Starship Ponyville: Homeward

by Vylet Pony

VIII. Harbour

Vylet trotted rhythmically down the hallways of the residential district, humming the lyrics of the song playing through his earbuds, “Harbour.” Rayna sat on his shoulder, bobbing her head to the music.

“You’re in a good mood,” Rayna observed.

“There’s only one way to drown the crippling fear induced by being away from home,” Vylet shouted over the music.

“Harbour, ha-arbour” they sang together.

They arrived at Sylver’s room. Vylet switched off the song and knocked on the door. He heard various mutterings and fumblings before Sylver showed up at the door.

“Sylver!” Vylet greeted.

He stepped inside and Sylver followed. Vylet glanced around the room and saw various sheets and blankets obscuring much of the floor and deskspace.

“Uhh… what are you up to?” Vylet inquired.

“Oh. Oh, hey Vy.” Sylver was relieved to not be confronted for his plant operations. He started to remove all of the covers, “Well, I can’t say growing flowers in space is the easiest task.”

“Huh.. what are you working on?” Vylet moved about the room and inhaled the various herbal aromas.

“Jasmine!” Sylver said, sitting down at his laptop to type away. Vylet simply observed the empty pots on his dresser labeled ‘Jasmine Leaves.’

“Well, trying to grow Jasmine. I’ve been experimenting with the natural heat that could be generated from the AMCD’s. It just might work,” Sylver explained.

Vylet nodded in interest. “Do you mind if I hang out here for a bit?” Rayna floated above his head, nodding.

“Sure,” said Sylver, “but, uh, just don’t tell anypony I’m growing coffee beans under here.”

They both chuckled, although Sylver let out what would probably be considered a nervous guffaw.

“Alright, I can keep your secret,” Vylet smiled.

“Well, what brings you here?” Sylver inquired.

“I guess I’ve gotten to hang out with Satyrn a bit more. I don’t really have any other friends on the ship, and you two seem to be really close, so…”

Sylver’s ears perked up. “Close huh? You could say that, yeah. Nothing says friendship like accidentally shooting yourself during a covert operation to save your friend, right?”

“Woah, what?” Vylet was intrigued. Sylver stood up and went to sit on the bed. Vylet settled and sat on the floor beneath him.

“Yeah, heh…” Sylver reminisced, “in the Statera infiltration, she got locked in the throne room with Satellite. I tried blasting the door open, but ended up shooting myself. It really wasn’t funny when it happened, but looking back on it, that was really dumb.”

Vylet chuckled. “How did you manage that?”

“You’re a unicorn, you buffoon, why didn’t you try using magic?” Rayna mused, swirling around Sylver and taunting him.

“Honestly? I’m not sure.” Sylver realized, “The door must’ve been made of a compound that could withstand and repel bullets consistently. Why would I expect something like that, though?”

Vylet nodded in agreement, snickering.

“What’s your story, kid? Any adventures, war stories, or times where you confused some unknowing stranger at the supermarket for your mom?” Sylver stared intently down at the colt.

Scratching his head, Vylet glanced around the room, trying to think of something to talk about. He shrugged at Sylver.

Sylver was unconvinced, as he started straightening stray hairs on his brown coat.

“Tell him about Super Pony World, Vy.” Rayna squeaked, “That’s a fun story, right?”

Vylet looked over at Rayna, who was hovering above his shoulder. She stared at him with her bright turquoise eyes. He sighed and looked back at Sylver.

“During the war, I was really reclusive. I almost never left the house, and I took classes from my computer,” Vylet started.

Sylver leaned down, listening closely.

“My friend, Crimson, had stolen a prototype AMCD, her parents work for PegaSystems, and she gave it to me.” Vylet held up his hoof, showing the watch that Rayna’s hologram would display from.

“Looks nothing like the earpieces we have,” Sylver noted.

“Mhm, I don’t know if anypony outside of PegaSystems has one like this. Crimson knew I wanted one but couldn’t afford it, so she thought it would be something I would adore. And I did.”

“She sounds like a good friend, to go through all the trouble of stealing something like that.”

“Yeah,” Vylet chuckled, “well, I started developing a video game, sort of a virtual reality RPG simulation kind of thing.”

“Say that slower, I don’t quite understand,” Sylver begged.

“An adventure game that you can basically experience in virtual reality.”

“Ahh.”

“I’m not great at naming things, so I called it Super Pony World.”

“Why not ‘Super Fish World’?” Sylver joked.

“Honestly!” said Vylet, “But, I managed to develop an algorithm that can take one’s thoughts and dreams to create a world, and corresponding scenario to act through. However, I became frustrated at trying to figure out a way to transmit my consciousness into the game itself.”

“Yes, I could see how that would be difficult.” There was no end to Sylver’s sarcasm.

“So, instead of solving this in the software, I tired creating an adaptor that allows me to seamlessly sync the operations of the computer and my AMCD. In the process, a surge of magic created Rayna.” He gestured to her; she was still sitting on his shoulder.

“I was an accident,” Rayna droned.

Sylver chuckled and tried to pat Rayna’s head, but his hoof went right through her.

“Oh… sorry,” Sylver murmured.

“Touchy,” Rayna snorted.

“Using the AMCD, I eventually transmitted my conscious being into the game once it was complete. I lived out what seemed to be 3 months inside the game,” Vylet continued.

“In reality, only 5 minutes had passed,” Rayna chimed in.

Sylver’s eyes were wide. “That’s a lot to take in.”

“Beats your self inflicted gun wound story,” Rayna sassed.

They laughed together.

“I guess it does,” Sylver said.

They talked for a few hours and reminisced about their memories of Equestria. Sylver talked about his war stories, and Vylet talked more about Super Pony World. Rayna decided that she wanted to see what sleeping felt like and started imitating what she saw others do in the films Vylet watched. Although, she couldn’t fully enter a sleepful state, she felt comfortable.

---

The clock beeped: 23:00. Sylver looked up from his bed and saw the time. They both stood up, and Rayna pretended to wake up.

“It’s time soon, huh?” Sylver exhaled after a long yawn.

“Looks like it,” Vylet shivered.

Sylver put a hoof on his shoulder.

“You’ll be with Satyrn. I think you’ll be fine,” he said.

Vylet offered a stiff, but genuine, smile.

They walked together down the now quiet residential halls and took the elevator down to Satyrn’s floor. Quietly, Sylver started towards her room, and Vylet followed behind nervously.

Sylver knocked on the door; a few moments passed before Satyrn opened the it. She glanced at Vylet and looked back at Sylver.

“Lead the way.”

Author's Note:

Art by Fizzle Soda