//------------------------------// // A Worse Reality/Giant Crystal Ball // Story: Voyages of the Lightbringer: Episode 4: Variances // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// "Captain's Star Log; Equus Date: 3/2/2274: We've been contacted by Daniels about another universal incursion, one that shares several similarities to ours. Because of our experience on the field, along with some intel regarding the invaders courtesy of Admiral Stone, we've agreed to lead the mission and stop the enemy before they can cause harm to their target universe." I stared at the window as I watched our ship fly through the anomaly, my friends all at their stations and performing their duties. A few days after our Summer Sun Celebration, we had received a transmission from Agent Daniels, who wished for us to help him out on a mission to another reality. He stated that the Na'kuhl wanted to gain a potential asset from a universe similar to our own, so we readied our ship and set a course for our target. As the white hole at the end of the anomaly came closer, I turned to face Daniels, who was standing next to me. "I hope that intel from Wyatt hasn't become outdated as of yet." Daniels gave a hopeful smile as he replied. "Thankfully, no. Even though they'll have the distortion technology, they won't have a chance against our ship." I turned to face the window, the anomaly passing around us as we entered the parallel universe. The system was similar to ours, the moon was still here, and Equus was mostly the same, save for one detail. As the viewscreen came on to view the system, I noticed a large cloud cover over one area of the planet. I raised an eyebrow at this, Calamity looking at the sight with shock on his face as he spoke to Daniels. "Now wait a minute, how come the cloud cover is still here?" "Ah, yes. I forgot to mention something." We all looked to Daniels has he explained. "We've entered another version of your universe, in this timeline, the Enclave have won against you and your friends, and have taken control of the surface. Fortunately, there's a resistance group that is standing against them, but if the Na'kuhl succeed in their mission, they could turn the tide of the war in favor of the Enclave." We all gasped in shock as I heard Velvet's console beep, the charcoal unicorn turning to it before speaking up. "Speaking of the Na'kuhl, I'm detecting one ship in the area, that must be our target." "Bring it up on the screen." I replied as Velvet tapped her console, the screen shifting to show the Na'kuhl vessel in orbit of the planet. It was an average size vessel, it was a slim crimson colored starship with two fins for wings, a pink engine glowing at it's aft side. "Good, bring us to Red Alert, ready weapons and shields." I turned to my comms panel on my chair, tapping it as I spoke. "Bridge to Hangar, you all ready for a fight out there, Wonderbolts?" "Ready to fly, Littlepip. Just give the word!" Skyfire replied as I smiled. Before we left, the Wonderbolts had volunteered to help with the mission, bringing out their starfighters that they used at the Star Forge to the Lightbringer for deployment. As we watched the vessel hold position in orbit, I lifted my Pipbuck hoof to me, tapping it as I spoke up. "Let me see if I can get into their comms." "Smart Idea." Windsheer said as he tapped his console, myself turning to him as he asked, "Mind if Ah put it on our shipwide network?" I nodded as I found the signal, tapping it as we heard several deep voices speaking from my Pipbuck. "I've detected an enemy ship on sensors, sir. She's targeting us." "No matter, deploy our disto-... Wait, I know that ship. That ship was a part of J'ula's forces, she was captured!" A male voice replied as the female officer spoke. "Orders, sir?" "Take us to the planet's surface and deploy the distortion, we cannot fail this mission!" At his words, I saw the Na'kuhl starship turn and fly towards the surface, a red shield forming around it as a duplicate shifted out from it. "Wonderbolts, launch as soon as you can, we're heading into battle!" I said to my comms panel as Skyfire replied. "Understood, we'll be out there shortly!" As Skyfire's transmission cut out, I looked to Calamity, the stallion tapping his console as I spoke to him. "Calamity, set course for the Na'kuhl ship, full impulse. Also, fire a concentrated Phaser shot at it's duplicate, that should take care of it real quick." My friend nodded as he tapped his console once more, the ship turning to it's left and firing two Orange beams at the large, shifting form of the enemy starship. The beam held for several seconds before the duplicate vanished, the beam having destroyed it. "The ship's doppelganger's gone, Ah'm flyin' us right at the target!" Calamity said as we came up behind the Na'kuhl vessel, the ship firing dark green beams of energy as both of our ships entered the atmosphere. I tapped my comms panel again, activating the shipwide comms before speaking. "This is the captain, all hands, brace yourselves." As I said that, the ship shook as it flew through the stratosphere. "Diverting power to forward shields." Velvet Remedy said as she worked at her console, her husband tapping his as the Lightbringer returned fire at the Na'kuhl vessel. As the last few clouds above the cover passed us, our ship slowed as the enemy ship turned around, facing towards us as a red glow surrounded us, Calamity tapping his console as the ship turned to it's right. As we circled around the destroyer, we passed the red light before it was replaced by a green energy blast, the shot missing us as we came to a stop behind the ship. "Catch them in a tractor beam, Xenith!" The zebra tapped her console as the Na'kuhl ship began turning towards us, but stopped as the tractor beam took hold of it seconds later. Five small ships flew out of the Lightbringer's sides and around the "Shield drain, Velvet. Calamity, when her shields fail, fire a spread of torpedoes and several beams at them!" "Got it!" The two said simultaneously as they worked at their stations, a blue beam firing out and hitting the Na'kuhl ship a moment later. After a few seconds, the shields flickered out, Calamity tapping his console before a flurry of torpedoes shot out from the Lightbringer, along with four beams of energy, two Phaser beams and two magic beams. As the torpedoes hit the ship, it's hull screeched as it was breached, plumes of fire and smoke erupting from it's engine and hull as the beams sliced into other areas of the vessel. "Their engines are down! Ah think we busted 'em up real bad!" Calamity said with a grin as the ship began drifting towards the cloud cover, getting close to a clear area above the cover as the Wonderbolts flew around it, firing several more shots at it's hull. "They're losing structural integrity, a few more shots should do it!" Velvet said as the ship continued drifting downward, the five elite fighters continuing their assault before breaking away. I lifted my hoof again to listen in on the Na'kuhl transmission. "Our core's about to breach, we must abando-" The signal cut out before the officer could finish, myself looking to the screen as the ship continued falling. The vessel's hull broke open with fire and smoke several more times before it finally exploded, flaming pieces of debris flying out of the fiery blast. "Enemy vessel destroyed!" Steelhooves said as Calamity cheered aloud. "Yeehaw! That's whatcha get fer messin' with the Wasteland heroi-" The pegasus was interrupted when his console beeped, my friend checking it before turning to me with a frown. "Uh, 'Pip? Ah'm gettin three Enclave ships headin' towards us." "Looks like we've got some unwanted attention." I replied as we all faced the screen, Velvet tapping her console before the screen shifted to show the trio of enemy ships nearby. A single thunderhead was taking the lead in between two raptors, the latter were smaller than the large battleship, and had a similar appearance to the thunderhead. As the Lightbringer turned to face the Enclave, I tapped my Pipbuck again, trying to get into their shipwide channels. I smirked slightly as I finally found it and tapped it. "All ships, target the intruders, Lieutenant Blossom, get me a signal on that ship!" "Yes, Ma'am!" The lieutenant replied as Calamity's console beeped a second later, the stallion smiling sheepishly as he turned and spoke. "They're hailin' us." I nodded for him to answer, Calamity turning to work at his console as I looked to Steelhooves. "Get me a scan of those ships, let's make sure they haven't gotten any advanced tech onboard." The armored stallion nodded as he did his work, a mares voice speaking through the room's speakers as the transmission started. "This is Commander Star Slasher of the Enclave Thunderhead Steadfast, lower your defenses and prepare for boarding parties or we will be forced to take lethal action!" I looked back to Steelhooves as he finished his scan, chuckling a little as he gave his results. "It seems fortune favors us today, they're no stronger than the old warships of the Enclave in our universe. With a few shots, they should be taken care of." I smiled as I turned back to the screen, tapping my comms panel as I spoke to it and Calamity. "Good, Calamity, Skydive, lock weapons on the Enclave ships, fire to disable!" "Understood!" Skydive said as her team split up, three flying towards the left raptor and the other two going for the right one. Calamity worked at his console as the Lightbringer turned towards the thunderhead, the large ship firing pink energy beams as the Lightbringer fired back. I watched in surprise as the Phaser beams cut through the ship's armor, fire spilling out as it took damage. Four Balefire torpedoes shot out from us and struck each of the turrets, all of them bursting into flame as they were destroyed. Calamity laughed excitedly as he tapped his console again. "Woohoo! They wouldn't last a minute against us!" I smiled with him as the Steadfast veered away, the ship circling around the left raptor as I looked to the one on the right. The two Wonderbolts fired twin beams of pink energy at the two remaining turrets on the ship, both of them exploding as the two fighters flew over the small warship. "That's two down!" I heard Gutshot say excitedly as he and his wingmate flew around the disabled raptor, the Lightbringer circling around as we turned to face the other raptor. The ship's turrets were on fire, the three other Wonderbolts flying over the vessel as the other two fighters rejoined their squadron. "Enough of this!" Commander Star Slasher said angrily as the vessels turned away from us, all of them forming up as they retreated. "Get us away from that monstrosity, we don't have a chance against her!" As the Enclave fleet flew away from us, I looked to Daniels, who looked over to Andromeda and said, "Andromeda, send some basic supplies over to them, they'll need to be fixed up for their next job here." The alicorn nodded as she worked at her wall console, the mare smiling as she turned back to face us. "Transport successful." Daniels then turned to look at me before speaking. "That takes care of the mission, we should get going as soon as possible, they'll most likely send more in to investigate." "Right." I then turned to Calamity, who needed no answer as he began his work, myself facing my comms panel as I spoke. "All fighters, return to Hangar. We're heading out." "Got it, we'll be there shortly!" Skydive replied as her squadron flew towards us, myself looking to Velvet before speaking to her. "Velvet, bring us back to Green Alert, get me a status report on our damage." The charcoal unicorn nodded as she turned to her console, myself facing the viewscreen as I observed the cloud cover. As I stared at the screen, I became curious about how there were other versions of our reality. I wonder how many there are. The little pony in my head said as I looked to Daniels, the man facing me as I asked, "Daniels, if I may, how are there duplicates of our own universe?" Daniels gave an apologetic look as he spoke. "Ah, my apologies, I should've explained that earlier. You see, not only are there different universes, but for each one, there are several quantum realities that are connected to them. There was an incident in 2370 involving Lieutenant Worf and the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. After winning a bat'leth tournament on Forcas III, he was shifted into several different quantum realities, each one having several changes in them. Though our analysis on the issue is a little clouded, it's still considered a plausible idea." "I see." I said as I took in the information. "And I assume that the same goes for our world?" "Indeed, as well as the other universes. From what we know, there are possibly an infinite number of them to see, but don't go looking through too many of them, we'd probably fry our brains trying to comprehend it all." Daniels replied as I laughed lightly, finding the idea a bit humorous before Calamity spoke up. "The Wonderbolts are all docked up, we're ready t' go!" "Good, take us out of here, Calamity." The stallion turned to his console as he began his work, myself looking back to Daniels again before speaking. "Do you think we could view some of them?" "Yes, we have a computer library set up within the Main Sphere, the first gateway sphere found by Admiral Stone and Princess Twilight back before the U.A.'s formation. I believe you can use that to satisfy your needs." Daniels said as I replied with a smile. "Thanks, I hope this won't be much of a detour for you." Daniels shook his head in acknowledgement as I looked to Calamity, the stallion still working on his console as I spoke to him. "Calamity, set a course for the Main Sphere, we're going on a little field trip." "Gotcha." The pegasus replied as he tapped his console again, a blue beam shooting out of the Lightbringer seconds later. As the portal opened up, Calamity tapped his console once more before the ship accelerated, the blue portal getting closer to us before we entered it. ---------- As the blue transporter fields faded, we saw ourselves inside a large room, several other people and ponies standing and walking within as they traversed the large library. The room itself had smooth, square walls, along with several open sections that held books inside them. In the center was a circular platform, a large console sitting in the center of it as several people examined and worked on it. Around it, five walkways were holding it in place, four of them leading to doors at the other end while the fifth one held another station with a smaller console. In between the shelves were glowing blue vents. As my friends and I made our way to the center, I gasped in surprise as I saw a familiar face, she was a ghoul pony that had a light grey coat and strands of white and purple hair. She was even still attached to that wheelchair I saw her in back at Canterlot. "St-Star Sparkle?!" I said in surprise as the mare smiled happily, Steelhooves gasping as well as I tried to hold myself in place and not hug the mare aggressively. "Hello again, Littlepip. I did not think I'd see you here." She smiled even more as she continued. "And I see you've brought some friends, and my dear friend Steelhooves is okay." I could tell Steelhooves was as stunned as any of us as he spoke. "Y-yes, I am. Star... I thought you were at Canterlot. You died there." "Oh, yes, about that. Your friends up there came and got me out before that whole mess with the Enclave, they said something about needing a new librarian for this here station." I wiped my eyes as Star Sparkle explained her story, Steelhooves trotting up to the elderly ghoul and hugging her lightly. "And as for the others, they've become agents aboard several ships in the Alliance. I hear that those new Gagarin and Shran type ships will be having some help from them." I smiled at the elderly mare as she finished, so they didn't die in that place. But what about Lionheart? How come he didn't kno- Oh wait, holograms... they had plenty of those to spare, didn't they? "It's good that you're still alive, Star. My friends thought they lost you." As he said that, the Applejack's Ranger looked to me, remembering our talk about getting her out as he continued. "And it seems you didn't need our help, after all." "You could say that, and I'm quite proud of you and your friends." Star looked to us as she said that, all of us smiling pleasantly as she finished. "If it weren't for you, the Wasteland wouldn't be prospering like it is now." "Thanks, Star." I said as trotted over, finally steadying myself enough to give her a light hug. After a moment, we broke the embrace, myself looking into the ghoul's eyes as I asked, "So, I hope you don't mind, but may we take a look at some of the other timelines related to our universe?" "Absolutely, if you don't wanna see it in the books, there's a console over there that'll allow you to watch a recording of events you're looking for. You can get a signal by either giving it a description of a specific event or, if you want to have a random one come up, you can ask it a question and it'll answer for you quite easily. Mighty fancy little thing, if I do say so myself." "Thanks, once again, it's good to see you here with us, Star." I said as the mother of Twilight Sparkle replied. "Same to you." As she finished, Steelhooves trotted next to his old friend, the mare smiling as the armored stallion spoke. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a little chat with Star here. I'll meet you when I'm done." I nodded as we all began trotting to the console, a blue glow emitting from it as we stepped up to it. As we stood in front of it, Calamity tapped my shoulder. "Well Ah'll be, Ah didn't expect t' see her here, y'all okay there 'Pip?" "Yeah." I said as I sniffled slightly, trying not to cry from relief over the fact that Twilight's mother was still alive. "I'm just happy she's okay, that's all." While we were at Risa, I told them about Star Sparkle along with Steelhooves and Calamity. Xenith and Velvet Remedy were shocked and saddened when we told them about how she was still at Canterlot when the Enclave came. But now she was here, alive and managing a library like her daughter once did. I wonder how many more were "rescued" and recruited as agents? A question that would have to be answered later, I thought, because we had a load of questions to ask about all those different timelines. "Sooooo…. how do we start?" I asked with a sheepish smile, my friends raising an eyebrow as they shared my confusion. "Well, she said that we could ask it a question to have a random one shown to us, so why don't we try that?" Velvet said as replied, my three friends looking to me as I spoke. "Good idea, but what would be a good one to start with?" As we stood together in thought, I rumbled through my brain, I wanted to start off lightly, to get a light grasp on how another reality's history would play out. And as I found one, I spoke to the console, my friends watching it with me as we faced it. "What if the battle at Junction Town played out differently?"