{VARIANCE START}
"Captain's Log, Equus Date: 2/29/2274: We've departed from Alpha Coltari alongside the E.S.V. Somber and are setting course for the Argonus System, one of the many colonies at the edge of Hydra territory. My crew have been tasked with dropping off supplies to the area, but we've been told to keep an eye out for any intruders, especially those belonging to the Sphinx Imperium. With the war going on, we can't afford to let our goods go to waste."
I took a sip of my Cretacian juice as I stared out the window of my private quarters, our sister ship, the E.S.V. Somber, flying beside my vessel, the E.S.V. Macintosh as we flew at warp to our destination. Despite our alliance with other galactic powers, the war against the Sphinx Imperium was not going well for the United Equus Star League. We had lost over 20 ships at the battle of Geesar IV, and it resulted in the deaths of over 3 million of the world's inhabitants. The Sphinx were believed to be from our world of Equus, but from what we've discovered, the one who encountered the mare Somnambula over a millennia ago was an agent seeking to make our people a servitor race. Now that they had begun expanding their space in a bloody conquest for the galaxy, they want to take control of our home and wipe the Coalition off the map. Of course, my crew and I weren't going to let that happen without a fight.
As I turned away from the window, a chime sounded near the door before I spoke up. "Come in."
The doors swooshed open to reveal my friend and the ship's chief medical officer, Lieutenant Commander Velvet Remedy. She and I had went to the Equestrian Star Academy together, and while I had pursued an engineering class for my new job, Velvet wanted to study for the duty of helping other creatures who were in need of medical assistance. Despite being older than me, though, I had outranked her thanks to my efforts at the planet of Gorgonus VI, where I prevented a rebellion amongst the population with some surprising diplomatic skill.
The charcoal mare smiled as she spoke to me. "We're nearing the Argonus System, Calamity thought I should tell you."
"Thanks, Velvet." I replied as we began trotting to the door, Velvet stopping me as she spoke to me again.
"But, I thought I should talk to you about something."
I raised an eyebrow at her before replying. "What's wrong?"
"It's just.... About the war, the Sphinx are one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy. Even with our allies back home, they're still taking swaths of space from us every day." She frowned sadly as she continued. "I don't know if the Star League can win by itself, we may have to ask our neighbors to help us out."
I put a hoof on my friend's shoulder, who gave a thankful smile as I brought her hope back. "Trust me, we may lose a lot of our people in this, but I know for sure we'll pull through."
Velvet nodded in agreement as we walked out the door to enter the bridge. The room was large and shiny, the walls adorning several consoles and control panels with chairs for the officers who worked on them. There was also a large window at the front of the room, which also served as a holoscreen when we wanted to communicate with other ships and planets. In the center of the room was my chair, a set of railings built around it to allow officers to brace themselves for rough rides. In front of my seat were two more consoles, the one on the left was Calamity's station, he was our helmsman onboard the Macintosh. The right one was the comms station, and was also where my girlfriend Homage sat as she worked at her station.
As I walked around the railings surrounding my chair, Calamity turned in his seat as he spoke up. "Cap'n on the bridge!"
"As you were." I replied as he stood up, Velvet heading to another door to return to sickbay.
"We're gettin' close t' our target, and the Somber's reportin' no issues over the course o' the trip." I smiled as I looked to Homage before speaking.
"Good. Homage, hail them, I want to talk to Captain Rummy about something." The pegasus and unicorn both nodded as they sat back down in his seat, myself lowering into my own as I looked out the window. The stars still zapped past us, the ripple that was the front of the warp bubble still shifting and expanding as we continued on course. A few seconds later, a holoscreen appeared to show Captain Gin Rummy in her seat, her daughter and First Officer Blackjack standing next to her as she spoke.
"Well, it's about time to drop off our loads, isn't it?" I nodded as I replied to the unicorn with purple and red hair.
"Yep, and hopefully, we won't encounter any enemy ships while we drop this off." I raised a hoof as I continued, Gin raising an eyebrow at me. "Also, when we arrive, might I suggest going to Yellow Alert? We might have a better chance of surviving if we keep our guard raised."
Captain Rummy nodded as she replied. "Good idea, and also, keep your shields up while we send down our load, we can't afford to get both of our ships crippled in one strike."
I nodded as I turned around to face Lieutenant Murky, the pegasus looking to me as I spoke. "Murky, set us to Yellow Alert, prepare to lower shields on my order."
"Aye Captain." Murky replied as he turned back to his station, myself turning to face my fellow captain as Calamity spoke up.
"Droppin' out o' warp in three, two, one." As he said that, the ship vibrated slightly as it dropped out of warp, the window behind the holoscreen showing a large planet zooming towards us before stopping, allowing a good view of the large, beautiful world of Argonus as the Somber dropped out of warp with us.
"Well, it seems we're here. Remember, wait for us to drop off the cargo, then lower your shields while we return the favor." I nodded at her words as the screen shut off, providing a full view of the Argonus System, there were about three moons circling the planet at varying distances, the closest one being visible and nearby the planet ahead of us.
I looked to Calamity as he worked at his console, Velvet standing beside me as the stallion spoke. "The Somber's lowerin' her shields, sensors show all cle-" He stopped as his console beeped. Speak of the minotaur, we were heading into trouble and they chose to hit us at the right moment. As we looked to the screen, we saw a large Sphinx pyramid dreadnought appear from a pink field of energy that passed over it's hull. As the ship became fully visible, Calamity turned to us before speaking. "Cap'n, the Sphinx warship's targetin' the Somber!"
"Red Alert, ready the crystal turrets and warheads!" I said as the klaxon blared loudly, some of the room's lights glowing a threatening red as I sat sternly in my chair. As I faced the window, I saw one of the energy spheres on the Sphinx warship's hull glow for a moment before firing a dark blue lightning-like beam of energy at the Somber, the shot hitting one of the pylons that held the bridge.
The pylon exploded in an orange blaze as Calamity cried out in fear. "Their impulse engine's are offline!"
"Fire at the dreadnought, let's see if we can get their shields down!" The pegasus nodded as he did his work, myself looking to Homage as I spoke to her. "Homage, get Captain Rummy on the comms!"
"You got it!" The grey unicorn replied before she began tapping her console, one of the armrests of my chair beeping as I spoke to whoever could hear me on the Somber.
"Macintosh to Somber, can you hear us?!"
I grew a little worried as I heard the voice of Blackjack, who sounded like she was in a panic as she spoke. "Blackjack here, Captain Rummy's been knocked out, I'm taking the conn and we're trying to get our shields up over here! Can you cover us, Macintosh?!"
"You'll have it, just do what you can while we hold off the Sphinx vessel!" The ship shook from one of the enemy dreadnought's beams hitting the hull as my friend replied.
"Understood, Somber out!" As the signal cut out, I looked back to the window, three pink beams of energy firing out from our front turrets and striking the shields of the Sphinx warship as Murky spoke up behind me.
"Their shields are weakened, but still holding!" I nodded to him as I replied.
"Good, keep ours held together. Calamity, ring us around the Somber and continue firing weapons at the dreadnought, we can't let them through!" The two pegasi nodded before they turned back to their stations, the Sphinx vessel in front of us firing two more beams at our ship as they struck our shields.
I held onto my chair as the Macintosh turned to the right, passing around our damaged sister ship for a long moment before the ship shook once more, a section of the ceiling exploding with sparks as we were hit again.
I growled angrily at Calamity's next words. "They've punctured our aft shields!"
"Fire our aft beams, keep hitting them until they break!" I replied to my friend before turning to Murky again and saying, "Divert power from starboard shields to aft!" The dark green stallion nodded as he tapped his console several times before I turned back to the window.
Calamity grinned excitedly as his console beeped, the room shaking again as he turned to me. "Cap'n, Ah'm pickin' up three starships comin' at us from the planet's surface! It's the Hydras!"
I smirked back at him as I looked to the screen, three small blue escorts speeding towards the Sphinx dreadnought before firing a flurry of red energy bolts at them.
Murky joined our excitement as he turned to us before speaking. "The Sphinx's shields down to 40%, if we can hit them a few more times, we may be able to take them down!"
I nodded as I faced the window again, the Hydra ships passing by us as the Macintosh turned to face the Sphinx dreadnought. The enemy vessel fired three more beams at us before our front shield facing flickered, making us vulnerable.
"Fore shields failing!" Murky said fearfully as I watched the battle, the three Hydra starships firing bright yellow beams at the Sphinx warship, the shields flickering for a moment before the beams ceased, the enemy vessel's shields still active.
"They're about to buckle!" Murky said as I spoke to Calamity.
"Fire a few more beams at 'em! The moment those shields fall, hit them with a flurry of torpedoes on their beam generators, empty the whole inventory if you have to!" Calamity nodded as he did his work, the three turrets at our front side hitting the enemy ship's shields with pink beams of magical energy. After a few seconds, the front shields of the dreadnought flickered out as the Sphinx vessel fired two more energy beams at the turrets, two of them exploding while the third was merely burned by the heat, but still standing. The Macintosh retaliated with a wave of twelve pink crystal torpedoes, all of them splitting into four groups. The first two pairs of three struck the front beam generators as their energy balls dissipated, the bars that held them breaking off of the pyramid's hull as they were hit. The last few shards of death struck the large hangar bay on the upper layer of the pyramid, it's force field flickering out as several fighters and pieces of debris shot out from inside it.
Calamity cheered victoriously as the large pyramid ship drifted away from us. "There goes their weapons!"
As he said that, he looked at his console as the Sphinx warship turned upward, a bright pink glow coming from the large crystal on the top of the ship before it spun. The dreadnought continued to spin faster and faster until it sped away from us, vanishing into the stars as a pink flash signified it's retreat.
I sat back in my chair as Calamity turned to face me. "They're retreatin', it seems."
"Well done, everyone. Bring us back to Yellow Alert, prepare to transport our supplies to the planet." Calamity nodded as he began his work, Homage's console beeping before she turned to me.
"The Somber's hailing us."
"Onscreen." I replied as my lover turned back to her console, the holoscreen appearing again to show Blackjack in her mother's seat.
"That was too close, Littlepip." I nodded as I spoke to the Somber's first officer.
"Yeah, they almost had us. We'll send repair teams to your ship before we drop off the supplies."
Blackjack held her hoof as she replied. "No, get that cargo to Argonus first, then take care of us."
"Alright, how's Gin?"
Blackjack smiled as she gave her answer. "She'll be alright, and miraculously, we only have a few injured over here."
"Thank Celestia." I replied before the three Hydra starships flew past us, all of them coming to a stop in front of the Somber as my friend on the screen spoke.
"Also, I owe you a good ol' glass of whiskey when we get home."
I laughed as I replied. "Don't worry, it's our pleasure."
Blackjack nodded with a smile as the screen vanished, myself tapping my chair's comms panel before speaking into it. "Bridge to Sickbay, Velvet, are your teams ready?"
"All set, Littlepip. Just give the word and Dr. Xenith will have her team over in no time." The charcoal medical pony replied as I spoke back.
"Good, we're gonna drop off the supplies first, then we'll help out the Somber, Blackjack says they don't have too many injured."
"...Alright, we'll be waiting." Velvet replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice. I could tell she was wanting to smack some sense into Blackjack for keeping her patients waiting while we helped out the colony below.
"Thanks, Littlepip out." I said as I cut the signal, looking out to the window as the Macintosh joined the three Hydra starships in front of us. After today, I had some hope for this war. If we could get the other powers to join us in the fighting, the Star League may have a chance of securing peace.
{VARIANCE END}
As the screen flickered away, we all sat on our haunches, Calamity making us jump as he spoke with excitement.
"That. Was. AWESOME!"
As I recovered from the shock, I looked to him as I grunted. "Yeah, that was quite a fight there."
"It's a shame Steelhooves and our three alicorns aren't there, though." Velvet said as she frowned, Calamity and I sharing our disappointment as the stallion in question spoke up.
"Well, the war didn't happen, so I would be dead by that point in time, especially since I'm not a ghoul." We all nodded in understanding as I tapped the console with a hoof, data regarding the universe's history appearing on a holographic screen.
"Speaking of history," I said as I read the text on the screen, my friends joining in with me as I continued. "It says that after about twenty years of spreading friendship and harmony across Equestria and it's neighbors, the planet came together under one banner: the United Equus Star League. After building the first long-distance starship, Captain Sweetie Belle and her crew made first contact with several alien species, including the Gorgon Syndicate, the Geese Trade Collective, and the Nocturne Star Empire, a race that has several similarities to Equus' bat ponies."
My friends all gasped as they listened, Xenith raising a hoof as she asked, "And what of us? What is our place in this timeline?"
I looked back to the holoscreen as I answered my zebra friend. "Well, as for us, Calamity, Velvet, Xenith and I are all serving aboard the starship Macintosh, which is one of the many ships helping out in the war against the Sphinx Imperium." I tapped the data again as the screen split into three, the faces of my friends appearing on them as I continued. "I was the inventor of the modern communicator of that era, Velvet was not only the daughter of the renowned Captain Sweetie Belle, but also made several achievements in her career as a medical officer, including creating a cure for a dangerous illness called Dumbthitis, which causes the infected individual's brain to rot at an accelerated rate."
Velvet put a hoof to her mouth as she read with me, her eyes moving to me as she asked, "And what of my husband and Xenith?"
"Well, according to this data, Calamity was once a member of the Wonderbolts during his time on Equus before being asked to join the Star League due to his skill in piloting many different ships. And Xenith was another medical officer who worked with Velvet Remedy at the Equus Star Academy. After graduating, the two joined the crew of the Macintosh and Xenith has helped in creating several vaccines and brews for the staff to use, including one that relieves magic implosion almost instantly."
"That is... impressive." Xenith said as her eyes went wide at the information, myself sitting back as Steelhooves looked to me.
"And what of the war? Did we win?"
I sat back up as I took one more look at the screen, tapping the console as it shifted back to the original data file. I smiled with satisfaction as I read it. "Yep, after a united effort against the Sphinx defense fleet in orbit of their homeworld, we returned the bones of the now deceased agent from Equus. After doing so and forging a treaty, the Sphinx called all of their ships back home as we returned to Equus for a celebration."
My friends smiled with me as they listened to me, all of us looking to Star Sparkle as she spoke. "Well, that some fun universe-hopping we did there."
I nodded as I replied to the elderly mare, who smiled at my words. "Indeed, and as much as I'd like to stay and look at some more realities, we should probably get going. The Alliance probably needs us for something." As I said that, my combadge chirped, Calamity and Steelhooves stifling chuckles as I finished. "Speak of the minotaur."
As I tapped the small device on my chest, I heard Andromeda speak through it. "Lightbringer to Littlepip, we've gotten a hail from Daniels, he says he needs us to head into another reality to stop a group of Orion marauders from intervening in it's history. Also, he says that we'll be having some assistance on this mission. He claims that they'll be... connected to something you've been examining down at that sphere."
I raised an eyebrow as I looked to my friends, but smiled as I replied. "Got it, we'll be there shortly. Littlepip out." As I tapped the device again, I stood up, my friends doing the same as I spoke to Star Sparkle. "I guess this is good-bye, isn't it?"
The mother of Twilight Sparkle gave a pleasant smile as she replied to me. "Now don't fret, you all can stop by anytime you'd like, just be careful out there." She then looked to Steelhooves, the armored stallion looking back to her as she continued. "And Applesnack, dear, don't forget to say hello once in a while, you hear?"
"I will, and we'll have those marauders done in before the day's over." As Steelhooves finished, we heard a chime sound in the room, Star Sparkle raising an eyebrow as she spoke again.
"Oh, it seems I need to catch my break. Once again, stop by anytime you want, I'll either be here or in the lobby for you all." We nodded as she tapped one of the buttons on her wheelchair, which turned and moved past us as we stood out of the way. As Star Sparkle reached the door, we all gave one last wave before she exited the room, myself then tapping my combadge as we all stood together.
"Littlepip to Lightbringer, five to beam up." As I finished, we were all surrounded by blue transporter fields, which circled around us as the room vanished from sight. We had found quite some surprises here today, and there would only be more to discover as we ventured across the multiverse. I also wondered about how many more there could be to see, as well as the chance of coming across some of those realities during our adventures in the stars. Well, there's always possibilities. The little pony in my head said with glee as we transported back to the ship.
