Lower Canterlot looked very different from Upper Canterlot, which had its unique architecture of marble preserved. Situated at the base of Mount Canterhorn, Lower Canterlot had steel walls instead of marbled walls, built for efficiency and cheapness rather than to have every wall a work of art in itself. The streets were also different, as instead of the pleasant sound of hooves clopping against cobblestone, she was greeted by the harsh sound of dull asphalt, packed tight to allow no shifting of the foundation.
She walked through the streets with a smile on her face, greeting every creature, pony, griffon, even dragon on her way, for today was a good day, as Project Beyond Friendship had been completed months prior, and finally, enough volunteers had been trained for Equestria's first long-term mission in space.
The Harmony institute greeted her with its bare and sleek exterior. The doors opened with a silent woosh as she approached. All were welcome to come inside and view the progress they were making, each experiment was locked behind bio-coded doors, so only the researchers assigned could enter the room.
As she entered, the smell of sweets and sugar greeted her, the pink mare at the counter waving over at her, ready to bring a smile to-
She shook her head, the scene broke apart, she was inside the entrance reception, the room filled with comforting chairs that would adjust to fit any creature and relaxing music, although what passed for relaxing to her subjects these days sounded more like a mix between punk rock and throwing rocks at cats to her. The mare at the receptionist desk was waving energetically at her, her pink coat was only a shade off from her daydream, but her main was the perfect color.
She walked up, many creatures lowering their heads in deference since it was hard to bow while sitting. The receptionist spoke energetically and with a smile.
"Queen Twilight, you're early as always! While the experiment isn't planned for another two hours, Friendship Ambassador Spike is in relaxation room 15T."
"Thank you Bright Day." She said with a smile on her face. The Receptionist's name was on a digital plaque, the name changing every time the receptionist changed shifts.
She walked through a door to the right of the receptionist's desk, the comforting visage of the waiting room was replaced by the confines of steel hallways. The Harmony Institute was a large building, being the foremost site of research and development.
As she walked down the lonely corridors, as visitors weren't being allowed today, and only today, a flash of orange caught her attention. Through one of the glass viewing screens, rows upon rows of apple trees were laid out, and an orange mare, her straw-colored mane tied up behind her, was kicking trees, each one fell perfectly within the baskets placed under the trees. The mare nodded to her.
She shook her head, the room was filled with Apple trees, but there was no mare bucking them, but several creatures, two unicorn stallions, a griffon, and even a dragon, all in labcoats writing down notes as they observed the apples on the trees. Experiment room 34a, the process of different hydroponic compositions to produce the fastest and best growing apple crops.
She continued on, her metal shoes clanking against the floor. She spotted a pink bubbly mare with a cotton candy mane dabbing frosting on her nose and laughing, the walls and decor were decorated to look like the sweets the mare sold. She laughed, smiling at these antics until she shook her head, dispelling the memory and leaving a stallion and a purple mare with a poofed-up mane. They were taste testers for the nutrient paste, a cheap alternative to hydroponic foods, which helped when the population grew faster than new farmland and hydroponic stations could support.
The mare had just smeared a large glob on the stallion's nose, and they were both laughing at the silliness of it all.
She sighed, moving on at a more subdued pace. Her eyes caught sight of the new fashion trend, apparently, despite the fact that earth ponies and pegasi had trouble with it, it was zippers. Right now the current project was self-zipping zippers. The scientists were asking questions and taking notes on the ones who were wearing the sleek bodysuits that dominated the current century's trend.
The scene changed to her, a much younger her being measured by a measuring tape in the white unicorn mare's blue magic. The mare writing down measurements and drawing plans with her tongue out. Them excitedly talking about the new dress she would make...
She didn't even bother shaking the memory away as she walked off. She stared slack-jawed at the butter-yellow pegasus with a pink mane applying medicine to a bear with a smile on her face. She then noticed the cutie mark was a dog bed instead of three butterflies, the mare was also more stocky in the withers than the mare she remembered.
Still, she ran, unfortunately, she had glanced at the new Wonderbolts costumes, remade to symbolize all that they stood for as one of the world's biggest celebrities. And she had seen the fastest blue pegasus she had known in that suit, smiling in that way the mare did so reassuringly but cocky, rainbow mane being tossed back.
She didn't slow down, tears leaking from her eyes as she lowered her head. The door before her was slammed open by her magic. Spike, twice as tall as her, was nothing but a blurry blob as she ran in and tackled him back into the seat he just stood up from.
She buried her head into his chest, even if she poked him with her horn she couldn't pierce his scales. He gently put a claw on the top of her head, gently rubbing it.
"Woah! It's alright Twilight, just calm down and tell me what's wrong... You haven't been this upset since we left Ponyville." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as she continued crying with renewed intensity.
"It... How old am I Spike?"
"A... Thousand and sixty-four?" If the drake could sweat he would. Was this a trick question?
"A t-thousand years, Spike... I'm starting to forget them... And- and all the things we did together..." She was forced to look into his eyes as he cupped his claws around her cheeks and made her look up. He was smiling softly.
"What were their names?" He asked gently
"I don't-"
"What were their names, Twilight?" Spike asked more forcefully, a stern look on his face.
"Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash." She answered, the names of her bestest friends coming to her mind immediately. But their figures were starting to become fuzzy. Spike's stern look melted into a sad smile.
"As long as you remember those names and what they meant to you... It doesn't matter how little you remember, because they'll always be with you."
She buried her face in his neck, enjoying the mere contact. She was no longer crying, but her makeup was streaked and runny when she finally removed herself from him.
"...How are you so calm? We're leaving Equestria... Our friends..." She asked, her horn lighting up, taking a napkin and rubbing at her makeup.
"I had to say goodbye a lot when I was Friendship ambassador... After the years passed by... Sometimes permanently." He smiled softly. "But this mission isn't just about leaving our home, it's about making new friends, and while we're at it, we can tell our new friends stories of our old ones."
She placed the napkin back on the table, already it was removing the makeup she had wiped off. Soon it would be ready for the next creature who used to room to use.
"Now come on, Everycreature is anticipating this moment, waiting for when we reach our appendages beyond in friendship!" Spike stretched out his arm in emphasis, a large smile on his face. She got off of him, he was excited for this, every creature was.
They walked out of the room, the metal hallways weren't so oppressive anymore. The final doorway at the end led to project Beyond Friendship. As she opened it up with her magic, the expansive room made her feel small. It was the largest hanger yet devised, and in the middle of it was their civilization's greatest culmination of magic and technology. The entire frame of what they were calling a starship was the length of eight hundred hooves long, reaching nearly four hundred across. The starship was ovular in shape, and after giving the staff who would be manning it naming privileges, its official name was the Friendship Beyond.
The two of them suited up and entered the starship via a teleportation spell that was entirely supplied energy by the ship. This did mean that a unicorn or another creature capable of outward magic expression was needed to connect to the spell, however. The entire crew was waiting in the cargo area, all of the supplies and crates packed to the edge of the walls to make room. She looked over all of the creatures, thirty changelings, two dragons, four Kirins, eight Abyssinians, a dozen diamond dogs, around forty griffons, three yaks, and a hundred ponies, a random assortment from each tribe.
They all stood at attention as she walked in between the line they had formed. She looked over each of them, all of them had eager grins, all of them were making history. She stopped at the end, turning back to face them all, these creatures believed in this mission, they were excited about making friends in the sky beyond. Even if she still had reservations and self-doubts, she would do her best to make their dreams a reality.
"Everycreature!" She began, and she had their undivided attention. "Prepare your stations, Friendship beyond... is only as great as each one of us, and we'll show that to our new friends! Everycreature out there is looking upon this project with excitement and eagerness, so let's show them that friendship will always succeed!" They all cheered, already hurrying off to their stations. Both she and Spike walked along with the bridge crew.
As they entered, the bridge was spacious. Enough seats for twenty creatures, each able to adjust their profile to the creature sitting there. She looked around as she took her seat on the captain's chair as they were calling it. Spike, his title as friendship ambassador renewed, sat upon their main communications. Scanners were manned by a changeling, pegasi, and Kirin. Navigation was manned by an assortment of eight different creatures. The rest were empty, only to be filled out in emergencies or if they needed some sort of specialized expertise, in which the screens in front of them, consoles as they were called, would be able to change their readouts.
"Ready check!" She called out, her horn aglow as she used the Friendship beyond's communication matrix. Creatures without outward magic expression could use stations around the ship to do what she was doing.
"FIM Engines online and all readouts are optimal!"
"Engineering team on standby and ready for disaster control!"
"Science team ready and waiting!"
"Ground team on standby and waiting for launch!"
"Launch team is ready to lift doors and watch the launch princess!"
"Bridge team ready and awaiting command!" This last one came from Spike, who gave her a smile and a thumbs up.
"Alright Everycreature, let's get this Friendship ship going! Engage primary planetary thrusters, keep auxiliary maneuver thrusters on standby! Activate the inertial dampening systems for takeoff." Her orders were obeyed, and soon the screens in the bridge were online and showing their surroundings in a full three-sixty panorama. The walls of the hanger they were in didn't fold open so much as they retreated into the ground, leaving the Friendship Beyond held up only by its struts.
Citizens were crowded around the area, kept a maximum safety distance of a mile away. She looked at the sea of creatures as her bridge crew counted off the seconds to launch. Almost every creature that could be here was. All of them waving and cheering them on... And in front of a few changelings, just as the bridge crew signalled to take off, she thought she saw her friends, waving at her with large, hopeful smiles...