Between Worlds

by Hedgeapple

Chapter 2

Princess Twilight Sparkle, captain of the Ferrier, and her protégé, Princess Starlight Glimmer, reclined back in two large round mud baths, cucumbers and facial masks easing the tension from their pores. After a rather crowded lunch, the two had settled in at the New Ponyville spa for an afternoon of relaxation, all the while trying to ignore the curious looks from passersby and adoring fans.

“You know Commander,” said Twilight, using her official title in public, “I am actually glad I came out here today. I would’ve never realized how tense I was from work if I hadn’t given myself some time to relax.”

“I’m glad I could be of help, Captain,” Starlight replied, her head turned ever so slightly towards her friend. “I think we should try to do this again before planet fall. There’s no telling when we will be able to do this again.”

Twilight smirked. “That’s a good-” she was interrupted by a three toned beep coming from her collar nearby. Sigh. “This is the Captain,” she said in the direction of no pony in particular.

“Captain, this is the Bridge,” a voice emanated from the large amethyst centered in the collar. “We are approaching the outer edge of the electromagnetic influence of the alien star to which we are traveling. In less than one hour, we will be within the destined solar system.”

“Thank you, ensign.”

“And, Captain, there is something out here you might want to take a look at.” Twilight magically levitated the cucumbers from her eyes and set them aside. “Is it some sort of stellar phenomenon?” The bridge was silent for a moment.

“I believe so, Ma’am. Sensors indicate a large body of gas intersecting our trajectory.”

“I’m on my way. Captain out.” Twilight wished she could have had more time to relax, but duty called, and she never shirked on her duty. With a bit of effort, she rose from her mud bath, and two of the attending spa ponies rushed forward to assist her in any way they could.

“Commander, I believe your presence will be needed on the bridge as well.” Twilight said in an authoritative tone. Starlight nodded and gave her friend a smile. One of Twilights’ first lessons for her had been on the subject of punctuality.

“I’ll be right up, Captain.”

***

The two most powerful ponies on board the Ferrier stood side by side, gazing out the port view screen at a large ribbon of gas, highlighted in the glow of the ship itself. Under normal conditions, the ribbon could not have been seen in the inky blackness of space, but the port cameras picked up infrared spectrum radiation and a number of other frequencies and composited them together to create a visual image on screen. The effect of this digital compositing created an image that blew the bridge crews’ breaths away. The band of gas, composed of mainly hydrogen and helium, was very long- at least several hundred light years, and curved in a crescent moon shape around its’ host stars’ electromagnetic field. The cloud seemed to glow a faint red, and looked almost tangible from the deck, but Twilight knew such an idea was absurd.

“Alright everypony, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for, for many years now. Once we pass through that cloud, we will be within the territorial space of the aliens that launched the probe.” She brushed aside a stray lock of ethereal hair, and sat down at the captains’ chair. Commander Glimmer sat at her right, whilst a unicorn mare, named Sapphire Song, sat at her left.

“I want to take a moment to remind each of you that we will spend some time observing and assessing the situations that arise before we decide to make contact.” Twilight spoke with a calm tone, but a hint of the excitement within her seeped out into her voice. “We are to maintain radio silence until I deem the time to be right, and in the meantime the Ferrier will remain cloaked for her own protection, and so as to not cause unnecessary alarm to any of the indigenous beings within this system.”

Every crewmember aboard the bridge had their eyes glued to the port screen in rapt attention. Their faces were tense, with the exception of Commander Starlight, who wore a smug smile, like all of this was routine to her. Sapphire Song, the chief executive officer onboard the Ferrier, glanced over at her commanding officer with a look of annoyance.

“Ensign,” Twilight spoke up, “engage cloaking device and advance at a heading of zero degrees, impulse power.”

The young stallion at the helm sat up straight at his post. “Engaging cloaking device- advancing at heading mark zero degrees, impulse power.” With a hum of the magica engines, the Ferrier slowly lurched forward towards its destination. As the Ferrier moved forward, its surface began to waver and ripples of color spread across its outer shell. In mere moments, the ship had vanished, and as it passed through the hydrogen cloud, it left a small cavity in its wake.

Some hours later, after passing through a several large spherical fields of debris, the Ferrier approached a large azure blue gas giant with thin rock rings. A probe was dispatched to quickly scan the planet and its surrounding moons for things of interest, and all the while the on board computer was analyzing the data that was collected. Everypony on board the Ferrier was waiting apprehensively as the time ticked by, each passing second bringing them closer to the object of all their hard work and dedication. Several large and interesting planets later, Twilight Sparkle sat nervously in the captain’s chair, and tiny beads of sweat started forming on her forehead.

As the minutes ticked by, and the apprehension of meeting the alien beings grew, Twilight could not help but remember all of the interesting information that was provided on the golden disk they found: voices in many languages that were both intriguing and soothing to the ear, music from instruments she had never heard before, and even digital images encoded into the very surface of the disk. The images were especially interesting to her, since they provided a window into the lives on the strange beings living on the planet- Earth. One such picture was deciphered as being the chemical and gaseous composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.

The last thing that Twilight remembered being on the disk was an hour long recording of what were interpreted as brain waves. These in particular were a challenge to decipher, especially considering that no pony believed that the brain wave recording actually held any significance. But lo and behold, after ten long years of trial and error, she was able to create a magical machine that could interpret the brain wave transmission. It was a long message, meant to convey the long history of the human race, along with social structures of the different people groups on the planet. The last part of the massage had to be Twilight’s favorite part on the whole disk: a mental and emotional memory of what it was like to fall in love.

She tried to focus on these thoughts as a way of coping with her growing nervousness. Twilight had taken part in many negotiations in her time, but this was perhaps the most important thing she would ever do. She sighed quietly to herself, and got up from her chair. With little else to do, Twilight walked over to her ready room- a captain’s personal office near the bridge. Once inside the adjacent room, she began to pace back and forth, quietly thinking about all the different scenarios which could occur in the near future. She hoped that -if there were such things as gods- they’d give her the strength and wisdom to get through this assignment.

***

“Captain, I believe we have found the planet we’ve been looking for. It matches the descriptions given in the golden record,” Ensign Stables at the communications panel said. He pulled up a small digital image of the blue and white world, and placed it on display next to the live image on the port screen. “Sensors indicate that the atmospheric composition is the same, albeit with more carbon dioxide than expected, and the land masses appear to match up.”

Twilight stood near the captain’s chair looking at the screen. “Thank you, Ensign Stables. Take us within 300,000 kilometers and establish a geostationary orbit.” She sniffed, and added: “Keep us cloaked, and maintain radio silence.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Within moments, the Ferrier changed its’ yaw by a few degrees, and slowly moved within the allotted distance. In moments, Ensign Stables called out their distance from the planet, and ordered the all stop. “Show the planets’ surface, at ten times magnification.” Twilight ordered. Immediately the large blue planet filled the screen in front of them- but something did not match up.

While she was certain that this planet called -Earth- was what she saw before her, there were a few major differences between the live image and the digital image she was used to seeing. Much of the landmass consisted of various shades of brown and in some areas green, while large patches of web-like grey covered other areas like polka dots. In many areas, Twilight thought she saw what looked like smoke, but she was not sure. She ordered that fifty times magnification be displayed on one such area, and when the close up appeared on screen, everypony in the room gasped.

What Twilight saw was horrifying, as nothing ever seen in Equestria before. A great metal city, much like Manehattan, was obscured by the black smoke of a thousand fires; tongues of flame ravaged many of the buildings in clusters, and the streets below these were cluttered with massive throngs of alien beings, either fleeing, or looting- she was not certain. Wingless aircraft of strange design were encircling the city, highlighting different areas or even firing something upon the crowds. Different camera views from other cities were put up on the main viewer as thumbnails, and each live feed brought with it new and horrifying atrocities. Burning vehicles lay in the streets, and crowds of people armed with crude instruments attacked what looked like armed soldiers with shields. Ensign Stables enlarged that one particular thumbnail to full view in order to get a better look. Everypony in the room knew what Equestrian soldiers looked like, yet the soldiers with shields looked nothing like any military they had seen before. Underneath black body armor, glowing green eyes shone with cold determination.

“Ensign, see if you can get a better view of those soldiers.” Twilight ordered. As much as the carnage bothered her, she wanted to know to what extent these alien soldiers were willing to go to stop the violence. After a minute or so, the camera view switched to something more angled, and it zoomed in on the soldiers from the perspective of the crowd. Underneath the black body armor glowed the eyes of a machine made to look like a human. When a thermal imaging filter was added to the live feed, the crowd could clearly be seen as living things; yet despite the field of view being filled with the bright white glow of the fires nearby, the metal soldiers were quite cold by comparison.
Twilight was unsure of what to think of the situation before her. After having the thermal filter removed, she sat back down in the captain’s chair.

“Can we pick up any sounds from this distance using our magic?” Twilight turned to the pony standing at the external sensors station.

The mare at that station started looking over her readings. “Perhaps we could Captain, although without a medium through which the sound or magic to travel, it would seem rather difficult. I’ll try though.” She lit her horn and pointed it at the instrument panel before her. The readings flickered momentarily and the young officer struggled to keep her horn lit. After a moment, she stopped and leaned back at her seat.
“I’m sorry Captain,” she said with an exhausted tone. “I’m having trouble getting a magical lock on the air molecules around that area.” After a moment of thought she added, “Perhaps if we used the Heart of Twilight we could-”

“The Heart of Twilight must only be used in emergencies.” Sapphire Song interrupted the young officer, who looked away at her instruments with a hurt expression.

“Now Sapphire,” Twilight looked over at her chief executive officer, “may I remind you that every officer is free to speak her mind regarding potential solutions to problems at hoof. I’m sure our young friend here simply wanted to think of a good way to solve the problem.”

Sapphire Song turned to look at the port screen and steeled her gaze. “Yes Ma’am.”

A movement drew Twilights’ eyes back to the screen against the far wall. Some of the soldiers in the front row moved their shields aside and extended what looked like barrels in the direction of the crowd. The crowd reacted by momentarily pausing with looks of fear on their faces, before turning and fleeing the armed soldiers. Before Twilight could wonder what they were so scared of, she noticed large numbers of people collapsing as they ran from the now offensive military force. Some of the humans closest to the soldiers burst into flame before collapsing to the ground in agony.

“What are they doing?!” Twilight shouted aloud. She stood from her seat and ordered that the magnification be increased. What sort of weapon could cause the enemy to burst into flame? After an initial scan of the space between the soldiers and the crowd turned up no projectiles being fired, the thermal filter revealed that thin streams of intense heat radiation were being emitted from the soldiers’ weapons.

“Can anypony please tell me what those streams are?” Twilight sounded tense.

“Captain, I think I have something.” The mare at the external sensor station spoke up, and Twilight turned to look at her. “Sensors indicate that the soldiers’ weapons are emitting thin beams of intense microwave radiation. They’re literally burning those humans to death!”

Twilight looked back at the screen in front of her. She could see the faces of some of the individuals fleeing the soldiers and their weapons. One male in particular looked especially frightened and was running down a side alley when he was hit by one of the radiation beams. His face gave a look of intense fear and pain for a moment, before his clothing, hair and skin burst into flames. Twilight’s eyes teared up as she watched him collapse, then in a particularly bright flash of light, nothing was left of him but a pile of ash, smoldering on the black ground.

“That’s enough.” Twilight spoke up. “I don’t want to see anymore.” The image on the view screen was replaced by the blackness of space in front of them, and the planet below seemed calm after what had just transpired. Twilight turned away from the screen and began to walk toward her ready room.

“I’ll be in my ready room.” Her head hung slightly, as though she was suddenly burdened with a great weight. “Keep monitoring the planet below for any useful information. Commander- you have the bridge.” The personnel on the bridge watched her leave in silence, and no pony spoke a word for some minutes afterwards.

***

Several hours had passed since Twilight entered her ready room, and Commander Glimmer was getting worried that something might be wrong. She downloaded all the information they had gathered in the past few hours to her data pad, and got up from her seat. Things onboard the Ferrier had gone quiet since it would be less than an hour till the start of the next shift. After walking across the room, she tapped the button near the door the Captain’s ready room, and she could faintly hear the two toned chime that signaled the occupant of the room inside that she had a visitor.

“Enter.” She heard the familiar voice say from within.

Starlight opened the door and walked into the small office. The lights along the edge of the ceiling were dimmed, and Twilight sat at her crystal desk, made from polished purple lepidolite. Her head rested on her hoof as she read from a book in front of her. “Close the door, please.” Twilight said without looking away from the tome in front of her.

Starlight turned and closed the door, and looked back at her mentor. Something about Twilight’s body language bothered her, and it was not very difficult to see from her slumped posture that something was amiss. As Starlight stood there in silence, she noticed that the captains’ hair seemed a little less radiant- a little more subdued than what was normal.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Starlight spoke up, only to be interrupted by a hoof gesture from the Captain. After a moment, Twilight turned the page she was reading and sat up in her chair.

“How can I help you, Commander?” Twilight said with a neutral tone. Sensing that Twilight wanted to keep this interaction professional, Starlight placed the data tablet on Twilights’ desk and spoke up.

“We have intercepted what seems to be a planetary communication grid, from which we have been able to ascertain a large amount of information regarding the situation at hoof.”

“What have you found out?”

“Most of the countries on this planet are suffering from a severe financial destabilization, and the resulting poverty and famine are driving the citizens to revolt since their governments don’t appear to be handling the problem very well. That’s all I could figure from the public information.”

“I see.” Twilight said after a moment of thought. “There must be some other reason that such violence is allowed to take place in the streets.”

“Perhaps.” Starlight looked concerned.

“Thank you for the information, Commander.” Twilights’ voice was cold, and she turned back to her book.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Starlight approached the desk. “I’ve known you long enough to tell that something’s wrong. Are you upset about what you saw earlier?”

Twilight looked away, and from the look of it, she had been deeply hurt by what she saw. “I- They-” Twilight choked on her words. In a few moments, she began sobbing quietly, and Starlight teared up at seeing her like that. She moved around the desk toward Twilight and embraced her. The two sat together for a long time, each supported by the other as they let the tears flow freely. Twilight soon reached a point where her sobs were silent and no more tears were shed; instead, her graceful form simply shook in silence, and Starlight simply sat there- letting her old friend rest her head on her shoulders. After a long moment of silence, Twilight sat up and looked into her friends’ eyes- with a smile of gratitude on her lips.

“I'm alright Starlight,” She spoke softly, “I’m alright.”

Comments

[Grungar3x7]

6779857
And believe me, I did!

[Cross Lament]

Ooof, certainly not the first contact they were hoping for...

[aLazyPanda]

This is good. As long as there's gonna be regular updates, I'm hooked.

[ssokolow]

*chuckle* You know you've been spending too much time looking at the National Geographic world map on your wall when your first reaction to looking at a story's cover image is "Hmm. Where is that? ...I think that's the tip of the Kamchatka Penninsula... *checks* Yep, is it. *smile*"