PROLOGUE
EARTH, 2207 CE
James sat down on the rubbery bedding of his pod, his short legs dangling off the edge, coming a few inches short of touching the metal catwalk beneath them. His fingers tugged at the tight collar of the cryo-suit, and the young boy found himself wishing for his old clothes back. But his old clothes were gone; the synthetics had taken them, and had placed them in storage with everybody else’s clothing. Now James was left with the white one-piece suit, which he was told would integrate with the pod systems and keep him alive during transit.
“James!” came a woman’s voice. Turning his head, James found his mother working her way through a crowd of people, all of them wearing matching white cryo-suits. Some were already in the pods, while others remained standing, relishing in their last opportunity to do so.
Finally his mother reached him, and she knelt down to fix one of the zippers on his suit.
“James,” she began. “Are you ready?” James nodded, though he was not entirely sure if that was true. “This is the last time I’ll be able to see you. We’re departing soon. Do you need anything?” James shook his head, but then stopped, and looked down.
“I want dad,” he said. His mother’s face fell, and her expression softened.
“James…” she said. “He wasn’t selected, you know this.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” His mother paused, averting her gaze. She ran a hand through her short brown hair, and opened her mouth.
“Please prepare for cryogenic initialization.” A synthetic approached the pair, a tablet held in its metal fingers, on it the names of every single passenger on the ship. James and his mother turned their heads to face the synthetic, who stopped at the pod.
“Ma’am, please report to your pod,” it said, its emotionless voice easily audible over the voices of the other humans in the massive cryo chamber. James’s mother nodded, then turned to face her son.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” she said, giving a reassuring smile. “It’ll be over before you know it.” She tousled his hair before standing up, then began working her way down the catwalk to her own pod. Alone again, James watched the synthetic as it left to go speak with someone else. His eyes lazily searched around the chamber, passing over the thousands of other humans at their pods. More were beginning to lay down, so James decided to do so as well. He pulled himself further into the pod and lay back on the rubber bed, his head finding the small bump that passed for a pillow. Lights inside the pod came to life, and the glass cover slowly began sliding down. As the pod began its startup sequence, the ship intercom activated, coming straight through speakers in the pod.
“Hello, passengers!” a deep voice said in an unconvincing cheerful tone. “I am Leonard Maxwell, captain of the Legacy. In just a few minutes here, we will be activating the pods, and control of the ship will go into the capable hands of Keeper. And then we will begin our journey, leaving behind the old home and embracing the new. I know there is some discomfort among our passengers, but please, hold no fear. We are the chosen. We are the way forward. We are the future of the human race. You all were selected because you show great potential, potential that should not be wasted on this old world.
“We are about to embark on the most important journey in human history. Do not let a fear of the unknown destroy the potential for which you were chosen. Instead, welcome the unknown with open arms. And with our arms, we will build a civilization worthy of humanity. Let us go forth, and see our brave new world.”
The words of the captain, while inspiring, only made James feel uneasy. He frowned as the lights in the chamber began to go out, casting the cryo bay in darkness.
“Are we ready, Keeper?” the captain asked, still on the intercom.
“Yes, sir,” a synthetic voice replied.
“Very good. You have the conn. Captain Maxwell, out.”
The intercom switched off, and a needle in James’s pod extended outward, injecting itself into his arm. A gas began to enter the pod through vents at the top, and James quickly found himself feeling tired. The last thing James saw before falling asleep was the glass of his pod as it frosted over...
EQUUS, 2ND ERA 254
Hidden Relic pushed through the dense brush, his determined eyes seeing past the green ferns and leaves, knowing that something of great significance lay beyond. The sharp spines of the flora cut into his tan jacket, and he winced as some of the sharper ones cut across his brown coat. A rustling from behind told the stallion that his assistant – a pegasus by the name of Brave Wind - was close by, though the sound of grunting implied a struggle.
“Relic,” the younger pony began, spitting out some thorns. “We’ve been wandering for hours. What are you expecting to find?”
“Patience, my good fellow,” Relic replied, smiling as he continued to push leaves out of his way. “History’s greatest archeological finds were not discovered overnight.” Relic heard his assistant sigh, but the younger pegasus did not press the issue.
The further into the brush they pushed, the quieter the environment became. The sound of animal life had reduced to nonexistent, and now all Relic could hear was his hooves pushing through the brush. He squinted his eyes as he hypothesized two explanations: either a predator was nearby, or something unnatural was. Relic prayed to the princesses that it was the latter.
Finally, after what felt like an age of pushing, Relic and Wind exited the brush, coming out into a clearing that was decidedly unnatural. The clearing was round, with a diameter of four or five meters. It formed a crater, at the center of which was a tall metal object. It gleamed in the sun, and both Relic and Wind raised their hooves to shield their eyes.
“What is it?” Wind asked. Relic did not respond. Instead, he began working his way to the center of the crater, to inspect the object more closely. The base – or what was visible of it – was covered in burn marks, and the rest was speckled with dirt from the forest floor. At the top was some strange writing, below which there was a blue flag depicting a white globe with olive branches on either side. The continents on the globe did not match any maps of Equestria, nor did the construction of the object look like pony craftsmanship.
Relic pulled away, his mind swimming with possibilities. He had no idea what the object was, but the stallion was determined to find out. Collecting himself, Relic turned to Brave Wind, who remained at the top of the shallow crater.
“Help me dig it out,” he ordered. “We are taking it home.”