//------------------------------// // Prologue: Jim's Datalog // Story: Procyons and Ponies // by The Philosopher King //------------------------------// A new age was about to start in Equestrian history; Twilight was going to test a new device developed by the greatest Equestrian scientists and sorcerers, intended to be able to replicate the interdimensional magic of Discord and the mirror portal using only harmonious pony magic. It was a large gray metal machine with a hole towards the center, and a single diamond shaped purple crystal attached to the top. Numerous knobs and gauges were strung around it, but one thing stood out, that is, a large green lever on the side. Various ambassadors and nobles had gathered to see this new invention's activation unfold in the Canterlot Castle. Twilight and a few other ponies were busy running final checks on the devices systems to ensure it did not fail or malfunction. "I still don't like this thing... it's not natural." said Discord, practically eyeing the machine with contempt as he floated by it. "Discord, I've already told you that this work was made by the greatest minds in Equestria." groaned Twilight, who had become utterly pissed off with Discord's appearance of hating the machine. "It's incapable of failure." "So they said about the Titanic, but look where it is now." pointed out Discord. "Under the sea. Some things simply weren't supposed to happen, and as a result something falls out and causes it to fail. Just as when I came back, it was not to be the tyrant I once was because your Elements turned me to stone again and then reformed me. Instead, life intended for me to become your friends... and ultimately, a better being as a whole. Wow, I just got really deep there... Writer, fix this shit." "I agree with Discord, Twilight." said Pinkie Pie, jumping out of the central hole in the machine. "The machine's been firing my Pinkie Sense off for so long, I've adjusted to it firing whenever I'm near the machine. I don't even know why. It just seems to only fire near the machine, I think it's going to result in a doozy..." "Discord, just like Pinkie Pie, we will never understand you and your antics. Just leave us to our work for the betterment of ponykind." replied Twilight, with an utter look of annoyance on her face. "Bah, your funeral. I'm going to try and convince Celly and Lulu of their folly with supporting this project in the first place." he said. "And by the way, I see a lot of boats in your future." He then snapped his claws and warped next to Celestia and Luna, who were finishing talks with a few nobles, including a certain ass-a-holic. "...And that's why this project is a terrible idea auntie!" said the pony in a tux, complete with a corsage. "Blueblood, shut up. Just shut up." said both royal sisters simultaneously. "I reckon I came at the wrong time to point out why the device is going to backfire." said Discord. "Ugh, not you too..." said Celestia. "Listen, Discord, we have been having a hard enough time trying to convince the nobles to show up. Please, just leave us be. The past few weeks have been a sheer mindbuck." added Luna. "Hmmph, no one likes a whistle blower I guess." he said. "I don't even care that it will create a portal that will probably either teleport all of you to another dimension that may or may not be friendly or kill you in the most painful of ways possible, a first dimension crunch." With that last statement, he yanked on his face and teleported to the castle gardens to think for a brief moment. "I always found these gardens to be a perfect place for uninterrupted deliberation..." he pondered. "I won't be able to live with myself if any of them die from this, especially Fluttershy... I know! I'll enchant the machine last second, just to ensure the warp doesn't kill them." He snaps his claws, and appears inside the machine. "Now, I just hitch this here..." He exchanged a plug out with magic. "And enchant this here..." He then made one of the interior bulbs light up in a blue hue. "And meld this here... but first, safety." He teleported a compact sautering gun and welding mask into the machine, and proceeded to use a little molten metal to bound the parts together. "...And perfect!" He then warped out from the machine, back amongst the rest of the crowd, and he whistled as he tossed his welding mask and sautering gun out one of the stained glass windows. That day was going to be one of jubilation; had it not been for, erm, minor errors on the part of a certain pony… “Good news everyone!” announced Princess Celestia, standing on a stage with Luna. “The new interdimensional device is now ready to be tested!” The crowd cheered as the rest Mane Six walked onto the stage. "And our Elements of Harmony are going to be the first to test it. This will be the first time anypony has successfully dimension jumped without the assitance of outside magic or influence. I hope that the dimension we see will be amicable and that we can all see the wonders that lie beyond the portal that will be created." “Well, I guess it’s time to try the new device out, who knows what lies on the other side?” asked Twilight, looking through a book filled with various diagrams of the device. She turned three knobs that would set the (X , Y, Z) location that the group would warp to in the other dimension, along with recording the final measurements of the gauges before preparing to flip the lever. “Wait a second…” said Pinkie, eyeing the machine. “I’ve got a bad feeling…” she said, before her entire body proceeded to bounce up and down. “IT'S GOING TO BE A DOOZY!!!!” she screamed, accidentally bumping into, and effectively snapping, the lever of the machine. It whirred and fired, energy coursing through the central hole and out the crystal at the top of the device. "Why can't one day go by without something gone horribly wrong occuring?" asked Rarity as the machine whirred violently, before creating  seemingly green trianglular warp portal that lead to a black zone. "I told you this would happen..." said Discord as he dove into the portal in the fashion of a professional diver. It began to grow steadily larger as nobles and ambassadors panicked and fled, only one thought went through Twilight’s head as she too, was swallowed by the dark, triangular portal; “Today’s just not my day.” It is… the Golden Age of Exploration of the Universe, a second coming of technology and culture in the beautiful world of the Royal Empire and Procyon Regime. Solar powered light ships ply the etherium of deep space, bringing colonists and trade to every corner of the galaxy. But even a golden age, of course, has its dangers. Some natural, such as black holes and solar storms, and some, decidedly less so. Where there are traders, there also pirates, always ready to prey on the unwary. Within the Empire, such crimes do not go unpunished. Those who would disturb the peace must face the Royal Navy, an elite squadron of her Majesty’s finest light ships. The Queen’s royal light ships have defended the Empire for over two centuries. Whether fighting pirates or Procyon invaders, the Royal Navy has alway been victorious, until now. Just as we, the Royal Empire and the Procyons are on the verge of peace, a new menace has appeared on the frontier. A menace which cloaks itself in mystery, and leaves no clue but destruction. A menace that may be too powerful for anyone to defeat… “Personal Log:” said Mr. Jim Hawkins, a up and coming Royal Navy recruit. He was recording a datalog in his small torpedo boat’s cabin that he had started in his first years as a Navy cadet. “Jim Hawkins, Ensign. Entry Number 57.”  The ship flew past a small enclave of islands. “I hate final exams…” “Today’s just not my day…” he thought. *FLASH* “AGH!!!” shouted several feminine voices that seemingly came out of nowhere but the Etherium. “What on earth is going on out there?” he said aloud, walking through a small hallway in the ship. “Sir!” said Mr. Onyx, Jim’s first mate. Mr. Onyx was the nephew of a deceased friend of Jim’s, Samuel Arrow. The two were extremely similar, but Mr. Onyx was a lot taller. Both were of Cragorian origin, giving them skin of rock, somewhat reflective of their disposition that was more akin to steel. “There appears to be… multicolored ponies that have warped onto the deck!” “Mr. Onyx… did someone spike your coffee with LSD this morning?” asked Jim. "I couldn't have made that up even if I had tried, Sir." answered Mr. Onyx. Jim walked out of the cabin to receive a very peculiar sight. He saw that the helmsman had stopped the ship, and everyone on board, including Mr. Onyx were gawking at six, multicolored ponies that were lying in a pile on the deck, just next to the main mast. This was, as is expected by first contact between species, characterized by an awkward silence. “Um… Hi?” asked Twilight to the strange menagerie of creatures that had surrounded them. “Oh thank God they can speak,” said the helmsman. "Royal English at that..." “Helmsman, calm down.” said Mr. Onyx. “I am sorry for your… unexpected arrival on board the RLS Comet, Miss…?” “Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” she said. “And these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” At the stating of the final name, the crew, minus Jim and Mr. Onyx finally could not contain their laughter anymore and proceeded to laugh up a solar storm. "I'm serious, we were warped here by accident..." she slowly trailed off as the crew kept the uproarous laughter that was louder than carronade fire coming from four pirate vessels. “Enough!” shouted Jim. “I am the leader of this fine vessel, Ensign Jim Hawkins. This is one of the Royal Light Ships (RLS) of the Navy, and we…” he said, semi-glaring at his crew. “Will make sure that you are taken care of until we can identify a port at which to drop you off. Most likely it will be the Crescentia, but that will have to wait I am afraid until after a brief excursion. You see, this vessel was on its way to an exam; one that would be my final exam to become a full fledged captain of the Royal Navy. So feel free to move about as you like until we come to a port, and you are free to help as you like, but when the exam starts, I would hope that you do not interrupt. I shall now return to my quarters to finish recording a datalog entry while Mr. Onyx shows you around the ship.” “Yes, sir.” answered Mr. Onyx in turn. “If you would all kindly follow me,” he said as he lead the group of ponies around the small torpedo boat. Jim gradually walked back inside his cabin after Mr. Onyx began to explain what exactly was a light ship in the first place. “Well... seeing as you do not know what a light ship is, it is a wooden construct that is equipped with sails that absorb the energy of light, hence the name light ship. As you can see, we are current in the wide expanse of space, now cruising steadily… Ahem, cruising steadily…” he cleared his throat to signal to the helmsman to start the vessel again. “Through the Etherium. We are currently heading for a nearby sector at emergency full, and we use four speeds on our vessels. Full Stop, Ahead Slow, Ahead Full, and Emergency Full. We are at Emergency Full because we are late for the final exam of Mr. Hawkins. Now… Any questions?” “Actually… a thousand.” said Twilight. “Please don’t let egghead get started. We’ll be here all day.” said Rainbow. “Actually, we aren’t going to be there for another thirty minutes, I’m afraid. So, fire away. And no, I do NOT mean the torpedo tubes,” he shouted loud enough for the gunners to get the message. “Well... where are we right now?” asked Twilight. “We told you, the RLS Comet.” replied Mr. Onyx. “No, this place… it looks so much like the night skies that Princess Luna made back home. Full of stars…” “I take it your species hasn’t mastered space travel yet, then.” he said with a chuckle. “We’re in space!?!?” the entire groups of ponies said, shocked. “But that doesn’t make any sense!” said Twilight. “According to numerous calculations done by spectrographers from the days of Starswirl the Bearded, space is supposed to be devoid of all air and atmosphere…” “Before the Golden Age, our kind thought that too.” he said understandingly. “The truth is that there is a unique substance that allows people and... apparently ponies to breathe even in space, called Etherium. It has properties of water, making currents and such, yet is as easy to pass through as air. It allows our ships to move, only partially, as our ships are actually powered on the light of the stars, using solar sails that retain the energy. Effectively, we can move extremely rapidly without sacrificing efficiency and beauty in our vessels. They can be decorated without losing their overall practicality.” “I did wonder why you claimed this ornate ship was a naval vessel…” said Rarity, looking at the careful wood carving on the railings of the torpedo boat. “I wouldn’t be too focused on the beauty of the vessel, rather I would be focused on the gorgeous way the stars look. I’ve always found the Etherium blissfully… stunning.” Mr. Onyx said as he stared at the stars surrounding the approaching settlement known as the Crescentia. “Wait, if this is a warship, where’s all your cool weapons or whatever?” asked Rainbow Dash. "Helmsman, asteroid!" shouted the spotter, sitting comfortably in the crow's nest. “Well, as you can see, this basic Stinger-class Torpedo Boat is equipped with a light laser lancer at the bow and a pair of torpedo tubes on the port and starboard sides of the vessel. I believe a demonstration is in order..." he said. "Men, ready the torpedos. This will be good target practice." The crew members began to load a small, black shell each into the long silver tubes on the sides of the ship. Two men, on the other hand, were charging the lancer mount at the bow. "Fire!" shouted Mr. Onyx. "Torpedos away!" shouted the spotter, who watched as the torpedo shot out rapidly. The torpedos reduced the rock to fragments, leaving only small pebbles that the lancer easily took care of. "Mr. Onyx, what on earth are you doing?!?" asked Jim, rushing out of the cabin's door. "Asteroid, sir. Was directly in the ship's path, I took the most appropriate action." responded Onyx. "Very well, I will be back in the cabin if you need me." he said, walking calmly back to the cabin, closing the door behind him. "Well that was thrilling it seems..." he said, giving a smug looking to Rainbow, who currently had her jaw dropped. "Anyway, If you are interested in wanting to know more about the ship, the crew members are always focused on their positions; all of them love their jobs. But before you proceed to walk freely around the ship, may I ask where you six came from? And what exactly... would you would you call yourselves." "We are from a country called Equestria. We were testing a transdimensional device when Pinkie Pie here accidentally crashed into it. The ruined device triggered a chain of events that, well..." she trailed off. "Wound up transporting your group to our world?" he finished for her. "Yes. Sadly, we have no idea on how to get home..." she said. "We might be able to explain your plight to Parliament officials and they could get some of the royal scientists to try and recreate a device to send you back, but that would take a while." ended Mr. Onyx. "There is one final thing I wanted to ask, may I borrow some books on this world?" she asked. "It might help me to make this transfer between worlds more fluid." "You are going to have to ask Mr. Hawkins about that, as he has a small library in his captain's quarters." he answered. "He will most likely say yes, but I can't guarantee anything." “Thank you for your help on getting us acquainted with this new dimension, Mr....?” asked Twilight. “Mr. Onyx. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sparkle.” Meanwhile, in the Captain’s quarters of the RLS Comet: “As I was saying… I hate final exams." resumed Jim. "I wasn’t nearly this nervous when pirates were chasing us all over Treasure Planet. I really shouldn’t be this tense at all. I mean, it’s only my entire naval career hanging on how well my crew and I do during this graduation exercise. Not to mention these strange ponies that have seemingly warped in out of the Etherium, but that can wait for now. I’ve been assigned command of a Stinger-class torpedo boat. A sweet little craft, fast and maneuverable. Still… it’s a lot more than the solar surfer I’m used to. Now if I could only keep my voice from shaking when I give commands and preventing these ponies from getting in the way of the crew I should be in business. Here’s hoping I manage to get us through the final exam without making any mistakes.” He looked out one of the windows, into the Etherium surrounding the Crescentia. It was always a breathtaking sight, and it was one of the better things to do next to solar surfing, Jim's favorite pastime. The were approaching the Crescentia, and quickly passed over the settlements on the structure that gave of vibrant light. "I hope Silver's alright." Jim thought. "It's been forever since we've talked, and the world just keeps getting weirder each day, with these strange ponies appearing out of nowhere but the Etherium, and the new, unknown iron menace coming out of the frontiers of the Empire. I just hope that after my crew and I pass this exam, that we will all be okay in the end. Perhaps these ponies might even prove helpful... But that's a long shot, even thought they seem intelligent. A whole new country doesn't appear from nothing, and it would only complicate the peace proceedings between the Empire and the Procyons. I can only pray things end well so that the Royal Empire can get the Procs to sign the treaty and put our minds to ease at last."