Another Mare's Sky

by PeppyJoe

3. Response

One week, two days after discovery.
The Council of Nobles was in turmoil.

Following the presumed death of Prince Iridium on Discord's final day, the unicorns had no leader. They had been scattered over unrecognized terrain and intermingled with the other races—it was terrifying. A few enterprising mares and stallions had tried to assert some claim to ultimate authority, but inevitably they quit or were killed. As their people were plagued by monster-attacks and famine, the political strife began to seem less important. Hundreds of years passed in near-anarchy. Finally, the remaining nobility—or those who claimed to be—agreed that a single leader would be inadequate in handling the myriad threats Discord had left in his wake, and chose instead to delegate different functions to different members of the nobility who could convene for a council from time to time.

The situation began to stabilize, and society reorganized itself into an imitation of what it had been long ago. As years turned to decades and centuries, ponykind grew more adept at taming their world and producing what they needed. The rough hoofshake-agreement that had lasted so long grew obsolete, and a document—the Iridium Charter—was drafted to formalize the division of powers. One of the driving motivations for this was the recent number of stallions and mares who had taken position on the Council through wealth and influence, but lacked any knowledge of the governmental functions they were meant to oversee. As such, one of the provisions in the Iridium Charter allowed for the election of councilponies by the lower nobility.

This proved to be a major step in the right direction for New Unicornia. Corruption was still a major presence, and the leadership structure had destabilized on rare occasion, but both diminished over time and more capable ponies were afforded the opportunity to effect positive change. Senseless wars against the pegasi were avoided (though inevitably there were still conflicts periodically), smart ponies were put in the position to utilize their intellect, and the years of famine all but ended. The ability to know, at any given time, which pony was best suited to make a decision on a particular topic had proved extremely valuable.

Despite all their progress, though, everypony had something different to say when the news broke that Pegasopolis had found Discord and was trying to make contact.

"We can't let the pegasi get there first! If they convinced Discord to return and help them, it could be the end for us all!"

"There's no sense in entertaining what is clearly a power-play on their part. They want to force our hoof, to see how we respond. It's beneath us."

"If there's even a possibility that we can find Discord, we have to try. The ancient prophecies tell us he will return and herald an age of plague for the pegasi!"

"This could very well be a ploy to cover for putting more ordinance in orbit!"

"My contacts within New Pegasopolis believe the reports are true, and that they've already begun construction on a ship!"

The cacophony had already lasted half an hour, since the beginning of the Council emergency-session called to address the situation. One major drawback of lacking a single definite leader was the struggle of maintaining order in circumstances such as these. Everypony had been fighting to have their voice heard, either claiming jurisdiction over the decision or trying to convince whomever they thought held jurisdiction that their input was the most valuable.

Violet Wake was one of the few ponies not contributing to the clamor, and was already quite certain what New Unicornia's formal response would be. This was because she had spent the week orchestrating it. Violet Wake was the Foreign Intelligence Chairpony, but her influence reached far beyond the confines of the Pegasopolan Empire. She had been the first to learn of the situation, and and verified the reports almost five days before their nation had gone public with them.

It suited Violet's interests for Unicornia to undertake a new space program, so in the time preceding the emergency meeting, she had met discretely with several councilponies who would also benefit from the undertaking, and advised them of the situation in advance. Now, she merely needed to let everypony talk themselves to exhaustion and then step in, give one final rousing speech, and call for a vote of condicionem mandatum. Her confidantes would ensure that her division was given formal oversight, and she could then begin the endeavor in full.

---

One week, three days after discovery.
It had gone precisely as she had predicted. The dark violet mare walked through the halls of the Technological Advancement and Arcane Research Institute, the most progressive and largest center of knowledge on the planet, on her way to meet with the Applied Sciences Chairpony—Cutting Edge. Violet had already directed an associate to begin drafting a plan to siphon money from other areas, but before that could be finalized she needed a cost estimate. Of course, the reason she came to the Institute herself was to ensure her interests in the project were protected.

"His office is just through there, ma'am." The young unicorn secretary who had guided her thus far gestured down an adjoining hallway before hastily departing.

Violet Wake pushed open the door to the councilpony's office and stepped through, briefly taking in the decor; there was none. To one side of the room was an ornate oak desk that looked completely out of place in an otherwise barren white room, and atop it were stacks of folders and documents which spilled onto the floor and piled up in a nearby corner. A sea-green stallion with wireframe glasses and an unkempt mane, relatively young to be a councilpony, faced one of the blank walls and muttered to himself quietly. His horn glowed softly, and various diagrams and equations shifted around on the wall.

Violet cleared her throat and Cutting Edge turned with a start. "Oh! Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, Miss Wake, right?" He rushed forward, halted abruptly, and then rushed forward again and embraced her in what looked to be some blended attempt at a hoofshake and a hug. He frowned, evidently unsatisfied at the attempt, and pushed her back. "Welcome to my home! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting... No, I... Yes! Welcome! What can I do for you?"

"I'm sure you'll recall from last night's events, I spoke in favor of the Curiosity Initiative?" The mare put on a disarming smile. She hadn't met this pony before, and though her research had suggested he was eccentric, it had not quite communicated the extent.

"Events? Nonono, I was far too busy to deal with events. The- The..." he trailed off, glancing at the wall where his diagrams were still displayed. "The... Yes! The Blink project." He paused, scoffing. "Events."

Blinking, Violet recovered quickly and explained, "Of course. We had an emergency meeting last night when the Pegasopolan Empire declared their intent to visit another solar system and find what they believe to be Discord. Unicornia is going to do it first, and do it better; we need you to make that happen."

Cutting shook his head, frowning. "Another solar system... I would love to work on that, but... I- No, I can't. Iron Hoof said he needed the blink-suit 'ASAP', and we only just started field testing." His frown deepened. "'ASAP'. What a strange construct. It would make much more sense if... No, that wouldn't work."

"Mister Edge, I have full oversight on the Curiosity Initiative and I've been granted blanket authority to requisition whatever personnel and materials are necessary to its completion. As of today, your Institute's primary focus is the determination and development of whatever components will be needed for a craft capable of taking ponies into interstellar space." She paused, raising the folder she had carried into the office and setting it on his desk. "That contains a timeline of... extraneous launches, and the specifications for how much unused volume and mass need to be assumed occupied in each of them. Ideally you can get your own materials into orbit with each launch, but all of those launches will be happening and will be carrying the contents I specify."

The stallion nodded as she spoke, lifting the folder and inspecting it after she passed it over. "Yes, I see... Yes. Though, the 'Curiosity Initiative'?"

Violet Wake's smile turned more genuine as she replied. "Our contacts in the pegasi's astronomy department have helped us identify the star in question, but we had not previously discovered it—given its odd nature, and the fact that their naming conventions differ from our own, I thought fit to assign it something more memorable than 'H. Lambda Three'."

"I'll, uh... Yes..." Cutting Edge continued flipping through the folder, nodding faintly but showing no indication that he had anything more to say.

---

One week, three days after discovery.
First Lieutenant Flank Maneuver walked the length of the supply depot, having just returned from checking with his forward scouts. They had seized the site with relative ease—it was clear that the unicorns had not finished fortifying, nor had they properly stocked it with guards and supplies. In fact, there was a significant lack of the heavy firepower Flank knew the brass had hoped to capture.

The collection of tents and the single Rapid-Assembly Reinforced Enclosure in the center contained standard firearms, ammunition, a few communication gems—not particularly valuable, but Pegasopolan assembly was limited by their number of enchanters—and little else. The Lieutenant had directed his field-engineer to take inventory of the materials, given that his medics and standard personnel were otherwise occupied. Stepping into the RARE, he called out, "Slick, where are you?"

The oily-black pegasus poked his head up from behind a row of crates in the corner. "Right here, sir! You might want to take a look at this." Flank trotted around the crates to see what the engineer had indicated; a smooth, silver safe had been crudely hidden behind the stacks of other supplies and partially buried in an unfinished hole. "Found it just like this; I reckon somepony was tryin' to hide it when the assault began, but didn't have time. Doesn't even look locked."

Flank Maneuver grumbled, leaning forward and pushing his weight against the lid to slide it open. The top slipped open suddenly and the stallion barely caught himself before falling forward. "Here, get your light on this..."

Slick gave a low whistle as he peered at the contents of the box alongside his Lieutenant. Inside, what appeared to be a strange hybrid of a saddle and a harness was carefully stowed in a foam mesh. Insulated wires ran along exposed surfaces, connecting various inlaid gemstones and unrecognizable ports to a sleek casing mounted on top of the garb. Engraved on the casing was a single word; 'Blink'.

Comments

[Xanderfox]

humm Ok so Discord sends a bunch of ponies to Eris on a whim then gets defeated by Celestia and Luna, stuck on a world with less magic the Erisites(Erisens?) develop more technology and with out Alicorns to unite under remained "tribalist" as 3 nations struggling over limited resources. Makes me think if they get to Equestria they will find a world where technology is much more primitive and TRY to start annexing parts of it only to receive massive magical smack down when it turns out Equestria has magic thousands of times more advanced and powerful than their own. Also the very concept of Alicorns, Ponies that are earth pony, pegasus and unicorn in one will shake the foundations of their way of life.

[Semi-AutomagicCupcake]

I already want the pegasi to lose.