//------------------------------// // Chapter IV: Arrival of Newcomers - Part I // Story: Star Trek Online: Into The Multiverse // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// The large, blue, swirling vortex sped fast by the two starships as they constantly shot forward to the other side of the anomaly, blue lines of energy ejecting out of the nacelles of both ships as they continued onward. The force of the anomaly was slightly shaking the ships as they moved, not enough to knock the crew off their feet, but enough to make operations onboard a little more difficult. On the Chestnut's bridge, the crew was checking and tapping their consoles to compensate the power loss from the engines, and also hanging on to them as they couldn't get their jobs done with themselves losing balance while flying through. Admiral Wyatt was fortunate enough to have one of those seat enhancements that acted like a seat belt, holding him steady as he tried to communicate with his fellow officers with the rumbling. "Status?" He spoke to his engineer and current helm officer. Lon held on tight as he replied. "We've had to take power from our shields to keep our nacelles working, our hull is being shaken up pretty bad, no casualties, but I'm getting minor injury reports from multiple decks." The ship apparently was taking more than expected, going through this anomaly was like riding a ancient roller-coaster, and the ship wasn't exactly going to go through such stress. "Let's just keep her swimming Lon, don't break her back." Lon nodded before continuing to compensate a decent amount of power to the engines to keep them from malfunctioning. Wyatt started to wonder if Twilight was going through such an issue at the moment, feeling worried, he turned to Kapor and said, Kapor, hail Twilight, I want to see if her ship's holding up." He nodded and tapped a few buttons before the screen changed to a blurry, static image that cleared out after a few seconds and revealed Twilight in her seat, wearing similar belts as the Admiral was. "Twilight, how's the ride? Is your ship being kept together?" She nodded before saying, "No more than you're going through Wyatt, the anomaly seems to be pulling us forward quite fast, but we're holding up and well so far, you?" He moved to the right a little as his ship was hit by a blast of pressure, before sitting back straight up and answering. "Our warp drive's having to be fixed by taking power from several decks, our crew has reported several injuries, but nothing more than that." Twilight nodded before she heard Pinkie Pie speaking in a loud tone. "My console says we're getting near the end of the portal! I think we oughta hang on!" Mioiil turned to Wyatt and gave her own answer as Twilight's crew hung on tight. "Sir, my scanners are picking up the end of the anomaly dead ahead." The Admrial tapped a button on the right arm of his chair console before speaking. "All decks, brace for impact." He warned to the crew before turning off the ship-wide speaker and holding on steadily to his seat. the viewscreen showed the anomaly starting to flash several times and then fluctuating as they neared the end of the ride. The ship shook several times, but a lot more rougher than previously felt, making some of the bridge lights flicker and knocking some of the crew off of their feet as they waited for the ship to exit the vortex. the ship started to shake and, from the exterior, almost turn a little as the portal flashed one last time in a blinding shockwave as the two starships finally exited the portal, the bridge went almost completely dark as the viewscreen cut to static and the lights shut off as the power was drained due to the amount of energy being put into the engines to slow the ship down. After a few moments, the ship stopped shaking from the now gone stress and the emergency lights turned on when Elisa tapped one of the buttons on her console, the viewscreen was switched from static and back to normal visuals. On the screen, there were two objects being surrounded by stars all over the surrounding area, one was an Earth-like planet with a few small clouds, and one very large cloud that upon closer examination resembled a horse with a horn and a mane in the colors of green, pink, and turquoise above most of the visible surface, quite a beautiful planet, the Admiral wondered what it looked like on the surface. "Must be peaceful down there." Wyatt thought as he observed the sight of the planet. Looking towards the other object, it was obviously a sun far out in the distance of the system, but looking closely, something didn't seem right with the way the bodies orbited each other. Curious, Wyatt looked over to Nelen Exil and asked, "Nelen, scan the star system, see what we can find out about this place here." "Yes Admiral, scanning now." He answered before he tapped a few buttons on his console and waited for the results. On the Equestria, the crew on the bridge viewed the wondrous sight on the screen, some of the officers found the sight astounding, with a beautiful sight like this, some of them were planning to make some notes on trying to come here someday, the main crew however, stared at the sight with their mouths agape, Twilight's eyes glimmered a bit from the realization she just had; they had just arrived at the one place they had been trying to find for those four months of being in Starfleet, they had returned home, to Equestria, the one place where her whole family was most likely worried about their fate, about what happened to them when they were pulled into that portal. She started to lose her breath as she spoke. "We.... We're home. We found our home!" Twilight said in excitement as she looked to her friends, who smiled happily and looked like they were about to lose it like herself, but knowing the other officers they kept their composure. One of the other officers raised an eyebrow as he looked to Twilight. "Home? If I may ask, Captain, I didn't hear much about your discussions, but is this your home?" The Lieutenant asked kindly before another Rarity chimed in. "Oh, yes, that planet below is where we came from, specifically a land on this world known as Equestria, quite an amazing place if you ask me." She answered as the Lieutenant looked to the planet onscreen. "Yes, beautiful indeed. I think I'd like to take a chance on shore leave here sometime." Everyone on the bridge admired the sight of Equis in the brilliance of the nearby sun as they kept performing their stations. On the Chestnut, Nelen turned to his console as he heard a beeping sound signaling the completion of the scans, reading the data and turning to Wyatt before saying, "Sir, the planet seems to contain enormous amounts of varying lifeforms, along with an atmosphere similar to Earth's own. There are also several cities on the surface, but no space structures of any kind nearby, there are also several energy readings coming from the cities, but they don't match up to the power levels of the cities below. There's also something strange about the gravitational standards of this system, the sun and moon seem to orbit the planet, rather than the other way around!" He said with an astounded expression as he noticed his crewmates looking at him with a puzzled look, as well as waiting for the Admiral's reply. "That's incredible, a star system where the sun and moon orbit the planet, very intriguing." He said as he noticed the stars moving past the planet very slowly overtime. In his universe, there'd never been a solar system where the planet would be the center of the area, this is exactly what he'd been looking for; a new world with new species to see and know about. He built a smile as he thought about what Twilight thought of this place, to which he immediately realized something he hadn't checked into for quite a while, something that Twilight had told him a long while ago when they first met. "Lon, hail the Equestria, I think Twilight might know something about this place." Lon nodded and tapped a button on his console, then a few seconds later the screen switched to Twilight and her friends in front of the screen, having smiles on each of their faces as they started to talk. Twilight was the first to speak. "So, how's the view of our home look so far?" She said as Wyatt noticed his crew having surprised expressions on their faces, apparently they'd not come to think of the idea. "Very much, the planet looks quite wonderful, and I think we should discuss a few things before we head down to the planet to explore." He said as he awaited Twilight's response. She gave an approving smile as she said, "Got it, by the way, I had some of our engineers build a special device onboard this ship, before we beam down, I'd like to try it out, you wouldn't mind that, would you?" "No, I wouldn't, now, since you know this planet, making contact with your friends shouldn't violate the Prime Directive, primitive or not. Also, just in case we get attacked, I think it would be safe to bring Phasers, but ONLY at stun setting, any objections?" He noticed Twilight giving a pondering look before she nodded and replied, "No problem on that, we'll contact you when we're ready." Wyatt smiled and finished the discussion with, "Got it, Chestnut out." before the viewscreen cut back to the view of Equis as his crew looked at him, awaiting their orders. He then looked back to them and began. "Alright, now this planet is-besides primitive, a place with an apparently peaceful society, so we won't be going in with many weapons, but for safety measures, or if we get attacked, I'd recommend bringing a Phaser at stun setting, I don't want anyone to get hurt, and NO ONE will fire unless I say so or if anyone is physically attacked. If the planet has a military, we'll comply in as friendly a manner as possible. Understood?" The crew nodded and Wyatt smiled before finishing with, "Very well, get your things and meet me at Transporter room 2. Dismissed." The crew went through the turbolifts as they went off to prepare for the mission, while Wyatt himself went into his ready room to get himself set up. He opened his personal weapons locker and looked through, in the slot lay a Phaser sniper rifle, a 23rd Century Type 2 Phaser pistol, and his well-known blue bladed Nanopulse Bat'leth. He picked up the Type 2 and slid it into one of his belt sockets, shutting the locker with the tap of a button as he took a look at himself in the mirror. His uniform looked spiffy enough for diplomacy, so seeing himself ready, he walked out the door, getting himself fixed up as he went to the Transporter room. On the Equestria, Twilight had just come out of her ready room with a more spiffy uniform to put on when she noticed Rarity tapping a few buttons on her console. She thought she'd be getting prepped for their reunion with their old friends rather than check on the ship through a console. Curious, she walked over to her and spoke in a confused manner. "Um, Rarity, may I ask what you're checking up on?" She turned to Twilight as she answered with, "Oh yes, about this! You see, when we were thinking of a possible way of returning home, I felt that I should make a device that could turn us into our old forms, so along with a few engineers, Spike and I built this device to perform such a task, however, since it changes our DNA structures to our desired forms, it costs a lot of the ship's power when in use. But since we've arrived back home because of the portal we went through, I think this would be a perfect chance to try it out!" Feeling excited, Rarity tapped another button before seven holes formed in front of Twilight's command chair, each of them had their cutie marks on the individual tubes along with windows that, although a bit blurry, were able to show them from the outside. The six of Rarity's friends stood in awe as the device's doors opened, allowing the seven officers inside. Rarity then turned to her friends and spoke. "I hope these don't seem a bit awkward for any of you, but that's as best as I could do. You want to give it a try, girls?" None of them had any objections, except Fluttershy, who gave a worried look to the fashionista and said, "Um, they don't hurt at any c-chance, do they?" Rarity smiled before she answered. "Don't worry darling, I tested them myself before I had them installed on the ship. If they hurt anyone, they wouldn't be here." Fluttershy nodded before they all stepped in, getting into a comfortable position before the doors shut in front of them, making the view of them all a bit blurry as usual. With the tap of a button the device activated, the insides of the tubes started to flash white as they performed their work, the beings' forms inside started to change in shape as the process continued. After about almost a minute the devices stopped flashing and cooled off from the high power cost that was used. When the doors opened, all seven stepped out of the tubes, but in the forms of equine beings and a single dragon, bearing the same look as they had back in Equestria before they arrived. They took a moment to examine their familiar bodies and test their magic before Twilight spoke up. "This is amazing Rarity, I love it! What about you, girls?" The others gave smiles and nods with Fluttershy squealing in a thrilled tone, signaling their approval. Rainbow Dash chimed in with her verbal approval as well. "Awesome Rarity, I think you should make one for everybody, or should I say everypony?" Rarity happily shrugged as she finished with, "Well, if anyone wants one, I'll be happy to do so!" Twilight thought that Wyatt should be informed about their change of appearance before beaming down, since he was not told about such an extraordinary device being put on this ship. She trotted over to her console, and carefully pressing the buttons with her hooves, she was able to hail Wyatt, who at first looked at her with a happy expression, but looked surprised when he noticed her in her pony form. Before he could ask, she gave her answer to his question. "Eh, sorry if we didn't tell you Wyatt, but Rarity seems to have built a device that can change us into our original forms, I hope I didn't startle you." The Admiral smiled as he noticed Rarity giving him a proud expression on his screen, to which he responded with, "Good work Rarity, I think I may want one sometime." Not even a second after hearing it all of her friends looked a her with curious looks, making her give her answer up. "You got it Wyatt, I'll send my team over and they can get started." He smiled as he looked back to Twilight and spoke. "Anything else, Twi?" To which she nodded as she replied, "No, that's all I had to say, sorry if we bothered you." He nodded and ended the transmission, allowing the seven of them to decide on what else they had to get. After looking at her friends again, she asked them, "Alright, anyone else have something to get?" to which they all gave a nod as their answer and Twilight finished with, "Alright, girls, to the transporter room." before they all trotted to the turbolift, and entered before the doors closed behind them and the lift started moving. Once they reached the transporters, they entered the room while gathering the attention of several officers who hadn't witnessed the new looks of their commanding officers, to which the Operator responded. "If I may ask Captain, how'd you change into that form there?" She answered his curiosity with, "My friend here has installed a device on the bridge that allows us to transform into these forms, I hope we're not causing a problem." He smiled and replied. "No, actually, you look quite cute." before she gave a blushing smile and stepped onto the transporter pads along with her friends as they waited for the officer to signal his readiness. She reformed her stern look and gave the word to the chief. "Energize." With the tap of a few buttons on the console, the seven Equestrians became surrounded in an opening wave of blue light, before the energy faded away within a few seconds, leaving nothing left as the Mane 6 went down to their old home, waiting anxiously to meet their old friends and families once again..... ~Canterlot~ The afternoon heat slowly faded from the senses of everypony as evening neared in Equestria, the sun slowly lowering itself downwards to the ground and permitting nightfall. Months had passed since the incident first happened, no patrols in any army in Equestria were able to find the Element Bearers, not even the bounty hunters that some even went as far to hire were as near as successful in the search. The worrying news was slowly sinking in, the families and friends of the six mares and dragon were taking in the pain most, the fact of never seeing their faces or hearing their voices again was a thought nopony could've ever thought about. The townspeople of Canterlot, especially Twilight's old friends, we're prepping a memorial for the assumption that their friends were gone for good, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were setting up a nearby "for hire" sign on their window, believing that their employee and friend, Pinkie Pie, would never return to help out, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a harder time in school after hearing word that their sisters, Rarity, Applejack, and Scootaloo's hero, Rainbow Dash were now only but a memory, but the worst of it was in the Royal castle of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was almost drained of happiness at the news of her former student being reported as lost for good, she lost a few hours of sleep from a few nightmares, Cadence and Shining Armor couldn't sleep for one night without tear-soaked pillows, waking up at night and crying at the loss of their relative, Twilight. Hope for the idea of getting their heroes back was apparently lost in memory for the ponies of Equestria, everypony tried to keep themselves calm and act like their usual selves, but they had a hard time trying to contain the sadness throughout the day, nopony could walk by without hearing another pony mention something about the Element Bearers at least once a day. Fortunately though, the Royal sisters weren't going to lose hope anytime soon, the Royal guard was still constantly put on hidden patrols on finding the heroes, despite the continuous failures they made. More bounty hunters were also hired for a lot of bits if a successful find or clue was uncovered, especially one that knew one of the six mares very well during her adventures. In the skies of Equestria was a brown-gold Pegasus pony flying high above the clouds, trying to remain hidden from civilian eyes as she neared her destination. The news that her biggest fan and her friends were possibly gone forever did not settle well in her mind, the peace and harmony in Equestria was nearly broken up thanks to their loss, and they were too important to be a price. She gave a depressed exhale as she neared the castle near Canterlot. "Months and months of searching, and none of us can seem to find a clue." She spoke as she dove down towards the gates of the castle. "As much as I'll have to face the fact that they're gone, I can't give in to that, I know they're still out there, and I'll find them, even if I have to head into the most dangerous places in the world, I'll find them." She finished and gave a depressed exhale as she prepped herself for a landing. As she neared the gates, she noticed a few royal guards on top of a platform on a higher point of the castle, thinking there'd be other ponies in the castle, she took the alternative route and flew upwards towards the platform. Once Daring set her hooves on the platform, a noticing guard trotted over to her and saluted before she did the same, the guard wore an orange-colored coat of fur and a mane and tail of light and dark blue hair, he spoke to her in a calm tone. "I'm sorry if I'm holding you back a bit, Ms. Do, I assume you're here to see the Royal Sisters?" Flash Sentry asked as Daring replied. "Yeah, that's right, but I don't think they'll like the news." She answered before giving a frown to the Pegasus guard. "You're not the only one having trouble, the other guards haven't found anything for miles now, and it doesn't look like we'll find anything soon." Flash added as he shared the same frown like Daring. "Are the Princesses available at the moment?" She asked him before he answered. "Yes, there's about ten civilians talking to them, but they shouldn't be much to worry about." He finished before Daring gave a worried look, she knew she couldn't let any of the townspeople know about her true identity, so she looked to the orange stallion and spoke. "One moment." She said before she quickly changed into her alternative "A. K. Yearling" persona, wearing a purple shawl, a grey cloche, and big red glasses. "Good move, that way the civilians won't know who you really are." Flash said as he smiled and saluted before finishing with, "I'll keep on guard with the others, let me know what they say when you get back." Daring nodded and trotted over to the doors, pushing them open as she went inside to give her news. Flash turned his head back to the large plains and sight of the Everfree forest out in the distance, seeing not a thing in the green grass, or in the clouds. He took a deep breath of disappointment and let his eyes become lost in the sight of the plains, besides getting a wave of thoughts through his mind. "About three months and we haven't found a thing or clue with any information on the Princess and the Element Bearers, with Princess Twilight away from her royal duties, Equestria's been breaking down from happiness since that day. If they don't come back soon, I think we'll all be bound for war, and Shining Armor and Princess Cadence have been very depressed lately since that incident, not to mention with the stress of caring for a young child. Something's gotta hap-" he snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed a light appear from nowhere in the plains. He'd known unicorn ponies were capable of teleportation via a skilled amount of magic, but this was a form he'd never seen teleportation take, at least, not exactly like that. Curious of the sudden light, he took out his spyglass and aimed it towards the once existent energy. What he saw was something he and all of Equestria hadn't expected to see for quite a while, it was the Element Bearers and Princess Twilight, and from the view, they looked fine and well, but another sight caught his eye, six beings, each standing on two legs and wearing what looked to be uniforms, were also present with the seven homecoming heroes. To his surprise, the Element Bearers were wearing a few pieces of similar equipment to the aliens, something must've happened during their away time, another race must've found them at the right time and got them out of trouble. He knew that once he'd mentioned that their heroes were finally home, everyone, especially the guards, would go nuts, so to prevent such panic, he calmly breathed and turned to one of his fellow guards. "Everyone, I need you all to be calm on this, but I think I've found something that'll bring our spirits back up." He said with a confident smile as the guards trotted over to him. He handed one of the guards his spyglass and waited as they examined, he almost wished he told them rather than showed them, however, as the guard went into excitement over the sight he saw. As if he'd forgotten what Flash told him, he nearly yelled at the top of his lungs as he yelled, "The Element Bearers are back, inform her Highness about this news immediately!!" The surrounding guards grew energetic smiles and raced to the door, Flash giving a disappointed and worried frown as he chased after them. "WAIT!! Don't rush to her in such a hurry!" He yelled as he flew towards the excited mob of guards. Down in the throne room, Princess Celestia spoke to her depressed subjects as she tried to keep her spirits up. She faced Minuette, who was one of Twilight's old friends bearing a blue coat of fur and dark blue and grey-white hair and an hourglass cutie mark, saying, "Minuette, I understand the pressure that you're feeling of Twilight's absence, but don't think she's gone forever, I think there's a chance that we will find her and her friends, and I won't rest until they're found and brought back to saf-" She stopped her statement as she heard hoofsteps coming down the staircase, revealing a gold and brown coated pony with a purple coat and grey hat, she knew that somepony had returned with news. She looked to Minuette and the others as she finished with, "I apologize for halting our talk, but I need a private word with our guest here. Do you mind if I have a moment please?" Minuette and her friends nodded as they trotted not too far from sight, but enough to not hear the discussion. Daring bowed and looked up to the alicorn ruler as she started talking. "Your highness, forgive me if I've come at a bad time, but I have news for you, and I don't think you'll like to hear it." Celestia and Luna gave worried looks to the heroic adventurer in disguise after her statement. Did she fail to find her pupil and her friends? Or did she succeed but found them in a horrible state, hurt, or even killed? She calmed herself with a breath and started to ask, "What did you find out, Dari-" She was quickly cut off by a low chatter, which grew louder in seconds, attracting everypony's attention. "Who's that coming down the st-" A brown coated stallion with a brown mane and tail and an hourglass cutie mark named Doctor Whooves said out of worriedness but had his question answered with a mob of royal guards racing through the stairs, yelling statements that were incomprehensible with all of them being rapidly constant. One guard flew quickly into the throne room, looking calmer than the rest, and waiting for her to quiet the loud crowd. "Everypony calm down! I'll hear your news, but I can't understand with everyone speaking." Her words quickly shut the mouths of the noisy guards and sent them into uneasy positions as they waited for her to continue. She looked to the orange guard, whom she knew as Flash Sentry. "Flash, can you explain what you found?" He smiled as he answered with, "Yes, and it's good news as well." She smiled as she focused her ears on him. "I believe I've found the Element Bearers, they've just appeared near an area out in the plains." Celestia nearly stood from her seat at these words, but stopped as he continued with, "But, I've also noticed six other entities with them. I believe these beings may have the answers to some of our questions, your Highness." Celestia stood with an open mouth at his words, did an alien species get their hands on her former pupil and her friends, and perhaps, gain their servitude? A very curious and dark question that swarmed Celestia's mind, but she couldn't let that lead her, she had heroes to save. She built a confident expression before announcing, "Very well, then I'd like to send a task group out to investigate, along with myself and my sister, but I do not want anyone to use force unless it is necessary. Is that understood?" The guards nodded as Celestia finished with, "Excellent, Flash, you, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor will depart to Twilight's location, don't let the town fall into panic." Flash gave a salute along with the other guards as he answered. "Yes, your highness." looking to Shining after acknowledging. Cadence seemed to give a hopeful smile, Flash had had several run-ins with Twilight, and maybe he'd been worried sick just as she and her husband were. The other guards followed suite with the rest of Shining and Cadence's group as they made their way to the doors of the throne room, leaving Celestia, her sister, and the civilians waiting to talk to her, or at least were, now that they'd overheard the news and came out with smiles on their faces. Celestia knew that Twilight's family would want to see her, just like everypony else in Equestria, but if she knew civilians right, they'd go crazy over something like that, to the point where somepony would get hurt, she thought that she'd spare these ponies the trouble of an excited crowd. "Minuette, I don't usually do things like this, but since the town will soon find out of our friends' return and go crazy over this, I think you and your friends should come with me, including your group, Bon Bon." The group looked towards Bon Bon with a bit of curiosity, making her a little uneasy at first before she spoke. "It's... it's something I need to talk about, something I haven't revealed to anypony else other than my friend Lyra." The group gave a few minor gasps and murmurs before Bon Bon spoke again. "I believe I can explain this on the way, your highness. Is everyone set and ready?" The group nodded before turning back to Celestia and hearing her words. "Good, hopefully, we shouldn't encounter too much traffic in the clouds. Let's go." With that said, Celestia went up the stairs to the chariot, the group following suite as they went to reunite with her friends, with hopes that they had not been harmed in anyway possible.... ---Equestrian Plains--- The sun was shining brilliantly as it sat in the sky of this "new" world. After months of combat, saving colonies, and peace treaties, not to mention protecting the timeline, they'd finally get a bit of time to do what they'd been waiting to do for a long time, seeing new worlds and meeting new life was apart of their maiden voyage across the stars, and this world had some that they would make good times and friends with, especially with Princess Twilight and her friends alongside them. The world that Wyatt saw was a wondrous sight: cool blue sky, yellow, shining sun, and white, puffy clouds that flew slowly across the sky, just like what Twilight had described to him, it surely would be a place he'd go to visit, not to mention spend shore leave here sometime. While the Admiral was admiring the world he stood on, his away team was doing the same, as well as getting scans of the flora and fauna of Equestria, curious to see what lies on this world. T'vrell spoke up when she got her results. "Fascinating, this world carries several creatures similar to Earth's own, as well as some strange, yet intriguing new ones." They had seen several creatures that looked similar to Earth's own, such as bears, birds, and bunny-rabbits wandering in the grass, while they also encountered new beasts as well, one resembled an ancient Earth monster known as a manticore, apparently unicorns and pegasi weren't the only life forms that were considered myths at Sol and existed here. Fluttershy spoke up upon T'vrell's mentioning of animals. "Oh, speaking of animals, I used to live in a cottage near Ponyville before we were taken, and I don't know if my animals were being taken care of without me." Applejack trotted over to her friend and assured her with, "Don't worry sugarcube, I'm sure somepony was able to get there and watch over them while we were away." Her words brought a slight smile back to her face before she continued looking around. Twilight looked up to the skies of her homeworld once more, feeling estatic to meet her friends and family again before trotting over to Wyatt to talk. "Isn't it a wonderful place? Being in a world where violence and death are just about non-existent?" The Admiral smiled before replying, "Yes, it's a much better place to be, while Earth and it's people treat each other with kindness and feel equal, this place beats that record." The Admiral looked around before spotting a small, primitive-looking town near their location, as well as a strange castle that looked like it was made out of crystals. He looked to the equine princess as he asked, "I assume that's your castle over there near Ponyville?" "Yep." She replied before continuing. "It's known as the Castle of Friendship, when I became a princess, that became my new home after my old one was destroyed by Tirek during his attack on Equestria. Hopefully, Starfleet and Equestria will become great allies when we meet with Princess Celestia and Luna, just don't try to get mining rights to my castle." Wyatt gave a smile as he finished with, "Don't worry about that, if HQ wants to try something like that, they'll have my crew and I to argue with, besides, that place is too good for any drill." The two chuckled a bit before Wyatt turned to Kapor and asked him, "How's your results going on the plants?" "They're going quite well sir, these plants, while having similar features to Earth's own, seem to move in a more energetic and faster movement, in an easier way of saying it, they move somewhat like what you'd see in an animated Earth television program." Wyatt nodded before replying, "Excellent, anything else I should know?" Kapor shook his head before Wyatt began to look to his whole away team and finished with, "Alright, with the scans taken care of, I suggest we follow Princess Twilight and her friends to Canterlot, there we shall fi-" He stopped when he heard a faint noise coming from somewhere, the noise sounded like loud footsteps, as if a stampede were running towards them. When he fell silent, both away teams looked around for the source of the noise, Kapor also raising his phaser pistol until both Wyatt and Twilight turned towards the town and saw the origin of the noise, it was a large mob of creatures running towards them, upon looking closer, they found the mob to be a crowd of ponies. Twilight felt surprised upon seeing this sight, it looked as if the entire town of Ponyville was coming to see them, but she then felt worried about Wyatt's away team, they most likely would scare the crowd once they noticed them. Wyatt looked to her and stepped back as he spoke, "Just so we don't ruin the moment..." noticing some of his away team holding their weapons, he signaled them to lower their arms. The incoming crowd was closing in at a quick speed, Kapor, while keeping his weapon put away, had braced himself in case he was hit by somepony. As Twilight looked closer, she could see familiar faces coming closer, her parents, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their foals, she built a smile on her muzzle and despite being away from them for a long time, held her tears with all the strength she could muster, she noticed Rarity, AJ, and Dash building excited smiles on their faces, with Rarity holding tears in her eyes. When the crowd came near, they could hear the crowd's excited words, some sounded like they were saying things like, "They're finally back!", "Welcome home!" and "We missed you so much!". The crowd, rather than crashing into them, finally came to a stop as they were greeted by their friends and family, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo jumped on Rarity and Dash as they embraced tightly with the fillies, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith gathered with Applejack as they gathered in a group hug, Pinkie Pie jumped with excitement when she met up with the Cakes, she looked a little bit sad when she saw the foals looking teary-eyed. Twilight however, noticed four familiar faces trotting towards her, her brother Shining Armor, her sister-in-law Princess Cadence, Starlight Glimmer, and an escorting royal guard she recognized, Flash Sentry, not to mention her parents, whose eyes were streaked with tears. She trotted up to them and hugged them tight like she hadn't seen them in years. Shining Armor then said to her while hugging him, "I thought you'd never come back." She then replied, now letting her tears flow freely, "Well, now I am." After letting go of her family, she continued, "You won't believe what's happened Shining, I've been through a lot at where I was at." "I'm sure you have, Twiley." He finished as he wiped away his tears and stood with her long-gone sister. After a lot of celebrating with the heroes, the crowd stopped cheering as Sweetie Belle gave a worried look towards the visitors her sister was with, holding her hoof as the crowd slowly looked to the Admiral's away team with worried looks. Shining Armor's guards instead gave glares at the six humanoids, pulling their spears out and keeping them upright in case these aliens attacked them, Kapor did not holster his weapon like a normal Klingon would, he knew there would be a military group that would be prepared to fight, but they weren't here to start a war. He stood next to his crewmates and kept a calm stance as he waited for the crowd to be calmed down. Twilight walked near the crew and then looked to the crowd, smiling as she spoke, "Everypony, these are our new friends, they won't hurt any of you. As a matter of fact, they're here to meet you all and introduce themselves to Princess Cel-" Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a noise in the sky that sounded like a chariot. Upon looking up, the crowd saw the being Twilight was mentioning, Princess of the sun, Celestia, and her sister Princess Luna, sitting in the chariot that was now lowering down towards the ground. When she looked closer, she could tell they weren't the only two in the large vehicle, and upon it landing and the side door opening, saw who was with her former teacher, her old friends from Canterlot, and six other friends she knew, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Melody, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Derpy Hooves, and Time Turner, or Dr. Hooves as his more common name, all followed the Royal Sisters out of the chariot and trotted beside the Princesses. Twilight trotted up and hugged Celestia tightly before releasing, looking up to her before speaking. "I was just about to mention you, Princess." Celestia smiled before she replied. "Well, I believe my sister and I can take it from here, I'm glad you're back though Twilight, where did you end up at?" Twilight smiled before finishing with, "Well, I believe my friends and I can answer that when we head to town." Celestia nodded before noticing and turning to the Admiral and his away team, standing firm and relaxed as the Admiral stood in front of her before bowing in respect. "I assume you are Princess Celestia?" Celestia nodded and smiled before he continued his introduction. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your Highness. I'm Admiral Wyatt Stone of the U.S.S. Chestnut, I represent the United Federation of Planets. These are my crewmates, Commanders Mioiil, T'vrell, Lon Leonard Weed, Nelen Exil, and Kapor." The alicorn ruler smiled as they also bowed in respect and listened to her words. "It's nice to meet you all, I believe you wish to talk about the events that you and Twilight have been through, as well as diplomatic matters?" Celestia said to Wyatt as he replied. "Yes we do, but I believe my crew would also like to get to know your people, not to mention this would be a rough spot for us to talk. Is there a place we could talk?" A pony from the crowd, a tan colored earth pony whom the crowd knew as Mayor Mare, spoke up. "Pardon me your highness, but I believe I know a place in town where we could do such a task!" Celestia smiled as the princess gave a look towards Wyatt, who nodded, and then spoke to her. "Thank you Mayor, we'll help you get underway." Celestia then looked to the crowd, Wyatt and his team standing firm as she began. "Everypony, Princess Twilight has brought new friends with her during her return, when we arrive at Ponyville, I'd like you to get to know them, as I'm sure they wish to do the same with you." The crowd murmured in delight when Celestia smiled and finished with, "Then it's settled, let us head to Ponyville, everyone." Everyone cheered and began forming alongside Celestia and began their trot to Ponyville. The Admiral then walked beside Twilight and said to her, "This is where the real fun begins." Twilight nodded and smiled as she replied, "Yep, something I've been wanting to do for a while." She looked to Flash and spoke to Wyatt. "Excuse me." He nodded before she trotted to the mentioned stallion and spoke to him. "Hey Flash, you got a second?" "Of course, your Highness, what do you need?" "I almost thought I'd never get the chance of talking to you, but since I'm back, I'd like to talk to you when the party's on." Flash smiled before answering, "I'd love to your Highness, when we get there?" "Yep," Twilight smiled before finishing. "and please, call me Twilight." "No problem, Twilight." He finished and trotted beside her with the crowd. Today was an excellent day for Equestria, the world would now find out that they weren't the only beings in existence and that a new race was asking to make peace. Something that would benefit all of them, the land of Equestria had more friends to make this day, and hopefully more as time passed on.... ~~Meanwhile~~ Year: 2410 Location: Alpha Quadrant, Bajor Sector Time: 0550 hours (2 hours ago) The space was tense as several starships warped in and out of the former Cardassian-claimed sector of space, when it came to visiting the famous space station of Terok Nor, it was for attacks or for transporting prisioners for most starship captains. In the hallways of the enormous command base against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, a tall human captain wearing an Odyssey tactical uniform with a badge that resembled the Earth with a sword behind it and a gold colored sash, walked to one of the many turbolifts that circled around the Promenade of the station. With the doors opening, he stepped inside and spoke to the computer in an arrogant manner. "Ops." the doors shut and the turbolift moved up, eventually stopping and opening up to reveal several similar looking officers, who smacked their fists against their chests and extended their arms out as well as opening their fists, giving what resembled a Nazi salute. As the captain did the same, one set of doors had gained the captain's attention and he walked toward it. The doors opened to reveal a female officer sitting in the center chair of the room. "Reporting as ordered, Admiral!" The captain saluted her as she began. "So, I heard you have information on our plans... Captain Stone?" She said to the captain as he nodded and gave a cocky grin. "I have gathered data feed from the cloaked probes we've used, they've found the portal, and they've just entered it." The captain then activated the device, which showed holofootage of two starships, a Federation cruiser refit and a Science star cruiser investigating a large portal, then entering it before the video cut off. "Excellent, now that you have the configurations, your orders are to go to where they went and find what they're looking for. If it's useful, take control if it and send ships to occupy it." "Yes ma'am, and what of the Federation scum?" He asked as he gave a smirk. "Mmmmm... Capture your counterpart and bring him to me, but eliminate the star cruiser if you can, we can't allow the Federation to interfere with our plans." She said before he grinned and replied. "Yes ma'am. I will not fail you this time." While his facial expression seemed unchanged, his eyes spoke out with annoyance. He had lost too many times to him, the countless losses at DS9 were too much, now he would show him the full power of his crew and ship. As he turned to leave, the female Admiral stopped him with, "Wait..." hearing this, he turned and pulled a device out from his pocket. He attached it to himself, activated it, and in seconds, his body was surrounded in a field of energy, when the field ceased, he was revealed to have changed to an equine form, with the same marks from previous battles and his knife at his hind leg's side. he wore a mane and tail with dark Yellow, brown, and red as their colors. Upon seeing this, Admiral Leeta smiled mischievously and finished. "Ha! Excellent, now go and perform your duties, Captain." Then, Leeta stood as her and Wyatt then performed the traditional salute and said along with all other officers in the room, "Long live the Empire!" The Captain then marched out to the turbolift as the doors shut. Admiral Leeta then smiled to herself and looked out the window in the room. Soon, we shall unleash our newest weapon we have built from Iconia's ashes, and once the pathetic Alliance and Federation are wiped from history, nothing will stand against the might of the Terran Empire!!! And for that while in the room of Terok Nor's Ops deck, she laughed as she imagined the weapon and the galaxy's presumed fear caused by it, soon the galaxy would bow to the Imperials, and anyone that defied her Emperor would suffer the pain wrought by the cruelness and hatred of the now restored Terran Empire.....