//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Legacy 
// by SpartanD014 
//------------------------------//

EPILOGUE


FOUR YEARS LATER


It had been three months since the pod’s beacon began to flash, and the signal was bounced back. Something in space was receiving, and it was responding. Captain Leonard Maxwell recognized the response; it was crude, but he had deciphered the message into a single word: CRADLE. The name of one of the other ships. 

This morning, the beacon had stopped transmitting. The system had shut down, and now the computer displayed a new message, this one far clearer: ARRIVAL. Celestia had summoned Twilight and her friends, and they had journeyed to Canterlot as quickly as possible. And now, the young princess found herself standing on one of the castle’s largest and highest balconies. At the end was a set of stairs that led over the edge of the balcony. It was meant for chariots to land, but now it would hopefully be used for a ship.

Captain Maxwell stood in the center of the greeting party, which consisted of Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, and her friends. The wind rushing over the balcony, blowing the manes of the ponies and the uniform of the human. He was once again wearing the gray Legacy jacket, though it lacked any captain badges. The human appeared nervous; every few seconds he would run a hand through his thin hair, or flatten out the wrinkles in his jacket.

“Are we sure another ship arrived?” Starlight Glimmer whispered, leaning closer to Twilight. “It’s awfully quiet…” 

“Let’s be patient,” Twilight replied, looking up toward the sky. Even though she was hopeful, her student did have a point. The second message had arrived hours ago, and still no ship had made itself visible. 

And then they heard it. A loud rumbling, like that of an earthquake. Twilight squinted, and soon she saw the cause of the noise. The clouds split, and a massive ship descended beneath them. Its metal plates reflected the sun, and its blue engines glowed like stars. Twilight could not see clearly due to the brightness, but she could tell one thing: the ship was identical to Legacy. 

The ship stopped descending after a few moments, and came to a hover. Twilight was barely able to see a small door opening on the side, and a moment later a smaller ship launched, headed straight for Canterlot. It arrived in seconds, moving at speeds that would make even Rainbow Dash jealous. And as it came to a hover next to the stairs, Twilight finally got a good view of the ship.

It was rectangular, and roughly five meters long. On the sides were two sets of engine pods that rumbled quietly as they kept the craft hovering. The glass of the cockpit was mostly polarized, but Twilight thought she could see movement from inside. Twilight’s attention was drawn away from the cockpit as she heard a hiss, and saw a puff of steam escape the ship as a seam formed in the side. A door popped out, and lowered itself into a ramp. And inside, Twilight got her first view of more living humans. 

There were three, and they were joined by two machines, a sight which made Twilight uneasy. Two of the humans wore body armor, and each carried a firearm similar to the one Maxwell owned. They were aimed downward, however, and the humans holding them wore blank expressions. The human in the center was clearly the one in charge. He wore a gray suit with gold epaulettes on the shoulders, and he wore a matching cap on his head. On the front of the hat was a golden symbol, featuring a planet with olive branches on either side. He stepped out of the ship, and was joined by the two armored humans. Captain Maxwell approached the new human, trying to contain his smile.

“Captain Maxwell, I assume,” the new human greeted. “I am Daniel Bennett, Captain of the Cradle.” He saluted, and Maxwell mirrored his actions. When they dropped the salutes, Captain Bennett began to look around, examining the castle and the ponies.

“You’ve got quite the story to tell,” he said, smiling.

“Please, come inside, Captain,” Celestia said, stepping forward. She motioned to the door with her hoof, and smiled politely. “We will gladly explain everything.” Bennett nodded, and began walking for the door. His guards joined him, while the machines stayed with the ship. They disappeared inside the castle, followed closely by Celestia, Luna, and Maxwell. 

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said. Everypony nodded, finding the pegasus’s assessment of the situation to be accurate. Twilight grinned, and took a few steps forward.

“Let’s go,” she said. “Something tells me we are not going to want to miss it.” The ponies walked inside, closing the door behind them. The small transport remained by the balcony, hovering silently next to the stairs. In the city below, ponies looked up at Cradle, wondering why yet another giant alien spaceship had entered their atmosphere. 

Inside the castle, ponies could only guess what was happening. News would spread like wildfire that more aliens had arrived, and that they were talking with the princesses. And soon, the princesses would release a statement outlining a new declaration of friendship between the ponies and the humans. This declaration would eventually be copied and resigned by all species on Equus, and the future of the planet would change forever.

And the ponies would never forget the cost of this friendship. The several dozen researchers who, four years ago, had embarked on that ambitious expedition that would go entirely wrong. The twenty-odd guards who were lost on Legacy and never found. And the thousands of lives that had been taken during Machina’s rampage through the west of Equestria, toward Canterlot. 

But Machina was gone. The ponies had eliminated their threat, and the humans now lived safely among the stars, free from the threats of their old world. Both species knew peace and harmony; for the ponies, the two had been tenets of their society for millennia. For the humans, peace and harmony had been won in a hard-fought victory, and they were not keen on losing them anytime soon. Theirs would be a friendship founded on peace, and as long as each species upheld it, peace would last. 

The future was bright, and filled with opportunity. The ponies with their magic, and the humans with their technology, would build a better future for everyone. A future free from fear, from sadness, and from pain. A future where the legacy of each and every person was secure…