The brilliance of the stars shined in Wyatt's crew quarters as the ship zoomed through space at warp speed. The idea of a ship flying faster than light through space inside a warp bubble rather than boosting the engines at a high-powered speed was amazing, warp drive being quite a smooth ride was wonderful, being on a ship at warp was like going on a 21st Century plane, or a cruise ship in decent weather.
The feeling of comfort was soon halted when a door chime played near his door. He slightly grunted a bit as he got up and answered. "Yes, come." The door opened and revealed Mioiil, she wore a smile on her face as she stepped into the room.
"Sorry if I got you at a bad time, Wyatt. I just got off my shift and I've got a few hours to kill." She said as she walked by and sat on his couch-like seat.
"How's Quinn doing? I sent him a message about that battle with the Na'kuhl earlier." Mioiil looked at him, and gave a slight frown.
"He's.... not taking in the temporal business in so easily. He fears that this Temporal Cold War could be our downfall." Wyatt looked to the floor with a frown as well.
"Possibly, that's if we don't cooperate and understand who the true threat is." Wyatt started to slowly look at his academy classmate and girlfriend as he continued. " And... I'm worried about how the galaxy is going to turn out once this war's over. I'm afraid that something will go wrong. The Alliance, or at least the races within it, nearly fell at the hands of evil itself, and... I'm..."
He didn't speak for a moment until Mioiil finished his sentence. "You're afraid you'll lose someone or something close to you?" Wyatt snapped out of his worried state and looked at her.
"...Yes, that's it exactly." He continued after a moment of silence.
"You know, Mioiil, I've lived a life of seeing many things, good and bad, and I've learned, or at least tried to learn from my mistakes in life. And even though I'm a better person than I was before, I can never in my life, not even for the thing I'd most want in my life, let go of something I care for most dearly.... such as my crew, my friends, they all feel like that, and if another war starts, or if we get involved in another one, then what will hap-"
He was cut off as Mioiil had slowly gotten up from her seat and was now embracing him, tightly as she spoke. "I've been through pain like that, Wyatt, the pain you feel when someone you have with you, the crew you lead and command 24/7, losing them is never an easy nightmare to face, but that's why we're onboard this ship, to face the problem head on and together."
"Per aspera ad astra." "Through hardships to the stars" was what it meant in Latin. It was one phrase that Wyatt had known and cherished so dearly, something that told him that no matter what differences we have, no matter what problems would come our way, together, we would always succeed. Mioiil loosened her hug. "And nothing is ever going to defy that, nothing, and no one ever will." The two looked at each other, eye to eye, they started to bring their mouths closer for a kiss when a communications panel beeped, ruining their private time.
"Well, I guess we'll try that some other time." She and Wyatt chuckled a bit, before he replied.
"Yeah, hopefully no one will do that again."
The computer slowly flipped open to reveal the symbol of the United Federation of Planets, then cutting to his Voth science officer, Nelen Exil, facing the Admiral. "My apologies for interrupting your time, sir."
He said as Wyatt spoke before he continued. "Don't worry, happens constantly." He smiled a bit before returning his attention to the screen.
"Yes, if I may, our sensors have picked up some kind of anomaly nearby. The Anomaly seems to have similar characteristics to a wormhole, but we can't get a good reading to determine what that is. Should we change course to study this phenomenon?"
The Admiral smiled as he heard news of something that he knew would catch his interest. "Yes, set a course for the anomaly, it's been a while since we've done something with nobody shooting us. Also, contact Starbase 234 and tell them we'll be a little late due to our plans."
Nelen could be heard talking to another officer before continuing. "Yes sir, our Slipstream drive is ready on your word."
He looked back at Mioiil, who shrugged a bit before speaking. "I don't have any objections, discovery is one of our goals after all, isn't it?"
"The word is given, Nelen."
"Aye sir." The Voth officer replied before the transmission ended. The Admiral then tapped a few keys on his control panel, viewing several status reports of the ship. He tapped another and then spoke.
"Computer, open a channel to engineering and all science labs." His order was carried out as the screen flashed with Chief Engineer Zarva and Chief Science officer T'Vrell, who were asking what their new orders were to be. "Zarva, I'll need you to make some sensor probes and enhance the ships systems in case we fall into trouble. Who knows who or what we'll run into on the way. And T'Vrell, I need you to get our sensors boosted back up, we're going to be studying something that may make a new record for Starfleet's Science dept."
Zarva gave a confident smirk before giving her reply. "You've got it sir, Those dastardly devils aren't going to halt my crew any more than we already are."
T'Vrell gave a puzzled look before she spoke "If I may ask Captain, what is this record we'll be making?"
Wyatt crossed his arms and smiled a bit before answering. "Well T'Vrell, our sensors have recently found an unusual anomaly near the Argelius sector, it seems to have similar statistics to that of a wormhole, but it seems to lead to an unknown location. I plan to figure out just where this portal leads."
T'Vrell frowned a bit before continuing. "If this portal leads to somewhere that is unknown to us, would it be wise to risk that? The anomaly may lead to somewhere too dangerous for us. We could even get pulled into it once we try to analyze it."
Mioiil then gave a similar frown as the Vulcan on the screen did. "She does have a point, sir. What if the anomaly can kill us if we simply touch the knob?"
Wyatt gave a deep breath before he answered. "I wouldn't be in the Federation if I wasn't one to take such risks. Granted, I may be putting this ship at risk by learning something we don't understand at the moment, but if we don't give it a try now, we may not get another chance. Who knows if it will disappear in a few minutes? What if another ship finds it and tries to erase it from the face of the galaxy, or even end up getting lost themselves? That's one of the things we're going to figure out."
The two women gave the Admiral light nods after they looked down for a few seconds. "Aye, sir." They both replied simultaneously as the viewscreen on the computer shut off. Wyatt and Mioiil then started to walk through the door as he spoke to his friend.
"You know, if we do end up getting killed in this task, you can have a kick at my backside for what happens." He said as he gave a mischievous smirk. Mioiil replied with a similar expression.
"Yeah, I think I'll let God do that for me." She and Wyatt walked into the bridge as his crew looked at him, announcing his entrance as usual as they did. After he sat down, he gave the ships computer another order.
"Computer, enhance the ships scanners, and activate the slipstream drive." He then turned to Lon sitting at the helm controls. "Lon, set a course for these coordinates in the Argelius sector."
He tapped a few buttons on his console, then waited until Lon looked back at him and replied. "Yes sir." A few seconds later he spoke again. "Course laid in."
"Engage." The Admiral answered as the ship slowly turned to port, obviously changing it's path towards their target. Wyatt sat in his chair comfortably as he watched the stars flying by in streaks of light almost vanish as the ship flew through the galaxy while now entering a blue-greenish vortex, going about as fast as warp 20. He closed his eyes as he thought what he might find out about the anomaly when they arrive. "What if it leads to another universe? Would it be different than ours? What will we find if we end up going through the portal?" These were only part of all he could think about as he and his crew flew towards the spark of their curiosity.
.....................
Location: Unknown by Starfleet database
Year: Unknown
The orbiting sun rose brilliantly in the sky as day arose in a technologically primitive town. The town was bustiling with several horse-like beings walking and some of them flying to their destinations as light and life started to bloom in the equine-populated area of Ponyville. The buildings looked like some kind of cute and friendly-looking style of houses, while one of the buildings seemed to be made in the style of what could be called a candy shop. A sign sat near the building, titled "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner" inscribed into the wooden sign. Near the town sat what was obviously a train station, the tracks leading to several different areas. One of these places looked to be larger than the small town hosting the transportation facility, and more of a royal city with mostly white as its main color, the tops of the buildings sporting purple tops and yellow circles dividing the white and purple colors from each other. The city was known to the townsfolk as Canterlot, the leading force of the land that all had come to call Equestria, a forest also sat nearby the town, an area known to be very dangerous for those who venture into it, landing the name of the Everfree forest into its history.
The town, although bustling, didn't sound or look as happy as usual. A few months had passed since the Element Bearers had somehow disappeared to someplace nopony knew yet, no scientist in Equestria could figure out what'd taken the six ponies from their home. Royal expedition teams looked to the farthest points of their homeland, not a sign that they were here was found. On a nearby bench sat two ponies, one bearing a whitish-green mane with a light green coat of fur, also sporting a cutie mark of a lyre. While the other wore a Pinkish, Dark blue mane and a beige-colored coat, and had a cutie mark of three candies in the colors of yellow and blue. The two wore the same sad expression that almost everyone else had.
"So, how's it been having to deal with threats to Equestria lately?" Lyra asked her friend Sweetie Drops, or Bon Bon as she went by, since she revealed her identity to Lyra since the Bugbear attack that she was a special undercover agent.
"Not as easy as dealing with things that I'd be comfortable dealing with. Celestia's diplomats are having a harder time making friends with others than Princess Twilight would." She started to build a slight smile on her face, but frowned again as she continued. "But most of them have fortunately worked out in the end, but besides diplomacy and enemies, her family and her friend's relatives aren't living life any easier. Princess Cadence has been trying to cheer Prince Shining Armor up about her sister, but it almost never works. Celestia herself is worried about what might have happened to her close friend, between you and me, she mentioned to me that Twilight was her star pupil in her school."
Lyra frowned when she heard this. "The whole town's down nowadays, it's like a curse that's been bestowed upon us." She then wondered if Sweetie Drops felt down herself as well. "So what about our friends? You know, Time Turner, Octavia?"
Sweetie Drops turned to her friend and frowned even more. "They seem to be handling it pretty bad, knowing your heroes aren't there to help can surely be draining." Lyra couldn't disagree anymore than her friend could. All of this unhappiness started up ever since that one particular day, the day that the Mane 6 had been swept away by an unidentifiable force that was very much unknown to them all....
~Flashback~
Stardate: 5488.73
3 1/2 months earlier.....
The area of space was filled with high tension. Ships in sizes of frigates, cruisers, and battleships were seen gathering at one point in the star system. These ships were part of a task force that had been given orders to protect the Sienae system. Only a few hours ago did Starfleet get a distress call from the planet warning them of an attack by a race known as the Borg Collective, a race of cybernetic humanoids that voyaged across the galaxy with the intent of assimilating every single species in the universe into their Hive mind without choice. Those who resisted were destroyed, they were becoming more of a race of monsters every day. First, they wanted our technology, then our people, and now they've laid waste to those who fought for their freedom of life. The Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Republic have been losing several worlds to these bio-mechanical demons every month or so, this time Sienae was about to become their next victim. The Alliance wasn't going to stand by like cowards and watch innocent lives be lost this time. The task fleet consisted of many ships, Federation cruisers, Klingon warships, and Romulan warbirds, and even some Borg-enhanced vessels from the Task Force Omega Special Forces. Among these ships was a mere frigate, a Miranda class light cruiser named U.S.S. Omicron, commanded by a decent, yet inexperienced crew.
On the bridge, the commanding officer, Captain William Sykes, sat in the center seat, giving orders to his crew as they prepared to fly into a living nightmare. "Status of the fleet?" The Captain asked his Male Bolian Science officer.
"They've gotten just about enough ships for the job, sir. And as for the Borg, they won't arrive until at little bit before we do. Approximately 8 minutes." This was a bit worrying for Sykes as he heard the report. They wouldn't get to Sienae until two minutes after the Borg would arrive, and since there were several powerful cubes in that fleet heading towards the defenseless world, this battle would prove to shed more blood than assumed.
"...Very well, and our weapons?" The Male Vulcan officer answered his question in the usual Vulcan tone.
"Our weapon systems are fully operational, Captain. We shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with the Borg probes and spheres upon arrival."
This made Will have a more pleased expression on his face. "Excellent, we sho-" He was cut off as the fleet comms channel opened, attracting the attention of the entire crew. A rough, male, English voice spoke through the speakers of the console.
"Attention all ships, this is Commodore Vy'lek of the U.S.S. Florida, we are about to head into the Sienae system where the Borg invasion force is flying straight to as I speak. The armada will be quite difficult to deal with, as there are several cubes as part of this force. Our task force will be split into three groups; the "Low Tide" wave, which will consist of mostly frigates and a few cruisers, the "Strikers", which will be lead by mostly cruisers and escorts, and last, the "High Tide", which will have what else but the battleships, and the Florida, of course. Now, I understand that some of you have been dealing with this threat for quite some time.... and others who haven't had their share of trouble with the Borg, but I will inform you that they are very dangerous with their capabilities and arsenal.... and they won't even give you a second to fix your wings before they break your back for good. So, as always, do your best, fight hard, no matter the cost, and please.... do try to come back alive. Florida out."
The transmission then cut out into silence as the crew continued on their stations. "All ships are ready to depart, sir. Course laid in." Sykes answered in a cocky tone. "Let's give these monsters a fight they'll never forget. Engage!"
With that, the Omicron, along with the other ships in the fleet, flew away into the stars in streaks of blue, red and green light, en route to Sienae before it was too late.
.... ~Sienae~....
The area was filled with a horrific sight of ships. Huge, hideous cubes loomed over the planet, preparing to assimilate any and all life on it as planned. As the Borg fleet moved over the planet, glowing green projectiles known as plasma torpedoes were shot straight at the surface, detecting some planetary elements that would most likely be used as attempts of resistance, they bombarded the surface of Sienae swiftly and without hesitation. To the Borg, it didn't matter if they just murdered millions of innocent lives, to them, death was irrelevant, and these deaths were just a minor waste of would've-been drones.
It wasn't until they had fired only around five to six warheads that the fleet at last arrived to protect the civilians of this system. The Borg detected them and, as expected, changed course over to the task force, preparing to attack. Three groups of ships, one of frigates, another of crusiers, and a third group made up of Battleships flew in several directions, firing many weapons at the Borg fleet. Some vessels crippled, if not destroyed some of the ships with ease, while others took several scrapes and damage as they shot burning beams of energy at the cubes. The Omicron had just laid waste to a sphere by draining their shields and firing a wave of torpedoes at the ship, sending it to oblivion. The frigate then locked a course towards it's next target: a heavily damaged cube. The giant vessel was still operational at a decent amount of strength, despite having it's hull broken into. The Captain then started to give his next order as they approached the cube. "What's the cube's status?" He asked as he eyed the damage on it's hull. One of his Tactical officers answered his question almost as soon as he'd asked.
"The cube has sustained heavy external and internal damage. I'm reading several Plasma leaks in that open area on the hull."
Sykes gave an approving grin as he saw a possible weakness that could rid the Borg of another cube if they hit it right. "And hitting the Plasma with enough power could blow this ship outta the sky! Am I right on that, Ensign K'vaal?"
The officer in question answered in approval of his answer. "Most likely, with the core of the ship nearly exposed, a good shot should do it."
The Captain smiled as he took this advantage. "Fire everything we have until it blows. Don't let anyth-" He was cut off as his helm officer yelled in panic.
"Sir, the cube's got a lock! They're getting a tractor beam on us!" He immediately waved his chance off as he yelled in the same manner.
"Evasive maneuvers! Patter-" Was all he could say before the ship rocked harder than ever as the tractor beam had the mere frigate in it's grasps. The crew stared at the monstrous ship in horror as the ship was hit by a red energy beam, along with a huge explosion mere seconds later.
"DAMAGE REPORT!!!" He yelled as the bridge started to almost black out from the damage and light up again in flames as several consoles exploded one at a time very quickly. His helm officer answered his request with a terror-filled voice.
"Direct hit on decks 7 through 11! One of our nacelles has been broken off by the cutting beam!"
This response made the once cocky Captain filled with worry. To go out so quickly was never something he'd been used to, even after taking the Kobayashi Maru which was meant to experience just that kind of feeling. But this wasn't some false academy simulation, as the ship was starting to break apart around him, some of his other officers started to get back to their stations as the ship shook. One if his Science officers looked at her console, then immediately turned to him to tell him what she'd found. "Captain, there's some kind of anomaly possibly sprouting from the plasma leaks on deck 9! I can't get an exact reading onto what it could be, my best guess is that it's some kind of portal!"
The Captain was very curious at this, although they were in the middle of a life and death situation, he might as well take any chance he had of finding something new out. He tapped a few buttons on an almost broken console, and started to hear the voice of his leading security officer, who sounded like he was in a bit of a situation as well, as weapons fire was heard in the noisy static. "Yes Captain?! I'm in a bit of a tight fix, here!" He yelled as a brief scream sounded at the end of his sentence. The entire ship was obviously being boarded by several drones intent on assimilating his ship and crew.
"Commander, I know this may be a crazy time to say so, but there's an anomaly on deck 9, and I need you to check it out! Deal with the drones if you have to, just-"
He was interrupted by his helm officer yelling in terror. "Sir, Plasma torpedo inbound! They're targeting the bridge!" The Captain attempted to give his last order as he was about to meet death himself.
"All hands, this is the Captain, as of now, I order all hands to ab-" Was the last thing heard by the commander as the bridge exploded in fire as the torpedo impacted the bridge, sucking everyone out and leaving them to suffocate in space.
"Captain?! Bridge, respond!" He responded to nobody but white noise as the communication was cut off by static.
The Commander cursed the Borg as he started to take in the fact that his commanding officer was now dead thanks to whatever that cube out in space hit them with. "Well Commander, I think we should get going now!!!" One if his lower-ranking officers yelled in a panicked, rushed tone of voice, to which he replied in a similar tone.
"Oh we'll get going after we take care of that anomaly! Now move!!!" His entire squad, although a bit disappointed with his order, complied and finished off the remaining drones in the hallway. Not to long after, they rushed their way through the ship, blasting many Borg drones left and right, racing against time as they went to their designated target, where they would find some almost unwelcome visitors....
~Ponyville~
The town was bustling with equines as noon started to kick in, ponies were going to their daily routines as usual, and walking to one of the nearby restaurants, were six ponies and a single dragon discussing what they had been through during the day. "So Rarity, how was your new dress turning out?" Twilight Sparkle said to her fashionista friend as they started to sit down.
"Oh my customers have been going nuts over it, darling. They've been asking me to make more if them as soon as I have time!" She said ecstatically as she reminisced about her customers' comments. Her new dress was a very elegant style, sporting several gems and rare kinds of cloth on it.
"Wow, I figured everypony would like such a nice dress. I think you did wonderful on it, Rarity." Fluttershy kindly said to Rarity as she looked on the menu.
"Ah gotta say, sugarcube, yah seem to really make a nice dress. Ah doubt anypony could top ya!" Applejack said happily as Rarity looked at the menu, smiling at all the positive comments she was getting. Rainbow Dash started up on another topic, despite the fact that she was in love with how Rarity's dress looked.
"So, guys, I hate to change the subject, but how's Flurry Heart doing?" Twilight started to speak as she thought of the baby alicorn.
"She's doing quite well, I've been helping Princess Cadence on trying to teach her to control her magic, and I nearly got hurt when she eventually ended up firing another big blast of magic at me by accident. I managed to avoid it, though." She spoke with a bit of intimidated laughter. She and her friends had remembered how powerful Flurry Heart was with her magical abilities, especially when she broke the Crystal Heart. It was something even Celestia herself was surprised at, apparently not used to seeing alicorn babies unleashing such power.
Pinkie Pie started to laugh a little as she thought of that day when Flurry Heart broke the Crystal Heart. "YEAH! That's a really jumpy situation! I doubt I could've been hit if I was there!" The excited pink pony said as she bounced a bit, jumping out of her seat. Pinkie never seemed to become down when discussing a situation like this, after all, she was the Element of Happiness, so it'd be hard to break her down in this kind of discussion. The waiter started to come by, they stopped talking and sat as the waiter greeted them, asked their order, to which they gave him their choices, and afterwards he walked off to make them.
As they waited, they continued talking on another subject differing from the incident with Flurry Heart. "So, about that incident you had with Starlight Glimmer, Twi, what happened back there?" Twilight was a bit hesitant to explain. She remembered trying to stop the pony in question from altering the timeline and preventing her friendship with her five friends. She basically went a long way, seeing the horrible alternate timelines Starlight had created, each one involving the villains they'd fought before ruling over Equestria in a tyrannical manner. She always hoped she wouldn't have to see such bad things like this ever again.
"Yeah, she tried to prevent us from being friends, she attempted to stop Dash from getting her cutie mark when she did her Sonic Rainboom." She said disappointedly as she started to explain her past problem. They all focused on Twilight as she told her story, all except Spike, who looked around curiously and annoyingly. He could've swore he felt a cold chill fly past his body. He didn't like it one bit. It was the beginning of Summer and yet he felt something awkward clutching on his body. He couldn't tell if something bad was about to happen, or if he just felt uncomfortable. Wondering what it was, he interrupted Twilight's story as he asked her a question.
"Uh, Twilight, are you feeling some kind of chill down your back? I just started noticing it."
The six mares looked at each other suspiciously as he waited for their reply, they then turned back to him as AJ spoke up. "Come to think of it, I have. And it doesn't feel normal, like somethin's circling around us, yet there ain't anypony here but who ah'm seein'." She said as they all started to admit. Pinkie started to act a bit funny as her "Pinkie Sense" kicked in and tried to figure out the source.
"Girls, whatever we're feeling, I can bet you it ain't good. Something's about to hap-" A flash of blue light interrupted her, gaining the seven friends' attention as well. The flash appeared again and again as the wind Spike felt earlier became much stronger with every flash. The flashes finally stopped as a blue-colored portal of some kind appeared in front of the seven friends. The strange anomaly got the attention of all the ponies near the spot where it sat, as well as the friends starting to grab onto the table as a pulling effect reached them and started to pull them towards the portal.
"What is that?! I'm getting pulled in!" Fluttershy screamed as she tried to hang on to the table in front of her.
"It seems to have some kind of pulling effect! I'm gonna try and-" Rarity's cry for help interrupted her sentence as she panicked.
"Twilight, hold on to me! I'm slipping!" She tried to grab her hoof with hers, trying to also hold on for her life, but the fashionista lost her grip as she rushed herself in trying to hold Twilight. "TWILIGHT, HELP ME!!!" She yelled before she was sucked into the portal.
"UGGHGHHH, I can't hold on! AJ, help me-" A bun from a hayburger cut Dash off as she was sucked in. The pegasus ended up knocking Fluttershy from her grasp and they now both fell in, screaming loudly as they went to wherever the portal led to.
"Twilight, I can't hold on!" Twilight used her magic to grab AJ and tried to hold her as she too started to lose her grasp, especially with Spike hanging onto her neck while on her back.. "We need to go help them! We can't just leave them in wherever they were taken to!"
Twilight started to get worried, "We don't know where it leads to! Who knows if it leads to someplace we can never leave from! I don't know if we can take the chance!"
Applejack responded to her answer with a terrified voice. "They're our friends, Twi! We have to take the chance!!!" Twilight thought for a moment as she could barely hold on, if they were to let go, and let the portal take them into a most likely unknown place, they may not ever have a chance of coming back, they may find their friends, but they'd probably never see any of their family or friends again, and worst of all, Equestria would lose their heroes. But seeing that they couldn't defend their home without their three other friends, she needed to take the risk.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Pinkie screamed as she started to let go.
"We... we're going in, girls! I'm not gonna let my friends get hurt or lost in wherever they're at. Now, let's go!!!" With that statement, the four friends loosened their grip and let the portal take them, going through it and into wherever it lead. Once they went through, the portal started to destabilize, and before anyone could do anything, the portal closed. The civilians started to converse wildly, yelling and some running to Canterlot to tell their ruler that her favorite subjects were now missing, no knowledge to give that may bring about an answer to who or what had taken, and unknown to the ponies of Equestria, the heroes were now in a place far beyond their world's own lifestyle and integrity.