//------------------------------// // 13 - Meanwhile // Story: Harmony Among The Stars // by tom117z //------------------------------// Admiral Mythic Wing’s Personal Log, September 26th, 3382 AD This has got to have been the worst day in my whole damned career. It’s been over two months since Princess Twilight went missing along with the ES Harmony on its maiden voyage. And we have found no sign of it in that time. It’s been a disaster. The media have been basically knocking down my door, and the populace of Equestria is restless. Confusion has quickly given way to anger and fear, and I fear that the giving them the details may have only made things worse. They want answers to why their Princess is missing, but I cannot give them any. And now… things may soon get out of hoof. The Princesses that remain and doing what they can, but with what I am forced to do now their jobs may get a little harder. It’s been over two months with no contact, and no signs of the Harmony at all. She will continue to be officially MIA, but we must come to the worst possible conclusion by this point, and I am about to give that conclusion before a press conference in just fifteen minutes. The ES Harmony was lost with all hooves aboard. Including Princess Twilight Sparkle. May Faust watch over us all… Mythic Wing finished his log, leaning back in his chair and letting out a long sigh. Still, he couldn’t remain there long. The conference would already be packed and it was almost time to face the music. He didn’t want to declare the ship lost, he didn’t want to believe it either. He was in charge of all fleet operations, and a Princess had disappeared on his watch. The fact that this could happen at all was inconceivable. But protocol was clear. The ship had vanished with no contact of any kind for over two months. Without any proof of what actually happened the ship was to be declared lost, but remain MIA in the official documents. That was something he would have to make clear, but he doubted it would help much. The intercom beeped, and Mythic Wing was forced to remove himself from his chair and answer it. “Admiral,” a voice came over the intercom. “We are approaching Starbase Alpha and preparing to dock. Your escort is waiting to take you to the conference on arrival.” “Understood,” the Admiral responded. “I’ll be up on the bridge to oversee the docking procedures. “Yes sir,” the voice confirmed. “We await your arrival.” The intercom switched off, and the Pegasus sighed. He was currently aboard the ES Defender, he had taken command of the ship for a mission to the colony on Mares, though he had spent most of the time on the colony itself while the ship had been docked at Starbase Beta, the second of the two Starbases in their home system. The room he was in was… snug, and was usually a small storage compartment that he had temporarily had refitted into an office. It was nowhere near as grand or functional as his office back at the Starbase, but it was good enough for his short time on the ship. Still, that time was over, and he had places to be. He exited his office, and it was only a short trip from there to the bridge. On his way there he passed one of the nine other ponies aboard, who saluted as the Admiral passed by. The other nine aboard was the ship’s normal crew, even as the commanding officer due to his rank he felt more like a guest than anything. The doors to the bridge opened up, and he saw all ponies at their stations. The tactical and communications consoles were being operated along with the helm and two other stations, the Captain was in her seat observing the station of the viewscreen. “Admiral,” the Captain greeted. “We are on approach now.” “Very good,” Admiral Mythic Wing stated with a nod. “Clear with control with priority alpha clearance, and then bring us in. “Aye sir,” the Captain acknowledged, nodding to her communications officers to put control on the viewscreen. As the screen switched from the station to the control room of said station, the Captain spoke. “Starbase Alpha, this is the ES Defender. We have Admiral Mythic Wing here for the conference, requesting priority clearance to the docking bay.” “Roger that, ES Defender,” control responded. “Rerouting ES Clover, you have priority clearance.” “Thank you control,” the Captain said, watching as the two massive hangar doors of the Starbase opened up as if to swallow them whole. “We are entering the hanger now.” Mythic Wing somewhat tuned out the further communication between control and the Captain, his eyes being drawn to the dock where the ship would come to a halt. “Time to face the music,” he muttered. Canterlot Castle, two days later Princess Celestia stared down at the ancient, but lovingly preserved photograph in her hooves. It showed Celestia with her sister and niece standing alongside a brightly smiling, and very young alicorn on the day of her coronation. Twilight looked up from the paper up at Celestia, her young eyes so bright and optimistic. Eyes she feared she would never truly look upon again. Mythic Wing had declared the Harmony lost, but the Solar Princess refused to believe for a second that was the case. She couldn’t. “Sister?” Luna called out after knocking on the door. “I’m here,” she called back. She was standing in the old observatory where Twilight had lived as Celestia’s student. She needed some time to think, and this was the first place that came to mind. The doorway opened up and the alicorn of the night strolled on in. “I had a feeling I might find you here,” she stated. “It is peaceful. And of great sentimental value to you.” “Am I that predictable?” Celestia gave her sister a small smile. “To me you are,” she responded, giving her elder sister a light nuzzle. “I can read you like a book.” Celestia didn’t respond, instead glancing down at the photograph again, before placing it down onto a nearby table. Luna adopted a look of sisterly concern. “Tia, are you well?” “I’m fine,” she lied, and sought to quickly change the subject. “Why were you seeking me out?” Luna sighed. “There is another demonstration by Equus First ongoing. Their numbers have grown again.” Celestia gave an audible groan she didn’t bother hiding behind her regal mask, she was alone with her sister after all. “Again? Where this time?” “Restaurant Row,” Luna responded. “They seem to be targeting all big cultural sites in Canterlot on a weekly basis. And at this rate they will spread their movement to other locations. I know Ponyville was particularly upset about Twilight’s disappearance, that city is her place of residence after all.” “I know,” Celestia sighed. “And after today’s announcement things will get worse.” “Agreed.” Celestia moved over to a table with a steaming kettle sitting on top of it, she and her sister sitting on the cushions around it as she poured them both some tea. “I had hoped our ponies would not jump to conclusions,” Celestia continued. “We do not know what happened to Twilight, let alone that aliens destroyed her ship.” “And yet there are demonstrations reminiscent of the anti-thestral groups that sprung up in the years before my… incident,” Luna noted solemnly. “The last thing we need is the next generation of starship crews being xenophobic, especially with the next Harmony Class Starship already in production, with two more on the drawing board. Not to mention the next wave of Celestials getting refitted to have FTL drives themselves.” “It will not come to that,” Celestia assured her sister. “We will make sure of it. I assume you already sent guards to break up the demonstration?” “I did,” she confirmed. “Though it might be a few hours before things calm down again. But then we inevitably have the next one to deal with next week. And then the week after.” Celestia turned her head away from her sister, looking out the window. “Twilight wouldn’t want this if she were here now, perhaps we should remind them of that.” “It is true that their actions go against her memory,” Luna stated, catching her sister tense up at the word ‘memory’. “It should quell some, but not all.” “If only we could find the ship, ascertain their status. Then we could put this to rest.” “There is little we can do to search until the next ship launches. I imagine that the ES Shining Armor will be escorted by some Celestials next time, so it’s not alone as the ES Harmony was,” Luna noted. “How suitable it is that the ship to carry out the search is named after her brother. Maybe after its launch and a thorough search has been conducted, we can locate the ship’s debris.” “She’s not dead!” Celestia shouted as she slammed her hoof onto the table, leaving behind a long and slightly burnt crack running down it. “Sister…” Luna sighed. “Present me with a body, then I’ll be forced to believe it,” Celestia said in a half-whisper. “Until that day, I refuse to even consider the possibility, understood?” “Crystal,” Luna said, deciding now was not the best time to pursue it further, it being best to let Celestia cool off first. Literally, her mane had briefly caught fire. “Anyway, what happened with that stallion?” Luna asked. “Stupidly Rich, was it? I heard his request at your court yesterday caused a bit of an uproar.” Celestia took a moment before answering to calm herself, taking a sip of her tea to help that process along. After she was finished, she went to answer. “That… lovely stallion did indeed cause a bit of a ruckus. The ‘stupid’ in his name was certainly descriptive of his personality.” “Why…? What did he ask for?” “With The Harmony being declared lost, he decided that Twilight didn’t need her castle anymore.” And thus, Luna had inadvertently brought the subject back to Twilight. Knowing this, the Lunar Princess only just managed to stop herself from facehoofing. “Didn’t need her castle?” Luna dared to ask. “What did he mean by that?” “He meant that he wanted to purchase it and turn it into some tourist trap,” Celestia growled. Luna raised an eyebrow. “What, like a museum?” “Does a museum have gambling?” Celestia deadpanned. “He wanted to turn it into some sort of casino?” Luna sounded a little unimpressed with the idea. “How in our mother’s name did he believe he was going to get away with that?” “He claimed it would be the ‘best way to honour Princess Twilight by turning the castle into something productive’, or something along those lines.” “Productive?" Luna scoffed. "I imagine you said no?” “I didn’t need to,” Celestia smirked. “He was booed out by the others in the court that day. He is now one of the most unpopular stallions in Equestria.” “Barely a day after the ship is declared lost and he tries to profit on it,” Luna stated in disgust. “I’m not surprised he is unpopular. It’s still a royal castle of the Equestrian royal family, even if Twilight isn’t, well… currently here to live in it, that is simply no excuse.” “As he has now learnt,” Celestia said. "I intend for her to have a home to come back to..." Celestia met Luna's gaze with a fiery expression. "Because she will come back." Deep Space, ES Harmony Silver Wrench was just finishing up his shift in engineering, his team getting ready to make way for the night crew. “Injector assemblies are stable,” one engineer reported. “Crystals are also stable, the matter and antimatter flow is good and the arcane energies still at capacity.” “Alright,” Silver Wrench said as he examined his own console. “I think we are good. I don’t know about you ensign, but I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep.” “You mean with Geneser?” the ensign smirked. “Sir,” he added on the end for good measure. Silver Wrench gave him a deadpan look. “Does everypony on this ship know about us?” “Almost,” the ensign responded. “I think just about the only one who doesn't is that alien we picked up, Xal. We don’t see that guy around much.” “Yeah, well…” Silver shrugged. “He’s been too busy assimilating pretty much the entirety of the computer core. I’ve never seen a pony read so much.” “Well, he isn’t a pony,” the other engineer pointed out. “Point taken!” Silver grinned. “At least the Princess has had somepony to talk to… Anyway, it’s time we departed. Hoof things over to the night crew and then go get some rest.” “Aye sir,” the ensign acknowledged before departing. As they departed their consoles, they didn’t notice the power levels fluctuate in the core. However, by the time the night crew had taken over, it had seemingly returned to normal.