//------------------------------// // II. Square One // Story: Starship Ponyville: Homeward // by Vylet Pony //------------------------------// June 14, 2051 [Sol 63] Her bedroom floor was littered with various scientific instruments and chemistry books. A copy of the last Equestrian Inquirer from before the expedition was open on her desk. Satyrn wiped her eyes and groaned herself out of bed, shuddering as her hooves touched the cold starship floor. “09:29” her clock read. Satyrn saw this and groaned even more. She moved over to her desk and examined the newspaper. She flipped it over to see her face on the cover, reading aloud the title: “The Statera Crisis.” Satyrn scoffed playfully. It had been 63 sols since the starship left Equestria. On what would be March 29th, Celestia announced that the ship would be intercepting an unusual asteroid that astronomers had directed her attention to. She elaborated that the goal of the operation would be to investigate its properties and potential deposits of rare minerals to trace its planetary system of origin. What caused the asteroid to be particularly strange in nature was its anomalous relative velocity and path. According to the starship’s research team, the asteroid moved autonomously, avoiding any potential collision points, and with no visible external force seeming to affect it. Celestia declined to offer any more information to the crew beyond this. The time had come, June 14, Sol 63. The starship engineers prepared to intercept the asteroid, Celestia having adjusted the ship’s course to do so. The hangars of the ship were crowded with hundreds of ponies. Some of them rushed in preparation for the interception, while others had gathered to watch everything transpire. During the starship’s expedition, no landings or studies had occurred. The notion of a first mission excited the crew after a listless two months of stagnation. “You’re fucking with me right?” Sylver exclaimed into the comm. “Not in the slightest,” Satyrn giggled. “All this excitement comes when I’m finally making progress on this Jasmine experiment. Do you know how hard it is to grow flowers in space without magic?” “You’re a unicorn. Why don’t you try?” Sylver raised a hoof in disbelief. “Hey! Isn’t our goal of this expedition to further the prosperity of everypony? Non-unicorns might not always have access to magic channeling devices, you know.” “You’re probably right,” Satyrn replied. Sylver sighed. He looked below his bed from his desk, examining the coffee beans that were still refusing to grow. His scruffy face scrunched in bewilderment. “I’m the damn best botanist on this ship. If I can’t figure out how to get this stuff to work, what am I to this team?” he questioned. “Then you’d be our damn best engineer,” Satyrn encouraged. Throwing his head back, Sylver laughed heartily. “Not better than you, kid,” he told her. Satyrn smiled and ended the call. She looked out of the bedroom window, watching the stars twinkling by sluggishly. A faint reflection of herself on the glass revealed a messy blue mane and her blue eyes were distinctly flushed from a lack of sleep. She examined herself and tried straightening her hair; to her dismay, it was uncooperative as ever. Forfeiting a presentable appearance for the day, she stood up and made her way out of her room. Earlier in the day, Satyrn had arranged a meal with Princess Twilight for the afternoon. They would be scheduling to do so every few days. The Princess always seemed to make time for Satyrn, and had never missed an appointment. Ambling out of the elevator, Satyrn surveyed the main hangar. The room was a microcosm of Equestria’s finest scientists and engineers. Hangar A is typically where the high class spacecraft are kept and maintained, but it had historically doubled as the starship’s hub. It would normally smell heavily of the materials being soldered and welded by the engineers, but Princess Celestia convinced Twilight to design an industrial air freshener with an aromatic lavender scent that obscured the less desirable scents. Extensive hangar bays lined the west and east sides of the room, covered by deflector shields that were only traversable to incoming and outgoing spacecraft. Satyrn’s gaze became fixated on a grey pegasus sitting by the west hangar bay. Since the beginning of the expedition, Satyrn had watched him establish and follow the same routine every day. He would sit, look out into nowhere, and say nothing for most of the afternoon. Afterwards, he would go into an empty lab and remain unseen until the following day. Satyrn began to slowly make her way towards him, her countenance was that of a soft concern. However, as briefly as she began, she stopped. Satyrn stood in the middle of the hangar, like a child looking for her mother. She turned and left. “Celestia has asked that you lead the excavation teams on the asteroid!” Twilight said, “Not everypony’s going to get clearance for that, you know.” “No way!” Satyrn exclaimed. “Yeah way! I know everypony’s been all excited about the interception. Sure, it must be cool to be in space, but without anything to do out here—” “Definitely gets boring,” Satyrn interrupted, giggling as her cheeks reddened, “but talking to you makes it worthwhile.” Twilight giggled too. “Of course,” she replied. They were the lone occupants of the small private break room on the ship’s bridge. The room was decorated to resemble the ground floor of the old Golden Oak Library. Shelves that were filled with books and journals of varying interests to Princess Twilight lined the walls. The scent of freshly brewed coffee and pastries filled the room. “How well would you say you know the crew members here?” Satyrn sipped her latte. Twilight sat for a moment, staring at the table before answering. “Well, I’ve interviewed all of them at least once. I’ve kept an account of as much information on everypony as possible.” Twilight’s horn became surrounded by a deep, rosy pink aura, and one of the notebooks from a nearby bookshelf floated towards her. It drifted into her hooves, and Twilight proceeded to show it to Satyrn. “You just leave that out where anypony can read it?” Satyrn questioned. “How many ponies do you think are going to waltz in here to read a book?” Twilight teased. “Uh-huh.” “Why do you ask?” Satyrn stood up and motioned for Twilight to follow. Twilight trailed behind curiously. They made their way to the security room, stuffed from ceiling to desk with screens surveying the entire ship. A brown, scruffy unicorn was sitting in the front. He motioned to Satyrn and Twilight. “HEYA!” he shouted. “Sylver?” Satyrn laughed. “I’m temping for Featherguard while she’s at the gym. She gave me some chips. You want some?” Sylver said. Satyrn brushed passed him and scanned the monitors for the main hangar. Sylver began to slowly move a potato chip to her mouth. “They’re jalapeñoooo,” Sylver tempted. “Stop it,” Satyrn hushed, playfully slapping his hoof away. After a moment, Satyrn motioned to a screen to her right. “There,” she said. On the screen, the grey pegasus was seen sitting in front of a hangar bay. “What’s his name, Twi?” she asked. Twilight squinted at the blurry security monitor. She looked back at Satyrn. “I’m pretty sure that’s a liability waiting to happen,” the Princess said. “Yeah. Definitely is. Those deflector shields are cool to look at, but they’ll burn your face off,” Sylver agreed. Satyrn rolled her eyes. “But do you know anything about him?” Satyrn asked again. Twilight looked more at the colt on the screen before sighing. “Ah. Right, that’s Vylet. He’s one of our software engineers & analysts. But he spends a lot of his time in the labs experimenting with various compounds,” Twilight explained. Satyrn looked at Twilight as if she wanted to ask something else. She moved away from the monitors and started for the door. “Where are you going?” Twilight asked. “I’ll see you later, alright?” Satyrn replied, already out the door. Sitting down next to Sylver, Twilight rested her head in her hoof and stared at the doorway. The room was silent aside from the soft whirring and beeping noises. Twilight felt something touching her lip. She looked over at Sylver, who was putting a chip to her mouth. “Jalapeño,” Sylver stated. “Vylet, she’s coming,” Rayna whispered into his ear. She quickly darted away from view, as Satyrn approached. Vylet wore a scarf around his neck, and was frequently adjusting his large, round glasses. His cutie mark was a white puzzle piece that contrasted against his light grey coat, and his greyish-purple mane was tied up into a bun. “Are you Vylet?” Satyrn asked. The colt looked back at her, silently. “Do you mind if I sit with you?’ Satyrn continued. A moment of silence. Another. Satyrn sighed and conceded. She stood up and began to walk away. Rayna flitted up to Vylet’s face. “I don’t understand why you complain about not having anypony to talk to when this is how you go about making friends. Is there a probable explanation you could offer me?” Rayna inquired. “This is peaceful for me. You could never see the stars through the fog back at home,” Vylet replied. Raising her voice, Rayna shouted. “Satyrn!” Satyrn stopped and hesitantly turned back around. Rayna was perched in Vylet’s mane. “Where did you learn to sass like this?” Vylet smirked at Rayna. “From the medical dramas you watch.” Vylet rolled his eyes. Satyrn sat down next to them and studied Rayna. She was a faded golden unicorn with a chilling, light blue mane. She wore a bow and drifted around Vylet when she wasn’t resting on his head. Rayna could fit in Satyrn’s hoof. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Satyrn noted about Rayna. “She,” Vylet emphasized, “is my AI companion. She’s a hologram!” “I was Vylet’s accident!” Rayna chimed in, excitedly. Satyrn squinted at Vylet, a chagrin attitude was about her. “I’m not sure if she’s aware of the connotation of that phrase,” Vylet assured her. He looked back out into the cosmos and started to appear lost in thought again. Rayna started drifting about his head making propeller sounds in a juvenile manner. Perhaps she fancied herself a helicopter, but it was more likely that she was trying to get Vylet’s attention. After a moment, Rayna decided this was not going to be fruitful, and continued to speak to Satyrn instead. “He wanted to create a video game to escape the war with, using a magic channeling device to add an element of virtual reality. He did that successfully, but somehow I was born in the process,” Rayna explained. Satyrn became puzzled, “You mean you don’t know how?” “There are only a hoof-full of things I don’t know in this universe and that’s one of them,” Rayna mused with her. Just then, a small ping was emitted from the watch around Vylet’s leg. Rayna darted to the screen, disappearing into the device. Moments later, she emerged and drifted up in front of Vylet’s face. “You have an update to your Playpony subscription,” Rayna announced. Loudly. “Rayna!” Vylet scolded. “What have I told you about reading my emails out loud in front of others?” Satyrn attempted to hold back a chuckle, but failing to do so, fell back on the floor and erupted in laughter instead. Vylet’s cheeks turned a bright red, putting his face in his hooves. Rayna’s expression remained indifferent. “Rayna…” Vylet sighed. “What’s Playpony?” Rayna asked. “RAYNA!” Vylet shouted. Assuming a normal composure again, Satyrn sat back up next to Vylet. Rayna flew over to her and began to study her intently. They sat together quietly and watched the universe drift past them as the ship continued its course. “I can see why you sit here so much. It beats the small windows we have in the residentials,” Satyrn said. Vylet turned his attention to the chrome-like floor beneath him. He was indifferent to his face staring back at him, which was distorted as the metal reflected his figure. Satyrn’s eyes softened as she looked down at the floor with him. “I feel like we’re in the same boat,” Satyrn continued, “It feels like everypony knows each other and I don’t really…” she trailed off. Vylet looked up towards Satyrn, whose solemn expression was now made visible. “Everypony calls me a hero. Then they never speak to me again,” Satyrn realized aloud. The grey pegasus hesitated for a moment, before turning himself to Satyrn. Rayna smiled and retired back to Vylet’s watch. “You’ve never known your real family either,” Vylet recalled, “my mom and brother died when I was really young. I hardly know my father.” Satyrn wiped away some tears she didn’t realize were there until then. She turned to Vylet and smiled. “You doin’ alright?” a familiar voice interjected. Sylver was standing over them with a curious twinkle in his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be in the security room?” Satyrn asked. Vylet rolled his head back to see Sylver upside-down. “Vylet, I presume?” Sylver asked in a weird accent. “Yeah,” Vylet replied. “I’ve been told you like chemistry.” “And who told you?” “You should go with Satyrn into the cavern excavation.” “I don’t think I’m allowed to do that,” Vylet was perplexed. Sylver was part of the Equestrian Captaincy, the same rank as Twilight, but below Celestia. He had assisted Satyrn during the infiltration of Statera, led many historical operations during the Equestrian Civil War, and was a hardcore coffee addict and botanist. His scruffy face was always expressive in a condescending or comical manner. “Ever had coffee, kid?” Sylver already had his mind made up about something. No answer would change it. “Not really,” Vylet replied. “Alright. In the residentials, room 302. Twenty minutes. Don’t be late.” Sylver yelped as Rayna materialized out of nowhere. “I’d highly recommend against excessive caffeine intake, Vy. Your mental state doesn’t need that.” “I’ll be fine,” Vylet said, turning back to Sylver, “and what’s your name?” “Oh, he’s Sylver, he’s our security temp,” Satyrn joked. “You know what—” Sylver started, but he was cut off by an announcement over the ship’s comms, and Celestia’s voice echoed through the hangar: “My faithful crew, the CX38 asteroid interception will commence in 15 minutes. All operations personnel are to prepare for boarding immediately. Good luck.” As the announcement concluded, the sounds of hurrying crew members erupted across the hangar. “Well, maybe next time,” he said to Vylet. Looking over to Satyrn, Sylver nodded, and exclaimed, “time to do this, kid. We’re at square one now.”