“Yamato?” Applejack said struggling to push the foreign word out of her mouth. “What kinda name is that?”
“It’s huge!” Pinkie chimed.
“It’s terrifying.” Fluttershy whispered.
“It’s amazing!” Twilight all but screamed.
“It’s hideous...” Rarity said as she scrunched her nose at it
“It’s a ship.” Rainbow Dash said turning to the princess. “Isn’t it?”
“It’s more than that, my young pegasus.” Celestia replied warmly, earning her an odd look from all those surrounding her. “It’s a starship.”
“What!” Twilight shouted. “A starship? Princess don’t take this the wrong way but there’s no possible way that that thing is capable of interstellar flight! We don’t even possess the technology to put even a small object higher than a few thousand metres! Let alone an entire spacecraft! In fact there’s no way that something that big and bulky would even fly! How could we build a starship”!?
The scholarly unicorn finished her rant with a huff before she realize that she had just straight up called her mentor and subsequently her country's ruler a liar and promptly froze in place as she waited for her inevitable punishment.
“We didn’t.” The princess replied without missing a beat.
It took Twilight a few seconds to fully comprehend that A. she wasn’t being fined for shouting at her monarch and B. That the princess was implying...
“No! No no no no no!” she repeated as a smile began to show on her face. “You can’t mean.”
“I’m afraid so, my pupil. This ship is not of Equestrian origin.”
A collective gasp went up from the rest of the ponies as they to cottoned on to what the princess was implying.
“ALIENS!” Pinkie Pie squealed at the top of her lungs, her high pitched wail bouncing around the massive cavern.
“Thanks Pinkie!’ Dash said sarcastically as she tried to remedy the ringing in her ears.
“S-so..” Twilight stuttered still not having completely collected herself after what she had just learnt.
“I’m sure you all have many questions and I believe it would be easier to answer them from a more...upfront location.” Celestia said as she waved a hoof down towards the Yamato.
* * *
After another yet mercifully shorter climb down through the carved stone paths of the cavern they emerged on the floor of the rocky space. Now that they were on level ground the six mares finally noticed just how massive the craft actually was. Its giant tower loomed overhead casting a shadow over them in the little light there was inside the cavern. Its hull stretched for hundreds of metres from left to right and the massive barrels of the middle cannon hung over their heads as they approached.
Wanted to get a closer look Rainbow took off ahead of the group up a small rocky hill. Applejack began to call out to stop her but was quickly silenced when Celestia simply giggled at her enthusiasm.
As Rainbow Dash crested the small hill she suddenly found herself no less that a few dozen metres from the Yamato. Its massive cannons pointing majestically upward as if they were reaching back to the stars from which they fell from.
Now Rainbow was not a modest pony by anyone's standards, but as she stood just a stones throw from the imposing ship she felt very, very small.
Shortly after, the others joined her on the small mound and shared her expression of wonder and amazement. Even Rarity was able to appreciate the unspoken might that the ship seemed to exude even in its dormant state.
“Come, I’m sure you would all rather speak inside than out here in the stale air.” Celestia said as she strolled past them towards an extremely heavy-duty door at the base of the tower.
As they stepped inside they immediately had to readjust their stance as the ship’s odd angle meant that the decks where sloped making walking anywhere somewhat difficult.
The inside of the Yamato was vastly different from the exterior. Where the outside was dull grey and utilitarian the inside was warm and clean. The walls were painted in a soothing white with light grey streaks running across them. It seemed to be more like a high end hotel rather than a spacecraft except with less minibars.
While the ship was well lit it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the ceiling lights weren’t operational. All light within the ship was being supplied by arcane lamps that were normally found on building sites. Cables snaked from doorway to doorway, running up and down corridors and hanging suspended from upper decks.
Before anypony was able to question what they were for, a brown earth pony with an even darker brown mane bolted past them narrowly avoiding them. He shouted something in acknowledgement to them but none of them caught what it was.
“Who was that?” Rainbow asked
“Oh, just a researcher.” Celestia replied
“You mean there are others on this ship?” twilight added.
“Yes of course. We’ve been researching the Yamato for a long time now, How else do you think I knew of its name”? Celestia questioned as she stopped at one of the doors.
The element bearers looked on as they saw their ruler raise her forehoof to a strange panel beside the door. Gently pressing her hoof to it, the door quickly slid open with a quiet ‘whoosh.’
The princess stepped inside, the other ponies quickly filled in afterwards. The room was fairly elegant. a long polished wood table ran down the centre, with large, tall chairs on either side. An empty bowl sat alone in the middle of the long table devoid of any flowers it might once of held. At the head of the room, a small recess in the wall was filled with an interesting model, a closer inspection revealed that it was a scale model of the very same ship they were currently inside of.
The princess took a seat at the head of the table just in front of the model the remaining ponies quickly found their own.
“I’m sure you're all confused as to what exactly is going on. and I believe I owe you some answers”. Celestia said.
Nopony responded but they all nodded in agreement.
The princess of the sun took a deep breath as she began to recount her tale.
“Like I said, two-hundred years ago, some of my workers broke through into this cavern. None of them thought much of the Yamato thinking it was some strange rock formation but they were all sworn to secrecy nonetheless. After the initial shock of its discovery we decided it would be best to keep its existence a closely guarded secret. After a few months the magic council decided that it was not harmful nor a threat to Equestria or its population. So we decided to learn from it”. The princess recounted.
“It took us seven months alone before we finally found a way inside, the most advance unlocking and lock picking skills did nothing against the ship and we didn’t want to risk damaging it with explosives”.
“Once we were inside however we were amazed at the things we discovered”. she said a smile slowly crossing her features before turning to look at the six ponies before her.
“The things that are on this ship. The things we learnt, the things we saw, things we wouldn’t even be able to begin to comprehend let alone build. The most amazing things i have ever seen were found aboard this very vessel. The technology was so advanced our own seemed pathetically laughable. But that didn’t stop us”. She finished with a smirk.
“Huh? What's that mean”? Rainbow asked.
“Well... Do you know that Equestria went through an industrial revolution roughly one hundred and eighty years ago”?
“Yeeeeah...”? Rainbow replied.
“You can thank this very ship for that. And most of the electrical appliances you probably have in your house right now”.
“Like what”? Pinkie asked.
“The electrical lamp, coffee, the coffee machine, the hairdryer, the oven, Arcade machines, Records, Film and several classified items I’m afraid i’m not allowed to discuss”. the princess listed.
“The hairdryer came from here!?” Rarity exclaimed. “Well I suppose it’s not all bad...” she finished as she looked over the room with a new found admiration.
Applejack couldn’t help but snort at Rarity’s sudden change in attitude.
“Okay, so I get that you’ve been reverse engineering the stuff you found in here and that's really important and stuff, but what does that have to do with us? Or these”? Rainbow asked with irritation as she pointed her hoof at the necklace she wore.
“I’m glad you asked. Come, we shall walk and talk.” Celestia rose from her chair and headed for the door.
“You see, after so many years of research we discovered that the Yamato is in nearly mint condition and after so long we finally decided that it would be the right time to raise her.”
“However, this presented a problem,” the princess said with a sigh as her brow knitted. “The Yamato runs off a source of power unlike any we’ve ever seen before. It is so immensely powerful that even if every unicorn were to band together they would only equate to a fraction of what this ship is capable of.”
Twilight fumbled slightly over her own hooves as she heard this but remained silent.
“Because of this, the engine requires phenomenal amounts of power in order to even start it. Sadly, we do simply not posses the means to supply such vast amounts of power.” Celestia seemed dejected before immediately perking back up again to look at her subjects.
“That is where you six come in. Around your necks hang the most powerful objects in all of Equis. If the Elements of harmony cannot activate this ship I fear nothing will.”
“Whoa nelly, hang on there, Princess,” Applejack interrupted.
“You wanna use the elements of harmony, which we know almost nothin’ about, ta kickstart an alien starship we know even less about”? The orange mare questioned. On one side she was excited about the prospect of seeing such a mammoth machine rise to power once again but her common sense overrode her curiosity. She needed to know this was safe before she would let any harm befall herself, or perhaps more importantly, her friends.
The princess merely nodded eagerly in response.
“Count me in!” Rainbow shouted from behind as she pushed her way to the front of the group and stuck her hoof out at them, earning a half shocked; half annoyed glare from Applejack
“Me too,” Twilight said solidly as she placed her hoof atop Rainbow’s. Twilight had no reason to doubt her mentor’s judgement.
“Ooh Ooh Oh! Me three!” Pinkie said excitedly as she too slammed her hoof down upon her two friends and gazed back eagerly at the remaining three.
“Oh alright, fine! I suppose the prospect of a new adventure is appealing,” Rarity said as she placed her hoof delicately into the shake.
“Please be mindful of the hooficure,” She whispered to the others.
“U-um me-me too,” Fluttershy squeaked out from underneath them as her hoof placed itself on the underside of Rainbow’s hoof.
The five bonded ponies turned to their remaining member looking at her expectantly. Applejack glared at them a moment longer still trying to sway their minds, but after seeing the excited look in their faces she eventually caved and added her own hoof the the pile.
“Ah’m in too,” She said in a defeated tone that didn’t quite hide the slight vibe of excitement she carried.
A collective cheer went up as the six multicolored mares threw their hooves skyward, laughing at the silly exchange.
The sun princess smiled warmly down at the six friends who all shared an excited look.
“Thank you,” she said simply, raising her forehoof to another panel, letting a door in front of them slide open.
* * *
“This is the Wave Motion Engine!” Celestia bellowed loudly over the din of worker ponies scurrying about over the scaffolding and framework of the massive engine room.
To say that the engine was impressive would have been a gross understatement. The truly massive horizontal cylinder lay quiet in its chamber. Thousands of pipes all of varying sizes protruded and crisscrossed the massive engine. Large orange tanks the size of an average living room were fastened to its sides, their purpose unclear.
Two enormous flywheels sat behind one another, their location and the fact nearly every pipe seemed to coalesce around them made them the centerpiece of the room.
Sheets of glass that displayed numbers and readings lined the walls and protruded from floor mounted brackets. More than once Rainbow or Applejack would have to pull their purple unicorn friend away from them as she risked getting saliva all over the delicate equipment.
Twilights gawking was soon interrupted by the arrival of a new pony. The same earth pony that had blasted by them earlier. Now that he wasn’t sprinting past she managed to get a decent look at his cutie mark, an hourglass.
“Ah, Doctor!” the princess called happily.
“Girls this is the Doctor, second in command only to myself when it comes to the Yamato,” she stated.
“Doctor who?” Rarity asked.
“Just the Doctor, pleasure to meet your acquaintance!” he said jovially, his voice carrying a strong accent that sounded vaguely trottingham-esque.
“Likewise,” Twilight answered for them all extending her hoof to him which he took in an eager shake.
“Lets get straight into business. I’m sure Celestia informed you of your reasons behind being here?” the brown pony asked, his casual usage of the princesses name earned a cocked eyebrow from Twilight, but she let it slide.
“Yes, something about the elements being needed to activate the ship?” she said.
“Correct. The wave motion engine is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It collects tachyon particles in the vicinity around it and converts them into thrust to move the ship. It really is quite fascinating!” he cried with enthusiasm.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “in order to do this it needs a truly astonishing amount of electrical power. The ship does make its own but in order to even begin to charge we need to activate it first. Basically we want to power the engine so it can power the generators to power ship!” Needless to say, this stallion was a little eccentric.
“Okay, so what do we need to do?” Twilight asked, deciding to appoint herself the mouthpiece of the group.
“Simple! We need you to use the elements-” he paused pointing a hoof to her tiara “-to supply the power. Once that's done we sit and hope for the best.”
“Hope?” Rainbow questioned.
“Well we’re not entirely sure that even the elements will be able to do it. After all, they are magical energy, this ship is electrical we’re not even sure the two are compatible”.
“One way to find out.” the daredevil pegasus replied with a smirk.
* * *
“Now are you positively sure you can do this?” Celestia asked the six mares as they moved into position on the catwalk closest to the huge flywheels.
A chorus of ‘yes’, ‘positive’, ‘you betcha’s’ and ‘Oh yes princess!’ was her response. Knowing that they weren’t having second thoughts, she politely stood back giving them the space they needed.
It wasn’t hard to tell the princess was nervous. Six of her country's national treasures were about to inject a huge amount of power into an enormously powerful and dangerous alien spacecraft. If anything were to go wrong she would never forgive herself.
“All unauthorised researchers please vacate engine room bay two.” A voice called out from the P.A. its tone indicating obvious excitement.
Rainbow Dash looked to her friends who flanked her on both sides. Excitement and nervousness being the two most prominent emotions showing on their features. And though Rainbow would never admit it, she felt nervous as well. She huffed as she adopted a wider stance. “Come on girls, lets do this”.
With a nod they too took a more braced stance as Twilight closed her eyes, allowing the vast magical energies to flow through her. After a few moments the familiar weightlessness that came with the elements use filled her and she began to slowly raise into the air. Followed shortly afterwards by the others.
An unnatural wind began to blow around them as their manes and tails whipped back and forth wildly. The mares began to form a circle around Twilight as they slowly orbited her. Their short vertical journey ended when they leveled out halfway up the side of the dormant orange engine.
A blinding flash lit the room as Twilight opened her now completely white eyes. The wind increased tenfold And Rainbow Dash began to feel the power leave her syphoning straight into her purple friend.
A brilliant beam of rainbow energy shot of from Twilight's horn. It didn’t arch upwards like it had previously instead it shot across the short distance directly into the side of the machine. Waves of colorful energy washed over the engine engulfing it in raw magical power.
And just as suddenly as it had begun it stopped. The four of the six mares fell back onto the catwalk while the two pegasi caught themselves and gently floated back down. Nopony however took their eyes off of the Wave Motion Engine.
As the shimmering coat of rainbow energy faded they all looked on hopefully. None more so than Celestia who didn’t even blink through the whole exchange.
The last of the energy faded and the room plunged back into eerie silence.
Twilight was heartbroken. After all that, after all the energy and power behind her and her friends being pumped directly into the engine it had done nothing. Not even the Elements could match this alien vessel, Twilight felt weak, useless even.
“I-I-I don’t underst-” Her stammering was silenced by a sharp groan from above her. Her head snapped up as did all others intent to see what had just made the intruding sound.
Nopony spoke as they waited. Waiting to see what would happen.
Another shriek accompanied by the smallest movement of the smaller of the two flywheels.
A gentle hum resonated throughout the room and the massive engine above them groaned once more.
The flywheel spun just a fraction, barley more than a few inches. Then it spun again, and again. soon it had completed one full, very slow rotation.
The gentle hum became louder and more prominent. the soft vibrations now evident to all those nearby.
The flywheel made another, much faster revolution, each time it completed one it started another spinning faster and faster.
Soon the hum and turned into a dull roar and the massive wheel rotated effortlessly. Dials and monitors around the room lit up displaying an impressive array of data. the once dormant lights suddenly exploded into life bathing the engine room in proper lighting.
A massive roaring cheer of approval sung out from ponies in the engine room, several researchers embraced in friendly hugs while others bumped hooves. One even popped the cork on a champagne bottle and soon the entire room was filled with partying scientists, much to Pinkie Pie’s delight.
Twilight let out a relieved sigh that she didn’t realize she had been holding as her friends joined in the cheering behind her.
A white, regal-looking hoof invaded her vision and helped her to her hooves before she was embraced in a warm nuzzle from her mentor.
“I’m so proud of you Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said warmly.
“I’m proud of all of you,” she said a bit louder addressing the ponies behind twilight.
“And you too my loyal researchers,” she called over the balcony to the ponies below her. Some of whom were too elated to even respond.
“Go and get some rest girls. You’ve earned it.”