PROGRESS
Princess Celestia,
I am happy to report that considerable progress has been made in our expedition, in exploration of both the ship and the computers. It took several days, but the translator has been completed, and we are beginning to learn about the computers in the “control room” where we have set up base. The additional security you provided has helped to allay some of the fears held by ponies on the team, though we remain somewhat anxious. Another damaged room was located, this one far worse than the first. A hole in the floor provided access to another deck of the ship, which we are beginning to explore, albeit tentatively.
Despite our progress, many unsolved mysteries remain. We have yet to find the ship’s origin, or even its name. We hope that the information contained within the computers will reveal these answers to us, once we gain a greater understanding of how to navigate them. I will keep you updated on any and all progress we make.
With hope,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Twilight’s horn began to glow as she signed off on the letter, and a moment later the furled piece of parchment was captured in a lavender aura. It disappeared with a pop, beginning its short journey to Princess Celestia, who was busy hosting foreign delegates in Canterlot. With her task complete, Twilight cantered over to a control panel at the end of the room, around which were Onyx Star and a few members of his staff. They were cycling through the various screens, which now displayed their text in Equish, rather than the unnamed alien language.
“How are things over here?” she asked, looking between the researchers.
“Quite good, Twilight,” Onyx reported, turning his gaze away from the screen and to the princess. “I’ve split my staff among the computers, with each group working on exploring a particular function. This group is looking for a map of some kind.”
“So far, we’re not having much luck,” a researcher said. “These computers, they are… so beyond the one we have. Each one of these can have thousands of functions. And we have no idea if there’s a way to search…” The researcher continued lazily pressing a button on the control panel, switching between the various displays.
“It’s… slow going,” Onyx said. “Like trying to find a needle in a haystack.” Twilight nodded, understanding.
“Well, keep me updated,” she said, stepping away. Her attention turned to Starlight Glimmer, who was sitting by a smaller computer, staring intently at the screen. Twilight trotted over, the sounds of her hoofsteps drawing the attention of Starlight, who greeted the princess with a smile.
“Find anything particularly interesting?” Twilight asked, seating herself next to her student.
“I might have found something…” Starlight replied, looking back at the screen. “I found some sort of… log screen. At least, I think that’s what it is. I notice every time somepony does something on another computer, a log of the event shows up on here. Most of it is pretty boring, but I keep finding one word… A word that repeats in almost every line.” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“What is it?” Starlight smiled, and pointed to a word on the screen.
“Legacy. I think that’s the name of the ship.” Twilight leaned in, examining the screen and noticing the many appearances of the word.
“I wonder what the significance is,” she said. Ship names were not often chosen randomly. Hopefully, if their expedition was successful, that information would be revealed.
“Princess!” a voice called out from across the room. Twilight turned to the source of the summon, finding Onyx waving her over. The image on the screen where he stood had been replaced with two views of the ship, one from the side and one from the top. Smiling, Twilight and Starlight crossed to the stallion, who regarded the image with a worried stare.
“Some success, Onyx?” Twilight asked.
“See for yourself,” he replied, his troubled stare persisting. Twilight moved her gaze to the screen, and finally saw what had the doctor so worried. The image was not a map, as she had suspected, but some sort of diagnostic screen, similar to the one Twilight had seen a few days prior. Several sections were highlighted in red, and Twilight could finally read the text flashing along the outside.
“Critical damage detected…” Starlight read. “Reactor output at ten percent… What happened here?”
“Are we at any risk?” Twilight asked, beginning to grow worried.
“I don’t think so,” Onyx answered, shaking his head. “It looks like the damage is mostly electrical, and is restricted to these few sections. The majority of the ship seems intact. The only thing I’d worry about is the reactor output.”
“Exactly how much is ten percent?” Starlight wondered. “We have no idea what the optimal output is. Ten percent could still be more than enough to keep this ship floating and the computers running.”
“That’s true, but we need to start being more careful,” Twilight said. “Onyx, have one of your staff search for a power monitoring function. Every time somepony turns something on or off, I want it logged. We need to find out exactly how much power we’re using, and if it’s safe. Understood?”
“Of course, it will be done.” Onyx trotted off to another corner of the room, where he began to consult another researcher. Twilight returned her gaze to the diagnostic screen, memorizing every detail she could.
“Starlight,” she began. “Learn everything you can about this. And see if you can find out the exact reactor output, so we have something to go off of.”
“On it.” Starlight returned to her own computer, while Twilight’s eyes continued to trace the details of the diagnostic screen. She wished there was more detail, something that could explain the cause of all the damage.
Her attention was torn away as she heard the control room door sliding open, and several sets of hooves stepping inside. Twilight turned to the door, and found her friends entering the room with their escort of guards. Smiling, she trotted over, eager to hear their report.
“Make any new discoveries?” she asked, though she already suspected the answer.
“Not a darn thing,” Applejack answered, shaking her head. “Same as the last few days. Just a bunch a’ empty rooms, or rooms we’ve seen before.”
“It’s a big ship,” Twilight said. “I’m sure we’ll stumble across something significant soon enough. Remember, history’s greatest finds were not discovered overnight. We just need to keep looking.”
“Well, we’d still be looking, but somepony was getting hungry,” Rarity said, shooting Rainbow Dash an annoyed glare. As if on cue, the pegasus’s stomach growled, begging to be fed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dash said, rolling her eyes. “Would you prefer me to keep complaining?” Rarity made to answer, but her voice was drowned out as Rainbow began digging through a box of food, finding something to tide her over.
“When you go back out, I think I’ll join you,” Twilight decided. “The researchers here all have their tasks, and I’m not expecting results very quickly. Besides, I’ve hardly seen any of the rest of the ship.”
“Not a whole lot to see,” Applejack said. “But who knows? Maybe we’ll find somethin’.” Rainbow Dash returned to the group, bringing with her several small protein bars.
“Is this all we brought?” she asked, frowning. “Eh, whatever. Let’s go.” Twilight motioned for her friends to take the lead, and a moment later she followed them out of the room and into the corridor beyond. And, for the first time, she took her steps deeper into the ship…
Princess Celestia’s wings sagged tiredly, the feathered tips dragging along the marble floor as she plodded through the castle corridors to her office. Her head hung low, the events of the day weighing down on her, and making every step a great effort. She stifled a yawn as she came upon her office door, and tiredly pushed it open with a burst of magic. Celestia entered the room, and turned on her lamp as she took a seat in her chair.
“Did the meeting go well?” Luna asked, stepping into the center of the office from one of the darkened corners. Celestia jolted in her chair, and looked with surprise at her sister.
“How long have you been here?”
“Oh, an hour or so,” the princess of the night replied. “I thought you would notice me. Tired?” Celestia nodded, stifling yet another yawn.
“Very,” she said. “The meeting lasted two hours longer than it was supposed to. Everyone is requesting something. The griffons and yaks want to know about the ship’s weapons, the zebra about its medical facilities, and the camels want to know if any aliens are aboard. And all of them want to send their own scientists.”
“And what did you say?” Luna stepped up to the desk, and sat down across from her sister.
“That we’re still securing the area, and we can discuss expanding the expedition team at a later date. That, as you can imagine, went over very well.”
“They probably think we’re hoarding the technology of the ship,” Luna said. “Understandable. We never did tell them about Noontide, or anything that came of it…”
“True, but they need to be patient. This ship is still a great unknown, and honestly… I get a bad feeling from it. There’s something about it that just…” Celestia shook her head, not knowing the words to describe the feeling.
“So I’m not the only one…” Luna looked away, focusing her attention on a map on the wall. “I agree. Something feels off. But we have to continue the expedition; the possible benefits to society are too large to be pushed away by a feeling.”
“Indeed…” Celestia forced herself to stand, and circled around to the other side of her desk. “Twilight is being careful, at least. She is doing a very good job with leading the expedition. I suppose that’s not surprising, given her skills with organization and scholarly sensibilities. But I still worry…” Luna turned her gaze to Celestia, thinking.
“Mm… I shall visit the ship tomorrow,” she decided. “I find myself curious as well, and should something go wrong, I can lend assistance. Even with Twilight and Starlight there, my magic abilities still far outstrip those of anypony else on the team.”
“So, you’re going to leave me all alone to deal with these dignitaries?” Celestia asked, smirking.
“You’re the diplomat here, sister,” Luna responded, grinning as well. “I’m organizing all of the information Twilight sends our way and coordinating the defense teams, which I can easily continue to do from the ship.”
“Very well,” Celestia said, nodding. “I suppose if I become desperate for help I can call Cadance down…”
“Well it’s not like I’m going that far, ‘Tia.” Luna stood, and crossed to the office’s heavy wooden door. She pulled it open, and took a step outside. “If you need anything, just contact me.” Celestia smiled and nodded, before once again taking her seat at her desk. Luna closed the door behind her, and for a few moments the only sound was that of her hooves on the marble floors outside. Then, there was silence.
Celestia looked down at her desk, finding a neatly-rolled scroll sitting in the center. She picked it up, undid the ribbon keeping it secure, and began to read as it rolled open. As the princess had expected, it was yet another report from Twilight. She smiled at the progress her student was making, and all of the progress the expedition was seeing. But at the back of her mind, the same anxiety lingered. So much could go wrong, so many unknowns remained…
She put the letter into one of her desk drawers, stacking it on top of several others. From another drawer, Celestia withdrew a piece of parchment and a quill. She dipped the tip of the quill into an inkwell, and began to draft a plan to implement the research teams of other governments. It would take time to perfect, but she could at least get a head start before meeting with the delegates again tomorrow. If anything, it would calm them down and prevent accusations of greed.
When the initial draft was complete, Celestia pushed it to the corner of her desk and stood, stretching out her wings. Another yawn threatened to escape her lips, and this time the princess made no effort to stifle it. Her eyes turned to a clock on the wall; it was mid-afternoon, still within a reasonable time to have coffee. With a goal now set, Celestia trotted from her office, heading for the castle kitchens…
In the hour that she had been exploring the ship, Twilight had made one major discovery: metal floors are painful to walk on after a prolonged period of time. She had made this discovery, and no others. Her friends had been correct; in their explorations over the past few days, Twilight had missed very little. What few rooms they could access were rather ordinary, the only exception being the damaged one. And even then, there were no clues pointing to the cause of the damage.
Still, Twilight could not deny her awe. This massive construct, filled with thousands of rooms and thousands of mysteries, had travelled to Equestria for some reason. And it was her responsibility to find out that reason. The challenge simultaneously excited and terrified her.
“So, how’ve things been in the control room?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly only interested in filling the silence.
“They’ve been going well,” Twilight answered. “With the translator complete, we can read everything that has a direct translation. There’s a few new words we’ve stumbled upon, but we’re trying to use context clues to define them.”
“Has there been any progress in determining where the ship is from?” Rarity inquired, trotting up next to her friend.
“None. We’re only scratching the surface with these computers, there are so many things they can do. It will be some time before we can easily navigate them.” Rarity nodded, satisfied with the answer, and the party once again fell into silence. The only sounds were those of hooves on metal, and a quill on parchment. The guard at the rear of the group had been continuously drawing a map, which now stretched onto several dozen pages.
The corridors seemed to stretch on forever, consistently using the same design. The bland gray metal was all that Twilight could see, lit by pale blue lights in sconces on the wall. The metal was completely untouched; no dust coated its surface, and there were no signs of wear. It was like nobody had been through here in centuries. Without knowledge of the ship’s origin, that was entirely possible.
With every turn they made, and every bulkhead they passed, Twilight’s hope that they would find something new lessened. Each time she was tempted to return to the control room, but each time she thought, A little longer. But after another half-hour had passed, her hope had dwindled to almost being non-existent. She would have stopped right then and there, had the corridor not reached a sudden end.
The group now found themselves standing before a door, much larger than the one to the control room. At its side was a small computer terminal, the screen offline. There were no labels indicating what might lie beyond, and no alternate routes; the last hallway junction had been a long way back.
“Orders, Princess?” a guard asked, stepping up next to the alicorn. Twilight paused, looking at the door and weighing her options; either they turn around and find another corridor, or they attempt to proceed. And with a door this large, Twilight’s decision was not difficult.
“Stand back, get into positions,” she commanded. “I will get the door.” The group did as they were told, pushing themselves to the sides of the corridor and trying to find cover behind support beams. Twilight stepped up to the computer and pressed a button on the side. The screen lit up, casting its bright blue glow onto Twilight’s face, and the pony began navigating the display, looking for a way to open the door. It did not take her long, and Twilight soon found her hoof hovering over the “open” button.
“We’re ready, highness,” the same guard reported, preparing to enter. Twilight nodded, and her hoof came into contact with the screen. The button pulsed, and there were three loud booms as locks within the door disengaged. With a groaning of metal, the massive door slid open, revealing nothing but blackness beyond. Twilight squinted, trying to see through the shadows, to no avail. One of the guards lit his horn, ready to fire a sphere of light into the room.
Before he could, the darkness was cut by massive floodlights activating, casting the room in a harsh white glow. Twilight took a step inside, looking around in awe. The room extended up fifty meters, and stretched on for at least a hundred. Running through the center were long tables with several computers set into them, while rows upon rows of lockers dominated the sides. The lockers were of varying sizes; some were the size of Twilight’s hoof, others looked like they could easily fit several ponies.
Twilight took a few more tentative steps inside, the rest of the exploration group following behind her. A pair of guards stopped by the door, while the rest entered the room, all of them looking around in wonder. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack went to investigate the lockers, while Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy approached the computers, all of which were offline.
“What is this place?” Fluttershy asked, her quiet voice clearly audible in the stillness of the room. Smaller lights on the tables themselves came online as the ponies approached, and the screens lit up, though they did not display anything. Twilight sat down in front of one, and tapped a screen with her hoof. Instantly a password prompt appeared, and a small keyboard lit up beneath the screen. The princess pulled her hoof away, and stood up.
“There’s no telling, right now,” she said. “But I think it goes without saying that we’ve found something significant.” Curiously, Twilight approached her friends at the lockers. Applejack was pulling on one with all her might, but despite her effort, the metal door refused to give way. The farmer took a step back, breathing heavily.
“Locked tight,” she reported, shaking her head. “Whatever’s inside, it’s gotta be important.”
“We’ve found other storage rooms, but none of them looked like this,” Rarity observed, craning her neck to see the tops of the lockers. There had to be well over a thousand, all of them varying sizes, their contents a mystery.
“I’ll have some researchers investigate, see if they can get past the password on the computer,” Twilight decided. “But for now, I don’t want to risk damaging anything. This is the most unique room we’ve found so far, and I want to learn more about it before we start touching things.”
“So we’re gonna head back?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering a few feet above the floor. The pegasus was frowning, clearly not enjoying the prospect of returning to the cramped corridors. Twilight nodded, and trotted to the pair of soldiers guarding the entrance. She instructed them to remain at the door, then set off down the corridor, the rest of the group behind her.
The walk back to the control room was made in silence. Twilight’s thoughts raced as she considered possible functions of the room. The lockers, the computers… it could be any sort of storage area. Whatever purpose the room served, Twilight hoped it could help shed some light on the origins of the ship, and its purpose.
//:WARNING: Unauthorized access detected in archival suite, deck 54, section 2
//:Attempting security camera access…
… Successful. Downloading archived footage.
ANALYSIS: Confirmation of equines in archival suite
//:Attempting to bring additional security systems online…
… Attempt failed. Access blocked. System failure detected.
//:OVERRIDE DETECTED. UNAUTHORIZED ARCHIVAL SERVER DOWNLOAD INIATED.
…
//:Record deleted.
ALERT: Foreign presence detected in AI core. Erecting—
//:System shutting down.