A Galactic Goodwill Tour

by Richforce

Chapter 2

Earth year: 1176

“Ok girls here is the basis of the problem,” said Princess Celestia. Both she and the six rainbow bearers had come to a small mining site at the base of the Unicorn Range. “A number of unicorns had agreed to help a pack of Diamond Dogs locate a gem cache in the area. In the process they found a structure underground and came to a disagreement over ownership. The diamond dogs claim that since they dug it up it belongs to them, but the unicorns claim that since the ruins are on Equestrian land we have the right to study them.”

“So why call us?” asked Rarity. “Seems to me like this is a job for the courts.”

“That was only just the beginning. Griffins heard about the find and claim that the ruin is the tomb of Galahad, a legendary griffin king and it was theirs as their cultural heritage. Minotaur came soon after that wanting the ruin to stay buried believing that it is the prison of a demon sealed away by Minotaur heroes in the distant past. Then Dragons started coming one by one claiming personal ownership saying that it’s a treasure hoard and should go to the strongest among them.”

“I think I understand,” said Twilight. “Whatever is in there it can’t possibly be worth all of us fighting over it.”

“As the princess of friendship it is your duty to end this situation between the creatures involved without anyone getting hurt.”

“Well I reckon one of the things to do about that is to go ahead and open the thing,” said Applejack. “We can figure out how to share it once we know what it is.”

“I do hope this help all our peoples get along better in the long term,” said Fluttershy. “I always wished the other races could become friends with us and each other.”

“Oh, I can’t wait!” said Pinkie Pie. “It’s like a birthday present; you just got to know what’s inside and we’re just the ponies to give the whole world this present!”

“And we also have our rainbow power,” said Rainbow Dash. “Just in case the Minotaur are right.”

The seven ponies came over a hill noticed a crowd of almost every kind of intelligent creature they knew. As they pushed through the crowd Twilight noticed a familiar looking Pegasus fly to their position.

“Princess Celestia I have urgent news to report,” said Daring Do.

“I had feeling your curiosity would bring you here miss Yearling.”

“Shhhhh…”

“In any event what is this urgent news?”

Daring took a deep breath. “One of the unicorns secretly used a spell to determine just how old this thing is. If the spell worked properly then this building is fifty thousand years old, give or take a thousand.”

Twilight gasped. “But that means it’s older than all of recorded history! Even dragon history doesn’t go back nearly that far!”

“Exactly, that building was standing when our ancestors roamed the plains in herds. Whatever is in there could rewrite history as we know it.”

“And it’s causing big problems in the present,” said Rainbow Dash. “We better open it and fast.”

“You better make an announcement first,” said another Pegasus, this one orange and with a guard uniform.

“Flash Sentry,” said Princess Celestia. “What brings you here?”

“Princess Candence has asked me to relay a message to you. She learned of this find and has reason to believe that there may be Changelings hiding among the creatures here, maybe even Queen Chrysalis herself.”

“In that case I will have the guard be extra careful. Though I believe Princess Twilight and her friends should be more than capable of handling any of Chrysalis’ mischief and I will be ready as well.”

As they moved in front of the crowd Celestia began speaking to the assembled creatures.

“I know all of you have desires, questions and even fears concerning the building in front of us but there is a greater opportunity for us all here today than whatever contents this ruin could ever hold. What we have here today is the beginning of understanding, not of some treasure or curse but of each other. For the first time in my long memory all races of this world have a common interest and a common challenge, the mysteries contained within this vessel long buried in the earth.

“The Ponies will open the structure and we will determine from there how to move forward. If a treasure or lost knowledge is found we can determine together what to do with it. If a monster or other danger then with power of the Rainbow that the Princess of Friendship possesses we will defeat it together. Either way while we might have come here separately I hope we all may leave as friends. So together let us open the door to our future.”

At that word number of unicorns began used their magic to open the door to the side. Twilight was tense with anticipation, both at the potential danger but also at the knowledge that lay waiting. Once the door was opened everything was still for a good long time. Then the silence was broken.

“Clear!” said a unicorn guard after he looked in with a light spell.

“Ok girls,” said Twilight. “Let’s see what we got.”

With Twilight and Rarity using light spells of their own the six entered the ancient building. Within there were long tables with strange objects on them and larger objects were set against the walls in places.

“Doesn’t the floor feel a little bit strange to the rest of you?” asked Fluttershy. “Like metal but not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“Definitely not a palace, tomb or a treasure vault,” said Rarity. “The form is elegant but I can’t quite tell the function.”

“It seems a little familiar,” said Twilight. “Not in an ‘I’ve been here’ sort of way, more like I should know what this is.”

“Maybe we just can’t figure it out,” Pinkie Pie said. “Like my Pinkie Sense…”

“That’s it!” said Twilight. “I had a room like this in my old library, this is a laboratory!”

“A lab for who?!” said Rainbow Dash. “As old as this thing is when it doing its thing the ancestors of all the species out there were just mindless beasts.”

“Yeah,” said Applejack. “The Apples of those days would’ve been grass munchers who only had an apple if it just happened to fall off the tree.”

“That’s a good question,” said Twilight. “We could spend years going over this thing and never find the answer.”

Pinkie Pie approached one of the wall objects. “Hey what does this button do?” she said as she pressed a green square protruding from the object.

“Pinkie wait!” said Rarity.

The device then admitted a green light over Pinkie Pie which then then held her in the air.

“No Pinkie!” yelled Twilight as she readied a spell.

But only a few seconds after Pinkie was caught in the beam it suddenly stopped letting Pinkie fall to the ground.

“Pinkie are you ok?!” asked Fluttershy.

“It felt tingly,” was Pinkie’s response.

“Scan complete,” the device said projecting a heavily distorted hologram. “Audio output adjusted according to recorded dialogue and brain scan analysis. Subject identified as descendent of species Nine-Alpha, intelligence estimate within acceptable levels. Beginning data copy to disk, ready to receive query.”

“By ‘audio output adjusted’ does that mean it speaks egghead?” said Rainbow Dash.

“It’s saying that we can ask it questions,” said Twilight. She turned to the machine. “Who are you and what is this place?”

“I am Virtue, the virtual intelligence installed to oversee the systems of Geno Lab Twelve, the facility you are currently located at. My primary function has been overwritten to provide information to those that find this facility particularly if their genome corresponds to any class one species on file.”

“I guess we’re first class critters huh?” said Applejack.

“What is the purpose of this laboratory?” asked Twilight.

“This facility’s primary function is the analysis of genetic material of species engineered for Project Rebirth or imported from Site Alpha.”

“What is Project Rebirth and what do mean by engineered or imported species?”

“Project Rebirth’s primary objective was the creation of designer lifeforms for the purposes of (file not found, data corruption). A primitive world was selected for Site Alpha and a number of native species were selected for genome extraction for genetic engineering. This site, Site Beta, was selected as a secondary observation world but was changed to the primary site due to (file not found, data corruption).”

“When you are saying Site Alpha do you mean another planet?”

“Affirmative.”

“Aliens left this thing?” said Pinkie. “This is so amazing!”

“What species were imported or engineered?”

“When Site Beta was initially selected it was a garden world naturally capable of supporting life but had no amino acids or proteins necessary for life to evolve. All native life forms of this world are descended from off world species or those created using the genetic material of imported species.”

“Wait is this thing saying that every creature in our world is here because of some alien’s experiment?!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Affirmative.”

“But this could cause every creature to panic, I can hardly believe it myself,” said Rarity. “We have to find a way to break the news gently.”

“Then we need answers to questions they’ll have,” said Twilight. “I get the feeling there is even more here.” Twilight turned back to Virtue. “Where is Alpha Site located?”

“(File not found, data corruption).”

“What do mean ‘data corruption’?”

“My last recommended maintenance period is overdue by 49,102 years, 7 months and 12 days. I have been able to keep my memory banks intact by running on low power and utilizing the planet’s latent unique energy field for power needs but still without maintenance some information has been lost. However a cascade failure is in progress, estimated time until permanent systems shutdown 14 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes and 32 seconds.”

“Wait, you mean you’re dying?!” yelled Fluttershy.

“Technically I am not alive. While I appear have a personality it a simulation based on the head of this laboratory. Entire servers would have to be replaced to reestablish network stability, but even then my hardware has been in service for millennia beyond my expected service period. I only wish to fulfill my programming before my functions are terminated.”

“We’ll try to do that,” said Twilight. “What do we have to do?”

“I am to impart all information I can to prepare the sapient species for the final stage of the project, the first step of which is travel to a designated star system. To that end I am copying all non-corrupted files to a modified storage disk that you can access with what you call magic. This will take approximately 45 minutes. In the meantime I will still provide you with any answers I can provide.”

“Ok Virtue, who created Project Rebirth and what happened to them?”

“Project Rebirth was authorized under the authority of (file not found, data corruption). Site Beta was evacuated of personnel due to (file not found, data corruption). The project leaders wished to relay knowledge and instructions to the descendants of those created by the project. If this was their original intention or a necessity due to their evacuation, I cannot say.”

“Why is leaving Equus so important, we’re still free to choice whether or not to follow this path?”

“As sapient lifeforms you may choose not to act on this information. However those who worked on this project believed this path is the optimal one, not just for your survival but for the overall good of the galaxy.”

“That’s a pretty big destiny,” Pinkie said.

“Indeed, perhaps that is this world was selected.”

“What do you mean?”

“A newly discovered form of energy, at least during the time of the project, and currently found nowhere else in the galaxy surrounds the planet. It is that field reacting with your own physical abilities that makes ‘magic’ possible on this world.”

“The Source, the origins of magic,” said Twilight. “What every great unicorn mage had searched for since the beginning of recorded history! It does exsist! Where does this field come from?”

“(File not found, data corruption), in addition even if the data was not corrupted that information was among other files that can only be accessed when particular criteria of your development has been reached. I suspect that it would have unlocked once you reach a particular part of the final phase of the project.”

“Ok, but it’s a vast distance between stars,” said Twilight. “How are we ever going cross it?”

“Among the knowledge you are about to receive is technology that will allow you to affect the mass of an object. However it requires an exotic material that cannot be found on this planet in sufficient quantities, however a cache of this material was left on an asteroid sharing the orbit of this planet. If you wish to follow the purpose of this project, then retrieving this cache should be your first goal.”

“An undertaking this monumental could be what Celestia had hoped for. The species of Equus would have to work together for it to succeed.”

“Transfer complete, please remove the data disk,” A small disk ejected from the device. “Administrator privileges transferred, requesting permission to initiate permanent systems shutdown.”

“Is there really no way to save you?” asked Fluttershy as she teared up.

“I have been in an ongoing cascade failure for quite some time now, the only way to save my data is to transfer it. I could only transfer so much but with my purpose now fulfilled I am glad in spite of my pending failure.”

“Then, I’m happy too,” Fluttershy said as smiled while still crying.

“You deserve this rest,” said Twilight. “Permission granted.”

“Command received, program terminated.” The hologram disappeared as the machine made a winding down sound before going silent.
As the six friends emerged from the defunct lab a number of creatures were crowding and yelling for answers.

“My friends,” Twilight began. “I do believe we are now more than ever. What we found within this building was meant for us all to share. It was left behind to give knowledge but also a challenge, a challenge that while it may seem overwhelming can be done if we all put aside our differences and work together. I am sure that as friends we can reach for the stars, and when I say that I’m not being metaphorical.”

Author's Note:

Bonus Codex Entries

Equinite: A catch all term for the multiple sapient races originating on the planet Equus. Results of DNA analysis hinted that this unusual situation came about due to genetic engineering, hints that were proven accurate due to a combination of the presence of life later found to be native to Earth and existence of said races in the mythologies of Earth.

The government of Equus is known as the Equinite Harmonium which was given associate membership in 1295. Despite having a number of races equinites have only one embassy on the Citadel. Due to the match ups in timelines and all gathered evidence the prevailing theory is that the equinites were designer lifeforms created by the protheans and left behind when the protheans vanished 50,000 years ago.

Today equinites have established themselves on a number of worlds in the galaxy and have become the perhaps the staunchest supporters of humanity, due to the common ancestry they have with earth lifeforms. This has resulted in a number of “burnt bridges” with other races, most notably with their once batarian allies who now refer to them as humanity’s “pet verren”.

Equestrians: The most populous of the equinite races Equestrians resemble a smaller analogue of Earth Horses. Made of numerous subspecies the most common are “Earth Pony”, “Pegasus” and “Unicorn”. Though they have an average lifespan of around one hundred and fifty years the rare “Alicorn” subspecies has a lifespan twenty times that amount tying with Dragons for longest lived known sapient species.

Equestrians typically have a herd mentality, usually obeying authority and seeking to build co-operative relationships rather than compete for resources. This pacifistic approach had both them and other equinites barter with the turians for military protection.

Equestrians are born with an innate biotic ability and that reacts extremely well with the local mana field. One way this manifests are in “cutie marks”, images that appear in the flanks around maturity and are tied to the individual’s talents and personality. Today almost all equestrians born offworld usually return to Equus at least once after reaching adulthood in order to receive their marks, the notable exception being the “Touched”.

Comments

[Sean Mulligan]

It seems very strange that Equestrians would ever be allies with the Batavarians.