1.
It was a phenomenon known as a "Diaspora", a population scattering from the smaller state that held its point of origin. It wasn't common with the various Equestrian races, true. Ponies held to a herd mentality, and weren't overly imperialistic. Imperialism was generally thought of by ponies as a griffin trait, part of their innate greed. This was, of course, patently false. Griffins tended to gravitate to gold (and, to a lesser extent, other precious metals) more than anything else. Conquest wasn't their thing, mining was.
Then the The Crash had come; the massive ship falling to the surface of Equuis. Twenty years of development. The heavens, once reserved for the Princesses of Night and Day, were open to every pony, and not long after, every race on the planet.
Then came the Seabound, and everything changed again.
The peoples of Equuis were no longer restrained by their own system; the whole of the galaxy was there. Suddenly, trained unicorn pilots were in high demand to move jumpships whose hulls had yet to be laid down to join Seabound and Epona. Ponies were scattered over a half-a-dozen worlds. Griffons had formed mining guilds, pulling apart rocks for resources and confounding the pony-backed merchant houses to no end.
This last point was bringing a smile to the face of Twilight Sparkle as she sat in the darkened chambers of Seabound's piloting section. Prince Blueblood was a jerk, yes, and known as one of the most inflexible merchants in the Six Worlds. He was also currently involved in negotiations with representatives from the Griffon Guilds regarding access to what minerals they were digging up from the system's asteroids.
Twilight wasn't at all sure about what the griffons were saying, but Blueblood's infuriated shouts were loud enough for the outer hull to be vibrating, so much so she could hear him through the spot where the hulls were locked together. Most of what she'd heard wouldn't be repeatable in any sort of polite company, and showed remarkable verbal dexterity in Blueblood's cursing. He hadn't repeated himself once.
Her amusement was broken by the door to the compartment hissing open. Twilight raised a hoof and touched the dimmed display, muting the audio feed. "Twi? You in here?" The twang of the distinctive accent gave its owner away easily.
"Come on in, Applejack."
The goldenrod pony trotted in with Twi's usual meal, and the violet unicorn found herself salivating at the mixed scent of a hayburger and tea. "You know, you could come and join us in the galley. Wouldn't hurt nobody."
"This close to an asteroid field?" Twilight countered.
"How many corrections have you made?" Applejack asked, an insistent tone edging into her voice.
"Nine," Twi replied airily, levitating her cup over to the sofa she was sprawled across to take a sip. Applejack set the plate down in its usual spot, then sighed.
"Okay, I give you the asteroid field. And fair warning that Pinkie is planning a 'Twilight's left the control deck' party for when we're finally clear," AJ said, looking at her friend. The violet pony laughed, setting her cup down.
"Yeah, I'm no fan of being cooped up in here either. It shouldn't be a problem at our next stop," Twilight said, and sighed in what sounded like satisfaction. "Because at our next stop, our guest-" she grated the word out with no small irritation- "will be gone. And I can get out of this room without worrying about anything smashing into the hull or that stuck-up...something or other complaining that the pilot has left her post!"
"Something we all look forward to," Applejack replied. "Particularly that complaining. Be good for a girl to get out from time to time." Twilight nodded, digging hungrily into the hayburger her friend had brought her. For a moment, they sat without speaking. It wasn't silent, really, not with Twilight's messily devouring her lunch.
Twilight, for her part, was ruminating on the trickle of data Seabound's organic computer system gave her while she ate; numbers of pilots being trained, trade agreements and the like.
"So," Applejack asked when Twilight was swallowing a random bite, "You're recording most of Blueblood's ranting at the griffons?" That question brought Twilight back to her unpleasant VIP.
"Yes," Twilight said, steadfastly forcing herself to refrain from ranting about said aristocrat.
"Good. Rate this trip's been going, we're gonna need the entertainment."
Twilight nodded. Her friend had raised a point, and she made a mental note to speak to Celestia about getting something to keep them entertained-
The thought stopped abruptly as Seabound nudged Twilight's mind. Twilight, in turn, slid back in tune with the ship, gazing out it's sensors and cameras. For that first instant, nothing was there. Then she saw it, a flux in the fields just beyond reality, the source of the magics many of the Equuian peoples touched, but few actively manipulated.
She recognized that flux, that twist, and yet it was distinctly different. Twilight was vaguely aware of making a shushing motion to Applejack with her hoof. As she watched, the world twisted and with a flicker of light it appeared.
Another jumpship. It didn't take a lot of math to figure out it wasn't Equestrian; they had precisely two and another fifteen months minimum before the third would leave the yard.
Seabound flicked out a query at it; the reply returned; and Twilight blinked in shock as the reply was followed by a comms laser.
"Unidentified jumpship, this is the Trinity Jumpship Tout Mes Dépassés. We request identification and point of origin."
Twilight pulled out of the system and glanced at Applejack. "Uhhhhh..." she replied nervously.
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INTERNAL MEMORANDUM - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE!
Equestrian Stellar Alliance
To: Celestia and Luna
From: Equuis System Control
Clearance: Top Secret (EYES ONLY)
FLASH TRAFFIC - PRIORITY 1 - MESSAGE BEGINS:
JUMPSHIP SEABOUND HAS MADE CONTACT WITH UNIDENTIFIED JUMPSHIP 19:17:50 CANTERLOT STANDARD TIME. SHIP IS LIKELY HUMAN; HAS IDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO "TRINITY" MENTIONED IN DOCUMENT FRAGMENTS; COMMUNICATION OPENED.
MESSAGE ENDS
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