//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Return to Sender 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Felicity was no diplomat, no scientist, and no soldier. She had been a little of all three to accomplish this task.

It was about a month before the moment finally came. It happened aboard an orbital station, one sent all the way from Equus. It would be the first of many as the network grew—a temporary home for the plants who died after becoming part of the network, once Harmony was established.

Felicity didn't understand how that process worked, but she didn't really have to. She knew the important part: her crew's recovery was complete, and they would soon wake up.

"I've never seen someone restored from backup before," Escape Gear said, her wings buzzing nervously. The platform had a small crew area, smaller than most starships. It would be enough room for a few of them, during this critical moment.

Escape was a changeling again for the meeting, just as Felicity was an Alicorn. "What do you think it feels like, to be dead for centuries, then wake up?"

"I spent most of that time too dumb to wake up," Felicity said. Her eyes were fixed on the single metal doorway. A tiny window glowed with magical light, indicating a process still ongoing. But not for much longer. The magic on the other side was fading. "I think I went through most of it like they did."

"A luxury." Manny was still just a unicorn colt. It was the same body he had left behind aboard the Varch’nai evacuation ship. He showed no more shyness about his small size than he had in the presence of great generals. Yet despite his age, he spoke like a confident parent. 

"While you slept, I analyzed an alien ecosystem using a trickle of electrical and magical power. I discovered how to improve your complexity using scant resources, and carefully grew you a body that would keep us both alive. No need to thank me, but I would if I were you. I am incredibly impressive."

She reached over, patting him on the back with one wing. Not necessarily because he expected it—but if they weren't friends after what they'd done together, who was? "I'm grateful. If we had died down on that planet, this mission would be... very different. Thank you."

Light flashed through a tiny window, and the magic faded. Felicity heard the sound of machinery slowing, then finally coming to a stop. Then the door opened.

Half a dozen figures stood in the space beyond. They were exactly as she remembered them, right down to the uniforms from aboard the Alcyone. 

Her first mate was the first to emerge, walking slowly. His eyes took in the strange environment—the same corridors he may've seen beneath the surface of the Equus ring. These were the sections not meant for lockdown species to see.

Which none of them were, anymore. "Captain... Felicity," he whispered. He sounded the same as she remembered, a vision of the past. "And Escape Gear?" He glanced over his shoulder, as the others emerged one by one.

"What happened?"

It was a little unbecoming to meet her crew for a hug. But Felicity missed them enough that she didn't care. Tears streamed down her face, and she barely managed to keep herself focused.

She let go of him after a few awkward seconds. "That is a long story. It might take us a while to explain it all." 

"You were dead for a while," Escape Gear supplied. "Few centuries. Harmony invaded, Felicity befriended a soldier bush and made a pot surrender. It was a whole thing."

"We made first contact," Felicity interrupted, cutting her off. "It was bumpy. Bit of a war there in the middle. But I think things are looking up from here."

"Awesome!" Martin exclaimed. "Skip the hard part, and right to the science. They're keeping us on, right? Can't steal this post from us. This is the reason we're here in the first place!"

"Might take a bit to get a replacement ship made," she said. "But I'm sure they'll find work for us sticking around in the meantime. If you want to stay."





After Felicity's success, she could probably have got herself any position she wanted. She could've captained a new exploration ship, or settled in as a temporary colonial governor, supervising the departure of the Varch'nai. 

She had no desire for any of that. Maybe one day she would get another chance to explore, but right now she didn’t want to go anywhere new. There was a whole new world right in front of her, and she wasn't going to let it pass her by.

In the end, she accepted a post as ambassador to the largest city in the ocean, a tower-fortress called Lustrous Pinion.

The post required a few adjustments, just as life on the planet she now knew as Radiance always had. But no matter how much Manny mocked her for being so "low-complexity" that she inevitably returned to the kind of life she understood, Felicity was done being a plant for the foreseeable future.

It was time to have a head again, and limbs, and all those other awesome things she had taken for granted.

By the time a city of significance on Radiance was willing to take a “predator” into their number, Harmony had already adapted a body for her use, one that Martin and any other visiting citizen of Equus would likely use if they ever visited the ocean.

Felicity swam rapidly through her private quarters, circling it twice before she came to a stop in front of the mirror. 

It was at once familiar and strange to her. Familiar, since Harmony had taken the basic body plan of the “seapony” for this design. Cut the size by two thirds, and switch out flat herbivore teeth for razor-sharp needles. And of course there was the small matter of rewriting her entire anatomy to exist in cryofluid instead of water.

Her reflection might have seemed terrifying to a pony—or maybe like an adorable little pet to keep in a tank in their living room. She wasn't sure. The vibrant colors seaponies were known for were replaced with white and silver scales.

Felicity adjusted the metal necklace, staring back into the mirror. "How much time do we have?"

"Any second," Escape Gear replied. She floated near the table, hovering in front of a submerged screen and interface terminal. Every member of her expedition crew had elected to stay, at least until the Varch'nai were gone and the system passed fully into plant possession.

But only Escape Gear actually shared accommodations with Felicity in Lustrous Pinion. Harmony would not allow any of the others to emigrate downwell yet, given their inexperience with the native life. It would come in time.

The buzzer squawked, echoing through the spacious living room. Whoever fabricated this module had designed it for ordinary seaponies, making everything feel oversized.

"Computer, open the door," Felicity called. It wasn't locked, but there was no chance of the creature outside hearing her. Or rather, smelling her.

Something drifted inside. Escape Gear looked up, then withdrew, floating away from her terminal until she was behind Felicity.

Felicity could see where Escape Gear was coming from—Delta was about their size, a being of floating green tentacles that moved in ways totally unknown to Equestrian life. She spasmed and twitched through the water, without head or limbs.

She also had no mouth, yet Felicity still “heard” her words. That was the most important adaptation Harmony had made, more than just making them look less threatening. "Which one of you is Tea?" Delta asked. 

Without a head, there was nothing to “look” at either of them. Felicity felt her attention more in the way the plant kept itself close to them, instead of moving off to the lights. 

Felicity flicked towards her. Some distant part of the adapted seapony brain might see squid comparisons and sense danger, but her own experience was stronger. She had swam with the plants for years. She knew with total confidence that Delta had no interest in eating her, and no intention of attacking.

"Me," she replied. So far, she didn't know if there was a way to speak aloud without using the chemical language of the plants. If it existed, she was still too new at the body to know it. "But you know Escape Gear too. She was the one who cared for us aboard the starship."

Delta swam towards her, not waiting for an invitation. Her vines passed over Felicity's body, tracing the outline of her fins, her tail, even her mouth. Delta had no more sense for personal space than she had as a plant.

"This is so strange. You are like predators, but unlike them also. Such a thing as you never swam. You glow so brightly, and you... speak. Bewildering."

"Your entire planet will have to get used to ponies. Your old concepts of 'predator' aren’t good enough anymore."

Escape Gear said nothing, though Felicity could see her wings twitching nervously. She backed further away, radiating discomfort. She did not want to go through the same inspection Delta was inflicting on her.

"And you are sure none of them will bite? If visitors eat those who grow, it will make friendship difficult between us."

"Of course not!" she said, grinning. "See these? Harmony tells me we can't digest plants even if we want to. Your ambassadors are obligate carnivores."

"Their tastes should make any unfortunate accidents nearly impossible," said another voice. There was no pony to speak it, the scents just radiated from the terminal.

But that was enough to pick out Manny's identity. Even Delta showed signs of recognition. "Proteins common in your cell walls should cause instant, debilitating nausea. Conversely, I've tuned their smell and taste to produce a craving for the local herbivores. You may find visiting ponies grow too distracted to speak with you, as they hunt the fish that kill your kind."

That disturbed Felicity far more than some physical inspection by Delta. The idea of hunting and killing a living thing herself, even a mindless fish—it was antithetical to a pony.

"Sounds fun," Escape Gear said, the first smell she'd made since Delta appeared. "A whole ocean to swim through. No more worrying about rescue. Little strange to be back here after working so hard to leave. Doesn't feel so bad when you're not trapped in a box."

"How have you been since returning home?" Felicity asked. "Do people give you a bad time about your actions in the Starseed?"

"No." She sprawled in the water, turning her leaves towards the brilliant overhead lights. 

So Felicity was told, anyway. She had a second set of eyelids for keeping out the searing grow-lights present in every room, just as her scales were meant to reflect their energy. Reflect, rather than be dependent on it.

Felicity had insisted on that part of the design. They were not plants, even if they intended to live surrounded by a convenient source of energy. They just wouldn't use it.

"It's the opposite, Tea. The First Witness whispers to her priests that I helped save all who grow. In the stories, I am the only plant who did it, bravely guiding a terror until I won you to our side. I'm the reason the Starseed survives, they say."

"That might be... slightly exaggerated," Felicity said. "But you deserve credit. You did save me from getting eaten out there. And I guess you did show me why the growing people were worth protecting."

Now that she thought about it, getting even with the fish who had tried to eat her before did sound more satisfying than just blasting them with a microwave emitter. What would it taste like to eat something so fresh it was still moving?

"Well, we shouldn't wait," Delta said. "They love me here, but this may change if we delay. Did you bring the machine?"

Felicity turned to Escape Gear, expectant. The seapony darted past her to a shelf, lifting a plastic case through the water between both fins. "The first of many," she said, struggling. "Felicity, a little help?"

"Delta and I will take it," she said, bracing one fin against it. "It's finally time to bring magic to the growing people. We should do it together."