//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Celestial Hulk // by Waxworks //------------------------------// Minuette walked down the wooden halls, passing by room after room of carefully laid out cargo. She took inventory slowly, checking the crates and barrels, and looking for any signs of decay, infestation, or anything else unexpected. It was her job today to double-check all the supplies for problems. She had drawn the short straw, sadly, so here she was, walking the slow walk around the center of the ship. At the very least it was a warm and comfortable job. Lazy, if you will. The grass underhoof was soft and well-trimmed, and the miniature sun was high. This side of the ship was in daylight, so she was better off than Moondancer, who was down at the far end, upside down, in the dark. The ship was built by Princess Twilight, with the assistance of Celestia and Luna, so they’d managed to fit in a nice pseudo day and night cycle. A tiny ball of light representing the sun and a tiny ball for the moon would float slowly up and down the center of the ship, going to each side in a 24 hour trip. It was honestly rather ingenious. Princess Twilight had grown the ship from a sapling, and given it the gravity so they would walk freely, as well as protections against outer space. The crew consisted of Caramel, Twinkleshine, Moondancer, and herself, Minuette. The three unicorns were all former students of Celestia’s at the school of gifted unicorns! Alumnus, every one of them. Most with some form of honors, so they were, of course, selected. Caramel was there because he came highly recommended by Applejack, one of Princess Twilight’s friends. His job was to make sure all the plants were growing properly and not showing any signs of decay or disease. He briefed them all on what to look for. Minuette sighed and tried to spice up her inventory with a little bit of humming, her horn glowing as she checked off the items one by one. They had a hydroponics lab that Caramel was also in charge of to provide them with food. The whole ship was a giant tree, so it would recycle all their oxygen well enough, and most of it was a living, breathing, growing thing, so they could even recycle their waste in rooms dedicated to that, so long as they kept it all under control. Those specific rooms were dark and had fungus growing in them, so they had to be monitored carefully to prevent the fungus from spreading. It was lined with metal and sealed carefully. Ideal for mushrooms, but mushrooms could end up being bad for the tree if left unchecked, which is why regular maintenance checks were necessary. Minuette finished her checklist, and verified everything looked fine, and made her way to the hatch. She flipped it open and jumped inside, falling for a short distance before the gravity shifted, catching her and allowing her to flip and deftly land on her hooves. “You know there are steps, right?” Twinkleshine said as Minuette skidded to a stop. “Of course, but those aren’t nearly as fun, are they?” Minuette responded. Twinkleshine just rolled her eyes. She went back to writing in the book Princess Twilight had given them to keep in contact with Equestria. It was something the Princess had copied from a separate set of books she’d found, and no matter the distance, what was written in one, was copied to the other, and it had infinite pages, so they’d never run out. Very convenient. She was essentially in charge of communications with home, so her job was to make sure she knew where the book was at all times. She rarely let it leave her side. “How’s ‘home base’ Twinkleshine?” Minuette asked, grabbing a bite to eat from the eating trays. They had little plots of grass and some of the hardier flowers growing all throughout the ship. A good, constant source of food whenever they needed it, and easy to maintain inside the living shell of the tree. “Canterlot is doing fine. They want to know what it’s like up here.” Twinkleshine said. “Well tell them it’s kind of boring. Nothing much happens, and we’ve been up here three days. We’ve watched Celestia and Luna move the sun and nothing seemed out of place. The sun went around, followed by the moon, and that was it. What else were we supposed to find?” Minuette said. “Princess Twilight said there was an anomalous object she had spotted crossing in front of the sun and moon’s path.” A new voice said. Moondancer walked in, her mane was tied up in a severe bun at the back of her head. She had lost the little barrette she used to use and instead had opted for hair ties holding everything back, all tightly packed into a neat sphere. Princess Twilight apologizing had helped her out of her funk pretty well, and now here she was heading the first Equestrian space exploration mission! Celestia had been awfully proud of her. “We are supposed to investigate that object, discover what it is, and, if possible retrieve it for further study.” Moondancer said. “Princess Twilight said it had just appeared, and if the distance of Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon are any indication, the object could be fairly large. It displayed erratic behavior, so she was unable to identify its dimensions, but it could be as small as a boulder…” Minuette snorted, and Moondancer ignored her. “…or bigger than this ship.” “So what exactly do we do if it’s bigger than we can fit in the cargo hold?” Twinkleshine asked. “We take as many measurements as we can, of every type we can think of, and grab a sample if possible off it.” Moondancer said. “Sounds easy enough.” Minuette said, idly chewing on some grass. “Well, I want you all to know we are not taking any chances.” Moondancer said. “This is only our second foray into Celestia’s sphere, and any number of things could happen, so if something does go wrong or causes any kind of concern for any one of you, we pull out immediately. Speaking of which, where’s Caramel?” “Probably in Hydroponics, like usual. You know how earth ponies are.” Twinkleshine said. “No, I don’t know how earth ponies are, Twinkleshine. Do enlighten me.” Moondancer said, voice dripping with venom. “Sweet Celestia, Moondancer, it was a joke. Relax.” Twinkleshine said, holding up her hooves in surrender. “Well watch it. This is a serious expedition, and I won’t have you treating Caramel like a second-class crewmember.” Moondancer said. She trotted stiffly off in the direction of hydroponics, leaving Twinkleshine and Minuette alone in the lounge. Minuette chewed slowly as Moondancer walked off, while Twinkleshine made faces and pulled her hair back in mockery of Moondancer’s look. Once Minuette was certain Moondancer was out of earshot, she looked at Twinkleshine and shook her head. “Treading dangerous waters there Twinkle. You know how seriously she takes any job she’s given.” Minuette said. “Yeah, I know. I guess it was a pretty bad joke. I know Caramel is useful and a definite credit to the crew. Without him, we’d be floating up here living off old hay and mushrooms. I was just trying to lighten the mood.” Twinkleshine said. “Well, I’d recommend making it up to her somehow. But I’ll leave that up to you. I’m gonna go to the observation deck and see if I can spot our mysterious object. Nothing appears to have passed the detection field, but I can at least try to find out if we’re headed in the right direction.” Minuette said. She grabbed one final mouthful of grass and trotted off down another corridor, hooves tapping lightly on the wooden floor. Twinkleshine turned back to her book, and scratched into it a new message: “Requesting likely heading for target celestial object.” She finished with a small flourish, then slammed the book shut. Waiting for a response. Her horn lit up and she closed her eyes as she connected to the ship’s navigation magic. Using this, she could direct the ship with minimal magical effort. Most of the magic had been spent creating the field in the first place, allowing any unicorn to drive it if they had been taught the right spells to do so. Being such magical prodigies, any one of the three of them could do so, but Twinkleshine, being the one in charge of communications, was the de facto ‘driver’, since she always received the messages first. The book vibrated and gave off a soft ‘ping’ as she received a message. She opened her eyes and flipped it open to read the response. The response was a series of mathematical equations relating the object to the current positions of Celestia’s sun, Luna’s moon, and Equestria itself in order to triangulate the position. Twinkleshine sighed and pulled out a spare sheet of paper and a quill. She began the laborious process of trying to interpret Princess Twilight’s math. It was accurate, she had no doubt, but she wasn’t the quickest at it. She’d be damned if she went to Moondancer for help without trying to manage it herself first. Moondancer, meanwhile, entered the hydroponics lab to find Caramel humming to himself and prancing about the room here and there, happily maintaining the myriad plants growing underneath the softly glowing magical lights. He maintained a very organized and rigid schedule, but he was prone to losing things sometimes. Moondancer didn’t really have much of a problem with that, so long as he was kept in hydroponics and not given anything more important than seeds. At least that way if he did lose anything, it was somewhere in hydroponics. “Caramel. How are the plants doing?” Moondancer asked gently. He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled wide. “Ah, good day, Moondancer. They’re all doing quite well. Being out here in Celestia’s sphere doesn’t seem to have affected them too much. The only one that seems injured by it is lil’ mister cucumber here.” Caramel said as he lifted up a sad-looking cucumber plant. “Well, since the rest are doing fine, that’s great to hear. Be sure to keep notes on which ones do the best. In subsequent voyages we’ll only want to make space for the best plants that ponies can subsist on.” Moondancer said. Caramel saluted smartly. “Will do, Miss Captain, ma’am!” She sighed. “Just Moondancer, Caramel.” “Yes, Captain Moondancer!” Caramel said. She shook her head with a rueful smile, and left him to his work, hoping that he didn’t lose his notes anywhere. Princess Twilight would want that list for all her research. Moondancer understood the purpose behind the research, but sometimes she wondered if perhaps this wasn’t the best way to go about it. Instead of taking extra time to study the object, the Princess had decided it would be easier to go up to the object and touch it hooves-on. That sounded foolish without fully understanding it. It probably had something to do with the way the Princess said it moved, though. Moondancer walked about out to the common room to find Twinkleshine with her eyes closed, muttering to herself. She always got like that while flying the ship, so Moondancer just found a clean patch of grass and laid down, waiting for her to finish. She still found it weird to not feel the movement of the ship as it moved through Celestia’s sphere. She’d been on boats before, and that was the closest she could compare this hulk to, and she kept expecting it to shift and sway underneath her hooves, but it never did. It was awfully disconcerting sometimes. It felt like being inside a building, but knowing it was moving gave her a weird kind of chill down her spine. Twinkleshine eventually opened her eyes and blinked rapidly. “Ugh, that’s a really strange feeling.” “How goes the flight, Twinkleshine? Are we on course?” Moondancer asked. Twinkleshine looked over at Moondancer and blinked some more. “Oh hey Moondancer. Didn’t see you there. Yeah, we’re on course, provided it doesn’t move like the last time. I still find it worrying that it does that.” Moondancer nodded. “I’m wary of getting close, personally. If we can nab it with magic before it shifts, we should be okay, but from all accounts, I personally think the description means the object is teleporting.” “That would seem to indicate it’s either highly charged with magic, or there’s somepony inside it making it do that.” Twinkleshine said, scratching her chin with a hoof. “Both of which are dangerous possibilities.” Moondancer said. Twinkleshine yawned. Moondancer smiled warmly at her as she closed her mouth. “If you need some rest, I can handle the comms for now. You’ve set us on the right heading, so we should be there within… ten hours or so?” Twinkleshine nodded. “That would be nice, and yes. If it doesn’t move again, interception will be in ten.” Moondancer floated the book over to her own lap and opened it up to read the past communications, while Moondancer stood up and stretched. “You have fun with that, Moondancer. I’ll see you in several hours.” Twinkleshine said. “Thanks, Twinkleshine. Sleep well.” Twinkleshine walked off toward the crew quarters, dragging her hooves slowly. Poor mare ran herself ragged double-checking everything, making sure the calculations were all correct and the heading was right. Almost as much as Moondancer herself. Minuette, meanwhile, was rather the opposite of the two. Happy-go-lucky and carefree, but a prodigy at magic. Moondancer figured they brought her along because she had been a friend of theirs while at the school for gifted unicorns. Minuette was essentially going to be their heavy-hitter. If anything went wrong and they needed something large lifted, held in place, or otherwise hit really hard, Minuette was going to be the unicorn for the job. Moondancer read over the most recent communication, then wrote in a short message letting Twilight know that she was now in charge of the book. She got a quick “Roger, Moondancer.” and shut the book. They’d gotten past that much, and this was business. Once the package was secure, they could maybe have a little chat. Moondancer had a few ideas for what they could improve on the ship. She’d run them by Twilight and they could try to improve on the next one. Maybe they could even create single-pony ships for recreation! They’d have to figure out a way to make them work for non-unicorns sometime as well. These things could revolutionize travel in Equestria if they could figure out how to mass-produce them. Moondancer was sitting smiling to herself about all the possible applications of this new ship they had built, when the book vibrated in her lap, letting her know she had a message. She flipped it open with her magic to have a look. “Target has moved closer to you! Check your heading!” Moondancer immediately closed her eyes and lit up her horn, looking through the ship’s magic lenses. She scanned around the outside, hunting for the familiar shape they’d been following the past few days, and saw it, on the same heading they were on, but much closer. They would reach it in half the time, now. Convenient, but alarming. It seemed like it had figured out they were coming and was helping them arrive sooner. Moondancer checked the heading to make sure it was on course, and set the ship to slow down when they got closer, then brought herself back to her body and let Twilight know what had happened. She’d have to prepare the crew for arrival. She lit up her horn again and connected to the ship’s communication field. “Minuette, please report to the common room. Minuette, please report to the common room.” Moondancer announced. Twinkleshine would be staying on the ship, she had already decided. No matter what the thing was, Minuette was going to be the one to deal with it when they got there. She needed to be briefed. “Hey there Moondancer. What’s up?” Minuette said, prancing into the room. “We’re about five hours out from the target. It moved closer to us. Whether by design or chance, I don’t know, but you’ll need to get prepared for arrival.” Moondancer explained. Minuette saluted and put on a too-serious face. “Aye-aye, cap’n!” Moondancer ignored her and continued. “You’ll need to make sure you’re prepared to traverse the luminiferous aether. It’s hostile to unprepared life, so make sure you remember how to do your wards. You’ll need to have a long enough length of cable so we can tow you back immediately if something goes wrong, and enough cable to attach to the package if it’s something we can fit in the hold. Prepare everything for arrival in five hours. Dismissed!” Minuette grinned and trotted gaily off to the main airlock. She was getting excited! All this planning and careful building and growing of the ship, then adding the spells to make it safe to carry ponies through Celestia’s sphere, it was amazing that she had the chance to come along. Knowing the Princess was finally paying off! She squeed happily and did a little dance. She knew they just wanted her for her brute-force magic skill, but she was okay with that. If being the one to carry things got her up here on the first trip into Celestia’s sphere, so be it. She reached the airlock and checked the equipment with the checklist Princess Twilight had provided. “To traverse the luminiferous aether will require several items so that safety will be maximized. To ensure your safety and anypony with you, please make sure you have a unicorn.” Minuette tapped her horn. “Check.” “This unicorn will be responsible for keeping up the wards preventing the luminiferous aether from invading your lungs and suffocating you. Please make sure the accompanying unicorn is able to maintain the ward on all ponies involved before opening the airlock.” Minuette lit up her horn and put up the ward, just as the diagram showed her. “Check.” “It is difficult navigating a ship of this size, so to avoid unnecessary complications with retrieving errant ponies, please attach a length of cable to yourself so that the unicorn will not need to divide their magic between the wards, and motion through the aether. In the event you get separated from the unicorn, please pull yourself back to the ship using the cable.” Minuette ran a hoof over the cable, then started playing it out to its maximum length to make sure there was enough of it. It was time consuming, but she knew Moondancer would be upset if she didn’t make sure it was free of any fraying or tears. Once she was satisfied and had checked the full length, she rolled it back up and nodded. “Check.” “When attempting to retrieve anypony or anything from the luminiferous aether, a secondary length of cable will be needed. This can be a small length which will attach to the retrieving pony, or a longer, separate length that will attach to the ship itself. Please use discretion when making this decision, and take into account both parties fitness when choosing.” Minuette looked over at the other lengths, then at the shorter length. She really didn’t want this thing attached to her directly, because of all the speculation involved in what it was, and what it might do, and especially because it seemed to be so magically potent. She opted to check a second length of cable attached to the ship. It was more time-consuming, but it might be necessary, and she was a pragmatic pony. Once that second length was done and checked, she realized it might not fit in the airlock, and she’d then have to move it to one of the cargo holds. “Check, but only halfway.” She climbed up one of the ramps leading to the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of the ship. These were the spots where all the cargo was held, and any one of the rooms would do, but since the size of the object was in question, she’d need an empty one. She wandered around the circular room as the mini-sun floated in midair nearby, slowly beginning its descent. She found one that only had a few crates in it and pulled them out with her magic, then delivered them to another cargo room, cramming them in next to the barrels of pickles. She went to the now empty room and checked the large opening in the tree. It was sealed with magic of course, but she knew the spell to open it and allow objects, and not air, through. It was fine-tuned enough that she could move the branches out of the way entirely and look out into the aether through a rather massive hole in the ship. Minuette stared out into the luminiferous aether. Even this, the umpteenth time she’d looked out into it, it took her breath away. She could see Equestria far, far below or above them, however directions worked in the aether, and off to the side, moving slowly away from them was Celestia’s sun. Luna’s moon was moving toward them, and would intercept their path in several hours, but the princesses were informed of their position, and would skirt around the ship, so they were in no danger. It was just so… humbling, to be out here and realize the true scope of the objects the princesses moved so effortlessly through the sky. It made her feel so small. That and seeing the true size of Equestria. They were just a tiny blip on the full geography of their little globe. Minuette had been aghast that she couldn’t see Canterlot from up here. Twinkleshine had actually fainted. Moondancer had seemed unfazed, and Caramel had barely left hydroponics since. Minuette grinned at the sight, and closed the branches. She left one extended so she could find it from the outside, but she was prepared to make the acquisition as soon as they arrived. That is, if it would fit. If it didn’t, well… they’d have to improvise from there. Minuette returned to the common room, where Moondancer was apparently watching the object through the ship’s magical lenses. Her eyes were closed and her horn was lit, and she was mumbling to herself. Minuette sat down in front of her and smiled, waiting. She waited. And waited. But after fourty-five minutes it didn’t look like Moondancer was coming out of there without some coaxing, so she poked her in the side. Moondancer stopped talking to herself for a moment, but didn’t actually come out of her little trance. Minuette poked her again and cleared her throat. Moondancer’s horn went out and she slowly opened her eyes. “Welcome back Minuette. Is everything prepared?” Moondancer asked. Minuette saluted again, quite smartly. “Aye aye! The cables are long enough, and free of damage, a cargo bay has been cleared and marked for the package, and I have practiced the necessary spells!” Moondancer rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s excellent. We’re on our final hour of approach, and I’ve gotten a pretty good look at the object. Go wake up Twinkleshine and get Caramel out here, will you? We all need to be here for this.” “Can do, cap’n! …I mean,  aye aye!” Minuette said, and trotted off. Moondancer went back into her trance and looked out at the object once again. It hadn’t moved, thankfully, which meant their heading was still good, but now that they were so close, she could identify certain parts of it. Contrary to the initial assumption that it was merely a lump of rock or other material and was merely here in Celestia’s sphere by chance would appear to be wrong. It looked like a strange box of some sort. It had seams, first off, which had to be pony-made. They were far too straight and deliberate, and were placed in positions that would indicate moving parts and thought toward design. The other reasons she thought it was not just a random rock were that despite the worn look of it, it appeared to have some form of design on it. It was too small to make out, but there appeared to be a pattern to what the ship was covered it. Possibly paint, or possibly etchings. Again, they were too small to make out from this distance, even with the zoom capabilities of the ocular spells. Moondancer felt an insistent poking in her side and turned off her horn. Felt like they were back. She opened her eyes to see Minuette once again really close to her face. “Hello again Minuette. You know I can still hear you if you speak to me, right?” “I know, but that’s not nearly as fun as poking you. I’ve gathered everypony here. What’s up?” Minuette said. Caramel and Twinkleshine were standing just behind Minuette, looking confused and tired, respectively. She looked at all three ponies one at a time, then spoke. “Okay, we’re on final approach to the object, so I need to brief everypony before we arrive.” Moondancer began. “Minuette has prepared the equipment for the away, and has readied her spells for traversing the luminiferous aether. The initial trip will be solo, attached to the ship to investigate the object.” Moondancer looked at Minuette with a severe eye. “It will be strictly reconnaissance. Take photographs with the camera I’m going to give you, but maintain a respectable distance. I have reason to believe the object is a container of some kind, and possibly made of metal. This would indicate an intelligence created it to hold something, and we do not want to disturb it if it is harboring something dangerous. I’m also having difficulty determining its exact size. When observing it, I seem to be getting some warping, which is also cause for concern.” “Is that why you slowed down so early?” Twinkleshine asked. Moondancer nodded. “Exactly. We’ll approach with caution. If this warping is dangerous, we’ll take the ship through as carefully as we can. Minuette prepared a cargo bay for it, but I doubt at this point that it will be able to hold the object. Investigation first, then we’ll contact the Princess with our findings and ask for her advice after. Got it?” The three ponies nodded in unison, but Caramel raised his hand. “Um, Miss Moondancer, what should I do? Is there anything I can even do to help?” Caramel asked. “Well, without a horn you’re unfortunately limited, but if you want to man the cable Minuette is going to be attached to, your strength would be useful in pulling her back in if things get dangerous.” Moondancer said. She still shrugged afterward, knowing that the job was only to placate him. Caramel nodded in understanding. “I know, I know. I’m really just here to make the food. Thank you, Moondancer. I’ll be there to help out as well as I can.” Moondancer nodded. “Alright Ponies! It’s time to arrive! Twinkleshine, man communications.” Moondancer said, floating the book back to her. “Keep Twilight appraised of everything as it happens.” “Yes, ma’am!” Twinkleshine said, opening the book and pulling out a quill. “I’ll be bringing the ship in close. Minuette, be prepared to back me up.” Moondancer yelled. “Aye aye, cap’n!” Minuette said, lighting up her horn. “Caramel, keep yourself and the supplies safe!” Moondancer shouted. “Uh… got it!” Caramel said. Moondancer lit her horn and went into her trance, seeing through the ship’s eyes once more. The luminiferous aether was quiet, black, and unwelcoming, but directly ahead she could see the object, floating aimlessly in the darkness. Despite being loose in the aether, It didn’t spin, and there was that ever-present warping surrounding it. Without opening her eyes, Moondancer spoke to the ponies who were surrounding her. “We may experience some sort of turbulence as we approach. If this strange field surrounding the object is dangerous, we should know almost immediately. Be prepared for anything.” She heard their affirmations and slowly moved the ship closer, until they entered the shimmering sphere she could see surrounding the object. As she did, her view of the object distorted as first, then ballooned and shifted. There was no shaking in the ship, no impact of any kind, and nothing untoward seemed to happen to their own ship. They had passed through unscathed. However, the one obvious thing that happened was that the object had grown in size exponentially. It was now bigger than their own ship, and Moondancer could plainly see that it was a ship now. Those lines she had seen before were hoof-made indeed, and they marked seams and connections putting it together. It appeared to be made entirely of metal, which was alarming. “A… train?” Moondancer said in confusion. “What? Train?” Twinkleshine said. “It’s like, a train, kind of. Like an engine, but not quite the same.” Moondancer explained to the three ponies inside the ship. “Here, just take a look yourselves. Tell me what you think it is.” She said, and released her vision from the spell. Twinkleshine went first, horn lighting up and quickly going out as she stepped back in alarm. “What is THAT!” She said. Minuette went next, and stayed a bit longer, marveling at the hulking pile of metal ahead of them. “How would anypony even get something like that off the ground! You’d need so much magic to lift something of that size off the ground! Or a huge gas bag, and I don’t see one of those at all!” Twinkleshine was scratching furiously at the notebook, and she tapped Minuette to get her attention. “Let me have another look, I need to send a sketch to Princess Twilight.” Minuette obliged and Twinkleshine popped in and out of the vision spell to send a picture to the Princess far away. Moondancer, meanwhile, was rubbing her chin with a hoof trying to figure out their next move. “We obviously can’t fit it inside the ship, so that’s out. We should, however, try to figure out what it is exactly.” Moondancer said. “And why it’s here. If it’s a threat to Equestria, we need to make sure. We’re the only ones out here, so that puts us in this… questionable position.” “Well…” Caramel piped up. “…you said it looks like a train, right? So I’d say it’s meant to carry live cargo. As for how it got up here, well what if they just made it go really fast and built a ramp that pointed straight up? If you can’t lift it directly, why not push it upward?” Moondancer stared at him, dumbfounded. “Caramel, no offense, but that sounds completely stupid.” Caramel’s face fell. “Sorry. Just a suggestion.” Moondancer smiled at him softly. “I appreciate it Caramel. But I just don’t see that working.” Twinkleshine finally opened her eyes and slammed the book shut. “There! I hope the Princess appreciates the picture. Should we wait for her to respond before doing anything else?” She asked. “I don’t think we’ll have to wait long. Twilight is usually pretty good about getting back to us. But we should prepare to go get hooves-on with this thing.” Moondancer said, standing up. “Minuette, get down to the airlock. I’ll be coming with you. Twinkleshine, bring us closer, but slowly. Caramel, come with me so you can haul is back if anything goes wrong. Twinkleshine, let us know via an announcement what Twilight says.” “Will do, Moondancer.” Twinkleshine said, and settled down in the common room to wait, lighting up her horn. The other three headed down to the airlock to prep for an expedition to the metal behemoth. Minuette pointed out the two spools of cable she had checked, and they each put on a saddle with a hook on the back they attached the cables to. Moondancer flicked on the required ward a few times to make sure she was ready, and tested putting it on Caramel just in case. She then stood next to the door built into the wood of the ship and slid it open, the magic surrounding the ship providing a barrier against the luminiferous aether. They could see the body of the metal beast looming large in their vision as Twinkleshine brought them up next to it. It was at least three times the size of their tree, and appeared pitted with scars on its shell from some unknown force. “Moondancer, I’ve found what might be a door. I’m going to bring you up near it. I’m connected fully to the communication spell, so if you speak I’ll hear you.” Twinkleshine said. “Thanks Twinkleshine. I think I see the door you mentioned. We’re ready to go when you stop, so just let us know when you’ve finished moving.” Moondancer responded. “Okay, right… about… now.” Twinkleshine said, and sure enough, the ship stopped moving almost directly across from what appeared to be a door in the body of the other ship. The door didn’t look like it had moved in a very long time, and it was made of solid metal, at least on this side of it. There was a control of some sort, though. Similar to a ship’s wheel, it was flush with the front of the door. “Okay Minuette. Let’s go.” Moondancer said. Moondancer pushed herself through the magic shield protecting the tree from the aether and immediately felt the gravity of the ship lose its pull on her. Her ward protected her from suffocation, and the cable, as she looked back to double-check, kept her tethered to the ship. It was still incredibly disconcerting floating like this, without even being able to swim in any direction, but she had mostly gotten over it after the first few aether-walks. Minuette, meanwhile, enjoyed it far too much. She pushed off from the ship and twirled through the aether as she made a beeline for the opposing metal ship, impacting it before Moondancer could warn her against touching the thing. Moondancer smacked a hoof against her face, but after a few seconds, she saw that nothing had happened quite yet, so no harm had been done, hopefully. Minuette connected her ward to Moondancer’s to communicate, a thin line of magic between them. “It’s definitely metal, Moonie, and I don’t feel any magic at all.” Moondancer waited until she had impacted the ship as well, then held her hooves to it with her own magic so she could walk on it. “Well, it’s good that contact didn’t trigger anything. Please take more care in the future, Minuette. Let’s look around quickly at the surface, then contact Twinkleshine and see if she wants us to enter. This wheel looks like it would spin, and I’m willing to say it would open the door.” Minuette nodded and disconnected from Moondancer to send a message to Twinkleshine. Afterward, the two looked over the immediate area surrounding the door. The metal surface looked like it had been struck repeatedly all over by something. There were dents of varying sizes all over it, though none had managed to rupture the shell. “What do you think made all these dents in it?” Minuette asked. “If I had to venture a guess, since it’s been out here in the aether for so long, it’s entirely possible these were caused by shooting stars.” Moondancer answered. “Shooting stars? You mean like you see in the night sky? Things can get hit by those?” Minuette said in alarm. “Calm down. They’re rarer than you think, and the chances of us getting hit are even more slim.” Moondancer said. Minuette didn’t look appeased, but she didn’t bring it up again.  They didn’t range too far from the door. Twinkleshine needed to easily be able to contact them, and that was easier the closer they were. She was in charge of the ship and needed to be able to move it at a moment’s notice. Especially when there was such an unknown element involved. The ship being their lifeline, it was important she easily be able to protect it. Eventually, a tendril of magic snaked out from the ship and latched onto Moondancer’s ward. Twinkleshine spoke up through it. “Okay, I contacted the Princess letting her know what we suspect it is, how big it is, and how absolutely impossible it is for us to move it. She said she will confer with the other princesses and get back to us about further plans, but we are free to explore it with the utmost caution.” Twinkleshine said. “Okay then. I’d like to get a look inside at the very least. If anypony is alive in there, we should see if they need help. They may have been trying to get our attention. The way it teleported closer to us would seem to indicate it wanted us to come to it.” Moondancer said. Minuette seemed a little less enthusiastic. “Are you sure it’s safe to go in there? What if it’s something bad?” “Then we evacuate immediately. But we have to check.” Moondancer insisted. “Well, alright.” Minuette agreed. “Twinkleshine, tell caramel we’re going to try to open the door here. If it works, we’re going inside to the full length of the cables and no more. If we’re not back in fifteen minutes, he is to start pulling, no matter what.” Moondancer said through the communication spell. “Acknowledged, Moondancer. Celestiaspeed.” Twinkleshine said, and disconnected the spell. Moondancer looked over at Minuette to make sure she was prepared. The two of them went back to the door and the ship’s wheel embedded in it. Minuette didn’t need any prompting before she grabbed onto it with her magic and began trying to turn it. It was slow going, and at first it didn’t seem like it would move at all, but there was a sudden lurch, and a small piece of metal flew off and the whole thing started to spin easily. Minuette turned it as far as it would go before it stopped, having hit the end of its track. Minuette gave Moondancer one last look and took a deep breath, then yanked on the door. It opened outward into the aether, swinging up into minuette’s face. She scooted over to the side, and peered inside the ship with Moondancer. There was nothing but a long hallway. A metal walkway covered what the two ponies assumed must be the floor, since the other three sides of the square tunnel were uneven and covered with designs on the sides, and fixtures that could be assumed to be lanterns on the upper portion. They couldn’t see very far inside, but what little they were looking at wasn’t very inviting. “Uhhhh… Moondancer, do we really need to go inside? Can’t we just leave it here?” Minuette asked, shying away from the hole behind Moondancer. “I said we would investigate to the end of the cables, so that’s what we’ll do. It’s safer as a pair, so come on. I’ll lead the way.” Moondancer said. Moondancer made light with her horn and stepped inside the entrance, carefully touching a hoof to the grating to test it with a small amount of pressure before putting her weight on it. As she moved her whole body inside, she noticed that the ship itself had gravity similar to their own, and carefully released the spell holding her hooves down. “It has gravity at least. That’s positive. I’m going to scan the air, see if it’s breathable. I didn’t see any wards on the ship, though.” Moondancer said. Her magic probed out at the surrounding ship, lighting up small pockets here and there as she mentally searched for good, breathable air. She shook her head in frustration and turned to look at the entrance, her magic circling the portal she’d entered through. “Nothing. I don’t think it’s any good. We’ll have to keep the spell up the entire…” “Wait, is that a second door?” Minuette said, pointing at the faint outline of something not too far down the entry hall. Sure enough, there was a second door just ahead at the edge of the light Moondancer’s horn created. Moondancer moved up to it, with Minuette close behind her. VERY close behind her. The door was similar to the one they had already opened, with a wheel that appeared to turn in the same way. Minuette tried to move it, but it wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard she forced it. “Can you break it?” Moondancer asked. Minuette shook her head. “It’s not stuck. It’s hitting something inside the door. It’s locked.” “Hey, move aside a second. There’s something here.” Moondancer said as she gently pushed minuette aside. Behind Minuette on the wall, there was a faintly glowing red square. It was flashing, and covered in dust, which had muted the colour. There appeared to be words on it, but she couldn’t make them out with all the mess that was covering it. Moondancer reached out a hoof to clean it, wiping away the dust and grime. It made a heavy click when pressure was applied, and the outer door began to swing shut. Moondancer’s eyes widened in alarm. “The door! Minuette catch it!” Moondancer yelled. Minuette turned and looked, and her horn flared. The door lit up and slowed, but didn’t stop. Whatever heavy mechanism was swinging it shut was too much for her. “I can’t hold it! It’s too strong!” Minuette cried. Moondancer raced toward it, but by the time she made it, the door was too close to shut. She pushed against it with her hooves, but could not slow its inexorable swing. It hit their safety cables and didn’t even slow as it sliced through them, shutting with a dull clang. They were sealed inside the strange ship. “Oh no! Oh no no no no!” Minuette cried, frozen in fear. Moondancer came over and put a hoof on Minuette’s withers to try and help her relax. “Calm down! It’s probably just the door function. I hit something by accident that shut the door. I highly doubt the entryway was built to kill us. That just goes to show that you shouldn’t put your hooves on everything you see. I should have cleaned it off with my magic instead. Let that be a lesson. Now, let’s…” Moondancer was interrupted by a loud click, then a whirring, and a cloud of dust came spewing into the small chamber from the walls, followed by a gust of air. The two ponies broke into fits of coughing. Once they had recovered enough, there was a scratchy beep, then the red light Moondancer had hit turned green, and the door they had been investigating started turning the wheel on its own. They watched as it spun, and backed away slightly. It spun for a few seconds, then hit the end with a clunk, and the door rolled sideways into the wall, opening up to a larger black room. The two ponies were silent for a moment, staring into the darkness. Minuette broke the silence first. “I don’t like this.” She said. “I don’t either. We need to figure out how to open the door first and foremost. Once I know we can get back outside, then we can explore further.” Moondancer said. She turned back to the button she had accidentally pressed and looked at it. It was green now, flickering fitfully in the light of her horn. It had words on it, but despite now being clean, she still couldn’t read them. They were strange and blocky, not like any script she’d ever encountered in the library at Canterlot. “Minuette, can you read this?” Moondancer asked. Minuette stopped staring at the darkness ahead long enough to look down at the button. “No. I’m not familiar with that writing at all. It looks harsh and angry.” “Well, if I had to characterize it, that’s a pretty good way to do so.” Moondancer said. “I’m going to push it again, see if it opens the door. Be ready.” Moondancer pushed the button with her hoof again, and there was a click, but it didn’t change colour, and the door didn’t open. “Okay, so it’s not the same button for the other direction. Look around, see if you can find any other buttons or switches.” Moondancer said. Minuette nodded and the two searched the entryway they were in for anything that might indicate it would let them back out. Nothing else was lit, however, and despite finding what might have once been a button, it was damaged, having been smashed to pieces by something. Half of it was still there, with that severe writing on it, but it was non-functional if it had been what they wanted. “Well this is disturbing.” Moondancer said. “What’re we gonna do, Moondancer? We’re stuck in here!” Minuette wailed, clinging tightly to Moondancer’s side. “Okay, first, we’re going to calm down, alright? Deep breaths, Minuette. We need to be clear-headed before we go any further.” Moondancer said firmly. Moondancer put a hoof on Minuette’s withers and looked her in the eyes. She inhaled slowly, then exhaled. Inhale. Exhale. She kept going until Minuette was breathing with her, nodding as she followed along. She kept it up until Minuette’s eyes weren’t quite as wide, and she was no longer hyperventilating. “Feel better?” Moondancer asked. “Yeah. I’m okay. We can manage this.” Minuette said. “What do we do first?” “Well, with what I would assume is the exit button destroyed, we will have to find a different exit, or some other way of leaving the ship. We tried magic, but this ship was quite solidly built. It’s quite clear we’ll have to go deeper.” Moondancer said. Minuette looked in the direction of the open door leading further inside the ship. Outside the pool of light cast by their horns, the darkness was absolute. There was the sound of groaning metal every so often echoing through the hallway toward the two ponies, but there wasn’t much else to be seen. Inside was a mystery. A rather frightening mystery. “I’ll lead, but keep close, and be ready for anything. If anything is alive inside this place, we don’t know if it is dangerous. Our safety is first and foremost. If you feel at all threatened, defend yourself with extreme prejudice. I will forgive you for killing any foreign creatures.” Moondancer said. Minuette didn’t say anything, but Moondancer could hear her gulp as she swallowed. She was scared, but her magic was powerful. She needed to feel free to use it if necessary. They were in strange territory, and safety must come first.