Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Personal, February 18th, 3383 AD.
We are so close.
It’s a new year, and by our estimates our journey is barely a month to its end. I suppose we’ll all have to get used to natural gravity again, I look forward to it.
I wonder what we have missed in the meantime, the good and the bad. I can only imagine how our disappearance affected everypony, but do we have a story to tell them all on our return. No one imagined things would go as they did, ranging from the gaecha to the criminal J’Poc. I think we’re all due a little rest, the crew would appreciate shore leave I’m sure.
But I must wonder, what next? We do have an alien member of the crew now, and Xal is ever curious about Equestria and the rest of our little planet. It’s been theorised that all magic directly comes from Equus, infesting other words as it spread out. That asteroid I destroyed was only one example.
I wonder… The Tree of Harmony, is that the source? It would make sense for it to be the foundation, the beginning of all that we are. One little crystal sapling, all leading to a universe of opportunities. Even this ship is a product of its work.
This ship, she held up well. I must admit to feeling a sense of pride as a designer of the vessel. Even if she’s a little roughed up. I intend to see her get priority one clearance in the dock, and I have a few ideas for upgrades. Xal has elected to help with that, the phasers being at the top of that list. We may very well run into more gaecha in the future after all.
Time will tell, the final frontier has only just begun.
The ES Harmony
The ES Harmony was at FTL through familiar space, the placement of the stars becoming increasingly familiar. Having been initially thrown into the fringes of sharin space by Twilight’s overcharge of the core, it was good to be back in familiar territory. If they had their drive at full, it would have taken a few days to reach their destination from where they were. Had they had their full core, it would have taken potentially weeks instead of the overall six months needed to reach home. But here they were, very nearly back to the same distance from Equus from when the whole incident began. Excitement was most certainly tangible among the crew, many looking forward to seeing then green landscapes and vast oceans of their homeworld.
But they weren’t there yet, no matter how close they were. Thus, the crew remained hard at work keeping the ship afloat for that final leg before the finish line. The previous battle had caused some more scarring, but none even remotely comparable to the initial encounter with the gaecha. All that damage was easily repaired with a bit of time and ingenuity. But within the ship at that present time some were simply going about some morning routines.
The bridge crew, along with Princess Twilight Sparkle, had the mess hall all to themselves. They sat around a sizable table with gathered seats, each of them had either tea or coffee held in hoof. It was the early morning after all, they needed a little pick-me-up.
“So, how’s our ship this morning?” Twilight asked the group.
“Purring like a kitten,” Silver Wrench stated in assurance. “The core was stable last I checked, the antimatter flow running at maximum efficiency. Helps that we’re not being shot at anymore.”
“You had to bring that up, didn’t you?” Iynx deadpanned.
“I was retrofitting the engine for a week!” Silver Wrench stressed. “There was a feedback loop from our shields into the core, if I wasn’t such a miracle worker we could have had a breach in progress.”
“Blame our pilot, he should of dodged incoming fire better,” Iynx teased.
“I blame the one giving the orders, Captain,” Nimble snarked back.
“What caused the feedback anyway?” Twilight asked. “You never said.”
“A small design flaw in the shield matrix, impacts with the shield caused a strain on the energy flow from the core. But it’s fixed now, so don’t worry about it,” Silver Wrench explained. “We’d better give the update to the fleet back home too.”
“There will be a lot of design updates, I assure you,” Xal said. “I’ve already calculated that sharin designs incorporated with your own could increase phaser output by fifty six point eight nine percent.”
“You’re not touching any part of my ship without my help, just so you know,” Silver Wrench remarked.
Xal nodded. “That is acceptable.”
“It’s worrying though, while our peoples may prove the perfect blendship,” Geneser added in. “Aside from you, we have made no new friendships.”
“You’re forgetting the Sha’Du, Doctor,” Twilight reminded the zebra. “They seemed fond of us by the end.”
“But in regards to space faring worlds…” Nimble Star stated in agreement with Geneser.
“It is a bit dismaying,” Silver Wrench also agreed. “We had such high hopes, too.”
“I still do,” Iynx stated. “We’ve barely begun.”
“The Commander is right,” Twilight stated with a smile, recalling something she said to Princess Celestia what seemed like so long ago. “If I have learnt anything about the magic of friendship, it is that it is universal. I will not deny space is dangerous. But the possibilities… the sheer amount of stars and planets... We only need look hard enough. New friendships will be forged, I promise you."
Twilight then glanced towards Geneser and Silver Wrench, a coy smile tugging at her lips.
“And some… other forms of friendship added into the mix,” the Princess concluded.
Geneser smiled, shifting closer to Silver Wrench. “I suppose this trip wasn’t a complete waste, and it was just a taste.”
“Always with the rhymes huh, honey?” Silver Wrench quipped, placing a hoof around his girlfriend.
“You would have liked Zecora,” Twilight jokingly added in. “But enough of that. We are very nearly home, let’s not falter now.”
Starbase Alpha, March 16th 3383 AD
“Sir, we’ve got a vessel on approach to the system!” one of the ponies manning the command centre reported to Admiral Mythic Wing.
“A vessel? Identify!”
“We can’t sir,” the pony stated with concern. “Either the ship’s computer is damaged and can’t respond correctly to the IFF, or it’s simply not a ship encountered before.”
“Do we have any vessel out that way?”
Another pony brought up a list of deployments on their display, before responding in the negative. “No sir, all ships are currently within the system.”
“Have all Celestial Class ships converge on where the ship will exit FTL!” Mythic Wing reported. “I want to be prepared for anything. What’s the status of the ES Shining Armor?”
“Undergoing final system testing before the launch next week,” one of the crew reported back.
“And the crew?”
“There’s a skeleton crew on board now, the future bridge crew are all currently aboard this very starbase.”
“Good. We’re accelerating the launch.”
“Sir?”
“You have your orders, go!” Mythic Wing barked out. “And inform the princesses, and the other governments of Equus, that we have a possible extraterrestrial contact.”
And it didn’t take long with things to roll into motion. The moment Admiral Mythic Wing had pronounced his command the entirety of the Equus Space Program lit up with activity, all ships being released from dock and other moving from their previous assignments towards where the unknown contact was due to emerge.
And among them was the new jewel of the adolescent fleet, the ES Shining Armor. The brand new Harmony Class starship ceased all testing and had the skeleton crew attend to all essential stations as the bridge crew boarded and took their places on the bridge. The lights flickered on, lighting up the proud nameplate on the ship’s upper hull. The two large and majestic came to life as the bussard collectors lit a magnificent blue, the thaumatic engines teeming with power for the first time as the ship released all docking clamps within the juggernaut of a starbase. The hangar doors were already opened up due to the departing Celestial Class ships, and the Shining Armor soon departed as well.
With the projected course of the incoming ship placing it terrifyingly close to Starbase Alpha, all ships with the ES Shining Armor at the head swiftly moved into formation with shields already raised. Weapons were not powered, but they were on alert nevertheless. After the apparent destruction of the ES Harmony, they were not taking any chances.
All this was done within the hour, and so were the Princesses of Equestria joining the Admiral in the command centre of Starbase Alpha.
“Where’s your daughter?” Luna asked Cadance as they walked into the vast room.
“In Equestria, one of us need to keep the population from panicking,” Cadance explained. “What exactly is happening, anyway?”
“A ship, that’s all I know,” Celestia responded, briskly approaching the Admiral. “Perhaps you can explain, Admiral Mythic Wing?”
“Of course, your highness,” Mythic Wing replied with a low bow. “Sensors picked up a vessel quickly approaching the system, it isn’t responding to the IFF and all vessels are accounted for. We don’t think it’s one of ours.”
“Then who is it, Admiral?” Luna enquired impatiently.
“We’ll soon find out,” the Admiral responded with a tinge of nervousness. “But if they’re hostile we have the fleet at the ready.”
“You’re not putting on a display of aggression, are you?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. “We don’t want to be the ones starting any wars, Admiral.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, weapons are to be powered down until aggression is confirmed,” the Admiral explained. “But shields are up, we don’t want any nasty surprises.”
“Seems like a prudent course of action,” Princess Luna agreed. “I approve.”
“It’s only one ship?” Cadance asked.
“As far as we can tell,” Mythic Wing confirmed. “But we’ll see. They’ll arrive any moment now.”
Celestia nodded, and stood centred to the giant viewscreen. She examined it thoroughly, it showing a direct feed from the viewscreen of the ES Shining Armor at the head of the fleet. Her fellow alicorns stood by her side.
“I wonder how the other governments are dealing with the news,” Cadance wondered aloud.
“It matters not, we are here and ready to face what comes through,” Luna stated. “Let us hope whatever it is has peaceful intent nevertheless.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed.
"Princess, the ship is exiting FTL!"
All eyes turned to the viewscreen, a flash heralding a starship’s sudden deceleration back into sublight speeds.
Celestia’s eyes widened as jaws around the whole of the ESP simultaneously dropped.
The ship was of the Harmony class of starship, though extremely battle scarred and with one of the nacelles obviously receiving no power. Of course, there was only one other ship of that class in existence. It was one many never thought they would see again.
“Princess Celestia,” Admiral Mythic Wing began in awe, a beeping from a nearby console being very audible. “The ES Harmony is hailing us…”
Celestia blinked. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She looked towards her sister, expecting this to be an elaborate dream she would wake up from any second. Luna seemed to see what her sister was thinking when she shook her head, this was no dream but simple reality. The ES Harmony was home.
“What happened to it?” Cadance asked, also in sheer disbelief. “It’s so badly damaged…”
“A mystery for later,” Celestia announced. “Answer them for goodness sake!”
If they were in awe, it paled in comparison to those on the Harmony’s bridge.
They couldn’t stop staring at the fleet on the viewscreen, not from the moment they exited FTL. No one had said a word, the planet beyond the station staring back at them. It stared at them, and it said ‘welcome home’.
“Is that another Harmony class ship?” Nimble finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Really, that’s all you have to say…?” Iynx deadpanned.
“It’s a valid observation!” Nimble Star defended. “But just… damn, I never thought I’d see any of it again.”
“Ye of o’ little faith,” Twilight jokingly scolded, moving from behind the captain’s chair to in front of it. “Have they answered our hails?”
“Not yet, they probably all fainted.”
“It must be quite the shock,” Xal remarked. “But I must admit, it is quite honouring to lay eyes on your homeworld.”
“Well get used to it, you’re going to be seeing a whole lot more,” Princess Twilight remarked, just a moment later a beeping sound indicated that their hails were being answered.
“It’s about time,” Iynx said with a sigh of relief.
Twilight scoffed, and then smiled. “On screen.”
The viewscreen switched views, displaying the interior of the starbase. On top of that, for the first time in since June of the previous year, she met the eyes of Princess Celestia.
“Hey Celestia!” Twilight said almost casually, though the choke in her voice made it extremely obvious she was holding back some tears. “We’re home.”
Celestia couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Twilight? How…?”
“It’s a very long story,” Twilight stated. “We’re transferring our logs now, I’m sure the scientists will be thrilled with what we’ve seen. Other worlds, aliens. We, er, have one on our crew now by the way.”
“You have an alien among your crew?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow, but her smile told the whole story.
“My name’s Xal, your highness,” Xal spoke up, making his presence known.
“Sorry to interrupt, but where is Captain Star Gazer?” Admiral Mythic Wing asked.
Twilight’s smile fell away. “I’m afraid he’s dead. We lost a lot of good people in the past months. We were attacked, and we got lost. But we never gave up, and made a friend or two along the way.”
“Of course she did…” Luna muttered.
“Well I don’t see why we’re still waiting any longer!” Cadance remarked suddenly. “I for one have a lot of questions, Twily.”
Twilight smiled again. “I’m sure you do. The ES Harmony is requesting permission to dock, Admiral Mythic Wing.”
With relief washing over him, the Admiral was all too happy to provide that permission. “Granted. Welcome home, Harmony.”
Twilight’s Castle, Ponyville
“All that really happened?” Celestia asked, sipping her tea.
All the alicorn, including Flurry Heart, were sat in the main sitting room in Twilight’s castle. The Princess of Friendship had told them everything that occurred, sparing no detail. She had started from their encounter of the debris field, and the subsequent attack from the gaecha that killed Captain Star Gazer and very nearly destroyed the ship. She told them about how they met Xal, and how he used parts of the starship known as the Serenity to fix their damaged engines. She told them of how they escaped the gaecha again using the Serenity and a nebula to evade them, and how it led them to ultimately stop J’Poc and his tyrannical reign of terror. All it culminated with the gaecha’s destruction, after which their journey home soon came to an end.
History had been made, and they all knew it.
“To the letter,” Twilight confirmed. “The gaecha, J’Poc… It’s all true.”
“Our subjects are going to love this…” Luna remarked. “It confirms that an alien attack was behind your disappearance.”
“But we lived,” Twilight pointed out. “And we may not have made it home without Xal. He did fix our warp drive.”
“Warp drive?” Celestia asked.
“Apparently it’s the galactic name for the engine,” Twilight explained. “Our sublight engines are a completely different configuration, but the ‘FTL Drive’ is almost identical in components to the sharin warp drive, just with a bit of magic to stability. So, I think we should rename it.”
“We’ll add it to the to-do list,” Luna deadpanned. “I know how much you love those.”
Twilight chuckled, but then her mood fell. “I’m sorry for any worry I must have cause you. I can’t imagine what it must have been like.”
“None of us gave up hope,” Flurry Heart assured, perhaps covering for Luna just a little bit. “We knew you would find your way back eventually, Aunt Twilight.”
“You did scare us though,” Cadance admitted. “So long with no answers.”
Twilight looked forlorn. “I know, I’m so sorry…”
Celestia got up from her seat, gently approached the lavender mare and draped a wing around her. She also nuzzled the top of her head affectionately, remembering briefly the little filly she used to be so very long ago.
“You’re home now, that’s all that matters,” Celestia stated, happiness flooding her voice. “Though, there is still the question of what happens to the ES Harmony and her crew.”
“They have proven their capabilities,” Twilight stated. “Even if I’m not there with them anymore, Iynx is going to make a fine captain. I firmly believe they will all continue to serve aboard the Harmony once they’ve had a little well deserved shore leave! But…”
“But?”
“Yes… Speaking of the crew, we should talk about Xal.”
“Ah, your ‘sharin’ friend…”
“Yes, now that we made it home I think I know what the Harmony’s first assignment should be,” Twilight stated. “Xal is ready to reveal the coordinates of his home system, and is proposing we go there and make ‘official’ first contact.”
“I see, it seems like a wonderful occasion. I’m sure our diplomats will welcome the opportunity to be part of such a historical occasion. I take it you will be going too?”
Twilight shook her head. “No. At least, not yet. The crew doesn’t need me to be there all the time, and I’m sure Xal can put in a good word. Once the initial set up is done, I’m sure their leadership will want to meet us anyway.”
“Most likely. It’s been a very long time since I’ve conducted diplomacy with a new civilisation. Not since the earliest days of Equestria, before the world was fully mapped out,” Celestia noted, a bright motherly smile on her face as she looked at the younger alicorn. “I’m proud of you, Twilight. Thanks to your efforts, friendship may be yet achieved among the stars.”