To Infinity And Beyond!
“What can I do for you, Princess Epiphany?” Boyce asked his visitor.
“For starters, just call me Pif. We’re past the first introductions phase.”
“Seeing as this seems to be an official meeting, I thought I would keep things on a formal basis,” the Admiral replied as he his gaze swept over the changeling, crystal pony, and unicorn who were in an office in the House Path mansion.
“As we’re in a private meeting, let’s just keep this informal. Cosmic Dawn and I wish to accompany you when you go through the nebula. Starry Path would have asked, but she’s on her honeymoon and has no wish to either postpone that or hold you up. House Path has a vested interest in continuing the exploration of our region of space and we want to bring along our own instruments to augment your own.”
Boyce nodded thoughtfully. “Considering the fantastic nature of the TESS telescope, I can hardly refuse that offer. Its ability to emulate an optical telescope hundreds of meters in diameter dwarfs anything the Federation has ever produced. However, do you know that there are several other ways of observing the universe?”
“We are beginning to realize that, which is one reason why we wish to come along. I am the Head of Research for House Path, and I wish to learn more. Dawn wants to research how your science fits into thaumophysics too. We can share our results.”
“That sounds like a good deal to me. And why are you coming, Citrine?”
The crystal pony grinned. “Besides keeping my Piffy from overworking herself? I’m a crystallomancer, and you never know when my talent will come in handy.”
“Fair enough. Will there be any others?”
Pif replied, “I normally work with a twelve-changeling think-tank networked with me, if that’s not too much trouble?”
The human chuckled. “They would barely make a dent in this ship’s capacity. I only request that they refrain from using their shape-changing abilities in any unauthorized fashion. Do I need to explain further what I mean by that?”
Pif shook her head. “No, that’s not an unreasonable request.”
“Good. We are scheduled to depart in five hours – can you be ready by then?”
“We already have everything that we need prepared for transfer to your ship. Des will teleport everything up as soon as you give your permission.”
“Tell Prince Destined that I will move the mana beacon to a more appropriate place to receive your equipment, and I’ll contact him as soon as it’s ready.”
“Understood. We’ll come up with him. I’m looking forward to discovering wonderful things.”
Boyce grimaced a little. “As long as you’re also prepared for some shocks.”
Pif cocked her head, one eyebrow raised. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, for starters, Starry’s estimates on how far away Equus is from Chakona may be a little off.”
“How far off?”
“Let’s just leave that until we have some solid data, shall we?”
Pif exchanged glances with Cosmic Dawn and shrugged. “Knowledge is knowledge even if it isn’t what we expect.”
“I’m a little surprised that Princess Twilight isn’t coming along,” Boyce commented.
“Oh, Mama wanted to, but she has work to do on the data that she brought back from the portal. She intends to return there on the Cosmic Lotus later but she isn’t sure that you’ll be back before it leaves. Anyway, we’ll be waiting for your call, Boyce, and thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Pif.”
Pif and company teleported aboard with all their equipment only about an hour later. They got to work immediately installing the TESS with the help of the Pegasus’ technicians, and they were still hard at work when the scheduled time of departure arrived. Farewells were made on all sides before Boyce requested departure permission from ESTC and the starship slipped away from Equus. At a safe distance from that world’s gravity well, it slipped into hyperspace and headed towards the portal.
The vessel’s speed was far greater than that of the Cosmic Lotus and they arrived a mere few hours later. By this time, Pif and Dawn were ready to calibrate the TESS by taking a few sample images of the Equus system. The pause at the nebula ‘wall’ was useful for the Federation scientists while the Equian team was busy. Both were ready to proceed at about the same time, and the Admiral gave the order to proceed into the dust cloud.
While one part of the cloud seemed much like another to the human, the scientists were quite happily kept busy gathering data by both magical and mundane methods. Eventually, they grudgingly allowed the Admiral to shift into warp as even they did not wish to spend years traversing the cloud. Initial measurements had shown it to be many light-years across, the bubble in which Equus resided being a rare anomaly. Shifting into hyperspace was tricky due to the cosmic dust, but they chose a direction where it was particularly thin and, along with the ship’s powerful deflectors, they were able to make the jump out of normal space and get up to warp speed.
For the next few days, this was the pattern that they followed – dropping out of warp to let the scientists take more readings and then shifting back to hyperspace once more. One time they arrived in a particularly dense section of the cloud, and the ship had shuddered a little taking the strain of deflecting so much dust. They needed to spend more than two days travelling at their highest safe sub-light speed before they arrived at the nearest sufficiently thin patch to escape into hyperspace once more. It was not until eleven days after their departure from Equus did they reach the far side of the nebula.
Citrine had grown a little bored during the journey, and despite socializing with the crew of the Pegasus a great deal, she still found herself wanting to do more. Age had not wearied the mare, and she wanted to have some kind of project of her own. Fortunately, Forestwalker had also been looking at a new field of study. The biologist was fascinated by Citrine’s living crystal body, and in an exchange of favors, Citrine got to try out her own theories on the chakat.
“Certain spells can’t work on just anyone,” Citrine explained. “The language learning spell that Amethyst Scroll used on you had to be able to hook onto something within you to work.”
“So, what does that imply?” the chakat asked.
“While none of you from the Federation are aware of it, magic forms part of your lives. Even the least of you has a smidgen of thaumaturgical power. You just need to be able to access it better.”
“Well, that certainly explains a lot about Boyce, but what has that to do with me?”
“I’m a crystallomancer. I’ve spent many years studying my abilities between tending bar and snuggling with my love bug…”
Forestwalker refrained from giggling at the image that conjured.
“…and I believe I know a way that you can access that power.”
“You’ve certainly caught my attention. What did you have in mind?”
The mare reached into the pouch that she had brought along, withdrawing a hoofful of raw crystals. “I’m going to make you a little amplifier slash controller.” She brought her other hoof to rest on top of the mound of purplish crystals and they began to glow. Then they slowly melded into a short, glittering rod that gradually lengthened and curved, and then a spike grew out of the middle. When Citrine’s magic ceased, she held what looked like a tiara with a unicorn horn attached, all made from crystal.
“Am I supposed to wear that?” Forestwalker asked.
“Yep. It’s modelled after Path’s magitek horn, and like that one, it’s designed to draw on the wearer’s natural mana field.”
“And what if I don’t have a mana field?” the chakat asked as shi took possession of it from the pony and settled it on hir head.
“Then you will have a rather fancy new piece of jewelry,” Citrine replied. “Now – let’s try to activate it.”
“How do I do that?”
“Just concentrate on the horn and imagine that you are pushing energy into it. I’ve designed it to react automatically to deliberate intent, so that should be enough.”
Forestwalker’s brow furrowed as shi concentrated on the task, but to little effect. Then shi switched tactics and called on hir own empathic abilities in the hope of resonating with the device. The resulting flash dazzled both occupants of the room and left them seeing stars for a while.
Citrine blinked rapidly to try to clear her vision before grinning broadly. “I think we have a winner!” she declared.
“Now what?” Forestwalker asked even as shi mentally explored this strange new feeling.
“Now we see what kind of magic you can do!”
It took a few days, but Forestwalker eventually mastered simple levitation which shi showed off by carrying around hir PADD in the glow of hir magic. Shi tired easily which Citrine put down to the minuscule mana reserves that the chakat possessed. It did validate Citrine’s theory though and gave Forestwalker another field of study. The two spent many hours together and became firm friends over the course of the voyage. They were both ready for a change of scenery though after eleven days inside the dust cloud.
Pif, Dawn, and Citrine were called to the bridge to observe when the Pegasus dropped out of warp. Their measurements at the previous stop indicated that they would be beyond the dust cloud by their next scheduled exit from hyperspace. Pif had her changelings ready to relay readings from the TESS, and Dawn had brought along another piece of equipment. Then the ship returned to normal space and the main screen turned almost completely black. There was a glow on the left side though, and Boyce ordered that the camera give them a complete view of their surroundings. A star-field like no other that they had ever seen slid into view and dominated the screen for a while before the stars thinned out before abruptly being blotted out again as the camera completed a 360° turn.
“Stop the view on the star-field,” Boyce ordered. When that was accomplished, he said, “I want every sensor operating at full resolution. Get me some information, people!”
Dawn activated the device that she brought, and a spherical hologram formed with a central yellow glowing reference point in the center. She pushed a few buttons and three lines lit up emanating from the center. A very short green line, a very long blue line, and a red line just a tad shorter than the blue that was almost on top of it. “The green line points to the beacon on Equus,” Dawn explained. “The blue line points to the beacon left on Chakona, and the red one points to one on Earth. The length is proportional to the distance.”
Boyce frowned. “That green line is so short in comparison to the others. I’m aware of how far from Equus that we’ve travelled – so how accurate is that display?”
“Very,” Dawn replied, looking at the readouts on the device. “We are 264 light-years from Equus, over 18,000 light-years from Earth, and Chakona is another 350 further from this angle.”
The Pegasus’ navigator spoke up. “Sir! Our instruments concur. Using celestial landmarks, I place us in the Sagan Gap of the Outer Spiral Arm of the Milky Way. From Earth’s perspective, we would be in the constellation of Auriga. It would take us 415 days at maximum warp to get home from here.”
Rosepetal looked up from her science station. “As we suspected, the dust cloud is actually a massive dark nebula hidden in the Outer Arm. None of our deep space probes have ever detected anything of significance out here.”
Pif said, “You already knew that we were much further away than Starry thought we were, didn’t you?”
Boyce nodded. “You know nothing of radio telescopes, for starters, and the infrared spectrum can penetrate the clouds of dust. Once we passed through the portal, we took some readings that indicated we had travelled a far greater distance than previously suspected. To be fair, Starry was working with far too little data to get an accurate estimate.”
“Yeah, but to be nine times further than even that huge first guess is mind-boggling. How can there be so many parallels between our worlds when Equus is so far away?”
“So that’s one of the ley lines that we’ve been searching for all this time?” Galena asked Techbird as she looked at the glowing jagged beam of energy illuminated by her magic. It faded back into invisibility on either side of the detection spell. “What do we do now?”
“We trace it to wherever it is taking the mana energy.”
“That’s going to be a lot easier than finding it in the first place. How many rumors did we eliminate before we found this one?”
“Too many. There’s far too much legend mixed with almost forgotten truth in this world. However, we are making real progress now. How long can you maintain the detection spell?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m well charged with love, so we should have a couple of hours.”
“We had better get started then.” The crystal griffoness spread her wings and took to the air, rising to just over treetop height.
Galena followed suit, barely within her spell’s range of the ley line. They began to follow the direction in which the mana seemed to be flowing, dipping and winding with the topography. They continued as smaller lines joined onto the one they were tracing, eventually leading them over the grasslands of the Salisbury Plains. They flew for many kilometers before another major ley line came into the range of the visibility spell. It flowed for a while alongside the one that they had been following before merging with it just before a stone structure hove into sight. This happened twice more before the duo landed just outside the circle of standing stones beside a sign that proclaimed the name of the place.
“Stonehenge,” Techbird read. “Looks like we have a name for one of our elusive foci. I think you can release your spell now.”
Galena had been staring at the multitude of mana streams that her spell had revealed pouring their power into the site, awed by the sheer amount of magical potential here. She discontinued the spell before saying, “I think that we had better be careful casting any new spells here. My visibility spell flared up hugely.”
“Unsurprising. I don’t know what is drawing all this mana here, but the leakage alone would boost the effect on any spell cast in this area.” She examined the stone structure critically. “This appears to have similarities to Equus’ Ponyhenge in that it was designed to focus a major enchantment, but obviously not the mana gathering spell or else that would have failed long ago due to the dilapidated condition of the structure.”
Time had not been kind to the famous monument. The information on the sign informed them that Stonehenge had suffered decades of damage and neglect due to the Gene Wars that started in the 21st Century, and a badly depleted population had more important things to do once peace had been restored. After many years, efforts had been made to repair the damage and tourists had started coming back to the site.
“What’s the plan?” Galena asked.
“We study the site and uncover its secrets. We’re so close to the answers now, I can taste them!”
“What about them?” The violet changeling pointed to the gawking crowd of tourists that they had been trying to ignore. As curious as they were about Stonehenge, the sight of a crystal griffon and a changeling princess flying into the site was far more fascinating to the sightseers, especially after the light show that had heralded their arrival.
Techbird sighed at the complication. “Let’s try to find someone in charge here and arrange something. I’m not going to be balked by a bunch of tourists!”
The Pegasus spent a day gathering data before they began the journey back to Equus. Of course, the scientists had wanted more time, but Admiral Kline had other responsibilities to attend to back at the pony world. A specially prepared expedition by a dedicated exploration vessel would be sent out there later to continue the scientific work.
It took them six days to get back to Equus. Boyce found the diplomats still locked in tense negotiations with the members of the Greater Equus Council, but he was welcomed back by House Path.
“While the politicians argue about how they want to deal with the Federation, we’ve already commenced work on various fronts in an effort to assist you in your conflict with the Swarm,” Long Path advised the human. “First priority is a mana shield. We can’t send an alicorn or unicorn mage with every single one of your fighters, and defense is always House Path’s priority. Weapons are the last resort for us when every other contingency has failed.”
“Can we expect any hope on the latter?” Boyce asked.
“Undoubtedly. The Griffonians are eager to pursue that goal. While officially they can’t do anything until the diplomats sign some sort of treaty, you can be sure that they will be well advanced with their plans by the time that it is done. Griffons have formed the backbone of Equus’ armies for some time now. They take enormous pride in being in the forefront of any conflict that would disrupt the harmonious society that we have built on this world. You’ll soon have magitek weapons to go with our shields.”
“That is very reassuring. Considering all that though, I don’t understand why the Federation diplomats haven’t come to some kind of interim agreement as yet. While I realize that the details of a full alliance could take many months to iron out, there is a certain urgency for both our peoples.”
“I’m afraid that may be part of the problem. You see, the way some of the delegates see it, the Federation is bringing the Swarm problem to us. They feel that if we cut ties with you and close access to the portal, we can continue to live in peace.”
Boyce sighed. “Don’t they realize that that’s only a temporary solution? Eventually, the problem will find them again.”
“You’re not telling me anything that I haven’t learned in well over a century spent around the negotiating table. The stage may be a lot bigger, but the play hasn’t changed.”
“That long? How old are you anyway, if I may ask?”
Path thought for a moment. “I don’t pay much attention to birthdays like I used to, and I kind of lost track. I think I’m 172.”
Boyce’s eyes shot wide open and he stared at the green-bearded pony. “What?! I’ve met very old ponies and you look more like you’re thirty-something, even though I know that you’re much older than that.”
Path shrugged. “Something happened to me a long time back that seems to have slowed down my aging. I’m just grateful that it gives me a lot more time to be with my herd-mates.” He cast his eyes down and sighed. “My first wife, Roseclaw, passed away over two decades ago and I still miss her. Changeling Queens like Free live for three centuries, and alicorns are immortal, so I welcome every extra day that I get to spend with them.”
“I can understand that, but you make me feel like a kid next to you.”
“I make you feel like a baby goat?” Path asked with an eyebrow raised in puzzlement.
Boyce laughed. “Kid is slang for a child – some things don’t quite translate, do they?”
“No – translation spells are imperfect and can be very literal. Idioms often need to be explained. I don’t recall encountering that particular one before now, although many of the crew from the Cosmic Lotus may have.”
“I’m sure they have. Anyway, the point is that you are over a century older than me, and while our medical science can extend the human lifespan considerably, you have already lived longer than I expect to.”
“I cherish every moment that I get, Admiral – make sure you do the same. Rest assured that House Path will do its best to ensure that you get to live a long and happy life.”
“Are you sure that you’re ready to go back into space?” Twilight Sparkle asked her son.
Wandering Path rolled his eyes. “Mom – I assure you that Starry and I have had a perfectly good honeymoon, and we are both ready and keen to get back to work.”
Twilight’s expression was a mixture of relief and eagerness. “That’s wonderful because I’m so excited at the prospect of getting back to studying the rune magic of the portal. The Federation scientists have had all this time to study its physics, but they won’t get far without a thorough understanding of the thaumaturgical structures that enable it.”
“Yes, Mom, I know that. Starry wants to study it too. Now that Cosmic Dawn is back, we’ll have a full complement of experts for the job. I’ll be contacting all the crewmembers, asking if they would like to report back as soon as possible.”
Twilight smiled slightly. “Do you think they’ll want to go on another adventure?”
Wandering smiled knowingly. “I’ve gotten to know the crew pretty well over the years. Adventure flows in their veins. I expect most will jump at the chance for another challenge… albeit of a shorter duration this time. I expect that we’ll be able to leave the day after tomorrow. Refurbishments should be completed by now, especially with Radiance Point on the job. I’m headed up there now to inspect the ship.”
“Let me know when you’re ready to bring up my equipment,” Twilight replied. “And your father will be coming along too. Free reckons it’s his turn to have a bit of adventure.”
Wandering chuckled even as he wondered how well the griffon changeling would fit in with the crew. Maybe he and Willow would compete to see who could entertain the crew more. Whatever happened, it wouldn’t be boring.
“I hear that you were promoted. Congratulations, Commander Point,” Wandering said with a casual salute.
Radiance Point uncomfortably returned it. “You know I wasn’t looking for it, Captain. I just want to make the Lotus the best starship in the galaxy.”
“You’ve done more than most for this ship, Point. You deserved the promotion. Anyway, I know that you have been busy upgrading the ship while I’ve been gone, but I hope that you took enough R&R too.”
“Aw, Captain – working on the ship is what I do for fun.” He held up a hoof to forestall Wandering’s objections. “However, Sunrise Flight and I did spend some time in Equestria. I had to make closure with some people from my past, and I also had to get my grandson, Radiant Steel, into the House Path training and evaluation center.”
Wandering’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. After a long moment of stunned silence, he squeaked, “You have a grandson? You’re a father?! How come we never knew this?”
“I never knew it until I met him. Apparently one of my former crewmates was pregnant when the Gowanus was wrecked. I met my son and his family for the first time while I was on Equus. It opened my eyes a lot, Captain.”
“But you’ve been back on board the Cosmic Lotus for a couple of weeks now. You’re not tempted to stay with your newfound family?”
“This is where I belong, Captain. That much hasn’t changed. And my grandson is a lot like me too. That’s why I am requesting that he gets a position as my apprentice aboard this ship.” The unicorn regarded the alicorn with nervous expectation.
“You said he’s at the evaluation and training center?”
Radiance nodded.
“I’ll talk to them tomorrow. If they approve, you’ve got your apprentice.” As Radiance started to grin with delight, Wandering added, “Besides, I want to see what a grandchild of yours is like, and how you will take to being responsible for him.”
Radiance gulped as that reality sank into him.
“Now – let’s see what you’ve been up to in my absence….”
A number of the former crew had decided not to re-join the Cosmic Lotus for its new voyages. Some had had enough of travelling the stars while others were setting their sights on the next generation of starships that were already in the planning stage. This was fortuitous because the starship was no longer restricted to multi-year journeys requiring a large relief crew. Even after removing the majority of the hibernation pods and utilizing the space for more crew cabins, the vessel was still a little on the crowded side when the science team joined them. Nevertheless, places were found for everyone and their equipment.
At 9:00 am HPGT (House Path Griffonian Time), Executive Officer Bluequill confirmed that all stations were ready and the Captain gave the order to begin their new mission. The Cosmic Lotus departed Equus orbit, bound for the Far Star once more.
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Me thinks Stonehenge and Ponyhenge be the portal that took all of them to Equus.
Oooh, I can't wait to see what happens next.
New connections, more questions, more possibilities! I mean, come-on. Forrest with her own horn?!? Est Tres Adorible!
I can only imagine what giving someone with a higher E rating a chance at the horn!
8882325 Only major issue with that as I see it someone would have to be there to build it.. Something not exactly pratical till one or more persons got to Equus and if so then what is the purpose of the other gateway that the Cosmic Lotus originally went through
wow this is a totally awesome chapter.
this is going to be so good as the new story ark starts.
This chapter did a hell of a great job creating some new intresting questions!
I can't wait for some of your answers for them :3
8882490
Remember though. Equestria has time travel spells. So what's to stop starswirl from using one
8882490
Not necessarily, it wouldn't be that unprecedented an idea for a portal structure to create an 'echo' of itself at the destination during its creation/initial activation.
Closed time like loop portals are very strange things. Because one end has to be back there for its information to pass to now, this end has to send information back in time for it to get there in time, and vice versa. This could also be called the Anthropic Principle, but thats pure Ego.
Still waiting for the mirror portal to be mentioned
Heh, and suddenly there's an explanation where magic wands and wizard staffs make sense.
actually, i was thinking that techbird should go and check out the bermuda triangle instead......lol.
One question I have is this; does the dark nebula hold magic as well or is it some how insulating the magic of the Equis universe making that pocket have a higher density of magic than the rest to the universe? I do like that Forest had a little magic and wonder if like a muscle if shi practices it could get stronger with use. Also since most chakats and others have either telepathy or empathy could also access magic I could just see a skunktaur telepath using magic as well as their gift... in some ways it could be frightening.
8882777
reminds me of a crazy book called "Timemaster" by Robert L. Forward (i think), where someone set up "time portals" by making some kind of portal, them moving one end at 90% of light speed for 10 years. this somehow let him go back in time 20 years when he stepped though...very crazy story.
(he had to rescue his past self THREE TIMES!)
8883470
You're correct- that's the book and author. Oh, what twisted loops time travel presents, yes?
8883529
If you consider BEC hulled Telepods and carbon nanotubes can withstand event horizon tidal forces when an inch long, the change in temporal flow from centre to tips is rather extreme in a relativistic centrifuge.
You can always chain the future loinks together as well. So you can tell somethings gone wrong in teh future when they dont even get chance to send a warning back and the transmissions cease. Forwards Dragons Egg.
8883607
Personally, I would prefer a Silverhair negmatter gate than a relativistic centrifuge.
is Star Swirl the Bearded actually Myrddin?
8882490 It could be costly to send even one person over. However, send one person (or a small group) and create the other side of the portal.
Lime, please stop buzzing your wings, it is annoying.
8883607
That was from the sequel, Starquake, actually. (Just in case anyone actually goes looking for that part.)
8883529
8883470
Color me pleasantly astonished to find other people who've actually read that book.
Although I'm inclined to suspect that someone on the New Series Doctor Who writing staff must have read it as well; the New Series' notion of "fixed points in time" which the Doctor can't change because he already knows the outcome is very similar to Timemaster's concept that a time traveler (the novel's protagonist, in this case) can send a message backwards in time to change the outcome of an event only if he does not know the original outcome of the event. (So no matter what he does, the Doctor can never prevent the creation of the Daleks, for example, because he already knows they were created -- and in fact, under Timemaster's paradigm, the laws of probability will bend so that any events necessary to prevent him from creating that paradox, no matter how improbable, will become 1:1 certainties in order to preserve the "known" causality.)
That was definitely one of Forward's more brain-breaking novels... and considering the kinds of "hard" theoretical science he routinely wove into his novels, that's saying a lot.
8891689
Fixed points are relative to The Doctor because when he tries to change things he is trying to alter his own personal worldline universe, and so it has to remain consistant in order for his actions at that point to remain constant? Places can only change if he either has no knowledge so whatever he does is the correct outcome to lead to his future present, predestined self, or it can be changed relative to known history because different outcomes lead to teh same point, like time flows like a river splitting and rejoining, or because history is written by the winners and the recorded historical outcome was wrong at all at that point?
Best estimates in p-adic relativistic cosmology ??? is that there are about 10^120 possible quantised versions of stable reality, induvidual universes, each with a further 10^120 unstable versions. Universes which collapse, evapourate etc in less than the time taken for life to evolve on Earth and ask the question>
8882325
We've already seen that that isn't the case. Though it does help to explain how
EquisEquus is so full of mana.Alondro IV, Lord Emperor of the North American Holy Roman Empire gasps, "ERMAHGERD!! CHERNGELERNGS!!"
The dire prophecy of his ancestor had come to pass!
8892027 And in 10119 of those alternate universe, ALONDRO reigns supreme already!
While I do like that you're using Stonehenge due to its connection to Arthurian legend, there is a slight problem with using Stonehenge.
Age.
Not sure on the specifics, but Stonehenge is actually supposed to be older than the legends that spawned both King Arthur and Merlin. Maybe not as old as the Pyramids, but at least several centuries before Christ.
However, that really doesn't change all that much, as using it as a focus point makes sense for a lot of reasons. I'm just being nitpicky
If they really wanted to learn about runes, then Destined could send Wandering, transformed into a human, centuries into the past and a few decades before the Gene Wars to get copies of all the information on Celtic runes that researchers at the time had.