//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Great Transition 
// by Bronyfordays 
//------------------------------//

I stepped out of the train and onto the platform, Canterlot was just as silent as Ponyville. It was creepy, as if life was just taken away from the city. 

"Twilight?" I heard Spike from behind me. He looked fairly worried.

I smiled very unconvincingly, "I'm fine Spike." I saw the three ships in the sky above Canterlot, they were really big. It makes me think of how far we've come with technology. Spike noticed me staring at the ships.

"Can't believe we're going to another planet," he said, "By the way, where is the planet we're going to? How long will it take us to get there?"

"It's a planet not too far from here, should only take us a year to get there at the speed we'll be going," I said as we walked towards the castle. 

"A year?!" Spike exclaimed, "But that's a long time in a space ship!"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm well aware of that, but that's as fast as the ships will get there without encountering problems."

"Problems?" Spike asked nervously.

"Don't worry, if we don't go too fast, we'll be alright." Finally we reached the castle, the guards bowed to me as I approached.

"How will all of them get on to the ships?" Spike struck a thinking pose for a second, "Scratch that, how did anypony get on the ships?"

"That's easy," I replied, "We have little transport ships that transfer us from the ground to the big ships. Look, here's one now!" I pointed to a transport ship stopping next to an open balcony on the side of the castle.

"That's little?" Spike asked sarcastically.

Ignoring him I continued, "Since there's not enough room for them to land on the ground, the ponies use that balcony to climb aboard the ship."

As we entered the royal chambers inside the castle, we noticed that not only were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the room, but so were Queen Chrysalis, Princess Cadance, and for some reason Discord. Though Discord seemed like, really depressed for some reason. As we walked in they noticed us and welcomed us over.

"What's everyone doing?" I asked, I noticed a map of the galaxy on the floor.

"Just some final calculations," Princess Luna said, "We need to make sure nothing has changed position in space the past week."

"Okay," I nodded, now that I looked more closely, I could definately tell it was brand new. Then I looked at Discord, "What's up with Discord? You'd think he be with Fluttershy."

Suddenly, Discord burst into tears, which shock me greatly. Discord never showed himself like this before, especially not in front of any of us. "Is he okay?" I asked, genuinely worried about him, despite him being the bad guy twice, he's been good for almost 20 years. So I did kinda consider him a friend, maybe not a best friend but, you know.

Cadance looked at Discord, "He's been like this for 2 days straight."

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"I think you can figure it out," she said.

At first I recoiled at her statement, but looking at her face, it didn't show any anger. So I thought, what happened two days ago? There was Fluttershy's wedding with Green Leaf, but what did that have to do with-

"Oh..." I said, Fluttershy was Discord's best friend, so it was safe to assume he had feelings for her. Since Fluttershy got married, it must've left Discord heartbroken. Then again, it was just a hypothesis, though the way Cadance was looking at me suggested she knew what I was thinking. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Already tried," Cadance said, "he's stubborn as a mule."

"I can hear you, you know," Discord said, his head face down on a floating table. "I can assure you I'm fine physically and mentally." 

I raised an eyebrow, "You sure don't look it."

Discord glared at me, tears still going down my face, "I'm fine."

I probably should've ended it there, but I kept pressing him further, "Love doesn't work like that." 

"What do you know about love? You're 40 and haven't even had a crush!" he retorted.

I was stunned by his reaction, "Well...I..."

"Discord!" Celestia glared at him, "She's just trying to help."

Discord snorted, "Whatever, I'm not even in love in the first place. I don't have time for such petty emotions."

Everyone rolled their eyes at that. Though Chrysalis giggled, which turned into a laugh.

"What's funny?" Discord glared at Chrysalis.

"Oh nothing," she said. "It's just your antics crack me up. In my opinion, I would've left you as a statue." 

"Is that so?" Discord said angrily. 

"Yes, all you do is play silly games and hide your emotions in your head as if they were sealed shut. Except for now of course." Chrysalis smirked.

"At least I didn't beg to Celestia like a dog!" 

"Well, you're as dumb as a rock."

"Oh yeah? Well you're stupid."

The two were about to get up and start whacking each other when Celestia stood up, "ENOUGH!" She roared.

The two former villains stopped in their tracks, staring at Celestia. So did Luna, myself, Cadance and Spike.

"I will not have you fighting over petty things like this! We have far more important things to worry about! So sit down so we can finish this meeting!"

Immediately, Discord and Chrysalis sat down, though they were still glaring at each other. "I've never seen her like that before..." Spike whispered in my ear.

"Sister," Celestia put her smile back on, "please continue."

Luna cleared her throat, "Well, as far as we can tell, nothing seems to be out of order in the galaxy."

"What about the other kingdoms?" Celestia asked.

"They seemed to have completed their preparations too," Luna said.

"Wait," I asked. "Other kingdoms?"

"Did you not tell her, Sister?" Luna leaned over to her Celestia.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"Well," Celestia started, "we've been spying on the other kingdoms."

"What?! But that's just, immoral!" I said, this was ridiculous.

"I just wanted to see how they were holding up," Celestia said. "As it turns out, they have also have been working on leaving the planet."

"Really?" I said, this was news.

"Yes, they have built their own ships, and I made sure they were going to different planets. So we wouldn't all end up at the same place."

"Okay, that makes sense."

"Indeed, is that all Luna?" Celestia turned back to her sister.

"We believe it to be so. The final transport shall be arriving shortly."

"In that case," Celestia stood up, "let's go."

The seven of us traveled up to the balcony that the transport ship would be arriving at.

As we reached the top, we noticed how stunning Equestria was at sunset from this particular balcony. "I'm really going to miss this place..." Spike said sadly. 

I sighed as I took in the sight, "Me too Spike. Me too." 

Celestia walked up to me and put her hoof on my shoulder, "It's alright Twilight, we still have the memories. We also have a bright future ahead of us."

I started tearing up, "It just won't be the same."

"I know, but you still have your friends."

I looked up, Celestia was looking at me with a hint of sadness. But there was hope in there as well. I looked around, Spike was trying hard to cover up his tears. Cadance and Luna were looking at the sunset in thought, even Discord and Chrysalis looked sad. "You're right! We've got each other, and our future!" I saw everyone look at me, smile, and nod. I heard the sounds of the ship heading towards us. We all looked back at the sinking sun, the last time we'd see this sight.

"On to greater heights," I said confidently.

We boarded the ship as it parked and I sat next Celestia. The interior was a light grey color, with the passenger section wide enough to fit at least 30 ponies in it. The cockpit was closed off by a metal door in the front of the cabin. 

"I almost forgot to tell you, Twilight," I turned towards Celestia.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We're bringing the Elements of Harmony with us."

"What? Aren't they connected to Equus?"

"Yes, but they're also connected to you and your friends," Celestia pointed her hoof at me. "Besides, Equus is dying, so therefore we should take them."

I looked at her, her logic wasn't really credible. I had a feeling she was hiding something. But I didn't press any further this time, the doors to the outside closed and the ship jostled a little as it made its way to the the third main ship, the Collosus. The whole flight was depressing and silent, there weren't even any windows to look out of. 

Finally, the ship came to a halt, and I heard a whole bunch of noises as it docked in the Collosus. A blinding red light came on and the doors reopened, instead of green fields and blue skies, we were greeted with a small white room with more doors on the opposite end. We entered as well as the pilots and the doors behind us closed. After a second, the metal doors in front of us opened and we emerged into a long hallway with various openings on each side. 

"Luna and I are to head to the bridge and oversee the launch," Celestia said. "The rest of you can head to your rooms if you'd like, please don't enter the employees only areas."

"Where are my friends?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I made a private suite for you and your fellow elements. Just follow the signs," Celestia pointed a hoof towards the signs littering the hallways. 

"Oh, thank you!" I said, "You didn't have too."

"Nonsense," she said, "now go, find your friends."

With a goodbye to my group, Spike and I headed down the halls, looking for our private suite. "This ship really is something, huh Twilight?" Spike said, noting how long and big the hallways were. "There must be dozens of hallways and hundreds of rooms!"

"Indeed Spike, let's see," I walked up to a green sign with black lettering. "The private suites must be this way." 

We walked down another hallway and eventually reached a large blue door that said Private Suites in bold letters. I hesitated as I put my hoof on the handle, it'd been a full year since I've actually seen all my friends together. Breathing in, I pressed on the handle and the door opened to a very beautiful room. 

The floor was covered in a bright blue carpet, and the furniture was a vibrant red color. The magenta wall was covered in various paintings and such. There was even a decent sized window overlooking Equus, and there, sitting on the various furniture strewn across the floor, were my friends and they're families.

There was Applejack, she was an orange earth pony with a brown stetin hat on her yellow mane. Her brother, Big Mac, was a big red stallion with an orange mane. There was his mare friend, Finesse, a graceful yellow earh pony with a blue mane. And the youngest in the Apple family, Apple Bloom, who had a light yellow cream body, and had a pink bow tie on her red mane.

Next was fashionable Rarity, Applejack's mare, she was a white unicorn with a stylish purple mane. Her sister Sweetie Belle, was also a white unicorn with a purple and pink mane. Next was Fluttershy, a timid yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Of course there was her stallion, Green Leaf, a green unicorn with a red mane.

Of course, there was the ever hyper Pinkie Pie, a pink mare with a dark pink puffy mane. Then you had her favorite changeling, Prickle. Finally, there was the local wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash, a fast blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. Then there was her stallion, Flaming Stike, a red pegasus with a yellow mane. 

As soon as I closed the door, everypony turned towards me and smiled. The first out of their seat was of course, Pinkie Pie. "Ohmygoshit'sbeen solongImissedyousomuch!" she said faster than lightning as she hugged me.

"Pinkie! It's only been a week, I saw you at the speech!" I said, squirming in her tight hug. 

Applejack was next and tore Pinkie off of me so I could breath. She gave me an infinitely lighter hug, "We know that, Twi', but it's been a long week."

I sighed, "It has been, hasn't it?" 

Applejack looked me in the eyes, "Don't get yerself down over it."

By this time, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity have trotted over. "I know," I said, "I just can't believe this is happening."

At that point, everypony just group hugged me, except for Rainbow, who was standing still, probably debating if she should join or not.

"You know," Rarity piped up, "I heard that hugging makes you 20% more awesome nowadays."

I could tell Rainbow wasn't buying it, but in the end she joined in anyway. After the hug we all sat down, me feeling a lot better. 

"Hello," we heard a voice on the intercom, "this is your captain speaking, we will be launching in 30 minutes." 

"30 minutes, huh?" Rainbow said, "Geez, I'm already bored out of my mind. I don't think I'll last a year."

We laughed at that, and for a while we talked about things, catching up and stuff. It must've been at least 30 minutes later because the captain spoke up again. 

"Alright everypony, we are ready to launch, we will be going at a steady 1 light year per hour, but don't worry, you won't feel a thing. Launching in T-5 minutes, we are moving at a steady 10 miles per hour at the moment."

"Oh! We should totally take a picture before we launch!" Pinkie exclaimed. She looked at Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and myself and we all nodded in agreement. "Yes! Big Mac! Can you take a picture of us in front of the window?" 

Big Mac gave an 'eeyup' and we moved into position in front of the window overlooking Equus. We all put on our smiles and Big Mac snapped the photo. 

"Yay!" Pinkie said excitedly, "Thanks girls!"

"No problem Pinkie, anytime!" I said happily.

"T-1 minute before launch! We are sailing at 100 miles per hour now," the captain's voice came on again. 

I turned around, looking at Equus one more time, my friends and their families followed suit. "Here we go," I said. 

Applejack put her hoof on me, "We'll get through this."

"Honest?" I asked, stifling my tears.

I couldn't tell, but I was sure she smiled behind me, "You're asking me if I'm being honest?" I giggled, she was the Element of Honesty. 

"Just remember darling," Rarity said, "we're in this together!"

"You're right!" I said.

The captain's voice came back on, "Launching in 10...9..."

I stared at Equus, this was it.

"8...7..."

A new future.

"6...5..."

A new life.

"4...3..."

"Hang on..." I said. "What's that sound?"

"2...1..."

There was an ear piercing sound in my head, and by the looks of it, in everyone else's too. 

"0...Launch!"

There was a slight push and the ringing stopped. For a second everything felt good, but as I breathed a sigh of relief, everything went wrong. The ship started rumbling and the alarms went off. The room was red with blaring alarms. Quickly, I ran out the door, I could hear my friends galloping after me.

As I galloped to the bridge, I could see workers and citizens running about trying to get to safe places. Eventually, I made it to the bridge, there was the princesses, as well as Chrysalis and Discord. 

"What's going on?!" I yelled over the alarms.

The captain, an old brown earth pony with a grey mane, turned towards me. "I've got no idea, Princess, but we're trying to take control of the situation!" I could see various workers at terminals pressing all sorts of big buttons. One worker was electrocuted as a terminal malfunctioned.

"You call this taking control of the situation?!" Celestia roared, "You assured me this craft was in mint condition! Now my little ponies are in danger!" 

"It's not the ship," we turned to Discord, who was floating in air, still as a rock. 

"What do you mean?!" Luna yelled.

Discord stared out the cockpit, it looked as if we were in a massive whirlpool in space, "This is a wormhole."

"What's that?" I asked, scared to know the answer. I noticed that my friends had joined me. Though now that I thought about it, the term sounded familiar.

"Basically, it warps space and time and can instantly direct you to another part of the universe."

"What?!" we all said.

"That means it could take us anywhere?" Celestia asked, I could tell she was very worried.

"Sadly, yes, and we have no way of knowing where it'll take us," Discord said.

"Can we stop it?" Cadence suggested.

"No, there is no way," Discord frowned. "We'll just have to hope."

"But-" I was cut off as the ship lurched forward, knocking us all to the ground.

I looked up to see a planet, a decently sized one. But the problem was, we were flying straight into it! "Captain! We gave to stop the ship!" 

The captain looked up and his eyes widened, "There's no way! But we might be able to slow it down!" 

As if on cue, the workers immediately went back to work, pressing buttons and pulling levers. But ttheships were still coming in way too hot! At this rate we would all die, and the planet was getting very close! We couldn't even see the entire thing!

Suddenly, I had an idea, "Princesses! If we work together, maybe we can put together a barrier spell on the ships! So they won't break on impact!"

"Twilight, that could kill us if we tried using that much energy!" Cadance said. 

"It's worth the risk," I said, not backing down.

Everyone nodded, we had to try. Celestia's and Luna's horns started glowing, then Cadance's. Now it was my turn, taking in a deep breath, I concentrated all my magic and willpower on creating a barrier spell on the three ships. My eyes were glued shut so I couldn't see what was going on, but I heard shrieks and yelling as we got ever closer to the surface.

I could feel my horn sparking as my magic depleted, but I kept going. The screams were getting quieter for some reason, but that didn't matter, what did was saving everypony. Everything felt like it was getting more and more distant until, I couldn't feel anything anymore. The last thing I heard was the sound of a large crash.