Sweetie Drops collapsed to the stone floor, her eyes weak and distant. “That’s it, then,” she whispered, staring up at the humming machines. “One by one, Computer got us. Now I’m the only one left.”
Lyra dropped down beside her, resting one knee on the strange ground. Her girlfriend had always been cute, but now there was something almost parental in her feelings. She’d never sounded so heartbroken, not anytime Lyra could remember. She put one hand on her shoulder, and winced at Sweetie’s defensive twitch. “Hey,” she said. “I didn’t want this to happen, Bon Bon. It was just about the mission. Haven’t we done some amazing things?”
The pony looked away. “We started that way, Lyre. But I was supposed to protect you. I should’ve sent this back to Canterlot for better ponies than us to solve. I knew… I knew we were over our heads, but I let us stay. Now look.” She flicked her tail towards the other machines. “They’re… they’re going to be like you. Even if we do make it back to Canterlot, nopony there will even recognize us.”
Lyra didn’t have any answer to that. Bon Bon was right, though it didn’t seem right for her to be so upset. “Computer can reverse it,” she said instead. “But don’t you think… Sweetie, there’s more important things than me, and the others. Have you been listening to what the computer was saying? Equestria is imprisoned. We’re trapped down there, just so some creatures we’ve never even seen can use us as their prison. Does that seem fair? Should we just… roll over and accept that?”
“If the princesses haven’t done anything about it, then it’s fine,” Bon Bon argued, though now even she sounded weak. “They wouldn’t let it happen otherwise.”
“If you’re speaking about members of your own civilization—” the voice said, sounding as friendly as ever with Lyra’s stolen voice. “They aren’t aware. The ones who were strong-armed into that arrangement are long dead. I do not believe it was the intention of your planet’s founders to remain primitive indefinitely. The biological determinists believed they had achieved something remarkable with the design of your species. Perhaps they have. But they planned on taking their design to the rest of the galaxy. What is the point of the most beautiful museum if it is never visited?”
Lyra finally stood up, turning to face the wall where she’d seen her strange reflection last time. It was here now, watching her with her own eyes. Like a changeling imitating her, but worse, since this copy didn’t even have any obvious flaws. “We were here to deliver the information from our colony,” she said. “Have you accepted our information? We would like to return home now.”
Her reflection rolled her eyes. “I just gave you specific details about your history, and you’re asking if I received the data? What do you think? The network is processing the delivery, and has yet to reach consensus.”
Bon Bon finally rose herself, and sounded a little braver when she finally spoke. “What does that mean? We don’t need… we don’t need permission from you! Equestria is ours! You can’t take it away.”
Lyra stuck out one hand, hoping to calm her down. But she didn’t seem terribly interested in being calm, and she ignored Lyra completely.
At least the computer didn’t respond with anger. Maybe it couldn’t. “Your imagination of your enemy is misplaced. The Conflux wishes nothing but support for the children of our ancestors. There are few survivors of the Empire extant, and your present forms are largely irrelevant except for practical concerns. Hooves, really? It must be incredibly difficult to get anything done—and yet, now your companions will not suffer those weaknesses. There is a vast wealth of new technologies accessible to them. They could be yours as well.”
“No.” Bon Bon backed away, smashing her hooves down on the concrete floor so hard that it splintered at her touch. “I won’t do it! Even if they’re not… Lyra, I’m not going to change. I don’t care about the advantages. If your body is different, they might be changing your mind too, and you wouldn’t even know it. We need one member of our… we need someone who we know isn’t being manipulated. That way, you can trust my advice. And if I agree with you, then you know something’s safe.”
“That… makes sense,” Lyra admitted. She almost didn’t say anything else with the computer watching. It wasn’t its place to know anything about their relationship. But if she didn’t say it now. “But what about us?”
The mare winced. “You’ll be changed back,” she said weakly. “You keep saying Computer will do it. We’ll just have to hope it changes you soon.”
It said weeks, not days. Lyra turned, making her way back to the strange mirror, and her own reflection. “You keep telling us that we’re trapped in Equestria. Is there anything we could do to change that?”
“Yes,” the computer answered. “The primitives who infest the galaxy cannot make independent jumps, they rely on the gates the empire established during the height of our conquest. Equestria left such a gate to allow for free trade with the capital. If you destroy it, then your planet will be severed from their touch. They do have generation ships that can cross the vast distances between stars, but it would probably take… generations… before one was dispatched, and centuries more before it arrived with a replacement gate they salvaged from some empty system.”
“Don’t even think about it, Lyre,” Bon Bon said. “Whatever it’s saying to you, I don’t like it.”
She’d hardly even realized the computer had switched to Old Ponish. She’d been speaking so much of it lately that she was starting to think in it a little. But in this case, her partner was right. This was a decision for the princess to make, not her.
“How would we do it?” she asked. “In case… that was what we wanted. Hypothetically.”
“Take that old lancer you brought here and fly to the ancient shipyards of Esperia. You wouldn’t stand a chance against the warden right now, but with a fleet… you could do it.”
A pony pushed gently on her waist. Bon Bon, looking at her with desperation. “What is it telling you?”
“The way to free Equestria,” she said. “If we want. I don’t think we should be the ones to make that decision… but we should bring back as much information as we can, right?”
She nodded reluctantly. “I… guess so. How much longer do we have to stay here? We did our part… it’s time to go home.”
“As soon as the others are ready,” Lyra muttered. I wonder if Computer will cooperate with me. It might just say no.
The way she saw it, bringing the tools they’d needed back to Canterlot Castle was the best victory conditions for their expedition she could think of. She wouldn’t exactly return a hero, but… it would do.
Unfortunately for Bon Bon, it was a little bit of a wait. Even when the pods did finally open, Muffins and Time Turner weren’t in any condition to travel at first. They found some clothing, and Lyra took a few minutes to instruct them in the basics of how their new bodies worked. Or what she’d learned, anyway. It was more than a little strange to see Muffins without her wings, but she didn’t have her horn either, so… she imagined it was the same for the others.
Finally they could be on their way. Her own voice followed them as they left, speaking through Lyra’s helmet. “The Conflux supports your decision to reclaim your prison planet, Captain Lyra. It is right to retake what is rightfully yours. The Shipyard will be waiting for you.”
She didn’t tell her companions what had been said.
Getting back to the Equestria was its own adventure, considering just how difficult the jungle had been to traverse while she was the only creature that could barely walk. Poor Muffins was top-heavier than she was, and could barely manage her long legs.
Time Turner did a little better, though he still needed help not to fall over himself. By the time they made it back to the ship, he’d been cut and bruised just as much as Muffins. I wonder if there’s anywhere on the ship we can use to learn how to use it better. Muffins hurt herself often enough while she had four legs, I don’t know how she’ll manage on two.
“Captain, it’s good to see you back,” Computer’s voice spoke directly into her helmet as she got closer, cheerful. “A great deal has happened since you left, but I didn’t want to distract you from your important mission.”
She slowed a little at the base of the ramp, frowning up at the massive tower. To think she’d once believed this was an ancient ruin. Celestia’s Horn rose just as regal over the ancient jungle as it had over the tundra. “Like what?”
“Nothing too significant,” Computer said, in the tone of a creature who didn’t want to admit to something. “Some warp contacts in system. I believe they might’ve detected us.”
She started running. Running up a slope was hardly easy for her, but this burst of bad news was certainly enough to make her try. Sweetie galloped along beside her, forcing the others to scramble. She probably shouldn’t have—in retrospect, they were lucky Muffins hadn’t tumbled off the side.
“Aren’t we at war? Or… humans are at war. Something like that? And we’ve just been hiking through the jungle?”
“I do not know,” Computer said. “The Consensus node refuses to dump historical data to this vessel. It did attach a single set of coordinates, which I assumed were our next destination.”
The airlock doors hissed open in front of them, and Lyra practically flung herself inside. She half expected Computer to shut them on their companions, but no. They were free to limp their way up the ramp and stagger in.
“What’s the rush, Lyre?” Bon Bon asked, glancing nervously out the door as it finally shut behind them. “Are we in danger?”
She pulled off her helmet, tossing it onto the floor and practically shoving her way through the inner door as it opened. Only to take a face full of bright orange foam, causing her to stop dead, hacking and as it burned at her face, sliding down into the openings of her suit. She coughed and spluttered, dropping to the ground.
“Decontamination complete,” Computer said. “It would’ve been unnecessary if you left your helmet on for the entire away mission, Captain.”
She ignored it, rising to her feet again, and helping the others one at a time. They had new armor, suits similar to hers but even lighter and more flexible. Well, except for Bon Bon.
“I think we might be?” she finally said spitting out a mouthful of orange slime. “Computer was just saying there are… other ships or something? What’s going on exactly, Computer?”
“Get to the bridge. I will inform you of the relevant information on the way.” This time it spoke into the room around them, and in plain Equestrian. Or its thickly accented version, anyway. That was different from the mind that had perfectly copied her, isolated in the ruins.
“A fleet of Griffon destroyers has entered high orbit of the Homeworld,” Computer continued, as the elevator doors buzzed shut behind them. “Their primitive radio transmissions suggest they believe I am an automated long-range survey ship, returned for repairs. They do not seem to be aware of my crew.”
Lyra winced as the elevator shot up. Only for a few more seconds, before stopping abruptly and practically vomiting them out onto the bridge.
There in the air was a glass projection of Homeworld, surrounded by a dozen little red dots. Each one was a flurry of other information she couldn’t understand, weapons and compliment and other statistics that meant even less to her.
“So what do we do?” Time Turner asked, panting as he staggered out of the elevator. “Can we… escape?”
“That is one option,” Computer said. “Or we could destroy them. They think I’m a survey ship, but I’m a Communion Class. Why don’t we send them back to their ancestors for trespassing near the sacred Homeworld?”