//------------------------------// // Chapter III: Road To Discovery // Story: Star Trek Online: Into The Multiverse // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// Location: Vendor Sector border Stardate: 8805.7 (Present day) The stars were vast and brilliant out in space, hundreds of billions of them were spread around the visible galaxy, many different lifeforms and mysteries awaited to be found by travelers across the galaxy. Some of these close-by stars soared and stretched around the invisible warp bubble, which surrounded a large, sleek starship. The ship was large with many lit up windows on the vessel, a curved neck held the saucer of the ship, also bearing an opening in between the edges big enough to allow shuttles through. The main hull seemed to be built in with the neck as the pylons showed no signs of separation there, since the curved triangular area on the bottom of the saucer was rather the main separation area for the Chevron saucer to split from. The aft end of the hull contained what appeared to be a small, detachable escort ship that could aid it's mother ship in a large conflict. Along with different markings sporting purple and pink for their color, the top of the saucer read two lines of text, showing the ship's name and registry: "U.S.S. Equestria, NCC-2011-F". The bridge of the ship wore several blue lights from it's exterior, on the inside were several types of consoles, two each on the left and right, and one in the front, apparently the ship's helm control console. In each of the chairs in front of the consoles sat a humanoid being in each seat, each sporting a different color. In the center of the room sat a purple-colored, humanoid being in her command chair, adoring the sight of space as her ship warped to it's set course. Life had changed since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been through such a once terrifying incident, the captain of their savior ship had contacted his own commanding officer and discussed the incident, offering them a place in Starfleet for the time being. Since they thought there'd be no way to return to their former home, they felt they could start a new life in a new species so the idea of serving in the Federation was about the best option for now. Each of her friends were able to find a specific department to serve in as officers onboard the large ship. Pinkie Pie had managed to find a part in the Science group since she knew a bit about others and their emotions, some thought she'd fit in Engineering better, though. Rarity would've fallen in the same category, but she found out quite a bit about gems and emeralds for an interest, landing her in the Science dept. as well. Fluttershy was considered excellent in the Medical section of Starfleet Academy, getting her a place in the Medical dept. on the ship. Rainbow Dash made an excellent record in the shooting range for testing weapons skills, along with starship and shuttle flight skills, making her the senior Tactical officer and the ship's pilot. Spike made the same spot as her, despite being an infant dragon back in his world, he proved to be quite vicious for a being of his age, permitting him a place on the ship in that department. Applejack had been excellent for her physical skills, giving her a place in the Engineering dept. and as the Chief Engineering officer on the ship. Twilight herself knew many things about her "magic" skills and several things in Science, landing her in the said dept. All the while they had made quite a record very quickly, being an Admiral just like her so-called mentor and savior, Twilight felt more at home than ever in this universe. Being able to visit new worlds, meeting new friends, and enemies, and most of all, discovering things out in the farthest points of the Galaxy and beyond. The gang's personalities had changed too, becoming a bit more brave towards the rest of the universe, as well as Fluttershy being less shy around other people. Twilight felt a bit of conversation should be in the room rather than pure silence as she started to speak. "So, how was that training simulation, Dash? Did you win that bet?" She smirked sarcastically as her rainbow-haired friend replied. "Oh yeah, he wouldn't wanna try to take another flight down in that canyon. I actually almost did get hurt when I flew too close to that collapsing mountain." She had placed a bet with a competitive security officer who doubted her piloting skills a while ago, taking the match to a once desolate, icy planet that was breaking up because of a gravitational issue. She nearly got herself killed when she came too close to a piece of a falling mountain as it fell down into the core of the planet, fortunately she managed to notice in time and avoid the giant piece of granite as her companion pilot in his own shuttle flew straight up into the sky at full impulse on his engines, bearing a small scrape from a hit back there as they returned to the ship and warped away before the planet exploded. "You know sugarcube, I understand how you're good a flying a ship like that, but try not to get yourself hurt, or even killed. Places like that aren't amusement parks, you know." She frowned a bit after her friends chuckled a bit about the test of mettle her friend had went through. "Yeah! You shouldn't try and push yourself to that limit, Dashie! You coulda gotten hurt!" Pinkie said as she continued laughing a bit before she continued on her station. "I know you like to fly a lot Dash, but I don't want to see you get hurt like that. Don't go so far in a place like that next time, please." Fluttershy commented as she looked at her friend worriedly. "I don't believe your friend Soarin' would like to see you hurt in a situation like that, don't push yourself like that." Rarity said in a disappointed tone as her supporting friends laughed a little, as Dash frowned angrily a bit at the mention of her considered "boyfriend". They stopped laughing as they started to talk about another issue, the last thing they last did before their current course was to take care of an infected Romulan colony because of a deadly outbreak of the "Traveler's Death", a disease that threatened the Romulan people of the 23rd century. Fortunately Fluttershy had managed to get a cargo load of a cure they needed to treat the infected, saving the colony from deathly despair. She heard her console beep with a message from the once infected colony. "Oh, I just got word that the colony is currently being treated and should be back to work within 2 days." Applejack started to ask how many there were left to treat as she spoke up. "How many are still infected, sugarcube? Are they alright?" She spoke in a bit of a sad tone as she said, "From what I've heard, about a few million people are still hurt. They should make it through, though." She then gave a bit of a smile as her hope had set in. Twilight started to ask her caring friend how many medical supplies they had left from this incident, since they may have another job similar to this. "Do we still have a sufficient amount of medicine for our next rescue, Fluttershy?" She calmly started to breathe as she was about to speak, but as soon as she did she lost her chance of saying her answer when her console beeped several times before she acknowledged it. She spoke in a thrilled voice as she gave the news. "Twilight, Wyatt says he and his crew have found some kind of portal, they say they're on their way to study it and they'd like us to come along!" Twilight smiled at another good chance to uncover something she and her friends hadn't seen before, but she then thought about the part when she heard the word "Portal", is this another case of the incident from a few months ago? From when they first came here? They'd have to wait as they had to change course towards their destination. She smiled a bit before speaking. "Dash, set a course for the anomaly, tell Wyatt we'll be there shortly." Dash entered the coordinates as the ship slowly turned towards their target. She then started to ask Fluttershy more about this discovery. "Fluttershy, did he say anything else about this portal?" She gave a curious look as her friend answered in a still happy tone. "He did say this portal has a similar form and statistics like the one that Commander we met back on the Omicron described from the data records, but other than that, nothing else to follow off of." She frowned as she faced the viewscreen. If this was indeed another gateway that could lead them back home to their close friends and family, she knew she couldn't just say farewell to the Admiral as soon as they would arrive, why not say hello to their friends? Unfortunately that thought was eliminated from her idea as she recalled Starfleet's very well known and strict "Prime Directive", Equestria was not anywhere near warp technology, so they would have to stop by alone and not mention them to their allies, they'd be in a lot of trouble with Starfleet if they tried such an idea, hell, she might even lose her ship because of such a case. Then again, they themselves were apart of this would-be-called "primitive" species, so how much would it matter? They would apparently have to wait on that as they proceeded on course to their target, curiosity luring them like a mouse looking for cheese as their ship streaked across the stars at warp speed.... ~Argelius Sector, Portal Location~ The stretching stars in the speeding sight of space slowed to small dots as the small cruiser exited out of warp, slowing down as it sat near the anomaly they'd come to learn about. The Chestnut slowly turned and flew straight towards the portal before slowing down and coming to a full stop after a few seconds. On the bridge, the Admiral sat straight up in his chair as he examined the blue, whirling bowl of energy as it appeared onscreen. He then stopped his visual study and looked to his Science officer as he asked her, "T'Vrell, how stable is the anomaly?" The female Vulcan answered in a non-emotional tone. "The anomaly is quite stable, our scans shouldn't affect it's current state." He grinned as he gave his next order. "Begin our scans, once we're done, send the data to Starfleet HQ and the Equestria. They may have some knowledge about this." T'Vrell replied with a few taps on the console as it beeped, giving a signal to wait until the job was done. Outside the ship, a blue glow emanated from the ship's deflector dish as the ship began it's scans of the anomaly, flashing a little more as it gained the most required data, as well as changed it's targeting on specific parts and areas on and inside the portal. The glow vanished as the ship gained the last of the anomaly's information was acquired. T'Vrell's console showed several panels with the collected data as she viewed it to the Admiral. "Confirmed sir, the anomaly is a portal of some kind, but I can't determine any kind of path leading to anywhere in our galaxy, not to mention that I can't determine the path of the portal. I believe that the only way that we can determine the destination of this portal is t-" She was cut off as she heard Zarva's console beep repeatedly. She looked to it and turned to Wyatt as she said, "Sir, Admiral Twilight is arriving now sir, shall we send the data to her?" He looked to the viewscreen and gave a nod as his answer, the large, modified Yorktown class ship was in visual range not to long after T'Vrell gave her notice. "Data is being sent now, they should receive it within a minute, sir." On board the Equestria, Twilight and her friends started to carefully examine the portal on the viewscreen. Twilight gave a faint gasp as she noticed the similarities in the anomaly's form, it had the same, yet slightly more stable spin on the surface of it's exterior, the same blue color the original had, and even the same flickers of light the former one would give, yet they flashed at a slower pace, possibly because of it's larger size. The sight before her brought a few gasps from Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy as they analyzed the familiar object nearby their ship. "It's... it's the portal, the same one that brought us here, into this world, yet it's bigger. But if it's here, then does that mean it leads back home?" She was near being lost in thought as she was interrupted by a beep coming from Pinkie Pie's console, who answered it and spoke cheerfully to Twilight. "Hey Twilight, it looks like Wyatt sent us some data about that portal! Maybe we can learn something from it!" Twilight smiled before she nodded for her pink friend to put the data on the viewscreen. The information came up and the seven of them started to study the data, shrugging and tilting their heads at certain parts of the information on the screen. Rarity started to find this study quite strange from their first encounter, giving a puzzled look as she spoke. "Intriguing, the first time we came across this portal, it was able to pull us into it with full force, yet this one is only pulling objects that are very close to it in. It seems like the anomaly is big enough for both of our ships to enter it." Twilight started to look back at the anomaly on the screen, in her opinion, the portal could lead them all back to Equestria, reuniting with Princess Celestia and introducing her and their friends to Wyatt and his crew, but the scans from the Chestnut didn't show any sign of a specific location, so they could wind up near a black hole, a supernova, or a distant part of the universe with no chance of return. She then decided to get her own results as well, since the Equestria was a science ship, they might get a better reading, but only God knew what would be revealed afterwards. "Rarity, just to be sure if this is all we can get, could you scan the portal? I think we may be able to get a better reading with our Science tech." She raised an eyebrow before she started to perform her scans, they waited with their eyes fixed on Rarity as she waited for the computer to finish up with it's task. The console finally beeped twice before she answered it, taking a look at it before she smiled and turned towards Twilight. "Well, from what I can get out of it, the portal leads somewhere safe, but the distortions from inside the anomaly are preventing us from getting an exact reading." "It's a good thing I added a few multi-dimensional scanners to our deflector dish back before we left Starbase Sierra, seems like it was worth it." She thought as she continued to speak. "Maybe if we send a probe into the anomaly, then we may get better results." Twilight thought this was a good idea, but there was a possibility that this portal could only take one object before it would close for good, so she had to try and play it safe. "Okay, let's send one probe through, but keep a good scan on the portal, set our deflector dish up so we can try to keep it open if it starts to close." Rarity nodded before tapping a few more buttons and turning back to her, "The dish is set, probe should launch any second." The bottom of the screen flashed for a split second before a small object shot out from the torpedo bay, entering the anomaly in a mere second as it went almost as fast as a bullet. The probe's entry made the portal fluctuate a little, but it remained open as the Equestria began to gain additional data. The data appeared on Rarity's console after about two minutes, looking at it and facing Twilight as she started to speak. "The probe seems to be picking up three celestial objects in the surrounding region, it must be in some kind of solar system. I can't get a good reading, but it seems to be relatively safe for us to pass through." Twilight studied her words as she planned her next move, a planetoid with two other bodies around the world the probe was near, a new world, to be sure, but either way, she started to get comfortable in her chair as she started to speak to Rainbow Dash. "Dash, hail the Chestnut, I think we our next mystery is on the other side of that portal." Dash tapped a button after hearing her order, putting Wyatt's face on the screen after a few seconds. He gave a curious and listening look as he awaited her plan. "What's on the probe's data, Twi? You got a plan we can try?" The Admiral said as he heard his light purple friend clear her throat as she spoke. "Admiral, our probe has found itself in some kind of solar system, it seems to consist of a single planet, and two other celestial objects in orbit. I think it may be another world we can find and study, but even though both our ships could safely pass through, I won't go in without your order." She noticed his hand touch his chin as he thought about her suggestion, rubbing it for a minute as he came to a decision. "Alright, you've got it Twi, both of our ships will go in to see where this planet is, but if there's a species that hasn't come up with a transportation technology either in the form of or similar to Warp Drive, we cannot beam down so early. Our crew's ready when you are." She started to look at the presented data, thinking on her decision for the moment, before breathing in and out as she spoke her words. "Alright, set a course in, you wanna take the lead?" Wyatt smiled a bit before he replied. Maybe not, I think the royalty should be getting the first spot. After you." Although she had no romantic involvement with Wyatt, especially since he was in it with his feline bridge officer, she blushed a bit as he gave his respect towards her. Despite her and her friends being in another realm, she was expecting to be treated like a normal person, but others still gave them the same generosity like the others back in Equestria. It kinda made her feel a little more at home a little. She then looked over to Dash and told her, "Well Dash, let's head through the portal and get our sights on the other side." Dash nodded and tapped some buttons on her control panel, then waited a few seconds as the ship started to move forward and towards the portal, the Chestnut following suite after them. As they entered the portal, the viewscreen flashed with a blue circle-shaped shockwave as the ship shook roughly, but briefly before they were able to see what seemed to be the inside of the vortex, a whirl of blue energy sped past the ship as they flew through, the floor slightly rocking the crew as they waited for their mystery to be uncovered.... ~Canterlot~ The stars of the night sparkled the dark, purple sky as the moon shone brilliantly over Equestria, brightening the facing walls of the royal city of Canterlot. There were many ponies seen closing up their businesses for until tomorrow as they needed their usual rest required for the next morning, a few groups of Celestia's royal guards were heading back to the castle for the guards of the night to perform their shift, flying by their wings and carriages as they soon made it back to the castle gates. Outside the doors of the castle, one of Luna's bat guards, Midnight Blossom, waited for all of the carriages to arrive before her group's departure, one of the carriages, was carrying one guard she had her eyes on for quite some time. Cloud Skipper exited the vehicle before walking to the doors, but as he stepped near Midnight Blossom stopped him with a seductive look on her face, his eyes becoming more focused on her. "You be careful out there, traveling out on patrol at night can be hazardous." He said to her before she smirked in a cocky manner. "Come on Cloud, I've been out in this environment for all of my time in serving Luna, do you think I can't deal with a simple task of keeping an eye out on the townspeople?" She spoke in a tone he expected from her being asked a question like that, before he nodded and continued on inside, Midnight's group hopping into the carriages and taking off shortly after. In the castle, the Princess of the Night, Luna, sat on her throne with a saddened, worried expression on her face. Without the Element Bearers to protect Equestria in it's time of need, she was having to send more of her guards out than usual, keeping an eye out in the world as they prayed for the day the Mane 6 would return, and hopefully, not too late. At the other end of the throne room, a guard came in to ask his Princess of what she needed, she gave a slight smile as she saw a friendly face. "Your highness, our guards have departed out on their patrol, is there anything else you need?" She kept her composure as steady as she could while she spoke. "No, thank you, leave us to privacy unless you acquire information in need of our attention." He kneeled in respect and turned to the door to leave his Princess alone with her two remaining guards who were to keep her safe, shutting the door carefully so no one in their sleep above would be disturbed. She wore a calm, hopeful expression for the outside world to see, but in her heart, she hid her fear, the fear of a certain danger coming to her home to cause harm and destruction, and the Elements of Harmony wouldn't be there to save their friends. A horrific thought that plagued her mind and her sister's constantly, one she couldn't bear to think about much longer. "I just hope they return sometime soon, I don't think any of us can take this." In a large bedroom, two ponies, an alicorn mare and a unicorn stallion, laid together in their bed asleep. The unicorn, bearing a white coat and a mane and tail in dark blue with a streak or two of turquoise as his colors, while his wife wore a pink coat with a mane and tail of a blend of yellow, pink, and purple as her style, slept as comfortable as usual, but the mare shook a little in her rest before she lifted up in a loud gasp, waking up from a terrible nightmare as she breathed in and out heavily. The male equine woke up from his love's shivering and turned to look to his wife. "Cadence, are you OK?" Shining Armor looked to the mare in question's horror-filled eyes. She covered her eyes as she spoke in a shaky tone. "Shining, I... I just had another nightmare, it's nothing." She looked to her husband as she calmed down a bit, his face with a worried expression. "I know, I think you're not the only one, I was just going through something bad in my mind." He said in a tired, sad tone as they looked out the window. Like Luna and Celestia, they had been having several terrible nightmares ever since the incident from four months ago, from ones where Equestria was under tyranny from their enemies to their home being laid to nothing but a wasteland, all because of what had happened to their friends and their sister Twilight, they could only ward off the nightmares with whatever strength they had while they slept. They suddenly heard a crying sound from another nearby bedroom, a young baby alicorn who lived in their home as well. Cadence breathed in a little as the crying was just her child being disturbed from some noise. "I'll be right back, I think Flurry Heart needs a little comfort." Shining nodded as his wife trotted over to the door to reach the room, reaching Flurry Heart shortly after and leaving him alone in thought for a moment. "Twiley, your big brother and our parents are worried about you. Please, I need to know where you are, something, anywhere, I need to know you're at least all right, and most of all... to come back." He frowned as he waited for Cadence to return, eventually she came back into the room and lay back down with him, wearing the same unhappy expression on her face. "So, no news about Twilight's location?" Shining shook his head as he got comfortable in his spot. "No, our teams have looked to even the most dangerous places, Zecora and her escorts have looked all over the Everfree forest, so far, nothing. I've recently sent one group to ask one of Rainbow Dash's friends to help out with this." Cadence raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "A friend? What's his name?" Shining shook his head again before he answered. "I can't say her name around the public, as to the fact that she is used to working alone, but her name's Daring Do, or by her disguised ego, A.K. Yearling. She shouldn't want to turn down a chance to find her "biggest fan", if you know what I mean." Cadence grinned about this plan of his, to send one of Dash's heroes out to help find her and her friends in a random part of the world, what a situation to build up with. "I hope you're not getting anyone hurt with this plan of yours, Shining. You know we don't want to lose more than we already have." He looked down before his wife kissed him on his muzzle before looking into his eyes. "And try not to panic too much about Twilight, I think she's okay, no matter what nightmares try and change that." Her words built a smile on his face before he spoke. "Thanks, Cadence. Let's see if Celestia has any plans about finding them in the morning." He said before he laid down with his wife. "Love you Cadence." To which she replied, "Love you too, Hon." before they closed their eyes and shortly after fell asleep, keeping their confidence up through the night and their dreams until the morning would arise so they could discuss their next move with Celestia at dawn......