Chapter 65: Iron Quill
The flight to Equestria was certainly not uneventful, taking Silver Star, Daystar, and the princess just over three days to complete. There were a few systems adjustments to be made along the way, and some minor emergencies corrected with nervous calls back to ground control. But in the end, their mission was a success.
And the great blue-green marble of Equus grew larger and larger in their view until they finally entered into a slow, regular orbit. “It's so much bigger,” Daystar muttered, mostly to herself. “Spend your whole life looking at Equus on a map, and you think that it's gotta be about the same size, right?”
Luna laughed. “Are you feeling trapped already? Are four domes not enough?”
“Nope,” Daystar answered. “Maybe when there are a few dozen, we can talk, but not until then.”
They spent almost a full day as they slowly orbited, taking sensor readings and watching the surface of Equus. Silver Star manned the radio, sending constant messages down to the planet below. Every one of them was unanswered.
A contingent of Cozen Shade University had thought something similar would happen, and had prepared the ship with an alternate signaling mechanism just in case. Many thought the much larger and better equipped planet below would advance faster. As a result, they probably would have abandoned the use of radio communication.
But Silver Star had known that the laser array was a doomed endeavor before the mission even began. Light communication might be more advanced than anything they'd done with radio, but it also required specific targeting. Not knowing where to shoot, they had little chance of sending or receiving anything even if the technology was in use. But they tried, knowing full well that even if their messages weren't received, their approach would be noticed.
The university's desire for this first expedition was not to contact Equestria at all, but to land somewhere uninhabited. Perhaps near one of the poles, where life was likely to be too difficult. With the aid of their environment suits, they would collect samples of the local material somewhere far from the prying eyes of a potential enemy. It would be a better place to build an outpost.
But Princess Luna was insistent, even though her stature was smaller than it had once been. She loomed large in the culture of Tranquility, so it was ultimately her will that prevailed. After a day of orbiting, they plotted their course down towards Equestria itself.
The princess had chosen their destination from memory. Though, of course, nopony aboard knew where she meant to fly.
What they did have was a large telescope. So Silver was able to see the landing area for himself. He was right beside Luna to hear her disdain and confusion as she muttered to herself. “That castle seems abandoned. I hope Celestia is okay.”
“Is something wrong?” he asked. “Do we need to use our alternate landing sites?”
“No,” she answered. “I had hoped the fields outside the Castle of the Two Sisters would make for a sufficiently flat landing area. However, it appears they've been completely overgrown by the Everfree. You can barely even see the castle poking through the trees. But there's a small village nearby with plenty of fields. See there.” She pointed at the telescope, leaning away from it.
Silver leaned in beside her to look, and sure enough he could make out the shape of densely packed buildings, barely large enough to see with their lens. Spreading away from them in all directions were various fields and orchards. The one Luna had pointed to seemed to be fallow, with only an even moss growing from it.
“It looks all right to me,” he said. He called Daystar over so they could make the slight adjustments they needed and prepare for their final descent. This last part of their journey would be the most dangerous.
Not for the ship. It had been built with all these tolerances in mind, but titanium and steel were far stronger than anything he was made from. His time in a centrifuge might theoretically prepare him for this, but some visceral part of him refused to accept that spin gravity was equivalent to the real thing.
They all clipped in, and he heard the now several second delayed message from mission control. “Terra 3, could you confirm these readings for us? It looks like you’re go for landing.”
Daystar adjusted her microphone. “Yes mission control. Your readings are the same as ours. Everything's green here and we're ready for our final descent.”
“Don't say it like that,” the princess said, though her voice was friendly. “Equus may have been my home once, but now we are only visitors. We will be returning to Tranquility soon enough.”
Silver nodded, thinking of his wife so recently recovered. She would be listening to these words on a hospital radio, probably beside herself with worry. If he didn’t make it back safely, Magpie would kill him. So he tightened his restraints, going through the safety checklist twice before confirming with mission control that he was ready.
And just like that, they began to descend. Unlike the moon, Equus was not a lifeless husk. Soon he saw a light growing through the window, and a dull roar that shook the ship beneath him and made his ears press flat with sound. And temperature gauges all over the control room began to shift towards the red
“Thaumic thermal reflector ready!” Daystar called, no humor left in her voice.
“Deploy it!” Luna said.
The crystal pony rested one hoof on the controls, twisting the old-fashioned device until it had made a full rotation. Despite advancements in enchantment, the thaumic components of the spacecraft still required direct pony intervention. A pony had to be the one activating their spells, even if the computer could do everything else.
Silver didn't doubt that their scholars would figure it out one day, and let them build fully automatic rockets. But those scholars were now the last thing on his mind as the ship began to shake and rumble. A faint shimmering purple now separated the ship from the homicidal heat waiting just outside. If that shield failed, it would ignite their re-entry fuel, and turn them into a spectacular fireball.
As they descended, he felt brief jolts from the engines as they burned, never more than a few seconds at a time. Even full second burns could not stop the growing sense that he was falling. He looked up to the altimeter, then wished he hadn't. He looked away, his eyes scanning the controls for anything more comfortable to watch. But of course, even if he couldn't see the controls, there was no missing that feeling of the ground falling away from him faster and faster.
He had known this terror would come, of course. The real question of survival was not in the falling, but the landing.
“Time for final descent burn! 10 seconds and counting!” Daystar said. She began counting them off.
Silver Star settled both hooves on the controls. In theory, there was very little involvement needed from either of them. Now that the computer had been given the timings, all he had to do was be here to take over if something failed.
So he kept his eyes on the artificial horizon, watching the angle of their descent. If they had misjudged and smashed into the forest instead of an open field, or even landed on too steep a grade, they might survive it. But the mission would be one-way. That was the real reason he was glad that they had laser communication.
Equestria was unlikely to be able to prevent them from signaling for rescue. So of course it might be many decades before whatever had destroyed their ship could be fixed in a future revision.
He kept his hooves on the controls as Daystar’s countdown finished, but there was no need. The acceleration of a full burn directly opposite to their fall smashed into him, pressing Silver Star into his seat.
The foam sunk deep around him, cradling his delicate body. Even so he felt himself grind and crunch, his crystal limbs shuttering under the pressure. If they broke here, there was little the ship's first aid kit could do for him. But it was too late to change his mind.
His life now rested firmly in the hooves of the engineers who had designed the Iron Quill and the technicians who had built it. He found the strength to glance up a little as the burn continued. The altimeter’s dial twisted violently to the left, then the ship shuddered. He barely felt the rumble as the ship's landing struts extended out in all directions, a triangle built to withstand the terrible force of Equus’s gravity. It would be their launching platform when they returned to orbit, assuming they could source enough raw materials to make their fuel.
In a daze brought on by pressure and gravity, Silver Star imagined an ancient army waiting just outside, with hundreds of catapults and tens of thousands of armed pegasus hovering in the air. They would be waiting to descend on the ship and cut it to pieces with swords. One of them would cut into the fuel tank, sparking it in the oxygen-rich atmosphere, and they would all go up in a spectacular explosion that would be visible even from Moonrise.
But if there was an army waiting outside, they didn't attack. After what felt like hours, but was probably more like minutes, Silver Star finally sat up, looking around in a daze.
Silver already knew the gravity here would be terrible. But hearing from the scientific ponies that the force pulling him down would be six times stronger hadn’t prepared him. What did that even mean? Six was just a number.
This was incredible. Just as he had discovered in the centrifuge, Silver found that when he tried to stand, despite the forces crushing him down, his limbs responded. His horn glowed, and the restraints unbuckled themselves one at a time.
Finally, he leaned forward in his seat, which was now pressed into the floor, rising to his hooves. His limbs felt so thin and frail, like the delicate necks of wineglasses. But he rested his hooves down on them and they didn't break. He glanced down to the side where Daystar lay in her restraints, teeth gritted together.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She shook her head slightly, her breathing coming in rasping gasps. Then her horn began to glow, enveloping her in a gentle aura. This was the reason that only the very best spellcasters on the moon had been chosen for this mission.
Once the glow was in place, she could sit up, looking around with watery eyes. “How can you stand it?” she asked, staring at Silver. “It's like getting crushed under ten earth ponies at once.”
He shrugged and found his shoulder moved the way he expected. So long as I take this slow, I shouldn't break, he thought. Gentle deliberate movements, nothing too quick. “I don't know,” he eventually said. “Though I didn't inherit being a crystal pony from my parents. You may get used to it.”
Daystar laughed bitterly. “Or I may just fill up the gravity tank and let you two be the brave ones. You should go check on the princess.”
Silver did, climbing the gently sloping stairs up to the second level. Of course, Princess Luna was an Alicorn, a being of incredible power whose body had all the strength and more of the greatest earth ponies. But even without all her magic, there was no chance she would let them visit her planet for the first time without her.
“Vanaheimr kept me in full gravity growing up. After that, Equus was my home,” she had said.
But despite how much she loved the surface, it seemed the planet was taking its toll on her. Luna's eyes watered as she stared up at Silver, pupils wide with pain and shock. But she was still breathing, which was the most important thing.
“Princess, your gravity spell,” he whispered. If she didn't cast it soon, he could protect someone else just as easily. But it felt premature to impose his magical will on an Alicorn who could easily vaporize the entire ship.
The princess nodded weakly, then with obvious effort reached up and unbuckled the straps on her chest. Those across her lower body went next, her legs shuttering as she moved. But despite how much it cost her, she didn't use her magic. Not to unlock herself and not to stand up.
She leaned visibly against the railing, all four limbs shaking like an old nag. But she stood anyway, in defiance of gravity. Then she took one agonized step forward. She panted from the effort. “I remember so much about my life here, yet I don't remember gravity being so terrible. I'll have to ask my sister what we did differently all those years ago.”
Silver could only nod weakly. Though the princess had amazing strength and even more pride, he had neither. So he looked to the side, levitating the saddlebags onto his shoulders ever so slowly. A holster clanked on one side, with the handle of a handgun exposed. In a way he wasn't just a brave pioneer, setting hoof where nopony dared. He was also Princess Luna's only protection. If hostile armies waited, there was little he and one handgun could do to keep her safe.
“Daystar, are you healthy enough to work?” the princess asked, her voice echoing through the control room.
The pony grunted back. “As long as my magic holds out. I'm going to need some serious physical therapy if I want to do much in this place. Thank the stars no organic ponies are down here with us. Uh, no offense Princess.”
The Alicorn leaned down over the railing, her expression unamused. “What are the readings on the external atmospheric sensors? Do we have enough CO2 and water to begin synthesis?”
Daystar didn't walk so much as levitate her way to the atmospheric controls, removing a thin film of plastic before squinting down at the dials. “There's not a lot of CO2,” she answered, her voice getting darker with every word. “I'm looking at maybe 300 parts per million. We're talking weeks, not days. Moisture levels look good though. We should be able to get enough for electrolysis.”
“There are easy ways to procure the necessary carbon dioxide,” Luna answered. “Remember there's a planet out there full of plants, and an oxygen atmosphere to burn them in. Maybe we'll start with all those trees around my old castle.” She chuckled.
Silver and Daystar both shared a nervous look. I sure hope she was honest about her intentions, Silver thought. We're not much of an invasion, with the three of us and two pistols. The army that was banished was far stronger than us. It also was led by a Nightmare Alicorn who had fought a terrible campaign across Equestria. But Silver knew only the barest details, and the princess was not keen on revealing them.
“Get the fuel production started,” the princess said. “Silver and I will go out and secure enough water to fill the gravity tank.”
“Take some good pictures for the history books,” Daystar called, settling into her chair in front of the atmospheric console with visible relief. She didn't follow as they prepped for departure.
Some scientific pony somewhere at Cozen Shade University was probably having an aneurysm right about now as they considered the two of them stepping out onto the surface of an alien world. Without days of necessary tests and analysis, how could they know that Equestria was safe?
But the princess wouldn't hear of any of it. They had all come from Equus after all, and a thousand years wasn't so long in evolutionary terms. There wasn't even any need for respirators, since of course they could analyze the atmosphere outside from the safety of the control room.
There were many strange trace gases, but Silver Star was not trained to recognize the interfering light patterns that detected and analyzed the composition. All he needed to know was whether there was enough oxygen for life. Their view from the tiny windows made that clear enough. He had never seen so much green.
As he passed the viewport, he froze in place, staring outside at what was probably a farmer's field left fallow between harvests. The ground for a short distance had been scorched black and was now lifeless, but when he looked a little further a strange mat of green covered everything.
It rose taller in some places than even the lushest greenhouse. As he watched a group of strange winged things like graceful feathered rats passed by the window, with wings wider in proportion to their body than any Pegasus.
The princess caught his eye and chuckled quietly to herself. “Enjoying the birds? Just wait until you hear them sing.”
He descended through the ship's many layers towards the exit. Soon enough, he was crouching through the narrow maintenance corridor that snaked its way around the ship’s triplet engines. Finally he came to a door. Not an airlock since that was up in the crew capsule. This was only a door.
He twisted the heavy locking mechanism with his magic, knowing full well that his delicate limbs could not possibly survive the strain. It rumbled and shook, and several locks clicked one at a time. With one final click the door swung forward, crashing down on the dirt beyond.
Outside, a sky of deep blue instead of black or slate gray. There was a gentle breeze of warm air against his face. His eyes twitched reflexively, and he turned to one side, expecting a heating grate to be attached to the side of the rocket. But of course there were no such protrusions on a vessel that needed to be aerodynamic. There is natural heat here, he thought. For a few seconds, his brain simply refused to accept it. Nothing natural could feel this good.
Beyond the little section of ground that their ship had scorched was life. The mostly flat field continued for some distance, with a layer of plant a little like moss, but taller and more vibrant. Then were low walls, and beyond them a taller amber plant with long stalks weighed down heavily by fat seeds. He could practically taste them from here.
“Silver Star, could you move aside? I would like to be the first.”
Some part of him had expected this. He had been the first to the door, not because he thought he would have the honor of being the first out, but because he would need to check it for safety. He couldn't imagine the terrible roar of their engines going unnoticed, not by a planet filled with ponies. But there was no army waiting outside. No one at all, in fact.
He moved to one side, lowering his head deferentially to the princess. She wobbled with each step, obviously still in terrible pain. She gritted her teeth and did not cry as she stepped down the short ramp, and her hooves finally touched blackened soil.
She took slow deliberate steps out onto the black earth. When she spun around to look at him, her eyes were filled with tears. “I never thought I'd see it again,” she whispered.
“I worried I wouldn't see you again, either,” said a strange voice. It was deep and elegant, in an accent unlike anything Silver Star had ever heard. Striding out from around the side of the rocket, where she was unseen from the exit ramp, came another pony. The Alicorn was massive, as tall as an adult citizen of Tranquility. Though instead of willowy and thin, her limbs were sturdy, like she could lift a whole dome and throw it across the moon.
Her mane floated out around her as the Nightmare’s had once done. It obscured the blue sky behind where she stood, and Silver was frozen in awe at the magical strength he felt. Even if he had wanted to draw the pistol, he couldn't have. It wasn't like a piece of plastic could do anything to a creature like this.
But for all her incredible magical strength, this Alicorn was almost naked. She wore a golden crown and a large broach across her chest, along with horseshoes adorned with elegant filigree. Yet he felt no spell on any of it. No sophisticated magical shield. Like Princess Luna, this Alicorn had arrived unarmed.
He knew who she must be. The Sun Tyrant, the terrible force that had ruled over Equestria with hooves of iron and a heart of stone. She was the Alicorn who had driven Princess Luna in her rebellion long ago. Celestia had won that ancient war only at terrible cost to the Lunar Army and a death sentence for her own sister.
Yet this Alicorn was missing all of that. He could feel no hostility radiating from her. Her eyes were watery with tears. “Whatever you think of me, know that sending you to the Polestar was the only chance I saw to purify the Nightmare’s infection. The only chance I had to see my sister again.”
Silver Star had imagined this meeting would occur on equal footing. Yet as Princess Luna advanced toward her, he saw just how small and feeble she looked. She was an adolescent version of an Alicorn, rather than the mighty ruler that stood before them. The Nightmare had taken so much of her.
Princess Luna stopped just out of reach, eclipsed by the shadow of the towering Alicorn. “The program just sent me away. It protected the Armory, but little else.” She turned, nodding towards Silver. “They saved me. Him and the ones who came before him, who were willing to see in me what my sister couldn’t.”
Princess Celestia wavered at the words. Though no magic was involved, she shook as though she had been struck a physical blow. “You don't know how many nights I spent staring up at the moon and wishing I could go back. I was young too. You had killed so many. If it hadn't been my spell, it would have been an assassin's dagger.”
More and more, Silver Star felt that he was watching something not meant for him. Yet when he tried to retreat, Luna looked up at the sound of his crystal hooves against the steel and shook her head. So he remained.
“Can you ever forgive me? Our castle didn't survive the siege, but I salvaged as many of your belongings as I could. There's a tower waiting for you in Canterlot now, and a seat on the throne of Equestria.”
Princess Luna stared back. Her limbs were no longer shaking under the weight of gravity, though Silver felt no spell from her. “I forgive you,” Luna whispered. They met in an embrace that Silver did not watch. He turned politely to one side, though he could not miss the sound of so many tears.
Yet when they were done, the princess continued where she had left off. “I forgive you, but there is no throne waiting for me in Equestria anymore.” She looked up. There in the late afternoon sky the moon hung low, seeming far larger than it should be compared to such a vast object as Equus. Silver almost imagined he could see Tranquility, though its domes were protected by thick layers of regolith and would not be wasting light.
“I don't know what you thought would happen when you banished us, but ponies that were once the Lunar Army have exceeded expectations a thousand times. My ponies are there, so my home is there also.”
Celestia nodded; there was something resolute in her eyes. Had she expected this? Had she been watching the lunar surface with a telescope of her own all these years? Silver didn't have the courage to ask. “Then something good did come of this,” Celestia whispered. “A brave little princess once taught me that no creature may rule who does not love her subjects more than herself.”
“But I did not make this visit to socialize,” Princess Luna finally said. “The nation of Tranquility has grown large in the shadow of the moon. Yet for all their genius, there are some things we cannot do. I come as a formal ambassador to open trade negotiations. It will be days, perhaps weeks before my rocket is ready to return. I hope we can make arrangements in that time.”
“And if a formal relationship were to be opened,” Princess Celestia continued, smiling weekly at her sister. “You might find good reasons to visit. For purely diplomatic purposes, of course.”
“Of course,” Luna echoed, returning her sister’s smile.
“And if you're willing, I know of an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to Equestria. The study of history is not as popular in Equestria as I would like, but there is at least one young unicorn who has been watching for your return with growing fear. I could use your help giving her a critical learning experience. Landing outside Ponyville is already a dramatic first act.”
For a few seconds, Princess Luna was silent, her mouth hanging open. “I've been gone a thousand years,” she began. “And the first thing you do when I get back is ask for help with a practical joke?”
Then she laughed.
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Yes, this is the closure the story needed. A lovely chapter.
Thanks Starscribe this chapter helps a lot with closure.
Thanks for taking the time to give this story the ending it deserved.
Thank you for this, Starscribe. This is exactly the one piece of the narrative I felt was missing.
While I was happy with the story as it was, I can't deny that this was a vast improvement. Thank you for giving the sisters some much needed closure.
i like to think the practical joke is basically happens same way as canon and getting hit by the elements of harmony restored Luna body to her full glory
Now THIS is the closure the story needed. Finally, I can bid farewell to the ponies of Moonrise with a clear conscience. Thank you for an incredible adventure.
Thank you. Just....thank you. It's been a hell of a ride.
This. This is good. Yes.
I would recommend putting this chapter before the one with Magpie going to her hometown, unless you already did that.
This is what it needed. Thank you!
And thus the stars did aid in her escape. For a given value of "stars" and "escape", anyway.