unicorn, and Applejack's former opponent. The first thing she noticed was the stallion's face. Caramel's right eye was swollen shut, and his jaw badly bruised. He trotted in with a limp, and a slight sway, as if he had trouble keeping his balance. But the most perplexing thing was the way his mouth was turned upwards. He was smiling.

Caramel navigated to the foot of her bed, a folded piece of parchment in his mouth. He quickly held himself up with his hoof, against the bed frame. "I got good news!" He said, dropping the note on her bed.

Applejack sighed. "Caramel, I'm sorry for hitting you."

He blinked at her three times before responding. "That's nice. But that's not what I came to talk about."

He knocked the parchment towards her, and as Applejack opened it up, she saw several notes and symbols she did not recognize. "What in the hay is this!?"

Apple Bloom grabbed the note as Caramel explained. "That, my dear hick-"

Her eyelids lowered, as her sister stifled a giggle.

"-is a full analysis of the rock samples we collected."

"So, what is it?" asked the younger filly.

Heartstrings spoke up. "It's a mineral with radioactive properties, but it's mostly benign. Looks like we might have overreacted."

"Oh," Applejack said. "Great!"

"Yeah," Caramel continued. "But that's not the interesting part. This mineral has incredible applications. It can absorb a very large amount of energy, and can also generate it in even higher quantities. In Australneigh, they're building a national mag-rail system that uses this element as it's backbone. Out of Neighpon, they are working on devices that can basically create unicorn magic, without unicorns. Brand new flying machines, automated weather control, the possibilities are endless." He trotted around the bed. "Applejack, Naquadah is one of the most useful, and most valuable minerals on the planet...and we found some on your land."

Her eyes went wide. "How much?"

Caramel smiled and said, "I don't know. Wanna find out?"

Sugar Cove was a beach town if ever there was one. Located on an island in the south-eastern region of Equestria, it was well-known for its primary industries: tourism and kelp farming. It was also known for the economic crash it experienced several years ago. Which resulted in several government cuts, particularly to the local weather service, which now consisted of three ponies, and a pidgin. It also resulted in the closure of, what was at the time, a very large strawberry farm on edge of town. But the latest boom brought the town back with a vengeance. Everypony was happy with the new wave of economic prosperity.

But one pony cared not for economic prosperity. At least, not at that moment. Her mind was elsewhere, her mind was on a new revelation that turned her life completely around. For she had finally admitted to herself the truth. The sad, horrible, tragic truth.

In the middle of her home, Fizzypop lay, her tears soaking into the floorboards. This small, purple earth pony was surrounded by the tattered remains of what was to be her birthday party. Decorations torn, food spread across the floor, toys and games, destroyed. All destroyed by her. Destroyed by her anger. Anger that was now replaced by grief. Grief because she had nopony to celebrate with. Nopony. She was truly alone, and it was on this day she finally accepted it. Next to her, the evidence of her new reality lay. Five envelopes, all boldly labelled: INVALID ADDRESS; RETURN TO SENDER. The five words that stabbed her in the heart.

The pain was too much to bear. As she lay there, sobbing, a thought came into her head: Why bother?

Across the room, where the desert table once stood, Fizzy could see the remains of her birthday cake, and next to it, the knife she was going to use to cut it for her and her...friends. The delicate blade glinting under the firelamps. Would it hurt less than this? she thought as tears continued to stream down her face.

Suddenly, her sorrow was interrupted, by frantic knocking at her front door. For several seconds, she did not move, she didn't even speak. Eventually, the knocking came again, and she got to her hooves. "Who could that be?" She asked, her tears beginning to ebb. The strength in her fetlocks was almost non-existent, evident by her unstable stance. Regardless, she made her way across the room, and slowly opened the door.

Standing on the front stoop, Fizzy saw a pink earth pony with a curly, poofy mane, similar to her own bright red manestyle as it once was, before it ended up getting soaked with sweat and tears, which caused it to lose a significant amount of poof.

"Am I too late for the party!?" this excitable young mare said.

"What?" Fizzypop was confused. How did this stranger know about the party? "Who are y-"

"Somepony here is having a birthday party, right?" the stranger continued, in a bright and cheery voice. "Somepony named Fizzypop!?"

Fizzy was about to respond, until she saw the invitation in the mare's hooves. Earlier in the week, as she was planning to send off her party invitations, they all got lost in the wind. The only logical solution at the time was to create new invitations, a task she now realized, was futile.

The stranger looked to the invite, then back to her, then back to the invite, then back to her, frantic, before eventually releasing a gasp and declaring, "Hey, that's you! You're the one in the picture!"

Picture!? thought Fizzypop.

"Oh my gosh! I knew it! I knew it!!!" The pink mare started jumping up and down in a circle, as Fizzy's mind began racing.

She eventually remembered, she did include a picture of herself in the first wave of invites. It was from last Nightmare Night, when she dressed up as Dolomare. She always thought that suit and tie made her look ridiculous. But Island Rainbow liked it, in fact it was her idea, or at least, that's what Fizzypop thought at the time. She now knew there was no Island Rainbow. Island Rainbow didn't exist...she never did.

The stranger quickly told her story. "You see, earlier today, I was eating a big banana split, just minding my own business..."

Fizzypop was in shock, she could barely hear the hopping earth pony explain how she got the invite, mostly because she didn't care. It was just all white noise to her. Eventually, her ears refocused.

"...one more pony came to your birthday party, right?"

She was numb. It made no sense. She had no friends, she had nothing! What kind of pony would just find a random invitation and cross who knows how many kilometres, to go there, to see a pony she did not know? She could not believe this. She didn't believe it. It was too much like last time. When five ponies arrived on her doorstep one day, declaring themselves to be her friends. Five ponies she now knew were just figments of her imagination. Hallucinations crafted by her twisted psyche. This was just like then, but something was different.

The pink mare batted her eyelashes, with a smile as wide as Equestria.

Fizzypop knew what was different. This was no hallucination. This mare...she was real. But what did that mean? Given the circumstances, would this pony really want to stay?

She sighed, closing her eyes and bowing her head. "I'm glad you came," she said with a sniff, as she tried to hold back her tears. "But there is no party!" The dam broke. "I wrecked it!" she screamed as tears rolled down her face. "Nopony came! So I destroyed it all!!!"

The pink mare gasped. "That's terrible," she said, pure concern in her voice. "Why wouldn't your friends want to be with you on your birthday!?"

She tried to hold back her tears again. "It's a long story," she said, wiping her eyes. "The truth is, I don't have friends!" For the first time, she said it aloud. Her sorrow overwhelming her, as she broke down again. "Nopony was ever going to come to my party!!!"

"That's terrible!!!" the stranger cried, grabbing Fizzypop in a firm embrace. "Nopony should be without friends, especially on their own birthday!"

The purple earth pony cried with all her might. The pain overwhelming her. Tears soaking the pink mare's coat.

It wasn't long before the tears started to ebb once again. The stranger pushing Fizzypop away, but never breaking contact, looking into her eyes. "Don't worry," she said, excitedly. "There's still enough time to get you a super mega awesome birthday party, with tons of friends to party with! I promise you'll have the bestest birthday party ever, or my name isn't Pinkie Pie!"

Fizzypop smiled at the news. She made a friend, a real friend! "Pinkie Pie?" she asked.

"That's my name!" she said, trotting into her new friend's home. She quickly got to work, finding the torn banner, she shook off all the dirt, and threw it into the rafters, where Fizzypop was surprised to see it stay, all unfurled, hanging in almost the same way it was earlier.

Looking at the mess around her, Pinkie had her work cut out for her. She quickly got to cleaning up the mess left behind by her new friend.

"So," the pink mare said with a smile, as she looked for a mop. "Did it feel good?"

"Well..." Fizzy scratched her head. "Sorta..."

"Twilight told me about stuff like this!" Pinkie quickly mopped up the melted ice cream and soda pop. "It's called cat thesis!"

"Catharsis?"

"Yeah, that's it! Wow, you're smart!"

"Heh, thanks."

It was at this moment Fizzy trotted over to help with the clean up, after all, it was her mess.

It had been a long day for Twilight. A worrisome day. She was still pestered by the thoughts of her younger brother. The one that inexplicably hated her.

Why would anyone hate her? Much less a member of her family. It made no sense to her.

Earlier that evening, Rainbow had received a letter from Red Rain. It detailed an idea to get Moonlight to, at least, talk to Twilight. But for the time being, Twilight was to stay out of it, because of, as Red had put it: 'plausible deniability.' A phrase Rainbow had to have explained to her.

Twilight's only involvement, was letting the pegasus borrow one of her dresses. Since she didn't bring any. Rainbow wasn't much of a clothes horse.

But that was hours ago. She hadn't seen her best friend since. Was she alright?

Twilight lied on her bed, thinking, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Books wouldn't hold her attention, and that was all she could think of doing. Instead, she lay. Trying to sleep, but failing.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a blue pegasus burst into the room. "Twilight!" she screamed, flying to the middle of the room. "Oh, here's your dress back!" She slipped the gown off and tossed it in Twilight's direction.

As it landed on the edge of the bed, the unicorn just watched. Not moving or even using her magic for anything, she just turned her head to look at Rainbow. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"How'd what go?" Rainbow responded.

"The plan! Red's plan!"

"OH! Right! Yeah...." She lowered herself to the floor, and began to explain. "Basically, he holds a grudge against you because you ignored him as a foal.

"What!?" Twilight sat up. "I didn't ignore him!"

"Well, he thinks you did, he thinks you never cared about him."

"But that's not true!" Twilight was surprised at this revelation. She slowly began to think. "At least...I don't think so."

"He said when you were accepted as Celestia's personal student you didn't tell him, he found out several days after you left."

"But I-"

"-and you never told him about how you got your cutie mark. He learned that second-hand."

"Well, that's hardly-"

"-and he says those aren't just one-time events." Rainbow trotted up to her friend. "Twilight, he took that pretty hard."

She looked at the bed, distressed. Did she really ignore her younger brother?

"Twi, I'm an only child, so I don't know, but if I had a brother or sister, I know I'd probably take it personally if they just pretended I didn't exist. Especially if they were older than me."

She looked up at her friend. "But...I didn't."

"But there's good news," she said with a smile. "I think I got through to him."

"What?"

"He might be willing to see you, since I said you changed."

"What? Rainbow, you lied to him?"

"No, you have changed Twilight."

"No I haven't."

The blue mare lowered her eyelids. "Twilight, when we first met, you shunned parties, and other social...stuff, in fact, you avoided it."

Twilight formed a sheepish grin.

Paradigm wasn't too happy about working late at night. Technically, she could have gone home at any time. But once the word Naquadah was uttered, there was no way she could possibly miss out on that kind of opportunity.

Technically, it was outside her field of expertise, but her primary strength was always numbers, which came in real handy when working with chemicals, and right now, numbers were why they needed her.

Placing another probe on the ground, she carefully measured from the central hub. Her horn alight, she determined the distance to be 48.92 meters...Perfect. She adjusted the tiny probe. It looked like a simple suction cup, but Paradigm knew it was more than that. This tiny little probe was designed to read sonic vibrations, and send the data to the central hub. She trotted along, following the wire back.

"Alright," Mercury said, looking at the central hub. "We all ready?" The hub was about the size of a small cart, made of metal and dominated by a single purple gemstone at its centre. One side contained the main controls, where a series of buttons were located.

Paradigm quickly approached the controls and announced, "I think so."

"Good. Paradox?"

The earth pony was on the ground, fiddling with the wires to ensure they were all properly connected. "I think so," he said.

"Great!"

The unicorn looked over the console, and said, "Alright! We-"

"We ready to do this?" came a voice ahead of her. Just between the trees of the orchard, four ponies trotted through. Caramel, Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Heartstrings. Two of which were in pretty bad shape.

Paradigm was taken aback. "What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"HAH!" the stallion screamed, as he limped towards them. "You really think I'd miss this!?"

The first thing she noticed was the fact that Caramel appeared to be worse off than Applejack. A blue bag, that she assumed was an ice pack, was strapped to his right eye, and he had some pretty bad bruising around his jaw. He also had bandages wrapped around his chest, and appeared to be leaning slightly on his mint green companion. In contrast, all Applejack had was some wrappings around her head, but the way she walked had a bit of a drunken sway to it.

"So," the grey pegasus said from above. "I assume this means you two have made up?"

Applejack responded, "well, I guess-"

"NO!"

She quickly looked at Caramel. "What?"

He looked back, with the coldest eyes she had ever seen. "Go apologize to Fluttershy, then we'll talk."

She responded quickly. "It needed to be said, Caramel."

"That's not the point."

"Are you two done?" Heartstrings asked, eager to get on with the test.

Caramel looked back at Applejack. "This is strictly business." He turned to the hub. "Now, let's see the flashy lights!" He joyously trotted over, ready to start.

"Okay, system's set up," Paradigm explained. "All we need to do now, is release the pulse."

"Who's gonna do the honours?" Paradox asked.

There were only two ponies in the area that were capable.

"You did the last job," Heartstrings explained. "It's my turn."

"I got the sample," the other unicorn rebutted. "I should do it!"

"I," Caramel interrupted their debate. "...Don't care! Paradigm, you do it."

"Alright!"

"Aww, why?"

"Because right now, we need precision, and that's not you!"

The blue unicorn quickly trotted over to a space three metres away. Placing her horn to the ground, it began to glow with a bright bronze light. The light grew brighter, and brighter, as her face expressed more and more strain.

"What is that?" Apple Bloom asked, ever the curious one.

"It's a sonic pulse spell," Caramel explained. "She's going to release a bunch of sonic energy into the ground, it'll echo off of everything down there, and we'll pick it all up on this baby." He tapped the machine.

Just then, the energy was shot downward, creating a loud and deep, BOOM, underneath the ground.

The force of the spell knocked Paradigm back on her rear end, she rubbed her eyes and blinked several times before she got back to her hooves and trotted towards the console.

"Did it work?" She asked.

"I...think so," Caramel explained, as he fiddled with the knobs. "Yep, okay, let's take a look." Pressing one final button on the console, the purple gem began to glow with an intense light. In the air above it, what can only be described as a purple blob, was floating.

"What is that?" Applejack asked.

"That's the Naquadah ore body," he responded, jaw hanging.

"Looks pretty small."

"What's the scale again?" Mercury asked, also in awe.

"I...I think I set it to a thousand," Paradigm explained.

"Oh, my," Caramel reacted.

"What? What is it?" Applejack was confused.

"This thing spans almost the entire orchard, and is five hundred metres deep," He explained. "That's a lot of ore."

"We don't know the density though," Paradox said.

"Even at a low density, that's insane."

"What do you say, Applejack," the green unicorn asked with a smile. "You wanna build a mine?"

It was late at night, and it was getting later. Fizzypop's focus was on the table in front of her, cloth in hoof. She scrubbed the surface, getting all the dirt off. It was ready. Ready for the party.

Her new friend, Pinkie Pie, was out. Getting cake, ice cream, soda, and other trinkets. Since Fizzypop destroyed almost everything, the party planner had to start from scratch. Getting all her supplies from the local retailers, which the earth ponies hoped were all still open.

They also hoped Pinkie could find some ponies willing to party the night away.

As she scrubbed the last bit of dirt from the final table, a voice came from behind her.

"I'm really happy for you."

Fizzypop's eyes went wide, she knew that voice.

She stepped away from the table and slowly turned around. Standing in the middle of the room, stood a single orange pegasus, with bright purple hair. Her mane short and spiky, and her smile wide. Fizzypop knew who this was, her best friend, Island Rainbow. She also knew something else. "You're not real."

The pegasus' smile faded. "I know you think that and..." She scratched the back of her head. "I guess it's true...it a way."

"Why couldn't you come to my party?" she asked, tears rolling down. "Why did you pick today to disappear!?"

"I could tell you but...I don't think you'd believe me...at least not yet."

Fizzypop was confused. What could that possibly mean!?

"All you need to know is that you have a new friend," she slowly trotted toward the birthday-mare. "One who is kind, reliable and trustworthy." Rainbow put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Stay with her, hold onto her, and remember: We'll always be with you."

She quickly hugged the purple earth pony, surprising her. As Fizzypop slowly returned the hug, she closed her eyes, not noticing the bright burst of light before her, as her friend disappeared.

At that moment, Pinkie Pie burst in screaming, "Everypony in this town sucks!"

Fizzypop quickly got back onto her hooves. "What?"

"Well I got mostly everything." She trotted straight to the freshly cleaned table, quickly unloading the white box that rested on her back. "But nopony wanted to join us, and they were such meany-mean-pants about it too! If I didn't know any better, I'd say they don't like parties!" Pinkie started emptying out the saddle bag, placing two board games, three bottles of soda, two cartons of ice cream, and a box of cookies down. "Also, I don't like the bakery, I asked for Apple-Rainbow-SummerSquash Cupcakes, and they looked at me like I was crazy!"

Fizzypop smiled.

"But that doesn't mean we can't still have fun!" Pinkie Pie reached into her bag again, pulling out a black disk. Throwing it across the room, it landed perfectly on the Victrola spindle. The music quickly pumped out, starting with a heavy guitar riff, as the pink party pony grabbed her new friend, and spun her around the room.

It always seemed that I was sorry for the things that I did
But never did I think about it 'til I let you in
It's kinda funny about the time that I was fallin' apart
You came and put me back together now
'Cause what I want and what I need
Has now become the same things you've been offering
As days go by I've finally become what you want me to be

As the two friends danced and celebrated, noone could possibly see an orange pegasus, standing in the corner, smiling, watching.

Rainbow's thoughts were eating at her. That ring. What did it do? Was she right? Many smart ponies have been examining it for a long time, certainly smarter than her. They would have explored the gateway idea. But the thought still nagged at her, what else could it be?

But one thing nagged at her more than anything: It pre-dates the Cataclysm...How!?

"Twilight?" the young pegasus whispered.

"Yeah?" her friend replied.

"You asleep yet?"

"...Yes."

"Ha ha." She sat up quickly, shaking a fire-lamp, which lit up the room. "Look, something's bugging me."

Twilight shielded her eyes from the light. Looking with scorn at the pony who so rudely awoke her. "What is it Rainbow?"

"You're smart right? What do you know about the Cataclysm?"

"Rainbow," the unicorn responded, sitting up. "That's elementary school stuff, you don't know?"

"Well...I do," she explained nervously. "I just wanted to know what you know."

Twilight sighed. "Well, it happened nearly five thousand years ago-we think. It's the earliest known event in pony history, and...that's it. There are some obscure references to it in some old books, but that's it. We don't know what it was, or what it did."

Rainbow turned her gaze away, in thought. "Do you think anything could have happened before then?"

"Well some think that was when the world was created." Twilight chuckled. "But that's ridiculous. I mean there are fossils that are probably millions of years old. So the world existed before then."

"Yeah but...do you know of any...objects...that are older than the Cataclysm?"

The unicorn vigorously shook her head. "Nope, but if there were, it would definitely be a major discovery, I'll tell you that," she said with a smile. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Rainbow said as lied back in her bed.

"Is that it?" Twilight asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah."

"Okay," she lied down, and quickly used a sleep spell on the lamp.

"Wait! ...Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think the Princess trusts you?"

"Of course. Why?"

Because you didn't know about the Ring, she thought. "No reason."

"Goodnight Rainbow."

"Goodnight."

What I Want originally written by Chris Daughtry and Brian Howes.

Chapter Ten - Blue Magic

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There wasn't much in common between the impoverished lower-class of planet Earth, and the crew of an Ancient starship on the other side of the universe. The only thing these two groups had was this: They both had no idea where their next meal would come from.

Tight rationing had already begun on the Destiny, which meant the crew was irritable and hungry, and it was times like these that the ship's military personnel kept busy.

Scott and Greer ran down the corridor, straight to the mess hall, where the sounds of yelling and clattering dishware originated.

They quickly tried to separate Morrison and Becker.

"HEY!" Scott yelled. He forced the two crew members apart, and just as Morrison was about to turn on the lieutenant, Greer reacted quickly, pulling out his service pistol, and aiming right at the doctor's head.

"Just try it," he said.

Morrison relaxed.

"Sergeant?" the lieutenant said.

Greer slowly lowered his gun.

Scott turned to Becker. "You alright Airman?" he asked.

Becker nodded, holding his hand near his chin, hoping there was no blood.

"Alright, now what's going on here!?"

Morrison pointed at accusatory finger at the Airman, "He won't give me any food!"

"He already received his daily rations sir," Becker explained calmly. "He said he wanted more."

"This:" He grabbed an empty bowl nearby. "Isn't enough to live off of!"

"We're under strict rationing doctor," Scott explained. "I'm sorry but that's all you get."

"Yeah, well I'm still hungry-"

"We all are!" Volker said from the other side of the room, calmly eating a purple tomato.

"-and I can't work on an empty stomach."

"Look," Scott continued. "He's just following orders. You got a problem with that? You can take it up with the Colonel."

"Well, maybe I will." Morrison sauntered out of the room.

As everyone went back to eating and preparing food for eating. Greer turned to the officer. "Remember the good ol' days, when we were just fighting off aliens trying to kill us?"

He had a laugh, as the ship dropped out of FTL.

The two of them took the signal and headed straight for the Gate room.

As Colonel Young arrived in the Gate room, Doctor Rush was working. Looking over the database, he didn't notice the ship's commander enter.

"We got anything?" the Colonel asked.

"Jesus!" Rush said, startled. "Yeah, one planet."

"Dial it, quickly," He explained. "We only have three hours here."

"Aware of that Colonel." The Stargate spun rapidly.

As they waited, two of Young's men, Scott and Greer, both arrived in the gate room, ready for duty. Following close behind, Volker was finishing his purple fruit...or vegetable...or plant.

"Sir," Scott reported. "There was a bit of a scuffle in the mess hall, Morrison was upset over the new rationing restrictions."

"I assume you handled it."

"Yes sir," Greer responded.

"Though he said he'd want to talk to you," the lieutenant explained.

"Damn, I was hoping to avoid him," the Colonel said. "Well, hopefully it won't be an issue soon."

The Stargate connected and a Kino quickly went through.

"Well, it's breathable," another Kino said. "But..."

"No vegetation nearby," Rush interjected.

"What about further away?" Volker asked, mouth still full. Everyone looked at him. "We need the food, a short trek wouldn't hurt us."

On the other side of the wormhole, surrounded by barren, cracked wastelands, the Kino moved higher and higher, as high as it could go. It quickly spun around and said, "Ah ha!"

"Found some type of forest," Eli explained.

"How far away is it?" asked the young lieutenant.

"Not far, an hour there, an hour back."

"That'll give us an hour to collect supplies," Volker explained. "Should be more than enough."

"But if we're ambushed..."

"That's always a risk, lieutenant," the Colonel said. "Find as many volunteers as you can, suit up, and get going, we need that food."

Scott paused for a second. "Yes, sir," he said, before quickly running off, Greer and Volker following him.

Chloe took a deep breath. Enjoying the humidity of the swamp world she found herself on. The sun was shining, the crickets were chirping, birds were flying and tiny insects were buzzing around. It felt a lot nicer than the cold and dark corridors of the Destiny.

Sitting next to her, Doctor Lisa Park enjoyed the sights before her.

"So what do you think?" came a voice behind them.

Doctor Park was the first to speak. "It's beautiful, Eli."

"Yeah, how long did this take you?"

"Oh," he explained. "On and off, a few years."

"What other environments have you designed?" Park asked.

"Well, there's the beach world, there's the world that's constantly night, there's the dark forest with scary creatures."

"Why'd you design that one?" asked Chloe.

He merely shrugged. "So the interface works? For both of you."

"Oh, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," Park responded.

"Good," he said.

But something was nagging at Park. "I need to wake up," she said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Doctor Park opened her eyes, and saw nothing. It was the darkness she saw everyday. It was all she saw. Ever since that fateful day:

Every star was blocked by the drones, a race of robotic ships programmed to attack any ship it did not recognize...such as the Destiny. Any time they tried to refuel, the drones would attack. The only option for the crew was to attempt a refuelling maneuver in a blue supergiant.

The heat of such a star was well beyond what the Destiny was designed to handle, which was precisely why the drones weren't waiting for them there. They were likely programmed under the assumption that their targets weren't suicidal. But it meant most of the crew had to evacuate to a nearby planet, while she, Eli, and Rush, stayed behind, safe inside the environmental suits. But she wasn't as lucky as the others.

As Eli and Rush were directing the ship through the star, she was trapped in the hydroponics dome, the door refusing to open. She would have been okay, if it wasn't for the heat and pressure within the room causing the dome to shatter, nearly pulling her out into the vacuum of space. She survived, but a cost: For as the air around her was pulled out of the ship, she opened her eyes, and looked directly into the star. It destroyed her retinas, and she still had not healed from the damage. She doubted she ever will.

Being in that simulation, all it did was remind her of what she had lost. She still could not see, she didn't gain anything. It was nice to see a bright summer's evening again. But she knew it wasn't real, and when she woke up, she was back in reality, blind and helpless.

As she lie there, allowing reality to come back to her, she could feel the moisture on her vestigial eyes. The tears ran down her face, as she continued to mourn the loss of her sight.

Rainbow stood at the edge of the balcony, hooves perched on the railing. Her gaze overlooking the city of Canterlot below her. As she looked over her shoulder, she could see Twilight, in her bed, sound asleep. The sun was just about to rise as she turned her head, and slowly tipped herself forward into the city below.

As she hurtled towards the ground, the pegasus quickly spread her wings, allowing the air to flow over them. She tilted them slightly, pulling out of the dive, passing just inches over the castle spires.

Using her momentum, she climbed higher and higher, gliding over the city of Canterlot. She had few plans that day: Hang with Twilight, practice some stunts, hang with Luna, practice some stunts, meet up with Spitfire and practice some stunts. Not much of a list.

The pain in her wings from yesterday morning was still there, but fading, and she would be damned if that would stop her taking to the air on such a clear morning.

"Rainbow!"

Off to her left, she could see two familiar pegasi in the distance, one waving dramatically to her. She slowed down, and began to hover as they flew towards her.

"Hey!" Spitfire said as she got closer.

"Oh, hey Spitfire!" she replied, trying to act cool. "What's up?"

"Rainbow Dash, it's been a while!" said the blue stallion next to her. "I hear you're gonna be at the try-outs!"

"Oh, yeah, I wouldn't dare miss it!"

"Good, fresh meat!"

"Ignore him," Spitfire explained. "So what's new? I didn't see you yesterday."

"Oh, yeah," she said, regretfully. "Sorry, something came up, you didn't wait for me did you?"

"Nah, I was just surprised."

The two looked at each other, awkwardly.

"Hey Soarin!" Spitfire said, trying to move the conversation. "Why don't you go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Alright," he responded. "Just don't keep me waiting."

"Of course." The stallion flew off as she turned to Rainbow and said, "alright, spill the beans, what was more important than training?"

"Uh..." Rainbow was nervous, was it her place to say? "Well, Twilight's little brother came into town, and...he's kinda mad at her. Apparently she wasn't that nice to him when they were younger and he's holding a grudge. So last night I was trying to convince him to at least talk to her. I don't even know if it worked."

Spitfire put a hoof to her chin. "She has a younger brother?"

"Yeah."

"Huh..."

Rainbow looked at the yellow pegasus, who was lost in thought. "So...sorry about that."

"Bah, don't worry about it. I spent the time training. No big deal."

"AH!"

"Now!" she said, throwing up a hoof. "If I wasn't training, and just ended up wasting time waiting for you, then I'd be pissed."

Rainbow smiled. "Sorry?"

"I said don't worry about it!" Her eyelids lowered.

"Sorry."

Spitfire snapped, "STOP THAT!"

As Rainbow burst into laughter, her friend and hero joined her.

As the crew crossed the dry, cracked landscape, there wasn't much to talk about. But one of them did anyway.

"Are we really expecting to find anything out here?" Morrison whined.

"There's a forest just up ahead," Scott explained pointing ahead of the group. "We're not far."

"Look at the ground! There's no moisture on this rock!"

"There's moisture up ahead," Varro said from behind the doctor. "We just need to keep walking."

"I'm tired, I'm hungry-"

"You know you didn't have to come with us!"

"And let you guys take all the food!?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?

"It mea-"

"HEY!" Greer shouted from the rear of the procession. "Shut up, and relax, or you can head back to the gate!"

Everyone silenced themselves as they continued on their trek.

Moonlight's routine fluctuated every day. Some days he'd stay up late, working on a screenplay, or filming a late-night scene. Other days he'd get to bed early, and wake up early to watch the sunrise while sipping a cup of tea. This was one of the latter days.

He leaned over his hotel room balcony, watching the sun slowly creep over the horizon, as his thoughts wandered.

Moonlight's talk with Rainbow Dash the night before ate at him. Was he judging his sister too harshly? So far two ponies, who weren't family, and who met them both and knew all that they could know, both say she changed. Could they be right? Was it even relevant?

It wasn't long ago, that his biggest film, Deamon Lux and the Solar Invaders, hit the theatres. It was met with decent reviews, and terrible box office showings. But one thing he remembered about the film was the character of General Starstring. She was rewritten at the last-minute, as a favour to a friend. The stuck-up earth pony commander of the Equestrian military.

When he rewrote the character, he didn't notice at the time that Starstring had some significant growth. As some of the reviews noted, Starstring started off being a complete jerk to the main character. But she learned, in the end, to stand back and trust Deamon. That the character's personality changed.

But did she? Or was she just being practical? That's what Moonlight thought. Starstring was just being practical. Once Deamon explained her plan, Starstring realized it would work, and let her go through with it. It was logic, not trust.

But was he wrong? Did he inadvertently change the character's personality? And if so, why weren't the reviews harsher for that?

Can ponies change? Did it matter?

A crash came from behind him as he quickly turned around.

"Damn it, what'd you break now!?" He asked.

"Nothing!" cried a feminine voice from within.

Moonlight sighed as he trotted back into the hotel room.

The forest on Mystery Planet number 16728 wasn't very large. But it didn't matter. The crew needed food, and this was the only planet in range. So they began looking, high and low, for any sort of plant that looked remotely edible.

The group spread itself thin. Trying to find whatever food they could, by covering as much ground as possible. But Scott refused to allow them to go out on their own. Everyone was partnered up. Which is why Camile had to deal with the one of the most annoying men on the ship.

As Morrison looked up at the trees, his gaze was frantic. "There's gotta be something here!" He complained. "We saw some sort of herd animal back there, they must eat some type of fruit."

"Too bad it ran away before we could get it," Camile said.

Her gaze turned down to the forest floor. Off in the distance, Camile saw what appeared to be a patch of blue grass. A sharp contrast to the mostly barren ground. On a hunch, she ran towards it. Hoping there would be some type of fruit where there was more vegetation.

Varro and Volker were slowly walking through the trees, trying to find whatever looked edible. Their bags were empty.

"You worried?" Volker asked the former mercenary.

"About what?" Varro responded.

"We haven't found a lot of food here, I'm starting to think this whole galaxy is a wasteland."

He looked at the astrophysicist before continuing. "Never thought about that."

The sound of rushed footsteps got their attention. The two ran toward the source of the noise. It wasn't long before they saw Camile Wray, standing in front of a bed of blue flowers, crouching down to look at them.

"What was that!?" Morrison asked from behind them. Slightly out of breath.

"Thought we might find something here," she explained. "These flowers are beautiful." She plucked one from the stem and gave it a good sniff.

"Um..." Varro looked up at the treetops.

"We're supposed to be looking for food, not flowers," Morrison explained.

"Hey, relax," Volker interjected with a smile. "Stop and smell the roses." He walked up next to the IOA rep, and wordlessly asked to sniff the flower.

"We have to start heading back soon, and we've found nothing."

"Yes we have," Varro said.

The rest of the team followed his gaze. High above, was a very leafy tree with some large, bright-red fruits. Majestic, almost calling to them.

For several seconds, no one spoke. Their gazes fixed on the fruit above. Until Volker finally said, "So how are we gonna get it?"

Morrison acted quickly, running through the flower bed, and jumping onto the tree. Squeezing the trunk, he managed to shimmy up, at a shocking speed. He quickly got to the tree branches above, and started shaking each one, careful not to lose his grip.

As the fruits began to fall, the three humans still on the ground acted quickly, holding open the sacks they were using to collect food, and trying to collect them before they hit the ground.

Morrison shook one branch after the other, and it wasn't long before all four sacks were full. Some of the fruit landed in the flower bed, but they were quickly collected.

"Alright," Varro exclaimed. "How're you gonna get down?"

"Just a minute!" He screamed. As he tried to lower himself slowly down the tree, his grip slipped, and he fell with a scream.

Varro acted quickly, running to catch the scientist.

The impact caused him to fall backwards into the flower bed, hitting the ground hard.

"Are you alright?" Volker asked frantically, helping Varro to his feet.

The soldier nodded, as Morrison said, "I'm fine, thanks for asking." He got to his feet and dusted himself off.

Camile approached the group. "Well, at least we got some food," she said, as she put the blue flower in her hair.

"Let's just hope it's enough."

A young pegasus mare ran down the streets of Canterlot, a determined look on her face.

"Sunny!" A unicorn stallion screamed behind her, running after the mare. "Sunny!" Catching up to the pegasus, he placed a hoof on her shoulder. Only for her to spin around and hit him right in the face. The slap echoing through the mostly vacant streets.

"You thought I wouldn't find out!?" she screamed in anger.

"It's not like that at all!"

"You're engaged! To a princess!!!"

"She means nothing to me."

"I'm sure!!!" she said, sarcastically, turning to leave once again.

"LOOK!" he screamed at the mare, turning her around, and holding her. "I don't love her! My parents want us to marry for money! I don't! I only want to be with you! I love you!"

"CUT!!!" a voice screamed.

The stallion turned to look at the voice.

Moonlight leaned forward, looking at the actor. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

He was confused. "Yeah? Why?"

"You look tired, and Crimson Light is not tired. He's emotional, he's angry, he's pissed, he's scared, he's in love, he's not tired."

"I'm not tired."

The director leaned back. "Well it's either that or you're bored, and phoning it in, I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt." He looked around at his crew. "Let's take it from the top!"

Red Rain, who had a camera strapped to his mid-section, started getting everything ready. "Alright, places everyone!" he screamed.

Moonlight looked past the set and as his eyes went wide he said, "Actually...everypony take five."

As the crew began murmuring among themselves, Moonlight trotted past the cameras. As Red followed his friend's gaze, he saw who the stallion was trotting towards, and quickly flew over.

"HEY!" the blue unicorn screamed. "You're in our shot!"

"Too bad!" the white unicorn in front of him declared.

The two stallions trotted up to each other and embraced.

"What up Shinay!?" Moonlight said as they parted.

"Not much, heard you were in town, thought I'd make sure you didn't break anything."

"Oh, one time!"

The two had a bit of a laugh at their own banter, as Red approached them.

"What's up Shining?" Red said, greeting the soldier.

"Not much...got married...you?"

"Yeah, dude what the hell!?" Moonlight responded.

"Yeah, why didn't you show up, I sent an invite!"

He took a glance at his friend, before continuing. "Well, actually we were in Spurn, doing some filming, and when we got back, I check the mail, and see 'oh, my big brother's getting hitched...three days ago!'"

"Well, that's not my fault."

"I checked the stamp, it was sent out two weeks earlier. Who plans a wedding only two weeks in advance?"

"Yeah, it was really short notice."

"And not only that...Cadance?"

"Oh wait, let me guess..."

"You could have the pick of any mare in town and any of them would have the benefit of not being Cadance."

"Haha smart flank." He explained, "look, she's my wife now, so could you lay off that kinda stuff."

"Oh what kind of brother would I be if I didn't remind you on how annoying she is?"

"Well, little bro, forgive me if I don't listen to your advice regarding mares. After all, we both remember your high school sweetheart."

"Yeah, well one difference: I didn't marry her!"

"Yeah, because she broke up with you."

Moonlight looked at his brother with pursed lips, and lowered eyebrows. "So, you gonna hang out with us tonight at the hotel?"

"Of course!"

"See ya later bro!" he held out a hoof.

"Later Moony," Shining Armor responded with a hoofbump.

As Moonlight and Red walked away, his older brother shouted behind him. "Maybe I'll bring Cadance!"

The two stallions froze in their tracks, before spinning around and quickly catching up to Shining.

"Are you nuts!?" Red said in hushed voice as he floated above the elder unicorn.

"Shining, you can't," Moonlight explained. "Not even joking."

"Oookay, why?" he asked, genuinely curious.

The younger unicorn paused to collect his thoughts. "Okay, fine, I'll leave the decision to you. Do you really think you can trust her-"

"She's my wife," Shining responded with slight annoyance.

"Let me finish, do you really think you can trust her to be more loyal to you, me and...her...over her position? Or did you forget you married a princess?"

His eyes went wide.

"You want to bring her, that's fine by me, but what will not be fine by me is if...is if she ends up putting everything in jeopardy."

The white unicorn looked down sombrely, before bringing his hoof to the back of his neck, rubbing softly. "I...uh...I didn't think about that, actually."

Red looked at with skeptical eyes. "Are you kidding?"

"Look, we have to get to work," Moonlight explained. "I'll see you tonight."

As the two stallions left, Shining stood there, thinking.

The Destiny was cruising through FTL.

The infirmary was quiet, as TJ was reading from a computer screen.

The mess hall was quiet, the only sound came from Becker, chopping up a fruit they have since dubbed space-apples.

The bridge was quiet, the only sound coming from Rush's pencil scratchings.

Volker's quarters were quiet, until a sudden beeping sound emanated from the bedside table.

The astrophysicist opened his eyes wide. Grabbing his watch off the table, he noticed the time. He only slept for a few hours. All he really wanted. Quickly sitting up in bed, he noticed everything go dark, and his head feeling heavier than normal.

Putting his hand to his face, he felt a large amount of padding hanging over it. All his drowsiness quickly went away. Brushing his hair aside, he quickly ran to the mirror at the other end of the room. His hair was much shorter before he went to sleep. Now, it hung to his waist.

"How long have I been out!?"

Morrison wiped the sleep from his eyes as he entered the mess hall.

"Doctor Morrison," Becker said from the other side of the room. He quickly placed a few of the space-apple slices in a bowl, holding it out for the scientist. "TJ tested it, said it was alright. The Colonel said, with that haul we might be able to relax some of the rationing, so you can have the first taste."

He sat down at the bar, where Becker was still chopping the fruit. Solemnly eating the first slice.

"Is there a problem sir?" Becker wasn't one to easily hold a grudge. In fact, he preferred to let things go. Because of that, his fight with Morrison earlier that day didn't really phase him. But he knew not all people were like that. So he knew what to expect out of the scientist. Unfortunately, what he expected, did not come.

Morrison opened his mouth to speak and released a loud, "HONK!" His eyes went wide.

"Sir?" the airman said, very confused.

He quickly cleared his throat, and shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "HONK!"

Becker put down the knife and said, "are you okay sir?"

The doctor shook his head.

"You need to go to the infirmary?"

He nodded.

"I'll come with you."

They left the mess hall together.

As Volker entered the ship's infirmary, holding aside his long, curly hair, TJ quickly got to her feet. "Dale?" she asked.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened," he explained. "I took a nap, woke up a few hours later, my hair was like this."

"Well, sit down, let me take a look."

He quickly approached one of the stretchers and sat down, careful not to sit on his own hair.

TJ approached the doctor, and began brushing the mess aside to a good look at his scalp. "Well, it doesn't appear to be growing anymore. We could probably just cut it off." She reached over to one of the equipment tables, grabbing a pair of surgical scissors, as two men entered the room. "Take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment."

Morrison sat down on the nearest stretcher.

"Okay..." TJ grabbed a chunk of Volker's hair, and trimmed it as close to the roots as she could, throwing the excess hair into a nearby trash bin. The sharpness of the tool made quick work of Volker's shoddy mane.

"This is good," he explained. "I was well overdue."

TJ had a laugh as she finished the job. "There," she explained. "Looks like I'm done. Now all you need is someone to style it."

As the doctor put a hand to his head, she suddenly got concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I...I just." He quickly laid down on the stretcher. "I'm feeling a little dizzy."

It was at that moment, TJ saw something she never thought she'd see in her life. In all her years in the Stargate program, this was the most perplexing, the most unusual, the most extraordinary. Before her eyes, Volker's hair was growing at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Oh my god!" she screamed.

Morrison and Becker approached the two. Volker reached his hand to his head. Feeling his long flowing mop, his eyes went wide. "What's happening to me?"

"I'm guessing the same thing that's happening to Helladius," Becker explained.

"Your hair looks fine," the astrophysicist said.

TJ was quite concerned. "What's wrong Morrison?"

He opened his mouth. "HONK!"

Volker and TJ's eyes went wide.

"He hasn't been able to say anything at all except...that," explained the Airman.

The medic's response was simple: "Okay..."

Chloe Armstrong looked at the two patients in the infirmary, as Colonel Young walked in. "Okay...someone explain to me what's going on," he said.

"Morrison can only honk," TJ explained. "And Volker, well, his hair is growing at an odd pace."

"What do you mean odd?"

Chloe quickly summarized, "We cut a lot of his hair, a lot grows back, we cut a little bit, a little bit grows back. It's as if it wants to stay at a fixed length."

"Which makes absolutely no sense," the medic continued. "I mean hair is...basically dead, the follicles shouldn't react to the hair being cut, much less how it's cut."

"So what's going on?" the Colonel asked.

TJ was exasperated. "I have no idea sir."

"Okay, so what happened?" Camile said as she walked in, wasting no time.

"I'm not sure, we're still trying to figure that out," the medic explained. "Morrison can only honk and Volker's hair is growing out of control-"

"-mostly," Chloe interjected.

"I mean, the symptoms are too odd and erratic to have the same cause, but I doubt it's a coincidence that they both got sick at the same time."

"You don't have a single clue what's causing this?" Wray asked.

"No," she turned around to the equipment table. "But I figure I should take a blood sample and-"

"Damn she's got a nice ass."

TJ spun around in shock, as everyone in the room looked at the IOA representative.

She dropped her radio. "Did I just say that out loud?"

It was at this moment, Chloe snickered. "Sorry," she said as everyone turned their gaze to her.

"He was honking?" Scott asked incredulously.

Airman Becker was still chopping fruit. "Yes, sir, I think that was all he could say."

"Why did he come here?" Greer asked, chewing another slice of space-apple.

"I don't know, I think he wanted to apologize, but I can't be certain."

The ship's loudspeaker activated, as the Colonel's voice echoed throughout the ship. "Attention all crew, effective immediately, we are implementing basic quarantine procedures. Stay where you are until further notice. All crew members in the halls, return to your quarters immediately. Lieutenant Scott, Sergeant Greer, and Airman Becker report to the Infirmary."

Becker dropped the knife once again. "I'm never gonna get this done."

"I'm really sorry," Camile said, lying down on the stretcher.

"Don't worry about it," TJ said calmly, with a reassuring smile, as she took a blood sample. "Just try to clear your mind."

"You have a beautiful smile."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry, it's like every thought I have, I say aloud. I don't think I can stop it. You got any tape or maybe a few pieces of cloth we can turn into a gag?"

TJ laughed at her statement.

"Sir," Greer said as the trio entered the room.

"Sergeant, Scott, Becker," the Colonel addressed his subordinates. "We need to know if you've been experiencing any odd symptoms."

They looked at each other before Scott answered. "No sir, what kind of symptoms?"

"Well apparently, it could be anything," TJ explained. "Morrison and Camile are both experiencing odd neurological symptoms, mostly affecting the speech centres of the brain...and Volker has...hair symptoms, I don't know how else to describe it."

"Well, nothing from us sir."

"This only happened after I woke up," Camile explained sitting up on the stretcher. "I went to sleep fine, but when I woke up I was vocalizing every thought that came into my head. Maybe it only starts after you go to sleep."

"Well, I did take a short nap earlier," Scott continued.

"How long?" Volker asked, not daring to raise his head.

"About an hour."

"Yeah me too."

Morrison nodded in agreement.

"So it's probably not contagious," the medic surmised.

"Then what's causing it?" Young asked.

"The flowers!" Wray yelled. "The blue flowers, we were all there, it was right under that fruit tree, we all touched those flowers when we found that tree."

"Well, couldn't it have been the fruit instead?"

"Well, we all touched the fruit sir," Scott explained.

"I brought back one of those flowers, it's still in my quarters."

"I'll get it."

"No, Lieutenant," TJ said. He stopped at the door. "We can't risk anyone else getting affected."

"I'll grab it," Camile said, getting off the table.

"Wait." TJ reached over to one of the tables, grabbing a small plastic container and a pair of rubber gloves and handing them to Wray. "Put it in here, keep it safe."

"Bit redundant since I'm already affected."

As she ran off, Young continued, "is there anyone else who was exposed to these things?"

Volker spoke up, "Varro."

The Colonel grabbed his radio. "Varro, come in."

Silence.

"Varro you there?" He nodded to Scott who quickly ran off, Greer following closely behind.

As TJ took one of the blood samples in a micropipette, she delicately released it in a small container, and placed the first sample in a centrifuge. She continued with the other samples.

"Is there anything I can do sir?" Becker asked.

"Yeah," the medic explained. "Find out how this infection is breaking the basic principles of biology."

Scott banged on the door as loud as he could.

"Varro, you awake!?" he yelled through the door. "Varro!?"

Scott hit the door button. After the cog spun, and the door slid open. A high-pitched voice came across the threshold. "About time someone checked on me."

Their eyes went wide. Standing on the bed, was Varro's very familiar face. But instead of the formerly six-foot tall man, he stood at under a foot.

"What in the hell?" Greer asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," came Varro's unusually high-pitched voice.

Scott spoke into his radio, "TJ, we got a bit of a problem."

In one tiny corner of Sweet Apple Acres, a grassy field stood. It was one of the few areas of the farm that wasn't used for growing crops. Which made it the perfect location to begin construction.

"Okay," Heartstrings said to the elder Apple siblings. "I think we have a plan. We can begin excavation right over here." She pointed to a spot on the map before her. "From there we will spread outward and strip out all the ore."

"Hold on," Applejack objected. "What are you talking about? Are you going to destroy the orchard?"

"Well we'll have to," the unicorn explained. "I mean much of the ore is too close to the ground."

"So we're gonna have to choose between the mine and the orchard."

"I thought you understood this."

A blue unicorn trotted up to the group. "You don't know Applejack that well," Paradigm said.

"I'm not giving up this farm," the earth pony replied.

"Um...well, I don't think we have any other options," the green unicorn explained.

"Applejack," Caramel said as he approached the mare, his left eye blackened and bruised. "With the bits we earn selling this ore, you can buy land for a new orchard twice as big, and move it all there."

"What land!?" she screamed. "Do you see any empty farmland in Ponyville!?"

"I see some empty fields that one can convert into farmland."

"It's not that-"

"Did your eye get worse?" the larger stallion commented.

"What?" Caramel asked.

"Yesterday your eye wasn't that swollen." He pointed to the young stallion's face. "Actually, wasn't it your other eye?"

"Oh, yeah." He pointed to his right eye. "Bit of ice overnight, it healed right up." He pointed to his left eye. "But then this morning my little sister was in a bad mood."

"I know the feeling."

The orange mare protested. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Anyway," the blacksmith responded. "Back on track Mac. I don't want to destroy this orchard any more than you do, I mean the whole town would suffer without your apples. Sure we could import them, but generally, they're not as good. Not sure why, still have to figure that out. Maybe the Naquadah has something to do with it."

"Well, we still want that ore right?" replied his unicorn assistant.

"Natch," he said, pointing to her. "We have to think of some alternative solutions. There must be something we haven't thought of yet." He put his hoof to his chin in contemplation.

"Why can't we just mine like they do in other mines?" Applejack asked.

"What?" Paradigm asked. "You mean shaft mining?"

"Too close to the ground," Caramel explained. "We would eventually get to the top of the ore body, and since it's so close to the surface, it would eventually collapse. It's dirt, Applejack, not stone."

They went back to silently thinking again.

"Why aren't we considering just moving it?" Heartstrings asked.

"This isn't just an orchard," Applejack explained. "It's my family's legacy. I'm not gonna just move it."

"It's worth considering," the shorter stallion responded. "But only as a last resort. It could be something in the ground that's responsible for the delicious fruit we know and love."

"Plus," Big Mac explained. "It's a seller's market right now, we can't afford to buy more land."

Caramel paused, looking at the stallion. "I'm not gonna ask how you know that."

Returning to their thoughts, they went quiet again.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Young explained. "Somehow, this single plant managed to effect Camile and Morrison's speech, Volker's hair, and Varro's height."

"Pretty much sir," replied his Chief Medical Officer.

The two of them were in the Colonel's office, discussing the situation.

He shifted in his seat, and asked, "What is it?"

"Well, I would have said it was some type of fungus, or parasite, maybe a prion. But I couldn't find anything like that in their blood samples."

"Well, I'm no doctor but maybe it didn't make it to the blood."

"If it made it to the brain sir, it made it to the blood."

"So we have no idea what this is, or any idea how to treat it."

"Well, it doesn't seem to be fatal or dangerous, just...inconvenient."

The Colonel spun back and forth in his chair, contemplating the situation. "And embarrassing."

"And...kinda funny."

They shared a bit of a chuckle. "Yeah, Varro's a lot shorter now," the Colonel said with a laugh. "He used to be one of the tallest men on the ship, now he's an action figure." As the two of them calmed down, he asked the most crucial question, "this shouldn't be possible should it?"

"You mean an infection causing someone to shrink?" TJ responded. "No. But we have seen weird things before; I mean there was that artificial planet, and crew members coming back from the dead."

"Yeah, maybe..." he started spinning back and forth in his chair. "Why these symptoms?"

She shrugged. "Maybe it's some type of joke, I mean like you said, one of the tallest men on the ship is now the shortest. Morrison was always whining, now, he's always honking; Volker's had that hideous afro for a while, now it's worse; and Camile's always the diplomatic one, now...not so much."

The Colonel chuckled once again. "I shouldn't laugh at that."

"Well it...seems to be mostly harmless sir."

The smile faded from his face. "So far."

Camile laid in her bed, trying to get some sleep. But with her mouth that wouldn't stop moving, it was difficult.

"What's wrong with me? What's causing this?" For the past twenty minutes she had talked about her affliction, her duties aboard the ship, and the rest of the crew, and she was getting tired of it. "Oh, I don't care, I just need to sleep." She closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind. "Why haven't we heard anything from Earth? Did something happen there?" Her eyes snapped open. Across the room she could see a drawing. One she replicated from memory, the original hung in her home on Earth. The home she shared with her partner, her girlfriend, her lover. "Sharon."

It had been nearly a month since they woke from stasis, and during that time she never bothered to process what had happened. Her eyes started to leak. "Oh god, Sharon! Are you alright? Are you okay? Are you happy?"

The pain in her chest was intensified by the words she spoke, as if actually saying it made it more real.

She thought about all she had lost, and how she might never see any of it ever again. Her thoughts turned to her lover, her family, her friends. Then her thoughts turned to the fact that she wasn't speaking anymore.

In her excitement, she sat up and forgot all the pain she felt. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the table on the far side of the room. Grabbing her radio and quickly turning it on, she spoke into it.

"TJ!?"

A few seconds later the lieutenant's voice came over the radio, "Camile? Is everything alright?"

"I...I think so, I think I'm better now."

"You're not talking all the time anymore?"

"Yeah, is anyone el..."

Camile started blinking furiously. Bracing herself on the table, it wasn't long before her strength gave out.

"Camile?"

She collapsed on the floor.

"Camile!?"

She reached for the radio, and spoke into it. "Everything's purple."

Chapter Eleven - Family Lies

View Online

It was late in the morning as Paradox and Mercury crossed the fields of Sweet Apple Acres to meet up with their colleagues. Since it was the weekend, most of the town's citizens took the day off. But in their minds, there were some things more important than a holiday.

"I keep getting the feeling that this won't be an easy project," the stallion said to his best friend.

"Is anything ever easy?" she asked simply.

As the two doctors trotted through the orchard, they encountered a young yellow filly, staring blankly off into space.

"Apple Bloom?" Dee said, approaching the Crusader. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" She asked, turning to face the pegasus. Her unusual eyes throwing the filly off for a second. "Oh, I was just watching some...thing..." She pointed to the branches of a tree that was sitting in front of her.

Sure enough, the two elder ponies saw, in the trees, two tiny birds, one yellow, one purple, standing together on a branch. The purple one had wrapped a wing around the other and was nuzzling her affectionately.

"Awww, that's adorable," Dee said succinctly.

"Funny," her companion explained. "A Purple Maretin and a Caneighdian Warbler. You rarely see two different species together like that."

"Together?"

"Well, they're obviously mates." He smiled subtly. "Kinda sweet." He looked at the two girls before him. "Come on. Let's go."

As he trotted ahead through the orchard, Dee smiled at Apple Bloom before trotting ahead herself.

"Wait for me!" Apple Bloom hollered as she followed closely behind.

Rainbow Dash trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle. It was just after lunchtime, and after a hearty apple-almond-asparagus salad, she was ready to continue her day. She didn't have any particular destination in mind since she didn't have any immediate plans. But was a bit surprised to run into a very familiar face.

"Hey Shining!" she said to the white stallion.

The Captain of the Guard was trotting silently through the halls. He looked up at the young pegasus. "Hey, Rainbow, long time no see!"

She quickly noticed something very different about the stallion. He wasn't wearing his traditional Royal Guard uniform. In fact, he wasn't wearing anything. It was the first time Rainbow saw him in casual attire. "So, where are you off to?" she asked.

"Oh, my little brother," he said with a smile. "He's in town for a few days, so I decided to take the day off. Gonna meet up with him later tonight, have a few drinks."

"Oh, Moonlight?"

Shining was taken aback. "You met him?"

"Yeah, he...um...he wasn't very nice."

"Oh, you just gotta get to know him. He's a really good guy."

"Not to Twilight."

The smile faded from his face. "Yeah, those two have a bit of a history."

"Yeah..." She scratched the back of her neck. "He told me all about it."

"He did?" The stallion put a hoof to his chin. "Odd."

"Yeah...I might have gotten him drunk to do it."

Shining laughed at the mare's statement. An unusual silence descended.

"Twilight's taking it personally," Rainbow explained.

He sighed. "Can't say I'm surprised."

She nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna go." He trotted past the mare, toward the castle's main entrance. "I'll see you around Rainbow."

A few seconds after he started to leave, a lightbulb went off in Rainbow's head. "Wait!" she screamed.

Caramel stood alone, leaning over a crate, as he tried to find a solution to the group's problem. Drawing on a sheet of paper, he made several, very rough, diagrams illustrating some plans he came up with to construct a mine, while preserving the orchard above.

"Alright, we're here." Caramel instantly recognized the voice. He looked up and saw Paradox trotting towards them, with Dee and Apple Bloom following close behind.

"Where have you two been?" Caramel asked, dropping the pencil that was previously in his mouth.

"Sorry," Mercury explained. "Emergency with a group of class two rain clouds on the other side of town, they got a bit unstable."

"Don't they always get a bit unstable?" Applejack asked nearby. "You nearly destroyed city hall with one of those once."

"That wasn't a class two," she quickly explained, a bit defensively. "That was an early prototype of the tri-ionic thundercloud, and it was an accident."

A calm silence descended, and Paradox trotted towards the other stallion. "Whatcha working on?" he asked.

"Well, we got a bit of an issue," the blacksmith explained. "We have an ore body close to the surface, and an orchard we need to preserve. Any ideas?"

"Well, what have you considered?"

"Well, shaft mining wouldn't work for obvious reasons, and neither would a pit. If you got another idea, I'd like to hear it.

He brought a hoof to his chin briefly before saying. "Have you considered dome mining?"

Caramel tilted his head. "What?"

"Oh, it's a technique I read about a few months back. There was a town in Eastern Stirrope, they found an ore body of gold right underneath a small town. Land was at a premium so they couldn't move the locals, so they reinforced the ground, and basically ran an underground pit mine."

Caramel looked at the stallion skeptically. "How'd they do that?"

"Some complex spells, control of the local vegetation, there were several techniques they used, overlapping. I don't remember the details, but I can definitely look it all up, just need to find the article."

"Where was it?" Apple Bloom asked.

The two stallions looked down, finally noticing the young earth pony. Caramel responded, "Where was..."

"The article!"

Paradox opened his mouth in recognition. "OH! Um...I can't remember specifics, I think it was in Scientific Equestrian."

"Well, then, we need to find that magazine," explained the blacksmith.

Apple Bloom smiled. "And I know where to look!"

Celestia's eyes were trained on the book in front of her. As she tried to focus on its contents, her attention kept drifting to the young mare across the table, her loyal apprentice, Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight, are you okay?" asked the regal unicorn.

"Hmm?" she looked up at her mentor. "Yes, Princess, I'm fine."

"Are you certain? Because you've been on the same page for the past hour."

"Um..." As Twilight was thinking about how to answer, she noticed a blue mare standing at the library's entrance.

"Hey Twilight," the pegasus said, trotting towards her friend.

"Rainbow? What are you doing here?"

She responded with a coy laugh and a playful tone, "Oh, I think I have something that might interest you."

Camile's eyes were bright and wide. They darted around as she took in her surroundings.

"Camile?" TJ said, bringing a cloth to the woman's forehead. "How're you feeling?"

She looked at the medic. However her gaze was unsteady.

"Camile?"

A smile appeared on her face. "Big fluffy bunny," Camile said, her voice shaky and fluctuating in tone.

TJ realized there wasn't much to do. She walked back to the centre of the room.

"What is it?" asked Colonel Young.

"Well..." the medic explained. "She's high."

"On what?" asked a nearby Kino.

"Nothing." Everyone's gaze turned to Doctor Rachel Inman, the ship's chief chemist, who was standing behind a bench, which held many flasks and test tubes. She explained, "I ran a detailed tox-screen, and as far as I can tell, there's nothing out of the ordinary in her bloodstream."

"Well then," the Colonel asked. "What could cause this?"

Volker interjected, "What caused any of our symptoms?"

Brody was standing behind the astrophysicist as he explained. "Cousin Itt's right." No one could see Volker's look of exasperation. "Whatever caused any of their symptoms is likely what's causing Wray's."

Varro wasn't too sure. "Well why did her symptoms change?"

Johansen explained, "Best guess, it's might be a normal progression of the illness. There's a good chance that you will all eventually start to...hallucinate and...lose focus."

"WEEEE!!!" Everyone looked at Camile as she twirled her fingers in the air.

"Well, that's not good," Volker said.

"Which is exactly why you are all staying right here" the Colonel said. "Until we know what this is I'm not taking any more risks."

"Um..." Inman interjected. "I think I might have an idea there...Colonel."

Everyone looked at the scientist.

"Well, I looked at the flower." She held a plastic bag containing the blue flower for everyone to see. "To try to figure out what it was. First looking at the leaves, see if any put out any toxins. Found nothing. Looked at the pollen, thought that maybe it might have some toxic properties. That turned out to be highly unlikely."

"So what else is there?" Brody asked.

"Well, on a hunch, I decided to use one of the portable scanners we found," she said, pulling out a handheld that was only slightly bigger than a Kino remote. "And..." She handed the device to TJ before continuing. "It appears to be emitting some type of energy signature. Can't place exactly what it is, but it's definitely not something a plant would normally put out."

"You think an energy signature did this?" Volker asked.

TJ took the lead. "Well, only one way to find out." She walked over to Doctor Volker, and pointed the scanner at him. As it started buzzing, TJ kept her focus on it.

It wasn't long before the device let out a beep, and she looked at it intently. Quickly running to Varro, she ran the scanner over him, and the result came even faster. "I think...." She then scanned Morrison, who was sitting right next to the soldier.

"Well?" Young asked.

"She's right Colonel. I'm picking up a similar energy signature from all three of them." She started walking towards Camile.

"So, now that we know what caused it," Brody explained. "It shouldn't be that hard to cure it."

"What are you suggesting?" Volker asked.

"Well, I'm suggesting we find a way to counteract it. Run an interference pattern over it."

"Could that work?" asked the Colonel.

"Well, sir," TJ explained. "It's the best lead so far."

He looked at Doctor Brody. "Get to work."

Twilight looked down at her sandwich. As she stared at it, the mare simply could not get herself to eat.

Across from her, Shining chewed on his salad. As he looked at his sister, he suddenly got concerned. Swallowing the contents of his mouth, he decided it was time to ask her the most crucial question. "Not hungry?"

"I guess not," she replied. "Shining, why does this bug me so much?"

The captain shrugged. "He's family?"

Twilight turned her gaze back to the sandwich. "Thanks for this," she said.

"Don't thank me yet."

"Are you sure he'll be okay with it?"

He levitated a forkful of salad to his mouth, and quickly replied. "I don't know," he said before taking a bite.

Silence once again descended upon the siblings.

As Shining ate more of his salad, it wasn't long before he was hit by an epiphany. "Twilight," he said. "If I told you a secret. Do you think you'd be able to keep it?"

She smiled. "Of course BBBFF!"

"Hold on," he said, holding up a hoof. "Now, I don't just mean from a few ponies. I mean from everypony. From your friends...even from the princesses."

Her eyes went wide.

"You have a secret you want me to keep from Princess Celestia?"

He nodded.

"What is it?"

The soldier sighed. "It's not my secret to tell."

"Oh..."

"But I need to know, that you would keep it."

She thought about it for a second. "Does Cadance...know this secret?"

"No...no she doesn't. It's too...risky."

"You don't trust her?"

"Twilight it's...it's not that simple."

She looked down at her sandwich briefly. Her thoughts buzzing around. It wasn't long before Shining noticed the mare smile. She looked up and said, "you can trust me."

He smiled. "Good. I hope the others trust you too."

The third barn at Sweet Apple Acres did not contain much in the way of supplies or livestock. It was kept at the far end of the orchard. Far away from the rest of the farm. It held some emergency supplies and occasionally, any stock that couldn't fit in any building closer to the farmhouse. But as Apple Bloom entered the structure, all it contained was a pile of stones, which was exactly what she wanted.

She was dressed in a baggy orange suit, designed to protect her from the radiation. Following closely behind, a blue unicorn was dressed in an identical suit, save for the fact that it actually fit her.

"So," Paradigm asked. "What exactly are you planning here?"

"It's...um...hard to explain." The young filly shuffled over to the pile, careful not to let the tape that was wrapped around her legs come loose. She looked at the rocks and saw several different coloured stones. Most were a dull gray, but several stood out for her. They were a dark black, and very shiny, almost perfectly reflective. Apple Bloom leaned in closer and noticed the stones had some dark red stripes within.

"Zebran Obsidian," came a voice behind her. "The red is caused by traces of Naquadah."

"Are they safe?" she asked.

"I'm sure of it." She levitated several pieces of obsidian out of the pile, and placed them within a burlap bag. "Is this enough?"

"I hope so," the yellow one replied. "I'm not sure yet."

The unicorn looked at her. "Do you even know what you're doing with it?"

"Um...I'll figure it out."

"So you have no idea."

"I have an idea!" She was almost incensed. "I have a few ideas, I'm just not sure if they'll work." She looked at the bag. "Do you know how to make jewellery?"

The light that once bathed the city of Canterlot slowly faded as Equestria's sun set below the horizon. In the light of the setting sun a young pegasus flew over the city, his dark red coat looking slightly darker in the warm light. Upon his back, a saddlebag was wearing him down. It was loaded with goods, and the clasp was emblazoned with the stallion's cutie mark: A single dark grey thundercloud with a red lightning bolt streaking in front of it. On his flank the lightning bolt often blended into his coat, which sometimes frustrated the young pegasus.

Gliding over the metropolis, he approached the Doubleappletree Hotel where his best friend was waiting for him. Red landed gracefully on one of the balconies. Noticing the curtains were closed, he trotted towards the window, and rapped three times.

A greyish glow encompassed the blind as a bright blue eye peered through it. Moonlight unlocked the latch and opened the sliding door.

The pegasus trotted through the curtain, and was quickly greeted by the young unicorn. "Did you get everything?" he asked.

Red quickly looked around the room. It was much larger, and much better equipped than Red's. Around twice the size, it had a small fridge, a fireplace, and plenty of room for the young unicorn and his loyal companion to work, relax, and organize.

"I hope so," Red replied, unloading the bag off his back. "I'm not going out again."

A voice came from across the suite. "Well then, I hope so too," she said. "Because we're not going out either."

A short white dragon sat on the edge of the mattress, examining a strip of film, her back to the two stallions.

"Lazy little bugger," Red quipped.

"Annoying little jerk," she responded, turning to face the pegasus.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He asked.

"Just examining today's footage. Making sure none of you screwed up."

Red responded with a sarcastic laugh.

A knock came at the door. "Mister Sonata, this is the Royal Guard, please open up!"

"Dammit!" Red exclaimed under his breath.

"Coming!" replied the unicorn, as the dragon dove under his bed, dropping the filmstrip.

Underneath, she could see very little, but could hear everything.

Moonlight opened the door, as a pair of hoofsteps trotted in. "Good evening Mister Sonata."

"Um...hello."

As the door closed behind him, the new arrival explained his presence. "We received an anonymous tip regarding some illegal activity being conducted by your company, I have a warrant here to search your room."

"Um...uh...well..."

The young dragon was scared, she could only hope she wouldn't accidentally give herself away.

"This won't take long sir."

She could hear the stallion approach, and open, the empty crate on the far side of the room. As he continued to trot around, she realized he was getting a bit too close to her location. He stood right next to the bed, and she noticed the guardsman kneel down, as a pink glow encompassed the sheet hanging over the bed frame. As it flew up, she was all ready to panic, run, attack, something! But it all went away the moment she saw a pair of blue eyes and a shining white smile staring back at her.

"AH!!!" she screamed, leaping forward wrapping her arms around Shining Armor's neck.

The three ponies in the room started laughing, as the white unicorn stood, the dragon still holding on.

It wasn't long before she let go, landing on the bed, and responding with a slap across the stallion's face. "You bastard!" she screamed.

As he put a hoof to the impact point, Shining responded with a chuckle, "Sorry, I thought it would be funny."

"Not that!" she said. "You got married you jerk!"

"Oh...yeah."

"You should have seen her," Moonlight explained. "You broke her heart man."

He looked at the young dragon before him. "I'm sorry, Scales, I should have told you first."

"Bah," she said, waving a claw. "I'm over it. It was months ago."

"Oh...now I'm hurt," he said almost mocking. "I thought I was the love of your life."

"Get over yourself."

"Well, there must be somepony else, then. Did another handsome stallion steal your heart?"

She looked at him coyly. "Maybe...maybe not."

Another knock came at the door. Moonlight turned to look at his brother.

"Don't be mad," he said. "I'm only trying to help."

"What?"

Another knock came. Scales jumped off the bed, attempting to hide from whoever was on the other side.

Moonlight approached the door, and opened it with his magic. His eyes went wide.

"Hello," Twilight said with an awkward smile.

The blue stallion turned to look at his older brother. "Only trying to help, huh?"

Shining nodded.

He looked back at his older sister. "What do you want?"

"Look, I'm sorry, really I am. I know I've been a terrible sister. But, I want to make up for it."

He stared blankly at the purple mare, before closing the door in her face. Moonlight quickly turned to look at his older brother. "Are you insane!?" he screamed in a hushed voice.

"Oh, come on!" he threw up his hooves. "How long can you hold a grudge!?"

"It has nothing to do with that!" He exclaimed. "It has everything to do with her." He pointed to the dragon who was peeking over the bed.

"She said she wouldn't tell anypony."

"You told her!?"

"No, I just asked if she could keep a secret, and she said she would."

"Even from the princess?"

"Even from the princess."

He paused for a second. "And you believe her?"

Shining stood up straight. "Yes."

Moonlight's horn started glowing as the door opened. He didn't bother to turn around as he said, "You gonna come in or not?"

Twilight was facing away from the door when she heard it swing open. She slowly turned around, the confusion on her face quickly turning to joy, as she galloped in, closing the door behind her.

Her little brother turned around. "Well Twilight, you already know Shining and Red, so let me introduce you to Scales, our chief gaffer."

The dragon quickly jumped onto the bed, holding out a claw for the mare to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."

Confusion once again struck her face. "Likewise," she said, returning the gesture.

"Twilight?" Shining said.

Her gaze turned to the white stallion. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"So, where did you come from?" She asked the dragon. "I mean how come we didn't meet earlier?"

"Oh, well, I was hiding in Crate 'S.'"

"Twilight," Moonlight said. "You can't tell anypony about her."

"What? Why not? And why was she hiding in a crate?"

The two brothers looked at each other, before quickly turning their gaze back toward their sister.

Shining responded, "because she's a fugitive."

Rainbow Dash wasn't really that much of a bookworm. Not that she was vehemently opposed to books, but her life didn't revolve around them either. There was a time when her feeling regarding literature were beyond biased. She thought only eggheads read, and she certainly wasn't an egghead. But one day, that all changed. She learned that books are not just fun, they're exciting, and oftentimes they could become quite addicting.

But she never bothered with anything outside of fiction. Action, adventure, sci-fi, those were the kinds of books that she could get lost in. But today, she decided to try something new and expand her horizons. Today, she was reading a dull book by some historian who died a hundred years ago...and she wished she wasn't.

Her head fell forward into the book. Sitting across from her, the tall and regal Princess Celestia looked at the young pegasus. She closed the book that was levitating in her grasp and slammed it on the table with a loud bang.

"I'M UP!" the weatherpony screamed.

"It's not exactly an exciting read is it?" the princess asked with a chuckle.

"Sorry," came the reply. "I was just...um..."

"It's quite alright Rainbow Dash. Though I must ask: Why the sudden interest in ancient pony history?"

Because of the thing that's older than all known history, she thought. "No reason."

Celestia was slightly perplexed. "So, you're not looking for anything specific?"

"Uh...well...actually..." she thought for a few seconds. "What do you know about the Cataclysm?"

"Not much unfortunately," the princess explained. "However, we do have a few books on the subject. If you're sincerely interested, I can give you access to the more restricted sections."

"Really?"

"Of course, in fact I have a book here that might be able to help you." Celestia turned toward the stack next to her and levitated one of them out from the middle of the pile. "It's one of the books Twilight discovered in the Ponyville Library. I believe it's some type of journal. It might help."

Rainbow grabbed it in her hooves, and placed it on the table before her. "Thanks, princess."

"I must say these books are quite interesting. I've made some remarkable discoveries."

"Uh huh..." Rainbow said, feigning interest.

"There are some old spells I completely forgot about, some historical records..."

Rainbow started flipping through the book.

"...I also found some documents on..."

The pegasus looked up as the princess trailed off.

"It's not important."

Rainbow went back to her book. Focusing on the task at hoof.

"A fugitive?" Twilight asked. "You've been aiding and abetting a fugitive?"

"We," Shining interjected. "Have been aiding and abetting a fugitive."

"It's a bit of a long story," Red explained. "Would you like a drink?"

She nodded. The group trotted over to a round table that was sitting opposite the bed. As they gathered around, Scales quickly got to work pouring drinks for all the little ponies.

"So...what'd she do?" Twilight asked.

"Well..." Moonlight started, before his brother interrupted him.

"She nearly destroyed half a city."

Twilight's jaw hung open, a glass of whisky sitting in front of her. She downed the whole glass.

"Woah! Pace yourself!" the pegasus exclaimed.

"Half a city!?" the mare exclaimed.

"It was a small town and I didn't destroy it," the dragon explained, defensively.

"Yeah, well, they're still bitter about it," Moonlight explained. "Property damage was through the roof."

"Wait..." Twilight was confused. "She's just a little dragon! How could she destroy half a town?"

"I went a little crazy."

"Turns out dragons grow a little abnormally," Shining explained. "She was quite large, like the size of a building, and it caused her to lose her mind."

Twilight's mind started buzzing. "I think the same thing happened to Spike."

"Spike?" Scales asked.

"Her dragon assistant," Shining explained.

"You have a dragon assistant?"

"Yeah, it was his birthday, he got a lot of gifts, it made him want more, and the more he got, the more he grew."

"Yeah, that's kinda what happened to me."

Twilight was confused. "Okay, but we repaired everything, and nopony tried to arrest him, why would it be different for her?"

"Well...it didn't happen in Equestria," the blue unicorn explained. "It happened in Itrot, the laws are a bit different for dragons there."

"What do you mean?"

The four of them looked at each other. Unsure of how to continue.

Eventually, Moonlight explained, "capital punishment. They wanted to execute her."

"Oh..."

"Yeah...it's actually how we met, we had to smuggle her out of the country. We're lucky they didn't check that crate at the border."

"No," Shining interjected, bringing a glass to his lips. "We're lucky I was there to calm her down."

"Yeah, she was so smitten," Moonlight explained with a smile.

"Same thing happened to Spike, Rarity knocked him out of it."

"Little Spike's smitten with her then, huh?" Shining asked. "Not surprised."

"Well...yeah...he was."

"'Was'!?" Scales responded. "Oooo! There's a story that's not about me losing my mind, let's talk about that!"

Twilight put a hoof on her head, "Woah."

"You okay?"

"I think I drank that too fast."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Moonlight put a hoof on his sister's foreleg. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so." She quickly recovered, still slightly dizzy. "It was a few weeks ago."

"Okay, let's try it now," Rush announced.

Adam Brody grabbed the wrapped flower petal, and placed it on the device in the centre of the lab. The device itself was reminiscent of the Control Interface Hub, the biggest difference being a gap in the centre, and a glass shield hanging from the top of the bottom section.

Brody returned to his console, and began the test. The shield raised, covering the entire testing area. As the top section started to glow with an orange light, Brody held a hand up to protect his eyes.

The pulse released into the testing area and the guard lowered. As the two scientists walked up to the platform to inspect the flower, they didn't need to use a scanner to know they had failed. The flower petal was a brown-grey husk.

"Well the plastic survived."

"Excellent observation Mister Brody," Rush said as he walked back to the console. "It doesn't exactly help us."

"I assume that means your plan isn't working," Young said as he sauntered into the lab.

"It's not that it's not working," explained the engineer. "It is, we've definitely found a way to counteract the energy field, the problem is, we can't do it without killing the plant."

"So you think it'll kill a human as well?"

"Well, we can't be certain, but I assume you wouldn't want to take the risk."

"It's possible that the plant is dependant on this energy," Rush explained. "Which means the only reason the plant is dying, is because the energy field is gone."

"Or, it means that the counter field we're using breaks down organic matter as well," Brody interjected. "The truth is, we have no way of knowing, not until we actually use it."

"And since no one is getting any sicker, it might be safer to just wait."

"Well," the Colonel explained. "I'm sure Camile would beg to differ if she could."

"That was probably just a fluke," Rush continued. "This energy field affects different people in different ways, it's possible, it just happened to make her delirious."

"You mean for round two?" Brody asked.

"Look, we don't even know if dispersing the field will do anything. For all we know, the effects are permanent, and dispersing the field will do nothing but put them in unnecessary danger."

Young was incensed, "We have a man who's a foot tall, Rush. I hope you're wrong about that."

"Well, I hope so too."

"I think he's right Colonel," the chief engineer explained. "We might be better off waiting it out."

The ship's commander paused for thought. "Keep at it. If any of them start getting worse, we'll hit them with the dang field," he explained. "I don't care what the risks are."

As the Colonel left the room, Rush quickly gathered his supplies and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Brody asked.

"Honestly, I have better things to do than deal with a magical energy field that we can't stop."

As he was left alone, Brody continued to work on the problem.

Red gripped the glass in his teeth, and threw his head back, downing the beverage in sync with Twilight. As the other three clapped away, Twilight released a cough and a giggle.

"That's strong," she said, bringing a hoof to her mouth.

"Another round?" Red asked.

"No, no way...you win-I can't..."

"Aww...little sis is a lightweight," Shining said with a laugh.

"Hey, I don't want another hangover like yesterday."

"Ah!" Moonlight said. "Overdid it did ya?"

"Yeah, I did," Twilight explained. "I was trying to keep up with Princess Luna."

As Moonlight poured another glass of whisky, Twilight tried to recover from the rush of alcohol. "So...something's bugging me," she said.

"Okay," her younger brother asked. "What's that?"

"She's wanted all the way in Itrot, not here."

Shining lowered the glass from his lips.

"Why is it such a big deal to keep it secret here?"

Red quickly explained, "Equestria has an extradition treaty with Itrot. There are complex diplomatic issues. If the royal family found out, they would need to turn her over, or face an international incident."

"Celestia wouldn't do that."

"What do you mean?" her younger brother asked.

"If we tell Celestia, she might be able to help her. She wouldn't turn Scales over, knowing the consequences."

"She might not have a choice Twilight," Shining explained. "They could try to keep it a secret from Itronian government, but..."

"Well, it can't be any good for her to stay cooped up in here all day."

"Or in the crate," Red explained.

"Well," Moonlight said. "It's not like we have much of a choice. Dragons attract a lot of attention in Equestria, somepony sees a dragon wandering the streets, they'll ask too many questions."

"Yeah, unless he gets that spell working, we don't have any other options."

Scales dropped her glass on the table. "Can you stop talking about me like I'm not here?"

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed. "What spell?"

"OOO! Moonlight's been working on a spell that'll make me look like a pony," the dragon explained. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been able to stick."

Twilight paused for thought. "Can I take a look at it?"

The Kornas drifted high above a planet. It's mission: to try to intercept the humans, and take their ship: The Destiny.

This was one of many planets they found holding a Stargate. Each one likely to be visited by the humans. Unfortunately, they couldn't stage ambushes on every one, due to limited resources. Something which frustrated the commander to no end.

As Commander Fentin looked over the display on the bridge. A nagging feeling crossed his mind. That they had failed.

It had been a long time since his people had seen their prize. He was but a child then, and since that time his people never gave up on their mission. Was it time to give up now? They hadn't received any sign that the ship was still intact. It had been lost. Was it destroyed?

"Commander!"

Fentin looked to his left. His second-in-command, Grevas, stood there.

"You shouldn't be here," the commander replied. "Your injuries have not healed."

"I am well enough."

The lieutenant leaned on a crutch, the pain he once felt was dulled by the medicines he had received. But the scarring had not gone away. Half his face was significantly burnt, but luckily, his injuries were superficial, by Nakai standards.

"I disagree," Fentin explained.

"Has the team discovered anything?"

"Nothing. The humans have not arrived."

"They would be well past this point now. We should move on."

"That is not our orders."

"Ganeg our orders!"

Fentin snapped his head at Grevas. "Admiral Voltas has his reasons for our assignment." He slowly turned his chair toward the lieutenant. "Perhaps it was your failure at the last ambush point."

He snarled at his commander.

"Do not take this personally Grevas. We've all had our failures. Perhaps we'll get lucky, and you'll get a chance to redeem yourself."

"Sir, I wish to be a part of the next ground team."

"Patience Grevas. You'll get another chance."

As the lieutenant left the room, Fentin realized, there was little chance of them ever being successful in their mission...without some help.

Twilight looked over the parchment in front of her. Her eyes darting back and forth. "This is amazing," she said. "What did you base this on?"

"Well there was a book I found a while back on changelings," Moonlight explained. "It explained the patterns they used, but there were a lot of holes, I was able to fill them in...trial and error, that kind of thing."

"Emphasis on the error," Red quipped from the opposite side of the room. His attention focused entirely on a filmstrip he was holding in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just reliving old bloopers."

As Twilight levitated a quill to the page, Moonlight stopped her. "Woah! What are you doing?"

"I think I found the problem," she explained, pointing her quill to the sheet.

As he looked down, he simply said, "Huh...how'd I miss that?"

"I think the better question is, how'd you design this?" she said, making the correction.

"Well, I had a lot of spare time, and a bright idea," he explained. "It wasn't that difficult, Twilight."

"She's just easily impressed," said the eldest sibling.

"I am not!"

Off in one corner of the hotel suite, Scales blew into the fireplace. As the flames danced within the stone structure, she turned to the group. "So it works?" the dragon asked. "You can make me a pony?"

"Well, we can make you look like a pony," Twilight explained. "But it won't be permanent."

"So we'll just have to refresh it every once in a while," Moonlight said. "Not a big deal. What about the safety mechanism?"

"Should work fine," she explained. "So, wanna test it?"

"Sure." He levitated the parchment in front of his face, and examined it closely. "Okay, I think I got it."

"Um..." Twilight got to her hooves. "Can I do it?"

"No, you can try it on your own dragon when you get home."

"Her own dragon?" Scales asked.

"Yeah, you heard me, dragons are property now."

"Jackass!"

Red reeled up the film, and placed it on the fireplace mantle, before trotting over to the group. "Well, if this works, it'll take a load off my back."

"Why?" the young mare asked.

"Well, I no longer have to pretend to be the chief gaffer on the set."

"Okay, let's do this." Moonlight's horn started glowing, as a grey aura wrapped around the dragon.

Scales started to float upward, the light growing in intensity. As it grew brighter and brighter everypony in the suite had to shield their eyes from the light.

It wasn't long before Twilight's eyes adjusted to the brightness. She lowered her hoof, still needing to squint her eyes, and could see the shape of a young dragon projected in the light. It slowly shifted in form. Her arms and legs became blunter, her body stretched, and her neck elongated. The new shape landed on the floor, and the light slowly faded away.

Standing in the middle of the room, everypony could see a white pegasus standing there, her pink mane slicked back over her head, and a look of confusion on her face. The interesting thing Twilight noticed, was the fact that this new pegasus had a cutie mark. It appeared to be a white theatre light, with beams of light shining forward.

Scales put a hoof to her head, then pulled the hoof away, and examined the new appendage.

"You okay?" Moonlight asked.

"I think so," the former dragon replied. "Wow, this is weird."

"How do you feel?" the other girl asked.

"Fine...it's just...different."

"You'll get used to it," Red explained.

"Woohoo!" Twilight exclaimed. "We need to celebrate!" She rushed over to the fireplace, where a bottle of rum sat atop the mantle. "Who's up for more drinking!?"

However, in her haste, she failed to notice the two film reels that sat next to it; she failed to notice the reels falling off the mantle as the bottle knocked them off; and she failed to notice them land on the floor, the cases breaking open, and part of the film falling straight into the fire, instantly catching the flames which ran straight up the reel. However, others noticed.

"AHHH!!!" Moonlight screamed. He ran over to Twilight's position. Quickly encasing them in a magical field, and levitating them away from the flame. But it was too late, as the film collapsed into ash, which littered the ground.

"Oh my!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'm so sorry."

The empty reels fell to the floor, as tremors ran throughout Moonlight's body. "Red...wh...wha-wha...what?"

"Se...se...seventeen-B and C," he replied.

"Th-the ones we filmed in Pensacolta."

"Yeah."

The newest pegasus replied, "did...did we make any copies?"

"Not yet."

Only Twilight dared to talk at this time. "Moonlight, I'm so-"

"Get out," her younger brother replied.

"What?"

"Get out!" He turned to face the mare, fire in his eyes, his horn beginning to glow a bright blue. "GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Twilight didn't hesitate, she bolted straight for the door, slamming straight into it. She rubbed her head, trying to disperse the pain.

"GET OUT!"

She swung the door open and bolted out into the hall, slamming it behind her.

Tears streamed down her face. "What did I do?"

Destiny's mess hall was packed with crew members enjoying their latest and most delicious discovery. In one tiny corner, the ship's youngest genius was enjoying a fresh space apple. Chloe missed the feeling of biting into such a familiar fruit. But there were a few differences from the earth apples she was familiar with. The skin was a bit softer, and it tasted a bit sweeter. But her mind certainly identified it as an apple.

From behind the former political aide, Sergeant Greer had just received his rations. He turned around, looking for a seat. Unfortunately, the mess hall was not big enough to hold even half of Destiny's crew, so seating was at a premium. He was about to leave the hall, so he could eat his rations in peace, until he noticed a single empty seat. Across from the apparently alone Chloe Armstrong. He walked over and placed his dish on the table. Grabbing the young woman's attention.

"Hey, Ronald," she said, greeting the soldier.

"Good evening ma'am," he responded, sitting down.

As Greer started in on his rations, the only sound came from the mass of voices surrounding them.

"So," Chloe said. "Enjoying the food?"

"Yes ma'am."

The two sat there, in relative silence, broken only by the chewing of space apples and the din of the crowd.

"If you don't mind me saying, Miss Armstrong," Greer explained. "It's not often I see you so alone."

She placed her half-eaten fruit in the metal bowl before her. "Well, since Eli's been trapped in the computer, it's not like there's many people for me to talk to," she explained. "I mean...except you."

The Sergeant had a chuckle at her save.

At that moment, a distortion passed through the ship as it dropped out of FTL, silencing everyone in the mess hall.

"I guess it's time," Chloe said. She took a final bite of her apple, before getting out of her seat and starting toward the door.

"Yes ma'am," Greer replied, eating the last of his fruit and following the young woman out of the hall.

Rainbow sat in the otherwise empty Royal library. She struggled to keep her eyes open, her head bowed over a hardbound book. Her lack of energy and devotion to the tome meant she was easily pulled out of it when a dark blue pony trotted through the entrance.

"Good evening Rainbow Dash," the Princess of the Night said.

The blue pegasus shifted her gaze. "Hey, Luna. What's up!?

"This evening?" she replied. "Very little."

From behind the regal pony, her sister stepped through the entrance, levitating a slice of vanilla cake in front of her. "Hello again Rainbow Dash. Have you found what you were looking for?" she asked, before biting into her cake.

She closed the book in frustration. "No, I don't think so."

"What were you looking for?" the younger sister asked.

"Oh, she said she was looking for information about the cataclysm," Celestia explained. "I'm so happy. I assume we can credit Twilight for her new found interest."

"Uhhh..." Rainbow responded, locking eyes with the Lunar Regent. "Yeah...I guess."

"There are plenty of books in the back of the library sister," Luna explained. She shifted her gaze to the young pegasus. "Perhaps you can find what you seek there?"

"Uh...yeah," the athlete replied. "Maybe."

"Then come, Rainbow Dash," she said, trotting into the high-security area as Rainbow Dash followed her.

As they left, Celestia sat at the table and levitated another book off the slowly shrinking pile. She took another bite of cake, and placed a separate slice of cake on the table before her.

She settled in, and got back to reading.

Sugar Cove had a very subdued nightlife. Once the sun had set, there wasn't much to do. Some ponies occasionally threw private parties that lasted well into the night, but most just allowed themselves to rest after a long day.

Pinkie was never one of those ponies. Which was exactly why she decided to throw a small after-birthday party for her newest friend on the outskirts of town.

The celebration was held at the top of a small grassy hill, a venue chosen by the birthday girl for some happy memories it triggered. There was no music, but plenty of pastries for the two earth ponies to snack on.

The party-planner smiled and tossed another cupcake into her mouth, as the purple mare next to her had her eye glued to the eyepiece of a large telescope.

"See anything cool?" Pinkie asked, trotting over.

Fizzypop twisted a few nobs and said, "I think so, take a look!" She backed away from the device allowing her new friend to replace her.

Through the eyepiece Pinkie could see a bright blue mess of streaks, crossed with greens and purples. It was beautiful. "OOOO!" she said in awe. But there was one problem. "What is it?"

Fizzypop giggled. "It's a nebula, a giant cloud in space. That's where stars are born."

"So it's a giant baby star!?"

"Yep!"

"Awww," she said, returning her gaze to the astronomical phenomenon. "It's so cute."

"Looks kinda like a bird don't you think?"

Pinkie steadied her gaze and noticed the cloud did have some type of shape. She could see a pair of wings, spread out very far and wide, two claws from the bottom, and a head and beak on the top. It took a bit of imagination, but she could definitely see it. "Uh huh!"

"It's called the Blue Phoenix Nebula," Fizzypop said with a smile. "Waterfire told me all about it." Her gaze suddenly turned solemn. "Though I probably just read it in a book somewhere, and forgot."

Pinkie turned back to her friend. "You know, you're so lucky!" She smiled wide.

"I am?"

The pink mare nodded vigorously. "Mmmhm! When I made imaginary friends, they were pretty boring, all they did was agree with me, and insult Rainbow Dash. But you and your imaginary friends had adventures, arguments, they taught you, and you taught them-"

"-I thought I did."

"You must be so smart to imagine friends that interesting! I wish I was as smart as you."

"You really think I'm smart?"

She nodded again. "I'll bet you're even smarter than Twilight! You know she likes neberas too!"

"Nebulas," Fizzypop corrected.

"Whatever, show me some more!" She shoved the telescope in the young mare's face.

As she readjusted the eyepiece. Pinkie suddenly brought a hoof to the back of her neck and started scratching vigorously.

"You okay?" the purple pony asked.

"I don't know," she said, bringing her hoof in front of her face, she started to stare at it. "That's a new one."

"New one what?"

"OOO!!! I never told you about my Pinkie Sense!!!"

Rainbow Dash examined the shelf in front of her, a blank gaze spreading over her face. "You don't see anything here that might help do you?" she asked.

"Since you haven't told me what caused this sudden interest," Princess Luna replied. "I don't see how I can answer that question."

She turned around, facing the Lunar Regent and suddenly got a bit nervous. "Well, it's just that...the ring. You said it's over five-thousand-years-old. That shouldn't be possible."

Princess Luna smiled. "Rainbow Dash, you are not the first pony to ask these questions." Her gaze shifted. "It is a mystery that has consumed many brilliant minds in Equestrian history, since the ring was discovered, shortly after the unification. Not one of them found an answer." Her eyes locked with the young mare's. "Please don't let this dominate your life Rainbow."

The pegasus looked down, her mind drifted around in circles as she thought about the issue. "So you're saying: I may never find the answer."

She nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, that's not gonna stop me."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

She trotted through the open gate, Rainbow quickly following. They passed two closed security gates before arriving at the final section, which was very familiar to the winged athlete.

As they entered the high-security area, Luna quickly explained, "There are a few books in here on the ring." She pointed to one specific shelf, next to the hidden corridor. "I think they might help."

Rainbow trotted to the shelf. "Thanks Princess."

"I must return to my sister's side," the regent continued. "I'm certain she requires assistance in her own investigations."

Rainbow turned to respond, only to find the corridor empty.

The Stargate came to life, all nine chevrons lighting up as the entire device spun around, eventually stopping as the gate bearing lit the first symbol in the planet's address.

Standing at the rear of the Gate Room, Doctor Nicholas Rush was standing at one of the consoles, overseeing the dialing of the gate.

As the second symbol locked into place, Colonel Young walked in through the main entrance.

"Well, you look excited," He said.

Doctor Rush was all ready to go off-world, he was equipped with a military-issue jacket, and a backpack loaded with supplies, which was sitting at his feet.

"Don't want to waste any time Colonel," he responded.

"Guess I can't blame you for that."

The blue pegasus examined the shelf in front of her, reading each title carefully. "A Study on Blue Pine Forrest; Geological Analysis of The Blue Pine Forrest; A Report on the Wildlife of the Blue Pine Forrest...these titles are kinda dry."

It was at that moment, as silence descended on the corridor, a faint noise echoed down the hall. The young mare turned her head in the direction of the sound. It came from the very familiar bookcase she entered just the night before.

Trotting towards it, she noticed the sound got louder. Rainbow's eternal curiosity got the better of her as she quickly tipped the three books the Princess used the night before.

As the hidden entrance slid into the ceiling, the noise grew louder and Rainbow instantly recognized it. The sound of stone and metal grinding together. She quickly descended the stairs, the mystery overwhelming her consciousness.

As she entered the familiar room, she remembered it was typically very dark. She would have needed a unicorn to light the chandeliers above...normally. But this time, it was well-lit. Not by chandeliers or any other traditional source of light, but several bright white continually moving lights from the opposite end of the room. She recognized them instantly. They were the white triangles that she noticed the night before. It was the Ring.

She quickly flew over to the structure, and trotted up the ramp. Rainbow could clearly see the Ring spinning rapidly. She was amazed, astonished and confused. But as the device stopped spinning, all those emotions quickly converted into terror, as a wave of energy resonated from the interior edge of the ring, and blasted straight toward the young pony.

She reacted quickly, her head dipping down as she narrowly avoided the blast. It streamed above her head, and she could feel its destructive energy, passing too close for comfort.

Just as quickly as it appeared, the energy wave settled into the ring. Rainbow slowly shifted her gaze upward to confirm her instincts, and slowly got to her hooves.

Within the ring was a bright white puddle. Almost water-like, if not for the glow it produced, lighting the entire room even brighter than it was before. As she approached the puddle, she stuck her hoof in, to feel it. It didn't feel wet, if anything, it caused her a bit of pain. As if there was some signal telling her she wasn't supposed to do this. She pulled her hoof out, and examined it, checking for injuries.

Then, just over her head, something emerged from the puddle with a splash. A small brown sphere flew out, continually buzzing as it moved, and stopped a few feet from where it emerged.

"Woah," Rainbow said in amazement.

She noticed the sphere spin around. Flapping her wings, she floated over and tried to examine it as closely as she could. One thing that stood out to her, was the map of circles surrounding it, and one particular circle which seemed to be focused on her.

"He...hello?"

Colonel Young looked at the display before him. "What is that?"

"Well Colonel, sorry to say, I don't know every alien race at this end of the universe."

"Sir!" Sergeant Greer and Chloe Armstrong entered behind the Colonel.

"Chloe," he said. "Just the girl I wanted to see." He nodded toward the console. "What do you make of this?"

She snuck up next to Rush, and zoomed out on the image. "Looks like a horse."

"A horse who can fly," Rush explained.

"Hold on," she said. "I think it's trying to talk to us."

"My name is Rainbow Dash!" the blue pegasus said, hoof to her chest. "What's yours?"

No response.

"You...can't talk can you?"

Silence.

"Maybe you're just stupid-uh, no offence."

More silence.

"Should we say something?" Young asked.

"Well what?" Rush responded.

"How about 'hello'?" offered Greer.

"OOO! OOO! I'll do it," went a nearby Kino.

As Rainbow stared awkwardly at the floating metal ball, a series of odd noises came from the device. The weren't irritating, or familiar, they sounded more like words. But words she did not recognize.

"So you can talk," she said. "You just can't understand me."

"Have the Kino keep an eye on her," the Colonel ordered. "And shut it down."

"Colonel-"

"We need to get the away team together," he explained to the scientist. "After that, you can go through and talk to the flying space horses, Rush."

From behind the young pegasus, a loud noise came, and the light was suddenly extinguished, shrouding the room in darkness.

"Ooops."

The characters of Fizzypop and Waterfire were created by ItsTheWhinyGuys for his story, Happy Birthday, Fizzypop.

Chapter Twelve - Breaking Barriers

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The streets of Canterlot were dark and vacant, the only light came from dim streetlamps, and the bright full moon above.

Down one lonely alley of the Equestrian capital, two young ponies trotted along, one of which hung her head in dejection.

Twilight's heart had fallen, a minor accident had cost her a sibling, and it tore her apart.

"Soooo," her companion said. "Are you going to be okay?"

She slowly turned her head to look up at the stallion next to her, before turning her gaze back to the ground. "No," she said.

Red Rain sighed deeply. "You shouldn't take it so personally-"

"-he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," he said, in an attempt to reassure the mare.

"I destroyed his work, why wouldn't he hate me?"

"Because he's not the type to hate. In all the years I've known him, he's never hated anypony."

"He's hated me before."

"No he didn't. He just didn't like you. There's a big difference."

"And now he's back to not liking me." Tears started to stream down the young mare's face. "What do I do!?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, he'll get over it," the pegasus explained. "It's just, we'll have to re-film all those scenes, that's no big deal. Though it will cost a lot. It's probably not feasible to go all the way back to Pensacolta, so we'll have to find new shooting locations. Not only that, but it'll have to be tacked on to the end of our shooting schedule, and our costume girl and makeup artist are both on contract and have other engagements once we're done so we'll need to restaff, which has it's own problems because the new ponies'll need to emulate the styles of their predecessors and that's not easily done. Plus we'll have to find caterers and we'll need to pay everypony for the extra work, plus supplies and-Twilight?"

Red suddenly noticed the purple mare was no where to be seen. He quickly turned around and saw the unicorn several paces behind him, tears streaming down her face. "Twilight?"

"He's going to hate me forever."

He ran up to the mare, "Twilight, it'll be okay!" He said, rubbing her shoulders. "We-we'll find some more investors to fund it, and I'm sure there's some nearby town that can handle a week of filming."

Twilight's tears started to let up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Red replied. Then his gaze started to drift. "Though, the problem will be finding investors, I mean we can't offer them shares of the proceeds since we have none to spare, so there'll be no practical reason for them to invest, and I can't think of anything else we could offer them."

He turned back to Twilight, and noticed the horrified look on her face, her mouth agape.

"Twilight!" he said, grabbing the young mare. "It'll be fine, I'm sure of it!"

"You can't know that!" She screamed.

"Yes I...okay, I can't," he dropped his hooves to look into Twilight's eyes. "But I'm not worried, and if anypony should be, it's me!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm the one who's the most responsible. I left the master reels near the fireplace, I forgot to make copies, and I...actually, that's it. All you did was grab a bottle of whisky."

She cast her eyes down. "I just want to go home."

Red frowned as Twilight continued trotting toward the castle. He followed close behind.

Celestia's eyes were glued to the book before her. Page after page was turned as she absorbed the information within.

Eventually, a clatter of falling literature broke the princess out of her reverie.

She lowered the tome, and looked directly at her sister.

"Sorry," the younger princess said, her wings spread for balance, several books in her forehooves, and several more scattered across the floor.

Celestia's eyes darted around, as her sister levitated all the books back into a neat pile. "Luna," she asked. "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh," the princess of the night declared as she finished her job. "She was searching for a book in the twelfth section. I decided to return here, allow her time to browse."

"The twelfth section?"

"It is alright sister. I trust Rainbow Dash, she is very loyal."

"I'm sure, but given what's stored there..." her mouth was agape, unsure how to continue. "There are limits to anypony's loyalty, sister."

Luna's gaze began to shift nervously. Until her eyes settled on the front entrance of the library.

Celestia turned to follow her sister's gaze, and she immediately spotted her loyal student, eyes red and bloodshot.

"Twilight?" Celestia greeted her.

"I messed up princess," she explained, distressed. "I destroyed my brother's work."

"What?"

"We were having fun, drinking, just having a good time, talking about...stuff, then-"

"-Rainbow should have been back by now!" Luna said, facing the back of the library.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Rainbow Dash was looking for something to read, that was twelve minutes ago. It should not have taken her this long," she trotted back to the rear of the library. The two mares followed her.

"Flying horses?" Scott asked, incredulously.

Several members of Destiny's crew were sitting in the ship's Observation Deck. Through the window, they could clearly see the ship's nose pointed directly toward a bright yellow star in the distance. It was still hours away, barely a point in their field of vision.

But no one was paying any attention to the view. They were too concerned with their latest discovery.

"More than that," Eli explained. "I examined the footage, in order for a creature with that kind of wingspan, she'd have to be only a few dozen pounds, which doesn't seem possible considering her size."

"Her?"

"Well, I'm just guessing."

"Nevertheless we know they can speak some type of language," Young explained. "So once you arrive, your first objective will be finding a way to communicate."

"After that," Destiny's chief scientist explained. "We need to establish trade, and try to learn as much of their history as we can."

"Aren't we jumping the gun a bit there?" The Lieutenant asked. "I mean how can we communicate with an alien species?"

"Hard work, persistence, bit of luck." Everyone looked at the scientist. "Well, I didn't say it would be easy."

"There's also the fact that this is primarily a diplomatic mission," the Colonel explained, directing his attention to the two soldiers before him. "So no going above sling ready unless you're absolutely certain there's a threat. We can't risk a misunderstanding."

"Yes, sir," Greer responded.

"Alright," Young ordered. "Go suit up."

As Scott, Greer and Chloe left, Rush turned around, and leaned against the railing at the front of the observation deck. It wasn't long before the Colonel joined him. "Hell of a view," he said.

"Yeah," Rush replied, rubbing his hands aggressively.

He turned to look at the bearded scientist. "You seem nervous, Rush. Don't ever think I've seen that."

"Well, there's a first time for everything Colonel." He started walking away from the railing.

Young turned around. "You don't think you can do it."

Rush stopped in the door frame. "They speak a different language." Turning to face the commander, he continued. "I wouldn't even know how to begin."

"Bring some fruit, it'll be a good way to break the ice."

"That won't fix the bigger problem."

"No, but it'll be a start." As the senior scientist left the bridge, the Colonel yelled after him, "Just try Rush." He lowered his voice, knowing Rush was out of earshot. "You're the only one who can."

The Colonel turned back to look out the window. Enjoying the phenomenal view before him, a mess of blue, green and purple gasses, surrounding the system. It was a sight to behold, and a sight he enjoyed.

Rainbow's attempts to find her way out of the storage room were unsuccessful. Her eyes failed to properly adjust to the darkness, so she had to navigate by hoof. Memorizing where the nearest wall was, she flew straight towards it, trying not to crash into any artifacts.

Eventually, her navigational skills payed off, as she found a door frame, ornately decorated. She was at the exit. Carefully navigating up the stairs taking one step at a time, she found herself growing frustrated at the slow progress.

After what felt like an eternity, Her hoof impacted a flat wall before her. Tracing her hooves up, she confirmed her suspicions. This was the doorway out. Feeling up the wall to her right, she found the button Luna used to open the passage from within.

Rainbow aggressively impacted the button, and she could hear the bookcase move in response, before quickly receding into the ceiling.

The sudden burst of light shocked the mare. "AH!" she exclaimed, as her eyes slammed shut and her wings quickly folded in shock. She started to fall down the stairs, but quickly caught herself, her hooves pushing outward against the walls, allowing her to hold her position..

Once she regained her balance, she brought her hooves to eyes and rubbed them. Blinking several times, and rubbing her eyes a bit more, she adjusted to the light, and proceeded out the entrance, suddenly remembering what she saw in the chamber below.

A grand smile came to her face, and she quickly flew through the security gate, and down the corridor. However, her journey to the main sitting room was halted when she saw three unicorns standing before her.

"Twilight! Princess! Luna!" The pegasus screamed. "I just saw the most amazing thing it was so awesome! I heard a weird noise, didn't know what it was, so I followed it, and ended up in this room and these lights were spinning and this other light came out and then this ball came out of it, and it was so awesome!!!!"

"Noise?" The younger princess asked.

"Room?" The elder princess asked.

"Lights?" The youngest unicorn asked.

"Yeah! In the...room, it was a big room, it was dark, it was..."

Celestia turned her head slowly to the left. "Luna?" She asked. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Um..."

"Yeah!" Rainbow interjected in an attempt to save the princess. "I just stumbled across it today."

"The secret passage behind the bookcase?" the elder princess asked.

"Um...yeah."

"And how did you know the code?"

Rainbow's eyes settled on the lunar regent.

Luna sighed. "I showed her the location where we store Discord." Celestia shot her a look. "It seemed necessary."

"And I thought we agreed we would share with each other any time we would grant access to that area."

"It was not something I planned."

"What possible reason could there have been?"

"She was concerned about his current status and the Elements of Harmony, I was just trying to ease her fears."

"That does not mean you can-"

"Sister." Luna held up a hoof and pointed it behind the solar regent.

Celestia turned her head, and saw her student with her eyes in shock.

The two rulers followed the unicorn's gaze. Floating behind Rainbow was an object they did not recognize. It was not being supported by any means they could see, and there was not a trace of magic anywhere near it.

"What the...?" The princess said, in awe.

Rainbow turned around. "Oh! That was the thing that came out of the ring."

Luna shook her head. "Came out of the ring?"

"Yeah, turns out I was right!" she exclaimed with pride. "Come here, I'll show you!"

The three of them looked at each other as Rainbow Dash flew away. The orb following the Pegasus.

At the rear of Destiny's gate room, Doctor Elliot Boone was intently working at one of the two consoles, as Doctor Nicholas Rush walked in.

"Evening Doctor Boone," the scientist said. "What are you doing?"

As Destiny's IT guy stood up straight, he said, "I was just looking over the data on the planet."

"I thought you already did that."

"Well, there's more, I guess from the gate itself when we fell in range."

Rush walked over to the console. "Let me see," he said, unknowingly pushing the technician out of the way.

Boone tried to look at the screen from behind the mathematician, but there wasn't much to see.

"Well," the scientist said. "That's interesting."

"What's interesting?"

Turning to look at source of the voice, Rush saw a young woman enter the room, wearing military fatigues. "Chloe," he said, standing up straight.

"So what is it?" she asked, moving toward the two men.

"The data on the planet."

"I thought you already went over it."

"Well, sort of," Boone explained.

"We got some more data from the gate once we fell in range," Rush continued. "Apparently, there has been some tampering."

Chloe was taken aback. "Is it safe?" she asked.

He looked at the young genius. "No, well, the gate itself appears to be fine, the Kino went through.

"Best guess, they were just trying to reverse engineer the thing," Boone explained. "No damage or changes made. They just took it apart...put it back together...I think."

"They're curious, and they're intelligent. We have plenty to learn from each other."

"Well, let's just hope they're friendly," she said.

Chloe's attention was grabbed as two solders walked into the gate room.

A hoof impacted the edge of the ring.

"Then a white thing came out and went KAWOOSH!" Rainbow explained, holding her hooves out in front of the centre of the ring, and gesturing outward, trying to demonstrate the energy wave she witnessed earlier. "Then it went back and it was like woo!!" She said, spreading her forehooves wide, back to the others. "Into a puddle of water."

The storage room was now brightly lit by the magically generated flames of Princess Luna. Which were held by several chandeliers which hung from the ceiling.

"Are you serious Rainbow?" Twilight asked, standing with the regents at the base of the ramp.

The pegasus turned around, and slowly landed on the ramp. "You don't believe me," she said, distressed.

"Well, it does seem a bit unbelievable," Celestia responded. "This artifact has been completely dormant for the past three thousand years, Rainbow Dash. Why would it do anything now?"

"Wha...I don't know." She quickly pointing toward a chain that hung down from the ceiling, in front of the ring. "But, it destroyed that chandelier," she said, shifting to the brown sphere floating above the princesses. "And that thing came out of it. Where else could it have come from?"

They all looked up, and it was at that moment, their attention was shifted back to the ring in front of them, as it emanated a mysterious sound.

Rainbow turned to face the artifact, and slowly backed down the ramp as she saw it spin rapidly. "Stay back," she said. The unicorns complied.

Eventually, after several turns, it stopped, and a rush of energy came from the device, exactly as Rainbow Dash described, settling into a puddle of water.

"Okay," Celestia said, mouth agape. "I believe you now."

"Well," Boone explained. "This is interesting."

"What is it?" Scott asked, as the team readied their weapons preparing to step through the gate.

"Looks like you've got a welcoming party."

"How many?"

"Four...and...they're quite diverse."

"Are they dangerous?"

Boone shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Okay, let's head out," he said, starting toward the gate.

Colonel Young was standing next to the technition. "Good luck, Lieutenant," he said.

"Yes, sir."

Rainbow took a single step up the ramp, but was stopped as four figures stepped through the puddle, and looked down at the assembled ponies. The forms were incomprehensible to them. The first thing that popped into Twilight's mind was a dragon. They all walked on their hind legs, and had nimble digits instead of hooves. But she could clearly see, that was not what these creatures were. Their legs were much longer, almost half the height of their entire body, and they had no tail to speak of...or at least, none that Twilight could see. They were very unusual creatures.

But that didn't stop Rainbow Dash from quickly flying up to them screaming, "OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! HI I'M RAINBOW DASH! OH MY GOSH!"

A bright flash came from the ring as the puddle disintegrated.

As they exited the wormhole, the team spotted their welcoming party. Four aliens stood there, two of which were taller than the others, one blue, one white, and they both appeared to be wearing ornate jewellery. But what surprised Chloe the most was the fact that they both had horns on the centre of their foreheads, and one word popped into her head: unicorn. Though she was not sure it was accurate, it was the word that appeared in her mind.

One of the shorter aliens was also a unicorn, she was purple, and had a haircut that reminded her of an old acquaintance from high school. A classmate who tutored her in math. Her hair was very straight, and her bangs were cut across, just like the alien in front of her. But the other short alien who stood next to the purple one looked much different. She was a sky blue, and her hair was messy and multicoloured. It was the same creature that they saw on the Kino footage earlier that day. But it was only now that Chloe realized that this alien must go through a lot of effort for such a complex dye-job.

As the gate shut down, the multicoloured alien flew up and started yelling in a joyful tone, and an obvious smile.

Greer was taken aback by the excited alien, who was inches from his face. She held out a hoof for him to shake before quickly pulling it away, apparently lost in thought. She continually started talking in a language he did not understand. Once she stopped, she looked at him eagerly and the Sergeant responded. "Sir?" he asked. "What do I do?"

"Oh." Rush quickly reached into a pocket and pulled out a bright red space-apple. "Here," he said, holding it out to the multicoloured creature. She paused for a second, considering the situation, before grabbing it in one smooth motion. The doctor was surprised to see it stick to her hoof like glue, with no further assistance needed. "Fascinating," he said.

Rainbow took a bite of the big red apple. "Mmmm!" she said, turning to the other ponies. "It's good."

Nopony said anything for several seconds, still trying to process the situation before them.

"Shou-should we offer something in return?" Twilight asked, trying to repress the shock she was experiencing.

"Huh?" Celestia asked, apparently dumbfounded, turning toward her protege. "Oh! Yes! Um..." Her horn began to glow brightly, as a point of light in front of her appeared.

As the glowing started to increase, Scott became concerned. "Uh...Rush?" He said, the grip on his weapon tightening.

"Relax Lieutenant," he responded, holding out a hand. "I'm sure we're fine."

The glow grew brighter and brighter, and suddenly exploded in a flash of light, and suddenly levitating where the light once was, was a single slice of cake, on a plate, with a fork.

"Teleportation and telekinesis," Rush said. "Facinating." He started to walk down the ramp, passed the winged creature, and took the plate out of the golden aura.

He started to cut a forkful of the pastry when Scott interrupted him. "Uh, Rush, you sure that's safe."

"Well, It'd be rude to refuse at this point, Lieutenant." He took a bite and simply said, "It's delicious."

The bearded creature took a bite of cake, and smiled broadly.

"Looks like we're off to a fine start," the elder princess said.

"But we can't understand a word they're saying!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"It appears we'll need to learn," the younger princess explained.

Twilight paused for a second, her head buzzing. "Maybe not," she said.

As the aliens started discussing something, Chloe started to walk down the ramp. She noticed the purple unicorn was talking the most. She walked up and as the alien turned back to look at her, she was taken aback. It was at this moment she noticed just how short these creatures were. The top of the unicorn's head was just below Chloe's chest.

The unicorn put a hoof to her chin, and then smiled broadly. She held out a hoof and Chloe responded by loosely grabbing it and returning the smile. She wasn't sure if the handshake was part of the local culture as well, but it appeared to be as the alien responded with a shake. As the former-politician released her new friend's hoof, the creature gestured downward.

Chloe got down on one knee.

"Twilight?"

The unicorn turned to look at her mentor.

"Are you sure this'll work?"

"Of course," Twilight explained. "I read about this spell in one of those books I've found, it's sure to work."

"But is it not over two thousand years old?" Luna asked.

"The book was perfectly legible."

"If you are certain Twilight," the elder princess said.

The unicorn turned back to look at Chloe. She closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. She tipped the horn forward and touched it gently against the woman's forehead.

"What're they doing?" Scott asked.

"I'm not sure," said Rush, as he slowly approached the two.

The glow started to increase, more and more. Until both girls opened their eyes wide, and screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Pain rushed through Chloe's head, as if it was boiling from the inside out. She tried to move, back away, but was glued to the spot.

Scott and Greer reacted, levelling their weapons at the purple alien. But before either could make a single move, the rifles flew out of their grips, across the room, the straps breaking. They started to float in the air, in blue and gold auras, respectively. Both of them struggled within the fields, as Rush ducked for cover. Even if there was no cover to be had.

He witnessed the blue alien scream as she flew over to the duo, not daring to touch them.

Eventually, their screams ended as a bright explosion threw them apart.

The doctor rushed over to the unconscious body. "Chloe...Chloe!" he said, trying to shake her awake.

She slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times, quickly taking in her surroundings. Then, something very odd occurred.

As Rainbow flew over to help Twilight, she noticed her friend was unconscious. Rainbow wasn't sure whether it was the spell, or the impact with the statue she landed against. But she knew she had to wake the mare. "Twilight, wake up!" she said shaking her. "Twilight!"

"Stop!" a voice came behind her. The pegasus turned around and saw the alien Twilight cast the spell on, talking. "Please let them go!" She pleaded with the princesses.

"Ugh." Rainbow turned back to the unicorn, as she woke, rubbing her head. "What happened? Did it work?"

"I think so," the pegasus replied.

Twilight and Rainbow watched as the Princesses lowered the two creatures to the ground, releasing their magic.

As Scott landed on the ramp, he leaned forward and took several deep breaths before recovering. "Chloe?" he said as she got to her feet.

"I'm fine," the woman replied, breathing heavily. "I...I think I just learned their language."

"Really?" Rush asked.

"How?" Scott continued.

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"OH...wow," all four visitors looked at the purple creature at the bottom of the ramp. "I didn't know it worked both ways."

"Twilight?" Chloe could hear the tall, white unicorn ask. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I think I learned their language too," the purple one replied in her native tongue.

"Chloe?" Rush asked. "What are they saying?"

"She's just asking what's going on. Just a minute."

The team's defacto translator stepped forward and cleared her throat before continuing in the local language. "Hello," she said, bringing a hand to her chest. "My name is Chloe Armstrong." She gestured to each of her companions in turn. "This is Doctor Nicholas Rush, Sergeant Ronald Greer, and Lieutenant Matthew Scott. We are explorers from the Destiny, a space ship several billion miles away. We came through the Stargate because we wanted to meet you, and begin peaceful trade. I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot."

The tallest one was taken aback. "I understand," she said, nodding. "I am Princess Celestia-" she was quickly interrupted by the blue unicorn's foreleg, which was held out in front of her.

"Sister," she said. "Perhaps we should allow Twilight to introduce us to these visitors."

"Of course," the elder nodded. "Twilight, would you care to do the honours?"

"OH! Yes princess!" she exclaimed, quickly reverting to English. "Good Evening, my name is Twilight Sparkle." Scott cocked an eyebrow, and quickly shared a look with Greer. "This is my best friend, Rainbow Dash, and it is my honour to introduce you to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of Equestria."

"Equestria?" Rush asked. "That is the name of this planet?"

"I...well...it's the name of this country," Twilight replied sheepishly.

"I see."

Scott stepped down the ramp. "Wait, how did you teach Chloe your entire language so quickly?" he asked.

"Oh, it was a simple language spell I learned just a few days ago, it was in this really old book," the alien explained with a mile-wide smile. "I sorta got lucky. Never thought I'd actually use it."

"Spell?"

"Yes, it was a simple magic spell. Though I think it went wrong, it wasn't supposed to hurt like that. I'm really sorry."

Everyone's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?" Greer asked.

"Of course, it wouldn't be a very good spell if it caused that level of pain."

"No, no, no," Rush explained. "Are you serious when you say it was 'magic'?"

Twilight stood there, wide eyed. "Um...yes?"

Suddenly, the young unicorn felt a hoof tap her on the shoulder.

"Uh, Twilight?" came the voice of Rainbow Dash. "Could you use that spell on me? It's a bit boring not understanding a word you're saying."

"Ahhh-I wouldn't risk it," she said, shaking her head. "It was pretty painful. I think I need to look it over again. Just hold on a second." She turned to the humans. "Don't tell me you've never seen magic before."

"Well," Rush replied. "We haven't."

Twilight was taken aback. "I didn't think that was possible," she said.

"Well, we didn't think magic was possible," Scott said.

"It's not," Rush explained. "It's probably not what we think it is, something we'll have to figure out during our time here."

"Well, how long were you planning on staying?" Twilight said?

"As long as we can," the lieutenant explained. "We were hoping we could stay for a while, visit your cities, explore the sights."

"You're tourists?"

"Among other things," Rush said.

"Well, then I guess it is my duty to welcome you to the great land of Equestria!" She turned to the princesses and started explaining the situation. "Your magesties, our visitors have asked if they could stay and visit our towns, explore the sights."

"That sounds-" Luna began.

"No!" Celestia interjected. "We allow these creatures to wander the cities it could cause a panic. I'm sorry, but I don't think we could allow that."

Luna stood dumbfounded for a second, before responding. "I am afraid you are right sister. It would cause too many problems."

"Oh," Twilight replied, comprehending the situation. She turned her head to the visitors and before she could say a word...

"It's alright," Chloe explained. "We understand. We do the same thing back home. Try to keep the Stargate a secret to avoid a panic."

"Wait! I have an idea!" Twilight exclaimed. "The transformation spell! If we can turn them into ponies it wouldn't attract any attention at all!"

"You have a transformation spell?" the visitor asked. "What else can you do?"

"Um...a lot."

"Would it hurt?"

"No, of course not!"

"Didn't you say the same thing about the language spell?" Rainbow asked.

"Well...um..."

"What transformation spell?" asked Celestia.

"Oh...um...I learned it about an hour ago. Moonlight designed it...it was...um...for one of his films." She smiled sheepishly.

"Well," Luna said. "If you can get that spell to work properly, I see no reason to restrict their access to our land."

"I agree," her sister responded hesitantly. "Twilight?"

Twilight nodded and turned to her newest friends. "Okay," she said in English. "The princesses have agreed to allow you to spend as much time in Equestria as you want, but you can't attract too much attention. So, we'll use a transformation spell to help you blend in!"

"A transformation spell?" Rush asked.

"Uh...I don't think that's a good idea," Scott explained. "Especially after-"

"I'll go!" Greer said, interrupting the officer.

"Wait, I'm not so sure about this."

"Oh, don't worry," Twilight explained. "It's perfectly safe, and you can even turn it off yourself, no worries." She smiled wide.

"Okay, are you sure about this Greer?"

He walked up to the mare. "Yes, sir."

"Alright," Twilight said. "Just...stay still."

Twilight's horn glowed brightly as a bright white glow encompassed the dark-skinned soldier. Twilight's face contorted as she put more and more energy into the spell. Eventually, the Sergeant started to levitate, and everyone was forced to avert their eyes.

On the main floor of the Canterlot Royal Library, in the high-security restricted section. One of the many bookshelves began to move, sliding straight up into the ceiling. One by one, eight ponies walked through the passage. The royal princesses took the lead, followed by Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash. Right behind them followed four new ponies: a purple unicorn with long brown hair, and three blueberries on her flank; a blue pegasus with short brown hair, and a silver star cutie mark; a dark orange earth pony with short black hair, and a cutie mark of two crossed silver swords; and finally, taking up the rear, was a beige earth pony with light brown hair, and on his flank was a mathematical formula, X squared over Y.

"So, where did you say you were from?" Rainbow asked the unicorn.

"The Destiny," she explained. "We've been living there for the past few years, our actual home is much further away."

"How much further?" Twilight asked.

"Another galaxy, billions of light years from here."

Rainbow interjected, "Yeah, but did I hear you say something about it being a space ship?"

"Yeah."

Rainbow squealed. "That is so cool!!!" she said. "A ship that flies through space. I never thought I'd get to see anything like that! Can we go there!?"

Celestia responded, "Let's take this one step at a time Rainbow Dash."

They crossed the final security gate, and entered the main sitting room. Quickly, the dark orange stallion spotted a window, and trotted straight toward it. "Sir," he said, catching the blue pegasus' attention.

Scott trotted over. Through the window they could see a sprawling statue garden, and a starry night sky. "It's nighttime," he said. "That'll take some getting used to."

Twilight trotted straight toward a pile of books that stood in a corner. "I probably just missed something in the language spell," she said, levitating several books away. "If I find that book, I can cast it safely on everypony."

"Did you just say 'everypony'?" Chloe asked, incredulously.

"Yes. Why?"

"...No reason."

"Miss Chloe," the younger princess interjected. "While Twilight is conducting her research, I would like offer you and your friends a personal tour of the royal palace. During that time, we can discuss our future relations."

"Oh, right." She turned to her teammates. "The princess wants to show us around," she said.

"Well, no point in wastin' time," Greer responded. "Lead the way."

She turned to the princess and smiled, "we would be honoured Your Majesty."

"Please, I ask that you call me Luna."

"Yes, Luna."

"OOO!" the pegasus mare exclaimed, flying towards the group. "Can I come?"

"Of course, Rainbow Dash," the princess replied.

"I shall remain here sister," Celestia explained. "I can assist Twilight in finding the language spell."

"Of course." She proceeded out the door, Rainbow and three of the former humans following close behind.

Taking up the rear, Scott noticed a missing member of their party. He turned around. "Rush?" he asked the scientist who was staring at one of the many bookshelves. "You coming?"

"No, no, go ahead, I'll be fine," he said, distracted, waving the pegasus away.

"Okay," he said, before trotting away.

The five ponies trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle. They had already crossed many rooms and many floors; visiting rooms filled with artifacts, rooms filled with desks, and rooms filled with medieval weapons, to name a few.

Most of them assumed the palace would be vacant late at night, but that did not appear to be the case. Chloe noticed several unicorns passing them, each of which set their eyes lingering on the group just a bit longer than was necessary.

"Why are they staring at us?" the unicorn whispered to the multicoloured pegasus.

"Probably because they don't recognize you," she whispered back.

"Don't tell me they're easily suspicious of strangers here?"

"Well, not really, but it does tend to attract attention." Her eyes went wide. "Uh oh."

"I thought attracting attention was the one thing we didn't want to do."

"Yeah, we'll...we'll have to deal with that."

At the back of the procession, a different discussion was going in a different direction.

"It's a bit strange, walking on four legs," Scott said to the earth pony next to him.

"I don't know, I'm gettin' used to it," Greer replied, raising his legs just a bit higher, demonstrating the skills he had developed.

Scott spread his wings wide then quickly folded them again. "You think these things actually work?"

Suddenly, walking next to him, the rainbow-haired alien started talking.

"Huh?"

Chloe turned her head and said, "She's offering to give you flying lessons."

"Uh, yeah sure!"

The unicorn was about to relay the message when Princess Luna, who was leading the procession, suddenly burst through a pair of large double doors.

"Welcome to the Royal Dining Room!" she declared.

It was incredibly large. A single table, ten or twenty feet long, sat in the centre of the room.

"The view is particularly spectacular here," the princess continued, trotting across the room to a large bay window that dominated the rear.

As the entire procession looked out the giant bay window, they could see, not just the entire city below, but a large portion of the land of Equestria stretched out before them.

"Wow," Scott said. "We must be pretty high up."

Chloe and Rainbow Dash started talking, before the unicorn responded. "Canterlot is built into the side of a mountain. It's their capital city."

He simply turned and stared down into the valley below. There were villages, rivers, mountains, and lakes; all very familiar landmarks. The land of Equestria almost reminded him of home. The tiny villas making him think of his hometown of Strasburg. A small and beautiful city.

"Sir?"

Scott swung his head to the left. "Sergeant?" he asked.

Greer remained silent, his gaze steadied forward, into the sky.

As the Lieutenant followed his eyeline, he could see what Greer was looking at. It was a simple cloud, far off in the distance. Normally, it wouldn't have grabbed his attention, however he could clearly see hundreds of points of light within. Not the brief flashes that would be reminiscent of lightning strikes, but the consistent glow of city lights.

Chloe was also staring at the mysterious cloud, as she said, "Luna, what is that?" Pointing toward the object.

"Oh, that is the city of Cloudsdale," the Princess explained. "I didn't know it would be this close at this time."

"City?"

"Chloe?" the Lieutenant asked.

"She said it's a city."

"A city of clouds," Greer said. "They've managed to dominate the kingdom of god."

"We're going to learn a lot from them."

As the others left, Rush was nearly alone, the perfect time for him to get to work. He reached a hoof up, and tried to grab one of the books, even though he had no idea what that book might contain. His hoof slipped off the title. Reaching the top of the spine, he tried to pull it out again. The book fell straight out, and onto the ground. He tried to pick it up off the ground, but couldn't get his hoof to get a grip. There was something he was missing. Suddenly, the book was encased in a red glow, and it levitated. He followed the book to the table where Twilight sat, as she smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you," he said, sitting across from her.

"You're not used to it yet?" she asked.

"I guess not."

She sighed deeply. "I thought the spell would also teach you how to use the new form, but I guess it doesn't work that well."

"Perhaps," he said, flipping through the book.

He couldn't understand the work within, but he tried to use this time to practice flipping pages. A task that was not easy.

"AH HA!" the unicorn screamed. Grabbing the earth pony's attention. "I think I found out what I did wrong."

"What?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"It was so simple!" she exclaimed, turning her own book to face the stallion. "I just missed a crucial stabilization component right here." She pointed to one particular symbol. "Such a rookie mistake, I can't believe I forgot that."

"So you can actually do it right this time?"

"Yep!" she said with a giant smile. "I guess I have to apologize to Chloe."

"Forget that now," he said, standing up. "Let's do it!"

"Now?"

"No point in wasting time Miss Sparkle." He leaned over the table.

"Okay," she placed her horn against the scientist's head, and it started glowing, as both closed their eyes.

This time, as the glowing grew brighter and brighter, neither felt any pain or discomfort. After several seconds, the glowing subsided, and both opened their eyes.

Rush didn't hesitate, and started reading the book before him. "Paper Mache's national health care system was a great boon to Equestria's society, and economy. At the time it was met with much opposition, but many current economists credit this system with the industrial boom that quickly followed."

Twilight rapidly clapped her hooves. "YAY!" she screamed. "I can't wait to show the princess!"

"Yeah, fascinating," he said, too absorbed to bother looking up.

In the high security section of the Royal Library, a single golden-cased hoof was pressed against the simple white panel on one of the gates. As it glowed, and quickly subsided, the lock clicked open, and Celestia trotted through.

She didn't hesitate to approach one of the shelves within. Unlike most of the library, which held properly bound books, this shelf held a series of scrolls. As she shuffled through them, the princess eventually pulled out a single small tightly-rolled scroll, held closed with a single piece of twine.

Celestia slid the string off, and unrolled the scroll, quickly reading the very first line, "Through a passage of water; A ship will appear."

A small smile appeared on her face. As she finished unrolling it, her eyes landed on the very bottom. She stared at the final line for several seconds, before closing her eyes tightly, and rolling it back up. The Princess quietly hid the scroll in her torc, hanging from her neck. She quickly trotted out, through the gate, closing it behind her, to meet up with her faithful student once again.

Chapter Thirteen - Explorers in the Old Fashioned Sense

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The stress on the shoulders of a military commander on an alien ship, billions of light years from home, was high. They were the only group of humans out this far, truly alone in an uncaring and hostile universe. Every day was a struggle to survive for the crew, and had been since they arrived, since they evacuated from Icarus Base, a Naquadria-rich planet in their home galaxy that uniquely held the power to dial the nine-chevron address that lead to this ship. That was over a year before they entered stasis. It felt like a lifetime ago. That first year wasn't so difficult to handle. The crew always tried to make the best of it. The stones helped, allowing them to occasionally visit loved-ones on Earth. But that was gone now. The only hope for the crew to release some stress, was the planet currently being explored by the small away team that had yet to return.

As he completed some paperwork, a strange thought buzzed through the Colonel's head. What was the point? He had no commanders who would read it. They've had no contact from Earth since they left stasis, nearly a month ago. He never told the crew the truth, that he would have expected contact to be made by now, that there was little point in having anyone wait on the stones anymore. But it gave them hope. He had to let them cling to that idea, that they would one day re-establish contact with Earth. Even though he was pretty sure, it was a lie.

The Colonel buried his face in his hands, trying to wipe the depression away.

The radio crackled to life. "Colonel, we have an incoming wormhole."

Young grabbed the radio to respond. "I'm on my way."

He stood up and walked around the desk, leaving the paperwork behind and walking out the open door, hitting the button to close it behind him.

Colonel Young placed his office very close to the gate room, so it took under a minute to arrive, just in time to witness the wormhole connecting.

"Destiny, come in," came a very familiar voice over the radio.

The Colonel responded. "Scott, I assume things went well."

Boone was standing at the console, his eyes went wide.

"Yes sir, it's uh...kinda hard to explain but we learned their language, and they've agreed to start discussing trade."

"Great, what have you negotiated?"

"Well sir...uh-" the radio quickly cut out.

"Scott?"

No response.

"Colonel?" the technician said, staring at the console.

Young walked up and looked at the screen. He could clearly see three aliens, one very tall, shining white with long, ethereal hair; there was also a shorter purple one, whose hair was cropped in what was clearly a bowl cut and she was talking to another dark blue winged creature. He was holding one of the away team's weapons, and one of their radios.

"Scott?" he spoke into the radio.

The blue creature fumbled with the weapon as he tried to hit the call button. "Yeah Colonel, sorry, one of the aliens was handling one of our weapons." The purple one appeared upset. "I was worried about accidental discharge."

"Scott, we have you on Kino."

He looked up at the camera. "Oh, right," he said nervously. "You probably want an explanation."

"To start."

"Um, well, sir, we think they have some type of technology that can alter brain waves and physical forms, Rush is looking into it."

"Okay, that doesn't explain why you look like them."

"Well, they wanted us to maintain a low profile while we're here, this appeared to be the best way to do it."

"Is it safe?"

"I think so, Greer went first, said he felt fine, was even able to turn back on his own. Can't be sure of any long-term effects though, but it seems safe."

Young contemplated the situation. His away team was transformed into alien horses. In all his years in the Stargate Program, it was the most unusual thing he'd seen since...well...

"Scott!" he eventually responded. "Have you asked them about Camile?"

The Lieutenant paused for a second. "You mean her condition? No, sir, why?"

"I need you to tell them everything you can about it. Ask if they can help."

"Yes sir." He could see Scott float over to the other aliens, and talk with them. After several minutes of discussion, the radio quickly floated over to the purple one, encased in a red aura.

"Colonel Young?" the creature spoke. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I think we can help your friends with their illness...Colonel?"

Scott explained, "You have to release the..."

"OH!"

As the radio clicked off, Young responded, "Thank you Miss Sparkle. Our medic hasn't had much luck."

"Well, it does sound familiar, and if I'm right, we should be able to put a cure together in a matter of minutes."

He could see the aliens discussing amongst themselves, when the Colonel realized something. "Is the mike broken?" he asked Boone.

The technician turned from his position, leaning against the stairway that sat next to him. "Uh..." he said, approaching the console.

"Colonel," Twilight eventually came back. "We request permission to come aboard."

"Stand by," he responded. Turning a knob on the radio, he spoke into it again. "James, I need a security team in the gate room."

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant responded.

He turned the radio back and responded to the alien. "How many?"

"Oh, Chloe and Ronald said they wanted to come back, though they are taking a while, and Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, requests an audience to begin trade negotiations, and discuss future relations between our people."

Young saw her mile-wide smile through the Kino footage, as Scott gestured to use the radio.

"Sir," said the Lieutenant as he floated away from the others. "Celestia is their nation's ruler, she's pretty much in charge of everything, she also appears to be pretty powerful."

"What do you mean?"

"Sir, they have some type of...telekinesis, and apparently, she's the best at it."

"Do you think there's a risk, letting her on board?"

"I don't know sir."

At that moment, the Kino picked up two more aliens entering the frame, another purple one, this one with brown hair; and an orange one.

"Sir!" James' voice echoed through the room. She approached, weapon in hand, backed up by five more soldiers, similarly armed.

"Lieutenant, this is just a precaution, I want all weapons at low ready."

"Yes sir," she said.

"They're diplomats, Lieutenant."

She paused before continuing. "Yes sir," turning to her crew, she quietly gave orders. The six member team split into two, each half holding guard on the opposite sides of the path that led to the gate.

Young returned to the radio, "Twilight, permission to board granted, you may step through."

The Colonel took his position in the middle of the path, directly in front of the main exit, to properly greet the dignitaries. This was the first time since they arrived on the Destiny, that he wished they brought through a dress uniform. There were plenty of spare uniforms to go around, but none of them would have been appropriate for the situation. Neither were the clothes he was wearing then, but they would have to do.

The two aliens came through the wormhole, side by side, followed closely by two more, whose identities Colonel Young was almost certain of.

The taller of the two dignitaries had a coat of pure white, as well as several pieces of jewellery, a crown, chest plate, and golden slippers. Her hair flowed freely, despite the fact that there was no wind in the gate room. However it was her face that particularly caught the Colonel's attention. It was an expression of awe, as if she could not believe what she was seeing. It was a look of amazement and curiosity he had not seen since they welcomed a group of colonists from the planet Novus. A world settled by the crew's time travelling temporal duplicates, two thousand years ago. It was sights like these that made him proud to command the Destiny.

The shorter one seemed more focused. Her eyes still drifted, but it was as if she was forcing herself to keep an eye on the Colonel.

The gate shut down with a flash, and the two new arrivals had their attention grabbed by the sudden release of CO2 from the gate.

The purple one turned back, cleared her throat and said, "Colonel Young? My name is Twilight Sparkle, allow me to introduce Her Royal Majesty, Princess Celestia of Equestria."

"Miss Sparkle, Your Majesty," Young responded. "I'd like to welcome you both to the Destiny."

"It's a pleasure to be here Colonel," the taller one declared as her eyes focused on the commander. "I believe we have much to gain from each other."

"Likewise, Lieutenant James will show you to the infirmary-"

"Where Volker, Varro, Morrison and Wray are suffering from a magical illness!" she declared proudly.

The Colonel was taken aback, he didn't have time to ask, so he quickly moved on. "Yes, you said you could help, and I'm afraid time is of the essence."

"We will do our best Colonel," the Princess responded.

"This way," James said as she started down the corridor.

The Colonel stepped out of the way, allowing them to pass. "I'll be with you in a few minutes."

The dignitaries left, and Colonel Young turned to the two other aliens. "Sergeant?" he said, addressing one of them.

"Sir," Greer's voice came from the orange one.

"Do you want to explain to me why you volunteered for such a procedure?"

"Colonel," Chloe's voice came. "We went there to explore, we couldn't do that locked-up in a warehouse."

He looked at the two of them. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Yes sir," Greer said.

"There's a safety feature," Chloe explained. "We can turn back on our own anytime we want. Uh...here."

At that moment, a glow encompassed the brown-haired creature. She started to float up in the air, as the other started glowing as well.

The white figures began to shift in shape as Colonel Young took a step back. Some of the guards in the gate room aimed their rifles while others stood in awe. Young held up a hand, a subtle order to lower their weapons.

They landed on the deck, as the glow faded, revealing Chloe Armstrong, and Sergeant Ronald Greer, in their original forms.

Colonel Young took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I'll have to place you both under quarantine, regardless."

"Colonel?" Armstrong said, surprised by this turn of events.

"To be quite honest, I can't be certain you are who you say you are. Until I am convinced, you will be confined to quarters, is that understood?"

Greer responded, "Yes sir."

"Airman," the Colonel turned to his right, where Dunning stood. "Escort them to their quarters, I want a two-man detail on each of them."

"Yes sir," the soldier replied.

Young quickly left to catch up with the alien dignitaries. Hoping his caution was unnecessary.

A clump of Volker's hair was surrounded by a red glow as it moved out of the way, revealing half his face. He looked directly at the alien in front of him, who had an obvious look of curiosity.

"Do you have any string?" she asked.

"Uh..." TJ turned to a table behind her, opening a top drawer, she pulled out a roll of twine. "Here," she said, tossing it Twilight's way.

She grabbed it in a red aura and quickly went to work, collecting all of Doctor Volker's hair, and tying it back with the twine in a tight double knot. Using a nearby pair of scissors, she cut the rope and let her magic release.

Everyone's eyes were on the twine, as it sat there, silent.

"What are we looking at?" Brody asked, his impatience growing.

Twilight held up a hoof. "Just a second, if I'm right..."

At that moment, Volker's hair developed a faint, light blue aura, and the twine quickly snapped. The hair settling itself around Volker's face.

"Just what I expected," she explained. "It's resisting any conventional method to counteract it." She trotted over to Morrison, scrunching up her face, as she observed him.

The scientist leaned back under the alien's intense gaze.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you."

"HONK!" he screamed.

Twilight's hair blew back, and she recoiled from the force. "Oh," she said. "Well, it looks like I was right."

"So, you have seen something like this before?" Young asked as he entered the infirmary.

"Yes Colonel, I have!" the alien exclaimed. "It was a few years ago, me and my friends...we...um...were following a Zebra named Zecora into the Everfree Forrest. We stumbled into a bed of blue flowers, but we didn't notice it at the time. The next morning we all woke with some weird symptoms, everypony else thought it was a curse Zecora cast on us, but I knew better, I mean there's no such thing as a curse, the very idea is laughable."

"Yeah," Volker said. "Curses are completely ridiculous."

"Exactly," Twilight said, unaware of the irony. "We eventually caught up with Zecora, and she told us it was actually just the blue flowers, called Poison Joke. What we thought was a curse were just little jokes it played on us. So Zecora gave us a cure, a simple herbal bath."

"Are you sure it's the same thing?" Brody interjected. "I mean this plant was found on another planet. The odds of the same plant evolving on two different planets is astronomical."

"Did you not say this Stargate can transport objects between worlds?" Celestia asked from across the room. "Perhaps the Poison Joke migrated through at some point."

"Well, it would have had to have been turned on at some point, and without a remote I don't see how."

Twilight levitated the plant sample over to her, still wrapped in plastic. "Well, it looks like Poison Joke," she said.

"Pretty hair!" Camile exclaimed, as she lay on a cot next the Princess. Her hand reached out and began running her fingers through the ruler's long, ethereal mane.

"Um...Princess?" Twilight asked, nervously.

"It's alright, Twilight," The Princess turned to the curious patent. "What is her condition?"

TJ started walking over. "It's a bit of an odd case," she explained. "At first she was merely vocalizing every thought that entered her head, then she started acting like she was drugged."

Twilight trotted to the patent. "Perhaps she came down with something else."

"Another mysterious magic plant?" Brody said.

"But her Poison Joke symptoms wouldn't go away," Twilight continued. "Unless..."

"What is it Twilight?" the Princess asked.

"Maybe the joke stopped being funny."

"What do you mean?" TJ asked.

"Well, if you're playing a prank, and something goes wrong, they get hurt, you don't continue the joke, you try to stop it."

"You're saying the plant didn't think Camile's thoughts were funny anymore, and decided to just stop?"

"Or find a new joke," Twilight explained.

Celestia responded, "it certainly seems rational, Twilight."

"You're kidding right?" Brody asked.

The princess locked eyes with the engineer.

"...Your Majesty," he continued.

"TJ," the Colonel said. "Can you confirm that these two plants are the same?"

"If I can get a sample, definitely," the medic explained.

"I know exactly where to find them," Twilight said proudly. "I can go back to-"

"-Twilight," the Princess interjected. "I believe I'll need you to remain here."

The purple one turned her gaze to her mentor, slightly confused. "But Princess-"

"Others can recover the Poison Joke, and the components for the cure. We must stay to continue trade negotiations, which, Colonel, I believe we should begin immediately."

A smirk appeared on Colonel Young's face. Things were looking up.

The halls of Canterlot Castle were barely lit as Shining Armor trotted through. It had been several hours since the incident. Since his sister destroyed his brother's work.

He didn't know what to do, at the time, or at the moment. There was nothing he could say to Moonlight to get the stallion out of his grief, and there was nothing he could do to fix it. When he left the hotel room, his brother had barricaded himself in the bathroom, and Shining Armor had no idea what he could do.

But there was another party involved: His sister. He knew she had been trying to talk to Moonlight, and repair their relationship for the past several days. She'd really grown as a mare since she moved to Ponyville and met her closest friends. But the sins of the old Twilight still haunted her. Sins she tried to atone for, but it was all wasted the moment that filmstrip hit the burning embers.

He hated seeing his siblings like this, but he had no idea what he could do. Shining Armor had never felt so helpless.

But at the very least, he could talk to Twilight, try to reassure her, but he had to find her first.

"Armor!"

He recognized the voice instantly. Looking up the Captain saw the smug face of one Commander Nightshade, of the lunar guard.

"Commander," the Captain responded, eyelids lowered.

"What's up!? Aren't you off today?"

"...yes," he said curtly.

Nightshade stared for several seconds. "So...why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I am at home Shade."

"No you aren't, not at this end of the complex."

Shining sighed deeply. "Fine, if you must know, I'm looking for my sister."

"Twilight?" He put a hoof to his chin. "Yeah, I heard she was in town. Well, knowing her, she's probably with the princess, or near a bunch of books...or both."

"Thanks for the uncanny observation Shade," the Captain said, trotting past the Commander.

"Come on!" He declared. "Princess Luna ordered me to report to the royal library. It's the best place to find her."

He stopped in his tracks and sighed deeply once again. He would have to spend time with Commander Nightshade, his least favourite Commander. But he was right about one thing...

The Captain turned around, "Lead the way." he said.

"They're like gecko feet," Rush explained.

"Gecko?" Scott asked.

"What's a gecko?" Rainbow responded.

"It's a type of lizard from Earth, our home planet," the scientist continued. "They have a sticky property that allows them to climb even the flattest of surfaces. They can climb pane glass."

"So with these...hooves," Scott clarified. "We can climb walls?"

Rainbow lowered her eyelids.

"No, no, no, geckos are much lighter than us, all we can do is pick objects up. No need for fingers."

Scott looked at his hoof.

"Why do you seem so surprised?" Rainbow asked.

Scott explained, "Well, this is all new to me, I've never been an alien horse before."

"-Pony," she interjected.

"What?"

"We're called ponies."

Scott paused for a minute. "Humans," he said, bringing a hoof to his chest. "We're humans."

"Humans..." she pondered the word for a few seconds. "Sorta rolls off the tounge doesn't it?"

"Sure..." he responded with a smile.

"Rainbow?" A voice asked from behind the mare.

She turned around, as two stallions entered the room, one she recognized as one of Luna's more unique guardsmen. His fur was a dark grey, his cat-like eyes were bright red, and his leathery wings were folded tightly against his body. But the other she could identify a bit more readily. "Shining!" she exclaimed. "What's up!?"

"Have you seen Twilie?" he asked.

"Um...yeah," the pegasus responded nervously.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Where?"

"Um..."

"Commander Nightshade," announced Princess Luna, as she stepped through the security gate on the other side of the room. "...and...Shining Armor? What brings you here?"

"Your majesty," Shining replied, as he bowed in reverence. "I was looking for Twilight," he continued, returning to his hooves. "Have you seen her?"

"Yes...yes I have." The princess' horn glowed as the main doors to the library slammed shut. "What I am about to tell you is to remain top-secret. Under royal order, you are not to tell anypony about this. Understood?"

Commander Nightshade responded. "'Bout what?"

"We've just been visited by dignitaries from another land."

"...Okay..." Shining said, expecting more.

"I should introduce you to Doctor Rush, and Lieutenant Scott, two of their people."

Shining looked at the two stallions, one of which had his face buried in a book. "Good evening Doctor, Lieutenant," he said, giving a slight bow, as Scott responded with a wave.

"I'm sorry," Nightshade interrupted. "But why exactly does this need to be kept secret?"

She sighed deeply, "a few years after the founding, an artifact was uncovered by a group of farmers, in what was known as the Blue Pine forest. It was a large ring embedded in a stone dias. It has since been kept secret in a secure location. We didn't know what it was, what it did, or who built it...until today." The princess took a deep breath before continuing. "It appears to be some type of transportation device, and just a few hours ago, they stepped through it."

Scott smiled at them, as Rush flipped a page.

"Transported from where?" Shining asked.

"Very far away, another world, circling a different sun."

"It's so awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "They're aliens! We just met aliens!!"

"Humans," Scott interjected.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"...Okay." Nightshade walked up to dark blue pegasus. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out a hoof, and Scott responded with a bump, the same gesture that Rainbow taught him a few minutes ago. "Lieutenant Scott?"

"United States Air Force," he explained.

"Okay," Shining interrupted. "So, where's Twilight?"

"She's on our ship, the Destiny."

"Twilight and my sister are discussing trade between our people," Luna explained. "We are hoping we can learn much."

"Alone?" the Captain asked.

"No, they are with each other. Also, I just received a message from Twilight. She explained that she needs a sample of a plant called Poison Joke, as well as the ingredients for a cure located in a book called 'Supernaturals'. Commander, could you retrieve this plant?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the Commander declared, raising a salute.

"Very good, but beware, this plant is very dangerous. I suggest you don't touch it directly and wrap it in some type of cloth."

"Not a problem!"

"Poison Joke?" Rainbow asked. "Why does she need Poison Joke?"

"It's an odd name for a plant isn't it?" Scott responded.

"I believe several of your crew mates have been affected by it," the princess explained.

"So, it i a plant from here?"

"That's impossible," Rush said, finally looking up from his book. "The odds of the same plant evolving on two different planets is astronomical."

"We saw kiwis and apples out here, what're the odds of that?"

Rush's gaze suddenly softened, as he tried to think.

"Where is this plant?" the impatient Commander asked.

"In the Everfree forest," the princess explained.

"Your majesty, it's a big forest."

"I can get it!" Rainbow said, flying halfway to the ceiling. "I know exactly where to find it! I'll be there and back in-"

"No, Rainbow," the princess explained. "You must remain here."

She stood there confused. "Okay?" the pegasus replied.

"Well, Rainbow," the Commander interjected. "Where is it?"

"Uhhhhh..." she put a hoof to her chin, trying to remember.

The Captain navigated around the two of them, and walked straight toward the lunar princess. "Your majesty," he said. "I wish to see my sister."

"Well, it's just a matter of stepping through the Stargate, but you'll need to get approval from Colonel Young, their commander."

"Yes ma'am."

"Lieutenant, do you mind showing the captain the Stargate and directing him in the use of your radios?"

"Sure," he replied. His gaze turned to Rainbow, who was still talking with the commander. He told himself, when he got back, to remind the pegasus of her offer.

As he trotted down the hall, Shining quickly started following.

"Shining Armor!" Princess Luna trotted up to the captain. "I almost forgot." She touched her horn upon the soldier's forehead, and a bright glow was released. "There," she said, before trotting back to the main library.

He turned around to follow the human, more confused than ever.

The Destiny flew at top speed toward a yellow dwarf star ahead. Shields were at maximum strength for the very dangerous refuelling manoeuvre; and from the ship's observation deck, the gaze of Princess Celestia flowed out over the metal behemoth.

"It's an amazing ship Colonel," she said. Her eyes focused forward.

"Isn't it dangerous, to fly into a star?" Twilight asked.

"Well, the shields are designed for this kinda thing," Colonel Young explained. "It's the only way it can keep flying."

"By flying into a star, collecting a portion of it, and using the power contained within," Celestia explained, distantly. She closed her eyes, and bowed her head. "My little ponies can offer you and your crew much, Colonel: food, water, information, entertainment, room to stretch your legs, whatever you need."

"Thank you," he responded. "Unfortunately, I don't know what we can offer you."

She turned her head, and looked at the Colonel, before turning her gaze back out the window, and smiling. "I'm sure we can think of something," she said.

The Destiny dove into the star's photosphere.

Commander Fentin walked through the corridors of his ship. His crew was busily working about. Manning consoles, investigating artifacts, and just simply working.

He generally didn't concern himself with every little job every single crew member had. In fact, for the most part, he had no clue what most of his crew did. He relied on his lieutenants and department heads to deal with that.

Fentin never saw himself as a great commander, or even a mediocre commander. His skill level was just a bit above good enough, which was good enough for him. He didn't need to be great, he just needed to get by; and as long as he aimed low, he was less likely to fail.

This was his life, commander of one small ship in the Nakai fleet. A position he wasn't even sure he wanted. He never set goals for himself, he never tried to achieve anything. Well, except for one thing, one simple thing: the Destiny.

Right now, it was his only goal. The ship they had been chasing across twelve galaxies. He wanted that ship in the possession of his people. But as time went on, the Nakai commander grew less and less hopeful.

Was it personal for him? Probably. His father's brother was killed in cold blood by one of the Destiny's crew members. But he didn't really know Kitnis enough to really care that he died. His father took it hard, and went on a bit of a crusade, until he led the Kornas and two other ships right into a trap, only the Kornas managing to survive. His father was overthrown from his position, placed in the infirmary, and declared mentally unstable; as his second-in-command orchestrated a temporary alliance with the Destiny. Something Fentin's father would have never done.

Commander Fentin arrived at his destination: the artifact room. The door closed behind him as he pressed the control panel inside.

Not much was contained within, all the more valuable artifacts were held on Admiral Voltas' flagship: The communications module, and the soul-switching stone, among others.

But the artifacts they did have, Fentin was proud of. A small drone weapon sat in the middle of the room, connected to the ship's control systems. It was the only way their army of drone weapons could be controlled, by connecting to one directly. But off to the side, was a more interesting artifact. The Destiny crew called it a Kino. A floating sphere that contained a camera, among other sensors for analyzing a planet's atmosphere and temperature. A probe used to see what was on the other side of a wormhole.

Fentin picked up the artifact. All the important data was already downloaded into the Kornas' memory banks, but something perplexed Fentin. Lieutenant Grevas claimed the sphere attacked him, but such complex movements should not have been possible, given what he knew about the artifact. The solution eluded him. How could this sphere have attacked his second-in-command?

"I think I might be able to help you with that dilemma," a voice came from behind the commander.

He spun around quickly. He should have heard someone enter, but didn't. He was supposed to be alone! But the mere pretense of this voice wasn't the most shocking thing to Fentin, it was the appearance of the voice's owner.

It was a tall creature, but that was the most certain thing Fentin could say about it. He was almost serpent-like, but had arms and legs, and horns atop his head. But the most confusing thing about this creature was it's asymmetry. His right arm was different from his left arm, His right leg was different from his left leg, and the same was true of his horns. It was a perplexing creature, a creature that shouldn't exist, but it was standing before Fentin, he was certain of that.

"Who are you!?" he demanded of the creature. "What are you!? How did you get on my ship!?"

"Oh, none of that is important," he said with a wave of his paw. "What is important is this: I can help you."

Fentin was still in shock. This creature was acting like he was in charge! But that certainly was not the case.

"I don't think so!" the commander quickly proceeded to the nearest alarm bell.

"Ah, ah ah...I wouldn't do that," the creature replied, his pitch wavering.

As Fentin's hand touched the panel, he asked, "Why not?"

"Because you're the only one who can see or hear me. You'll look like a maniac if you tell them I've been running around this ship, when you have no proof, don't you think?"

He let his fingers slip off the panel and walked toward the creature. "What can you help me with?" he asked hesitantly.

"That's the spirit!" The creature declared. "It's simple: I can help you get the Destiny."

His eyes went wide. "How?"

"I know exactly where it's located. I know the best way to board it. I can help you find the time when the crew is at its minimum, and the ship is at it's most vulnerable."

Fentin placed the sphere on its pedestal. "Very well. Give me the coordinates, we'll-"

"Ah, ah ah...not so fast, commander. You don't get something for nothing," the creature said, waving a finger.

"Then what do you want in return?"

"Something you can give me very easily: A planet. A simple planet, with a primitive population. Specifically, my home planet." The creature flew over to Fentin, on a pair of asymmetrical wings. "My dear commander, the offer is simple: You give me Equestria, I give you the Destiny."

Chapter Fourteen - Panacea

View Online

Hydrogen, helium, oxygen, and other trace elements flowed over the hull of the Destiny, as it cut through the bright blue gasses surrounding it.

Twilight sat on a bench in the middle of the observation deck, marvelling at the view before her.

It was only yesterday Twilight managed to identify their location: The Blue Phoenix Nebula. Easily visible from Equestria, and 700 light years away. She had travelled 700 light years in an instant.

And she didn't fully understand how.

None of it made complete sense. Part of her thought this might be some sort of strange dream. But after three days, it finally sunk in. She was very far away from home, but thanks to the Stargate, so very, very close. It was almost paradoxical.

"Twilight?"

She turned to look at the voice beside her.

"Finally separate yourself from the console?" Eli asked.

The young mare giggled.

He wasn't really there, she knew that. As Brody explained it, Eli's body was just a hallucination the ship implanted in her mind. But it was real enough for her.

"I needed a break," she explained. "There's so much information, it's overwhelming. Medical technology, ship schematics, scientific research... I never thought I'd be able to see something so..."

"Cool?"

She responded with a laugh. "I guess so."

Eli sat on the bench beside her. "You know, when I first arrived, I found it a bit overwhelming too," he explained. "The day before I was just playing video games. I was just a slacker, an MIT dropout with no real plans. Then this army general appears on my doorstep and beams me up to a spaceship." He laughed at the absurdity of it all. "And now... it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, and I couldn't have imagined any of it."

She stared at him.

"I told you that story before didn't I?"

She nodded and laughed, before turning back to admire the view. "You know, it is pretty amazing," she said. "I... I kinda wish I could stay, but..."

"The Colonel probably wouldn't let you."

"Well, I'll also miss my friends. How do you handle it?"

"Handle what?"

"Being away from your friends!"

He paused for a millisecond. "You know, I never really had any friends," he explained. "I made more friends on the Destiny, and... Well, I left my mom behind."

She pivoted in her seat, facing the illusion. "Do you miss her?"

Eli hesitated for a second. "Yeah. You know, when we first got here, I... eventually I got the chance to see her with the stones, and... You know, I knew she wouldn't believe me if I told her who I was."

Twilight nodded in comprehension.

"It was fine at first, but... she didn't know what happened to me, she thought I was dead. Started getting depressed, wouldn't take her pills..."

"Pills?"

The young math nerd paused, realizing how few people he actually told. "My mom is... HIV positive, it's a... disease that can kill, pretty slowly if it's not treated."

"Wow."

"Twilight."

The unicorn turned again, as the ship's commander entered the observation deck. "Colonel!" she cried, bringing a hoof to her forehead.

"Twilight, you don't have to do that."

She suddenly felt flushed as she nervously brought her hoof down. "Sorry," she said with a smile.

"Why's your radio off?"

She looked across the room, at the table off to the side. Slowly levitating the rectangular device over to her, she noticed it was silenced. Twilight forgot about that. "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Shining Armor's back, they want to talk to you."

"Yes, sir!"

She passed the Colonel, and started trotting down the hall. Pushing her conversation with Eli into the back of her mind.

In the tiny village of Sugar Cove, the pier was the most hopping part of town. But as the sun began to set, the various storefronts had already started closing up. Which mean't two young earth ponies had very little time to have as much fun as they could.

Running down the streets, with cotton candy in hoof, the curly-maned duo quickly found a small establishment, sitting on a corner, still surprisingly open.

"OOO! That's a pretty big arcade! Let's go there!" Pinkie screamed.

"Yeah! Sure!" Fizzypop replied, unwilling to let another moment of fun pass her by.

As Pinkie ran into the establishment, Fizzypop stopped dead in her tracks. Down one of the side streets, she spotted an orange pegasus, with a bright purple mane, staring at her, stoically.

The mare twitched her hoof, indicating a request for the earth pony to follow, before trotting down one of the many alleyways.

Pinkie Pie had already entered the building, and didn't notice Fizzypop's absence. So, she trotted down the street, following her imaginary friend.

The alley was dark, dirty and cold. It was also empty.

She sighed with dejection, and turned around; only to find herself face to face with Island Rainbow.

"AHH!" Fizzypop screamed. Falling flat on her rump.

"Sorry," the pegasus responded. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She got to her hooves and asked a simple question. "What do you want?"

Island was taken aback. "Are you angry at me?"

Fizzypop didn't think she had to respond. But did anyway. "Yes," she replied, slightly incensed. "You abandoned me."

"I thought you were better off this way. And once Pinkie Pie left Ponyville, I knew you'd be okay."

"What?"

"Fizzypop, I'm still your friend, and I will always be your friend. But now I need you to be my friend. I need your help."

"What?"

"Something big is happening, and it could..." she stopped suddenly, unsure of how to continue. "Sorry, I don't want to put too much pressure on you. I just have a simple request."

"Island," the earth pony replied. "You're scaring me."

She smiled sweetly. "You don't need to be, all you need to do, is go back to Pinkie Pie, and ask her a few simple questions..."

The front entrance to Ponyville's number one blacksmithing emporium swung open, and a young pink filly trotted in, with her head held high.

"So, I assume they're here, as you said," Diamond Tiara said, announcing her presence, in her predictable manner.

"Hey, Di."

The filly opened her eyes, and found herself taken slightly aback by the presence of a mint green unicorn named Heartstrings, standing behind the counter, magazine in hoof.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she continued.

"Where's Caramel?" She asked, slightly confused.

"He's at Sweet Apple Acres."

"What? Are you kidding me!? I come all the way down here, and he's not even here!?"

"Cool it, Diamond Tiara," said her dark gray companion. "You live just down the block."

"It's the principle of the matter," she said, through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and an earth pony stallion entered the shop.

"DT," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," she said, clearing her throat. "I have come for the materials you offered."

"Oh, right!"

"Oh great, not you two."

Following in Caramel's wake were three small fillies. All of whom noticed the young earth pony's presence. But only Scootaloo felt fit to react to it.

"Oh, this is just great! Why are the blank flanks with you?" Tiara asked.

"What is that?" Caramel asked, rhetorically. "They volunteered to help with the mine."

"Yeah," Apple Bloom spoke up. "We're gonna get mining cutie marks! Whadda ya think of that!?"

Diamond paused for several seconds before bursting into hysterics. "That's great! Cutie marks of pickaxes and coal! It'll fit!"

"Diamond," Caramel interjected. "You should know, it's only thanks to them I was able to get those gemstones you wanted so badly."

"Why do you want gemstones?" Sweetie Belle asked, genuinely curious.

"What?" the pink filly responded, suddenly getting nervous. "Umm... I have my reasons. What's it to you!?"

"They're in the back room," Caramel said, before things got out of control.

As she darted into the back of the shop, followed closely by her best friend, the store keep got to work. He pulled a book off a shelf, and quickly began flipping through the tome.

"So, what was that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"What was what?"

"With Diamond Tiara. Why does she need gemstones."

"Why do you think?" he asked rhetorically.

The three fillies looked at each other. Coming up blank.

"Wait... you don't know? What do you think her special talent is?"

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. "Being born rich?"

Heartstrings lowered her book. "You can get a cutie mark in that?" she asked.

Caramel glanced at his flank before responding, "What do you think?" He turned back to the trio. "So, you really don't know?"

They shook their heads.

"You'll have to ask her." The stallion then decided to drop the subject, and focus on the more important issue. "So, If we're gonna try to create some kind of dome underground, it won't be easy," he explained. "Due to the nature of local magic, we might have to design some new spells."

"Really?" Heartstrings asked.

"Sadly, yes. At least, that's what Paradigm told me. Something about the geology in the area effects magic differently."

"It's slightly outside her area of expertise."

"That's what I said!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "We need an expert in magic!"

"Don't say 'Rarity,'" Scootaloo interjected.

The young unicorn was not amused. "Twilight... Twilight Sparkle! It has to be her!"

"But she's still in Canterlot."

"We can send her a letter!" Apple Bloom interjected.

"Yeah, we'll have Spike do it," Scootaloo stated, smiling, and staring at the young earth pony.

She started to lean back. "Scootaloo, what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." the pegasus responded, turning away.

"Didn't Rainbow Dash go with her?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yeah," the pegasus responded. "I also hear Pinkie's pretty broken up about it since the two of them had a pretty nasty fight before she left."

Just then, Heartstrings slowly looked up from her reading, and said, "What?"

"They had a pretty nasty fight. At least, that's what I heard."

She just stared forward.

Caramel looked upon his best friend with concern. "What is it, Heartstrings?"

"Uh... Pinkie Pie. I was... I was supposed to have a date with her two days ago... and I completely forgot!" she screamed, nearly ripping out her mane.

"Wait," Apple Bloom asked, turning to the stallion. "Diamond Tiara's your sister?"

Pinkie Pie found herself lost in the game. A surfing simulator, which allowed her to hang ten on a plastic board, while her on-screen self flew across a blue background.

She was loving it.

"Pinkie?"

The party pony snapped her head in her friend's direction, before snapping back to the game. "Hey Fizzypop, where'd you go?"

"Oh, um... I saw a balloon salesman, but he was sold out by the time I got there."

"Awww..." she cried, as her avatar looped in the air three times before making a perfect landing. "Woohoo!" she screamed.

"So, um... Having fun?"

"Yep, you can play next."

"Okay, umm..." Fizzypop found herself lost in thought before continuing. "So, I've been meaning to ask, what's Ponyville like?"

"Oh, it's nice, I have a lot of friends there. Everypony in town is my friend!"

"Oh, okay, um... what are they like?"

"Everypony?" Pinkie asked. "Well, there's Mr. Cake, and Mrs. Cake. They're bakers, and my bosses. There's also Big Macintosh, huge stallion with-"

"No, no, no, um..." Fizzypop tried to find the best way to word her question. "What about Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash? Did I mention her before?"

"Um..." she suddenly got scared.

"Oh, of course I did!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Well, she's great, fun to be around, an all-around jokester, and the most amazing mare in Equestria."

"I... see..."

"But... well... several weeks ago, we had a bit of a fight, and we never got the chance to make up. I'm a bit worried about that."

"What did you fight about?"

As the board tipped back and forth, Pinkie hung her head. "I told her I loved her," she explained.

Fizzypop's eyes widened, as she quietly said, to herself, "So that's what she meant by that."

"She turned me down, but I didn't take it well and..." she turned to look at her friend. "Promise you won't tell anypony?"

The young mare nodded.

"Well, I got a bit aggressive, and... I guess she did it in self defense and... she socked me in the eye."

"I... see..."

Pinkie sighed as she turned back to the game. Her score kept growing. "I overreacted. I was scared. I shouldn't have been. I just wish she'd forgive me."

"Maybe you should forgive her first."

"For what?"

"For hitting you. She shouldn't have reacted that way."

Pinkie turned back to her friend. "You are smart."

As the party mare turned back to her game, again. Fizzypop asked her final question: "So, besides Rainbow Dash, any other romance in your life."

"Well, there's Heartstrings, she-"

The game's avatar wiped out on the waves. The words 'Game Over' began flashing on the screen.

"Oh... oh no..." Pinkie said.

"What?" Fizzypop asked, with genuine concern.

"I was supposed to have a date with her two days ago... and I completely forgot!" she screamed, tugging at her mane.

"Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh, no! I'm a terrible girlfriend!"

"Hey, it's okay, I'm sure she'd understand!"

"We only started, and I already screwed up! I'm gonna be alone forever!" she cried, collapsing on the ground.

"Um... well..."

Pinkie sprung to her hooves. "I have to head back! Now! Oh, I'm so sorry Fizzypop, I'll miss you so much."

"Let me come with you," Fizzypop replied.

The young mare was taken aback. "What?"

"I have no reason to stay here. I..." She started to feel conflicted. She knew she wanted to do this. But was it for the right reasons, and not just because Island Rainbow asked her to?

Yes.

"Can I come with you?"

Pinkie Pie smiled.

Twilight trotted down the dark corridors of the Destiny.

When she first arrived on the ship, the dark lighting and monochromatic colour scheme surprised her. She simply was not used to such depressing environments.

But over time, she grew to appreciate it. She grew to enjoy the atmosphere of the ancient structure. And learning more about the ship itself, and its history, made her love it even more.

Trotting into the makeshift treatment room, she found herself quite happy to see a familiar face. "B.B.B.F.F.!"

"Twilie," he said, rather curtly. "I got bad news."

She saw a giant furball, standing in the large tank of water. Shining Armor didn't need to say a word. "It still didn't work?"

"Are you sure it worked before?" TJ asked.

"I'm sure it did! We were infected with Poison Joke, and this is the cure that cured us," she trotted up to the tank. "Are you absolutely sure you got the right ingredients."

"I grabbed them myself, Twilie," her brother exclaimed. "And yes, I'm sure I got them from the Ponyville region, just like you did."

"Twilight, we followed the instructions to the letter," Chloe explained, leaning over a copy of Supernaturals. "Even the water didn't change anything."

"Yeah," Volker responded. "About that, I'm not too excited about bathing in pond water."

"Yeah, you can get out." TJ said, dejected.

Brody, who was sitting in a chair on the far end of the room, finally spoke up. "There's still plan A."

"What's 'plan A'?" Twilight asked.

"'Plan A' doesn't work," Young explained as he entered the room. "You said so yourself."

"What is it?"

Chloe explained. "When they noticed the unusual energy field, Brody started working on a way to... neutralize it?"

He nodded in confirmation.

"But when they tested it, it turned the Poison Joke plant into ash."

"Neutralize? You tried to destroy it's inherent magical energy?"

"Pretty much," Brody explained.

Twilight was in shock. "You created an anti-magic ray? That wouldn't cure anything. Every living creature needs it's inherent magical energy. If you destroy it, it would die!"

"But... we don't need that." TJ explained.

"What?"

"Humans don't need an 'inherent magical energy.'"

"That's right," she said in realization. "You've never encountered magic before. So, in that case, removing it from a human shouldn't kill them!"

"You sure about that?" the Colonel asked.

She turned her head. "I think so... yes, I'm absolutely positive. An anti-magic ray should be perfectly safe... on humans!" she added. "Should probably make that clear."

Young stood there, deep in thought, as he considered this new information.

"Twilie," Shining Armor responded. "I think they're gonna need proof of that."

The Colonel was glad he didn't need to say it.

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. "Do you have any alien fruits on board?"

Fluttershy's tears fell on the bathroom floor, as she clutched her stomach in fear. Curled up on the floor, all she did was wallow in her own despair.

She had lain there for nearly an hour. Not knowing what to do, or understanding what everything meant.

The young pegasus had many frightful moments in her lifetime, but none compared to her current situation.

A knock came at the front door. Fluttershy got to her hooves, and turned to the bathroom mirror. She quickly straightened her mane, and wiped the tears from her eyes, before running to answer her front door.

Standing in the doorframe, before a slowly darkening sky, was Fluttershy's best friend, Rarity.

"Fluttershy, how are you?" the unicorn asked.

"Oh, I'm fine Rarity," she lied. "What brings you out here?"

"Well, I brought you a surprise," she replied. Stepping to the side, another mare was revealed, hiding behind her. A mare with an orange coat.

"Hey, Fluttershy," Applejack said.

She just stood there, in stunned silence.

"Um..." the earth pony shuffled her hooves. "Listen, I... I'm sorry for... yelling at you that day... I really feel bad about that--I mean, I was under a lot of stress, and I was worried about Scootaloo, and the farm, and... anyhoof, I'm sorry."

"Aaaaaand?" Rarity said, egging the earth pony on.

"And nothing," she replied.

"Applejack."

"Alright, fine," she turned back to her pegasus friend. "And Fluttershy. I don't regret a thing I said."

"Applejack!" Rarity responded, incensed.

She held up a hoof. "But, I could have said it in a nicer way. I shouldn't have yelled at you, and for that, I'm sorry."

Rarity brought a hoof to her face, before peeking over it to see Fluttershy's reaction.

Tears bubbled in her eyes, and her lips quivered, before she suddenly burst out screaming, quickly grabbing Applejack in a firm embrace.

The two visitors merely shared a look as Rarity shrugged in confusion.

Eventually, the sobs ebbed, and she finally spoke. "Oh, thank you, so much Applejack," she said, between tears. "You're such a good friend!"

"Really?" Rarity replied.

"That's great, Fluttershy," Applejack strained to say. "Could you let go of me now, please."

"Oh!" the pegasus exclaimed, releasing her friend. "I'm sorry."

As the farmer caught her breath, she eventually replied, "It's alright, Fluttershy. I didn't know you had it in ya."

"Um... I guess I do," she replied. "Would you like to come in for tea?"

"I'd love to, but I really have to get goin', turns out I have to find an expert in rock farmin'. Soon."

"Oh... alright," she replied, slightly dejected.

"I'd love some tea, Fluttershy," Rarity responded. "That is, if you don't mind extending that invitation."

"Oh, no, come in!"

"Well, I'll leave you two to it," Applejack said, trotting away. "See ya."

"Bye Applejack," the yellow mare responded, with much enthusiasm, and an energetic wave.

Rarity observed all of this, slightly concerned.

A small dish containing nothing but a bright red apple slowly levitated into the testing area.

"Okay," Twilight declared from the opposite end of the room. "Do it... I guess."

The shield rose, and the primary emitter glowed with an orange light. The energy released, and the apple suddenly liquified in the bowl.

As the energy dissipated, and the shield lowered, Twilight and Brody inspected the result. Sitting in the bowl was a type of stew. Exactly as Twilight expected.

Brody picked up the bowl, and examined it. He walked over to his console, and grabbed a spoon to taste the substance.

"Well?" Young asked.

He shrugged. "Tastes the same as the other canned crap."

The colonel nodded. "Alright, how soon can we do this?"

"Shouldn't take long," the engineer explained. "Though we still don't know if it'll work."

"It'll work," Twilight said with confidence.

"Good, get it ready," the commander ordered. "Twilight," he said, turning to walk away.

The unicorn followed him, and started to speak. "Colonel, I-"

"This is a weapon of mass destruction isn't it?"

His question silenced the young unicorn. Eventually she spoke up. "Um... yeah, it is."

"I want you to inform Celestia of this, and tell her we'll have it destroyed as soon as possible."

Twilight was in shock. "Colonel, I-"

Stopping in his tracks, he explained, "I don't want a weapon of mass destruction on this ship, especially if it could only be used it against an ally. There's too much risk involved."

As they continued walking through the halls of the Destiny, Twilight responded, "That's very generous of you, Colonel."

"I wouldn't call it that."

They walked in silence for a few seconds, before he decided broach the next subject. "Twilight, I have to ask: Is your princess stalling?"

She bit her lower lip in thought. It had been three days since the Destiny arrived, and so far, only Doctor Rush and Lieutenant Scott have been allowed in Equestria. Even though Doctor Rush never left the royal library.

Chloe and Sergeant Greer were allowed out of quarantine the day after they returned to the ship. But Celestia still didn't allow any human to come to Equestria. Twilight still didn't quite understand why.

"I don't know," Twilight explained. "I think she's just... preparing..."

Luna examined the document before her. The one her sister only recently prepared. It was not a long document, but it meant so much.

"Are you sure about this?" The lunar princess asked.

Her sister nodded. "Do you have your doubts?" She asked.

"On the contrary. I'm just wondering if you fully thought this through."

Celestia nodded. "I have."

"Are you certain?"

"Luna," the solar princess inquired. "Why are you so reluctant?"

She averted her gaze. "It's not that I'm reluctant, so to speak, so much as 'concerned.'"

"Regarding?"

"Twilight."

"You don't trust her abilities."

"It is not that... HALT!" she screamed.

Flying across the room, the younger princess landed before one of the royal porters, a pink unicorn stallion with a violet mane. He stood there, stunned.

"That statue is not to be moved."

"Yes, Your Highness," he replied with a bow. "But, I thought we were supposed to clear the gate room of all artifacts."

"You may levitate it to the end opposite the Stargate, but the stability of this artifact is too fragile to risk teleportation."

"Yes, ma'am."

As he levitated the statue away, Luna took in her surroundings. Once loaded with sensitive artifacts, the new Royal Stargate Facility was slowly being transformed into something completely different.

"I'm curious about the logistics, sister," Luna inquired.

Celestia paused. "I have thought about that. We may need to have a second entrance built. Among other things."

"A new secure storage facility."

She nodded. "I have thought of that, but it is a lower priority."

"Is it?"

"This is an opportunity we cannot miss, sister. I thought you agreed."

"Oh, I do. I just wonder... if you're hiding something from me."

Celestia was taken aback. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You have been acting strangely since the visitors arrived. I am wondering if there is a reason for it."

"Luna, there is nothing I'm hiding from you."

Her sister was skeptical, but decided to let it go. As Luna looked around the room, she watched the numerous servants bustling about, preparing the area for dignitaries, diplomats, and explorers.

"I remember, there was a time when nopony, only our most trusted valets, and our most senior guards, were granted knowledge of this room."

"Priorities change, sister."

"I agree, however, I just wonder: Did you ever really trust Twilight?"

"Of course. I never told her about this because she never needed to know. I understand that you felt the need to tell Rainbow Dash, but Twilight never had a reason... until now. It doesn't mean I don't trust her. I always trusted her."

Luna unfurled the scroll, and added her signature. "I can only assume her judgement will remain more sound than it has in the past."

"It will," Celestia responded bitterly. "And thank you."

"I was only doing my duty, sister," the younger princess explained, as she trotted away.

As the princess rolled up the scroll once again, she levitated the Kino remote off a nearby table.

The Stargate came to life.

Twilight sat in the control interface room, enthralled. Page after page scrolled past her eyes. As quickly as she read them, they were gone. But she still wasn't sure if she understood it all.

So many concepts she didn't fully comprehend. The unicorn could only hope that more research would explain it, but she was unsure.

"Twilie?"

She turned her gaze, as Shining Armor entered the room. "Oh, hey B.B.B.F.F.!"

"Hey..." he responded nervously. "How you doing?"

"Great!" She responded with a smile. "There's so much to learn, I may stay here all week."

"Yeah, about that. You haven't left this ship in days."

"Oh, don't worry, Colonel Young gave me one of the empty rooms to sleep in. The beds here are so comfortable, it's amazing. I mean, you wouldn't think..."

"Twilight!"

Her gaze snapped back, as he continued.

"Are you going to talk to Moonlight again?" He asked. "Or are you gonna avoid him by hiding on a ship a million light years away?"

"Ah, 700 light years," she responded smugly.

Shining stared her down.

She cowered slightly. "I'm not avoiding him."

"Yeah, you're just burying yourself in work."

"After I destroyed his."

She spotted the Kino across the room.

"Eli?"

"Uh... wasn't eavesdropping," the machine responded.

"I thought that's all you did," she responded, coyly.

"I'm gonna go," Shining continued. "Remember what I said."

He left the room, as Eli floated toward the young unicorn. "Soooo... What was that about?" the Kino asked.

She brushed her mane aside, as she began to explain. "My younger brother, Moonlight. I destroyed some of his work."

"How much?"

Twilight quickly ran the numbers in her head. "About a week's worth of filming."

He floated in silence.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to!"

"I know," came a voice to her right.

Twilight turned, and on a stool next to her, sat a beige pegasus stallion, with a short cropped manestyle.

Her eyes widened.

"So," he asked, smiling. "Whadda think?"

"I-wha-how?"

"I'm just a computer program Twilight," he explained with a laugh. "I can look like anything, thought I'd try a pony."

A redness appeared on her face.

"You okay?"

"I-I'm fine," she quickly turned back to her work.

"So, whadda think?"

"Um... it's nice," she said, suddenly reminding herself of Fluttershy.

Eli suddenly got really proud of his craftsmanship.

Twilight looked over the database. Pulses of magic danced over the controls.

"So..." the stallion continued. "How'd you destroy some of his work?"

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Okay," he replied. The two of them sat there in silence, before Eli suddenly remembered. "I didn't finish telling you about my mother."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she was really depressed. She thought I was dead. You know how horrible it is to look your mother in the eye, and have her not believe you're you?"

She paused in thought. "No." Twilight tried returning to her work, but curiosity wouldn't let her. "How did you fix it?" the unicorn asked.

"Well, actually, it was Camille, she fixed it."

She turned to look at him.

"She was able to pull some strings, let my mom use the stones. Doctor Park switched with her. She saw me, saw what I was doing. She was happy." His heart welled. "You know, I never thought she'd actually be proud of me, but... to see her... it was..." Eli smiled as he was caught in a nostalgic haze.

"You had the help of your friends."

"Twilight," the radio crackled.

The device levitated upward in a reddish glow, as the unicorn responded. "Yes?"

"We need you in the gate room," asked Doctor Boone.

"I'll be right there," she replied, leaping off the stool.

The stars twinkled over the city of Canterlot. Shining with an unmistakable radiance, as it was accompanied by the slowly rising lunar surface.

The clouds above the city were scattered and numerous. And their presence helped the newly-christened pegasus navigate the otherwise uniform skyscape.

The wind danced past his feathers, with a force to rival the recoil of an M16, as he kept the target in his sights.

Even though Scott only started flying yesterday, he'd already taken to it like a dragon to gemstones.

It helped that he had a great teacher.

The wind rusted across the tips of his ears, and flowed through his mane. His tail twitched slightly, and his wings angled upward, as he circled above and around his target. Quickly shifting his wings again, he came to a stop over one of the many clouds, and froze.

It went against everything he learned as both a child, and adult.

He slowly lowered himself, and as a hind leg touched the surface of the formation, it found purchase. He slowly lowered his front hooves.

It felt soft, but solid, like a fuzzy blanket.

His wings folded up, and he lowered his body to the surface of the cloud.

He took a sniff. It smelled like water, if water had a smell. Refreshing, and a bit comforting.

"Hey!"

He looked forward, and saw a blue pegasus pass through his field of vision.

The weathermare circled around the soldier. "Why'd we stop?" she asked, slightly impatent.

He looked up, and smiled. "Sometimes you gotta smell the roses, Rainbow Dash."

Her gaze swept the area, and she asked, "What roses?"

He didn't know how to answer, so he just looked at the substance below.

As she landed before him, Scott gathered a tuft of cloud in his hoof. He blew ever so gently on it. The wisps of vapour swirled around in a spiral, and slowly settled into a shape resembling a dense flower.

Rainbow scoffed. "That's nothing! Watch this!" She reached both hooves into the cloud, and after a bit of shuffling, pulled out a fully formed model of a kitty cat. She smiled with pride.

"Um... yeah," he responded. "That's pretty nice."

"Nice?" she replied. "That's it?" She turned the object around, and examined it. "Eh, whatever. Cloud sculptures were never really my thing anyway!"

He smiled.

"You know, for somepony who's never flown before, you caught on pretty quickly."

"Well, I trained from the best back on Earth," the pilot explained. "Learned how to fly a 302. It's different not being in a cockpit, though."

"What's a cockpit?"

"Uh..." He never had to explain it before. "It's where you sit when you fly it."

"Er... kay... and the 302, that's those tiny ships you have back home right?"

"Yeah," he replied, quite glad she remembered.

"Okay, this has been bugging me. You couldn't come up with a better name?"

Scott wanted to explain why the US Air Force designated the various models of aircraft with numbers. But the truth was, he forgot. Instead he just said, "Well, what would you call it?"

She paused for a second. "Flying Speed Bird of Metal... Dash!"

He laughed.

Suddenly, Rainbow raised a hoof in the air, and started waving furiously.

Scott followed the mare's gaze.

A dark red pegasus started flying toward the duo.

"Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Kinda."

Twilight trotted into the gate room, curious, and slightly enthusiastic.

The gate snapped closed, and jets of CO₂ shot out the sides.

"Princess!" Twilight cried, as she spotted Equestria's ruler, apparently socializing with Doctor Boone.

"Twilight," she replied, as her student trotted up to her.

They nuzzled briefly, before Celestia quickly got to business. "Come with me, I believe we need to discuss something privately. Doctor Boone, could you please inform the Colonel that we request his presence on the observation deck in a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

She turned her attention to an unarmed Lieutenant James. "I assume you'll still be watching us."

"I'm sure I can just wait outside," she explained.

The two of them smiled, and the princess wasted no time in trotting toward the best view on the ship.

The three of them walked in silence. Not a word was said. And it made Twilight slightly worried.

They arrived without a word, and Celestia closed the door behind her student.

The two of them looked out into the depths of the Blue Phoenix Nebula, a sight that the unicorn was already familiar with.

"Twilight," the princess finally spoke. "I wish to show you something."

From behind her back, the princess revealed a scroll.

Twilight grabbed it in her magic, and unfurled it, before reading it over.

A few seconds later, she finally commented, slightly confused. "Royal Equestrian Stargate Administration..." She looked up in inquiry. "RESA?"

"Yes, Twilight. I think it would be a fantastic idea. The truth is, this discovery will mean a lot more than might be apparent at the moment. We must think long-term. My sister and I have agreed that this is the best approach to dealing with future issues related to both the Stargate, and off-world exploration."

"Off-world exploration?"

"You didn't think we would just stop with the Destiny, did you?"

"I see," the unicorn replied. "Well, anything I can do to help, Your Highness. Count me in."

Celestia smiled. "I'm glad you said that, Twilight. Because RESA will need an administrator."

Silence descended.

"What?" the unicorn asked.

The door at the opposite end of the room opened and Colonel Young entered. "Princess Celestia," he said, greeting the ruler.

"One moment, Colonel," she replied.

The silence only confused him.

Eventually, she reacted. "Me?"

"Yes, Twilight. I can think of nopony better."

The young mare was aghast. "But, what about my studies!? Will I no longer be your student!?"

"Twilight, I'm sure you've realized that you should have graduated a long time ago. And I'm sure your new role as my most trusted advisor will suit you well."

She thought about it for several seconds, before making her decision. "Thank you, Your Highness. I graciously accept."

"I knew you would."

Twilight's eyes drifted slowly to the right. "Oh, hi Colonel," she replied, suddenly realizing he likely didn't enjoy being the only one in the room who didn't know what was being discussed. "Sorry."

"It's alright," he replied.

"Colonel, I believe it's time for us to discuss a few things," the princess gestured toward the nearby table.

As the three of them sat down, Twilight still not certain of her exact role in these proceedings, Celestia quickly initiated the discussions.

"Colonel, I've looked into it, and there is much we can offer you. You said your crew needs a chance to stretch their legs."

"Honestly, it's getting kinda cramped on this ship."

The three of them shared a small laugh.

"Well, that won't be an issue. But it will require the use of the transformation spell."

"You sure that's really necessary?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sure your crew might be reluctant, but we can assure you it's perfectly safe. I had several of my best magematicians go over it, they can't find a single flaw in the structure."

Twilight's head snapped toward the princess.

"I see... Well I'd like some of my own people to go over it as well."

She nodded. "Of course. I'm sure Twilight can provide it to you. Now, there's also food, raw materials. I've even decided to offer you the services of anypony you wish to help rebuild your garden, as well as conduct any repairs to your ship. I understand it's not exactly in perfect working order."

He laughed slightly. "We make do."

"Of course. But with the use of unicorn magic, we might be able to make this ship as good as new again."

"Well, you're very generous, Your Highness. I'll take that into consideration."

She merely nodded, stoically.

Young smiled. "I assume you're not gonna give us this stuff for free."

"I would. A group stranded so far from home, in need of assistance, it would be wrong to take advantage of your desperation. But there is something I would like to ask for in return."

"And what's that?"

"A ship, Colonel. We want a ship."

Chapter Fifteen - The First Ditch

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"So... you're... in charge of it?" Rainbow asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah!" the administrator replied, quite enthused. "I'll be in charge of exploration, scientific endeavours, special projects. Anything related to the Stargate will fall under RESA's perview, and I will be running RESA. This is so exciting!"

"Yeah, congratulations," Rush said, slightly annoyed. "Now, can you leave... please."

The alien leaned over a large magical tome, as he tried to stare them down. His desk was cluttered with various magical implements, some more complicated than others.

It intreaged Twilight how much interest the psuedo-earth pony was taking to the magical arts. But his natural scientific curiousity, combined with the fact that he'd never seen magic before, and add to that the supposed 'mission' that led them here; it should have been expected. Which is why she was so glad she suggested giving him a spare room in the castle to use as a research lab during his time in Equestria.

"So... Rush. Learn anything?" the unicorn asked.

The mathematician sighed. "Nothing that helps me learn what magic actually is," he explained. "Only what it can do, which is a lot."

"What do you mean, 'what magic is'?" Rainbow asked. "It's magic!"

"But it has to obey the laws of physics," he explained, slightly incensed. "Which means there is some mechanism, something doing whatever it is magic does. It had to come from somewhere."

Rainbow merely raised an eyebrow in confusion.

It was then that Twilight noticed something strange. "Where's Bright Sword?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking up from his book. "Oh, I turned him into a rabbit." he explained, pointing to a far corner of the room. "Haven't found a way to turn him back without a unicorn. Do you mind?"

Twilight didn't hesitate to wrap her magic around the sleeping bunny, and quickly destabilize the magic, causing him to instantly wake up, and revert into the unicorn stallion he was just a few hours ago.

"You okay?" she asked.

Sword was slightly distressed. "Yeah, just, check on us more frequently, will ya?"

"Not a problem." She turned to the amateur mage, and said, "Play nice, Rush," before leading Rainbow out of the room.

"Hey, by the way," the pegasus said, nudging her best friend. "I saw Red today."

Twilight looked at the mare curiously. "Maybe you should see a doctor about that."

"What? No, Red Rain," she explained. "Moonlight's friend."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you didn't tell me you were hiding out on the Destiny so you could avoid your little brother."

"I wasn't hiding out!" she responded. "I was just... Working!"

"I haven't seen you in three days, Twilight. You've been on that ship the whole time!"

"It was a stubborn case of Poison Joke. I had to keep working on it."

"So, you're saying you weren't avoiding him?"

She froze. "Alright, fine, I was avoiding him! But it doesn't matter, I'm gonna make it up to him! First thing tomorrow!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "How?" she asked.

"With a little help from my friends!" she explained with a smile.

"What?"

Scott trotted through the familiar halls of the Destiny.

As his hooves hit the cold metal floor, he realized just how different his pony body actually felt. The cold breeze that ran through the ship ruffled through his coat, and along his wings. A sensation that was drastically different than what he was used to.

Being in a different body wasn't a totally foreign experience, the Ancient Communication Stones allowed the same thing. But that was still human.

Even still, this was his body. True, it was shaped differently for the time being, but for some reason, it still felt familiar.

Ahead of him, Scott saw another pony trot through the hallway, directly toward him, accompanied by one of his own soldiers.

"Shining Armor," the lieutenant said.

"Lieutenant Scott?" Airman Dunning inquired.

"Yeah," he replied, as he started to float a few feet from the floor.

"Sorry, sir, it's just..."

"It's alright, Airman. What's goin' on?"

"Oh, just heading back home. Wanted to make sure the Poison Joke cleared up first but..."

Scott was intrigued. "Did it finally work?"

"Not really. I don't understand how, but I think they're wiping all magic from their bodies. It's pretty drastic for a cure, didn't want to stick around."

"Oh," he said, nonplussed.

Realizing the implications were lost on the alien, Shining continued. "Twilight said something like that would kill a pony; but apparently, they'll be fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I got to go," he explained, trotting past the Air Force officer. "My wife is probably worried."

"Yeah, I'll see ya."

"Sir," Dunning said, as he left his superior's presence.

Scott continued on his way.

"You alright?"

A pair of brown eyes eased themselves open. "Colonel," Wray responded, as she brought a hand to her head.

"Headache?" Young asked.

She nodded.

"How're you feeling?"

"Better than I was," she replied, with a chuckle.

"Colonel," Lieutenant Johansen said, as she approached the commander. "Seems the treatment works."

"I don't know about that," Wray rebutted.

"There are a few side effects. But I don't think there's any permanent damage."

"You sure?" her commander asked.

"Honestly? No. I still have to run a few tests."

Young was not happy.

"Well, we knew there'd be risks, sir."

"Lieutenant?" Brody said, from across the room.

"Excuse me," the medic replied.

T.J. walked past her other patients. Volker's five-foot-long mane was tied back in a ponytail for the time being. But Morrison was in the worst shape, evident as he started coughing up a ball of bloodied mucous into a tray.

"We ready?" she asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be," the engineer replied.

"Alright, let's do it."

He started adjusting the controls. When suddenly, the lid of Brody's anti-magic chamber slid shut, like some type of glass sarcophagus, as the inside was suddenly bathed with a bright yellow light.

As the energy faded, it took a brief second for the Colonel to fear the worst, when suddenly, the miniaturized figure inside took two seconds to quickly, and violently, return to his normal size.

"GAAAAH!" Varro cried, briefly, shocking everyone in the room.

The coffin lid receded as T.J. approached her patient. "Are you alright!?" she asked, slowly helping him up.

"Like my bones were about to pop out of my skin," he explained.

"That's probably because they were about to."

He slowly climbed out of the chamber, cringing with every move.

One of the infirmary's many doors slid open, and in the door frame stood a dark blue pegasus stallion.

"Scott?" Young asked.

"Yes sir," he replied.

"Authentication Code?"

He hesitated briefly before replying, "five-four-eight-two-six-seven-three."

He nodded. "Where's Rush?"

"Uh, he said he was busy, sir. I could go back-"

"No, no, it's fine, shut the door."

As he approached the switch, he could see two humans approach from just around the bend.

"Sir," Greer said, happy to see his commanding officer, and closest friend. "How're the wings workin' for ya?"

"Rainbow says I'm a natural."

The Master Sergeant laughed as he walked into the room.

Chloe entered in his wake, and the lieutenant pressed a button, shutting the door behind them.

"Alright," the commander began. "Now that everyone's here. Celestia made us an offer: Everything she could possibly provide."

"What's that mean?" Wray asked.

"To start, food, supplies, time off the ship. Everything we asked for."

"I can only think of what they want in return."

"Well, she wants us to maintain a low profile."

"You mean the transformation spell?" T.J. asked.

"Are we seriously calling it that?" Volker responded.

"Yeah, and I'm a little hesitant on that," Young replied.

"No way," Morrison responded, blood staining his chin, his voice raspy and hoarse. "This stuff is way too dangerous, I don't want it anywhere near me."

"Well you can stay here then. Though I'm wondering if I should allow anyone to go," the Colonel explained, his eyes on his chief medical officer.

"Well, I don't see any danger, sir."

A loud cough resonated through the room. "Are you kidding!?" the scientist cried, before spitting up a throatful of bloody flem.

"Morrison, you need to rest your voice."

"You see what this stuff did to us?"

"That was a completely different spell," Scott rebutted, raising himself in the air. "Poison Joke is supposed to mess with you."

"Well," T.J. continued. "There's also the fact that the transformation seems to be easily reversible. There doesn't appear to be any lasting effects."

"There's also another issue," replied the Commander.

Shining Armor trotted through the metal halls of the Destiny, eager to return home, to his loving wife.

Cadance still had no idea what was going on, what he was doing. It felt wrong keeping it from her, but he had no choice. He was under orders.

Not only that, she was a princess. Shining still could not understand why a Princess of Equestria was being kept out of the loop. Celestia was being cautious... unusually cautious.

He wanted to know why.

As he rounded one last corner, and trotted down the hall leading to the gate room, he saw a strikingly familiar form, sitting.

Celestia sat in front of the dormant gate, strangely silent.

He entered the room, and was quite surprised to find it otherwise empty. "Your Highness?"

She didn't react, visibly. "Shining Armor," she said. "I assume they told you what they're about to do."

"Actually, I think they already did it," he explained.

She turned her neck, so one eye faced the soldier.

"Well, looks like you're good here," Dunning said.

"Yeah, I'll... um..."

The Airman walked away, leaving the two ponies alone.

"Is everything alright, Your Highness?" Shining continued, trotting toward the princess.

She paused for thought as he sat down next to her. "I must admit, I am a bit worried."

"You don't trust them?"

"No, it's not that. I'm certain they're friends, there's no doubt about that. I'm worried about something else."

He paused, rephrasing his next question in his head. "What?" the captain asked.

She smiled sweetly. "It's not important," the princess replied. "So, did their plan work?"

"I... don't know, I left before they started," he explained.

"I see..." she said, pensively. "Colonel Young said he will destroy the device very soon."

"Well, that's good."

The princess shuffled uncomfortably. "Are you heading back to Equestria?"

"Yes, ma'am. Unless, you need me for something."

"No, it's fine," she said, returning to her hooves. "I'm sure Cadance is worried about you."

"Yes, about that, Your Highness, I have to ask: Is there a reason you're keeping her in the dark?"

She paused in shock before responding: "Yes."

As Celestia trotted toward one of the control consoles, Shining merely stood there in confusion.

"They want a ship?" Wray asked, with genuine confusion.

"Did you mention we don't have one to spare?" Brody replied.

"They know that," Young explained. "They want the technology to build a ship."

"Well, that's good isn't it?" Chloe asked. "It won't cost us anything."

"That's not the issue," Camile rebutted. "We can't just hand over technology freely like that."

"Well, come on," Volker replied. "We all knew they'd ask for some type of technology, we don't have much else."

"Colonel, it's IOA policy not to release any military technology to less advanced cultures."

"Well, they're not asking for weapons," Young explained. "Just a ship."

"Still..." she replied hesitantly.

"I know... that's why I haven't made my decision yet."

His eyes scanned the room, as he waited for someone to respond. No one did.

"Okay, first thing's first: Can we do it?"

"Designing a spaceship isn't that complicated," Brody explained. "The problem is everything else: Artificial gravity, life support, shields, hyperdrive... I mean, they don't even have computers!"

"Yeah, I think we can do it," Volker replied.

"What?" the engineer asked out of genuine confusion.

"Well, I'm not saying it would be easy, Brody. But we could at least get them started on the right track."

"Alright," Young responded. "Volker, you're in charge."

Dale was lost. "What? Really?"

The colonel merely nodded.

"Colonel, I still think it's a bad idea."

"They're not at war with anyone, Camile," he replied.

"The only reason we have that policy back home was to prevent us from shifting the balance of power in the galaxy," Chloe explained. "There are no other powers here."

"We don't know that," Wray explained, slightly incensed. "And what about the other nations on their planet? Give one a ship, who knows what they'd use it for."

"Scott, what do you think?" Young asked.

The imitation pony scratched his head. "Well, sir, I don't see them bombing other countries, if that's what you mean."

"The Eurondan case," Camile stated simply.

"What's the Eurondan case?" a disembodied Kino asked.

"It was back during the early days," the colonel explained. "The SGC was contacted by a war-torn planet. They requested a technological exchange, and we were about to go through with it until we learned the war started when they attempted mass-genocide."

"I don't think that's gonna happen, sir," the lieutenant replied. "I haven't seen anything that was remotely war-like."

"They don't have a military?" Greer asked.

"Well, yeah, they do, but... they don't actually use it... I think..."

"We should at least check them out a bit more," Wray proposed.

The colonel nodded. "Agreed. We'll handle this carefully, and slowly." He looked across the room, at one of the few individuals who remained silent during the discussion. "Scott, I want you to head back and keep an eye on them. Ask about any wars or conflicts they might have had."

"Yes, sir," the pegasus replied, before floating over to the door switch.

"So," TJ asked. "If we don't agree to this. What's next? I mean we're gonna run out of food, sir."

"Well, Rush'll be disappointed," Wray replied.

"Actually, that's the weirdest thing," he explained. "I don't think she's gonna hold out on us."

"What?" Camile asked, skeptically.

"She said she doesn't want to take advantage of our desperation. So, I don't know."

She didn't let the colonel know it. But suddenly, Camile found herself much more trusty of their four-legged allies.

On a single cloud, high above the city of Canterlot, a young pegasus sat. Her blonde mane rippled in the wind as moonlight bounced off her pure white coat.

The full moon shone high above her, and the only sound came from the streets below. It was the perfect place to contemplate.

Sunny Stars brought a bottle to her lips and drank, allowing the alcohol to purge the horrid thoughts from her mind.

"Hello, Sunny," said a voice from behind her.

She didn't bother to look. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to make sure that scene you pulled wasn't merely a cry for attention," she explained. "But you seem to be sincerely distressed."

Sunny turned to see the baby blue princess, settle on the cloud beside her.

"I just hope you know that there's nothing you can do about it." Her smug expression and attitude only angered the humble pegasus.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Princess Resonance laughed. "I'm a princess," she explained. "Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

Sunny threw her bottle onto the streets below. "I don't know." She slowly got to her hooves. "But I do know one thing: I'm gonna fight for him, and there's nothing you can do to stop that. You don't deserve him, you don't love him and-"

She stopped, and realized she was suddenly looking down on the much taller actor.

Everypony's eyes turned to the director, sitting in a balloon, his gaze adrift, as Solitude, the pegasus playing Princess Resonance, slowly sank deeper and deeper into the cloud.

"CUT!" screamed the cameraman.

"Wha? Huh?" Moonlight cried, coming out of his daze. "Oh, um... Yeah. Cut!"

Solitude wrestled herself out of the firmament.

Red floated over to his best friend. Concern in his eyes. "Dude, you alright?"

He rubbed his forehead and said, "Yeah, I'm fine." he replied. "Take five everypony!" the director ordered. "And somepony fix that cloud!"

The newest member of the crew, and chief gaffer, flew over to the balloon. "You alright?" 'Spotlight' asked.

Moonlight looked at the pseudo-pegasus' eyes, and said, "Yes."

"Stop lying," she replied, taking a position in the balloon.

He released a deep breath, and simply said, "Why are we even doing this? Without the scenes from Pensacolta we can't finish the film anyway."

Red scoffed. "You're giving up that easily?"

"Without investors and a new shooting location, we got nothing, and I don't see anything like that about to fall into our laps, do you?"

His companions were speechless.

"We've exhausted all possible avenues, what's the point in shooting anything?"

"I am not giving up, and I'm surprised you are!"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Moonlight cried, incredulously.

"You remember how you got your cutie mark!?"

He merely turned to look at his flank before closing his eyes and saying, "That was different."

"I don't see how!"

Spotlight stared at the director for several seconds, before turning to her other friend. "Red, go check on the scenery, see if they fixed it."

He opened his mouth to object, before stopping himself, and flying off.

She scooted closer to her best friend, and said, "It's not just the film, is it?"

Moonlight looked at the pegasus, slightly confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"It's just, I don't think I've seen you this apathetic before. I figure it has to be something else."

"Like what?" he replied, slightly irritated.

"Twilight," she replied simply. "Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah, we had a lovely talk about how she destroyed my work," he replied, slightly sarcastically. "Of course I haven't. What would I say to her? And what the hell could she say to fix any of this?"

"That's not really the point, Moonlight."

"Then what is the point?"

"Well, for starters, to clear the air so you're not continuously bothered by it," the former dragon explained. "It's a distraction. You can't keep going on like this."

"I'm not, I'm fine!"

"No you're not!"

The unicorn remained silent.

"Look, after we're done here, we can-"

"Scales, can you and Red handle this without me?"

She found herself taken slightly aback. "Um... Yeah, I got a few more hours and I already know what you're looking for, should be fine."

"Good." His horn started to glow as he manipulated the controls of the balloon, which slowly started to lower.

Scales jumped out of the basket, as her best friend slowly lowered himself back down to Equestria.

The Stargate came to life, suddenly catching Rainbow Dash's attention. She looked up from her reading, and her wings started to flutter in excitement.

"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" Luna asked, sincerely.

"Huh?" she replied. "Oh yeah, why?"

She slowly trotted toward the young pegasus. "Oh, no reason."

As the wormhole was established, Rainbow quickly trotted toward it, but found herself disappointed when Shining Armor trotted through the gate.

"Oh," she reacted.

"Rainbow Dash," he said. "What's up?"

"Oh, a lot."

"Good evening, Shining Armor," Luna replied. "Is everything well?"

He sighed. "I think so, Princess Celestia stayed behind."

"Very well," the princess nodded solemnly.

"Hey, Shining," Rainbow interjected. "I got a question."

"Oh? What about?"

"Well, you know your brother better than anypony, and... he's pretty stubborn right?"

He laughed. "You have no idea!"

"Yeah..." she responded nervously.

Rainbow quickly flew across the gate room to the long table sitting in the middle. It was cluttered with remotes, and a box containing a few deactivated Kinos. Gifts from the Destiny crew. And among all that, Rainbow lifted a single sheet of paper.

"Waddaya think!?" she asked.

Shining Armor levitated the document toward him, and began reading.

"Twilight said she wanted to make everything up to Moonlight. And she wrote it all down."

His eyes ran across it. And the moment he finished, Shining thought about how it would all play out.

"Well, it's a good idea, but he won't accept it."

"What? Why not?"

"Moonlight can be very prideful," he explained. "He won't accept charity. He refuses to accept charity."

Rainbow glanced at the paper. "It's not really charity," she explained.

"Yeah, but that's not how he'll see it. He'll see it as some type of sympathetic royal hoof-out. Trust me, he won't accept it."

She sighed, dejected. "But you're his brother, can't you talk some sense into him?"

"Doubt it... but..."

"What? What is it!? WHAT!?"

"Rainbow, calm down!" he exclaimed, as the pegasus got too close for comfort. "There is one pony who can. She's sorta the only one who's always managed to talk some sense into him."

"Well that's great!" she exclaimed.

"No, it's not..." he said, begrudgingly.

It was an immutable fact of the universe. No matter what the circumstances, everyone needed downtime.

After hours of researching magic, and it capabilities and limitations, Rush found himself agitated and restless. His research had hit a stalling point, a point he couldn't get past. He needed to get outside, he needed fresh air.

Which was the precise reason he found himself on the streets of Canterlot, accompanied by one of the few guards that were aware of their existence.

"So, where exactly am I allowed to go?" he asked as they exited the castle gates.

"Wherever you wish, sir," the guardspony replied.

He knew they were supposed to remain inconspicuous, which only confused the scientist, since his escort was not a typical pony.

He knew of the three main pony races: earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. But the lunar guardspony, with their leathery wings, and reptilian eyes, were anything but inconspicuous. At least, that's what he would have assumed.

"Is there some type of pub in the area?"

He bit his lip in thought. "Pub..."

"A place to buy alcoholic beverages."

The soldier turned to look at Rush. "I know what a pub is," he explained. "There is 'The Watering Hole,' small little bar, just down the road," he replied, pointing down one avenue, directly in front of them.

"Lead the way," he replied.

The soldier stared at him.

"Or, I will," he said, before trotting down the boulevard.

A bell dinged in one corner of the Apple Family kitchen, prompting Apple Bloom to extract yet another pie out of the oven.

"Are you sure this is enough, Granny?" she asked, after setting the dish beside the two dozen identical pastries.

"You can never have enough apple pie, Apple Bloom," the elder pony replied. "Just because Applejack thinks we can get along with nothing but those rocks, doesn't mean we abandon what we know."

"I don't think she thinks that, Granny."

"Doesn't matter!" she exclaimed, returning to her mixing bowl.

Apple Bloom returned the oven guard to her mouth, and extracted the remaining dishes. One by one.

"So, how's that young dragon fella doin'?" the elder earth pony asked.

She placed another pie on the counter, and removed the guard. "You mean Spike?" she asked. "He's fine." She returned the guard, and trotted to the oven, again.

"You keep visiting him every day."

"Twi-rah rah rah rah!"

"She asked you to make sure he's okay," Granny replied with a smile. "And he is."

She dropped the last pie onto the counter. "I know, but I don't want him suddenly getting worse. He needs a friend right now."

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Yes, Granny!" she replied, slightly exasperated.

"Alright, sugarcube," the elderly pony replied, letting the subject settle.

"You and Scootaloo," Apple Bloom quietly muttered, as she closed the oven with a gentle buck.

And, as Granny Smith examined the remaining pie crusts before her, she came to a sudden realization. "Oh, horseapples."

"What is it, Granny?"

"Seems we may be short a pie or two. I think I only have enough filling for three pies, not four. Must've miscounted." She was visibly unsettled. Upset that something like this would happen. "Oh, well. No big deal, we'll just finish off these three, and call it a night. Wadda ya say!?"

"But, one of the crusts'll go to waste."

"Oh, don't worry about it Apple Bloom, it's nothing we can't reuse another day."

But suddenly, something popped into her head. A thought she wouldn't let go to waste. "Actually, Granny, I have a better idea," she said, before galloping out the door.

Moonlight leaned against the counter, staring at his beverage.

This was not planned. But as he got closer and closer to the royal castle, he found it harder and harder to move. Thankfully, The Watering Hole just happened to be near by. So he ducked inside the mostly empty establishment, glad to get away.

Music echoed off the walls. Some type of jazz, played by musicians he'd never heard of.

The only other noise came from a small group of locals, chatting away.

Moonlight hated the Canterlot night scene, and was quite thankful he found such a quiet location. The boisterousness he found at most hotspots always annoyed him.

He leaned his head against one hoof, as the drink levitated to his mouth. The fog of alcohol hit his mind, exactly as he intended.

A door opened.

The sound registered in his mind, but Moonlight did not react. He didn't even care.

"Quiet place," one voice said.

"Yeah, normally it's a bit busier," another voice replied. "There must be some event elsewhere in town."

The two ponies trotted toward him. His eyes focused on the glass.

"What can I get you gentlecolts?" the bartender asked.

"Gentlecolts?" one of them responded. "Um... I'm not sure yet."

"Excuse me," the other voice came. "Mister Sonata?"

Moonlight turned to look at the stallion. "Do I know you?"

"Um... no, sir," he replied. "But I know your brother."

A guardspony. Moonlight looked him up and down, likely a member of the lunar guard.

"Please don't call me 'sir,'" he replied.

"Yes, s-" The soldier froze, and found himself trapped. He merely smiled.

"I'm sorry," the other stallion responded. "Moonlight Sonata?"

"Yes," he replied, slightly annoyed. "Do I know you?"

The stallion laughed. "No, I just... I'm familiar with your work," he explained. "The transformation spell."

"What?" he asked. "Who told you about that?"

"Well, your sister did."

"Really?" he asked, slightly confused, and concerned.

"It's an amazing piece of work."

"What did she tell you about it?" Moonlight asked, trying to hide his nerves.

"Well, she said you designed it for one of your films. Seems like a lot of effort for something so mundane."

Relief washed over the unicorn. "Well, it wasn't that complicated. I based most of it on changeling magic." He gently shuffled his glass.

"Nickel Rush," the stallion said, holding out a hoof.

Moonlight responded with a bump. "Pleasure to meet you," he said. "So, why did she tell you about the spell?"

Rush froze. "Well, it just sorta came up. I was interested. I'm with a group of researchers from Australneigh, we're here for a few days, discussing a scientific exchange."

Moonlight nodded. "I see," he said. "Well, have fun."

As the unicorn turned back to his drink. Rush slowly trotted away.

One thought echoed through his head: Why?

A pair of reptilian eyes stared across the hall. A sight that would strike fear in many ponies.

But Silver Shield barely reacted. She didn't blink, didn't shudder, she merely smiled. "Insult you?" the pegasus replied. "I'm just merely stating a fact. You have no need for that land. It's a heavily forested island, we both know you have no interest in such a location."

"It is our land!" the dragon shouted. a voice meant to strike fear in any pony.

But as her assistant shuddered. Silver kept her cool.

"Oh, please, ambassador. You want to get rid of it. I know you too well. And I happen to know of one territories in the area that will help you save face: Issamari."

He leaned back slightly. "I've heard of it."

"An active volcanic island, very large, populated by much wildlife, and limited vegetation. I'm sure such a trade would be more than fair."

"Oh, an entire island?" he said, slightly sarcastically. "Just for us? Well, are you certain the Princess would agree to such an exchange?"

"I don't think I need the princess to agree. It'll get done."

"Really? Because I've heard of your demotion, Silver Shield."

Her eyes narrowed. "There was no demotion," she replied.

"Wasn't there?"

Her teeth gritted behind closed lips.

"I'm not too sure. I mean, you seem to be offering us so little in exchange for such an exciting location. I would have thought the Chief Magistrate of Equestria would give more than just a single island."

"Don't insult me Scarax," she replied.

"Insult you?" he replied. "I'm just merely stating a fact, you lost a lot of power that day. It must have been horrible for you."

She stood up, and in her most demanding voice said. "I want Tryssia."

"We all want a lot of things."

"Take Issamari, it's a good deal."

"I'm not too sure."

"We've known each other way too long, Scarax. Why would you try something you know won't work?"

"Oh, I think you know why," he replied.

They stared at each other for what felt like hours to those around them.

Eventually, the tension was broken. "We'll take Issamari. You can have Tryssia and all those Tryssian ponies. They've become quite a nuisance anyways."

As the dragon slithered out of the hall, the great door closing behind him, Silver Shield and her assistant, Solid Scribe stood alone.

Silver slowly collapsed under her own weight, onto the table before her.

"Ma'am," Solid asked. "Are you alright?"

Her muzzle was buried in her hooves. "Give me one minute," she replied.

As the Magistrate righted herself, she quickly got back to work. "Alright, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

Solid suddenly remembered, what he arrived in the room to tell her, while in the middle of negotiations. "Oh, yeah, um, I got a message from Sparkling. She said something about the 'Twelfth Section.'"

Silver's interest was peaked. "What about it?"

"Apparently it's being moved."

"Moved!?"

"Yes, ma'am it... started a couple days ago."

The dull white pegasus found herself quite confused. "Why would they move the Twelfth Section?"

"Ma'am, I don't even know what the Twelfth Section is."

"Right, you wouldn't." She started tapping her hoof. "I need you to see that Ambassador Faze finalizes the deal."

"What? But ma'am-"

"Everything's taken care of, the documents just need to be signed, and the Ambassador's signature is just as good as mine out here," she explained before trotting away. "Scarax knows that."

"Um... Yes ma'am, but... why?" he cried as he galloped behind the Magistrate.

"Because I need to head back to Canterlot."

"Why?"

"Because Celestia's hiding something from me, and I need to find out what it is."

"Why?"

She snapped her head in his direction.

"I mean... why do you think she's hiding something?"

"Solid, can you make sure the deal is finalized?"

He nodded.

"Good." Silver Shield trotted away.

Destiny was an amazing ship. Packed with technologies that few could understand. And no one knew that better than Eli. Even after decades of being fully immersed in the ship's computer systems, he still couldn't control all of it.

Navigation was still beyond him, and he still didn't understand how the FTL drives worked. But he gave up on those a long time ago. The most interesting bit of technology he found was the one he only recently found a use for: Destiny's Neural Link.

For 27 years everyone on the ship was asleep, and non-existent according to the system. But now that they were awake, he learned he could have some fun.

At first, he started to project hallucinations of himself to his crew mates... but only one at a time.

Then he started to create simulations that they could enter. But it would only work when they were asleep.

Recent repairs to some data lines in the ship allowed him to use the link on more than one person.

And recently, he learned how to start reading the minds of his crew mates.

It was very easy to do. Part of the system's basic protocols were to do simple sweeps of every crew member, regularly. He could pick up their at-the-moment thoughts that way. But he never recorded them, not without their permission. It would be a horrible invasion of their privacy. But the neural analysis would always pick up a clear message from everyone. Or, at least it used to. And right now, the one exception sat in the middle of the Gate Room, as she had for the past hour.

Her mind was a cacophony. Just a mess of disparate thoughts, jumbled together. Part of him thought it might be because she was of a different race. Who knew just how different pony brains were? But Twilight's mind always gave off a clear signal. So that was unlikely. So, perhaps it was only her. Perhaps it was uniquely Celestia. But, why?

Two new minds entered the room. Through the lens of a Kino, he could clearly identify the new arrivals. Colonel Young, and T.J., approached the princess, as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Colonel," she said. "I wanted to talk to you."

"I was told," he replied.

She got to her hooves, and turned to face the commander. "Twilight told me you're planning to destroy the anti-magic device."

Young nodded. "Yes, now that everyone is cured of Poison Joke, we don't really need it. And it's capabilities as a weapon make it much too dangerous."

"A weapon," she mused, quietly, to herself. "I ask that you don't!"

He paused briefly. "Your highness, I hope you don't expect us to trade for it."

Celestia was momentarily shocked by this statement. But she replied quite simply. "Of course not. But it was a very useful tool for your people, and I have no fear of you using it against us."

"Celestia, I don't want a weapon of mass destruction on this ship," he explained simply. "I'm sure you'll understand."

"Well, if you can invent this, I don't see why others could not. I'd rather we had a defence against such a thing."

"If this falls into the wrong hands, there won't be time to find a defence."

"Colonel, I'm asking you not to destroy the anti-magic device. Not because I want it, but because..."

Suddenly, something in her mind coalesced. Something that Eli could understand.

"... It's hard to explain exactly. I just don't believe you should destroy it. Your people put much effort into building it, and you might find it useful in the future. I just don't want you to destroy it because of us. Please."

The Colonel stopped to think about the situation. He lifted a radio from his belt. "Brody, come in?"

"Yes, Colonel," he replied.

"Did you wipe the memory core yet?"

"No, why?"

"Hold off on it for now. We're gonna wait a bit."

Silence was all that came through for several seconds, before he finally replied, "Okay."

As he returned the radio, the princess responded. "Thank you, Colonel."

"Don't mention it. Is that the only reason you stayed behind?"

"To ask you to keep the anti-magic device? Yes."

"Well, then, before you leave, I have to ask one thing."

"What is it?"

He started to pace around the princess, "You said you wanted all of my people to have this 'transformation spell' used on them."

"I understand that your people are not used to magic, Colonel. But I assure you there is no danger."

"We still like to take as many precautions as we can." As he stopped in the middle of the room, Young's mind started buzzing. "Back during the early days of the Stargate Program, one of our teams were given armbands that enhanced their abilities, made them faster, stronger... but after a while it affected them in other ways."

"How so?" She asked, with genuine curiosity.

"Their judgement. They defied orders to go to a steakhouse."

She raised an eyebrow.

"The point is, we didn't expect that. It was supposed to affect them physically, and it affected them mentally. We just want to take every precaution. Which is why before I let anyone else on this ship transform, I want to test it myself."

Celestia processed his statement. "You would like me to cast the transformation spell on you?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Alright, Colonel," She replied, taking a few steps back.

Colonel Young took a stance, and prepared himself. "Is there anything I need to do?" He asked.

"Just stand still," she replied.

At that moment, a golden glow encompassed her horn. She focused her mind on the spell, and directed it straight toward her ally.

She could hear footsteps coming up behind her, as T.J. watched intently.

He began to float upward, in the air, and his entire body started to glow brightly.

His form shifted quite dramatically. And just as suddenly as it began, the spell cut off, and Colonel Young landed on all four hooves.

T.J. quickly walked toward her commander. "Are you okay, sir?" she asked intently.

He brought a hoof to his head. "Yeah, I'm fine," he explained. "Little dizzy."

"It may take a while to get used to it," Celestia explained.

He nodded in comprehension.

T.J.'s eyes brushed over the Colonel's new form. His dark brown mane was a perfect reflection of his previous hairstyle. His coat shined with a dark yellowish hue, matching the feathers on his wings, which struck the medic as particularly odd. He stretched out the new appendages, giving them a single flap. Finally her eyes landed on his flank, where they lingered. "Nice Tattoo," she commented.

He turned his gaze to the mark on his rear.

"That's your cutie mark," Celestia explained. "Every pony has one, it represents your special talent."

"Special Talent..." he said.

"Yes," she elaborated. "What you're meant to do with your life."

His eyes lingered on the mark. An image he found strikingly familiar. An image he worked with on a daily basis. An image that nearly defined his life for several years.

A single chevron from a Milky Way Stargate.

He smiled.

In the magical land of Equestria, the Stargate came to life.

The single guardsman in the gate room, quickly did his duty, and levitated one of the radios. "The Stargate is activating," he announced, to all who could hear.

The wormhole connected, and a tall, pure white pony stepped through the event horizon, with her head held high.

"Sergeant," she said, addressing the soldier.

"Yes, your highness," he responded, bowing in reverence.

"Can you please tell Twilight that I wish to speak with her.

"Yes, ma'am!" the radio levitated to his mouth. "Miss Sparkle?"

"Yeah?" her voice emanated through the device.

"Princess Celestia just returned, and she wishes to-"

Suddenly, a bright burst of magic snapped into existence in the middle of the room, leaving a single unicorn behind.

"... speak with you," he finished.

"Princess!" she exclaimed, rushing toward her mentor. But her stern expression caused her to stop midway. "Is everything alright?"

"Sergeant, could you please wait upstairs for us?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

After they were left alone, Celestia quickly got to business. "Twilight, when you cast the transformation spell, did you notice anything unusual?"

"I... I don't understand," she replied.

"Anything that struck you as unusually easy?"

Twilight paused for a brief moment. "Well, it is an extremely complex, and powerful spell, but it doesn't require much force while casting. Now that you mention it, it is a bit odd."

"But that spell was only cast on our guests," she mused. "Was it not?"

... and one dragon, she thought. "No, only them. Is there something wrong?"

"Before I left, Colonel Young asked me to use the spell on him, before he would allow anyone else to be subjected to it," Celestia explained. "And when I did... it felt too easy. It was as if he just absorbed the spell like... a sponge."

"Maybe that's how transformation magic works."

"But that's the bizzare thing. It was only him," she continued. "When I cast it on Miss Armstrong, it took a bit of effort for the spell to take."

"Really?"

"Did you not notice?"

"Noooooooo..." Twilight replied. "Actually, with Greer and Rush, it did take quite easily."

"And I'm willing to bet Luna would say the same thing."

"Princess?"

But her mind had already drifted, filled with curiosity and concern.

The Destiny's mess hall was usually one of the most popular areas of the ship. A place for eating, socializing, and relaxing. Normally packed to the walls, it was quite atypical to see the room completely empty.

But it was an atypical time.

News of Equestria, the land of magic and ponies, had spread throughout the ship. News which many were still trying to process. And few had more to process than Dale Volker.

Poison Joke, A plant that couldn't exist, yet did. Evolving on two different planets, light years apart, which was impossible, and yet...

He witnessed first-hand what magic could do, and he did not believe it.

It was times like these the normally outgoing astrophysicist found joy in solitude. He wanted to be alone, so he could think. So he was glad to find the mess devoid of life.

A glass of pomango juice, mixed with Brody's moonshine, was enough to dull his senses.

He'd seen strange things before. There was the shape-shifting rodents on M47-296, the talking trees on P7C-483, and since he arrived on Destiny, things had only gotten weirder.

But nearly nothing compared to this... nearly nothing.

"Hey, Dale," came a voice.

He turned, and saw Chloe Armstrong enter the room, making a beeline for the bar at the opposite end.

"How is everything?" she asked, grabbing a single space apple, out of a small bowl.

He turned back to his papers. "Fine."

As she sat next to him, with a smile, an apple, and a glass of juice, she quickly initiated conversation. "So, Colonel Young said he's gonna let everyone go down to the planet." She bit down on the fruit.

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Tomorrow morning, everyone'll gather in the gate room, and we'll have the spell cast, and head through."

"Great."

Her head tilted with curiosity. "You alright?"

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Let me guess: You're weirded out by this 'magic' thing."

"What?"

"A lot of people are," she explained. "You don't think it's actually 'magic,' do you?"

He shook his head. "No, that's... no..."

"Well, I'm excited, I know that," she replied. "It's a nice place."

He remained silent.

Chloe leaned back, and took another bite. She turned her gaze to Volker's work, when something caught her eye. She leaned forward.

Volker noticed his companion looking quizzically at the documents before them. She turned one of the pages toward her. A transcription of the writing he found on a planet two galaxies ago.

Her lips started to move.

"You alright?" he asked.

She glanced at the astrophysicist. "I... um..." she stammered. "I think I can..." She straightened herself slightly and said, "Research Base Fire Tree Storm, Spider Galaxy."

"What?"

With slight fear in her voice, she explained, "I think I can read this."

Chapter Sixteen - Morning Glory

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It took a few days for the crew of the Destiny to adjust to Equestrian time.

When they first arrived on Destiny, Colonel Young insisted the crew keep their watches synchronized with the clocks on Earth. Twenty-four hours long, sleep during the night, work during the day. But once they awoke from stasis, without contact from their home planet, they had nothing to synchronize with. Young determined the time, almost arbitrarily, by saying the moment they woke was their first morning. But at the time, it did not matter one way or another. They were alone, on a ship in deep space. Day and night were meaningless out here. Artificial constructs he insisted they maintain for the sake of the crew's sanity. But now, things changed, and he decided to take advantage of it.

Equestria had a 24-hour day, much like Earth; incredibly lucky for them. But at the time they arrived at this new world, the ship's clocks were nearly eight hours behind Canterlot's. So Colonel Young did the logical thing and had Destiny's clocks adjusted to match. Unfortunately, it really messed up everyone's sleeping patterns.

But now, four days later, they were finally used to it. And at this moment, at 5:35 in the morning, several people on the ship were packing the bare essentials in anticipation of the Colonel's final decision.

A decision he still hadn't made.

A knock came at his door.

"Come in."

The door cog quickly spun, and came to a sudden stop before the door slid open, and Lieutenant Tamara Johansen stepped through.

"You're looking good, sir," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Not under some sort of mind control, T.J.," Young replied. "So that's my worst fears out-of-the-way."

He shuffled his hooves across his paper-strewn desk, sliding away the mission reports he was only tangentially regarding.

T.J. pulled out a stethoscope as she crossed the room, readying herself to begin a proper examination.

In order to fully test out the ramifications of this 'transformation spell,' Young made the executive decision that he would remain in pony form until he was fully assured there were no unusual side effects. This was his final opportunity to discover something wrong with the spell. He didn't want to disappoint his crew, by depriving them of the opportunity to visit this new and mysterious land. But he also didn't want to send them into danger. He was responsible for their well-being. Which meant he had to take every precaution to protect them. And right now, this bizarre procedure, the one that turned him into another creature with the wave of a horn, required every precaution.

T.J. placed her stethoscope on the Colonel's chest. "Deep breath," she said.

He did so as she intently listened to her commander's lungs. She moved the stethoscope around his chest, looking for any anomalies she could decipher. While she never listened to a pony's chest before, she determined a safe assumption would be to treat it just like a human chest, with the same ratios, and the same functions. Finding nothing unusual, she pulled the stethoscope out of her ears, and threw it over her neck.

"So, nothing unusual?" she asked.

"No," Young replied.

"Any pain or discomfort?"

He shook his head.

She stood up, and decided to pack her stethoscope away, in her medical pack.

"How are the wings treating you?" she continued.

The colonel shuffled nervously. "Fine," he responded. "Is this a normal part of the examination?"

She shrugged, "Well, Celestia estimates that a third of our crew will be getting wings, I think it's a good idea to know how well they work."

He nodded.

"Have you tried them out?" she asked.

He looked around. "It's not like there's a lot of room to fly around here, T.J. ."

She crossed her arms and gave him a shrug. "Well, you could probably just... hover."

Young considered her statement, and quickly slid off his chair before trotting around his desk to the centre of the room.

T.J. watched as the colonel got into position. He shuffled his wings, and slowly began to spread them out. Turning his head around to observe the new appendages, he quickly gave them a good flap.

Noticing there was nothing obviously wrong with the wings, he gave another flap. He wasn't trying to take to the air yet. Just examining them for any flaws, and testing their performance. He knew flying with what could only be described as bird-like wings, was quite different than flying in a much larger fixed-wing aircraft. However he still felt the use of his old fighter pilot training would come in handy for this. The standard flight inspection was always a crucial step in flying any aircraft, and he felt this was no exception.

Finally satisfied that his new wings were at their best, he was ready to take flight. He looked to the left. T.J. was still watching him. Fixing his gaze forward, he tried to suppress the nerves, and thought, this is an odd way to find out I get stage fright.

He took a deep breath... and another... and another... and realizing he was stalling, decided to just go for it.

Colonel Young closed his eyes, and flapped his wings. Finding he could still feel the cold metal floor of the Destiny on his hooves, he quickly gave another flap... and another... and very quickly he found himself floating up in the air, as if all the weight had left his body. As he continued to flap his wings, he noticed they weren't doing all the work. Something else was assisting them. It felt much like the last time he went on a space walk. Despite the fact that he was using mag-boots, holding him to the surface of the Destiny, he could still feel himself floating in zero gravity within the Ancient environment suits. And he felt a very similar feeling at that moment. It was more than just wing power that allowed him to fly.

He continued to slowly flap his wings, as he adjusted himself, turning slowly toward his chief medical officer, who just smiled in approval.

"Looks like it works," he casually explained.

A knock came at the door.

He turned around.

"Colonel?" Corporal Barnes said, peeking her head around the door frame.

"Yes Corporal, I'm still me."

"Yes, sir," she replied. "They're here."

"We'll be right there," he responded.

The corporal quickly nodded and left, as Colonel Young lowered himself to the floor.

As he continued to adjust his wings, T.J. asked, "so, you ready?"

He was still unsure. "I don't know T.J. ..." he explained. "Something about this doesn't sit right."

"You don't trust them?" she asked.

"No, it's just..." he paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's almost too easy, you know? I just keep on expecting the first shoe to drop."

"Personally sir, I think we're due for a break," she explained, quickly reminding him of all the near-misses and almost-disasters they've been through.

"It's not just that," he replied. "It's just..." he quickly re-examined things, "It's just too... weird."

"It's been weird since we arrived in this galaxy," she explained.

"...Since we arrived on this ship," he countered. "You think I'm worrying for nothing?"

"Well, sir. You know I'm excited to get off this ship as anypony."

Young perked up. "What?" he asked, turning toward the medic.

"Bit of the local lingo Chloe mentioned, thought I'd try to get used to it."

He nodded, returning to his thoughts.

They were offering time off the ship. They were offering supplies and man---or ponypower. They were offering anything they could possibly provide. It was too good to be true. Was it?

He sat down on the floor. The cold metal floor of the Destiny. The place that had been their home for well over a year, not counting the 27 years they spent in stasis. This ship was where they lived... laughed... and loved. But that was only because they couldn't go home... to their real home: Earth. So, perhaps 'home' was the wrong word to describe Destiny. Perhaps... it was more like a prison.

"Colonel?"

Young's body began to glow, as he shifted back to his human form. Standing up straight, adjusting his uniform, he was ready. He made his decision.

"Let's go," he said.

Dale Volker and Chloe Armstrong sat across from each other in the otherwise empty mess hall. Volker was excited. For the first time in nearly a year, he was finally making some progress on the markings from the obelisk on 'Eden.'

It was only a few months after they arrived on the Destiny, when the ship dropped out of FTL near a star that wasn't identified by the records sent back from the seed ships. The only explanation was that the star only existed after the seed ships had left the area; and given the star's apparent age, that could only happen if the star was an artificial construction. It meant the star was somehow built; by someone, some entity.

Only a single planet orbited the star. A planet which both him and Chloe, along with several other members of the Destiny crew, spent a month on, as the ship took a parabolic course around the star. The month they spent there was like a dream. It was almost paradise. But what interested Volker the most about the planet was the sole structure they could identify; An obelisk over 600 metres tall. Volker knew that made it taller than any building back home. But the most interesting point was the writing surrounding it.

He took as many pictures as he could, along with detailed notes and scans. Because, while he was sure that there was something more to this, he couldn't find a way inside. That left the writing as his only clue to the purpose of the obelisk.

But there was one hitch in this plan: he couldn't understand the language. No one could. How could they? It was a language from an alien species they've encountered neither before nor since.

But oddly, today was the day that changed.

"So it's a research base?" Volker asked.

Chloe nodded. "Mainly for stellar observations of a nearby nebula," she explained. "At least... I think."

His excitement was palpable. "This is brilliant, Chloe," he exclaimed. "We haven't even gotten a hint at what any of this stuff was until today." He started going through his folders, looking for more stuff she could translate.

"Dale," she exclaimed, slightly nervous. "You're missing the point: This makes no sense."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't Equestrian," she explained, pointing at the document. "This isn't any language I've seen before."

Volker considered this for a second. "Well, Twilight did that... spell on you. Maybe it taught you other languages as well."

She paused, considering the possibility.

"I mean, how many languages did you know?"

She collected her thoughts for a second. "English, Spanish, bit of Thai, German..."

Volker found himself taken aback.

"... Nakai and Ancient."

"Well, maybe Twilight knew a few more languages as well."

Suddenly, a voice boomed throughout the ship. "Attention all crew; this is Colonel Young. All those willing to visit Equestria are to report to the gate room in ten minutes. I repeat: All those willing to visit Equestria are to report to the gate room in ten minutes. Provisions will be provided for on the planet, so please remember to pack light. That is all."

They looked at each other. "I think I know how to find out," Chloe exclaimed.

Moonlight and Scales sat in the elevator. Not a word passing between them. Scales had already spent half the morning styling her new mane, which slightly annoyed her companion. But she knew there was more to his frustration than her lengthy beauty routine.

"Look, I'm just surprised you chickened out," she explained.

"I didn't chicken out!" Moonlight exclaimed.

"Well what would you call it?"

He sighed. "I would call it 'just not wanting to see my sister.'"

Silence descended once again.

As Moonlight thought about the night before, he could only think about that pony, Nickel Rush. There was something odd about him; odd about the whole situation.

"Scales," he said.

She turned to face him.

"Do you trust Twilight?"

She thought about it. "Well, Shining certainly does. I don't know, I didn't know her for that long."

"But do you think she'd put... you... in jeopardy?"

She tilted her head. "I really doubt that."

He considered this. "Probably not without a really really really good reason."

She looked at her friend.

"... extremely good reason," he continued.

The elevator jolted to a stop. The doors opened on the ground floor, announced with a single chime.

Scales wanted to continue their conversation, curious about what he meant, but knew it would have to wait. They trotted through the door, and turned left to enter the lobby. Their plan was simple: get to the shooting location, and get to work. They had three scenes to film today, and knew there was the potential for each of them to take up most of the day. But they would only know once the work began, which they were eager to do.

Unfortunately, a wrench was immediately thrown in those plans, the moment Moonlight looked in the lobby. For within, he spotted the one pony he simply didn't want to see this day, or any day. But he realized there could only be one reason why she was here.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," he lamented.

Scales cocked her head. "Is that...?"

Moonlight decided to get it over with. He trotted toward the mare.

"Good morning, Moonlight," the princess said, with a modicum of annoyance in her voice.

"Cadance," Moonlight replied, his voice dripping with venom.

"Hello," Scales said, introducing herself to the situation.

Moonlight realized, with a sigh, that he was forced to do the honours. "Cadance, this is Bright Spotlight," he said, introducing the two mares. "Spotlight, Princess Cadance, my sister-in-law, I guess."

"I'm really sorry you couldn't make it to the wedding," Cadance replied.

"I'm not," Moonlight responded with an insincere smile.

"I know," she replied similarly.

"Pleasure to meet you," 'Spotlight' said, offering a hoof.

"Likewise," she said, grabbing her hoof, and quickly realizing how bad an idea it was, as she suddenly felt a crushing sensation in her fetlock.

"You're a really lucky mare," she said, with even more venom than Moonlight. "You know that?"

Cadance wrestled her hoof out of the pegasus' grip. "I'm sure."

"What are you doing here, Cadance!?" Moonlight asked, with a tone of pure annoyance.

The princess sighed. "I came... to give you this," she explained, levitating a scroll out of her saddlebag.

She passed it to Moonlight, who unfurled and quickly started reading it. Shock appeared on his face. "What in the holy hell is this!?" he asked, incredulously.

"This is your sister actually trying to help you."

"I don't need any help," he replied, shoving the scroll into her chest. "Not from her, and not from you."

"Oh really?"

"What is it?" 'Spotlight' asked with genuine curiosity.

"It doesn't matter, because we're not taking it," Moonlight explained.

"Take it," Cadance rebutted.

"I'm not taking your damn royal hoof-out."

"Oh, you think that's what this is?" she replied. "Twilight destroyed your film rolls, and now she's trying to fix it, and you just call it some type of hoof-out!? This is her trying to make amends."

"Emphasis on 'trying.'"

Cadance's frustration was growing. "Yeah," she explained. "'Trying' because you'll still have to do the filming work. Is it perfect? No. But at least you'll be able---you'll be capable, of finishing your damn movie."

Moonlight let out a chuckle of exacerbation.

"And you know, at least she's trying to fix things. She's making an attempt. When have you ever tried!?"

He released another laugh.

"... for the benefit of another pony."

Moonlight turned his head, and locked eyes with his enemy. "Oh Cadance," he said. "You have no idea..."

"I'm sure I don't..." she replied.

They stared at each other, for what felt like an eternity. Scales could feel the tension in the room. This was the first time she saw Moonlight interact with his sister-in-law. She knew they didn't really get along, but she didn't know it was to this extent. It was clear to her, the fact that they were in a public place was the only reason they were both still breathing.

"It's either this," Cadance explained. "Or your company goes bankrupt."

Moonlight, in his anger, grabbed the document in his magic, and crumpled it up in a little ball. He continued to stare at her, hoping she would flinch... but it didn't matter. Because this was one of the many reasons he hated Cadance; no matter what they were arguing about, nine times out of ten, she was right... about everything... and this was not one of the tenth times.

"Damn it!" he said, through gritted teeth. "When's the next train to Ponyville!?"

"You got two hours."

He uncrumpled the document, and quickly rolled it back up. "Spotlight!" he exclaimed. "I need you to go to the location, get Red, tell him to meet us back here."

"Why?" Scales asked.

Moonlight turned back toward the elevators. "Because we have to do a bit of location scouting," he explained, removing her saddlebag and placing it atop his own. "And I need to promote Red to Director so he can finish filming without us. And after all that, I need to punch my brother in the gut for siccing his wife on me."

"Get in line," Cadance responded with a plastered smile.

He turned to his friend. "Go."

She quickly proceeded out the front doors.

The irritated unicorn trotted to the elevators, quickly entering one that was already being evacuated. "And Cadance!" he shouted, getting the princess' attention. "Eat me!"

"You first!" she replied with a smile and a look he hadn't seen in a very long time.

Moonlight shivered as the doors closed.

T.J. kneeled against the cloning pod, and brushed a bit of condensation off the window. The interior was just an opaque, yellowish-white sludge; The nutrient-rich fluid that would provide the materials needed for the clone to develop. The biodegradable scaffolding was in place; which would guide the clone's tissue to develop properly, in the right shape. The ship's power was providing energy to the bio-electric stimulators; which would accelerate growth, keep it alive, and ensure the new body didn't suffer from muscle atrophy. The built-in neural interface was installed, which wouldn't actually be used for another two years. And earlier that morning, T.J. finally placed the early-stage cloned blastocyst into position, which would eventually grow into a new, fully formed human body.

For all intents and purposes, her work was done. All they had to do was wait.

"So, Eli, excited?" She asked, turning to face the illusion of her friend.

"Yay..." Eli responded, boredom in his voice. "New body..."

"Sorry, I thought you'd be happy but..."

Realizing he sounded ungrateful, Wallace walked over to the medic, and tried to explain himself. "No, no... no, T.J. ... it's not that I don't appreciate this. I do..." he began. "I mean, you're making me a clone body, that's... I mean, A: that's cool! And B: thank you."

She gave him a smile of appreciation.

"It's just..."

His gaze shifted over to the other side of the room, where a similar pod lay. T.J. worked on both of them simultaneously. So, her work on this clone was also complete. And that's what troubled him.

"You're saying I should've just forgotten about her?"

"No, it's just..." he paused to collect his thoughts. "She's still stuck in quarantine, T.J. ..."

"Well, you have two years to get her out," she replied. "Plenty of time."

"But that's just it, I already worked on this for 27 years," he explained, as a touch of anger hit his voice. "I know, it's easy for you to forget that, since you were asleep the whole time."

T.J. bowed her head, as a tinge of guilt hit her.

"But I've been awake, alone, working on this for 27 years."

"I thought you made progress-"

He laughed. "Yeah, but I'm not even halfway," he explained, with pure frustration. "There are dozens of really complicated security locks I still have to crack, and a lot of them... I have no idea where to even start!"

"Eli!"

He turned to look at her.

"You'll figure it out."

He scoffed. "Well I'm glad you have faith in me."

"Eli," T.J. began, standing up and approaching her friend. "Before we went into stasis, you were the smartest person on the ship. Now, you're a part of the Destiny, and possibly the smartest... anything in the universe. If anyone can figure this out, it's you."

"And if I can't? Then what? No one will?"

T.J. didn't know how to answer that.

"... that's what I thought."

He vanished. Leaving the medic alone with her thoughts.

She turned her attention to the other cloning pod. Hopefully, Eli was wrong, and by the time the body was ready, Ginn's mind would be free, and she'd be able to enter it.

But until then... all they could do was wait... all they could do was hope...

The Ponyville Library was intended to be a place of quiet contemplation, and education. But since Twilight Sparkle, and her loyal assistant Spike, took up residence in the building a mere two years ago, quiet was not a word that could always be applied to it.

Bustling music blared from the Victrola in the corner of the main room: acoustic guitar, percussion, and a groovy bass line. And a young dragon was sure to pattern his chores to the beat.

High up on a ladder, with a feather duster in his claw, Spike dusted the shelves in time to the music. And in order to truly enjoy himself, allowed his voice to join in.

"I came upon the crossroads yesterday..." he sang, shaking his hips. "I met her on a ship just west of Sweetroll Bay... We ate crepes and we played on some old-time piano... She said 'you can call me baby if you let me hold your soul.'"

Spike rolled the ladder across to the next shelf. Spreading his arms wide.

"But it's because she's wonderful, the colts, they look her way!"

But, since he was too absorbed in the music, and his dusting dance, to actually notice the world around him, he didn't see a young filly enter through the front door.

"She's some kinda big shot!!! Well, she's some kinda wonderful; She makes a mean cake, it's an eyeful; My baby, she's some kinda wonderful to me!" His voice dropped an octave. "She's some kinda wonderful to me!"

"Is she, now?"

Spike froze. He turned his head and saw Apple Bloom standing in the middle of the library, with a large smile on her face, likely satisfied to see Spike sufficiently embarrass himself.

"Um..." he replied, hoping she would forget what she just saw.

"You're in a good mood!"

He slid down the ladder, and walked over to his friend. "Yeah," he said. "My scales have finally cleared up."

She looked at the dragon's complexion, and it was back to its original purple hue. "Great!" she exclaimed. "So no real damage then!?"

"Nope," he stated proudly. "I'm as healthy as a horse!"

She giggled. "Well then, I guess it hadn't ruined your appetite," Apple Bloom explained. She reached onto her back and grabbed a box, wrapped in twine, in her teeth, and presented it to her favourite dragon.

But all my neighbors, and friends, say my mare is a little bizzare

"Is this for me?" he asked, in awe, grabbing the box.

I know her eyes are crazy, and the spines stay where they are

"Yep," Apple Bloom replied. "I hope you like it."

But it's because she's wonderful, the colts, they look her way
She's some kinda big shot!

He opened the box and looked inside. "An apple pie," he said, with a touch of disappointment.

"Actually, the truth is, we ran out of apple fillin', so I thought I'd make a special pie for you. It's apple and Zebran Obsidian."

His eyes went wide with shock. "Really?"

She nodded. "I had Paradigm check it out. They're not radi-active or anythin'," she explained, waving a hoof in the air. "The obsidian neutralizes it or... somethin'."

He stood there, in shock and awe, staring at the pie. "Apple Bloom," he said, looking at the filly. "I think this is the nicest thing anypony has ever done for me."

She's some kinda wonderful
Forget the heartache, she is in my soul
You just say she's wonderful, and then be on your way
She's some kinda wonderful, you see

Apple Bloom stood there, frozen in shock. "R... really?" she asked.

"Yeah... thank you," he said. A smile slowly crept onto his face.

He ran past her, into the kitchen, leaving the young mare behind. Joy filled her heart. She smiled, and ran after him.

Spike was already cutting the first slice with a diamond chef's knife. He quickly placed the slice on a plate, and started digging in.

He took the first bite. A smile reached his face, as he moaned in pure pleasure. "This is amazing!"

"Glad you like it," Apple Bloom replied.

He ate the rest of the slice, polishing off the plate. After putting the plate down, he quickly reached over and gave his favourite filly a hug. "Thank you so much."

She's some kinda wonderful
She makes a mean cake, it's an eyeful
My baby, she's some kinda wonderful to me
She's some kinda wonderful to me

"It was my pleasure, Spike," she said, returning the hug.

Spike broke away, and quickly closed the box. "I'm saving this!" he announced, before running over and placing it in the fridge. He then reached over to a drawer, and pulled out a marker pen, which he then used to write something on the box.

"So... Spike," Apple Bloom explained coyly. "You know, I was planning to head on over to the clubhouse after this. You wanna come?"

"Bit early," he said, walking back to her. "Don't you have school?"

She laughed. "It's the weekend, silly."

"Is it?"

"Yeah," she explained with a smile. "If you left the library more often you'd know that."

"Yeah," he replied with a nervous laugh. "I guess I would."

"Sweetie Belle said she's plannin' somethin' big!"

He looked up at her, and her hopeful, beautiful eyes. She really wanted him there.

My baby she's some kinda wonderful to me
She's some kinda wonderful to me

"I would love to come," Spike replied.

She's some kinda wonderful, you see

As the music died down, Apple Bloom smiled.

The crew of the Destiny were all packed in the gate room; all eager to explore this new world, this new civilization; which left Celestia quite surprised. She half-expected most of the crew, who had never encountered magic before, to be more weary of her request. But it seemed they were absolutely okay with it, Colonel Young's precautions notwithstanding. But she did get the indication his caution was more a professional obligation, and it was his optimism that she was ultimately appealing to.

The Destiny crew had been through a lot. Since they arrived on the ship, afraid, alone, and stranded from their home; they had been through more trials than she could ever imagine any of her little ponies experiencing.

She heard many of their stories. From the moment they arrived, running out of air, and having to rebuild the Destiny's life support systems; to the moment they were attacked by enemies from their home galaxy, following them across trillions of light years; to the point where they were nearly all killed by a virulent infection, only to be saved by alternates of themselves, with messages sent across time.

Then there was the time they met the robotic drones, which started a war they carried across an entire galaxy; the time they tried to dial their home planet of Earth, only to be stopped by another time travelling alternate; and the time they were forced to refuel in a star too powerful for the ship to handle easily, which cost them their garden, and the sight of one of their crew members.

Then, there was their final encounter with the drones, which cost them 27 years.

Celestia found these aliens inspiring. All the trials, torment, and pain they experienced, and yet... they still seemed to understand the joy in life. It hadn't broken them to the point where they assumed Equestria was going to become just another horror they'd have to face. Instead, they were still optimistic... they still had hope.

As she watched the crew, some were mingling with excitement, planning what they were going to do when they arrived in Equestria. Others were reorganizing their supplies into some of the empty saddlebags Celestia brought through. But they all understood what was required of them, the rumours had spread through the ship already. Celestia was going to cast the transformation spell on all of them.

"This ship is eerily beautiful, sister," Luna said, as she approached the solar regent.

Celestia turned her head, as she watched her sister approach. This was Luna's first visit to the Destiny, which was why Sergeant Greer decided to give her a brief tour. Celestia could tell they also took the opportunity to visit the mess hall, as a half-eaten fruit the Destiny crew dubbed a 'space-apple,' was floating beside her.

"Glad you liked it," Greer responded.

"It is a wonderful ship," Celestia replied. "I can only hope your commander takes up our offer to let us assist in repairs."

"I'm sure he will," Greer said, with a smile. "Assuming this isn't some trick invasion."

Celestia replied with a smirk, "If this was some trick invasion, Sergeant, I wouldn't make it this obvious."

He laughed at the Princess' remark.

"This is weird," came a comment nearby.

Greer turned to look at Adam Brody, who was leaning against a console. "What is?" he asked.

"You, speaking a different language."

Greer shared a look with the royal sisters, before turning back to Brody, and sending him a few choice words in Equestrian.

"Sergeant," Celestia responded in the local tongue. "That is just rude."

"What?" Brody reacted. "What he say!?"

The three of them shared a laugh, before Twilight interjected. "He just asked Princess Celestia to say he's being rude."

Realizing he'd just been taken for a ride... again, Brody grimaced, and decided to just walk off. "I got a saddlebag to fill," he said, carrying his backpack with him.

"Twilight!"

The unicorn turned around, and spotted two of her newest friends walking towards her, Chloe Armstrong and Dale Volker, both carrying saddlebags already filled with materials.

"Chloe! Dale!" she exclaimed. "Excited?"

"Yeah," Volker replied. "Sorta."

"Twilight," Chloe said, holding up a sheet of paper. "Can you read this?"

She peered at the document. "Yeah, it's in your language."

Chloe took a quick look. "No, not that." She pointed to a particular part of the page. "This."

She examined the section closely. "No... why?"

She pulled the paper down in frustration. "Because I can."

"... What?"

"Last time I saw this writing, I couldn't understand a word of it. Then, this morning, I was just glancing over Volker's shoulder, and could read every word."

The three ponies looked at each other.

"I thought it might be caused by the language spell."

Greer reached over. "Let me see," he offered.

Chloe passed the document to the Sergeant.

He examined it closely.

"Anything?" Chloe asked.

Greer looked up, and merely passed it back with a single word, "Nah."

"What could've caused this?" Twilight wondered.

"Magic?" Volker replied, with a slight tinge of sarcasm.

"I know of no spells that could do this," Luna explained.

Princess Celestia interjected. "May I?"

Chloe passed it over, and Celestia levitated the document in front of her. She examined it closely. "Where did this writing come from?" the princess asked.

"About two galaxies away," Volker explained.

"I think you're worrying over nothing," Twilight explained. "Maybe it's just some side effect. Maybe knowing enough languages just makes it easier to process new ones."

"But then, wouldn't it also work on you?" Chloe asked.

Luna interjected. "Perhaps you are just smarter than Twilight, Miss Chloe."

"Look," Volker explained. "It's not like it's dangerous. I'd say this is brilliant! I mean, we haven't been able to translate any of the writing on this thing since we found it. And now we can. How is this a bad thing?"

Chloe was quick to explain. "If this happened, what other side effects don't we know about?"

"Is there a problem?"

Volker and Chloe turned around to see their leader, standing there, in need of an explanation.

"Well, Colonel--" Chloe began.

But weirdly enough, Twilight interrupted her. "Chloe thinks there might be some weird side effects from the language spell."

Young was confused. "... such as...?"

"I can read this, the obelisk text," Chloe explained, holding up Volker's notes. "Now, I couldn't read this stuff a week ago. The only explanation would be the language spell, except I'm the only one."

"So what I'm hearing is that it's actually working better than intended."

"Colonel, this could be an indication of something else."

"It could also be an indication of nothing."

Chloe rolled the paper up, and placed it in her saddlebag. "I just think it's better to err on the safe side," she said, with an obvious note of frustration.

Young then turned to the least-biased person in the area. "Volker, what do you think?" he asked.

"I think it's fine, Colonel," he replied with a laugh. "If anything, this is great. I mean, who knows what other languages she picked up."

The Colonel looked at the collection before him, and considered this new information.

"If you wish to delay this procedure, Colonel," Celestia interjected. "I'm sure everyone would understand."

The Colonel paused for a second, but knew he didn't need to. "No. We're going ahead."

"As you wish," Celestia replied, before both her and Luna quickly flew up to the mezzanine above the gate room.

He approached the young mathematician. "Now, if you experience any other side effects, we'll deal with them."

Chloe nodded.

"Look, if you want to step out---"

"No-I... it's fine, Colonel," she explained. "I'm probably just being paranoid."

He nodded.

Moonlight stood in his hotel room, magically shuffling through the various documents he had just removed from storage. He knew it was going to be a long day, and the sun had only barely finished its journey past the horizon. He had script notes, staging plans, and concept art to go through. As well as several stills he still had from Pensacolta.

Beyond that, all he had was four names for possible replacement crew, as well as full funding for the reshoots with no strings attached. But there was still a lot of work to do.

The odds of successfully finding all the locations they would need was slim. Some were incredibly specific. After all, what were the odds that they'd find a massive bakery made to look like a gingerbread house, or a library that was built into a tree!? Neither of those were common landmarks, even in Equestria.

He would probably have to improvise; possibly even do some minor rewrites. So he needed as many notes as he could find.

A large cylinder sat on the bed. He quickly opened and pulled out the massive rolled up sheets within.

With a quick unfurl, he rolled out the massive prop diagrams he was going to have to rebuild. But what he didn't expect was an additional prize, as a small rectangular device bounced across the mattress, impacting the headboard, and falling back down.

He dropped the diagrams, and trotted over to the device. He recognised it very quickly. He lifted it in his magic, and examined it. He could see through the window on the side, words clearly etched on the cassette within:

Moonlight Mix
From: Your Favourite Dragon

"I thought I lost this," he mused. A smile slowly creeped onto his face. The first true smile he felt in a very long time.

He trotted over to his saddlebag, sitting on the floor, and carefully placed the tape deck within. He suddenly thought, Today's gonna be a good day.

A knock came at his window.

A soft wind blew through the grassy landscape. A bright yellow sun bared down on the ground, providing light... but little heat. In the distance, Eli could see trees, surrounding the space he built. Behind him, several metres away, a Stargate sat. The one he walked through several minutes ago.

This was not one of Eli's more complex simulations. Nor was it intended to be any sort of artistic masterpiece. It had a single function; and that function stood in the middle of the meadow.

A large structure, as big as a building, stood there. Silent. It was almost shaped like cylinder. A large, nearly hollow cylinder. There were holes throughout, bended parts, gears and blocks. It was a complicated system.

Spaced throughout were panels, and sliding compartments, each representing one of the 34 security seals that Eli still needed to crack.

He walked up to one: a single handle on the side of structure. It was one of the simpler components.

He pulled it open, and a large vertical drawer came out. Within he could see a few glowing components, and several metal gears.

He grabbed one of the gears, and turned it. Suddenly, a noise came. He looked up. A large section near the top started spinning, as another section in the middle spun in the opposite direction. He turned the gear back, and a different section began spinning.

Then, the whole thing stopped moving.

He grabbed another gear; and turned it a full 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

Three different sections started spinning. And suddenly, one of them stopped, and fell into the section below it. He smiled, laughed, and thought finally, progress. At least until one of the other spinning sections broke apart and split into two, spreading upward.

He cringed, and placed his head against the panel.

Behind this system was the woman he loved; the one whom he already lost twice: Ginn.

Ginn was a member of the Lucian Alliance; part of the team that invaded the Destiny several months after Eli, and everyone else from Icarus, arrived. The invasion failed, and Ginn was the one who initiated their surrender. Most of the attackers were off-loaded on some random planet. But Ginn was one of a dozen or so who remained on the ship so they could provide intel on the Lucian Alliance to the people back on Earth. As time went on, she revealed her skills as a mathematician, while remaining the most cooperative former Alliance member. That was why Camile suggested she work with Eli, to help find a way to dial Earth while Destiny recharged inside a star. As they worked, they grew to respect each other, then to like each other, then to love each other.

But their relationship did not last long.

Ginn died; was murdered by one of her own, an Alliance member named Simeon. She died while connected through the Ancient Communication Stones to Doctor Amanda Perry. As Ginn was on Earth, providing intelligence against the Lucian Alliance; Doctor Perry was on the Destiny, helping Rush with a bit of subterfuge, as he was trying to keep Destiny's bridge a secret. With Ginn's death, Amanda Perry went with her. Everyone assumed they were gone forever. In his grief, Eli wanted to hunt her killer down, across the desert planet he tried to escape to. But Rush beat him to it. Their deaths were avenged, but it didn't bring them back.

No... it was a few months later when that happened.

It was a glitch in the Communication Stones. The device on Earth was malfunctioning, and while Destiny waited to regain contact, Colonel Young ordered that someone had to remain connected to the Stones at all times. Chloe was on stone duty when she fell asleep; and when her consciousness relaxed just enough, it allowed two more consciousnesses, still connected to the Stones, but disconnected from any physical form, to finally find a host. The minds of both Ginn and Amanda Perry began to share Chloe's body... but they were fading... quickly. So Rush had an idea: use Destiny's Neural Interface Chair to transfer Ginn and Amanda's minds into Destiny's memory banks, preserving them; much like Eli later did to save his own life during the 27 year journey.

So they were saved. They had returned. Eli's love was back. He was happy... for a while.

It was a glitch in a simulation programmed by Doctor Perry. She naïvely misjudged how Destiny's programming would react to her own subconscious desires. As a result, Doctor Rush was trapped. His consciousness was uploaded through the Neural Interface Chair, and into a simulation that could not end. There was only one way Eli could fix the problem; only one way he could save Doctor Nicholas Rush: He had to lose the woman he loved. He was forced to transfer the entire block that stored Doctor Perry's consciousness into quarantine in order to end the simulation. Unfortunately, the memory block that stored Doctor Perry, also stored Ginn. As a result, they were trapped behind 58 complex security seals. And now, he wanted it to end. He wanted her back.

He had to save her. He had to pull her out. Even if it took him 'til the end of eternity. He had to keep trying. But if he kept backtracking like this, even eternity wouldn't be enough.

He punched the interface panel. The glass portion cracked. It made him feel better, but not by much. This wasn't the actual security lock he had to solve, this was merely an interface. Even if he did physically destroy it, it wouldn't help him break the lock.

This interface was designed to make the problem easier to understand. The spinning sections of the cylinder were there to represent the collective progress in all remaining security seals. The various panels and gears represented potential inputs into the security protocols. The overall structure was designed to demonstrate how the inputs affected the other intact security seals. It was an effective design, but in terms of simplifying the problem, it didn't help much; or at least, it didn't help as much as he'd like. It was still ridiculously complicated. He looked up, at the cylinder, and the progress he had yet to make.

He turned another gear.

Destiny had many labs scattered throughout the ship, each with its own purpose. Some were used for biological analysis, some for weapons tests, some for hydroponics, and some for long-term cloning projects. They all had the ability to be reequipped, with modular equipment being moved from one location to another. And right now, one of those labs was specially equipped for one thing, and one thing only: Analysing an alien corpse.

"This isn't working," Boone lamented, as he leaned over his computer. "We tried every possible method of activation, and still can't get this cloak to work." He gestured to the dead Nakai, lying on a table in the middle of the room.

"There has to be a way," Morrison replied.

"Well, there isn't."

"It worked when this... thing... activated it on the planet!"

"Well... I don't know..." Boone replied, getting frustrated. "Maybe it needs to be connected to a living Nakai to work."

"If we don't get it activated, we can't even start to work on a countermeasure."

Boone just shook his head, and closed his computer, before sliding it into the saddlebag at his feet. "I'm done," he explained. "Effective immediately, I'm on vacation."

"Hey, Boone!" James said, cheerily, as she entered the room. "Heading off to the 'Magical Land of Equestria'!?"

"Who isn't?" he replied, rhetorically, clearly excited for the event to come.

"Well, the Colonel, me... Captain Grumpy over there," James explained, pointing toward Morrison.

"I'm not-" Morrison began before being cut off by his own coughing. He quickly reached into a small tin he left on the console he was working on, fishing out some green leafy material, one of T.J.'s medicinals. It contained something similar to menthol. It tasted terrible, but was enough to soothe his throat from the damage done by his last encounter with magic. He started chewing on it. "I'm not grumpy... I just want nothing to do with that 'magic' crap."

"Are you serious?" James replied, confused bafflement in her voice. "It's the magic planet of ponies and rainbows! You're not the least bit curious?"

"You're not going either," Boone replied.

"Nah, I'm going later," she explained. "Technically, I'm still on stone duty." She walked over to the alien corpse. "Besides, if I left Morrison and the Colonel here alone... I mean, someone has to stop them from killing each other."

"Yeah, that's funny," Morrison said, clearly not amused. Then he realized... he looked up. "You are kidding, right?"

James raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Boone said, picking up his saddlebag. "I'm gonna go."

"Have fun! Bring me back a souvenir!"

Boone just chuckled lightly as he left the room.

"You were kidding, right?" Morrison asked, slightly more insistently than before.

James rolled her eyes, and walked out of the room, leaving Morrison alone with his research and his thoughts.

"She was kidding..." he said, trying to reassure himself. "She was kidding..."

He focused on his work.

"So, is everyone here?" The Colonel asked.

"Yes, sir," Greer replied.

"James and Morrison haven't turned up," Barnes countered. "Neither has Boone."

"Well, James is on the Stones, said she'll head over later today," Young explained. "I think Morrison's just scared, and Boone just walked in behind you."

Barnes turned around and saw Dr. Elliot Boone enter the Gate Room, taking a position at one of the consoles.

"But everyone else is here?"

"Yes, sir."

He nodded. "Okay."

"So... are we ready?" Twilight asked.

"I guess so," he replied. "Get in position."

Twilight nodded, trotted over to the nearby stairway, and began to negotiate the process of climbing it. Young, in turn, quickly moved to the third step on the opposite stairway, and began the briefing.

"Can I have your attention, please!" The Colonel announced.

The entire crew turned to look at him. His gaze scanned across them, his people, his crew, his friends.

"As you all know, Princess Celestia has agreed to grant us access to her kingdom, her planet, and her people. This is a great opportunity, and one we may never experience again. So I know you all want to take advantage of it. But as I'm sure you're also aware, maintaining a low profile is a major condition of this opportunity. Now, since everyone here is aware of SGC procedure, I don't have to remind you of the concept of secrecy. However, there's more to it than that. Because in order to maintain a low profile, she has also required that we submit to something called a 'transformation spell,' in order to disguise us as members of the native population."

He watched the crew, to gauge their reactions. Many were slightly confused, but most seemed to already know about it. He expected this.

"Now, I've been assured that this procedure is perfectly safe. However, as most of you know, I don't take anyone's word for anything."

He noticed a few people smirking at that comment.

"Which is why I submitted myself to this procedure last night, and after experiencing no unusual side effects, both myself and T.J. have determined that it is safe. However, that being said, this is not a normal situation. This is a technology and a force we've never encountered before, or even understand. Which is why I'll say now that anyone who is not completely comfortable with this... this is your opportunity to leave."

He watched the crew. He could see a few were considering it. They all looked around, waiting for someone to make the first move. Waiting for someone to leave... but no one did.

"Okay then... Twilight."

As Young began to climb the stairs all the way to the top, Twilight's horn started glowing. Every door leading out of Destiny's gate room closed, and she began her part of the briefing.

She quickly cleared her throat. "In order to cast this spell most efficiently, we have decided to flood the Gate Room with the necessary magical energies," Twilight explained with pride. "All you have to do is stay calm. The process may be quite startling and a bit disorienting, but I assure you, it's all perfectly normal." She smiled, but her smile quickly faded, as she started to sense a touch of skepticism in the room.

One of Twilight's hooves briefly slipped off the stair she was sitting on. The stairway was quite steep, and not something she was used to.

She righted herself before continuing. "Now because of how we're casting this spell, it does mean that once it's begun, we won't be able to stop it until all the energies have dispersed. However, once it's done, you will still be able to return to your previous form on your own, just by thinking about it. Also, we estimate that a third of you will become unicorns, a third of you will become pegasi, and a third of you will become earth ponies. I know none of you will be used to any of that. So, if anyone wishes to have any lessons on your new form, such as basic levitation magic or simple flying, they will be provided once we arrive in Equestria. Other than that you should find walking on four hooves relatively easy." She gave the accumulated aliens a brief smile, before slowly turning around, with a hoof on the railing to maintain her balance. She then proceeded up the steep stairway, taking extreme care not to fall off and lose the crew's confidence in her.

Colonel Young continued. "Once the procedure is complete, we will dial the gate and proceed directly to Equestria. Once there, everyone will have free reign, as long as they maintain a low profile, and stay safe. Now, because it's unlikely that backpacks will fit on your new bodies, Princess Celestia has provided spare saddlebags. So, if you want to fill one up, now's the time."

As a few members of the crew started reorganizing their stuff, the Colonel turned to the three ponies beside him. "So," he asked. "How long is this actually going to take?"

"Should only take less than a minute, Colonel," Celestia replied.

He then considered something for a second. "If you're going to flood the gate room..."

"You'll be unaffected up here."

He nodded.

Luna observed the shuffling below, and spotted something. "Are some of them bringing weapons?"

"I have agreed to allow them only small weapons, sister," Celestia replied, gaining a look of surprise from her sibling. "It'll only be for their personal protection."

"I'm only allowing a few of my people to be armed, Your Highness," Young replied. "They're all highly trained, they won't do anything stupid. They know what's at stake."

As the commotion died down, Colonel Young addressed the crowd. "Alright, if everyone's ready..."

He turned to Princess Celestia and gave her a quick nod. Her horn began to glow. Luna and Twilight quickly followed suit.

On the floor of the gate room, a golden mist started to from, followed quickly by similar mists of blue and red, all starting to mingle with one another.

T.J. lifted her hands, and watched in astonishment as her body started to glow.

Wray watched as the people around her slowly began to glow.

Boone stood at the back of the room, near the gate's main console. And as the multi-coloured mist reached his feet, he looked down and saw his body start to glow.

This was only the first step; as their bodies absorbed the magic.

Greer could see his hands begin to get blunter, as his fingers were absorbed into his body.

Brody felt his neck get longer, and his body get shorter.

Chloe fell down on all fours, when suddenly, she began to cringe in pain.

Volker fell down next to her, and wrapped his slowly changing hands around her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She put a hand to her head, and shook it.

Colonel Young and the three unicorns observed the slowly shifting forms of those below them. But their attention was caught by Volker and Chloe. They all knew something was wrong.

Young turned to look at Princess Celestia. The shock on her face confirmed it, she did not expect this either. But clearly Chloe was the only one. Why?

He took a step down the stairs, before being stopped by Celestia's foreleg. He then realized, the spell was still active. If he went down there, he might disrupt it. He had to wait for the energy to disperse.

Chloe held in her cries. She knew it was a sensitive situation, and didn't want to disrupt that. Especially since it was too late to stop what had already started.

As her body changed, she could feel the headaches getting stronger.

Volker looked around. Everyone was too concerned with their own transformations to notice Chloe's condition.

... all except one...

Sergeant Greer kneeled down on his hooves next to the two scientists. "What's going on?" he whispered.

Volker shuffled his slowly-emerging wings nervously. "I don't know," he said. "I think she's getting a headache."

Chloe adjusted her hand, as a purple horn started growing out of her head.

"What is this?" Colonel Young asked.

"I don't know, Colonel," Celestia responded.

"The spell shouldn't be causing that," Twilight explained. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"You mean the moment you cast your spell, a member of my crew just happens to fall down in pain?" he continued, maintaining a whisper.

"This didn't happen last time."

The spell continued its work.

Varro shuffled around on his new hooves, as he felt his now-pointy ears migrate to the top of his head.

Doctor Inman sat on the deck, as she shuffled her hair around her new horn.

Doctor Park sat down, feeling her body's form shift around her; and as her flank hit the deck, she could feel vibrations emanating from the ship's reactors. She turned her head to face them; however she could not see it, at least, not with her eyes; but she could feel it... and she could hear it.

The light died down, the spell dispersed, and Colonel Young looked down at the sea of ponies below, his crew... transformed.

He raced down the stairs, directly to Chloe Armstrong. He leaned down to address the new unicorn. "Are you okay?" He asked in a whisper.

She shook her head.

"Can you walk?"

She nodded.

"Alright, come with me," he said, getting her to her hooves. "Doctor Boone!" He announced. "Dial the gate!"

Elliot Boone stopped examining his new wings, and quickly went about determining how he was going to do that without hands.

Twilight quickly opened all the doors, as Young escorted Chloe Armstrong into the nearby hallway.

The gate started spinning.

Chloe leaned against a wall, hoof still on her head, and collapsed to the ground.

Young kneeled down beside her. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Volker replied, his wings having dropped to his sides. "We started glowing and then she started grabbing her head."

"You alright?" Greer asked, with genuine concern.

Her head started rolling around, and she gave a short nod. "I'm feeling a little better."

"I don't understand what happened," Twilight interjected, clearly distressed.

"It's just a headache, Twilight," Chloe said. "It's fine."

"I'm not too sure," Celestia replied. "This is too coincidental."

"Maybe this is my fault," Twilight suggested. "When I cast the language spell on you, I forgot the stabilization component. It's possible that it's having some long-term side effects."

"Regardless, it's too late to do anything about that now," Young explained.

Celestia came to a decision. "Perhaps we should abort this whole endeavour, Colonel."

"Well, you already cast the spell, and whatever this is, it looks like Chloe's the only one affected."

"And what if she isn't?" Volker asked.

Young considered his options, as the Stargate came to life.

He looked at the gate, looked at his nearby crew members, and finally looked at her royal highness, Princess Celestia. "You said you wanted to lead the way," Young explained.

"If you are certain, Colonel," Celestia replied. Still slightly nervous.

He nodded.

"Very well."

She proceeded through the gate room. "I ask that you follow, two at a time," Celestia explained, before stepping through the event horizon.

As his crew proceeded through the Stargate, Colonel Young turned his attention back to the unicorn beside him. "Chloe, if you're feeling uncomfortable, you don't have to go."

"No, it's fine," she replied, getting back on her hooves. "It's gone away, I think it was just temporary."

"You should probably see someone."

"Well, T.J.'s going to the planet too, so there's not much point in me staying here."

"I'll come with you," Twilight suggested. "One of our doctors could check you out."

"Do they have much experience with humans?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, come on. How different could it be?"

Twilight led Chloe to the gate, as Young turned to address the two remaining ponies.

"You sure about this, sir?" Greer asked.

"Not, really, no," the Colonel replied.

"It's probably nothing." Volker rebutted.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he stated, contemplating. "Still, keep your eyes open. If this happens to anyone else---"

"You'll be the first to know, sir," Greer replied.

He nodded.

Greer and Volker trotted toward the gate, meeting up with the last remaining crew members, grabbing their saddlebags along the way.

As Young watched the last of his crew leave, he noticed Princess Luna, standing in the door frame, watching him, with concern in her eyes.

She turned around, and scanned the now-empty gate room, before quickly trotting through the Stargate, just as it closed behind her.

As the gate let off a blast of CO₂. Colonel Young stood there, alone, hoping all these new worries were unfounded.

"Guess the first shoe has finally dropped," he mused. "Good timing."

My Little Destiny

by BlackWidower

Prologue - The New Dawn

Chapter One - The Wars Begin

Chapter Two - Internal Conflicts

Chapter Three - Friendship is Hard

Chapter Four - Love and Discord

Chapter Five - The Game Never Ends

Chapter Six - Fall of the Legend

Chapter Seven - I Never Had to Clop on Wood

Chapter Eight - Critical Mass

Chapter Nine - Take Back the Friendship

Chapter Ten - Blue Magic

Chapter Eleven - Family Lies

Chapter Twelve - Breaking Barriers

Chapter Thirteen - Explorers in the Old Fashioned Sense

Chapter Fourteen - Panacea

Chapter Fifteen - The First Ditch

Chapter Sixteen - Morning Glory