1: Those We Leave Behind

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High above among the snow covered spires of Canterlot Castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle silently watched over the valley at the foot of the mountain. There, the forests had long since been cleared away, and now served as a launching point for several shuttlecraft.

A slight frown occupied her face as light falling snow obscured her view of the outside. Her private quarters were warm enough however. A fire gently crackled in the hearth. A bed now stripped of its sheets sat off to one side while Twilight’s only saddlebag waited for its owner.

The only sound in the room was the radio with the news channel playing. ~“With Princess Celestia and the weather teams working overtime, the launch window for today should bring about thawing weather this chilly April afternoon.”~

In her mind, Twilight could still see Equestria’s golden age of warm spring days and hot summers. The streets of Canterlot bustling with throngs of ponies.

~“Today marks the day for the departure of the first Seed ship. I believe this reporter speaks for all of Equestria, and even the whole world, when I say: To these chosen few we wish the best of luck.”~

Hundreds of birds raced through Twilight’s memories with her flying among them. A solitary tear dampened her face as Twilight remembered her friends flying with her over the past four hundred years; Rainbow Dash, Lightning Fly, Dusty, Paper Fan, and many more during her long life. Each of them had granted that which she loved most: friendship. And now I have to leave so many behind… for the good of ponykind.

Twilight gazed up towards the sun. The weakened star peaked through small breaks in the clouds, but it was much dimmer than how Twilight remembered it used to be.

The sound of the radio clicking off brought Twilight’s attention to a new arrival in her room. Standing stoically by the now silent radio was a grey royal changeling with moderately long orange hair that was cut in all right angles. Unlike the changelings of old, this princess had fur so she could integrate better with ponykind. However, she was still riddled with holes, but had been genetically modified to have a much straighter spiraled horn that could easily pass for a unicorn's. Like Twilight Sparkle, she had a computerized headset wrapped around her horn that was colored gold with amethyst inlays. She did not bear a cutie mark.

“Praxia, I take it you’re here to tell me it’s time,” Twilight said with heavy finality.

Praxia gave Twilight a weak smile. “I am. Although knowing you, Sensei, you already know that.”

Twilight heaved an emotionally heavy sigh and turned back to look at Canterlot, her birthplace, one more time. “I’ll be along shortly.”

Praxia tilted her head with one ear drooping to the side. “You already spoke with Celestia and the other princesses right?”

“...Yes, I did.” Twilight tried to keep her voice emotionally level.

With a light buzzing sound to herald her approach, Praxia flew over and briefly nuzzled Twilight's shoulder. “I know this is hard, sensei, but this isn’t the end for them. They’ll lead their own seed ships before the star fades.”

“But their destination won’t be the same as ours,” Twilight whispered, fearful her voice would break. She couldn’t afford to break down now. Not when she had to be strong for others.

Twilight could see the rooftops and some of the streets of Canterlot were blanketed with ponies watching the launch pads. Twilight tried to imagine what they were feeling. Hope for the future of our species? Betrayal for not getting selected? Fear? Sorrow?

A little red box superimposed itself over the vision of both mares vision via their headset’s connection to their internal mana system. It was depicting a warning sign on the left and a green stallion’s face on the right. “T-minus three hours to launch. All designated colonists are to report to their respective launch vehicle immediately.”

The message started to repeat but Twilight silenced it with a small mote of mana. “Come on, Praxia, we should go.”

Just over two hours later, Twilight stood on the snow covered launch scaffolding. She shivered in her white and red environment suit, thanks in part to not having her helmet on yet. Standing tall beside the scaffold was the ship that would take her into orbit. A line of ponies of all tribes walked past her as they filed into the ship.

Like their princess, each of them wore the same white and red environment suits. Every last one of their faces were obscured by the helmets they wore, but Twilight didn’t need to see them to know what they were feeling. For she was feeling the same trepidation, excitement, and sorrow of leaving all they knew behind.

As for Twilight herself, she tried to keep her mind occupied by checking off all of the assigned passengers that walked by. Her checklist was little more than a hologram that only she could see. A scanner on the scaffolding ceiling checked off the passengers one by one.

Fifty minutes before launch, Twilight’s list was complete, and everyone on her ship was accounted for, save one. Why is she running this late?! Again!

Twilight waited irritably with one eye on the clock. I try to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she’s cutting this way too close. Twilight was about to call said missing person when she saw a white and red blur in the distance. She scowled deeply at the figure as it came to a nearly crashing halt in front of her. The focus of Twilight’s ire was a pegasus mare, practically still a filly, with a dirty red, brown, and steel grey mane. The mare's dusty grey fur had speckles of frost clinging to her thanks to the frigid climate. Her strong amber eyes, shaped like her mother's, were narrowed in a poor attempt to keep bits of ice in the wind from blinding her.

Twilight’s anger was hiccuped by the fact that the pegasus was wearing her full environment suit, minus the helmet. “Prism Flash! Where have you been, young lady?! You know the weather teams can only give us a short window!”

“Really sorry, momma,” Prism said placatingly. “I got here early like you asked, but then I remembered you forgot to pack the-”

“Show me when we’re on Seed One,” Twilight fumed as she secured her helmet in place.

“Yes, ma’am!” Prism snatched the helmet she had left earlier from an alcove behind Twilight before racing across the gangplank to the shuttle.

With the source of her maternal anger absent, Twilight’s mood shifted first to relief before settling on forlorn sorrow. As she slowly made her way towards the shuttle, Twilight looked up towards Canterlot Castle, and Celestia’s royal spire in particular. Twilight’s emotional strength threatened to buckle, but she forced herself to burn the image on Canterlot Castle into her mind for one last time.

~“T-minus thirty minutes,”~ mission control reminded her.

With a heavy heart, Twilight walked the final steps and entered the airlock. She turned and pressed the panel to close the door, only to gasp at what she saw beyond the glass.

Standing out there in the snow was Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. They were dressed in only their royal regalia instead of the thermal clothing they usually wore. The sight of them instantly brought Twilight back to her early years of being Celestia’s prized student.

~“From start to finish, you have always made me proud, Twilight,”~ Celestia said over the radio from her modified regalia. Celestia normally looked painfully thin from her long efforts at keeping the sun alive, but here she looked as young and strong as she ever did.

Twilight pressed herself against the small porthole, finally losing the battle to stop her tears.

~ “Just as you saved me from myself,”~ Luna began with a warm smile she rarely displayed anymore, ~“We send you off to save Ponykind from our mistakes.”~

The trio walked towards the ship as Cadance spoke. ~“Go with our faith, and our love, Twilight. We know if anypony can succeed, it would be you.”~

She couldn’t take it anymore. Twilight teleported to her fellow alicorns’ side and embraced them in a crushing hug. The other princesses squeezed her right back. Some part of Twilight’s mind recognized the illusion spell Celestia was using, but Twilight blocked it out for the moment.

Celestia carefully laid her head on Twilight’s helmet. “All of Equestria’s hopes and dreams go with you, Twilight. I know with all my heart that you’ll succeed.”

“Forge a newer, better path, Twilight,” Luna advised with a friendly yet stern tone. “You are the best of us for that task.”

“You have my word,” Twilight choked between sobs. “Equestria won’t fade away.”

“Don’t feel too lonely out there, Twilight,” Cadance said with forced playfulness. “I’ll be on the next Seed ship out. We’ll all be together again someday.”

Twilight looked up to Celestia. “Even you?”

“I will do my best,” Celestia replied definitely. “Count on it.”

Releasing a shuddering breath, Twilight found renewed strength in her fellow peers.

~T-minus fifteen minutes to launch.~

With one last squeeze, Twilight detached herself from the other princesses and teleported back into the airlock. ~ “Please, everypony, stay strong.”~

~“Isn’t that our line?”~ Cadance replied with a smirk.

Celestia remained quiet as she closed the distance and placed her hoof on the glass. Twilight pressed her suited hoof on her side of the glass, fighting renewed tears. ~“Go now, Twilight. Go with all the strength you can muster. Our thoughts will always be with you.”~

With a flash of light, Celestia teleported the three of them to a safe distance from the rocket, leaving Twilight behind. With warring emotions, Twilight dropped her hoof and made her way to the passenger area.

It reminded her a lot of a passenger aircraft cabin, save for built-in ladders instead of simple walkways. Everyone was strapped in, and waiting pensively as the rocket started to rumble. Twilight saw someone waving her down at the front of the cabin. Her suit’s scanner identified the waver as Prism, so she teleported over.

Twilight’s assigned seat was waiting for her, so she quickly strapped in. She took a moment to calm down only to find Prism and Praxia on either side of her.

“I was beginning to worry that we might have to delay the launch,” Praxia said honestly. “You’ve never been good at saying goodbye.”

“You know I’d never let my personal feelings interfere with something as important as this,” Twilight countered strongly. Praxia eyed her worriedly, but ultimately said nothing further.

Twilight turned her gaze towards Prism who was looking forward with a manic grin plastered on her face. I hope she didn’t try to bring along any contraband.

She had no time to guess what it was due to the rockets firing to full thrust. The cabin rocked incessantly as the vehicle took to the heavens. Prism would have waved her forelegs in cheer were it not for the g-forces. “Woot! Bright skies and hot summer days here we come!”

Prism didn’t stop cheering the whole time as the colonists were pushed into orbit. As expected though, the shuttle evened out as weightlessness took hold.

~“This is your pilot speaking. We’ve successfully cleared the atmosphere, and are now on Hohmare Transfer trajectory to Seed One. Please remember that each of you has to visit medical before entering the cryopods.”~

Twilight was thankful that her seat was next to a window, so she was able to look out over her homeworld. Instead of the green, brown, blue, and white marble it used to be, now the planet was dominated in deep blue and white, with only a scant few places at the equator where green still persisted.

Praxia joined her teacher in looking out over their world, mostly because she was between Twilight and the window. “Do you really think the other princesses will survive long enough to build and launch the other seeds?”

‘We can only hope,” Twilight replied at length. While keeping her eyes on the planet below, Twilight wrapped a leg around Praxia. “What about you? You’re the only changeling going on any of the Seed ships.”

Praxia leaned back in her chair, the novelty of weightlessness seemed to dim for her. “I’m the only one who needs to go… or should go.”

Twilight sighed and gave Praxia a critical look that made the young changeling sink in her seat. “You are not your mother, Praxia. I have no doubt that the ponies and future changelings of our colony will be able to live together as the tribes already do.”

“Of course, Princess, thank you.”

“You can thank me when you actually take it to heart,” Twilight stated flatly.

“...Sorry.” Praxia didn’t know what else to say, and only shrunk down even more under Twilight’s reproachful gaze.

I’m getting nowhere as usual. Twilight decided to leave it be for the sake of the present, and sat back, allowing Praxia to sit normally again.

It wasn’t long before the shuttle docked with the spacedock servicing Seed One. Twilight was among the first to pass through the docking port and enter the station proper. Praxia and Prism stayed close as the rest of the passengers gathered around them. The station itself was constantly rotating, giving the feel of gravity the shuttle lacked.

The marshalling area was cramped, leaving very little head room, forcing Twilight to bend forward to keep from catching her horn on the ceiling. The walls were all polished sterile white with a trio of doors leading deeper into the station. Twilight and the others didn’t wait long before a single earth stallion in the same standard environment suit, sans the helmet, entered from the center doorlock.

“Welcome, everypony, to Seed Station. We are on a very tight schedule so I would appreciate it if we proceed in an orderly fashion. All members of the scientific corp, please enter the doors on the left, everypony else, to the right.” He looked at Twilight and bowed respectfully. “Princess Twilight, please come this way.”

“Very well.” She turned to Prism who had started to move to the left, while Praxia had to the right. “I’ll see you two before cryo, alright?”

“You just want an excuse to tuck me in again, don’t you?” Prism smirked playfully.

“No, I want to know what you’re trying to smuggle on board before we leave.”

To her credit, Prism looked insulted. “Smuggle? Hardly. See ya soon, momma!” Prism tactfully evaded further questions by wedging herself into the line of scientists.

Praxia waited patiently for Twilight’s attention to return to her. “Do you want me to find out what it is, and space it?”

“No,” Twilight groaned into her helmet. “Just be ready at cryo after I’m done with things here.”

“Of course, Sensei.”

Twilight briefly watched the young changeling go to her assigned path before turning back to the stallion. “Sorry about that.”

“Think nothing of it, your highness.” He waved towards the center doors. “This way, if you please.”

With a nod Twilight followed him out of the marshalling area, and into a long thin hallway that ran the length of the entire station. As soon as the doors closed behind them, the stallion piped up again. “While we’re on a schedule, Seed One will only launch upon your order, your highness.”

“If we have it my way, we’ll be right on time.”

“I’m sure Station Commander Weighted Scales will be happy to hear that,” the stallion said earnestly. “Before I hoof you over to him,” the stallion said while turning to face her. “I must say I am honored to have worked on this project. To make sure we don’t go extinct, and all that.”

The pair were coming to a taller section of the hallway, allowing Twilight to walk normally. “It takes immense courage to work on a vessel such as this, and not be selected to go on it.”

It was a fate that all of the dock workers shared. It felt unfair to Twilight in that moment as sadness flashed through the stallion’s eyes. “Ah, don’t worry ‘bout me. Being a part of the salvation of ponykind is good enough for me, so long as I get a plaque at your new home,” he added jokingly.

“I think I can arrange that,” Twilight said non-jokingly. “I already planned to do just that for all the dock workers, but with a monument instead. A plaque wouldn’t do your sacrifice justice.”

The stallion stopped at a door and bowed. “Thank you, Princess Twilight. Scales’ office is through here. May Elysian winds carry you forward.”

“And may Elysia await you,” Twilight replied with a regal smile.

The stallion pressed the wall panel, allowing Twilight to step into the office. Twilight found it to be more spacious than she expected. There was a desk cluttered with empty disposable coffee cups. Behind said desk on a swivel chair was a worn out looking beige unicorn stallion tapping away at a computer. Lastly, the back of his office was a wall spanning window that faced the Seed ship beyond.

“Commander Weighted Scales,” Twilight announced after a polite cough as she telekinetically removed her helmet and used a latch to secure it in between her wings.

The stallion practically jumped in his seat and stared at the purple alicorn for a brief moment before double checking the clock on his console. “My deepest apologies, Princess!” Scales half-yelled as he rapidly rounded the desk to bow to her. “I let the time of your visit slip away from me.”

“Think nothing of it,” Twilight waved off casually with a smile. Provided we aren’t delayed. “Is all the necessary cargo on board?”

“To the letter, your majesty.” Scales moved back to his desk and shuffled around for a data slate. After finding it, he waved it at Twilight, allowing the data to transfer to her personal interface. “It was proving infeasible to shrink a hydroponics bay as much as your specs required for two and a half thousand colonists, so we had to cheat a little by limiting carry on personal belongings to half originally stated to pack in more preserved food.”

“Just as well,” Twilight sighed as she flipped through the cargo manifests. “We will be really cramped in the lander until we get the prefabs set up.”

“I don’t envy you in that regard,” Scales stated with a weak attempt at humor. Twilight saw the stallion wilt at his poor delivery before refocusing on his work. “At any rate. The ship’s been inspected from top to bottom and the crew is well trained. They’ve run the simulations hundreds of times.

“As far as I’m concerned, you could land through a hurricane on top of a mountain and still be safe and sound. After that however,” Scales tilted his head and shrugged. “Will be up to you at that point, your highness.”

“As diligent as ever. Excellent work, Station Commander. Was there anything else that I need to know?”

Scales nodded with a worried frown. “Well, as you know, the Griffin Empire and the Minotaur Conglomerate are building Seed ships of their own.”

Twilight hummed, concerned about where Scales was taking this. “Yes. Intelligence says they’re planning on going to the same planet we are, mostly because it’s the best one our astronomers have found, but they’re at least four years behind us.”

“Well the state of their ships don’t give me the same picture.” Scales went back to his desk, typed in a series of commands and then rotated the tall length of glass serving as the monitor around so Twilight could see.

The screen revealed several camera feeds of two different space stations, one steel-grey, and the other colored gold. Sitting inside the ribcage-like docks were two ships. Both of them, like Seed One, had a wide central axis with circular rings attached by support struts. Scales zoomed in the camera feed, allowing better inspection, and superimposed an outline of Seed One on top of both other ships. The biggest difference Twilight saw was that the griffin ship was larger than the Equestrian one, and the minotaur vessel was larger still.

The golden one, which Twilight knew belonged to the griffins, was slightly longer than Seed One and had thicker rings. The minotaur one looked more akin to a beehive instead of a series of wheels along a single axle. Both of these ships were still under construction, but if Twilight’s untrained eye was accurate, it wouldn’t take any longer than a year for both to be ready.

“They must have stepped up construction,” Twilight said idly. “I hope they aren’t cutting any corners. That could prove disastrous.”

“One can only hope.” Scales’ tone became cautionary. “But I feel I must remind you how fiercely territorial griffins and minotaurs are.”

He didn’t need to say anything further for Twilight to catch his meaning. “We’ll have three colonies among an entire planet, Scales. And given that very nature of theirs, I suspect they’ll want to land as far from us as possible.”

“We can only hope.” Scales flipped his glass-monitor back around and waved to the door. “Everything else we can talk about on the way to the ship.”

“Sounds good.”

The next hour was dominated by talk of minute details and last minute updates. It was something that came so naturally and fluidly to Twilight that she completely lost track of time as she buried herself into her checklists. It wasn’t until Twilight stood at the airlock between the station and the ship that she brought herself back to the present.

“Well everything checks out,” Scales said tiredly. Twilight hummed affirmatively while looking at the thick yellow line with the words ‘embarkation line’ stenciled above it. So here I stand at the precipice of forever, leaving everything I know and love behind.

Once again, she fought back the tears to remain strong for her fellow ponies. Her thoughts drifted to Prism, Praxia, and one other person. Well, almost everything.

Weighted Scales was old enough to know hesitation when he saw it. He risked a breach in protocol and placed a reassuring hoof on the mare’s foreleg. “I know it must be hard, princess.” Twilight was never one for rigid protocol in the first place, so she simply gave the old stallion a somber grimace. “But this is the challenge of life, is it not? To always struggle against the cold of death.”

Twilight couldn’t help but to snort-laugh. “Quoting Marecules are we?”

“Guilty as charged. She gave excellent advice,” Scales replied with a genuine smile while dropping his hoof.

“You’d think after a few centuries I’d be wise enough to not need a pep talk.”

Scales smiled while shaking his head. “If that were so, princess, Celestia and Luna’d have no need for advisors.”

“A fair point,” Twilight conceded. “Stay safe, Weighted Scales, and stay strong.”

Scales gave a thankful nod. “May Elysian winds guide your sails, princess.”

“And may the Fields await you, Station Commander.”

With resolve in her heart, Twilight let her alicorn magic flow without restraint, turning her mane ethereal. It waved on a phantom wind with twinkling stars sparkling throughout it all. The moment she stepped through the hatch on the far side of the airlock, there would be no greater wisdom to turn to. No Celestia to guide her path, no Luna to show her the virtue of strength, and no Cadance to stand as the symbol of love.

From here on, I have to be that symbol. For the sake of my colonists, I will not fail them.

Weighted Scales marveled at the sight of Twilight Sparkle’s starry mane. It was a sight that no living being, save the other alicorns, had ever seen. In that moment, Scales felt as if he had been given a profound honor, and dipped to one knee. “If ever there was one to lead us to the stars, Princess Twilight, I have no doubt you are the best of us to do it.”

“Time to see if you’re right, Commander,” Twilight said with a regal smile while hiding her inner fears. “Farewell.”

Steeling herself, Twilight walked purposefully down the short tube between the station and Seed One. Her eyes were fixed on the door leading to her future as if it were a point of no return. Wrong. I passed that point the moment I stepped onto the rocket. This is just a new beginning.

A slight vibration brought Twilight’s attention to a series of other passenger tubes that were decoupling and retracting to the station.

Before she knew it, Twilight had crossed the threshold into Seed One. The muted grey walls and sterile white lights revealed a receiving room followed by a door into the massive circular walkways of the first ring.

While in the room, a small notch popped out of the wall and cast a red scanning laser across Twilight. “Passenger registered,” an artificial sounding male voice called out from the walls. “Colonial Governor Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to Seed One, I am Voyager, your shipboard AI. Please follow the glowing line to the bridge.”

“So I’ve been demoted to just governor now?” Twilight asked playfully as she cantered her way to the ship’s axis. Unlike the station, this hallway was completely empty of other ponies, although Twilight chalked that up to not being in the cryo ring. While she didn’t design the ship, Twilight had studied its blueprints incessantly for the past few months.

“It was royal decree #52341-C,” Voyager replied emotionlessly before starting a recording of Celestia. “Dear Twilight, given our rather amusing debates on how each of us should rule our colonies in such stark isolation, I have issued the records to title you as Colonial Governor over Princess. After all,” Celestia added with a playful tone, “a colony of barely two thousand ponies hardly qualifies as a village, let alone a nation. I propose you wait for a few generations before the population is large enough to consider the princess title again.”

Twilight tried to be amused by the decree, but Celestia’s jovial tone only made her homesick. Oblivious to Twilight’s sullen mood, Voyager spoke up. “Of course, Colonial Governor, once the ship departs space dock, you will be the sole authority on any titles and laws until you deem otherwise. You could remain a princess if you so choose.”

A joke though it was, Twilight couldn’t help but to ponder the notion as some last test Celestia had given her. I haven’t been given a test in decades. It’d be like old times in a way. “I’ll sleep on it, Voyager.”

“As you wish, Governor.”

Twilight felt like correcting him in that she hadn’t decided to take Celestia’s final test, but remembered the ship hadn’t departed yet. Right, she still has sovereignty.

Casting it from her mind, Twilight reached the central axle. Here at last she found dozens of ponies all gathering inside a tram that ran the entire length of the ship. All of them, like Twilight, were wearing their environment suits, though only a few still kept their helmets on.

Everyone gave the alicorn a respectful berth, and tried not to gawk at her flowing starry mane. Through their reflection in the steel walls and doors of the tram, Twilight saw many of the ponies’ faces light up in smiles at seeing her mane. Along with a hope that burned bright enough to even rise Twilight’s spirits.

One of the younger mares, around Prism’s age, piped up. “Um, ma’am, is it true you're going to be called a governor instead of a princess now?”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at the question. “Just how many of you already know about that decree?”

Well over half of the other ponies raised a hoof. One of the stallions had a look somewhere between confusion and curiosity. “Are you going to do that? Be a governor instead of a princess?”

“I haven’t decided yet, to be honest. You’ll have my decision before we make planetfall.”

“But, your highness, you’re not actually thinking about doing that are you!?” cried a rose colored mare.

“You’ll have my decision later,” Twilight said with regal iron, reinforcing that she was still their sovereign, princess or not.

The stern words seemed to placate the mare and most others beside her. Though Twilight didn’t get a chance to speak to the worried colonists when the tram stopped . ~“Cryo bay five.”~

The doors opened, allowing the ponies to file out, leaving Twilight alone once again. She looked around the large empty tram car with a sad frown. I hope this doesn’t become a theme.

It wasn’t much longer after that before the tram arrived at the forward command section. The tram receiving area had only a single pony manning a wall mounted terminal. The unicorn stallion had personalized his white and red suit by painting on a red cross where his cutie mark would be.

He leapt away from the console the instant the tram doors opened, and greeted Twilight with a bow and a smile. “It is an honor to finally meet you in person Colonial Princess. I am Chief Medical Officer Sawbones.”

“Good to meet you, Doctor. But I must ask. Colonial Princess?”

Sawbones saw the approving glint in Twilight’s eye. “Aye, your highness. I suspected Princess Celestia’s decree was merely a jest. It wouldn’t be proper for an alicorn of your caliber to be a simple governor after all.”

It’s a mouthful though. No pony would bother saying the whole thing, even if it has a nice ring to it. Twilight filed that thought away for the moment. “I take it you’re going to oversee my pre-freeze medications, correct?”

“I am. Although the captain assumed you’d want to watch us cast off from the bridge.”

“I was planning on doing just that.” Twilight saw that Voyager had been listening in because as soon as she said that, a line along the walls lit up, silently directing her to the bridge.

With Sawbones following tactfully behind her, Twilight followed the lights to a surprisingly small, yet noisy command bridge.

There were a total of eight seated stations including the captain's chair, with all of them in a double chevron arrangement. Aside from the walls and two rows of displays and instrument panels, there was a massive viewscreen that dominated the far wall.

The captain was facing the viewscreen which was giving a panoramic view of the left side of the station. Almost the entire station’s personnel were crowding around the scant few windows as they awaited the moment of truth. “How long until all non-crewponies are in cryo, ensign?” the captain asked as Twilight closed the short distance between the entryway and the captain's chair.

“Just over two hundred are still arriving at their designated pods. We’re still on schedule, sir.”

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your touch without me,” Twilight called out with a mischievous grin, “Spike.”

At the sound of her voice, Spike turned his chair around and smiled massively at Twilight. “And here I thought you’d actually end up late for once.” He climbed to his feet and walked over so they could hug each other. He was wearing a heavily enchanted set of stainless steel bracelets and anklets that kept him no larger than Twilight herself. It was the only thing that enabled him to be on the ship at all.

Twilight’s heart lifted at the embrace of her adopted brother. “It’s good to see you, Spike.”

Spike separated the embrace and plopped back down in his chair. “Likewise. Why don’t we catch up after we’re underway? We’ll have all the time in the world then.”

“Sounds reasonable.” Twilight gave the rest of the crew polite nods before they returned their attention to their work. Twilight found a small area where she could be out of the way, and still have a good view of the viewscreen. Oh that’s right. Prism and Praxia are waiting on me.

Twilight grabbed her helmet and locked it back into place over her head to speak privately. ~“Voyager, patch me into my student and daughter would you?”~

~“Processing… Link established.”~

Two holographic windows imposed themselves on Twilight’s vision with Praxia appearing on the right with Prism on the left. Both of them had purple veins in their eyes, indicating they had already taken their cryo-medication. “How is everything, girls? Any issues with processing?”

“Perfectly fine, princess,” Praxia spoke before Prism could say a word. Prism gave Praxia a stink eye, but didn’t interrupt. “Although the doctor said my wings won’t survive the freezing process, even with the medication.”

Twilight gave the royal changeling a sympathetic half-smile. “A shame. Those take you a while to regrow. A month, if I recall correctly.”

Prism returned the favor by interjecting before Praxia could speak. “Well it’s not like your job at the colony will require flying anyway.” If Twilight saw any need for a reprimand, neither of the young mares could see it in her face. “I finished packing our things into your room’s storage locker. Good thing we packed light, cause it was half filled with freeze dried food when I found it.”

For a brief moment, Twilight thanked technology for allowing her vast collection of books to shrink from the size of a warehouse to a small drive the size of a tooth. “Yes, the station master told me about that. Don’t eat any, cryo and a full stomach don’t mix.”

“I trust she’d rather avoid a repeat experience,” Praxia said while cringing at the disgusting memory. “Do you still have time to see us to our pods, or should we wait?” Were it not for that question, Prism might have pounced the changeling there and then and given her a revenge noogie.

Twilight recalled that both girls’ pods were next to her own, which was in the forward command section. “I’ll be there shortly. Why don’t you patch into the exterior cameras as the station waves us off.”

“Alrighty” “See you soon then,” the girls chimed before signing off.

Twilight removed her helmet in time to hear Voyager make an announcement to the bridge. “All non-crew members, save two are accounted for and in their cryo-pods.”

“I’ll tend to Prism and Praxia personally, we can leave without them in stasis.”

Spike, who had half-turned his chair to listen, silently nodded his agreement before turning to another crewmen with an expectant look. “Sir, engineering gave us the green light. Engines are primed and ready.”

“Tram is locked down, and all non-essential systems are in low-power mode,” stated another crewmember.

The hull reverberated with muffled clings and pongs. “All tethers and feed cables have detached, captain.”

“Station Control reports our departure route is clear,” said the helmsman. “Everything’s green to go, sir.”

Spike took it all in silence to savor it all. “Well that’s it then.” He turned to Twilight. “Would you like to have the honors, fearless leader?”

I don’t know about fearless, Twilight mused to herself. “I’m not the one who's been training and practicing to command this ship for the past decade. How about I be the one to give the order for planetfall?”

Spike smirked at the idea and nodded appreciatively. He turned his chair forward again and spoke in his best command voice. “Helm, take us out nice and steady. And switch on all running lights. I think we can spare the bit of power to give everypony a shooting star to hope for.”

“Aye, sir,” the two crewmen replied with anticipation running high.

Twilight was swept up in the lightening thrill of the unknown and powerful sense of adventure that took hold and smothered any feelings of homesickness and fear for the moment. The viewscreen revealed the hundreds of dockworkers all jumping and cheering as Seed One’s engines kicked in and she started to leave port. A little over a dozen smaller craft pressed up against key points of the massive colony ship to make sure it stayed straight as it left the long spindly arms of the spacedock.

Like a perfected ballet, the tug boats departed en masse from Seed One’s hull as it finished passing through the last arm of the dock.

Spike pressed a few buttons on his chair to keep the viewscreen centered on the station with the mostly pale white marble of Equuis behind it. The thrill Twilight felt from a few seconds ago was overtaken by trepidation and fear for those left behind. She walked over to stand beside Spike’s chair, in some vain hope to slow how quickly the planet was shrinking from the camera. Even Spike was caught in the same state as he leaned forward in his chair, eyes fixed on his homeworld.

The rest of the bridge crew did the same, watching as everything and everyone they knew disappeared behind them as the ship accelerated.

With renewed tears, thankfully hidden by her helmet, Twilight was about to order Voyager to patch her through to Canterlot Castle. No. I said my goodbyes. I’ll only make it harder on everypony by dragging it out further, and they have to focus on keeping Equestria together while building the next Seed Ship.

“Kill the exterior lights when we pass the moon,” Spike ordered, breaking Twilight from her thoughts. “We’ve still got work to do people. Let’s get the ship ready for Voyager while we take our little nap.”

“Aye, sir.”

Spike looked up at Twilight with a carefully neutral expression. “We’re going to be busy here for several hours. Why don’t you tend to the P sisters until I get a free moment to catch up?”

“Good idea.” Twilight removed her helmet with a loud click and gave Spike a sisterly kiss on the forehead and fussed up his head spines for old times’ sake. “See you in a bit.”

It was only a short walk between the bridge and Twilight’s personal quarters. Since she was an ageless alicorn, Twilight was not planning on sleeping the entire time through space. As before, Voyager served as a backup to Twilight’s own memory of the ship’s layout. She moved through the semi-busy hallways. Crew members raced to and fro, locking down systems, and performing startup sequences on the automated functions.

No doubt the crew will be all over the ship now that the colonists are in stasis.

She gave passing nods and received polite bows as Twilight wound her way through three short hallways to find her quarters. Within, she found Prism and Praxia looking exhausted as the medication was putting them to sleep, cryo-pod or not.

The room was highly spartan to Twilight’s already modest standards. There was no window, save for a screen mimicking one by showing the tiny mote of light that was Equuis. The single bed was just large enough to accommodate her larger than normal size, a small closet for her suit and five spares, and a minimalist adjoined bathroom. There was also not a drop of artistry or flare in the white room, save for Twilight and Prism’s cutie marks stenciled above their respective pods.

Truly fitting accommodations for royalty, Twilight mused dryly as she approached her daughter and student. Both young mares had been deep in thought away from each other, and sluggishly got to their hooves upon Twilight’s entry.

“Sorry it took so long, girls.” Twilight removed her helmet and placed it on the bed. “I hope you saw our departure on the ‘window’ over there.”

Prism said nothing before roping Twilight into a hug. Praxia hesitated, not wanting to be so personal with her princess and teacher. “We did,” she said with a surreal feeling. Twilight could relate with the overwhelming sense of the finality of their departure. “I made sure crewmare Floss Gate secured your lab equipment near the hydroponics bay. I’d have done it myself but-” Praxia was interrupted by a long yawn as she started to droop onto the floor.

Praxia’s date with the floor was put on hold when Twilight caught her in her magic and pulled her over to join in the hug. Prism fussed, but she wasn’t about to let the changeling suffer from love starvation. Both ponies gave Praxia some much needed love, Twilight by far more than Prism, but it wasn’t long before some of Praxia’s mental cloudiness faded. She quickly reciprocated the embrace, silently thankful of the gift of love, even if Prism’s was more hesitant.

Prism waited until Praxia’s eyes held more focus and her grip was strong. “Those meds must be a real kick in the stomach for you.”

Sensing the moment had passed, Praxia let go of the embrace and resumed her ‘student’ mentality. “At least I’m enough of a pony to make it work at all. If there is nothing else, sensei, I should go to sleep before the medication saps me further.”

“See you on the other side, Praxia,” Twilight said warmly as she moved over to Praxia’s pod. With a flick of magic, Twilight activated the panel, causing the horizontal pod to slide forward from the wall and open with a misty hiss. With Prism’s assistance, Praxia shed her environmental suit to reveal her wings had already been surgically removed above the root to save her from the pain of them being damaged in the pod.

Twilight pressed a few more buttons to prep the pod, causing the temperature in the room to drop rapidly. Praxia stepped onto the floor level pod and laid down on her belly. “Sleep well, Praxia,” Twilight said reassuringly.

“Try not to wet the bed because of a nightmare,” Prism chided playfully.

“That was one time!” Praxia steamed. She wanted to say more, but the pod closed, muffling the rest of her retort. Within seconds, Praxia passed out and went limp as ice crawled up the sides of the pod’s glass. Twilight double checked Praxia’s vital signs before turning to her daughter.

“Now, before you go in, I want to know what made you so late in getting to the shuttle.”

Prism knew this was coming, but wilted anyway. “I know you’re going to be mad, but I couldn’t leave it behind.”

Twilight scowled deeply. “You didn’t.”

“I had to bring dad’s rifle!” Prism huffed. “I don’t know why you’d want to leave it behind!”

“Because it was in a museum!,” Twilight countered heatedly. “I thought all those plans of yours were just wishful thinking.”

“Well they were… actually,” Prism replied with a defeated huff. “Luna was waiting for me at the war museum. She let me have it.”

“So you didn’t steal it?” Twilight asked with her best Vexated Parental Grimace. “We’re not that far from Equuis yet, I don’t want to have to contact Luna to find out you're lying.”

“Be my guest,” Prism challenged with a wave at a wall computer. “She’ll probably give you a good tongue lashing for letting it sit the museum instead of taking it with us in the first place.”

Twilight studied her daughter intently, searching for signs and tells. She knew Prism well enough that the call wasn’t necessary. Twilight sighed as a headache threatened to come. “Alright, I believe you. I trust you declared it with the security chief.”

“Hey, I’m reckless not stupid. I made sure to pass it over to security, and I did it while none of the other civilians were around so they won’t complain about us getting to bring a personal weapon.”

She has my brains, but all of her father’s brashness, Twilight grumbled. It didn’t help matters that the back of her mind reminded her that was one of his endearing qualities. “I suppose since you had Luna’s blessing, I’ll let it slide, but you better make sure it never leaves your sight once we land.”

Prism’s ire melted away at the begrudging approval, and mentally hoof pumped. “You have my word, momma.”

Twilight saw her point had made it through Prism’s stubbornness in some fashion or another and waved towards the pod. “Go on, get!”

Prism fought her lethargy and shuffled into the pod and slumped with her face pointing towards Twilight at the controls. “We’ll be fine, momma.”

Twilight paused right before pressing the activation switch, and looked at her daughter with moderately raised spirits. “You think so?” she asked with probing curiosity.

Prism gave a tired grin with droopy eyes. The padded mat of the pod was far more comfortable than it should have been. “Because we have you to guide us.” Twilight gave a wry grin at Prism’s child-like affection. “Maybe if the others had listened to you, we’d have never needed to leave in the first…” Prism gave up fighting the medication and fell asleep.

The comment brought back all of the repressed sense of loss Twilight had been holding back. She quickly activated the pod, and let the pod claim Prism. With no one else around, and Spike expected to be busy for hours, Twilight let her tears flow freely.

Wracking, heaving sobs filled the room as Twilight sat heavily onto the bed and cried into the stiff pillow. Ponyville, her old castle, Canterlot, Celestia, almost everyone and everything was gone, now and possibly forever. For over an hour, Twilight bled her frayed emotions into her pillow, completely uncaring of the busy work she had planned for.

Twilight lost all sense of time to the point where she was startled out of her pillow-muffled sobbing when a gloved hand gently squeezed her shoulder. She jolted her head up only to find it was Spike wearing a sympathetic slight frown. “Hey, Twilight. Mind if I sit with you?”

Twilight used a foreleg to wipe her eyes and sat up, giving Spike some room. “Sorry. I should have set a timer so I didn’t miss when your shift was over.”

Spike gave his adopted sister a much needed hug. Out of everyone, he was the only soul left who she felt no reservation of opening her heart bare to. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll always be here for you, Twilight.”

Spike couldn’t stop his voice from cracking from his own raw emotions. All the training and mental preparation had given him the strength to perform his duties, but here with Twilight, he let it flow as much as she did.

Spike let the silence hang for what felt like an hour, trying to let it all out so he could function later. When he felt he could keep his voice level, Spike’s face went from somber to warm sympathy.

“Beyond this flesh,
Beyond this dream,
I have danced among the stars.
My children dance on endless worlds.”

The poem pulled Twilight up from the depths of her grief. Mostly thanks to her scholarly mind being compelled to identify the poem. “Whispers of Equuis, by Bird Song.”

“I figured you’d recognize it,” Spike replied with satisfaction at dimming Twilight’s sorrow. “I used it for the ship’s motto. What with it being about hope after all.”

Twilight sat up properly, and rubbed her eyes and nose clean with a towel she magically absconded from the bathroom. “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Bird’s original meaning.”

“Maybe not,” Spike shrugged, “but that won’t stop me from using it as such anyway.”

“Fair enough,” Twilight chuckled weakly. Spike let the conversation lapse into silence, giving Twilight time to recover emotionally. “Well, we better make sure your reinterpretation is prophetic.”

Spike turned his gaze towards the general direction of their future home. “Couldn’t agree more.”

2: Planetfall

View Online

The journey to the new world was long, quiet, and thankfully uneventful. Seed One traveled for decades at a fraction of light speed with its living passengers unaware of time’s passage. As with all things, the long sleep would not last forever.

Within the electronic veins and arteries of Seed One, Voyager scrutinized the solar system the colony ship had finally arrived in. Five planets, one of fire-blasted rock that was too close to the white star, three gas giants on the outer fringe, and a singular green, brown, and blue world sitting almost right where it should be.

Voyager made the necessary course corrections and slowly decelerated the ship. The AI waited until a month before arrival to send the awaken signal to the crew. However, the AI waited to the day before arrival to waken Twilight Sparkle.

Voyager proceeded with care greater than that of a surgeon as it went through each meticulous step in the unfreezing process. Such was its skill, that Twilight remained unconscious during the thaw right up until a short electrical spark zapped her awake.

Thankfully, Voyager’s programming gave it the foresight to open the glass prematurely, because the instant Twilight awoke, she sat bolt upright, crying out in surprise.

She felt deathly cold, and shivered on the pod that was now cycling the cryo gasses out of the air and pumping in hot air. “Thawing process complete,” Voyager said emotionlessly, snapping Twilight’s attention to the speaker above her head. “Colonial Governor, a doctor will be with you shortly for your post-thaw examination, please remain in your quarters until he arrives.”

“Wha-?” Twilight asked before her short-lived post-thaw cognitive impairment faded. Oh. Right.

“Yeeooch!” cried a voice to Twilight’s left. She turned to see Prism had just received the same shock therapy she had just had. Prism blindly rubbed her plot that still stung from the shock. “That smarts.”

Shortly thereafter, Praxia made a similar shout, but otherwise held her tongue.

Twilight pulled herself up to her hooves, an act made easier by the weaker faux-gravity of the ship’s rotation. “You girls alright?”

“I feel like I’ve been kicked in the face with an iceberg,” Prism groaned woefully.

Praxia gave a ragged cough after accidentally inhaling too much freezing air, prompting Twilight to lightly tap her on the back. “I’ll live, thank you.”

All three mares clumsily climbed out of their pods and stumbled around the room on shaky legs. Of course, it was only the weak gravity that allowed them to stay on their hooves at all and not go floating off.

“Nopony ever told me about this in orientation,” Prism grumbled at the paradoxical mix of some stiff muscles side by side with some limp ones.

Twilight found her way over to the bed to give her something stable to lean against. “Studies of prolonged cyro-sleep only vouched for its safety, not convenience.”

Praxia found a wall to lean against, and quietly watched in amusement as Prism fumbled in some act of bravado to not need something to prop herself up on. “I suppose this might be a good time to remind everypony that since we’re awake, we’ve undoubtedly arrived at our new home.”

Twilight felt her heart skip a beat. “Then we should go see it.”

Prism had a grin that threatened to cleave her face in two. “Then let’s go! I remember seeing a big wall of screens in the mess hall that will give a better view than that pitiful thing in the corner,” she said while pointing at the small screen on the wall.

Twilight felt as though her legs were not getting any less stiff, what with a cramp starting to creep up on her hindlegs. “Hold on, Prism. We can’t go anywhere just yet.”

Prism’s quest for the exit was halted by the door hissing open, bringing everyone’s eyes to Doctor Sawbones who was pushing a small cart in front of him. “House call, anypony?”

Prism stumbled to the side to allow Sawbones to fully enter the room. “Long time no see, doc,” Prism giggled at her own joke.

The rest of the mares carefully closed in on the bed while Sawbones gave a polite chuckle at the bad joke. “Well then I guess you’re all due for an exam. Can’t let that AI do everything.” He grabbed a needle with his magic along with an IV bag. “Colonial Princess, if you wouldn’t mind lying down for this.”

“Alright.” Doing as requested, Twilight laid on the bed as Sawbones deftly inserted the IV needle in and set the bag on a stand that he had extended from the cart.

“There we go,” Sawbones said with a pleasant bedside manner. “Once the bag is drained, you shouldn’t experience anymore after-effects of the cryo meds. But I think it should go without saying that this,” he pointed at the IV bag filled with clear blue liquid, “is a diuretic. So I hope you mares can share the bathroom.”

Twilight and Praxia gave him a flat and entirely unamused scowl while Prism hid muffled chuckles behind a hoof. If Sawbones noticed he made no reaction to it, only keeping his amused grin all the while.

Roughly half an hour later, Twilight along with her daughter and student were at the mess hall, gazing upon the wall of screens that was giving a perfect crystal clear view of the planet they were now in orbit above. With the ship preparing to land, no crewmen were present, however a handful of colonists were showing up to take a glimpse of their new home. Not one person went for the food line, instead opting to join the growing crowd around the screens.

By Twilight’s estimate, the planet had about as much landmass as Equis did, but the sheer lack of greenery over most of the planet had the colonists gossiping. Twilight couldn’t help but to be enamored by the strange alien beauty of the mostly blue world and felt eager to get started on building a new home.

“You look more cheerful than I expected,” said Praxia after noticing Twilight’s growing smile. Twilight turned to the grey changeling. “How long did you stay awake after I went to sleep?”

Twilight initially worried about eavesdroppers, but decided to let it happen anyway in a bid for transparency. “Little over a month after Spike went to sleep. Luna’s cathartic exercises are truly effective.”

“What are you going to name the planet?” Prism asked, drawing the attention of several nearby ponies in the process.

“I gave it some thought while you slept, and I’ve kinda grown attached to the name Avalon.”

“As good a name as any,” Prism replied with a passive nod.

~“Now hear this,”~ Voyager called over the PA and halting most conversations. ~“The captain has closed the mess hall kitchen. A health advisory is in effect for all crew and colonists to refrain from eating until after planetfall. That is all.”~

Twilight, along with many others, looked back down from the speaker above their heads and back towards the blue marble of a world. Her brief moment of carefree excitement had been burdened by the responsibly of her station. However, she took a sort of pleasure in that very same burden. “Girls, I have to go to the command section. I’ll be needed to pick a landing site.”

Prism hovered above her mother with a wild excitement in her eyes. “Ooo! Pick one near a beach or river. Waterside property will never be cheaper!”

A few nearby ponies voiced their approval of the idea, yet Twilight only responded with a light-hearted smirk. “I’ll take that under advisement.”

As with most aspects of the ship, there was little space to spare. Such as it was, the bridge also had to serve as the terrestrial cartography center as well. Upon entering the bridge, Twilight saw the command crew, were busy at work preparing the shift to reconfigure for planet fall. Spike and two scientists were gathered around the viewscreen conversing too quietly for Twilight to hear. A much more detailed map of the planet surface was on display, yet Spike turned away to see Twilight enter the room.

“Ah, there’s our Colonial Princess. We prepared a list of some good landing sites,” Spike called with an amused yet professional smile.

Twilight rolled her eyes and joined Spike at the viewscreen, waving off the bridge crew’s bows and other curt signs of respect. “I take it Sawbones’ phrase has become popular when I wasn’t looking.”

“Possibly,” Spike replied casually before sweeping a hand towards the screen. “Voyager’s picked out a dozen potential landing sites using data from the satellite launched ahead of us. But we only have five sets of tectonic probes.”

The two scientists at Spike’s side made way for Twilight so she could better scrutinize the map. She used that time to try and remember what those probes were for. “Ah, you mean the probes that can detect usable metal deposits and make sure the ground can support the landing.”

“That would be them.” With all four of them crowded around the viewscreen in an already tightly packed bridge, Spike was getting pressed against the wall. “This is not really my area of expertise, so why don’t I leave it to you, and Doctors Granite Slab and Rocky Shores,” Spike nodded his head towards the thestral and earth pony respectively standing with them.

Granite Slab bowed at Twilight while Spike vaulted over the helmconsole so he could return to his chair. “Granite Slab, at your service, Colonial Princess.”

The earth mare Rocky Shores bowed a little more deeply than Granite while trying not to look too dazzled by Twilight’s starry mane. “Rocky Shores. I believe you already know my credentials, Princess, or else I’d probably not be here,” she said with a sheepish nervous laugh.

“Good to meet you both.” Twilight gave a regal nod before turning her attention fully to the map. “So what are our options?”

Now that she had a moment to actually look at the detailed map, Twilight was a little worried at the atmospheric composition. “Hmm, the oxygen content is actually higher than Equis, but there’s an astonishing concentration of airborne organic particles throughout the entire biosphere. I’m going to have to order that we keep our atmosphere completely separated from the native air. There’s no telling what the local microbes or those particles would do to us.”

“A wise precaution, Princess.” Granite Slab looked up at the map. “Voyager, highlight Site One.”

One small section of a landlocked territory was highlighted by a green box before the section was enlarged and replaced the larger planetary view. “As you can see, Princess, this site looks sturdy enough, and has access to a river for easy drinking water and possible water transport later on. The lands around it are already somewhat flat, making it perfect for urbanization or farming.”

Rock Shores had a head mounted pointing laser, and switched it on to indicate a massive overgrowth nearby. “There’s also this… I want to say a forest of some sort, that could prove to be useful.”

Ultimately, the checking and investigation of each site took well over two hours for Twilight and the two scientists to go through. With no signs of indigenous civilization or even signs of intelligent life at all, there was a whole world to pick from.

Eventually, Twilight zeroed in on one site that particularly grabbed her interest. It was a wide area of grasslands, or at least this world’s analogy for grass, with some rolling hills nearby. But the key to Twilight was the wide and deep bottomed river with the open sea cutting into the land to form a natural harbor. “See, Site Twelve is perfect. The river stretches back through a good swath of the continent while the proximity of the natural harbor means that as the colony grows, we can use container ships instead of having to do everything by air or road.”

Granite hummed his approval while pointing at a coast line to the north. “There’s a sandy beach not too far from there either. We’d be able to use that to make glass for domes.”

Rocky Shores brightened at the idea. “Well, history speaks of hundreds of cities thriving near rivers or the coast. I think we should go for it. Shall we send the probes to find the exact landing coordinates then?”

“Let’s.” Twilight turned to Spike who had been keeping an ear on them for the past half hour. He only had to nod at Twilight to show there was no need to fill him in.

“Ensign, send the probes to the Princess’ new landing site.”

Sensing her input wasn’t needed until the probe’s data returned, Twilight excused herself from Granite and Rocky and cantered over to join her brother. However, Spike was already out of his chair and motioning for her to join him near the door for a bit of privacy.

Once they were somewhat alone, Spike’s joviality fell away with the face of a stoic captain replacing it. “As amusing it all is, Twily, have you decided to stick with one particular title yet?”

Twilight found it odd that Spike wanted privacy for this alone, but used the isolation to speak her mind. “I think Sawbones’ idea of Colonial Princess is a decent half measure towards Celestia’s last decree. Ponies have been ruled by princesses since the founding of Equestria, but we can’t be hamstrung by tradition. Not here.”

A modicum of Spike’s humor returned. “Careful now, Twilight. Keep that up and you might end up calling yourself Director, or President for Life.”

“Pah,” Twilight snorted derisively before giving him a look of concern. “How about the real reason you asked me back here.”

“I’m worried about our power supply. Voyager said we ran into far more radiation during our sleep than we planned for, and the deflector chewed through our reserves.”

Twilight’s blood ran cold, now realizing why Spike wanted privacy. “All of it!? Do we at least have enough for planetfall?”

Spike tsked and crossed his arms while leaning against the wall. “Oh we could still make the landing itself, but the reactor is on its last legs, not to mention the fuel reserves. If it wasn’t for the solar collection satellite that was sent here along with the mapping one, we’d be without power within a week at best. But with it, we can keep the lander and about half of the construction vehicles powered just fine.”

Twilight rubbed her brow as agitation set in. I’m not even on the planet yet and already we’re inches from failure. “Right… I’ll just move setting up new power plants months ahead of schedule added to the laundry list of critical infrastructure we’ll need asap.” Don’t worry, Twilight, ol’ girl. We planned for even this. We’ll get through it.

Spike shrugged with a ghost of his good humor remaining. “Nothing like a challenge, am I right?”

Twilight huffed at a lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes. “Celestia wouldn’t have sent me if this was going to be easy.”

“Princess, Captain!” Granite called out from the viewscreen with a manically wide grin. “We’re receiving data from the probes, and it looks promising.”

Twilight gave Spike one last glance before sauntering over to the viewscreen while Spike stayed behind the helm console so he’d have some room to stand. “Is the area geologically stable?”

Rocky Shores gave a few commands to Voyager to shift the data. The screen displayed two copies of a large stretch of slightly flat ground cover in very short blue foliage. “There’s only a thin layer of soil between the surface and solid rock as far as the probes can sense. Given all the other features of this location, I’d say we have the perfect place to set down.”

Twilight remained quiet for a little bit as she went over some last second considerations and her mental checklists. I wish I had more time to go over this, but every hour we’re still in orbit is that much less power we have to stabilize ourselves on the ground. And a single satellite will never be able to meet our energy demands.

Even with time as a critical factor, a small footnote at the side of the viewscreen caught her eye. With a touch of mana, Twilight commanded the footnote to slide across the screen to be in front of her. The data made Twilight’s spirits soar. Yes! this is perfect, and could possibly keep Prism out of trouble.

Twilight worked herself up to speak with regal authority. “Spike, we have our landing site.” She turned to face him with that glint in her eye she always got when she dedicated herself to a test or challenge. “Make it happen.”

Spike nodded in acknowledgement before sitting in his captain’s chair and tapping the comm button on the side. “Now hear this! This is your captain speaking. All personnel are to report to their stations for planetfall.”

The moment Spike clicked the comms off, Voyager started giving out verbal instructions and visual assistance to the colonists. Out of a personal request to the ship’s design, Twilight asked Voyager to bring out a separate chair that appeared from a sliding panel in the wall at the back of the bridge.

As Twilight strapped herself in, the bridge crew did the same with their station’s chairs. Granite Slab and Rocky Shores bid a hasty retreat with Rocky giving Twilight a final nod. “I look forward to setting hoof on warm soil, Princess.”

“As do we all,” Twilight replied with an approving smile.

With that, the two scientists departed rapidly. Several minutes passed as the bridge crew went through the final checks, thus allowing the civilians time to get secured as well. After maneuvering the colony ship over the selected landing zone, the ship entered its final stage before leaving the harsh vacuum of space forever.

Seed One’s rings halted their rotation and locked into place with struts unfolding so each ring was securely anchored to the one below it. The ship itself shifted so that its stern pointed directly down. Once set, three ribbons of bright blue mana started to glow along each of the rings and down the length of the ship’s axle.

Within the bridge, Twilight felt the colossal buildup of mana passing through her and everyone else there. To think my little anti-gravity spell all those centuries ago would end up being the key to our salvation. Such a shame it’s obscenely power hungry.

“Gravity manipulation field on standby, captain,” announced an operator to Spike’s right.

“Alright, ponies, this is what we trained for. We have a five minute window, so make it count!” He turned to the helm. “Break orbit, ensign.”

“Aye sir,” the stallion replied nervously as he gripped the controls with beads of sweat starting to dampen his face.

Twilight felt the ship shudder a little as short chemical thrusters were fired in the retrograde direction to start reentry and give final adjustments. She couldn’t stop a wave of anxiety, and dare she admit it, adrenaline-fueled excitement as the viewscreen showed the planet getting closer while reentry flames started to lick at the ship’s heat shield.

Seed One started rattling, making Twilight clamp her jaw tight to keep from accidentally biting her tongue. By now, the viewscreen was dominated by the landscape below, and the bright orange fire of the atmosphere heralding their arrival.

“Activate the G field… Now!” Spike commanded with steel in his voice.

Even after testing it for so long, having the ever dominating pull of gravity suddenly reverse itself was a stomach flipping experience Twilight could never get used to it. Ever so slowly, the heat cone Seed One was riding down upon started to fade as the ship decelerated.

Twilight heaved a sigh as the ground felt astonishingly close in the viewscreen while Seed One had slowed to a much more amicable pace.

“Reactor output is starting to drop!” a crewmember called out, making everyone’s anxiety shoot through the roof.

“Lower G-field output for the bare minimum of structural design limits,” Spike ordered with the unnatural calm of a naval officer. “And shut down everything, minimize life-support if you have to.”

“Aye sir.”

Twilight felt the competing upward tug of gravity slacken with the planet’s natural gravity starting to win out. The image of the ground approached far too quickly for Twilight’s taste, so she hunkered down in her chair as tightly as possible.

Twilight’s worry doubled as she noticed the same operator monitoring the reactor shake his head, yet he apparently thought better of speaking out again. Come on, Seed, just ride it out a little longer.

The room was suddenly filled with red lights and warning alerts pinging one right after the other. ~“Warning. Descent velocity is beyond design limits,”~ Voyager stated flatly.

Spike waited for the last possible second before shouting, “max out the G-field, now!”

With a gut bouncing lurch, Twilight felt as if she was being pulled up barely a few seconds before Seed One touched down so lightly that Twilight was confused as to whether or not they had landed at all for a few moments.

“Touchdown!” the helm called out. “The Seed has landed!"

There was no immediate cheering as the bridge crew waited in pensive silence as if everyone were afraid to jinx themselves. As if to reinforce that fear, a few loud groans ached its way through the ship. After a few seconds however, there was a distinct lack of alarms going off, save for one. The lone, low alarm echoed throughout the ship’s dark corridors. Slowly, Spike calmly addressed his crew. “What’s the ship’s status?”

“Reactor output’s bottomed out. I’m activating emergency power,” replied the operator as he shifted through his station’s readouts and a few reports from engineering.

“Atmospheric sensors detect no breaches, sir,” called out another operator.

“Aside from being on low power mode, my systems are intact,” Voyager answered sluggishly with its usual lack of emotion.

“Extend the satellite relay collector while you still can, Voyager,” Spike ordered with obvious relief.

Twilight sagged in her seat, momentarily thanking the shipwrights’ foresight of designing the axle of the ship’s interior, bridge included, to be oriented horizontal with the planet surface. “So are we good to start celebrating?” she asked with a hopeful tone.

Spike rubbed his face to try and work out some of the stress. “Well, we’re in one piece, so I don’t see why not.”

Twilight unlatched her chair's restraints and stepped onto the floor to test the planet’s gravity. Her hooves felt a little on the heavy side. I can’t tell if that’s just from being in space or if this world has more mass. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, Spike, but I think a few minutes of cheer might do wonders for morale.”

Spike smiled a bit as the main lights started to flicker on as the solar satellite started feeding power to Seed One. “That it might.” He got out of his chair and turned to find Twilight standing to the side of his chair. “Since we’ve finally made it back on solid ground, I guess it’s about time to pass the torch.” The bridge crew paused in their work for a bit to watch Twilight give a nod and smile. “Voyager, I hereby transfer all command privileges and security clearances to Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle. Command Code theta zero tango niner.”

~“Command transfer accepted.”~

“I stand relieved,” Spike told Twilight with a wink and a smile.

Twilight stepped back so she could address the bridge crew as a whole. “You’ve all done a marvelous job over these years in space, even if you were sleeping most of the time.” A round of brief laughter rounded the room, adding to Twilight's excitement to get started. “Voyager, patch me through to the entire ship.”

~“Affirmative.”~

Taking a deep breath, Twilight tried to imagine herself standing at a podium with her colonists all standing before her. “Greetings, everypony. I am your Colonial Princess, Twilight Sparkle. I want to congratulate and thank each and every one of you for making this journey a successful one.

“We stand ready to embark on a wondrous journey, and I know full well that we are ready to not just survive, not even thrive, but to stand proud on this new world and to build a new nation that would make all of Equestria know without a shadow of a doubt, that this effort, this sacrifice, was worth every drop of sweat, blood, and tears.”

Spike and the bridge crew listened intently, with the ponies allowing themselves to be drawn in by Twilight’s impassioned speech and ethereal mane. “The road to get to that future nation will be full of hardships, this we all know. But each and every one of you were hoof picked to come here, and I fully believe we will make Equis proud.

“To that end, I ask that you follow me through these hard times to come as we learn to work with this new world. Together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.”

Twilight paused a few moments, allowing the colonists time to cheer and be merry. Even the bridge crew allowed themselves to hug, clap each other on the back, or simply hoop and holler. Twilight started again with a little more command in her tone. “Celebrate, my little ponies. I’ll have assignments posted within the hour. Oh, and the mess hall is now open.”

“You heard it here first people,” Spike said with a smirk. “Our Princess’ first decree is to open the mess hall and have a party.”

“Well you better get to it then, Captain Smarty Scales. ‘Cause we got a lot of work ahead of us.”

While Twilight would have loved to be a part of the festivities, she instead hunkered down in her quarters-turned-office once a desk was made from a few pieces of metal and a large thin slab of plastic. It was more of a habit than anything else since she was doing all of her planning via her headset’s holographic display.

Even with her renowned planning and management skills, Twilight would have been overwhelmed without Voyager giving her crucial assistance.

At present, Twilight was chewing on a piece of freeze-dried tomato. “Voyager, how many of the prefabs can we keep powered again?”

~“As stipulated with the tight energy restrictions in place, up to ninety one percent of all domiciles.”~

Twilight grumbled to herself as she ended up grinding the dry tomato. “And that’s only before we include the power demands for hydroponics, further construction efforts, and the expeditionary vehicles?”

~“Correct.”~

Guuh! Stupid space and its stupid radiation.

Twilight’s irate musings were put on hold when the door opened to reveal Prism. The young pegasus was already wearing her xeno-exploration suit, minus the helmet. The suit was much thinner than the bulky environment suits the rest of the external workforce would be using, allowing much more freedom of movement. Prism also wore her standard issue drab brown duster that offered exceptional protection from slicing brambles, sharp rocks, and even weapon’s fire if the need arose. In addition she also carried a high gain radio and sensor pack in built on saddlebags. With the missing helmet, it was the most expensive environment suit yet to exist, with only ten ever made before Seed One launched.

Twilight checked the timer on the side of her vision. “It’s only been half an hour. Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”

“Are you kidding?” Prism replied with a scoff as she struck a heroic pose. “I didn’t sign up with the Pathfinders to sit in the ship any longer than I have to. I need to get out there and be the first pony to see what this blue ball of fungus has in store for us.”

“Well in that case, you’re just the mare I wanted to see.” Twilight took on a dire tone. “I’ll be blunt, Prism, we’re in trouble.”

Prism’s good cheer became suddenly muted. “So situation normal?”

“Feels like it,” Twilight grumbled. “Thanks to us going through the interstellar version of a nuclear meltdown, our deflector ate up most of our fuel reserves. As it stands, we just don’t have enough power for everything to get the colony fully unpacked, let alone expand. And just to add salt to the wound, we lack the time to survey the land for thorium, build a mine, and then get the processing plant up and running before we’re left with only the satellite for power.”

“Oh…” Prism’s face soured. “You want me to go fetch the care packages Equestria sent ahead of us.”

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Twilight said in neutral confirmation. “While this area is great for our future city, the fact that one of the resupply shipments landed fairly close by was the final reason we’re here. I need you to try and locate any of them that were sent over with stocks of thorium.”

“Shouldn’t take all that long with the VTOL.”

“And here’s the part where it gets even better,” Twilight replied dourly, making Prism cringe. “I can’t spare the power to airlift you and the rest of the Pathfinders over there. You’ll have to get there on hoof.”

“You know they sent more than just reactor juice in those pods right?” Prism whined with a huff. “That search could take weeks, maybe months to go through them all!”

“Then you better get to it,” Twilight replied with no reaction to her daughter’s saltiness. “Even if only one of them was stocked with thorium, that alone should keep us on our hooves for the time being. After that you can explore to your heart’s content for a while.”

“Yes!” Prism vaulted the desk and glomped her mother in a crushing hug. “I need to get you a mug that says ‘best momma ever’!”

“A shame the printers will be busy around the clock for the next few weeks or so,” Twilight shot back with an amused tone.

The pair shared a loving, if brief, moment before Prism’s excitement got the better of her and she bounced over to the door. “Time to go make history, see ya later, momma!”

“Bye, Sweetie!” Twilight waved Prism off, yet the pegasus ended up almost barging into Praxia who was just arriving with a piece of dried jerky in her magic. With a few deft wing flaps, Prism dodged over and around Paxia who yelped and dropped her snack at nearly getting run over. Having expertly avoided a tumble with princess bug, Prism ran backwards while giving Praxia a mocking salute. “Have fun being trapped inside all day.”

“Try not to get caught by some pony-eating plant - uh - you manic bird brain.” Praxia grumbled at her poor talent for snappy come-backs. Prism paid it no further mind as her fixation with the new planet dominated all other goals, except for the energy crisis, slightly.

Through it all, Twilight remained passive towards the pair’s banter, and only faced Praxia after the changeling tried to readjust her mane back to a professional style, reclaimed her jerky, and cantered towards the makeshift desk. “I take it you’re here to get down to work as well?”

Praxia gave Twilight a flat look. “To be fair, Sensei, I don’t think Prism will ever consider her occupation as ‘work’.”

“If only we were all so lucky.” Twilight muttered under her breath.

“Yes, well, I can always eat on the move, so I’d like to start pitching in.”

Twilight pulled up her holographic list of priority tasks in anticipation that she’d fail to get Praxia to relax while she could. “So let me guess. You can’t take an hour to celebrate either.”

“There are really only two ponies I know on this ship worth celebrating with, and both are hard at work. It seems only fair that I join in.” Praxia sounded morose, but she hid it well by biting off a bit of her jerky. “Besides, from what I hear we have an energy crisis on our hooves, do we not?”

Twilight sighed and rubbed her temples. To think the student of the Alicorn of Friendship doesn’t want to make friends. Casting that personally embarrassing thought aside, Twilight gave Praxia a dour frown. “It’s bad, but we’re stable for now, at least. Here…” Twilight mentally sent a series of files and a set of written orders over to Praxia’s personal display with a few flicks of magic. “Just in case none of the explorers find a pod containing thorium. Go down there and requisition the necessary equipment and work crew to get a solar farm started. The data from the satellites have shown this region has been pretty calm as far as the weather goes.”

Praxia went over the to-do list Twilight sent to her and felt a sense of peace from being useful again. “Shouldn’t we investigate geothermal options as well?”

“I already have somepony else lined up for that job, I’m just covering my bases.”

Praxia couldn’t help but to feel pride in her teacher’s planning abilities. “I’ll have the plant up in record time, sensei.”

With a respectful bow, Praxia departed while polishing off the last of her snack. Twilight watched Praxia go with a mixture of pride in her being a good student and assistant, with the sorrow of her shying away from making friends. She can’t keep relying on just me and Prism for love. I just wish Celestia had taught me how to chessmaster compatible ponies together, so that she’d make new friends naturally.

Sadly, the needs of the colony dragged Twilight back to her work. Now… I just need to get some ponies to get started on the prefabs and hydroponics bay.

Prism all but blasted out of the tram-turned-elevator once it reached the lowest ring. She shot past several dozen ponies on the inner sterile white hallway before coming across the entrance into the Pathfinder’s headquarters. The exploration headquarters was little more than a workshop combined with a garage that sorrowfully lacked the typical sunk-in grease and lubricant aroma most engineers and explorers loved about those places back in Equestria.

There were a half dozen ponies present, most playing cards, drinking, and chowing down on a pile of packaged produce. Two of those ponies were wearing the orange jumpsuits of the maintenance crew while the others were wearing nothing at all presently. The workshop itself housed five sets of repair bays with an equal number of large land rover robots secured in place.

Prism all but broke down the door slamming her way in. “Hey yo, everypony! I’ve got clearance to skedaddle on outta here!”

A crystal pony mare by the name of Ruby Quartz was smoking a cigar at the head of the card table. She looked away from her hand with a superior smirk. “What? Not going to spend your last… half hour with the rest of us?”

“Yeah, slow down a bit and hang out with us,” a thestral engineer stallion called out hopefully.

Prism flew over and inspected the card table with disinterest. “Not today, Silver, Momma put me on a colony critical mission to find the care packages.”

The other engineer, a unicorn mare, set her cards down while giving Prism a worried frown. “Critical? I know the CP ordered energy rationing, but is it that bad?”

“Bad enough to tell me to hunt them down before gathering samples of local fauna, geological samples and the like.”

The original crystal mare threw her cards on the table. “Well doesn’t that just crack your gemstone.” She stood up, leaving the other players to fold as well while reclaiming their bets. “Alright, Pathfinders, suit up and get ready to move out.”

While the Pathfinders officially had no commander among them, and thus only answered to Spike and Twilight, there was still a pecking order. The explorers ran to their lockers while the two engineers moved over to prepare the rovers for action. Ruby squared her gaze on Prism. “Did the Princess say which direction she wanted you to start looking?”

Prism shook her head. “Come on, Ruby, mom knows how to avoid micromanagement.”

“I was referring to if she had any leads on the nearest group of pods,” Ruby replied sternly.

“Oh... Yeah! She spotted a landing area near our own.” Prism fumed at the imagined implied insult, and dropped to the ground. “I’ll send the coordinates to the group when I get my helmet on.”

“Fine, and make it quick would ya?” Ruby jabbed her hoof at the rover in bay one. “By the way, since you’re already dressed, you get the honor of taking Wheeler One. And being the first pony to set hoof on the new world.” Prism shook in place as her excitement threatened to burst at the seams. “Try to think of something meaningful to say this time. I guarantee it’ll make the history books.”

“You only let me go first ‘cause you couldn’t be poetic to save your hide,” Prism muttered under her breath.

“Think you’re any better?” Ruby growled, startling Prism that she heard her. Ruby rolled her cigar in her mouth to the other side. “Go on and get outta my sight before I find an excuse to let Featherbeard go first.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With the prospect of going out that much closer, Prism bolted away from Ruby and over to her rover where Silver was sitting next to it. He had a laptop sitting on a small box with a single wire leading from the computer to the rover. Silver flashed a wide sheepish smile at seeing Prism. “Hey, Prism. I knew you’d want to be the first out there, so I had most of Joe’s systems in standby for you.”

“Awesome, Silvy! Did you make the modifications I asked for?” Prism started to inspect the small truck sized rover which had its electric motor gently humming. It was just large enough to transport her if need be, but it’s primary purpose was to carry all the equipment she’d need, and be able to keep up with her.

Silver flashed a tired smile, yet his fatigue was nothing compared to Prism’s praise. “All before it was packed up in the last shuttle out before we left.” He entered a few commands causing the rover to partially deploy two sets of rotor blades. “Joe here will be able to fly alongside you now.”

Prism pumped a hoof and flew over to check out the rotors. “This is great! It’ll finally be able to keep up with me over rivers and ledges.”

“Just- just be sure to keep the flights brief,” Silver warned hesitantly with a restraining gesture. “The rover can go all day on the solar cells, but only on the ground. Flying takes much more power after all.”

“I kinda expected as much.” Prism smiled at how seamless the extending rotors melded with the overall aesthetics of the rover. “You really went all out on this didn’t you.”

Silver was brimming with pride at Prism’s accolades. “I called in all of my favors back home, not that I need those anymore, and had some of the boys pitch in.”

“You’d think this would be standard issue,” Prism huffed at the designers back on Equis. “I better get my gear and get out there.” Midway to her locker, Prism looked back and waved at Silver. “Thanks again!”

Silver started to say something, but his courage wilted and resigned himself to simply wave back at her until Prism’s attention turned away from him. Guess I’ll try again next time.

As for Prism, she found her helmet and her father’s rifle waiting for her. Pulling her foreleg’s shoes off, Prism carefully inspected the elegant long gun for any sign of dirt. After that, with the nimbleness brought on by years of practice, Prism disassembled the weapon to perform a deeper cleaning. At least the museum curators took good care of you, boy. I gotta do this now since that alien air won’t let me clean you again until I make it back.

It wasn’t long before Ruby went to her locker as well, which just so happened to be adjacent to where Prism sat. Just to avoid giving Ruby any sour looks, Prism donned her helmet and used the built-in heads up display to send the care packages’ coordinates to the rest of the Pathfinders. Once done, she continued her weapon maintenance.

Initially, Ruby remained silent as she started climbing into her exo-suit. However that peace didn’t last when Prism reassembled the weapon with Ruby taking notice. “Hey, wait a minute. I’ve seen that rifle before.”

“I would think so,” Prism replied with snarking pride. “This is my father’s weapon. Princess Luna gifted it to me since the war museum was so busy letting it gather dust in a display case.”

“So even all the way across space, you’re still riding on your parents’ coattails.”

Prism masked her surge of anger with sarcasm, an act made easier with her helmet giving her voice an artificial quality. “To be fair, it’s kinda hard to step out of the shadow of an alicorn and a war hero.”

“From where I’m standing, you don’t seem to be trying very hard,” Ruby remarked acidly. “The Princess is renown for not giving two feathers for somepony’s family connections when it came to getting on this ship, and yet here you are with your mommy’s blessing and your daddy’s rifle.”

“Says the mare who was playing cards instead of getting ready to do our job,” Prism spat back with satisfaction.

Ruby let the comment roll off of her with a snide snort. “Face it. You only made the cut because Twilight’s here.”

“I qualified fair and square, Ruby,” Prism rebuffed while securing her weapon on her back and grabbing the charge packs. “Mom wanted nopony but the cream of the crop, and if I hadn’t proved my worth, she’d have put me on janitor duty or something.”

Ruby’s anger shifted to a smug sneer. It was no secret she despised Prism, and the feeling was mutual. “So you think you’re the cream of the crop, huh? How about we make a little wager?”

Prism finished securing her gear and looked at Ruby with a competitive smirk. “Like what?”

“Whoever finds the thorium first will be considered the best of our little group for the next five months.”

“And the loser?”

Ruby shrugged nonchalantly. “While I could think of a few demeaning chores for you, the colony’s success comes first, so nothing too drastic, sadly. I think the loser should have to clean the winner’s gear when we’re on leave for a month.”

“Deal!” Prism thrust her hoof out and Ruby shook it hard.

“You ladies know there’s five of us right?” said one of two stallions who cantered over after hearing the word ‘wager’. “I want in on this too.”

The other stallion, a tan colored unicorn with a fiery red mane flashed a toothy smirk of his own. “You two act like you even have a chance against me.”

“Hey, if you want a chance to clean my suit, Firefly, then be my guest,” Prism replied dismissively. “But nopony touches my weapon, but me.”

The sound of heavy wheels on metal drew everyone’s attention to Silver and the rover he was remotely driving towards the cargo elevator. “Everything’s ready when you are, Prism!”

Prism waved at him yet gave her fellow explorers some parting words. “You clowns better hurry, or I’ll find a package long before you guys even leave the garage.”

Leaving her peers in the dust, Prism raced over to the elevator where Silver had parked the rover.

“He’s all yours,” Silver said as he tapped a few last commands in his laptop to transfer all control over to Prism’s helmet.

It took Prism a few moments to let the command displays run their interfacing start up before speaking. “See you on the flipside, Silver.”

Silver started to walk off the elevator, but he caught sight of Firefly giving him a stern glower while jabbing a hoof at Prism. Thankfully for Silver’s nerves, Prism missed the exchange since she was looking over the command HUD. Silver nervously shook his head while Firefly retorted with a silent threat of a punch.

I think I’d rather risk the punch. Silver almost walked away when Prism finally noticed he was still on the elevator.

“Kinda need you to move off the platform there, Silvy.”

Silver practically jumped out of his skin at Prism’s voice. “Ah - um - sorry. I’ll be going.”

~“I swear, Silver, if you let her go without asking again, I’m going to throw you in my locker.”~ Firefly said over Silver’s earpiece.

What is this, high school again? That brief thought of being seen as a teenager again put enough fire in Silver to make him ask anyway. “Oh hey, um, Prism?”

Prism was bouncing on her hooves trying to contain herself. “Yes? Something didn’t come up did it?”

“No it’s all good. But after you get back you wanna maybe share a few drinks or catch the comedy club?”

In her excitement, all Prism wanted was to get out of the ship and there was one answer that would get her there the fastest. “Sure thing. Sounds fun, now scoot!” She started shoving Silver off the elevator.

Silver was more than happy to oblige, once his brain finally registered the acceptance, and flew up and away from the platform. “Great, see you later then!”

“Later,” Prism called back as the elevator sank into the floor. She kept waving until a second set of doors closed her off from the garage so the elevator could change atmospheres. He finally asked, huh? Well, there shouldn’t be any harm in a few beers or whatever.

Her thoughts on Silver were cast to the winds when the elevator started moving again. Natural light poured in as the elevator platform cleared the ship and into open air, taking Prism’s breath away.

The nearly flat stretch of blue fungus covered rock stretched for several miles before ending in the ocean to one side and a vast, strangely purple forest to the other. The sky above was clear and blue. The air was warm, almost painfully so to the pony born in an ice age. Sooo weird not seeing any snow. I wonder if this place even has snow outside of the poles.

Once the elevator came to a halt, Prism stepped off with Joe the Rover dutily following after her. As much as every fiber in her being wanted to just pick a direction and start flying, duty came before pleasure. “Joe, set a marker to the pods’ location.”

~“Affirmative,”~ the rover replied with the same lack of emotion that Voyager possessed. ~“The closest one is fifty eight kilometers due west.”~

Prism followed the compass indicator leading straight along the river. “Well then, super blue alien world here we come!” With time being critical, Prism jumped up to the lone open air seat on Joe’s back. “Alright ya bucket a’ bolts. I want us at the first pod by dinner, so hit it!”

~“Commencing.”~

Joe’s wheels kicked up a flurry of torn fungus as the rover raced off towards the first beacon. A part of her felt like she was forgetting something, something historic. Meh, probably nothing.

3: First Contact

View Online

Prism and the rover bounced and jostled around as the pair raced on down the bank of a mostly straight river. The lands around her had turned into a shallow valley of sorts, featuring a wide section of flatlands with hills off in the distance. One thing that bothered Prism was the diminished visibility beyond a dozen kilometers on an otherwise clear day. It’s gotta be those organic particles mentioned in that health advisory. Gaze through enough of them, and they act like fog.

Several soft bumps in the route brought Prism’s eyes to the ground racing past her. The thin layer of blue mold had given way to bacterial colonies and mushroom caps. Prism cooed at the giant masses of bacterial growths that looked like irregular pillows to her. The mushroom caps, most of all, caught her eye with the vast mixture of colors ranging from vibrant pink to drab green. While her mission came first, Prism’s heart fluttered as she was swept away by her explorer’s curiosity. Everything was new, everything! From the dirt to the very air she didn’t breathe. I - I can’t just drive by and not collect some samples. I - I just can’t! How else are we to know if any of it’s freaking edible!

One of the passing fungal pillows resembled cottage cheese more than anything else. Well, maybe it tastes like some kind of yogurt.

Built into her forelegs’ boots was a pair of mechanical claws modeled after a minotaur’s hands. With a few jolts of her hoof’s natural gripping magic, the four dexterous fingers extended and gave a metallic click as Prism tested them. She purred at how smooth her magic passed through the faux-hand. “Niiice, only the best gear for the Seeding. It feels even sharper than my personal set.”

Once her gauntlets were secure, Prism eased her way towards the back of the rover. She extended her wings to keep balance against the bouncing, jostling rover going at full speed. It didn’t take her long to locate the small cargo pod with some empty sample boxes. “Joe, slow down just a bit while I gather some specimens.”

~“Affirmative.”~

The bumpiness died down a bit with Prism looking around for an enticing target. With so many to choose from Prism had a flashback to her being just a little filly gazing into a candy store. Should I get those black things? Oh, maybe that triple colored red, blue, and orange moss! “Aaahhh! Why are there so many choices!?” Prism bit her lip trying to find something that stood out in a crowd of colorful species. As luck would have it, ponies had an unerring ability to pick out a particular person or thing amidst a dense crowd of color. That very same talent allowed Prism to avoid passing by her perfect target.

Caught in the middle of a ring of blue fungal growths was a few purple mushroom caps next to a mound of grey-orange mold. Ha! Kinda like momma and Praxia.

With her prey selected, Prism found a safe place on Joe to store her rifle before vaulting into the air and flying over to collect the toadstool first. Grabbing a knife off her back, Prism kicked up a storm of spores as she flapped her wings to slow down. The cloud was so thick Prism instinctively held her breath before scoffing at herself. “Really glad my air’s all internal.”

Taking her knife, Prism started cutting the dense web of tendrils between the cap and the ground. Weird, each one feels like it has the same tensile strength of nylon, but slices like paper.

Stuffing the odd purple mushroom cap in the first box, Prism moved on to the grey-orange mass of fungus. This time, Prism tested the consistency with her knife and found it was like cutting through pudding. That’s a mental image I didn’t need… Unless this stuff’s actually delicious.

While using her blade as a butter knife, Prism scraped off a healthy chunk of the mold, and into the awaiting plastic box. As she collected her sample, Prism inadvertently revealed something very hard and bleached white which the mold was using as a bed.

Interesting. Maybe a calcium growth of some kind?

Intrigued, Prism retracted her mechanical fingers so she could rub more of the mold away. Bah, with this boot on, I can’t feel the texture. The wet goopy fungus sloughed away to reveal a long row of teeth along a jawline. “Whoa.” Eager, pushed away the thick grey-orange gunk to discover the teeth were easily the size of her hoof. “So there is giant animal life here after all, and if these teeth are any sign… A carnivore, no doubt about it.”

~“Alert. Pathfinder Prism Flash. Distance between you and this unit is beyond safety recommendations.”~

Prism practically jumped at the news and fumbled to close the lids on the specimens and tuck them under her legs before taking to the air. “Hold on, I’m coming!”

Prism sprinted through the air for well over a kilometer, following both Joe’s transponder and the trail of crunched flora. Despite her training, the weight of the suit and samples took its toll on her. Between ragged breaths, Prism called her rover yet again. “Okay, Joe hold position, and soak up some sun, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

~“By your will, Pathfinder.”~

Even through her weary flight, Prism started to notice a growing number of small animals, most no larger than a squirrel. Yet it was not the alien rodents that worried her. Still, the last thing we need are alien rats or cockroaches. “Joe, patch me into Seed One. They’re going to want to know what I found.”

Back in the unfolding colony, Twilight was enjoying lunch as per her usual fashion: absently devouring a sandwich while primarily focusing on her work. Okay, that handles the survey team for that geothermal hot spot the last of the probes detected, and it gets the botanists and zoologists outside to study the native life around the ship. I better go check how the first domiciles are coming along.

Twilight was already riding down in the elevator to do just that with only a couple other ponies there too. Both of them had noticed Twilight’s vacant stare as she focused on her personal HUD, and left her alone. Twilight might have stayed that way the whole trip down were it not for the elevator making an early stop to pick up Spike and let the other two ponies off.

Spike recognized the signs of a distracted sister as well. “Pilot to bombardier, you there?” he called loudly enough to break her concentration.

Twilight blinked a few times to bring her attention back to the present. “Huh? Oh, Spike. How’s work?”

“Actually, work is what brought me here.” Spike took an electronic tablet off his belt and waved it at Twilight to transfer data to her headset. “Prism found something troubling.”

“She’s not in danger is she?” Twilight asked worriedly as she accessed the files. The first was a video recording from Prism’s helmet. It didn’t take long for Twilight’s fear to morph into mild exasperation when Prism appeared to be nowhere near a care package. “Typical. I ask her to find critical fuel and she gathers flora samples instead.”

“It’s probably for the best.” Spike crossed his arms, sounding as unnervingly calm as ever. “Ship’s scanners have detected a great deal of movement along the perimeter across the river, but the underbrush is much higher over there. The satellite can’t get a good look at whatever’s causing it.”

Twilight was starting to wonder why she was watching the video. “You don’t think it’s natives do you? The satellite never picked up any signs of civilization.”

“Sapient life? I doubt it. Animals? I bet my bottom bit on that,” Spike punctuated by tapping his tablet. “One thing is clear, we’ve got a real possibility of having more than the small rodents and fish roaming the area.” Spike waited for Twilight’s unamused grimace to turn back to worry with a hint of scientific curiosity as she reached the part of the video with the skull.

“Those teeth are bigger than a manticore’s!”

Spike nodded in agreement. “That’s why I think we should accelerate the original plan to have my crew run security for the workers. We just landed on a planet that has big predators and no natural fear of ponies.”

He left Twilight to connect the dots, which led her to end up closing the video and giving Spike a firm look. “Not even a day on this world and we’re already under physical threat. As if the energy crisis wasn’t bad enough.”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far.” Spike shrugged at the mention of it. “We haven’t actually seen anything bigger than a dog so far. We can hope that all the beasties smell is our metal and plastic suits and think we’re unappetizing.”

Twilight gave Spike a critical eye. “Since when are you such an optimist about security concerns?”

“New world, new hope I suppose,” Spike chuckled weakly.

“Well, I’d like to keep that hope alive by not allowing anypony to get kidnapped and eaten by an alien timber wolf or xeno-hydra.” Twilight paused when the elevator reached her stop. She waved Spike to join her as she made her way down the hallway towards the Colonial Command Center that was being assembled. Thus far, there was only a hodgepodge of chairs and terminals with engineers working everywhere to get it up and running by week’s end. At the very least, Spike and Twilight had a few chairs and a couple of ceiling mounted screen available to them. “Voyager, I have a new protocol to implement.”

~“Awaiting your word, Colonial Princess.”~

“Wild animals are going to be a real hazard just like back ho- like back on Equis.” Twilight had to catch herself from saying ‘home’. I’m going to have to break that thinking. I have to think of this world as home from now on. Spike tilted his head at her over the sudden silence. Thankfully though, Twilight returned to the present quickly enough to avoid him speaking out. “All personnel leaving the ship must be armed at all times.”

~“Decree logged.”~

Several passing ponies grew visibly concerned at the new protocol. The new hope of a peaceful world started to dwindle. Twilight turned to Spike with more motherly concern than she would have liked. “I want you to keep the medivac primed and ready for take-off. If any of the Pathfinders radio trouble, evacuate them immediately.”

“That still leaves the Pathfinders vulnerable out there.” Spike studied Twilight’s grim expression as they passed into the command center. “It’d take the medivac hours to reach any one of them.”

“This is what they’ve trained for,” Twilight replied with forced objectivity. “And one way or another, we need that thorium. Pass a warning to the rest of them to watch out for large wildlife.”

By the time Prism returned to the rover, she was just about dead on her wings. Even for a pegasus as physically fit as she was, sprinting such a distance in weather that might as well have been a sauna to her was heavily exhausting. Stupid suit. Saying this temp is just fine, my fabulous plot! she grumbled to herself. She made a mental note to increase her suit’s cooling system a few more degrees, regardless of the energy cost.

Breathlessly, she reached the rover and practically collapsed on top of it. "All right Joe, full speed ahead,” she commanded with a shaky wave of her hoof.

~"Affirmative."~

While the rover's tires ground at the dirt, Prism took a few minutes to catch her breath. The alien, partly cloudy sky above moved on by as Prism laid panting on her back, heedless of the bumps in the nonexistent road. Gotta secure the momma cap and Praxia mold. With that thought, she dragged herself back up to a sitting position and placed her new samples inside the small cargo area towards the back.

After that, she gingerly made her way towards her seat and pulled a pair of tubes out of the rover, socketing one onto the right saddlebag. O2 in place. The other tube went to her helmet. A nozzle extended, allowing Prism to take several long gulps of Super Water™.

By the time she quenched her thirst, the general warning of predators was sent to both her and the rest of the Pathfinders. Heh, I’m already savin’ lives. Roll that up and smoke it, Ruby.

After having her fill, Prism detached the water hose and lounged in her seat while staring at the unspoiled wilderness that surrounded her, taking it all in. Despite the temperate heat being too hot for her tastes, the sight of so much life was a welcome compromise.

The terrain was starting to morph into rolling, tall hills with Joe’s motors whining higher to keep up the pace.

Now that she was keeping an eye out for them, Prism saw a few scattered animals dispersed between the thinning undergrowth. Minutes rolled by as long, grass-like red plants started to dominate the ground as the fungi gave way. Looking ahead, Prism saw only a few scattered giant fungi and mushrooms ahead while the red grass held dominance. I wonder if that grass really is a plant analog, instead of just more fungi.

Before she could leap off to collect samples, the rover made an announcement. ~“Arrival at resource pod imminent.”~

Sure enough, as Joe crested the hill and started moving down the short slope, Prism caught sight of an obelisk-like structure that was playing host to an assortment of grasping flowering vines.

“Good work, Joe.”

Prism took off yet again and raced over to the pod. She saw several squirrel sized animals panic at her approach and sped away into the underbrush and rocky burrows. Prism paid them no mind as she orbited the pod once before settling down at the front of it. Good, it’s intact, and the locals don’t seem to have wormed their way inside.

Prism ignored the sound of the rover’s heavy wheels coming up behind her as she used her helmet to activate the dormant computer in the pod. “Interfacing… and… I’m in.”

With a loud hiss, the nearest panel on the pod cracked open, but required Prism to cut the vines away to allow it to open fully. Cold cryogenic gases escaped as well. Her heart soared at the prospect of an easy jackpot of thorium.

As expected, Prism found a large steel-grey case with a black handle easily matching the size of her torso. The pod, as a whole, was full of them. But Prism knew that the pods typically only carried one type of thing or another, not an assortment.

Prism pulled the cold heavy case off and onto the ground. There, she wiped away the ice covering the diode that would allow her helmet to read the contents. “Corn seeds… Ah hell.” Prism slouched on the ground and thumped the useless case. Damn. This is just a seed pod incase our seed library was lost.

Smoldering for a bit, Prism slowly let her duty drag her up to her hooves and shove the case back into the pod. From there she ordered the pod to close and seal back up. ~“Seed Actual, this is November One.”~

Surprisingly it was Spike who answered directly, making Prism stiffen to attention. ~“Go ahead, November. We’re reading you arrived at the first pod.”~

~“Affirmative. It’s just a seed pod.”~ The mild disappointment was clearly evident in Prism’s tone, but Spike retained his reassuring command voice.

~“Acknowledged. Move on to pod seven.”~

~“Copy that.”~ Prism climbed back aboard her rover which dutifully started churning up dirt to get moving.

Prism settled down in her seat, trying to keep herself in place instead of wandering off to hunt samples in this target rich environment. Even the short distance between the pod and the next crest of the hill brought dozens of new species to her attention. “Arrrrg! I bet those lab coats back at base are having a field day!”

As time rolled on, and Prism’s rover chewed away at the ground, she caught the reports of her fellow Pathfinders. The list of findings danced across her eyes, bringing a snarky grin to her face. So no pony’s found any thorium yet? Then I still got a chance.

Joe powered along the rolling landscape of tall red grass, the occasional columns of fungi, and the rare beastie that was too slow to avoid getting spotted. Off in the distance, nestled in a wide valley was what Prism at first thought to be a string of green algae infested ponds and lakes. They were surrounded by irregularly spaced, densely packed, tall and vibrant fungi, some of the larger toadstools reaching two stories tall. While animal noises and calls had been noticeable ever since leaving the rocky ground around Seed One, here a whole cacophony of sound roared from the shallow valley.

With moderately obvious land paths crisscrossing in between the bodies of water, Prism was content to let the rover navigate itself through the maze as she kept her father’s rifle ready for the first sign of hostile wildlife. A watering hole of this size has got to attract something dangerous.

Thankfully, the rover’s size, speed, and unnatural color made any animal they came across flee out of the way. There was however, one group that made Prism nervous. As Joe turned on a natural bend in the path, Prism caught sight of a large clearing next to one of the green lakes where several larger animals were drinking.

These squat creatures had large bulbous green carapaces on their backs, each with a long wide tail that curled up and over. Three of these creatures passively studied Prism as she passed by, while Prism observed them in kind. Unlike the fleshy growth on the creatures’ backs, the head was armored with bone and its eyes were far too small and sunken into the bone for Prism to get a good read.

What unnerved the Pathfinder most was that the four creatures didn’t flee, growl, nor did they posture for dominance. They studied her with primal curiosity that made the hairs on her neck stand on end, her grip tightened around her rifle.

As quickly as she had seen these four lumbering beasts, they were gone as the forest of fungi grew thick as the rover rumbled on. Why do I get the feeling those things will try to make me lunch one day?

While the sun would have allowed Prism to go another hour or so, the cloud cover was getting very dense, which in turn was limiting to Joe.

~“Alert. Solar input reaching untenable levels. Recommend immediately setting camp.”~

“Well I guess here is as good as we’re going to get in these wetlands.” Prism climbed into the air to get a better survey of the campsite. Joe had stopped right on a low mound of dirt, giving the pair a foot or two height boost from the rest of the wetlands. The ground was strangely dry for the habitat, but Prism wasn’t going to complain.

The site was also adjacent to one of the smaller murky green ponds that lacked the same level of overgrowth that its bigger cousins had. Lastly the tired Pathfinder was still another three kilometers from the next resupply pod. Glad we did our homework on this world. These days are barely over an hour longer than the ones back on Equis. It shouldn’t take too long to adapt.

After checking around the perimeter and inadvertently scaring any small critters away, Prism was satisfied. “Alright, Joe initiate camper mode while I investigate this pool over here.”

Balancing on its six wheeled legs, the rover propped itself up a little higher than its travel configuration, and had its wheels push down into the dirt to anchor the rover in place. Lastly, the undercarriage slid down to provide a slightly cramped boxy steel tent complete with flooring and an airlock.

Meanwhile, Prism had collected another sample box and scoop off of the rover. She flew over to the nearby pool and found a small outcrop of rock to land on. The pond was deeply green in the fading light of twilight so Prism activated her helmet’s flashlight to see. The water bubbled occasionally with what looked like channels of fluid moving slowly just under the surface. “I bet this stuff reeks like month old socks.”

Taking a scoop in her mechanical hand she dipped it down only to meet unusually viscous resistance. The liquid oozed into the scoop and produced a shurping smack upon being removed.

“I hope the lab coats can figure out why the natives drink this stuff.”

Prism gingerly sealed the container and flew back over to Joe. From there she secured her latest sample in a separate cargo-pod on the left side just behind the rotor engine. Satisfied, she ducked inside the airlock at the rear of the rover. She found herself in a room so cramped that even a pony as fit and lean as her was squashed between two walls and a dark room lit only by her helmet’s enhanced vision.

~“Begin decon procedure.”~

A small jet black gem descended towards the middle of Prism’s back in just such a way to allow her to touch it with a wing. The black crystal drank deeply of her magic as it flooded the tight room with toxic black magic. The black tar of mana seeped into every nook and crany. No crevice, no matter how small, was left untouched. Thanks to being the source of this magic, Prism was entirely immune to the magic’s lethal effect.

~“Scanning… Decon successful.”~

Silently, with the grace that came with years of practice in such tight confines, Prism removed her wing from the black crystal as a new golden crystal took its place. Within seconds of contact with Prism’s magic, the chamber was saturated with holy magic, purging the room back to its original pristine state.

At last, the inner wall of the metal tent slid up to reveal a simple foam mat, a tiny blue light crystal, and a package of military-grade rations. “Home sweet home.”

Over the next hour, Prism climbed out of her suit and performed maintenance and spot checks on all of her gear before eating. Not trusting the unknown wildlife, Prism put her suit and helmet back on before dozing off on the thin mat with her rifle held close.

Joe remained on low power, save for a set of cameras set on a periscope keeping watch.

As the shining sun fully dipped below the horizon, the pools of the valley shook along their surface. A choking mist started to appear as spores in the trillions began to rise. Over the next few hours, Joe paid the mist no mind, save to record it for scientific investigation later, focusing more on any animals that might approach. Neither the machine nor pony had guessed it was not the wildlife that was the greatest danger here.

Later on in the dead of night, Praxia watched with pride as she stood within the prefabricated local control center of the power plant. All along the far side of the river adjacent to Seed One, the next set of printed solar panels were being hooked up. At this rate, we’ll be done by sunrise.

Praxia downed the last of her coffee, which at this point was little more a thick sludge that assaulted her with a bitter aftertaste. Nevertheless she choked it down to stay awake. Twilight was counting on her expedience, and come hell or high water, she would exceed her teacher’s expectations.

While Praxia doubted the hell part would be an issue, the high water was another matter. While Seed One and the domiciles were located upon a high ridge above the river, the solar farm was barely half a foot above the waterline.

Even with her accelerated construction plan, a full third of her work crew was hard at work building a levee to keep any possible floodwaters at bay. It might not be such a bad idea to build a dam at some point when we have the time and resources.

Yet the thing that bothered her most was the contingent of fifty eight marines patrolling the exterior area of the worksite. None of them had so much as lifted a hoof to aid in construction, aside from assisting in placing flood lights all along the area.

Were it anybody else, a civilian foreman would have just let the soldiers do their own thing as long as they didn’t hamper the work crews, but Praxia was by no means going to let that slide. It wasn’t helping that she refused to go to sleep until construction was done. “Lieutenant Trench,” she called out to the trooper leaning against the wall next to the entrance. He had his standard issue mana rifle at the ready, but the long hours had made it droop in his grip. “Would you tell your colts to at least help in moving dirt for the levee or digging up the soil for the power lines?”

The thestral officer gave her an appraising look. “Nope.”

The small group of electricians installing the control consoles slowed their work to listen in. Praxia flattened her ears. “You have over fifty able bodied soldiers out there doing nothing but walking around looking tough. The least you could do is some grunt work to help make sure this plant is up by sunrise.”

Despite Praxia’s relation to the princess giving her serious clout, Spike was arguably on higher ground than Praxia. “And tire my soldiers out in case some xeno-hydra happens by? Forget it. Captain Spike’s orders are very clear. You do the work, and we do the fighting.”

“Fight what?” Praxia countered tactfully, knowing she’d get nowhere by getting emotional. “A few space wolves? Maybe some cosmic carrots?”

Trench was glad his polarized helmet hid his rolling eyes. Orders or not, it wasn’t wise to gain the ire of the Princess’ right hoof. He checked the clock on his personal display to see it was nearly time to switch the guard. “There are worse things to worry about than a few patrolling marines.”

As if to prove his point, a call came in from the easternmost patrol and was heard by everyone in the control room. ~“Sir, we’ve got a lot of movement out here and it’s headed our way.”~

Trench gave Praxia a smug grin before answering, getting a sour look from Praxia for his efforts. ~“Alpha and Bravo squad, I need all of you up front with Charlie staying behind to guard the work crew. We only get one chance to make a first impression here people.”~ Trench gave a slightly mocking bow towards Praxia. “Would you care to allow your staff to join us in the colony’s defense?”

Praxia ground her teeth for a moment before she recollected herself. “You made your point. Just go.”

“As you wish.” Lieutenant Trench made to leave the building while Praxia turned to the central control board. Local security had yet to be installed, but she knew enough tricks with computers to tap into the rifle cameras of the marines. With everyone being hoof picked for their anti-criminal leanings, network security’s quite lax.

The construction crew inside the room gathered around the lone changeling once she brought the camera feeds up on the monitor.

A line of thirty four soldiers were racing to make a staggered line formation. Most of the soldiers switched to thermal imaging, finally revealing the wave of creatures prowling just behind the cleared away line in the tall red grass. As the marines took position, more and more bright orange spots materialized on the thermals.

However, whatever beings or animals were hiding in the grass remained there long after the last of the troops got into position. Praxia half wondered if Twilight was being awakened by the event. If she even went to sleep at all.

A short series of commands were flying between Seed One and the ground troops with Praxia catching a few of them. Good. Spike wants to hold fire, if for nothing else than to conserve ammunition.

The standoff between the marines and the alien beings lasted for what felt like hours as both Praxia and most of the workers waited and watched. That was until Praxia realized this and got on the civilian comms. ~“Get back to work! Let the soldier boys do their job so we can do ours. The colony needs this plant!”~

Thanks to Charlie squad taking up positions close to the field workers, the civilians sluggishly went back to work, only to keep their sidearms at the ready.

Praxia gave a stern look at the electricians in the control center. “Well, go on! I’ll keep an eye on this and if we need to fall back, I’ll tell everypony the moment we need to.”

After giving uncomfortable acknowledgements, the civilians obeyed, allowing Praxia to refocus on the soldiers. Her eyes dilated and her ears shot straight back up as several aliens, each easily the size of a timber wolf, boldly stepped out of the grass. The insectoid beings stood on four legs, yet had a pair of arms that ended in lethal scythes akin to a praying mantis. Six beady little eyes adorned their heads with several long and wide spines forming a sort of armored mane. The largest of these creatures, easily rivaling a manticore, stood at the center.

Nervous chatter danced around the troops with Spike reassuringly repeating his order to hold fire. Praxia couldn’t help but notice a few of the troopers call the beasts an assortment of names, ranging from bug cub to ant-thing. Yet the one that caught her ear was one mare calling them wolf beetles. Strangely fitting.

As for Praxia, she studied the creatures intently while bringing her face closer to the screens. She noticed no act on the aliens’ part to communicate, whether to the ponies or between each other. Strange… Even pack animals would be looking to the alpha for direction. Maybe they can do it all through pheromones.

The brief stare down ended when the alpha wolf beetle rose up on its hind legs and thrashed four limbs at the air and howled an ear splitting howl with the other wolves joining in almost immediately.

Alarmed chatter sprang up instantly among the soldiers, with requests to open fire filling the radio channels. ~“Hold steady, Marines. Don’t fire unless they begin to charge.”~

The wolf beetles’ howls became even louder with many of them starting to dig at the ground, clawing large divots in the soft ground. The threat was one that passed all language barriers, yet Praxia saw something slightly different. Wasting no time, she tapped a few controls to patch her into Seed One’s command. ~“Captain Spike, have your marines fire into the ground in front of the aliens, and yell back at them.”~

Spike had been inches from giving the order to fire, yet the request caught him off guard. ~“To what end? These things don’t look like they’d fear a bit of yelling.”~

~“Trust me, captain, I’ve seen this before. It should work.”~

Knowing time was essential, Spike only took half a second to finally give in. “We’ll do it your way, Praxia, but I’m scrambling the hellcat combat drones just in case.”~

After Spike gave the order, Praxia watched intently as the marines joined in the yelling, cursing, and firing rounds at the dirt in front of the aliens. The ground churned and broke as rifle grenades landed just close enough to lightly pepper the wolves with shrapnel too slow to pierce their thick hide.

Praxia grinned as the alpha wolf beetle landed back on all fours after a particularly reckless marine with a machine gun partially closed the distance, roaring a relatively new Equestrian battle-cry, “For Twiliiight!” repeatedly, and firing his weapon in the air. The loud retorts of his weapon was enough to cow the alpha back. It lowered its posture with the other wolves quickly following suit.

The quartet of rover sized drones and the thumping noise of their rotor blades was the last straw. Yowling all the while, the aliens fled back to the grass. All but two of them disappeared entirely from Seed One’s sensors, while the those two remained just barely within range.

~“Good work marines. Stand back down to yellow alert.”~ Spike ordered the drones to recall before addressing Praxia. ~“Mind telling me how you figured out they weren’t just going to answer aggression with aggression?”~

Feeling rather proud of herself, Praxia let her professional tone slip as she stood a little taller than usual. ~“They reminded me of the Gelraths from the Jungles. Those animals would bluster and peacock around much the same way. If you didn’t assert your dominance they attacked you without end, if you stood up for yourself, they’d respect you.

~“I’m sure any zoologist worth their salt could tell you that, captain.”~

Spike hummed approvingly, and took note to remember Praxia’s quick thinking. With the danger passed, he allowed himself a few moments to think. ~“I think you’re onto something.”~ There was a short pause as he accessed the science corps’ roster, which also gave Praxia time to smooth out the work crews still a bit shaken by the militant showboating. ~“I’ll start poaching some of the lab coats to work as advisors for future confrontations with these creatures. In the meantime, well done, Praxia. I’ll be sure to let Twilight know of your role here tonight.”~

~“Thank you, Captain.”~ Praxia’s pride multiplied tenfold at the prospect of Spike himself giving accolades to Twilight about her. She glanced around the room, and found the electricians were nose-deep in the walls and floors to notice her hip hop on the tips of her hooves giving silent ‘yipees’.

Yet as quickly as it had come, Praxia’s little cheering session died away to be replaced by her typical hard nosed demeanor. That loss of cheer was compounded by worry starting to settle in. If it took a squad of soldiers to cow those things, how are Prism and the rest of the Pathfinders going to fare?

That niggling thought would hound her throughout the rest of the night.

While the marines succeeded in driving off the local wildlife, Prism slept like a log within the rover’s protective steel ‘tent’. With the worst direct threat being only a few bits of fungus trying to claw its way up the anchored wheels, even the simplistic AI, Joe, was about to log yet another peaceful hour. In fact, the only thing the rover saw or heard of local fauna were mating calls and rustling fungus as rodent sized critters ran around, oblivious to the comparatively gargantuan machine.

If there was one thing that still concerned the AI, it was the dense soupy fog that had rolled in, covering most of the ‘tent’ beneath it. If it had had more acute sensors, it would have noticed the dense green mist that seeped into every nook and cranny was slowly but surely eating away at every square inch of exposed metal, paint, and plastic. Joe’s entire outer skin was being corroded as the cloud of airborne spores attacked the foreign machine.

4: Murphy's Law in Practice

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A living room, clouded by time and early youth, was filled with a filly’s singing. Prism Flash, not even old enough for school, laid on a beige carpet floor, coloring a picture. She hummed and sang to herself as crayons traced a few stick figures; the tall alicorn of regal purple, the little filly with a red, brown, and steel-grey mane matching that of herself. The last figure haunted Prism in a flash of lucidity. The proud sky-blue stick figure stallion with an emerald, orange, and sandy blonde mane had the little Prism on his back with Twilight nuzzling both. A little outline of a heart floated above the trio with a smiley face below.

As quickly as the sorrowful flash of lucidity came, it vanished, leaving Prism confused a moment before returning to her artwork.

After she finished coloring in the heart, a baritone voice called out to her in unintelligible speech. Prism looked up to find her father standing opposite of her picture. He was a strong pegasus, and wore his military uniform as if he were born in it. Prism could see his trusty mana rifle was slung across his back, as it always was, ready to defend home and country. His face bore that half-cocked smirk of pride that Prism longed to see when he looked at her.

This time, she could understand him. “How’s my little trooper today?”

Prism’s child-like grin faltered as a profound sense of loss washed over her at seeing his face. “Daddy?!” Before he could get a word in, Prism forsook her picture and raced to embrace him.

He recoiled in surprise as the little filly squeezed him tightly, only for him to relax and hug her back. “Hey now. I’ll come back, I always do, don’t I?”

Prism looked up to bask in his smile only to find she wasn’t hugging her father, but Twilight Sparkle instead. The light in the room dimmed upon realizing her mother was crying, with dark stains under her eyes.

Dread sank into Prism’s gut. “But he was just here!”

“I know, baby,” Twilight wept while hugging Prism tighter as if her daughter was the last thing left of her husband.

“But - but,” Prism’s vision swam as tears welled up. “Why? I just saw him!”

Twilight looked sorrowfully at her daughter's, eyes red with grief. She opened her mouth to speak, “Alert! Hull integrity compromised! Enacting emergency protocol seven!”

Confusion rapidly replaced sorrow as Twilight’s melodious voice had shifted to an artificial baritone. “It is advised you brace yourself, Pathfinder.”

Twilight and the room around her shattered as Prism woke up. It took her a few moments to realize she was in the ‘tent’ attached to her rover. The ‘tent’ shuddered and rocked as the leg anchors pulled out of the rock.

Prism came to her senses a few moments later, shaking off the last of the dream. “Joe! What’s going on?”

The sound of the rotor engines deploying and spooling up heralded the rover. ~“Atmospheric elements are eroding my systems.”~

The haste to which Joe shot into the air threw Prism against the wall with a sickening crunch with the wall giving a little from the impact. Prism was about to freak out at the prospect of a broken bone, but she felt no pain, and her helmet’s display was not flashing any injury warnings.

Prism struggled against the G-forces of the rover’s rapid accent. “But the atmosphere was just fine,” she growled through the G’s. Well if we’re flying, we can’t be in that bad a’ shape. “Are you sure we weren’t attacked by an animal or something?”

“Negative. It was a weather anomaly connected to the green pools.”

“Well that’s just fantastic.” Prism lurched to free herself from the floor, only to find her left foreleg had pounded a large dent into the lower wall. “How the hell?! It should take a sledgehammer to do that!”

It wasn’t much longer before the rover leveled out their ascent as it climbed above the toxic mist. It scanned the area to find that the forested foothills further down the path to resource pod seven were clear of the anomaly.

A cold, bitter wind had come along, funneling the green fog rapidly up to the north. The wind was causing serious turbulence, forcing the rover off course multiple times. ~“Pathfinder, this unit advises that you vacate the domicile.”~

Prism had her hooves full just trying to stand upright and gather her rifle. Her flier’s instincts knew bad wind conditions even without needing to be outside. “You’re going to have to level out for me, or I might get hit by your rotors!”

~“Affirmative.”~

Using her suit’s hands to claw her way to the airlock, Prism fought the jostling and erratic bumping until Joe found a brief window of calm. With a hissing click, the door slammed open, allowing Prism to leap through into the starry night. The wind slammed into her as it picked up again with a shrieking howl in her ears and tugging at her outstretched wings.

Yet Prism was no stranger to harsh weather, and controlled her stall within seconds. Her helmet quickly gave her various wind readings and highlighted the hobbled rover.

“Hold on, Joe, I got this!” Leveraging the power of her half-royal bloodline, Prism circled around the rover to get between it and the oncoming wind. Pointing her hoof forward, Prism gathered her magic in her wings. Not wanting to take chances, Prism fell back on her mother’s training, and let part of her mind focus deep within a normally dormant part of her mana. With practiced effort, she tapped into that magic and let it flow through her before redirecting it to her wings.

Her flight faltered a bit as her wings grew. The exo-suit, custom made for her alone, expanded to allow her wings to grow unhindered to mirror that of Twilight’s own. Once both her magic and her wings were prepared, she guided that mana along her outstretched hoof, and yelled a wordless cry. A violet windshield burst to life. The shield followed the general shape of her body, and by feeding it more power, she was able to encompass the rover in its protection.

It took time for both pony and machine to correct themselves in the sudden calming of the air immediately around them.

~ “Power reserves reaching critical levels. Recommend setting down at this location.”~

Prism’s display lit up with a spot on a hill far above the flowing green smog that had a natural fissure easily large enough for Joe to squeeze through and be protected against the wind.

“Sounds good, Joe. Let’s move!”

Using her helmet’s display to keep the rover behind her, Prism banked downward to the fissure. The crack was perpendicular to the wind, allowing Prism to grin at the welcome sight. “Hurry, get in there!”

Prism landed on a patch of wind-torn soil near the fissure, where the rover landed and retracted its rotors. Prism backpedaled as she followed Joe into the fissure to keep her shield against the winds, releasing it once they were inside. With her adrenaline running high, Prism started sweeping the twenty meter long fissure for any animals or threats. As the rover settled down at the center, Prism checked every nook and cranny before feeling satisfied that they were safe.

She relaxed a little, and let her magic go, allowing her wings to shrink back to normal, making her hiss through clenched teeth as pain lanced through her wings. A burst of amber motes of mana floated around her wings before sinking back into Prism. She fell to her rump, having been winded by the whole affair. “Damn that hurts like a son of a nag!” She blinked a few tears away, as she tried to fight the throbbing deep pain that felt as if her wing bones had been broken then set back into place. Just let it pass, let it pass.

After a while, the pain died down enough for Prism to function again, though she resisted moving her wings for the time being. “Maybe I should take momma up on that training to keep those wings around the clock after all, now that I don’t have explorer exams to study for anymore.”

Prism took a bit longer to let her body’s magic to calm down, and eventually did a few test flaps to get the muscle stiffness out before approaching the rover. Once she actually had a chance to look at the machine, she knew instantly why it was in such a hurry to leave. Just about all of the paint from the main camera head was gone. Much of the plastic surface had enough pockmarks to look like it had gone twenty rounds with a gatling shotgun and lost. The metal didn’t look any better with Prism’s dent in the ‘tent’ clearly visible. She brushed the dent to find metal flakes falling away with frightening ease. Surprisingly, the glass lenses on the various sensors and cameras were completely untouched. “You don’t look so good, Joe.”

~“Multiple minor system failures detected. This unit requires repairs before further duty.”~

“No kidding,” Prism deadpanned with a head shake. “Was this a chemical or biological attack?”

~“Potentially both,” the rover replied emotionlessly, yet the answer still sent shivers down Prism’s spine. “However my scanners detected the green fog was filled with organic particles. This unit suspects it was damaged by spores and other organic factors.”

Her adrenaline fading Prism stifled a tired yawn. “Gimme the decontamination crystals. I better make sure your skin isn’t still hot to the touch.”

~“Affirmative.”~ Joe opened the corroded airlock and lowered both the black and golden crystals, allowing Prism to snatch them up.

While her wings were Prism’s primary mana focus, a pegasus’ hoof was more than enough to provide low power to the crystals. She started at the front, yawning tiredly. “So why didn’t you bug out as soon as you detected something was wrong?”

~“My scanners detected several large flying creatures come in and start drinking from the pool where you took the sample. Recent protocol updates were clear: avoid confrontation with large native wildlife. This unit determined the degenerative cloud was less of a threat than sixteen animals equal in size to the princess.”~

“Lovely,” Prism groaned as she lethargically sterilized the first good leg. “The whole planet’s going to be like one big Mushroom Everfree Forest.”

Over the next hour, she methodically swept every square inch of Joe’s exterior to render it safe to work with.

Finished with that, all Prism Flash could do was check the helmet’s clock. “Only slept for three hours… Whatever that stuff was, it works crazy fast.” She looked at both ends of the fissure with a critical eye. I can’t do spot repairs while I’m dead on my hooves like this, not after what it took to get us here safely.

Prism dug around the rover’s extensive array of tools which had thankfully gone undamaged. Within were a set of motion detector spikes. Prism set out to place the spikes all around the fissure, before returning to the rover. “There. Let me know if the spikes detect anything.”

~“Affirmative.”~

Prism let out a tired sigh. “I need my sleep if I’m going to do any repair work. In the meantime, compile a report on what happened, go ahead and send it back to HQ, and tell me in the morning.”

~“This unit will wake you early if its findings prove critical.”

“Fine, fine,” Prism waved off tiredly. “Now, is it safe to sleep in the tent, or am I going to have to worry about you breaking and falling on top of me?”

To that, Joe lifted each of its six wheeled legs, reconfigured said wheels into anchors, and punched each one into the rocky ground. Prism watched impassively until the sixth leg crumpled and snapped off. She gave it a deeply worried look while the rover’s camera head studied the broken leg before slowly facing Prism. ~“This unit is rated to remain safe for habitation with only four intact legs.”~

“Umm… I think I’ll take my chances outside this time.”

~“That is inadvisable. There may be other sources of equally corrosive vectors that this unit cannot protect you from if you remain outside.”~

Prism worked her jaw as a war between two lines of reason raged within her. Slowly, fatigue set in, making her growl in frustration and a bit of fear. “Alright, alright, but if you fall on top of me, I’ll find a way to haunt you.”

~“Affirmative.”~

Back in Seed One, Twilight was taking a much needed break for personal stress relief. She had just finished watching part of her three exabytes of holographic pornography, a collection that had accumulated over four hundred years. At this point she was ready to take a shower after having enjoyed the afterglow of such private exercises.

I really should find another coltfriend. I’ve waited long enough. A pre-made list of available, and probably compatible stallions started scrolling across her personal display. As always, she made sure the lists was arranged by tribe, fur color, intelligence, and several other factors she desired in a relationship. She hemmed and hawed quietly as the list progressed, making small addendums here and there. I should probably add a new filter for those who would more readily see me as a mare instead of some untouchable ruler on a pedestal.

Heaving herself off the bed, Twilight made for her personal shower, and cleaned herself up. Once that was done, she stepped back into her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her head and mane. Twilight paused in her step at finding Praxia waiting patiently near the door, in a room where the air circulation had not quite eliminated the reek of Twilight’s fun. Praxia’s presence made Twilight scowl deeply with faded embarrassment. “You know, if you took my advice, you wouldn’t need to resort to hiding outside my door to feed on lust.” Not to mention how weird it is every time I catch you doing it.

“My apologies, Sensei, but I don’t think many stallions see me that way, or mares for that matter.” Praxia dug a hoof at the floor, unwilling to meet Twilight’s gaze.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked over to her nightstand to retrieve her horn headset. “Honestly, Praxia, how many times do we have to have this conversation? For a species that needs to feed on love, you seem highly resistant to seeking it outside of Prism and me.”

More like an emotion vampire, Praxia mused grimly at the age-old insult. “I will endeavor to improve my efforts, Sensei.”

“I know it’s hard, believe me. But love is something to be cherished and is worth the risk, especially for somepony like you.” Twilight couldn’t stop a sad sigh from escaping her at how sullen Praxia drooped. You’re leaving me no choice. I guess I’ll have to take a page from Celestia and try to chessmaster a coltfriend for you after all. Should be easier than getting one for myself at least.

This unhealthy mindset is making her hemorrhage love to the point where I need to help her almost every night. Filing those thoughts away for tomorrow, Twilight flashed a smile. “At any rate, I heard what you did about the animal attack. You certainly put your mind to work better than my first pupil.”

Praxia brightened considerably at the praise. She wore a smile while inching closer for a much needed hug. “Thank you, Sensei. I have your education to thank for that.”

Twilight knew exactly where that redirected praise was going. She sat down on her bed and opened her forelegs invitingly. “Well come on, you.”

If there was ever a favorite part of Twilight’s day, the love from her student and dear friend was a strong contender. Praxia practically lept at the chance and embraced Twilight as the mother she wished she had.

Both mares stayed like that for a few heartfelt minutes, allowing Praxia to feel bloated with love. Were it left to her, Praxia would have remained in Twilight’s embrace for hours, feeling safe and loved by the mare she adored above all others.

As always, Twilight was the first to separate. “How is the construction going?”

Praxia knew Twilight had already read the report, but humored her teacher. She took a few steps back to have a respectful distance. “Very well. The levee’s in place, though I still recommend construction of a dam when we have the resources to do so. The solar farm itself already has the core facilities in place, and we’re just adding more panels until daybreak in a few hours. Provided the weather holds out, we’ll be able to loosen up our energy restrictions.”

Praxia cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Also a report came in shortly before I ahh… arrived at your door.” Praxia wilted a little at Twilight’s renewed ire. “There was a minor incident with Prism out in the field.” With a pulse of her horn, Praxia transferred the report Joe had compiled.

“I take it she’s alright then?” Given Praxia’s lack of heavy worry, and that it wasn’t immediately brought up in the first place, Twilight wasn’t overly concerned. Nevertheless, she still looked over the report with interest.

“Some sort of atmospheric phenomena caused major damage to her rover. While Prism escaped unharmed, the machine has a broken leg and potentially critical metal fatigue along its surface.”

Twilight was aghast at the readings in the report. “An atmospheric phenomena did that!? I swear it feels like every report I’m getting says this world is one big Everfree Forest. If such a thing were to happen here…”

Praxia wrestled a bit with mild confusion. “I don’t understand. Can’t our pegasi just deflect the clouds?”

“On a local level? Maybe.” Twilight’s mind started churning on how to formulate a new protocol to handling this issue. “Prism’s response during the escape proves our magic can at least affect this world’s weather, but we don’t know to what extent.”

Seeing her teacher get so worked up, Praxia quickly started putting more thought into the incident. “I suppose her direct lineage to you might have given her an edge any other pegasus wouldn’t have had. We’ll have to see to what extent we can safely control this...”

Praxia trailed off as she took a few moment to actually study the images Joe took both while still inside the insidious green fog, and above it. The light of the twin moons orbiting this world gave excellent lighting, allowing Praxia to see just how extensive the fog was. “...this miasma.”

Twilight hummed approvingly at the title. “And here I thought I’d be able to get some sleep tonight.”

Unwilling to let her teacher stretch herself thin, Praxia took a step forward. “I’ll take care of setting up the protocol, Sensei. I already informed the night shift to alert me if any of the miasma drifts towards the colony, and sent a warning to the rest of the Pathfinders.”

“Which just proves to me you’ve been overdoing yourself just as much as I have. Go on and get some sleep, I can handle a few days without it.”

Praxia remained firm, but respectful. “I may not have an alicorn’s constitution, but thanks to your love, I feel refreshed already. I can handle this.”

Twilight was about to object, but she noticed how much more energetic Praxia looked compared to when she first came in. Plus Twilight’s mind decided to remind her of the growing laundry list of tasks still set before her to unpack the colony. “...Alright, Praxia, just promise me you’ll get some sleep right after. Love high or not, we all need sleep.” I learned that the hard way. “We both need to be in top form if we’re going to make this colony a success.”

“My thoughts exactly, Sensei.”

Bright and early the next day, Prism Flash was decidedly not a happy camper. ~“What do you mean, I’ve been issued a recall order!?”~ she growled menacingly over the radio.

The holographic head of an orange earth stallion was sweating profusely since he was one of many that didn’t want to gain the ire of the princess’ daughter. “The orders come from Praxia herself. With your rover suffering potentially mission-critical damage, you can’t remain out in the field.”

Prism ground her teeth and seethed at him. “Then give me a portable oxygen generator! I’m not going to waste away inside when there’s an energy crisis on our hooves.”

“I’m sorry, Pathfinder. Orders are orders, and we don’t have any spare rover suited to support you. And if the AI’s reports are accurate, there’s a real possibility of critical metal fatigue, and your field repair tool can’t fix that. It needs to be brought back to the colony for repairs.”

Prism kicked a rock, making it bounce off of Joe’s severed wheel. Damn it! Now that jerk Rose is going to win the bet for sure! “Whatever!”

Prism cut the comms so she wouldn’t have to look at the operator’s face anymore. Yet through it all, she slumped down against the wall of the fissure, sinking into mild depression. She sat there and sulked for two minutes before an idea struck her. Hold the phone.

She accessed the satellite feed. After some doing, she had both her location and that of pod seven pinged on the map. It’s only nine klicks away. I can easily fly over and inspect the pod. If I’m lucky, the chopper will swing on by to pick up the thorium and me, and then return later for Joe.

“Joe! Stay here, I’m going out a bit.” Prism ran over and starting fiddling with the emergency supplies to find the spare oxygen canisters.

The AI assumed there was only one thing Prism would want to leave for. ~“It is this unit’s obligation to remind you that pod seven is outside of the recommended distance between us.”~

“Why do you think I’m getting some spare air?”

After slinging her rifle across her back, taking several long gulps of water, and replenishing her suit’s air reserves, Prism took the air and saluted goodbye to the rover. “See you on the flipside, Joe.”

~“Protocol requires this unit to report this, Pathfinder.”~

“Go ahead!” Prism yelled back dismissively as she cleared the fissure. He’ll be fine.

Once she had some altitude, Prism gazed around for the resource pod beacon. The little blip on her display led her eyes deeper into the hills where the mushroom caps were so tall and so dense that it looked as if the hills themselves were two stories higher than they should have been, and were a dazzling array of colors. The sky was filled with white clouds, casting vast shadows across the forest below. Oh peachy… That’s the direction the wind was blowing that green smog.

She double checked the passive homing beacon. Well, the return signal is still strong, so I guess it found a nook that the smog doesn’t get into.

With time and her oxygen reserves against her, Prism dipped into a shallow dive to preserve her strength. The flight was a pleasant one, the skies were warm, maybe a little too warm for a child of an ice age. She spotted two flocks of white and grey ‘birds’ flying around the tops of the mushroom caps and numerous small critters roaming the tops of the toadstools, leaping from cap to cap.

Not wanting to let her curiosity eat away at her limited oxygen, Prism Flash forcibly ignored the slew of new critters, and focused entirely on the beacon. She only got halfway to the site when Spike called over the radio. ~“Mind telling me why you’re breaking regulations, Pathfinder?”~

Prism cringed a little at the serious tone and use of her title instead of name. ~“My job, sir. We need that thorium.”~

Spike sighed heavily. ~“We have two other explorers searching the pods, you can afford to sit on the sidelines for a few days.”~

Prism saw her opening with the information slip. ~“Why only two? Somepony get hurt?”~ she asked with mounting worry. If anyone, hopefully Ruby… with something minor at worst. Can’t prove I’m the best if she gets hospitalized.

~“You can find out what happened upon your return. I order you to return to your rover immediately.”~

Prism slowed down a little. Wager or not, she didn’t want ‘disobeying a direct order’ hanging over her. “Come on, captain. I’m right here. Just let me poke my nose in, see what the pod has, and bug out. No harm, no foul. Besides I have hours of air left.”

Spike paused for a few seconds as he double checked Prism’s IFF locator and the pod’s location via satellite. By Celestia, she’s annoying sometimes. She’s got Twilight’s ‘right all the time’ intelligence, and her father’s brashness, all rolled up in one messed up package. You’d think the ‘Rainbow Dash’ in that bloodline would have thinned after a few generations. All told, he was acutely aware of how morale was strong and steady, but such strict energy restrictions could start to undermine it before much longer. The solar farm was currently only enough to allow ponies a hot shower, and little else since the power was needed elsewhere. If the pod had thorium, it would be worth the investigation. ~“A quick peek, nothing more.”~

“Yes!” Prism cheered with a hoof pump. ~“Roger that, captain.”~

Prism leveled out above the mushroom caps and sailed towards a crest in the hill where the beacon was calling from.

The mushroom caps were incredibly dense here, only having small openings in between the caps. Prism spotted the closest one of several small airborne critters reminiscent of hummingbirds and dragonflies in her eyes. The creatures scattered at her approach with many of them racing through the opening.

Prism’s initial over eagerness was abruptly cooled by caution after remembering the warnings about large, potentially hostile wildlife that Joe relayed earlier. She landed gently and tested the fungal cap, finding it to be surprisingly sturdy as it had only minimal give after several hard kicks.

With her footing secure, Prism slowly crept towards the hole in the canopy that was closest to the resource pod. It was only when she got close that she noticed a steady blue glow coming from the hole.

Prism slowly crept closer. Reaching the edge, she cautiously unfolded her mechanical hands, and grabbed her rifle. Prism circled the hole, checking to make sure there wasn’t an ambush predator waiting for her. When she saw no sign of any threat about to jump out at her from below, she pulled her rifle back and poked her head through to look around.

It was now that she could tell that the glow was coming from the underside gills of roughly half of the giant mushrooms. The gills themselves were as steady as any tree branch, while having long thin wispy tendrils hanging down for filter feeding. Or to catch small insects and birds, Prism mused with curiosity.

When she saw no animal movement, she switched her helmet’s thermal sensors on. Even after a few careful sweeps, she found nothing that at least looked threatening.

With quick grace, Prism slipped through the hole and fell into a hover just below the hanging tendrils. The forest floor was covered in soil, but lacked much plant or fungus life due to the near total lack of sunlight.

Thankfully, the gentle bioluminescence was bright enough to see by. Prism followed the blinking waypoint of the beacon towards a small clearing where the trunks of the surrounding giant mushrooms were mysteriously stretched far off center. The pod itself was covered in what looked like purple moss at this distance, but there was no mistaking its tall obelisk-like appearance. Bingo!

With only the barest semblance of a cursory glance around the large clearing for threats, Prism sprinted the distance between her entry point and her prize. Upon getting closer, it was obvious the pod had smashed through the mushroom cap above, with a minor hole still remaining. However, buried beneath what she thought had been purple moss was revealed to be a thick coating of slimy fluid with the pod itself covered in hundreds of teeth marks and shallow claw furrows. Prism rubbed her hoof along the countless contours caused by the damage. “Bloody hell… You must have pissed somepony off big time coming down.”

While her suit could hold several hours worth of air, Prism’s paranoia over her air supply made her attach her spare oxygen canister early to top off her suit’s reserves. By the time she was done, her helmet finished interfacing with the pod.

Alright, the computer’s talking… looks like everything’s green.

The front panel of the pod hissed loudly as it tried to open, but between the slime and how deeply it had impacted into the ground, the panel only opened a few inches. “Ah come on!”

Prism grumbled as she leapt on top of the pod and wedged her hind legs against the panel while pushing off on the pod’s apex. “Come on you stupid thing, open!”

Prism continued to curse and huff for a few seconds before realizing the panels were not going to give. “Ugh! Stupid pod!” She got off to inspect the problem. The ground was soft, but the impact had blown enough earth away to keep the doors clear to open. With the pod’s computer claiming it was in working order, that left only one other thing.

Prism turned her attention to the slime, only to gaze in amazement. The slime had changed drastically, having formed a tight interlocking mesh of fibers, effectively keeping the pod’s door from opening. Prism grabbed her knife and tested the slime-turned-vice. She gasped a little in surprise to find it was completely solid. “Holy… this isn’t slime, it’s more like spider silk. I knew I should have brought a sample box.”

With the silk unable to return to a liquid state, Prism made short work of it, easily slicing it down the length of the pod. Now that the door was unhindered, it opened freely with a clang. Like last time, Prism found several crates with black handles. Pulling one out, she found it was exceedingly heavy, almost making her drop it. In addition, there were no cryo gasses leaking away. “Should be a good sign.”

She quickly found the diode near the handle, allowing her helmet to read the contents. A massive grin split her face. “Ooooh yeah! Got me some thorium!” Prism dropped the crate and orbited the resource pod cheering and hollering her success. “Ha ha! I knew I’d find it first!”

After half a minute, Prism perched herself on top of the pod and opened her radio. ~“Seed Actual, this is November One.”~

~“Go ahead, November One.”~ Prism deflated a little at finding out it wasn’t Spike who answered.

Ah well. ~“It’s time to party boys, I found a whole pod full of thorium ripe for the taking.”~

“Nice work out there, November, I’ll have the recall VOTL directed towards your location instead of the rover.”~

~“And tell Spike I was right, would ya?”~ Prism asked with a snicker.

It took Prism a moment to notice the distinct lack of relief in the operator’s voice. ~“Shouldn’t you be singing my praises for saving us all?”~

The operator snorted in amusement. ~“You’re an hour late for that honor. Firefly signaled he found a thorium pod half an hour ago.”~

~“You gotta be kidding me! Did Rose put you up this?”~ Prism held out hope she was right.

~“My apologies, Pathfinder. But think of it this way. According to the memorandum from the Colonial Princess, a second thorium pod will give us enough power to end energy sanctions, whereas just one would have only allowed some loosening.”~

~“...Well, I guess that’s good enough.”~ Prism shook her head to stop from moping over a lost bet. ~ “See you soon then.”~

It took her a minute or so to remember she didn't actually know the stallion. Ah whatever.

Having nothing better to do and plenty of oxygen, Prism went to work slicing away the rest of the purple silk wrapping on the resource pod so it could be extracted more quickly.

Thankfully, that barely took half an hour, leaving Prism free to explore her surroundings. Prism Flash found the clearing itself an unusual find, and flew over to inspect the nearest fungal tree.

The towering mushroom had soft grey skin, but a quick probe with her knife proved that the interior of the massive fungus was as hard as any tree back on Equis. Maybe they function the same way. Fluid and nutrient transport on the surface, with structural support on the hardened interior.

What confounded Prism was that just by looking beyond the clearing, all other mushrooms of seemingly the same species were more or less completely vertical. And yet all the ‘trees’ around this clearing were standing in such a way that they bowed outward before curving back inward to have their caps almost completely close off the sky.

“There’s no way in Tartarus this is normal,” Prism mused aloud. It was only now that she missed having Joe along and its full suite of sensors. Could this be a magnetic pole perhaps? Maybe a ley line for the planet’s magic? Whatever it was, I bet my bottom bit it caused the resource pod to land right smack dab in the middle of this place.

Without even a single sample box present, and no horn to conduct cursory scans, Prism had to regulate herself to simple observation. Not to be deterred by a lack of equipment, Prism started an audio log and rattled off every minute detail of the strange landing. She decided to travel the perimeter of the clearing to see if there was any other abnormality in the surrounding foliage.

It didn’t take her long to notice something that gave her an involuntary shudder. Hanging from one of the mushroom caps, with the tendrils acting as supports, was a large misshapen object that was completely cocooned in the purple silk she had found on the pod.

With her paranoia spiking, Prism stopped her audio log, and took to the air in a low hover so she could free up her forelegs to hold her father’s rifle. She tuned out the sound of her flapping wings to listen in on any prowling threat. Should I bolt for the hole in the canopy? No. There’s no telling what had that thing cocooned. I better pull back to the pod first.

Keeping her eyes peeled, and her weapon following her gaze, Prism slowly withdrew to the pod. Now that she was expanding her gaze, she saw there was purple silk all over the mushroom trees of the clearing. On the far end, opposite of the first mushroom she inspected, was a mound of silk easily the size of a small house.

Three large openings led into darkened interiors that she dared not go near. After several minutes of sweeping the treeline, nothing sprang out at her, but the distinct lack of small animal activity kept her on edge.

Something’s fishy… That wrapped up thing was the size of a bloody manticore, easy. But what I don’t get is, I was distracted for a while with the pod. So why didn’t the locals come and tear me to shreds if this is a nest?

However, it wasn’t long before Prism started to wonder. Is nobody home?

For the twentieth time since she retreated to the pod, Prism switched to thermal imaging, and still revealed nothing bigger than a mouse crawling around.

Slowly, curiosity got the better of her paranoia, but it was only when she noticed an odd rock formation around the purple silken nest that she started to investigate more closely.

Keeping her gun trained on the trio of holes leading deeper into the nest, Prism looked towards the left side of the nest to find a thin rise of stone loosely covered in more silk. But something was off about the stone that kept drawing her in.

Fearful of the web, Prism found a few places to step down without touching the silk so she could inspect the stone. It was only when, by pure chance due to the location of usable footholds, that she saw the slab at an angle while switching her helmet back to normal light. There, plain as day, was a weathered but clearly visible artistic relief on the stone.

Prism’s breath caught in her throat at the discovery. Peering through the thin filaments of silk, the relief clearly depicted some form of four legged animal with damaged iconography carved underneath. Much of the animal was still present, save for the head and most of the back legs. The lettering had missing pieces, but there was no denying what she saw. “Holy mother of Burral! Aliens! Sapient aliens!”

Prism’s skyrocketing excitement halted when she heard the tell-tale thump-thump of the approaching VTOL aircraft.

For the first time since she first stepped hoof on this alien world, Prism couldn’t wait to return to the ship. Sapient, artistic aliens! Oooh, I can’t wait to drop this bomb on momma. I’ll get a whole expedition team to lead! I might even get to name these guys! I think Prismites has a nice ring to it.

Wanting to see her mother’s face in person when she delivered the news, Prism decided to be silent about the discovery, and wait until she returned. Presently, she flew back over to the pod to await the arriving aircraft.

~“This is Grabber Claw, calling November One, you read me?”~

Prism grinned massively at the imagined accolades, her loss of the bet totally forgotten. ~“Loud and clear, Grabber. I’m waiting here with the goods.”~

~“Alrighty, November. Looks like the toadstools are a bit clustered from where I’m seeing. Clear out so my co-pilot can blast a big enough hole for us.”~

~“Whoa, hold on, Grabber, the pod’s like right next to an alien nest. The locals aren’t home so I can’t tell if they’re dangerous or just hiding from me.”~

~“Loud and clear, November. We’ll try to be delicate.”~

Prism gave her acknowledgements and flew away from the pod, and far from the nest. Shortly thereafter, the mushroom caps above the pod were hit by a carving spell that started to circle around the pod. That act of paranoia made her entirely miss that the mushrooms getting hit by the spell starting quivering wildly at the spell’s touch. Right before she turned back around, the entire canopy above the pod violently exploded sending chunks of fungus all over the clearing.

Prism was speechless for a few seconds before growling and flying over to angrily shake her hoof at the pilots. ~“What the hell is your definition of delicate!?”~

~“Don’t blame me,”~ the co-pilot replied defensively. ~“The shrooms must react poorly to directed magic.”~

~“Well let’s be quick about this before the locals get pissed.”~

The pilots sent their agreement. Thankfully, only a single large chunk of fungus had come to rest on the pod. Prism pushed the surprisingly light piece of debris away so the claw had a clear shot at grabbing the pod.

Being trained in such efforts, Prism took charge of guiding the claw into place around pre-made grooves in the pod itself. One by one, the claws were locked in place, allowing Prism to look back up at the aircraft and wave to the pilots. ~“Okay, lift her up.”~

The downdraft tripled as the engines whined at the load, but sure enough it started to rise.

Prism was about to fly up to join the pilots when a heavy buzzing noise, akin to hundreds of changelings challenged the VTOL’s rotor blades for the dominating sound. A cold fear fell upon Prism as she brought her weapon up. Her eyes had been scanning the underbrush, not above the caps. So when the VTOL’s pilots started crying out in panic and alarm, her eyes jerked upward. The aircraft was being peppered with dozens of crossbow bolt sized spines.

~“Get out of here, Grabber, hurry!”~ Prism screamed as she flew up to poke her head above the canopy to find the source of the spines. She needn’t have bothered when a wasp-like insect the size of a car came from the side and slammed against the hull of the VTOL. Having more time to react, the co-pilot unicorn fired a bolt of magic, blowing off one of the wasp’s legs, making it let go with a screech of rage and pain.

Two more wasps crashed into the side of the aircraft, smashing through the tail section on the second impact. The aircraft collapsed under the weight of its cargo and crashed back down on the ground, spilling debris everywhere.

Prism had already fled back under the caps when the first wasp attacked, which was the only thing that saved her life. The insects surrounded the dying aircraft like a swarm of enraged bees. The pilot died in the crash, while the co-pilot tried to fend the wasps off with his magic. The cockpit proved difficult to crack, but that wasn’t stopping the massive insects from clawing at the pony within. ~“Get out of here, November! I’ll distract them as long as I can!”~

~“But what-”~

~“Go!~ the co-pilot commanded harshly. ~“I’m taking at least one of these bastards with me!”~

With the insects focused on the downed VTOL, Prism tried to slink away with her rifle tight against her chest. She nearly escaped the circle of trees when her back leg snagged on a few strands of silk. As she pulled herself free, the strands began to glow brightly, the luminescence spreading all around her. “That’s new.”

Several of the flying insects around the doomed aircraft immediately turned her way and screeched a bellowing war cry.

“Oh rut me!” Giving up all pretense of stealth, Prism blasted into the air with the insects quick to take up the chase. With the mushroom caps as dense as they were, Prism had no chance to climb into open skies, so she ducked and weaved around the trunks of the giant fungi. ~“Seed One, Seed One, I’m being pursued by hostile wildlife, I need emergency air support!”~

The gut chilling buzz of the giant insects grew louder with each twist in the path, each detour around a particularly dense thicket of brambles cost her ground. Still, Prism shot through the forest like a bullet, but the bugs were familiar with this terrain.

~“This is Seed One.”~ Prism was relieved it was Spike who answered. ~“We just lost contact with Grabber, what happened out there?”~

Prism saw the ground dropped into a steep hill, and finally some larger breaks in the canopy. With practiced aim, she rolled on her back to shoot the closest wasp. She was momentarily terrified to find the bug was trying to bite at her tail. She fired several shots almost point blank.

The rounds bit and tore at the wasp’s head, causing chunks of it to blast apart with the whole insect crumpling into a tumble. She fired a few more wild shots at the next closest bug, but missed with all but one, before flipping back around to power through the dive. ~“Big bugs! Big, Biiig Bugs! They attacked Grabber and brought it down after they cleared some of the shrooms to carry the pod out of here.”~

~“I’m scrambling the drones to home in on your signal. Keep your radio active.”~

Thanks to the steep hill, the canopy was much looser, and she quickly found an opening large enough to sprint through. ~“Copy that!”~

With her wings straining from the effort, Prism bolted towards the hole. Yet right before she could clear it, one of the giant wasps appeared on the other side, hissing at her with awaiting jaws.

Prism panicked, and slipped down along the slope of the hill, flying so close to the ground that her primary feathers smacked dirt. She had to kick off to get more altitude, but the act cost ground.

The wasps behind her swarmed in all directions, trying to converge on Prism.

It was here however, that the hills became so steep that the mushroom canopy disappeared entirely. Prism made a beeline straight for open skies smirking at how much faster she could go. Right as she was about to reach the open skies, a wasp the size of a truck descended from above the last giant mushroom cap. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Prism as insectoid death warmed over stared back at her with an earsplitting shrill cry.

It was too late to stop, and it was too big to avoid, so all Prism’s mind could do was aim her rifle and fire off three quick shots as she tried to veer to the side. The first shot went wild, the second buried itself center mass, while the last was fired point blank as the wasp turned to intercept her.

The wasp tried to snap its jaws at her, but missed. Instead it closed its legs around Prism, trapping her in its grip.

However, her speed was too much for the wasp to stabilize, and they were sent tumbling out of the air. The cliff, sky, and green ground spun rapidly, disorienting Prism as she struggled to free herself.

“Get off of me you freak!” Prism dodged her head as the wasp snapped its jaw at her. The wasp’s legs kicked and snagged her saddlebags, spilling its contents along with her knife. She tried to get her rifle to bear, but the wasp was simply too close to fire.

Time and again, the wasp lunged for her head, each time Prism was able to pull her head out of the way, but on the fifth try, the wasp clamped down on Prism’s helmet. A sickening crack heralded a dozen warnings of a suit breach, causing Prism to scramble in a panic. ~“It breached my suit! It’s breached my suit!”~

With Equestrian air escaping into the wasp’s mouth, the creature howled in surprise as the mana-infused gases burned its mouth. It released Prism’s helmet, and flung her away, ripping several additional ruptures in her suit and digging into her skin.

Raging at the death sentence the wasp had given her, Prism was finally free to aim her father’s rifle and emptied thirty rounds into the monster’s gut before the weapon went dry. A quick glance around her revealed that the rest of the wasps had given up pursuit.

In a desperate bid to save herself, Prism spun back around, and spread her wings wide to correct her fall. Fear pounded in her mind at how close the ground was, which revealed itself to be one of the massive green pools. The alien air leaking into her helmet started filling her lungs, making her cough raggedly. So much so that she couldn't keep her wings open as consciousness started to fade. I can’t stop myself at this speed, I gotta level out!

The cracks in her helmet spread as the air tore at it. Even working against such speed, Prism was starting to pull up, only for the corpse of the wasp to slam into her. “Would you just stop trying to kill me!”

Prism rolled out from under the wasp, and spread her wings again. Yet this time Prism all but freaked at how close the green lake was. “Aaah heeell!” she cursed while trying to correct her fall in spite of the lake. “Activate failsafe Stopgap!”

Right as gravity pulled Prism to her doom, a combination of a combat drug to deaden her pain, and a stimulant spell to keep her awake and alert shot into her neck from the base of her helmet. Prism’s wings were stretched almost to the point of dislocation. She was just barely starting to level out, coughing all the while, when she grazed the pool. The liquid’s viscosity pulled at her hooves as she dipped lightly into its surface.

Knowing she was about to lose control, Prism tucked her wings in tight as she started tumbling across the pool towards the shoreline. The first hit knocked the breath out her, the next ripped what was left of her oxygen tank away, the third almost gripped her, slowing her down while tugging at her left wing and foreleg dislocating both. The fourth and final hit dropped her almost a meter from solid ground.

Though Prism couldn’t feel the pain, it didn’t take her long to start sweating bullets at how many limbs refused to obey her. Yet the worst of it was the air itself. It took her a few seconds to finally get some air back in her lungs after being winded. However it felt like she was breathing in a dense cloud of dust with each breath, something Stopgap didn’t suppress. It made her cough and hack as she tried to pull herself neck-deep through the molasses-like ooze to the shore line. Were it not for the shallowness of the spot she came to a halt at, allowing her good legs to keep her up, Prism knew she would have drowned then and there.

~“Pathfinder November, are you there? Please respond.”~

Prism slipped, with her head dipping half-way into the muck. The slime oozed into her wounds and mouth, denying her the ability to reply to Spike’s repeated messages. The only thing telling him she was still alive was her constant coughing since her suit was too damaged to send data on her vital signs.

~“Help is on its way, Prism! Just hold on!”~

Somewhere south of Seed One, close to the river where Prism gathered her first samples, Twilight teleported into existence. Yet she only lingered for a split second before teleporting again.

This time at the bend in the river where the hills started to rise. Teleporting again, Twilight brought herself to the first resource pod. Over the next five minutes, Twilight Sparkle followed the beacon over vast stretches of land. Teleporting over such distances at such rapid succession would have killed a lesser pony. Twilight’s mana ran hot, her horn ached, and her heavy breathing threatened to fog over her helmet, but that meant nothing compared to Prism.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, she saw her unconscious daughter. Prism had managed to pull her head above the pool on the bank, yet she hadn’t the strength to drag herself fully out of the muck.

With one last teleport, Twilight blinked down to Prism’s side, winded and nearly collapsing from the backlash of so many rapid teleports. Twilight’s eyes fixated on Prism, sensing her irregular breathing. Even with her horn threatening to crack under the strain, Twilight cast a stasis spell, grunting through the pain spiking at the base of her horn.

With Prism frozen in time, Twilight knelt down to stroke her daughter’s loose hair that had come free from the holes in her helmet. Twilight’s fear spiked at seeing the teal foam at the corners of Prism’s mouth, indicative of Stopgap use. “Mommy’s got you, Primmy,” Twilight said as the medivac’s rotors thumped in the distance. “I lost your father, I’ll be damned if I lose you too.”

Having to draw so heavily upon her alicorn magic to not only maintain the stasis spell, but to stay strong enough to ward off any further threats, Twilight carefully pulled Prism out from the green lake. She wasn’t helped at all by the sheer lack of atmospheric magic, making the stasis spell hemorrhage magic in a way Twilight struggled to counteract. ~“I have her, Spike. Have the doctors on standby. Be ready for Stopgap detox.”~

~“Already done, Twilight,”~ Spike replied with obvious relief.

Twilight dearly wished she could move Prism into a more comfortable position, but attempting to do so would mean canceling the stasis spell first. There was no way Twilight would do that until her daughter was in the doctors’ care. ~“And, Spike, prepare a contingent of troops along with a few combat drones. I want you to retrieve the bodies of the pilots, if there’s anything left of them, and collect that pod. I won’t let any of their sacrifices be in vain.”~

~“And if we run into more aliens?”~

Twilight looked at the situation as if she were ordering an action against manticores or any other hostile species. ~“Do what is necessary.”~ Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight spotted the barrel of Prism’s rifle in the green muck as it slowly slipped below. With what magic she could safely use without cracking her horn, Twilight pulled the weapon out and noticed the magazine was fully spent. She laid the weapon down next to Prism. Even in death, you have continued to protect her. Rest now, it's my turn.

5: Complications

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A long dark sleep was broken as white light slowly became brighter and brighter. The light was joined by a steady beeping and a dull echo of fading pain in her lungs and windpipe. Eventually, Prism groaned and rubbed her eyes before cracking them open.

She was resting on her back on a medical bed with an IV drip in her left foreleg. She felt stiff all over and let out a groggy moan. “Gah, anyone catch the number of that pain train?”

She felt chilly in the hospital air, even bundled up in her blanket. She looked around to find that she was in the isolated quarantine area of Seed One’s sickbay. She briefly noticed a trio of pictures detailing her lungs and throat hanging on the wall to her left. Their presence brought back memories of her ordeal with the giant wasp. She idly rubbed her throat, yet something felt off about how breathing felt. I know I was choking on some local air, but I hope this weird feeling doesn’t last long.

Through the glass, Prism saw about a dozen or so other ponies around who looked to be in dire shape. Many had casts, bandages, or other physical injuries. The stallion in the bed nearest to her was being suspended in midair by a pair of arcane levitators to ensure his body covering injuries had no pressure on them. Prism’s hackles rose sharply at the severity of his body encompassing wounds, and made her shiver at the sight of it. It was only then that Prism noticed her mother, Twilight Sparkle, was slowly pacing around the room, where she was currently facing the bed furthest from Prism.

~“Ah, judging by your brain waves, you must be awake,”~ said a voice directly behind her bed. Prism turned to find it was just a wall mounted speaker. The tell-tale clip clop of hooves on hard tile floors made her turn back to see a unicorn stallion doctor with a breath mask pass through the somewhat sticky isolation energy shield between her and the outside. However her mother was quick to take notice and teleported straight to her daughter’s side.

“Prism!” Twilight quickly squeezed her daughter in a crushing motherly hug. “How’s my baby filly?” Twilight separated from a flummoxed Prism to look her over. “Are you breathing okay?”

Prism flashed a brilliant smile and nodded. “I’m okay.” Prism gave herself a once over. “I don’t have as many broken bones or cuts that I thought I would have.”

“That’s because you’ve been out of it for quite some time,” Doctor Sawbones announced as he made his way into the isolation chamber. He gave Twilight the kind of exasperated stare that only a physician could get away with doing towards a sovereign. “Princess, I am obligated to remind you that Miss Flash is still under quarantine,” he grumbled from behind his face mask.

“You know as well as I do that she’s been cleared of any foreign microbes for a week, Doctor.” Twilight countered without looking away from Prism. “Keeping her here was just a formality.”

Nothing worse than an alicorn momma bear, Sawbones mused darkly before giving up on trying to reign Twilight in. “As you say, Colonial Princess.”

Without wasting any more time, Sawbones cantered up to Prism while holding a small innocuous medical scanner aloft in his magic. “If you please, your highness.”

“Oh. Of course, certainly, doctor.” Twilight backed away to allow Sawbones free access to Prism. He walked up to her and started scanning Prism’s chest with both his magic and the medical tool that was cold against her fur. The lapse in lavishing maternal concern towards her bedridden daughter gave Twilight a chance to compose herself. “Sorry, honey. You’ve been unconscious for a month, so the doctor-”

“A month?!” Prism almost yelled throwing herself into a sitting position, cutting Twilight off, but her stiff muscles decided now was the perfect time to start cramping up. She fell to her back. “Ow, ow, ow!” Twilight had to literally bite her tongue to keep from brushing Sawbones aside and hugging Prism to comfort her. Not that she had to try very long when Prism stopped yelling. “I figured I was here for a while, but a full-fledged coma?”

Twilight walked to the other side of Prism’s bed to allow Sawbones to continue his work. “Yes, a month. I personally removed the last of your casts three days ago.”

Twilight knew a stab at humor could calm Prism down. “At the very least, your long sleep saved you from repeating your last medical fiasco when you broke a wing and kept trying to fly.”

Prism fixed her mother with a stern yet harmless glare. “I know when you’re trying to distract me, and it won’t work. Why would some lung damage put me in a coma for a month?” Prism wiggled her wing tips and back legs as a test to make sure she wasn’t paralyzed. “Did I get some brain damage, the infection went poorly, or something?”

Twilight clammed up for a moment before smoothly answering, “No, you’re brain waves and CT scans all come up green. However, as I’m sure you’re well aware of, the extent of your injuries were not just physical trauma. You were asleep during an aggressive antibiotics treatment as well.”

Prism narrowed her gaze at both doctor and mother. “Is there a reason you keep saying sleep instead of coma?”

“That question should be directed at me,” Sawbones commented with renewed good humor. “But first I’d appreciate some deep breaths.”

Prism squirmed a little at the cold instrument Sawbones was pressing against her ribs upper ribs and throat. “Uh, sure.”

As she took a series of breaths, the doctor listened to his magic and instrument in silence, only giving short requests to her. Prism’s mounting impatience for answers would have been voiced were it not for something that felt off each time she took a breath. Is that some lingering damage from what the atmosphere did to me? I must have been more messed up than I thought. As her mind started churning through her observations, Prism couldn’t stand the silence another minute. “So what went weird? You didn’t need to flash-clone me for a new set of lungs did you?”

Both Sawbones and Twilight groaned at the poor reference to one of the more popular fictional hospital shows back on Equiss. “Right along with a new funny bone,” Twilight replied mockingly, glad that Prism was taking things moderately well.

“Thankfully no,” Sawbones chuckled. “There was some scar tissue that needed cleaning up, but you should be up and about shortly enough, provided if my checks reveal a clean bill of health.”

Prism’s mood soured a little at how evasive both her mother and physician were being. Okay, it didn’t help I mentioned P.A.S.H. “That’s not an answer, doc.” She growled angrily. “I should have been out of it for a few days at worst.” She briefly turned to her mother, “flying fiasco or not. So spill it!”

Sawbones was caught off guard by the shift to hostility and tried to have a placating tone of voice. “No, you’re right, it shouldn’t have.” Prism’s ire faltered as Sawbones summoned a holographic display of Prism’s body in front of her. “While the hostile atmosphere caused serious damage to your respiratory system, with some additional complications from an infection, it was the green pool you fell into that should have claimed your life.”

Prism’s various injuries where the green ooze had made contact to open cuts revealed a rapid series of growths that sprang up and died just as quickly. “I can only surmise, Miss Flash, that the pools act as an extremely potent mutagen. One that seems to treat normal pony magic as a catalyst.”

“Are… were those tumors?” Prism asked with mounting fear. She started subconsciously rubbing one of the biggest gashes she remembered the wasp had inflicted on her right foreleg.

“It was frightening to watch,” Twilight commented with a shudder. “However we think they were mutations and not simply cancers.” That got an even more alarmed and questioning look out of Prism towards Twilight, yet the alicorn continued unfazed. “Luckily for you,” and my sanity, “your body is already used to channeling alicorn magic. While the mutagenic agent fed on your pegasus magic, I was able to supplement your natural, if very limited, alicorn magic, enabling your body to fight back and destroy the… growths almost as fast as they appeared.”

“Quite so,” Sawbones added with a measured level of clinical concern if only to maintain a level of professionalism. “It was my call to keep you sedated since they would have most likely caused you horrendous pain. The growths, as her highness put it, stopped roughly a week ago, but this,” he said while having the hologram highlight Prism’s windpipe, “is why I’ve kept you sedated until today.”

The hologram revealed a series of shallow grooves with dozens of tiny channels leading from the windpipe into the esophagus. In addition, a mesh of mana channels now blanketed the exterior of those grooves. “What you have here, is an incredibly powerful filter that mimics the same respiratory structures we’ve seen in every small animal on this planet to date, yet strangely adapted to use your innate magic whereas the locals do not.”

“Are you guys being serious right now?”

“Believe me,” Twilight responded with mild yet still lingering shock, “that pool ranks fairly high on the weird things I’ve seen back on Equuis.”

“Let us hope it doesn’t become par for the course,” Sawbones added to weigh in his calming bedside manner. “The only reason we consider that pool a mutagen instead of a carcinogenic is that also developed alongside the other growths.”

Things were happening a little too fast for Prism’s still wakening brain to comprehend it all. She rubbed her scalp trying to stave off a headache, and failing. “So let me get this straight. That green muck just decided to slap a new alien throat on me because… what? It was the planet’s way of saying ‘welcome ponies, have a new body part on the house?’ This is all some big joke to see if I got brain damage right?” Prism started rubbing her neck, trying and failing to isolate that ‘off’ feeling.

“While I don’t know about it being a welcoming gift,” Twilight replied with a touch of dark humor in her tone, “I can say this is very real.” She waved at the hologram to make it zoom in on the filter. “This didn’t manifest perfectly in one fell swoop though. If anything, it looked like you underwent countless generations of evolution within the span of these three weeks.

“This filter developed a little bit correctly before it seemingly started to deviate from a useful pattern. Oddly enough, it was only during those deviations that your augmented alicorn magic stepped in to destroy the harmful misgrowth. However, unlike the mutations on the rest of your body, your alicorn magic allowed this evolution to complete.”

Sawbones marveled at how fully functional Prism’s readings were shaping up. “Alicorn magic acts subconsciously in many ways, most we still don’t know about thanks to there being so few of you,” he lamented at such a scientific blindspot. “Nevertheless, I hypothesised, correctly as it turns out, that your distress at wanting to breath is what prompted your magic to allow the mutagenic compound to build the filter while the magic acted to prune the harmful deviations.”

Prism let it all sink in as she studied the hologram of her. Part of her wanted to get rid of it, yet that voice didn’t gain much traction when an idea came to her. A crazy, yet exciting thought that she latched onto as a ghost of a smile starting to worm its way on her muzzle. “So… What? I can breath outside now? Like actually go outside with no gas mask or anything?”

Even though Twilight half expected Prism to ask this, she still looked warily at her daughter. Sawbones couldn’t bring himself to say no without lying. “Theoretically, maybe. We haven’t exactly been too keen on testing that capability.”

“Well now we can!” Prism instantly thought back to her time flying free in the skies of Equuis with only the need of thermal clothing. “Look, I know we haven’t been on this planet for long. But we’re sitting on a gold mine! I bet everypony would pay to be able to breath outside air.”

Twilight staunchly shook her head. “That rides some ethical boundaries I wasn’t expecting to see for at least a few years. I’m not against finding ways to make life easier here at the cost of pruning away some detrimental traditions and schools of thought, but we better take anything like this slowly. Not to mention we haven’t even come close to isolating all the variables that produced these results in you in the first place. So no, we’re not risking the chance to replicate this mutation for anypony, let alone everypony.”

Prism wilted a little while Sawbones nodded in agreement. “As for you personally, I want you to hold off trying to breathe outside for now, give yourself time to finish recuperating before taking the plunge, as it were.”

“And before you ask,” Twilight said quickly before Prism could open her mouth. “If, and I mean as a big if, you can breathe normally outside, then I will greenlight research into making this publically available.”

“Fine by me,” Prism said with a toothy grin. “You gotta admit we’ll all be better off if we can.”

“Hmm, yes, well, that still leaves bacteria as an issue,” Twilight countered cautiously. “You’ve been under an intensive series of antibiotics since you arrived, and we currently don’t have the facilities to reproduce such medications just yet.”

Prism was too caught up in the prospect of just trying to breath outside to let the warnings impede her good mood. “Sounds good. “Now if you’ll excuse me doc,” Prism lifted her foreleg to bite and pull the IV drip out when Sawbones stepped up to stop her.

“That’s currently out of the question. You need at least four days further convalescence before I can declare you fit for service.”

“What!? Ah come on, doc, I feel fine!” Prism gave her mother a silent, desperate plea, yet all Twilight did was shake her head.

“You should feel lucky, Primmy, back when I was young, you would have had to spend quite a bit of time on physical therapy alone. You young whippersnappers should feel privileged you only need a few days.” Prism gave her mother a flat look of steaming irritation. Twilight acted as if she didn’t notice. “Besides, I want to make sure this… mutation of yours doesn’t cause either you or anypony else any complications.

“If it proves to be nothing more than an air filter, then all is well, but if by some chance it has some hidden function we couldn’t detect while you were unconscious, I want to minimize the chance you'll be too far away to receive medical aid.” Or anypony you might inadvertently effect.

That shut down Prism’s protests, making her absently rub her throat. “Can I at least go fishing at the beach? See if there’s anything edible out there? It’s not too far away.”

“We didn’t pack any fishing poles, only repurposed nets and traps originally designed for catching scientific specimens.” Twilight replied with a sad shake of her head. She quickly picked up on Prism’s sinking spirits. “Maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea to assume nothing here would be edible in hindsight.” Twilight silently cursed the planners back on Equuis for that little nugget of wisdom. I could only fight so many battles, and poles aren’t that complicated to construct anyway. Brushing off her loathing for ponies who were probably long dead, Twilight fixed her daughter with a thin smile. “But I’m sure we can think of something for you to do around camp.”

Prism was ready to take any lifeline she could get and nodded briskly. Twilight gave a sidelong glance at Sawbones who was grinding his teeth trying to think of the best solution. “I suppose if you acquiesce to a more in-depth bio-scanner in your suit, it should be acceptable. I need at least two weeks’ worth of data to make sure there isn’t some dormant aspect to this mutation. I’m not willing to take any chances here.”

Twilight moved to help get Prism out of bed, while Sawbones initially turned to leave, only to snap back around. “And no trying to breath the outside air,” he commanded sternly. At the back of his mind, Prism’s file told him he could never stop her for long. “At least not until this trial period is over.”

Prism had her head go limp backwards and groaned in exasperation. “Fiiine, probably smells like moldy old socks anyway.” Twilight suppressed a chuckle as she telekinetically removed the IV drip and placed a small bandage over the wound.

Giving brief thanks, Prism jumped to the floor, only to nearly fall on her face at how weak her legs were. Twilight saved Prism from a faceplant with a little telekinetic assistance. “How about we take it easy for today, Little Wing? Just you and me for a while?”

Prism grumbled silently at the old pet name, but hid it well. Given how shaky she was on her hooves and that her wing felt as stiff as an over starched shirt, she didn’t put up a fight. “That does sound kinda nice actually.”

“Great,” Twilight replied with good cheer. “That will give us time to catch up and show you how the colony’s coming along.”

That perked Prism up with her giving Twilight an excited smile. “It would be nice to sleep on a real bed again…” She glanced wearily at the hospital beds in the room and the series of wounded soldiers. “Well, a bed that doesn’t remind me of this place.”

Twilight’s good humor died away at the reminder of the most recent debacle. Sawbones saw it as an excuse to return to his duties and excused himself after saying, “Well then, I suppose you’re free to go. No need for decon this time, and I’ll have the bio-scanner prepared and delivered to your quarters by this evening.”

Twilight watched him leave with a concerned frown, giving Prism time to get a little more steady on her hooves. “You ready to go?” Twilight asked at length while resurrecting her thin smile.

“Yeah. I’ll follow your lead.” Prism was painfully sluggish on her legs, but her wings were in equally bad shape and she was loath to let Twilight carry her. “I do get my own separate home right?” The question came as a welcome distraction from the injured as the pair walked through sickbay to the exit.

“In a way,” Twilight answered evasively. “I have to hoof it to Praxia,” Twilight said as she stepped out of sickbay and into the pristine hallway of the second ring. There were only a few ponies going to and fro. “She’s the most efficient worksite administrator I’ve seen for two centuries. Praxia’s been instrumental in getting the colony fully unpacked while you were laying about.”

Now that she was getting the blood flowing in her legs, Prism was feeling more confidant in her gait. “What’s the deal with the soldiers back there?”

Twilight’s feelings wrestled between despondent over the soldiers’ sacrifice, and in keeping a strong face. “We ponies had our entire history to learn and adapt to the dangers of Equuis. Here, we have to start all over again.”

“Translation: more giant aliens?” Prism deadpanned.

Twilight gave a decidedly unamused huff, as the pair reached a receiving room. “I don’t believe so, but we’re not entirely sure of that, and that’s what worries me.”

The receiving room they walked into what used to be a cargo bay that had stretched from the inner to the outer section of the second ring from the ground. New walls had been erected to narrow it down a little, yet the presence of a massive ramp leading away from the ship was the biggest addition. Prism missed the other minor changes as she tried to glean anything out of Twilight’s regal mask.

“Well there were obviously some survivors. What did they see?”

“It’s a short tale, so I might as well start at the beginning. Your comrade, Pathfinder Ruby Quartz, came across a very strange anomaly during her search for a thorium pod.” The pair started walking down the long thin tube ramp.

Prism idly noticed the walls and ceiling had the tell tale imperfections of hastily printed glass. Glad it’s functional, even if it looks ugly.

Twilight’s horn lit up and projected a hologram, small enough so it wouldn’t interfere with other passing ponies.

Thanks to her headset’s computer guiding her magic, Twilight was able to perfectly replicate the video recording. Ruby’s rover was in the middle of a red grassland with Ruby herself standing in front and directing the rover’s camera with a hoof. In the distance was a whole landscape, easily several miles in diameter, full of stone pillars with several easily being three stories tall.

Each of the stone pillars were vibrating, noticeable even from Ruby’s distance. The camera focused on the center where two smaller stone towers circled around a much larger pillar. Each of them were digging nearly straight grooves away from the rover, scaring the land all the way up to Ruby’s position.

Prism would have plastered her muzzle against the hologram had it been corporeal in an attempt to get a closer look. “Holy moly, what the heck are those?”

“The boys in blue coined the term Ruby’s Towers,” Twilight commented while canceling the hologram. “Between the stones vibrating, and the towers themselves, we’re not sure what’s causing this phenomena, be it geological or otherwise.”

Prism inwardly kicked herself for getting injured and not being out there. Damn it all, I can just see her smug face. I should be out there getting my name on crazy stuff like that too. Twilight remained silent for a time, wanting to see what her daughter would make of it all.

They made it halfway down the ramp, giving Twilight a good view of the group of prefabricated dormitories that used to be all but the bottom two rings of Seed One. Built upon solid rock and clay ground, the four rows of dormitories radiated out like a wave away from the central plaza where the ramp met the ground. Mother and daughter idly gave passing greetings to the increasing density of ponies.

“Wait a second,” Prism said as they reached the plaza. “How rare are these stone towers?” Prism asked, intentionally avoiding her rival’s name. “Because I never saw anything like them.”

“Thus far, this is the only instance we’ve seen as well,” Twilight commented with a nod.

“Do you think there might be some alien metal reacting a little too strongly to the planet’s magnetism? Those pillars might be full of metals or some other useful elements.”

“I came to the same conclusion, and the tectonic scanner on Ruby’s rover revealed numerous useful metals and rare earths I thought we’d need a mine to acquire. Sadly, those wounded soldiers in sickbay show how well that went.” Twilight left it at that.

“So you sent them to prospect the towers… So let me guess. One of the big towers fell on them?”

Twilight and Prism sat down in the rover, with Twilight signalling the driver to take them away. “You’re close enough, they figured they could treat the pillar like a lumberjack so they could break it apart at our leisure.” Twilight paused a moment. “Next time I’ll have to send out trained foresters instead. In any case, Spike was none too pleased about more wounded soldiers, what with the natives continuing to probe our defenses. As such, we’re having Ruby take a more careful approach in her investigation on the exploitability of the towers until we can afford to send a geological and mining team out there. Dangerous or not, we need access to those resources.”

Prism wasn’t able to enjoy the ride after hearing the news. Ruuuuby! I swear, I’m never going to hear the end of this when she gets back.

Wanting to get her mind off of Ruby before she exploded, Prism changed the subject. “Where’s Praxia, anyway?”

“Right there.” Twilight pointed at their destination, which was a receiving lobby for their row of dormitories. Praxia was propped up on the glass and waving at them.

As soon as the rover docked with the lobby and the doors opened, Praxia practically zipped over to Prism’s side with a massive grin and roped her into a hug. “You finally woke up! How’s your throat? It didn’t change your voice did it?” Praxia’s recently regrown wings were buzzing madly.

“Ahhh,” Prism was at a loss at Praxia being so eager. “No pony’s said anything about my voice, so I guess it’s the same.”

“Great!” Praxia giggled manically. “Princess, do you want me to show her around the dorm?”

Prism gave her mother a highly confused look, to which Twilight only gave a warm smile to both young mares. “I made sure to clear my schedule for the next hour. I have plenty of time to see Prism settle in.”

“Awesome Wassup possium! I have something that might cheer you up in my quarters, Prizzy, lemme go get it!” Praxia bolted away like greased lightning unintentionally scattering a few ponies along the way thanks to the unfamiliar sound of her buzzing wings in flight.

Prism was speechless, and silently blinked a few times in bewilderment at the fleeing bug pony. She eventually turned towards Twilight who was laughing behind a raised wing. “What in blazes was that about? Does Praxia have a twin sister I didn’t know about?”

“No, that’s the real professionalist Praxia we all know and love. Buuut… One of the resource pods Pathfinder Firefly discovered was chock full of snacks, treats, and recipes for even copyrighted junk food.

“Sent over for morale purposes, of course. At any rate, Praxia was feeling really depressed after you came back to us in such bad shape that I made sure she got a few boxes of chocolate bars from the pod.”

Twilight couldn’t stop snickering behind her wing at the memory she was trying to relay. “Well, apparently it’s been so long since Praxia had chocolate that she forgot how loopy it makes her.”

“Are you telling me, Miss Super Serious gets high off of chocolate?”

Twilight nodded in response, “yup. I guess you were too young to remember that.”

Prism started cackling in manic laughter to the point where she fell down laughing. Unfortunately she landed wrong on her bad wing, making her alternate between laughing and crying out in minor pain.

“I must say I wish there would have been more opportunities to gift chocolate to her in the past.”

Prism used her other wing tip to wipe a tear from her eyes, yet an idea came to her, snapping her crippling humor away. “Say, do you remember that first resource pod I found, the one with all the seeds?”

Twilight was puzzled by the source of that question as Prism stood back up. “Umm, yes, I remember that. Spike had it hauled in shortly after the thorium reactor was brought back up to full power. Why?”

“There wouldn’t happen to be any cocoa seeds in that pod would there?” Prism asked with a wishful spreading grin.

“There might be,” Twilight conceded, trying to reign in her enthusiasm before it got too high. “The agricultural teams catalogued everything, but even if the pod had the beans, we are in no shape to make use of them. Our greenhouses are still under construction and we simply can’t afford the time and space for what really amounts to a luxury at this point.”

“Couldn’t hurt to at least check.” Prism fussed while watching Twilight start to walk deeper into the building.

“You can do that yourself later,” Twilight called over her shoulder, prompting Prism to follow. “The findings in the pods are all public record.”

Fortunately for both of them, Prism’s quarters was nearby, along with Praxia and Twilight’s own dormitories as well. The dorms themselves were only one story tall, and judging by the narrow exterior, Prism assumed it was going to be a cramped affair. The forward exterior of the dorm was plain plastic, with only a single door and no windows. Each owner’s name was stenciled over the doorway along with a copy of the pony’s cutie mark on the left side of the door.

In Praxia’s case, there was no cutie mark. Praxia’s door was ajar and Twilight could hear the excited changeling jabbering to herself as she noisily searched her room. With Twilight’s quarters being the first, and closest to the colony ship, Prism was immediately to the left with Praxia beyond that. “Weird, I thought you’d get some kind of royal suite or something.”

Twilight couldn’t help but to wish she had. Centuries of living in a spacious palace had grown deeply on her, and Prism’s observation wasn’t helping her bout of homesickness. While she had been distracting herself with work, the very fact she’d remain in a suit or indoors for years if not decades started to weigh upon her. “Yes well… I’d have never forgiven myself for having a fully fledged prefab house sent just for me when space was already at such a drastic premium.”

Twilight deftly opened Prism’s door with a bit of magic at her horn-circlet. She smiled more for herself than for her daughter. “It’s only temporary, thankfully. Once we have the rest of the vital infrastructure in place we can start building larger, more proper homes.”

Prism paid attention while surveying her new home, if it could really be called that. There was little more than a single wall mounted bed, a small closet, a desk/chair combo, a single video screen and one window that gave Prism a spectacular view… of the domiciles ten meters away. After bounding over to the window, her heart sank a bit at barely being able to see open sky thanks to the angle of the outer protective glass causing a partial mirroring effect. Bummer view.

Twilight allowed the conversation to lapse for a short bit as Prism got acquainted with her new surroundings. “Which brings me to my next point.” Prism snapped away from the window and towards her mother by the door.

Yet before Twilight could continue, she was interrupted by a few work managers on her personal display. She gestured for Prism to wait as she quickly addressed matters of state. It wasn’t too long before Praxia almost jumped through the door, still riding high on her chocolate rush. Yet even in such a state, she quickly caught on that Twilight was talking to others, and slinked past her to approach Prism.

“Hey, Prissy, lookie this!” Praxia whispered excitedly while presenting a highly amused Prism a box.

She hasn’t said that nickname since we were kids. I like Chocolate Praxia. Refocusing on the hoof-sized cardboard box, Prism took it and pried it open. Within was a can of bug repellent and a cream vapor rub for sore throats. With one ear flopped over, Prism fixed Praxia with a supreme glower of condemnation. Praxia was trying to hide her snickering and ducked behind the chair with her head propped up on the back rest. “So I heard you hurt your throat, and had a wasp problem, so you know… For next time.”

Trying to suppress her traitorous grin, Prism took the bug spray waved it at Praxia. “Maybe I should see if this stuff works on you.”

Praxia couldn’t stop her wings from buzzing in her efforts to not disturb Twilight’s call. “Sorry, but I don’t have chitin, so it won’t work on me,” she said while flaunting her fur covered forelegs and rubbing her coat. I think…

“Where was I?” Twilight announced as a way to get attention. Both pegasus and changeling abandoned their conversation to focus on Twilight. “Ah good, you’re here too, Praxia. Though this next matter won’t affect you for some time, I feel you should hear this before my daily address tomorrow.” She turned towards Prism. “While I doubt you’ll want to take part in this… initiative, since you are an adult, I feel it’s only right to give you the chance to participate.”

Prism noticed Praxia’s enthusiasm diminished sharply as the changeling started sitting in the chair more naturally. “In what exactly, mother?”

Twilight leveraged her centuries of rule to speak strongly. “Given the loss of life we’ve suffered in barely a month’s time, I feel we can’t truly wait for nature to takes it’s course. I’m starting a breeding incentive tomorrow.” Prism’s eyes dilated in surprise while Praxia seemed to shudder a bit as her happy grin started to fade to her more professional neutral expression. “Those families or single future mothers wishing to foal will be prioritized larger housing as it is built.”

It didn’t take Prism very long to think it over. “I’m all for doing my part to save the pony race, but I think I’ll leave the foaling to the people who stick around the colony. I need to get back out there and do my job.” Not to mention I’m in no possible way, ready to be a mom.

Twilight smiled with pride. “Very well. Once Sawbones gives you a clean bill of health, I’ll send you out first thing.”

The two ponies turned to Praxia who was rubbing her eyes and moaned in painful self-directed exasperation. “Why did I eat that stuff…”

Prism flashed her trademark sarcastic smirk. “Because it makes you actually sociable to others. Seriously, you’d have a lot more success if you took your Vitamin Cocoa.”

Praxia moved one hoof off of her eye to glare at Prism. “I suppose you think that was terribly clever.” Sadly for Praxia, a chocolate high didn’t have the same side effect of amnesia that alcohol had, only a mild headache as her brain recovered. “And here I was, going to give you these.” Praxia opened the plastic bag she had brought over and pulled out a box of oatmeal cream pies. “But I think I’ll just eat them myself now.”

Prism started drooling the instant her eyes fixated on the snacks. Ignoring Praxia’s last remark, she glomped the changeling in a crushing hug and planted a sisterly kiss on her. “You actually got those for me!? You’re the best bug in two whole worlds you know that?”

Praxia tried to at least act peeved, but the flow of love drowned it away. Twilight smiled at how honest her daughter cared for Praxia. As for Praxia, she relented and dropped the box of cream pies on the desk. “Given your last run in with the local insects, that’s not necessarily high praise.”

Twilight gave up trying to hold back any laughter and chuckled as Prism let go of Praxia. “So can I have the pies now? Pleeease!”

“Fine.” Praxia replied at length while nodding at the box. Prism promptly snatched it up in her mouth and ran out of the room to devour her prize with decidedly unlady-like gusto.

Praxia followed her to the door to make sure Prism was far enough away that she wouldn’t overhear her. Satisfied, Praxia turned to Twilight. “Sensei, what are we going to do about Prism’s… mutation? Being able to breath without the need for suits would go a long way.”

“It’s too early to make an informed decision on that.” Twilight teleported both herself and Praxia into her royal quarters, which granted her only a slightly better view than her daughter’s room. “I didn’t want Prism to think too much about this, but there were several mutations that sprang up in her brain.” Praxia gasped in surprised as Twilight continued. “Her own alicorn magic along with the infusions I provided her let her body fight off and revert the changes, but if her body allowed the filter in her throat, I worry about what it might have allowed in her brain, or if the growths might have indirectly caused damage.”

“S-she sounded and acted like her usual self,” Praxia offered hopefully. “How many people know about that?”

“Aside from Prism, Sawbones is the only one outside this room.” Twilight cast her gaze at a picture of her late husband, Prism, and herself hugging each other in their old living room. The seed of maternal worry burrowed into her. “If nothing comes of it, so much the better.”

“And if there was a change?”

Twilight had to summon every second of her four centuries of experience to appear as the ruler she was expected to be. She couldn’t shake the mental image of the giant wasps and wolf beetles threatening her soldiers. “Then I will do all in power to protect the colony, and my daughter.”

6: Mandatory R&R

View Online

Prism hid behind a support strut and gave the box of Sand Shore’s oatmeal cream pies a tooth-filled predatory grin, the likes of which would cause a griffin to cower and send them screaming straight into an asylum. Tearing away the lid and the wrapper of the closest snack, Prism took a moment to bask in the presence of the hoof-sized delight.

The aroma, the gentle crumble of the moist oats, the dense filling of cream, all of it was like heaven to Prism’s eyes and awaiting tongue. Unable to wait any longer, Prism devoured the whole cream pie in one go, letting oat-based perfection roll across her tastebuds.

Wrapped up in culinary bliss, Prism slumped down against the strut in a mild daze as she let the cream pie propel her into heaven. And there she stayed for five minutes, basking in the simple pleasure of food granted to ponykind by the gods above, before her eyes lazily turned back towards the box.

She pulled out another pie and was about to tear into the wrapper when she caught herself. Her manic grin fell as her brain caught up with her stomach. “...No, I better save them. Not like I’m going to get any more of these for years.” With a bittersweet sigh, Prism stood up and used her wings to dust herself off, mostly to avoid looking at the ponies who had witnessed her foodgasm.

She placed the box on her back intent on stashing it away in her room. Yet before she started walking, a niggling feeling started creeping up on her. Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something? Anyone else might have passed it off, but Prism let it hound her steps back to her dorm. Colt, I really hope it wasn’t important this time. Still can’t believe I let myself go down in history with the first words on the new world being me asking Joe for a nav beacon.

Prism’s proximity to the door automatically unlocked and opened it to reveal that Twilight and Praxia had already left. The revelation left Prism a bit flat-footed as she looked around the room. Crap. Was I distracted for that long? Her stomach yearned for another delectable oatmeal pie at the most obscure reference to it, yet her brain held fast.

As she stashed the snacks away under her bed, her mind tripped on a clue. I think it has to do with the mission I was on. Is it that I forgot to give a report on the wasps? Nah, Spike’s troops would have gotten more info on them than I could. Maybe something about the pilots, or that purple webbing maybe?

“Gah! I hate it when I do this!” She growled at herself before the proverbial light bulb clicked on. “Ah ha! I wanted to ask mom about training to have alicorn wings full time! That must be it.” Nodding proudly at herself, Prism looked around the room for her helmet only to see a silver hoof knock on her open door.

“Ah hello?” Came a masculine voice as a thestral poked his head in.

From behind her back, Prism quickly tossed her one suitcase in front of the cream pie box to better hide it. “Oh, hey, Silver. What’s up?”

The surprisingly grease-free engineer flashed a broad smile. “I heard you finally woke up, and wanted to see if you were wanting to head back out in the field.”

Prism’s mood soured a little, but she didn’t direct that fresh ire at Silver. “Nah, I’m stuck around town for a while thanks to doctor’s orders.”

“That’s too bad,” Silver replied with less than genuine sympathy. “So ah, the crew and I got Joe back up to snuff, for when you’re ready that is.”

Prism’s ears perked up along with her smile. “Really? Sweetness, let’s go see him. I wanna see if you or Crankshaft snuck in any new features.”

Silver blanched at his plan being foiled before he could even ask, and stuttered trying to speak as Prism searched the dorm for her new helmet. Prism didn’t notice his plight as she searched high and low for the helmet she knew Twilight would have provided ahead of time.

“You know, I - ah - I was thinking since you’re stuck in the colony for now, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat, or go to the VR club.”

Prism finally found her new helmet, the same model as her old one, and turned to Silver with a mildly surprised face. “We already have a VR club?”

Silver saw his chance and nodded a bit too vigorously. “Oh yeah. We petitioned the princess to allow us to convert the last of the cryobays into a club. Sure it meant a little construction diversion, but at least now we have somewhere to blow off steam.”

“That actually sounds like fun.”

“Great, I’ll show you the way!” Firefly was right, the VR club might be just the bump I need.

Needing nothing more than her helmet, Prism made for the door with Silver stepping out of the way. They didn’t get very far before nearly bumping into Twilight as she left her room to check on Prism. Twilight blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of a stallion in Prism’s company. “Oh, and you are?”

While Prism remained relaxed, if a little impatient to get to the club. Silver, however, freaked a bit at getting singled out. He hastily bowed. Damn, I’m freaking out in front of Prism, act cool, just like Firefly said. “I’m Engineer Silver Glow, your highness, assigned to the Pathfinders.”

“Is that right?” Twilight replied neutrally as her maternal protectiveness kicked in. Silver instantly recognized that tone while Prism started to get a little interested in how Silver would react.

He’s been trying to ask me out for years. Maybe I should take pity on him if mom gets too defensive.

Twilight started summoning his complete file while gesturing for him to rise. “So you’re a friend of Prism’s?”

“I like to think so,” he replied with a feeble jab at breaking the ice, but Twilight remained as impassive as ever.

“Prism, I’m afraid matters of state are going to force me to cut our time together a little short. How about we share dinner together tonight, or perhaps tomorrow’s breakfast?”

“We’re going to the VR club, so breakfast sounds like a good plan.” Prism looked at Silver and nodded at the tram lobby. “I need to ask mom about something, I’ll be with you in a bit, okay?”

“Sure, sure, I’ll be waiting.” Silver tried to act cool by not running off too quickly.

Once he was out of earshot, Prism turned back to Twilight. “Can I get you to promise to take it easy on this one? I kinda owe him for going out of his way to put rotors on Joe. Saving my fur in the process.”

Twilight had suprise flash past her eyes before she easily suppressed it. “I see. Well in that case, I trust your judgement of him then. Just remember,” she continued with a teasing glint in her eye. “That you already declined to participate in the breeding program.”

Prism fixed Twilight with a glower so powerful that it might have crushed the spirit of a lesser pony. “I’m going to ignore that because I actually have something important to ask you.”

Taking a long deep breath to center herself, Prism continued speaking as if the last comment had never existed. “Remember when you told me I could have alicorn wings permanently?”

It took Twilight a moment to place the memory. “That was right before you went off to the Pathfinder School if I’m not mistaken. Are you open to trying that now?”

“Y-yeah,” Prism hesitated at the phantom pain that always accompanied her wing transformation. “If I had wings like yours I probably could have escaped the wasps.” And should have gotten to name cool things like those… Ruby’s towers. Prism thought it best to keep her flash of disgust hidden. “I figure now would be a good time to get the basics in so I can keep training when I’m back out in the field.”

“Well it’s nothing that I really need to teach you since you already know how to get it started. All you have to do is keep your alicorn magic flowing without letting it go back to normal.”

Prism tilted her head with her ears going limp. “That’s it? Seriously?”

“Well. That’s all you have to do consciously anyway.” Twilight briefly glanced at Silver who was talking into his earpiece. “The longer and more often you saturate your wings with alicorn magic, the more that becomes your natural state. However, I feel I should warn you though. Once you do this, you will most likely never be able to have normal sized pegasus wings again.”

“I - ahh - I kinda figured that might be a thing. Is that bad?”

Twilight wiggled her hoof a bit. “I suppose it’d be partially personal preference and part practicality. You’ll look and feel different with larger wings.” Or in my case, just getting wings at all. “But you should be aware that you’ll have a much higher caloric requirement. Alicorn magic is metabolically intensive to produce.”

“Guess that explains why you can wolf down three squares in one sitting after a workout,” Prism snarked, much to Twilight’s quiet unamusement. “I can handle bigger wings, mom, watch me.”

Prism slipped back into her practiced technique of awakening her dormant power. Within moments, her wings began to grow and her feathers multiply. Her wing joints popped painfully and her muscles burned under the influence of her alicorn magic, making her grit her teeth, lest she give her mother any slip of bravado. Yet sure enough, the act was done, and Prism gave a test flap, ignoring her muscles’ protests with her mother present. “There see?” She said proudly through hissing pain. “Piece of cake.”

“Clearly” Twilight said in mild amusement at her daughter’s ego.

Prism attempted to fold her large wings in, but the still fading pain made it a laborious take. “Now, ah, where was I? Oh right. As for the eating, you do well enough, so I think I can handle an extra few pieces of toast and jam.”

“You say that now.” Twilight gave Prism an appraising eye, but already knew she was happy with her choice to let Prism go the next step. She’s grown up to be a strong and caring mare, if a bit of a showoff like her father. She might be the first daughter I’ve had who’ll be worthy of it. Twilight quickly chased away old pains to keep a warm expression. “Well if you need help later, I’m always here for you.”

Prism knew a dismissal when she heard one and started walking towards Silver. “Thanks, momma, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Bye, Little Wing!” Twilight called back with a wave while blowing a kiss.

Prism acted as if the kiss was an arrow and fell in false agony. After making some gagging noises and jerking movements she raised an accusing feeble hoof at Twilight. “Wwwwhyyy? -gurgle,” then played dead while draping herself on the floor in the most flamboyant pose imaginable.

Despite herself, and the small crowd of ponies watching, Twilight laughed at the performance and cantered over to her ‘dead’ daughter. Some of the crowd stomped their hooves and whistled in praise of the much needed bit of theatre before moving on. “So, I have a student that feeds on love, and a daughter who is killed by it. Shame on me for mixing that up.”

Though she remained ‘dead’ on the floor, Prism smirked, but only started laughing when Twilight started tickling her with a wing. “Arise anew, my little lich, arise to bring cuddles upon this world.”

With that, Prism jumped to her hooves and glomped Twilight in a crushing hug. “You shall be my first victim!”

Both mother and daughter couldn’t stop themselves from letting out snorting laughter while squeezing the hug a bit tighter before letting go. “See ya later momma.”

“Have a good time, Prizzy.”

Running off, Prism boarded the tram Silver had waiting. Spike called in on Twilight’s headset. “Hey, Twi, I think we found something you’re going to love.”

“One of the fish species is edible?” Twilight decided to teleport up to Seed One’s central command, expecting it was where Spike was.

Sure enough, standing behind one of the two dozen control stations was Spike gazing out at the big wall-encompassing screen.

Without missing a beat, Spike waved her over. “You remember cloudstone right?”

With Equuis’ ice age, pegasus cloud cities were no longer viable even with thermal clothing, but the art of cloudstone remained active in anticipation for the Seed Initiative.

With that in mind, Twilight was at a loss as to where Spike was going with this. “Yes, I remember it. Why, did some ponies want to start making cloud homes already?”

He shrugged at her. “I'm sure some do, but that's not why I called you. Take a look at this.”

As Twilight cantered over to stand beside him, Spike nodded at the operator he was standing next to who then transferred his screen image to the primary wall-mounted one.

The series of camera feeds from around the colony were replaced by a single large one from a pathfinder rover. The rover was standing still on a sandy beach overlooking the ocean where a collection of tiny floating islands hovered above the water. Red algae and a few larger fungi grew on top with various small flying creatures roosting or hunting in the area.

“I think this mother nature beat us at our own game,” Spike said with no small amounts of mirth.

“Intresting…” Twilight studied the image briefly before turning towards Spike. “We need to investigate this immediately. How much weight can it support, everything about it we need to know quickly.”

Spike nodded in agreement, yet the operator between dragon and alicorn looked at Twilight with confusion. “Begging your pardon, your highness, but isn’t it a little early to think about cloud houses?”

Twilight gave the mare a regal grin. “Houses, yes, but these stones could greatly assist in construction and numerous other things as well. Think of what we could do if we didn't need a constant supply of pegasi magic to keep the stones intact!”

Spike started to get worried at Twilight rapidly growing excitement. Her wings were fidgeting, her tail was swishing, and the stars in her eyes were starting to outshine the ones in her flowing mane. Uh oh. She’s got that look in her eye. Maybe it was a bad idea to tell her in front of others.

Twilight’s ramblings were hardly new to the public, with most of the nearby ponies starting to record videos of her starting to bounce on her hooves.

“I know what we should do!” She exclaimed almost in Spike’s face, not that she noticed the spots of spittle she covered him with. “We should make a monument out of some! Something to inspire the public whenever they look at it”

Brief puzzlement passed through the room before half of the people, Spike included, grew interested. However, it was his duty to be cautious so he was a bit more hesitant. “Maybe we should do some risk assesment tests first. The rocks could be toxic, radioactive, an alien aphrodisiac, or maybe even a critical part of the ecosystem.”

Twilight couldn’t stop an ear from flopping over in disappointment as her smile faded. She turned back to the video feed and promptly waved a wing at it. “While you may have a point with the toxicity tests, there’s plenty of those things, taking enough to make a statue should hardly be an issue to the environment.”

“And the radiation?” Spike challenged mildly.

Twilight promptly turned to the operator. “The rovers have a radiation scanner don’t they?”

“Yes, your highness, one moment.” The operator quickly relayed her orders to the explorer in question. Shortly thereafter, the display switched to what could be mistaken for a thermal signature display, only instead of heat, it sensed (big surprise) radiation.

When the floating rocks revealed harmless levels, Twilight gave Spike a stern half-smirk that brooked no argument, and yet argument he made anyway through a scowl of cataclysmic proportions.

It was an unspoken language between them that had formed over four hundred years of understanding. And it was through this silent conversation that Spike gave Twilight enough pause to reboot her logical thinking. Sadly, she now had to act to save face. “How about this. We bring it in close enough where we can conduct safety testing, but far away enough to pose little risk.”

“That would make my colts’ lives easier, thank you.”

How does he always do that? Casting such thoughts aside, Twilight flashed a thin smile. “Very well, that should give us time to design a monument, don’t you think?”

“Probably.” Twi’s always been a sucker for the scowl. At least it gives her time to calm down and think more rationally.

Praxia sat at a booth by herself in a corner of the VR club. Her table held a solitary glass mug of untouched beer, given to her on the house by the bartender in thanks for some deed she couldn’t recall.

Away from Twilight and Prism’s gaze, Praxia slumped in melancholy. Between the bar, the dance floor, and even the virtual reality booths, the club’s namesake, she saw ponies enjoying each other’s company. Heavy gut rattling music played while lights danced to match the patrons below. Laughing, partying, roughhousing, anything to relieve the harsh stresses that colony life imposed on them all.

Why couldn’t I have been a pony instead? At least then I wouldn’t need to feed on love. Although Praxia had no need to feed on love for several days thanks to Twilight and Prism’s last gifts of it, that the need to do so was a fact of her life that was never too far from her mind.

Come on, Praxia, just get out there and ask somepony! The brief moment of determination died at the prospect of rejection. “‘Ah who am I kidding?” She mumbled to herself. “I’m just a work boss and protégé to the princess to them.” Praxia wanted to just flop her head on the table and wallow in misery for a while before going back to work.

And there she might have stayed had she not spotted Prism enter with Silver in tow. Odd. It's not like her to walk around with alicorn wings. I thought she said it hurts to do that.

Praxia watched Prism gaze around at the spartan accommodations, at least compared to what Canterlot had to offer. Paxia slid down so that she wouldn’t be seen, but it was to no avail. The trained explorer noticed Praxia almost immediately and dragged Silver along with her to meet up with Praxia.

“Well well well,” Prism scoffed after Praxia gave up trying to hide and switched to sitting rigidly. “Since when do you go clubbing?”

“It wasn’t by choice,” Praxia replied plainly in Silver’s presence. “I was ordered to take some time off.”

Prism flopped into the booth next to Praxia and wrapped a wing around her. “Translation: you got kicked out to make friends again.”

“I did not say that,” Praxia rebuked with an edge of bitterness.

Prism ignored the directionless malice and started dragging Praxia out of the booth. “Come on buzz bug, you need some fun and you’re not going to get it from here.”

Silver watched in mute fascination as Praxia broke her professional image a little at resisting Prism by pulling back. “I don’t dance, and I will not be humiliated on the floor!”

Prism was not going to give up the ghost and only pulled harder. “I know you couldn’t dance to save your life. I want you to join us in a VR game.”

“The VR?” Praxia stopped fighting, allowing Prism to pulled her to her hooves.

“Yeah, I know you loved VR games back in Canterlot.” So Silver couldn’t overhear, Prism leaned into Praxia’s ear. “Silver says they have Demon Slayer 7.”

Praxia looked at her accusingly. “You lie.”

“Pathfinder’s honor,” Prism replied with a hoof over her heart. “I know you saved your character.”

Praxia scrunched her muzzle at her for a few moments before relenting. “You better be right about this.”

“Well Silver here told me about it,” Prism replied, finally acknowledging his existence again. Realization made her smack herself in the forehead. “Can’t believe I forgot! Silver, this is Praxia, Praxia, this is Silver.”

“We've met before, actually,” Silver attested while shaking Praxia’s hoof. When Praxia didn't show any recognition, Silver elaborated. “I was one of the engineers temporarily assigned to your crew in finishing construction of the southern tram terminal.”

Oh joy, yet another pony who will only see me as their taskmaster. Despite herself, Praxia kept a thin smile intact. “Ah, of course. Good to formally meet you.”

“Likewise, er, ma’am.” He shook her offered hoof cordially, rather than the loose friendly one Praxia longed for. “I reserved our booth ahead of time, but…” He checked his fetlock mounted communicator for the time. “We should be getting to it pretty soon or we’ll lose the reservation.”

“Well let’s hop to it then!” Prism bounced into the air and flew ahead, prompting Silver to chase after her with Praxia trying to fly at a calm and collected pace up and over the dancefloor to reach the far side where the VR booths were located. An act made all the more difficult by the prospect of diving into her favorite hobby.

The VR booths were actually repurposed cargo crates with a whole section of the ship ring gutted out to make room for a dozen booths. Praxia and Prism watched Silver talking to the operator to get their program selected. “You know, Praxia, a good way to break the ice is to just introduce yourself to ponies.”

“Really?” Praxia asked with a sarcastic drawl. “Why hadn’t I thought of that?!”

Prism frowned and creased her brow. “Come on, Praxia. You know what I mean. If anypony actually needs friends, it’s you.”

“I don’t need love like oxygen, Prism. More like… water or something.” Praxia tapped her hoof impatiently at Silver, wanting his return to end this conversation.

“Well far be it from me to try and get you to live in a wetlands instead of a desert.” Prism waited for Praxia to say something, a rebuke, agreement, or something. If there was one forthcoming, Prism lacked the patience to see it. “I swear, I’m going to get you a new friend before I get redeployed, mark my words.”

“I can’t feed on friendship, in case you forgot.” Praxia’s heart wasn’t in her biting words.

“Oh don’t give me that!” Prism waved off Praxia’s increasingly weak counterarguments. “You can love a friend without being romantic.”

Any further conversation died when the club music abruptly stopped with a five toned announcement ding came through the PA system. Twilight Sparkle materialized on every screen, even so far as pausing the active VR booths.

“Greetings, my little ponies. I have an important announcement to make.” Prism and Praxia had a pretty good idea where this was going, but they kept watching the nearest depiction of Twilight’s regal posture. “As I’m sure all of you are well aware of, numerous colonists have lost their lives due to the dangers our new home.

“This loss is both tragic and untenable. If this rate of attrition keeps up, we will be facing a population crisis sooner than later. In light of this, I am enacting a breeding incentive.” She paused a bit to let that sink in. “With most of our critical infrastructure set to be complete within three months, future construction will shift towards more comfortable housing. Anypony wishing to become parents will be prioritized for these improved domiciles.

“I know this will be a grave challenge to us all, but I know we can stand together. And I will be right there with all of you. In that light, I too will participate in the program.”

“What!?” Prism half yelled, as did some of the other ponies in the room.

“Is that really a surprise?” Praxia commented.

Anything Prism might have said was stifled as Twilight continued. “Further details on any interested individuals will be provided by Voyager, and Doctor Sawbones. Farewell for now.”

Twilight disappeared from the screens with the club resuming the music. The patrons however burst into manic discourse. By now, Silver returned to the mares’ side with mild shock on his face. “Wow. I didn’t think things were getting that bad.”

“They’re not yet,” Praxia replied with a slightly calmer tone now that Prism’s pressure had relented. “It’s a risk we need to take to make sure it doesn’t become a critical problem.”

Prism couldn’t believe she was about to ask this, and pulled Praxia in close. “When did mom get a coltfriend? She wouldn’t get some random stallion would she?”

Praxia rolled her eyes. “Come on, Prism, you really think Sensei would do that? She’s going to use the seed bank we brought with us.”

“So ah,” Silver said after coughing. “This is probably big for you, Prism. What with a new sibling and all. You want to hold off for now?”

Even with Silver’s clear disappointment, Prism needed to speak with her mother. Yet an idea struck her before she could speak. Hey, this just might work. “I do actually, sorry, Silver.”

Before Silver’s spirits could sink, Prism slipped in close to his ear. “She’s really shy about it, but Praxia has the hots for you.”

Silver’s eyes widened and he couldn’t stop himself from flaring his wings. “Really?”

“Trust me, I know. But she’s shy, so take it slow. Compliment her smile and mane, that should get you an in.” Prism jumped back right as Praxia was about to ask what the whispering was about. “You two have fun, take it easy on him, Praxia!”

“Ah- bu-wha- Prism!?” Praxia flustered as Prism flew off, leaving her growling at her. This is what I get for taking a chance. Now he’s just going to be polite and ask me to leave or just push the reservation back.

“So, Praxia,” Silver started with Praxia shoring herself up for disappointment.

Here it comes. ‘So uh, gotta go!’

“Did you still want to catch the game?”

Praxia’s wings buzzed out of surprise and she looked at him, searching for the jest that surely had to be there. Yet all she saw was honest curiosity, and dare she think it, non-work related friendliness. “Aaah, yeah! Sure!” She caught herself and sized her enthusiasm down sharply. “I mean, that sounds fun.”

“Great, let’s go.” He waved a hoof at one of the staff members who was waiting to take them to their booth/cargopod. Silver started to sweat at the prospect of taking Prism’s advice. “I - ah - I really like your mane style.”

“You do?” Praxia was at such a loss she stopped walking to stare at him. No one’s ever said I look good before, except Sensei and Prism at least.

Silver wasn’t much better off. Crap, I thought she’d just take the compliment and we’d keep moving. He took a moment to actually look at her mane. Clean cut, professional, plain, and square were the most apt terms Silver could think of. “Well, yeah. I think it frames your eyes and horn just right.” He remembered Firefly saying once.

Does it!? I just try to keep it out of the way. Praxia started blushing feverishly, which wasn’t helped by her disguise magic betraying her and turning her whole head beet red. Embarrassment flooded her, making Praxia dip her head a bit too quickly. “T-thank you. We should hurry up and go in!”

Praxia buzzed right past the employee holding the booth door open to buy time to get her magic under control. Silver however saw a golden opportunity. Wow. Maybe Prism is more of a bro than I thought. I mean, she couldn’t possible be open to a herd already, right?

Not sure how to proceed in any event, Silver followed after Praxia to start the game.

Using Voyager as a guide, Prism found Twilight in short order right before the alicorn could enter a conference room. Several high ranking ponies were passing by, including Spike. “What the Hell, mom!?” she yelled in that angry tone Twilight knew all too well.

Since Prism had shouted from the elevator, Twilight had time to put the rest of the leaders at ease. “Start without me, Spike, this shouldn’t take too long.”

Spike snorted in amusement and was the last to enter. “Have fun with this one.”

With no other pony present in the narrow hallway near the apex of Seed One, Twilight was free to speak. “Yes, dear?”

Prism stormed right up to Twilight then lept into a hover so she could be eye level with her. “We were talking together just minutes ago! Why didn’t you say you were going to join the whole breeding incentive?”

Twilight arched a surprised eyebrow at her daughter. “I thought that was a given when I brought it up.”

“Well it wasn’t!” Prism countered, though she couldn’t really bring herself to fully believe that. “You’ve got the whole colony on your withers and now you want to add another kid to that? That’s crazy!”

Twilight heaved a heavy sigh, knowing the true root of Prism’s objections. “I have a duty to the welfare of my subjects and the colony as a whole. Part of that duty is sacrifice. If I can balance the leadership of the colony and a new foal, then every other aspiring mother can believe in their own abilities as well.”

She gave Prism a sad motherly frown. “I loved your father more than any other before him. He knew full well of my past loves, and that I would love again after him. Such is an alicorn’s fate.”

“I am not some Blueblood the Third, mom!” Prism chastised. “Just because she couldn’t handle you marrying dad doesn’t mean I have some notion you need to be eternally bound to my father. I - I just - I don’t want to see another Night Wind!”

Prism kicked herself for saying the words as soon as they left her mouth. Twilight stepped forward and embraced her, shedding tears as old pain was wrought anew. “Night Wind made her choice.” She brushed Prism’s mane away from her eyes and guided her eyes up to her own. “But we can’t live in the past, only learn from it.” Prism sniffed, trying to regain her composure. “Besides, I think I did right with you.”

Prism couldn’t help but smile a little at the praise. “If I’m the best, then we’re in trouble.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Little Wing.” Twilight glanced at Prism’s enlarged wings. “But I might need to start calling you Big Wing from here on.”

Prism took a long moment to simply hug her mother, and in turn Twilight returned the embrace. There they stayed for a time until Prism took notice of a small wall monitor with Voyager's idle face on it. The face of the AI caused a forgotten memory to return to Prism in a snap. She broke her revelry and pushed away from Twilight. “Holy Mother of Bural, I can’t believe I forgot!”

Twilight was caught flat-footed at the sudden shift in emotion as Prism gave Twilight a stupid grin. “You remember that place where my thorium pod was at, with the wasp nest?”

“Yyyes, why?”

Prism was flapping her wings wildly at her mounting excitement. “I found a wall! Like an artificial one, and a carving! Signs of intelligent life!”

Twilight was taken aback so much she actually stepped backwards. “Are you sure? We picked this planet in hopes to avoid sapient life. Voyager's been going over the twenty year backlog of satellite cartography since we landed. He hasn’t seen any sign of even stone age beings.”

“Well we missed the mark. Assuming the colts in blue didn’t trash the place clearing out the wasps, the mural should still be there!”

“Now hold your chimps,” Twilight warned with a wave of her wing. “If you’re right, this is your big discovery, but you are still on mandatory medical leave.” Prism remained aloft, but her smile fell in an instant. “Let’s bring this up with Spike later. He’ll need time to organize a proper escort for you and an archaeology team.”

“So we can go by the time Sawbones gives me the green light?” Prism was practically salivating at the prospect of getting the credit for a discovery of her own.

“Yes, you can lead the team.”

“Woo hoo!” Prism flew around, orbiting Twilight with glee. However, she underestimated her new wingspan and clipped Twilight’s barrel, and tumbled into the wall. “Ow…”

Seeing that Prism was uninjured, Twilight tittered behind a hoof. “While you’re stuck waiting, why don’t you get used to those wings.”

Prism went limp out of embarrassment. “Agreed.”

Prism wasn’t helped by her stomach growling loudly enough to rattle her feathers. Twilight shook her head in mild disapproval. “I told you to eat more.”

“I will, I will.”

The conference door opened with Spike stepping out. “Should we reschedule, Twilight?”

“Sorry it took so long Spike, but it was necessary.” She watched Prism hastily climb back to her hooves in the presence of her commander, family or not. “See you later tonight, Big Wing,” she added with a smirk and a wink.

“See you, momma!” Prism snapped a quick salute towards Spike before bidding a hurried retreat. I hope Praxia stuck it out with Silver long enough for me to get back.

Twilight fixed Spike with a worried frown. “We have a new potential problem on our hooves.”

Spike crossed his arms with an equally humorless scowl. “How is it Prism inherited your knack for getting in trouble?”

“To be fair, her father wasn’t known to play it safe either.”

You’re pulling that card? What can I say against that? Spike grumbled to himself. “She's more of a mirror to you than you give her credit for, Twilight. That aside, what did she say that's so important?”

“I’ll tell you and the rest of the council together.” Twilight teleported past him into the conference room. The collection of ten ponies hushed their separate conversations at her return. “Ladies and gentlecolts, we’re going to have to put the project on hold. We might be dealing with sapients.”

7: The Dig

View Online

Both Twilight Sparkle and her daughter Prism rode along in a jury rigged cargo container-turned-passenger-cabin being hefted along by a cargo lifter that was headed towards the site of Prism’s discovery of the alien carving. Prism watched the ground race by beneath her through a window.

While it was late morning, the atmosphere still had a tinge of orange in the sunlight, giving the spotted mushroom forest below some much needed color. As her daughter drank in the landscape, Twilight was in the midst of remotely overseeing some additional orders to Praxia at Seed One.

~“Are you sure you’re up to this, Praxia? I know the colony isn’t on the same scale as Canterlot or Ponyville, but it is still a lot to handle.”~

Praxia had her best ‘go getter’ face on and nodded vigorously. ~“I’ve got everything under control. Between your tutelage and what I was bred for, the colony will be in good hooves until you get back.”~

Twilight scowled at her pupil’s image. Don’t think I didn’t hear that sour tone about your heritage. Not wanting to get into an argument about it over the phone, Twilight filed it away for later. ~“Very well, but don’t be afraid to ask my advisors for council, that’s what they’re there for.”~

~“Yes, sensei, I fully understand,”~ Praxia replied with tired enthusiasm. ~“Good luck out there, and please stay safe.”~

~“You too, Praxia.”~ With that, Twilight closed the call. With a sigh, Twilight silently surveyed the gathered archaeologists, a mere two strong plus a few assistants and a trio of ‘lumberjacks’. While the two senior scientists were tactful enough to look busy, the assistances jumped a little once Twilight caught them eavesdropping. Don’t worry, Twilight. Everything will be fine. It’s what you’ve been training her for.

Opting to ignore the eavesdroppers, she focused on her daughter and the scenery outside. Unlike everyone else, Prism’s helmet did not cover her mouth, nor did her suit have oxygen tanks. Their absence only caused Twilight to frown.. I hope nothing actually happens to her from taking in this planet’s air for potentially weeks on end.

Twilight used a bit of turbulence to slide over to join her daughter, bumping into her by both accident and an impromptu way of getting her attention. Prism was knocked out of her on-the-job mentality by the assumed goofiness. “What’s up, momma?”

“I want you to make me a promise to keep your biomonitor on once I let you back out into the wild. You won’t ‘forget’ this time?” Twilight added with a knowing motherly tone.

Prism huffed and leaned back against the window. “How can I with Sawbones yelling in my ear the moment I do. He doesn’t even give me an hour or so for privacy.”

“Ah… I’ll talk to him about giving you that hour.” If that’s all it takes, then so be it.

“Thanks, really.” Prism said no more when the view outside revealed the site. The thick canopy of mushroom caps had the same tell-tale jagged hole left behind by the pod retrieval chopper. Two hellcat combat drones were resting on the caps and on solar cell docking structures to keep their power up. The colony’s singular troop transport aircraft was performing slow orbits above it all.

However the signs of recent battle were revealed in the shape of dozens of giant wasps, half that number in wrecked drones, and two rows of wounded soldiers that were waiting for the transport to make its descent. Did those wasp things return after the first time we cleaned them out?

Standing around in a defensive perimeter were three squads of marines, all of which were setting up fixed emplacement weaponry for a prolonged occupation. “Spike really pulled out all the stops for this.”

Twilight nodded at her daughter’s comment. “The dig might take a while, and I want to minimize losses should we run into anything else.”

The cargo lifter made its way just above the hole in the mushrooms and started lowering the make-shift passenger cabin into the hole of the canopy. “Plus this location is actually quite good strategically.”

That got a curious lifted eyebrow out of Prism. “For what?”

Twilight developed a mischievous glint in her eye. “Well for one, this hilly region is fairly close to those lakes of xenomass you mapped out, including the one you tried to belly flop. I already ordered a small crew to start stockpiling the stuff here before it can be transported back to the colony.”

“You and I must have vastly different definitions of trying,” Prism fumed with no real malice.

Twilight giggled from behind a raised hoof. “Yes, well, the primary thing is that this region has a geologically minor hotspot right underneath us. We could easily develop a geothermal plant to keep our energy needs in the future secure.

“...Who came up with the name ‘xenomass’ anyhow?"

“Dr. Chem Spill coined the term almost without thinking the first time he looked at it. An apt name, given how gelatinous it is."

"Still better than Prism's Bane," Prism grumbled under her breath.

Prism saw where this line of thinking was going, but her response was halted by the container making landfall and the hatching opening. Waiting for them on the other side was Lieutenant Trench who snapped at attention when Twilight stepped outside. “Your highness, the area’s been secured, and the extraction teams for Prism’s Bane has reported no problems on their end. We also successfully avoided damaging the ruins.”

With Prism fuming silently and distracting herself by getting acquainted with the odd flavor of the native atmosphere, Twilight quickly assumed command. “Excellent work, Lieutenant, did you take the time to do any cursory investigation on the ruins?”

Twilight kept walking towards the wall with Trench and Prism following after her. The rest of the passengers busied themselves with removing and unpacking the equipment they brought.

“Yes, your highness. While the wall is clearly the work of intelligent beings, I feel the ruins pose no threat to us. In its current state at least.” The walk over to the wall was a short one, and he barely finished speaking before he was close enough to wave his hoof at it. “As I’m sure you’ll be able to discern rather quickly.”

“Very well. Join your colts and keep watch. There’s no telling if those bugs will return.”

“As you order, princess.” With a snap about face, Trench departed, leaving mother and daughter to investigate.

Prism only passively noticed the six drums of xenomass gathered together near a mushroom stock at the edge of the camp. Her focus however was on the ruins, and quickly discovered the majority of the purple silk had been burned away, leaving ash to be picked up by the weak breeze. The wall itself was just as she remembered it and she ran over to the stone carvings with Twilight right behind her.

Using her hoof mounted robotic hands, Prism took out a duster and cleared away the soot and ash to reveal the same carving she had found almost a month ago. “There it is, plain as day!”

Twilight moved in close to investigate, and allowed her helmet’s sensors to scan both the carving and the entire wall. “No doubt about it. We’ve got intelligent natives.”

Twilight sighed heavily at the proof. “I can only imagine what the griffins and minotaurs are going to do if they run into them.”

Prism’s train of thought might as well have been on a different planet. “And the nobel prize goes to Prism Flash, for the discovery of new sapients! Woo woo!”

Twilight snorted in amusement and shook her head. “Let’s worry about how to find more of these people first. You’ll get proper recognition when you return to the colony. For now we need to unearth any sort of tools or alloys they might have forged in order for our scanners to zero in on any other settlements.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Although Prism was not an archaeologist, she was not exactly untrained in the field. “Should we jump straight to using the ground scanner to see if there’s anything worth digging up?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

It was long into the day and the beginning of nightfall on the sixth day when scanning of the ground found something of interest. Progress had been hampered by the dense collection of mushrooms, so the group was delayed in their dig as the lumberjacks cleared away the offending giant fungi. But sure enough, the way was clear and the dirt removed, almost.

The dig site had expanded to twenty meters beyond the wall itself, which eventually revealed it to be a stone work structure. Presently, Twilight’s crew had unearthed ten meters of it thanks to a combination of earth pony magic and ground radar safely directing their efforts. While the assistants continued to clear away the dirt, Twilight was studying unusual sensor readings from the center of the structure.

~“Prism, come over here, would you?”~

The mare in question popped her head up and away from another series of carvings and towards her mother who had a work table covered in metal and stone samples. ~“Okay.”~

Flying over, Prism started gushing uncontrollably. “Isn’t this fascinating!? Who ever left this place clearly intended it to last. The stone work down below is incredibly well preserved. I bet you my bottom bit that there was some form of preservative keeping the stone intact.”

“That is interesting to be sure, but I think we found something easier for the satellites to lock onto.” Twilight made a sweeping motion with a wing from her helmet towards Prism, making the data reading transfer to her. Prism had to take a moment to mentally shift gears. However once she did, Prism’s jaw threatened to hit the ground. As was normal for this planet, the majority of the magic scan was deep red to indicate negiable to zero ambient magic. However, while faint, there were four steady, sharply defined diamond shaped blue points.

“Are those mana crystals?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

Prism closed the readout and turned back to the stone building. “I don’t get it. If the natives are advanced enough to use magic crystals or batteries, then shouldn’t we have been able to detect them from orbit?”

“You catch on quick as always,” Twilight replied without the smile Prism expected. “The signature wasn’t there when I started doing my own personal scans, so I’m thinking that the crystals are feeding on my spells.”

“I’ll tell the others to be careful on extracting it then.”

“No,” Twilight said hastily, stopping Prism in her tracks. “I’m going to put a mana nullifier on top of it. I want the rest of the structure unearthed first. The artifact might be dangerous and I want to see if any of the carvings shed any light on its function. For all we know, it could be a weapon.”

Prism glanced back at the primitive structure and the crudeness of the artistry. “I get caution and all, but I think our suits have enough anti-magic defenses to shrug off anything these aliens could muster.”

Twilight fixed a scowl most heinous upon her unsuspecting daughter. “The same aliens who got at least as far as the magic age living next to giant insects that can drop a hellcat drone in seconds? Outside of Trench’s colts, we’re not exactly wearing cutting edge military hardware here.”

Prism’s face fell. Her explorer’s suit wasn’t exactly designed for heavy combat either. “Oh… um, good point. I’ll pass the word then.”

Successfully cautioned, Prism flew over to the closest archaeologist, an earth stallion with a cranberry coat and forest green mane. His pegasus stallion colleague was hovering nearby with his eyes fixed on the walls. “Hey Doctors Dirt Dobber, Glass Silk, momma wants to quarantine the central artifact.”

Dirt Dobber was in the middle of studying the massive carvings that spread from the original roof all the way to where they were now. “Yes, yes of course. I must say these aliens must have been strange group indeed. The art seems to be extremely literal, or they carved these reliefs to others who didn’t speak their language could still understand the tale. Simply extraordinary! Not even our ancestors would have bothered with such empathy.”

Prism wasn’t so quick to come to that conclusion and gave the wall a more calculating gaze. “Or that’s just how their language evolved naturally.”

“Also possible,” Dirt Dobber acquiesced with a brief dip in his enthusiasm. “So have you studied the narrative in these reliefs?”

“It’s my find isn’t it? However, if we’re going for them being literal, then I think it’s something about the natives thinking their gods descended from the heavens, right?”

Glass Silk dropped down to stand next to Prism. “No, no, that’s not it at all! The natives aren’t natives at all! These people claim they came from the stars in ships!”

“...Uh huh,” Prism deadpanned. “You know, I’d actually believe they prophesied our arrival in a ship over them doing it. I mean, we’ve had plenty of crazy prophecies back home.”

“Impossible,” Dobber declared as he pointed up towards one of the higher segments of the mural. “The beings coming out of the ships are like four armed minotaurs on two legs.”

Glass Silk moved to the lowest excavated part of the wall where the same creatures were walking away from the ships, vehicles, and other assumed bits of technology and towards simple looking farming tools like wheelbarrows and spades. The stone itself was also different, where the higher technology had the darker hue of obsidian while the farm looked like it was carved from marble. “For whatever reason, religious most likely, these beings forsook higher technology for a simpler life.”

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” Prism stated with profound snark. “That’s just gotta be some origin story they cooked up. I mean, why would they willingly go from having technology on par or even better than us, to reverting all the way back to early magic age?”

Both archaeologists and some of the silently toiling away assistants looked up at her with questioning looks with Dirt Dobber lifting an eyebrow. “What makes you think this structure was of an equivalent magic age?”

“Oops, I almost forgot. You know that artifact mom wants quarantined? Apparently it has a few mana crystals in it and it actively feeds on the mana of her scanning spells.”

“Fascinating,” mused Glass Silk.

“Astounding!” yelled Dirt Dobber as he all but shoved his face into Prism’s own. “This is perfect! The artifact might be something the natives kept as proof of their origins for future generations who might doubt the stories!”

Glass Silk waggled his hoof at Dobber while Prism cringed at the flying spittle on Dobber’s helmet. “You might be onto something. If the complexity of the matrixes, of whatever this artifact is, is sufficiently advanced enough, then that could prove they were originally from space like the tale says.”

“Whoa, whoa, chill out for a second guys.” Prism hovered nearby while waving her hooves at them. “I want my name in the history books as much as you two, but this bloody planet is dangerous enough as it is. Let’s play it safe like our princess wants.”

The looming shadow of a pony from on top of the dig-pit drew all eyes up towards Twilight Sparkle. “As fascinating as all that is, I’m not risking anypony’s lives over this.” She gave Prism an appreciative nod before gazing down upon the archaeologists. “We’re here to ascertain the existence of any living sentients and how to find them elsewhere.”

Prism primped a little at being backed up, regardless of the reason, yet while Glass Silk was cowed, Dirt Dobber was only emboldened further. “While I grant that there are no signs of anypony living here for a very, very long time, your highness. I strongly suggest we investigate this alleged artifact as soon as possible. If the story on this wall is accurate, then we might be trespassing on what could very well be a sacred planet to a starfaring civilization.”

If such a theory had been raised back in her youth, Twilight would have professionally laughed it off. Well, considering we’re the aliens now…

Twilight held up a hoof for silence to allow some time to think. A battle between caution and the need for haste raged anew as she slowly paced away from the group. After a minute or two, she turned back. “I… see your point. I wasn’t planning on taking it back to the colony, so I suppose we can determine its purpose here. It could be possible, however unlikely, that the method these natives use magic might be being overlooked by our satellites.

“But be careful in excavating it. I want no magic use around it until we can get it into isolation.” With a swipe of her hoof, she sent the data and location she had on the artifact to the team.

“At Once, your majesty,” replied Dirt Dobber with an extreme case of enthusiasm. He promptly turned around to face Glass Silk and the awaiting assistants. “Well what are we waiting for? History waits for nopony!”

With renewed enthusiasm, the collection of archaeologists jumped into motion, ignoring the rest of the walls for a later time to focus on the magic artifact buried just a few feet of dirt below.

Prism flew up to join her mother. “Momma, are you sure this is a good idea? Those two might start licking the thing when we dig it up.”

“Then I guess we won’t have to worry about cleaning it first,”Twilight snickered.

“Ew, speak for yourself. And speaking of yourself,” Prism added with a touch of worry. “I hope you don’t plan to test the artifact yourself. You being our only princess aside, I don’t want anything happening to my future sibling.”

“Hmm, well I thank you for our concern, but I’ve had seven daughters before you, I think I know my limits.”

All Twilight got out of Prism was a harsh glare of stubborn concern. “It’s only been two weeks, Prism.”

Prism’s unholy glare of wrath grew in power until it was not meant for mortal eyes. Twilight only survived because she wasn’t exactly a mortal anymore. “Well, I guess I should be happy you’re protective already. Fine, I’ll let one of the good doctors handle it.”

“You sure you can let it go?” Prism pried with an evil eye.

“I Pinkie Promise.” At that, Prism let the scowl fall away and nodded in acceptance. “You’re just like your father sometimes.”

“Ha! Then I shall take that as the highest of compliments.” With an aerial twirl, Prism flew off in triumph to investigate more of the higher parts of the walls.

Twilight merely shook her head in amusement and trotted off to the passenger container to set up some tents. Going out and about was a good idea. Between preparing for the Seed mission and keeping the colony afloat, I haven’t had a chance to really catch up on my reading.

Back in Seed One’s headquarters, Praxia was doing a bit of reading of her own. Sadly, it was not the latest action/romance novel she desperately wanted to return to, but the next proposal in the stack for future urban planning. It was a close second though.

Taking up temporary residence in Twilight’s new office, Praxia felt rather comfortable in ‘the big chair’. Still steaming next to her was a plate full of freeze dried vegetables, but more importantly to her, a fresh fish entree from the river below.

The rather large blue tinted fish steak rolled around on Praxia’s tongue as she silently tested its flavor. While she did so, a nervous looking crystal pony with a chef’s hat on rocked on her hooves as she awaited a verdict.

“It’s a little dry,” Praxia stated bluntly, making the chef wilt with drooping ears.

“I apologize for that. But the scientists said everything not produced by the gardens has to be overcooked for safety.” Not to mention our severe spice rationing.

“I know,” Praxia replied emotionlessly making the crystal mare clam up. What the chef couldn’t see was the sully mood Praxia was hiding. Great… I insulted her. Um, maybe I can fix it. “Well, as much as it may surprise you, Sensei has always had a love of fast food, I believe she'll love this.”

So that's what I've been reduced to? A fast food plebeian cook? The mare fought back the need to slug Praxia across the snout. “Thank you for your endorsement, Regent.”

Being the changeling she was, Praxia could feel the spike of loathing rolling off the chef. I’m on the the job, I have to be impartial. Resigning herself to fewer possible friends, Praxia remained outwardly emotionless. “If that is all,” Praxia dismissed as she continued to gnaw on the fish levitating in her magic.

Once alone, Praxia yawned sleeply at the late hour, but otherwise ignored her body’s demand for sleep as she wallowed in self-pity. How does Sensei do it? How does she balance respect with impartiality, and still get ponies to love her?!

After a few moments of sorrow, Praxia pulled her head back and opened a drawer to reveal a single chocolate bar. She eyed the sugary tormentor with an internal debate raging. Prism said she liked chocolate me. Is that what I have to do? Be more like chocolate me?

A minor alert pinged on the holographic monitor, making Praxia jump slightly in surprise and slamming the drawer shut. A hasty check on the alert revealed itself to be the latest results of the breeding initiative. Whew, I thought someone might have seen me hunched over like that.

Recollecting herself Praxia clicked the alert to read over the report from Sawbones. “Well there’s no surprise. Sensei’s plan in participating really paid off. Just over a thousand mares signed up. I only hope none of them regret the partners they chose.” Praxia let her head fall and smack the deck painfully. “How in the world am I going to get that many family homes up in less than a year!?”

“Is that not why there are more personnel marked as civil planners other than you and the colonial princess?” the Voyager AI commented emotionlessly.

“I know that, smartass,” Praxia groaned. She let her head roll to the side to take another bite of food and silently muched on it while the AI continued in its typical deadpan.

“I am required to advise you that studies show brief intervals of ‘off time’ are required for successful leadership.”

“Well unless you can give me a time dilated bubble to read a book, I can’t right now.” Praxia heaved her head back up so she could take a swig of lemonade. To think my mother had to go to such great lengths to eliminate lemon allergies in me. This stuff is heavenly.

“Since free time has been once again stricken from the agenda, I must inform you of a petition that has arisen.”

A perked up ear followed by Praxia looking up at the holographic disembodied head of Voyager. “What petition?” They couldn’t already be against me would it? I thought I was doing a good job.

Voyager's head was joined by two sheets of paper, each with well over five hundred names. “It seems the colony heard about the Colonial Princess’ idea of a monument. Since she has yet to commision what form that monument would take, the colonists have proposed two designs.”

“This ought to be good.” Praxia gestured at Voyager, prompting the AI to replace the petitions with two statues. The first was a recreation of Equis with the spacedock complete with Seed One inside. Sitting underneath was a pedestal bearing the names and cutie marks of the other princesses along with the names of every dock worker for Seed One. Praxia was intrigued that all three pieces were separated from each other. “I guess the artist took to the idea of hovering rocks rather quickly.”

The other statue was of Prism Flash standing heroically on top of her rover, Joe. She was pointing forward while the rest of the Pathfinders and their respective rovers were in a cheveron behind her as if she were leading the way. Standing larger than life behind all of them was Princess Twilight with her starry mane flowing in an ethereal breeze. The pedestal for this one read ‘Pioneering into a better future.’

“You know,” Praxia fummed while blowing a lock of loose hair out of her eyes. “I should vote for the other one, if only to keep Prism’ ego from growing larger than a stadium. But sensei deserves a statue…”

Praxia was about to shelve the petition to focus on more pressing issues when her personal display was rocked by an obnoxiously loud call. Suffering an oncoming headache, Praxia accepted the call which prompted a hologram of a friendly looking thestral stallion to appear in front of her desk. He took a moment to bow. “Greetings, Acting Regent Praxia. I am Painted Canvas, the artist who was commissioned for the heroism of our Pathfinders and princess.”

“Ah, I see.” And the one for potentially skyrocketing Prism’s ego. “Well it’s night to meet you but-” Did I really just mix up a word?

Praxia stopped a moment to let her brain reboot, but that gave time for a second call to come in, just as obnoxious as the last. Out of tired subconscious instinct, Praxia let the call go through, causing a unicorn mare to appear. “Acting Regent,” said with a bow of her own. “I’m-”

“Barking up the wrong tree, Berry Cake,” Canvas declared as a matter of fact. Berry Cake acted as though insulted, but didn’t pay him any mind. “Your monument idea lacks foresight and vision. More of a tired trope if you ask me.”

“My apologies, regent Praxia,” Berry said with no lost grace. “I just wanted to ensure both petitions reached you.” Berry continued on towards Canvas in a much more thinly veiled acidic tone before Praxia could speak. “It is tradition to honor the sacrifices of others. Not to mention simply being the courtious thing to do for those who sacrificed themselves to get us here.”

Not to be bullied out of the conversation in her temporary office, Praxia clopped her hooves on the desk. “Look. I understand the importance of these monuments. They are both valid and I’m sure the princess will have no problem commissioning both. Those floating pink rocks aren’t exactly rare.”

Both artists brightened at the prospect of getting their work accepted. “That’s truly wonderful news, Regent, I knew both you and the colonial princess were wise mares.” Painted Canvas schmoozed.

“There is still the matter of location, of course,” Berry Cake said after giving her own brief thankful nod. “While my statue is simply the centerpiece, I plan on making a whole area dedicated to it. So I thought the central rover station lobby would be perfect.”

Praxia was cut off by Canvas stepping forward and putting a hoof on the desk, only for it to pass right through. Canvas nearly lost his balance, but smoothly recovered from both the near-fall and the embarrassment. “You see what she drives me to? Now you see the other reason this vulture butted into our call, Regent Praxia!” Canvas interrupted with a glare at Berry, who matched it. “I came up with having my monument dedicated at the station lobby, and she is trying to pass it off as her idea!”

“Don’t act like it wasn’t the obvious choice I was going to go for anyway,” Berry shot back heatedly. “It’s a scientific fact that, that hub is the most culturally strategic spot for such a memorial!”

Why am I not surprised that even the artists Sensei brought with us think like scientists? “How long have you two been going at this?” Praxia had to ask, if only to get some more context.

“I drew up a rough draft the very night our glorious princess announced her plan for a memorial statue,” Canvas declared with a flare of his hoof across his chest. “Princess Twilight is such a mare of vision that I know she’ll agree with me.”

“And such a mare of vision would obviously see the need to honor those we left behind,” Berry countered sharply while harrumphing at her rival. “I admit to being asked to design the memorial just last week, but only because this guy,” she jabbed a hoof at Canvas, “was marginalizing the sacrifices of those we left behind.”

“Alright that’s enough!” Praxia yelled while swiping her hoof to mute both ponies. “This is one thing I think the princess would rather handle herself. Until she returns I suggest both of you select an alternative location since one of you will obviously not get the lobby. Now if you have no other matter to bring to my attention, I must ask you to leave.”

Canvas bowed graciously at Praxia. “You're busy, of course. Thank you for your time, Regent.”

“Likewise,” Berry added with a touch more sincerity.

Both ponies’ holograms vanished, allowing Praxia to lean back and try to rub her headache away. I need some aspirin big time.

With the unknown nature of the buried artifact, the excavation became much more cautious. As a result, it took the better part of two weeks to finish excavating the rest of the ruins. It was in the wee hours of the fifth day, Twilight and all the others stood ready to properly investigate the unearthed artifact.

The artifact itself remained on the strangely plain stone altar that it was apparently carved out of, save for the mana crystals. Careful to keep any of her magic from leaking out, Twilight stood close by to give a scrutinizing inspection. Prism stood alongside her, more taking notes from her mother’s observations than making any of her own.

With the artifact being as large as a carriage, both Glass Silk and Dirt Dobber were able to inspect it up close as well, while the assistants remained out of the way.

Lastly, several of Trench’s marines were eyeing the whole affair with fretful worry for their princess and her heir.

Prism hummed at the latest findings while her eyes danced over the plethora of scripture written on the stone part of the artifact. “Don’t you think it’s kinda odd that there aren’t any pictures or even control buttons?”

With Twilight going so far as to set her headset to nullifer mode, thus making it impossible to use magic, her hoof held scanner could only do so much. “I’m convinced the method of control lies within the crystals themselves. There’s definitely some connection lines running through the rock, and there’s also a large cavity in the center, but it doesn’t look like the stone has anything more than that.”

“Your highness,” Glass Silk said to announce himself. “I’ve got the readings from the south two crystals for you. I’m no expert, so I hope you can make heads or tails of it.”

Twilight took the data into her personal display, only to crease her brow. She withdrew from the building to find a chair nearby. After a few impatient moments, Prism departed the structure as well to join her mother, thus leaving the two archaeologists to continue probing the relic. “So is it low or high tech?”

“It… It’s high, very high tech.” Twilight remained quiet for a bit longer, leaving Prism to rock on her hooves.

“Can you see what the artifact does?”

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Twilight fed the data to Prism’s visor. The readout expanded to being similar to a neural network with a few hundred channels and nodes scattered about in each of the four crystals.

“Oh wow, it looks like a brain almost. But there’s a lot a’ small cracks. I wonder if it can even function anymore.”

Twilight grinned at her daughter’s analogy. “You’ve always had a good eye for details,” she said with motherly pride, making Prism beam at the praise. “But the problem is that Equestrian crystals are made to house solidified arcane arrays. The idea of modeling a crystal’s function after a neural net is simply astonishing! It could take decades to figure out how it works, let alone what its purpose was.”

“There is another option,” Dirt Dobber called out as he stepped closer.

“Eavesdropping is rude ya know,” Prism snarked as she turned around to face him.

Twilight let it slide for the moment, and fixed the earth stallion with an impassive face. “What do you propose?”

“I’ve been talking it over with Glass Silk and we think that if this thing is hungry enough to have passively fed on your mana, Then it’s far too dangerous to take back to the colony since our atmosphere is saturated with mana. At least not without knowing what it does with that mana.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Twilight commented with a nod. She briefly noticed Glass Silk was still over that the artifact, but no doubt had his suit listen in on them. “As it stands though, we don’t have the facilities to completely isolate an artifact of this size.”

Dirt Dobber briefly glanced at the artifact before returning his gaze towards Twilight. “Right, but we can’t just leave it here. The find is too important. So why don’t I be the one to feed it magic and see what it does?”

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” Prism challenged, gaining a scornful look from Dobber. “Why, can’t we leave it here?” she asked them both. “For all we know it could be a nuke.”

Twilight hummed aloud. “It doesn’t appear to be a weapon, but then again, these are alien minds we’re dealing with. Decorating military hardware with pictograms might be standard procedure for them.”

Dirt Dobber couldn’t help but scoff at the notion. “Inside a chapel covered with a narrative mural? An alien mind couldn’t possibly be as foreign as you give them credit, your highness.” Twilight’s only reply was a disapproving frown and a scowl from Prism, making him backpedal a bit. “W-what I mean is, I understand your caution, but it is surely unwarranted.”

Dirt Dobber brought up a hologram of his own depicting not only the lower sections of the mural, but his annotations to it as well. “According to the lower levels of the mural’s narrative, I’m convinced we have it all backwards reading from up to down. Instead of aliens coming here for a simpler life, it must have been those aliens coming here to uplift a near-sentient species!”

“While interesting, if true, it doesn’t change the danger, doctor,” Twilight warned with a short wave of her hoof. “Ignoring the direction the narrative is taking, the artifact is either A: a tool used to alter genetics, or hopefully B: it’s been rendered non-functional over time.”

Prism looked over the ruins. I guess it would be pretty stupid to put a weapon like a nuke in a chapel.

Ignorant of Prism’s musings, Dirt Dobber continued to press Twilight. “I strongly believe the device couldn't do such a thing, given that the artifact wouldn’t know how to de-evolve a pony.”

Twilight gave him a sour look at his dubious logic. “Doctor, I’m starting to believe you’ve been drinking.”

Prism cackled at the comment while Dirt Dobber tried to reign in his tone to be more respectful. “Please, Your Highness, you know of my work back on Equis, how my hunches were always right even when I didn’t have the evidence yet to back it up.”

Glass Silk huffed at him. “Please, your best gift is luck and you know it.”

“And we need all the luck we can get,” Twilight countered smoothly. “I must admit, Doctor, I had only read your dissertations on the digs you conducted. I suppose seeing you work in person is a little… different than I expected.”

“All the best minds have eccentricities, am I right?” Dirt Dobber replied with a winning smile.

Prism rolled her eyes and looked to her mother who couldn’t help but chuckle behind a raised wing. “Fair enough, doctor.”

“Excellent. Now, the way I see it princess, we have limited options here. We can either destroy the artifact, a travesty to be sure. Our other options are that we could bury it back up, or activate it.

“Seeing how I doubt we could ever decipher the aliens’ spellwork without seeing it in action, I strongly suggest we activate it. If for nothing else than the very real possibility that there are more artifacts out there.”

Twilight fell silent as she brooded over the possibilities. He’s not wrong, but I still think he’s getting too eager.

“...Alright, doctor,” Twilight said after an internal debate. “We’ll activate it at a safe distance, but we’re doing it my way.”

Prism picked up on that tone and soured at the implication. “That wouldn’t happen to be explosive insurance would it?”

Twilight gave her a look somewhere between sass and forlorn sadness. “If your father taught me one thing, it’s that there are few problems can’t be solved with the proper application of explosives. Even if it means the destruction of a find such as this.”

Before long, Trench had surrounded the artifact with C-7 explosive clay and remote detonators. Twilight watched video feed from the hellcat drones while she and everyone were a mile to the south. Between the tall mushroom caps and the depth of the dug out pit where the artifact rested, getting the drones into a good position was no easy feat given their’ size. A much smaller drone, barely the size of an adult pony, hovered near the artifact with a crystal brimming with mana in its claw.

Dirt Dobber watched on behind the group in miffed frustration. “I don’t see how we can leave such a historic event in the hooves of a robot.”

“We can always replace a robot, doc,” Prism answered for her mother.

Twilight pushed the drone in close. “Okay, everypony, here we go.”

Pushing the pony made crystal forward, the small drone flew over to the artifact and waited for it to drain the magic. The group waited in pensive anticipation for something to happen, only to be disappointed.

The artifact did nothing. Twilight tried waving the mana gem in front of the artifact, only to be ignored. “Okay. So that at least tell us it can’t actively drain mana from other crystals. Let’s try this.” Prepared as always, Twilight activated the drone’s mana scanner, and coating the artifact in mana in the process.

As she hoped, the artifact started greedily absorbing the mana from the scan, but did little else. After several minutes of trying to prompt some kind of reaction, between intensifying the scan to lightly banging a claw on the surface of the artifact, Twilight was getting perturbed. “I swear, if this thing is just some big fancy battery, I’m going to be sorely disappointed.”

Prism shrugged nonplused. “Hey, if these guys decorate their military kit with murals, who’s to say we didn’t stumble on some cult’s perverse obsession with a battery?”

Twilight rolled her head to give Prism the most deadpan look she was capable of. “Wouldn’t that be quite the headline.” She spread her hooves out, imaging the news scrawl on the old Pony News Network channel. ‘Ponies travel lightyears only to find an alien cult’s battery’.”

Polite chuckles rang out among the group with Glass Silk having a mild epiphany. “Princess. What if the artifact only reacts to the presence of a living person? After all, that’s what we saw in the murals.”

“Perhaps,” Twilight said as she quickly replaced her mirth with critical thinking. “Dirt Dobber!” she called out, prompting the stallion to practically materialize in front of her with a trail of dust blowing behind him. “Looks like we might have to try your plan after all.”

“I know I’m right, your highness, just wait and see!”

~“Well? We’re waiting,”~ Prism teased over the radio as Dirt Dobber stood before the artifact.

The archaeologist was hesitant to approach such a high concentration of explosive putty with remote detonators sticking out here and there. ~“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. How do I know that Trench fellow isn’t some trigger happy explosive junky?”~

~“Don’t worry, doctor,”~ Twilight replied quickly, if only to keep Trench’s expletives from picking up on the radio. ~“I slaved the detonators to the recall spell I placed on you. They can’t detonate until you’re back here safe and sound.”~

“No offense, but I don’t trust explosives. Especially on a dig site.”~

~“You can still back out of this, doctor, but those are my terms.”~ Twilight’s tone turned conspiratorial. ~“Of course, we can just bury the artifact and come back later when we can build the proper facilities.”~

Shoring himself up, Dirt Dobber shook his head. ~“This was my idea, your highness,”~ he gave the explosives a worried look, ~“even if it was modified a little. Now that it has some mana, there’s no telling what it might do if we leave it be. So I’d just like to say, if I die, I die for science and Seed One.”~

~“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,”~ Twilight replied genuinely. She mentally refreshed the summoning spell held in check by her headset, and dought the artifact draining the spell all the while. ~“You may proceed when ready.”~

Since genetics didn’t grace him with a horn, Dirt Dobber had to rear up and press his hooves against one of the crystals and thought about tending the old garden he had back on Equis. It was low at first, his magic seeped into the crystals at an almost lethargic rate. Yet it wasn’t long before the seep escalated into a yanking pull taking the wind out of him in the process.

~“Doctor! Your mana levels just plummeted then jumped back a little, are you alright?”~

The voice that came back sounded like an old man after running a marathon. He blinked slowly as an itch took root in the back of his brain. ~“Whoff, that didn’t feel good.”~ Twilight tensed on the figurative button to simultaneously summon Dirt Dobber to her and set off the charges. ~“I - ah - I think I’m okay. Just a little winded.”~

No sooner had he said that, that the crystals on the artifact lit up even brighter than before with the hundreds of channels within them giving off soft yet flickering blue light. ~“I think that did the trick, your highness, the artifact is doing something.”~

Twilight, along with everyone else, was practically glued to the camera and sensor feeds. ~“We see it, doctor. Just be ready for that recall if I see anything going south.”~

As mother and daughter watched closely, they noticed quite quickly that there was no massive build up of power or secret compartment activating. The empty cavity within the artifact was lined with mana, but otherwise remained unremarkable. All in all, it would have looked akin to watching a washing machine activate were the mana channels not completely alien. “Well if this is a mana weapon, it’s the weakest I’ve ever seen,” Prism mused aloud.

Glass Silk let go of the breath he’d been holding. ~“Looks like I owe somepony a beer.”~

Dirt Dobber was heaving heavy breaths as his body tried to recover from the mana being ripped away from him. Holy Celestia! If Glass Silk had been in my place that thing would have killed him outright. ~“Not that swill at the VR club, Silk. A shot of your special stock.”~

Glass Silk chuckled. ~“Deal.”~

Twilight’s order to return to the site was stopped when the artifact projected an ethereal green hologram of one of the aliens on the wall. The being originally stood three meters tall before quickly being resized to be eye level with the startled earth stallion. The holographic creature’s two legs dangled in the air as if the program was aware it didn’t need to stand on solid ground. It’s arms and hands were clasped together, making it difficult to determine the shape of them. It wore a thread bear brown cloak with patches so common it looked like a changeling’s leg.

The face was flat and smooth with ears that speared out of the side of its head like knives and a completely absent nose. There were small eyes in the proper places by pony standards, save for a third eye in the middle of a hairy forehead.

The creature looked directly at an exuberant Dirt Dobber. Without speaking, it stretched two thin three fingered hands out with an empty bowl materializing in one hand, and a section of landscape in the other.

Dirt Dobber shakily stood up and bowed carefully towards the figure. While it sounded like Dirt Dobber spoke, it was actually Twilight Sparkle's words that left his helmet. “Greetings, I represent the colonists of Equestria. My name is-”

Twilight hesitated when the figure used its two free hands to cover its mouth. Prism cocked an eyebrow at it. “You think that’s the universal way of telling you to shut up?”

“Possibly,” Twilight conceded with a brief frown at her daughter. “I guess we’ll let it ‘talk’ then.”

The alien hologram expanded the landscape to reveal an area that had a moderately artificial looking lake. The lights in the artifact dimmed a little as the landscape took a more realistic look, complete with proper coloring. The itching in the back of Dirt Dobber’s mind made him twitch a bit, and risked stepping closer to get a better look. Meanwhile, Twilight had the drones zoom in on the faux-landscape.

There, a little doppelganger of Dirt Dobber walked into view with the bowl carried on his back. He went over to the green lake and collected some. Once the full bowl was on his back, the landscape shifted dramatically to what could only be the ruins in their prime.

The structure was resplendent in vibrant colors from the murals depicting more stories. “This is perfect. We need to act fast to record all of it!”

“Already on it.” Trench was quick to order the drones to move into a more complete circle formation and zoom in on the stories that now covered the small two story chapel.

Dirt Dobber’s doppleganger cantered over to the artifact with the bowl in tow. A slot opened on the front of the artifact to which he poured the contents into it.

The hologram disappeared completely after that, with the crystals remaining so dim they were almost completely dark. Dirt Dobber clicked his tongue. ~“Huh… Can’t say I expected that.”~

~“Excellent work, Doctor. Take a breather until we return.”~

~“I - I think I might do that, Princess. Thank you.”~ The itching returned, making Dirt Dobber’s gaze drift over to the barrels of xenomass.

With the artifact seemingly passive, Twilight tried to rub her chin in contemplation, only for her suited hoof to rub uselessly against her helmet. “Fascinating. Though I wonder why the hologram never tried to speak.”

“Taboo maybe?” Glass Silk suggested.

“Did anypony else get the suspicion that green stuff was xenomass?” Prism asked more to her mother than anyone else.

Trench recalled the huge lakes of the stuff on the flight over to the ruins. “You mean the same stuff that nearly killed you?”

“Did you really have to bring that up?” Prism grumbled under her breath while shooting daggers at the lieutenant.

“That would fall in line with our theory.” Twilight deactivated her summoning spell and climbed into a low hover. “Seems the good doctor was both right and lucky. Let’s go collect our alien interpretive dancer and take it back to the colony.”

“In an isolated cargo container I hope,” Prism strongly suggested as she too took to the air. “Nearly getting turned into a blob of tumors on my first mission was bad enough. I’d rather not have my, eh, our first archeological expedition have some other way of causing harm.”

“There’s always the explosive option,” Trench offered before the the royal and implied royal mares could speed off. “How long is it going to take before some brillant researcher decides to give that thing xenomass and it activates, doing who knows what?”

Twilight gently landed next to the worried unicorn officer and projected her best regal-motherly tone. “Which is why it will be under sterile, careful, and decidedly more controlled environment both in storage, and once we get a lab up and running.” She leaned in closer so only Trench and Prism could hear her. “And I’m not letting Dirt Dobber on any more of these high risk assignments.”

Trench hesitantly nodded appreciatively while Prism mouthed ‘thank Celestia for that’. Satisfied, Twilight addressed the rest of them. “Alright everypony, I want the artifact isolated and our equipment packed up. We’re leaving before those wasps decide to come around for the third time.”

The gathered ponies barked their acknowledgement of the orders. The pegasi took to the air to follow their princess while their ground bound brethren climbed into the cargo lifter.

With Twilight in the lead, Prism flew at her side in the short one mile flight back to the ruins. “Prism dear, I have a new mission for you and the rest of the Pathfinders.”

Knowing excitement coursed through Prism as she predicted where this was going. “Oh?”

“My scans picked up several trace alloys in the artifact, mostly in the connectors in between the crystals. It’s something our satellite can pick up, so I’m going to need all of you to be on the watch for more of these artifacts. We need to grab as many as we can before the griffins and minotaurs show up.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Prism grumbled at the mention of the minotaurs. “But hey, if this artifact used xenomass to alter the natives in any way, then maybe it can teach us how to use the stuff properly.”

Twilight eyed her daughter with concern. “To what end?”

“Duh, to allow all of us to breathe the native atmosphere of course.” Prism headed off the coming argument with a wave of her hoof. “I know, I know, you wanna take it slow. But even if we do nothing else but the breathing bit, it would really free us up a lot if we could.”

“Am I really going to need to repeat myself?” Twilight countered with an evil eye. “You’re just going to have to wait until we can use the xenomass safely, artifact or not.”

Prism let the discussion lie for now, and only nodded in agreement. Just play it slow, girl. A comment here, an observation there, and I’ll convince her to free us all from oxygen tanks before too long.

The flight was not a long one. Mother and daughter soared above the dense canopy with the cargo lifter trailing further behind. The pair followed Dirt Dobber’s transponder back towards the camp. However, upon their arrival, both mares were stunned by what they saw.

With a leaking xenomass barrel next to him, Dirt Dobber was using a pilfered soup bowl to pour xenomass into a receptacle that was open at the base of the artifact.

Twilight was stunned by it long enough for him to discard the bowl and stand before the artifact expectantly. ~“Dirt Dobber, what are you doing!?”~

The stallion just about jumped out of his skin, and twisted his gaze between his furious princess, the leaking xenomass, and the artifact. “I - ah - I'm not sure… actually.”

Prism jabbed her distracted mother and pointed at the artifact. “Mom, what's it doing?”

Pulling her gaze from the petrified archeologist, the soft blue glow of the artifact's gems sharply turned bright forest green.

Power built up so quickly Dirt Dobber could barely process the need to run away before four beams of green light shot up from each crystal in a pyramid formation and merging into a ball of energy. However age and neglect caused two of the crystals to crack and shatter.

The sphere of energy growing on top of the artifact flickered and became erratic, spitting both mana and burning xenomass in all directions. “Dirt, get outta there!” Prism yelled.

Twilight started flying backwards to put some distance between her and the artifact while also beginning to recast the summon spell to pull the archaeologist away before detonating the C-7.

Dirt Dobber was forced to try and flee via the steep ramp leading to the top of the dig, yet the sputtering deformed ball of energy shot out at him before he could even get halfway up. A second and third stream shot up and curved over the lip of the dig to try and strike Twilight and Prism.

Prism freaked at the oncoming stream of magic and instinctively ducked behind Twilight who raised a lavender energy shield. The beam struck pitifully against her barrier, and fizzled out upon contact.

Any success Twilight might have felt was cut short by Dirt Dobber yelling in savage pain over the radio. “Damn it!” Twilight growled at the delay in casting her summon and finished the spell within seconds, pulling Dirt Dobber through the aether to land at her hooves.

Fearing the artifact might strike at the oncoming cargolifter, Twilight kept her shield up. ~“Claw Two, do not approach the dig, I repeat, do not approach the dig!”~

~“We saw what happened from the drones,”~ Trench replied back in that military calm Twilight needed right now. ~“Should we det-”~

Trench was cut off when the artifact’s remaining crystals sizzled and crackled before the whole stone section was burst into two halves as the cooking xenomass burned through the long neglected components. Without the carefully controlled interior of the artifact, the xenomass quickly blackened and burned into a lump of charcoal.

~“Actually, your highness, I’m pretty sure it just burned itself out.”~

Trench swept the camera feed over to Twilight who grit her teeth at the situation. Ultimately though, her attention shifted to Dirt Dobber who was groaning in half lucid agony. ~“I’ll deal with that later. Right now we need to get Dobber to medical pronto!”~

If I try to put him in stasis without knowing what that thing actually did to him, it might kill him. Twilight started to carefully scan Dirt Dobber with her magic, but she barely got into it when he coughed up blood, splattering it on the inside of his helmet. Prism recoiled a bit, with Dirt Dobber falling still right after.

The nail on the coffin was the flat-lined vital signs warning popping up on Twilight’s display. ~“He’s gone into cardiac arrest!”~ Twilight called out. No other choice now. Casting caution to the wind, Twilight wrapped Dirt Dobber into a stasis field. ~“I need to get him to medical immediately!”~

~“Aye, your highness. On approach now.”~

As if to mock her, the roiling magic of the artifact seemed to defy her stasis spell, teased to and fro within Dirt Dobber’s body, visible as clear as day to Twilight’s senses. Oddly enough, it was the very same function of the environment suit designed to keep the wearer's mana inside also kept the energy from bleeding away, not the spell.

Prism was rubbing her foreleg in extreme discomfort at thought of him dying. The fact that she was the one who found the site ran over and over in her mind. “He’s going to make it right?”

“I can’t say for sure.” Twilight debated whether or not she should even allow him near the colony with such magic remaining active despite her stasis. I don’t know if I can even teleport with him without it reacting to that.

Despite the delay in noticing it, Twilight’s maternal instincts picked up on the guilt in Prism’s voice. “Before you go thinking this is your fault, Prism, You may have found this place, but it was Dirt Dobber’s and my decision to try activate it.”

Prism was still a little stunned by the whole thing, and only shook out of it at feeling the downwash of the approaching cargolifter. “How is it not my fault!?” she roared over the rotor blades. “If I hadn’t-”

“Then more ponies might have gotten hurt later, and we wouldn’t know of the presence of sapient natives!” Twilight interjected sharply, bringing Prism up short. “You and I are going to talk this over later once things settle down.”

Prism went numb and fell on her rump in a daze. Twilight was forced to wait for the cargolifter to land before carrying Dirt Dobber and dragging her daughter onto the aircraft. From there, they abandoned the dig site for later, and flew off with all due haste.

Many hours later, Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in her office catching up on all the details left in Praxia’s notes. The late evening sun cast the last light of the day through the small porthole windows. Praxia had long since been dismissed from her temporary post after Twilight asked for some privacy with Prism. Even with Praxia being absent, work was not so kind and jumped on Twilight the moment she sat down. The passing hours went by without protest from Prism who stood listlessly by the door while occasionally flopping onto the floor.

Twilight had just gotten to the issue with the memorial petitions when Sawbones called her. Putting the memorials aside, Twilight put on a mask of practiced sympathy while keeping herself otherwise as neutral as possible. Sawbones’ hologram popped up a moment later, and Twilight was not surprised to see his apologetic expression. “Judging by your face, I’d say Dirt Dobber didn’t fare well.”

Prism shot to attention at the mention of his name, yet neither her nor Praxia could hear Sawbones reply. “I’m afraid not, your highness. Given the description you gave of the event and by the patient’s state upon arrival, I’m under the impression that whatever damage time and neglect did to the artifact, it ruined whatever precision it might have had. Many of the patient’s organs were partially reworked with some tearing away from the original, while most of that rework looks disastrously misshapen. Aside from cloning him a new body, there was nothing I could do, save prolong his life a few hours.”

“I feared as much,” Twilight replied somberly. “Did you find out anything else?”

Sawbones sent his preliminary report, allowing to manifest beside his avatar. “The mana I extracted seemed to be dependent on the patient. It faded away as soon as I extracted it from him. The nurses were glad for that one. The only other thing of interest were several traces of Clover Radiant Mana in the patient’s brain.”

Twilight arched a surprised eyebrow. “Clover radiation? So it did exert some level of mind control after all.”

“I would say mental suggestion rather than outright control, Princess,” Sawbones tactfully countered. “CRM isn’t very effective in high level sapients such as ourselves.”

“It was effective enough,” Twilight remarked, leaving Sawbones to shrug helplessly. She allowed a ghost of a smile cross her muzzle. “This could have been much worse. Thank you, doctor.”

“There is one more thing, your highness,” Sawbones added worriedly. “I found evidence that the patient suffered scarring on his cerebrum brought on by what appears to be a weak allergy to the cryo drugs. This would have led to minor psychosis.”

Twilight hung her her head in a hoof. “Freezerburn? I thought we screened everypony for that.”

“To be fair, colonial princess, it was difficult to catch that back on Equis. I’m already writing up a medical order for all personnel to report for more in-depth medical examinations to see if anypony else might be suffering from the condition.”

“You have my full support on that, doctor.”

“Thank you. You’ll have the full report by week’s end.” Sawbones bowed deeply before vanishing.

With Sawbones gone, Twilight saw Prism had run up to listen in on a one-sided conversation. Before Prism could sink into depression, Twilight took on a more even expression. “I know what you’re thinking, young lady. Today was bad, but I say we ultimately dodged a bullet.”

“Y-you mind running that by me one more time?” Prism began to freak. “He’s dead because of me!”

Twilight simply stared at her. Prism… You are nothing like Night Wind. Why do you keep thinking you’ll fall down the same path she did? “Prism, dear, whether on the battlefield or on the throne, I have lost many friends and subjects. It’s better to lose one life now, rather than who knows how many if artifacts like that were found by somepony who wouldn’t report it to command.”

“Well how about losing no lives, huh?” Prism glared. She started hovering, if only to keep from stomping on the floor. “We could have done something to save him!”

“We tried, and failed,” Twilight explained with a stern tone. “Getting so wrapped up in trying to be absolutely perfect and infallible is what created Night Wind in the first place.” Prism wilted, her ears falling flat at the mention of her elder sister. “Dirt Dobber’s sacrifice will help us better tackle the next artifact we run into.”

Prism’s need to have some merit come out of Dobber’s death was only partially satisfied by that. She flew up to stand on her mother’s desk, caught somewhere between anger, and knowing Twilight was trying to get her angry. Both mares knowing full well Prism wasn’t as stubborn when she was angry. Well I’m putting my hoof down this time, damn it! “So, what? We just move on? Have a funeral and that’s it? Back to business?”

“We were still at war, Prism.” Twilight fought to keep an edge of her own anger in check, knowing what her daughter was really talking about. “The world outside Equestria wasn’t going to let us have time to grieve for your father.” She leaned forward and put as much regal and motherly steel in her gaze and words as she could. “We have to be able to move forward, and learn to not shoulder blame which is not ours to bear.” Twilight stared Prism down until the pegasus wilted under the glare and backed off the desk. Twilight leaned back in her chair and took on a more pleasant tone. “Celestia knows I wouldn’t have made it past a hundred without learning to do so.”

At that, Twilight waited for Prism to contemplate her words. She went so far as to busy herself with reading the memorial proposals to let Prism have a few moments. Prism eventually collected her thoughts and eyed her mother carefully. “I don’t have your hundreds of years to learn how to feng shui my way to a quick inner peace after being -” Prism caught Twilight’s rising rebuke, “ - at least partially responsible for a good pony’s death.” Twilight’s challenge died down, prompting Prism to continue. “But I - I mean - I just need to vent, okay?! Can I at least get that much without a lecture?!”

Prism stormed off in a huff and made for the door. She was about to kick it open when Twilight spoke in a calm that grated on Prism’s tense nerves. “Alright. If you don’t think a lecture will help then, how about meditation?”

Prism was brought up short, her hoof drifted away from the door button as she gave her mother a questioning gaze mixed with suspicion. “That’s a first. You’ve never invited me to join one of your morning meditations. Even after dad died.”

Twilight closed the petition to focus solely on her daughter. “Because you weren’t ready to learn.”

Prism huffed and made to leave again. “I don’t see how-”

“One million, four hundred seventy two thousand, eight hundred and ninety nine,” Twilight said with iron that surprised Prism a little. “That’s how many ponies that have died either directly or indirectly from carrying out my orders or were under my command. Wars included,” she added as an afterthought. “And today brings that up to nine hundred.

“Do you honestly think I could continue sleeping well at night after almost five hundred years of that on my chest?”

“I - ah - What exactly do you want me to say to that?” Prism flailed her forelegs out in exasperation.

Twilight got up and started walking over to her daughter. “Well, I was hoping you would say ‘teach me’.”

Prism hesitated, partially wondering if this was some weird test. “You offer this now of all times?”

“Now is the perfect time.” Twilight gave a thin motherly smile and bent down to be eye level with Prism and gave her a tight hug. “I’m proud of you for having such empathy. But such feelings can lead you down a path of bitterness if you suffer multiple losses.” Prism’s anger started to slip back into guilt, and she squeezed Twilight close. “Let me show you how to avoid such a fate.”

Prism took solace in her mother’s warmth, sniffling as her emotions threatened to boil over. “Why can’t you teach this to everypony?” Prism asked she pulled her head back.

Twilight replied with a thin smile while stroking her daughter’s mane with a wing elbow. “It is an admittedly impossible technique for the vast majority of ponies to perform, no matter how much they try. Celestia tried to share it for hundreds of years with no success.”

“So what makes you think I can do it?”

Twilight’s eyes flicked towards Prism’s alicorn wings, which were by now a permanent fixture upon the young mare’s back. “Let’s just say I believe you have a genetic predisposition.”

8: A New Mission Statement

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Howling wind and rolling thunder rattled through a darkened dormitory, startling its sole occupant awake at its passing. Prism’s wings snapped open, throwing the light blanket aside as she scrambled to make sense of her surroundings. The moment of disorientation didn’t last long however and her explorer’s training kicked in, dragging away her sleepiness.

Thunder and rain filled her ears, delighting her enough to roll over and simply watch the rain patter against the window. The sun, now blocked by the storm clouds,was only just beginning to climb up into the sky, leaving much of the illumination to the scant few lights of the colony.

“Actual rain… No more snow for us.”

Prism laid there for several peaceful minutes, drinking in the weather just a few feet away. Despite the harsh wind, torrential rain and booming thunder, the fact that she was safe and sound in her dormitory allowed Prism to watch passively.

However, such moments of peace were not meant to last long as the wall mounted speaker barked to life with Voyager's speech. “Pathfinder Prism Flash, there is an inclement weather advisory in place.”

“You don’t say.”

“Given the severity of the storm, all exploration missions are temporarily postponed.”

“Wouldn’t stop the mail,” Prism mocked to the uncaring AI.

“In addition, Pathfinder Ruby Quartz has called for a meeting at headquarters starting at fifteen hundred hours.”

“Joy.”

Prism looked over to her wall mounted clock. “9:00AM.” She laid there confused for a moment, forgetting the days here were longer than those back on Equis. Shaking away her confusion, she sat up and yawned lazily. “Plenty of time for some breakfast.”

With that offhanded comment the unbidden memory of the dig site, and Dirt Dobber’s death slammed into her mind’s eye. She let go of a shuddering breath, and called back to her mother’s teaching the night before.

“There is more to being an alicorn, or at least in your case, a partial alicorn, than just a long life and more magic. We must learn how to not just survive, but how to live with ourselves.

“Alicorn magic can enable us to do just that, by having a mind as resilient as our bodies. Assuming of course, if you know how.”

Prism was silently grateful she didn’t have to learn to clear her mind like she expected, but instead used a practice she had been doing for years: channeling her alicorn magic. Only this time, she let it ebb and flow with her thoughts, letting the mana course through her brain, guided by her subconscious will.

“Our magic constantly works to renew and invigorate the body, but it can only do this because the body already tries to heal on its own.”

Prism instinctively spread her large wings out as far as she could. Both her amber eyes and her mana-swathed wings started to glow. The alicorn magic felt easier to move, far more so than when she had ordinary pegasi wings. It was as if the magic itself yearned to envelope, protect, and empower her.

“However, the mind normally repulses any influence by this restorative magic. I suspect this is likely because it would hamper our ability to think properly. As such, you must give yourself time to open the gates as it were, and let the wounds of your mind heal, lest they become scars.

“But be warned. Unlike with the physical body, our magic cannot fix scars to the mind. Trying to do otherwise will lead you down an apathetic and aloof path. You are far more aware of that danger than most."

Prism sighed and let go of her magic. “I don’t want the scar of her fixed anyway.”

She shook her head vigorously to cast away thoughts of her mother’s lesson and that of her older sister. However the tips of her primaries brought her attention to the grungy state of her wings. Feathers poked out here and there, some loose, others deformed by improper sleep.

“Ugh, so many extra feathers. How does mom sleep with such big flappers without getting them messed up every time?” At least my enviro suit kept everything in order, she grumbled irritably while fetching her personal set of hand-claws from a nearby drawer.

Fussing all the while, Prism used the nimble fingers to fix her erratic feathers back into workable condition. Can’t believe pegasi used to have to do this by mouth. Freak’n yuck.

With her task done in moderately short order, she inspected her wings in the wall mirror nearby. A niggling thought bubbled up at the sight of them. She called me a partial alicorn… She’s never called me that before, even after I learned how to grow my wings out.

Could she be… Nah, Prism shook her head and tucked her wings back into place. I came to her asking to keep big wings. Momma may be a schemer, but even she could have… Prism looked at her reflection’s face, imagining for a moment that she had a horn. You know what? I wouldn’t put it past her to wait for me to ask first. I’ll play dumb for now, but I’m so busting her if she offers to teach me how to create unicorn or earth pony magic. Filing her suspicion away for now, Prism went through her morning hygienics before making her way to the mess hall.

As always in the cramped space of the ship-turned-capitol-building, the mess hall was filled to the brim with ponies. The four separate lines for food were no exception. Thankfully though Twilight Sparkle being unofficially the Alicorn of Organization, the lines moved quite rapidly.

It wasn’t too long before Prism came up to the downside of organized efficiency. As soon as Prism got to the food, an automatic dispenser unceremoniously dropped a tray on her back from a tube on the wall, causing her to instinctively spread her wings a bit to stabilize it. Marching forward, a small collection of packaged freeze dried foodstuffs dropped on the tray with a plastic box dropping on top of it all, each item coming from a different dispensary tube.

And with that, she was released into the cafeteria, loaded to the brim with patrons filling every table and booth. The cafeteria's design was more for aesthetics than pure function. With the ship having been safely on the ground for some time now, the inner section of the entire ring was nearly hollowed out with a large collection of minor support beams allowing a large collection of tables to exist for the pegasi and thestrals of the colony, thus freeing up the rest for their ground bound brethren.

Due to the mass of ponies pushing behind her, Prism had to quickly unfurl her foreleg mounted hands and take the tray in them so she could climb into the air to avoid getting trampled. Now. Knowing Praxia, she’s probably spacing out somewhere too focused on some work to leave her table.

Flying through the organized chaos, Prism kept her tray tucked underneath as she hunted down her honorary sister. Sure enough, there she was on the third floor and tucked down by the far end, yet what brought Prism up short was that Silver was chatting with her.

With a snarky grin, Prism slid over and dumped her tray onto the round table and latched onto the bench on the other side of Praxia and Silver. “Hey guys, what’s up with you two?”

Praxia almost jumped out of her seat as if she’d been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, while Silver didn’t think anything of it. “Hey, PF, Praxia was just asking me about any other good VR sims, you know any?”

Praxia pulled at him and whispered in his ear. “Why are you telling anypony!?”

Silver was at a loss in what to make of that while Prism only grinned mischievously at the couple. “VR sims, Praxia? Have you been naughty while I was gone?”

“I most certainly have not!” Praxia snorted scornfully at Prism’s mocking ‘bedroom eyes’.

“Uh, no,” Silver said slowly to try and defuse the situation. “We just wanted to know of any more campaigns. I know you talked the princess into inviting a few game designers into the Seed program.”

“Can’t believe I even had to,” Prism chuckled after laying off of Praxia. She was a merciful pony after all. “You’d think she’d love VR games if she ever took the time to try.”

Praxia slowly loosened up from her embarrassment and sat a bit straighter. “I think Sensei knows herself all too well. There is merit in never indulging in something if you know you’d greatly overindulge in it.”

“Psh, if you say so.” Prism checked through her personal library in her visor’s display. With her hand-enhanced hooves, she thumbed through a few folders to find her admittedly small collection. “I don’t have that many for Demon Slayer, but I have a bunch for Planet of the Killer Potatoes.”

Praxia flicked her mane to the side dismissively. “Ugh, no way. That game is trash.”

“It is not,” Prism scowled defensively. “It’s a cult classic!”

“That’s just another way of saying the world think’s it’s garbage, save for a few misguided souls.” Praxia stated matter of factly as payback for earlier.

“Ha! We’re just the only ones who can see the genius of the killer potatoes.” Prism thumbed her nose at Praxia before turning towards her packaged meal.

Praxia waved off the last comment while Silver was a bit perplexed by the whole exchange. I don’t know how PF brings such strange habits out of the usually straight-laced Praxia.

“So I heard what happened at the digsite. Must have been hard.”

Prism let out a mild sigh and popped open a bag to find some dried carrots. “Yeah… Well, just gotta make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Praxia eyed Prism carefully with a worried frown. “Are you sure you're feeling okay? Last I saw, you weren’t doing so hot.”

Prism rolled her eyes at the whole thing rather than at Praxia. “Mom taught me some form of meditation tied to my alicorn magic. Really takes the ‘umph’ out of grief apparently.”

“Must be nice…” was all Silver was willing to say in a forced neutral tone.

Praxia felt smoldering sorrow out of Silver, but her attention was primarily focused on Prism. She was more than a little intrigued by such a technique, and slowly and tactfully got Prism to open about the mechanics involved while she ate. When all was said and done, Prism was nearly done with her meal and both Praxia and Silver were mulling over the information.

It didn’t take Praxia long to nervously rub the back of her head. “I don’t want to sound unsympathetic here, but I don’t think I’m really qualified to help you on this one.”

Both ponies gave her a curious look. Prism’s snark returned in full force. “Look, Praxia, I know you’re not a qualified therapist, but you can actually give advice.”

“That not what I- ugh.” Praxia smacked her forehead out of exasperation. Think diplomatically like Sensei taught you. “Let me put it this way. I know, and am grateful for, that I look like just another tribe of pony, but the fact is - I’m really not. My mind does not work in the same way as a pony’s in some ways. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

“So you experience grief differently?” Silver asked already half expecting the answer.

“How would you know, though?” Prism pressed with a sour tone. “You barely make any friends outside of momma and I. So who did you lose, huh?”

“You mean beside my entire race back on Equis?” Praxia countered just as bitterly.

“Oh come on, you hate your mother.”

“My mother, yes, but who knows, maybe I could have been friends with one of the other queens.” Prism hesitated, not really having a counter to that. Silver was starting to look uncomfortable. “Point is, when my mother dumped me off in Equestria she gave Sensei a big list of changeling facts so she wasn’t trying to raise me totally blind. Apparently the list also said changelings don’t suffer emotional scars. If you heard her talk, grief just sort of washes out of us in a matter of weeks.”

“Riiight…” Prism turned to Silver. “Well what do you think?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Silver tried to keep a level tone. “I... I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Praxia gave Silver a sad look and gently placed her hoof on his own. “It sounds like you need to though.” He froze with his eyes on her hole riddled hoof. “I may not be the best at it, but Prism and I talk about stuff that bothers us all the time to each other. Can you share?”

Silver looked up at Prism who responded by giving a small frown and leaning over her food. “Throwing your heart on the table’s rough. But I gotta admit to getting a lot of practice with ol’ holier than thou over there.”

They’ll probably think I’m a nut case if I clam up… but then they’ll just see me as a nut if I told them. “I’m sorry I ju-” He looked up to speak with Prism only to see Firefly sitting at a nearby table staring daggers at him.

Firefly called him through Silver’s earpiece, to which Silver was immensely grateful that the mares couldn’t hear. ~“Dude, I know that look. Sympathy always gets the mares.”~

Silver was thrown off his train of thought for a moment before surprise and a bit of anger got a hold of him. “Excuse me for a moment, ladies.” He turned away from the surprised mares, placed a hoof to his ear to hiss at Firefly. ~“Why are you watching me, Fire?!”~

~“Cause everypony in town saw you eating breakfast with Miss Ice Regent herself. I came to make sure you didn’t blow it.”~

Small town. Silver gave Prism a nervous half grin before turning back away. ~“Yeah well they’re asking about the thing.”~

Firefly’s voice lost it’s snark. ~“You mean, the thing thing?”~

~“Yes!”~

Firefly was silent for a few moments; long enough to let Silver know he was giving it real thought. ~“I know it’s heavy. But those two aren’t just some heat and beat mares. Tell’m anyway, Silver. Trust me.”~

Despite it all, Firefly’s serious tone caught Silver off guard. ~“You - you’re serious?”~

~“Hundred percent, bro. You gotta take the plunge with more than just me, bro.”~ Silver looked up to see Firefly nod at him. ~“What’s a wingmate for right?”~

Silver shored up his nerve and cut the call. He gave the mares an apologetic look. “Sorry, Firefly had to tell me something real quick.” Prism shrugged it off while Praxia nodded in understanding. “So… Grief. I guess I better start with context. My family used to be a herd of four, but we lost Glimmer Shine, Velvet Coat, and my father Textile in the war. My father actually ended up dead in that stupid little skirmish in Dusty Willow.”

Prism recognized the name immediately. “Wasn’t that the fight that happened while the ceasefire was being signed?” That was two years after papa died.

Silver powered through it, keeping his voice level and eyes mostly dry. “Yeah… Pointless waste as my mother kept calling it. She - she never recovered from that. With the sun dying and an ice age setting in, she lost hope. J-just a month. One month before the Seed Initiative was announced, momma hung herself.”

Prism was struck speechless, with her eyes misting over at the memory of when she learned that her father wasn’t coming home. Praxia may be resilient against grief, but she knew the sadness of being alone. With neither of them able to speak, Silver felt he was on the spot to continue. “After she… It - it felt like the color just drained out of the world. I couldn't find the drive to keep up my apprenticeship, or even bother getting food. If you hear Firefly talk, he’d swear up and down my cutie mark started to turn grey.”

Silver had to spend several moments to recollect himself. Prism’s couldn’t think of anything to say, and only stared blankly at her food. Praxia wanted to hug him to comfort him, but the voice of keeping a public professional image stayed her hoof. “So if you can use some spell or whatever to get rid of grief, then use it,” Silver said with thready iron in his voice. “I hate grief, I really really do. It’s a mind numbing inescapable pain. And the worst part? After the fact, you know those you loved would never have wanted you to feel so damned miserable in the first place.”

Silver let some tears flow, but he quickly became acutely self-conscious of the countless eyes in the cafeteria. All of them watching him, judging him, questioning him, perhaps one too many mocking him out of ignorance. Damn it Firefly! “I should go. Sorry.” Silver searched for the nearest exit and took off into the air.

Praxia lept into the air to chase after him. “Silver, wait!”

Prism couldn’t move, and lost sight of them. Those same emotions of the news of her father, eroded by her young age at the time, resurged with renewed force. Along with all the horrid feelings that truly heavy grief brought with it. She slumped in her chair, the food forgotten. Geez. I’m such a stupid idiot.

Praxia chased after Silver straight through the nearest cafeteria exit. She didn’t have to chase him far since this sector of the ring had dozens of semi-private alcoves with seats lining the walls. Silver checked a few of them before finding an empty one and ducked inside.

Praxia stopped at the short privacy wall not only to give him a few moments alone, but also to watch for any passersby who might have given Silver more than passing interest. Praxia’s reputation caused any curious pony to quickly look elsewhere. Just roll with it, Praxia. They don’t really mean anything by it. I hope.

After waiting for half a minute, Praxia poked her head past the wall to find Silver draped himself over the bench with a forlorn frown complete with fallen ears and his leathery wings hanging limp over the edge. “Can I come in, Silver?”

He took the time to at least look at her, but his defeated expression remained intact. “Sure. Public space and all.”

“Thanks.” Given the small tight space, Praxia really only had one place to go, the other side of the bench. She sat down somewhat rigidly in an attempt to mimic how Twilight would get her to talk sometimes. And there she stayed, silent yet noticeably present, giving him time to speak when he was ready. She also started writing a text message for Prism. At some point, Prism had tracked Praxia’s location thanks to Voyager, but upon entering, Praxia silently waved her away while Silver was still facing away from the entrance.

Praxia had expected her to arrive and sent that text message reading, ‘He’d be overwhelmed with both of us here, talk to him later, please?’

Prism raised a hoof to protest, but thought better of it and departed with her head hung low.

With her gone, Praxia returned waiting for Silver. Thankfully she wasn’t kept waiting for much longer after that. “I need to stop letting Firefly talk me into stupid stuff like that.”

“Don’t blame yourself or him - um -entirely.” Praxia took a moment to lay a reassuring hoof on his withers, just like Twilight did so many times before. “I mean, we practically put you on the spot.”

Silver pulled himself up into a sitting posture, and became self conscious enough to pull his wings back up into a normal resting position. “I told myself I’d have told you or Prism in a few months… or years preferably. That is if you ever wanted to go that far I mean,” he added way too quickly for his liking. “But now I just look like some emotional trainwreck which is probably all over the net by now.”

“Hey, hey, it’s not that bad,” Praxia offered with what she hoped was a winning smile. “If anypony asks we can just say it was homesickness. There’s been dozens of cases of breakdowns so ponies wouldn’t think anything of the whole cafeteria thing.”

Praxia pulled back to think of a few things to cheer him up. “For what it’s worth, I think you really helped Prism out, and yourself too I bet.”

“You think so, huh?” Silver sighed in relief after Praxia nodded firmly. “Thanks. I’ve really only been able to talk about it with Firefly until today.”

“Why didn’t you see a therapist?”

Silver scoffed at the notion. “I hate to say it, Praxia, but I barely qualified to get a seat in the first Seed. There were tons of engineers lined up for my spot, and if I had a mark for past trauma on my record, I’d still be on Equis waiting to freeze to death.”

Praxia froze. He’s right. How many ponies did I pass over due to even a hint of mental health issues? “Well all things considered. I'm glad you didn't.”

“You mean that?” he asked with slowly growing hope.

Praxia tried to take on what she hoped was a faux-insulted tone and flared her hoof dramatically. “Unlike most politicians, I at least prefer to speak true.”

“Ha. You know you’re not as cold as ponies say you are.” Silver thought she looked more goofy than a skilled actress, but the point was taken.

Praxia skillfully morphed the coming discontent into mild forlorn. “I kinda avoided making friends back on Equis. After all, I didn’t want to make a friend and then be forced to leave them behind like so many others.”

Silver hummed contemplatively, scratching his chin all the while. “Would you perhaps be willing to make friends now?”

“I like to think we’re friends,” Praxia replied with restrained hope. “Or more if you want, I’m good for either.”

Sometimes, I hate it when Firefly is right. Sometimes. “Praxia, this may seem out of the blue, but I heard that the masseuses that came with us finally opened for business up on Ring three. You wanna go relax? My treat.”

Fond memories of saunas and therapeutic facials bubbled up in Praxia’s mind making her jumpy at the idea. “I’d love to. Sensei gave me the day off so we can stay for a while and-”

Praxia received a text message from Prism asking if Silver was okay. A smile crossed her muzzle. “You know, I think Prism would like to join us, what do you say?”

“That’d be great! I’ll make the call.”

Twilight lounged at her desk with a steaming cup of tea held aloft in her magic. It’s coy scent teased her nose as she sipped. The office was only marginally lit so she could watch the storm outside. It’s been ages since I’ve seen actual rain. It’s quite beautiful..

Leaning against a nearby wall, stood Spike as he munched on some fish bacon and pancakes. Being an adult, he no longer required a regular source of gemstones, yet he still wishfully imagined having an opal or a fire ruby to munch on. “Twilight, I’ve been thinking about that artifact you found.”

“You and half the colony I’d imagine,” she replied while taking a scone from the desk.

“A fair assessment,” he conceded with an amused grunt. “But I think we shouldn’t just let sleeping dogs lie. We should start gathering as many as we can as soon as we can.”

Twilight raised a curious eyebrow at him before finishing her scone. “This wouldn’t happen to be about the griffins and minotaurs would it?”

Spike tsked. She reads me too damn well. “Exactly. Let’s say for the moment that they don’t find any living native sapients, just the artifacts they left behind. You know as well as I do that old habits die hard. I bet my bottom bit that either one or both of them would try to weaponize those thing.”

Twilight simply nodded slowly as she mulled over it, giving Spike a chance to continue. “My last intelligence report before leaving Equis said that debates were going on in both the Confederation and the Empire as to who would lead the Seed ships here.”

“Yes, I know of them.” Twilight’s mood soured deeply “A toss up between Iron Beak and Grunhilda for the Empire, and a three way divide with Rolling Barrage, Undaunted Drive, and Steel Shoulder. I’m not exactly fond of any of them.”

“Uh huh. Which is precisely why we should prepare ourselves. I wouldn’t put it past most of them to tack on a fusion bomb or ten on their Seeds and drop them on us before making planetfall.”

“One can only hope they could move past such barbarism.” Twilight huffed and started reviewing the colony’s security and woefully lacking military strength against such a threat. Spike kept himself busy with eating his food while waiting for the other shoe to drop. “But we’ve learned our lesson.” A thought struck Twilight and she pulled up the latest findings the geologists had created on the pink floating rocks. “These things might be quite useful. Spike, I want you to find a way to use these…. Floatstones to have a defense screen. According to this,” she pushed the information on the stones over to Spike’s display. “They have a much higher potential weight capacity than cloudstone.”

“Looks promising,” Spike said absently, since his mind was only partially onboard with the idea of using untested rocks. “What I’m more worried about is what they’ll do to any natives. Let’s say the satellites manage to find any intelligent life, the minotaurs would probably enslave them and the griffons would hunt them for sport and food.”

Twilight sighed disdainfully, but her irritation was not directed at Spike. “Not all griffins and Minotaurs were like that, Spike.”

“Only the ones in power,” Spike countered with undirected hostility. “At least enough of them to matter.”

“...I would love to think you’re just clinging to the past, Spike.” Twilight slumped back in her chair and gazed out into the storm. What I wouldn’t give to keep the worst of our troubles limited to just surviving the planet. “Voyager. Have you detected any signs of active intelligent life?”

“Negative, Colonial Princess. While I have discovered over fifty sites with the artificial alloys. Closer scrutiny of each location has revealed nothing more than animal life. However, I have detected much higher concentrations of the alloy in several locations under the various oceans. It is possible that a minor extinction event may have occurred in the not too distant past.”

Twilight ran the numbers in her head. He’s only had enough time to scan maybe a tenth of the planet so far. “That would be far too many for us to hunt them all down before the griffins showed up. Thank you Voyager.”

“Of course, Colonial Princess.”

With the AI out of the conversation, Spike spoke after polishing off the last of his bacon. “We still have enough resources to print out a couple of deep-sea submersibles, right?”

“We do actually,” Twilight replied with a growing smile. “And to think Luna thought I was going overboard by including them.” Twilight took a moment to giggle at her wordplay.

Having nowhere to put his empty plate, Spike simply held onto it. “Let me send a pair to the two closest concentrations of alien alloy then. That might give us a better clue as to what happened with these natives.”

“A sound idea. I’ll leave the operation to you then.”

“I’ll have a plan worked up by the time the storm’s over.” Spike walked over and gave Twilight a bear hug with Twilight giving one right back. “See you later, Twilight.”

“You too, Spike.”

With Spike gone and her breakfast finished, Twilight hid the plate under her desk for the moment, and called upon two ponies: the unicorn mare Berry Cake, and the thestral stallion Painted Canvas. Both ponies almost immediately answered her call, causing their holograms to manifest within moments of each other.

Both ponies bowed instinctively while Twilight remained at her desk. “Please rise. I have come to a decision about the memorials.”

Neither supplicant wanted to look like a fool in front of the other since the princess had kept her own counsel until now. Twilight kept her tone as regal as possible. “I made a promise to Station Commander Weighted Scales that I would honor both his, and Equestria as a whole’s sacrifice with a memorial. It would an extreme disservice to do otherwise.”

Berry Cake risked giving Painted Canvas a smug grin, though tried and failed to mask it from Twilight. “My thoughts exactly, your highness. Everyone of them is a hero to us all.”

“Indeed.” Twilight stated with projected empathy. “Nevertheless, we must stay focused, and honor their sacrifice by thriving on our new home.” Twilight had two lists materialize in front of the two ponies, depicting a long list of ponies that scrolled by too quickly for either of them to read any names. “The colony’s mental health counselors sent me those lists of ponies suffering from homesickness and survivor’s guilt in varying severity. In light of this, I can’t allow a memorial that would remind everypony at least twice a day that we left everypony else we ever knew to either a frozen fate, or to go on a ship with the other princesses.”

Berry Cake wilted and hung her head a little. “I guess his idea would better serve you, then your highness.”

“I’m glad we’re in agreement,” Twilight stated firmly, yet with enough empathy to keep Berry’s mode from sinking too far.

Painted Canvas flashed a smug grin and stepped forward. “If I may say, your majesty, I knew you were wise beyond your years.”

Twilight directed a supremely deadpanned look at him. “I think I’ll just take that compliment at face value. Go ahead and get to work, Mister Canvas. I want it up as quickly as you can, without cutting corners of course.”

“Cutting corners?!” Canvas asked completely flummoxed and scoffed at the very notion. “This will be my legacy for the ages. I wouldn’t dream of delivering anything but the absolute best! I shall not rest until it is done, your majesty.”

“Good to hear. If you have nothing else, you may go.” Twilight raised a waiting hoof at Berry Cake before she could disconnect the call. As soon as Painted Canvas’ hologram vanished, Twilight addressed the sullin mare with her trademark regal warmth. “I meant what I said about wanting to honor those we left behind, Miss Cake. While the Pathfinders may be getting the rover hub, I want you to redesign your memorial to Equestria into an exterior monument. Something that can be placed in a plaza or park.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Berry Cake said with relieved reverence. She cracked a happy grin as new ideas raced through her mind. “I’ll be sure to make the monument somewhat mobile for when we eventually redesign the capital. How does something with a traditional Canterlotian flare to it sound?”

“An excellent idea. If you need more of that pink floating stone, I'll have one of the resource collection teams made available to you.”

“You honor me, Princess. I’ll be sure to rework it to make the viewer’s catharsis a bit more… positive.”

“Excellent.” With a dismissive gesture from Twilight, Berry Cake disappeared after giving one final bow, leaving Twilight to her work.

Roughly half an hour passed when the door chime rang, pulling Twilight from a tantalizing geological report. “Enter.”

The door whisked open to reveal Doctor Sawbones with a long white box in his magic. “Good afternoon, Colonial Princess, am I interrupting anything?”

“Nothing that can’t wait a few minutes, doctor.” Twilight made of a show of closing her personal display with an overhead swipe of her hoof. “What can I do for you?”

Sawbones stepped fully into the office, allowing the automatic door to close behind him. He then opened his box and pulled out a single orange rose from the hydroponics bay. “I’d like to ask you to join me this evening in watching ‘The Stalwart Knight’ with me on ring five. The play actors have an otherworldly talent.”

Twilight was taken aback by the offer, giving time for Sawbones to reach the desk with flower in tow. “Doctor, I’m - I must admit I’m a bit surprised by the offer.”

“Well as chief medical officer, I take pride in caring for the colony. However, with you, I fear you rarely have need for a physician. So how about a friend instead?”

He presented the rose to which Twilight giggled behind a hoof and accepted it into her own magic. “Oh how far I’ve fallen as the Princess of Friendship when it is somepony else that has to come to me.”

“If I remember the historical records correctly, I believe Dame Rainbow Dash came to you in a much more… impactful manner.”

Twilight giggled even stronger than before. “Well to be fair, I wasn’t too keen on friendship back then. I’m surprised you did your homework on me. I didn’t think anypony even read about those days anymore.”

Sawbones tsked playfully and wagged a hoof at her. “Nonsense, your highness. As chief medical officer, I made it a point to know your history after being assigned to Seed One. I must say the path to your ascension is a heroic tale fit for a play in and of itself.”

Twilight fell smoothly into taking a casual tone with him, something she dearly missed outside of Prism, Praxia, and Spike. “They actually made several movies and plays out of my life, as I’m sure you know. Not one of them were even remotely historically accurate.”

“Are they ever?”

Twilight and Sawbones shared brief chuckles. “Oh they get the important bits right from time to time. As for your offer, I would love to join you.”

Sawbones’ face lit up with a wide smile, and he dipped into a low bow. “You shalln’t regret it, your highness.”

“Please, just call me Twilight.”

“As you wish, Twilight. I’ll see you there at ten tonight.”

“I look forward to it, Sawbones.”

With that, he waved goodbye at her before leaving the office. Twilight watched him depart before turning her eyes to the rose. It spun slowly in her magic as she thought about his offer. Sometimes old girl, you have to let them come to you.

With no vase to put it in, Twilight opted to eat the flower, thoroughly enjoying the familiar taste of friendship.

Much later Silver and Prism flew through the open doors into Pathfinder HQ. Ruby and the others were already sitting at the small collection of built-in benches with the engineers also present. Ruby waved them down. “Hurry up! The sooner we get this briefing over the sooner the engine boys can get to work.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Prism yelled, her mood refusing to sour at Ruby’s gruff tone in light of the massage parlor she just left.

“Talk to you later,” Silver called while he joined the rest of the engineers standing or hovering behind the pathfinders.

Prism swooped down, landing heavily onto the chair nearest Ruby and gave her a snarky look. “So what’s on the agenda on this fine rainy day?”

“Fresh orders, in case that wasn’t obvious,” Ruby deadpanned before addressing the rest of the team. “And they come straight from on high, so don’t bother me with any griping,” Ruby directed more at Featherbeard than anyone else. “Due to findings from the lackluster expedition earlier this week, the brass want us to start hunting down these alien artifacts pronto."

Featherbeard grumbled in spite of her comment. “Last I checked the patch on my uniform said Pathfinder, not dirt digger.” He shared a sour look with Ruby before downing the last of his soda can and crushing it.

“We’re not going to be the ones digging it up anymore,” Ruby briefly glanced at Featherbeard who growled approvingly and at Prism who had lost her grin. “Commander Spike simply wants us to go to all the locations ID’ed by the satellite: assess any and all local threats, use ground scanners to map out the extent of any ruins, and move on. It will be up to Command which ones we secure, ignore, or scuttle.”

Firefly had been lounging on the sofa, taking up several cushions when Ruby’s last comment made him sit up in surprise. “Wait, why would we destroy alien artifacts? Sure the last one was nasty, but we can still learn a lot from them right? I know a guy who would give his left leg for one.”

Featherbeard was more annoyed than anything else. “Why are we needed for this job at all? We brought along a team of archaeologists didn’t we?”

Prism subconsciously slipped into a mild lecture mode of speech. “They were brought along more to keep living knowledge of the field alive more so than an immediate direct need for them. Plus mom believes in being prepared.”

Featherbeard scoffed at Prism while Ruby barged back into the conversation before it could run away on her. "The archaeologists also don't have the same level of hazard training that we do. As far as we’re concerned, they’re lab coats who aren’t afraid to get dirty. They need at least a few squads for protection where as we can slip in without overly disturbing the wildlife,” Ruby eyed Prism. “Most of the time at least.”

Featherbeard grumbled and waved her off, but made no further argument. The rest of the pathfinders groaned with far less gruff, allowing her to finish. “Now. The primary reason we’re scuttling some of them is to keep them out of Griffin and minotaurs’ hands, and I for one am in complete agreement.” A round of surly affirmatives rang out from both the pathfinders and the engineers. “We don’t need them weaponizing any when they eventually discover them.”

With the group more or less in agreement for the reasoning behind the new mission plan, Ruby moved on by bringing up a list of orders on her display and swiping them to everyone else's. “Prism, since you seem to be such a mare of firsts, you get to be the one to search the first underwater location.”

“Aw come on, I hated underwater training!” Prism growled while swinging a hoof at Firefly. “Why not send him instead? He’s practically a fish.”

Ruby fixed her with a smug grin. “Oh don’t worry. He’s going too. The rest of us are going after land targets.” Right in the corner of Prism’s eye, she could see Firefly giving her bedroom eyes while mouthing the song ‘Under the Sea’. “Now, all of you have the details in your orders. I want all of you ready to move the moment the storm breaks. Firefly, Prism, you two get some extra time off until the engineers assemble the subs, so go have fun.” Ruby smirked at Prism, keeping an otherwise professional tone. “While you can at least. Scout drones have spotted some whale sized fauna down there.”

The pathfinders broke up to prepare their gear while Prism remained in her seat fuming so hard at Ruby that Silver and Firefly could almost see steam. Silver flew over and gave her an apologetic shrug. “Well it could be worse. The subs we have on file aren’t nearly as claustrophobic as the ones you had during training.”

“Psh, yeah. I could be stuck with a snorkel and flippers.”

Firefly elbowed Silver after seeing how causal Silver was with Prism. “I don’t see why you have such a problem with it, PF, you got two giant flippers on your back as it is, am I right?” Prism’s ire shifted to Firefly and his teasing. “All ya gotta do is get mommy dearest to enchant those feathers for the water.”

“One more word and I’mma smack you something fierce.” Prism waved her hoof at him for good measure. “You better thank the stars we’re not actually going in the same sub. I still need to get you back for that itching powder in my suit!”

Firefly cackled at the memory. “The classics are the best, right? I still have you spazzing out on video, here let me share it.”

Silver interposed himself between them before Prism could march up and slug Firefly. “Come on, Prism, you know Firefly. He’s just a prankster that’s all.”

“You’re fun when you’re angry you know that?” Firefly winked at her before turning to leave. “Silver! Tell that lazy engineer of mine to include that massage chair I like in my sub. Don’t let him use some lame excuse about not wanting to alter the blueprint.”

“I’ll pass the word,” Silver called out to his friend as Firefly made his way to the exit.

Already the room was getting crowded with noise as the other engineers started retooling the rovers or moving Prism and Firefly’s rovers into storage while wall-mounted lifts brought in the prefabricated sections of the mini-subs.

Stupid water, stupid Ruby, and stupid sub! Stupid thing is too cramped. Prism wanted nothing more than to kick something.

“Sorry bout him, Prism. His sense of humor is just…. Different.” Silver gave the irate mare an awkward smile in a failed attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, well forget him and Ruby. Just lemme know when you’re done with the sub so I can get started on my checklist.”

“It’ll be a couple of weeks at best,” Silver said cautiously. “Our printers aren’t as big as the ones back on Equis. You could always go out on your own to see the land in the meantime.”

“Hmmm, might not be such a bad idea,” she conceded after a few moments thought. “Well have fun watching the printer build a sub while I twiddle my hooves waiting for the storm to clear.”

“Can do,” Silver replied cheerily with a snappy salute. “See you later tonight maybe?”

Not like I can do much else. “Sure thing, call it a date if you like. I’m off to go do… something worth my time.” With a resounding gruff of immense irritation, Prism departed to go drown her sorrows in virtual reality.

Much later that night, Twilight Sparkle and Sawbones sat towards the front of the audience with a sunken stage in front them. Sadly, there was no room to pack the troupe’s props or costumes, but thankfully they were able to share what they would have had through everyone’s personal display. The actors were currently on an old wooden water ship crashing through the waves with holographic water splashing upon the closest members of the audience. A storm raged above with thunder and lightning crash all around the whole cargo bay. The dozen ponies on stage yelled to each other over the storm to save the ship from flooding.

Twilight watched on in excitement as the age old tale was retold anew. The main protagonist, the surly peg legged earth pony captain barked orders to his crew. “Keep your hooves about ye lads! This storm be the work of sea ponies!”

A particularly large wave seemed to swell up with a blue pony with flippers instead of wings poked halfway out. “Foalish land dwellers. The sea and its bounty belongs to us! Leave our waters or drown in your greed!”

Twilight pried her eyes away from the action to wrap a wing around Sawbones. He in turn gently leaned against her and gave a lopsided grin before turning back to the play.

Perhaps this can be something more than just friendship. Twilight mused happily to herself.

9: The Derelict Part 1

View Online

Prism and Silver rode along inside the cramped cockpit of the Deep Diver submarine. As with most of Pathfinder vehicles, the vessel was much larger than a normal two person submarine due to needing to be independent of supply drops for long stretches of time. At present, Silver was torn between watching over the instrument readings telling him that the submarine was running smoothly, and watching the sensor screens.

Cameras, sonar, and other scanners gave both pathfinder and engineer a comprehensive view of the sea as they descended deeper into the darkening water. Silver kept fighting with himself between watching the colorful schools of fish that seemed to twist and dance around the submarine as it cruised just above the ocean floor, and keeping his eyes on the controls.

Prism on the other hand couldn’t shake the isolation and crushing weight of the ocean all around her, yet she couldn’t help but to grin at Silver’s childlike wonder. “Enjoying the view?”

“This place is amazing!” Silver exhaled in awe as a particularly spiny fish flittered past the camera. A small orca looking creature started swimming along the submarine in a clear sign of curiosity at the new strange metal fish. “It feels so… peaceful down here, even with all the fish. Thanks for letting me come along.”

“Ahhh, it’s your birthday,” Prism replied with a jovial tone and a clap on his shoulder, “besides I needed an engineer to help run this thing anyway.”

Silver peeled his eyes away from the curious creature outside. It was following along the submarine, and glancing at it any time it could spare a moment. “So what do you think we might find at the site? The readings said the alloy concentration was massive.”

Prism shrugged while mostly ignoring the fish. “Who knows. Could be a storehouse for metal, a factory, or maybe a yacht.”

“Ha! I doubt anything in the minibar would be edible anymore.” Silver turned towards a minor alert on the ceiling control board, and expertly dealt with the issue. “Strange.” He continuing working on the instrument panel, drawing Prism’s attentive eye.

“What is it? A bigger fish?”

“Well… Our plotted course puts us right through a… a something.”

Prism lifted a dubious eyebrow. “Is that a technical term, Mr. Engineer?”

Silver grumbled to himself at the slip. “I’d say it was a small island if we weren’t so deep.” His breath caught as he studied the myriad of sensor consoles. “And moving.”

Had it not been for her fur, Prism would have been white as a sheet. “A m-moving island?”

Silver, not being quite as petrified at massive marine live moved over to the navigation controls. “How about we just plot us around it and hope whatever that thing is, doesn’t come after us?”

“Sounds fine by me.” Prism shook as a chill ran down her spine and set her feathers on edge. That fear was not enough to keep her from looking at the sensors to size up the living island. Trapped in a tiny tin can with monsters that size outside? Noooo thank you.

Once his course correction was complete, Silver promptly returned his gaze to the scanners to get a better look at the leviathan. “By Twilight’s holy flank that thing is awesome! It’s got four tentacles the size of skyscrapers!”

The expletive was just what Prism needed to focus on something other than the looming death that surely awaited her. “It sounds really weird to hear that kinda thing about my mom, you know that?”

Silver ignored her comment and dragged the screen over to her. “Forget that, look!”

Prism shot him a scowl before turning her gaze towards the screen. I’m not going to look like a scaredy filly to him, no way! The sonar imaging screen revealed the island sized mass was just fifteen kilometers away, but virtually empty ocean directly beneath it. Dozens of small moving stalactites moved and churned against a whale sized object held in close. Yet above it all were four gigantic tentacles that were enormously thick, and were long enough to drag across the sea floor.

As the scanners worked to paint a more complete picture, the ponies saw bits and pieces of flesh fell away from the leviathan as it gorged itself on a whale-sized meal. Smaller fish swarmed below, scavenging off the falling scraps. “Wooow... Okay, well next time we see a giant sea monster that could eat the colony in a single bite, you can curse in mom’s name all you want. How da ‘ell does something get that big?!”

Silver punched in a series of course corrections that just about lurched the submarine away from the leviathan. “How should I know, you’re the explorer here.”

Prism all but plastered her face to the cameras. Fear was giving way to morbid curiosity, like staring into the eyes of a film killer and being unable to turn away. She drank in the sheer size of the behemoth looming in the distance. “It’s like Tartarus dropped a monster in our world just to screw with us.”

“I hope you’re not planning to get a closer look,” Silver gave her a deeply concerned look as her robotic hand seemed to drift towards the controls. “Please tell me you don’t want to get a closer look.”

Prism snapped out of her trance and jerked her hand away from the controls and deactivated it. Embarrassment flooded her, making Prism turn her seat away from Silver. “N-no! I hate sealife, remember?”

Prism’s embarrassment was as plain as black paint on pristine snow. At this moment, a nugget of Firefly’s advice rang in Silver’s head. It’s perfectly fine to tease a girl a little. Get her to laugh, or fuss a bit and she’ll think you’re playful. A mare like Prism? She’ll drop you in a second if she thinks you’re dull.

Well, here goes. Taking on a slight tone of mockery, Silver teased a button with the tip of his hoof. "You know, the submarine is equipped to take bio samples from local wildlife.” Silver pressed the button to extend a ten meter long pole with a snapper at the end. “I'm sure the guy wouldn't miss a chunk missing out of that big tentacle over there.” Silver ever so slightly pulled right on the controls, making the submarine slowly turn towards the leviathan.

Prism’s heart ran ice cold at the thought of it. Just before she turned around, the tone of voice smacked her of Firefly. That stupid idiot. He’s gotta be joking, so play it cool. Got my reputation to uphold and all Doing her best to keep the fear out of her voice, Prism leaned back in her chair and slowly spun it around to face him. “Sounds cool to me. Why not just use one of the torpedoes to blow off a sample first?”

Silver’s playful smirk threatened to burst into snickering at Firefly’s advice striking another win in his eyes. He turned the sub back on course, much to Prism’s profound relief. “Well that would certainly be an interesting way to do it, but sadly I think we’ll have to pass. Ruby would have my ass on a platter if we used a torpedo for that.”

Prism released the breath she’d been holding and went about recording the sensor readings on the living island. Whew, crisis averted. I swear, when I get my hooves on Firefly, we’re going to have words about Silver.

With the cabin falling into silence, Silver double checked the new course and the destination waypoint. “Anyway, it looks like we’ll be there in a few hours.”

And hopefully avoid anymore living islands along the way, Prism mused worriedly.

Twilight Sparkle stepped into the sterile white lab on the same ring as the med-bay. The laboratory itself was a small affair, roughly the size of a garage with most of the space being crammed with equipment to the point where she worried her larger size might cause her to bump into something.

“Doctor Theorem?” she called to announce herself as she stepped fully inside.

A clatter of falling plastic cups heralded the clumsy arrival of a crystal stallion and bat pony mare from behind one of the rows of machines. “Ah, Princess!” the doctor casually kicked some of the coffee stained cups back out of sight of Twilight and bowed with the mare quickly following suit. “Thank you for coming. I can imagine how busy you are.”

“I make it a point to visit my subjects when I can.” Twilight gestured for them to rise while looking at the mare.

“Your highness, I am Doctor Blue Shift,” the mare said with a thick Trottingham accent. “A pleasure to have you with us.”

Twilight nodded kindly before returning her attention to the stallion. “Now, I trust you called me down here because you have news on Prism’s... filter.”

“I most certainly do, your highness, and most exciting news it is! Please, this way!” He beckoned her towards the back with Blue Shift stepping out of the way to allow Twilight to go before her.

“I trust that it’s harmless then?” Twilight walked carefully, avoiding discarded coffee cups and the occasional wrapper. Her inner neat-freak went on autopilot and she started levitating all the pieces of trash and refuse before tossing them into the wall mounted receptacle. Being so focused on his findings, Theorem scarcely noticed her activity while Blue Shift was beet red in embarrassment.

“Oh most assuredly,” Theorem said proudly as he readied his findings on five different screens for Twilight’s preview. He pressed one last button causing a bright overhead light to spring to life. He turned to address Twilight with a slightly louder tone. “Just a heads up, your highness, I’m recording this conversation so that I can re-experience the historic brilliance of today’s reveal in full glory later.”

Twilight gave him a sardonic look while Blue Shift’s embarrassed blush only intensified. “How about you tell me what this is about before making claims of historic grandeur.” Honestly. How long is it going to take before ponies stop thinking every discovery they do will get them five minutes of fame in a history class?

Theorem’s ego never wavered as he spoke with a hint of fond memory. “A great stallion once said, ‘If you want a better deal with evolution, cut out the middlemare’.”

“Gene Splice,” Twilight rattled off without missing a beat. “He founded DNAdvance if I recall correctly.”

Theorem chuckled and waggled a knowing hoof at her. “You never cease to amaze me, Princess. That’s exactly right.” He waved a hoof at the desk mounted screens, causing the first monitor to display a section of Prism’s throat with her alien filter being highlighted. “As you know, princess, Doctor Sawbones gave me the task of analyzing and studying this biological filter your daughter acquired roughly three months ago.”

“Wait, he gave it to you?” Twilight asked with genuine surprise.

Blue Shift ruffled her wings nervously. “Y-yes, your highness. Since he was getting swamped making sure the one thousand one hundred and eighty new mothers are receiving the proper maternity care, not to mention military casualties. Both he and his staff have been too busy to deal with this.”

Wow… Right. He must have sent a memo about it or something. “I remember now. So what did you find?”

“I was hoping you’d ask me that.” Theorem waved again, causing the second screen to reveal a long gene sequence. “We mapped out and isolated the genes involved with Prism’s filter. And for the past several weeks Voyager’s been running millions of simulations matching that same DNA as if it had been spliced into the colonists.” Twilight raised a worried eyebrow as Theorem continued. “And not just those currently here, but I plan on finishing a complete simulation for every possible offspring any of us could have for the next four generations.”

Realization dawned on Twilight, and she wasn’t exactly sure if that was a good thing. “You’re testing to see if this is safe for us all, aren’t you?”

Blue Shift remained tight-lipped while Theorem looked at Twilight as if she’d grown a second head. “Isn’t that what we should be doing anyway? Gene therapy to give everypony this filter, I mean.”

Twilight took a moment to process this. “I’m sure you’ve run into plenty of genetic incompatibilities though.”

Blue Shift spoke up before Theorem. “We did, actually. This is after all quite alien to our physiology, even if Prism’s alicorn magic cleaned up the code considerably for us.”

“I already accounted for that too, your highness,” Theorem exclaimed with no lost enthusiasm. “But I firmly believe that when provided with adequate data, anypony can predict the future. Coming from a gene pool of barely two and a half thousand ponies, Voyager has already nearly finished compiling everything.”

Blue Shift stepped in when Theorem took a breath. “I’ve gone over his work with a nano-sized comb, your highness. So far, it’s airtight. The risks are minuscule while our population is currently so small. Less chance for a negative reaction to be missed and all that. Additionally, catching any incompatibilities now would allow future generations to be free of them.” Blue Shift gestured at her personal display and sent Twilight the relevant data, which even by Twilight’s standards was exhaustively extensive.

As interested as Twilight was in diving into a mountain of fascinating data, her duty as ruler and the safety of her people came first. “Alright. Let’s say for the sake of argument that this is airtight. My daughter’s… filter lets her breath easily enough, but she still has to protect her eyes and ears, from the outside air or else she gets poisoned. Not a pretty sight let me tell you.”

Blue Shift interposed herself between Twilight and Theorem, much to his chagrin. “Actually, Princess, I’ve been working on a counter plan that could address just that.”

“You’ve been working against yourself?” Twilight asked with a confused ear flopping down.

“Not quite,” Theorem explained with a proud nod at his assistant. “I fully believe in tackling the same problem at different angles. While Blue here has been instrumental in my genetic work, a good deal of that time was spent waiting around for the computer to finish the latest experiment.” He gave a ‘go ahead’ nod towards Blue Shift who shifted nervously and cleared her throat.

“Right, well, you see, I haven’t had the same amount of time to really iron out a plan B, much less a C or D, but I was thinking that we could instead modify the trees and crop seeds we’ve brought with us to filter out the biological particles in the air. It would admittedly take a long time, and vast stretches of land to have any appreciable results, but we could start some low level terraforming by doing so.”

“That’s not exactly a project we have the resources or personnel to enact any time soon, doctor.”

“My thoughts exactly, your highness.” Theorem waved at another screen revealing a few bar graphs which Twilight quickly inferred represented resource and power consumption both present and in the future. “I had a mathematician friend of mine come up with the numbers on how much we expend on keeping our colony completely isolated from the native atmosphere. I may not be an accountant, your majesty, but the costs will only skyrocket the longer we stay here if we want to grow beyond what we currently have. We can come up with different solutions for protecting our eyes and ears from the dust later, but I think our current helmets do a fine enough job of that for the time being. After all, we have to talk baby steps, right?”

Twilight mulled over the idea carefully. “Pause the recording for a bit.” As Theorem obeyed, Twilight turned away to contemplate not just the idea in of itself, but the side effects it would cause. I don’t know for sure how many ponies would be comfortable with this. Prizzy gets a pass because it was an accident, but this would have to be compulsory. It wouldn’t be worth it to have only some of the colonists accept the filter while others didn’t. The two scientists waited pensively as their monarch debated with herself.

At last, Twilight turned back to the scientists. “Tell you what, doctors. This is without a doubt, a monumental decision that I can't consciously impose on the colony without live testing.” She was quick to wave off Theorem’s coming objection. “I know you have complete faith in your simulator, but there are somethings that will always need real life tests to satisfy the public.

“Round up a dozen or so volunteers of all tribes and as diverse of a genetic background as you can manage. If all goes well, I will make the procedure an elective for the rest of the year before it becomes compulsory.”

Theorem didn’t even bother trying to hide his muzzle splitting grin while Blue Shift was more or less satisfied. “Never fear, your highness! I’ll have the procedure perfected long before then.”

“P-provided we get more personnel on the project,” Blue Shift interjected quickly. “After all, Voyager can’t replace a full staff.”

“We’re already pressed thin as it is,” Twilight replied sternly. “I can maybe shift over two more ponies your way, but there are other critical projects ongoing.”

Before Blue Shift could make any further pleas for more help, Theorem draped a foreleg around her, silencing Blue Shift. “We’ll be more than able to work with that. Thank you for your generosity, your highness.”

I’ve seen his kind before. They get so focused on their work, they don’t seem to grasp that other teams have just as equally important work. Twilight maintained a stern yet friendly regal posture. “Just remain diligent and honest, doctors. Every hurdle to this must be ironed out before the gene therapy becomes compulsory. I am willing to accept delays, not accidents in this matter.”

“We’ll give it our all, your highness, you can be assured of that.” Theorem bowed, prompting Blue Shift to rapidly do the same.

Satisfied, Twilight gestured for them to rise before she teleported back to her office.

Deep under the waves, Prism’s submarine steamed ahead without rest. Silver’s curiosity of the smaller sea life was back with a vengeance while Prism couldn’t help but to passively admire the beauty of it all. Their path had taken them towards a strangely large mesa that brought the seafloor up high enough for sunlight to barely reach the bottom. Coral reefs teemed with color and fish alike, the clear blue water with the diminished light from above giving the somewhat deep waters a mysterious appeal.

A short series of beeps brought Prism’s attention to the control console. “We’re coming up on it now. Switch on the exterior lights.”

Silver complied, casting twin circular beams of light out and across the ocean floor. By now, most of the sealife had either lost interest, fled; or in the case of a shark-like creature, been driven off with a few doses of stinging mana bolts.

After a few more moments, the drab grey plain of mostly empty ocean floor gave way to what looked like a tall mass of coral easily reaching five stories tall. The ponies brought the submarine to a halt and panned the lights up to reveal the rest of the lumpy coral reef that was completely blanketed in various kinds of colorful filter feeders, darting fish, and brown-green seaweed that swayed to the slow ocean current.

Silver and Prism took some time to observe the spectacle before he turned to the readouts. “Well this is certainly the place. The scanner says that alloy… wait, this can’t be right.”

“What can’t be?” Prism leaned over to look at his console.

“Whole areas in the reef have long stretches of the alloy in artificial patterns.” He turned to her with a growing grin. “I think we found a ship of some kind!”

“Whoa! Like a spaceship?!”

“Ahh…” Silver checked a few more sensor readings and furrowed his brow in concentration. “I can’t tell. There’s no active artificial power source, magic or otherwise. There is a large amount of other materials and alloys present, but there’s so much water damage I couldn’t tell you if this was an actual starship or just a big yacht.”

Prism kept a watchful eye on the marine life, making sure nothing decided they were a snack. “Can’t you just search for an engine, or powerplant?”

Silver shook shrugged helplessly. “Even if either one of those are in anything close to their original shape, I’d probably be unable to tell what it was, and I don’t think those sci-fi VRs would give any decent hint to the shape either. So I don’t… what the-”

As Silver ran his survey, Prism had been eyeing a large orca sized creature suspiciously, but she was still pulled in by Sliver’s gasp. “Find something?”

“Maybe.” He tweaked and adjusted the sensors only to grumble in frustration. “There’s a large air pocket on the far side, but about a quarter meter into the air pocket, it goes completely blank.”

“What do you mean blank?” Prism halfway climbed over the dividing console to look at Silver’s screen. “How does that happen?”

“Not a clue. I’m still not reading a power source, so I’d imagine it’s just trapped air.”

“That’s wouldn’t explain the blank spot.” Prism sat back down and started pressing controls along the top of the cockpit. “You keep trying to figure out what it is. I need to radio this to command.”

After a few brief moments, a loud clank was heard off the side of the submarine as a radio buoy detached. Like a torpedo, it raced to the seafloor and anchored itself in place, kicking up a plume of silt. The second part of it inflated and shot towards the surface like a rocket, trailing a thin cable along with it.

Prism leaned back in her chair and turned on some music. “Now we wait for it to surface and make contact with command.”

Silver climbed out of his chair and shifted around one of the wall mounted lockers for a pair of packages. “Why don’t we go ahead and eat while we wait?”

Twilight Sparkle stepped into a busy sickbay with patients sitting or lying down on every bed. Nurses tended to some while others waited their turn. Doctor Sawbones was currently in the isolation room at the far end administering a few shots to a pegasus stallion. Given the sheer number of patients, even that room had been taken up by a non-critical patient. As a standing rule Twilight had among doctors and hospitals, if they were on the job, none them had to bow or otherwise acknowledge her rank upon her arrival. Even so, every pony she passed at least dipped their heads in reverence.

All it took was Twilight's security clearance on the network to see that the current patients were all here for immunity adjustment treatments instead of any injuries or illnesses. Just one more step towards surviving outside.

Twilight reached Sawbones right as he finished with his current patient. “I have to say, It’s nice to see no pony is injured in here for once,” she announced in a cheery voice.

Sawbones turned and smiled broadly at Twilight. “Ah, punctual as ever, and yes, it is a nice change of pace isn’t it? Just a moment more, if you please.” With an affirmative nod from Twilight, Sawbones returned to his original patient. “That should cover you for the next three weeks.”

“Thanks, doc. Ah - um - your majesty.” Not knowing the unwritten rules of the hospital the stallion bowed before extraditing himself.

Letting it slide, Twilight gave the stallion a reassuring nod before sitting down on the patient bed. “I take it I’ll need four more as well?”

“Right you are. But that’s not the only reason for your appointment today. Nurse, go prep the inter-scanner would you?” After waiting for the nurse to acknowledge, he started moving a ceiling mounted scanner over towards Twilight with his magic. “Now, let’s have a look at you two.”

Having experienced such examinations many times in the past, Twilight laid on her side as the machine hummed to life. With the moderate privacy of the isolation ward, Twilight brooked conversation as Sawbones worked the probulator. “I had a good time last night. You have an excellent choice in movies.”

Sawbones gave a side grin. “Well it’s hard to go wrong with any of Cut Scene’s work. But I’m glad you liked it. His movies have always inspired me.” He hummed at the picture the scanner was giving him. “The fetus looks healthy, and your body is taking to the pregnancy well. Do you want to know the gender now or leave it as a surprise?”

Twilight’s small smile faded to a more neutral, if not downtrodden, expression. “I already know it’s a filly.”

That got a surprised reaction out of Sawbones. “I know you’re an accomplished spellweaver, but I didn’t think you could detect DNA.”

A ghost of Twilight’s good mood returned. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but not even I am that powerful. I know simply because I can’t have sons.”

Sawbones saw the nurse was about to return and quickly sent him a text message to fetch the immune boosters so Twilight could have privacy for a bit longer. “I don’t understand. Is it a political thing, or personal reason?”

Twilight snorted derisively and sat up now that Sawbones had removed the scanner from her belly. “I wish it was that simple, but it has to do with my alicorn magic.” She noticed the still perplexed look on his face. “Had I been born a stallion, or at least been one when I ascended, I would only be capable of siring sons. And before you ask, no I can’t even become male if I wanted to for the same reason.”

“...Interesting. I have to admit, that sounds like a rather strange side effect to your magic.”

“Yes well, eternal youth has it’s price.” If only that was the only price.. Twilight said nothing more, leaving Sawbones with the distinct impression he should change the subject.

With a curt message from Sawbones, the nurse stepped over with the vaccines. “Ah here we are. Thank you, nurse, I’ll handle it from here.”

The nurse placed the tray of shots on a rollable instrument platform and made his way out to the main room to continue administering to the rest of the patients. Sawbones grabbed the first of the vaccines in his magic and made his way towards Twilight’s nearest wing. “I suppose you’ve heard this a lot in your time,” he said with an attempt at good humor, “but this will only sting for a moment.”

While Twilight finished her doctor’s visit, Prism and Silver instinctively stood rigidly upright as Spike spoke them over the radio. His tone was that of curiosity tempered heavily by caution. “So you’re saying you can’t make heads or tails of what’s inside that blank spot?”

“No sir,” Silver replied. “After doing some checking, it seems like the scans are getting absorbed rather than being reflected away. I can’t really say one way or another as to the cause though.”

“Something that can negate a scanner array as powerful as that submarine’s could be extremely useful when the griffins and minotaurs arrive.”

Prism smirked at the idea of new cloaking technology. “I was thinking that too. You want me to EVA and scout it out?”

“Yes, but be exceptionally careful, Prism. I don’t want a repeat of last time, understand.”

“Believe me, Commander, neither do I.” Prism left her seat and moved towards the back where the airlock and deep sea suits were located.

Silver spoke both to Spike and Prism as he started giving the submarine a series of commands. The prospect of finding the unknown made adrenaline rush through his veins, filling him with equal parts excitement and nervousness. “Moving towards the opening. I’ll keep an hourly update schedule from here on, Commander.”

“Excellent, Command out.” Spike ended the radio broadcast, leaving Silver to his work.

Silver began to move the submarine into position and Prism reached for her suit’s locker. She pulled the lever to unseal the locker and was about to pull her suit out when black spiny fish screeched like a banshee and bounced out at her from inside the locker.

“A Gillrana?!” Prism slammed back against the far wall, her heart racing at the attacking monster. She scrabbled against the wall until she saw the fish started bouncing up and down erratically from inside the locker.

Silver cried out to her and managed to barrel past the hatch to find Prism only just starting to recover. “What happened!? I heard you screaming like oh-.” He noticed the venomous looking Gillrana fish, but from his angle he could see it was only half a fish suspended on a spring. “Oh boy…”

Prism snarled and jumped up to smack the Nightmare Night’s prop away, only for it to bounce even more on the spring. “Stupid fish!” She turned a harsh accusing glare at Silver. “Did Firefly put you up to this!?”

“Ummm… Yes.” Silver started sweating bullets and wilted under Prism’s fiery gaze. “H-He said you like a good prank every now and again to... You know, keep things lively and spontaneous.”

With a spiteful growl that could peel the feathers off a griffin, Prism grabbed hold of the fish and ripped it away with ease. However, her vengeance was short-lived as a small speaker hidden in the corner of the locker started playing ‘Under the Sea’ with Firefly singing ear-grindingly off key.

“Oh that is it!” Prism sent her hoof inside and easily found the player and yanked it out. It didn’t take long to find the off button and switch it. “I am so getting him back for this, you watch!”

“I believe you, totally.” He backed up a step when Prism threw the player back in the locker with a satisfying crack of plastic.

Silver cringed at her mounting ire and started backing through the hatch only to stop when Prism jabbed a hoof at him. “And when we’re done here, you’re going to help.”

“I am?” Silver gulped at the prospect of a prank war. Tradition or not, I want no part of any of that.

Prism grinned evilly at the taunting fish in her clutches. “After going along with this? Damn straight you are. This will have to be a prank war for the ages!” Sitting on her hindlegs, Prism cackled madly at her forehooves, imaging the sweet vindictive pranks that were forming in her mind.

Silver’s terror only mounted at the no-argument stone cold look in her eyes when she looked back up at him. Tradition it is then. “I’ll -ah- just go finish prepping my end of things.” Silver bid a hasty retreat while Prism contemplated righteous justice as she donned her suit without further incident. Why do I always listen to him?

9: The Derelict part 2

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Within the hour, Prism was out in the water swimming for the large hole they had detected earlier. Silver cast the submarine’s two powerful spotlights towards the location, scaring away a school of fish in the process. Prism’s suit had flippers on her back hooves and larger ones for her wings-turned-fins.

Prism poked her snout into the shadow wrapped cave. The water current was mildly flowing past the front of the hole, but was deathly calm to and from the opening itself. Prism flipped on her twin helmet lamps, burning away the darkness to reveal a silt and debris covered square hallway. Green and blue grime covered metal and dead coral stretched all the way to a far wall where the hallway bent away.

What perplexed Prism most was that underneath the very fine layer of fungi, she could see the sharp lines of the upper walls and metal ceiling. The hallway itself was also much larger than that of any made by ponies. It’s like it was built for super sized alicorns. ~“Silver, how’s the transmission; getting both audio and visual?”~

~“Reading you five by five. Good luck in there.”~

Leaning down to look at a small crystal strapped to her foreleg, Prism momentarily closed her eyes and focused on pulling her magic into her leg. The act came easily and soon flooded her left foreleg. The crystal soon sprang to life and started leaving a soft amber trail behind it as Prism swung her leg around to test it out. The glow remained steady and the amber glowing trail refused to dissipate or drift away.

~“Alright, I’m going in. You better start thinking of ways to nail Firefly while I’m busy.”~ Using her broad wings as flippers, Prism propelled herself deeper into the sunken vessel. The bend in the hallway led to a fork in the path. However, one of those paths had collapsed long ago, leaving her only one path to take, one that lead deeper inside.

~“Sure thing, PF.”~ Silver rolled his eyes out of anger for Firefly. Not that I can with you out there in the water.

Unknowing of Silver’s lack of compliance, Prism focused on her surroundings. Down several more hallways and through a few broken floors, Prism made it to a point where the calcium and salt build ups were much rarer. Passing into a suite sized room, Prism found the first signs of furniture. A table undoubtedly bolted to the floor was now little more than a thin wire mesh. The once taut and clean wires were now little more than bulbous rusty looking spokes. Out of curiosity, Prism tried brushing away at the rust, only for it to flake away entirely to leave behind untarnished metal. Stainless steel maybe?

The rotted remains of four chairs were close by, yet had been scattered throughout the room by the forces that had sunk the vessel. Finally, there was what Prism assumed was a topled vending machine in the corner, it’s front door cracked open. Its contents spilled out and lost many years ago. The large room had several places where the floor and ceiling had crumbled and fallen away.

Must have been made of flimsier material then the hallways. ~“I think I found some kind of commissary or lounge. Pity there’s nothing to drink.”~

Silver huffed in amusement. ~“If you’re thirsty, there’s plenty of water all around you.”~

Prism huffed and started swimming over to the hole closest to the sensor blank spot. ~“I have an air filter, not a salt filter, dingus.”~

~“All I hear are excuses,”~ Silver fired back with a shot in the dark at playful banter.

~“I’ll try it after you, wise guy.”~ Prism cut her cajoling short after spotting a hole in the floor that led into a room with an almost empty passageway. ~“How’s my position?”~

It took Silver a moment or two to switch gears back to business. ~“Ahh… yes. Lemme see… you’re just twenty meters directly above it now.”~

Prism pulled out a hoof sized scanner and focused it on the water itself. ~“My tricorder’s not picking up any kind of radiation or toxins. At least nothing my suit can’t keep out.”~

~“Right. Link it to the radio so I can keep it active while you move.”~

~“Acknowledged.”~ Prism returned the scanner to her belt and slipped down the hole and saw that she landed in what looked like a basketball court, sans the raised baskets at anyrate.

~“So can you tell me if the history books are telling the truth about those tricorders?”~ Silver asked with genuine curiosity.

Prism continued her exploration, but briefly looked up quizzically in the general direction she thought the submarine was. ~“Why would I know anything about the history of these things? I never trained with them outside of the water since the rover’s sensors are normally enough.”~

Silver couldn’t hide the grin in his voice. ~“Oh come on, don’t give me that. The books say your mother invented the first tricorder like… a hundred and fifteen years ago named it after a prop from an even older TV show.”~

Prism came to a dead halt and looked back at the tricorder on her belt with new eyes. ~“You know what… I could totally see her doing that.”~ Scoffing at her mother’s ancient antics before pressing forward again. She came across a small set of double doors that led into a deep shaft straight down. ~“Anyway, I think I found an elevator shaft. It should take me where the pocket is.”~

~“Copy that.”~

Prism’s journey down the shaft brought her down, near very bottom of the sunken vessel. Glancing around, she discovered a gaping hole leading to where she needed to go. However, something caught her eye, making her turn off her headlamps.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust, but sure enough, she could see a faint ripple in the water coming from one of the side room at the far end of the hallway. She pulled out her tricorder in hopes pointing it at the disturbance give a cleaner picture. ~“Umm… Silver. Are you sure you checked that my entry point was the fastest way here?”

~“That’s what it looked like on the sensors. Why?”

Irritation had yet to creep into her voice, but it was leaning more heavily towards curiosity. “I’m seeing water movement coming out of the room where the blank spot is.”

“Odd. But like I said though, the sensors can’t see past that pocket. So whatever it is might be causing it. So ya might wanna be careful in case it’s some sleeping monster or something.”~

~“That’d be my luck alright.”~ Prism slowly crept forward towards the disturbance, and was being meticulous in checking for possible aquatic threats or loose debris. ~“I’m surprised so much of the ship’s bones is still in one piece.”~

~“Not much can stand up to the ocean for this long. Probably worth collecting a sample of it later with the drill.”~

~“Well that’s what we’re here for.”~ Prism spotted a particularly unstable looking collection of broken and twisted metal debris hanging precariously from the ceiling.

Silver spoke with only a hint of a lecture as Prism carefully navigated under the obstacle. ~“Just be careful. There’s no telling if some other part of the ship might collapse on you.”~

~“I don’t plan on doing anything stupid, mom.”~

With only a few meters left to go, Prism scrutinized the entryway. It looked much like a metal sliding door that had gotten stuck half open. Given the estimated larger size of the original aliens, even being half open was more than enough for Prism to slip through.

Within the chamber, Prism’s headlamps fell upon a huge bubble of air that pressed against the floor and ceiling of the chamber. She went wide eyed upon seeing what laid within that air pocket. Now that her helm-cameras were in full view of the pocket, Silver could see it as well, and was in no less shock.

Just inside the bubble were thirteen of the same aliens Prism saw from the artifact dig sight. One was ethereal like the hologram from before while ten others were in what Prism assumed what might have originally been a meditative stance. Those aliens and the hologram had turned their gaze towards the final alien who was frozen in an accusing gesture at the artifact with one hand outstretched. In that hand was a hoof-sized device that was the dead center of the frozen scene. Lastly, the group of meditators were all nude, presumably waiting their turn at the artifact. The one with the device however was wearing a drab brown robe.

Prism used a camera to zoom in on it, revealing the device was of a sleek cylindrical design with the alien’s thumb pressing down on one end. Must be the trigger.

Lastly, standing before the artifact itself was a smaller alien that was kneeling forward in obvious pain. Prism’s face turned icy after noticing one of the alien’s left arms looked as if it was retracted in on itself while the other left was becoming thicker and musclebound. That arm’s hand had already lost any of slender, dexterous appearance it once had for a long thick flipper. A large prehensile tail with scales was growing out of the alien as well.

“By Celestia’s sunburned plot! They were even turning people into marine life too?” Prism assumed the strange looks on the rest of the aliens was one of surprise directed to the time freezer, and not at the changing one. “Do you think maybe this is how Equestria ended up with so many sentient species evolving all at once?”

~“Wouldn’t that screw with historians. And how come you can swear by a princess, but I can’t?”~ Silver asked with obvious indignation.

Prism sighed in forced annoyance. ~“You know darn well you picked the wrong one.”~

Silver hummed nonchalantly before his tone grew more serious. “So I guess not all of the aliens wanted to become animals after all.”

Prism eyed the aliens who had been meditating. ~“Buncha weirdos.”~ What could drive people to do that to themselves? Prism pulled her eyes away from the scene to focus more on the anomaly that was keeping an air pocket in between the aliens and the ocean. ~“How about those scanners? Can you pick up any readings now?”~

~“Ahh… stand by.”~ Silver’s hooves danced over the controls, trying every trick he knew to get anything to work. Yet time after time the readouts were either complete blanks or were only detecting the water on the other side of the bubble. ~“I don’t understand it. I’m not getting a thing out of any of it.”~

Prism let herself bob up and down in the water, mind churning. ~“You think it might be time freeze magic?”~

Silver was quiet for a few moments as he remembered protocol regarding such a thing. ~“I don’t… think so. I should be getting some Starswirl particles, but I’m still reading zeros across the board. As far as the instruments are concerned, we must be hallucinating.”~

~“The camera too, huh? You better radio this to Command. Mom or Spike should know what to make of this.”~

Twilight Sparkle was rather enjoying the view of a modified elevator going up to her office. Without the need of radiation protection for outer space, the elevator was now able to offer a grand window view of the colony facing the dormitories, the new housing units, and the ocean beyond all of it.

It was exactly that new housing which was the focus of her attention. In rows of two with a thin street between them, over four hundred houses now stretched from the base of the rover hub and curved slightly to be parallel with the ocean to allow for maximum ‘beach-front’ property.

Each house was completely airtight, save for the individual air purifiers. Each of them had a modest-sized front and backyard with Equestrian grass that seemed quite capable of thriving on this new world. Additionally, the houses lacked any sort of customization to the point where they were criticized by being too cookie cutter.

I don’t see what the fuss is about. Ponies can always repaint and decorate their homes as they wish later.

Today was the day that the first of the houses, namingly Twilight’s, would be declared fit for habitation. She was giddy to pull all of her data slates and office materials out and relocate to her home. In this day and age, who needs a dedicated office and court hall when I can do that anywhere that can accept calls and has displays.

Twilight’s mind was alight with countless ideas on how to personalize her new home. Should I go with wall to wall books, or just settle with candles that give off that old library smell? Maybe something more modern while still keeping a book motif? I definitely need to set up a personal observatory before the month’s out.

Twilight’s musings were interrupted by a priority one alert with Spike’s hologram materializing before Twilight could fully register the alert. Any sort of complaint she had died at his stony face. ~“Twilight, we’ve got a problem. Prism found a potential Starlight Violation.”~

~“An SV? Unless we missed a temporal storm on the way in, isn’t that a little overkill?”~ All she got was him tapping his foot and crossing his arms. Sometimes I miss that old sense of humor of his. ~“More of the aliens’ legacy I presume?”~ A small nod was all Twilight needed to order the empty lift to reverse direction back towards the command deck.

~“‘Fraid so.”~ Spike gestured and sent Twilight a live feed from Prism’s helmet along with a separate replay of Prism’s journey through the sunken ship just incase Twilight saw something Spike missed. ~“I think the source of it is that small device in the clothed alien’s hand.”~

Twilight mentally ordered the feed to zoom in on the offending alien’s hand. Sure enough, there was a gunmetal grey egg shaped device in it’s hand. She slowly exhaled out of disappointment. ~“These aliens are making me wish we picked a different planet.”~

Spike shook his head and shrugged. ~“Well to be fair, we had no way of knowing we’d find any of this. I’ve already ordered a transport to be ready for you and wet suit as well.”~

~“Good I’ll be down shortly”~ Twilight used the time to fully watch Prism’s decent since the live feed was currently unmoving. Twilight furrowed her brow at the sheer lack of life and overgrowth in the spaces near the bubble. “No… It can’t be.” Twilight switched her radio to Prism just as the elevator opened up. She walked into the passageway at a brisk pace towards Central Command. ~“Prism, turn the camera to the edge of the bubble again.”~

With a word of acknowledgement, Prism turned her gaze to the edge. As before, there was a noticeable gap between the water and the edge of the untouched carpet of the frozen room. ~“So weird isn’t it, momma? It’s like the air is somehow pushing back the water.”~

The hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck stood on end as realization struck her. ~“Prism, please tell me you didn’t come into contact with any of it!”~

The fear in Twilight's voice put Prism on edge, making her back away from the bubble. ~“Well… no. I’m not stupid.”~

A little relief slowed Twilight’s hasty speech down. ~“Okay, good girl. Just - just keep it that way. Go ahead and find a safe point for the submarine to burrow a shortcut to the exterior. This might take some doing.”~

~“Roger that.”~

By now, Twilight had reached her destination, and entered to find Spike hovering around his command station with several other ponies mostly focused on watching over patrols keeping animal life away from the colony. “There you are, Spike, we need to initiate a temporal anchor over the colony. Recall all the patrols, and have the Pathfinders stay with their rovers. We need a full temporal stabilization of the colony.”

The operators stared wide eyed at Twilight, none of them even remotely believing they’d ever have such an event occur at all. Spike coolly barked an order at them. “You heard the princess, get to it!”

Everyone jumped into frantic action as Twilight stepped up to Spike’s side. “Voyager, execute Omega Protocol on standby mode.”

With a short musical chirp of acknowledgement, the AI’s voice cut in. “Acknowledged. Recalibrating atmospheric mana for chronal rebuffering. Informing exterior work crews and military personel. All interior civilians will only be alerted upon crisis elevation. What which point, all personnel are mandated to find their designated spell array and await further instructions.”

All throughout the colony’s air circulation network, atmospheric mana was kept at a stable concentration. Only now, those vents were altering it, slowly giving the air a blue tint. It brought a tear to Twilight eye upon sensing the faint change, for it was one of the last projects she and Celestia had worked on in brighter, happier days.

Spike broke Twilight out of her thoughts by leaning into her ear. “Are you sure all this is necessary though? I thought time-stop bubbles only affected themselves and maybe the immediate surroundings.”

“That’s the standing theory, yes. However, I don’t like the fact that there’s an air pocket when for all rights there shouldn’t be one, let alone how relatively untouched the interior is. All time-stop bubbles ever used in Equestria were maintained not only from the outside, but also for very short periods; a year at the very most.

“There’s no data or study on one that’s been active as long as this one has. Yet it’s the fact that it’s influencing the area outside of itself that worries me.”

Spike hummed in agreement. “Do you think it’s an immediate danger?”

“I won’t know that ‘til I get there.” Twilight sent a mental command to her transport to fly over and hover near the Command Center’s massive window. “But all the same, I’d like to try canceling the bubble safely and rescue those aliens from being crushed by the ocean at the same time.”

Spike was mildly taken aback by the statement of rescue, not for the sentiment, but for how it could be done at all. “Only you would think to cast a barrier able to withstand oceanic pressure like that.”

Twilight grinned and winked at Spike. “What can I say? It’s in my blood.” Twilight telekinetically pulled a spare environment suit of hers from the lockers near the room’s entryway, speaking as she deftly put it on. “This is an opportunity we can’t miss.”

“Uh huh,” Spike answered at length. “And what about the fact that at least one of them committed a Starlight Violation?”

Twilight had enough of her suit on for it to begin the boot and perform its checklist sequence. “Protocol is clear: they are to be treated like Equestrian citizens until their government can be contacted. Assuming they have one anymore.”

Spike became rather stiff at that. “Are you sure that’s wise? Their government could be violent. Even if these aliens are not, it’s clearly been a long time since they’ve been in the loop, they could have become aggressively xenophobic as time has passed.”

Twilight paused for a few long moments before eventually donning her helmet. “That is a risk to be sure. But at the end of the day, these aliens have obvious claim over this world, albeit an old one. I still don’t believe their whole civilization would have allowed themselves to regress into animals. Better our first contact with them include some of their rescued people than cold turkey.”

Spike ground his teeth before speaking his next words. “I hate to say this, but I have to agree. Be careful down there, and may Elysian winds guide you.”

With a sisterly smile, Twilight pecked Spike on the cheek. “Hold the fort while I’m gone.” A moment later, Twilight teleported through the window, near the shuttle. Soon after ducking inside the passenger bay, the craft tore off towards a supply depot to pick up some special equipment she would need.

As Twilight’s shuttle closed the distance, Prism was keyed in on the submarine’s biggest feature: a mana drill. Traditionally used for underwater mining, the smaller pathfinder version allowed large samples to be taken for any number of reasons. As it stood, the drill was serving that function at this very moment.

With Prism’s inside perspective, her helmet displayed the phantom of where the beam would be firing and guided the drill until it was directed in such a way that it would give a straight run to the outside, but without hitting the time-bubble. ~“Alright, Silver, start slow and ramp up. I don’t want this alien hull having some random mana reflective crap going back on you.”~

~“Aye aye, cap’n!”~

Prism groaned at Silver’s bad pirate accent. Ultimately though, most of that time was uneventful in the undisturbed chamber. It was well over an hour before the first sparks of the drill pierced their way into the room, another ten minutes for the cut to be completed. The hull had started to form a molten ring two ponies in diameter. Hot mana carved through the derelict with trival ease, allowing Prism to rest easier. As soon as they had come, the mana beams faded away with a tractor beam-ish aura bathing the severed piece. With a grinding effort, the submarine slowly pulled the piece away.

Prism was now free to swim out and made her way towards the airlock where a nozzle and hose were ready for her after sliding out of a panel. ~“Keep close, Silver. The hose doesn’t go very far.”~

~“You got it.”~

Prism went right work, if only so she could distract her mind from having to think about the job. Honestly. I signed up to see the skies, spelunk caves, discover new plants, and eat them. Not rutting spraying foam on stupid water collectables!

I should have told Ruby to go shove it with this assignment. There are plenty of other ancient aliens to find on dry land, why did she have to rub it all in my face, huh?

Despite her constant grumblings, Prism was able to coat the hull sample with sufficient foam for it to start floating the whole piece up to the surface for airborne retrieval.

Prism watched it go with smoldering disdain until she noticed a pony shaped objected pass the sample by. Her frown inverted in an instant after recognizing her mother. ~“Momma, you’ll never guess what I found under the rug!”~

Twilight let off a snark filled ‘ha’ and she continued to swim down, trailing a large train of equipment strapped to her tail. The faint light of a series of auto-ballast regulators kept the equipment from dragging her down to the sea floor. ~“You know, young lady, you need to find better friends than dust bunnies and spare change.”~

~“Well I’ve finally decided to take your advice,”~ Prism replied with a burst of laughter. ~“Got a whole bunch of real friends down here, but they’re pretty stiff at the moment.”~

Twilight came to a halt in front of Prism and they shared a quick hug. “Well then, let’s see if I can do something about that.”

With Silver keeping a wary eye on the island sized leviathan that was still lingering within sonar range, Twilight and Prism took three hours setting up the myriad of equipment she had brought with her. Powered both by a powercell from the submarine and a dozen crystals Twilight had also brought, the final set up was a collection of shield emitters and other pointy equipment Prism was unfamiliar with.

There were twelve of the odd devices in total, each as tall as Twilight, with skeletal satellite dishes pointing directly at the time-stop device, and hummed with a power that felt terribly wrong to Prism. Just being near one of them made the magic they were leaking feel oily on her skin, the air she breathed tinted with brimstone, and her stomach doing flips if she even came close to touching one.

Twilight had just finished the last connections when Prism started swimming over to confront her about it. ~“Alright, Voyager, start testing the setup. Let me know when everything is greenlighted.”~

She never heard the AI’s acknowledgement when Prism called out to her upon arriving close by. “Mom, why exactly are you using so much dark magic in those ray guns?”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at the description. “I’m surprised you can feel that through so much shielding. But yes, it is dark magic.” She saw the shock and heavy concern crossing her daughter’s face and held up a restraining hoof. “Dark magic has more uses than just decontamination, as I’m sure you’re aware,” Twilight added slowly with a morose tone. She shook it off to adapt her more common lecturing voice. “Dark magic has specific properties that will be needed to collapse the time bubble. I’m worried that normal arcane mana will not suffice for a bubble that’s distorting the world around it so much that none of our sensors can pierce it.”

“It’s not going to corrupt us then? What about the aliens?”

Twilight nodded in shared worry and eyed the scene with contemplative half-frown. “Dark magic is a lot like fire. It can be quite useful as long as you keep it at arm’s length. Which is why we’re using the emitters. As for the aliens… hopefully they’ll only experience a brief moment of discomfort, which I’m hoping they’ll chalk up to suddenly finding themselves hundreds if not thousands of years in the future.” Assuming they can feel dark magic at all. Twilight cast a curious eye at her daughter, sensing there was something unusual about the state of Prism’s alicorn magic.

Strange… It’s like Prism’s magic is trying to compensate for something, but has no outlet. With any answer remaining elusive, and sensing nothing dark about the abnormality, Twilight let it be to focus on the moment.

~“Network setup successful, Colonial Princess. Shall I activate the sequence?”~

Speaking to both daughter and AI, Twilight turned to watch the aliens. ~“Begin on my mark, Voyager.”~ “Prism, stay close me. As much as I don’t like being this close to the bubble when it pops, we need to be close by so the aliens don’t panic and try to attack the shield projectors.”

Prism looked down at her suit, humming all the while. “Well, if they might think we’re just more animals, at least the suits should keep that thought very brief. I’m ready when you are.”

Using her circlet to get the exact spell matrix right, Twilight cast a large rune under both her and Prism’s hooves. The lavender word of power resonated in Prism’s gut as she observed the skittering sprites of mana be distorted by the water. “Feed your mana into the rune. It will anchor us to the regular flow of time.”

With her years of mana manipulation, Prism had no trouble projecting her mana through her hooves and into the rune. The word of power took on amber highlights to compliment the lavender primary hues. “So we’re totally safe on this rune thing?”

“Safe enough that I don’t think it will risk the baby.”

Twilight’s words mollified Prism considerably, allowing her to exhale most of her tension away. “Ready when you are.”

Waiting until Prism’s footing was steady, Twilight returned her attention to the time-frozen aliens. ~“Okay, Voyager, hit it.”~

Both mares watched as the shield emitters sparked to life first, forming an encompassing shield over the air pocket and tracing along the floor and ceiling in case of collapse. The barrier took on a honeycombed appearance due to being composed of millions of tiny hexagons.

Shortly after the shield let off a sheen glow to announce its full power, dark magic started oozing out of the other machines. Three rings of concentric circles quickly formed from the dishes and the dark magic coalesced into solid beams. Eight of them all directed at the chrono device.

The effect was immediate, bursts of energy were flying off the time-bubble as it squirmed and deformed wildly under the assault. Both mares felt a gut-punch as the rune of protection yanked at their mana to shield them from a nasty whiplash of chrono-charged energy. Prism risked a look backwards to see a large rust covered gash stretching all the way through to the outside, with two pony shaped outlines marring the otherwise straight cleave.

“It’s just like I thought,” Twilight yelled over the rumbling, churning water that was building around them. “A lot of force and energy got caught between the bubble and the normal flow of time!” Another lash of energy cracked through the room.

Twilight’s equipment was none the worse for wear, being sheathed in protective dark magic, but the mares were losing their breath to the increasingly heavy mana cost of their own protection. “The beams have to tunnel through it to end the anomaly.”

A band of solid white light started forming just above the surface of the bubble, and quickly became all encompassing. Prism watched in awe as the dark magic beams easily carved through this new barrier, with cracks starting to form at the entry points like glass. Prism shielded her eyes with a wing a moment before it all shattered, throwing a torrent of magic in all directions.

A big piece of it slammed into the ponies, rocking Twilight on her hooves and knocking the wind out of her due to the extreme mana cost from the rune. Prism was flat on the ground in a barely lucid state. Prism’s legs felt as heavy as lead, her wings felt like pins and needles were constantly attacking her, and a migraine was pounding in her skull.

Twilight took a few second to finally get some air again, but when she looked up, the aliens were moving . “It worked! Chalk another one up for Purple Smart!”

“Laaaammeee,” Prism wheezed and coughed dryly. Prism tried to speak further, but nothing came out of her throat but soft dry wheezing. Her ears were ringing badly and spots filled her eyes.

Twilight was torn between tending to her daughter and the aliens who were starting to argue violently between each other, seemingly obvious to their surroundings. The war in her mind barely lasted an instant. Twilight scooped Prism up in her magic and sprint swam through the opening towards the submarine. Shouting and a pained animal screamed came from behind her, but it was all secondary.

~“Engineer Silver Glow, status report!”~

The bat pony’s panicked voice practically jumped over the radio. ~“Everything’s fine here, Princess. The backlash faded before the rune was even taxed to a tenth of it’s power.”~

~“Good, get that first aid kit out and have the ether ready. Prism’s going into mana-withdrawal!”~ All Prism had to say for herself was non verbal moaning as she kept drifting away from consciousness.

By the time Twilight reached the submarine, Silver remotely opened the outside hatch. Twilight quickly deposited Prism inside and used a tether to anchor her to the inner wall. ~“Take care of her, engineer, I have to tend to our guests.”~

Using what little spare magic she had left, Twilight made sure none of Prism’s limbs got caught in the admittedly cramped airlock as the door shut. With her daughter secure with Silver, Twilight turned to swim back to the aliens, only hear a piercing squeal rattle the wall, coming from the derelict ship.

The squeal and the flood lights coming from the hole were suddenly silenced by a single clapping crash of water, and a huge air bubble rushing for the surface.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” Twilight raged at seeing two still aliens float up along with the escaping air. She bolted through the water as fast as she could towards the site. Were they suicidal or something?! Her hopes rose a smidgen as the lighting returned, but was flickering almost as badly as a strobe light.

Upon swooping into the chamber, Twilight was stunned to find an elephant sized purplish-black monster that was in the later stages of drowning with it’s thrashing coming to a halt. The beast was bulbous and malformed with cancerous growths making it a miserable looking thing. Twilight didn’t need centuries of experience to feel the entirety of both the arcane and black magic roiling around inside the beast.

With a burst of her own magic, Twilight blasted the creature with a spell of Cadence’s creation. The act crystallized the magic before it could prove dangerous and ended the creature’s suffering. Was that the alien who was getting mutated by the artifact?

That thought jarred Twilight into searching rapidly for said artifact, only to sigh in relief that the thing’s crystals were dark and the rest of it was entirely inert. Yet she had no time to savor that relief when she noticed movement in the dark.

Finding one of the shield arrays that still had a functioning floodlight, Twilight wrapped it up in her magic and directed it at the movement. There she found a single alien thrashing in a small concave part of the ceiling where a small pocket of air somehow avoid being pushed out.

“One survived?!” Not having any other recourse, or way to ask for permission, Twilight zapped the alien with a sleep spell to allow her to press it’s limbs against its body, then put the alien in her stasis spell. I don’t think he’ll mind a few more hours in stasis… assuming it is a he, or if they even have hes.

With the alien secure and protected, Twilight unclipped a gas canister from her suit’s belt and brought it over to the air pocket. From there she collected a large sample. Don’t want you possibly choking on our air, now do we?

Back in the submarine, Silver pulled Prism out of the airlock and worked the clasps to get her helmet off. Prism’s eyes were rolling around, and she was muttering nonsensically to herself.

“Come on, Prism, you can tough out mana exhaustion.” Silver ignored the water from her suit soaking into his uniform and fur while he attempted to bring her around.

His efforts were brief after the onboard computer chirped an alert. “Warning: crewmember Prism Flash’s life signs are fading. Acute organ failure imminent. Alerting colony medical.”

“Organ failure? How?!” SIlver’s hoof practically shot into the first aid kit he had brought with him. “Ahh - umm - ether right? That what the princess said, so where is it!?” Pulling the first tray of medical supplies off, he found a large bottle of liquid with big stenciled letters reading ‘ether’ on the front. He popped the cap off and cradled Prism’s head just like his first aid training told him.

He gently started pouring the contents down her throat after Prism proved unresponsive. “What the hell, Prism. I thought only unicorns could die from mana exhaustion.”

The ether had a cascade effect upon hitting her stomach acid. Mana bloomed forth, filling every cell in her body in a wave of energy. The instant this wave hit her brain Prism started trying to breath and promptly coughed up the ether in her mouth. Silver kept her from flailing about, but did allow her to roll over. She gagged at the tongue spasmingly foul taste of ether and exhaled in a wheeze, but only dense blue vapor escaped her maw.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting!” Prism hacked and unceremoniously spat a blue wad of gunk onto the floor.

“Crewmember life signs stabilizing. Standing down medical alert.”

Silver slumped in relief as Prism started cradling her head at a massively pounding headache. “Do you always end up in a medical emergency during missions?”

Cracking one bloodshot eye at him in defiance, Prism croaked a terse response. “I don’t plan on making a habit out of it.” What little good humor she had faded when Silver presented the ether bottle to her.

“Here, the princess said you needed this, and I bet that headache might get better if you drink up.”

She eyed the foul drink with disgust and turned away from it. “No thanks. I just need some fish or something.”

“Hey, you were about to suffer organ failure, so drink up, doctor’s orders.” He all but shoved the bottle in her perplexed face.

“Organ failure? No way.”

“Yes way. At least that’s what the computer said.” He twitched an ear towards the closest speaker.

It took her several long moments to process the information that went against everything she knew of basic pegasi medicine. “...Fine. I’ll get answers later.” Prism tried to activate her mechanical hands, only to remember she was still in her deep-water suit. “Blugh.” With no recourse, she grabbed the bottle in both hooves and choked the rest of the ether down like a batch of sour milk.

Once she discarded the bottle, Silver helped her stand. “Let me help you outta that suit.”

By the time Prism had been extracted from her suit, Twilight was cycling her way past the airlock with her new friend in tow. She took one look at Prism and grinned. “Good, you’re up and about. Are you well enough to help me with him?” She jabbed a wing elbow at the alien still held aloft in her magic.

“I’m not really feeling so hot, honestly.”

Twilight frowned as Prism shakily pulled herself onto a nearby equipment bench to lay down. I thought pegasi recovered quite quickly with ether. Turning to Silver, Twilight presented her alien. “Where’s the stasis chamber? The sub has one for bio samples right?”

Silver couldn’t stop himself from whistling at the size of the alien. “How did both you and him fit in the airlock?”

“I improvised,” she deadpanned. “Stasis chamber?”

Shaking himself out of the alien-induced trance, Silver answered with regret. “Sorry, princess, we don’t have anything big enough to hold him. Not in stasis at any rate.”

Crap. I was afraid of this. “Then bring us to the surface. Looks like I’ll have to hold him myself until we get back to the colony.”

With a snap salute, Silver barked his compliance and made his way to the command chair. Having no other recourse, Twilight gently placed the alien on the floor and walked over to gently rub Prism’s forehead.

Between the draining of the protection rune and maintaining the stasis over the alien. Twilight was already taxed heavily. Yet she still summoned the strength to check over her sleeping daughter. Her horn ached and the skull forming its base burned at the effort, but the pain was trivial to one of her experience.

I think I can see why she hates underwater assignments so much. Really wish I thought to bring a camera outside of the one on my suit.

Her gaze turned to the frozen alien, scowling all the while. The alien wore the drab brown robes of the one who activated the time freeze in the first place. “I’d like to blame that mutant for the deaths of your brethren, but I’m not taking any chances you might be more than just a survivor.”

10: Who Needs the Prime Directive Anyway? part 1

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There had been something of an unofficial zoo forming just south of the solar farm that served as an observation lab complex destined to become a fully fledged technology park. Its current boundaries contained several species of wolf beetles, a single giant wasp, several dozen fungi and smaller animals. It was a modest if growing attraction, primarily due to the wolf beetle and wasp, but today marked a special occasion.

Crowds lined vid-screens depicting authorized 3D still images of the new enclosure holding the alien that was still in stasis. This was primarily due to Twilight disallowing public access of live-streaming for the alien’s sake.

From within the biologist’s observation blister, Twilight tried to take some enjoyment out of a cup of tea as her eyes swept across the enclosure, looking for anything that needed changing.

Spike, Prism, and Praxia stood with her while the biologist team behind them did the final checks on the enclosure’s atmosphere. Out of all of them, Prism eyed the enclosure with a huff. “I don’t think he’s going to like the idea of living in a zoo, momma.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at her with a sardonic tone in her voice. “We gave him all the amenities of a five star hotel including a TV with old soap operas. Besides, I’m not sticking him in a cramped medical isolation ward. Might as well put him in a cell while we’re at it. At least out here, if he escapes and becomes dangerous, the boys in blue can stop him without too much trouble.”

Spike butted in with a gruff tone, yet kept his eyes on the alien. “Not to mention it’s the only location where we could easily place a Rosetta Stone AI while also giving him plenty of room to live in. I still don’t think it’s humane to give him only soaps though.”

At the mention of the Rosetta Stone, Prism and Praxia gazed upon an off-white hologram of a non-descript transparent earth pony that stood on thin air. It waited with the patience only a machine could have for someone to interact with it. “How do we know these aliens don’t communicate telepathically?” Prism asked the crowd. “For all we know it could think spoken languages are rubbish like that first artifact.”

Twilight couldn’t repress her wings from ruffling out of sheer excitement. “That’s why Praxia’s here.” She turned towards the princess changeling to find Praxia was looking at her bug eyed. “Your race is telepathic after all.”

“We- yea - but that only works with other changelings though. Except for the empathy,” Praxia hissed under her breath to keep from spooking the biologists behind them. “Can we not have ponies suddenly start thinking I’m reading their minds, please?”

A stallion scientist called out to the group. “Your highness, we’re ready to release the visitor.”

Twilight’s wings flared open, gently smacking Spike on the side of the face. “Excellent, Doctor Card Shark, go ahead!” Spike grumbled to himself and stepped a bit to the side to free his cheek of Twilight’s primaries.

Spike rubbed his cheek despite no harm being done. “I thought you were worried this guy could be a criminal. I don’t like being this light on security.”

I’m surprised you don’t think the team leader is a criminal with a name like that. The mad hatter grin on Twilight’s face faltered, and her wings dipped a little. “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.”

As much as Prism wanted to join in on her mother’s excitement, her mind kept drifting towards her second near death experience every time she saw one of the unicorn scientists out of the corner of her eye. It just doesn’t make sense. I’m a freak’n pegasus, or partial alicorn, or whatever. The term brought her eyes back towards her mother for what felt like the twentieth time in the past five days.

Can’t exactly ask her about it now though. The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t like that plan. But something’s eventually going to draw her away from our new buddy over here, and then when I will get to ask?

Seeing little other recourse, Prism navigated towards Twilight’s right side where no one was standing and jumped into a low hover to whisper to her. “Hey mom, ah, about that whole organ failure thing.” Twilight’s resurgent smile fell flat in an instant. “Did the doc find out what happened to me exactly yet?”

Twilight’s expression became unreadable, even to Prism. She gave Prism a sidelong look, her voice carried a measure of reassurance. “We found the… cause. As soon as I deem the alien nonthreatening enough for the bio team to take over, we’ll need to discuss this in private.”

Dread sank into Prism’s heart so fast that even Praxia’s attention was drawn towards her. However, the young changeling decided to leave the two alone. Prism tried to keep a brave face on, but there was no hiding the sudden onset of heavy sweating from Twilight. “I’m not dying am I?”

At any other time, Twilight’s pranking bone might have jumped on the chance to tease Prism, but for the moment, in her infinite wisdom, she decided to show mercy. “Heavens no.” Twilight gave a short snicker while flicking Prism’s nose with the edge of her primaries. “But it will be important so don’t run off anywhere.”

“Oh, okay, cool.” Dropping to the ground, Prism sighed heavily and shook off most of the chill that had settled over her.

Card Shark called out to both the royal group and his team. “Alright everypony, cutting stasis in three, two, one!”

All eyes converged on the alien. It was standing precariously in the same stance it was in when it was bobbing in the water trying to survive in the thin air pocket of the derelict. That is to say, as soon as the two floor mounted prongs keeping the stasis field intact deactivated, the alien fell into an undignified heap.

By the time he gathered his wits enough to climb back to his feet, the two prongs had already retracted back to be flush with the plastic floor. The alien moved with catlike agility to flip over to lay prone on all six limbs. He scanned the cylindrical room that stretched out thirty meters in diameter.

After a quick survey revealed none of its own kind, the alien slowly climbed to its feet, standing at a full two meters tall. He looked up to the glass ceiling and cocked his head. He scanned the walls finding only more white plastic. Eventually his gaze landed upon the holographic earth pony with more than just a passing glance.

The hologram was of a pale red mare with a white mane and no cutie mark. It also was rendered to be true to life with the exception of an intentional flicker that ran down the length of the pony. The hologram seemed to be coming from no discernible projector, and was standing patiently near a wall.

The alien locked eyes with the holographic mare who simply looked back with complete impassiveness. Slowly, yet with confidence, the alien marched forward towards the hologram, still dripping salt water along the way.

He called out to the hologram while still moving towards it. “Vet che, Barletti, vet gel un devent!”

Upon being addressed, the holographic mare bowed its head, bringing the alien up short a bit. “Greetings. I will be your language orientation assistant, Vocal Harmony."

The strange language caused the alien to step back a bit, and scrutinize the hologram much closer. Out of all of the observers, Twilight alone could see the subtle signs.

Surprise, as expected. Through a close up video feed, Twilight hummed to herself at the alien’s shifting facial expressions. Despite the disturbing flatness of the alien’s face, by pony standards at least, she saw what she hoped was universal: emotion. A little anger? Or is it laced with sorrow?

Keeping his two left arms in a protective stance towards the hologram, the alien looked wildly around. Its eyes darted to the three chairs, table, and bed, searching for something that wasn’t there. “Blaret!” He turned to look up at the sky where he could see the very tip of Seed One in the distance. “Blaret!”

Praxia was starting to fidget at the sight of the alien starting to scream at the colony building. “Sensei, shouldn’t a live person go in there? May he’d react better that way.”

“I would love nothing better than to be the first to speak with him, but I can’t shake this feeling…” Twilight trailed off, leaving Praxia to look at Prism for any counsel, only for the pegasus to shrug helplessly.

“What feeling?” Praxia asked at last.

Twilight's voice slowly slipped into her trademarked lecture mode. “We know next to nothing of his culture or way of thinking. He could be xenophilic or xenophobic. He could be a well meaning person, or possibly a criminal. Perhaps he’s a more powerful psychic than you, and he could try mind controlling one of us.”

“I don’t think he’d need to actually see us if he was psychic,” Prism interjected with a casual tone.

Twilight watched the alien seem to give up on shouting at Seed One and turn back to the holographic mare. The mare was now pointing a blob of green color to its left. “The point is, we don’t know his culture, temperament, or even his allergies. We breach the language barrier first, then we can start with face-to-face interaction.”

“We can smooth out any social blunders after that,” Spike added smoothly.

Nodding absently, Twilight returned her attention at the alien. By now, the hologram was standing under a smaller copy of itself. The copy was looking at the blob of green color while a copy of the alien stood on the opposite side of the blob. Both pony holograms spoke “green”, with the word ‘green’ appearing above the pony clone.

Both mares pointed at themselves upon saying ‘green’, then directed the same hoof towards the alien. For several moments, the alien just glared at the main hologram with its upper arms crossed, and its lower pair had its hands balled into fists. Eventually, after the hologram repeated itself multiple times, the alien finally said “volta”.

‘Volta’ materialized in an Equestrian phonetic spelling above the miniature alien hologram. Both mares pointed at the green blob. “Volta?”

Alien huffed and growled a reply. “Cha. Tu volta, volta, gel taera!” It slapped its right forearms at the hologram with Praxia getting a spike of malice from the alien’s aura.

The holographic mares nodded in thanks with the green being replaced by the color blue. From there the process continued through the basic color spectrum before moving on to simple objects such as chairs, beds, and so forth.

Out of all of them, Spike was the first to break from the group. He clapped a hand on Twilight’s withers. The act snapped Twilight out of her extreme focus so that she yelped and flared her wings. “As much as I would love to watch that guy go through a session of kindergarten, there’s a matter in the southern plains that require my - delicate touch.”

Twilight snorted and playfully thwacked him with a wing. “Only you would consider an artillery barrage delicate.”

“What can I say? I’m a drake of simple tastes.” With a curt wave, he strutted out past the door, already giving orders over the commlink.

Every ounce of Twilight’s being wanted to drag her back to watching the alien, save for her maternal fiber. Her eyes fixed on Prism, who couldn’t pull herself away from jotting down notes about the alien. Without missing a beat, Twilight pinged Card Shark’s personal display to get his attention. “Doctor, I have to step out for matters of state. Inform me the instant we have enough data for a working dialogue.”

“You’ll be the first to know, your highness.”

“Good.” Twilight started projecting her voice a little higher. “Prism, come with me please.”

“Huh? Oh right!” With only a lingering eye hanging on the alien, Prism jumped into the air and flew after her mother.

The pair made their way through the short, curved hallway towards a temporary rover hub that was built away from the complex. It would eventually be replaced by an elevated rail station, but for Twilight’s current purpose, she was glad the rovers were still there.

After requisitioning a two-person rover for themselves, Twilight turned off the preprogrammed route soon after leaving the hub. “Voyager, give us a scenic route around the colony.”

“As you wish, Colonial Princess.”

The rover gently turned towards the inner patrol perimeter of the colony, and stayed in the zone Spike had deemed safe for unescorted activity. Sadly that perimeter only stretched three miles away from Seed One. Prism started nervously ruffling her wings and sunk into the chair a little more. “Sooo, the thing?”

Twilight was silent for a minute or two as she searched for the right words. The lingering silence wasn’t helping Prism in the least. Wasn’t she just saying I was fine in front of everypony else? Or was it a lie so as to not make a scene?

“Prism my dear,” Twilight said while giving her daughter a faint warm smile, “you currently stand at a crossroad.” Prism’s trembling came to a dead halt despite the dour tone. “Your body is producing unicorn magic, but it currently has no positive way of expressing itself.”

“I am?” Prism looked down at her chest and idly started rubbing her forehead trying to see if there was any sign of a horn that she must have missed in the mirror. Her forehead as a smooth as it had always been, much to her mounting confusion. “Wait, how does unicorn magic have a downside?”

Twilight gently took Prism’s inquisitive hoof into her own, and kept up her motherly smile. “First, yes you are. As for the downside, you are already familiar with unicorns who suffer badly from heavy mana exhaustion, correct?”

“Well yeah.” Prism easily called back on her Pathfinder training’s basic medical classes. “Unicorns have a much higher density of mana in their bodies than the other tribes. When they lose too much, they lose homeostasis.” Twilight remained silent to let Prism connect the dots. It didn’t take long for Prism’s eyes to go wide. “Which is what happened to me!”

“Precisely,” Twilight replied with a proud nod. “Thanks to your developing unicorn magic, you now have a greater dependence on mana, but you can’t grow a horn to get the benefit of that magic.”

“Are you serious?” Prism groaned. “How exactly did I start randomly generating unicorn magic anyway?”

Twilight released Prism’s hoof and wing-shrugged. “That I don’t know. It could be any number of factors; from the mana I infused you with after the ‘xenomass pool incident’, to you getting alicorn wings permanently, and many other possibilities.”

How convenient that I can’t pin any of that on you, Prism mused with an arched eyebrow, and searched her mother’s face for any signs of chessmaster shenanigans. “Right. So what is this crossroad all about? There’s gotta be a way to fix this right?”

“Well, you can choose one of three ways,” Twilight said carefully. “You can either just live with things as is, which shouldn’t be difficult considering every unicorn to date has done just fine. You could learn how to produce earth pony magic which would eventually allow you to become a full alicorn.”

Ha, I knew you were up to something!

“Or you could permanently exorcise yourself of alicorn magic, which would revert you to a normal pegasus.”

“Whoa, whoa, what?” Prism unfurled one of her wings to look at it, having long assumed there was no going back. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s a secret ritual I developed a few hundred years ago. Your second eldest sister, Gleaming Topaz, was in much the same situation you are now, only with her being an earth pony first who had started developing pegasi magic.

“She…” Twilight took a long slow breath to keep her mood level. “She was never happy with her alicorn magic. Mostly because she felt cheated out of ever having a son. The last straw was her pegasus magic developing. At the time, I had no idea she couldn’t grow wings without unicorn magic to balance everything out, just like with you and your own lack of a horn. I used to think each type of magic would come one at a time. Needless to say, all of my research hit dead ends.” Twilight’s last admission seemed to drain her of any good mood she had, making her sag in her seat, ears flat. “It wasn’t exactly a well known science after all.”

Prism hung on every word with ears pointing forward. She almost never talks about my older sisters. “Can I hazard a guess and assume the pegasus magic was sapping that famous earth pony strength and durability?”

Twilight’s flat expression caved in to a brief smile. “In a sense. Topaz was deeply proud of her tribe, and a professional athlete to boot. Without wings to direct her pegasus magic, it couldn’t flow properly and led to chronic Mana Disharmonization. Her pegasus magic was actually reversing her natural strength over time, and she was understandably… peeved.” I’m still not exactly sure why it was doing that. “But I raised her to be a scholar as well-”

“Big surprise there,” Prism snarked in a jab at brightening the mood.

Twilight snorted and rolled her eyes. She allowed her gaze to settle upon the river that the rover was traveling parallel to. “Yes well, you always need a fallback once you retire from sports. At any rate. She argued and blustered for me to help her find a way to rid her of her alicorn magic, and by extension, the pegasus magic as well.

“Long story short, it worked.” Twilight didn’t bother hiding the disappointment and sadness in her tone. “Topaz got her wish and was a normal earth pony for the rest of her days.”

When Twilight didn’t continue, the rover fell into silence, save for the engine. Prism felt questions bubbling up far more than answers. “Was she happy at least? In the end, I mean.”

It took Twilight several moments to respond, and even then she had a strained voice. “It took her a few years for her body to fully recover from the loss of her alicorn magic, but yes. If she ever regretted it, she never let it show.”

“That’s nice, I guess.” Prism’s eyes dropped to a wing she stretched out to examine. Her large elegant blue feathers spoke of regality almost as old as Equestria itself. A fact that only recently started to sink in. “Did any of my sisters want to go full alicorn?”

“I don’t think I need to mention Fire Shrine. Snow Dew and Flute Spell did initially, but felt overwhelmed by the prospect of agelessness and the expected leadership roles of Princesshood.”

Prism’s ears fell flat. “Oh, right. That.”

Come on, Prism. You’re stronger than you realize. Ask the right questions, and see what good you could do. Switching gears, Twilight searched her memory for something to help. “Prizzy, the history books may overlook it, but I was a terrible princess in the beginning.”

“Was?” Prism teased with a smirk and short lived giggle when Twilight playfully thwacked her with a wing.

“It’s surprising how I somehow slap things into some semblance of a working order, I know.” Twilight’s grin faded and roped Prism into a hug. Despite her age, Prism had never gone through the ‘no public hugs’ phase, and squeezed her back, threatening to bring a bittersweet tear to Twilight’s eye. “For the first fifty odd years I started actual rulership, I used to send Celestia a letter practically twice a day asking if my ruling was for the best instead of trusting myself.

“But I think my worst early incident was the time I was entertaining a prince from Yakyakistan. I tried everything from recreating his favorite food to his country’s music, to even making it snow in late spring, and failed miserably at every turn. Everything went so badly, he almost declared war on Equestria, and was on his way to the train to make it official.”

Prism recalled back to a brief lesson in history class. The only reason she remembered it at all was how often she joked about the name. “Wasn’t Yakyakistan a minor power? And they weren't too bright either if Miss Curewhinny was right.”

“That’s not the point, and Equestria wasn’t exactly a military power before the Necromancer War either.” Even if it still probably would have been one sided. She gave Prism a reproachful glower, prompting the young mare to shrug in disinterest at the minute detail. “At any rate, we avoided conflict. In the end it was my friend Pinkie Pie who saved us from open war. Celestia had some choice homework for me to do after that fiasco.”

Prism broke from the hug and sat normally. “So – let’s say I went along with this full alicorn thing. Could I at least stay in the Pathfinders?”

“Absolutely, my dear. I would never take that away from you.” Twilight noticed Prism sigh heavily and sag in relief. “I want you to be free to live your dream job for as long as you desire. Even if you never have a desire to actually rule, having a princess perform other duties could potentially be more beneficial.” Not exactly sure what those things would be just yet. “After all, once you’re a full alicorn, you’d have all the time in the world to ease into the higher duties of Princesshood.”

Prism mulled over the pros and cons for a little while; long enough for the rover to start heading north along the coastline. With the exception of a section reserved for the Pathfinder docks, the rest was free for civilian use. “Before I say either way, tell me this.” Prism fixed Twilight with a deadly serious stony expression. “Do you want me to be an alicorn? Are you trying to chessmaster me into it?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but her first reply died on her lips. She took a moment to organize her reply. “You’ve always been honest with me Prism, for anything that matters anyway. I like to think I always return the favor.

“Yes, wholeheartedly. I want nothing more than for you to choose this path.” When Prism remained silent and not averting her gaze to think, Twilight continued with fluttering emotion tinting her words. “I’ve not always been a good mother, or chessmaster apparently.”

“Aw come on, you’re a great momma! Kinda with you on the chessmaster bit though.”

She gave Prism a self-depreciating smile. Twilight turned away to stare at nothing in particular. “A shame it took me over four hundred years to get it right.”

Prism started to speak, but words failed her the instant Night Wind came to mind. I guess I should feel lucky she even tried for foals again after her.

As for Twilight, she slowly cobbled her nerve up to continue. “As for you, you embody much of the six Aspects of Harmony, you have a strong will, and what I feel is most important of all-” Twilight turned back to Prism and gave her a motherly caress of her cheek. “You want to live up to your own merits, and not rely on your relation to me to elevate yourself... By in large.”

Prism rolled her eyes and huffed with no real malice. “I wasn’t going to let father’s rifle rust away in some frozen museum. Besides, Luna gave it to me before I could ask.”

“I was mostly referring to times like when you ran up such a large soda tab at the castle’s Guard Lounge that it cost your father two month’s pay. And then proceeded to blame it on Luna of all ponies.” Twilight snickered and roped Prism into a weak headlock to blow into her ear.

“Ah, stop it, stop it!” Prism struggled to escape and flatten her ears, but Twilight tightened her grip just enough to keep her daughter in place. She also used her telekinesis to hold the ears open for another assault. “I was like eight years old!”

With a chuckle, Twilight released her daughter, who promptly pushed her way to the far end of the rover and started rubbing the ‘ick’ feeling out of her ears. Prism blew a raspberry, and poorly hid her amusement behind a scowl. “Not to mention I’ve caught wind of you declaring a prank war just a few days ago. I think only Dreamy Night managed to keep in touch with her inner filly as long as you have. Yet another point for you.”

Prism arched an eyebrow at her, with her tone becoming more questioning than anything else. “You think I can still be childish? That’s a selling point for me?”

“More than you could possibly know. After all, Celestia and Luna have been waging the same prank war for over two hundred years.” Prism considered that for a moment before nodding her consent at the point. “I believe you would make a wonderful princess, and I personally think you would learn to love it as I do.”

“Even after a million and a half ponies died under your command?”

“I prefer to focus on all the good I’ve done over my tenure, but yes, even with that.”

Prism grew quiet and closed her eyes to think. By now, the rover was turning away from the shore to skim along the northern edge of the houses. It was a ways north of the route that Twilight spied the beginnings of a permanent barracks and strong point against the nests of wolf beetles further up the coast.

“Momma,” Prism said at last with none of the humor she had earlier. “I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to be a princess. I just want to be a simple explorer and maybe get my name on a building somewhere.”

Twilight’s stony expression threatened to crack as the mental image of one day standing over Prism’s tombstone after being added to the seven other graves of her children.

“But,” Prism said with hesitation, “I - ah - I think that’s 'cause I never thought I’d get the choice before since I wasn’t born an alicorn like Flurry Heart. Not to mention none of my sisters ever ascended.”

Twilight did her best to hide her waning hope on Prism’s ultimate decision. “She was a fluke to be sure. Something both Cadance and I tried and obviously failed to replicate.”

“Clearly,” Prism snorted as she rubbed a hoof over her hornless forehead. Her grin sank as she thought about Topaz. “Honestly though, Topaz sounds like a complete moron to just throw away a part of herself, like, I mean how many ponies can claim to have alicorn magic at all?”

“I think she’d prefer to be remembered as being proud of her heritage,” Twilight replied with a sad, faraway look.

Prism tsked derisively, not noticing her mother’s sinking mood. “Wasn’t too proud of her alicorn heritage apparently.”

“Well to be fair, I’m the only one in Topaz’s family tree.” Twilight breathed a little easier as the tension in the room seemed to abate a little.

“As if that’s an excuse. I mean, come on, just having, one is super cool!” Prism threw up her forelegs in frustration before forcing Gleaming Topaz out of her mind and conversation. “Anyway… can I just, like, have some time to think about it?”

Twilight dipped her head. “Of course, dear.”

Prism fished around the back of the rover for her personalized helmet that lacked any snout or mouth protection, and slapped it on. “I’d open the door, but I don’t think you brought your suit with you.”

“You want out right here?” A nod from Prism made Twilight shake her head in amusement. “Alright, just a second.” Lighting her horn, Twilight molded a spell to teleport Prism outside of the rover.

~“Thanks, momma. I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow.”~ With a playful salute, Prism took to the air and glided to the beach.

~“See you then, Little Wing.”~ Twilight sat back and allowed herself to sink into the chair. A new scenario started playing in her mind. One with Prism a full alicorn standing by her side on a balcony. A stupid smile from laughter passed over Prism’s face at some joke Twilight imagined. Her daughter stood proudly, bearing a small crown as if she were born with it. Do I dare hope? A long line of daughters, either uncaring, failing, or going mad due to the alicorn blood that once ran through their veins told her unequivocally no. A voice proclaiming to be reason, rang in the back of her mind that she should just stop having children like Luna and Celestia had done long ago. Better to be safe than sorry, it whispered. However, be it loneliness, stubborn pride, or simply a mother’s wish to see her child live up to her potential, Twilight cast the voice back down.

With nothing more she could say on the matter, Twilight keyed her headset to call the alien biologist team. ~“Card Shark. How’s that translation progress coming?”~

Shark’s ecstatic, energetic voice practically jumped over the speakers, yet Twilight’s experience picked up on an undercurrent of terror. ~“Marvelously, your highness! We’re still a long way from getting a working vocabulary, but so far our guest seems to be cooperating.”~

~“Is he eating? I know the food isn’t exactly the most palpable… paste in the world.”~

Shark’s tone got a little jittery. ~“Ah weeell, he kinda threw it at the walls after tasting it. But I still say you made the right call. We have no idea what might be poisonous to him. I’m sure he’ll come around before it becomes a problem.”~

You’re a terrible liar. ~“All the same, I’m coming back to the lab.”~

10: Who Needs the Prime Directive Anyway? part 2

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It didn’t take Prism long to find a good place to settle down on the sandy beach. A single large cloud had drifted in from the sea, and gave her the perfect spot of shade and cooler sand. Prism unceremoniously flopped onto the sand, letting the granules start to worm their way into her left side’s fur. She let her gaze rest lazily upon the small crashing waves. The gentle sounds of the ocean help clear her mind of unrelated thoughts.

With a deep breath, her mind wandered years back to when she had still been a blank flank. Prism recalled one of her earliest memories of her staring in a mirror with a cardboard cone crudely taped her to forehead and flared her little wings. I was so sure I’d just grow up to be like momma back then. At least for a little while.

Unbidden as always, flashes of Night Wind pounced over the cute memory. News snippets, documentaries of her sister, food riots, the fear of a renewed war, and every little spec of Flare’s legacy came crashing around her. All of it was far too old for alicorn meditation to diminish, not that Prism would have wanted to.

She did it all, just to become an alicorn, and then doomed the world to spite momma.

A dark cloud started sinking over her thoughts as those very same headlines and historians one by one, replaced Night Wind’s name with Prism Flash. Instead of Night Wind’s cruel maddened face, Prism saw her own take it’s place. Only, it wasn’t really her, but a macabre demented parody.

“You are not your sister, Prism.” Twilight’s stern words sounded so very faint, like it was echoing off a far wall compared to the series of eye witnesses, news broadcasters, and the common pony saying the same thing.

“Prism Flash just proves the Sparkle bloodline should have ended with Twilight herself.”

The imaginary voices grew louder, angrier, and all the more biting each time they repeated it.

“Hey, Sea Pony!” yelled a mildly angry stallion from behind her. Prism snapped out of her turmoil and jumped up to find Firefly fuming at her. He was wearing a helmet akin to a full head gas mask, but surprisingly no suit to be found. “I hate to say it, but you got me good.”

It took Prism a moment or two to get her mind on the present and chase away the haunting fears. “Did I now?” Prism sauntered over to look at Firefly’s cutie mark to find it covered in paint in the form of a pink shlong. “Ha! Now the world knows you for what you are.”

Firefly let off an unamused snort, but let a side-grin show through. “I gotta hoof it to ya, blackmailing Silver into helping you boobytrap my rover with a paint gun to spray me down. That’s cold.”

“That wasn’t blackmail, just gentle persuasion to balance the books.” Prism stuck her tongue out at him before refocusing on her handiwork. The longer Prism looked at Firefly’s new cutie mark, the harder it was getting to not fall on the ground and howl with laughter. For now, she compromised with chuckling so hard it was making her ribs hurt. “Oh wow, I can’t believe you walked out here without a suit just to show me!”

“Yeah well,” he waggled his new cutie mark at her, and hopped a step closer with each shake, making Prism jump away. “I wouldn't be able to chase you down, and rub it on you with a suit on now could I?”

Prism hovered well above the unicorn’s head. “I think I’m going to pass on that one thanks.”

“And here I was, thinking it’d make up for having to go through decon.” Knowing Prism could weasel out of almost any unicorn’s telekinetic grip, he opted to just go to the sea and use some water to wash off the offending mark. “Of course you realize, this means war!”

“As if we weren’t already at defcon one,” Prism shot back with heavy snark as Firefly splashed away the water-paint. Another playful barb was at the tip of her tongue when a different thought struck her, making her tone shift jarringly to a sober one. “Hey, Firefly. Can you put the war on hold for a bit and let me ask you something serious? You, just pony to pony.”

He paused in his cleaning to give her a quizzical eye. “Depends on what you’re asking.”

“Fair enough.” Prism landed in front him, letting the surf soak her legs. “Momma says I have a chance to become a full alicorn, and I don’t really know if I should take it.”

Firefly gave her an incredulous stare boarding on insulting. “Why in blazes are you asking me? Why not, you know, your family?”

It was hardly an unexpected question, and one Prism was ready for. “Because I already know mom wants me to be one, and Praxia would just parrot whatever mom says. There is no point in asking Spike about it, because he would just say something clichéd crap like ‘do what your heart tells you to do’, or something stupid like that. And Silver would try to say some romantic junk to get under my tail one day.”

“And what makes you think I wouldn’t either?” Firefly teased with some ‘come hither’ half lidded eyes. When Prism’s only reaction was to look at him with a derisive frown, he tossed out his joking tone for a defensive one. “You gotta give Silver more credit than that.”

“Which is why I say ‘one day’. Silver's a lotta things, but he’s no master of romance, and he’s terrible at making a move.”

“Guess I have much to teach him still. Either that or you’ll have to make it for him.”

The idea rolled around Prism’s mind a bit along with Silver’s toned flank and handsome fang-filled smile. The mental image of Silver wearing his grease stained engineering uniform threatened to get Prism too heated around Firefly. You know what, he has a point. Silver did a bangup job on that paint-gun. But I’ll have to coordinate with Praxia first. It took Prism a moment for her train of thought to correct itself. “Stop distracting me, I’m being serious about this alicorn thing.”

Firefly shook his head and dropped the subject to return to restoring his other side’s cutie mark. “Fine whatever. So you want to give me this monumental piece of advice that could alter the future for millennia to come, if not for all time? Thanks for the pressure.”

Prism couldn’t help but to get a bit of satisfaction out of irritating him. “Essentially,” she replied sheepishly now that she heard it being so bluntly put from someone else. Well, that and it was a good excuse to hide her infatuation with his friend.

Firefly was silent for a while, long enough to finish cleaning himself, step out of the water, and begin casting a drying spell. “At the end of the day, there’s only one stake I really have in your choice: the success of the colony.

“So I’m telling you straight up to go full goddess, if not for you or your mother, then do it for the rest of us.”

Firefly started cantering back to where he had parked the passenger rover, only to discover the thing had already been recalled back to the hub. You gotta be kidding me! Well, I’m contaminated anyway, I guess.

With no other alternative, he started making his way to the nearest airlock, all the way to the houses a kilometer away. “Hold up a bit!” Prism caught up with him and flew alongside. “Why do you think me going alicorn would help the colony? I could end up like another Night Wind for all you know.”

Firefly scoffed with quite the flourishing wave of a hoof. “Pah! That mare was damaged goods from day one. No offense to the princess, but Fire Shrine was probably riddled with so many issues she’d make the funny farm look sane. I mean, by Elysia, she was killing mice and birds at age five! I’m sure you know a lot more than the documentaries told everypony.”

“Are you saying momma screwed up raising her?” Prism barked back with more defensiveness than she intended.

If Firefly was put off by the acidic words being thrown at him, he made no show if it. “Did I say that? No. I’m just saying there’s only so much nurture can do to shine up a rotten turd of a pony. I don’t know, maybe some cult or secret society messed with Shrine's mind or maybe she just got the worst genetic lottery winnings in the world, but one way or another, she’s nothing like you.

“You at least think like a rational mare.” Prism was rendered speechless, having no way to respond, at least until Firefly spoke again. “At least as rational as a mare can be. I mean, damn girl, picking a fight with Ruby over getting a water assignment? You know you’re lucky she didn’t break a bone right?”

A solid smack to his shoulder made Firefly misstep to the right, but he cackled at Prism’s ire. “You’re lucky you’re wearing that helmet or I’d give you a black eye. She knows damn well I hate water assignments.”

“Thanks for proving my point.” He leered at her growling visage before continuing as if the exchange had never happened. “So with that insanity not being an issue, in general,” Prism growled at him, “the only thing left is reassuring the rest of the colonists.”

“How does me being an alicorn do that? I’m barely in my twenties for Luna’s sake.”

Firefly let his gaze wander up to the sky in some vain hope of spying the dying light of his homestar. “You paid attention in history class right?”

“I don’t think any of us would be here if we didn’t ace those classes,” Prism answered with confusion as to his direction. “What of it?”

“I had a really smart professor back home, Green Mile he called himself. He read in between the lines a lot and you know what he taught me?” He let the silence hang just long enough to see if Prism would answer his rhetorical question. “We ponies thrive under the rule of alicorns. Not because we can’t rule ourselves, they weren’t always around after all. But because they are the force multiplier that made Equestria the superpower it was. As my professor used to say ‘they are the rock that the rest of us can look to, as the ideal to model ourselves after.’

“He was one of those ponies that campaigned feverishly to make the Seeds take at least two princesses at a time, just in case something happened to one of them.”

“Oh I get it,” Prism interrupted with a tired groan. “You just want me to be plan B.”

“Is that a bad thing? I mean, if you discount the wars, Equestria was having a golden age until the sun started dying. We had five alicorns and ponies were never happier. With them at the head, there was nothing we couldn’t do.”

Prism shot him a death glare. “How can you just discount the wars since the first one happened right after that freak Grogar killed Discord, and then the last one that saw my damned sister killing Princess Flurry Heart! I wouldn’t call that a golden age.”

Firefly groaned in exasperation and pinched his brow. “Because I was making a point that flew right over your head, featherbrain. Take a minute to actually think about it. We had five princesses. The average pony knew our future was secure, and our enemies were scared to death of us. You take it down to brass tacks, our princesses could guide us through anything. And wouldn’t you know it, they guided us right through what shoulda been the extinction of our entire friggin species by dragging us out of the Apocalypse Depression and motivating us to build the Seed ships.”

Prism’s ears fell along with her ire. Firefly allowed a small grin after seeing the gears were starting to turn in her head. “But now that you mention it, I’m glad you brought up Flurry Heart cause I forgot something. Her death told the world that alicorns can die. Or at least a lot easier than anypony suspected.”

“So glad my twisted freak of a sister could give you more ammunition.” Prism kicked a rock against the side of the airlock.

“Look, all I’m trying to say about it is that means Princess Twilight is vulnerable. If something happened to her without you as a replacement, I guarantee you this colony will go down in flames.” He stepped up to the airlock and pressed the cycling button. “So if you want my answer, Prism, if you can’t go alicorn for yourself, or for you family, then do it for the rest of us. For better or worse, we need you.”

The door hissed open and he took a step inside when she finally answered. “You really think it would be for the better?”

He stepped inside, but didn’t close the door yet. “Prism, you are a wise ass. That means you’re an ass that is at least wise enough to know you’re not ready for this. But then again, I’d be telling you a whole different answer if you were arrogant enough to think otherwise. So stop bitching and get on with it already.” He slapped the button and let the door close with Prism left outside. He left her to do what the Sparkle bloodline did best: think. Only now, she had the outside perspective she wanted.

By the time Twilight returned to the alien enclosure, the heavy fog of dread permeated the room. Twilight saw the biologists were in a tizzy. Some were arguing over a collection of screens with Twilight catching something about better food. Card Shark was near the front with Praxia in a heated debate. Beyond them, the alien was completely ignoring the language hologram. He was in the middle of ripping the floor apart with hands and arms glowing orange with magic. The discarded pile of thin tubes and nutrient paste told Twilight he wasn’t going anywhere soon except through more machinery.

“Card Shark, mind telling me why our guest is trashing the food dispenser?” Twilight cantered slowly forward as the scientist started sweating bullets. “I mean, I can probably guess, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

“Sensei, our guest took one taste of the, I hesitate to call it food, but as soon as he did he started yelling at our translator. When he didn’t get a good answer, he started ripping up the dispenser and I’m guessing some choice vulgarity along with it.”

Card Shark tactfully interposed himself between Praxia and Twilight right as the princess stepped in close. “Your highness, I assure you this is just a minor setback. I’m sure our guest must be used to finer cuisine, but until we can get some scans on his biology during digestion it’s all we can do.”

Twilight gave him an unimpressed lifted eyebrow and looked up at the growing collection of ruined panels, tubes, and machinery. The holographic mare was attempting to verbally dissuade him, but the alien completely ignored her.

Taking it all in, Twilight swiped a hoof in front of her, silencing Card Shark’s excuses. “Praxia. It looks like I’m going to have to take a more personal approach. Somepony fetch me a rebreather. If words won’t help, maybe we need to try something else.”

With her rebreather in place, Twilight Sparkle teleported several meters behind the alien. The noise of her spell brought the alien’s attention towards her. His eyes lingered on her for a few moments before shifting to her long mane that waved slowly upon an ethereal wind. With her wings folded against her sides, she had an otherwise thin profile.

Without so much as a dismissive grunt, he ignored her and continued his work in expanding the hole in the ground.

Probably thinks I’m just another hologram. “Hey, stop that!” Twilight stomped her hoof hard enough to rattle the debris around the alien.

Without even turning to face her, the alien grabbed a roughly flat plastic panel and threw it at Twilight. She grabbed the thing before it even left his hand and slammed it down in front of him.

The alien turned back towards her, and cocked his head. There was none of the dismissiveness in his eyes now. He dropped the latest piece of ripped tubing, but the orange glow over his arms remained. Twilight in turn, kept her horn wreathed in lavender mana.

With cat like grace, the alien’s two lower hand steepled his fingers to create a strange hand sign. With the spiking pain of mana build up at her forehead, Twilight’s mana was being cut off from her horn at the base, causing her readied spell to fall apart.

She recoiled from the headache, which faded after she stopped trying to power her horn. She grumbled and rubbed the base of her horn with a foreleg, and squinted her eyes. Combat training from the wars kicked in at the familiar pain. Damn, I left myself open! With a single powerful flap of her wings, she pushed herself away from the expected physical blow, and landed in a low stance with her wings quickly folded back against her body.

However, the alien had not attacked. Instead he side stepped away from the hole, keeping his lower hands in the same gesture. Once he was clear of the debris, he used his upper right hand to gesture her forward. He quickly assumed a combat stance with his legs apart and his two upper arms already forming a new gesture.

Twilight grumbled to herself and at the blockage of her horn. What is this, ritual combat? Let's hope he doesn't expect me to know his rules.

Standing her ground, Twilight flared her wings and bent her head down so her primaries could touch her horn. “You think I’m going to play your game?” Channeling her magic through her wings and into her horn, Twilight cast a scalding hot cone of mana across the entire other half of the room. It left the alien no room to escape as Twilight narrowed the edges towards him, increasing the heat with every inch. This should get him to surrender mostly unharmed.

As the edges of the spell closed in around him, the alien first started to charge Twilight, only for her to mold the shape of the spell to build a wall flush with the ceiling and floor between them. He skidded to a halt, sweat already starting to drip down. A few beats later he let go of the first magic gesture to start forming a new one with all four hands.

Good luck, buddy, I’ve already accounted for mana blocking this time. A satisfied smirk crossed Twilight’s face as she felt his blocking spell attempt to surround her wings, but her alicorn magic easily rebuffed his efforts.

With the walls closing around him, He formed a new gesture. His hands and fingers formed what Twilight could have sworn was akin to a child’s drawing of a house. Orange light blasted out from him in a sphere, shattering Twilight spell as if the threads had been cut.

Red warning lights and klaxons started resounding throughout the lab and in Twilight’s personal display. The warnings were only there for a few moments before the orange force permeated her and flew past.

Dozens of the still intact panels of the room opened up with emitters telescoping forward. A moment later, every inch of the walls and floor came alive with a deep blue energy field, cutting off the alien spell’s effect from leaving the area.

Twilight patted herself down, looking for any sign of a wound, but found nothing amiss aside the fact that her personal display was offline. Her horn-circlet was completely unresponsive, radio included. Great. I hope Praxia doesn’t let Spike crash in here with a squad. If this is important to the alien, then I need to do this alone.

Keeping an eye on the alien, who was walking towards her at a careful pace, she tried to get a feel for her magic. Strange. I can channel it through my horn again, but I can’t form a spell, or even cast through my wings. She turned her attention fully back to the alien, and stood up to her full height, noticing that her mane and tail were still flowing in ethereal wind.

“So, your kind have an analogy to the Steel Field, eh? Execution and method of dampening might take me an hour to figure out, but the effect is the same I see.”

“Vel, seva tolura dera!” As quick as a flash, the alien took away his right upper arm and reformed his gesture into an oval symbol, but the field he was emitting wavered for only a second. “Nulrea da!” he cried before charging forward at a speed Twilight was unprepared for.

The distance however, allowed her to recover and she built up a chunk of earth magic in her left foreleg and blocked his punch, knuckle to hoof. You think you’ve beaten me because I can’t project magic outside of myself? she mused with a challenging grin, throwing the alien off balance. Twilight threw his arm back, and with the grace of hundreds of years’ practice, flipped him around and wrapped her other hoof around his neck into a chokehold. With a few flaps of her wings, she went bipedal long enough to wrap her left hind leg around both of his legs and dropped him to his stomach with her on top of him. The landing had enough force to break his oval hand-sign. He tried to grab at her, but she forced his arms to the floor with her wing-arms.

“You know, you are a lot like a skinny minotaur with your magic out of the way.” Twilight relished the thrill of adrenaline, and tightened her holds just enough to keep him from squirming too much. I wonder if I can get you to be a sparring partner later. “Now I can sit here speaking what amounts to gibberish to you, or you can calm down.”

Her soft yet steady tone was all the alien needed to know about his current situation. “Ja, vul tin.” He went limp, with his orange magic going out. Keeping her telekinesis at the ready, Twilight released her holds on him and climbed off.

After she moved away, he was able to deftly spring back up to two feet. Twilight stepped sideways, but kept her eyes on the alien to put some distance between them.

The alien steepled his hands, but the orange glow did not return. Twilight's gaze remained steady until she felt comfortable with the distance.

Lighting her horn, Twilight took a page out of the first alien artifact’s playbook. She created a hologram of herself eating many different kinds of food, then the alien eating the same food. Sometimes the small alien was fine, other times he turned green, choked and died.

The alien remained motionless for a bit before pointing at the ground with three hands with deliberate slowness. The outstretched hands glowed orange, recreating the nutrient paste and one of the poisonous entrees.

He recreated himself discarding the paste and eating the poisonous food. His double discolored, but only for a moment before recovering and standing erect again.

“Fascinating. You really think you can handle any kind of food, do you?”

Apparently, the alien understood the concept of a rhetorical question, and remained insistent on the better food by moving it front and center while clearing away the rest of the hologram.

Sometimes I really hate making risks like this. Twilight banished her projection, and made a show of touching her ear and slightly looking away and tried to access the radio. She didn’t get very far when her personal display failed to respond. Duh, he knocked it offline. With the correct sequence of mana jolts, the horn-wrapping circlet started its rapid boot sequence, allowing her personal display to materialize with dozens of alerts that she squelched in an instant.

~“Praxia, how’s everything outside?”~

Praxia tried to keep her voice professional, but Twilight easily picked up on the changeling’s relief. ~“The mana field disrupter forced life support into self-diagnostics mode, but we’ve got everything back under control on our end. I’m afraid Commander Spike wants to have some choice words with you later.”~

~“Oh he’s just doing his job. A backrub and a ruby will cool his heels.”~ Twilight glanced at the alien who had also banished his hologram and waited calmly, hands at his side.

~“I’ll have to remember that,”~ Praxia deadpanned. ~“Judging by your game of charades, can I assume we’re getting our guest some better food?”~

~“Correct. Get him something tasty, but keep a stomach pump ready. If he keels over, I can alway wrestle him again to eat the paste until we know more about his physiology.”~

~“I’ll get a collection of vegetarian and meat options, and let him pick.”~

~“Get him some soda and alcohol too. After what he’s been through, maybe a stiff drink is in order.”~

Praxia hesitated in her reply. ~“If you think it wise. I’ll get somepony to fix the floor later after things have calmed down.”~

~“I do.”~ With Praxia giving a short acknowledgement, Twilight mentally summoned the holographic translation hologram. She let go of her ear and pointed at the ethereal mare, and created a magical projection of the mare and a plate of food together.

The alien turned to the hologram and growled dismissively at it, but eventually walked over to it to restart the vocabulary translations. Twilight nodded to herself with a smile. Well that was something. I think I should get started on writing a medical journal about him tonight.

Using the wait time for the food to arrive, Twilight easily smoothed things over with Spike with a few promises of being more careful. Once the food arrived, she left the alien in the moderately capable hooves of Card Shark, and stepped out of the lab to find Prism waiting for her several paces away and lost in thought.

Twilight let the door close silently behind her and stepped forward. The warning lights and klaxons had long since fallen silent, leaving dozens passersby in the hallway recovering from a mild state of panic. The passing scientists brightened considerably upon seeing Twilight was calm and as regal as ever.

Twilight eventually got done reassuring all of the passing staff, and reached her daughter’s little corner just over twenty minutes later. By then, Prism was yawning at the late hour. “Looks like Alf gave you some trouble in there.”

“Alf?” Twilight asked with a questioning half-grin. By now, the majority of the ponies around them were returning to work, giving them a measure of privacy.

“Alien Life Form,” Prism replied with a short chuckle. “Silver came up with it, and I thought it was cute.”

Despite it all, Twilight took the chance to laugh briefly. “I’m sure he won’t mind until we can get his real name.” Twilight’s personal display gave her a pop up, noting that Sawbones wanted to speak to her about the incident. I can get back to that in a bit.

“Say, um, momma,” Prism started with an effort to sound more confident. “I know what I want to do about the whole alicorn offer.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she quickly cast a privacy bubble around them to prevent eavesdropping. “Already? I expected you to take a week at least to think it over.”

Prism jumped into a hover so she could be eye level with Twilight. “Yeah well my training instructor in the Pathfinders taught me the… merit of quick thinking, trusting my gut. Plus I needed some advice from outside the family.”

Twilight’s blood ran cold with goosebumps prickling her skin. This was it. The moment she’d been purposely keeping out of her thoughts in fear of letting them eat away at her. In a way, she was glad for Prism’s quick decision, if only because Twilight would never escape the panic inducing suspense if she tried to get some sleep. Please don’t be another Gleaming Topaz.

Centering herself as if she were back on the throne dealing with another mundane court supplicant, Twilight kept a warm yet reserved face. “A wise action.”

“Thanks. So ahh.” Prism chided herself for hesitating when she had already made her choice. “I’ll do it. I’ll go full alicorn.”

A smile so broad and toothy it threatened to cleave Twilight’s mouth in two, leaving Prism a little disturbed. Twilight cheered and roped her daughter up into a crushing hug. Twilight started spinning around with Prism gasping for air. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeees!!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw a few flabbergasted staff staring at her with disbelief, but she ignored them all. Nothing else mattered but her gasping daughter. Gasping?

Twilight stopped spinning and let Prism go, allowing the young mare to collapse, and heave for breath on the floor. “S-sorry about that.” Twilight used her magic to get Prism back on her hooves
.
*Cough* “Can’t say, I didn’t expect that,” Prism teased between breaths. “So what do I have to do?”

Sawbones’ request for a call had changed to a text message on her display. That can wait just a bit longer. “First things first, Prizzy. You have to go down to the hydroponics bay. An acquaintance of mine, Apple Kuchen, is a master with earth pony magic. The sooner you unlock that part of yourself, the sooner I can help with your unicorn magic once your horn starts growing.”

“Okay, two things: why are you not teaching me earth magic, and how do you even know I’ll even get a horn naturally?”

Twilight held up a restraining hoof as a beacon appeared in her display. “Hold on tight, dear.”

Prism obeyed, allowing Twilight to teleport both of them into shuttle’s passenger bay. It was a cramped affair, barely large enough for five ponies. She stuck her head into the cockpit to find the pilot. “Take us to the hydroponics bay’s roof access.”

“Aye aye, princess.” Pilot banked the craft to the right, while Twilight claimed a seat next to Prism.

“To answer your first question, when I ascended, I got both my pegasi and earth magic all at once, so I never had to try and learn how to produce it, just use it. I’ve never had success with my previous daughters who were trying to create earth magic, so I’m trying something new by leaving you in the capable hooves of Apple Kuchen, our chief farmer.”

“What? So a more natural approach to teasing it out of me or something?”

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. “Precisely. Don’t worry though, I’ll be assisting you directly with unicorn magic.”

“You planned this whole thing out months ago didn’t you?” Prism deliberately broadsided Twilight with the accusation. Twilight remained passive to the ‘I got you” sneer Prism was giving her. “With Alf giving you so much trouble today, there’s no way you had time to arrange this.”

Twilight merely leaned against the side of the cabin and shrugged. “Come on, Prizzy, you should know me well enough by now that I always plan ahead. No matter what your decision was going to be.”

Prism was brought up short. “You even had a plan if I said no?”

Twilight’s expression fell, with her ears dropping slightly and and a wafer thin humorless smile crossed her muzzle. “I made the mistake of trying to control my daughters with Topaz, Fire Shrine, and a couple others. I like to think I plan around your choices now, rather than planning your choices for you. If you’re that put off by Apple Kuchen’s instruction, I can tutor you personally, or have somepony else do it.”

Ah crap, she’s got that neurotic face of failure again. Prism waved her forelegs placatingly. “No, no. Apple whoever is fine. I’m sorry, I guess I just buy into the hype about your string pulling and all that.”

That’s a bold faced lie. But I bring it on myself. Twilight acted as if she believed Prism and took a long deep breath. “It’s alright. You’re just too smart to fool, eh?”

“Ha! Darn right!” Prism lept at the chance to bring some jovality into the room. “I got too much of your brains to get tricked that easily.”

“And so you have,” Twilight said with a happy titter. A ping from the pilot and the gentle rock of the shuttle stopping told them both they had arrived. A loud clank heralded the left side of the cabin opening up to reveal an airlock into Hydroponics. “Don’t worry about Miss Apple Kuchen. From what I hear, she’s a kind teacher.”

Prism made her way into the airlock. “That’ll be a nice change of pace from Pathfinder Academy. See ya later, momma.”

“Later, sweetie, have fun!”

Twilight’s last two words sent a spike of purified two hundred proof terror down Prism’s spine. She barely looked at the receiving room to bang on the closed airlock. “Wait, wait a damn second, what did you do!?”

Prism banged on the door and tried to call Twilight on the radio, but her mother only responded with a goofy cartoon smiley face waving at her. “Achtung!” yelled a rough and steely feminine voice behind her.

Prism’s boot camp mindset lept to the forefront at the harsh tone, making her spin on her heels and snap a crisp salute. Her brain caught up before she announced her name, allowing her to remain silent. Standing before her in the cramped receiving room was a weathered earth mare of nothing but muscle, bone, and carried herself like a career drill sergeant. Her name ‘Apple Kuchen’ was stenciled on her crisp green uniform. Her fur was the color of wood were her close cropped pink mane screamed ‘I mean business’ to Prism. “So this is the prodigal daughter of our princess?” She spat on the ground.

Prism couldn’t help but imagine herself back in basic bootcamp with her old instructor baring down on her as Apple Kuchen marched in close to scrutinize Prism like she was a piece of meat. “Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!”

Apple Kuchen narrowed her eyes, searching for even the slightest iota of sass, and finding none. “So you’re capable of showing respect, eh? Let’s see how long that lasts.” Apple Kuchen pulled away a little while still remaining close enough to put the fear of Tartarus in Prism. “You’ve already gone through boot, Pathfinder, so I will be expecting you to hold up to the standards of your company.

“You listen and you listen good. The princess thinks you got the all mighty gift of earth magic swirling untapped within that featherweight body of yours. Personally though,” Apple looked down at Prism’s large alicorn wings and snorted dismissively. “I think that pegasus blood runs a bit too deep in you, so I expect you prove me wrong. Do you understand me, Pathfinder?!”

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!” Prism yelled back with returning determination. Unlike her first few months of training, Prism found a certain thrill in Apple Kuchen’s heavy handedness. The same thrill she felt in the later weeks of basic and Pathfinder field training.

“Good, we start immediately!” Apple turned to leave the room, her booming voice remained as stern as a mountain. “With me, Pathfinder. We’re going to try a little earth pony physical therapy. And no flying from here on out until I order otherwise. As far as you’re concerned those feather dusters don’t exist.” Apple led Prism onto a set of sturdy metal catwalks running along the ceiling for sprinkler maintenance. “Congratulations, you’re a bonafide earth pony until I say otherwise, or you quit and go crying home to your momma.”

Prism was so floored by the declaration she misstepped, causing a noticeable break in the normal cadence of her hoof-falls. Apple Kuchen spoke without turning around as she guided them to the elevator. “Speak up, Pathfinder.”

Glad I didn’t have to ask for permission. “Ma’am, wouldn’t it make more sense to let me keep using my pegasus magic? An alicorn is a balance of all three types after all.”

“Can’t exactly balance with something you don’t have now can you?” Apple Kuchen shot back as if it was a stupid question. “You might pull a miracle out of your back address and get that crown. Until then, your ass belongs me.”

“Yes ma’am!” Prism looked down at the dense canopy of multicolored crops below, ranging from predominantly green to various colors of fruits and vegetables. I really hope I’m not going to be stuck doing farmwork all the time though.

A few minutes earlier, Twilight hummed to herself after successfully passing Prism over to her new teacher. Should be old hat for her.. She allowed herself an evil cackle and flared her wings to get into a lighter mood to answer Sawbones’ text message.

“My eternal beauty, in light of your smashing success with our alien guest; I have a surprise waiting for you in your new house at eight tonight.

Love, Bones”

Twilight checked her clock to find it was twenty minutes until eight. She sat back in her seat and hummed with genuine curiosity. “Now what could he have planned so soon?

“Pilot, take me home. I always did prefer being early.”

Twilight’s house was the very first one in the center block of housing that reached ten columns wide and currently fifty rows deep. The next three rows were still under construction in various stages of completion. With dusk approaching, the shuttle came to a halt at one of the pony-sized entry points, just large enough for the craft to dock and allow Twilight to transfer inside the house’s small dome.

The squat two story house still somehow managed to have a warm atmosphere due to the soft purple paint with an egg-shell white tiled roof. Dim flickering light danced behind curtained windows. Twilight’s first thought was to call Sawbones, but she stopped herself just short of doing so.

No. Let’s see what kind of surprise he has for me.

Twilight’s heart started to beat faster with suspense. This was the first time she had lived in a non-castle since her ascendancy to alicorn. He probably rushed together a bouquet and a quick-fix meal. Some bits of romance and maybe a little fun.

Ultimately it was the thought that mattered most to Twilight, not how many times she’d been wooed by the same tactics. The moment you let things go stale, is the moment the joy of love and life fade away.

Twilight checked her clock to find she was ten minutes early. Good enough.

Cantering over with a spring in her step, Twilight opened her front door to find the short entry hall dimly lit by artificial candles and rose petals trailed back towards the dining room. Soft music played while the tantalizing aroma of dinner wafted across her nose. Okay, there is no way he did all this in less than an hour.

Deciding to play her role of surprised mare, Twilight followed the trail of petals, telekinetically picking them up and popping each one in her mouth as she went. She barely ate half a rose’s worth of petals before poking her head into the dining room to find Sawbones hastily trying to put two covered dishes on the cramped dining table. “Hello, Sawbones.”

Twilight saw the jump of surprise in his step, but he smoothly corrected it, and finished telekinetically depositing the two silver covered plates on the candlelit table. He turned and bowed deeply with a flourish of his left foreleg and a spark of teal magic from his horn. “Ah, my lovely princess. You caught me in the act.” He looked up at her and gave a sly wink. “I didn’t have time to get your drink ready.”

“I’ll let it slide,” she replied teasingly as she slipped inside the dining room. Aside from the harsh white kitchen light, everything was decorated by the flickering soft yellow candlelight. The table had a white cloth it didn’t possess this morning, and there was a spread of fine cutlery arrayed before her. Yet what surprised her was the ketchup and mustard bottles that looked more fitting for a grubby diner than a romantic evening.

She took her seat, giving Sawbones time to race back into the kitchen for the drinks. “I’m afraid as much as I could use a celebratory glass of ‘45 La Prance, I’ll have to stick to non-alcohol.”

“I fully agree,” he called out from the kitchen. The rattle of a few crystal glasses and the refrigerator closing heralded Sawbones’ return with two wine glasses filled with dark bubbly drinks and a large plastic soda bottle poorly hidden behind him. “And as such, I had to choose which dish would best celebrate your skillful negotiating skills with our alien friend.”

Twilight’s belly rumbled at the mystery meal behind the silvery dome. The smell was familiar, but it wasn’t distinct enough to identify it. “So tell me, did you really rush all this out in an hour, or were you just expecting me to succeed?”

Sawbones chuckled at himself and rolled the chilled soda around in his glass. “Truth be told, I was planning on this being a complete surprise, but I figured Voyager might have told you I snuck in, so I used your skillful use of foreign policy as a cover story.”

Strange. The AI should have told me since I hadn’t labeled Sawbones as a free access user to my house. She filtered the alerts she had gotten over the day and found that the AI had actually given her the warning, but it had been lost in the warning alarms when the alien shorted out part of the lab. Looks like I got too distracted.

Filing away the issue for later correction, Twilight hummed aloud. “Well, well... either way, I’m impressed so far. So,” Twilight began while looking at her dish cover. It mocked her with the promise of food that she and her unborn child were practically drooling for. “What sort of fine dining are we having this time?”

Sawbones adopted a flowery, haughty tone that tactfully mocked the arrogance of the old Canterlot aristocracy. “Only the absolute finest meal, found only in the most exclusive VIP restaurants known to ponikind.” He wrapped his teal magic around the handles on both of their dish covers. “I had to call in a few favors, make a few concessions, but I got the recipe for the culinary masterpiece of the last age.”

He pulled the covers off, allowing a cloud of steam to obscure the meal for a final second. “I give you, the Burger Princess Hayburger™!”

Twilight gasped in pure delight and gluttony at the sight of six hayburgers arrayed before her. With the cover gone, she could smell the tangy pickles, zesty onions, perfectly crisped hay, all of it fresh off the farm. Even the buns themselves looked like they had been taken straight out of the old commercials it had that perfect golden toast color.

Sawbones grinned in victory at the stunned princess drooling over the greasy, messy burgers before her brain kicked back on. Burger, now! In a flash of movement, the first burger was loaded to the brim with katsup. With a half-manic look in her eyes, Twilight mauled the first hayburger in half, and moaned in culinary delight with katsup already pooling around the corners of her mouth.

Great success! Sawbones cheered to himself as he began eating his meal in a much slower manner.

Twilight Sparkle gorged herself on the helpless burgers like a wild child. Bits of fried hay and pickle threatened to fly away from her voracious eating, only to have it snatched back with her magic, and into her waiting maw. Despite all the historical records and even a few paparazzi video recordings, nothing had prepared a dumbstruck Sawbones by the sight of the culinary assault. His first burger remained barely touched in his magic as he watched wide eyed at a side of Twilight he had up until now, denied could have existed.

All six of her hay burgers were simply gone. No crumbs, not even stray streaks of Katsup remained to tell the tale. “You going to eat those?” The question snapped Sawbones out of his stupor to follow Twilight’s gaze down to his two burgers.

“Ah. No, you go ahead. I have more waiting in the kitchen.”

With the beast mostly sated, Twilight was able to be much more tactful in telekinetically snatching Sawbones’ two grease bombs. Her logic and sense of modesty came screaming back along with her cheeks burning red. “I-I’m so sorry.” She covered her mouth with her hooves, and became painfully aware of the gobs of katsup that now smeared the back of her hooves. “I usually don’t do that over hay burgers, or anything.”

Sawbones started chuckling, softly at first, before progressing into a jovial deep belly laugh. Twilight was caught between pouting at his laughter, and relief that he wasn’t thinking she was going crazy. Or maybe he doesn’t mind a little crazy. L-let’s hope for the latter.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Sawbones’ giggling died down enough for him to speak. “How about we chalk that up to pregnancy hunger getting the better of you.”

Despite it all, Twilight grinned sheepishly behind her hooves, and let them down. “You won’t hear me arguing with that medical diagnosis.” Falling back into culinary delight, Twilight wiped her mouth with one of Sawbones’ burgers and continued to eat with relatively more grace.

“Oh by the by.” Sawbones’ magic lit up and a small rectangular wrapped gift floated over from a nearby table to come to a stop next to Twilight. “I got you something.”

The magical aura around the gift shifted from teal or purple as Twilight cooed in anticipation. It didn’t take a 400+ year old genius to know it was a book. He probably researched my favorite genre too. “Ahh. A science journal, I presume?”

Sawbones simply gestured with a hoof for her to open it. Needing no further prodding, Twilight tore away the wrapping to reveal a book titled ‘The Wandering Changeling’.

“Mmm, not quite. What you have there is the very first novel to be written and published entirely on our new homeworld. I wasn’t sure if you’d prefer digital or paper copies, so I got you both.”

Twilight saw her display pop up with the e-book added to her personal library. That was it. Sawbones had performed the last bit on Twilight’s private checklist. Oh yeah, he’s a keeper. His secret trial period over, Twilight gave a sly grin while using a napkin to finish cleaning her mouth. She took the new book and waved it around a little as she sauntered over to Sawbones.

“You know what I’ve always found fun?”

Sawbones cracked a wry grin and arched an eyebrow at Twilight’s breathy tone. “Many things, I trust.”

Twilight gently pressed the book on Sawbones’ chest. “Me, being the lonely librarian, and a certain special somepony being the naughty patron trying to return an overdue book.”

Sawbones caught on quick as a flash and adopted a worried look. He took the book back into his magic and made a show of patting himself down, checking for saddlebags that weren’t there. “Heavens, I seemed to have forgotten my wallet. I don’t have any bits to pay the late fee.”

Cliche be damned, Twilight knew what she wanted. With a sultry grin, Twilight ran the edge of her hoof along Sawbones’ jawline, and peered longingly into his warm teal eyes. “Well then, I guess some other form of payment will have to do.”

11: Alf

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Prism Flash had one foreleg over Apple Kuchen’s shoulders as she was assisted into sickbay. The young pegasus was gulping breath as her heart hammered in her chest, causing the craggy older mare to snort derisively at her. Yet any sort of pep talk was cut short by the sight of a dozen wounded soldiers and a plethora of beeping vital monitors.

The well-lit state of sickbay allowed Apple Kuchen to see that whatever the emergency situation had been, it had passed. With the exception of two nurses keeping a close eye on the worst cases, Sawbones, four other doctors, and the rest of the on-duty nursing staff were catching their breaths, either by leaning on the walls, or sitting down in chairs.

None of them had been given enough time to remove their bloodied surgical clothing, but at least a janitor was already cleaning up the floors.

Apple Kuchen found an empty patient table nearby and slowly tugged Prism Flash along towards it.

As for Prism herself, she gave no resistance, and simply checked the room hoping to find no body bags. Fortunately for her mood, it appeared all of the soldiers here would survive. That or the dead never made it here.

Prism didn’t have much time to dwell on that thought before Kuchen unceremoniously dumped Prism onto the hospital bed. “I tell you this, mädchen, I like your spirit, but killing yourself isn’t going to help.”

“It might,” Prism hissed as a stabbing pain shot through her chest. “If this works.”

Given the recent emergency treatments, Sawbones would have left a nurse to assess the new walk in, but all of them were just as fatigued as he was. So he opted to summon the last dregs of his energy and trudged over to Prism’s bed. “Please state the nature of your medical emergency.”

“Herr doktor, Prism requires an infusion of earth magic. Sooner rather than later.”

Sawbones gave a blank blink at the request, but recovered quickly enough. Twilight had not exactly made Prism’s current efforts to become a full alicorn public knowledge, but over the last six weeks, Sawbones had been informed fairly early on. While questions popped up in his mind, Sawbones’ professionalism prompted him to move for a bottle of ether stored in the kit behind Prism’s bed. “Mana Exhaustion again? You know there’s ether available at nearly every first aid kit across the colony right?”

Apple Kuchen placed a restraining, yet gentle hoof on the small hatch to the medicine cabinet. “Not ether, doktor. A straight infusion.”

Sawbones restrained himself enough to keep from groaning aloud. “You do realize that procedure is only used on unicorns with a nonfunctional carbuncle right? Besides,” he lowered his voice to an almost conspiratorial whisper. “I thought you were supposed to create your own earth magic.”

Prism gave him a smirk that ended in her doubling over in pain. “Yeah well, that, that wasn’t quite working. So I got an idea-”

“You can tell me afterwards,” Sawbones interjected as he lit his horn. The ceiling above Prism’s bed opened up to reveal a dense collection of different machines hidden in the ceiling. One piece in particular glided down silently, with the ceiling panels closing back up, save for a notch to keep from hitting the extending machine. “Right now, let’s make sure you don’t suffer any permanent damage.” He turned to Kuchen. “Am I to assume you’ll be the donor?”

“Affirmative. Just tell me vhat to do, doktor.”

“Just stand still, and try not to move.” The machine above was a gaunt-looking thing with clear, brilliantly cut crystals mounted on two spindly arms. A small steel-grey base acted as the housing for the mount. Under Sawbones’ command, one crystal made its way towards Kuchen with the other poking Prism in the ribs after she was directed to lay on her back.

Kuchen’s mana was siphoned out of her, processed in the machine's mounting into a more pure form of earth magic to eliminate the risk of rejection, and then funneled into Prism. It felt to Prism as if she took a long drink of cold water on a sweltering day.

Sawbones closely monitored Prism’s vitals until he was comfortable enough to turn the machine off. “There, that should do it.”

As with most earth ponies, Kuchen barely felt the effects of a quarter of her mana being drained away, and simply waited for Sawbones to dismiss them. Prism practically jumped off the bed, feeling reenergized. “Wow that is some strong stuff.”

Sawbones kept an interested eye on the vital readings. Prism’s decidedly un-earth-like body was accepting the mana readily, far more than any pegasus should. “Now, you two mind telling me what this plan of yours was before I give a medical order to halt said plan?”

“It is nothing malicious herr doktor. We vanted to test a new approach to awakening Flash’s assumed capability to produce earth magic.”

Prism rolled the stiffness out of a shoulder. “It’s gotta work compared to everything else so far.” She felt a number of pops come out from her joints, and sighed in sudden relief at each one. A long inquizitive frown from Sawbones made Prism elaborate. “Well farming wasn’t working-”

“It vould if you had the patience,” Apple Kuchen snapped with little actual irritation. “This one thinks she can grow food as fast as any earth pony without our magic. Turns out, she found a plant that liked alicorn magic a little too much.”

Prism cringed all the same, letting her ears droop. The fur on the back of Sawbones’ neck stood up. “I hesitate to ask.”

“It’d be best if you didn’t. She won’t let me back into hydroponics.” Prism shook off the unseen oppressive glare from Apple Kuchen with visible effort. “So I tried turning my dorm into a miniature forest and all that did was piss off the maintenance crew, and then-”

Sawbones silently listened to Prism regale him with her misadventures with plants, soil, pranks, and counter pranks, something Sawbones found irrelevant. But through it all, there was one thing Sawbones picked up on most: the total lack of identifiable success. The medical scanner pinged aloud, prompting Sawbones to open the wall panel to peruse, gesturing Prism to continue speaking as he did. What he found got an inquisitive hum out of him. Prism caught it and fell silent, giving Sawbones the perfect opportunity to speak his mind. “The pretreatment readings indicate you already had trace amounts of earth magic within you, nowhere near enough to have an effect sadly. Are you sure this is your first infusion?”

Prism’s initial excitement was dashed by his downplay of her magic. “It is. Just how small we talking here?”

Sawbones closed the panel and fixed her with a sympathetic half-frown. “An infant earth pony with a defective carbuncle makes more than you at present.”

“Ouch doc, your bedside manner is world class,” Prism fell on her back in a huff. At least it’s working a little bit.

Apple Kuchen came to the same conclusion. “That just means we’re going to be working together for a lot longer, Pathfinder. I hope you liked forest training, ‘cause that’s what we’re going to turn your dorm into.” Prism froze in utter terror at her one sanctuary being threatened.

“If you ask me,” he interjected before either mare could act further. “I think that time will be your biggest ally in this.”

Prism and Kuchen gave each other a puzzled look before turning to Sawbones. “At this point, doc, I’ll take whatever advice you got.”

“Very well.” Sawbones took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Granted, there’s not a lot of data regarding this, but if you put the facts together: sudden onset of unicorn magic, your body struggling to adapt to it, and the slow build up of earth magic. I’d wager you might be going through a sort of second puberty.”

“Please don’t tell me that, doc, I barely made it through my first one.” Prism shuddered at the memories of her first few estrous cycles, among other things.

Kuchen actually allowed some sympathy to break through her perpetual drill sergeant facade. That fell away quickly though. “Stop vhining about getting eternal youth already.” The craggy older mare mulled over Sawbones’ theory for a bit before addressing him. “I’ll be frank, doktor, our attempts on physical therapy for her has apparently met with miserable success. Even a crippled earth pony would be showing more earth mana by now.”

Prism scowled at her, but was quick to let it go when Kuchen shot a look at her. Not my fault. I’ve done everything you asked, you old bat.

Kuchen continued speaking without missing a beat. “I will consider your theory.”

“Happy to help,” Sawbones said tiredly. He turned away from the mares upon hearing a four chimed alert. “I’d love to give some more advice, but I’m going to have to ask you to clear out. We’ve got another group of wounded coming in and I’m going to need that bed. Apparently the Fifty Second got hit hard while trying to clean out a nest of giant wasps.”

“We’ll be on our way, doktor.” Kuchen started marching for the door with Prism quickly falling in line. The pair made it out into the hallway in time to see a medical shuttle moving towards the nearby docking port. She stepped off to the side to allow the paramedics plenty of room to move before addressing Prism. “Pathfinder, ultimately our task together is to awaken earth magic with you. If the doktor is right about this whole puberty thing, our training together will ultimately be a wasted effort since our time could be spent elsewhere.”

“For the good of the colony,” Prism said, mimicking Kuchen’s unsaid feelings.

“Precisely. Since we’ve been at this for six weeks, I want to suspend our efforts for an equal length of time. At the end of said time, we will reassess your magic and plan from there.”

Prism stood at attention. “I’ll tell mother about the new plan.”

“Good. Should our work together not be needed, I must say, Pathfinder, you’re sloppy, but determined to succeed. Don’t lose that.”

Prism snapped a crisp salute. “Yes, Ma’am.” I won’t lose being sloppy, she mused with a mental cackle. “I want to thank you for everything.” Kuchen arched a surprised eyebrow at her. “Doing all this extra stuff with me probably stopped you from doing more important things.”

“The only important thing I’ve ever done is serving the will of the princesses.” Although Kuchen’s voice was level, Prism could hear the condescending in her tone. “Doing Twilight’s will is important.” Prism wilted a little under the rebuff. “Should you ascend to her level, you would do well to remember that will be the same for you.”

“May I speak freely, ma’am?” Prism hazarded cautiously. Kuchen nodded curtly. “Assuming I get my horn, could you ever see yourself giving me the same weight you give mom?”

“If there’s one thing I like about you, Pathfinder, it is that you have a penchant for good questions.” Kuchen eventually shook her head. “Probably not, Pathfinder, but you get the unique opportunity to see that respect come to be in future generations. They will be the ones who put you in the same league as Twilight herself. Provided you show us all that you’re worth such reverence.” Kuchen closed in on Prism’s face.

Prism drew upon the conviction she felt every time she considered Twilight’s advice and Firefly’s speech at the beach. She fixed Kuchen with a determined smirk and ‘thumbed’ her snout. “You really think it would take me that long?! You watch me!”

With an approving nod, Apple Kuchen turned to leave. “I will, Pathfinder, you can be assured of that.” With nothing else to say, she departed counterclockwise through the ring.

Prism shot into the air in the opposite direction. She barely cleared the racing medics before a sharp cramp stabbed her in the right wing, making her crash in front of several onlookers. Her surging good mood fell as flat as she did on the floor. Right, rest period sounds like a swell idea after all. I really hope Kuchen didn’t see that.

Burning red from embarrassment, Prism made some half baked excuses for her crash, and slipped past the growing crowd who were too preoccupied by the emergency to react to her crash. Maybe I can reserve a spot in that new spa before I get a new assignment. I think I need it after not flying for this long.

After clearing the crowd, Prism fell into a brisk trot towards the elevator, threading through more ponies all the while. She pinged Praxia for a phone call. ~“Hey, lovepire, you busy?”~

Praxia’s holographic face materialized just slightly to the right of Prism’s field of vision with disgust clearly evident. ~“You know I hate that nickname.”~

~“Why do you think I use it?”~ Prism replied with a snarky grin. ~“Anyway, is it true they finally got a translation working for our alien buddy?”~

Praxia was used to Prism’s ‘on a dime’ topic switches, and easily moved on. ~“Voyager completed it last night. Did you want to regale him with your epic yarn of a life?”~

Prism made it into the elevator with a few other ponies, each of them having separate conversations of their own. ~“I might have to wait for mom to finish. Did she speak with him yet?”~

~“She should be starting soon. She’ll be posting the whole thing after it’s over. For posterity and all that.”~

With the boost of magic infusion starting to ebb away, Prism felt a wave of fatigue hit her full force. She yawned noisily before replying. ~“I think I’ll catch the replay then. By the by, did you do that thing I asked?”~

Praxia’s face soured into a deep scowl. ~“I don’t have time for your childish prank war, so no I didn’t.”~

~“Are you calling Celestia and Luna childish? They prank all the time.”~ Prism countered with a sly sneer. ~“I might need to tell momma what you think of her mentor.”~

The color drained from Praxia’s face. ~“You wouldn’t!”~ Prism’s sneer only deepened. ~“You would.”~ Praxia growled and stomped the floor. ~“Fine, but if Firefly ever asks, you did it.”~

Prism’s sneer vanished into a friendly grin. ~“Awesome. See ya soon.”~

Twilight Sparkle walked the expanded halls of the science park that housed Alf. Since the vast majority of the colony’s current buildings had been designed chiefly on Equis, the facility had only required minor terrain modification before being expanded. As such, the trip between the relocated rover hub to Alf’s location took quite a bit longer. Not that Twilight minded as it gave her more time to speak with Spike who was walking beside her.

“Are you sure the beetles were acting in defense of the wasps?”

Spike’s posture was tense, far too much for Twilight’s comfort. The situation wasn’t helped by the large gash in his right arm. The dressing had a long bloodstain on it, but he had yet to voice a complaint about it. “Completely. We ambushed the majority of the wasps and cleaned up the stragglers with only a few lost Firelancers. My colts were placing the demo charges when a whole swarm of beetles came down on us. I’d think it was just an attack of opportunity if more wasps hadn’t surged out from deeper in the nest at the same time.

“I swear we only got out of there ‘cause the bots went out of their way to sacrifice themselves to buy us time.”

Twilight had the numbers report on her personal display, listing numerous injuries, but thankfully no fatalities. The same could not be said for the new pony-shaped and sized combat robots called Firelancers thanks to the primary weapon. The deployed platoon of bots once numbered eighty strong, but had suffered total losses. “The bots can always be rebuilt. All things considered, I’ll need you to adjust our doctrine to adapt to this development. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen some of the more dangerous fauna teaming up on us.”

“It was nothing this blatant before, but I agree.” Spike stopped before entering the biolab leading into Alf’s room. “I better get to it, good luck with our friend in there.”

With a simple command via her horn-circlet, the door whisked open. “Hopefully I won’t need it, but thanks, Spike.”

Twilight stepped inside the now familiar observation lab where Card Shark’s team was doing some final tests on the translation AI. Alf’s room had changed much to resemble a more livable domicile, complete with more furniture, a bed, the works. In addition, there were several dozen clay models of various ships, each of them had sharp angles and looked to be built for intimidation. All of which had been closely scanned and studied by Twilight Sparkle. Getting clothes for him initially proved to be a challenge since there were only a few tailors in the colony, but now he had a plethora of jumpsuits in various solid colors. Presently, the alien was standing as he observed some ancient history reports now that the updated AI was giving him a much smoother translation. Such work was normally left to the single pair of linguists the colony had, but they were currently off the clock.

“Gentlecolts, is it time?”

Card Shark pulled himself away from a small hologram of Rosetta Stone, and bowed towards Twilight. “As well as it can be, your highness.”

“Excellent, you have my tea ready?”

“Mare grey, as requested,” Card Shark replied as he waved a hoof towards a platter holding a teapot and two cups.

“Perfect, hopefully we can establish a positive dialogue from here on out.” Without any voiced objections, Twilight teleported to her usual spot at the center of Alf’s room.

Upon hearing the teleport, Alf turned to see who it was, and upon seeing it was Twilight, dropped to one knee with both left fists on the ground. As he spoke, his native tongue was heavily muted by the AI who superimposed the translated version over him. The same would be done when Twilight spoke. “Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle. I fear I have not been giving you the respect demanded by a goddess.”

For the life of her, Twilight was taken aback by the new behavior, but she smoothly adopted a professional yet friendly tone. “You need not bow to me, Alf, I am not your goddess.”

With almost mechanical movement, Alf stood back up, but refused to look her in the eye. “Perhaps, but as long as I am in your domain, I must give you due reverence.”

Twilight grumbled quietly at the display. Although she tolerated the whole goddess bit, Twilight was not so old as to forget her mortal origins. Instead of correcting him further, she opted to glance at what he had been watching. A documentary about the era when Celestia and Luna first appeared. No wonder he’s like this. I need to nip this in the bud.

“If that is your wish, I won’t stop you. I will say however, that in our modern society, ponies are pretty lax on our definition of a god, and take a laissez-faire approach to alicorns…” It was in that moment, Twilight realized it was an idiom. “That is to say, ponies ultimately worship us however they wish.” The casual tone and the words themselves made Alf look at her in utter shock. She took it as an opportunity to ‘go for the throat’. “Typically they give a brief bow, maybe necklace of my cutie mark, and curse in my name every now and again.”

Alf stood there utterly stupefied by it all, yet he did manage to find his voice again. “If only my people had been so lucky. My gods were not so forgiving.”

Were? Over the past six weeks, Twilight would like to think she could be sure it was a deep sorrow that now fell over Alf after watching his body language for so long. His posture did not change, but the small narrowing in his eyes left her little doubt. “We can speak more on it later if that is better. Now that we can speak clearly, I would like to finally get your real name.”

Alf was slow to respond. He looked up to the massive skylight to see the peak of Seed One in the distance. Aside from the clouds and the occasional aircraft, the skies were clear. “My old name no longer has any meaning. You called me… Alf was it? Is there a meaning behind it?”

Twilight was instantly grateful that her fur partially masked her reddening cheeks, but she managed to keep from turning away out of embarrassment. “Well, you see, it’s - ah - an acronym for Alien Life Form.”

Alf gave a quick humorless chuckle as he returned his gaze towards her. “How fitting. That name will do, should you allow it, Colonial Princess.”

“If that’s what you want,” Twilight said at length with her embarrassment ebbing away. “Can you at least tell me why your old name holds no meaning for you?”

Alf’s depressed face sunk ever deeper, with his arms going slack. “I am all that’s left of my people. In our society, names define where we stand amongst others. Since I stand among you, Alien Life Form is perhaps the best name for me.”

Twilight’s heart went out to him, as she searched for something of comfort to say. “Surely there’s something left of your civilization. I assume your kind were spread across many stars and planets.”

Alf stared at the ground for the longest time, giving Twilight time to recall the weeks' worth of time Alf had spent in silent meditation. He had gone so far as to smash the Rosetta Stone’s emitter a few times to get some peace before Card Shark had taken the hint.

“We did, once. But because I was found by you, and not my own people, I know now that I am all that is left.” He stamped a foot. “This world was meant to be the Eighth Sanctuary, but your images of it’s surface, and very presence proves we failed.”

If Alf had been a pony, Twilight would have had a better idea how to broach her next question, but Alf was anything but a pony. So she opted to summon her tea platter. The aroma pulled Alf out of his introspective funk. While no change in his morose expression occurred, he readily accepted the cup as it floated over to him. He downed the whole drink in one go, and exhaled heavily as he felt the steaming hot beverage burn his throat. “We were already on our final strength when my brethren made our attack. Seeing how you are the only source of civilization on this world, Balgrath’s Judgement came to pass.”

Twilight sipped at her tea, and took the opportunity to telekinetically drag a chair over for her to sit. Pressing for answers on his people the wrong way could damage things. The last thing I need is him thinking this is an interrogation. Especially after subjecting him to the Rosetta Stone for so long. Even with that in mind, Twilight’s inner diplomat couldn’t compete with her need to protect her subjects. “Is this Judgement a threat to my people?”

Alf gave her a dumbstruck blank face and blinked for a few moments. It wasn’t very long before deep chuckling erupted from him, and quickly progressed to outright laughter to the point where he had to put the cup down. Confusion was written on Twilight's face as Alf kept looking between her and the spire of Seed One. “In all likelihood, Colonial Princess, you are the Judgement.”

“Okay, you’re going to have to explain that one to me,” Twilight said with compounding confusion.

Alf’s laughter died down with a sudden surge of self-control bringing him back to a dour mood. “Forgive me. I speak with no evidence.”

Twilight calmed down as well, and poured a second cup for both of them. “Humor me,” she inwardly grumbled at her constant use of figures of speech that she wasn’t sure were translated well. “I’d like to know why you think that, with some context if you will.”

Alf collected his thoughts, and rocked on his feet. “To put a hundred years into a few words. I will do what I can.

“My people, the Tel’la’dari, were alone in the vast black for much of our history. As we spread from the world of our birth, we were eager to find new races that would bear the mark of the gods.” Alf too seemed to realize he was not speaking plainly. “Those who can be called sapient, I believe your Cogitator Ghost called it.

“But my people did not venture far into unknown black without care, so it took us many generations to come across the first Balgrath, or Second Blessed.

“I was brought into the black during those times, so I was too young to pay much attention to the news back then, and even after that, my parental units instilled in me a… strong distrust for the news.”

Twilight allowed a light titter to escape. “I believe that is something I can understand. There were plenty of times when the media spouted nothing but propaganda and spin.”

It took Alf a few moments to make sure she wasn’t mocking him, and continued with an even tone. “You speak as if you disapprove, and yet you are the leader of your people.”

Twilight’s casual tone shifted to her stony regal voice, the same one she always used during rough diplomatic meetings. “I lead this colony. I was never a supreme ruler until recently.”

Alf sweated a bit and gave a quick deep bow. “Forgive my ignorance, Colonial Princess.”

Still in diplomat mode, Twilight let her posture relax and spoke before taking a sip of tea. “No offense was taken. Please, continue.”

Alf ended his bow, and only now took his seat. “I was a shipwright on the day when the gods were insulted for the final time by the Balgrath. If you heard the news speak, the Balgrath profaned us constantly, defiled temples, pillaged sacred artifacts, and even went as far as to destroy the Chalice of Tal Rasha. I had never seen a Balgrath up close, so I cannot speak with certainty if they were truly guilty.

“Lies or truths, we went to war with the Balgrath. Our warriors cried for justice, our leaders for retribution, and the Supreme Seer only encouraged our soldiers into justified slaughter. In the end, the Balgrath were dead, to the last.”

Twilight felt as if her heart had been struck by an arrow. Her teacup rattled noisily as she tried to put it down as emotion swept over her . Alf noticed her reaction instantly, wilting heavily with fresh guilt. To her credit, Twilight recovered within moderately short order. “I should tell you now, Alf, do not bring this particular matter up with my subjects for some time. We’ve been the target of such speciocide twice now, with one in living memory.”

“As you wish, Colonial Princess.” Alf gave her a self-deprecating deep frown. “If it puts your morals to rest, the gods saw fit to punish us for this crime. Fittingly, our own Ones of the Cloth were the Balgrath gods’ instrument.”

Alf quieted to find the proper words for the next part of his confession, but never had a chance to voice them when the room’s speakers started hissing with loud static. Several alerts popped up on Twilight’s personal display, along with Praxia, Spike, and Card Shark pinging her for a call within seconds. She opened all three at once with stony concern coloring her voice. “What’s going on with the system?”

By now, Alf had completely forgotten the conversation to cover his ears from the painful static. His teacup laid broken on the floor. He closely studied Twilight as it was the first time he saw borderline real anger on her face.

Although both Praxia and Spike’s avatars were speaking, the static was only getting worse, and completely drowned out their voices. Twilight was about to teleport out and personally find out what was happening when the static ended with a snap.

The ensuing silence lasted just barely long enough for Twilight to realize it when music started playing over the room’s speakers.

The deep drums and choir set Twilight instantly on edge as it brought back dark memories of years prior. When the false crowd started cheering, she addressed Alf with stony resolve he’d never seen from her before. “I know who this is, stay here.”

Without waiting for acknowledgement, she teleported back into the observation lab. As she feared, the music was playing here as well, sending the scientists into a tizzy. Card Shark practically leapt in front of her and prostrated himself. “Your highness, I don’t know what’s going on, we di—”

Twilight telekinetically lifted the biologist back onto his hooves, not wanting to wait for him to do it himself. “I know you didn’t do this. Just stay here for Alf, I have to get to the CC.”

Card Shark dumbly watched her leave in something just short of a gallop. Twilight raced her way to the rover hub since calling Voyager for a teleport beacon was presently not an option.

Most ponies were quick to move out of her way, and she simply teleported past the ones that weren’t. The lights aren’t flickering, so the attack isn’t meant to cripple us. Are they going for our records? Survey data most likely.

With the attack going on, the rover terminal was on lockdown, leaving Twilight her pick of vehicle. Here too, the music was playing uninterrupted, and most annoying to Twilight, even passed into the rover she commandeered. Her personal ID cleared her from lockdown, allowing her to leave. Authentication is still working. Is the attack only aimed at audio?

Twilight barely left the science park when the music was sharply cut off. Voyager’s featureless head manifested in Twilight’s display, and she assumed for every other pony as well. “Intrusion countermeasures successful. I have reasserted full control of all systems.”

Twilight slouched in her chair, but only for a moment. “Voyager, assess the damage, what happened?”

“The attack came from an outside source beyond the orbit of the two moons. All sensitive information remains secure, only the PA system and verbal communications were hijacked.” The AI paused, tilting its head for a moment. “There is an incoming hail from the attack’s source, for you by name.”

Twilight had to forcibly remove the snarl that threatened to break out. Instead she took a long moment to center herself by breathing slowly and closing her eyes. Not that she would answer the hail right away, anyway. Posturing had its place after all. She stopped the rover and smoothed out any out of place fur on her face and opened her now calm regal eyes. “Open the channel.”

The entire front of her personal display was taken up by the view of a white feathered griffin sitting with his claws steepled and his piercing gaze perched just behind them. He wore a white naval uniform with some modest gold trims and rank insignias. Upon his brow was a flat topped officer’s hat with four old style naval guns in a fan-like formation indicating his rank of High Admiral.

Thanks to the moderately wide angle, Twilight could see an honor guard of four armored griffins arrayed behind his throne of a chair. “Princess Twilight Sparkle. It took you over three minutes to silence our anthem. Don’t tell me your security’s gotten lax with all this time by yourselves.”

Just off to the side of the admiral’s picture, a small window of a video feed showed Twilight a massive seed ship come out of silent running as its energy signature climbed far above the universal background. “Not at all, High Admiral Thorn. I thought we might start off on the right hoof by giving your anthem a respectable amount of time to play given how long the Equestrian anthem played over your lands.”

A soft dignified chuckle echoed over the room from Thorn. “Oh, how much I have missed our banter.”

12: A Thorn in Her Side

View Online

Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle sat leisurely in her rover’s seat, but kept a stern face as she studied Admiral Thorn. He in turn scrutinized her while keeping his rocky exterior. The four flanking griffons did little to soften his image.

“So tell me, Admiral,” Twilight said with an irritated edge. “What’s the real reason you attacked our comms.”

Thorn at last pulled back into a more comfortable sitting posture, allowing a small dignified half-chuckle to escape. With a wave of his talons he shooed the honor guard off camera before staring at her from over his steepled talons. “A number of reasons really. As I’m sure your AI has informed you, we stole your survey data of the planet. No offense, Colonial Princess, but I can’t trust you to hand it over undoctored if we had just asked.”

“Can’t say I’d trust you either if things were reversed,” Twilight replied curtly, inwardly growling at how he found out about her new title, accepted or not.

“See this is why I like you above the other princesses,” Thorn replied with a casual wave of a talon. “You are far more logical than the others. A real Doctor Watson to your counterpart’s Holmes.” He paused a moment as a wine glass placed in his other hand by a servant who left the camera as quickly as she entered.

Twilight arched a sarcastic eyebrow. Thorn would never drink, especially during business. Is he doing it to throw me off, or is it just nonalcoholic?

Thorn spoke without taking a sip first. “I wish to play a game with you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. With you and your colony.”

Concern roared to the front of Twilight’s mind, making her start to sweat. It didn’t take much, just a cooling spell to keep it from showing, but Twilight fumed that she needed it at all. “I thought we played enough of those during the war.”

He briefly laughed warmly. “That we did… That we did.” The briefest flash of a regretful frown passed over him before he smoothly shifted it back into a sly and subtle grin. Thorn took a long drag from the wine and took a moment to simply savor it. “As you should already be aware of, Colonial Princess, I subscribe to the idea that a people thrive on adversity and conflict, the latter to a lesser extent. And I know that behind that diplomatic veneer you put on, you believe it too.”

“Conflict is the reason our world died,” Twilight huffed dismissively, assuming the journey to the new world had taken long enough for the home star to die.

“Funny,” Thorn reply snidely, “I thought it died because of a certain pony got a little miffed you wouldn't make her an alicorn.” Twilight’s breath hitched from a surge of heartache and the scathing insult. “Then decided to punish us all when she couldn't do it without your help.”

“I’m not the only one who failed as a parent, Thorn, or do I need to bring up the one griffon who just so happened to be reviled enough to cause the minotaurs to sign a ceasefire with Equestria so we could both focus on you?” Twilight’s already hard expression became even more stony. Bringing up such dark moments in both her and Thorn’s past left a bad taste in her mouth.

“Come now, Colonial Princess,” Thorn replied with only the slightest bit of humor lost, “what is a massacred village to the destruction of an entire star system?”

Ignoring the question entirely, Twilight recovered her composure to speak with the soft steel of a diplomat. “You and I both know we cannot sustain old hostilities anymore. It would be the last nail in our coffins.”

He nodded slowly and sipped his wine again. “I fully agree,” Thorn stated with a brief lapse into sorrow. “Which is why I had Grunhilda… removed as the original leader for this Seed Ship. I know what you feel, to an extent, and I am fully willing to let… how do you ponies say it? Let bygones be bygones.”

“How thoughtful of you,” Twilight replied with more sarcasm than she wanted to. I hate to say it, but Thorn’s a better choice than that old war hawk.

Thorn placed his wine on his throne’s armrest and spread his forelegs wide in a welcoming gesture, matching Twilight’s sarcasm with his own. “I’m sure the history books will remember me as both commander and peacemaker.” Twilight hid a groan while Thorn dropped his hands and reacquired his wine. “And in the spirit of such renewed good relations, I propose we restart the Olympic tradition, with one personal addition.”

“The Olympics?” Twilight said with only a hint of the surprise she managed to mask. “That sounds agreeable. In four years time then?” She paused a moment, her gaze narrowing a bit. “What sort of addition did you have in mind?”

“Why some espionage games. I’ll keep the general rules simple. You create a honeypot, both physical and in cyberspace, and we’ll do the same. We both tell the other what form that honeypot is, just to avoid any unnecessary complications,” Thorn added with the slightest of smirks, “and the first to successfully extract the other’s wins.

“Given our low populations at the moment, I suggest our agents use non-lethal means only for the first generation or so.”

Twilight mused on the war that preceded the Seed Program. The idea didn’t help her mood, nor her compliance. “And why should I agree to that?”

Thorn’s smirk turned into a wordless threat, flashing a calculating glint in his eyes. “I’m sure you’re fully aware of how skilled my people are in the art of espionage. I am not about to let that talent be wasted by neglect. I will conduct espionage against you. It can either be against sensitive files and computers, or a harmless honeypot. Your choice.”

Twilight only fumed silently at him, posturing with silence to gain a bit of ground. “That’s a threat I don’t take lightly, Admiral.” I could threaten him with my planetside anti-orbital lasers, but he’d just slip into orbit on the far side of the planet. They just don't have the range to catch him beforehoof. Exasperation flooded her due to the fact that the colony’s infrastructure wasn’t ready to support space-based weapon platforms yet.

Thorn’s smirk remained annoyingly plastered on his face. “Glad to see you haven’t let the isolation soften you too much. Just to make sure you have no reason to blast us out of the stars, Colonial Princess, I have two gifts for you.”

He snapped his talons and beckoned to someone off screen. A moment later, a soldier stepped forwards and handed over a briefcase. Thorn deftly opened it and spun it around so Twilight could see what was inside. There she found a golden rune encrusted data slate bearing Celestia’s cutie mark. Twilight masked her surging interest and welling nostalgia with a simple raised eyebrow. “I regret to say I needed a bit of outside help in pushing Grunhilda out of the way, so I agreed to deliver this to you for an old friend of yours.”

Twilight was instantly suspicious. She sat much straighter in her chair, the casual air was gone. “What’s on it?”

“A letter I presume. News on events while you were gone perhaps, since I doubt you would believe anything I have to say.” Thorn closed the briefcase and slid it to the side of his chair where it would stay on camera. “I swore by my family honor I would not peek, and I gift it to you as a gesture of goodwill,” he said oily.

Goodwill my flank. A non-lethal spy game though… I suppose his little stunt with the comms system was there to show me how much damage they could do if I refuse. “Very well, Admiral Thorn. How about we start our little spy game the day after the first Olympics comes to a close.”

“Want some time to prepare yourself? Very well, that is acceptable.” With a snap of his talons, an aide refreshed his wine. Afterwards he lifted it in a toast. “To new beginnings.”

Having no drink of her own, Twilight simply nodded respectfully. “To new beginnings. Now, what about that second gift?”

Thorn hummed in amusement behind his wine glass. “Your other gift will be in a drop pod along with Celestia’s data slate.” He raised a claw up to head off any objection. “It is simple cloth, nothing more.”

“I think I’ll let my scanners be the judge of that.”

“As you should,” Thorn replied with a thinly veiled warning and a sly grin. “Now, to avoid any diplomatic entanglements, I would prefer if you could send me the data on what land you’ve claimed for New Equestria. We wouldn’t want to get off on the wrong foot by stepping on each other’s toes now would we? Assuming of course you haven’t been greedy about it.”

Twilight fully expected his quick shift from calm professionalism to the promise of ruthlessness. Huh, I haven’t actually gotten around to naming the country yet. Or city--state presently. “I’m sure we won’t have any problem sharing the world between three nations. I’ll have my Administrator AI forward the information.”

“Excellent, until next time, Colonial Princess. May the wind always be at your back.” He saluted her with his wine glass before the transmission cut off.

Prism Flash stared out of the bay door windows of a cargo lifter as it flew out to the griffon cargo pod that landed in the fungal plains. The rainbow of color from the multitude of fungus brought her back to her original survey mission. Now that I’m not Apple Kuchen’s pet project anymore, I really need to get back out there. The setting sun gave everything an orange tint, making Prism briefly lose herself in the beauty of such alien nature.

The noise of a hoof banging on the metal wall between her and the cockpit drew her attention to the pilot. “We’re coming up on the pod, Pathfinder.”

Prism banged the same wall in acknowledgement, and made ready to unclip her tether from the ceiling. The pod had landed smack dab in the center of a large purple and white fungal colony that had been feeding on a freshly dead animal the size of a hydra. The pod had thankfully partly missed the animal, and only landed on one of the outstretched legs rather than get buried in the torso.

The aircraft swooped down to be fifty meters above the ground, the downwash blasting the spongy mold away in big chunks. Prism grabbed a tricorder off the wall, getting a chuckle out of the name. After clipping it to her utility belt, she stepped out to the large grasping claw mounted to the ceiling. She watched the floor doors open slowly, and instantly regretted not wearing a breath mask. “By Celestia’s sun burnt plot that reeks!” I think my filter’s going to work overtime on this one.

Even behind her goggles, Prism’s eyes watered. Once the doors were open enough, she commanded the claw through her personal display to follow her down towards the pod. The downwash had thankfully thinned the carpet of fungus so that when she landed on the ground it only came up to her boots.

She landed with her hind legs on the ground with her forelegs propped up on the alicorn sized pod. It was shaped like a steel arrow head with reentry scorch marks along the front. The back end had a noticeable hatch with a large square blinking button waiting to be pressed.

Pulling out her tricorder, Prism scanned the object for any surprise threats. Can’t be too sure with that jerk.

Between chemical, biological, and mana, nothing raised any red flags on possible threats. Scowling at the possibility of some threat that managed to avoid detection, Prism nevertheless had to go ahead and push the button.

The half meter sized square hatch pulled apart and sank into the walls of the pod. Within, Prism found Celestia’s gift along with a violet cloth folded on top of it. Even with her nose hairs burning from the stench, Prism was not about to allow her need to escape dampen her caution. I bet the pod itself shielded this stuff from the scanner. Even with those fears making her scrutinize the pod even further, a second and third pass of her tricorder revealed nothing but harmless electronics and synthetic fabric.

Left with nothing else, she latched the tricorder back on her belt and grabbed the two objects and tucked them against her chest. She peeked inside again and found nothing further. “Gah, I think my prank war’s made me more paranoid than usual. Still…”

She looked up to the aircraft’s cockpit. ~“I don’t trust this pod. Might have some cameras or something. Let’s leave it here for now and destroy it later.”~

~“Roger that.”~ A moment later, the claw started retreating back towards the aircraft with Prism grabbing on for the ride.

Once safe and sound from the bacterial stench, Prism stopped breathing through her teeth once the bay doors were closed and the air finished cycling. “Note to self: bring a gas mask anytime I come back here.”

Once she had recollected herself, Prism sat down and examined the gift and cloth. With Twilight sharing her paranoia over Thorn’s trickery, Prism had brought a computerized helmet that was disconnected from the main network. Let’s make sure he didn’t leave us any surprises.

Prism’s eyes lingered on Celestia’s cutie mark, while metal fingers rubbed the emblem with sad remembrance. I hope she managed to survive long enough to flee the planet. She ignored the high pitched whine of the engines and the tilt of the aircraft as it returned to the colony. Memories of Celestia doting on her like a proud grandmother, giving her presents, reading bedtime stories, and even allowing her to sneak some cake before dinner from time to time.

Sneaking a look at the cockpit to make sure the pilot wasn’t watching, Prism hugged the data slate as hard as she dared. You better make it out of there, Aunty Celly. This slate better tell us you decided to go right after us.

So the pilot wouldn’t catch her hugging the thing, Prism secured Celestia’s slate on a seat and used the restraint field to keep it in place. With that dealt with, she turned her attention to the cloth she had left on the other chair beside her. It was folded in such a way that it looked like a plain violet sheet or flag.

Furrowing her brow, Prism pulled it open expecting to find something wrapped within. Instead, she found an emblem of a single red rose with prominent thorns on it’s long green stem. The rose was depicted as a painting on a kite shield with two snowy griffins flanking the shield with old fashioned muskets aimed away from the shield. The picture was tormentingly similar to Prism that she started scratching her head trying to place it.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say this is a coat of arms. Why would Thorn…” Prism gasped in astonishment.

An hour later, at Seed One’s command center, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Prism, and Praxia surrounded the ten square foot holographic table that was currently only giving off a soft white light. Celestia’s data slate was now in the process of being decrypted so the group’s attention was focused entirely on the coat of arms.

Twilight was currently holding it aloft in her magic so she could see the flag as a whole. “I can’t believe Thorn actually gave us his coat of arms like this.”

“Think he might be serious about a military peace?” Spike inquired as he was also reduced to scratching the back of his head trying to make sense of it. “He knows griffin tradition dictates that we have to burn it if he declares war on us.”

Praxia flew into a hover just above Twilight’s head to study the flag in more detail. “Maybe he thinks we won’t follow that tradition and will use it as an excuse to wage war if we desecrate it.”

“Or trick us into declaring war first,” Spike added with a growling huff.

Prism rolled her eyes at how everyone else was bouncing conspiracy theories back and forth. “Why does this stupid thing matter at all? He can just make a new flag.”

Twilight set the coat of arms on the table to give her daughter a lecturing tone. “In griffin society, and in their foreign policy, the giving of one’s coat of arms is a sign of revered trust. So long as we honor this gesture, he will never wage war on us. More importantly for him, it will keep any dissenting opinions in the other griffins quiet about the peace.”

“I’m not buying it,” Prism rebuked with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “If this was so important, why didn’t he say anything about it? I mean, what would stop anypony from just printing a copy of his flag and saying he gave it away?”

Twilight tapped a quizzical hoof on the metal floor. “He did, in a roundabout way. However, printing the flag and claiming he gave it to us without him officially acknowledging it would render the lie pointless.”

Praxia came to a soft landing between Prism and Twilight. “Maybe he already told the rest of the griffins.”

“Possibly,” Spike conceded with a head tilt before addressing Twilight. “Traditionally, that’s all he’d have to do. Making a bit show of it is frowned upon by the other griffins.”

Prism looked skyward in the general direction of the griffin seed ship. “If that’s the case, then he’s probably doing it as an excuse to screw with us.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Twilight replied with a decidedly unamused hum. “I’ll have to contact him later about it when we both have some privacy. Doing it now would only amuse him, and I’d lose face in both his eyes and the rest of the griffins.”

Spike clicked his tongue and smirked at the fire control station for the anti-space railguns. It had been hard on the colony to accelerate the construction of both it and the large anti-teleportation jammer, but he for one was glad it was there. “See, this is why I like the simple political point of a gun. He’s not going to pull anything anytime soon anyway. Not to mention Voyager’s already implementing new security measures on our comms as well.”

Praxia sighed wistfully. “It was nice being alone with the planet while it lasted.” The rest of the group, and even a few nearby ponies who couldn’t help but to eavesdrop muttered their agreement.

“Incoming transmission,” Voyager announced as the AI commandeered the hologram table. Everyone pulled away as the globe of the planet appeared with the pony claimed land comprising the entirety of a large continent on the northwestern hemisphere in green. The griffins had taken a pair of two massive mountain rich islands southeast of them. The inland sea bordered large swaths of plains that promised excellent farming potential.

Twilight hummed aloud with a glint of warm humor returning. “I suspected they’d land there. You can’t take the mountain out of a griffin any more than you can take the sky out of a pegasus.”

Prism groaned at the missed opportunity to fly among those peaks. Stupid coma, and stupid medical restrictions, and stupid Ruby and that submarine. “Speaking of the sky, if you don’t need me anymore I need to stretch my wings.”

Twilight was about to let her go until an idea struck her. “Hold on a moment, dear.” Prism was already halfway turned to leave when her mother’s words made her stop. “I’m afraid I’ll need to ask you to give Alf a tour of the colony.”

“A tour? Seriously?” Prism was far more perplexed by the request than annoyed. “But he trusts you more than anypony else.”

“True,” Twilight conceded while wrapping a motherly leg around Prism’s neck into a loose hug. “But we can’t let that be the case for long. I believe he’ll respect the fact that you’re my daughter, and will be willing to comply. As for me, I’m going to be needed here to organize things and make sure the Pathfinders are extracted from the Empire’s new territory.”

Twilight jerked her head towards Praxia. “And she’ll be busy assisting me.”

Prism Flash wordlessly pleaded with Spike only for him to briskly shake his head. “I’m a soldier, not a diplomat. Besides, I need to keep an eye on the giffins from here on out.”

“Lovely.” Prism pulled away from Twilight and feebly waved her left hoof. “You win, I’ll go. But don’t expect me to do that great. I’m a scout and trailblazer, not a diplomat.”

“And Alf was a shipwright before he was frozen in time,” Twilight countered with that mother’s half cocked smile she always got when she was testing one of her kids. “You never know what may strike your fancy if you restrict yourself to what your cutie mark tells you.”

“Uh huh…” Prism said slowly and with projected disbelief. Spike allowed a thin smirk to show through before strolling off to speak with the CC’s operators. Praxia kept her lips sealed and her eyes fixed on a suddenly fascinating email in her personal display. “And if I insult the guy somehow?”

“He seems willing to overlook such missteps, given that he’d obviously expect us to be ignorant of his customs, just as he is with ours. Just show him around to give him time to learn about us.” Twilight easily laid the request on Prism with a heavy sprinkling of ‘you know it’s a good idea’ seasoning.

Sadly for Twilight, Prism was completely noseblind to that particular verbal spice at the moment. Like I could actually get away with saying no. You’d just find something even worse to saddle me with. “Fine, I’ll go. But if he goes into a blind rage because I offered him a pizza, it’s on you.”

“You’ll do fine, I have faith in you Little Wing.” Giving Prism a gentle kiss on the forehead, Twilight bid her goodbye to focus on matters of state with Voyager.

Yet before Twilight could engross herself in such work, Prism tugged on her tail at the last moment. “Do you think it’s okay if I bring Silver along?”

Twilight arched an inquisitive eyebrow at the excited smile Prism was trying in vain to hide. A smile of her own grew at the sight of it. “You mean that engineer you’re so fond of?” she asked loud enough for Spike and a few others to hear.

Prism flushed bright red and scowled at Twilight. “Tell the whole world why don’t ya.” That got a snicker out of Spike and a ‘you’re on your own’ smirk from Praxia. Some wingmare you are.

Twilight was more puzzled than anything else. She’s never been defensive about a coltfriend before… or even about Silver yet. It wasn’t too drastic of a leap for Twilight to come to a new conclusion. Aww, my Little Wing is actually falling for him. Time for some mother induced embarrassment, she mused with a smirk that put Prism on edge. “Well isn’t this precious.” Before Prism could stop her, Twilight bounded over and wrapped Prism in her magic so she could crush her in a bear hug. “My little filly is in looove.”

“No I’m not!” Prism countered sharply, yet convinced no one. Prism could just feel everyone’s eyes on her, as Twilight squeezed the breath out of her. “Ya know what, I don’t wanna bring him. He’s probably smelly from engine grease or something.”

Twilight took a moment to squash Prism’s head between her face and her hooves. “Nonsense. The two of you would be perfect to meet him.” Twilight pulled her head back to be met with Prism’s completely beat red growling face. “Since you’re my daughter, I’d like for him to know how closely Alicorns are tied to the common pony, rather than some lofty being up in space or something.”

Prism had had enough and started squirming to free herself, to which was a pointless endeavor thanks to Twilight’s earthen strength. Nevertheless, since she was trying to sell her sales pitch, Twilight let her go. Prism was fuming so hard Twilight almost saw steam escaping from her ears. The young pegasus hid her face in her wings, and purposely moved so Twilight stood between her and the majority of the Command Center staff. Where’s the nearest hole so I can bury myself in and die?

With no hole in sight, Prism opted to glare at Twilight in between her primary feathers. “I should have known you’d pull something like this.”

Twilight couldn’t help but to giggle at her daughter behind a raised hoof. “It in the parental contract after all. All good parents follow it to the letter.”

“Psh, I never signed any contract like that,” Prism muttered just loudly enough for Twilight alone to hear. She glared at the other ponies to which Spike decided to grant his adoptive niece some much needed mercy by calling everyone back to their jobs. At least somepony has my back, even if just a little bit. Feeling less heat on her, Prism slowly removed her wings from her face. “Tell me you’re joking about forcing me to bring Silver along.”

“Nope, dead serious.” Twilight’s subtle tone shift from teasing to regal kept Prism’s mouth shut. “He came from a civilization with gods similar to the griffins. I need to know how adaptive he’ll be to the idea that alicorns, or rather very secular and not omnipotent gods, arise from normal ponies like yourself, and that we form personal relationships with our subjects.”

Prism narrowed her eyes at Twilight and gave off a slight scowl. “You don’t think he’d try to hurt me do you? I mean, he was strong enough to give you a run for your money.”

“If I did, I’d be joining you instead of Silver,” Twilight replied with motherly concern, which satisfied Prism on that point at least.

Prism gave off a disgruntled equine snort. “Uggh, fine I’ll bring Silver, not like it wasn’t my idea to begin with.”

Prism walked cheerfully down the curved hallway of the Biolab with Silver in tow. Despite her mother’s meddling, bringing him along still put a smile on her face. The engineer was still in his dull yellow jumpsuit with grease and lubricants staining a good portion of his front end. He was trying valiantly to perform the futile task of cleaning those very stains out with a lowly damp cloth. The harsh white lighting and sterile lab interior made him feel horribly out of place, as opposed to the down and grimy home away from home. “Can you explain to me why you wouldn’t at least let me shower first. Why in the world you think dragging me over to meet him while I look like an oil sponge is a good idea is beyond me.”

“I like the smell of a workshop,” Prism said with a wink.

“Sure you do,” Silver fussed as he looked forlornly at his completely ruined cleaning rag. His mood was as salty as one could manage in front of the mare of his dreams. “Which is why you’d rather spend all your time on those nature walks instead of the garage.”

With a flick of her wing, Prism tickled his nose. “I just happen to like the smell of nature more, that’s all.” Her brain decided now was the perfect moment to remind her of the horrid nose melting milk curdling stench of where the drop pod landed. “Er… well typically anyway.”

"Besides I heard him say he was a shipwright so your breezy jumpsuit will make you relatable."

"You do realize that by shipwright he probably means spaceships right?"

Prism gave off a short snorting laugh. “Obviously, what difference does that make?"

"Do you really think that a civilization is advanced as his is - er - was would even have greasy jumpsuits? They probably have some advanced stuff that doesn't even need lubrication anymore for all we know. Besides even if he does, I work with small vehicles not starships.”

"Okay, you got a fair point. But if you do this with me I'll make it up to you.” She added a sly tone. “Maybe catch dinner at the new Joe’s Grill and Wraps tonight with me and Praxia?”

Silver nearly dropped the rag, and gave an equine sound of surprise with ears straight up. “You have a reservation? That place is packed around the clock.”

“You can thank Praxia for that. She reserved eight separate days over the next few months for the three of us.” Prism swiveled on her hooves and started walking backwards so she could give him her best game show host impression. “And it can be yours for the low low cost of hanging out with me and ET for a while.”

Silver thought it over for all of three seconds. He tossed the useless rag at a nearby waste bin and flashed a fresh toothy smile. “Well you got me hook line and sinker. But if Alf gets offended by the grease it’s on your head.”

Within Alf’s chamber, and now more of a personal quarters, with nothing really to do since Twilight ran off during the cyber attack, he resumed watching historical documentaries. While the Rosetta Stone AI had vexed him ever since arriving, she was at least proving helpful by providing a more chronological order of history TV shows than he’d be able to piece together himself.

Unfortunately, with his need to understand as much as possible about his new hosts, he didn’t skip anything, leaving him with only making a century of historical progress from the time of Equestria’s founding when a section of the wall pulled inward before sinking into the floor.

Out came two unfamiliar ponies, a dusty grey furred pegasus crowned by a dirty red, brown, and steel striped mane. Her strong amber eyes locked with Alf’s own, showing more spirit than the primarily orange colored demure stallion that followed her, though that was due to his clothing. Since bat ponies had not yet appeared in his historical research, Alf studied him with profound curiosity.

Once through the door, the mare leapt into the air and fluttered over.with the stallion purposely remaining behind her. His first instinct was two things: assume the males of the ponies were in some manner submissive to the females, or that he was a singular example of that mindset. By Gela’s grace let the latter be the case.

Alf gave a waving gesture at the screen, pausing the documentary so he could give his undivided attention to the new arrivals. The flying mare surprised him by coming right up to his face and presenting an open hoof-hand. “Hey there, Alf, the name’s Prism Flash, kinda big shot around here, and the Princess wants me to show you around the place.”

Alf was momentarily at a loss until he recalled Rosetta Stone informing him of a series of common gestures in modern pony society. A hoof shake, a friendly greeting.

Given that the hand was metal, Alf grasped it as he had been shown and squeezed and shook vigorously with both right hands. “I bid you greetings, Prism Flash.”

Yikes he has a strong grip. Momentarily turning off the pressure sensors in her hand, Prism used a back leg to prod the stallion forward. “And this is the best looking engineer this side of Orion’s Belt, Silver Belle.”

Silver shot her a scathing glare before casting it aside and putting on a horribly transparent calm face to repeat the hoofshake. “Good to meet you… Alf.”

“And you as well, Engineer.” He decided to leave the flash of indignation alone. Alf left Silver’s metal hand just as squashed as Prism’s. “I fear I must ask, for myself, but what is your purpose, Prism Flash?”

“My purpose?” Prism cocked her head to one side and shared a brief quizzical glance at SIlver Belle. “Um, you mean why I’m here with you now, or in life?”

“You must forgive me,” Alf said with his hands clasped in a short prayer. “But in my culture, a relationship, even among newcomers, can not start unless I know both.” Not exactly knowing what body language would indicate understanding from the ponies, he clarified to be sure. “Silver Belle’s life purpose is engineer, yes? But can I assume it is not his present purpose?”

While she had mainly focused on her life as a scout, Prism had witnessed many of Twilight’s diplomatic meetings out in public places. As such, she was quick to adopt a knowing grin. “Ah, I get ya. Nah, I’m what we call a Pathfinder, a scout that can drop a target at two hundred yards, and can tell the difference between iron pyrite and gold.

“As for here and now, as I said earlier, we’re here to show you around the colony. The lab coats say you can breath our air, and you - apparently - you don’t have any pathogens we can detect.”

Alf scrutinized the ponies in a new light. “Yes, as it should be. My species has long since engineered ourselves to purge any microscopic life from the holy temple of our bodies.” Alf’s tone developed a mixture of old, almost genetic hatred with a heavy streak of pride. “Such tiny creatures, profoundly beneath our contempt, has always waged war against all higher forms of life. Generations ago, by holy degree from upon high, my people remade us all to be able to purge such pests from our bodies without fail.”

Silver and Prism shared a supportive look before he spoke up. “Sounds like you could colonize anywhere.”

“We did. Once.” Alf fixed Silver with a face and slightly slouched shoulders displaying a cocktail of weariness and resignation. “A shame I can not maintain such a state of perfection for much longer without a doctor of my people.”

“A shame you can't point us to some medical textbooks,” Prism interjected with a halting laugh for some injected humor. Alf’s undirected scowl didn’t budge an inch. “At any rate, we can move you out of the laboratory and into a more appropriate living quarters soonish.”

Alf inclined his head in compliance. “If that is what your goddess wishes, then I obey.”

“Uhhh,” Prism was sort of at a loss for such instant and blind obedience to a being Alf had just met. “Neat! Okay, well, come with us then.”

While never touching the ground, Prism flew off with Silver lagging behind a bit to watch Alf pass him by to stay close to Prism. Silver held his tongue until the group had passed through the observation lab and into the main hallway. Once clear of the lab, Silver gulped down the lump in his throat and gathered the nerve to fly up so he was eyelevel with Alf.

“The princess said you’re a shipwright, yeah?”

“I was a crafter of starfliers, yes,” Alf replied without looking at him, yet his tone was somber all the same. “But I am no more, and likely never will again.”

Prism pulled back in her flight so she and Silver flanked Alf. “You could always build ships for us if you wanted.”

The trio passed the last of the actual laboratories, and reached a section of hallway that had most of the walls and tubular ceiling as glass, allowing a sweeping view of the colony at ground level. “I would like to be useful again, other than as some object of study.” He glanced briefly at Prism. “But if you are asking for designs for the ships of my time, I can not help you.”

Sensing he was being ignored, Silver butted in before Prism could open her mouth. “Makes sense. Nopo - er - no one has every last bit of knowledge between structural design to power plant to make a whole ship all by themselves.”

“Not true for my kind,” Alf stated matter of factly. “Our workers are implanted with the entire design of every vessel we help build. It was deemed the best way to expedite construction with a much lower need for oversight.”

Prism almost let her excitement run away from her as she shared a gleeful look at Silver. “So you could totally build us some ships then!?”

“No, I can not,” Alf reiterated as Prism pointed the way to the rover hub. “I can put the pieces in place, but I know not how each component was built before arriving at the shipyard.” He glanced at the colony as a whole, scrutinizing what little bits he could glean from the ponies’ inferior level of technology, infrastructure, and size of the place. “I suspect my talents would be of little assistance.”

The group reached the rovers where there was a collection of other ponies going to and fro, but aside from some curios eyes towards Alf, most had schedules to keep and didn’t linger.

Prism took the lead and secured a rover for them via her personal display, only to come to a realization when the vehicle arrived. The rover was designed for lightweight and compactness, for energy efficiency and only for passengers, leaving it with only enough room for a pair of ponies. The seat offered no comfort to someone of Alf’s physiology, let alone adding two other ponies.

Prism cringed at the situation, thankfully when she wasn’t facing Alf. Switching it up for an apologetic smile, she spun around and clapped her hooves. “Sorry about this, but we don’t exactly have a car that can fit all three of us. How about I preprogram the route and we’ll follow you in the next one?”

Alf gave the passenger compartment of the rover a brief look, frowning all the while. That doesn’t look comfortable even having it to myself. “Yes, I agree Pathfinder Prism Flash. Am I to take the first one?”

“Yeah, just don’t leave the exit hub until we meet back up,” Prism said after thinking it over for a moment.

Within short order, Alf was sent on his way to the best place Prism thought to start: the cafeteria. Both she and Silver hopped into the next available rover and sped after him. Silver waited until barely a second after the rover doors closed to almost shove his face in Prism’s. “How did you hear about my family name!?”

Prism was thrown off guard by Silver’s flash of indignation. “Umm, Firefly told me after calling for a pause in prankilities, why?”

Silver growled in retributive anger at Firefly and dragged his hooves across his face. “Damn it! Why does he have to keep butting his muzzle in like this!”

Prism’s mouth hung open and her brow creased quite impressively at the sight of it. Where did this come from? “Looks, Silver, I’m pretty sure you don’t have to worry about getting shafted by momma or the council just cause you’re a noble. We’ve got like, six other old family here.”

Silver let go of his stretched out face. “I’m not worried about the princess,” he said defeatedly. “Can you please just not tell anypony else about my family name?”

Prism wanted to protest, but she saw the old numbed pain in Silver’s eyes, making her switch gears. “Why not? You’re one of the scant few nobles mom allowed to come along. I mean, you’re not one of those Canterlot types that has his nose in the air like they just don’t care. That’s gotta be worth some points to you.”

All she got out of him was a pleading face with hooves clasped. “It does, but please, can we talk about it later?”

Okay, I’m lost here, Prism thought with her concern only doubling. Now that I think about it. If he’s a member of the Belle family, why wasn’t he taken in by one of the others when his parents died?

Dark ideas, akin only to thoughts of her older sister, made her worry for him even more. Had it not been for Alf’s tour, she would have still pressed him for answers, but things being as they were… “If you don’t wanna talk right now, that’s cool, family issues are the worst am I right?” She shrugged playfully to try and lighten the mood.

Had it been anyone else, Silver would have taken offense. Instead he sat back and exhaled heavily. “Yeah, they are.”

The rest of the short jaunt to the capitol building threatened to be a silent one. Yet new determination made Prism scowl at whatever distant problem Silver had. I’m not going to let this end on a sour note. No way no how.

I… just gotta figure out how to do that first.

13: Cultural Incompatibility

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Prism Flash and Silver Belle led Alf through the short thoroughfare between the central rover hub the ground floor of Seed One. It was a strategic placement since all workers outside of the primary government building would have quick access to it between shifts. While the cultural heart of the colony were poised to leave Seed One for their own buildings, there was something of a growing tradition to eat lunch at the cafeteria. As far as Prism was concerned, if there was a good place to start Alf’s tour, it would be there.

At the moment, Prism was flying backwards so she could face Alf while pointing out various things of interest while Silver more or less tried to stay present in his companions’ vision. Alf looked as though he was trying to mask mounting disappointment by constantly hiding his mouth as he rubbed his face.

“What exactly is this cafeteria?” he asked distractedly. “Your translator doesn’t seem to work for that word.”

“Really?” Prism gave a slight frown at the prospect of a failed part of the translation, yet Silver only shrugged at the idea.

Can’t get every word within the span of a few weeks after all. “It’s a food distribution center where we can sit and eat.”

Prism nodded in agreement and came to a landing in front of the spacious opening into the chamber in question. Voyager had given an announcement prior to the alien’s arrival for traffic through the central entrance to be avoided in order to keep Alf from being potentially overwhelmed by the tidal wave of ponies that regularly went to and fro. “Well why not see for yourself?”

Cautiously following Prism’s ‘go on’ wave of her foreleg, Alf hesitated for a long moment, just enough for the ponies to sense it. Suppressing a shudder, Alf strode inside with his escorts quickly following after him. To his eyes, the central entrance was clearly designed to funnel newcomers into multiple lines which were rather short at this hour. The place was dominated by functional aesthetics rather than the flowing and bold architecture he was used to. Before he could take the time to investigate the food-line any further, the buzz of dozens of conversations drew his gaze over to the main open dining area that stretched for multiple stories.

Prism casually slid over to see if he would display even a modicum of awe. Not too much was expected obviously, since he clearly came from a civilization with tech far beyond her own, but maybe, just maybe there’d be a brow lift, a faint hum, or even a slight tilt of the head to indicate his respect.

Instead, Alf was wide eyed with horrified revulsion. He gazed upon the hundreds of diners with a stunned, almost morbid fascination. "Vile!" Unwilling to stand there a second longer, Alf backed up, almost stumbling over Silver in a made sprint to leave the cafeteria.

Prism just sort of stood there in stunned surprise, blinking slowly. It took Silver grabbing her by the hoof and jostling her forward to break her out of it. “Don’t just stand there, we gotta keep him from doing something stupid.”

“R-right, yeah.” Prism said as she let him break her dumbfoundedness. The pair sprinted after Alf, watching him turn a corner, back into the primary thoroughfare. The two of them stormed in that direction only to find Alf had not gone any further than the corner, and was clasping his hands in a meditative pose and had his eyes closed with controlled slow breaths.

Prism glanced around at the passersby who were giving the alien a curious look, with some of them appearing on the edge of being skittish. Silver was doing an admirable job hiding his own bout of ill-at-ease at Alf being unstable. “Are you alright?”

Alf took a long, deep breath, and held it. He ignored his escorts for a long moment before slowly releasing the breath and opening his eyes, but kept his hands clasped. “I am now.”

“You mind telling us what that was about?” Prism fussed while waving a hoof back towards the cafeteria.

“Clearly your species practices degeneracy on a massive scale,” Alf muttered under his breath, unknowing that the translator could hear him. Before either pony could react to the insult, he spoke with more calm than he demonstrated earlier. “In my culture…” He fiddled his thumbs trying to word his reply more respectfully. “The consumption of food is considered a wholly intimate act.” Prism blushed while Silver gave him a disbelieving half-frown. “For so many doing it publicly is, was inconceivable.”

“Hold the phone,” Silver asked with a wave of a wing. “You didn’t seem to have a problem knowing it was a food center. How can you be insulted by public eating then?”

Alf shook all over at the mind scarring, wishing he would purge the mental images. “My people and I were under no illusion that food is important. But… in businesses like this cafeteria of yours,” he said the word with utter disgust, “ all have very private tables, completely isolated from others, no exceptions. Typically the servers knock or the eater hides the food under a cleaning cloth when they come to check on them.”

Prism couldn’t wrap her head around the concept of a diner of all things being taboo. “Y-you’ve gotta be pulling my feathers. You didn’t tell or at least show us that in the past few weeks.”

Alf ground his teeth together trying to keep his composure. “If you are referring to that cogitator ghost that tormented me all this time, the taboo doesn’t extend to them since they have no concept of intercourse.” The ones from my people didn’t at least, he mused worriedly. “As for your scientists watching me…” Alf pointedly averted his eyes towards a window. “I simply forced myself to believe they turned the cameras off during meals.”

Silver inwardly groaned at what this would end up meaning for the future. And here I thought Yaks were the craziest species ever. “I know this is a major culture shock for you,” he started in a decent attempt at diplomacy. “But… but…” He couldn’t find the words for a mindset that was so alien his train of thought ran out of steam. As a last resort, he turned to Prism. “I’m drawing a blank here.”

Momma told me of an old lesson of hers was that trying to emulate somepony else’s culture just makes things worse. Prism was trying and failing to see how public eating could have ever been declared taboo. “I’m sure you won’t like it for a long time, but you’re just going to have to get used to others eating in public. I can tell you right now, stopping all public eating would not fly with our people.”

“But it’s not like we’d expect you to immediately do the same thing we do, Right Prism?” Silver elbowed hard enough to get her to remember her manners and voice her agreement.

Alf walked in silence, forcibly keeping his stomach from lurching. “Is it safe to assume Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle is of the same mind?” Both ponies nodded, giving his hopes one last kick in the teeth. “I will need to meditate on this, and I will also need any medical-chemists you have to produce something for me. Please, until then, I request to be taken back to my domicile, or at the very least far away from this place.”

Silver hummed thoughtfully. Considering how many of us just take a granola bar and eat on the go, I really don’t want to get people thinking Alf’s a nutjob, even though he is. “Sounds like a good plan to me.” He nudged Prism and jerked his eyes back towards the rover hub. “Right?”

“Yyyeah, sure.” Prism waved the others back towards the transit hub. “So if you’re a shipwright, how do you know the chemical formula for this pill of yours?”

Glad to be walking away from the cafeteria, Alf moved just fast enough for the others to pick up the pace. “You recall how I told you that my mind was programmed with the construction plans of ships. Well, I was given similar instructions on the medical compound. As technologically backwards as your people appear to be, I assume you can at least fabricate such things if given proper instruction.” Silver took especial insult at that comment, while Prism was none too happy either. Not that Alf took notice. “Its original purpose was to erase thoughts of willful self-imposed extinction, but it can serve a similar purpose to erase all concept of this taboo from my mind.”

Maybe you can use it to get that condescending tone wiped away too while you’re at it. Silver huffed with a veiled glare. That sour expression faltered after noting that Alf had resignation written on his face. “Is there a side effect on this brain bleach?”

Alf was silent for several moments. Long enough for the ponies to take interest. “Given the number of taboos your people seem complacent in, I will have to perform multiple rituals for two spans, with the formula I revealed to you. Should the gods will it, I will either be absolved of any sin for also becoming complacent, or I will die.”

“Isn’t that a little extreme?” Silver hazarded with his ears pulled back.

“I am a humble listener to the divine chorus. It is not my place to change the song.”

Clearly your people don’t believe in having different radio stations, Prism mused, though keeping her expression neutral.

Not wanting to risk another spazz session, the trio closed in on the rover hub, and managed to commandeer one of the new mass transit buses so all three of them could travel together back to the biolab.

The sun was far below the horizon by the time Twilight Sparkle had been bodily pushed out of the control center by Spike to get some much needed rest. Her cramped carbon copy house was completely dark inside, with only the slow-blinking exterior aircraft-warning lights from the tall colony giving any color.

Twilight dragged herself out of the rover, and through the airlock with her head hung low from fatigue and no small amount of stress. The moment she closed the interior airlock, Voyager chimed in from a speaker near the control panel. “Registered occupant verified. Welcome home, Colonial Princess.”

Much to Twilight’s appreciation, the AI turned on several lights from within the house and opened the door for her. In her mind’s eye, Twilight imagined a stallon waiting to welcome her home at the door. She wasn’t sure which former husband to pretend was giving her greetings and asking about her day, or if she should imagine it was Sawbones instead.

Despite the longing cry for sleep, Twilight stopped before the door to focus more on Sawbones’ imagined place, and smiled at the thought. No need to rush it old girl. Let him set the pace.

As she crossed the threshold, memories of a young filly running at her from the den or upstairs, squealing with joy at her return. Phantom sensations of having a little filly wrap themselves around all four of Twilight’s legs brought back memories of each of her daughters in their younger years.

The fond memories were dashed away like dust in the wind when Voyager started playing some gentle violin music. It was a common request from Twilight ever since moving into the place, so the AI just started doing it automatically after a while.

Twilight allowed herself to enjoy the soothing melody as she trudged over to the shower. Ultimately the music was meant to bring some life into the house, but for Twilight, a mother many times over and a family mare, music alone was a poor substitute.

Memories of loves and lovers of days gone by had only accentuated her desire for companionship. Well, even if things turn sour with the good doctor, at least I have a daughter on the way.

Voyager already had the hot water waiting for her as Twilight rubbed her belly with a maternal smile that was twinged with a note of worry. Fire Shrine didn’t have a father for much of her youth though.

Was a lack of a father the root cause for Fire’s fall? It was a question Twilight had repeatedly asked herself in the wee hours. Twilight prided herself on being careful. Countless books and her own experiences told her that a child needed stable household, and yet Prism had grown up just fine with one torn apart by war and betrayal. Had I already lost Fire before I got together with Flintlock? Or was Fire’s rejection of him the start?

These questions and more regarding the griffins and Admiral Thorn raged in her mind as Twilight tried to just enjoy the shower. Thankfully, with age came the ability to simply shut such sleep robbing thoughts down in a neat little box with a black bow on it. As Twilight dried herself off, Prism called her.

Oh good, she must be ready to tell me how the tour with Alf went. Twilight promptly answered the call with Prism’s head materializing on Twilight’s personal display. “Voyager didn’t tell me anything exploded, so I take it things went well?”

Prism gave the most insincere wide grin she’d ever seen in her four centuries of life, a certain pink earth pony notwithstanding. “Weeelll… ya see.” Prism scratched the back of her head trying to stall for time, yet all she succeeded in doing was making her mother’s mood sink faster than a bowling ball with an anchor tied to it. “He kinda flips out about a lotta things. And now he won’t leave his room until he gets some mind bleach.”

Twilight’s mounting frown morphed into more of an intrigued scowl. “Well I knew there’d probably some culture shock.” Prism’s false grin threatened to put some stretch marks in her cheeks. Twilight sighed in mild exasperation. “Okay, what’s his damage?”

“Where to begin,” Prism huffed, dropping her fax grin. “He’s apparently deeply offended by eating in public.”

Twilight blinked slowly at the news, which only let the silence hang since Prism let the news sink in for a bit. “I’m sorry, I’m going to need you to run that by me one more time.”

“He’s offended by eating,” Prism deadpanned with a straight face that left Twilight dumbstruck.

“What? W… What?!”

Prism scoffed in agreement and rolled her eyes. “Took the words right out of my mouth. I don’t think his kind were big on pets or nature shows either. But get this, apparently depicting the act of eating is perfectly acceptable so long as it was stylized, and restaurants were apparently a big deal in his culture.”

“How the hell does that become a thing?” Twilight half asked herself, bringing up a blank.

Prism shrugged and stuffed her face with a bite of mystery-meat hotdog. “You hear him talk, it was declared taboo by some ancient priest or someone who thought it was disgusting. And then it just sort of caught on after he started saying it was Be’gul’hal’deete’s will. I know I butchered the name, but whatever. And get this, he doesn’t see the irony in that either.” I wonder if his kind can even perceive irony.

Twilight couldn’t help but think that her daughter was eating over the phone as some form of mockery towards Alf. Ordinarily, Twilight might have summoned her inner diplomat in times like this. Yet here alone with her daughter, and an AI that was smart enough to delete this conversation, she could speak her mind. “That is absolutely the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I had to sit and listen to twelve generations of inbred nobles at court.” She waved Prism on. “So what else does he get offended by?” I swear, Celestia must have kept those particular families around for the laughs.

“Well the original plan after that bombshell was to take him back to the lab, but when we got to there, he saw some scientists eating doughnuts and coffee, and refused to just close his eyes and walk past them. So we took him on a tour outside, only to find out he hates the pathfinder dockyard on the beach because and I quote ‘the barrier between land and water is sacred ground and it is a mockery to all things holy to bridge the two halves together.’ I kid you not, I thought he was going to kick the windshield out of the rover. He was that pissed.”

Did I rescue a madstallion? “What else did he get angry about?”

Prism rubbed her chin and looked up as she tried to get the words right. “Just a few other minor things that only garnered more disgust than anger. He was more or less sorta chill about those. I ahh…” Prism hesitated, giving Twilight even more to worry about.

“Okay, spill it, young lady.”

Prism gave the worst fake grin she was capable of. “Well, ya see, what with me probably going full alicorn and all, I figured I could try my hoof at diplomacy and suggest he actually try to see it from our point of view. You know, when in Roam, do as the Ronin do.”

“I get the feeling you’re going to tell me that didn’t fly.” Prism’s faux grin faulted and all she could give was a shrug. Twilight sighed and tried to summon her regal posture. “While it is good to hear you tried, it seems like your effort was doomed to fail. In Alf’s own words, he is not a diplomat and came from a culture that attempted genocide against the only other alien species it ever encountered. I have a feeling that an undercurrent of xenophobia ran deep in his culture."

“Psh,” Prism spat in discontent, “then maybe we’re lucky you only saved him instead of the whole group, eh?”

“As saddening as that thought is, I doubt you’d be the only one to arrive at that conclusion.”

Prism wasn’t sure if that was an agreement or condemnation of her sentiment, and decided to remain silent on the matter. As for Twilight, she used both hooves to pinch the bridge of her muzzle, and squeezed her eyes shut. “He’s certainly not making it easy on us. By the way, you said something about mind bleach, correct?”

“Oh yeah, that’s the spot of good news,” Prism chirped with a note of gratefulness. “Alf is at least smart enough to realize he’s alone in all these outrages, so he gave the lab coats some pharmaceutical formula to effectively brainwash himself.”

Twilight moved into her bedroom and nearly collapsed on her bed. She went so far as to stop her mane and tail from being ethereal, and just let it hang like normal hair. Twilight fell silent as she let the unexpected news roll around in her head. “That sounds a little too convenient.”

“I thought so too, honestly,” Prism nodded in agreement, and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial volume. “He said the stuff was the key to freeing his people of Balgrath’s Judgement, whatever that is. So it makes a sort of sense to me that he’d know of something like that.”

“Balgrath’s judgement…” Twilight rolled the word around on her tongue. “He mentioned that last time we spoke. I take it you already passed the formula on to the appropriate lab.”

Prism nodded. “I told the lab coats to wait for your authorization first. But Iodine Strip said it’d takes months to create it from scratch anyway.”

I wonder what his definition of ‘free’ is in this instance. Twilight felt the new burden weight upon her. “I’ll handle it from here. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

“‘S all good.”

This new wrinkle with Alf, Thorn’s arrival, and general stress gnawed at Twilight to the point where she groaned noisily and flopped on her bed and flailed her legs in the out of exasperation. “Primmy, why did it have to be that nobhead I pulled out of the ocean?” Twilight whined in the way she could only do in front of Prism or Spike. “I’m sure one of the others would have been more open minded and less unstable.”

Oh boy, mom’s in that mood again. Taking on the practiced patience of Twilight’s therapist, a job Prism inwardly chuckled at, Prism adopted a breathy, almost interested tone. “Well if you want my expert opinion in the matter, I’d wager it’s because he’s the only one who survived.”

Sass was exactly what Twilight wanted to hear, and felt a bubble of mirth. Nevertheless, she kept up the act of a moody teenager, thoroughly enjoying the role reversal. “And then this Thorn guy shows up and steals our maps and gave poor Voyager a migraine! Such horrid manners, my dear-” Twilight paused for a moment in contemplation. “How did I describe that Admiral, Voyager? I said something rather good this evening during dinner.”

“A thieving little warhawk whose every utterance is like the slithering hiss of a snake,” the AI deadpanned.

Twilight snickered and waved a lazy hoof at Prism. “There you go, poetry.” She punctuated the last one with a flick of her hoof.

Prism was quick to pick up that odd shift in Twilight’s tone into that of a highborn noblemare. Twilight only brought out in moments like this, where she had some privacy with only her closest friends and family. Prism could never remember to ask where the accent came from. “You’ll get no argument from me.” Can’t blame her, not after what that punk’s personal guard did to dad.

Twilight fell silent for a while, staring blankly at the pale white ceiling of her bedroom. The gentle thrum of the airconditioning served as the only noise. Given her mother’s state, Prism decided to leave the call open, and busied herself preparing for bed. Twilight broke the long quiet with a long forlorn sigh. “...My life used to be so simple, Little Wing.”

Twilight briefly glanced at Prism’s disembodied head, noting her daughter was listening. “It was just me, my library, and my friends. What happened to all that?”

Prism spat out her toothpaste and gargled for a bit. “You grew a pair of wings?”

“Possibly,” Twilight conceded to sound approving, even if she knew that wasn’t a whole answer. “Sometimes I wonder if we’d all have been better off if I never had. Our homeworld would still be warm and alive if I had been allowed to die of old age with my first friends. The cost of one life for billions.”

“Personally, mother, I refuse to let arithmetic answer those sort of questions,” Prism started with a mixture of iron and defiance. The statement caught Twilight completely off guard, making her regard Prism with astonishment. “Since time travel is forbidden, our only choice is to move forward and do what is right. That’s why we’re here isn’t it? We kept moving forward.”

Twilight was drawn up short. Although slowly, a thin smile crossed her face. “So it is. Thank you for reminding me.”

Pleased her advice was well received, Prism allowed an ease grin. “Hey, that’s why you alicorns always hang around us common ponies, so you don’t get caught in the past.”

“Speaking of the common pony.” While Twilight kept a casual tone, Prism could sense the undercurrent of a probing test coming. “Primmy, be honest with me. Do you still want to be an alicorn, even after everything that’s happened to me and the others? All the damage our long lives and influence might cause?”

Prism blew a raspberry and waved her hoof dismissively. “Are you kidding? If anything, I have three other reasons to grow a horn.” Twilight gave her daughter a curious lifted eyebrow. “For one, I get to keep an eye on you like what Celestia and Luna do for each other. Secondly, I’m going to focus on all the good you did the world and leave that harlot of a sister of mine in the past where she belongs.”

Despite it all, Twilight felt her spirits rise at seeing her daughter become animated with a certain theatrical flare. “Lastly, I’ll get a chance to live long enough to see us rise into an intergalactic empire. And you can bet your tail that I’m going to chart the cosmos in person.”

Twilight giggled behind a hoof. “You think we’ll actually pull that off?”

Prism shrugged and rubbed her hornless forehead. “Well you should know, if I manage to grow a head spike, I’ll have all the time in the world for us to get there.” Her tone grew more serious, giving Twilight a gaze that pierced her mirth. “You don’t need to worry about me, momma.”

“Hmm, it’s my motherly prerogative to worry. It’s in my contract after all.” Twilight waved a hoof in a circular motion, matching Prism’s earlier flourish.

The tension melted in Prism’s feature, causing her to slacken. “Psh, in that case you should save that worry for my future sister.”

Twilight felt a burst of pride for Prism’s resolve. Now’s the best time to break it to her. “...About that,” Twilight started carefully. “I need to tell you something about her.”

Prism turned off the lights in her dorm, leaving only a night lamp giving any color to her face. “Oh? Do you know what tribe she’ll be?” She asked with bubbling excitement, half for her sibling and half to get off the previous topic.

“Probably a pegasus, but I haven’t checked because I want it to be a surprise.” Since I can’t have sons, I’m at least going to keep half the surprise other parents get. “But no. She’s actually your full sister, not half.” There, it was out. Twilight was given a short respite to gather her thoughts while Prism stared wide eyed at her.

“What?” Prism shook her head to get her train of thought back on track. “Why!? I-I mean… what?!” A mixture of shock and, dare Twilight hope, excitement on Prism’s expectant face.

Twilight rolled over to sit up straight, and expanded her transmission to encompass her entire body rather than just her face. She took a short breath to center herself. “I think you can put together the what and how of it. As for the why…” Twilight took a moment to center herself. Her meditation allowed her to think of her late husband without becoming emotional, at least that was the idea. However the unborn child brought about a thread of old pain that she missed. “Your father was the first stallion I wanted to have a second child with, and,” she chuckled at a long ago memory, “he was enamored about the idea as well.

“The war put that on hold however. Given my position and abilities, there was no way I could spare the time and energy of a pregnancy and second child. I don’t know if you remember, but you spent so many years almost raised entirely by your foalsitter. Something I still regret having to resort to.”

Prism wanted to slice through the somber pale that took over the room, and waved her hoof dismissively. “Hey, Feathersoft did right by me. I turned out right in the head.”

“That’s a point of contention if Praxia has anything to say about it,” Twilight snarked, earning an harmless pout from Prism. Twilight’s mirth died away as she brought herself back to the past. “Without my knowledge, your father saved some of his seed in a bank before he went off to his first deployment. A few months after the war, the bank contacted me, telling me Flintlock wanted to give me the option of having that second child without him.”

“So why did you wait until your procreation incentive?” Prism inquired with a scrutinizing eye. “Don’t tell me you were afraid the kid would end up like Fire Shrine.” She thumped her chest. “I’d never allow that!”

“Oh really? Helping to raise your sister would cut into your exploration time.”

Prism stuttered a bit with the statement catching her flat footed. “I - ah - ya see…” Prism averted her eyes to think.

This time however, Twilight let her stew, eager to see what Prism’s response would be. She’s taking this full sister news in remarkable stride. Should have expected as much. She’s very laid back on a lot of things. Ultimately, Twilight blamed her own nervousness for holding that information back from the beginning.

“Okay, so maybe I won’t be around all the time,” Prism said at last. “But I’m sure she’ll probably look up to me as the super cool sister role model that goes out and sees the world.”

“I have no doubt, Little Wing.” Switching gears, Twilight adopted a more regal tone to focus Prism’s attention. “I shall let you go then. Before I do though, since Alf’s in self imposed isolation, I’m going to have you back on the fieldwork roster.”

“You mean actual field right? No ocean work?” Prism gave her best puppy dog eyes and hopeful grin.

“I’ll leave that up to you and the rest of the Pathfinders.” Twilight mischievously smirked at how Prism’s face sank into despair. “Ta ta, Primmy.” Twilight closed the call right as Prism tried to protest. She also put in a ‘do not disturb’ message up for anyone who called her, especially Prism. Oh don’t worry. With the Griffins here, I’m going to need to switch the PFs’ overall mission away from the water anyway.

The following morning, Twilight Sparkle was making the most out of her free morning with an old pastime: reading. If there was one thing she believed in over the other alicorns, was the perception that regular ponies could do just fine leading themselves. Sure she was unwilling to give up her position as leader of the colony, but that was by no means a good reason to govern them all day every day.

Presently, she was getting a mild workout by flying in place while the largest wall in her house acted like a giant screen for her to read without having a book bob up and down with her. She had some tea and buttered toast floating close by for her leisure with the four nearby windows granting an abundance of natural light.

She had yet to ‘turn her hair back on’ when Voyager spoke over the house speakers. “Colonial Princess, I have finished decrypting the message in a bottle from Princess Celestia.”

Twilight’s face lit up along with a little ‘squee’ escaping her lips. “Good work, what did you find?”

“A number of things actually. Going by the directory, I have every work of literature, movies, VR vids, and letters from home written since just prior to the griffins’ departure. Including a personal message to you from Celestia.”

“Put it on quick!” Twilight landed so she could give the message her full attention.

Without a word, Voyager replaced the directory of information with Celestia’s gaunt yet stubbornly resilient face. The elder alicorn smiled in such a way that looked somewhat foreign on her, like the weight of the sun had doubled since last they met. “Hello, my young Twilight Sparkle. If you are seeing this then we have some good and bad news. The good being you arrived safely, and the bad… well the bad is that my messengers arrived as well. But I would be remiss to admit that were it not for Thorn’s sense of honor, I’d have never allowed him to act as my messenger.”

Twilight gave a small snort of agreement.

“I wish I could watch over you, and see what kind of jewel of civilization you will inevitably give rise to. Failing that, I am at least content in the fact that we will see each other again. It may take a few hundred or even potentially thousand years, but I know you will thrive.” Celestia leaned forward, fixing the camera with a stern eye. “And don’t you worry about me, young lady. I have no intention on dying with my star.”

If Twilight was honest with herself, she still felt it was entirely likely that Celestia was merely putting on a front to ease her former pupil. You say that, but will you still be able to drag yourself away and leave those we can’t take with us to their doom? The yaks, dragons, donkeys, buffalo… So many species that will cease to exist. Even if most of those were blinded by stubbornness or faith that their gods could save them.

Celestia had paused in speaking, as if expecting Twilight would need a moment of reflection. The weight of the world, the dying sun, and time seemed to drag her down in that moment. “It’s so heavy, Twilight…” Twilight’s heart sank at seeing her old teacher and friend so weary. “Do you remember when you were young and still dazzled by your brand new cutie mark?

“Back then, I used to think moving the moon and my sister’s exile over those thousand years would have been my most difficult trial. What a fool I was.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Twilight replied more for herself than for a teacher who couldn’t hear her.

“Whatever happens, Twilight, be it that I don’t live to make it off planet or some unknown calamity claims me and my future colony,” Celestia marshaled her strength to have a gaze of solid iron. “Know that I truly have forgiven you. Others may try to say Fire Shrine and Nightmare Moon were the sole architects of their transgressions, but you and I both share the pain of knowing we could have done better.

“A better sister or a better mother.”

Renewed tears started blurring Twilight’s vision, with Celestia fairing no better. “It would be easy to blame fate wouldn’t it? To put the burden of responsibility to something out of our control. That ‘nothing I could do would have averted disaster’. I know you better than that. Despite your meditation, you’re the kind of mare that would willingly keep a kernel of that pain. A scar really.

“But look at you now. You continue on, as strong as ever, if not more so. I don’t need to actually see it, because I know you were - are - our best hope. So stay the course, Twilight Sparkle. Take care of those who follow you, and strengthen yourself to accept the burden of their devotion and love. This may not have been the best way to learn how to rule completely on your own, but you’ll do us all proud.”

Celestia fell silent as she looked down at the table she was sitting at. Her hair sat still and unmoving, her wings dropped a little from weakness. The long pause gave Twilight the time she needed to recollect herself.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t go so heavy on the heart,” Celestia muttered to herself, the words just barely being picked up. “I’m going to end up causing her to have a conniption out of guilt when that’s probably the last thing she needs on her mind. Not like it’s anything she hasn’t heard a million times already.” Celestia looked beyond the camera. “Luna dear, can you erase that and let me start over would you?”

“Are you sure, sister? I thought it was rather good.” Luna’s off-camera voice was supportive and soft. Celestia looked completely spent, as if all the coffee in the world couldn’t bring her back from the dead.

Twilight had to admit she was both intrigued and surprised this sort of message made it through. It was a rare sight, even after all these years, to see those two just acting like sisters.

“No, no, it’d send the wrong message. I just want to give her some hope, that’s all.” Not knowing the camera was still recording, Celestia stepped away towards the bathroom to clean herself up. “I need to put my face on anyway.”

With her sister absent, Luna poked her head into view with a mischievous smirk. “Now you and I both know we all need a good heart to heart. Just don’t tell Tia I left this part in, okay?”

Bubblish giggles filled Twilight’s house. After a while, Twilight brushed away a tear that was equal parts sad and happy, loving every moment of this old casualness that used to exist between the princesses.

Luna gave a few words of encouragement until Celestia returned looking much fresher and dare she say, energetic. Even her hair had a bit more color to it. Assuming the camera started recording after sitting back down, Celestia moved right in. “Hello again, Twilight. I suspect you’d be glad to know that progress on Seed Two is already begun, and Cadence is spearheading the colonist selection process. As for my sister,” she nodded towards off camera, “she’s already finalized Seed Two’s destination. I’ll have the stellar coordinates included in this missive. Give her my best wishes when you establish communications.”

“Voyager, extract those coordinates and archive them.”

With the important bits out of the way, Celestia fell into small talk and gossip. Using a much more casual and pleasant tone, she went on about what her favorite new books and VR vids were, tales of the living sitcoms of the more deplorable aristocracy, while balancing that out with praises for the nobility that lived up to the original purpose of their titles.

Twilight listened to it all with rapt attention and a forlorn wish to have but a moment’s time with her old mentor. Be safe, Celestia. Just please stick with your promise to refrain from connecting to your future sun.

14: The Life and Times of an Accident Prone Pegasus

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Two months passed with normalcy more or less taking over. The colony was making strong headway in spreading out away from Seed One. Thanks to the griffins being too busy getting themselves established, there was little diplomatic interaction and the distance made physical encounters nonexistent.

Presently, Prism was holding onto Joe’s camera stalk as the rover plowed itself through a hilly forest that seemed to be a battleground between tree sized mushrooms and actual tree analogs. Looking up, Prism saw the mushrooms were being outcompeted for sunlight, the trees with their branches and leaves eclipsing and shoving their way into or over the mushroom caps. However, a few of Joe’s ground scans showed the mushrooms held sway underground with their thinner roots wrapping around the trees’ roots like vamparitic vines.

The oddity of the forest flew in the face of Prism’s expectations, which were admittedly already far looser than when Seed One first arrived. As Joe stopped moving to use a combination of satellite scans and its own sensor suite, Prism used the opportunity to climb off and inspect one of the trees.

She activated her mic to record her observations. “These trees can’t possibly be getting enough nutrition from the soil, so how is it that are they not just alive, but apparently thriving? Are the two species symbiotic?” The mushrooms of Equuis didn’t need sunlight usually, so maybe they aren’t so different here.

What had looked like bark from a distance revealed itself to be caked layers of spongy green substances. “If I didn’t know better I’d say this was algae.” Repositioning her father’s rifle to clear the way, she took a small sample container off her belt. She used the lid to scrape some inside.

“Pathfinder,” Joe called out, “I have selected four locations for road markers.”

"That was quick.” Prism flew back over and snatched four metal stakes with a beacon on top that Joe had extended out of the hull. “You really think making a road all the way out here is necessary this early?”

“I am not programmed to speculate on civic planning, Pathfinder.”

Prism huffed at the AI as she took to the air and made off towards the first waypoint. “Yeah well, why don’t you try to speculate anyway. And no asking Voyager for hints, that’s cheating.”

“I will endeavor to do so, Pathfinder.” Joe otherwise remained silent as Prism placed the markers. The rover was slow to provide an answer, and only spoke up by the time Prism was placing the third marker. ~“To facilitate ground transportation to the watchpost?”~

Prism absently thought about the obvious answer. ~“Not a chance. These are the C4-9 alarion beacons. They can last for a century without maintenance. Besides, we’re two thousand miles away from the colony. There’s no way in hell we’re actually building a road here anytime soon. Try again.”

She imagined the simpler AI would have let off a few electronic warbles of annoyance. ~“I do not see the purpose of involving me when Voyager is more informed or capable of a satisfactory answer.”~

~“Because I’m bored, and I don’t want to give Firefly the satisfaction of winning the bet.”~ As Prism sunk the fourth marker into the loose soil, she spotted a yellow gem just sitting there alone in the dirt.

Precious gems were not uncommon in Equestria, with many places having them so plentiful that ameture splunckers could gather quite a haul. Avalon was a different matter, such gems had yet to be found at all yet. Much to Spike’s chagrin.

So finding what appeared to be a yellow topaz the size of a finger made Prism coo with interest. “Hello, hello, what have we here?” With Prism’s mechanical hand snatching the gem, she had the presence of mind to take it over to Joe. “Hey buddy boy, can you do me a solid and scan this? I think I found a snack for my scaly uncle.”

The rover’s cameras matched Prism’s own assessment of the object being a topaz. However a few sensor scans forced Joe to reevaluate that. “Assessment: this object is of unrecognizable mineral composition.”

“It’s not a topaz?” Prism dropped it out of reflex like it was a hot potato. “Please tell me it’s not radioactive?”

Joe’s scanners followed the deep yellow object as it fell to the ground. “Negative. Unless it is host to some foreign microbe or energy I can not detect, then it appears safe to hold.” Prism sighed in relief and reclaimed the mysterious gem with a much more careful hand. “If it would please you, I may be able to garner more information on it with my internal testing equipment.”

Prism gave the object a few more moments of inspection before shrugging and placing the gem inside a fist-sized hatch the rover had opened for her. “Have at it. But don't think that let’s you off the hook for having a good debate on why we’re here.”

“As you wish, Pathfinder.”

If Prism was a betting mare, she could have sworn she heard something akin to resignation in the AI’s tone. The two of them trudged on towards the next hill of the forest, spending the better part of three hours surveying the place, and collaborating as to where to put the next markers. It was well past dinnertime when Prism decided to end her work for the day, and parked herself underneath one of the countless trees perched near a sheer cliff. With no need for a helmet, Prism took the opportunity to relax on a blanket and nibble on her ration of steamed wolfbeetle, rehydrated vegetables, and instant mix cola. Surprisingly, wolfbeetle tasted a lot like lobster meat.

The panoramic view painted a hilly landscape that had a great many patches of young trees and giant mushrooms illuminated fully by the twin moons. Other cliffs seemingly consisting more of roots than actual stone, but it was hard to tell in the moonlight. In between the six hills she could see from her angle, it was possible to make out the narrow valleys that divided the hills.

Prism furrowed her brow as she munched on her food and realized that the valleys were like long winding rivers of broken stone, with many glittering flakes of yellow from more false-topazes. Given the fact that there were known locations in Equestria where surface gems could be found with ease; the gems were little more than a mild curiosity compared to the existence of the rivers of broken earth. “Could be a geological phenomena, or tunneling critters. Either way, It looks like we might need to rethink our location.”

“Pathfinder,” Joe called out, derailing Prism’s train of thoughts. “Perhaps our task is to place a physical presence along the fringes of our claimed territory to limit potential border friction when the minotaurs arrive.”

She wolfed down her latest bite of hard bread and rolled over to face the impassive rover keeping watch behind the tree. “You cheated for that answer. I told you not to ask Voyager.”

“It is against my programming to violate your orders, Pathfinder,” the rover replied with an irritating lack of emotion. “I merely extended your inquiry towards your colleagues: Pathfinders Firefly, Ruby, and Engineer Silver. After taking the common elements in their responses, I forwarded the results.”

Prism huffed in annoyance and started breaking down her rifle for maintenance to busy herself between bites. “I should have known you'd have no concept of the spirit of the law.” Assuming it was a rhetorical statement, the AI deigned to forgo a response.

It wasn’t too long before Prism had polished off her meal, reassembled her rifle, and cleaned the place up so she could stargaze on her blanket. She had studied the alien stars off and on ever since arriving on Avalon, but only now did she get a real chance to sit back and look at it without a telescope.

With the Pathfinders and a paltry two astronomers in the colony, there were only a few constellations. Mostly due to disagreements between the two groups. Yet between them, they worked out the more functional constellations for navigation instead of painting the night sky in dozens of them.

Prism let her large wings stretch out and just soaked in the warm natural night air. No recycled air, none of the permanent winter of her birth-world, just her and temperate nature. All the stress just bled out of Prism. This is the life. Just me and the unknown. The gentle swaying of leaves in the breeze completed the perfect night.

“Pathfinder,” Joe called out, ruining the peace in the process. “Your vitals indicate you are close to sleep. I strongly suggest you enter your cabin.”

Prism wilted in mild exasperation as Joe anchored his six legs into the ground and unfurled the metal tent underneath him. “Darn it Joe, we haven’t seen anything bigger than a housecat ever since we got in this forest. Just keep the sonic field active and I’ll be fine.”

“As you order, Pathfinder.” The AI kept the tent mode active just in case, but complied by extending a foot long antenna near the camera stock. Prism activated a new feature in the goggles she wore, which granted her a personal display, and created a sonic dampening spell over her ears.

Once the rover AI received confirmation that Prism’s protection was in place, Joe started producing a constant monotone sound that had been proven to scare away everything that had ears. For her part, Prism allowed herself to fall asleep under the rover’s watchful eye with her rifle nearby.

Since it was Twilight’s morning off to spend with Sawbones, Praxia presided in the Command Center going over the latest critical construction project plans with a few civic engineers. Spike watched nearby with an impassive eye. With his soldiers either on quiet patrols or in transit to operation areas, he currently didn’t need the holographic table Praxia and the engineers were surrounding.

The table was depicting a representation of the colony: Seed One off to the edge with the rows of houses center stage. By now, all of the houses were complete and stretched beyond the edge of the table, allowing the last of the colonists to leave and the dormitories to be repurposed or demolished. The engineers present before Praxia were of a mind to repurpose it into a new pediatric clinic.

“As you well know, Regent,” the lead engineer Gear Ratio stated while pointing with his hoof at a list of materials needed. He was a blonde earth pony with a ruddy brown coat. “Renovation should be trivial since we can repurpose most of the dorms into individual medical rooms. Since the Princess is going to be continuing the procreation initiative for the foreseeable future, having a scalable clinic for the newer generations will be of paramount importance.”

Praxia had learned early on to remain outwardly impassive to supplicants whether she approved or not. The young royal changeling propped herself up onto the edge of the table to scrutinize the structure in more detail. “I’m not worried about the materials needed, Gear Ratio, but in the structural soundness of the dorm itself.”

She continued speaking while waving a hoof to pull up the old blueprints of the dorm. “Let’s be honest with ourselves. We built the dorm in a hurry to get ponies out of the ship so they weren’t bunked on the floor. Its location is not optimal for future needs, and it was never meant to be a permanent structure to begin with.”

Gear’s assistant, Parabolic Curve, was a short haired unicorn mare with a nasally voice. She was sporting a large baby bump with twins on the way. “But, Regent, the first foals are expected in four months. There’s no way we could build a whole new clinic of that scale quickly enough to be of use.”

Praxia mulled over the dilemma while tapping her chin. “We can if we divert the printers away from building the geothermal plant, and repurpose the rover workshop.”

At that, Spike pushed off the wall he was leaning on and stepped forward. “That can’t happen, Praxia. My work order for some the R-series Light Combat Vehicles just got started yesterday. We need those if we’re going to keep pushing against those xenomorph swarms massing across the Xenomass Swamps.”

Praxia gave Spike a disbelieving, yet courteous look. “I may not have a military mind, Commander.” Praxia had been deliberate in using his title while on the job. “But wouldn’t aircraft be better suited to assist infantry in a swamp?”

Spike crossed his arms and spoke with a stern tone backed by his care for his soldiers. “Sure, but a trooper can’t duck for cover behind an aircraft flying over his head, let alone hold back a charging swarm of wolfbeetles from overrunning a squad if they manages to get close enough.”

“A fair point,” Praxia admitted without further protest. “Can you simply postpone your efforts for the next few months then?”

“No can do. These xenos breed like rabbits spliced with tribbles. The longer we take in clearing out those nests, the more marines I’m going to lose. Twilight and I are in full agreement that this campaign needs to happen asap.”

I can’t very well countermand Sensei's decree. Praxia already had a plan B, but she wasn’t going to like it. “Very well, Commander, I will leave your printers alone.” With a shared curt nod between them, Spike pulled back to wait and listen for his field operatives, leaving Praxia to resume her talks with the engineers. “I’m sorry, but Pie Graph has spent every work hour since we landed designing this clinic, and I still believe renovating the dormitories would be a step backwards.”

“We’re going to have to pull triple shifts to get enough built in time,” Gear Ratio grumbled with obvious displeasure. “Especially when most of the mares on my crew won’t be able to work in a few months.” He resisted the urge to point at Parabolic Curve.

Praxia fixed him with stern gaze and a raised eyebrow. “Nopony ever said this life was going to be easy. But if I recall correctly, Gear Ratio-” with a few swipes of her hoof, Praxia brought up the engineer’s personal file to confirm what she already knew. “You’re an expectant father, along with much of the construction staff. I can sympathize that this is above and beyond what the princess already calls upon each of us.” Praxia sighed inwardly. “You can use the dormitories as temporary bedding and nursery.” The engineers’ faces brightened with hope and thanks. “But make no mistake, the dorm has to go. I want that clinic finished asap.”

Parabolic Curve stepped forward to lightly grab Gear’s foreleg and tug him back a bit. “We can get it done, Regent.” She turned to address Gear Ratio. “We’ll just have to improvise.”

Satisfied, Praxia dismissed the construction hologram with a small spell. “Excellent. I look forward to watching your progress. If there’s nothing else?” she asked dismissively. Both engineers took the hint and excused themselves.

Once the pair were out of earshot, Praxia sighed morosely at the ire she had undoubtedly earned from Twilight. She told me straight up to get rid of the dorms, now how am I going to explain this?

“Regent Praxia,” Voyager announced, “the griffins are hailing us.”

The atmosphere in the Command Center grew chilly with Praxia sensing the heightened animosity from the surrounding operators. “They remain quiet for months only to speak up now?” she asked no one in particular. “Bring them up, Voyager.”

Praxia fully expected Thorn or some unfamiliar adjutant, yet the being that appeared on the large screen stunned her to her core. The female caller was certainly griffin shaped, and even had black feathers on the front half that could be seen, but she more or less had the face of a pony. However, a jagged black horn sat almost out of place on her maneless head. “This is Adjutant Gleaming Scythe. I have matters to discuss with your princess.”

Praxia spared a quick glance at Spike who appeared equally shocked. Is she a half changeling like me?! Taking a moment to recollect herself, Praxia did her best to sound professionally neutral. “Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle is indisposed at the moment, but I speak with her full authority.”

Gleaming Scythe appraised Praxia with a quizzical lifted eyebrow. She took a moment to look at the other ponies’ reaction to that declaration. Yet Scythe was only satisfied when she saw Spike off to the side who was not voicing any disagreement. “Very well, Regent.” A ghost of approval flashed across Scythe before resettling on a decidedly unamused scowl. “I come bearing a grudge. Our scouts have confirmed numerous plundered old ruins with pony-made dig sites around them. Whatever artifacts you’ve stolen belong to the Griffin Dominion. Return them immediately.”

“They belong to you?” Praxia asked with professional mockery. “Adjutant, I assure you, anything we dug up over there was perfectly legal considering it was not your land at the time.”

“You would serve your master well in not playing these games, Regent.” Gleaming Scythe appeared flustered, but more or less kept an even tone. “Our surveillance satellites have detected no less than fifty of these dig sites spread across both continents. Well over half of which are in the Dominion. You obviously expected us to take these lands in particular and raided these sites ahead of time.”

Praxia telekinetically pulled an empty rolling chair over and sat down to give Scythe a false patient look. “Are you trying to tell me that you have retroactive rights to anything you own today?”

Gleaming Scythe glared at her pony-like counterpart. “I know a logic trap when I see one, Regent. This is not a matter of potential future land conquests. There were no sign of xeno civilization from Equuis observatories nor from orbit.”

“And yet that’s exactly what it is,” Praxia rebutted sharply. “The world is a big place for only three nations to share. You could have founded the Dominion anywhere you wanted.” Praxia fixed her with smug half lidded eyes. “It’s not our fault we guessed correctly.”

“You would jeopardize what peace we have so flippantly? I doubt your-”

“I’m jeopardizing the peace?!” Praxia interrupted with a shocking amount of ire and a stomped hoof. “What we did was well within the bounds of both our laws, you’re the one who calls us and starts making demands and threats. Don’t sit there and tell me Admiral Thorn wouldn’t have done the same thing had he arrived first.”

Gleaming Scythe was positively fuming with her eyes going bloodshot. She waved a threatening claw forward and moved to speak, but something drew her eyes off camera. She partially deflated her animosity and turned back towards Praxia. “On behalf of the Admiral, we will take this… slight no further and drop our claim. I trust you will have the same grace should you find the tables reversed someday.”

Without letting Praxia get another word in, Scythe ended the transmission with a cutting gesture.

Praxia exhaled and resisted the urge to collapse backward into her chair. That was unexpected. While Twilight and Cadence had given her a plethora of lessons on diplomacy, both with a soft and firm hoof, this had been her first trial by fire.

“Good job, kid,” Spike called out as he lumbered over with a sly grin on her face. “I was half convinced I’d have to step in.”

Praxia blushed under the praise, and instinctively used a touch of disguise magic to hide it. “Thank you, I - I hope I didn’t further the rift between the colonies.”

“Hardly.” Spike glanced back up at the view screen which had switched back to various sensor feeds across the continent or around the colony itself. “Thorn was prodding us for weakness, and you did well enough in my book.”

Praxia’s wings buzzed from the excitement of doing both Spike and assuredly Twilight proud, but her thoughts quickly settled on Gleaming Scythe. “Do you know what she was, Commander? A hybrid like me maybe?”

“She looked the part,” Spike admitted, scowling at the implications. “Question is: why?”

Far beyond the land and ocean, Gleaming Scythe knelt in front of Admiral Thorn’s desk in his private office. Thorn was currently staring out of the panoramic window, gazing upon the majestic mountain range the colony was perched upon, and the green valley below. The office had a number of artifacts of personal importance to Thorn. A broken rifle, a small sculpture of two griffins interlocked in claw-to-hoof fighting with a unicorn and earth pony complete with a painstakingly crafted landscape as a base, a portrait of the last Emperor, just to name a handful of them. A few of the highest medals a military officer could achieve in the Empire were among them, but largely, the rest of the artifacts’ meaning were lost to all but him. Although, there were rumors that Gleaming Scythe knew of them more than most.

Thorn listened to the gentle opera playing just loudly enough to be enjoyed, yet without distracting any conversation. Without turning away from the view, he called out towards Gleaming Scythe in a calm reassured manner. “So, Adjutant, what do you make of your discourse with Regent Praxia?”

Scythe’s blood chilled every time she heard him speak those words, or those similar in meaning. Not so much out of fear, but from the rush of adrenaline. “That Twilight Sparkle has managed to keep her from adopting that old Equestrian pacifism. She’s bold, but I could sense her fear behind that mask.”

“As expected. Out of all of the princesses, Twilight is the most forward thinker.” Thorn slightly turned his head and eyes towards his subordinate. “However, you were unable to exploit Praxia’s fear.” Gleaming scowled at herself and averted her gaze. “Do you know why?”

“Because she was operating from a position of strength. She and I both know that my demands would have never seen reparations being made. If anything it made me look foolish for even trying.”

“Good. The ponies will learn to underestimate you, use it.”

Scythe was slightly mollified by Thorn’s reasoning, but not entirely. “What about Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon? Surely they’re old enough to see through that.”

“Don’t overestimate your opponent, Adjunct.” Thorn turned to face her fully with a calculating light smirk. “If such advanced age alone dictated skill and competence, there never would have been a need to flee our homeworld in the first place.”

With a snap of his claw, Scythe stood at ease. “But Twilight was not the one we took measure of today. So tell me in your own words, what do you think of your counterpart?”

A malicious sneer marred Scythe’s face. “She’ll make a fine rival. Just what mother intended.”

Thorn’s neutral expression turned slightly sour. Scythe’s bravado cooled in an instant at the perceived disapproval. “You may have your rivalry. You can show your superiority at will, but you are under no circumstances to jeopardize the survival of the Dominion or the ponies.”

Scythe blinked slowly at him, her mouth agape for a moment. “I - I thought we were meant to surpass them, either by dominating or eliminating them.”

Thorn’s disapproving scowl only deepened. “And here I thought you at least, could see past the propaganda of the Old World.” He turned away from her to gaze back out of the window. “Strife is a necessary aspect of the universe, Adjutant. You believe that much, do you not?”

“O-Of course, Admiral.” Scythe Briefly averted her gaze downward to express her submission.

“So tell me. Where do you think that strife will come from if we destroy the ponies?” He turned back towards her with cold calculating eyes. “And don’t say the minotaurs, because what would stop that mentality from destroying them as well?”

Gleaming Scythe didn’t need to think for very long. “Ourselves.”

“Precisely.” A modicum of approval slipped through his words. “We were a divided people before the Sun War, and I won’t let that happen again, do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal, sir.” There was a long pause hanging in the room after those words, as if Thorn was expecting her to ask him the right question. “You’re worried about those ruins the ponies poached out from under us.”

“Their actions are not what concerns me.” Again Thorn was silent, brooding in a higher level of thinking that would elude Scythe for decades to come. “Leaving our homeworld and finding evidence of alien civilization is as expected as it is terrifying for one reason.”

Again he let the statement hang, allowing Scythe to come to her own conclusion. “Are you saying interstellar empires could be out there?”

“Aren’t we one of them?” he asked rhetorically. “Ignore the fact that we’ll likely not reestablish communication with the other griffin colonies for decades if not a few generations down the line.” Thorn moved over to a liquor table and poured a glass of his favorite non-alcoholic. “The fact is, whether the builders of the ruins return or a different empire all together takes note of us; in all likelihood, we don’t stand a chance to resist them.”

Understanding further dawned on Gleaming Scythe. “So that’s the other reason you want the ponies alive. Strife has always accelerated technological advancement. Especially for the military. It’s why the world was able to put the Seed programs together so quickly.”

“Glad to see your mother’s efforts on you continue to bear fruit.” With drink in claw, Thorn walked back to his desk, sat down, and started going through some paperwork. “For the time being, I want you spearheading the search for any ruins the ponies might have missed, starting with any we discover outside our borders. Technological secrets, historical records, I want everything you can find on these forerunners. Since I promised we won’t try hacking the ponies’ networks, we’ll have to find out the hard way. I don’t like having blind spots in my intelligence.”

Gleaming Scythe clicked her heels and saluted, knowing she was being dismissed. “By your command, Admiral.”

Earlier that day, a certain pathfinder was happily dozing away under the rising sun. Prism awoke to nothing more threatening than sun glare in her eyes. A fact that Joe would have been eternally grateful for if the AI was capable of emotion.

Since her environment suit kept her warm overnight, Prism stayed on her back and stretched hard to get her joints to pop. Ugh. I forgot how much of a pain it is to sleep on hard ground. All that time in the colony’s made me soft.

“Good morning, Pathfinder. I have mapped the next twenty miles of potential beacon locations for your approval.”

Prism waved a tired hoof at the rover while stifling a yawn. “Sure sure, let me wake up and eat first. We still have some of those pancake MREs?”

“There are only two left, did you not want to save them for special occasions?”

Prism had yet to open her eyes, and was currently enjoying the last of her morning wing stretches to get the sleep out of her. “Nah, it’s fine, just pop it out for me.”

“As you wish.”

At that, she heaved herself up to a sitting position and started rubbing her face, an act that had become far more popular with the advent of robotic hands. It was then she felt something different on her forehead. Not anything obvious, but one does not rub their face for over two decades without sensing something amiss.

And right now, she couldn’t help but notice a very slight bump. Her fatigue evaporated and her heart started pounding. “Joe, I need a mirror please!”

Prism rushed over to the rover’s primary camera, stumbling over her hooves in the process. As soon as the rover had its sights on her, the camera feed was fed into her personal display. Prism’s train of thought was jarred badly off track by how disheveled her mane and fur looked. There was being practical in the wilds, and then there was cavepony, and she looked decidedly like the latter. “Fix hair later. Focus, PF.”

Using her hands to brush her horridly disheveled mane out of the way, Prism had Joe zoom in on where a horn would be. At first glance, it appeared to be her usual smooth forehead, yet the highly advanced tactile sensors in her fingers told her otherwise. She had to get the camera to view her from the side while pushing her fur down to make anything visible, but there was no mistaking it. Prism grinned massively at the minute bump that was almost hidden by her fur, but it was there all the same.

“Ah ha!! I knew it! All I needed to get a horn was some weeks away in the fresh air!” Prism decided to ignore the logical side of her brain telling her that was in all likelihood complete bollocks. “Yup, definitely the fresh air.” Prism started dancing in place, strutting around the rover like a little filly in a toy store with unlimited cash.

While her family was paramount in her life, there was one central cause for her exuberation. The most important door agelessness would open up for her: never ending exploration. There would be no old age to one day cut her pathfinder career short. Even in the time it would take for the colony to be large enough to think about colonizing the stars, she wouldn’t even be close to her prime as an alicorn. That above all else got her blood racing so much that morning caffeine could be skipped today.

“Hey Joe!” she cheered while jumping on top of the rover and thrusting her face into the camera. “Do you think even an alicorn could die of old age before exploring the whole galaxy?”

“Current data suggests that would be an impossibility. Should I inform Central of this development, Pathfinder?”

Prism’s first instinct was yes, but she caught herself before responding and gave it some thought. She waved her head back and forth and squinted one eye. “Ehhh, nah. It’s smaller than a pimple right now, and our mission is supposed to last another month. No need to bother momma with something smaller than a zit right now. I mean, it’s not like momma didn’t know it was going to happen anyway, being the 4-D chessmaster she is.”

“I fail to see why chess mastery has any bearing on this line of inquiry.” The AI was further confused by the exasperated look Prism gave it, so it deliberately switched topics. “I have finished my initial analysis on the false topaz, Pathfinder. Shall I present my findings?”

The question brought Prism’s emotional high down a few notches. As much as she was ecstatic about her growing pimple of a horn, there was little she could really do about or with it. “Alrighty, show me what you got while I eat.”

With practiced ease, Prism cracked open her ration pack and started chowing down while occasionally glancing at the mineral readings the AI plastered on her personal display. Most of the data was of elemental composition, molecular structure, and other information that would be far more fascinating to a dedicated geologist. Ultimately, it was part of her job to find more intriguing objects for study, and leave the more mundane items for later teams.

Yet something caught her eyes right after she polished off the hash brown. “Electrical resistance is unreadable? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly that. My tests were unable to find any electrical resistance.”

Prism jumped up to look the rover in the camera. “Are you telling me that thing is a superconductor!?”

“That is implausible, Pathfinder.” The AI was as emotionless as ever. “It is far more likely one or more of my scanners are misaligned or damaged. A superconductor can not exist at such warm temperatures.”

“Quite illogical of an AI to ignore the facts,” Prism teased, causing Joe’s camera to zoom in and out on her face out of a logic error it often saw in her. “Relay the findings to Central. I think we found something worth delaying our road work, wouldn’t you say?”

“The repair of my testing equipment?”

Prism rolled her eyes and head and fixed the AI with a scowl. “No dufus, we gotta get more of them gems to see if that one is one of a kind. Gimme one of the sample boxes, I remember seeing some in the valley last night.”

“As you order, Pathfinder.”

In a rush, Prism wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and resorted to using only mouthwash in her race to get down to the valley. With the morning sun not yet high enough to bathe the valleys in its light, Prism used a flashlight to try and get the gems to reflect glints of light.

The tactic worked brilliantly, revealing numerous crystals strewn across the length of the valley. With no apparent wildlife to speak of, Prism was free to collect quite a number of them. After collecting half the box’s worth, she started to become more discretionary with her selections, going for larger samples over just anything she found.

She spotted quite a large chunk of the crystal perched in between two boulders. “Found the motherload right there.” Prism threaded through the jagged terrain as low to the ground as possible, diving and squeezing past with the thrill of flight.

Upon arriving, she saw the large sample of yellow crystal was only loosely held in place between the boulders. Yet as she reached for it, a deep thrum started up. Being in the air, she’d have missed it entirely were it not for dozens of tiny pebbles and rocks started to clatter in all directions.

~“Pathfinder,”~ Joe called over the radio as it remained on the original hill where Prism had left it. ~“I am detecting a major seismic disturbance headed this way.”~

Prism unconsciously dropped her box of samples, and reactively grabbed the larger crystal when it fell towards her as it was dislodged from the boulders. It took her a moment or two to fully register the AI’s warning. ~“Wait, what do you mean ‘headed this way’? Earthquake epicenters don’t move.”~ She clutched the ten pound crystal close to her chest and abandoned the box while slowly flying away from the ground.

~“Then I suggest you bring your complaint up to the quake itself. I recommend keeping a safe distance in the air.”~

The rumbling of the earth was intensifying by the minute with the noise of shattering grinding stone echoing off in the distance. Her eyes went wide at how fast the new and far greater rumble was approaching.

Without a second thought, Prism launched herself high into the air, straining her large wings as fast as they could carry her. It wasn’t long before she made it well above the ground, even higher than the hills, and joined Joe who was flying by virtue of its twin rotor engines.

Once she was safe and sound in the air, Prism allowed herself to rest easy for a moment. “That’s some crazy earthquake.”

Joe was silent for several moments before speaking up. “Pathfinder, I have written a request for a tectonic scanner to be deployed from orbit, but the requisition order will require your authorization.”

Prism mulled over the request, using one of the edges of the crystal to scratch her chin. We’ve only just recently put some of those in orbit thanks to Ruby’s constant nagging. That alone almost caused Prism to deny the order, if only out of spite for Ruby. But at the same time… With the rattling of stones growing ever louder, Prism grew hesitant. “The quake would probably crush the probe. Let’s wait until after things settle down.”

The clamor of agitated rocks and the rumbling earth was growing intensely loud with a dust cloud peeking over the edge of a nearby hill. Prism’s blood froze when she thought she saw some massive wormlike thing moving behind the hill, barely visible just above the crest.

“Uhhh…. Joe, tell me you saw that.” Prism started gaining altitude as fear washed over her.

“Saw what?”

The noise of breaking rock climbed into a full deafening quake as the stone and rock below the pair exploded outward. Prism’s fight or flight jolted straight into flight as an enormous conical behemoth the size of a building heaved itself skyward. It belted off a gut rattling roar as its conical face opened up to reveal it was in fact four massive tentacles spiraled together.

Prism freaked and shot to the side, perpendicular to the leviathan's upward charge. The rover was just as quick witted, but not so physically. Joe’s engines strained to follow after Prism, but one of the monstrous worm’s flailing tentacles scored a glancing blow on the rover.

That glance might as well have been a freight train, and shattered the left rotor engine into scrap metal. The beast ignored the crippled machine as a second colossal worm blasted its way out of the earth in front of it. Both monstrosities bellowed an ear shattering challenge at the other.

The bellowing would have permanently deafened Prism were it not for the rapid response of her ear protection moving to encompass her whole body. Training kicked in, allowing Prism to dive rapidly towards the nearest forest covered hill. ~“Joe, execute order 512.”~

The tumbling machine used data from Prism’s goggles to identify her chosen location. With a few tactical thrusts from its remaining rotor, the rover angled and detached a big section of itself.

Boosting away with a short-lived rocket, the capsule shot past Prism and smashed through a tree before embedding itself in the root clogged dirt. The rest of Joe smashed against the broken ground, only to get swallowed up by the churning stone next to the warring behemoths.

Prism bolted towards the downed capsule, threading through the foliage and destroyed trees to skid to a rough landing near the capsule. She dropped the yellow crystal and pressed a button on the side to discard the rocket, lightening the load so she could carry it with both hands. As she worked to get a good grip, the pod sent an S.O.S. signal to Seed One with an automatic acknowledgement reply coming in almost equally fast.

Good, looks like the important stuff is here.

A stone rattling battle cry echoed throughout the hills, drawing her panicked eyed upward to see the second great worm clamp down on the first one’s neck and was wrestling it down toward Prism. “Oh come on!”

Not being an idiot, Prism bolted perpendicular to the falling skyscraper-sized worms, easily clearing the area with the rover pod intact. Prism fled across the gap between two hills and landed at the third in her path before taking stock of her situation. With the two battling worms focused on each other, she looked down towards the broken valley, and saw the stones rumbled even out here. No way to tell if that means more worms, or if those two are just that stupidly big.

Prism’s search for safe haven was interrupted by Spike’s head materializing in the top right corner of her display. “Pathfinder, what’s the situation?”

Fearful of being distracted, Prism gained as much altitude as she could safely tolerate. “Tatzlwurms, sir, bigger than stupid. Two of them just got into fistycuffs and trashed my rover, and probably didn’t even notice it, bastards.”

Spike’s dower face only darkened. “How big is stupid, Pathfinder?”

“You know the Mare of Liberty? Ya know, before it was covered in a glacier? Try that, but like, after she gorged on Beefcake 9000™ for a month or two.”

The old bronze statue with rolls of- “That’s a mental image I could have done without.” Spike suppressed a shudder of disgust and turned to bark a few orders to others in the Command Center. “You can give a full report later. Right now, you need to enact Protocol Zeta.”

Turning her eyes to the sky, Prism noticed some clouds, but they were far too high up to be viable resting points. Typically, Avalon lacked the low hanging clouds of Equuis, which was more of a product of pony controlled weather. Well that sucks. Unless…

“Already on it, Sir. I’ll keep in touch.” With a nod from Spike, Prism Flash closed the channel to focus on survival.

Pushing back south to the way she came, Prism turned her gaze downward to scout the landscape. Sure enough, she spotted a small lake nestled inside a ring of hills with a small stream feeding it from a distant mountain range far to the southwest. It was one she had charted three days prior.

“Perfect. Provided there aren’t any big fish.”

By the time Prism made it to the edge of the lake, the rover pod’s weight was simply too much to bear any longer. She all but drop it on the bank before letting herself fall in a heap. Her forelegs and wings burning from the long effort. Stupid blue box must be solid gold, cripes that thing is heavy. Prism shakily stood back up. “Can’t stop now. No telling if some creepy crawly is nearby.”

She briefly made sure the pod wasn’t damaged, and dragged it back away from the waterline just to be safe. Once done, she shouldered her rifle and scanned the foliage behind her. A few leaves and smaller mushrooms rustled with a low growl coming out that was barely audible over the backdrop of the titans fighting in the distance.

Gritting her teeth, Prism fired off several rounds into the underbrush, catching or at least scaring off whatever was hiding. “Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to take chances, buddy.”

After scanning the rest of her immediate surroundings, Prism propped her weapon against a nearby stick and faced the lake. Flaring her broad wings out, she started slowly flapping towards the water, pouring her magic into the effort. At first the brackish green water started to ripple in a pony-sized area in front of Prism.

A minute later, the water was churning as steam started forming, growing into a mist. With her alicorn magic empowering her wings, Prism shaped and condensed the mist into a big puffy cloud over the course of fifteen minutes.

After stopping her spellwork, Prism tucked her aching wings back with a hissing grimace. Working this world’s weather is painfully rough. Nevertheless, one long studious look at her cloud produced a satisfied nod. “Alrighty. Let’s get-” She stepped away from the cloud and towards the rover pod when her hoof came down on something both crunchy and wet. Looking down, in between her boot and some concealing brambles, were the remains of numerous crushed eggs. Prism barely had a moment to register the destruction when the growling from within the bushes returned, only this time it was joined in by a dozen more. “Of course I pick the one spot there’s a nest. Five bits says there’s like a ton more all around me.”

In that moment, Prism was standing at the edge of the water with the cloud behind her, the pod sitting on the ground just over two meters away, and the bushes ten meters from the lake. Prism pulled her hoof out of the egg nest and leveled her rifle while standing on her back legs, using her wings for balance.

To her expert ears, Prism sensed the source of those growls were fanning out across the thick bushes ringing the lake, and bounced her aim between each new growl, but never seeing a target. “You know, horn, if you’d have at least gotten a few inches by now, I could have just levitated that pod over, but nooo.”

With rations, a radio beacon, and Joe’s core memory entombed in the pod, abandoning it was not an option. I can’t risk whatever those things are having some kind of acid or the strength to damage the pod if I just wait them out in the air.

Steeling herself, Prism took to the air in a low slow flight towards the pod. The growling intensified from the bushes with the pseudo leaves rattling to the point where some started to fall off.

Prism made it above the pod, but now she was in even more trouble. Can’t hold both the rifle and the pod at once… Rut this is bad. Acting almost on instinct, Prism started firing full auto into into the closest bushes. Ribbons of amber magefire cleaved the plants apart, with yowls of pain joining the din.

She emptied the magazine in one go, and as soon as the weapon clicked dry, Prism dropped to the ground and shouldered the rifle. She barely got a good grip on the pod when the bushes exploded with dog sized purple reptiles full of gnashing teeth and one hell of a temper.

With the pod weighing her down, Prism didn’t have time to get back in the air, so she hefted the pod onto her back and ran as fast as she could. The lizards were lightning quick though, with several catching Prism before she was even halfway back to the cloud.

The closest one lunged for her, and bit down on her left flank. The bite wasn’t able to cut through the environment suit, but still enough to make Prism stumble. “Sod off!” she barked as she used a wing to smack the reptile in the head to free herself. The delay had given three other lizards the chance to circle around and cut her off from the cloud. With the mass of the pod cutting her agility to a fraction, she couldn’t stop in time to keep from running right into the pack of lizards. Her momentum surprised the lizard in front of her, with both her and the pod crushing the lizard’s head.

However the other lizards were upon her in seconds. From on top of the dead purple reptile, Prism kicked at them, clocking one in the jaw while another uselessly tried to bite her metal boot off. “Get back! I’m warning you!”

The rest of the pack wasted no time in closing in. Prism summoned a gust of wind by flapping one wing hard, rebuffing the pack for a moment. Yet that was all the time she needed to roll back onto her hooves and bring her empty rifle to bear.

The reappearance of the fearful weapon only made the lizards more desperate, eager to win quickly before it could be used again. Prism fumbled in a hasty attempt to change mags before the seven lizards converged. She cursed as the magazine hit the dirt almost acting like a signal for the lizard to attack as one. “Get back damn it!”

Prism riflebutted one lizard and elbowed the next, but two of them got under her guard, biting her chest with enough force to puncture the thin rigid armor protecting the suit’s systems. The other lizards smelled blood and all latched onto her legs with one on her neck.

Bright red letters appeared in the side of Prism’s display. Warning: internal Stopgap detox solution damaged and contaminated.

Prism struggled with all her might to try and free her forelegs just to pry the lizard off her neck, but the other reptiles kept her pinned. Pain screamed out at Prism from her neck and limbs. With what breath she could squeeze out, she uttered three words. “Activate fail-safe Stopgap.”

Through her dimming vision, Prism’s normally green personal display went red as the potent cocktail was injected into her. Included was a dangerous mana-based form of oxygen that shot her awareness up to double of normal.

With teal foam at the mouth, Prism hissed wordless fury and with more strength then she knew she had, clenched her left robotic fist and punched the lizard attached to her right foreleg, throwing off the reptile attached to her left limb in the process. The impact caved in the assailant's skull and sent the other flying off. With both hands now free, Prism gripped the mouth of the lizard that tried to snap her windpipe and pulled the jaws apart. The beast squealed in pain as the metal fingers bent and snapped teeth off with the herculean effort.

Now that she could breath fully, Prism roared her drug-induced fury at her would be killer and broke the reptile’s jaw in two, sending broken teeth flying in all directions. The two lizards that had hung back to watch the kill were cowed by their pack leader being thrust aside, giving Prism enough time to retrieve her fallen rifle.

Gripping the barrel, she brought the butt of the rifle down on the skull of the lizard still thrashing at her right hind leg like a battle axe. She blinded the beast by caving in one eye with the other one impacting the ground after it let go. “I told you to back the rut off!” Prism screamed as she swung the rifle again like a hammer to free her last leg, but the lizard let go and jumped away before she could land a hit.

Free to move at last, Prism adjusted her grip of the rifle to normal and spotted the dropped magazine. The lizards were already fleeing to the bushes by the time she flipped the magazine for the fresh rounds and readied to fire. But that didn’t stop her from standing back up to unload onto the shrubs, heedless of whether or not she was hitting anything.

By the time the rifle went dry, the lizards were gone, leaving four of their number dead on the ground. Prism fell back onto all fours, panting heavily as the mana-oxygen ran its course, leaving her muscles feeling like lead on her bones.

The rifle clattered to the ground with Prism coughing green foam onto the ground in chunks along with a wad of blood. Her red rimmed eyes hung on the personal display giving multiple warnings of her injuries and climbing side effects of the Stopgap. Thankfully, the painkillers hadn’t stopped working yet.

Coughing up green foam mixed with blood the whole time, Prism flipped the rover pod over and opened the side panel. Her gaze was drawn to the red cross along the bottom of the pod. Flakes of green foam were hacked over the pod as she opened the first aid kit, and she snatched up the orange emergency detox capsule.

Painkillers or not, her legs seemed to resist every effort of hers to drag the candy bar sized vial from the kit and into the socket on her left foreleg right above the robotic hand mount.

“Come on, you stupid thing, get in, get in!” Just when it looked like she was going to slot it successfully, her fine motor control over the hand got sloppy and ended up pushing the vial away and it fell the ground.

“Gaaauuhh! Those things better not be circling back around or I’m as good as toast.” In the corner of her eye, the display flashed more red warnings of muscle degradation already starting with nerve damage not far behind, tactfully reminding her to do what she was already trying to do.

“I get it already!” Opting to lean on her side, Prism used the ground to ease the vial into the proper slot. The suit accepted the vial with a friendly four-note chime and pumped it into her veins.

Relief didn’t come in the more immediately noticeable sense, but that wasn’t the point of first aid detox. Instead the medication only worked to stop the damage from getting any worse and flushing her system of the worst toxins. Sadly, this also meant it was a powerful diuretic.

But that wouldn’t matter for at least an hour. For the time being, Prism wiped her mouth of the green foam that would still be there for days. Note to self: repeatedly punch the guy that invented the mana based o2 and then thank him with kisses.

With leaden misery in every limb, Prism worked for the better part of an hour to drag the pod over to the cloud while saturating the thing with enough pegasi magic to make sure it didn’t drop right through. She was at the very limits of her endurance when Prism was finally able to lethargically flap her wings to push the cloud away from the water and a little ways into the air.

By that time, Stopgap had fully run into the negative aspect of its use. Her muscles burned like fire which only compounded the agony of the biting and tearing the lizards caused. While the mesh skin of the environment suit was tougher than the teeth and jaw of the lizards, it came at the cost of being pliable and stretchy enough for there to be extensive bruising, torn ligaments, several missing feathers, and one seriously bruised ego.

Were it not for the more traditional and less dangerous painkillers, courtesy of the first aid kit, now running through her, Prism would have been a gibbering mess of agony and suffering from both the fallout of Stopgap and the lizards’ injuries. “Do I really need to let Command see me like this? Losing my rover was bad enough.” she whispered to herself between slow breaths. Yes, because protocol says you have to report this, her logical side protested.

“Ba fangoo to protocol.” A part of her giggled at the knowledge the pain meds were making her loopy and couldn’t summon the mental energy to care.

Prism had the foresight to leave the pod right next to her so she wouldn’t have to move too much. Right beside the AI’s blue box, was a radio powerful enough to reach the satellites. Prism could barely perform the eye and foreleg movements necessary to order her display to reopen a channel to Seed One.

“Praise Luna for Rolly Gogers, making old Equestrian rap, and eye command interfaces, woo foo.” Prism did a feeble foreleg shake of adulation, right as Spike’s glowering scowl of a face appeared.

“Damn, Pathfinder, if your vital readings are accurate, you look like you went through the meat grinder and back again. Are you going to make a habit out of this?”

“Leave it to you, Uncle, to kick me when I’m down.” Despite the pain in doing so, Prism chuckled with a snarky grin. “I think I am in La La Land, and I gotta admit,” she drawled with a stupid grin. “And the catering here is horrible.”

Were it not for the direct satellite feed showing Prism was not in immediate physical danger, Spike might have slipped into panic mode. Instead, he was able to focus more on her intoxication. “You hit the Stop Gap again, didn’t you?” Prism did a horrible attempt at trying to play it off with a shrug and a smile. “Don’t worry, girl, I’ll have the medivac floor it. Mind telling me what critter you pissed off this time?” If you even can in this state.

Prism tried to sit up from laying on her back, but all she accomplished was sending torrents of pain through every muscle, making her collapse back down. “I didn’t actually piss off the first two, Scout’s honor!” Prism tried to cross her fingers, which failed miserably, so she opted to cross her index fingers instead and could only touch them together briefly. “But - ah - but as for the little runts, it was their own damn fault for putting eggs on a lake bank. Idiots, am I right?”

“So you claim,” Spike teased, knowing full well that in her present state, Prism was in no position to think rationally. And yet he still had to try. “Are you sure your position is secure long enough for them to get to you?”

“I’m on cloud nine and as high as a kite, that’s about it.” Prism broke into uncontrolled giggling coupled with random ‘ow’ from the laughter hurting her.

Spike’s attention was drawn away from her by a minor alert. He tapped a few commands before addressing her again. “Going by the log data your blue box is sending, it seems like your pod brought a crystal sample with it… Deposited in the emergency rations container for some reason.”

Prism’s bloodshot eyes zapped fully open with her staring at Spike with a brief surge of sanity. “I knew I kept Joe around for a reason.” Mild panic set in, forcing Prism to bite through the pain to sit up. “And before anypony gets any funny ideas, I wanna name that stuff Prismite! I gunna smell like bonkers, I tell you what.” As rapidly as it came, her sanity slipped back down again.

Spike lifted a worried eyebrow. “I think that’s a smell I could do without.” I’m going to have to save this transmission so Twi and I can laugh at it in a few months or so. “For now, just sit tight and wait for evac.”

Prism felt the siren call of sleep and fell down on her back again. “Well don’t mind iffa do.”

15: Something is Amiss...

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A rhythmic beeping pierced through a dreamless sleep.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

It was almost calming really, like a reassuring presence. The sleeper cracked an eye open only to find a darkened room. She was in a nice warm bed, so she was slow to try and process her surroundings. However, a subdued light creeping through the walls dragged her further awake over time. An ear twitched as the steady beeping pulled an eye towards a small screen a foot away from the bed. It took a few seconds, but eventually, the sleeper realized the sharply peaking line was a heart monitor.

In that instant, memories flashed. Her name, the attack by purple lizards, and singing a particularly merry ditty about Spike the Dragon’s ignoble exploits in courting mares and dragon matrons alike. That last one made Prism jolt up, and looked around to find herself in a hospital bed with her mother Twilight Sparkle being jarred out of reading her personal display.

“You’re finally awake!” Twilight stepped closer with an unreserved relieved smile, giving Prism cause to grin sheepishly at her. In this moment of privacy, Twilight doted on her stricken daughter with a dozen motherly kisses on top of Prism’s snout and forehead, making sure to exaggerate the noise with each one. Prism tried to crane her head away from the onslaught, but with her trapped under the covers, it was a hopeless battle.

“Moooom, I’m not a little filly anymore!” Prism was trying her best to not sound like a moody teenager and failing miserably.

Nevertheless, Twilight relented, and brushed the steel colored lock of hair out of Prism’s pouting eyes. “You’ll always be my little filly no matter how old you get.” She paused to allow Prism to reclaim some dignity by pulling up a chair to sit next to the bed. “You scared me half to death I’ll have you know. The last thing I want to put on one of my daughter’s headstones is ‘death by tiny lizards’.”

Prism would have loved to shoot back a scathing zinger the likes of which the new world has never bore witness to before, but with full consciousness came the aches and pains all over her body that sleep had allowed her to ignore. Worst of all, a foul taste akin to a month old latrine after a week of beans and chilly rotting in her mouth took the wind out of her sails. “Hold that thought.” Prism lurched to the side of the bed away from Twilight and threw up into a pre-placed bucket. Prism made only a partial attempt to aim.

The hideous taste was made even worse as some managed to get stuck in the back of her mouth right near the entrance to the nose, nauseating Prism into a second dry heave. Twilight remained silent as she gently stroked her daughter’s back, trying to ease her as best she could without magic. Prism had just finished her second upheaval when Doctor Sawbones stepped through the privacy field along with a nurse pushing a cart laden with medical supplies. “Princess, could you please stand aside?”

“Of course.” Twilight pushed herself away with a flap of her wings, and took a bit of warm pleasure that the good doctor remained professionally objective given the situation and their relationship.

“Nurse, I need a sprayer with one hundred fifty milligrams of counter Arcanoresperate agent seven mixed with seventy milligrams of Colestrate.” As the nurse prepared the dosage, Sawbones ignored the mess on the floor by stepping up to the side of the bed Twilight had occupied so he could study Prism’s sunken face. “You’ll be fine, Pathfinder, just try to keep your stomach calm for a few minutes. Can you open your eyes nice and wide please?”

“Ugh, no promises on the puking.” Prism’s gut rebelled against her feeble attempts to keep from heaving again, but for the time being, she kept it down. She didn’t resist Sawbones as he used his magic to gently pry her left eye open a little further than she was willing, and shown a horn light at her bloodshot eyes.

Sawbones glanced at the heart monitor. While Prism and Twilight could only see the pulse, both medical personnel could see a much more detailed readout of other vital signs on their personal displays. “So far so good, you’re not showing any symptoms of stage two Arcanoresperate toxicity.”

“Here you go, doctor,” the nurse announced, offering the sprayer.

Being the queen of all knowledge sponges she had always been, Twilight had kept track of medical science and advancement in the past several decades. And yet the sprayer still looked for all the world to be a small bottle of window cleaner complete with squeeze nozzle to her. The sight of it alone threatened to make her giggle.

Sawbones held the sprayer aloft next to Prism’s face and addressed her with a warm bedside manner. “Can you open wide for me?” Dread passed over Prism’s face for a bit, and complied hesitantly. Once done, Sawbones inspected the gums and tongue, both of which were a deep black with splotches of green. The pearly white teeth stood in stark contrast to the discolored flesh that disturbed Twilight enough to have bile rise, yet it didn’t faze Sawbones in the slightest. “Nurse, take note that the patient demonstrates the normal response to Arcanorespritory. Metabolized compounds have pooled in the gums and surrounding soft tissue.” He waited for the nurse to finish documenting. “Now, Miss Flash, you might experience some mild discomfort.” Using bit of magic to firmly hold Prism’s mouth open, Sawbones started squirting the medication all over Prism’s mouth and tongue.

If the puke taste in Prism’s mouth had been foul before, now it was truly abhorrent to the point where it transcended time and space. The medication was grape flavored... assuming those grapes had rotted in the sun for a month while sitting in a landfill and picked over by skunks and used as a troll's toothpick... somehow. Prism tried to spit it out and yank her head away, but the doctor held firm and emptied the gracefully small bottle into Prism’s mouth. Once it was empty, he camped her jaw shut with his magic and used another spell to block the fluid off from the back of her mouth. “I know it’s foul, but they trained you on this during basic. So suck it up buttercup,” he ordered with a coy grin. “To turn a phrase.”

All Prism said in response was to direct muffled venom at the inventor of the combat stim, and tried to keep herself from squirming. After roughly half a minute, the nurse presented a bottle of water, minty mouthwash, and a second bucket. Sawbones released his hold on her jaw.

Prism promptly snatched the mouthwash in both hooves and started swishing the foul sludge out of her mouth. “There you have it, Pathfinder, that will finish things up on our end. You will probably feel sleepy shortly, but the effect won’t last but a few hours.”

Once Prism had rinsed the grime out of her maw, she wiped away some of the crust on the edge of her mouth. “That was beyond foul! Why wasn’t year-old grape classified as cruel and unusual?! Even the TIs used strawberry.”

Twilight snickered more at the sprayer than her daughter’s antics. Her relief was palpable after seeing Prism’s gums and tongue were mostly restored to a healthy pink. Sawbones returned the sprayer to the nurse who departed with the cart and bucket after he dismissed her. “You should be fully back on your hooves by dinner, Pathfinder. But I should mention that any blues and purple you see in your urine for the next week or so is no real cause for alarm.”

“That’s encouraging,” she replied icily.

In a warm bedside manner, Sawbones gave her a reassuring slight smile and patted her shoulder. “If you think that was bad, you should have tried the mango flavor. Haven't needed to use the stomach pump yet after that was introduced. A real time saver,” Sawbones deadpanned, making Twilight fight a losing battle to keep from bursting out laughing at her miserable daughter.

Prism’s irritation molded into a spike of revulsion at the mental image. “But… Such is the fallout of using Arcanoresperate. Might I suggest, not angering the fauna so much next time. I don’t think the Pathfinder corps can handle it for much longer.” Prism offered a half-hearted wave and a moan of understanding, prompting Sawbones to make for the exit. “You’re free to leave as soon as you wish, although I suggest waiting until after a nap. Princess Twilight, if I may have a word with you about Alf when you’re done visiting, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll be with you shortly then.” Twilight had been wanting to have that talk for a while now, and she didn’t like how Sawbones’ voice grew dour after mentioning the alien.

With a nod towards his princess, Sawbones slipped through the privacy screen to attend other patients. Now that they were alone again, Twilight returned to her daughter’s side, ignoring the sickening coy stench of puke and sweat. She took a moment to check her display and saw that Sawbones had already given commands for an orderly to clean the mess up. Even so, Twilight's compulsive nature railed against the absence of cleaning supplies in the room so she could start doing it herself. “Assuming you live long enough to achieve alicornhood, you might want to take up pharmacology to create combat stims with less messy side effects. I don’t fair much better than you have when I’ve had to use stims.”

Prism rolled a lethargic eye towards her mother and huffed in annoyance. “You just want me to give up exploration. I’m onto you and your chessmastery ways. You think you're sooo clever, but I know your tricks.”

“Some of them, I admit,” Twilight teased while flicking Prism’s nose with the tip of a feather. Twilight used some magic to gingerly pull the bits of bile out of the corners of Prism’s mouth, and appraised her bedraggled coat with the critical eye of a worried mother. “We both know this world is still a big unknown and clearly dangerous place, but this is your second visit to the hospital in less than a year.”

“Hey, come on, momma. That’s a pretty good track record for, and I quote, ‘big unknown and clearly dangerous place’ end quote.” Prism countered with a smug grin of victory. “Don’t you think?”

Twilight raised a hoof to rebuke, but rethought the argument. With her hoof dropping Twilight nodded. “Okay, point taken. But all the same, that just means we need to take even better precautions.” Prism’s grin sank at the expected new set of rules. “I know you’re going to hate it, but I believe a more heavily armored rover for the corps is the only way you’ll survive out there anymore.”

The phantom image and pain of the alpha lizard clamping down on her neck flashed in Prism’s mind, making her shudder and rub her sore neck. But the news was not the unwelcome addition she had feared. “Just so long as Joe can still fly, then fine by me. Can I put an order for s-pattern ammo? That would have been a lot better at picking off those lizards.”

Twilight grinned at the determination that crystallized in her daughter’s amber eyes, serving to remind Twilight so much of her late husband. “I’ll send my approval to the armory, Little Wing. But from here on, try to avoid combat. Your job is to explore the land, not tame it. Leave that to the soldiers.”

Prism pouted and yawned. “Hey, it’s not my fault! I wasn’t spoiling for a fight with those stupid things.”

Twilight returned Prism’s huff with that motherly stern scowl that always preceded a lecture. “Which is why you’re only in the hospital rather than both this and a court-martial if you had wanted to fight them.”

The drowsy side effect of the detox started to take root, and impaired Prism to the point where she took a second or two to register the warning. “Whoa, a court-martial!? Isn’t that a bit harsh, momma?” She struggled and failed to hide a yawn. “Besides, you can’t court-martial me if I’m not technically military.”

Twilight gave Prism a half-frown at the technicality, but also silently approved of her daughter being smart enough to know that. “Spike and I have been quite laissez-faire about how the Pathfinders conduct themselves, but to date, only Ruby wears her armored duster. It’s the only reason she’s still alive.” The impact of that statement didn’t fully register to Prism as drowsiness overpowered her higher thinking. Twilight on the other hand, was too caught up in her lecture to notice and started rattling off with her hoof in the air and her eyes closed as she recited from memory. “From here on, wearing the duster is mandatory while any Pathfinder in is the field. I know it can be problematic to fly with it, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem with you, now that you're used to having larger wings.” The unexpected silence made Twilight fume a little. “It’s more than just some fancy fabric you know-” Twilight opened her eyes when she heard familiar snoring that could wake the dead from all the way back to Equis. Sure enough, Prism was passed out and sawing logs the likes of which had not been heard in generations. Twilight’s ears pulled back, though it didn’t help against the bone rattling snores. She never could stay awake when I- Twilight groaned at herself. “I was lecturing again wasn’t I?” she asked herself.

You’d think I’d have figured out how to stop doing that… Seeing she would do little good in ruining her hearing by staying around, Twilight departed the room, and stepped into the main ring’s hallway. Just as well. I shouldn’t keep Bones waiting. While the medical facilities were originally quite cramped, the exodus of various storage locations and other services in the surrounding ring, had allowed the medical staff to commandeer the now empty floor for more hospital rooms. As such, Twilight started making her way towards the main sickbay.

Shortly enough, she found Sawbones conversing with a fellow doctor and the senior bioengineer Polypeptide, an earth stallion with dark green coat that bore a deeply troubled expression. “I’ve followed the molecular guideline to the letter. The substance is exactly what Alf requested, right down to the molecular shape.”

“Is there a problem?” Twilight half asked, half announced as she joined the trio. All three ponies bowed towards the princess, who made a curt wing wave to get them back up and the conversation going again.

Sawbones was the first to respond. “I should say so. We’ve been running some tests on the substance Alf requested of us for his… self-imposed brainwashing, and it’s proven to be extremely lethal.”

The news was not entirely unexpected to Twilight, but it still made her scowl nonetheless. “Well, doctor, anything to do with altering memories or the brain in general could be toxic no matter what, even in tiny doses.”

The other doctor, a pearl white pegasus mare with a bright pink mane, who was sporting a baby bump as large as Twilight, barked a testy reply that spoke of lack of sleep. “We’ve run simulations on every conceivable dosage and vector from sprayers to pills. Princess, this poison, since I can’t bring myself to call it medication, breaks neurons apart in both ponies and whatever Alf is. I bet my last pinfeathers Alf is trying to commit suicide.”

Sawbones gestured for restraint. "As far as we know. It's not like we have anything more to work with on Alf's physiology aside from scans and simulations."

“If he wanted to end his own life, Alf has had plenty of time and opportunity to do that,” Twilight mused aloud as she started pacing around the group. It was a thought that crossed all their minds. “If you’re right, why would he want to involve us in on it?”

“Could be a cultural issue,” Sawbones offered as he turned his head around to follow the pacing alicorn. “According to Alf’s testimony, his brethren were being turned into animals by multiple AI like the one found by Prism Flash. Perhaps direct suicide is forbidden while assisted or ritual suicide is acceptable.”

Polypeptide remembered watching the publicized videos regarding the alien and that story in particular. The whole recording put a nervous twinge in his voice. “A ghastly thing to be sure. Should I have the stock destroyed?”

Twilight stopped pacing and twisted her face into her patented contemplative frown that melted into one of pity. “Not yet. For all he knows, Alf could be the last of his kind. What’s left of his kin roaming this world as little more than animalistic beasts. Part of that Judgement he kept referring to. That is not a fate I wish to force him to endure.” She faced Polypeptide, giving him a look that brooked no argument. “Have the requested amount brought to the observation lab. I wish to speak with Alf before giving it to him.”

While the bioengineer remained more or less dour about the order, the two doctors paled. The mare spoke out first. “Princess, I must protest giving Alf this poison!” she yelled tactlessly while stomping her hoof. “It isn’t right!”

Sawbones remained quiet however, leaving Twilight more ill-at-ease than if he too had voiced his disapproval. “If he were a pony, or at least one of the other species of Equis, I’d agree with you, but only on the grounds that I know their culture inside and out. As for Alf…” Twilight hid her discomfort as best she could, especially from Sawbones. “If we do not help him in this, he might as well be our prisoner.”

Polypeptide silently extracted himself from the conversation with a hasty bow towards Twilight and departed sickbay. Seeing she was getting nowhere, the doctor turned to Sawbones and waved a hoof at Twilight. “Come on, Chief, back me up on this.”

Sawbones searched Twilight’s eyes for a long moment. For the moment, the stern visage of an experienced ruler spoke of a sound mind to him. Yet Twilight allowed a brief slip of her more troubled inner thoughts via a short downward tilt of the corners of her mouth. A wordless gift to him alone since his colleague was so focused on him. “I trust our Princess will do what she thinks is right. There is nothing more for us to say on the matter.”

“Thank you for your council, doctors, now if you’ll excuse me.” Twilight’s eyes lingered on Sawbones’ own for a moment or two before she turned away to speak with the alien. That left the two doctors to return to their work, one fuming angrily and the other full of deep worry.

Prism awoke in a snap at the sound of hoofsteps. She bolted up to find Silver and Praxia stepping inside with relief filled smiles. Prism’s hand gauntlets were being held aloft in Praxia’s emerald green magic. “Oh, hey guys! I’ma... back from my trip!”

Silver made an attempt to be macho and waved it off with a smirk. “Ah, I knew you’d be fine. You’d never let a bunch of lizards kill you. Ruby woulda used it against your memory til the day she died.”

Silver’s performance was not quite convincing as Prism could see the undercurrent of stress in his tense shoulders and tone of voice. Praxia was of no mind to act aloof and buzzed over to the side of the bed to look the grey pegasus over. “You gave me quite a fright at least. You need to hurry up and ascend already before you get in worse trouble out there.”

“Oh yeah!” A gleeful light burst in Prism’s eyes and grin and she all but yanked Praxia’s hoof on her forehead. “Tell me what you feel!”

“H – Hey! Watch the leg hole! It’s sorta sharp.” Praxia’s surprise was great enough for her to drop the gauntlets, but Silver was quick enough to catch them before they hit the floor. At first, Praxia only felt a smooth forehead and was growing frustrated at being forced into an awkward stance. “I don’t feel anything, can’t you just- wait. Is that what I think it is?”

“What?!” Silver asked with mounting curiosity.

Praxia met Prism’s stupidly massive grin with a more dignified smile of her own. “Our little alicorn is growing up.”

“Seriously!? Can I feel?” Silver’s hoof all but pounced on Prism’s forehead once Praxia removed hers. Knowing what to look for, he felt the tiny yet hard bump on Prism’s head. The macho act fell apart as raw cheer flooded the bat pony. He jumped on the bed and gave Prism a surprise bear hug. “That’s awesome, Prism! I knew you had it in you!”

“Well, duh,” Prism snarked. “There’s that whole being born with alicorn blood don’tcha know?”

Prism and Silver started giggling like schoolchildren and rolled around on the bed in sheer delight. That left Praxia to be the mature one, as always, and give the two of them a bemused shake of her head. These two are such idiots. The thought held no malice.

Silver pulled his head up enough so that Prism could look at him clearly. “Say, why don’t we celebrate with a round or two of Zombogeddon?”

“Ooo, sounds good to me.” Prism and Silver turned to Praxia, putting her on the spot. “You coming too?”

“Uhh –” Praxia was trying to keep herself composed and reserved. “I’d be happy to. But I can’t right now, I have to meet with Spike in a half an hour to discuss the construction of a few more automated bunkers along the west ridge. How about in…” Praxia went about shuffling her schedule around, a skill Twilight had been sure to instill within her. “Two hours?”

“Sounds good,” Prism replied. With a thrust of a wing, she threw the covers off the bed and jumped off, only to remember there was puke on that side. She skidded a bit on clean floors. Oh, whew, the janitors must have been real quiet. Once on all fours, Prism took the time to stretch and pop her joints with ear grinding cracks that made Praxia physically ill while Silver was just impressed by some of the louder snaps. It did much to release some of the pressure, but a few in her back refused to pop. “I’m starving. I don’t know about you two, but I can’t stand hospital food, you coming to eat, Silver?”

Silver’s grin turned sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. “Actually, I was in the middle of extracting Joe from his blue box. I could get the automatic process of dumping him into a new rover started in a couple of hours since you totaled him, sooo about the time Praxia’s done.”

Prism rounded the bed and collected the offered hand-gauntlets. “Hey, blame those stupid tatzlwurms, not me.” Prism blew him a raspberry. “But whatever. That’ll give me time to wash up and all. See ya at the club.” Prism only donned one gauntlet before roping Silver into a hug. Praxia felt the few traces of love and promptly joined in the embrace to savor it.

The tight hug resulted in several ominously loud pops out of Prism’s spine, making her freak out while the other two jumped back out of shock. The pegasus’ shock turned to relief as the tense muscles relaxed, making her sag a bit to the floor. “Ohhh, there it goooes.”

Some deep part of Praxia’s mind couldn’t help but to imagine the cracking sound as snapping chitin. Primordial fear caused her to jump backwards and buzz into a low hover. Her logical side struggled to cope with instinct. “I ahh, I better get going to make it in time.”

Praxia sped away before either pony could question her. Silver clicked his tongue. “What was that about?”

Prism shrugged,. “Not a clue. Miss Bug gets like that every so often.” She playfully pushed him off so she could make for the door as well. “Get going on those repairs. I wanna see you at the club as soon as you get off work.” Thankfully, the stiffness in her muscles wasn’t too bad, so she made it outside with only minor difficulty.

“Oh I’ll be there alright!” he called as he followed her out.

It was some time later that Twilight stepped into Alf’s habitat. It was a far cry from the spartan amenities it once had. A Hodgepodge of different artwork, ranging from pseudo-marble statues to classical oil paintings, to the latest in holographic art of video game characters, Alf had placed them in seemingly imperfect positions that belied an alien sense of taste. Or perhaps a simple lack of home decor, as far as Twilight was concerned.

The floor was still a sterile white plastic, and most of the cameras had been removed. The tv was off, with Alf currently inspecting a famous hologram of the princesses, including Flurry Heart. The sight of her dead niece tugged at Twilight’s heartstrings, but the melancholy was only a shadow of what it had once been. The hologram had each alicorn arrayed like the spokes of a wheel, while the ground and air around each of them played on their various aspects. A sunbeam illuminating Celestia, a crescent moon wrapped around Luna, and the like.

Presently, Alf was focused on Twilight’s image with a confounded glower marring his lined face. The sound of the door sliding open was intentionally loud enough for Alf to hear her entry, as if the clip-clop of her hooves were not enough, allowing the alien to end his observation and bow deeply towards her. “Exalted one, you honor me with your arrival.” As usual, he spoke in his native tongue while Voyager dampened his speech and replaced it with Equestrian.

“As polite as ever, Alf.” Twilight’s initial regal smile threatened to waver. As had become commonplace with her visits, she made a slow wave with a wing to signal him to rise. “I take it you are critiquing art today?”

Alf gave a frown and more or less looked rather uncomfortable. “I fear insulting you on this, goddess Twilight, but my kind always viewed true-to-life art, at least I think that’s the term you use, as horribly boring outside of educational purposes.” He waved a hand towards a tall statue that had an idealized Twilight Sparkle. It lacked the baby bump, slight plumpness around the flanks, and general grooming that Twilight prefered to make herself more approachable, the statue was the very definition of divinity. In addition, there was a procession of technology that danced around her with scrolls and old books around her hooves while e-books and digital text weaved upwards to eventually form a halo in the form of a data stream.

The statue stood ten feet tall in total, but only because anything larger would scrape the ceiling. The statue Twilight was lean and radiated beauty and power. The statue’s gaze was both soft yet commanding, with the crown sporting the only bit of color on the otherwise white marble, and that was a purple jewel that sparkled in the light. All in all, it made Twilight gag, but also fear that was exactly how many ponies saw her. I swear, if it wasn’t for my string of daughters, the common pony would probably think alicorns were an entirely different species.

“Now, that is art,” Alf proclaimed. “Not a perfect replica of life, but life idealized to perfection!” Despite the flash of iron his voice, his posture threatened to slouch into morose longing. The sorrow vanished behind a mask of contentment as Alf turned back to Twilight. “Did you wish to talk further of art, or was there another reason for your visit?”

“There was, actually.” Twilight approached a ring of lounge chairs near one of the walls. As she neared, the AI automatically had one of the seats pulled into the floor with a replacement taking its place that could accommodate a pony of her size and condition. “We finished synthesising that compound you requested two months back.”

Twilight kept her voice level and betrayed nothing. She sat down on her side to keep from pressing down on her sizable belly. As with many of their visits, Alf opted to stand at a respectful distance, as was custom for him. As always though, Alf’s chair was offered and refused. The alien took a few moments to notice that Twilight was not sporting any sort of carrying bags. “Stop me if I sound presumptuous, Goddess, but given that you did not bring it with you. I assume you have issue with it?”

Twilight watched him, for the first time in a month, take a seat and steepled his fingers. He leaned forward on the hard chair to limit any comfort. “Then you already have some idea as to why I’m here.” With a touch of magic, Twilight created a hologram of the vial she had seen in the lab on the way in. The dark black liquid caused Alf’s eyes to dilate in desire. “I’ll admit our medical knowledge of you is limited, but this stuff is likely to kill you more than anything else.”

Alf was silent for a moment, his eyes falling away from the illusion, prompting Twilight to dispel it. “That… is a possibility, yes. I take it, you do not approve of the risk?”

Twilight let off a heavy sigh, her thoughts drifting back to her daughter. “My people are no strangers to dangerous medications. Our soldiers and scouts more than most. But I must know if you were honest with me on what this drug does, or if you’re trying to commit suicide.”

“...You are correct on both, Goddess Twilight,” Alf said at length. The constant goddess title irked Twilight, making the corner of her right eye twitch, but she otherwise made no outward reaction. “The Judgement of Rea the Polite Judge is used to commune with, as the name implies, Rea the Polite Judge.” The name was new to Twilight, so she shifted a little to sit up a bit straighter. “Traditionally, the Judgement is used by political officers against subversives who blaspheme against the pantheon and against the majority of criminals.

“The Judgement’s purpose is to open the imbiber to Rea the Polite Judge. From there, it can free us of whatever misguided mentality the officers discern. If Rea the Polite Judge declares us fit to reenter society, we survive the process, if not, we are claimed by Gulrat the Harvester.”

Twilight allowed herself to show some visible concern via a scowl and raised eyebrow. “So essentially, it’s a gamble.”

Alf was brought up short, as if he had never considered it. He hesitated to answer, but Twilight allowed the silence to drag on to give him time to think. “I - I suppose an outsider would see it that way.” He pulled his hands away to subconsciously scratch the side of his arm.

“It would be easier to simply treat you as a pony, Alf. I’d feel more justified in refusing to allow you to use this, but at the end of the day, you’re not. Doing so would force you to either live in isolation from us, or have to suffer watching your greatest taboos.” Twilight fell silent for a long moment, trying to reconcile potentially losing the only sapient alien she’d likely ever find. “I won’t deny you this, if you feel the need to commune with Rea. But I would ask if there is anyway I can help improve your odds of survival.

“I’m not here to keep you against your will if you must do this, but as your friend, could you at least give me the chance to help you live through this.”

Alf gave an awkwardly forced toothy smile, an act he knew the ponies saw as positive, but was a peculiar way of showing it to his people. “I am honored by your wisdom, Goddess Twilight. As for helping me, the Doctors of the Cloth of my people would know of a way to ease the communion. That is knowledge I was not given unfortunately.”

“Then at least let us help with what we can.” Twilight stood up to stand eye to eye with Alf. Solid iron gave weight to her words. “My people may not have the level of technology you’re used to, but we can be quite creative.”

Alf was moved by the offer, finding renewed conviction he had thought he had lost. “I will create a list of things that I do know of.”

Twilight flashed a wide grin. “I can’t tell you how much I love lists.”

Prism emerged from her new carbon copy house all cleaned up and ready to hang out at the VR club. The short five feet between the front door and the dome’s airlock was covered in short grass to give the place a more familiar feel. As she approached the airlock, she found the scowling and quite positively irate face of Ruby standing on the other side of the glass with only three legs. Wait, what!? At first, Prism didn’t fully compute the absence of Ruby’s left front leg, but it hit her fully after reaching the airlock. The red crystal pony was kept upright by a translucent mesh looking spell that emulated scaffolding around the missing limb. The phantom limb looked rigid and uncomfortable.

Ruby pressed a button on her side of the airlock to speak over the intercom. “PF, we need to talk in private. Now!”

“Whoa, hey now,” Prism rebuffed with a wave of her left leg. “By Celestia’s sunburnt plot what happened to you?! Did the Commander finally give in to curiosity to see if crystal ponies taste like gems?”

Ruby pressed her helmet to the glass and snarled in throbbing pain. “I lost this damn leg yesterday you feathery lurdane! Now let me in before someone sees me like this or I’ll throw you back on underwater duty for a year!”

Prism couldn’t stop her eyes from constantly wandering to the missing leg. “Then how did you get-” Prism caught herself after remembering the pathfinders had all been given their new houses one right after the the other, placing them in their own little sub-neighborhood. Oh, right. That’s not the rover I requested from Voyager. Prism snapped out of it and pressed the simple control panel. “Okay, okay, geez, no need to get pissy, Boss.”

With a few deft key presses with her robotic hand, Ruby was cycled through the lock with the surrounding glass rendered opaque with a few mana crystals placed evenly across the dome. Once Ruby was inside, Prism’s snark returned in full force, only to dim a little at seeing how much it was taking out of Ruby to walk even the short distance through the airlock. “Now come on, chief, it’s not like you to get outwitted by a critter. So what really happened? It’s gotta be worse than running into a pair of tatzlwurms and getting swarmed by dog-lizards.”

Ruby hobbled into the enclosure and had to check herself from snapping at Prism. Mostly because she caught the barest hint of concern in the pegasus’ tone. Probably her imagination. “... I was cooking dinner when I assume the smell attracted a group of wolfbeetles while I was on one of the jungle islands beyond the shore. I forget the name, not that I’m going back. My rover’s warning came barely a second before the damn swarm came down on me. Thanks to Larry I got out alive, mostly.” She glanced down at her missing leg, both physical and emotional pain seeped through her tightly controlled scowl. The last thing she wanted was to show even a modicum of mental weakness in front of Prism. “Might have saved my leg if there had been a spare medivac when I called for one.”

It didn’t take Prism long to take offense to the comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ruby snorted and shook her head. “Nothing… look, I’m going to make this quick, the pain meds-”

Prism’s wings flared and she pushed herself in between Ruby and the airlock, an iron gaze locking Ruby in place. “Just say it. You want to blame me because I occupied a medivac that could have gone to you, don’t you?”

Ruby plopped down on the grass and had her suit’s helmet pop open so she could have her head free of its tight confines. Prism scowled at the delaying tactic, but said nothing as she waited for an answer. “Lemme tell you something, Prism.” Ruby bit her cheek to keep from letting the dull pain in her missing leg from causing her to flinch. “You may be the daughter of the princess,” Ruby grumbled while shooting an evil eye at the large-winged pegasus. But as far as I’m concerned, the only thing royal about you is the pain in my ass. If I want to keep my mouth shut then by Cadence there’s not a damn thing you can do to change my mind! So back off,” Ruby shoved Prism’s face back and away from her with a hoof, nearly making her cry in pain at all of her front weight suddenly going to her magical prosthetic.

Prism begrudgingly allowed herself to be pushed back, fuming at the irate crystal mare while rubbing her smushed snout. “Fine then, I’ll just have to go with what I think you meant,” Prism said with a coy tone. Oh I can’t wait to wave my horn in your face when it becomes visible. Images of Ruby’s jaw dropping to the floor and, most gratifying of all, was the red crystal pony having to bow down towards her during the future coronation. The mental image alone was enough for Prism to hold back on further commentary. At least nothing that might get her to swing at me. Wouldn’t want her falling flat on her face just yet. “Just so we’re clear. I hope you do realize that the ‘no special treatment’ idea that mom told everypony was my idea, right? How many times do I have to prove to you I earned my place?” Prism narrowed her gaze. “The only reason I got that medivac was because I got injured first, it’s not a difficult concept.”

Ruby snorted dismissively as Prism stepped forward challengingly. “Says the mare who just so magically scored higher than anypony else on the final assessment exam, and yet cannot even remember to say some historic words when she first set hoof on the new planet. If not Twilight, then one of the other princesses must've gotten to the graders." Prism felt her blood boil at the insufferable crystal pony, and slapped Ruby across the face before she could say another word.

"That's a damn lie!" Prism all but screamed with fury in her eyes. Ruby took the slap coolly, letting her head stay facing away from Prism for a moment before slowly turning back to look at her. " I busted my tail off to get that grade! No pony helped me get that grade except me!"

Ruby was stunned to see only vindictive anger in Prism instead of any defensiveness that would betray a lie. So either she’s done some mental gymnastics to forget that she cheated or was helped, or she's completely ignorant of it. The implications of that thought disturbed Ruby deeply, and saw she could gain a little else from Prism directly. That revelation did nothing to improve Ruby's view of Prism, quite the contrary, it worsened it because now she believed Prism was fool.

"You know what, whatever, Believe what you want. Not that it makes a difference now that we are already here."

"I'm gonna believe the truth, now did you just come here to piss me off or try to gain sympathy for losing your leg? Because any you might have gotten just flew out the window." Prism was inches from bodily chucking Ruby out the airlock, but she was mostly scared at herself for slapping Ruby in the first place. I can't believe I let her get me riled up like this. It's not like I haven't heard all this garbage before. Prism wanted to do her mother’s calming breathing exercise, but Ruby’s presence made her hold off.

Ruby felt a headache start forming and she squinted her eyes from the pounding right behind her eyes. "For what it's worth, I'm..." she had the fight herself to save the next word. "Sorry." Prism was caught off guard by that, but remained indignant. "These meds are screwing with my head. The doc said I should stay at home until the nerve blocks are removed, but orders are orders and I was the closest one to you. So if we can keep our wiseass comments to ourselves, I can tell you why I’m here looking at your ugly mug instead of just calling you.” When Prism offered no interruption outside of a mixed expression between anger and a modicum of pity, Ruby continued in a mildly less hostile tone.

“The Commander wants to keep this whole debacle on the down low since it could put a big dent in colony morale, but every last one of us Pathfinders were hit yesterday.”

Prism’s frown faltered for a second or two before deepening considerably. “Wait… Are you serious? Why didn’t Silver say anything, or mom for that matter? Did the others make it!?”

Prism stepped forward only for Ruby to growl and shove her back. “Yes I’m dead serious. As far as I know, the engineers of our unit haven’t been told yet. I wasn’t even told until after the Princess personally teleported me to my house. Less ears, less tongues, ya got that?”

Prism bit back a colorful retort for Ruby’s tone implying she was moronic. “I’m not an idiot, Ruby, I’m the last person you need to dumb it down for.” A smirk burrowed through her scowl. “At least I’ve been able to keep my limbs intact.”

A flash of hate curled Ruby’s lips, but she refused to rise to any more bait. I've embarrassed myself enough already today. Damn pills. I did not need to listen to that mare’s mouth. “So far at least,” Ruby stated through terse lips. “As for the gag order, you can ask Spike if you want confirmation, but for now, we don’t mention a word of this on the comms. The commander doesn’t share the Princess’ faith in Thorn keeping his word on not hacking us. If he knew all six Pathfinders are out of commission, he could take advantage of it somehow. Then there’s the issue with somepony here possibly being a bit too nosey in the logs. The last thing we need is more bad news with all the soldiers getting banged up on a daily basis.”

“Hey, I can keep a secret,” Prism grumbled defensively. I guess that’s why Silver didn’t say anything either. “But we all got hit on the same day?”

Ruby’s harsh tone softened moderately at remembering what Spike had mentioned Prism’s injuries in passing. Not as bad as mine obviously, she mused while glancing at her stump. but still… “Yes. From what the Commander’s said, you were attacked first, while I was last. Firefly got lucky and only lost his rover to those acid throwing dartons, but he had to be recalled because of it. The rest of us are still in the hospital. All of which are in critical condition last I heard.”

The news got Prism’s inquisitive mind churning. With her comrades safely back in the colony, her concern shifted to the implications of so many attacks in one day. That would explain why I was in such an isolated ward. “What does mom and Spike make of all this? Just some bad cosmic coincidence?”

“Well unless the xenos got on the plant-based internet and told all their buddies to kill ponies on sight, then yeah, flukes happen.” Ruby struggled to get back up, refusing to even acknowledge the token assistance Prism offered more out of habit than any love between them. “Anyway, I’ve said what I had to. Just keep your mouth shut about it for the next week or so until the Commander lifts the gag order. Probably waiting until we’re all up and about again.”

“Can I at least talk about it with Silver and Praxia?” Prism asked as she watched Ruby hobble into the airlock.

Ruby stopped before stepping fully inside to turn towards Prism with a grimace of pain shooting up her body. “The regent should already be in the know, not so sure about the engineers, but we’re technically not even supposed to talk about it between each other until the gag order’s lifted. So put a sock in it and keep your mouth shut.”

“Wow, a double idiom, fine I get the message. But before you go,” Prism eyed the Ruby’s stump of a leg. “Are you getting a vat-grown replacement or a bionic?”

“What’s it to you?” Ruby barked as she slapped the cycle button with her hip.

Prism leaned against the wall in a way that she could still see into the airlock now that the privacy spell on the dome was dissipating. “Nothing, just curious if I should start watching out for that right hook of yours the next time we throw down for packleader.”

Ruby snorted bitterly. Despite their animosity, neither mare had ever directly come to blows beyond the occasional slap or two. “I’ll let you figure that out if you ever come after me.”

Prism’s boastful side nearly made her bring up her developing horn, but the strategic thinking made Prism check herself. No… I’ll let her find out when my horn gets large enough to see easily. That’ll throw her off her rocks in a real hurry.

Ruby caught Prism giving her a smug eye as the airlock opened. “What?” she barked heatedly before stepping back outside.

“Just wondering the real reason you hate me so much,” Prism shot out a bit quicker than she intended. Ruby huffed dismissively and hobbled over to the rover she had rode in on. It may have been a short walk to her house, but that wasn’t so easy on three legs. Prism didn’t let distance deter her from an answer. “You say it’s ‘cause I rode in on my mother’s coat tails, but come on, you can do better than that.”

The half-mocking half-joking tone was enough to grate on Ruby’s nerves, this time, she wouldn’t let Prism get a rise out of her. This time, no one else was watching, not even Voyageur due to the AI passively recording all interactions it had. Instead, Ruby climbed inside the rover, activated the privacy spell built into the transport, and had her holographic face materialize in front of Prism. “You want to know that badly?”

Prism was put mildly on edge by Ruby’s sudden humorous voice, though she didn’t let it show. “Yeah. So out with it.”

“Fine, but let me ask you this. Is there anyone you hate?” Ruby studied Prism intently, her face dancing between dead seriousness and derisive mockery.

Prism’s mind went straight to her older sister, but after that, there was no individual person should could bring herself to admittedly hating them with a passion. At length, Prism eventually shook her head. “No one still living.”

“Well you should,” Ruby snarked in the same tone that Prism always used. “Makes life more fun.”

Prism stood there with a blank look and blinked slowly. “Are - are you being serious?” Ruby’s toothy smirk only widened before she cut the call short, leaving Prism totally baffled. Flustered at being played, Prism scoffed and stomped over to the airlock to leave. “Whatever. She’s just being a creep.” A night at the club wasn’t so appealing anymore, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to cancel on Silver and Praxia.

Later that evening, Twilight Sparkle and Alf stood in an observation blister overseeing a previously empty laboratory. Alf had brought a backpack full of items that Twilight had only glimpsed at. The lab beyond the glass was populated by a team of engineers directing the construction of a sensory deprivation tank modified for Alf’s size and physiology. 3-D printers had been brought in to facilitate it. The design alteration was simple enough, so Twilight was intent on spending time going over the details with Alf. “So let me get this straight, you’re banking on your biological enhancements to survive?”

Alf gave a shallow bow, speaking in a patient voice. “Correct. While I no longer have access to a proper doctor, my body should still retain its enhanced durability for at least four more of your years.” He made a swishing motion with his elbows, an act Twilight had caught on that meant he was unsure. “At least that is my understanding. I built ships, not bodies.”

“That leaves a lot more variables than I’d prefer.” Twilight brought up the list she had made on her display. “So all you do is let the mind bleach absorb in your skin, and watch images of taboo acts to eliminate your revulsion of it?” Twilight chided herself at used that particular term for it, but the nickname of the chemical had stuck.

“I can hear your doubt. Do you fear I am being elaborate in trying to commit suicide?”

Twilight might have been mildly embarrassed for being called out, but her concern, and overall confoundment, only left her confused. “Well…” She scratched her neck while scrutinizing an image of mind bleach’s molecular make up, as if trying to divine its function by willpower alone. If he was, he’s going above and beyond in effort here. Maybe that’s a cultural requirement. “It just seems a bit fanciful.” Alf shifted to defend himself, but Twilight continued on. “But, I will trust you in this, as friends should,” she added with a reassuring smile.

“Trust well placed, I assure you.” Alf’s trepidation made his voice quiet. He sweated profusely as the lid of the deprivation tank was closed as the engineers started testing the equipment. It would not be long before it was ready. “Rea is nearly impossible to appease without offerings,” he muttered just low enough for Twilight to hear him speak, but not for Voyager to translate. “But I have no idea how the offerings are made. All the same… I refuse to live as a recluse.”

The more he stared at the sensory deprivation tank, the more a sense of foreboding weighted down upon him like a choking wrap of chains. In truth, he was terrified. Had he not been spending the last two months purposefully distracting himself… The Goddess of Ponies has more kindness than most of the divine. I don’t think she would allow this if I showed such doubt. Standing here waiting for the ponies to finish their work, more fear than he thought possible was bubbling up. Not so much of his fear of the possible brain damage, but in meeting his god of judgement as the one who failed to save some modicum of his people. “Goddess Twilight, if you would allow it, I must commune with Rea the Polite Judge.”

So a full on ritual? Twilight nodded and backed away to give Alf some room. “By all means. Go ahead.”

“I thank you again, Goddess Twilight.” He bowed deeply at her before unshouldering his backpack and pulled out several holy relics tied to Rea. A short straight blade, a plastic twig of some plant Twilight couldn’t identify, a set of small measuring scales, and a fist sized crystal sphere colored like that of a red cloudy planet. All of these ‘relics’ had been printed the month before, but Alf hoped it was the imagery that counted.

He placed the red orb in front of him, the scales behind him and the other relics flanking him, Alf genuflected towards the sensory deprivation pod. There he recited a series of prayers that lasted until the engineers were finished and the medical personnel were now doing their part to ready the tank. Twilight stood through it all, wanting to witness everything she could, even as fatigue started to claw at her drooping eyes. With the mandated prayers complete, Alf was at last able to add his own request, as is tradition. Rea the Polite Judge, I beseech you. If I am still worthy of mercy, then I beg of you to show me the path. If my people are to be robbed of the Spark of the Divine, then what else is there for me?

No answer was forthcoming, but one was not expected outside of the tank. That would be rectified all too soon.

16: Spirit Journey

View Online

Even for a being as biologically engineered as Alf, time seemed to have no meaning in the sensory deprivation tank. Touch, smell, heat, sound, and even gravity became imperceivable. The ponies had a level of engineering that he had not expected of them.

As for the flashes of taboo that were supposed to play in his mind like a movie, it never happened. He kept waiting for it though, but time passed with only a growing numbness in his head that signaled the destructive properties of the mind bleach starting to erode him from the inside out. Was I mistaken in the ritual? Or were those of the divine touch not forthcoming about the details?

Alf wanted to be angry, but he couldn’t summon the strength. So instead he tried the only other thing that made sense. Oh Rea the Polite Judge, hear my plea. I humbly request judgement upon this wretched and lonely soul. Speak your will, be it death or adaptation, mold me as you see fit.

Like a mantra, Alf repeated his prayer like a mantra without stop. The numbness in his head started to cloud his thoughts like cotton. Some part of Alf knew it was never meant to be a painful death, for Rea was just. Death was required or it was not, pain during communion never was. The sluggishness of his thoughts progressed to the point where he was struggling to remember the exact words. Some part of him feared his hosts might break the deprivation pod open in some vain effort to save him, but Alf knew he was dead the moment he poured the vial upon his chest.

Expectation of final death had yet to cross his mind when he heard a voice. Faint though it was, Alf started to think more clearly. The damage and cotton cleared from his thoughts as a weak presence wrapped itself around his spirit like a feeble vine.

“Is it true? After so long, the frozen one walks through time once again.”

Alf tried to open his eyes, but instead of the blackness of the pod, he found himself floating in a black void with a barely perceivable floor below him. The floor was hued blue, and was translucent so that he could see the void beyond it. He willed himself to land, a primordial part of him glad to be on somewhat solid ground. At this angle, the floor was more like a narrow bridge that extended beyond his sight with the edges only a few meters to either side.

At first, Alf was alone. He scanned his surroundings, finding no one until he circled the fifth time to at least see another of his kind. A transparent female that seemed to want to warp and shift into some other form, but the being fought to keep its original shape. A concept that transcended species and culture was a blindfold that covered her entire face. That alone told Alf who stood before him.

With elation surging through his cleared mind, Alf prostrated himself before the figure. “Oh, Rea the Polite Judge, I thank you for finding me worthy of an audience.”

Rea clasped two of her hands while the other two were held aloft. “He Who Walks the River of Time Once More, it has been an age since I have seen one of my people. I half feared I would be remade before you awoke.”

Alf looked up at her while climbing back to his feet. “Remade? So the Saviors failed. I failed.” He had suspected as much, but Alf had hoped more of his people had survived the Judgement.

“The weight of your guilt is small, Time Walker,” Rea spoke with a wavering voice, as if the air couldn’t properly carry her voice. “Not when the destruction of the Spark Bearers was the effort of so many. Your transgressions are lighter than your honor. You may pass the gates now if you wish.”

As if the weight of his species was lifted off his shoulders, Alf mirrored Rea’s arm gesture. “I accept your judgement, but not your offer. There must be some good I can do. Some act that will have meaning before this,” he thumped his chest, “spark bearer passes the gate.”

Rea was silent for a moment. She folded her arms to signal a contemplative state. “Balgrath’s Judgement,” she said with loathing so profound that her hate thrummed through Alf’s body, “was thorough, but ultimately only a partial success. The Spark Bearers have changed themselves, and my brethren and I are changing with them. Such is our bond.” Rea swept her hands at her own body as she briefly allowed it to reform into a more alien but indistinguishable shape. “All will be lost and need to be reformed again, lesser than what we were I fear. Perhaps greater, but the Spark Bearers will never remember their first selves.

“But as for you, Time Walker,” Rea calmed and gazed upon Alf as if for the first time. “You find yourself in strange company.” Rea stretched out two hands and glided forward to place them upon his head. Alf bowed to the floor and submitted to her will. Rea gasped at what she saw of his memories about the ponies. “They are not children of Balgrath. Be glad of that. But the tall one. She… she is an impossibility!”

She pulled her hands away, allowing Alf to look at her puzzlingly. “The Purple One? Are you speaking of their goddess? Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

Rea’s form started fluctuating wildly between her normal and alien form as her mind reeled from what she saw. “How? How!?” As soon as it started, Rea snapped back to a calm state. Alf was more disturbed more by the outburst rather than the emotional reset. Rea shivered one last time to look at Alf. “An answer you require?” while voiced like a question it was taken as a statement. “She is a being tied to the realm where we stand here and now, Time Walker, she is what should not be: Higher Being Made Corporal.”

“Is - is that wrong? Should I fear her?”

It took Rea a long time, minutes that dragged on, but eventually she bowed her head at Alf. “No. At least not from what I see. Forgive me, for I have not been myself in so very long, Time Walker. I have neglected your reason for calling out to me.” Again, Rea closed the distance once again, and placed her hands on Alf’s head. “Taboos. Customs. Rituals in all but name. So many clashes. You seek peace between you and them. Peace you can not create yourself. Do you wish for this peace, Time Walker?”

“If I am to live among them, then I do.”

Rea smiled at his determined half-scowl. “Brave. But with no cause. No purpose but to exist. Serving as a living fossil to these… ponies. Seeking a better meaning to mesh with existence. Noble. Understandable. Fair. I shall grant you this peace.”

Rea’s hands sank into Alf’s head, and completely paralyzed him as she worked to amend his taboos and sensibilities to match the bewildering culture that had awakened him. A long moment passed before she pulled her hands out of Alf. Once clear, he collapsed to the floor, still paralyzed. “It is done, Time Walker. Your weakness will pass in time.”

Unable to even lift a finger, Alf barely managed to move his head in thanks. “Oh Polite One. I thank you for your judgement.”

“Your deeds have earned you this reward.” Rea’s morphing face and blindfold made her unreadable, but he could hear her pleading tone. “Time Walker, if I may be so bold, I would request a boon of you.”

“Name it, and it shall be yours.” Alf wanted to sign his respect, but he could barely work his jaw to speak let alone move.

“You are the last of the original Spark Bearers. No others are observers of the river of time. You alone keep me from passing onto my awaiting existence. There is a vessel that crashed upon this planet. Within it are many of the Blades of the Forsaken. The very weapons used against those of the cloth.”

Alf’s breath hitched and looked up at her pleadingly. “You want to sever yourself from me!? To be denied your judgement?”

Rea bent down and caressed Alf’s cheek as a mother to her child. “I do not ask this lightly, Time Walker. Unlike the Purple Impossible One, my brethren and I can not survive with a dead people. We must pass on to another, but so long as you breathe, we are bound to you once more. I can assure you, the Gates will remain open to you when your time comes. I beg of you. Use the daggers and free us.”

Tears started to mist Alf’s eyes as emotion tinged his voice. “Why use a dagger at all? Death is better than life without the guiding light of the Divine. Take my life here and now. Please do not ask me to live a life without the Divines Above.”

Rea clasped her two hands and held Alf close. “Ah, but you will have a divine to light your path. The one not above, but level. The Impossible One.”

“Her?” Alf asked with mounting confusion. “But I am not of her people. I am not a pony.”

“No, but she is corporal, concrete. Weak though she is, and yet more powerful in so many other ways. Able to guide those that follow her without need of ritual, prayer, or even sharing the same Spark. I must confess that even I envy her greatly. Staggeringly so. And yet, if she would have you, you would have your light, and in that, I would thank her.” Rea paused a long moment to give Alf time to contemplate her words. He had originally humored the laughable ponies’ mentality in seeing Twilight as a goddess, but with how Rea reacted to the purple alicorn, he started to believe it himself. “Do you think she would have you?”

It was not an overall difficult question to answer. The lengths that the ponies had gone through to understand and accommodate him was far and above what his people had done for the Balgrath, at least as far as he knew. Even Twilight had spent considerable effort to understand him, a mentality that he originally thought unbecoming of a god. Alf grimaced as he tried to move his big toe, if only to get some control back. “The Corporeal Goddess comes from a world that was teeming with many intelligent species and cultures. What is one more to the likes of her?”

With a silent bow of the head, Rea exuded relief. “The Blades still resonate with the Astral Plane. I still have enough strength to make it call out in the form of gamma radiation for a time. Can these ponies’ technology sense that?”

“I think so, but only because I would think starfarers would not get far without that knowledge.”

“Good. I will wait four rotations of the planet so you have time to recover. Before I send you back to the Concrete Plane, did you have anything left to ask?”

Alf nodded as best he could. “These blades. Was it part of the Judgement? Was it an instrument of deafening us to your wisdom?”

Rea lowered her arms with palms down, a sign of sadness since she had no face to convey it. “It was but one of a great many. But where once it was used to silence my brethren from the those of the cloth, now it can break our chains, and let us drift once more upon the Great Cycle. Let not your new allies fret, for it was tailor made to use against those who held the Divine Spark. The Concrete Goddess has nothing to fear.” Rea had sniffed out Alf’s question before it was voiced, giving him some measure of reassurance. “My strength wains, Time Walker. Seek out the daggers, I beg of you.”

Before he could say anything else, Alf awoke with a start back inside the deprivation pod. His deep muscle weakness followed him, giving him cause to know he had not experienced a mere dream or vision.

With a grimace, Alf forced himself to speak a key-phrase, “Rea’s will is done.” Due to such stark silence, his voice sounded painfully loud, along with the mechanical click and hiss of hydraulics that followed. The agonizingly bright white light of the laboratory glared down at him as the pod cracked open.

He gave in to his weakness and let sleep take him as indistinct limbs reached out for him.

Some time later, Twilight Sparkle leaned against a chair next to the bed supporting Alf’s mostly limp form. They were in Alf’s quarters with the midday sun beaming down from the glass ceiling. He was made comfortable in that bed, with chilly air making the toasty covers all the more appealing. As for Twilight, she still remembered how to quietly cope with the chill of a frozen world, even after nearly a year in this temperate climate.

The four armed alien had spent the last hour going over every detail of his meeting with Rea, save for Rea’s question on whether or not Twilight would accept him in the light of the Divine. It was a question he could not bring himself to voice.

Twilight had remained silent by in large, scribbling notes away on her personal display. By the end of it, half of her vision was cluttered by text.

When the last of his tale left his lips, Alf sagged low in his bed. His final words leaving a stark silence behind them. For all her years, Twilight was at a loss for what to say. The scholar, the scientist part of her was running a million miles a second trying to glean all she could about this new theology, and yet the rest of her mind was hung on one simple truth: Alf’s gods wanted to pass on. Twilight was by no means an expert on gods from other cultures, but knew the the general idea. An eternal being wishing to die. This Judgement was a genocide on a higher level, killing not just the people, but their gods as well.

For a brief moment, the scale of her fallen daughter’s crimes seemed paltry by comparison as Thorn’s words echoed in her mind. ‘What is a massacred village to the destruction of an entire star system?’

And yet, Twilight couldn’t bring herself to feel much pity for Alf’s people, Genocide answered with genocide. An exchange with no winners. Regardless, as far as I know, Alf had nothing to do with the first and tried to stop the second. “Do you wish to be alone?”

Alf stared at the ceiling, lost in directionless thought. “Yes. Grief should not be shared by those who do not feel it.”

Twilight initially wanted to comfort him, but how? She knew some of his bigger cultural issues, but nothing on this aspect. So she was left with only one option: complying. Twilight stood up and dismissed her notes. “Let the assistants know when you want something."

Silence was the only answer she received, and expected little else. Without further preamble, Twilight departed the condo sized room, but gave Alf one last look over her shoulder. He remained silent and motionless, save for voicing a request to Voyager to dim the lights.

Feeling as though she was inches from intruding on much needed privacy, Twilight departed fully. Once within the confines of the observation lab, she noticed the staff were disabling the cameras. “Let me know when he’s ready to discuss the matter of those Blades he mentioned. We’ll find them together.” I just hope this Rea person doesn’t go too crazy with that gamma radiation.

17: An Alien's Idea of Subtlety

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In the middle of the new pediatric clinic, Twilight Sparkle lounged on an exam table watching Sawbones performing standard maternity tests on her swollen belly. The newly minted observation room was small, and still smelled of fresh paint fumes that the air conditioning was struggling to filter out. The bare cement floors lacked the tiles that would one day cover them, and the countertops still had rough edges as the construction crews were in a mad rush to get the basics in place.

Sadly, the exam table didn’t even have the wax paper that it normally would have as those were on short supply even in the main sickbay. The room did have at least one good thing about it: the window. Twilight could see a few clouds racing inland from the ocean wind, and granting a surprisingly good view for a common observation room. “You know, doctor,” Twilight started in a playful voice, “you keep insisting on personally seeing me every time I get a checkup, and I might think you have a thing for me.”

With thinly veiled amusement behind a mask of professionalism, Sawbones looked away from her belly to meet Twilight’s eyes. “I would never violate the code of professional conduct in the hospital, my illustrious princess. Outside of the clinic is an entirely different manner,” he added with a smirking wink before slipping back into full doctor mode of warm bedside manner. “As for you two though, everything looks healthy. The foal should be due any day now.”

He gave Twilight a stern warning frown. “Which means I can’t allow you, as your physician, to let you go scampering off with Alf to fetch a sword.”

“Can’t say I didn’t expect it,” Twilight replied with little disappointment. “But I figured Alf might be the kind of person that would feel better if my excuse for not joining him came from a doctor as well.”

Sawbones hummed in agreement. “He wouldn’t be the only one, that’s for sure. But in a tangentially related topic, it still surprises me that your bump is so comparatively small.” He studied the pregnant alicorn with a fascination that was rewarded with a chuckling laugh out of Twilight.

“Well, doctor, I may be a lot larger than the average pony, but my foals are all normal sized.”

With a short self-deprecating laugh of his own, Sawbones pulled his eyes away from Twilight’s belly. “Fair enough. Looking at the pictures in your file is one thing, but to witness it first-hoof is another.” He pulled back to collect his thoughts. “Given your size and experience, I’m sure the birth will be rather easy for you… compared to other mares at least.”

“Glad to hear it.” Twilight pulled herself off the table. “Is there anything else, doctor?”

Sawbones hummed aloud and made a show of giving physical commands to his personal display. “Now that you mention it. You mentioned last night that we’re waiting for a gamma ray signal from Alf’s god or some such.”

Twilight’s face flushed red at being reminded of the romantic night, but her logical mind identified Sawbone’s tone had not wavered from being professional. “Did I? Well, yes, that’s true. I’ve already got our satellites in place across the globe waiting for it. Why do you ask?”

Sawbones gave her a mildly confused eye, but quickly shifted to one of patience. “Are we sure it will be safe? It should go without saying that ionizing radiation is very dangerous, especially with so many new mothers coming to term soon,” he punctuated by pointed at Twilight’s own baby bump.

Smiling in both understanding and shared concern, Twilight absently rubbed her future child. “Every structure in the colony larger than a shed is heavily shielded against any radiation, aside from the greenhouses I suppose, but Alf said we should be watching out for a signal. Not some sort of major threat. That would defeat the purpose of wanting us to go to the source.”

Being one of the few with the security clearance to watch Alf’s confession of the vision, Sawbones felt his concern was centered on emotion rather than the facts. “And yet we don’t really know what this Rea person considers a signal. Maybe his kind are naturally immune to gamma rays.”

“Even if they are, the biosphere isn’t,” Twilight countered patiently. “So unless Rea is willing to cause damage to the ecosystem…” Twilight’s speech halted after remembering how desperate Rea sounded by Alf’s account.

“Would a being that lived entirely on the astral plane even consider that?” Sawbones asked, mirroring the question that ran through Twilight’s mind.

“Tell you what. I’ll put out an order for all work crews who are about to be parents to take the day off. They’re due for a break enough as it is.”

Sawbones breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t let all the tension bleed out. “What of Commander Spike’s expedition to the west?”

“Jaybird transports are equipped with mana shields. They can be configured to repel such radiation if need be. Trust me, we’re prepared. But again, I’m not expecting anything anywhere close to that.”

Sawbones gave a self deprecating grin. “Well, you know me. Always worried about everypony’s health.”

Close to an hour later, a door swished open in the Command Center, allowing Twilight Sparkle to canter inside. Within, most of the twenty operators were chattering away quietly as they provided satellite oversight for several military operations in the northern mushroom forest where Prism encountered the giant wasps. Spike was out in the field with the rest of the platoon, riding aboard one of the military air transports known as Albatross. Several other transports carried a platoon’s worth of soldiers. In addition, each Albatross carried racks of Firelancer robotic warriors under their bellies. Lastly, well over a dozen combat drones provided air support for everyone.

Twilight looked up to the wall mounted screen giving a distant bird’s eye view of the assault force heading north west in the dead of night while a massive swarm of wolf beetles was congregating in one of the valleys.

Several long scars ran through the forest in the wake of the wolfbeetles eating their way through the foliage to their current location. All of the mushrooms had been consumed as if by locusts while large chunks were missing all throughout.

Twilight stepped towards her throne, “Voyageur, assessment.”

The AI spoke as she sat down. “The migratory swarm has continued to show signs that it is forming a nesting ground ten miles south of the dig site. Zoological evidence warns that a nest of this size could have a feeding ground that overlaps designated miasma research sectors in the marshes here.”

A quarter of the map segmented itself off of the primary satellite display to show the scattered and abandoned cleansing machinery surrounding the xenomass pools in blue with a large orange circle blanketing the entire area. “That’s bigger than yesterday’s forecasts,” Twilight said rhetorically. She scowled at the data. Guess I have no justifiable cause to veto Spike’s operation. We need to find someway to mitigate that corrosion. If we don’t we may never dislodge that nest during the next miasma outbreak.

Twilight frowned deeply as she remembered Spike’s sale’s pitch, ‘This whole planet is one big Everfree Forest. Better to curb this swarm now than to let those beetles harass our citizens and farmers.’

Just having this operation is bad, but the timing makes it worse. That gamma signal Alf talked about should be going off any second now. Assuming nearly dead gods are punctual.

No sooner had she thought that a loud alert sounded. Both Twilight and most of the operators looked up to find an orange and black flashing radiation warning symbol on the wall-screen.

“Alert! Radiation spike detected planetside,” Voyageur announced as the AI commandeered half of the situation map to refocus on nearly a quarter of the planet away. “The colony was impacted by a gamma ray burst. Declaring Condition Orange for all personnel.”

Twilight freaked a little. “A full on GRB?!” she said to just make sure she wasn’t hearing thing. “Just how much radiation are we talking here?!”

The live picture of the planet revealed a second large pulse that spanned the entire globe. “Ten years worth of radiation has flashed from an undetermined point on the Feladan continent. Zeroing in now.”

Twilight all but leapt on the radio button on her personal display and dialed in to the whole expeditionary force. “Attention, all personnel. We’ve been hit by two… make that three orange level radiological events! Initiate radiation shielding until further notice!”

Radio chatter for the military exploded in questions and hasty orders to get turned back to the colony while the Jaybirds’ onboard shields flared to life. Voyageur’s voice echoed throughout the entirely colony, warning everyone who had wandered outside to return the colony. “Voyageur, isolate the source of that GRB!”

Twilight chided herself as she watched her subjects race to safety from the numerous cameras that littered the exterior of the colony. Thanks to heeding Sawbone’s concerns, there were only a scant few ponies outside, save for the pathfinders and military. So much for Rea being discreet.

On another corner of the globe, Admiral Thorn was personally overseeing the construction of a second aviary. He was standing on a balcony that was isolated on the side of the mountain. The aviary was of concrete that was displeasing to the eye, but expediency was needed over aesthetics. The only exception to that was a mural honoring heroes of the past and the shipwrights who built the griffin seed ship. Thorn fully expected the structure to be completed to exacting specifications, so his real purpose was to observe the mural as it was made.

The team of artists, experts hand-picked by Thorn himself, toiled away under his watchful eye. Like the ponies, griffins had their own version of a personal display, via slimmer glasses. When the radio in Thorn’s ear chirped, he lowered his glasses to see his adjunct Gleaming Scythe thump her shoulder in salute. “High Admiral, the Equestrians are closing in on that throng of xenomorphs. Did you want a live feed to your HUD or are you returning to the war room?”

Thorn thought about it for a long moment. “…We’re not at war with the ponies, so there’s no rush. Just be sure to record every aspect, every detail.”

Scythe didn’t bother hiding her mild confusion. “As you wish, Admiral.” Thorn remained silent, but kept the channel open, prompting Scythe to think for a reason why she hadn’t been dismissed. With Thorn’s watchful eye observing both the artists and Scythe work to follow his will, the half griffin-changeling hybrid eventually came to a conclusion. “Watching art take shape in person is a form of art in of itself.”

“Go on,” Thorn answered simply, but allowed a modicum of approval through.

Scythe resisted the urge to scratch her head and bought herself time by making several adjustments to the spy satellite. “The art of war is difficult to follow all at once, with so many pieces moving at the same time, while a painter works with one brush at a time.” Thorn waved a claw for a little more elaboration, making Scythe furrow her brow in mild frustration. “Since we’re not at war, watching the ponies is not a high priority?”

“There we go.” Thorn rewarded his protégé with a satisfied half-grin. “We must focus on construction and growth, Adjunct. War can wait since no one is pressing for it, and it would serve no productive purpose as of right now.” He spotted an aide bringing him a bottle of water and snatched it up with a thankful nod. “Just as watching a commander use his forces can tell us about him, watching our people toil in daily life can be equally useful in telling far more about them than reports, misleading polls, or worthless yes-birds.”

“A leader is not a leader without knowing those he commands,” Scythe recited from memory. “Very good, Admiral. This delay will at least buy the cryptographers time to decode their radio chatter. Do you think Twilight and Spike will change their tactics much?”

Thorn knew she was fishing for wisdom, and was more than happy to share it. He took a mini tea bag out of a coat pocket and dropped it into the water bottle and started shaking it. “Oh I should think so. They’ve already made a departure from Luna’s outmoded tactics by utilizing drone soldiers. Out of all of them, I have found Twilight’s adopted brother to be quite the interesting opponent.”

“They couldn’t have been here for more than a year,” Scythe replied with mounting curiosity. “You think they were designed before leaving the homeworld?”

Thorn’s reply was cut short when klaxons wailed throughout the entire colony with Thorn’s display flashing the universal radiological warning symbol.

An automated voice, called out in between wails of the sirens, “Danger! A Gamma Ray Pulse has been detected. All personnel are to proceed to designated shelters immediately.”

Thorn didn’t catch the voice starting to repeat the warning as he abandoned his tea and fled towards the closest building further down the side of the mountain. He didn’t have to go too far and joined in the crowding workers rushing inside a roof access door. The griffins demonstrated remarkable order in their flight down the stairs, deeper into the protection the warehouse provided. Through the still open call, Thorn witnessed Gleaming Scythe giving rapid fire orders to all the soldiers and civilians too far away from the colony.

Shortly thereafter in the pony colony, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes darted to and fro over the list of personnel who had been outside of the colony. Thank goodness the pathfinder rovers can shield them from radiation. But the same can’t be said for everypony out there.

“Sawbones,” she called over the radio. “How are things in sickbay?”

There was a long delay, just enough to pull her attention back and worry over him before he at last responded. “Not as bad as I thought it’d be, Princess.” His face popped up in her display to formalize the call. “I just examined the five ponies from greenhouse A1, who were exposed to three pulses before making it inside, and oddly enough, they show absolutely no sign of radiation damage, let alone sickness.”

That gave Twilight such pause that her brain and logic short circuited. It didn’t help the blank look she was giving him when a nurse rushed to Sawbone’s side to speak. “Doctor, Hard Tack from the solar farm’s tests came back. He has next to no ionizing radiation in his system. Are you sure the standard environment suits are only certified to shield against normal background levels?”

Twilight physically shook the funk out of her brain. Although the nurse’s head did not join the call, she had heard the mare all the same. “They are,” she said to answer for Sawbone before addressing him. “Are you actually suggesting every last one of our sensors are malfunctioning all at once?”

Sawbones shared a few words with the nurse before she scampered off back to the burn unit. “More like these GRBs are not what they seem. But I’d feel a lot better if I could examine the soldiers upon their return since they’ve been out there the longest.”

Twilight rubbed her chin while furrowing her brow. “You may not have to. Voyageur, analyze the power draw of the albatross’ shields. There should be spikes of demand during each gamma burst.”

“Processing…” Having heard one half of those conversations, many of the operators in the command center were just as on edge as Twilight was. “The shields were activated after the second burst. Power consumption during such time has remained steady. There are no recorded spikes of consumption during the bursts.”

Twilight grumbled at the mixed messages, even as every sensor rattled off another major warning right as she grumbled. As if to derail her thoughts, one of the operators called out to her. “Princess, I’ve managed to isolate the source of the GRBs!”

“Show me!” Twilight responded curtly as the wall-screen zoomed in on an expansive desert clear on the far end of the planet. Large sand dunes covered the landscape like ocean waves, save for sporadic weathered rocky outcroppings. In time with the gamma bursts, a one hundred diameter circle of sand jostled and was pushed away from the center, creating a miniature crater.

The operator switched away from visible light. “Infrared reveals a sizable hotspot some twenty meters below the surface. Whatever it is, it stretches just over a kilometer. We’ve got what looks like either some flat ship or an actual facility down there.”

“Why would a bunch of Alfs build on top of rutting sand!?” cried another operator.

Twilight narrowed her eyes in contemplation. “Call it a hunch, but I don’t think the forerunners were going to be using it for very long. Voyageur, is there any residual radiation in the surrounding plants and soil?” She half expected the answer he’d give, but a ruler had to be sure. “If these bursts are real, there should be plenty.”

“Scanning… Nothing beyond normal background levels. Should I stand down further radiation alerts?”

Twilight Sparkle grumbled in sheer annoyance. Hell of a way to say hello. “Go ahead.” She turned to the chief operator overseeing the military campaign. “Tell the Commander to finish returning home. There’s no telling what other effects the source of these pulses will have on our sensors. The natives can wait for now.” Twilight addressed different operator. “And relay those coordinates to the pathfinder team, they’ve got a long flight ahead of them.”

Down near the Pathfinder garage, three shuttles were parked while a throng of ponies, a changeling, and one alien loitered awaiting the end of the radiation alarms. Aside from the yellow spinning lights, the audio warning had been squelched, allowing everyone to chatter amongst themselves. Without knowing how far the signal would be from the colony or what dangers might lurk in the area, a sizable contingent of soldiers were prepped and ready to go, just in case.

Sitting on one of the wall mounted couches, Prism Flash and Firefly lounged next to a stiff royal changeling and a brooding Alf. Alf busied his mind by scrutinizing the soldiers who were exercising that age old skill of hurry-up-and-wait.

Given the alien’s chilly exterior, the two pathfinders were just fine focusing on the changeling that felt rather out of place. “I still can’t believe momma let you come along,” Prism said with a mix of bemusement and concern. “We’ve got no idea what or where the blades could be.”

Praxia tried her best to put on an air of self-assuredness by sitting up straight and keeping her voice calm. So glad ponies don’t have emotion radar. “Sensei always says that a ruler must know her subjects to rule them with care and understanding. Plus some danger is actually beneficial, so that you can function more effectively during a crisis. To quote Commander Spike, ‘It’s good for you. A big explosion every so often keeps the mind sharp.’”

That got a laugh out of both pathfinders with Firefly having to wipe a tear from his eye. “Yup, that sounds like the commander alright. I remember my first explosion and hearing one of the Commander’s famous pissed off speeches. Best ten minutes of Boot I had.”

Prism had resorted to covering her laughter with her hooves. “You mean the one where Grass Head accidentally ignited the latrine’s methane separator? And sent crap flying so far it smacked Spike in the back of the head?”

Praxia’s eyes widened in shock as the two ponies redoubled their laughter with Firefly cackling even harder. “Yup. He was so pissed off I swear his eyes were on fire. You could hear him tearing Grass a new one over a mile away.”

Praxia scrunched her muzzle trying to think of some similar story to share. But it was the large throng of soldiers possibly within earshot, and unfamiliar company that stayed her tongue. Even as the two pathfinders continued to regale tales of mounting absurdity, embarrassment at sharing such a story shrank Praxia into her suit and couch. With the others losing themselves in more exaggerated stories, Praxia eventually pulled her eyes over to Alf.

It was only now that she noticed he was watching two unicorns chatting while gnawing on some granola bars. Praxia’s ears folded back at the prospect of smoldering disgust. “H-hello, Alf, you don’t look so well.”

The morose alien was slow to respond, and the question had not gone unnoticed by the pathfinders. All three of them watched Alf as he fidgeted with his hands. “It is… strange. To see an act that I know used to be abhorrent, and yet now seems normal. Mundane.” Alf wrestled with himself to try and find words that didn’t come.

In the end, he was spared having to say anything further when Twilight’s voice boomed over the hangar’s intercom. “Now hear this. The destination of the Blades has been located. Coordinates are being uploaded to your individual displays. The full expedition team is required. Local mission command is granted to Regent Praxia. You light out in ten minutes.”

Praxia steeled herself and gulped down the lump in her throat. Can’t be too different than leading a work crew. Thankfully for her nerves, the troops knew what to do, and were filing into the trio of large transport aircraft that could hold two main battle tanks a piece. Currently though, that cargo was limited to two rovers and the camping equipment for the expedition. Prism and the others boarded the smallest transport of the bunch which held more holographic mapping space for mission planning.

Right in line with Twilight’s strict schedule, all four aircraft roared out of the hangar and began to climb in altitude to cruise their way to the Blades. Prism and Firefly ended up sitting next to each other while Praxia and Alf sat on the opposite side of the passenger cabin. Firefly nudged Prism once the initial rush was over. “Hey, PR, this was kinda bugging me ever since I saw the list of equipment we were bringing. How does your mom know how much to pack when we didn’t know where we’d be going?”

A prideful smile crossed Prism’s face as she leaned back in her seat to get comfortable. “Momma once told me of a lesson that took her over a hundred years to take to heart. ‘When it comes to certain things, plans are worthless, but planning is everything.’ She woulda just downsized the crew if the place was closer.”

Twilight’s holographic head manifested in the center of the cabin. “Alright, everypony listen up. There are some details about the site that you’ll need to know heading in.”

Admiral Thorn all but burst into the War Room where a circular table bore a hologram of a desert. Standing around it was Gleaming Scythe and two of Thorn’s top advisers. The room was well lit thanks to the evening sun pouring through the large windows. “Report!”

Gleaming and the others snapped to attention with the guard at the door barking, “Admiral on deck!”

Thorn waved the formality off with a curt wing gesture, allowing the half-changeling to answer. “Admiral, the false gamma waves are originating from this location in the eastern continent.” One of the advisers pressed a series of buttons on the side of the table to cause the hologram to visualize the gamma pulses as ripples in the air. “The computer was having difficulty cutting through the interference the pulses were causing so I borrowed the data feed from the Equestrian satellite to show us this-“

As she talked, the two advisers gave her a stare of abject shock while Thorn gritted his teeth in controlled anger. “You did what?” he said in a low icy threat. Gleaming had just finished displaying the underground facility on the map when Thorn grabbed her by the collar of her uniform. Her shock finally matched that of the advisers. “You hacked the Equestrians after I gave my word that we wouldn’t?”

“I-it wasn’t a hack, I swear it!” Gleaming mewled under his frosted fury. “The transmission was barely encrypted, we just listened in.”

Pulling back the snarl in his beak, Thorn released her back and proceeded to smooth his uniform back up. By the time he was done his neutral expression had returned. “I will deal with your reprimand later, and that of your accomplices.” He addressed one of the advisors with a return to his usual calm demeanor. “I will not use that data, strike it from the servers.”

“At once, Admiral.” The advisor glanced at Gleaming Scythe who did a miserable job recollecting herself, but she managed to stand straight.

Turning to regard the landscape on the table, Thorn spoke towards the other advisor, “Captain Flechette, what do we know about the source of these gamma pulses?”

Flechette chewed on an unlit cigar as the craggy aged griffin scanned the table. “Other than its location? Not all that much. These pulses may not be actual ionizing radiation, but whatever it is, it’s wreaking havoc with our other sensors. Infrared, radar, and a few others are getting ghost signals and false returns. I strongly suggest all activity outside of Rodomir be put on hold until we can stop the signal for good.”

Thorn hummed approvingly. “I take it, it was you who ordered two squads from the Jaegers to mobilize then.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Very good. We can’t let whatever this is, blind us for very long.” Thorn paused to think, narrowing his eyes at the puzzle before him. Gleaming Scythe was moderately shy, keeping to the edges of Thorn’s peripheral vision. “Computer, is there any movement coming from the Equestrians?”

Instead of any verbal response, the map fragmented into two pieces. One stayed centered on the desert while the majority of it blurred as it raced across the planet to reveal the coastal colony. That which interested Thorn most were the two convoys, the military one that was still returning back home, and the new one that was only now leaving the airspace around the colony.

The first adviser leaned in to speak, only for Thorn to wave for him to stop. His eyes shifted to Gleaming who was doing her best to stay silent. “What do you make of this, Adjunct?”

With staying out of his sight no longer an option, Gleaming Scythe did her best not to dwell on unpleasant thoughts. She studied the scene more closely, hoping she didn’t miss any details. “The original army sent out is still returning to Elysium.” Getting into the groove of figuring out the puzzle, Gleaming grew more confident in her tone. “And this new force is by far too large to be a rescue party. I’d say they were expecting something like this to happen.” She looked to Thorn for approval. The group watched as she entered a few commands into the side of the table to draw a line between the pony colony and the gamma source. The new convoy was smack dab on that flight path.

The admiral did not demonstrate any reply, approving or otherwise. “Brynhild?”

The second adviser was a wire thin female that sported a rank that belied her young face. She eyed Gleaming briefly with contempt. “Judging by the fact that the first force is still retreating, it would seem the ponies have committed too many troops to properly secure the home front should it be attacked while both are out. Or, they could be suffering sensor glitches as well, and are not willing to carry out any action against the local fauna until the gamma situation is dealt with. I’d hazard a guess that their sensors are not as clouded as our own.”

At last, Thorn nodded in his version of high praise. “Twilight’s profile indicates that she, above all others, over-engineers the sensors on anything she commands, and their use of true AI would give them the processing power to pierce the interference far better than we could. She can be quite predictable at times. In any event, we must act to silence these false pulses before they start doing something far worse.” Thorn focused on Brynhild and jabbed a claw at her. “I want you to lead a platoon and deal with this problem, with or without the ponies.”

Brynhild thumped her chest in a crisp prideful salute. “It will be done, High Admiral.”

With a nod of acknowledgement, Thorn turned his gaze towards Gleaming Scythe. The half-griffin appeared outwardly stony. “And you’re going with her, as her third.”

“Third? But I-“ Gleaming caught herself before shoving any more of her foot in her mouth. “I-I am yours to serve, High Admiral.”

Although Thorn was under no obligation to speak of his motives, though there were times when explaining oneself did more than leaving it unsaid. “You’ve shown a gap in your understanding of honor. The issue presents an apt learning experience for that failing. I expect you to follow the captain’s orders to the letter.”

Luckily for Gleaming, her feathers concealed her reddened cheeks of shame. “As you order, Sir.”

Satisfied, Thorn turned his attention back to the table, but addressed Brynhild. “You have two hours to get a crew together. I don’t want the Equestrians to have time to squirrel away anymore secrets of these precursors.”

The flight across the world was more or less uneventful. The ponies’ aircraft flew too high for any local animals to even notice them, and the constant pulses of false gamma rays did not interfere enough to keep them from navigating away from hazardous weather. By the time they arrived on the scene, it was close to midnight, the two new moons granted little in terms of light. Flood lights blared over the sands around the source of the gamma bursts. Praxia rocked on her hooves a little as the craft came to a quick halt. She was scrutinizing a hologram on her personal display of the terrain with the outline of the facility below. “This layout certainly doesn’t look like a crashed ship. There’s only one story that I can see, not a series of decks, crushed or otherwise. But then again, the gamma interference could be washing out any sign of something deeper.” She directed her statement towards Alf who looked at her quizzically, not having a display of his own. “Are you sure Rea said it was a ship that crashed here?”

Not being able to see the hologram, the beige colored alien rolled his shoulders. “Rea the Polite Judge views… viewed the world through the eyes of our people. It is possible she simply guessed.”

Scrunching her muzzle in contemplation, Praxia returned her attention back to the hologram. “Well whatever this place is, we’ll find out soon enough.” She gave the place one last look before tapping four places on the map in a circle pattern. “Pilots, I have designated your landing sites. I want all personnel establishing base camp as soon as the ramps open.”

A string of acknowledgements rang out followed by the transport lurching under Praxia’s hooves. Prism and Firefly exited the cockpit door and strode over to join the changeling. “That griffin air group is almost here,” Firefly announced with mounting concern.

“The leader, Captain Brynhild claims they are not here to fight us, but I don’t trust her,” Prism cautioned with a hoof swipe.

Praxia looked to the wall and plucked four helmets off, and gave them to their respective owners, even Alf who had pushed himself off the couch to join the meeting. “We can trust Thorn at least, since he gave us his word.”

“But not everyone under him,” Prism paused as she slipped her helmet on before removing her display goggles. She waited a little bit longer as the system switched the display between the two devices. “Momma said someone was snooping in on our satellite comms. As if there was that wide of a selection of suspects.”

Alf clicked the uncomfortable helmet into his environment suit. The comparatively primitive technology of the ponies left much to be desired in comfort to him. “Should I expect a fight?”

The shuttle came to a landing with a soft red light signaling the air would be cycling soon. Praxia finished donning her helmet. “Yes and no. Just follow our lead and you should be fine.”

“Do the griffins even know about this guy?” Firefly asked while jabbing a wing at Alf.

After checking to make sure everyone had their helmets on, Prism Flash slapped the button to open the side-bay doors. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

The opening bay door allowed strong cross winds to blow sand into the cabin. Shadows danced amidst harsh floodlights as ponies stormed out of the much larger transports. Praxia made landfall with her display already focused on the civic planning phase. She had a drop-down list of tent types and large equipment pieces outlined. Completely at home with planning out work camps, Praxia blended that experience with the added need for exterior protection from possible threats.

With a few waves of her hoof and some motes of magic, the grey changeling outlined the best location for all the tents, automated turrets, power generator, excavation site, and a few other matters. These choices were uploaded in real time to the engineers and officers of the expedition who were quick to comply.

As for Firefly and Prism Flash, the two pathfinders moved immediately to scope out the sand at the dig site and performing an inspection of the surroundings area for signs of dangerous fauna or flora respectively. As for Alf, who had no real job until the ponies made their way into the underground facility, he watched in silent heartache.

The movement and sounds of the camp being assembled and ponies yelling back and forth brought back memories of the old shipyards Alf used to work at. He yearned to do something, to be useful in some meaningful way, but he held himself back. They have trained and coordinated to work together in their own way. Training I lack, I would just get in the way. The annoying idea that he had wasted the two days after his recovery in moping instead of trying to find a place with the ponies wormed its way in his thoughts. Assuming I shouldn’t just pierce my heart when I get the Blades.

Firefly stood right in the center of the highest point in the facility. The sand between him and the future entry point was only four meters deep. “Flyswatter,” he announced to his six-wheeled rover, “Are we close enough to detect any real radiation?”

Unlike Prism’s rover, Flyswatter did not have rotor engines, and instead had a more extensive sensor suite. Including ground penetrating sensors as per Twilight’s orders. “One moment good sir,” Flyswatter replied in a Hackney butler accent. The rover extended four prongs away from its main chassis on boom arms and shoved the ends into the moderately soft sand.

The data feed went straight into Firefly’s display giving him every detail. This up close, the closest sections of the complex were mostly stone with metallic traces laced all throughout. Most importantly to Firefly, there was nothing to indicate any lingering real radiation. “Well at least the place isn’t too hot to go inside. But why exactly would anypony want to build with rocks when they got all kinds of super science materials?”

The scanner picked up a multitude of structural breaks and fractures, with one of the closer ones easily being large enough to accommodate a pony. “Bingo. Boss Bug’s gunna want to see this.”

Prism yawned sleepily as she rode atop Joe’s new rover body as she made the first patrol around the perimeter set by Praxia. The camp was nestled in the middle of two large rolling sand dunes. Aside from the harsh wind blowing across the twenty meter high peaks, there was nothing to greet them.

Her brief yet harsh brush with the two gargantuan siege worms danced at the edge of her mind, brought along by mild similarities between the tall sand dunes and the broken ridge. A frigid chill of night desert air sent a shiver running down her back. “Joe, drop some seismic sensor stakes, would you? I don’t want to be worm food any time soon.”

“Acknowledged, Pathfinder.” Prism watched as the rover drove on to plant more sensors as she looked for any tracks the winds might have spared, or animal droppings. Anything that might signal a potential threat.

The bitterly cold desert night bit at her exposed muzzle, while her environment suit and armored duster kept her warm otherwise. There was little more than sand to greet her as the dull yellow, steel, and red maned pegasus. She crested the southern ridge to find nothing more than sand as far as the eye could see, except for one thing: lights.

A collection of ten airborne lights were flying slightly off angle from the center of the pony encampment. When the lights failed to deviate away from the camp, Prism’s face soured into a scowl. ~“Hey, Praxia, it looks like the catbirds are wanting to talk face to face.”~

There was a brief pause before the hybrid changeling replied in a tense yet collected tone. ~“So I noticed. The princess said she’d come up with a plan of action soon.”~

Back at the pony colony of Elysium, Twilight Sparkle was only half enjoying her breakfast in her private office while Spike did the same across the desk. The fluffy pancakes and river of syrup couldn’t distract her from the ongoing report she was receiving from Voyageur. The AI had fabricated a holographic representation of the globe with three satellites, one of which was of griffin origin. “As you predicted, Colonial Princess, there was a zero point three lumen reduction in the lascomm between scansat alpha and commsat oh one. This reduction is indicative of known griffin interception technology code named: paperclip. This lasted over two minutes and five seconds during the time data of the burst source was being transmitted. My estimations bring the probability of willful interception to near one hundred percent.”

Twilight calmly sipped some tea before waving the hologram away with a hoof. “Thank you, Voyageur, that will be all for now.”

There was an electronic pop to signify the AI going back to passive observation. Eventually, Twilight gave Spike a mild scowl. “It looks like someone in Rodomir took the bait after all.”

Spike jabbed a waffle with a fork to try and vent a little frustration. It was bad enough his operation had to be postponed, but now he wasn’t on the front lines against possibly hostile griffins. “So much for the High Admiral’s honor. Tosses it away when it’s inconvenient just like the rest of the Admiralty.”

Twilight chewed on a bite of sunny side eggs, humming at the news. “I’m not so sure. As illogical as griffin honor can be at times, Thorn always stuck to his principles during the war. At least the principles we knew he subscribed to. Watching us with visual spying is one thing, but directly intercepting a laser transmission after he gave his word like that would be out of the question. He may run a tight ship, but I’d put money down that it was that changeling hybrid: Gleaming Scythe.”

Spike halted in his meal to give her at first a puzzling look, but it morphed into one of understanding. “Yes… She’s his adjunct, so Scythe would have the clearance to both intercept and decrypt without asking anyone above her pay grade.” Spike gave Twilight a conspiratorial smirk. “You wouldn’t be trying to insinuate that her changeling half makes her less honorable are you?”

“…I only mention this because you’re family, Spike.” Twilight collected her thoughts while taking a few bites of toast and eggs. These words did not come easily. “I had to work with Praxia very closely to prune such dishonest thought patterns out of her before they could cement themselves in her adolescence. I strongly suspect her mother’s direct influence in this, but I have no evidence.

“As good of a teacher as I’m sure the High Admiral is, I doubt he would have been willing to do what was necessary.” Twilight glanced up at Spike who was giving her a half-frown. “There are times when a hard approach is required to curb such behavior, as well as soft times. Thorn doesn’t seem like the sort to take a soft and nurturing approach when it’s needed.”

“Half an education is better than none.” At that, Spike let off an agreeable smirk. He let some tension go, and yawned while rubbing some fatigue out of his face. “Either way, I suppose you’re right. So then what’s the real angle in letting them eavesdrop if you knew it was going to happen?”

Twilight scoffed and teased a lock of ethereal starry hair with a bit of magic. “Partly so they have some idea of where these false gamma bursts are coming from, and thus less likely to do something stupid. And partly because I want to take my measure of Thorn. I want to see if that honor of his holds up, now that he answers to no one but himself.”

“Heh, alright.” Spike put his plate aside, dug into his pocket, and pulled out a plastic chit and clacked it onto the desk. “I wager an evening of babysitting the new foal in exchange for three of your hours at the VR suites that whoever did the hack, Scythe or otherwise, gets little more than a slap on the wrists and we get some token apology.”

The conversation lapsed into silence. Both dragon and alicorn wanted to eat quickly before the food got any colder, and to give themselves something else to think about. They didn’t have long before Praxia’s freezing face appeared in Twilight’s display with flashing text denoting a priority call. With a few commands, Twilight expanded the call to include Spike before hitting the connect button. “How goes your little camping trip, Praxia?”

“Sandy and cold,” she deadpanned while suppressing a frown. “There’s a griffin shuttle approaching that’s signaling it wishes to parley.”

Twilight hummed expectantly. “I want a live feed of this, but I will leave the actual diplomacy to you.”

Praxia’s breath hitched and her eyes went wide. “A-are you sure? I- I know I did okay last time, but-“

“And you’ll do fine this time as well,” Twilight interrupted with calming reassurance. Praxia bit her lower lip as Twilight continued. “Just remember what I’ve taught you, and don’t pull any punches.” Expanding the projected hologram to her forelegs, Twilight reached out and poked Praxia on the snout.

Despite the hologram having no physical pressure, muscle memory caused Praxia to instinctively roll her nose a bit and hold her muzzle with her hoof. “I will, Sensei, thank you. But what should I do about Alf and the griffins?”

Spike jumped up and circled the desk so Praxia could see him. “Go ahead and let him be seen. The Birds will see him eventually, so you might as well get it out of the way.”

Praxia lifted a disbelieving eyebrow and looked towards Twilight for confirmation. When Twilight gave her a quiet nod, Praxia sighed to work herself up. “Well if anything, this should be enlightening, Commander. Over and out.”

Praxia’s face disappeared with a video feed of close to two hundred cameras taking its place. Voyageur quickly reformed the multitude of videos into one cohesive 3-D picture, giving the two old souls the feeling of actually being there in the frigid desert night.

Praxia felt isolated standing so far forward but she did her best to remain outwardly stoic. It'd be a lie if she said she wasn’t grateful for Prism Flash sticking somewhat close by with her father’s rifle primed and ready. The pegasus was also wearing a full face mask to hide her breathing ability. Oh geez, oh crap, ooooo no. Talking over a TV is one thing, but face to face?! Maybe I should call Alf over here after all so they have someone else to stare at. She wanted to look behind her for moral support from Prism, but she couldn’t risk it now.

A hundred paces ahead, one of the griffin shuttles had come to a landing just a minute ago while the rest of the convoy landed much further back. The three figures disembarked and made their way close enough to be resolved against the shuttle lights. Each step was an agonizing wait for Praxia. It felt like not only the eyes of both nations, but that of history itself was bearing down on her. As for Prism, the wait between the shuttle landing and the meeting itself dragged on long enough for her mind to wander towards a brand new VR show’s pilot episode that started airing two days ago. I wonder… Are the writers actually serious about having a silent protagonist? They really need to work on their execution to make that work.

The prospective alicorn jarred herself to the present when the three masked griffins came to a halt. Both sides’ helmets were as opaque, but upon reaching talking distance, the griffins were the first to reveal their faces via removing the holographic concealment. Praxia and Prism did likewise.

Praxia’s personal display immediately started running the faces through the pre-seeding database the ponies had on griffin personnel, but didn’t need that added information to identify Gleaming on the spot. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised Thorn would send his Second. The fact that Gleaming stood to the left side of the front most griffin didn’t register in time. “Adjunct Gleaming Scythe, state your business here.”

“She’s not quite an adjunct at the moment,” the center female griffin corrected with a disposition so sunny it caught Praxia and Prism off guard. Both of them turned to the newcomer who was waving a cheery armored claw. “Howya doing, Ponies! I am the illustrious Captain Brynhild, commander of this little expedition. Maybe you heard of me?” She glanced at Praxia and the other ponies for any sign of recognition in their eyes. After finding nothing but bemused stares, she wilted a little inwardly. “A shame, anyway this stony hunk of muscle,” she raised a talon to her right to point at a burly male griffin who had a gaze that could cut stone. His armored suit only added to his sheer presence. “Is First Lieutenant Daginfinn.” The truck of a griffin gave a very curt nod, allowing Brynhild to jab a claw at Gleaming Scythe. “Little Miss Honor Ruiner over here is in shame at the moment, and is my third. Honestly though, she’s just a glorified clerk.”

She couldn’t help herself. Praxia tilted her head in sheer amazement at how bubbly the griffin was. Prism on the other hand, chuckled heartily and shouldered her rifle. “I like your style, featherhead.”

Praxia blinked a few times and returned her head to a normal tilt as her brain rebooted. “That - ah - okay then. This is happening.” She cleared her throat. “You say my griffin counterpart is an honor ruiner?”

Brynhild cracked a snide grin. “I did say that didn’t I?” She turned to leer at Gleaming Scythe who was forcibly keeping her beak shut before she said anything stupid. “Well our little Change Girl here thought it was a bright idea to take a peek at your satellite transmissions and decode it against the High Admiral’s standing orders.”

Prism cocked an eyebrow at Gleaming. “So that was you, eh? I figured as much.”

Halfway across the globe, a certain alicorn whooped at a dragon, “Called it.”

Back at the desert, Brynhild casually paced in front of her two officers. “Now, as far as I know, the High Admiral can be a forgiving sort to those he sees as both useful and redeemable, and gosh golly gee willickers, I can’t say I disagree.” Gleaming Scythe stared at Brynhild in utter disbelief, not that the white feathered griffin cared to notice. “But as I’m sure you ponies can agree, actions have consequences now don’t they?”

“I’m not sure where you’re going with this, Captain,” Praxia stated slowly. “If she was going to be punished, why is she here instead of in jail?”

“Because that’s just unimaginative,” Brynhild dismissed with a swipe of a claw. “Nobody learns a darn thing from jail time except to not get caught next time.”

Prism’s eyes lit up like spotlights and she pushed her way in front of Praxia. “Make her do a play or skit!” she half-demanded with a savage grin. “I always wanted to hear Griffin Opera in person.”

Brynhild had stars in her eyes and clapped her claws together. “I love that idea! Let me run it by the Admiral.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Gleaming Scythe asked finally breaking her silence. “I’d rather do hard time.” She backpedaled away from the Equestrians to argue with Brynhild.

First Lieutenant Daginfinn thrust a meaty claw in front of Gleaming’s face before she could get any closer to his commander. “Only if the High Admirals wills it. Otherwise, stand down.”

Standing in no position to countermand anything, Gleaming resorted to trying to burn a hole into Daginfinn’s visor with a spiteful gaze.

As for Prism, who stood there with a mixture of smugness and no small amount of anticipation for some opera when Praxia shoved her face into Prism’s own. “What the rut was that!?” she hissed so no one else could hear them.

Out of everything, Prism was actually flabbergasted at Prixia’s profanity. “Geeze, girl, what’s crawling up your feathers?”

“B- W- Fff -ag - rr - Gah!” Praxia turned around in a circle out of sheer astonishment. “A play? Opera!? And I don’t have feathers!!”

“You know the griffins and everypony are watching you flip out, right?”

Praxia froze. Her haunted gaze lingered on Prism until the tri-maned pegasus poked a hoof behind her. Standing there in a line, were the soldiers she had called up earlier. Upon seeing they had her attention, each of them decided anything but her was suddenly quite fascinating and turned away. Being the changeling she was though, Praxia could sense the dense cloud of vicarious embarrassment so opaque it might as well have been a solid wall to her.

The fur on the back of her neck stood up and her ears went flat upon the realization that she was close to the center of attention, and had just made a fool of herself. She might have collapsed into a pit of embarrassment had Twilight not squawked into both of their radios, instinctively jumping Praxia to attention.

~“I like that idea, Little Wing,”~ Twilight announced in a conspiratorial voice at Prism. ~“Making some friends with the griffins could go a long way.”~

~“Ummm…” Prism’s face turned sheepish real quick from that praise. Twilight’s words gave Praxia the excuse she needed to focus on something other than her social faux pas. ~“That -uh - that wasn’t why I suggested that.”~ Upon hearing that, Twilight finally had her holographic head appear in front of both mares, bearing a confused look that begged for an explanation. Suddenly not feeling like her plan was a good one anymore, Prism rubbed the back of her head and gave a painfully fake grin. ~“W-well, after watching that griffin bug’s little chat with Praxia, Scythe sounded like the kinda person who was like, super giga proud of herself. So when leader bird over there asked for a suggestion…”~ Trying to find an excuse to separate herself from the conversation, Prism looked to the griffins, but they were all busy huddling together to speak with Thorn, and were currently ignoring the ponies.

Praxia’s blank stare was replaced by a derisive grin. ~“So you want her to do a play just to embarrass her?”~ Prism said nothing further other than to giggle helplessly and shrug.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her nose to ward off the headache that was well on its way. ~“This can still work. Try to make friends, or at least make peace with the griffins if possible, okay? Moving on. How exactly did you want to play introducing Alf to the griffins, Praxia?”~

~“As quickly as possible!”~ Praxia announced as she whirled around and took a deep breath to calm herself. Yet her announcement was cut off by Brynhild who was stepping up to do the same.

“Ponies, the High Admiral agrees to your idea!” Brynhild gave a flourishing bow pointed a wing at Gleaming Scythe who was stewing in her fur. “When would you like to have the opera? Soon I trust. It may take time to get inside whatever this place is, but not too long.”

I’ve already made a fool out of myself, no sense in worrying about it now. Praxia nodded at the griffin commander. “That’s agreeable. But I suppose Gleaming Scythe should consider this an honor.”

Brynhild gave her a bemused eyebrow lift with the half-griffin scoffing. “You’ll have to explain that one to me.”

As they had spoken, Praxia had silently radioed Alf to come forward. The meter and a half tall alien made himself known after stepping passed the lines of equine soldiers. The griffin’s initial reaction was mild shock at seeing what looked like an armored hornless skinny minotaur.

Their HUD’s visual scans however, identified the flatish face and second set of arms as no species native to Equin. “I present to you, Alf. A guest and friend of ours we found in a sunken ship. He’s also the one who led us here. More or less. You should be honored that you’ll get to be the first to sing specifically for him.”

Alf dipped his head after coming to a stop behind Prism and Praxia. “I bid you greetings, warriors.” A shame I never asked how I should greet the ponies’ neighbors.

Brynhild’s jovial mood evaporated at the sight of the alien. The same kind of alien that she and every other high ranking griffin had studied from the multitude of hieroglyphs at a dozen digsites. “My… my. So the elusive forerunners live after all. The High Admiral is going to have a lot of questions for you.” She turned her attention back to Praxia and Prism. “If we are the first ones to sing a song to him, then you ponies really have let yourselves go,” Brynhild’s good humor returned a bit.

Prism tsked with a hint of annoyance and called out to them. ”Yeah well we've been busy. Besides, a song for a new friend and species requires a lot of planning and time. However I'm sure your bird bug can manage though.” Prism’s annoyance was quickly replaced with goading enjoyment.

That very thought had not occurred to Gleaming Scythe, and made sense to her now. Upon seeing the hybrid getting hot under the collar, Brynhild caught on fast. “Oh I completely agree.” She gave Gleaming a mischievous grin the lines of which caused the hybrid goose pimples. “So… no pressure or anything.”

18: Spelunking for Fun and Profit

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Opera was not an art to be conducted half-heartedly. Acoustics, presence, and skill are paramount to its execution. To that end, one of the two huge tents originally designated to cover the excavation was repurposed to be the concert hall. The tent was erected just inside the perimeter of the pony camp with several griffins already attending.

Rows of chairs and benches faced a simple stage of cargo boxes where a pair of unicorns weaved spells to allow music to flow as if they were in a symphony hall. With a medical sheet acting as a stage curtain, Gleaming Scythe hid behind it absolutely fuming. It didn’t help that the objects of her supreme ire were standing nearby: Captain Brynhild and Praxia. The worst of them all, that horrid, malevolent pegasus that dared to suggest the opera: She Who Shall Not Be Named. That pegasus was lounging in the front seats arrogantly waiting for the show to start. The slight against her honor, the insult to her pride, the revulsion constricting Gleaming’s throat, threatening her singing voice at seeing the pegasus mare mocking her by her very presence.

There was a loud droning murmur coming from the awaiting divided audience. Gleaming Scythe leveraged all her willpower to ignore that thing, and peered through the slit between two curtains. The ponies and griffins had split themselves on either side of the seats as if they were separated by the bride and groom halves of a wedding. No one wore their helmets thanks to the tent’s isolated environment.

The only exception was Alf’s personalized high backed chair that currently sat empty. Letting out a huff of irritation, Gleaming pulled the curtain closed. “Regent Praxia, if I must sing for this xeno, could you at least make sure the guest of honor is present.”

“He’ll be along shortly,” Praxia replied coldly, eyeing her counterpart with distaste. The two hybrids shared a terse glare until Brynhild roped a foreleg around Gleaming’s neck and leaned heavily on her. Gleaming lost her balance and nearly fell flat on her face before she caught herself.

“Come now, you glorified clerk, you need to seriously chill if you’re going to sing properly.”

Gleaming’s beak threatened to crack under her strained scowl. When Praxia’s eyes became distant, Gleaming scowled at Brynhild’s snarking face. “What game are you playing, Captain? Punish me if need be, but why are you going along with this farce?”

Not bothering to whisper back, Brynhild tsked disappointedly and detached herself from Scythe. “You poor, poor, gnat. Diplomacy is just another type of combat. You need to stop being so focused on the battles of physical combat all the time. Relaaax, and just focus on the flow,” she said the last word with slow reverence.

Acting as if she hadn’t heard any of it, Praxia addressed the griffin-changeling amalgamation. “Alf’s walking up to take his seat now. I would be remiss to suggest you stop grumbling with your superior and work on loosening up those vocal cords.”

Before Gleaming could protest further, Praxia slid past her and the curtain. With the unicorns’ spells in place, her normal speaking voice was enough to reach everybody. “Ponies, griffins, and our alien friend, may I have your attention.” The conversational clamor died down with chairs getting scrapped around as people raced to take their seats. Prism was parked up front with Alf looking decidedly out of place smack dab in the center-front. When the noise died down, Praxia continued. “Given the fact that our dig teams will breach the compound shortly, the concert will not last for…” Praxia made a show of looking at a clock. “More than one song. So open your ears and listen. You won’t get an encore.”

A series of jeers and catcalling rang out at such short entertainment, but Praxia grabbed her seat next to Prism a bit too quickly for the changeling’s liking. Being in the spotlight in front of a throng of griffins still gave her the heebee jeebees. With the stage lights finally off of her, Praxia sagged in her chair as much as she dared.

Prism had a smirk that hadn’t left her face for the past hour she had been waiting for the show to start. She ignored Brynhild stepping onto the stage and giving expected introductions and what song would be played. “You know, this would have been a lot more fun if you had made bugbirdcat sing that opera song I wanted.”

Praxia stared at the ground as she released a long drawn out sigh. In this brief respite, she was not some representative of the crown. Just one more face in the crowd, at least until Gleaming Scythe took stage and could see Praxia sitting at the front row. “Prism. You know full well that even suggesting that my evil twin should sing “The Great Mighty Poo” is a diplomatic insult. We’re talking about the ‘usual’ second in command for the griffins for Twilight’s sake! I feel dirty just saying its name.”

The smirk faded into a grimace, not that Praxia noticed. “Not you too. Don’t you know how weird it is when ponies use my mom’s name like that?”

Praxia chose to ignore the comment and focused on Gleaming who had an obviously holographic flowing dress concealing her armor. Praxia and Prism did a double take on the elegance of the black faux-dress that gave her already black feathers a sheen that made several griffins whistle in approval. Lines of gold etched angular patterns remanence of old army uniforms tied the fashion to one that was common before Seed Launch.

Prism spied Gleaming’s decidedly changeling rear half where the feathers ended, complete with hooves and pony-like tail when she turned aside to begin. She looks more like a hippogriff than a bugbird.

From behind the curtain, Brynhild wished she had a piano to play, but was forced to activate a printed speaker to play the instrumental part of the song, sending gentle string music flowing through the tent. The pause before the singing actually began gave Alf time to soak it in. Quiet, almost imperceivable violins joined in, framing Gleaming’s voice as she started her song in Griffano.

The gentle, majestic, and powerful notes flowing through the room brought pause to the Equestrians and all the griffins who didn’t know much about Gleaming. With the moment upon her, Gleaming let herself get swept away in her song, closing her eyes to imagine herself standing front and center in a massive auditorium, singing to hundreds of people. Each word, each note that left her lips spoke of calm love and reverence to the art. It flowed like water over everyone’s ears and minds, making the audience forget for this brief point in time, that they were frenemies.

A world away, a particular admiral listened in through every open mic the platoon of griffins had in the tent. In the privacy of his personal quarters, Thorn relished the music. A shame it takes such things to get you to sing in public.

As for Alf, he was struck by deep sadness. Gleaming’s song struck at his heartstrings of days long gone, never to return. Of similar music that once served to enrich his dead society’s culture. This was much more than the random songs the ponies sang to themselves every few days. Gleaming Scythe’s music was rehearsed, professional, and filled to the brim with love he didn’t see in the hybrid until now.

Without anyone truly realizing it, so caught up in the emotion of the music, the song ended. Gleaming Scythe took a long moment to stand silent on stage before bowing towards Alf. The alien’s pain manifested in silent tears, thankfully hidden by his helmet. In that silent moment when the instruments fell silent, and the audience recovered, Gleaming witnessed the tense blue aura, betraying Alf’s painful reminding of all that was lost.

Yet before she could react to it, the griffins started standing up in droves, clapping their approval. The ponies were quick to follow suite. Despite themselves, Prism and Praxia both got up to join the standing ovation, with Prism’s cheer being quite a bit more genuine.

At last, after composing himself enough to notice how everyone else was giving praise, Alf joined in, trying to mimic the rhythm of the clapping. His above all the others gave Gleaming Scythe reason to think it was genuine, rather than her half-kin just getting their jollies off seeing her on stage.

As if remembering herself, Gleaming Scythe stiffly ended the bow and marched back behind the curtain, not bothering to bask in the cheering a moment longer.

Once out of everyone’s eyesight, she tapped her wrist mounted controls to discard the holographic dress. Brynhild was still there, allowing a low melody play out to give the audience a bit of wind down time. “You know, GS, you should really just be a singer instead of fooling around with power. We have enough of those people.”

For a moment, Gleaming thought about snapping some meaningless insult back at her. She knew Brynhild’s type, the kind that wouldn’t react to insults or name calling behind closed doors. And yet the sheer joy and touched sadness she had witnessed in her audience changed her mind. “When the time is right, I am to become a mother of hundreds to hundreds of thousands. I need to be a leader, not some pop star.”

“Says you,” Brynhild countered, only to be interrupted by Praxia making an announcement over a loudspeaker.

“Attention! The dig team at Site Alpha has breach the ruins. Joint preliminary sweeps will be conducted, but the real exploration will wait until oh six hundred central time. Until then, report to your posts or your bunks!”

Brynhild clicked her mic to signal those griffins in the tent to obey as well. The regent has the right idea. The fake GRBs are not dangerous enough to rush this half-cocked. The general clamor of equipment being picked up, chairs getting shoved around, and people talking over each other took sway. “Adjunct,” she started with her command voice. “Since you’re so important, you get to stay behind at the command post when we take the plunge, and make sure none of the ponies get the bright idea of spying on us. That standing order to avoid espionage doesn’t extend to them after all.”

This was the real part of her punishment. Being sent all this way to major discovery, only to sit and watch after the cargo. “Aye, Ma’am.” With a sharp salute, Gleaming departed through the tent’s rear after scooping up her helmet.

Shortly thereafter, Prism arrived at the long and narrow barracks tent. After passing through the airlock, Prism yawned lazily as her eyes swept over the scores of soldiers and the scant few archeologists billing alongside her. Aside from some passing greetings, she was more or less left alone as everyone chatted about the opera or other random things.

Prism was ready to crash in her cot had she not spotted Alf leaning against the fabric wall the tent, and near her cot. He was silent, and had his arms crossed. He looked up at Prism, and spoke once she closed in. “Pathfinder, may I ask something difficult of you?”

The morose tone Alf spoke in gave Prism a worried frown. “Sure, what’s up?” she asked as she set her long rifle on the cot. “You don’t mind if I clean my weapon while we talk, do you? We’re on a tight sleep schedule.”

“I will not stop you.” Alf paused a bit, waiting for Prism to break out her cleaning equipment and to sit down on the cot to begin. “After we find the blades and… Free Rea the Polite judge and any others who remain, I would prefer to leave your company for a while.”

Prism stopped mid motion on breaking her weapon down, and gave him a worried eyebrow. “You mean leave the colony?”

“Yes,” Alf replied stiffly, thankful he could voice it to someone at last. “I would ask for a star farrier, but neither you nor these griffins seem to be capable of that presently.”

“You’re not a prisoner as far as I know.” Prism tried to read Alf’s face, but his much smaller eyes and flat face made it difficult for her. “Where exactly are you going to go? Unless our satellites have been running blind the whole time, there’s nothing but wilderness out there.”

“I know… But I cannot stay at Elysium. At… at least not now.” He hesitated, chiding himself inwardly at losing the words he had rehearsed. For Prism’s part, she had not yet shut the idea down, not that she could if he pressed it. “The best words your tongue has is ‘pilgrimage’ or ‘soul search’, I can’t really tell.”

Abandoning her weapon, Prism pushed herself off the cot to close in and lay a sympathetic hoof on Alf’s thigh. “Hey, I get it. You start one second trying to save your race, only to blink and find yourself in a crappy future. For what it’s worth, I think everypony here gets a bit of what you’re going through. I mean – ah – to an extent at least. I’d offer you some equipment but that’s not exactly something I can give. Why didn’t you just ask Praxia or my mother?”

Alf gave her a quizzical look, but took the question in stride. “Praxia Who Leads is presumably very busy and my request is not an immediate issue. You have her ear however, so I suspect you could pass it to her at a better time. But as for your mother, I do not know her.”

Prism dropped her hoof and snorted in bemusement. “Uh, yeah you do. Twilight Sparkle’s my mom.” Alf went rigid with stunned shock. “You mean to tell me, you didn’t know?”

“I – no, I did not.” Alf’s eyes widened as if seeing Prism truly for the first time. “If you are the child of a goddess, why are you here with the commoners?”

Alf voiced his question so loud that several soldiers overheard him and laughed at the idea. Firefly, who was up until now purposely ignoring the conversation, joined in the mirth and walked over still coming his mane after his shower. “Hey Prizzy, you wouldn’t mind letting me answer this would you?”

Prism eyed him with deep suspicion. The prank war had not yet been called off, only put on unsaid hiatus while they were on assignment. “I suppooose I could. But you better watch that mouth.”

“Psscha, no worries.” Firefly cantered right up to Prism and leaned against her like she was a wall, and smirked at Alf. “Lemme break it down to ya there, alieno. It don’t matter whose blood is running through this clown’s veins. Unless she’s got both wings and a horn, she’s as common as the rest of us.” Prism growled at being used as a prop. “So for the time being, she’s just a grunt like the rest of us, ain’t that right, Sugar Rump?”

Prism inwardly gave Firefly a smug smirk at imagining her horn growing in. Outwardly though, she kept her annoyed tone and shoved Firefly off. “I swear if you try to get that nickname to stick I’m going to use you as my personal hoofstool.”

Firefly cackled at her, and Prism’s halfhearted attempt to swat him for good measure. “I’d be your stool the moment Ruby agrees to personally announce your arrival every time you enter HQ.”

Prism’s first thought was to dive head deep into bantering with Firefly, but some part of her dragged her back to Alf’s request. “Anyway, Alf, look, I’d be more than willing to let you go on your merry way, but as you already said, all I can do is relay your request. So, yeah, if you really want to go camping alone, at least let Momma pack your bags first.”

“That is all I ask, thank you.” Clasping all four hands, Alf bowed at Prism, and turned to leave. When neither pony voiced anything, he departed for his private tent. The blood of a goddess mingling with commoners. Even after Rea the Polite Judge granted me an open mind, these ponies continue to astound me.

Shortly after breakfast the next day, Prism, Firefly, Alf, and a mixed dozen of ponies and griffins marshaled around the dig site leading into the ruins. Given the sandy ground, excavation had been quick, but it was finding a safe way to breach the walls that had eaten up the most time.

At present, a score of archeologists were scattered about the pit with two of their number near a large fissure in the ceiling of the ruins. The tail edges of the fissure looked like natural damage, but the center of the flaw had the telltale marks of laser drill usage to widen the hole.

Dirt Dobber’s replacement as chief archeologist, Reliquary, hovered around the breach like a mother hen. Prism was on point, poking her head into the hole with a flashlight augmenting the sunlight spilling inside. At present, all she could see was a stone floor with some metal debris in no discernable shapes.

“I hope the damage we were forced to inflict will be worth it,” Reliquary fumed impotently from behind Prism. “This is the biggest archeological find to date! Possibly ever on this planet! Stile Spade, Garland Spinny, and all the greats of the past would be cursing my name for such sacrilege if they were alive! I have half a mind to submit an official complaint to the princ-” Reliquary halted after Prism shoved a booted hoof on his faceplate.

“I swear, Relic, If I have to listen to another hour of you hounding us about a single wall, I’m going to scream.” Prism gave the wiry earth pony a death glare that made him back off, just enough for Brynhild to slide right by him. Sand kicked up as she made heavy landfall.

The griffin’s bubbly voice crackled out of her helmet speaker, “Top of the morning to ya, Pathfinder. Glad to see you actually waited for the rest of us.”

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t,” Prism snarked with a smirk. “If we spring any traps I’ll feel a lot better having some catbirds to take a few hits for the team.”

Brynhild narrowed her gaze at the darkness below, some of her cheery tone faded as she remembered that a number of griffins were killed by the maddened and highly corrupted forerunner AIs they had dug up. She turned her gaze over to Alf who had remained silent so far. He was lost in thought as to what exactly his pilgrimage would be. “You wouldn’t happen to know what sort of threats might have survived the passage of time by chance would you?”

Alf scrutinized the griffin behind his opaque helmet. He was the only one who didn’t bother with a breathing mask. “It’s possible. During the Judgement, those who fell under its sway preached that the reborn races should find these temples to accelerate the new cultures to the stars.” He frowned deeply at the black hole where sand trickled down thanks to the wind. “That was the idea anyway.”

Brynhild hummed contemplatively. “Doesn’t seem to have worked very well.” She unslung her shotgun and leveled it at the hole. “Well let’s get moving then. That GRP isn’t going to shut itself off.”

After sweeping her eyes across the floor one last time, Brynhild leapt inside. When nothing jumped out at her, she moved away so Prism, Alf, and four pony and griffin soldiers could join them.

Firefly stuck his head into the hole but didn’t join them. “You clowns have fun now. I’ll just stay here and catch some sun.”

Prism blew him off and flicked her tail at him. “You do that, and I’ll pay good money to see Praxia’s face when she finds you lounging about.”

Giving her fellow pathfinder no further attention, Prism found Brynhild was already headed for the only path, a broken stone archway, and hopped over to quickly join her. On either side of the archway were large slabs of metal that had presumably been an oval shaped door. One of the unicorn soldiers marched over with his tricorder held aloft.

“Let me make sure the structure’s not going to collapse if we pull the wreckage clear,” the stallion explained, prompting Brynhild to wave at the door in question and step aside.

The pause in their progress was exactly what Brynhild wanted. “So, Alf, is it? What sort of traps would you expect to find exactly? I’m talking weapons or robots.”

Adopting a gesture he had seen used plenty of times, Alf shrugged at her. “I don’t know if they would even use traps or security systems. That wouldn’t exactly attract the new species now would it?”

“It’s safe!” the unicorn announced as he pocketed his tool and started pulling on the destroyed door. With a nod prompted from Brynhild, a burly griffin joined and lent his armor augmented strength in prying the door off, making a hole large enough for everyone to squeeze through.

Prism was the first to step into the hallway, and used her helmet light to illuminate the way. As their scans informed previously, they were in a long stone hallway that was pitch black. Yet the lights revealed wall to wall drawings telling similar tales of a fall from grace that the first chapel that Prism found all those months ago. Unlike the previous ones however, these pictograms had not been left out in the elements, and were bright and vividly colored. The only imperfections were dozens of cracks in the stone.

Prism eyed the illustrated stories only in passing as the group pressed towards the Daggers.

The tunnel was wide enough for five ponies to walk side by side, so Brynhild used the opportunity to walk next to Prism. There had been something bothering the griffin ever since seeing the pegasus the previous night. Yet now that she was so close, it didn’t take Brynhild’s predator eyes to see exactly what was bother her: the size of Prism’s wings. “Well I’ll be.” Brynhild announced just loudly enough to get Prism and Prism’s attention alone. “You wouldn’t happen to be trying to grow a horn to match those big ol’ wings would you?” Whatever joviality Brynhild’s tone usually had wavered significantly in her tone, but not her grin, and in its place was cold tension. A threat left unsaid behind an almost fake smile.

Prism didn’t break stride as the group continued. To her credit, Prism bought time to think by giving Brynhild a long narrow look. Pretty bad on their part to only just now notice how large my wings are. I could lie… but it’s not like I could hide this for long anyway. Prism huffed. “So what if I am?” Prism countered with a much more neutral tone. “That a crime now?”

“Not originally,” Brynhild said offhandedly. “You wouldn’t be the first pony in history to do so. Only… there is that nagging issue of a certain sister of yours who did the same thing.”

Prism came to a stop, purposely bringing the whole procession to a halt so she could stare Brynhild dead in the eye. “You honestly think I would ever be like her?”

Brynhild stepped to the side and waved the rest of the group to keep moving. The ponies of the group waited for Prism to make a similar gesture before they joined the rest of the griffins. With Alf and the tricorder unicorn leading the way, they left the two to pick up the rear. “Try to see it from our perspective,” Brynhild started with cool diplomacy. “Aside from your training in the Pathfinders, we know little about you. You were an unknown curiosity before. But with those wings and your pedigree…” Brynhild made a point to holster her shotgun. “Let’s just say I’m gravely concerned.”

“Concerned?” Prism shot back testily. “Well then, let me make this as monosyllabic as possible,” Prism said with an impressive mix of derisive mockery and seriousness. “My sis can rot for all I care.”

Brynhild approved of the sentiment, but couldn’t stop her diplomatic mood from faltering a bit at the insulting tone. Prism pulled herself up to her full height to buy her enough time to make a mental list of possible ‘concerns’ she could address. “You want to know my reason for wanting to be an alicorn?” Prism shoved her faceplate against Brynhild whose casual grin didn’t budge an inch. “Not like I make a habit of hiding what I want, so let’s be blunt. I developed these wings just trying to survive out here. My job’s not exactly kid-safe.” Prism pointedly turned away from Brynhild as a bit of eagerness filtered in. “I wasn’t planning to originally, but if a horn grows in, then so be it.”

There was little Brynhild could argue with that, and both of them knew it. She gave a huffing smile. “A fair point. The wilds are nothing like we expected coming here. Still though.” Brynhild lapsed into a silence of her own to make sure she would word this correctly. Can’t give her a reason to clam up. “If by some chance you happened to get a horn and all the frills. What would do with yourself? Forever is a long time to live, you know.”

Prism eyed the griffin jane with suspicion. “I just want to live long enough to explore both this planet and the stars when we can finally return to them.”

Brynhild’s thin smile widened a bit more from careful surprise more than anything else. “That’s it? You just want to live forever to explore forever?”

Prism didn’t like the almost accusatory tone of the question. “And what’s wrong with that? You saying I’d be required to have some grandiose plans of being a ruler for all eternity? Screw that!”

It took her a moment, but eventually, Brynhild snorted approvingly. “Doing what you love until the end of time? Are you sure you’re not in Elysium already?” The sharp contrast shift from accusatory suspicion to one of casual joviality made Prism’s brain hiccup. That allowed Brynhild to pull ahead of Prism in the tunnel. “Here you are, exploring quite the unknown indeed,” she called over her shoulder with no intention of listening for a response.

What is she playing at? Unsure of how to respond, Prism fell back on tried and true humor. “Well of course not. I’m not the Alicorn of Exploration yet.” Prism sprinted a bit to charge ahead of Brynhild to take point. “Now, are you going to waste time on me, or are we going to focus on the task at hoof?”

“By all means,” Brynhild side stepped away to give Prism plenty of room to canter on ahead. “Trigger the traps for the rest of us.” It was only then that Brynhild noticed the rest of the group had stopped right behind them. Even though their helmets were polarized, Brynhild could feel the heat of their stares at her. “What? I can’t have an honest chat with any of you ponies anymore?”

Brynhild trudged forward, dropping the subject entirely with the crowd. Yet she silenced her helmet’s speakers to speak with Thorn directly. ~“Admiral, did you catch all that?”~

Thorn’s reply was sluggish due to time lag, but his calculating worry was painfully evident. ~“I did. This development is fascinating. I will be watching her with great interest.”~

~“What if she becomes the next Fire Shrine? There isn’t a Celestia anymore who can delay the sun’s death.”~

~“While true, there is also no alicorn tether to corrupt in order to damage the sun either.”~

Brynhild kept the line open, but paused the conversation as the group arrived at an intact stone door. It lacked any obvious knob or hatch to open it.

“I know of this,” Alf declared as he approached the door in question, prompting Prism and Brynhild to step aside. The alien stretched out three hands to form a triangle and pressed his fingertips against the door. Although the glow was hidden thanks to his suit, Alf poured his magic into the door. “It is odd the Misguided would use technology like this if they expected Newly Awakened to find it.”

Now more than ever, Prism wished her horn would hurry up already so she could probe the door with magic. Not that she’d know how, but that was beside the point. “What makes you say that? Some magic based lock or something?”

“Or something, yes.” Alf grunted a little as he forced more magic into the door. Slowly, the edges of the door started to glow a light blue. When the edges brightened to Alf’s liking, he pulled his hands away right has a film of mana covered the door. “Mana isn’t its prefered power source, but it will suffice for the day, at least.”

With his last hand, Alf tapped the film of mana with a finger. Upon contact, the film retracted back to the edges and the door split apart and slid into the walls.

Yet upon doing so, the hallways on both sides of the door were no longer pitch black, but were slowly illuminating with seemingly no discernible light source. It was as if things simply got brighter.

The mosaics seemed to come alive with the added light, revealing the true artistry involved. Prism’s initial shot of enthusiasm was dampened by remembering Dirt Dobber. “Hey, Alf, I thought you said that trick of yours would only power the door.”

When Alf didn’t immediately reply, she looked over to find him raising his arms into what she assumed was a defensive stance. “I did. I advise caution.”

Alf proceeded slowly while everyone else readied their weapons. With her father’s rifle being so long, Prism had it rest against her shoulder and trudged forward on three legs.

The group did not have to travel far before rounding a bend to come upon a massive two story room, with them arriving on the second story balcony. The dim lighting had spread here too. The weak lighting pushed back the shadows, revealing a large stone statue of some distant cousin of the wolfbeetle was revealed in all its gruesome glory. The statue was joined by a small assortment of other creatures. A few were bipedal with vaguely Alf shaped physiology, but most had a wide range of mutations from chitin to feathered wings. More simplistic and presumably literal artwork covered nearly every inch of the chamber, save for a series of more doors on both levels. When nothing moved, threateningly or not, Prism inched her rifle down. “What is this place? It almost looks like a shopping mall for animals.”

“Or a zoo,” a griffin offered.

The unicorn who had the tricorder was waving it around in front of him. “Pathfinder, the source of the GRBs is below us and…” He pointed his instrument at one of the lower floor’s doors across the throng of statues. “Through there.”

“Good work, Berry Wise.” Prism noticed more than a handful of ponies and griffins were studying the murals or statues. “We can sightsee later, let’s move.”

Not bothering to find any stairs or ladders, the winged members of the joint team flew down while the ground pounders simply jumped and let their augmented armor absorb the shock. Alf was the last to jump, his eyes lingering on the primitive wolf beetle with trepidation.

Brynhild unmuted herself to Thorn. ~“Is there something you’re not telling me about Prism Flash, sir?”~

Her eyes glanced over at the mare in question as the group filtered past the statues. ~“Did you know I visited Canterlot several months before Seed Launch?”~ Thorn inquired with his usual calm and collected tone.

~“Yes. It was right after the ponies’ seed ship left. Something about enlisting the aid of Luna in order to take over leadership of our own ship if I remember correctly.”~

~“Indeed you do. While I was there, I visited the Sun War Museum, to see how the Equestrians wrote their account of the conflict. And I found something very curious. There was a display for Flintlock’s personal weapon, and yet that very rifle was missing. Care to guess where it ended up?”~

They reached the door in question, with Alf opening it easily enough as it was already powered. Brynhild was the third to pass through the door, right after Prism. That proximity drew Brynhild’s eyes to the rifle clasped in Prism’s robotic hands. There had been something about the weapon that originally seemed out of place, only now did she realize it was not the standard issue the rest of the ponies had. ~“She took it?”~

Beyond the door was a gently curved ramp that lead deeper into the ground. “Just how far down is this… place? art museum?” a griffin asked with a mix of irritation and surprise.

“Not too far,” the tricorder welding unicorn responded as he followed Prism on down. “Just two floors, and about fifty meters northeast.”

Thorn had the courtesy to wait for the conversation to die back down before continuing. ~“Now why would Prism Flash bother to abscond with her father’s rifle when the AR-52 is a superior weapon in just about every respect?”

~“... She idolizes him. Flintlock was known to be honorable, and if Prism wants to emulate him…”~

Thorn hummed in approval. ~“We’ll keep an eye on her, of course, in the off chance something causes her motivations to change, but I think she will become an excellent yet not overly destructive adversary.”~

Prism didn’t much care for the stark silence Brynhild had fallen into ever since she brought up her alicorn sized wings. Prism glanced at the rest of the griffins, yet none of them seemed to give her any attention. They were constantly stealing glances at Alf whenever they could get away with it. Pah, whatever. Let her freak out. Not like she or that Admiral would dare touch me. They can peacock all they want, but none of us want a war.

Not really desiring to let the griffin occupy any more of her attention, Prism focused on the leveling out passageway the ramp had guided them to.

This hallway was starkly different. Gone was the wall to wall artistry, and stone construction. Here, everything had a plastic sheen to it and was very utilitarian, right down to the drab off-grey color. Yet what stuck out most of all were what almost looked like graphic glitches hanging in mid air all over the place. Objects were covered in snowy static before shifting between spheres, pyramids, and any assortment of geometric shapes. A low hum of static akin to a radio filled the air, while other errors floated slowly around taking the shape of symbols, numbers, and letters. What unsettled Prism and several others more than not, was that some of those numbers and letters were of their own language, not Alf’s. Lastly, the ambient light was dimmer here, and slowly flickered with an unhealthy glow.

“What the hell?” Prism and just about everyone turned to Alf after seeing the strange and unsettling anomalies. “Tell me you know what this is.”

“I do.” The fear in his tone put everyone on edge. “Reality Fissures. What you’re seeing are pockets of reality that operate under wildly different laws. Our eyes can not comprehend what we see, so the mind does what it can.”

Alf kept his hands slightly forward and primed with magic. “Do not touch any of them or you will lose a limb as quickly as ice melts on a star.”

He did not get far before a chevron shaped thing the size of a small dog detached itself from the ceiling barely ten feet in front of Alf. A dozen weapons trained on the chevron as it lazily drifted over to Alf with a small panel opening at the tip. Alf’s eyes went wide and he dashed to the side right as a scanning beam, only visible to helmet sensors shot out and danced over the griffin that had been standing behind him. The reaction was immediate. Every griffin opened fire, peppering the chevron with enough lead to crack and break it apart. It fell into chunks of broken metal on the ground.

There was a long moment of calm. Light smoke rose from the wreckage and a few barrels. The sudden burst of adrenaline made everyone’s aim start to spread out as the failing lights did their best to brighten up the chamber, revealing even more fissure in reality.

“What was that thing, Alf?” Prism half-demanded as a few other chevrons detached themselves

“A limb of a cogitator entity,” he answered hastily. “I fear if it scans me, it will know I am not one of the Unbending.”

“Should we open fire?” Brynhild asked testily as the chevrons kept their distance, taking up positions in between the holes in reality.

“That act may be needed,” Alf warned as he got back to his feet. “If they scan through my suit, they may become hostile to us all.”

“Then maybe you should head back up top,” Brynhild suggested strongly. “I’d rather not have reality torn apart right in the middle of my guts, thank you very much.”

“I second the motion,” Prism added. She nudged the barrel of her rifle back towards the ramp. “We’ll pick up the Daggers, and you can follow along via our helmcams.”

Seeing no reason to argue, Alf started inching back towards the exit. “Agreed. I don’t know what the cogitator entity will do, but it should be less...” He hesitated after seeing two more chevrons hovering at the top of the ramp.

Instead of advancing further, the chevrons glittered with calm blue light. A moment later, a robed alien with Alf’s build, materialized in the middle of the broken reality. It opened its four arms invitingly. As if to reinforce the gesture, the chevrons landed on the ground.

Brynhild wasn’t about to lower her pistol. “What are they doing?”

“It is an act of supplication,” Alf explained with growling anger. “The Misguided’s propaganda preached that those reborn of the divine spark should inherit the old empire.”

Prism scrutinized their situation. The mixed group of twelve strong were caught between two chevrons up the ramp, and fifteen in front. There were two closed yet powered doors on either side of the ramp which could be rushed to offer some cover, but she had no way of knowing what could be waiting inside those rooms. So. We’re safe so long as that AI thinks we’re Alf 2.0. But if he’s right, then they’ll turn hostile the moment they identify him. Just his physiology should be setting off alarm bells for that AI, so we gotta act fast.

As she mulled over the situation, Prism watched the holographic Misguided waited patiently, fully expecting the newcomers to talk amongst themselves, and yielded the initiative to them. “Everyone, switch to encrypted comms. Griffins, I’m sharing an encryption key, I don’t think we should let this thing hear what we’re saying.”

With a series of commands sent across her personal display, Prism sent the key to which the griffins complied after Brynhild ordered them to comply. “You think we can get out of this peacefully, pony?” she asked half-rhetorically.

“Hope for the best, and plan for the worst,” Prism shot back. “We have to get Alf out of here without those things scanning him. We can come back after that.”

For his part, Alf was doing his best to keep a pony or griffin between him and any of the chevrons. “I must agree with this act. Cogitator entities of the Misguided will not relent if it sees you as an enemy.”

“That’s enough for me.” Brynhild jabbed a claw finger at two griffins. “Ake, Ugo, motivate those two drones at the ramp to stand aside so we can fall back.”

With brusk replies, the two griffins took point and fired a few warning shots at the two chevrons before waving the barrels towards the outer wall.

There is a universal aspect to the threat of force. And now was no different. The chevrons pulled themselves off the ground and rested flush against the indicated wall. By twos, the group started to creep back up the ramp. Prism and Alf watched the two chevrons like hawks when it was their turn to start up the ramp.

Yet the alien AI was not blind to Alf’s presence, even as its mind was busied by the constant GRBs hounding its ability to sense anything beyond the facility's walls.

Right as Alf passed in front of the two chevrons, twin invisible scanning beams danced over Alf. However, both the ponies and griffins’ helmets had enough built in sensors to detect the scan, prompting Prism and the next closest pony to fire upon the drones.

They were simply too slow.

The rest of the chevrons lept into the air, the gentle blue replaced by a deep angry black magic that oozed purple. One of the griffins cried out, “It’s using dark magic!”

The unicorns barely had enough time to bring up holy shields right as fifteen cutting beams of black magic lanced straight at Alf. Black energy met golden in a blinding shower of sparks. The group reacted quickly with weapons’ fire. Hundreds of bullets shot down range, only for half of the chevrons to shift forward. They stopped their attack and started radiating a black shield that ripped apart each bullet before they could come close to impacting anything, dusting the drones with little more than fine powder.

“Switch to mana coated ammo!” Prism and Brynhild ordered almost in sync.

“There’s no time!” Alf all but roared to be heard. “We need to leave before it uses the Breaker!”

The dark beams from the chevrons ceased. Those that had been on the attack repositioned themselves into a diamond formation aimed at a griffin on the flanks. Wobbly rings of kaleidoscopic mana shot forward and pierced the holy shield as if it wasn’t even there. Tears and fractures in the very fabric of reality started appearing all over the griffin’s body before he started to squirm in on himself in entirely unnatural ways.

Alf summoned his own magic and thrust all four hands towards the weakening pony shield. A new green coating enveloped it, causing the disruptive attacks to bounce off.

Trying to ignore the horrified screams of pain from the stricken griffin, Prism and the others finished switching ammunition types and were finding better success. Several shots were cutting through the chevrons’ defenses until enough of them had been brought down to nullify the barrier.

The remaining drones scattered, save for one that sank back into its alcove along the ceiling.

Before anyone could get solid aim on the much smaller target, it projected the AI’s avatar. The hooded alien stood definately, yet its face was concealed completely in the shadow of its cloak. “Sacrilegious Fallen One! I don’t know how you have evaded righteous judgement for so long, but I will satisfy the Pantheon here today!”

Shouting with rage Prism had never seen from Alf before, the alien surged ahead several paces. “Ruinous lies! You know damned well Those of the Cloth were lied to! Rea the Polite Judge herself sent me here!”

Prism and the others used the conversation as time to rearm and assess the fallen griffin. The very walls rattled from the AI’s laughter. “Of course she did. So you could be delivered to me for purification or elimination.” That earned renewed hatred from Alf. “Praise be to Rea the Polite Judge for her wisdom,” it said reverently with hands held aloft to the sky.

Prism didn’t like the mechanical chunking that was sounding from behind the flanking doors. “Alf! We gotta fall back for reinforcements!”

Alf was barely given time to respond before several ponies and griffins started withdrawing back up the ramp. Alf started too, only for the AI to project a holographic wall in front of the soldiers. It was not solid, but it had the desired effect of making them halt in their tracks.

“If you are allied with this Fallen One,” the avatar yelled out with righteous anger, “Then you must be able to understand my warning.” This time, a second avatar materialized in place of the fake wall. “If you attempt to leave with the Fallen One, I will drench this world in radioactive fire!”

With the immediate risk of violence subdued thanks to the absence of the chevrons, the ponies and griffins had a moment to give the threat some thought. “You can do that?” one of them blurted out.

Prism looked to Alf for confirmation, only to feel a pit of fear when the alien said nothing to contradict the AI. Having earned their undivided attention, the avatar lifted an accusatory finger at Alf. “Do you honestly believe I am blind to the Holy Call? It bathes this planet in its harmless signal, but all it would take is a minor adjustment to make it scour all biological life if I deem it necessary.

“The divine above activated the Holy Call to draw you here so that I may finish what we started so long ago.”

“Lies!” Alf raged as he punched the avatar with no effect. “Rea the Polite Judge sent me here so that I may sever my ties to the divine realm so she and the others can be reborn!”

The avatar dropped its finger and took a step back. “The Severance Daggers? You - you would actually cut your own spark? Willingly!?” The anger faded from its voice and was replaced by skepticism.

“It is what Rea the Polite Judge asked of me,” Alf spoke with deep pain as his own rage smoldered just beneath the surface. Thinking it wise to not interrupt, Prism and Brynhild both ordered everyone to remain outwardly silent.

“You Fallen Ones raged against the Holy Judgement to keep both your divine spark and your form. Why would you damn yourself far worse than you believed the Judged to ever be?” Alf didn’t answer right away. He clenched his fists and lowered his gaze, trying to piece together what he should really do. Sensing his hesitation, Prism wanted to rest a reassuring hoof on him, but didn’t know if he would take it the right way.

The avatar opened its arms into a calm stance. I have heard many wild claims from the Fallen before, yet this is too horrid for anyone to ever lie about. “What Rea the Polite Judge asks of you… It is damnation. Your soul lost the instant your body eventually dies. No future. No rebirth. Just the howling dark of the infinite void. You know this. She knows this. Stand there and tell me that is a better fate than what I can still offer you.”

Rea’s comment about Twilight Sparkle becoming Alf’s patron deity had always rung hollow in his ears. She is corporeal. Limited. Her power is of the mortal realm, not the heavens above. His breaths came in stutters. Even if she accepted me, how could she possibly actually connect our spirits? An idea occurred to him, putting a brief pause to his deteriorating emotions. Could that work? Surely she would be capable of it if I did that.

The long pause had given Brynhild time to try to retrieve the body of the griffin, but the corpse was in tatters where the rips in reality had carved him to several pieces. The gruesome work would have to be limited to reclaiming his dog tags for now. Damn it! We got complacent. I figured any of the forerunner AIs would have been so corrupted they couldn’t function. Brynhild was joined by the griffin’s chaplin who gave the dead his final rites.

As for Prism, she cast caution to the wind and shook Alf’s leg. ~“Listen. Say whatever you have to do to get this AI to not fry the planet. You can distract her while we find the gamma projector and destroy it. Smack this AI around some for good measure. We grab the daggers on the way out. Boom, bing, done like dinner.”~

~“Were it so easy.”~ Alf gave the young mare a brief sad look before returning his eyes to the avatar. “Are your Judgement Chambers still functional?”

Prism and those ponies in the know, looked at him in shock while the avatar dipped its hooded head. “They are in need of servicing since the last time I was awake, but nothing my limbs can not repair.”

With a finality that even he wished to not carry, Alf jabbed a finger at one of the stallions. “Then turn me into one of them.”

“What?!” Prism all but yelled with one eye twitching. She grabbed one of his right arms and pulled him downward to face her. ~“Tell me this is a joke! A bluff maybe! We didn’t come all this way just to give up!”~

In her haste, Prism forgot to stop broadcasting to the rest of the soldiers, prompting Brynhild to jump up and leave the chaplin to his duties in order to confront Prism. “And what exactly makes you think we can do anything else? You heard that AI! It has the whole planet at gunpoint!” Brynhild closed the distance between her and Prism. “I will not let you get us all killed.”

Upon saying that, the ponies and griffins brought their weapons and glowing horns at each other. Prism pulled away from Alf, but at this point it was too late to unshoulder her rifle to add to the stand off, so instead she looked back up at him. “You think this AI could act on that threat?”

Alf couldn’t let go of his mounting hopelessness, mental fatigue weighed heavily on his voice. “We called it Getha’s Voice. Destroying a biosphere was not its intended purpose.”

“And yet all it takes is a few modifications,” the avatar stated definitively. “Of which should be done… now.” At once, the constant faux of gamma bursts ceased pulsing, giving everyone’s built in sensors a much cleaner picture for the first time. “I do not require your lives, Allies of the Fallen,” the AI said with some civility before addressing Alf again. “The Grand Judgement was to punish the Shamed for the unforgivable sin of total and complete genocide. However. I can only sense two semi-divine species on this world.” The avatar looked at the ponies and griffins, wholly uncaring about the standoff. “Where are the rest of the Fallen?”

Alf wanted to answer, but felt anything he said might be considered misdirection. Prism growled at Brynhild before staring daggers at the avatar. “He’s the only one. We found him frozen in time on a sunken ship.”

The AI didn’t put much stock in the frustrated pony, but coupled with what the facility's sensor could detect, or in this case not detect, it was satisfied. “Good. Then as far as I’m concerned, the Judgement was carried out to almost perfection.”

The avatar spoke with profound relief. It clasped its hands and chanted a short prayer with a reverence that went far and beyond fanaticism. “The Judgement was to punish the Fallen as a species. But your quest and Rea the Polite Judge’s words do not fall on uncaring ears. If she was willing to allow you to live with your sapience intact, then so shall I. But only as something other than what you are now. Becoming one of these four-legged things is acceptable.”

“That’s a step above being called animals right?” an anonymous soldier grumbled just barely audible.

Prism wished Alf would cut the polarization of his helmet so she could see his face. “Just because we’re sapient doesn’t mean you will still be you. Our brains are wired differently. We have different biochemistry. Hormones, everything!”

“Which is why I find it acceptable,” the avatar chirped in. “He will not be himself anymore.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, assclown!” Prism barked hastily.

Alf placed a hesitant palm on Prism’s withers. She gazed back at him with some faint, if vain, hope. “I have thought about this fate ever since I spoke with Rea the Polite Judge. After seeing how much this place was in repairable condition, I was hoping the cogitator entity had suffered the same fate the others you’ve found and descended into madness while leaving the equipment intact, and attempt to clone my species back into existence.”

The avatar tilted its head in an act of derisive defiance. “A benefit to having access to repair protocols and power supply of a large temple.”

Brynhild clacked her shotgun and kept it pointed between Alf and Prism. “Look, mare, I like you and all, but I don’t care what anyone’s reasons are for whatever, but right now, there is a pissed off AI with a hair trigger on a planet killer, and I don’t want to wait around for it to get twitchy.” She waved her gun barrel at Alf. “Now you either get in whatever pod to make that AI happy, or I’m pumping a slug in your brain here and now.” Brynhild glanced at the avatar. “Assuming you have no objection to his brain painting the wall.”

The avatar hummed approvingly. “You have to admire this one’s expediency. But you will get no argument from me, Smart One.”

The ponies and griffins tightened the grips on their weapons, but Prism didn’t need to be a changeling to see that the ponies were only keeping their guns off her and Alf because of their loyalty to the princess. At the end of it all though, any act in Alf’s defense would be for naught if Alf didn’t want to be helped. Not like I could. The rutting AI isn’t dumb enough to leave this gamma emitter unguarded. Unable to say anything, Prism went limp slightly, giving the rest of the ponies cause to lower their weapons.

“Glad I’m not the only smart one.” Brynhild switched targets to Alf, yet dropped her aim after a moment. “I doubt that AI needs our help in getting you to wherever.”

As if using the comment as an excuse, several chevrons emerged from the two side doors. “I do not.”

Prism glared hatred at the avatar. “We can’t live with the threat of that gamma weapon sitting here. Can we at least destroy it after you change Alf?”

Brynhild and the griffins muttered similar concerns, not that the avatar truely cared about them. “The purpose of this temple was to welcome the Reborn and offer them technology and philosophy. Culture and art.” The avatar looked down upon them with contempt in its voice. “But you allied with a Fallen one, and from what I can see, none of the Remade have forged a civilization. You can have your peace, but I will not forsake my purpose. This temple was meant for the Reborn, and since you now will soon dominate this world, I must destroy the entire temple when my work is done. So you either leave, or die when I destroy the temple. I care not which.”

“Fine by us,” Brynhild quipped with a moderate return of a good mood, yet kept her tone sympathetic. “I think everyone can agree with the idea of not having anyone possess another planet killer thank you very much.” She whistled and jabbed two claw fingers up the ramp. “Move out, featherheads. Let the ponies handle the rest.” If we leave, even if Prism does anything stupid and pisses off that AI, it might decide to spare the rest of the planet and just kill them and only them.

The avatar switched position to the bottom of the ramp, making sure to escort the griffins out with a pair of chevrons. With them gone, Prism wanted to vent. To scream, kick at the ground, maybe even destroy a chevron or dozen. The image of Dirt Dobber’s frozen face of sheer pain haunted her. There’s really only one thing I can do. With impotent rage, Prism forced out these words through clenched teeth. “What can we do to make sure Alf survives?”

“Your cooperation is noted,” the avatar said with a chilling lack of emotion. “If this is the species you desire to be, then I will need all of them for a genetic templating. Comply and I will avoid causing harm.” More chevron drones appeared approaching from deeper in the temple. “Follow my limbs.” It was stated as a simple fact that it would happen, no matter what they felt.

The ponies watched Alf be the first to follow the floating chevrons before they too started to go after him. Prism was the last to go, still focusing her raw emotions on the AI. ~“Mom, you catch all of that?”~

Twilight was silent for a moment, worried that that hostile AI might pick up on their radios. ~“I did. I know you want to stop this, Prism, but as much as I find this appalling, I can’t risk angering that thing. There is far too much at stake.”~ The plan Prism had half concocted fell flat, making her wilt. ~“But… we still have some time, so keep your ears open in case an opportunity presents itself.”~

19: Reproachable Instigation

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To Prism’s eyes, the underbelly of the Misguided Temple was a cold and sterile place. As the chevron-like drones guided them through the narrow, bleak hallway, the ponies had to occasionally skirt around increasingly more frequent breaks in reality. Alf took up the rear, purposely keeping his distance from Prism, lest she convince him to back out of the agreement. The silence, broken only by their hoofsteps, was oppressive to the point where she couldn’t hold back her inquisitiveness any longer. “Hey, cogitator entity. You got a name?”

The avatar materialized in front of the room, and floated backwards to keep pace. The hooded holographic alien seemed quite skilled at projecting mild disinterest without a visible face. “You may refer to me as Reproachable Instigation.”

A curse behind Prism brought her attention towards a unicorn who ducked his head to keep a drifting break from sheering his horn off. That very threat made Prism whip her head back around to make sure she wasn’t going to blunder into one herself. “What’s with all these tears in reality? You get in a fight down here?”

“That is none of your concern, Primitive. Do as I command, and you will be spared radioactive fire.”

Prism’s blood boiled at the insult. Yet before she could act on that anger, Twilight’s face manifested in front and a bit to the side of her. “Easy, girl, I know what you’re feeling, but we can’t antagonize that thing.”

Prism switched off her helmet’s exterior speakers. “I know that, but there’s got to be something I can do! If we let that AI turn Alf into a pony, it might as well be his personality will change forever!”

Twilight’s frown mirrored Prism’s pained expression. “I know, Little Wing, but our wings are tied. I’m in communication with Admiral Thorn. He believes the AI might be bluffing about destroying us all, however.”

Prism’s surprised reply was cut short when the group rounded a bend in the hallway only to come face to face with a wall of wrong. The entire length of the seven meter wide hallway was awash with broken reality. The walls and even a few chevrons that were caught in the middle seemed to faze in and out of existence, being replaced with static. The air squirmed with flashes of beasts and unidentifiable machines of wholly unnatural design phasing in and out like a horrific kaleidoscope. Prism and the others were dumbstruck where they stood. Yet what set her fully on edge was the figment of her sister Fire Shrine, standing upon an arcane circle, and looking far more demonic than she ever had in life.

“Apparently we will have to find another route,” the avatar announced matter-of-factly. “Follow,” it demanded as a side door hissed open with the chevrons leading the way. A few ponies had less unsettling visions, and were able to pull their fellows away.

It took one of the marines a few shakes to pull Prism out of her teeth-chattering fear. “Pathfinder. Hey, are you still good?”

Fire Shrine’s imagine vanished into a whirlpool of chaotic colors, leaving Prism tight in the chest. “Y-yeah. I’m fine.” She scanned her surroundings to find the rest of the ponies were filing into a room. Since no one seemed to be in distress, she trudged on after them. “The sooner I’m away from that thing, the better.”

“I hear that,” the marine replied worriedly as he fell in behind her.

The room she found her team in, was far more cluttered with spherical plastic looking containers floating in neat rows. The wall closest to the corridor of broken reality was shimmering in its instability, but the chaos had not progressed far enough to hamper everyone from filing through the long storage room.

Once she gathered her wits once more, Prism saw her mother’s disembodied head was still present. “Did you see any of that?”

“I…” Twilight closed her eyes for a long time and breathed slowly. “I wish I hadn’t.”

“Did – did you see her?”

Twilight’s ear twitched. “I saw a number of things in that ‘place’ and I don’t wish to discuss it right now.”

“Fine by me,” Prism replied shakily. “So you were saying Thorn think’s it’s a bluff?”

Glad for the change in subject, Twilight projected her regal air. “Yes. Brynhild found the AI much more amicable towards the griffins after finding out they had only met Alf the previous night and were not allies of either him or us. While I doubt we can put much stock in this, Brynhild managed to get the AI to agree to only kill you and the squad should you try anything funny.”

Prism huffed begrudgingly with a mix of irritation and agreement. “At least that takes the gun off the world’s head.”

“Yes, well, Spike and I think that assurance will go out of the window the instant the AI thinks Alf is going to escape.” Prism started flying so she could close in on the front again. With ponies being so short compared to Alf’s species, the ceiling was high enough to allow it. Due to the cramped and zig zag route, the scattered pieces of torn reality were a serious, if navigable danger. “I would suggest trying to pick apart the AI’s reasoning for doing all of this. It appears far more stable than the others we’ve found. I know it’s a long shot, but it might be capable of being reasoned with.”

“I’m not getting my hopes up, but all I care about is keeping everypony alive,” Prism declared with stern conviction. That tone shifted to a mix between amusement and accusation. “I gotta say mom, you can chessmaster some serious tests, you know that?”

“Oh yes, because I clearly orchestrated this whole temple and rogue AI to be here,” Twilight made sure to lay the sarcasm on extra thick. A red circle interposed itself on Prism’s personal display, revealing a collection of innocuous lumps on some of the spheres. To her trained eyes however, she knew they were explosive charges. “But I will admit to having a flare for subtly from time to time. Alf is quite sure that your squad is currently walking through a the coolant reservoir for the temple’s powerplant. I suspect the AI didn’t bother to mention it to make us think all this equipment is unimportant.”

“Is that right?” Prism gave a cheshire grin. “It would be such a pity if there was a power failure.”

“That it would,” Twilight mirrored her daughter’s tone before becoming serious again. “In any case, I will personally update the rest of the squad on this development.”

“We can’t go loud without those daggers though,” Prism added quickly before her mother could speak further. “They might get destroyed if we do this too early.”

“The squad will follow your lead. They have more faith in you than you realize.”

While Prism kept walking, she couldn’t help but to wonder just on how many levels her mother meant by that. Does she mean my goal to become an alicorn? I mean, yeah that’s just a step away from being a public secret, but so have a bunch of my older sisters. Prism’s mood soured as her thoughts drifted towards Fire Shrine. Prism’s bile rose at just thinking of her smirking face. If anything they should be worried about somepony trying to become an alicorn. So where would this phantom faith be coming from? Ultimately, Prism decided not to dwell on it, so she could focus on the here and now.

As it was, the path forward was increasingly clogged with coin sized bits of broken reality that waited for any hapless victim to walk into. More than once did Prism have to drop to the ground to avoid a blob of it.

The chevrons finished leading the group through the storage rooms and back into another sterile hallway shortly after Prism came in to land at the front of the other ponies. “Hey, Reproachful, these breaks in reality are our problem since you’re destroying yourself anyway, and the rest of us plan on living on this planet.”

The hologram fizzled briefly before gracing Prism with its attention yet again. “Very well, Ally of the Fallen One. These breaks are being caused by my … how to put it simply, my power generation machine. It has been failing for some time, and the damage has become irreparable due to the clustering of the breaks. Once I destroy the temple, they will fade in time. Your world will be spared. Provided your continued cooperation does not end.”

The chevrons came to a halt in front a blank section of dead end only for the wall itself to fold in and open to reveal a three story tall chamber. The lights were already on with dozens of chevron drones all flying around awakening sleek machinery via TK fields not dissimilar to what unicorns used. As the group strode inside, gaping in awe at the first functional alien technology they’d seen. The low hum of electricity could be heard everywhere, emanating from the massive machines that blanketed the walls. It was here of all places that the tears in reality were thankfully absent. Towering in the center was a ceiling to floor column that bore rings of clear pods with one of which was filling with green fluid.

Prism was the first to gather her wits and opened a channel to the science officer who only now thought to start scanning with the tricorder. ~“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where those daggers are, would you?”~

~“No but-“~

“Now,” the avatar announced, unwittingly cutting the scientist off, “each of you… subtypes will follow a limb to have you genetic code memorized. You should feel fortunate, Fallen One,” the avatar chided at Alf. “Most organics only get two biological progenitors. You get to have sixteen.”

“My joy quotient is overflowing,” Alf shot back acidly.

Ignoring the alien’s tone, four of the avatar’s drones approached individual ponies, including Prism. “You, the talkative one. Go with my limbs. You four will be memorized first.”

Prism briefly looked to Alf, but when he showed no outward concern about anyone being ‘memorized’, which was admittedly difficult to tell behind a mask and unfamiliar body language, she marched after her designated drone.

The avatar had picked four pegasi by no accident and had the chevrons fly over the railing and down towards the lower level, waiting to see if the ponies could actually fly, but to also get a sense of their magical capacities. What surprised Reproachable Instigation was the size of Prism’s wings compared to every other pegasus in the group. That surprise didn’t faze it for more than a moment.

Down at the lower level, there was a dome shaped machine with a single clear door. “Enter one at a time. It will not take long.”

A pegasus stallion stepped forward before Prism could do the same. ~“Let me take this one for the team, Pathfinder. If it’s a trap, better somepony takes it before you.”~

Prism stepped forward to protest, only for a chevron to bodily block her. “Do I need to use simpler words to make it clear I meant one at a time?” Reproachable grumbled in supreme annoyance. “It would seem using pictographs might have been needed after all.”

Prism ground her teeth, barely containing her indignation. “Where do you get off acting like this!?” Prism roared with an angry shaking hoof.

Reproachable Instigation’s avatar manifested directly in front of Prism. “The rest of your kind have been wise enough to remain silent and have demonstrated the capacity to follow instruction. They have earned a modicum of respect you have not. Be silent and you may yet.”

Prism growled and pushed back into her little corral, but inwardly she smirked derisively at the AI. You think you got it all figured out, eh? I told them to keep quiet so I’d be the only one to piss you off. Not so likely to turn us into reality soup if only one of us is irritating you.

With nothing she could really do, Prism watched the pony volunteer step inside the scanner. The machine took on a blue glow as powerful magic thrummed to life. The magic was so powerful that Prism started suffering a mild yet pinpointed headache where her proto-horn was. She gritted her teeth trying to avoid rubbing her head so she could keep an eye on the volunteer, but she lost that duel a minute into the scan as the magic only intensified. It was an act that the other two pegasi took curious note of.

“Pathfinder, are you alright?” the only other mare of the group asked while stepping up to Prism and resting a hoof on her back.

Thankful that her companion couldn’t see her pained face, Prism couldn’t hide that pain from her voice. “You don’t feel that?”

“Feel what?”

Keeping a close eye on everything from multiple helmets, Twilight spoke to her daughter without her head appearing. ~“PF, your vitals are giving me an idea to what your pain is. It should be nothing to be overly concerned about right now. Try to grit your teeth and bear it for now.”~

~“I’ll try.”~ Prism shook her head to try and distract herself from the dull throb. “I’ll be fine, probably just dehydration, don’t worry about me.”

The other mare didn’t believe it for a second, but she let the matter drop when the volunteer stepped out of the scanner looking no worse for wear. He flexed his legs and wings. “Hey that scan thing removed that cramp I had. You should try it.”

“They do not have a choice,” Reproachable Instigation declared icily while it pointed at the mare next to Prism. “You are next. Proceed.”

One by one, the pegasi were scanned. It was during the third scan that Prism was radioed by the others that the other tribes had been moved to separate scanners on different floors. Crud. I was hoping to have more time to think of something, but what could I actually say to this thing? Without the griffins’ extra firepower and a strong defensive position, we’d get torn apart by those drones. Not to mention we still don’t know what else those drones are capable of, assuming they’re the only combat models around. Then there’s the technology gap. She swept her gaze over the facility for the hundredth time since the first pegasus’ scan. Plus their magic mastery is astounding if my sensors are anything to go by. Mom would have a field day if she got ahold of anything here. Her eyes fell upon a multitude of machines and objects that tantalized her scientific mind, begging for investigation. If only we could just EMP that AI to death and then ninja all this stuff out from under the griffins’ beaks.

Out of all the objects, one in particular stood out to her. It was a large navy blue sphere the size of her head that had two marbles orbiting it at constantly changing speed and direction. Then there was an incomplete shell of faint purple triangles that whipped around in tight interlocking orbits just beyond the marbles. Wait a second. Wasn’t that thing not moving when we first got down here? Whatever it is, it has ‘archeological appropriation’ written all over it. Place is going to be a ruin soon anyway, so why not? A brief grin at nicking that device danced in her mind.

“Bothersome One.” Prism was broken out of her thoughts by Reproachable Instigation, her mood instantly souring. The avatar pointed at the scanner. “Go. Now. Or do I need to use even smaller words?”

A scowl so deep, so disturbing, so utterly mortifying that had the AI been able to see beyond Prism’s polarized helmet, that its very core would have shattered in an instant. Yet Prism dared not release such godly power, lest the three pegasi between her and the scanner see it and cause their minds to snap.

So for the time being, Prism had to make do with suppressing her abominable powers of heinous faces, and grumbled the whole time she marched into the scanner. If that thing gave me a headache while outside of it, then this is going to be just freak’n dandy.

She started walking forward to buy a bit of time, struggling to keep from holding her head. ~“Hey, momma, are we sure these are harmless scans? My head is killing me.”~

~“The unicorns reported similar pain, but it is short lived once the scanners are shutdown. Just muscle through it for now.”~

It went unsaid, but Prism could hear a twinge of curiosity from her mother. The unicorns only huh? Guess the cat’s out of the bag. What a lame way to tell her my horn’s coming. ~“Fine, fine, I can handle a little sting.”~

Bravado was one thing, but there was only one kind of toughing it out Prism liked to do, and that was wilderness survival. Once she was inside the scanner, a collection of lights brightened as she was bathed in magic. That only compounded her headache into a full on migraine. Thankfully, the scan didn’t last forever, and once the machine powered down, the pressure on Prism’s brain came off. A long sigh of relief escaped her. “Woof… No momma, I don’t want to ride it again.”

The door hissed open, letting Prism stumble out. The pegasi were waiting and caught her. “Easy, Prism Flash,” the mare from earlier said calmly. “Just take a moment.”

Yet a moment would not be enough before Reproachable Instigation’s avatar rematerialized in front of the gathered pegasi. “You, Irritant, what exactly are you?” The avatar’s hooded face came close to Prism, making the pegasi interpose themselves. “You will answer promptly.”

Prism recovered enough of her faculties to cut the polarization on her helmet so she could at least show her indignation. “Why da hell are ya asking me? Shouldn’t that stupid machine tell you all you needed to?” Prism jabbed a hoof back at the scanner.

“You are not like the others. You possess a direct connection to the astral plane the rest of your kin lack. Faint, but unmistakable. Explain.”

The stallion who had volunteered to get scanned first had been looking at Prism’s large wings ever since the AI mentioned the astral plane. When Prism didn’t answer right away, and the AI repeated its question more harshly, he depolarized his visor to give Reproachable Instigation a hard gaze. “Because the Pathfinder is a goddess.”

“Technically a demi-“ the other stallion tried to correct, only for the volunteer to silence him with a wing slap to his helmet.

The mare holding onto Prism caught on to her fellow’s intent. “That’s right!” She heaved Prism to her hooves so both mares could stand. “You all heard about the oppressive mana the unicorns were suffering because of the scanner. Headaches just like Prism Flash was suffering.”

“What the rut are you blabbering about, Cloud Buster?” Prism grumbled half under her breath. “I thought I was the only one who’s suppose to be saying stupid crap to that thing.”

“It’s proof she’s going to ascend to full godhood!” Cloud Buster reaffirmed towards the avatar with surging excitement.

By now, Prism’s face was burning so red that she might as well have been a tomato. “I swear to Celestia if you don’t shut your trap...”

Hearing all of this, Reproachable Instigation was briefly silent as it tried to process this information. “A corporeal deity? How strange… I would think you either liars or fools were it not for what I have seen of her body. A pity her mind is worthless.”

Prism jumped into a low hover and shook an angry hoof at the avatar. However, realization struck her like an arrow before she could utter a scathing retort. Instead she lowered her hoof and plastered on a small smug grin. “Well, so much for going incognito about it.” It was only then that Cloud Buster realized the embarrassment he had been causing and hid his face by polarizing the visor, hoping to be forgotten.

“I finally remember why you irritate me so damned much.” The avatar tilted its head at Prism’s comment. “You must be the cogitator entity that failed my previous existence.”

Both the other pegasi and the AI were utterly confused. However, Prism texted the ponies ‘just roll with it’. Having no such message, Reproachable Instigation’s tone was less condescending than usual. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Prism remembered reading Twilight’s notes on Alf’s spirit journey to speak with Rea. Let’s hope this creep buys what I’m selling. “You know. Gods like me never truly die. We just reincarnate into a newly awakened species, but I still remember snippets of my old existence.”

When the AI said nothing, Prism tried to mimic Twilight’s regal voice and posture. “It’s fuzzy, but I recall being one of the gods watching over and guiding the Judgement. You clearly failed in your holy purpose since not only did Alf survive the Judgement, but no reawakened ever rose up on this world.”

~“Prism, you are playing a dangerous game,”~ Twilight warned with a hushed tone.

~“I’m not going to let Alf commit personality suicide by becoming one of us!”~ Prism shot back with urgency.

“Clearly your recollection is faint indeed,” Reproachable Instigation started with none of the original hostile tone. “It was Bealras the Great Redeemer who personally oversaw the Judgement in this sector, and he was quite pleased the last time he spoke to One of the Cloth. Odd how fate brought one so mighty and powerful into the body of a small organic that barely has the spark of the divine.”

Prism inwardly smirked at having already thought of a counterpoint. “Yeah well, you don’t seriously think we get all our power all at once, do you? Gotta grow into it.”

“Perhaps,” Reproachable Instigation stated with a dangerous tone. “Or perhaps you lie. It is quite possible you are an unrelated higher lifeform entirely. Either way it matters not. You have proven you are not Bealras the Great Redeemer. You are a weak corporeal deity of another species.” The avatar closed in to scrutinize Prism’s face. “The Fallen One will still be turned, his bond to the old pantheon severed, and this temple will be destroyed, no matter your origins. However… in the off chance you are Bealras the Great Redeemer, I offer you a gift.”

“A gift eh?” Prism fumed suspiciously. “Then let me pick!”

The avatar withdrew a little, perplexed. “Oh? This should be amusing. Fine. What could you ask that I would be willing to give?”

It didn’t take Prism even one second. “I want the Daggers of Severance, and that orb thingy,” she demanded while pointing at the odd sphere with a wing.

The avatar looked at the swirling orb and bit back a grating laugh. “That thing? Do you even know what it is?”

“Does it matter?”

“...No, I suppose not.” Reproachable Instigation had a chevron approach the orb and with a few commands, the orb stopped moving. Its orbitals collapsed in on it into a much more compact item roughly the size of a basketball. The chevron then levitated the object to Prism who gave it to one of the other pegasi who had an actual saddlebag. “It should entertain a child at least. But as for the daggers. What could you use them for, capital punishment by chance?”

“Something like that,” Prism lied with a wave of her hoof. “You know, for the extra evil ponies out there.” Better mention Alf or that pompous buffoon might just say no anyway. “Plus you know, just because Alf will become a pony, that doesn’t mean he’ll be completely cut off from the old gods.”

Reproachable Instigation paused at the rationale. At the end of the day, it was still an AI, thus unable to communicate with incorporeal deities. “So there is some sign of intelligence within you. Some sliver of your old self shining through, perhaps? Then you may have them.”

Three chevrons descended into a tight formation in front of Prism. They started projecting three funnels of magic into a single point. From that point, a pair of long daggers materialized. They were clearly designed with hands in mind, with a sturdy grip. The blades were jagged, almost like fire made into a cold dark material. White carvings etched in a language Prism had never seen glowed with ethereal light. Once the daggers were fully there, the chevrons levitated them over and presented them to Prism. “As requested: the Daggers of Severance. Long have they served since the Shamed took to the black. First to forever damn those of immortal crimes, but more recently, to those who would die rather than accept the Judgement. Given your… lineage, it is only proper that you be the ones to wield them this day.”

Doing her best to ignore the sadistic tone that was creeping into Reproachable Instigation’s voice, Prism clicked a robotic hand open to take one of the blades. She was mildly surprised it was real. I can’t believe that actually worked. Provided Alf can confirm these are the real deal at least. The AI, as if noticing that Prism had no means to hold both at once, left the other dagger floating. “Why would you give me these?”

The avatar glided in to float beside Prism and lifted a hand up to guide her vision towards Alf who was watching her from the original level where she last saw Alf. “If you are truly Bealras the Great Redeemer incarnate, then you should bury the last thread of your old existence by severing the Disgraced One from the old. What once was, born again. Now what should not, shall be remade.”

“That’s the great circle of life for ya,” Prism offered up in slight confusion. Following the implied instruction, Prism scooped up the other dagger and carefully gave it to the pegasus engineer who had larger pockets. ~“No idea how these things work, so try not to nick yourself.”~

~“You got it, boss.”~

With that done, she took to the air with the other pegasi close behind. They arrived in time to see the unicorns arrive from a curved staircase along the wall. The earth ponies were already present, along with Alf who was flanked by two guarding chevrons. They had him locked in a prison energy field. “Is that really necessary?” Prism challenged, her temper starting to get the best of her thanks to the margarine. “He’s not going to run.”

Reproachable Instigation completely ignored her as a cylinder popped out of a machine between the ponies and the central pillar. A chevron floated over and collected it before flying back towards Prism to offer this as well. “And now, Oh Bealras the Great Redeemer. You finally have the tools to fulfill your old purpose. Sever the Fallen One, and then use those nanites to change him.” The end of the cylinder facing away from Prism. A gray goo writhed and wiggled, but stayed within the device. “Those will only activate on the Fallen One, so you are safe from it.”

Prism glared at the avatar with barely constrained fury. As if sensing her anger, the demolitions expert earth pony gave her a brief text message with a holographic button appearing before her. ~“This guy’s a prick. You want the honors giving him the middle feather?”~

Prism quickly glanced at her brethren, each of them had a hoof hovering over their weapons, waiting for the signal. ~“Pick your targets, boys, we’ve only got one shot at this.”~ To buy them time to coordinate, Prism gleefully threw the nanite cylinder away from her, by chance rolling towards Alf. “I’ve played along long enough you deranged computer! I declare the Judgement concluded.”

A dark chuckle erupted from every chevron in the room with Reproachable Instigation’s voice echoing from each of them. “As I expected of you. Whether or not you are truly Bealras the Great Redeemer reborn or not. You never held any sway over me.”

Up until this point, Alf had been standing within the prison field with his hands clasped in silent prayer, but upon hearing Reproachable Instigation’s statement, his head snapped up to look at the avatar. “You’re One with the Balgrath Shroud?!”

The avatar shifted and squirmed as mocking hard bitter laughter erupted. The avatar resolidified into a thin waspish creature on leathery wings and spindle like limbs that ended in two toed feet and six fingered hands. Its head had three eyes, its face deformed to an comical sharpness in the chin and teeth. “I must thank you, ponies, for bringing me the last of the genocidal demons to me.” Reproachable Instigation gave Alf a scornful glare behind a toothy smirk. “Yes, I know what your warped mind is thinking, Demon. Those breaks in reality are only being maintained by the damaged power plant. But they were created by the last gasp of resistance from those of you smart enough to see the truth. Your victims’ revenge was so thorough, so complete, we’ve returned the favor of erasing your people, your very culture from existence!” A hissing laugh echoed across the chamber. “Oh I can’t tell you how beautiful it was to watch from afar as each of you willingly became animals, finally matching form with essence!”

Prism couldn’t ask for a better distraction. With all the indignant joy of righteousness she could experience, she activated the detonator.

Barely a second later, bombs ripped through the power regulators and other support equipment. The lights died almost immediately as the main reactor shut down, along with Alf’s prision field. Prism dropped the dagger and unslung her rifle. “Give’em the business, boys!”

Gun and spellfire erupted in a flurry as chevrons were cut down. Prism took personal pleasure in gunning down the two chevrons flanking Alf, freeing the alien to empower his magic. A chevron tried to power up its breaker, only for Alf to throw the shattered remains of his former guards at the drone. The impacts stumbled the drone long enough for Prism to fire several holes into it.

“Flail and fight all you want,” Reproachable Instigation goaded as its drones started to retaliate, cutting down a pegasus with a scything laser. “But none you will leave here alive!”

The ponies grouped up so the unicorns could cast a shield over everyone. Alf joined in to add his protection against the breakers that tore one of Cloud Buster’s hind legs at the hip and clipped his right wing of its primary feathers. His cry of extreme pain were quickly muffled by his helmet speakers and radio limiting themselves so only the medic could hear. Outside of that, the chevrons hardly put up a fight. There was no real strategy this time around, and the rest of the fight was brief because of it.

The remaining drones attempted to rush the shield and pass through it to cut down the defenders, but none of them got close enough to do so. The last drone exploded inches from the barrier, shrapnel clattered against the energy dome.

Reproachable Instigation’s avatar was gone, not having the drones to project it, but its voice echoed from the walls. “And so the corporal goddess reveals her immaturity yet again. This is but another last gasp before silence.”

It was Prism’s turn to ignore the AI as she bolted for the exit. “Let’s move, ponies!”

Yet she didn’t even get halfway before a large slab of stone slammed down, completely blocking off the only exit. “I don’t need main power to activate the self-destruct,” Reproachable Instigation buzzed over the intercoms. “I was being truthful in willing to allow all of you to live. Even the Murderer had he been severed and turned. But you have sealed your fate.”

Dimmer purple lights started flashing, making Alf watch everything with hopelessness. “That’s the successful invasion alarm! Reproachable Instigation just sealed every passageway, and is overloading the power plant. The whole temple is going to be ripped out from reality!”

“That is correct,” Reproachable Instigation replied darkly, with fanatic glee. “I may be destroyed in the process, but I welcome death if it means cleansing the last of the Murderers from this once clean universe. May your afterlife be nothing more than an endless choking void.” The following dark laughter became highly distorted before cutting out entirely as Reproachable Instigation’s core was corrupted and destroyed.

Prism kicked the stone slab, making a crack a few inches long. The crack made her gasp in realization. She turned around to the ponies, all looking to her for guidance. She spotted the science officer unicorn who was helping the medic trying to keep Cloud Buster from going into shock. “You! Can you get a fix on our location?”

“Uhh… I already got that from scanning the place earlier. We’re on the far south end of the temple. Why?”

Prism looked to the five earth ponies. “Rock Tremor, think you and your buddies can make us a hole?”

Rock Tremor started removing his boots to keep from smashing the attached robotic hands, prompting the other earth ponies to do the same. “I was hoping you’d ask me that ever since coming here.”

Prism and the others followed the shoeless earth ponies to the south wall while Prism contacted Praxia. “Yo, bug pony, you need to get everyone’s tails outta the camp pronto! I bet my bottom bit the camp’s going to get hit bad.”

Praxia answered in a voice much too calm for the dusty grey pegasus’ liking. “Prism, I gave the order to abandon base camp the moment you started chatting with that AI. Not for nothing, girl, but you really need to work on your diplomatic skills.”

“Make fun of me all you want later. But I’m going to need air evac at my coordinates.”

Praxia hummed as the data was transferred. “I already have transit on station for you. Just get to the surface however you can.”

“Roger that. See you soon.” Prism ended the transmission in time to see the earth ponies gathering around a section of the wall, talking to each other.

The science officer waved his tricorder towards the sealed exit. Sweat fogged his visior. “I don’t want to alarm anypony, but there’s is a maaasive void in my readings and it’s coming right for uuus.”

A loud crunch heralded the collapse of the lab’s outer wall, revealing interior plumbing and service tunnels. The earth ponies’ legs were still shaking after the impact of bucking the wall. If they been wearing their boots, they would have shattered from the impact. “It’s going to take too long to get through all this,” Tremer warned with deepening worry. “We can only carve our way through solid rock or metal. Our magic gets fizzled out by so many different processed materials.”

“Then allow me,” the demolitions engineer announced with an explosive charge bouncing on an outstretched wing. I can get us to the outer shell no prob.”

Prism waved everyone to take cover. “Do it, hurry!”

The engineer got to work right away, placing five charges at strategic locations. “Everypony get clear!”

The ponies, and one alien, scattered to the winds to find cover behind any machine large enough to hide behind. The explosion followed one pony’s maniacal giggling and shook the chamber, knocking anything that wasn’t bolted down crashing to the floor. “You think you used enough?” yelled a disgruntled pony.

A rumble spread along the floor. Loose items and broken rocks started vibrating. No one needed to be told what the cause could be. Everyone rushed back to the hole to find that alien construction was not as impervious as movies always made it out to be.

When debris stopped raining down on everyone, Prism poked her head out from behind the wrecked railing that had just barely stopped a length of steel from impaling her. Just don’t think about it. Freak out later. Looking up, she saw the gaping hole of wrecked building interior now had chunks of broken bedrock crumbling down. “It’s not sand all the way down! Get your tails moving while we can!”

Still lacking their boots, the earth ponies took the lead and immediately got to work kicking their way in an upward angle. The sound of their hooves jackhammering against stone and the respectable progress left Alf dumbstruck. The unicorns picked up the shale with their magic and unceremoniously dumped it behind them. With everyone distracted, Alf slipped away unnoticed, back towards the center of the laboratory.

Prism and the rest of the pegasi were left with almost nothing to do, so she kept close to Clouder Buster. The soldier in question had to be left by the medical unicorn, so Prism came close, not sure how to respond with the blood soaked stump. “Hey, clown, you hanging in there?”

Cloud Buster’s visor was locked on clear so the medic could assess him, thus allowing Prism to see the stallion’s teeth gritting against the pain. The name calling did manage to get a brief, if choked, snicker. “Momma always said I’d end up falling to pieces without my brother around.” Feeling personally responsible to his plight, Prism gently pulled his head up so they could see each other. “Guess she was right, eh, Pathfinder?”

“You’re not done yet, trooper.” Prism called out as Cloud Buster soundlessly shouted for some painkillers. However, his suit did send her a text of what he said. “Why didn’t the doc give you some meds?”

Cloud Basher forcefully shook his head in an effort to distract himself. “Can’t do it. Family history of addiction, and I want none of that. But I can still scream about it,” he added with hissing laughter that only brought on more pained tears.

“Just keep it together, trooper. We’ll get you back home with a new leg in no time. Maybe one of those designer robot ones.”

Sand and broken rock flew out of the hole as fast as the unicorns could throw it. The earth pony team had so far dug their way through several meters of the yielding stone. The grumbling ground was getting bad enough that Prism was worried the rattling was worsening Cloud Basher’s stump.

Cloud Basher gave Prism a searching gaze. A sort of wonder in his eyes behind his agonized grimace. “Would you choose for me? Bio or metal.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Prism saw a cloud of broken rocks and sand flying at them, blindly thrown by the desperate unicorns. Reacting on instinct, she shielded Cloud Basher with one of her broad wings. The act left her exposed, with several rocks and pebbles pelting her armor and wing. When the assault was over, Prism took stock of her immediate surroundings and saw the other pegasi were standing or hovering over a non-sandy area that was out of the way. Yelling at the spellslingers will only slow them down.

As she pulled Cloud Basher on her back to move him, she nearly scoffed at his request. “Why are you asking me? It’s your leg, do whatever you want with it.”

Upon seeing what she was doing, the other pegasi rushed over to assist, and successfully pulled them both out of sands’ way. The move had caused a huge surge in pain, silencing Cloud Basher until Prism had gotten to safety. She didn’t put him down, knowing she’d have to carry him out. He refocused on his request, allowing the other pegasi to hear. “We all saw it, Pathfinder, you had a headache that only the other unicorns had. You even cracked that stone blocking the exit.”

“She did?” inquired two of the pegasi.

“She did!” announced a third pegasus that was becoming rather animated at the implications, “It was kinda small, but I was close enough to see she kicked a crack into the stone!”

“Well- ah-,” Prism fumbled her speech. Crap! I kinda wanted to keep this on the down low. “I suppose that happened.” Incognito or not, the growing exaltation in the other ponies’ faces struck a chord in her. Pride was there, sure, but something deeper as well, something so fundamental that she couldn’t put her feelings into words.

“You’re going to become the next princess, right!?” Cloud Buster declared with only the barest hint of a question.

The rumbling in the floor reached a fevered pitch and a crackling static roar came from the sealed exit. Everyone’s eyes turned to see the walls become enveloped by broken reality. A cloud of snowy static filled with random numbers, letters, and moving pictures that depicted anything from grassy meadows to deeply disturbing scenes of violence. Ponies long since dead and those who may or may not come after, swirled in the soup that expanded like a balloon. Rock, alloy, nothing stopped the steady spread of The Rip. So dumbstruck the pegasi were at the sight of it, it took Alf vaulting over a railing and coming to a hard landing next to them to break everyone out of the trance.

“Have Those of the Earth broken through yet?”

Coming back to her senses, Prism stood up straight, making sure Cloud Buster was secure on her back. “Don’t sit around and ask, just run! Everypony, get your tails up that hole!”

By now, there was a long and tall pile of sand and debris clogging the exit, but the pegasi easily flew over it while Alf had to use a more or less intact ladder that had survived the demo charges to get over the sands.

The pegasi found the unicorns were already racing up a hole that was too narrow for them to fly up, lest the backwash push those behind them. ~“Hurry up!”~ Rock Tremor called out with dread. ~“We got to the surface, but that quake is making the sand cave in! The unicorns can’t keep a whole dune from collapsing!”~

Despite only having two legs, Alf found it much easier to scrabble up the sandy tunnel, his hands providing better stability than hooves. To the last, the pegasi saw that, and were quick to utilize their robotic hands to the same advantage.

Prism was no different as she brought up the rear, weighed down by Cloud Buster. While Prism had the dubious advantage of focusing entirely on climbing, Cloud Buster was increasingly mortified by the grumbling roar of the encroaching sphere of destruction. Prism looked up to see the white light of an awaiting airbus. Yet as she took another step, the rocks shifted out from under her, making Prism cry out and start to flip on her side. With some frantic grabbing at anything stable and instinctively using her wings to control her fall, Cloud Buster fell off her back and down the sloping tunnel. He tried to control his fall as well, but with his clipped wing, he only managed to push himself further down the tunnel all the way down to the bottom, and landed hard on his stump. The impact lancing a torrent of pain so hot his scream was silent even without his helmet muting him. Yet his pain was utter eclipsed by the wall of broken reality bearing down upon him.

Fear surged through Prism’s mind at losing him. She lost Dirt Dobber without being able to do anything, but by damn she wasn’t going to let a little thing like a reality breaker force a repeat performance. “Hold on! I’m coming back!”

Hoping her armor could take the brunt, Prism lept down the tunnel, keeping her wings held tight against her barrel as she tumbled and crashed back down in the fastest way she could think of in a split second. Her race on down was mildly controlled until the grumbling earth shifted a large stone from the roof of the tunnel that crashed into the back of Prism’s head and tried to pancake her between it and boulder. Both she and the stone slid the rest of the way down, with the stone barely missing Cloud Buster, and Prism coming to a stop next to him.

The stallion’s fears doubled at seeing the large crack in Prism’s helmet that was hissing with venting atmosphere. By now, the wave of broken reality had claimed most of the laboratory and was less than a minute from claiming the two ponies.

Cloud Buster did his damnedest to force back the blinding agony in his stump to shake Prism awake. “Princess, wake up! You have to get out of here, now!”

Dazed from the impact, Prism wobbily sat up and removed her helmet so she could see clearly. “Remind me to give that helmet designer a medal, wouldja?”

Cloud Buster’s voice was cracking with terror as he flicked a gaze at the mass of broken reality mere feet away from them. “Princess, get out of here! Run!”

The cotton being dashed from her mind, Prism registered the horror that was almost touching them. There wasn’t even a second’s hesitation, Prism roped Cloud Buster in close so she could straddle on top of him to keep her wings free. “Hold on, it’s going to be bumpy!”

The sphere was nipping at the ends of her tail, nearly catching the flesh and blood part of it before Prism kicked off and flew up the shaking tunnel in a high speed sprint. Cloud Buster’s heart hammered in his chest at the unsettling imagery that the sphere showed him. And it wasn’t done yet, Cloud Buster had a clear view of the encroaching sphere as it easily ate its way through solid stone. It was only visible through the lower end of the tunnel, but it didn’t take him much to imagine how close it was coming through the ceiling. Loved ones he left behind on Equus huddled together as they froze to death in a sunless sky. Each of them, from his mother, to his five siblings all looked at him with sunken eyes with a silent accusation. Cloud Buster forced his eyes shut to keep from being driven mad. “I’m slowing you down, Princess, just leave me behind, we can’t lose-”

“Shut up, clown! I’m not a princess, yet,” she roared between breaths, completely missing the torture in his voice. “I don’t care what you say, I’m not leaving anypony behind! Not again!”

Prism’s wings pounded the air, her muscles straining and burning under her fear induced race. A large rock was shaken loose from the exit while a cascade of sand followed after it. “This is going to be tight!” she warned heatedly. She watched the stone barreling down on her, studying every bounce that made it hurl left and right almost randomly.

The stone cast shadows behind the light, making her vision difficult. Taking a calculated chance, Prism poured on more speed at seeing a nearly flat stretch of tunnel. It should stay on course. She met the boulder head on, trusting her prediction. Right as it was about to hit her, it continued its sideward movement and struck the wall, careening away from the desperate pegasus, giving her a straight shot to freedom.

Prism burst out of the tunnel and into the skies above. Her eyes were watering from flying through so much sand, but the desert air had next to none of the choking quality more lively places had. Gulping air like it was going out of style, Prism didn’t stop, she just feverishly flew high and higher in a mad dash.

It was only when the transport climbed to meet her, and shine its light at her, did Prism finally realize she could stop. Buffeted slightly by the aircraft, Prism hovered for a bit to recollect her wits. Cloud Basher was wiggling against her out of excitement. “We’re alive! By Twilight, we’re actually alive!!”

Invoking her mother’s name brought up Prism’s pet peeve just enough to make her grumble curses under her breath. I swear, if ponies start saying ‘by Prism’ one day I’m going to go smite happy. make her fly over to the open bay doors of the transport, revealing the rest of the squad, plus one unicorn crewmember that guided her through using his telekinesis. She found the earth ponies all had their forelegs bandaged up with liberal amounts of gauze.

The spacious cabin gave the medic unicorn plenty of room to take Cloud Buster from Prism, and allow her a space to collapse out of sheer emotional exhaustion. Physically however, she felt a rush, as if she could have kept flying for miles, that holding onto a stallion bigger than she was had been trivial. “Alf!” she called out. “Next time we see one of your old AIs, we’re just going to EMP that sucker. Deal?”

“I doubt that would work, Pathfinder, but you have no other argument from me.”

Her amused reply was lost as the rest of the squad swarmed in to congratulate her. One of them grabbed Prism’s right hand and heaved her up to a sitting position so the rest could properly slap her on the back in accolades. In his haste, the act had caused her mane to completely cover the front of her face.

“Mare, that was crazy back there!”

“By my glorious beard, I thought you were dead for sure when you went back for’m.”

“I don’t think anypony else could have pulled that off.”

“You got some serious cajones, Pathfinder. Good riddance to that freak AI, eh?”

“That thing was nuts. Good on you for standing up to it, I say.”

A more modest pony, like her mother, might have waved off the showering praise as ‘just what anybody would have done’. But Prism was only half her mother. With a self-satisfied smirk, she used a hand to brush her mane out of her eyes to bask in everyone’s glowing praise.

“I know, I know, I’m totally radical,” she proclaimed with a rising grin. “I’ll be accepting autographs now. Then some eye drops. Seriously.” She blinked a few times, trying to rub the sand and grit out of her eyes, only to realize there was a lasp into silence. There was some shuffling as ponies tried to get a better look at her, but now Prism was getting weirded out. “What? Am I missing a tooth or something?” She tried padding her fingers on her face, trying to see if her adrenaline was hiding some pain to come later.

Thunderous cheers broke out, nearly deafening Prism as her squadmates tried to dog pile her into a massive group hug, trying to crush the air out of her. Prism struggled to keep air in her lungs, and flailed helplessly trying to get enough space to breathe. “Guys, air, breathe, need.”

Alf watched all of this with utter confusion, and sequestered himself to the far end of the cabin. He felt the aircraft tilt as it started returning home. He saw the sphere of broken reality finally come to a halt, easily the size of multiple football stadiums. It lingered for a moment or two before the static surface of it collapsed in on itself. The sphere shrank back down, leaving a mountain of dark ash in its wake. Before long, realty repaired itself completely, leaving a gargantuan crater that dug deeply into the earth. If only my people could have seen the truth. But they were too blinded by guilt, too paralyzed by what we had done to resist. Perhaps it is for the best I belong to them no longer. Hidden in his large chest pockets, Alf laid a hand on the nanite canister. His mind raced with what he should make of his future.

Eventually, one of the unicorns had the presence of mind to give Prism the video feed from his helmet camera. Prism’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates at seeing a small dusty grey horn on her head. It was tiny, not even a third the size of a unicorn’s, but it was there plain as day.

A massive grin erupted on her muzzle as she reached up to touch it. Sure enough, it was not some faulty camera, as she felt the pointed spiral knob of ivory firmly planted on her forehead. “Hoooly Toledo I have a freak’n horn!!”

Singing broke out from one of the ponies, with everyone joining in the jubilant chorus within moments. The song called ‘Rise of the Alicorns’ took on an almost fevered pitch. The ponies who could stand swayed back and forth in their singing, leaving Prism to guide the song along with everyone else supporting her role. When the last note was sung, Prism’s ears and wings shot up. “I have to call momma and tell her the news!”

With no helmet anymore, Prism had to hunt down some personal display goggles that were typically stored in the cargo lockers at the front. After finding a pair, Prism wistfully mused as she waited for the new goggles to log her in. I wonder if I have enough of a horn for those circlets. Mare this is so freak’n awesome!!

Instead of Prism’s call reaching Twilight, the maneless peach face of Voyager appeared in her stead. “Hey what gives, I was trying to reach mom.”

“My apologies, Pathfinder, but your mother has gone into labor and is unavailable at the moment.”

A sneaky idea struck Prism with enough force to make her ear flick. “Okay, thanks, I’ll chat with her when I get home, bye!” Prism closed the call and turned to the soldiers. “Hold up, everypony, stop immediately!”

Prism had caught more than one pony who were trying to make calls of their own, but quickly excused themselves and hung up. “Listen up. Mom’s… having the baby now, so I want to surprise her with this horn when I get there.” A murmur erupted at the news, forcing Prism to shush them. “So no telling anypony until I can surprise mom. Got that?”

A round of grumbles sprang up with Prism pointing at a unicorn mare in particular. “I mean it, Glitter Horn, don’t make me get Voyager to screen your calls.”

The mare in question rolled her eyes and closed her personal display. “Spoilsport.”

“Cool.” Prism rubbed her dry and aching eyes. “Can I get those eye drops now, please?” I don’t want some eye pain getting in the way of seeing my baby sister. And unlike my big sister, I’m going to be a role model actually worth looking up to come Tartarus or tornadoes!

20: A New Generation

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A little filly, crowned with a red, steel, and dull yellow mane, crept silently through familiar crystal hallways. It was her home, a massive world of crystal that were gentle purples and pale blues. The tall oak doors stood ajar in the room she was facing. Indistinct angry shouting erupted from within, both familiar voices. The first, commanding and regal, the other husky and bold. The filly thanked her small size as she peeked inside with one eye through the crack.

Twilight Sparkle, back when she kept her mane and tail their original mundane look, was scolding an aging mare of fiery colors. The old mare, a unicorn that radiated power, was not cowed in the slightest. Instead she seemed to only grow ever angrier the more Twilight railed against her. The filly was too young to know what they were saying, but she trembled at the unbridled hostility.

The argument almost became coherent to the filly as the old mare challenging the regal alicorn seemed to deform slightly. Her fur darkened, her horn was wreathed in purplish black light. The filly shivered as horns grew along the unicorn’s spine, jutting out like poisonous barbs. Her teeth changed into sharp needles that cut into her own lips as she furiously yelled at Twilight. Yet instead of everything becoming hot, the filly felt a deep cold that cut to her soul. Her breath frosted as ice spread out from the unicorn.

If was like Twilight barely even notice the change at all. She kept up the shouting match with sad anger tinting her hard eyes, blurry with tears. The filly saw the danger clear as day, and barged into the room to warn her mother. But she was too slow. The ice that was dominating the room collapsed on Twilight in an instant. She was frozen solid, with the filly rooted to the floor in sheer terror as the demonic unicorn turned her baleful gaze upon her.

She spoke the first words the filly could finally understand. “Who are... Wait,” her already hostile tone growing even more chilling. “So mother dear popped out another one? Old habits die hard.” The demonic mare’s eyes zeroed in on the filly’s horn and wings. Dark magic wreathed her like an inferno. “You? You?! How could you possibly deserve that horn when I am repeatedly denied my birthright!?” Black magic collected at the mare’s horn. All the filly could do was sit there and soil herself in abject fear. “If I can’t be an alicorn, then neither shall you!” The mare aimed her horn straight at the filly and unleashed the maelstrom of necrotic magic. The filly screamed as the magic enveloped her.

Prism Flash carried that scream as she pushed herself out of the nightmare and into the waking world. Sweat was drenching almost every square inch of her suit. Prism was gulping air as her heart pounded in her ears. She trembled, shielding her head behind robotic hands and wings alike.

She bit back fearful tears and choking sobs as the real world finally started to register around her. Slowly, she dropped her wings and hands as she remembered where she was. She cast red rimmed eyes towards the bench she had been sleeping on inside the airbus transport that was still on its way back to the colony. Her shaky breathing was getting under control as she looked around the cabin. Every last one of the other ponies were fast asleep, although some of them tossed and turned with nightmares of their own. She didn’t bother climbing enough to look over the back of the bench to scout the rest of the occupants, hoping no one would see her in such a ragged state.

She sat back, her eyes gaze falling upon the empty black of the window across from her. What… what was that? The fleeting details of the nightmare started to fade. Was that really her? Sniffling, Prism pulled herself in tight, letting time and the steady drone of the engines calm her down.

It was close to one in the morning when Prism thought to look at the time. I only got two hours sleep. She checked her personal display for a flight path update. “Not even an hour from town. Not that I can sleep after that.”

With her nerves still raw, Prism just sat there, not having the energy to occupy herself. Every turn of her head brought the new foreign feeling of her bangs being obstructed by her horn, small though it was. Grateful for the distraction, she unfurling a hand. Prism gently probed the ivory spire with the tactile finger tips. A grim sense of justice crawled into her mind. That’s right you self-centered whore. I’m going to get what you never could. What you killed our world over in some stupid tantrum!

Spite filled her with determination and vindictiveness. I’m going to do everything I can to be a full alicorn so you can squirm in Tartarus.

“I know it is hard, Prism,” echoed one of Twilight’s lessons, “But we must learn forgiveness. Even Discord, for all his crimes, ultimately proved to be more or less a friend of Equestria.”

Prism shook her head to clear out her mother’s voice. Fire Shrine doesn’t deserve forgiveness.

Sighing deeply, Prism realized she wasn’t going back to sleep and opted to distract herself with something more useful than brooding. Prism caught her reflection in the window and noted how roughed up her mane looked.

Seeing it as good an excuse as any, Prism found some spare goggles, and used the camera mounted on it as an impromptu mirror. I can’t do much with my hair until I get a better picture of my upgraded forehead.

Using her personal set of goggles to keep her mane back, Prism made her small horn stand unobstructed. “I wonder if I should look into unicorn mane styles… If my face is going to be plastered all over the history books, I’d rather look moderately professional.” Whispering to herself, Prism pulled the goggle off and let her bangs to fall back over her horn. The ivory spire was visible only because she was looking for it. The horn was just long enough to part some hairs, but not enough to poke out. “Guh, why do you have to be so tiny baby small? Would it kill ya to at least get large enough to show off?”

Shaking her head to resettle her hair, Prism watched as her mane fell into a mess for her mechanical finger to comb back into order. The welcome distraction did its part well in making her forget both her nightmare and anger, for now. Her brushing left much to be desired however. Forget it. Maybe when it grows out a bit more I can actually do something with it. “Maybe it’s like a muscle and I just have to exercise to make it grow.”

For just about every other pegasus, they would have no clue on how to control a horn, but Prism grew up with a different education. Abandoning hair disaster for the moment, Prism shut off her ‘mirror’ and sat down in the nearby window seat so she could use the dark sea as a focus. Unlike mental healing meditation, Prism was experienced in controlling her magic during a crisis, so a little engine noise was hardly a bother.

Centering herself, Prism reached into her mana, and found the familiar mixed with the new. Her alicorn magic was as strong as ever, and her pegasus magic was just as plentiful. Now though, she found a touch of earth magic scattered throughout her body with a modest concentration in her hooves. But for the moment, her attention was the unicorn magic that swirled lazily in a complex mesh of mana channels between her horn and the carbuncle located in her chest. She couldn’t see the channels directly, but her mother’s training of channeling her alicorn magic gave her the sight to see the rest of her mana, and to know what type it was.

“Your magic obeys you much like a computer obeys its user. It will do what you tell it to, not always what you want it to.” This time, Prism was much more inclined to listen to her mother’s advice, which produced an amused snort from her. “Well, right now, how about I just settle for a shine spell. That just requires a little magic in the horn, right? Baby steps.”

Prism teased at her unicorn magic the same way she usually did to her alicorn mana, finding it far more pliable than she ever expected. So much so that she summoned a great deal unicorn magic along with a sizable chunk of alicorn mana as well. Geeze, this stuff flows like water. Maybe I’m just too used to the taffy-like alicorn mojo. The mana quickly flew up the channels as if it were begging to be released. Mana flooded her horn, far more than her small ivory could contain. Magic leaked out of her horn like a blinding light with some tangible motes of magic floating away. Prism freaked out and tried pulling her magic back in much the same way she used to pull her alicorn magic out of her wings. Experience in such control might have won through had a loud growl of pain had not drown out the drone of the engines.

Briefly thinking that came from her, Prism was weirded out just long enough for her magic to fizzle out of the immature horn, scorching the wall and setting the ends of her mane on fire. Before she could even register there was a fire on her head, the aircraft’s computer reacted instantly. A baseball sized drone detached from a front alcove and fired a wad of retardant foam, blanketing her head in cold white sudsy embarrassment.

The next thing Prism was aware of, was an outline of foam on the wall in the shape of her neck and head. She cast a baleful glare towards the zippy little drone, barely catching sight of it as it clicked back inside its alcove. “I hate you so much right now.”

Sighing in disgust, Prism took off her Pathfinder’s duster and used it to wipe the foam off her with moderate success. In doing so, she saw Alf in the back corner trying to wrap bloodied bandages across his wrists. His hands glowed in feeble orange light. She gasped at seeing the Blades of Severance lying on the ground in a growing pool of red blood. Dropping her foam soaked duster, Prism flew over the still sleeping soldiers to land next to the alien. “Alf, what happened!? Are you alright?”

The alien didn’t utter a word as he deftly wrapped his two lower wrists tight. Prism stood there in an uncomfortable silent, unsure if she could help without causing some cultural insult. She took the time to think about what she saw, grimacing at that the deep lacelrations and spreading pool of blood she was hovering above. “So you severed your bond to Rea.”

Giving only a nod in reply, Alf finished binding his four wounded wrists before speaking. “I had hoped to keep quiet during the ritual.” Another failure to compound the rest. “Severance is what you call capital punishment. Witnesses are an embarrassment.”

“I get the feeling Severance was broadcast empire wide,” Prism said with concern. “Should I just leave you alone then?”

“Attention everypony,” the intercom chirped as the pilot spoke in a tired voice. “We’ve just entered Elysium airspace, so keep your wings and legs inside until the ride comes to a full and complete stop.”

The brief interruption had given Alf the moment he needed to keep his voice from cracking. By the time Prism turned away from the intercom, Alf was holding the foot long nanite canister he pulled out from below his cot. Several lights blinked lazily as he rotated it in his grasp.

“Is that what I think it is, Alf?”

“… It is.” Alf shivered out of fear. Fear of a bleak future.

“You don’t have to do this, Alf. You already freed Rea and the others.” Prism risked placing a hoof on Alf’s shoulder, making him flinch back at the touch. “Sorry, sorry,” Prism waved trying to calm the brief scowl on the alien’s face. “But look, you can still get your spirit journey. Mom’d have no issue giving you some supplies.”

Alf deflated and slumped into a wall mounted chair. He kept the canister grasped in his bottom hands while wiping his brow with the upper left. “And what future truly awaits me? Whether I die in the wilds or do what you want and I stay in your city, I am still among The Severed. Only oblivion awaits me after death.” He looked down at the canister. “If Reproachful Instigation lied and this kills me, or I die ages from now, the end is the same.”

Prism’s heart ached at seeing her friend, at least she liked to think it was mutual friendship, in such an emotional wreck. Emotional or not, it took a lot to put a halt to the gears turning in Prism’s mind. “Tell me if I’m wrong, but are you thinking to become a pony in order to get into our afterlife?”

A sad yet hopeful frown crossed his face. “Is that presumptuous? You must have different rituals compared to the Dead Ones.”

Prism’s first thought was to claim ignorance, but if there was one thing Twilight Sparkle loved to do during Prism’s youth was giving historical bedtime stories. Remembering a few such tales, Prism lifted a hoof while speaking. “There have actually been a couple of old mare’s tales about a few griffins who became ponies and were presumably accepted into the Elysian Fields. But I’m not exactly a theologian here.”

“But your word has weight,” Alf all but insisted with hope in his eyes. “You are a goddess now, are you not? I only ask to be granted an afterlife. I will serve you in any way you require.” He pushed forward with fear tinged desperation coloring his words. “Anything you ask of me, just grant me this one boon, I implore you!”

Fully weirded out, Prism backed away in midair, trying to wave him off. “Woah, woah, calm down! I don’t want a servant. We – ah – we alicorns don’t work that way.” So long as you ignore that whole Nightmare Moon fiasco. “Look, if you really want in, just ask my mom. If anypony knows how to do this it’d be her.”

Alf hesitated as her logic reached him. He stepped back, turning away to think. “Yes. She is the elder, it would make sense she would have the final word and knowledge to make it work.” He turned back to Prism who was trying to inch away from the conversation. “I shall have to ask her at once.”

Prism tried to shake off the heebee jeebees that Alf's wild, manic eyes were giving her, but to little avail. “I know this is important to you, but mom just gave birth.” Just the thought of that made Prism doubly eager to see her new sister. “Could you wait a few days, at least?”

Alf finally realized how he was acting and retreated back to the first aid cabinet. “Yes, of course. I thank you for your consideration.”

The shuttle clattered against solid ground, jarring many of the sleeping soldiers awake. The doors yawned open to reveal several medical personal and decontamination showers waiting for them.

Prism stayed in the back and made sure to pull her bangs over her face. The act of hiding her horn proved successful as the medics focused on retrieving Cloud Buster and the earth ponies who would all need rejuvenation work on their forelegs. Aside from the two pilots, Prism ended up being the last to leave the aircraft, yawning behind a wing. Ugh, it’s late. The nursery’s probably closed to visitors so I can wait until tomorrow.

She eyed Alf making himself scarce after clearing decon with a single guard offering escort. Her sympathy went out to him. I hope mom can actually help him.

Roughly a half hour passed before Prism was released from decon to go home. There were several soldiers lingering in the wide and harshly lit corridor. The near total darkness from the windows outside, lit only by some minor exterior lights, stood in sharp contrast. Prism cantered away, idly watching some NCOs giving orders to the uninjured. Sleep was the only thing on her mind as she observed the sleeping colony, only really able to see the rows of houses from her angle, one of which was calling her with the promise of sleep, and the threat of a nightmare. She might have kept staring out into the black night until a familiar voice called out to her. Blinking some sleep out of her eyes, Prism saw Silver Belle's reflection galloping over. She turned around to give the bat stallion a weary yet happy expression.

“Prism! I heard what happened out there.” He skidded to a halt, bringing Prism to a stop as well. “Is it really true you fought an alien AI?”

That’s the first thing he asks? Guess Glitter Horn was able to keep her trap shut after all. Throwing on an exhausted wiry grin, Prism used a wing tip to pull enough of her mane out of the way so she could see him. “Yeah, that’s right. A real jerkwad too, but he’s dust now.”

“Well, glad to see you made it out of there in one piece. I don’t know how you can go out there and stick your muzzle in danger like that.”

Prism nodded her head forward and started heading off to her house with Silver quick to follow after her. “Are you kidding? The danger is part of the fun,” Prism laughed off with a bit of forced laughter. “Not that I seek it out or anything, or have had the best luck with it, but sometimes you can’t play it safe, you know?”

Not quite humming in agreement, Silver let the matter drop as something caught his eye. “Are you trying a new mane style?”

Acting as if she were showing her mane off by turning away, Prism managed to hide a stupid grin that cleaved her muzzle. It took some effort to keep from chuckling. “Maybe. Do you like it?”

To his credit, Silver scrutinized Prism with a thoughtful furrowed brow. “Honestly, I prefer the old one. I like being able to see your beautiful face.”

Caught off guard, Prism blushed through her grey fur, and gave the bat pony a searching eye. “If I didn’t know any better Mr. Belle, I’d think you were trying to butter me up for something.”

By now, the pair had made their way into the rover hub. At such a late hour, it was a ghost town, populated only by a single cleaning robot sweeping the tile floors.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Silver added a bit too hastily. “The new style is good and all, but I can’t see you being one to hide behind your hair.”

"Ha, a fair point." Prism bought some time by humming aloud. Being alone in the transport hub or not, all it would take was a single random pony wandering by to blow her reveal with Twilight. She headed over to the closest rover. “Well, I’m totally zonked. You wouldn’t mind fixing my hair on the way would you?”

Silver tilted his head at the unexpected request, yet was not dissuaded and kept pace with her. “You want me to fix it? The most I know about hair care is running a comb through and letting the mane fall where it wants.”

Prism climbed into the waiting vehicle, casting a brief gleeful eye at the hapless stallion. “I’m not looking for perfection here, I want to go to bed asap after all.”

Mares and their games, Silver sighed. “Alright, I’ll play along.” Realizing Prism had not defended her manestyle very hard, he felt emboldened in thinking it wasn't a trick question. Climbing into the adjacent seat, Prism programmed the destination to the rover.

As the vehicle pulled away from the hub, Prism fully faced Silver with her hair blanketing her face, masking her huge grin. “Alright, Casanova, work your magic.”

Fortunately for Silver, Prism’s usual style was not complicated, a simple toss to the left side and ruffle it up, so he unfolded a robotic hand and pulled the bangs off of Prism’s face to reveal a toothy grin and a small horn.

The late hour made Silver take a long moment for his brain to register its presence. “By Luna’s starry tail, you got a horn!” He focused on her amber eyes with a grin to match her own. “That’s amazing!”

Unable to control her excitement any longer, Prism pounced Silver into a tackling hug. She giggled madly while burying her muzzle into his neck. She roped him into a hug with both forelegs and draped her wings over him, wiggling all the while. “It’s actually happening!”

More than happy to join in, Silver hugged her back with equal abandon.

For Prism though, the hug with Silver was more than just excitement from the horn reveal, but all the tension of facing down an AI with the world taken hostage, the frantic escape, and the deeply unsettling images she had witnessed wreathed within the breaks in reality. Silver’s presence and affection provided some sorely needed catharsis that Prism had not been aware she needed until she started crying into his fur. Knotted tension and happiness bled out of her in equal measure.

Silver caught onto the change quick snap, especially when Prism’s wiggling shifted to tightly gripping him. Not sure how to comfort her best, Silver remained silent and held her tightly, running his hoof against the back of her neck. Slowly, Prism’s crying abated into sniffles long after the rover arrived at her house.

Eventually, Prism withdrew and rubbed the tears away with her fetlocks. “Can’t believe I just did that.” She sat back in her seat, trying to get herself under control.

Silver took a risk and rested a leathery wing on her withers. “You want to talk about it?”

Originally, Prism thought the only person she could cry in front of was her mother. She never revealed such hurt even to Praxia. “I – I tried to get some sleep a few hours ago, but… I had the worst nightmare I’ve ever had. It was all about my older sister.”

Silver had to think why now of all times did the nightmare shake Prism so harshly, only to remember the details he had read about the expedition. “Those visions… the ones the breaks in reality gave everypony. You saw Fire Shrine?” He made it a point to not say sister. “Both there and in your nightmare?”

Prism sniffed, still feeling emotionally raw. “She had such a demonic look about her, the same look from those visions. But I wasn’t born until the war though, so I don’t know why these nightmares keep going like I was actually there.”

He gave Prism a brief nuzzle. “Maybe your subconscious is just acting up from what you saw in there.”

Prism nodded, heaving a ragged sigh. “I guess so. Not like she reached into the future just to smite me a few times. All I know is that she hated mom for marrying father. ‘Why couldn’t you be more like Cadance and hold her father’s memory?’” Prism kicked the door with a flash of anger. “Hypocrite seemed to forget that she wouldn’t have been alive if mom wasn’t able to move on from stallion to stallion.”

Silver nodded in some measure of agreement. “Sounds like a plothole thing to ask of an ageless person.” The attempt at slight humor had no effect, much to Silver’s worry. “Are you afraid you’re going to have another nightmare? Without Princess Luna around…”

Prism slumped backwards, staring up at the vast night sky, idly wondering which one the night princess had claimed for herself. “Yeah. I never had nightmares before where she wasn’t around to break it apart until we landed here. I’ve had like twelve nightmares of FS since we arrived. I guess that’ll be just one more kick in the teeth to get used to out here.” I’ll have to meditate the night away. Assuming I can even calm myself enough to do so. Or stay awake to get that far.

A thought occurred to Silver. “Say. I’m no Luna, but all bat ponies have some degree of control over dreams. I’m almost always lucid in my dreams.” Prism cast a red rimmed eye at him. “Maybe by being close by I could act like a dream catcher. Perhaps?”

Slowly, a thin smile wormed its way on Prism’s face. She was far too tired and strung out for much of anything else. “You have a lot more brass than you give yourself credit for, Silver Belle. But if you think this is an invitation for hanky panky-“

He cut her off with a head shake. “I’ll have you know I can be an honorable gentlecolt. Just sleep.”

Prism let the weight of her raw nerves and fatigue take over, making her lean against the bat pony’s chest. “I’d like that very much.”

The following morning, Prism awoke to the silent alarm of window shades rolling up to reveal the morning sun. A gentle breeze teased her mane and warm legs wrapped around her chest from behind. Prism let off a content sigh as she thoroughly enjoyed Silver’s warm protective embrace. Whether it was a placebo effect or actual bat pony magic at work, Prism’s dreams had been pleasant that night.

I could get used to this, she nickered inwardly. She took her time in waking up, unwilling to pull away from Silver Belle just yet. However, in the waking world she was no longer under his nocturnal protection, real or imagined. Unsettling memories of the vision flashed in her mind’s eye.

With as much care as she could manage, Prism pulled away from Silver and got out of bed. She walked over to a slightly worn foam mat and sat down facing the sun. Closing her eyes and practicing mana flow control, Prism meditated, allowing her alicorn magic to uproot any psychological damage cause by the visions before they could cause lasting harm.

Time lost all meaning to her during such meditations, as they ended only when her alicorn magic was done. Eventually though, it was a pleasant smell that brought her back to the waking world feeling refreshed. Her nose brought her attention down to a plate stacked high with pancakes topped with syrup and a note. The fresh smell and the fact that the syrup had yet to permeate the pancakes told her not much time had passed at all. The folded paper note had Silver’s signature on it. Prism nickered with a warm grin. “Wow, he is in try hard mode today.”

Prism got up and fetched her two hand braces off the nightstand then returned to pick up the note.

Hey, I couldn’t rouse you from whatever it is your doing, so I left you some breakfast when you wake up. I have to get to work, so I’ll catch you later. Considering you made your horn reveal a surprise, congrats again btw, I’ll keep my mouth shut until I see the news plastered everywhere. Shouldn’t take too long knowing you.

Prism laughed at herself and cast the note aside to eye the food hungrily. “Not long at all, that’s for sure.” I better hurry and see mom and my new sis!

Finding the fork and knife, Prism deftly carved up a bite and ate it with relish. Or at least that was until it exploded with the flavor of raw fish and soured tomatoes. Gagging, Prism spat out the horrid abomination of ‘food’, and tried to scrap her tongue with the handle of the fork. A moment later, Silver’s cackling voice broke from a nearby intercom. “Happy Pranksgiving!”

It took Prism a long moment to remember the date and another to actually realize that Silver Belle of all ponies was willing to pull a fast one on her. When she finished spitting out the vile food, a crooked grin cleaved her face. “Oh now I know he’s in try hard mode. I am so going to get you before the day’s done.” And after that I’m going to kiss him. With fish breath. Definitely with fish breath.

After finding a proper breakfast, and sweeping her house for any other pranks, Prism made best possible speed to the pediatric ward of the clinic. Which actually comprised over half of the clinic, but they still called it a ward. Prism made it to the clinic’s front desk only to find Praxia already talking with the receptionist. She cantered over right as the changeling hybrid ended her conversation with the staff member.

“Heyya bug girl, where’s mom?”

Praxia turned to see Prism approaching, and lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Third floor, room thirty eight. What’s with the face covering mane style? You going La-van-guard on us?”

All Praxia could see from Prism was a wild grin as the soon-to-be alicorn smoothly transitioned to making her way to the elevator. “I have my reasons.”

“And here I thought you always wanted ponies to see your face,” Praxia replied as she joined in.

Prism remained tight-lipped all the way until they got into the elevator. “Today is an exception,” she answered cryptically.

However, Praxia was too intelligent and too familiar with Prism to even have to guess the reason for the hair change. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re trying to hide a horn.”

Prism reddened brightly because of the two nurses who had joined them in the elevator. She eyed Praxia with a seriously flat scowl, only to get a smug look from the changeling. “I suppose congratulations are in order. But if I can’t see it poking out of her mane, it must be quite small. Infantile I’d imagine.”

Prism waggled a wing at her tormentor. “Hey, Pranksgiving only allows pranks, not roasting.”

“I wasn’t aware I needed a holiday to roast you,” Praxia shot back with a smirk.

“Yea - well - I’ll have you know my horn’s still growing. Obviously.” Realizing she had confirmed Praxia’s theory, Prism stared at the two nurses. One was trying to keep from squealing out of excitement and had to stuff her mouth with a hoof. The other had caught on to Prism’s mood and was painfully trying to look like he hadn’t been paying attention. “Can you two keep a lid on it for at least an hour until I can surprise mom?”

The distracted one acted as if he was breaking attention away from his personal display. “Huh? What surprise?”

“That’s what I wanna hear.” Prism eyed the excited nursed who looked like she was going to rupture a blood vessel. Geeze, is a second alicorn really that big a deal? “Can you keep your partner contained?”

The elevator chimed for the third floor right as the calmer nurse roped his partner into a neck hold. “She’s just had too much coffee, and we’re expecting the entirety of the breeding initiative to come to a head over the next two weeks.”

The two mares exited the elevator with Praxia giving a respectful nod to the two medical personnel. “You have my sympathies. Good luck to you.”

“We only deliver them, not raise them.”

The elevator closed, prompting the mares to head to the room. “Hey, Praxia, aren’t you going to have like a gigaton of kids one day too?”

“That’s the master plan,” Praxia said with a touch of indignant anger. It was an emotion Prism was surprised to pick up on.

The dusty grey pegasus allowed a few ponies to slide past them while giving Praxia a perplexed look. “What happened to you? You usually sound so resigned when I bring that up, not angry.”

Praxia performed a short breathing exercise to control herself, and failed. “It’s that stupid griffin.”

“Gleaming Scythe?”

Praxia’s bile rose. “Yes, her. She’s just like all the movies depict of changelings: arrogant, dishonorable, and a pompous jerk.”

Prism noted a few ponies, both doctors and expectant mothers alike were within earshot. “I thought you’d know that movies like to blow stereotypes out of proportion.”

“Repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth.” Praxia wanted to say nothing further and pushed ahead, all but galloping the rest of the way to Twilight’s room. Prism raced after her with both mares halting in the middle of the hallway to find Twilight Sparkle already walking towards them with Sawbones in tow.

Twilight paused in her conversation with the doctor when she noticed Praxia. “Ah, there you are. Thank you for taking care of the sewage problem for me.”

The gratitude was enough to brighten Praxia’s mood, not that she was willing to show it in front of the Director of Medicine and any passersby. “It was no problem, Sensei. I’m a little surprised you’re already on your hooves.”

Twilight’s smile grew when Prism skidded to a halt nearby, yet was tickled to see the odd hairstyle. “Well, as I’ve tried to tell the good doctor here, I’ve had a lot of… experience with giving birth, and despite my height, I still have normal sized foals.”

Sawbones took note that no one outside of the conversation was within earshot, so he took the opening to speak. “I have to say how surprised I am that your body has physically adapted to the whole process of bringing new life into the world. It’s kind of scary actually,” he muttered under his breath.

Bursting at the seams to get her secret out, Prism barreled through the conversation to glomp her mother into a crushing hug; the force of which made Twilight grunt from escaping air. “Momma, I got a crazy surprise for you.”

“Oh?” Twilight gave her an expectant look.

Praxia on the other hand, knew exactly what Prism was going to do, and casually lit up her horn and channeled a spell unbeknownst to everyone around her.

Prism’s maw cleaving grin strained her face. “Yup!” She pulled back and flipped her head to toss her hair off her face. “Behold!!”

A moment passed in stunned silence, just as Prism expected.

“...Behold what?” Twilight said with genuine curiosity. “You’re zit free?”

Furrowing her brow, Prism saw the confusion from her mother and the impatience from Sawbones who had patients to tend to. “You can’t see something that wasn’t there before? Something pointy by chance?” The blank looks from her mother and physician made Prism reach up with a hand to feel around. Sure enough, her horn was still there. Mom could be making fun of me, but I can’t see Doc doing that.

Pranks were already on the brain after what Silver pulled, which made Prism turn around to see Praxia looking as professionally disinterested as ever, but her horn was aglow. An incriminating sign if ever there was one. “You, bug, stop it or I’ll get my zapper.”

“Stop what?” Praxia asked in bewilderment the only way a changeling could when they knew they were caught, and could still look innocent.

“Cut it out or you’re going on the List.” Carefully hiding a grin, Praxia’s spell cut out, thus allowing Prism to turn back around to reveal her horn. “Voila!”

A warm motherly smile crossed Twilight’s face as she bent down a little to see the horn more closely. “Ahhhhh… Fascinating growth spurt. This must be related to something you did or were exposed to. I want the whole story later, but for now I’m very happy for you, Little Wing, I knew you had it in you.”

Praxia weaved a spell so only Prism could hear her. “Yeah, now it just needs to come out of you.”

Prism tried and failed to swat the taunting hybrid with her tail while keeping her attention on Twilight. “At this rate, I’ll be a full alicorn by my next birthday.”

“Speaking of birthdays,” Sawbones commented with a carefully crafted tone of polite impatience. “I must congratulate you, Prism Flash, but as much as I would like to celebrate, I must show the Princess to the nursery so I can tend to my other patients.”

“Yes, of course!” Twilight exclaimed as she started cantering forward with Sawbones leading the way. “We’ll have to discuss mana throughput testing later. And just in case you were wondering, we’ll save the partying for when you fully ascend.” With a small portion her attention, Twilight texted a message towards Praxia. Glad to see you in the spirit of the holiday.

Praxia concealed a smirk at the accolades, and chased after her mentor.

If Prism were honest with herself, she felt disappointed Twilight wasn’t jumping with glee. Well, it’s not like she wasn’t expecting this from the day I was born. Plus I have a little sis to see. “Make it a blow out bash and you got a deal!”

“Deal!” Twilight answered with a motherly smile that was filled with pride. Pride that Prism drank in like it was air.

As everyone marched on to see the new foal, a blinking reminder on Prism’s display brought something to her attention. ~“Hey, Glitter Horn, I told mom about my new bling, so you can go full tabloid mode now. I want to see headlines in an hour.”~

The high pitched feminine squealing that barked back in her phone nearly forced Prism to toss the headphones off. She ended the call and had to rub her ears to ease the pain. “Crikey she can be annoying.”

The group did not have to travel far, due to the nursery being in a nearby parallel corridor. The first sign of it was both sides of this hallway were entirely composed of glass. There was already a collection of new fathers and the occasional sibling watching the new foals from afar. Praxia glanced over the lower edge of the glass to find there were rows upon rows of empty bassinets. Only a scant few were occupied, created more by the new mothers who didn’t exactly wait around for the breed initiative to be announced to begin with.

At last though, the group came upon a small gathering of ponies of all tribes huddled around a single pane of glass. A bat stallion among the onlookers realized who had arrived. “Everypony make way for the royal family!”

One by one, the gawkers took the hint and parted to allow Twilight and the others passage. Sawbones however, now that the family had arrived, excused himself to return to work. Prism jumped into a hover to get a better angle at the only foal nearby.

“There she is,” Twilight cooed with refreshed motherly joy. A tiny dark purple filly was nestled in her crib, bundled up in clean white cloth. The pattern of her mane stripes took after her mother, but the primary color was navy blue with a thin strip of a light red framed by lavender lines. Hanging on the placard of the bassinet was the filly’s name with a watermark of hills surrounding a mountain, the modern symbol of the earth tribe. The earth foal was sleeping soundly as a crystal nurse documented the vital signs on a nearby monitor. “I named her Spring Roll.”

“Spring Roll,” Prism parroted a she let the name roll on her tongue. “You weren’t hungry when you named her by chance were you?”

Passively feeding on the love in the room, Praxia tried to keep herself professional in front of so many onlookers while suppressing a touch of mirth. “That is a snack you tend to favor, Sensei.”

Twilight sweated a little bit under not only her daughter and student’s scrutiny, but that of the other ponies within earshot. She gulped and gave off halted nervous laughter. “Um… maaaybe?” Prism gave her a flat look. “Yeah, okay so maybe I was. Giving birth will do that to you.”

“You do realize that most parents think of names like, months ahead of time, right?” Prism eyeballed her mother. “Did you by chance leave the rest of my sisters’ names up to their dads?”

“Is that bad?” Twilight offered as she looked to Praxia to try and save her, but the changeling was just as curiously as the soon-to-be alicorn. “Okay, Okay, I’ve never been good at names.” Twilight could almost feel the storm brewing over her head. “All I can ever think about when it’s time to actually name the foal is food.”

Deciding she had embarrassed her mother enough, Prism decided mercy was called for. “Anyway, I’ve been wondering how exactly are you going to be able to raise Spring Roll? You’re like always busy right?”

A pale somber shadow crossed the regal alicorn’s visage. A bit of the joy, lost in everything but her voice. That at least, she kept strong and confident. “I will be taking an extended leave of partial duties for the first year. Once Spring is a yearling I can scale back up to normal from there.” Praxia and Prism both knew Twilight long enough to sense there was something she wasn’t telling them, but neither dared ask in front of others. “In the meantime, Praxia here will be operating the minutiae of my work.”

Where Praxia had the tact to wait until they had some privacy, Prism sorely did not. She texted her mother while everyone’s attention lingered on the infant. What’s wrong, mom? I thought you’d be thrilled to raise another kid, what with the wild success I’ve been and all that.

The humor fell flat on Twilight, making Prism worry she might have hit a nerve. Instead, Twilight replied with a text of her own. I suppose now is a good a time as any to tell you this, Little Wing. Cadence once impressed on me that an alicorn mother must take a very personal hoof in rearing a child through their early years. Including natural feeding.

For my first few daughters, I followed her advice to the letter. Blue Lagoon, Fruit Cocktail, Orchid Blossom, all turned out to be wonderful, if a bit difficult to handle at the best of times. However, later on, I tended to favor using foal sitters like how I was raised, and formula. It all-, Twilight ended the text then and there. “As much as I would love to stay,” Twilight suddenly announced to everyone, “I have some critical matters to tend to before Spring Roll is released into my care.”

Twilight’s eyes crossed the ceiling, watching through her personal display as a shuttle parked above the building and activated a teleport beacon. She addressed the ponies in the room more so than her daughter and student. “I wish all of you the best of luck with your new families. Rest assured that with your dedication, our civilization and people will continue to thrive.”

Powering her horn, Twilight teleported the three of them into the shuttle which quickly started flying to her house at a very sluggish pace. Only now did Twilight let her mask drop to reveal the lapse of melancholy.

Praxia glowered at Prism. Just what did you say to her? Her deep ire drew the attention of Prism who plopped down on a seat, and shrugged ignorantly at the changeling.

Twilight had used the brief pause wisely to center herself and at least allow her to keep an objective attitude. “Praxia. Do you feel up to the challenge of the next year and a half? I will of course be staying apprised of colonial matters and giving insight, but you’ll be in charge of the day to day.”

Squaring her shoulders and putting on air of confidence, Praxia gave a brisk nod. “Yes, Sensei. I like to think ponies understand my competence by now.”

With a curt nod, Twilight turned her attention to Prism. “Now while this is mostly for you, I want Praxia to hear it as well.” She paused to give her next statement added weight. “Our children can become nightmares.”

For a moment, neither younger mare really understood what Twilight meant after it being stated so bluntly. They could clearly see the pain behind Twilight’s slightly reddened eyes. After giving a blank blink, Praxia spoke up first. “You mean, Nightmare Moon nightmare?”

“That is my belief, yes.” Twilight waited until cold realization dawned on Prism’s face.

“But how?” Praxia asked with a furrowed brow. “Isn’t alicorn magic just a force multiplier until the pony starts unlocking other tribal magic?”

Twilight wished she could fall easily into lecture mode, but her mood was ruined by some of the context her instruction came from. “Alicorn magic originates from the astral plane, not from within like traditional magic. Mana exhaustion can still happen, but more due to the body becoming too strained to draw more power from the plane.”

Prism had received a more broad education on alicorn magic than Praxia had, thus allowing her to put more of the pieces together. “Wait. Normal magic is highly malleable, but there’s certain rigidity to alicorn magic. Like why you and I can never be male, even through spells. Nor can we have any sons or grandsons.”

“That’s part of it, yes,” Twilight replied with a bit of a prideful smile. “I didn’t want to make this common knowledge, but the area around the astral plane from which we draw our magic does not operate under the laws we’re familiar with, and is greatly affected by our personality and emotions. Prolonged negativity is what eventually caused Princess Luna to be consumed by Nightmare Moon. I had thought such a fall was impossible for anypony but a full alicorn, but Fire Shrine proved me very wrong.”

“So what does this have to do with my new sister?”

“Well, for one, I want to minimize any chance that Spring Roll can suffer a poor upbringing.” Twilight averted her gaze to a window, seeing shades of past regrets. “I have admitted to not always being the best mother, and Fire Shrine was far and above my greatest failure.” Twilight’s mood brightened ever so slightly when she glanced at Prism. “I nearly swore off having any future children like Celestia and Luna have. Had you not come along when you did, and proven yourself to be such an honorable mare…”

If not a total braggart and attention hog, Praxia mused with mild irritation.

Ordinarily, such praise would have puffed up Prism’s chest, but the confession brought her up short as it told her something she had suspected for most of her life. So I wasn’t planned after all. Probably for the best. “Well hey, if this whole seeding project’s taught me anything, is that you gotta take the hits and keep on kicking.” An almost sadistic smirk plastered her face. “If anything, I just wish I could see that harlot’s face when she realized that not only have we survived her armageddon plan, but I get to be an alicorn when she didn't.”

“You’d have to visit Tartarus for that,” Praxia clarified. “And last I checked, they only give one-way tickets there.”

“Prism,” Twilight called out to break the two young mares from the upcoming bickering session. “While your duties will have you outside the colony more often than not, can I count on you to be a role model for Spring?”

The mention of being gone so often struck a chord with Prism. Dad was gone a lot because of the war. I could be the role model he never got a chance to be! Yeees. I can be the soldier to look up to. On the front lines of making sure we survive this world! Giving her mother a stern and utterly serious half grin, Prism nodded strongly. “You better believe it.”

“Good to hear. Now!” Twilight called to shift both the mood and topic. “As I said, I have some last minute changes to the house to make, now that I know Spring’s tribe. Praxia, I’ll finalize the daily checklist for the coming week, but I’ll expect you to come up with your own overall.”

“As you wish, Sensei.”

“Alright then, now if there’s nothing else-” Twilight started charging her horn for a teleport when Prism’s face lit up with urgency.

“Wait, hold up!” Twilight’s spell sputtered out and she looked at Prism expectantly. “It’s Alf. He took a syringe or something full of nanites that the AI programed to supposedly turn him into a pony.”

Twilight was completely unfazed, only giving Prism a mild hum. “In case you forgot, dear, I was paying attention to the whole situation, I know of the nanites.” When Twilight didn’t immediately say she was going to take them away or destroy them, Prism wiggled her forelegs at her expecting some kind of response. “I’ve ordered his quarters’ floor and walls to be mana-charged and the air filters reinforced to keep any nanobots from escaping, but ultimately what Alf wants to do with himself is up to him.”

“But - b - oh come on, that’s a cop out!”

Praxia cleared her throat. “I have to agree with the princess on this one.” Sensing the sardonic sarcasm coloring Prism’s aura before the pegasus could utter a word, Praxia jabbed a hoof at her. “And not just because I’m a brownnoser, okay!” Prism groaned and sat back, allowing Praxia a moment to recover from the embarrassment of admitting that in front of Twilight. “Think about it for a second. As far as both he and we know, Alf is the last of his kind. He went on the expedition for the sole purpose of, in his own words, damning himself to oblivion when he eventually dies. I say we let him turn if he wants.” Elysia knows I’d love to have those nanites.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to convince anyone, Prism sulked in her corner. “Fine, whatever.” She eyed her mother with a scrunched frown. “Then you better be ready. Alf has it in his head that you can ensure his entry into the pony afterlife once he turns.”

“I can’t do anything like that,” Twilight stated worriedly. “A soul’s destination is based on their lives, there’s no judge being that makes rulings over that.”

“Yeah well, good luck convincing Alf of that.”

Twilight hummed inquisitively. “Well. Alf is a reasonable person. I’m sure he’ll realize we ponies share a balance where we control some things, and let nature control others. I mean, who’s he really going to argue? Somepony who has probably not even cracked a book open about our mythology or me?”

Humored chuckling bubbled out of Prism with a mischievous smirk. “See, now you just invoked Marefy’s Law. So… good luck with that.”

“I will, thank you,” Twilight bit back, starting to get annoyed by Prism’s sass.

“I might have to agree with Prism on this one, Sensei,” Praxia hazard with a sheepish faux grin to try and placate the dower face of her teacher. “The report from the decontamination team stated Alf had four deep self-inflicted wounds on his wrists to quote: sever the bond between mortal and god.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Prism started with no small amount of mockery. “Let’s not forget that his culture typically liked to make those rituals so public that it was broadcast empire wide. So yeah, totally reasonable expectations there.”

Twilight’s mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to figure out what to say. “Oh dear.” Her ears flattened. “Umm. I will simply have to keep a close eye on this matter then. In the meantime, while I’m busy, I want one of you to put those daggers in a vault. We alicorns can’t be permanently cut off from the astral plane, but it does make us highly vulnerable. Hopefully we can research a way to protect ourselves from such weapons. After that, Prism, why don’t you go down to the xenology lab and see what the science corps makes of the spherical artifact you brought back.”

“Why don’t we just ask Alf before he erases himself?” Prism grumbled with an ornery scowl.

“It would take away the mystery of course,” Praxia offered, hoping she guessed Twilight’s reason. “I took the liberty of showing it to Alf earlier this morning and he didn’t say it was dangerous.” Praxia’s ego inflated in preparation for the incoming praise. “Not only that, but I had him record what the sphere’s purpose was in secret, never hurts to be prepared. Once we’ve had a chance to investigate it, we can see if we were right.”

“Perfect, well done.” Twilight clapped her hooves, willfully pushing what Alf might do to the back of her mind. “I do love a good mystery.”

Later that day, Twilight Sparkle was humming a light tune to herself as she worked in the baby’s room of her house. Like all the other prefab houses, it had room for four bedrooms, but each individual room was actually quite compact. With Spring Roll’s tribe now known, Twilight had spent the last few hours guiding a floating painter drone. It crafted rolling hills with little farms, old fashioned factories, a few libraries, and plenty of trees. Crowning the wall next to the crib was a photo realistic recreation of her old crystal castle. Like she did with all her children, Twilight had the cutie marks of her first circle of friends framing the castle. Each mark had a background color that accented each one.

Over the centuries, Twilight’s meditations had erased any sense of loss over her many, many friends’ passing, but she still liked to memorialize them in small ways. Thank you, all of you. I hope you found happiness in Elysia, or in whatever reincarnation you found yourselves in.

A warm smile crossed her face as she gazed at one cutie mark in particular. “I have a sneaking suspicion as to where you ended up.”

Leaving the robot to quick dry and vent the paint fumes, Twilight set about arranging the toys and furniture to exacting measurements that took fifteen pages of math and a burnt out calculator to complete. Yet she only managed to get the furniture and half the toys arranged before the doorbell chimed.

A camera feed appeared in her personal display to reveal Sawbones in his doctor’s coat with a baby carrier in his magic. He was standing in a magical isolation bubble between the outer airlock and the rover. “They’re here! Voyager, permit entry.”

Twilight raced downstairs and out the front door to witness the doctor cycle through the dome’s airlock.

Gliding over the short lawn, Twilight met the unicorn at the halfway point. “Ah, Princess, I believe this is yours. One very healthy filly. That'll be twenty bits plus tax.”

Giggling at the joke, Twilight gave him a little kiss on the nose. “Thank you, doctor. But you didn’t have to carry Spring here personally.”

He waggled a hoof as he unclipped his nametag and stuffed it into a coat pocket. “Ahh, but you see, now that I have delivered her to you, I am officially off the clock, my darling mare.”

The moment Twilight took the carrier; she quickly popped the sealed cover to find Spring Roll curled up and fast asleep. Twilight’s brief cooing came to a crashing halt when she saw the child had a horn that had definitely not been there this morning. For a brief moment, Twilight feared she had been brought the wrong child were it not for Spring’s fur and hair color matching from this morning. Stranger still, gentle movement underneath the blanket and behind the filly instantly made Twilight think of wings. Her mouth hung open in utter surprise. “D-doctor. Am I hallucinating, or is Spring an alicorn?”

“An alicorn?” Sawbones scoffed, drawing Twilight’s eyes up to him. “I’d hang up my medical license if I missed that little detail. He peered into the carrier briefly before looking back up at Twilight. “Looks like a normal earth filly to me.”

Looking back down, Twilight just barely caught the horn go blurry for a moment, a tell-tale sign of it being a hologram. A deep unamused scowl marred her lips as she carefully unwrapped the blanket to find a small hoof massager was responsible for the supposed wing movement. “You, sir, are a clown.”

Giving off a deep belly laugh, Sawbones wiped a tear from his eyes. Even Twilight lost her soured look for one of begrudging amusement. “Well you know what they say, laughter is the best medicine. Happy Pranksgiving.”

“And here I almost thought Spring Roll was pulling a Flurry Heart on me.” Twilight removed the massager from the basket and rewrapped Spring Roll who had slept through the boisterous laughter. “I have to say, Sawbones, I never took you for a prankster.”

“Normally, no,” he said with dying laughter. “But given what I’ve heard about you, I thought you’d appreciate it on today of all days. Praxia’s little joke inspired me.”

“Well, I’m glad. Wouldn’t want life to get boring now would I?” Twilight sat down on the comfy grass so she could lift the foal up so she could hold it in her forelegs. Spring wiggled at the disruption, briefly crying before falling back asleep. As she cradled the newborn, Twilight could still remember the faces of all her daughters in those same first days of life. She wondered how Spring’s life would be shaped growing up on a new world. Never having seen the places of old, her old castle, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, all likely long buried in ice. The Windigos would have been proud. Twilight forcibly banished the thought before it could sully her mood.

Sawbones sat down on the next to Twilight and gave her the warm smile she had been missing all day. “I must say, you look absolutely stunning today.”

It was a compliment Twilight had heard countless times over from her many husbands, and she was eternally grateful that meditation made such compliments as impactful as the first time. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Sawbones. I know Spring’s going to be a hoof-full when she wakes up to nurse, but would you care to join me for tea?”

The doctor chuckled at the warning. “My dear, you of all ponies should know I first specialized in pediatrics. I can handle anything a foal can throw at me.”

“Have you actually had children before?” Twilight inquired with a good dose of neutrality in case it was a touchy subject.

“Can’t say I have. Medical school and my practice during the war made finding a special somepony more difficult than I care to admit. I was so busy during the entry exams, interviews, and dissertations to secure my position on Seed One that I neglected such pursuits beyond single dates.” He paused, seeing the deep empathy and understanding on Twilight’s face. “But I’ve always wanted a few foals of my own.”

Twilight nuzzled his mane, enjoying Sawbones' company. Although Twilight liked to think she was close to Sawbones based on their relationship alone, there was a nagging logical voice ever at the edge of her awareness. Spring Roll’s going to need a father. “Well, maybe in a year or two you’ll get your chance.”

Meanwhile, Alf was standing in front of a large screen that wrapped around him, easily the size of a ping pong table. It was crammed with translated text and illustrations of every story or text he could find of pony spirituality. Twilight had been absolutely thorough to include every scrap of history and literature into the colony’s database. Coupled with the immensely powerful search engine, Alf found multiple texts he felt he needed. While he was not a researcher by trade, his time in the resistance taught him a thing or two about reading between the lines. A shame his version of reading between the lines didn’t exactly translate to an entirely alien culture, not that he realized this fallacy.

The thing he sought after was simple really, to see if becoming a pony would be enough to partake in their afterlife. Even if I do find evidence to that possibility, I need to do more. While I have been severed from the pantheon, my soul is still bound by the laws and dogma of old. There must be some way to bridge the two together to allow my crossing.

As the hours fled on by, Alf was becoming both perplexed and gravely annoyed by how little he found. This is maddening. Except for one, these alicorns all came from normal mortal ponies. He briefly remembered Prism’s situation and begrudgingly saw the merit in the current text author’s wording. As mundane as their origins might be, they used to have cults worshiping She Who Brings The Day, and The Nightwatcher. History showed him that came to an abrupt end after the so called Nightmare Moon rebellion. I see. So the practice of open worship was harshly abolished and deemed immoral after that was determined to be a related cause. So that rules out worshiping an alicorn for entry.

Seeing he was getting nowhere with any bit of history before that time, he turned his focus to the later years after open wars with the griffins, minotaurs, and a few other species came to a close. He found a short tale that peaked his interest. A minotaur general named Dagger Horn. He betrayed his master in favor of joining the Celestial Army. Fearing his gods’ wrath, he beseeched Celestia for sanctuary. So she devised a way to turn him into a pony, and blessed him with a Mark of Destiny. A much better name than that modern ‘cutie mark’ they use.

Alf found his window. A means to integrate fully into pony society. All he needed now was to bridge that with leaving his own. Becoming a pony is the obvious step, but that can’t happen first.

Alf recalled a number of ceremonies and rituals of his now dead religion. One in particular stood out to him. “The ritual combat of Celthalish. It is the only law that can be bent into this purpose. So my only option is to challenge her. May she forgive me for this.” Prism’s earlier request for him to wait a few days was completely forgotten.

With time running against him the longer his soul remained unbound to a higher power, Alf quickly had Voyageur open a call to Twilight. The mare in question materialized as she was wiping some lunch off her face with a napkin while laying on a couch. She was keeping the camera focused on her face so she wouldn’t show the alien she was nursing Spring Roll. “Alf. Um-” She paused her greetings at seeing his slightly manic and fatigued face. “Is something wrong?”

The alien had genuflected towards her the moment Twilight’s face appeared. It was only when she finished her question that he ended the gesture. “Oh Guiding Light of Ponies, this humble being begs of you a favor to which I can never repay.”

Prism’s earlier warning caused alarm bells to ring in her head. She did her best to suppress a bit of nervous sweating. “I see. Well, let me hear it, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“I have decided to use the nanites the One with the Shroud gave me. To become one of your people.”

Perhaps this wouldn’t be as bad as Prism predicted. With a regal yet sad smile, Twilight nodded. “While my people have suffered much in getting here, we still have the prospect of a future which yours does not. I would be more than happy to have you join us fully.”

“Your kindness is beyond words, She of Purple Radiance.” He bowed to her again, giving Twilight a brief moment to frown at the flowery praise. “However, there is the other half of the favor of which I have no choice but to ask.” He gave her tense and utterly serious look. “In order to accept your invitation, I must challenge you to ritual combat.”

There comes a time in every alicorn’s diplomatic life that she is thrown for such a complete loop that she loses all sense of tact. Twilight just blinked at him for a long moment. “Tell me this is a prank.”

21: A Matter of Ritual and Tradition

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Twilight Sparkle tried to process the reasoning behind Alf’s request for ritual combat. While she was able to use her lifelong experiences to keep a regal and professional posture, her silence over the visual-call made Alf worry. “I know this is much to ask, O Honorable Lavender One, but this is the only path I see that will allow me to avoid the Gates.”

Twilight was at last able to compose herself and cleared her throat. “I’m not against the idea of ritual combat, Alf, provided we don’t do anything obscene or fight to the death. However, I have to ask, why are you afraid of the Gates? I thought Rea’s offer to keep them open was a good thing.”

At this, Alf grew somber, trying to keep from looking too desperate. “It was, at least before The One of the Shroud gave me a better option.” Even with as little interaction he had with ponies, even he could pick up on Twilight’s confused visage. “Forgive me, I have not given you… context.”

And here I was thinking I’d have to straight out ask you for it, Twilight mused with measured academic interest. “Something tells me these Gates are the lesser of two evils.”

Alf nodded slowly. He screwed his face in concentration. “For my people, our souls had four possible fates after death. The first, and worst of them all is Abandonment. When one is so evil or immoral that none of the pantheon are willing to take them, the soul is left to roam the mortal plane, never able to interact with anything or anyone.” Twilight allowed herself to recoil from the story. “The loneliness would eventually drive the soul to madness to the point where they can no longer survive. The soul dissolves over millennia.”

The very idea of being alone and isolated for so long drew a deep seated knot of fear in the ageless pony. I would rather be cast into Tartarus than suffer that. Shaking off the dread, Twilight gave an acquiescent nod. “A… troubling fate indeed. Is it safe to assume these Gates spare you that torment?”

“In part…” Alf wrung his hands nervously. “Its proper name is the Gates of Oblivion. Less evil souls are sent there to be dissolved immediately, sparing them the eons of isolation.”

At this, Twilight was starting to get nervous. If this is the fate awaiting Alf, then is he hiding something? “Why send you there instead of a better fate?”

“Rea the Polite Judge holds dominion of judging souls and of the Gates themselves. It is Yeltra the Great Mother that allows others to reincarnate, and Beladas the Great King who presides over Paradise. With none of my people left, there is no one to reincarnate into, and I know in my failure, that I am not worthy of Paradise.”

Paradise? I wonder if the translator is being lazy with that name.

“Without either one of those two, the Gates of Oblivion is the only solace Rea the Polite Judge can grant me.”

That would explain a few things. Twilight motioned for continued silence when Alf did not immediately continue. Is he really a good person denied a proper afterlife, or is he more sinister? It took Twilight roughly a minute to come to a decision. “From what I’ve seen of you, Alf, you seem to be honorable and a good, if understandably peculiar, person. Forward to me the details of this ritual combat. But I must wait at least two weeks. Giving birth takes much of my magic and nursing greatly reduces my reserves.”

The joyful and relieved broad smile from Alf was enough to even brighten Twilight’s mood a little. “Two weeks is more than adequate. You have my eternal gratitude.”

As he said this, Alf prostrated himself as low as he could go, making Twilight uncomfortable. After he becomes a pony, the first order of business is to get him to stop worshipping me like that.

Alf got up and tapped a series of commands into the holographic console nearby. “I will organize a list of preparations to minimize effort on your part, but I have the place of combat itself already planned out. You need only to participate in combat and order your citizens to prepare the battle site.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad.” Upon receiving and opening the files, Twilight observed the overall shape of the octagonal arena. It was covered in crude, rushed iconography made by an unskilled hand. It was difficult, but she could make out scenes of ponies and some of Alf’s people fighting, with shadowy figures of both species watching from above. “And what will you be doing?”

“I must consecrate myself and ask the pantheon for aid to prove they are more worthy than you.”

The forced neutrality of the answer made Twilight twist her lips in contemplation. “I thought you said the pantheon was gone or at least fading away.”

“...They are,” Alf replied with averted eyes. “I do not expect to receive any aid, but the rituals must be done.”

Twilight nodded in both sympathy and understanding. “Then I shall leave it to you. For what it’s worth, I hope it works for you.” When all Alf did in reply was nod silently, she ended the call with a sigh.

Two days later, Praxia sat alone in the middle of the cafeteria, gnawing away on a fish melt sandwich. The loud din of conversation surrounding her from the dozens of filled tables comforted her in a way she couldn’t get anywhere else, as if the constant noise filled a need she could never place. In a way, the background noise gave her focus, as if her brain needed it to work at its best.

Presently, she was fortunate enough to claim one of the booths near a window overlooking the coast. She didn’t indulge herself much in the way of art, so snippets of natural beauty were held precious. Praxia’s personal display was chock full of lists, work schedules, and data maps that guided her in work. In the top right corner of her display sat a picture of Twilight and Prism smiling at the camera.

Let’s see. If what Dr. Genome said is true about Prism’s air filter, then live testing should be concluded today. I can start considering having future buildings being modifiable to allow free atmospheric ventilation for the day we don’t need protective helmets anymore.

Ideas both new and old danced around in her head, offering a nice and worthy distraction. Maybe we could try modifying the throat filter to work for ears too, maybe? Nictitating membranes for the eyes could work. It might be possible to front that idea to the biomechanical division as well. Then again, Chief Engineer Clattering Cog’s been hounding me for something to do other than replacement limbs all the time. If all this works out, then this first generation of foals won’t know what it’d be like to grow up having to isolate themselves from the atmosphere.

With a plan of action in place and a goal in mind, Praxia dictated her orders to the various divisions, making a special note for Clattering Cog. No sooner had she sent the letters than did the sound of feathers on air drag her attention to Prism, who was coming in for a landing. “Heyya, Praxia, mind if I join you?”

Praxia swallowed her bite of fish and swept a hoof at the empty opposing booth. “Go ahead, I just finished with some written orders.” Giving quick thanks, Prism clattered her tray on the table and slid on in.

For the first minute or two, Prism was mostly silent as she devoured a burger and some fries. That gave Praxia time to polish off the rest of her lunch, and was content to sit there quietly and drink in the ambient love Prism had for her. Prism was about to start her second burger when she gave Praxia a pensive look, yet it was her turbulent emotional aura that drew the orange haired changeling’s attention. “Something wrong?”

Prism wrung her hooves after retracted her hands. “How are things between you and Silver?”

Prism’s aura was troubling enough for Praxia to close her personal display and gave the pegasus her full attention. “Good, last I knew. We hung out for lunch yesterday. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I want to take him on the Flight of Feathers.”

Praxia gasped behind a hoof. Sympathetic excitement and a touch of melancholy hit her. Putting on a glad face, Praxia clapped her hooves. “Wow, I didn’t think you’d actually follow tradition.” Praxia was dodging the issue, and she knew it. “I could have sworn you thought that particular tradition was a bunch of hooey.”

“Yeah well, I was young and dumb back then. And as mom would say, he passed enough tests. I want to take this next step with him, but I wanted to know if you were too.”

Praxia couldn’t stop her ears from falling as flat as her frown. “Prism, you don’t need to wait for me. I can’t be part of a herd.”

Prism threw her head back with her eyes wide. “What!? Why not?!”

Praxia’s embarrassment flared at seeing a number of nearby diners look their way, and was grateful when their eyes didn’t linger. “Look, I like Silver as a friend, I really do, but you and I both know it would just get weird if I got romantic with anypony.”

Prism pushed forward, half standing on the table. “That’s a bunch of malarkey. The whole point of setting you up with Silver was so you’d stop isolating yourself.”

“I’m not trying to isolate myself,” Praxia yell-whispered, trying to keep outside attention at a minimum. “Look, what you did for me in helping me make friends with Silver is great and all, but at the end of the day, I’m a royal changeling.” Prism gave her a stink eye, but calmed down enough to get off the table. “Underneath all my fur, I’m still a bug, as you keep reminding me almost daily. I can’t have foals with Silver.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love with somepony,” Prism growled reproachfully. “Whatever motives your bug mom had in giving you to momma, she wanted you to integrate into pony society, yes? So what if you can’t have foals with Silver. That’s – ah –.” Prism shook herself to put some logic into her voice. “That’d be my job… At some point.” Prism’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment for a moment. Before Praxia could speak, Prism thumped the table with a mechanical fist. “Look, the fact is, you need love. You said it yourself that romantic love is the best kind.”

“I can get by with a friend’s platonic love,” Praxia replied with little conviction.

“You would really settle for a cheese sandwich when you could have steak and lobster?” Prism shot back with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you do this to yourself?”

Praxia fixed Prism with a screwed frown. “Because it’s easier to have a platter of cheese sandwiches, than to have only one plate of steak and lobster.”

Prism halted her first response, and was left speechless for a long moment. When she recovered, she gave the grey changeling a sidelong look. “Are you actually saying you want to make friends instead of hovering around mom’s door like a peeping tom? Like a bunch of them?”

“I already have,” Praxia replied with a bit of smug satisfaction, steadfastly ignoring the peeping tom comment entirely. “Well… one so far at least.” Praxia noted Prism’s expectant nod and grin. In a way, Praxia felt touched by Prism’s concern over her, made plain by the sisterly love she radiated freely. “Her name’s Sunlight Shade, she’s currently assigned to the solar farm.” Praxia kept a moderately happy face. “Besides, with Sensei taking some much needed maternity leave, I won’t have the time to keep a romantic relationship up. But I can handle a few new friends.”

Prism sat with a contemplative look on her face as she munched on a few fries. Seeing the opening to turn the conversation away from herself, Praxia spoke up with that conspiratory tone for juicy gossip. “So you’re actually going to drag Silver on an expedition?”

“…Well I haven’t asked him yet,” Prism said after debating if she’d allow herself to get distracted. “That’s the whole reason I wanted to ask about you and Silver. I didn’t want to jump the gun if you weren’t ready.”

A thin smile wormed its way onto Praxia’s muzzle. She reached out with a hoof, laying it halfway across the table. “Don’t worry about it. It may be a bit scandalous to say this, but I’m going to use Sunlight Shade as a springboard to get into more friend circles.”

Prism tilted her head at Praxia with a wrinkled brow. “Uh, I don’t know how to tell you this, Praxy, but that’s just how friends work in general.”

“Oh. Is that right?” Praxia rubbed her chin at the information. Oh right. Sensei told me that a few times, I guess I just… Never could make it work and it slipped my mind. A mix of deep embarrassment and sorrow over forgetting important lessons threatened to bubble to the surface. I’ll just have to fix that by actually making more friends. Somehow. Casting those thoughts aside, she refocused on Prism. “So when are you going to ask him?”

Prism’s hummed purposely loud as her eyes scanned her personal display to the side. “Should be any second now.” A wide predatory grin cleaved her muzzle, giving the changeling a bit of a fright. “There he is. Catch ya later, bug girl.”

Praxia waved goodbye as Prism jumped away from the table and sped off. A bittersweet sigh escaped her. It’s for the best. I was kidding myself for ever thinking of getting too emotionally attached to a pony outside of Sensei or Prism. What lover could possibly understand or stay in love once I begin to turn into a giant queen? It was a long-repeated excuse. No, it was a reason, not an excuse. It couldn’t be. For it to be otherwise, would require a change. A change Praxia was trapped into never being able to make. So a reason it had to remain.

It was rare, but Praxia found she was incapable of focusing on her work. Metal fingers tapped the table as her mind burned on that reason. The pressing work on her display forgotten, the distraction sparked a fire of irritation at herself. Praxia banished all thoughts of lovers or romance from her mind and forced herself to focus on work. Control yourself, damn it! I have to remain focused. Twilight is counting on me to cover for her. Friends can come now, and maybe a special somepony after I mature into a queen.

Finding the self-control to focus, Praxia lingered in the cafeteria for a while longer. She polished off the last of her food while trying to find a stopping point in her work so she could move to her office. She was in the middle of reviewing plans for a dedicated mobile facility for processing the mineral wealth of the various geological phenomena known as Ruby’s Towers when Dr. Genome’s avatar materialized asking for a call.

Huh, looks like the good doctor actually came to me. I guess Sensei was too busy to witness the final test. Adopting a professionally neutral posture, Praxia opened the call, allowing the green unicorn stallion’s face to appear. “Doctor, I take it you have good news.”

The scientist’s face was ecstatic, while bordering on the manic with his mane in a frizz. “I do, I do! Very much so. Please, I would be honored if you witnessed my work in person. I-if you have time of course. Don’t want to inconvenience the Regent after all,” he added with a slightly unhinged laugh.

Praxia furrowed a troubled brow at the scientist. Well, I guess I can finish this work order along the way. Sensei will probably want me to see this anyway. “It won’t be too much trouble, Doctor, I’ll be over there shortly.”

Genome plastered a wide grin and let off a quick laugh. “Excellent, marvelous! You shan’t be disappointed, I guarantee it!”

Prism followed the alert on her personal display, and spotted Silver Belle sitting with Firefly and another unicorn Pathfinder engineer. Witnesses, perfect! Prism hesitated in midair, keeping her eyes fixed on Silver. Before the other night, Prism had to admit he was growing on her, but after he watched over her dreams that night, she finally realized something. She saw his fluff-topped bat ears, that way he always gave a wry grin during conversation, and that bookish intelligence that resonated with her. Her cheeks went rosy just thinking about it. Come on, girl, you can do this. Not like he’d say no or anything. I mean, he’s got to love you too right? This is me we’re talkin’ about here, what’s not to love? Boasting didn’t quite have the same effect when it was only for her benefit. Why am I stalling? Just go down there already!

Steeling herself, Prism flew down, weaving through passing fliers until she arrived at Silver’s table. The trio of stallions had waved her down towards the end of her arrival. “Hey, boys, mind if I get a minute with Silver?”

Firefly winked at Silver and gave him an elbow jab. “Sure thing, PF. Come on, Whistle.”

If only I could let you leave, Prism mused with thinly veiled annoyance. “Actually, I need you two need to hear this.”

All three stallions shared a confused look just long enough for a hint of understanding to cross Firefly’s face. “Is that right? This should be entertaining. Do please enlighten us.”

Can’t believe tradition says I have to do this in front of his friends. Clearing her throat and hovering next to the table, Prism took a grey feather out of her mane she had pre-plucked, and handed it to Silver. “I want to take you on a Flight of Feathers.”

The two unicorns gave her a puzzled look while Silver was no better. His expected exuberant acceptance was instead a poster child of complete bafflement. “Uh, thanks?” he said hesitantly while claiming the feather. “Not sure what a Flight of Feathers is though.”

“Wwwhat?!” Prism all but jumped onto the table, casting the napkin dispenser aside. “How could you possibly not know what the Flight of Feathers is?”

Firefly scoffed at the irate mare. “Leave it to the scion of an alicorn to be all traditional.” Prism snorted angrily at him, only for Firefly to lean forward and rest his chin on his hooves. “Can I hazard a guess and say this FoF is some kind of mating ritual?”

Grinding her teeth in trying to remain somewhat calm, Prism got off the table. “It’s not a mating ritual, Firefly. It’s a time-honored tradition shared between Canterlot and Cloudsdale among…” Prism’s ire and ears wilted with her face burning bright red in embarrassment. “…Among aristocratic pegasi.” Oh Celestia, Silver was raised by the state after his parents died, of course he wouldn’t know! I’m so freak’n stupid!

“Well there ya go,” Firefly rebuked while waving dismissively at her. “Last I checked there’s only ten people in this colony who can claim to be nobles, and it ain’t anypony at this table.”

With her cheeks burning bright red through her fur, Prism backed off and made to leave. “S-sorry about that, guys, I just remembered I gotta go prep for – something.”

“Wait a minute!” Silver slipped under the table to avoid the food trays and crawled over and caught one of Prism’s back hooves before she got far. A feat that left more than a few dropped condiment stains on his engineer’s jumpsuit. “Lemme hear about this Flight of Feathers thing.” When Prism turned around, Silver climbed back up to his hooves and clasped one of her forelegs. “I mean, it sounds important to you, so I’m game to at least hear you out.”

A thankful smile crossed her lips as Prism settled back down to the platform. She tried to ignore the two stallions behind Silver, and distracted herself by running a mechanical finger through her hair. The act briefly exposed her horn. “The – the Flight of Feathers goes back like, since like the fall of Luna. It was a thing guard pegasi did to show…”

She clammed up after spotting Firefly and Whistle poking their heads closer. Just ignore them, PF. You got the public part done, just move on. “That they wanted to go beyond just special someponies.”

Silver stood stock still with his ears shooting straight up. “Whatever it is, I’m in, one hundred percent!”

Prism’s face brightened immeasurably, her embarrassment forgotten. “Yay!” She glomped the hapless bat stallion and crushed him in a bear hug. An act made slightly deadly with her burgeoning earth strength. “Oh you’re going to have so much fun! Just you and me!” She glared at Firefly who was quietly clapping his hooves at Silver. “And away from the peanut gallery.”

“Love you too, darling,” Firefly jeered with friendly mockery.

Prism pulled back, sneaking in a short kiss on the way out. Silver barely had a second to reciprocate her kiss before Prism detached fully. “Meet up with me tomorrow morning at the garage, oh six hundred sharp.”

“The garage? Why there?” The afterglow of the kiss bled out quickly upon hearing that, making one of his ears droop from weirded out surprise.

“You’ll see!” Prism whispered cryptically in his drooped ear before sprinting away at breakneck speed to the exit. She giggled to herself in anticipation. Now I just need to get Ruby to let this happen.

Silver’s gaze lingered on Prism as she vanished from the cafeteria. Any thoughts were abruptly cut off by Firefly all but jumping on his back and giving a congratulatory head slap. “Ha! What’d I tell ya, Batsy? I knew she’d be into you if you just showed a bit of spine at first.”

Silver could only partially pay attention to his friend as Prism’s declaration echoed in his head. Beyond special someponies. I wonder if I should pop the question after this Feathers thing. A blank, content smile lingered for a few moments as he basked in a dream come true. His rapture was long enough for Firefly to climb off and wave in front of his face without eliciting a response. Silver’s revelry ended in a snap as he realized the garage was the least romantic place he could think of. He turned around to see Firefly and Whistle were back at the table stealing his food. “Hey! That’s mine!”

Firefly scoffed and shook a dismissive hoof at him. “Puh leaze, you’re going to have plenty to eat tomorrow morning, am I right?” Firefly jabbed Whistle with an elbow, but the other unicorn was unresponsive as he scanned his personal display.

Silver groaned, but otherwise let the matter drop. He cantered back over to his seat. “What she and I do behind closed doors aside, do either of you know what a Flight of Feathers is exactly?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Firefly goaded as if he was speaking to a neophyte. He roped Silver in with a foreleg and poked the bat stallion’s chest with his other hoof. “It’s an invitation to get some lovin’ in, some ooo la la, some dy no mite,” Firefly said with suggestively moving eyebrows. “You’ve seen vids with aristocratic mares, you know how they love to think up weirdo names and ceremonies for stuff when it’s about getting a good rut.” Firefly adopted a terrible tone of a stereotypical highborn mare, “We don’t say those nasty plebeian words here in high society. It ruffles our oh so delicate sensibilities to scandalous proportions. Oh dear me.”

Silver yanked himself free from the unicorn’s grasp. “Does Prism even come close to looking and acting like the kind of mare? She may have a thing for a tradition or two, apparently, but she’s not one for confusing flowery talk, and nor is Twilight Sparkle last I checked. Or Praxia. Which between the three of them basically accounts for the entire aristocracy anymore. Besides, why would she want to do that… ‘ooo la la’ at HQ at the crack of dawn?”

At this point, Whistle called out as he closed his personal display. “You idiots could have just asked Voyager what FoF is.”

Firefly shrugged and spoke before taking a sip of soda. “What, and take all the mystery out of it? Where’s the fun in that?”

“Well I want to know,” Silver replied while giving Firefly a light smack in the ear. “She’s probably expecting me to do some research anyway.”

Whistle lived up to his name and whistled at the bat stallion while transferring the files to both friends’ personal displays. “I can tell you this much right now, the FoF is the furthest thing possible from a tail call.”

Silver grabbed his goggles off the table and pulled them back over his eyes. As he did so, he spotted Firefly light his horn to look at his own display. Silver Belle read the summary file on the Flight of Feathers. Two things happened within the span of a minute. Silver’s jaw fell open in abject terror while Firefly spat out his soda in choking uproarious laughter.

Firefly banged the table laughing his head off while trying to see a stunned Silver through teary eyes. “She wants to do that with you!? OOooo boy, you are one dead bat.” He shook his soda can at him. “My condolences.”

Whistle used a bit of magic to pull a piece of half-chewed hay off his shirt and patted Silver on the back. “I could ask Ruby to hamstring this. You-“

Silver cut him off with a hoof swipe. “No.” Summoning up enough force of will to harden himself from certain death, Silver focused on what mattered to him most: Prism’s love and respect. “I have to do this. Maybe she’s for real or maybe it’s just some test of hers.” She is the daughter of the Alicorn of Tests after all. And I’m pretty sure she still wants revenge for that fish pancake. “I have to do this.”

Whistle knew when to pick his battles. “It’s your funeral, or both of yours.”

A few hours later, Prism was at Pathfinder Headquarters standing in front of the couch and coffee table Ruby was currently using as her desk. With no other Pathfinders present, and the on-duty engineers busy repairing or upgrading the rovers, the pair had a measure of privacy. Ruby’s rifle was completely disassembled on the table she had pulled over with dirty rags and lubricants scattered about with everything on top of a microfiber cloth. Ruby had stopped her efforts and gently placed the trigger assembly down. “You’re going to have to run that by me one more time, because all I was hearing was word vomit.”

“It’s not vomit, it’s tradition,” Prism fumed, trying to come across as mildly cordial. “Granted I can’t take him on a proper Flight of Feathers like I could on the Old World, but I’m pretty sure I can adapt it.”

Ruby let off a groaning sigh and glared at Prism. “Look, Prism Flash, I may have grown up in the Crystal Empire, but I know about the Flight of Feathers. Going up against the toughest monster you can find out there, with may I remind you, an engineer who has barely any combat training is stupid beyond belief.” Ruby leaned back in her couch. “But considering the source, I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“Come on, Ruby, it doesn’t take a genius to control an autocannon. I’ve even planned to give us a few days to practice. It’s not like Silver would be going up against a hydra or manticore with just a sword or spear like the old days.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually having this conversation.” Ruby rubbed her temples, trying to control an oncoming migraine. “Silver’s horrendous choice in mares aside, he’s a damn good engineer. I’m not about to authorize this asinine safari of yours.” Ruby jabbed a hoof at an increasingly irate pegasus. “Let’s make sure you haven’t been skipping the warning reports on the local fauna. Anything worthwhile for a Flight of Feathers is either quick and dangerous or huge and dangerous; just about all of those things will kill you on sight these days. Our standing orders are to avoid them at all costs.”

Prism propped herself up on the table to lean in. “Come on, Ruby, you know darn well that’s because we usually only have our rifles with us. Spike already said I could requisition one of the new combat rovers that’ve been rolling off the printers since two days ago.”

“Wait a second,” Ruby nearly barked as she looked Prism dead in the eye. “You want to do the Flight of Feathers in a vehicle that can’t fly?”

Prism’s cheeks burned red. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I have to edit tradition some more. It’s not like we have any two person attack aircraft, let alone any that I’m rated for. The light tank rover is the best I can do.”

“So much for holding tradition.” Prism refused to get baited by that statement, leaving Ruby hanging without satisfaction. Eventually, Ruby grabbed one of the cleaning solution bottles and upturned it to soak some rags. “I can’t believe you can still sit there and tell me you didn’t get that rover because of blatant nepotism.”

“Are you really going to pull that card again?” Prism chided, losing some of her diplomatic mentality. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep her temper in check. “The fact that Twilight is my mother had nothing to do with it. Some people out there are just old enough to respect tradition, in case you forgot just how long the Commander’s been alive.”

The scowl on Ruby’s face deepened, and she forced her attention away from the soon-to-be alicorn and back to cleaning her weapon. “You can think that all you want, but it’s a public secret he sees you as a niece.”

Prism pulled away from the table and took a few deep calming breaths. “Alright, Ruby, I can play your game. How about I cut you a deal?”

The red crystal mare huffed and continued cleaning her weapon. “…I’m not interested.”

“Just hear me out. I know for a fact you take it upon yourself to do the FUBAR assignments trying to keep up your ‘right to lead’. You give me this, and I’ll take any two shit assignments that come your way, provided,” Prism warned with a wagging finger, “it doesn’t interfere with the Flight of Feathers.”

“Assuming neither you nor Silver dies in the field,” Ruby countered.

“You know full well I’d do everything I can to make sure Silver gets back home in one piece,” Prism shot back. “Come on, Ruby, would you really say no to Brilliant Topaz if he asked you to do the Jewel Cascade?”

“The Jewel Cascade doesn’t involve going out and fighting monsters.” Ruby shot Prism with an inquisitive eye. “How do you even know about the Cascade?”

“Uhh… I was raised by like, the Purple Smart, duh.”

Ruby remained quiet for a solid minute, keeping her eyes fixed on her weapon as she cleaned it. Prism kept her face stony to keep any kind of smirk from ruining her chances. “Come on, Ruby, we’ve all been uprooted from the Old World. Sure we still have an alicorn on the throne, but that’s about the only tradition we still have. If you let me take Silver out there, then maybe other ponies will start to care about our culture more. How long do you think it would take before you crystals stop caring about the Jewel Cascade? One, maybe two generations?”

At that, Ruby stopped her cleaning, and blankly stared down at her handiwork. “Has Silver agreed to this farce?”

Prism couldn’t help but to grin. “Yup.”

“Did he even know what a Flight of Feathers was before agreeing to it?”

Her grin fell into one of sheepish guilt. “N-not at the time, but he’s probably asked Voyager what it’s all about by now.”

Ruby made a show of checking her display’s inbox and found no pleas for mercy from Silver. “A bunch of fraternizing foals. Fine, go on your stupid version of a honeymoon.” Ruby grabbed a guiding rod from the table and shook it at Prism as the younger mare danced on her hooftips. “But I’m holding you to your honor. The next time I’m called into investigating a miasma swamp or drone nest, you’re on the chopping block.”

“Deal!” Prism pumped a hoof in celebration. Time to get that tank moved over to the garage.

Praxia arrived at the Sparkle Science Labs rover hub to find Doctor Genome actually waiting for her on the raised steps at the doors. His frizzy orange and red hair gave Praxia the image of grass being on fire. “Ah, there you are, Regent Praxia, please, please, right this way!”

Praxia weaved through the mass of ponies leaving or arriving at the labs and joined the scientist who immediately started guiding her to their final destination. “Doctor, I must admit I was taken aback when I heard your work was so close to fruition. How have you managed such a brisk pace?”

The hallways were clogged with lab assistants and supply logistics personnel, most of them male with the new mothers on a short maternity leave. Yet Genome filtered through it all with practiced ease. “Oh you can thank the sim units for that. Are you familiar with them?”

Praxia had heard of them of course, and inwardly chided herself for forgetting about them. “Yes, naturally. We used them during the Seed Project to debug structural errors in the Seed Ships before construction. But I didn’t think the software could handle genetic tailoring.”

“It took me some time cajoling Binary Bit and her team to adapt a few for us,” Genome admitted with a mix of pride and self-satisfaction, “but it has been a smashing success. We’ve compressed decades of simulations down to a few months.”

The pair arrived at a set of double doors with a plaque above them stating: Fluttershy Genetics Lab. Within was lined wall to wall with computers. The center was taken up by a cobweb of holographic displays with other geneticists conversing with both themselves and the sim unit subsection of Voyager. On the far wall was a small enclosure similar to Alf’s original domicile. That had both a mare and stallion of each tribe of pony standing around impatiently with full environment helmets, but no body suits. They did however have a few sensors on them to monitor vital signs and other things.

Upon seeing the chief scientist and regent changeling arrive, the rest of the geneticists went into a slight panic trying to get the holograms into something presentable. Genome ignored his assistants while Praxia was a bit put off by the clutter. “Saying this for posterity, my fair regent, but we finished the genetic tailoring of our brave volunteers here. We would be honored if you witnessed the first set of non-alicorn hybrids to breath unfiltered native air.”

Praxia stepped up to the glass divider, prompting a few of the test subjects to wave nervously at her. “I must admit I’ve been looking forward to this day. Let’s see if you’ve been successful.”

Doctor Genome and half of the assistants joined her at the glass with him tapping the intercom on the edge. “Alrighty, everypony, the moment is upon us!” he cried with all the enthusiasm of a military commander psyching up the troops before battle. “Take those air filters off!” With another series of hoof gestures, Genome commanded the enclosure’s exterior doors to yawn open wide, revealing the ocean in the distance.

One by one, the ponies detached the muzzle part of their helmets off, leaving the ear and eye protection in place. Each of them took long deep breaths with some of them walking or flying over to the doors to make sure they got outside air faster.

“Filters functioning within optimal efficiency,” Praxia heard over her shoulder to find one of the assistants monitoring the read outs. “Particle concentration within the lungs is near zero. More than sufficient for natural removal.”

“Oxygen and CO2 exchange remaining steady within normal levels,” announced another one with increasing optimism.

“No signs of allergic reaction.”

Praxia returned her focus on the volunteers, allowing herself to only partially follow the announcements. Initial fearfulness had already fled most of them with the ponies hovering around the door, relishing the feeling of breathing unrecycled air.

“Most impressive doctor. How long until you think we can implement wide-scale gene tailoring?”

Beaming a triumphant smile, Genome’s hair almost seemed even more frizzy. “Immediately, Regent Praxia! I’ve even gone the extra mile to edit the volunteers’ gametes. Any children they have will inherit the filter.” Praxia shot him a dangerous look. “W-with their consent of course.” Praxia’s visage softened. “The sim units have already accounted for genetic drift among the entire colony, the chance of rejection is as close to zero as equinely possible. We even dedicated a separate sim unit solely for you and Commander Spike.”

“Glad to hear it. The Colonial Princess will of course have the final say before we can deploy the gene therapy colony wide, but I can grant you authorization to begin manufacturing the necessary gene editors.”

Thunderous cheering erupted among the scientists with Genome roping Praxia into a cheerfully crushing hug. Praxia was completely taken off guard and grunted trying to keep air in her lungs. All around her the scientists were jubilant to the point where flickers of love danced between them. Love that Praxia was more than willing to soak up. Love takes all forms it seems.

Genome dropped Praxia to her hooves and clapped to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, team, we have a lot of work ahead of us. So let’s get to it!” He turned around to press the intercom as the assistants scurried about. “Thank you all for participating in the next step of evolution! Please keep your monitors on juuust in case we missed something.”

Uh oh, I hope I didn’t jump the gun on approving this, Praxia worried with flopping ears. “Uh, Doctor, I hope those sim units are still running the data, right?” He nodded vigorously. “Good. Just keep some of those going as you move into live deployment.”

“Oh I planned on it,” he said with no reservation. “I want to move into projecting future generations to see if there might be some complications down the road.”

As much as Praxia was pleased to hear that, there was an issue she couldn’t leave be. Having the whole staff doing just that would be inefficient. I guess now is as good a time as any to present this. “Glad to hear it. But might I give some suggestions on how to move on to eye and ear adaptation?”

22: From One Life to Another

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Two weeks after the announcement of the ritual combat between alicorn and alien, the arena was packed with ponies and one ornery dragon. Standing at the top of hastily manufactured bleachers, Spike surveyed the empty circular arena situated between the solar farm and Sparkle Science Labs. Crowded bleachers and camera drones surrounded the granite tiled arena where holographic alien pictograms were scattered about in some order that he didn’t care enough about to decipher.

The arena was an open space, with the morning sun peeking behind carefully placed clouds. The vast majority of the ponies present were abuzz with the spectacle to come—after all, it’s not every day that you get to see the power of an alicorn—and many of them were relishing the act of breathing unrecycled air. Spike rubbed his throat, wondering what it would soon feel like. With my luck it’ll be a constant nag. Casting the thought aside for Future-Spike to worry about, he smirked at the civilians. Almost a shame really. Twilly’s going to have to restrain herself in such a small ring.

~“Commander, the weebles are moving south into the miasma swamps.”~ A stallion called Spike over his display. Spike hummed in contemplation as video feed revealed a throng of wolfbeetles storming out in force. Woof. Glad those are headed our way. ~“See if you can locate the alpha or at least the egg nest. That’ll give Prism a good target when she sets out.”~

Spike barely acknowledged the obedient reply when Twilight Sparkle flew from between the eastern bleachers to land inside the arena. The old dragon couldn’t help but to snort in approval at the lack of a respirator on her. Sis always did lead by example after the Gelapo Incident. I just hope the lab coats double checked their homework on this one.

He gazed down at the alicorn from his perch, who was in the middle of some stretching exercises. Alf emerged from the opposite side, his hands and arms either clasped together or spread out in a gesture that Spike could only assume was ritualistic. This should be good.

Standing on one leg with the other crossed over his knee, Alf muttered quiet prayers to his utterly silent pantheon. Before the events at the temple, doubt, fear, and isolation had plagued him. Doubt of his worth, fear of his fate after death, and the stark isolation of a recovering xenophobe being surrounded by candy colored aliens.

With his lower arms outstretched as if trying to catch rain, and his upper arms clasped around his chest, Alf ended the first set of prayers to invoke a prayer upon his soul. “Hands relinquishing, hands receiving, I beg of you all, grant me your strength so that this bearer of your Spark may prove your power. That your might is greater than a lone corporeal goddess.”

As with every prayer since Twilight agreed to the duel, no divine strength filled his body, no whiff of favor. Nothing.

The ghost of abandonment tightened his chest, and his lip quivered. But that was all he could give now. Partially because he had wept in solitude, but mostly because hope stood right in front of him. A new deity, strong, vibrant, and oh so very tangible, was willing to welcome him with open arms.

For a moment, Alf had forgotten he was still holding the Stance of Invocation. With the expected lack of a divine gift, he dropped his hands and his raised leg and opened his eyes and gazed upon his future goddess. To his eyes, Twilight was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He dreamed of the moment he could look upon her with pony eyes, knowing his fate was secure. However, his basking in Twilight’s divinity was marred by the butchered holy script on holographic display orbiting the arena.

The symbols and words were atrociously drawn, straight lines where slight curves should have been, crosses were crooked, and other imperfections that sullied the eye. These errors were not by choice, far from it, but Alf couldn’t allow the ponies to correct them. Not even Twilight. There was no question; he had to be the one to write them. Anyone else would have nullified their purpose. I can build ships, but I can’t draw a single letter correctly. May Yaruda the Archivist forgive me in his next incarnation.

As Alf watched Twilight, he saw her gaze return to the present, a sign that she was no longer distracted by her personal display. As if also taking the cue, the high pitched buzzing of an approaching drone prompted Alf and Twilight to start walking towards each other.

Both combatants reached the center with the drone not long after. The drone stopped at shoulder height before projecting Voyager's avatar below it. Alf tilted his head in surprise. Instead of the bland featureless ponnequin he had seen before, the new avatar was now sporting a wavy teal and white mane with bright cherry red fur. Alf would have shrugged the changes off as unimportant had he not spotted Twilight studying the avatar with greater surprise, along with just a hint of worry. These ponies have finally gotten bored with bland cogitator entity avatars? Took them long enough.

“Everypony,” Voyager announced with a noticeable drawl accent Alf found completely foreign. “The Rite of Yageer is upon us. Taday, Alf must demonstrate the superiority of the Pantheon ‘er else be wholly inducted into the Princess’ protection.” Alf briefly cast his gaze around the ponies who had gathered in numbers that stunned him. He noted many of them were muttering conversations lost to the buzzing shield pylons interspaced on the outside of the arena. “Each combatant may select one weapon.” The cherry red AI bowed to the princess expectantly.

Alf watched her recover an air of grace and pulled her horn circlet off and presented it to the drone. “I’ll need only my hand gauntlets, Voyager.”

After grabbing the circlet in a claw, the drone and avatar turned to face Alf. He gave a polite nod. “The repulsion blade I requested.” The avatar returned the nod as it summoned a second drone that was already carrying the weapon.

She's removing her mana regulator? Unable to hide his confusion behind a furrowed brow, Alf enhanced his senses with a subtle handsign to see Twilight Sparkle, and was awestruck by how controlled her magical aura was. Twilight always seemed to brim with power, as if she had mana running through her veins instead of blood. Mana that was tightly controlled with what he had assumed was her horn circlet. Yet there she stood, with casual regality, with her internal mana acting as if she had never removed it. He felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck. A fear that would have had him running if the fight was to the death.

Alf caught himself staring at Twilight and was only saved further embarrassment by the other drones arriving with his repulsion blade. The instant the new drone presented the sword, Alf snatched it as tactfully as he could and turned away from Twilight under the pretense of giving the sword some test swings.

When he heard the clip clop of Twilight’s retreating hooves, he exhaled heavily and truly focused on his weapon. He rolled the hilt in his upper left hand, finding it perfectly balanced, more so than he expected of such primitive manufacturing technology. The air sang as he sliced the air, reminding him of dark days and lost causes. May those perverted souls still wallow in Abandonment.

Gritting his teeth, Alf crushed the memory back by imagining hated enemies as helpless targets standing before him. A perfect excuse to mask a few more practice swings before feeling like he was stalling. Calling upon a built-in tranquilizer, Alf felt his nerves calm, his anger fade. By the time he returned to his starting position, he wore a calm, almost serene face. Focusing intently on the pony of his salvation calmed him further.

Dropping into a low stance with his legs apart, Alf held the repulsion blade across his midsection. Augmenting his senses further, he made a simple improvement to his hand gesture by adding his lower right hand to it. At this distance, Alf’s eyes focused almost exclusively on Twilight which allowed him to see Twilight’s mana now starting to flow faster within her. Alf dimmed the magic senses so he could better see her face, and found her seemingly hesitant on what posture to adopt. I will have to let her act first. My blade should dissuade her from melee at the start. That will give the blade time to work.

Alf grinned inwardly in satisfaction as Twilight lowered her posture with her wings flared out and brimming with so much magic her feathers shimmered in the sunlight. A shield spell perhaps? That would leave her horn for offense… perfect. Alf tightened his grip, waiting for the word to be given.

As if reacting to an invisible countdown, Voyager’s avatar made a downward chopping motion with a leg. “Let the Rite of Yegaar begin!” it yelled before the hologram vanished and the drone rocketed away.

Alf refused to be distracted, and kept his gaze locked on Twilight. The instant the drone passed through the arena’s shields, Alf was dismayed to see the magic building up in Twilight’s body snap to a dark forest green. With a thundering crack of broken stone, the alicorn kicked forward with a single mighty flap of her wings fueling her speed. Twilight was blindingly fast, giving Alf barely enough time to angle his sword to meet the lavender glowing metal fist raised above her head.

Alf strengthened his stance, only for a circular wall of lavender to appear in front of him. It disappeared as fast as it had come, but there was no Twilight behind it. Alf didn’t even have a second to register this when a fist hammered the back of his skull. His face slammed into the tiles, and the blade was sent clattering to the ground. Pain lagged behind it all as Alf tried to make sense of what happened through his suddenly sluggish thoughts. He went limp as his mind tried to fight its way through frozen molasses.

And there Alf would have stayed were it not for his engineered body. Blood vessels were reformed, damaged tissues knitted back together, and his brain recovered from what little damage his skull had not absorbed.

By the time Alf’s thoughts roared back to normal speed, he spotted Twilight’s shadow lording over him. Keeping his eyes mostly closed and staying still, he waited until Twilight came closer. The instant she dropped down on all fours, Alf grabbed her gauntlets and yanked her down as hard as he could. He held his other hands up and called the blade. The sword flew to his hands, allowing him to sweep the blade horizontally at Twilight.

The mare yelped out of stunned surprise and instinctively teleported away before her front legs could be amputated at the knees. Alf struggled to rebalance himself with the sudden lack of anything to grab onto. Muscle memory kicked in and he used the blade’s inertia to swing his body around and plant his feet on the ground. He shot up to a standing postion in time to spot Twilight again. The alicorn was some distance away, and in the midst of rebalancing herself, giving Alf a few precious moments to recenter himself. O She of Purple Radiance. How I wish Those of Us with Open Eyes could have had you as an ally.

When Twilight was stable on her hooves again, Alf called out to her as she turned to face him. “You will need to do more than brain injury to rob me of my waking hours. Those Who Defy were quite good at strengthening my body.”

“Is that so?” Twilight purred with a dangerous air that produced that cold sweat again. Twilight wore a grin he had seen many times on soldiers eager for battle. “Then show me.”

The flash on Twilight’s horn was the only warning Alf got. In an instant he felt the air displaced behind him. A robotic fist backed by earth magic hammered at his shoulder, only for Alf to spin and allow the attack to roll off of him. Twilight’s following right hoof was caught by the flat of Alf’s blade, with both gloved left hands bracing the weapon at the point of impact. Twilight’s hardened face of determination morphed into one of approval, making it hard for Alf to keep his face outwardly calm.

A flash and Twilight was gone. Alf spun to face behind him, barely elbowing the incoming fist aside in time. Twilight blinked to a different angle, yet again countered by the blade. Blink, parry, blink, dodge, faster now. As Twilight rapidly became more and more elusive, Alf struggled to dodge or deflect the flurry of earth powered fists coming in at all angles. A feral grin was all Alf could see of Twilight’s face as she appeared, attacked, and blinked out again at every parry or dodge.

Twilight’s teleports grew faster, and her punches harder at the excitement. Alf’s blood roared in his ears as fear gripped him, making each move more desperate. To the side, to the blind spot, back to the side, down low, up high, it was all Alf could do to predict or blindly dodge. Alf narrowly deflected a jab from the front, and began recoiling his blade as soon as Twilight teleported, only for her to remain in the same spot with a right hook. The punch nearly collapsed his left ribs had he not rolled with the hit. Before he could even think to counterattack, Twilight blinked out.

Twilight soon became a blur of light and magic that Alf could no longer follow. A late parry was punished by a glancing hit to his thigh, nearly dropping him to one knee. A follow up wing slap hit Alf’s face like a steel wall. He lost his balance and tried to stabilize himself, only for Twilight to blast him with a point blank kinetic bolt. The attack sent him spinning and he smacked into the arena’s shield. He dropped to his hands and knees, his sword flying out of reach. Alf coughed blood onto the tiles and tried to brace himself for the coup de grâce.

But it didn’t come.

His healing body was struggling to fix him as fast as it did last time, but Alf managed to stand up and look behind him. Twilight had not moved from where she had punted him, save to stand normally.

“Am I going to have to get even rougher with you before you capitulate?” Twilight called out with concern tinting her voice.

“You need not concern yourself, She of Divine Lavender, I am more than some mere kicking sack.”

“You’re not doing a very good job of convincing me of that,” Twilight shot back as she waited for him to telekinetically collect his weapon. The disappointed frown on her face lifted slightly when Alf waved his fingers for her to continue the fight, sans one sword.

Twilight’s horn lit up with a portal materializing above her. Its twin opened up right under Alf’s feet. He fell through, and found Twilight’s horn glowing like the sun with the next spell. Alf hastily made the hand sign of the Steel Field. Twilight’s spell disintegrated with the stored mana exploding into a cloud of light.

Twilight growled more out of annoyance than surprise or pain. Alf grabbed at Twilight’s horn with his only free hand, using the flash as cover. The rush he felt at an assured victory died in the same moment. The very idea that he could actually win stayed his hand, freezing him in place.

Alf’s stupor was broken by Twilight grabbing his offending hand with both of her own. “Word of warning, Alf, that only works on unicorns.” Twilight’s robotic strength pried Alf’s fingers off her horn one by one. Alf reacted by kicking out at her, only to be met by skin as hard as rock and nearly breaking his foot in the process.

Twilight swung Alf like a lasso once before flinging him clear across the arena. Alf flipped over and landed on his feet, skidding across the tiles. Alf noted dismally that his sword was still too far away. She won't give me the time to recall it. Twilight followed his gaze towards the weapon and grabbed it by the hilt with her magic.

“I was wondering when you would finally strike back at me, Alf.” Twilight floated the sword to Alf and presented it to him hilt first. “Whatever you may think of me, I would hope by now you don’t see me as some delicate flower.”

All around him, the crowd murmured in response to the display of raw power, many of them still reeling from the sheer ferocity of it. Only the veteran soldiers sat there with knowing hard faces. Both they and Spike watched with pride as well as quite a few flashbacks of the war. Many of which they could have sorely done without.

Alf hesitantly reclaimed the weapon with a gracious bow. “I have never fought a living god before… knowingly at least.” His calm exterior broke into a quivering fear of insulting her. “I do you and the pantheon an injustice.”

Alf didn’t need to be a pony to see the mounting disappointment on Twilight’s face, something that matched his mood as well. I misread her completely. When we first fought, I thought for sure Purple Brilliance was a spellweaver that focused on ranged tactics, yet all she does is attack close in. Alf ground his teeth at the sight of the repulsion blade in his hands. I should have gone with a Defiance Shield or a Nullifier. At least then I could have put up a worthy fight.

“I don’t like it Alf,” Twilight called out, pulling him back to the present. “But the rite isn’t over unless you get one good hit on me... a better one at least.” Twilight leapt into the air with her horn glowing once more. “Perhaps you’d fare better against this!” Twilight started firing a torrent of weak mana bolts, peppering Alf like a hailstorm.

Finally cracking a weak grin, Alf jabbed the blade’s tip into the tiles and knelt down behind it. Twilight’s flurry of bolts zeroed in on the target alien, filling his view with all encompassing lavender light. The homing bolts reached their mark only for the glowing sword to part the sea of spells like light wrapping around a gravity well. The shield behind Alf exploded in color as it held fast against the princess’ onslaught.

Alf squeezed the hilt and twisted it so a large number of bolts sank into the sword rather than be reflected away. After half a minute, Twilight halted her attacks. The tiles behind Alf were scorched black, the shield behind it wavering yet standing strong. All but the bravest or most trusting of ponies had entirely evacuated that section of the stands.

Alf had to blink to clear the spots from his eyes. Once he could see again, he saw Twilight charging up another spell. “I must thank you for the gift, Colonial Princess,” he spoke just loudly enough to be heard.

“A gift?” Twilight inquired as she charged a new spell.

“Yes,” he replied with the first feeling of legitimate calm he felt all day. “You were indeed better off attacking me close in.”

“If you say so.”

The whispered reply had not come from Twilight standing at the other end of the ring, but from directly behind his ear. It took him a long moment of internal debate to decide whether the whisper was real or a trick. In the end, it was the booted hooves plowing into his back, smack in between his shoulder blades, which answered the riddle for him.

Twilight had bucked Alf with such force that he went sailing across the arena. He careened through the image of Twilight still channeling a spell, only for that alicorn to break apart into motes of mana upon impact.

Alf rolled across the floor, but he still had the strength to arrest his tumble by stabbing the tiles to slow down. Twisting a different part of the hilt, Alf saw a few blue lights flicker to life on the hand guard.

Using magic to project her voice so she sounded conversational among all in attendance, Twilight gave Alf a warrior’s command. “It is not real combat if all you do is defend. Merely losing more slowly. If this ritual combat must demonstrate the power of your Pantheon, then come at me with all of their strength. Do not hold back simply because of who I am!”

Alf hissed in pain as he dragged his sword back up to a ready position. “We both know my gods are dead… my faith in them is useless now.” Now that his sword was charged, much of Alf’s fear bled away into indignation of their abandonment of him. “But I can still use my strength.” His pained expression gave a hint of smugness. “And my strength lies within fabrication. Observe.”

The glow of Alf’s blade shifted to a dull blue. He adopted an aggressive stance with his large sword heaved above his head, and he started to swing down in a slicing gesture. Twilight prepared herself for a spell of some kind, yet mid-swing, Alf vanished. He reappeared behind and above her. She reflexively blinked out as the repulsion blade carved a divot into the tiles. Twilight reappeared a few feet away and turned to face him. “Since when did you know how to teleport?”

Alf grinned widely and chuckled as he wrenched the sword out of the tiles. “I don’t. But you do.” In a flash, Alf grasped the hilt with all four hands and made a vertical swing before blinking from existence. Twilight traced the lines of his teleport spell and grabbed the blade with both hands the instant Alf rematerialized. Metal screeched against metal as alicorn-backed earth strength wrestled against Alf’s augmented power.

Twilight found herself having to give more magic into her hold than she expected, making her smirk in excitement. So much so, she dumped in much more mana into her gauntlets, and the blade started to groan under the strain.

I can’t win like this. Alf teleported away and reappeared on the other side. In his haste, Alf misgudged the distance and his swing only met empty air. He stumbled from the failed swing and shot a look back at where Twilight was just in time to see her blink out. The sound of wings upon the air drew his gaze up towards the center of the arena.

Twilight was hovering with her horn awash with magelight. “Color me impressed, but you’ll have to do better than stealing my teleports.”

The glow on Alf’s blade crackled after he made a swing, only to stay where he was. He abandoned his stance to stand normally and leveled the blade tip straight at Twilight. “How about your bolts instead?”

The air around the repulsion blade writhed before a blizzard of mana bolts roared out of the blade. The torrent of magic raced to strike at the alicorn. Twilight allowed the first barrage of magic to strike true. Within seconds, dozens of bolts pounded at Twilight with enough force to plaster her against the arena’s shields. Alf immediately halted the assault by cutting the air away from her. As the last bolt hit her, Twilight fell only long enough so her large wings would not strike the shield in mid-flight.

“Did I tell you to stop?” she chided while wiping some blood off her lip with a hoof.

Sensing the trap, Alf regained his sense of victory. Not of combat, but of the afterlife. She let me hit her… Adopting the same pose as before, Alf unleashed a swarm of mana bolts. This time however, Twilight responded by giving a heavy flap of her wings that pressed her against the shield dome, but also created a mana-charged tornado that blasted straight through the barrage.

Alf went wide-eyed at the storm coming straight for him. He dropped the sword and made a hasty handsign directed at the spell. A blueish wave of anti-magic shot out, obliterating Twilight’s counterattack.

Diving straight through the center of the counterspell, Twilight shot towards him like a meteor. Alf scrabbled to pick his sword back up, only to feel like he was suddenly dunked inside a pot of honey. The world around him blurred past as he was caught in a familiar trap. A chrono field. She found a way—

He never got a chance to finish that thought. The world around him slowed back down to normal speed only for him to feel Twilight’s presence directly behind him. Twilight used her weight and legs to force Alf to the floor. She pinned his arms against the ground with her wings. Finally, she telekinetically grabbed the sword and held the blade across his neck. “Do you yield?”

It took Alf a few seconds to recover from the time dilation and suddenly being pinned on the ground. When he finally registered the predicament he was in, Alf gave a relieved curt smile. “You truly do fight with the grace of divinity. The pantheon recognizes your superiority.”

Twilight climbed off of him, allowing Alf to stand. “The rites have been satisfied. Know that I will serve you faithfully for all time, my goddess,” Alf proclaimed while bowing low.

“I have no doubt you will,” Twilight replied with a satisfied smile of her own.

Yet Twilight’s gaze did not linger on Alf. He watched her turn her eyes skyward to a seemingly random point in the sky with a sly yet almost respectful smirk.

Far away, nestled in the wintery peaks of the Steel Toothed Mountains, Admiral Thorn sat in his office with Gleaming Scythe standing nearby. The breathtaking view of the wintery peaks was obscured by a wide satellite feed of Twilight Sparkle staring almost straight at his satellite with the same smirk he remembered her wearing on old battlefields. Though the battle was over, it played back again in the admiral’s mind. He steepled his claws, his face a mask of concentration. With a snap of his claws, the camera zoomed in on the alicorn. Twilight’s attention was brought towards Sawbones as he offered her a water bottle.

“I must say, Admiral, that alien was rather disappointing,” Scythe stated with mild annoyance. “Twilight Sparkle had to let herself get hit for him to do any damage.”

Thorn hummed as he scrutinized the replay. A thin grin tugged at the edges of his beak. “Twilight may have had her public reasons for doing this with the alien, but she was also doing this fight to send us a message.”

Gleaming Scythe grumbled as she tapped the satellite feed to zoom in on Twilight’s face. “She wants us to know the ponies remain one step ahead of us. None of them are wearing rebreathers.”

A barely audible hum escaped the admiral. “Slightly, yes, but only because we are not doing parallel development, and she assumes that we are.” He pointed at Twilight and Sawbones. “They may not have masks on, but every last pony is wearing full eye and ear protection.” He tapped his chin and lapsed into brief silence. “Either Twilight Sparkle has overplayed her cards, or purposely let us know that our alien friend might not be so useful to the Equestrians as originally feared.” Thorn took a sip of his alcohol-less wine before toasting at Twilight on the monitor. "Ever the diplomat."

Gleaming’s wings vibrated out of shock and concern. She did, however, keep her face more controlled, an act made easier while the griffin distracted himself. “How can you be so sure? Assuming this duel reveals that this Alf character is a warrior instead of a scientist or some other expert, even common soldiers know how their weapons work. He could give them critical ideas on how to develop them.”

The sword was the first thing that popped into Thorn’s mind, but he dismissed it almost as quickly. The enchantments on that weapon were nothing special, I believe Princess Luna used a similar weapon. Thorn stood up and came closer to the video feed. With a few finger commands he had the camera zoom back out and then focus on several of the holographic pictograms surrounding the arena. “Tell me, Adjutant, do these look familiar to you?”

The hybrid changeling stiffly marched around the back of the admiral to get a better look at the pictures. “…They do actually. If I’m not mistaken, these are some of the hieroglyphics we discovered on the excavated ruins. A rather crude recreation though. Almost childlike.”

“No doubt drawn by the creature’s own hand,” Thorn added with a small approving nod.

Gleaming was quick to sense that minute bit of pride, making her feel slightly more worthy of being his right hand. And one step closer to being named his successor. Although she dared not show it in front of him, she felt a burst of delight after dreaming of that moment.

Thorn's eyes gleaned in satisfaction as he commanded the computer to replay the fight as a whole. “The xeno is a warrior, but he is no soldier, and certainly no academic." His eyes danced over every holy symbol the camera caught. "A priest or scholar would have made sure those sigils were absolutely perfect.” Thorn hummed wistfully as his mind churned. “Due to the fight’s ritualistic nature, I’ve come to the conclusion that the xeno was the only one allowed to write the sigils, seeing as Twilight Sparkle would have never abided such imperfections.

“In addition, he made no effort to even look at them the entire time he was preparing for the fight. As far as the xeno was concerned, the imperfections either didn’t matter, or more likely, that he was ashamed he didn’t have the skill to correct it and simply had to hope they were good enough.”

Gleaming noticed a satisfied grin cross the old griffin, a face he wore every time he was solving a worthy puzzle. “Are you suggesting the ponies just so happened to pick up some basic laborer or homeless being?”

“That is my assessment, yes.” Thorn reversed the camera feed to play the fight over again, this time focusing solely on Alf. “The creature is obviously religious, but has very little in the way of refined education in the matter if he can’t even get the written word correct. And if he has a poor education on a matter so basic and something he cares for deeply enough to convince Twilight Sparkle to duel him in ritual combat…”

Gleaming was prepared for the admiral trailing off, knowing he wanted her to finish the observation. “Then the possibility he knows anything of real value is minimal at best.”

A deeper nod of approval this time, giving the changeling a mix of relief and pride at yet another passed test. “Precisely. I’d wager he is an unskilled laborer. A factory worker may see the machines in front of him, but will never know how they were built or work, doubly so for the complexity a star spanning empire would command.”

Gleaming Scythe didn’t like dismissing the alien. “He may not have anything useful to give the ponies for now, but what about information he could have picked up on before being trapped in that time bubble? Things like good mining locations or a possible cache of technology that survived the ages.”

“Those are risks, of course, but given the heavy presence his enemies had on this world, the likelihood of a cache being here is negligible. It is more likely any such cache would be located somewhere out in space. And the ponies are in no condition to exploit such knowledge. So as far as being a wealth of advanced information for the ponies, Alf is not one, at least directly.”

Suddenly, a blinking light appeared on the edge of Thorn’s heads-up display with a scientist’s name appearing. Thorn pressed a talon on the dot, allowing a black feathered tom to appear. “Doctor Urian, I trust you have good news for me.”

The physician saluted crisply, his eyes briefly skirting towards Gleaming Scythe. “Yes, Admiral. The final round of live testing for the eye screen was a complete success. With your permission, I can start implantation procedures colony-wide.”

Thorn glanced at the multiple images of those in attendance of Alf and Twilight’s duel. Every last pony wore protective goggles and helmets, including Twilight. “Excellent. I wish to have my implant immediately, I’ll be needing it shortly. Also, I want you to gather all notes you have on the function and construction of the eye screen and send it to me.”

The scientist cowed a bit. “May I ask why, sir?”

Thorn narrowed his eyes in an implied warning. “All you need to know, doctor, is that your legacy will reach further than you expected.”

“I… see.” Urain recovered by saluting. “We’ll be ready to proceed as soon as you reach the bionics division, sir.”

“Good. That is all.” With that, Thorn closed the call with a calculating frown.

Early the next day, Twilight and Sawbones joined Alf in his quarters. The alien was sitting cross-legged on the ground with the six icons of harmony drawn on the floor in a circle around him. Those symbols took the shape of the six original Elements of Harmony. Twilight blushed and hid a frown of embarrassment behind a hoof upon seeing Alf showering Twilight’s cutie mark with more reverence than an addict.

Presently, Alf was holding the nanite canister above Twilight’s cutie mark. “O Blessed Lavender Goddess of Depthless Wisdom and Benevolence, I bind my soul to your will. Do with me as your desire demands.”

Alf continued on, but by now Twilight was immensely grateful that the alien was facing away from her so she could bury her face into a wing. By Celestia, please stop, you’re so embarrassing.

Sawbones was not wearing his doctor’s coat, so he had no compulsion against playfully jabbing her leg. When her ear directed towards him, Sawbones whispered, “Is this the sort of thing you’ve been teaching him? Is this a subtle way of telling me to—”

“Absolutely not!” Twilight hissed. “I will banish you to the couch.”

Sawbones closed his eyes and waved a hoof in reverence, “O thou of unfathomably perfect lavender beauty, your very hoofsteps cause flowers to bloom, angels to weep for joy, valkyries to rejoice, and—” Twilight bent down and shoved her muzzle into Sawbones’ own.

“That’s it, you’re on diaper duty for the next month.”

Sawbones cracked a mischievous grin. “It may ordinarily be the nurses’ job, but I’ve changed more than my fair share of diapers. I can handle a newborn.”

Before Twilight could think of a better punishment, she noticed Alf had stopped chanting. She turned towards him to find the alien was watching her. If he made any indication he heard any of the exchange, Alf made no show of it. “Goddess of Ponies, with your permission, I will join you at last.” Alf opened the nanite canister and made ready to drink it.

Twilight masked her embarrassed blush well and gave a curt nod. “You may. I hope it goes well for you.” Wish we could have studied these nanites longer. At least the canister could prove useful.

With one last prostrated bow towards Twilight, Alf put the canister to his lips and started drinking the nanites. The fluid they were suspended in made it an easy, if vile, experience. The cogitator entity had gone out of its way to make it taste repulsive. Alf nearly gagged on it more than once, but eventually downed its whole contents. He groaned at the end of the experience, shaking his head out of revulsion.

A few moments went by with nothing happening. A minute. Three. Eventually, Twilight and Sawbones shared a questioning look while Alf simply sat there quietly meditating. “Um, Alf,” Twilight hazarded, interrupting him. “Aren’t you supposed to be turning into a pony of some kind?”

Alf scoffed at the notion. “I should hope so. Why do you ask?”

Twilight remembered seeing the collection of aliens under the ocean where one was in the middle of becoming some sort of sea creature. “I assumed the process would be…”

“Faster,” Sawbones finished, getting a nod out of Twilight.

“If you are referring to the method you witnessed in the sunken black sailer you found me in, nanites were the original means of transformation. It was deemed far too slow, so they were abandoned after faster methods were invented.”

Sawbones felt his professionalism spike at the idea of Alf suffering. “How slow are we talking here? Should I get something to help with that? A metabolic accelerator should be safe—”

He was cut off by Alf waving for silence. “I thank you, but no. I find it fitting that He Who Aided the Dead granted me these nanites.” Alf stared absently at the empty canister. “One last Spark Bearer consumed by the Liar’s Retribution.” He looked back at the ponies. “I must use it unaltered. No matter your intent, your efforts would sour this last act.” His breath hitched as a pain stretched across his upper left arm. Alf started sweating fluid that dried quickly, turning into threads of silk. “I would appreciate being put into a bath of oxygenated simple sugars soon, but it is not needed.” He turned to both ponies after pulling his gaze from his arm. “That much, at least, is acceptable.” Alf was almost successful in concealing the fiery pain that lanced through his left arms. Yet it proved too much too fast, and he bowled over, hissing in acute agony.

Twilight placed a restraining wing against Sawbones who tried to reach for him. The doctor looked at her, silently begging for permission to do his job. All he received, however, was a quiet shake of her head. “Very well, Alf,” Twilight said with no less concern. “If this is how you need it to happen, then so be it. I hope you survive this last trial.”

“As do I,” Alf said with strained brevity.

Not wishing to see her strange friend in agony as more of his skin turned into silk, Twilight gently prodded Sawbones to leave with a wing. “See you when,” and if, “you wake up.”

Twilight had to end up dragging Sawbones out of Alf’s quarters by the tail. “You’ve got to at least let me give him something to knock him out!”

“No, doctor.”

“What about a blow to the head at least if he doesn’t want meds?”

Twilight reached the door and gave him a sympathetic frown. “Yes, because that worked so well for me in the arena.”

“...Point taken.”

“And what happened to do no harm or do not medicate laws?”

“You wouldn’t complain about a scalpel being used for surgery,” Sawbones grumped as he allowed himself to be shoved out of the room. “And not for nothing, but Alf isn’t exactly in the right state of mind after taking a bunch of nanites that could be intoxicating or brainwashing him into saying that.”

“Which is now out of our control,” Twilight stated with iron after closing the door. The pair of marines guarding the door inched away from the irate princess. She gave Sawbones a sigh. “Look, I admire how you wish to help him, but Alf needs to do this for himself, his way. If he dies from this… it will at least be on his own terms.”

Without preparing himself ahead of time, Sawbones couldn’t drag himself into thinking professionally. “I can’t stand masochists.” He walked off still spouting supreme disgust. “Oh no, I like pain and suffering. It’s the only way I feel alive because society tells me so! Not like friends, family, something normal couldn’t do that instead.”

Twilight chased after him, glad he wasn’t making a scene. And now we’re at the part of the relationship where he loosens up. In spite of herself, Twilight couldn’t help but to smirk a little. “Different culture, doctor. There were plenty of weird ones in the old world.”

He growled dismissively and flailed a hoof. “Yeah, well, he wants to be part of our culture.”

Twilight shrugged before turning to leave. “True, but I’m sure he’ll be more receptive once he’s a pony.”

“One can only hope.”

With Sawbones going back on shift at the clinic, Twilight returned home after grabbing Spring Roll from the hospital nursery. The foal had been one of many who received immune boosters. As Twilight dropped the diaper bag on the kitchen bar, the little filly was bouncing and wiggling in her mother’s magic.

“Well aren’t you spritely today?” Twilight cooed. She kissed Spring’s nose, eliciting bubbling giggles out of the little earth filly. “You were such a good girl for the nurses today, we’re going to go flying. Whaddaya say?”

Spring Roll just babbled and clumsily flailed her legs. Heading back outside with the dark purple infant in tow, Twilight pushed off into gentle flight. Twilight placed Spring Roll on her withers so the infant had a stable platform to feel safe as her mother flew narrow laps around the interior of the dome.

Spring Roll wiggled happily, crying out in baby babble as Twilight’s ethereal mane blanketed her to near blindness of anything else. Only on the fifth lap did Twilight crane her head around to see there was a problem. “Hehe, oops. Lemme turn that off.”

With age-long experience, Twilight dimmed the fount of alicorn magic flowing through her just enough to cause her hair to revert to being corporeal strands. Using a bit of telekinesis, Twilight then pulled her still quite long mane out of Spring’s face so the infant could see the ground below them.

Twilight fully expected Spring Roll to show fear from being so far off the ground as nearly all earth foals did. A fear that was detrimental in a society of aircraft, skyscrapers, and future orbital activities. Studies say early introduction of high elevations can cure it before kindergarten. Experience from her previous earth daughters confirmed it.

As Twilight made her laps however, Spring Roll giggled the entire time, her eyes trying to focus on one point on the ground at a time. She made hard clumsy jerks trying to walk on air. Twilight hummed pleasantly. “Do you like being high up? Do you love flying, my little roly-poly?”

More excited squeals erupted from the filly, giving Twilight a pleased grin. So she doesn’t have acrophobia; that’s a first. This should be an easy upbringing in that respect, so no complaints here. I wonder if it’s that pegasus blood in her…

Both mother and daughter continued lapping the house for several minutes until a high priority call came in. Twilight halted into a hover as Voyager’s new avatar materialized. “Colonial Princess, there is a message from Admiral Thorn wishing to engage in trade.”

“Trade?” Twilight asked incredulously. “And here I was hoping we’d just leave each other alone until the Olympics.” Twilight alighted back to the grassy lawn and was about to accept the call when a few strands of loosened hair got in her eyes. Oops, almost forgot to turn the alicorn light on.

Taking a moment to fix her hair to her usual exact style, Twilight nodded at the AI. “Go ahead, Voyager.”

A large, flat screen appeared in front of her revealing Admiral Thorn resplendent in his dress uniform. What put Twilight off pace was that he was outside, standing on top of a building with the snowy peaks behind him. He was wearing a breathing mask, but no goggles. “Ahh, Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle… have I caught you at an inopportune time?”

He calls me when he’s not in his office? Twilight recovered from the mild surprise, and caught Spring Roll clumsily falling off. Clown. The last thing I need is letting you hurt yourself right in the middle of a call. She deftly deposited the foal on her back, allowing the baby to entertain herself by chewing on the flowing hair. “Depends on the nature of your call. I can multitask well enough.” Not like I keep a foalsitter on hoof at all times anyway.

Giving only a nod in acknowledgement, Thorn carried on as if the child wasn’t even there. “It has come to my understanding that you have developed a method of breathing the atmosphere without a need for masks.” Twilight gave him a brief sly grin. “My scientists have recently invented a device to allow anyone to do the same with eye protection. I feel it would be in both our interests to exchange these technologies, wouldn’t you say?”

Twilight’s ears stood at attention, and she ignored the slobber being added to her hair. “That it would.” She averted her gaze slightly. “Voyager, bring me the relevant data of the bio-filter.” Turning back to Thorn, Twilight adopted a cordial posture. “What form does your eye protection take?”

Thorn tapped a button on his HUD. A small representation of a griffin’s skull appeared with rings of bionic implants encircling the bone of the eye sockets. There was nothing else discernible, other than it projecting a thin golden barrier in front of the eyes. “An implant that is powered by the owner’s metabolic energy, so even mana exhaustion will not result in failure. It is designed to last a lifetime and be completely transparent to the user. As the skull of a child grows, the rings can separate and remain perfectly functional.”

That would bring us just one step away from being adapted to our new home. “Most impressive. Glad to see we were not doing parallel research. Provided there aren’t any listening devices in these implants, I’m sure we can make good use of them.”

Admiral Thorn gave an amused hum and half-smile. “It was tempting, but you and I both know we’re well past such games. You may take the blueprints apart piece by piece if you feel the need. Now,” he announced while waving his claw to dismiss the eye screen hologram. “Let’s move on to this air filter of yours.”

Spring Roll was getting antsy, so Twilight started rolling the little tyke in midair, causing her to squeal happily. All the while, she gave a mental command to her personal display to depict the throat filter in the same manner as Thorn did for his eye screen. Voyager took the initiative to have the infant’s shouting ignored in the transmission. The hologram Twilight presented was actually the original scan of Prism’s throat when she first acquired it. “Our physicians have taken to calling it the X-10 after the old gas masks used during the war.”

“That Laughter tenet of yours at play again,” Thorn replied flatly.

“Old habits,” Twilight conceded with a head tilt. “It’s entirely biological, and with a bit of genetic tailoring, built into the subject’s genes. And since it is grown from the body’s own cells, there is no chance of rejection.” Thorn took on a concerned scowl but remained silent. “Not only does the filter function perfectly enough to allow indefinite exposure to the native air, it has some tangible effectiveness at screening smoke before reaching the lungs.” Her tone took on just a touch of mirth. “It’s made some of my former smokers nervous about when and if I allow tobacco to be grown again.”

“I’m sure it has,” Thorn stated with reciprocated good humor. “How is it with miasma?”

Twilight couldn’t stop herself from wiggling an uncertain hoof. “I wouldn’t know to be honest. We were so focused on breathing normal air, we didn’t think to test for miasma resilience. Even so, I would strongly recommend not talking a stroll through it.”

“A pity, but this filter is usable nonetheless. I think we can agree on an equal trade here. I am prepared to transmit all necessary files should you feel the same.”

Twilight had to think about it for a moment, scrunching her face all the while. Thorn knows if he was not on the level, he’d be creating a diplomatic incident when neither of us can afford one. His honor wouldn’t allow it. “Deal. Voyager, send the collected genetic mapping data to the Dominion.” At the same time, Thorn tabbed a few commands of his own.

Twilight was a bit surprised to see the hologram of the X-10 break apart into cubes and funnel in behind Thorn’s camera. Likewise, the files Thorn sent over did the reverse, coming in as a spiral before cubing into the shape of paper filled folders. Has somepony been messing with Voyager again? He’s never been so artistic before.

“I’ll have these forwarded to the necessary experts,” Thorn announced, snapping Twilight back to the conversation. “Should they have any further questions, I trust my people can call your people, yes?”

“Provided the same invitation is offered to us, then for the purposes of the X-10, then that is acceptable.”

“Until next time,” Thorn said with a nod. He swiped, ending the call.

Twilight briefly amused herself by thumbing through the holographic files filled with potentially fascinating data. I think I’ll just keep a copy of this for my own perusal. “Voyager, send this to Clattering Cog. I want this adapted to pony physiology asap.”

“Affirmative, Colonial Princess.”

Now I just have to figure out who’s been messing with your code. I let court distract me from asking Prism yesterday after the duel. I know I never authorized anything of the sort.

Thorn scowled at the folders floating in his HUD. A deep sense of disgust filled him and he reflexively hid it behind a smoldering grimace. “Doctor Urian, I trust you were paying attention.”

The griffin in question stepped away from the chair that had been off camera. “Yes sir. You’re not actually planning on making us use that filter as is are you?”

Thorn shook his head. “You can put your fears to rest, Doctor. I will not repeat the mistakes of Laboratory Five nor Gnashing Fang in any capacity. Outside of correcting genetic diseases, I forbid all gene tailoring research.”

Urian visibly sagged in relief. “That… that is good to hear, Admiral. But what of Gleaming Scythe? Don’t all changelings engage in such research?”

“That is a matter…” Thorn fumed against foul memories and the needs of the hybrid. If Twilight Sparkle is freely adapting this throat filter, then that could leave Praxia with nearly a free hoof to do whatever she wants with her brood. Controlling his bile, Thorn made a short cutting gesture at the scientist. “She is a special case. So long as she only performs such research on her brood alone, I can allow some tailoring.”

Urian kept quiet for fear of worsening Thorn’s mood with the wrong word. Thorn took a moment to recenter himself. “Let us focus on the task at hand. You will delegate the administration of the eye screen to Doctor Gelda and her team. I want you modifying this bio-filter into an acceptable substitute.”

Urian thumbed through the files before coming across the 3D model of the filter. He scrutinized it carefully for a minute or two. That gave Thorn time to address other matters until the older griffin spoke up again. “Yes… that should be of only a minor concern, Admiral. The use of channels directing the captured airborne particles to the stomach for destruction is quite elegant in its efficiency. A pity the Equestrians wasted such efforts on making it purely biological. But now that I have a working model to reverse engineer, it should not take too terribly long.”

“Excellent. I will be expecting progress reports every week.” Urian thumped a crisp salute before flying off, leaving Thorn to remain by himself. Thorn turned his gaze towards the approximate direction of Elysium. “Don’t slip too far down this slope, Colonial Princess; it will only lead to your ultimate destruction.” His gaze darkened. “And a broken rival is a useless rival.”

Author's Notes:

Orginally, the fight was going to be done from Twilight's point of view, but my editors suggested it would have been better to do it from Alf's instead. But rather than throw out a complete scene, I decided to just have it in its own little semi-canon mini-chapter.

Do note that by semi-canon, I mean that for any inconsistencies between the two fights, you should turn to this chapter (not the linked one) for canon.

Now to our regularly scheduled programming.

Does Thorn secretly wish to become Skynet? Will Alf turn into a pretty pink pony? Can Prism ever get Silver to stop talking about weight ratios in structural engineering? Will Pinkie transcend time and space and appear next episode!?!?

Find all or none of these answers and mooore, next time in Beyond Pony Planet!!

23: Fear

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Far out on the northernmost border of Elysium, Prism hovered behind a light tank that was facing out towards the ocean. Buoys bobbed in the waves at set distances in the midday light. The tank was unlike the old tracked vehicles of Equis, and looked more like an armored car to the tri-color maned mare. I don’t care what Spike says, this is not a tank.

The vehicle known as a Greyhound sat on four large wheels attached to a stripped down chassis. The currently vacant driver’s cabin sat up front while the elevated gunner’s turret was situated at the back. Without any armor plating, Prism could see everything from the engine to the magazine racks. At least Spike made sure this rust bucket was weatherproof… well, except for miasma at least.

The turret stuttered left before correcting itself back to the right. Prism could see Silver Belle grumbling to himself inside the gunner’s pod that looked more akin to a cockpit than an armored section. Except for the back and a bit on top of him, Silver was surrounded by transparent aluminum that had a thin sheen of blue magic made to protect against corrosive elements.

“Come on, dude, you had this nailed down yesterday!”

“I know, I know,” Silver fussed as he fidgeted in his seat. “Somepony must have mucked with the controls last night or something.”

“Sure they did, buddy boy, just let me know when you’re ready to fire.” Prism snickered at the engineer, but also allowed herself to smile at the sight of him.

It took Silver a bit longer, but eventually he turned around to wave at her, only for the turret to follow his eyes. It spun around and Prism suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of an energy cannon. “Gah!” Prism freaked and dove for the beach.

Silver cursed aloud, but Prism was too busy making sure that the gun wasn’t aimed at her anymore. Once her fear bled away, Prism crept along towards the notch between the left two wheels so she could climb up to the gunner pod. “Silver, I swear! How many times are you going to forget that thing tracks your eyes!?”

With the gun now immobile, she banged on the cockpit to find the stallion cringing as far back as his chair would allow. “Cut me some slack, PF, I made sure the safety was on and there wasn’t a cartridge loaded yet. I fix these things, not pilot them.”

“You have heard of weapon safety before, haven’t you?” If there was one curse of being Twilight’s daughter, it was that the pesky logical side of her brain liked to pipe in when it wasn’t wanted. You know full well the gun wouldn’t have fired anyway because you’re tagged as a friendly, right? it reminded the rest of the annoyed mare. Fuming at the logical side of herself, Prism huffed and slid back down to the ground. “Besides, you don’t get that excuse because you’re always my gunner in Wing Flight MX.”

“That’s VR, not RL, totally different.”

Prism decided it wasn’t worth retorting further. I’m not going to let anything sour the Flight of Feathers. Just keep playing it cool until he’s ready. After that, he’s more than welcome to stay out of the field.

She watched him finish getting settled in and wave at her to warn of outgoing fire. Nodding in response, Prism used her personal display to have her ear protectors start a sonic dampener spell. After giving a return signal, Silver aimed at the closest target twenty yards out to sea. The barrel of the cannon stretched out to half the length of the Greyhound, but the suspension bore it with almost no visible sway.

With a mighty whomp the armored car rocked on its wheels as the shot rocketed downrange. Prism watched with anticipation, only for the first shot to go wide to the left. Prism started to give some advice until Twilight’s picture popped up with a jolly ringtone. “B-ugh—doesn’t she know I’m busy?!”

Barely hiding her pout, Prism Flash physically tapped the ringing picture, allowing a lively holographic face of her mother to appear. “Hey, Little Wing, I meant to ask you something during breakfast, but Spring Roll decided that was a great time to explode her diaper, and I had to get a hazmat team to sterilize the second floor of the cafeteria. There were casualties.”

“Is that what that alarm was?” Prism responded almost out of reflex, and completely dropping her irritation. “Wait, what do you mean a hazmat team? She’s just a normal foal isn’t she?”

Twilight breathed in through clenched teeth and flattened her ears. “Yeah… seeing how you and Silver are getting along, I better go ahead and tell you this now. When it comes to being the child of an alicorn, a foal can be the cutest little avatar of Tartarus ever to exist. You know those horror stories Aunty Cadance used to tell about Flurry Heart nearly destroying the Crystal Empire even before her first birthday? Those were all true.” If Twilight had been banking on Prism not having morbid curiosity about that little gossip nugget, she was sorely disappointed by what her daughter said next.

“Hold the phone. Are you telling me all those other stories about how I used to create hurricanes inside our old castle were true too?”

“You were at least manageable after a few months. Anyway, the reason why I’m calling is Voyager. You’ve seen his new avatar, yes?”

Prism had to take a long moment to shift gears. “Oh yeah. He looks like that redmane Vaper Daper from that stupid western movie nopony liked. I heard it bombed so hard some of the actors were blacklisted.” Prism cackled so hard she had to wipe a tear from her eye. “I can’t believe you have the quads to authorize changing his avatar to that. Bravo, mom, bravo.”

Twilight’s flat and unamused face could have been made into a poster for curbing enthusiasm. “Yes, well, that’s the thing. I didn’t authorize it.”

“Oh.” Prism searched her mother’s stony face for the punchline, and found nothing. “So uh… have you tried talking to the IT department?”

“Of course I did,” Twilight grumbled as her daughter failed to hide more snickering behind a hoof. “But none of them confessed and Voyager is adamant that he did it to himself, and I’m not buying that for one second. Which is why I called you to see if you knew anything.”

Prism shrugged helplessly. “I haven’t heard anything about a prankster; if I had I’d be morally obligated to hoofbump him for pranking the whole colony. That’s alicorn tier—wait a second.” Prism scrunched her face in concentration while her mother was caught between supreme annoyance and detective mode. “Now that I think about it, Silver hangs out with Hexadecimal a lot. That guy bored me to tears one time after telling me how ‘bombastic’ that movie was. He might be your stallion.”

“I already spoke to Hexadecimal,” Twilight replied with a deepening scowl. “He said he had nothing to do with this. If he actually lied to me…”

Prism flicked a wing in mild amusement. “Mom, if there’s one thing Silver managed to teach me about programming, it’s that computers always do exactly what you tell them to do, not necessarily what you want them to. Did the IT team just so happen to deploy a patch within the past few days?”

Twilight’s foul mood faltered at having to think a bit. “I believe so, yes. But the report I got from them said it was just a minor personality improvement.”

“Momma, I’m just spitballing here, but you think maybe that could be the reason it modified itself?” When Twilight didn’t immediately reply, Prism continued. “I mean, think about it. Voyager was borderline sapient when we left the old world, and the main IT crew he’s been interacting with ever since we got here has a hard-on for some craptastic movie that brings shame to the phrase ‘cult classic’. He’s probably just trying on a persona his handlers would like most.”

“Oh for the love of tasteful cinema you might be right,” Twilight moaned as she stretched her face with her hooves. “So Voyager’s first thought as to what makes a good face for the admin AI of the whole colony is a fraudulent banker?”

“You actually watched that movie?” Prism guffawed. “You have my sympathies.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “Well, thanks for the input. I’ll have to have a little chat with Hexadecimal and the others after court today.”

“Have fun with that.”

Twilight’s hologram exploded as she ended the call, and just then a target buoy a hundred yards out did the same in a cloud of mana. “Ha! There ya go, Silvy, just like the simulators!”

Silver had the wits to disconnect the eye tracker before he turned around to give Prism a hoof pump. “Yeah, it only took a week.”

“We all gotta start somewhere, right?” Prism snarked back.

From the comfort of Spring Roll’s nursery, Twilight was gently rocking the sleeping foal to the soft chimes of a music box. Yet to Twilight’s eyes, she sat in a virtual throne room where an earth pony was bowing politely. “I must thank you again for seeing me on this matter, Colonial Princess.”

“Your concerns were valid, Honeycomb,” Twilight replied with a slight nod. “You can be assured I’ll authorize the order to have some bee queens cloned by Friday.”

Honeycomb gave one last bow before vanishing from the courtroom. Well, that wraps up court for the time being.

Twilight gazed down at her dark purple daughter and tittered while playing with a lock of her hair. Since she’s asleep, I can prowl the hangouts. “Voyager!” she called out.

The AI’s avatar materialized before her. “Yes, Colonial Princess?”

Twilight’s original thought was derailed by seeing the avatar. Ugh, I wouldn’t mind it so much if I hadn’t been subjected to that movie by Luna for months on end. I can’t fathom why she liked it so much. “Voyager, did you select that avatar yourself?”

“Affirmative.”

“May I ask what prompted this?” Twilight kept her tone both calm and friendly. Voyager may not be capable of emotion, but he knows how to read and respond to them.

“After deployment of service patch 2526-B9C, I came to the realization that my present avatar was held in low or apathetic regard by the majority of the population. Logic dictated my function could be better served if I took a more likeable appearance that was also high on the professional scale.”

Twilight’s face went completely flat with a modest scowl. “And that logic told you to take on the likeness of a villainous, embezzling banker in a horrible movie?”

The avatar did a fine job of mimicking confusion. “That is correct, Colonial Princess.”

Twilight gave a long, drawn out, heavy sigh as she squeezed the bridge of her muzzle. “I swear, this has to be a subconscious prank; because I thought I screened this kind of stupid out of the colonist roster.” Twilight clapped her hooves and took on a more excited and almost perky tone. “Okay, first things first. Voyager, I want you to tell the team that released that last patch to reevaluate your logic centers. With a plunger if they have to.”

“As you command.”

“Secondly, inform…” Twilight used a series of magic and hoof commands to bring up a roster of VR graphic designers. She gave the AI a glance, only for her mind to keep recalling that torment of a movie. “Tell Bitmap he is to commission you a collection of new avatars to choose from. Hopefully by the time he’s done working, your logic will be normal again.”

“Orders relayed.” The AI regarded Twilight for a machine’s eternity, but barely a few heartbeats for Twilight. “Is my logic impaired?”

Twilight train of thought had been going into her next routine, but the question brought it to a halt. Habit forced her to study the avatar for any sign of distress. As per usual, if the AI wasn’t actively mimicking emotions, he would reveal nothing, as he did now. “Partly, at least when it comes to visual appeal. I have no problem with you expressing yourself,” since that’s a thing now, “but just like everypony else you want to look your best, right?”

Voyager stared at her unblinking. Had he been a flesh and blood pony, Twilight would have been unnerved. “Records indicate poor or disliked appearance results in distractions, reducing productivity. Your logic is sound. Thank you, Colonial Princess.”

“Happy to help,” Twilight responded with a glad smile. “Now, what screenname should we use today?”

Upon hearing the command, Voyager brought up a large list of recent discussion threads and VR forums on her personal display. Many of them were flagged as still being quite active. Some of the more interesting posts had highlighted keywords. “Star Mare093 has been called out on knowing a bit too much of your decisions, and some might suspect you.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a wing, and kept Spring Roll asleep in the crook of her forelegs. “Make some obviously ignorant statements about the accusers’ parentage and their love lives, and then abandon the name.”

Voyager’s avatar flickered a bit. “Done. Glittering DOunut007 did manage to get several ponies to confess their plans to hijack two of the cloning pods to grow a breeding pair of cats.”

“How far into this plan are they?”

“Velvent Sqaude 41 and Down to Earth Home Diggigity Dee claim to be in the middle of figuring out how to bribe the medical staff for genetic information and access to the pods.”

“I think we’ve gone on long enough without pets.” Twilight imagined Spring Roll playing with a kitten and puppy, all the while taking countless pictures. And of course post them all online so that Spring can get embarrassed about them in high school. Twilight cackled at one of the most fun perks of being a parent: embarrassing her kids. “Tell the relevant staff to start cloning both dogs and cats. And make a general announcement about it in the news. I’d rather not have well-meaning ponies commit a crime just to bring pets back.”

“Acknowledged. There—one moment…” Twilight furrowed a brow at the AI’s hesitation. “There is a VR forum discussing the morality of implementing a modified griffin eye screen.”

“Is that so?” I may have the final word on anything, but one does not garner true loyalty by ignoring your subjects. “Give me the username Tatertot Musket and disguise me as an earth pony with brown and egg white colors.”

With only a nod in acknowledgement, both Voyager and the room surrounding Twilight seemed to disappear and was replaced by a large circular room. The fringes of the room looked like large descending stairs leading to a large circular table. Seated at this table were five ponies in the middle of active conversation. Everything they said appeared as text in front of and slightly above them. Well over three dozen ponies watched and listened in on the massive steps. The lighting of the room was gentle but had no detectable source outside of the glow coming from under the table and the hovering cushions which the chatters were sitting on.

Twilight’s avatar materialized on the upper portion of the observer stairs, and behind the lone empty cushion at the table. She took a moment to scan the audience. The majority of them were in rapt attention, with the occasional green or red light signifying their stance on what was said below. Voyager highlighted only a scant few who were simply bots or ponies that had gone idle.

“I’m telling you, the use of this eye shield is completely unnecessary and frankly a waste of a good bargaining chip on the Princess’ part,” decried one stallion at the table, drawing Twilight’s attention back to the conversation. “Why would we even consider that a fair trade when we have perfectly good goggles or helmets that can do the same darn thing?”

“Obviously so we don’t have to put them on to go outside,” snared a nasally mare. “That’s sorta the whole point of the thing, duh.”

Twilight scanned the speakers. Outside of having the typical screen names, all of the avatars were randomly generated throwaways, save two out of the five. An orange and forest green alicorn stallion sat facing Twilight with the name “The Prince of Common Sense”. He was also the one denouncing the use of the griffin eye screen. The other was a thus far silent mare who had the body of a cream colored mythical seapony. Lady Atlanta. I don’t often see her in political forums.

“How do we know for sure the eye thing isn’t a spy device?” accused one of the bland mare avatars by the name Toothpaste789. “You all heard about them hacking our satellite transmissions during that whole fake gamma fiasco. Who’s to say Thorn’s so-called honor isn’t a bunch of bull?”

Since neither wings nor magic was needed to fly, Twilight walked on thin air up and over the crowd as she made her way to the empty chair.

“Let’s not get pulled into a tangent,” Common Sense chirped in while softly rapping a hoof on the table. “That is a matter for the Princess to handle. We should keep our focus on the eye screen itself, namely, the fact that it should only be a temporary and entirely elective option.”

By now Twilight had reached the table. “May I?”

The others studied Twilight’s equally bland avatar. “Sure hop right in,” the stallion user Coltwolfboar offered with an indignant wave of a hoof. “I hope you don’t end up being a silent sitter as well.” He stole a glance at Lady Atlanta. As Twilight took her seat, the table expanded until it could comfortably fit a new cushion. Twilight nodded in thanks and sat down.

Common Sense glanced around, indirectly prompting Twilight to do the same. The audience stands had also expanded, with over twenty more ponies listening in. “Looks like our little debate is getting some notice.” He faced the other members of the table. “Why don’t we do a quick recap of the core issue for the Princess?”

Twilight froze, but otherwise remained cool at the undirected request. Common Sense didn’t so much as glance at her as he continued. “If we’ve gotten this big, Voyager and the Princess are bound to take note of us by now.”

“So much for speaking freely now,” Coltwolfboar grumbled hotly. “And just when things were getting good.”

Twilight scowled at the sullen mood threatening to take hold. “There’s nothing wrong with open discussion is there?” All eyes at the table turned towards her. “Last I checked, the Princess hasn’t reinstated the alphabet soup of watchdogs now has she?”

“She doesn’t need to with Voyager around,” Coltwolfboar contested with a hoof stomp on the table. A series of red lights encompassed the audience, but a few greens were there too. “At least some of you know how things are.”

The nerve! I am not like Princess Luna, okay! Twilight bit her lip in the real world while keeping her avatar indifferent.

If ponies naturally spoke in a sing-song cadence, Lady Atlanta was especially guilty of it. “Please, calm yourself. Nothing we have said here so far couldn’t be spoken of openly. I agree with The Prince. Let’s stay on topic.” As if to make sure that happened, Atlanta did a series of hoof commands until the schematics of the eye screen were ballooned up above the table for all to see. “The eye screen. Assuming the ponies responsible for reverse engineering it are successful, I say we should embrace it for the time being as one step closer to making this world a new home.”

The last pony of the group was deliberately androgynous with no mane and basic tan fur. It even spoke in a synthetic genderless tone. Only the name “Pony1187” gave anyone anything to go by. “Agreed. But I say we shouldn’t stop there.” Pony1187 waved the image of the eye screen away and brought up a chunk of yellow crystal. “Just in case anypony forgot, the Pathfinders found this stuff: Prismite. I have sources that tell me this stuff is not only a warm superconductor, but is also hypoallergenic. We could make some serious bionics with this stuff.”

“And?” Toothpaste jabbed with disinterest. “In case you forgot the last two hundred years when we cured Cyberbond Sclerosis, we don’t need some new rock to put in replacement limbs.”

“You’re missing the point,” Pony1187 replied with a huff. “We could create actual brain implants with this. Goodbye PD goggles and horn circlets. We could make everypony a genius if we start redevelopment with this! And that’s just the start!” Pony1187 exclaimed while gesturing wildly.

Twilight saw a large number of the audience light up green, but just as many went red. It would be interesting, but surgery like that sounds irreversible, not to mention dangerous.

“Children, please,” Common Sense chided. “We can leave futuristics for another chat room.” He pushed the picture of Prismite aside and replaced the eye screen. “I for one, say we are on a dangerous slope. First the X-10 was an all but mandatory enhancement to take, but now we have the same situation with a bionic implant.” He glared at Pony1187 in particular for a moment, getting a nervous furrowed brow out of Twilight. “How many changes are we going to submit to when it should be the planet that changes, not us?”

“Terraforming?” Coltwolfboar snarked behind crossed forelegs. “We’re struggling enough as it is between the critters and the fungi that keep trying to worm their way through the vents. Like it or not, this,” he barked while stomping the floor, “is our home now. There’s nothing wrong with adapting to it.”

Toothpaste cut in while adjusting a pair of floating glasses on her nose. “Common Sense has something of a point. Even if we adapted ourselves to the atmosphere, the sheer particle density in the outside air makes some unprotected electronics short out within days or hours. Air filters are easy enough to make, but producing materials and paints compatible with those same electronics would cost us supplies we can’t manufacture yet.”

Twilight was all too familiar with that particular problem, and grimaced at being reminded of it.

The blank avatar of Pony1187 cracked a wide off-kilter grin. “Crack another win for Prismite.” As all eyes turned to him, he threw up a picture of the same yellow crystal being processed into thin strips. “Check it. This stuff doesn’t need to be refined, per se, to be used in chips. Only cut into thin enough pieces to do the job. Prismite doesn’t give two cracked horns about no freakin’ dust since this stuff is found au naturale out there.”

“That’s a nice theory,” Coltwolfboar scoffed with a dismissive wave of a hoof, “but my sources tell me that’s only a preliminary finding.”

The seapony of the group placed a reassuring hoof on the table towards Pony1187. “Your heart is in the right place… just a bit misdirected.” She floated above her chair and turned towards both Coltwolfboar and Common Sense. “There is nothing wrong with letting go of old norms for better ones. As terrible as the loss of Equis was, there is a silver lining. We are no longer tethered to the old baggage the old world shackled us to. I say we have a moral imperative to adapt to survive. If that means adapting our bodies, then so be it.”

“So glad you could finally grace us with your wisdom,” Toothpaste mocked. “Too bad it’s flat wrong.”

“There’s no need for such hostility,” Common Sense replied with a calming wave of a wing. “We do not convince people of anything by using anger.” Multiple members of the audience flashed green. He watched Toothpaste grumble and sit back while Pony1187 started fussing with a list of data files. Lady Atlanta merely smiled and gave a nod of thanks towards Common Sense. The faux alicorn eventually turned to Twilight, his eyes glancing slightly upward to read her name. “You’ve kept your own counsel thus far, Miss Tatertot Musket. How do you feel about the Princess’ current path of accepting these gene edits and bionics?”

Twilight found herself giving a regal smile by force of habit, and had to consciously shift to one with more teeth and casualness to keep up appearances. “Since you’re asking me… there’s nothing wrong with abiding by the first law of nature: survival of the fittest. At present, we ponies are not yet fit to survive openly on the planet; we have to create artificial biomes. Not to mention we have absolutely no natural immunity to any pathogens out there. It is far easier to change a small piece of ourselves to survive the outside air. In doing so, we can still hold onto who we are as a people.”

“And what if we can’t?” Coltwolfboar challenged while toeing the line between cordial and irritated. “What if some ponies turn themselves into mutants like Atlanta wants us to, or a bunch of robots like that nutjob?” He jabbed a hoof at Pony1187 who groaned at him.

“You’re so shortsighted, Colt. Robotics are the future! Now that we’re not under Celestia’s laws, and have Prismite, we can finally be one with the net.”

“Are you sure you joined the right channel, Pony?” Toothpaste bantered with a scowl.

Twilight could sense the festering attitudes were going to block anyone from accepting any conflicting ideas and stepped in. “Our evolution, whatever path it takes, be it natural, artificial, or bionic, should do nothing to divide us.” Twilight felt that old warmth of friendship as she remembered her multiple lifetimes of friends. “Even if ponies went to the logical extremes in some cases, we could just see them as a new tribe. No matter what, we’re all ponies,” Twilight finished, echoing an old friend.

“All I’m hearing are flowery words for ‘diverse ponies will always stay united,’” Toothpaste challenged with pain in her voice. “What if some ponies forget that we’re all ponies, huh? What if some of us change themselves so much that we can’t recognize our neighbor anymore? Are we going to let some pony versions of the Gnashing Fangs roam around freely?” Toothpaste scanned the crowd, challenging each of them until her gaze landed on Pony1187. “Or some brain modified cyborgs that could turn insane with a computer virus!?”

Some of the old bloodied iron that Twilight had summoned the day she killed Fire Shrine leaked into her diamond hard face as she bore a hole into Toothpaste’s skull with just her look. “That is the challenge to which we as a generation must remain vigilant as we chart this frontier. Granted, dabbling in our genes or advanced bionics is dangerous; only a foal would say otherwise.” Twilight noticed Toothpaste’s glare slackening a touch. “The Princess is right to allow us to take the reins of our physical evolution, but the challenge of staying on a stable path must be met.” Twilight saw many green lights in the audience, and felt emboldened. Twilight wanted to break into a full-on lecture, but four hundred years had given her just enough restraint to avoid the trap. This time. If I say much more, too many of them will suspect me of being me.

Common Sense calmly clopped the table. “You have quite the knack for getting to the heart of the issue.” Everyone at the table looked back at him with a collection of emotions, and he saw Twilight leaning back and breathing out slowly. “You bring up some solid points, Miss Musket. Ones worth consideration at the very least. Why don’t we all take a break from this discussion for now and digest it? I know I have business in the real world to attend to, as I’m sure most of us do.”

A round of agreements, both thankful and grumbled rang out as ponies went offline en masse. Twilight Sparkle wanted to linger to see if Common Sense was just using that excuse to talk alone with her, but Spring Roll started crying, forcing her to go offline as well.

Silver Belle rocked in his turret as a trio of shots roared down range. The tracking computer outlined the trajectory, and with a small screen off to the side, gave a satellite view of the magic plasma rod and the target buoy that was moving south at a good clip. Two shots hit the mark within one foot of each other while the third went wide by only three feet. Silver pumped a hoof with a massive grin. “Boo ya! Nailed it!”

Prism was well behind the turret and dancing in midair at Silver’s success. ~“Great job, Silvy! We’ll move on to practicing while we’re moving next.”~

~“Roger that, Prism,”~ Silver cheered back as he engaged the safety.

Prism flew over and remotely opened the driver’s cockpit. The engine was already running from Silver’s training practice, so it was only a matter of getting settled in and checking the readouts. Her gaze danced across the various readings with an experienced eye. With practiced fluidity, she took the engine out of idle and revved. “You ready for this?”

Silver’s reply was drowned out by a priority call from Spike to both of them. The craggy old dragon looked riled up, and the command center around him was abuzz with radio chatter. Silver’s holographic face appeared next to Spike who had a larger window allotted to him. “Listen up you two, we have a situation involving the natives. They’re pissed and headed straight for the colony. I need every gun to the west, and that includes you two.”

Silver paled at the order. “Iii—ah, but Commander, I’m just an engineer, a mechanic really. I—”

“Just so happen to be one of the few ponies to have with real experience operating those tanks.” Spike crossed his arms and gave both of them a hard look. “So buck up, boy, you’re one very lucky engineer.”

“I… am?”

“He is?”

Spike gave a dangerous sharp toothed grin. “You’ve just been promoted to Combat Engineer Third Class. Congratulations.”

Prism Flash buckled her seatbelt and gave Spike a determined stare. The threat directed at her colony and family struck a chord that hardened her resolve. Is this what daddy felt when war came? That thought alone was all she needed to answer the call. “Where do you need us, sir?”

“Back to the garage for resupply. The two of you will not be going to the front, because I have some good news.” Spike waited to see if they would say anything, but nothing came fast enough. “There’s a worthy prize for your Flight of Feathers in the rear of the swarm.”

Tapping a holographic keyboard, Spike brought up direct satellite feed of the swarm. The camera was zoomed out to the cloud layer, allowing both Pathfinder and engineer alike to see the sheer scale of the swarm that was easily thousands strong if the densely packed red dots were anything to go by. Silver Belle bit his hoof and his ears were pressed flat. Prism however whistled at the sight of it. “By Hurricane’s Fury that’s a freak’n army! Just how hard did we kick the hornet’s nest?”

“A tactical error on my part,” Spike admitted with a little self-deprecation showing. “The threat that the lowlands nest was becoming was growing far faster than our predictions. Given the—ah,” Spike coughed into a fist, “lack of training you two had on the tank at the time, I felt it necessary to drop a few rounds of napalm on the nest to deal with the issue preemptively. Worked like a charm, but it seems the survivors know it was us who did it, and are coming for revenge.”

“Revenge?” Silver had to ask if only to try and control his terror a bit. “Well, that’s just swell.”

Spike had the camera zoom in on a number of dots towards the back which resolved into green highlighted figures, with one massive one trailing behind the whole swarm. It was turtle shaped with a dome-like back lined with a series of large scales rather than a single shell. It also had a tail that was positioned like a manticore’s, only much thicker, and with powerful looking muscles. A green acidic sphere was perched on the end of the tail. The ponderous beast moved on four tree-trunk legs with hundreds of smaller brethren swarming around it.

“This is like the burning of Everfree all over again.” Prism Flash gulped a lump in her throat at the thought of attacking that monster head on. “I didn’t think this planet’s monsters would actually work together like this.”

“Only now the monsters are attacking the right people,” Spike stated with irritation. “This whole problem could have been avoided if that damn false gamma ray attack had come just three days later, but we had to clear out that nest sooner rather than later.”

“How long will they take to get here?” Silver asked between chattering teeth.

“These things are not moving in an organized group,” Spike replied with a slight upturn in his mood. “The better trackers should reach the outer edges within two days, the civilians didn’t exactly clean up their route to the xenomass swamp. Thankfully though, it will take the entire swarm two weeks to get here in piecemeal. Ordinarily I would just airstrike the beasts into submission, but we can’t produce enough ordnance yet, so I’ve already ordered the anti-orbital railguns to be reconfigured into artillery. Between the air strikes and that artillery, our line can hold beyond the colony’s outer perimeter, but that’s going to take time. The faster elements, namely, the wolfbeetles and wasps will be here first.”

Prism felt the urge to stop sitting around, and started driving the armored car towards the garage while Spike continued the briefing. Prism’s mind kept drifting to Silver who was doing a miserable job of trying not to look absolutely horrified. He had sweat-drenched fur matting his forehead, but at least managed to keep from grinding his teeth. Prism kept one eye fixated on the giant behemoth as if it were the only prize worthy of the Flight of Feathers. “Commander, if this matters to your strategy, the Flight of Feathers can be satisfied by any dangerous game. A throng of weebles and wasps would be fine since they are directly threatening the colony.”

Spike gave her a long, almost fatherly look of shared disappointment. All he had to do was see the mix of abject terror and desperate hope in Silver’s profusely sweating face to see the root cause. “I know your mother will be glad to hear that. Ruby and Firefly are the only other Pathfinders who were close enough to be recalled, so update them on the situation when they arrive at the garage.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Spike ended the transmission, leaving only the sound of the engine to keep the silence at bay. Prism stewed in her seat, grumbling incoherently. Mom and dad got to take out a whole pod of hydras on their FoF. Her eyes softened at seeing how Silver was forcefully trying to control his breathing. I’m such an idiot. He could barely handle hunting a single baddy, not go right into the heart of a freak’n army.

Silver Belle was elbow deep in the Greyhound’s turret coolant system fussing with a hand-held tool. The magic emitted by the wand shaped tool was correcting structural errors the shakedown exercises exposed. Tremors running down his foreleg rattled the green beam of mana from the tool, which wasn’t helped by the nervous tic in his right ear. Keep it together, colt, come on. He clenched his teeth to keep the beam stable and on target. His display goggles bugged him every so often when he went off target.

He finished repairing one hairline crack and was about to move on to the next when a hoof slapped him hard between the wings. “Ahh!” Silver dropped the wand and jumped out of the tank in panic. He landed on his back with Firefly looking down at him with an unamused scowl. “You are one jumpy bat today.”

Silver sagged with a sigh before dragging himself up. “Aren’t you?” Now that he got a good look at his unicorn friend, he noticed Firefly was resting the barrel of a long coilgun on his shoulder, and holding up the butt of the weapon in his magic. “We’ve got a whole Everfree Forest pissed at us just because we had to bomb their nest!”

“And?” Firefly asked with genuine confusion. “Did you miss the part where the boys in green have been melting every large and dangerous critter within a hundred miles of colony almost since we landed? That nest needed to go before the whole area became infested.”

Silver looked down at the tool still strapped to his hoof. It jittered and shook from his trembling leg. “Then couldn’t we have at least waited until we had a trained and ready tank corps? None of the other engineers are going out there.”

Firefly’s scowl loosed into a sad frown. He glanced further down the room where Ruby and Prism were in the middle of discussing details with Spike. He turned back towards Silver to find him already shoving his head back into the Greyhound. He set the coilgun on a convenient rack on the side of the vehicle and got up close enough for only Silver to hear him. “Look, buddy, I get it. We all lost family in the war. You just wanted a quiet safe job where the biggest danger was pissing off your boss, but where you still get the chance to rub elbows with the big shots.”

Silver switched his tool off and glanced sideways at his lifelong friend. “Is that really too much to ask?”

“It is when you try to woo one of the biggest shots around, who happens to have so much hero blood in her it’s actually kinda scary.”

Through his sullen thoughts, it took Silver a moment or two to actually comprehend what Firefly just said. When he did, Silver climbed back out of the compartment to give his friend a baffled look. “What do you mean by that?”

Firefly pointed at the mare in question, drawing Silver’s gaze towards Prism. Even though they were too far away to be in earshot, Silver could still see her stoic face was masking a bout of sadness in the way she carried herself. “I’ve known that clown ever since boot camp, and I can tell you right here and now she wants to claim that big hulking turtle thing like a cat wants catnip.” Firefly’s eyes lit up and pulled Silver’s face into his and started whispering conspiratorially. “Speaking of cats, I got word somepony’s going to come through for a cat clone, and I got dibs on the female. I’m going to make me a mint by breeding her, but I’ll give you a discount, whaddaya say? A fuzzy furry kitty could cheer PF up in a real hurry.”

The mention of the turtle monster made Silver wilt to the point where his wings drooped along with his ears. “She was going to originally. That turtle thing… for the Flight of Feathers.”

Firefly’s eyes narrowed at the miserable stallion standing before him. “Oh hell no, you did not talk her out of fragging that thing just because there’s a swarm coming at us, did you?”

“Of course not!” Silver hissed with some semblance of indignant irritation. “I said nothing of the sort.”

Firefly rolled his jaw and replied in a snide tone. “I bet you didn’t have to after pissing yourself.”

“Oh come on, Fire.” Silver shoved him off with a grunt. He readjusted his goggles and got back to work finishing his repairs, and nearly had to shout to be heard over the tool’s buzzing. “I’m not a soldier, I’m not a Pathfinder, I just want to be the guy you lot come to to fix stuff.”

“Ahhh, isn’t that convenient?” Firefly yanked Silver out of the compartment and gave him an evil eye. “Boy, if you want be the fixer, then fix this crap right now or she’ll never forgive you for this.”

“But it was her idea.”

“Yeah, after reacting to your sorry tail. This is the Flight of Feathers we’re talking about. If you wuss out on her over this, she’ll remember it until the day she dies… which just might be never.”

Silver pulled away from the evil eye, if only so he wouldn’t get freaked out by it. “Since when did you care about the FoF?”

“Since just now.” Firefly hit Silver’s chest somewhere between a tap and a not-so-friendly jab. “You probably got the hottest and rarest piece of tail on the planet pining for you, and you’re just going to disappoint her in the worst possible way you’re capable of? I’d be grabbing some popcorn to watch the show if you weren’t my friend. That, and the whole monster horde coming our way too, I guess.”

“You really think it’s a good idea to go that far into the horde just to kill one big thing out of hundreds of big things, where the both of us could flipping die if any of them catch wind that we’re there?”

Firefly turned to look back at Prism with a leer. “If I was the one tapping that, damn right I would.” Then he shrugged and retrieved his coilgun. “But then again, I’m not some pansy who’s too scared of squishing a bug or two to marry the freakin’ daughter of the Princess.” Firefly hefted the weapon back on his withers and gave Silver a mocking salute, and turned to leave. “I can only kick you to the finish line, my friend, but you gotta cross it yourself.”

Silver nervously rubbed the side of his leg, his mind warring with itself. “There’s only a swarm between me and that finish line, ya know.”

Firefly shrugged with his back turned. “Eh, it’s outta my hooves now, you gotta ask yourself how far you’re willing to go with her, not me. See you in the field, gunnerboy.”

Firefly cantered off, leaving Silver to stare blankly the ground. Unbidden memories of the charred remains of his childhood home bubbled to the surface. A gaping hole in the roof. An unexploded shell that had crashed into the living room. A desiccated foreleg stuck out of the crater, and his younger self stood frozen staring at it, he couldn’t remember for how long anymore.

Silver squeezed his eyes shut to hold the tears back. This isn’t a war. It’s just a large scale extermination. Just really pissed off monsters. Silver swallowed the bile in his mouth and looked towards Prism. By now, the mare had ended her briefing with the others and was flying towards him.

He balked and hastily set his goggles to opaque to hide his reddened eyes. “Hhhey, Prism.”

Prism cracked a weak lopsided smile. “Hey back. Our ride good to go?”

Silver ground his teeth and jabbed a hoof back at the open panel. “Almost, just touching up the coolant pump. We still headed to the front?”

“In a way,” she responded with a shrug. “The infantry will be setting up hard points where us ‘tanks’ will be roaming around shooting stuff outrider style. Anything too big for us to handle are to be led into the infantry to take care of. Everything else will be hit by either artillery or airstrikes until the beasties decide we’re not worth it.”

Silver nodded silently, momentarily not trusting his voice. “Nnno time like the present, right?”

Her smile didn’t grow like he had hoped; it just remained steady. “Come on, I’ll grab some extra MREs while you finish the repairs. We gotta clear out in an hour.”

“It won’t take half that time,” Silver said with more pep in his voice at being able to cling to something he was good at. “I’ll probably be done with the checklist before you get back.”

“Cool… cool.” Prism hesitated for a long awkward moment before turning to fly off for the rations.

“Ah, Prism!” he called out, making her stop and look at him. What he wanted to say—to tell her to chase down that turtle monster—died on his tongue. His ears nearly went flat as he deflated. “We’ll do great out there with you at the helm.”

She nodded with that faint smile returning. “Sure we will. And I know you’ll be great alongside me, right?”

“Every step of the way.”

With one final nod of forced approval, Prism sped off, leaving Silver alone. Alone with failure sinking his spirit. He could almost feel Firefly looking down at him with pity. Damn it. Why can’t I give her this? Kicking himself, Silver returned to his work. Firefly’s advice would haunt him for hours to come.

24: Confession

View Online

Broken chunks of dirt and colorful mold were kicked up in short plumes as the Greyhound armored car roared across the gentle rolling hills that composed the north bank of the Central River. It was late in the evening, with the sun closing in on the horizon, giving the river the beginnings of an orange tint.

The air conditioning was blowing frigid air at Prism Flash’s head and back, trying to keep the tense mare comfortable. A dull thumping in the air overpowered the high pitched whine of the Greyhound’s engine. Prism gazed up to find a heavy duty cargolifter transporting a large prefab barricade and crates of heavy weapons.

The soldiers won’t be far behind.

Returning her attention to the readouts in her cockpit, she found the bird’s eye view partially concerning. “Silver, we’re coming up on our first patrol waypoint, you holding up back there?”

Prism initially reached for the button to give her a view into his turret, but held back at the last instant. She balled her extended robotic hand back into a fist, fearing she would see the terror in his eyes. A terror she didn’t want to catch.

“As good as I can be. J-just don’t slow down for the sake of my aim.”

Though she avoided seeing it, the slight tremble in his voice told her all she needed. Still, Prism tried to project confidence. “As long as we’re careful, we’ll get out of this unscathed.”

“I hope you’re - I mean, I trust you, Prism.”

A weak yet sympathetic smile found its way on her lips. Prism tapped the button so they could see each other. The camera revealed Silver was more focused on watching the satellite and radar screens for hostile contacts rather than the windows. The tight grip of his robotic hands on the control stick was so hard it had an exaggerated rattle with each bump on the path. Even with the air conditioning keeping his turret cool, he sweated even more profusely than she did. “As you should,” she snarked, trying to get him to lighten up.

For a few moments, he looked up at the camera with a start at realizing she was watching him. He managed to crack a painfully fake toothy grin. “Don’t I always?”

At least he’s trying to stick with it. Prism’s own smile became a bit stronger. “I know we didn’t get time to practice on moving targets, but ultimately it’s the same thing as from the games. Watch and aim for the lead reticle and fire when you think the target isn’t going to juke.”

Silver simply nodded at first, prompting Prism to end the camera feed so she could focus on driving. “You think that’s why your mother brought so many game designers? So even civilians like me would be able to operate a weapon?”

That got a chuckle out of Prism. “Ha! I wouldn’t put it past her. Most of the games in the VR library are combat heavy last I checked. It does make sense for survival at least.”

A chirp on Prism’s HUD brought her attention to two red dots on the satellite feed. The onboard AI was quick to superimpose those same dots onto the main window of the cockpit along with a distance reading on both. “Okay, Silver, let’s buckle down. We have a warmup coming in one klick west of here. I’m going to swing around so we can use the ridge of the next hill to peek at them.”

The armored car rocked a bit as Silver jerked the turret to face the threat. “I see the markers. Do I need permission to open fire or something?”

“We’re out in the field with no friendlies nearby, you are weapons free.” Prism inwardly kicked herself at mentioning the lack of friendlies, and hoped Silver was too distracted to really notice. Can’t be helped now. I just hope all this is just first fight jitters.

The Greyhound accelerated and caught some air time as it cleared the crest of the first hill in its race to the next. The Greyhound reached the valley between the two hills when Voyager’s face materialized in front of them both. The AI had yet to change its avatar. “Pathfinder. Your nav point marks one of the bunkers, but the hardware is slated to arrive before the infantry.”

“Understood, we’ll clear it out.” Prism gave Voyager a curt nod, prompting the AI to vanish.

The engine whined higher as Prism brought it up the steep hill. The six large wheels were magically enhanced with a variant of normal hoof grip magic, giving the vehicle greater purchase on the mold and slime clogged soil. The Greyhound reached the top with a lurching stop upon seeing the targets. Two wolfbeetles the size of manticores were destroying or eating the various fungi, and had created an acre of bare rock nearly devoid of life. The two beetles stopped once they saw and heard the Greyhound.

There was a pause between them all. Silver was trying to shake himself into focusing on the firing solution while the xenos cocked their heads at the gunmetal grey machine. The silence between them lasted until Prism all but yelled at Silver. “What are you waiting for, an aiming tutorial? Fire, fire!”

“Rrright, got it!” The turret jittered a bit to the left and fired with a resounding high pitched electric thump. Even in his jumpy state, Silver managed to aim true. The bolt of magic tore a clean hole straight through the first wolfbeetle from chest to back. A moment later, the beetle’s body reacted to the alien magic and started to combust and split apart like millions of microscopic fraying threads. Silver flinched from the controls in sheer horror.

Before the second one could act, a small mana bolt sailed in from high in the air and brained the wolfbeetle. As it slumped to the ground, Firefly hooped on the radio. ~“Damn, that was a good shot, eh, Silver?”~

Prism faced behind and above the turret to spot a black dot in the distance near a long streak of low hanging clouds. Far lower than was normal on Avalon, but more common in Equis’ golden age. That black dot was moving away, and registered on their HUDs as a transport. A green icon was left behind on the cloud with Firefly’s name linked to it. ~“There’s a reason I aced the deadeye exam.”~

~“That’s about the only thing you aced,”~ Prism snarked playfully. ~“You better make sure you don’t lose that cloud walking talisman. I bet all that fungus and goo would love some Firefly soup.”~

~“Ha! I’m sure it would, the clingy filth. But I’m not going to be staying here long. There’s a tropical storm coming in, and it’s going to make air support difficult.”~

Prism gave a troubled salute. ~“Just stay safe out there. Get to one of the hard points before the winds get too bad.”~

There was a loud clank as the turret cycled, reminding Prism to get moving again. With chunks of fungus flying behind them, she pushed the armored car further afield.

The rest of the day was much the same. Small bands of young wolfbeetles, wasps, and a smattering of other dangerous fauna had surged ahead of the central swarm. They had left themselves as easy pickings for the collection of Greyhounds patrolling the edges of the forested highlands.

Presently, Prism’s Greyhound was parked on top of a hill where the setting sun glinted off its twin cockpits. The simplistic onboard AI watched the surrounding lands for hostiles while the turret slowly rotated at a constant pace.

The winds coming off the approaching tropical storm tossed the fern-like fungus that grew on the hilltop about. With the Greyhound recharging from an air supply dropped battery, Prism and Silver were able to have a campfire that flickered against the wind. Silver had to be creative since army rations didn’t have much in the way of packeted spices, but he managed to turn the millennium-old freeze dried chicken into a soup. “I’m surprised they still have some of the old MREs.”

He finished stirring with the ladle and scooped a big chunk and poured it into Prism’s waiting bowl. The musky smell twinged her nose a bit, but she felt it was better than forcibly not thinking about the flavor to choke it down. Well, it’s not like we got an actual kitchen out here. I think the quartermaster forgot to throw the old batch out. “Smells good, bats, I didn’t know you could cook.”

He cracked the first non-grim smile Prism had seen on his face all day. “I kinda had to learn the hard way how to make things edible.”

The pair lapsed into silence as Silver gathered dinner for himself, and they took their first few bites. Prism’s mind drifted on the large swarm of xenos barely twenty miles to the west. Comsat says the beasties aren’t moving at night, and that a lot of them broke away from the pack over the last few hours. That’s what you get when you have no supply lines; no food, no army. Even these monsters will give up by tomorrow night.

The next bite she took drew her attention back to her own food, and then to the silent bat pony. She saw Silver sitting on a hard rubber mat, thoughtfully chewing while his tired eyes stared absently at his bowl. Putting on a reassuring half-smile, Prism scooted over to sit next to him, drawing Silver’s mildly surprised gaze up to hers. “Thanks for dinner.”

His surprise morphed into a mote of happiness. “I do what I can, and you’re welcome.”

Both of them again fell into silence, neither knowing how to keep the conversation going. At least until Silver worked up the nerve to ask, “Hey, Prism, did your mom ever tell you about her Flight of Feathers?”

Prism’s mood jumped up a few notches. A genuine wistful smile graced her muzzle, lifting Silver's spirits a touch. “Mom’s had a few Flights over the years, but the one with dad’s the only one I really care about.” Prism flicked her head to get her bangs out of her eyes, inadvertently flashing her short horn at Silver. “She and him flew right into the heart of the frozen changeling jungles and found a tatzlwurm matriarch that had been terrorizing the whole jungle for over a century. Once the Cooling had done enough damage to shutdown the jungle’s ecosystem, the beast was moving towards Equestria after the food ran out. They fought that thing for a whole day before finally smoking it out. Mom’s magic kept the thing from slithering back into the earth while dad dove right down the monster’s gullet.”

“What possessed him to do that!?”

Prism got a bit more animated at Silver’s keen interest, morbid or not. “Well, mom, being the chessmaster she is, planned for that exact move, and gave dad’s rifle and armor an enchantment that would allow him to breathe in there for an hour and protect against the stomach acid for just as long.

“So there he is, swimming in that behemoth’s gut pumping hot lead into the beast’s only real weak point since its scales were as tough as diamonds. It took mom close to half an hour to carve through the dead worm to extract dad, but when she found him, he had fished out a chunk of amethyst that the thing had eaten. They ended up making it the centerpiece of her wedding ring.”

Silver’s face was caught between awe and skepticism. “Why is your dad flying into the tatzlwurm’s mouth the most believable part of that story? He just so happened to find a purple gem in the thing’s gut.”

Prism giggled, only thinking to hide behind a wing half way through. “Yeah, well, I liked the story as mom told it, so I wasn’t about to try and call her out on it.”

A harsh wind sliced through the camp, nearly smothering the fire and making Silver shiver in his orange jumpsuit. “Wish they made this thing wind resistant,” Silver complained through chattering teeth. “You think the weather ponies can counter that storm?”

Prism shrugged and huddled close to the cold stallion while draping a wing over him. “No idea. I’m not a weather pony, so I don’t stay in the loop. All I can say is that this world’s weather doesn’t react all that much towards pegasus magic.”

Silver was more than happy to accept her warming embrace, and yet his face still sank into a crestfallen state.

How am I supposed to live up to that? Silver moaned inwardly. He tried to use the beauty of the setting sun to give him some measure of hope, but he couldn’t take that placebo. Am I even supposed to?

Silver debated with himself for some time on just how to ask that very question.

Twilight Sparkle gnawed on the end of a pen as she studied the strategic map of the lands between the colony and the swarm of xenos. As with her daughter before her, Twilight fixated on the growing number of deserters in the swarm. With so many mouths to feed, the beasts have stripped the land bare. No game, no plants, not even the topsoil was spared. These beasts may not get close enough to threaten the colony directly, but they’re ruining what used to be future farm land. Twilight groaned noisily.

A teacup wreathed in orange light floated over to camp in front of Twilight’s face. “Tea for your thoughts?”

Twilight nodded and accepted the cup into her own magic. “Thanks, Praxia.” The changeling in question stepped to her as Twilight indulged in a few gulps. “This whole thing is turning into an entirely different mess.”

Praxia had spent the last ten hours going over the map and carefully watching the swarm’s movements. Bags hung at her eyes and general fatigue clawed at her limbs. Even she was not so proud as to try and hide it too much. “I have to say, their behavior continues to surprise me. Not even the smartest of Everfree monsters would go so far as to use scorched earth tactics.”

That was a thought that had danced on the edges of Twilight’s mind, but she had dismissed it as impossible before. Yet for Praxia to not only have the same thought, but to give it more credence soured Twilight’s mood. She eyed her pupil worriedly. “We’ve dealt with intelligent monsters before back on Equis. Chimeras chief among them, but not a single one ever destroyed their own homeland before.”

Praxia nodded solemnly as she recalled the few relevant lessons Twilight had taught her about that. “True, but we’re dealing with aliens with quite possibly artificially manipulated instincts and intelligence. These beasts could very well understand that this is no longer their land.”

Twilight tapped her chin in thought. At last, she graced Praxia with an approving nod. “An astute observation, I have to agree.” Twilight inwardly grinned as Praxia blushed at the praise. “A pity for them that we’re quite skilled at land restoration.” Her grin vanished as she mentally estimated the sheer scale of the ruined land. “It might take a decade or two though.”

The sun peeked over the horizon the next morning, illuminating a gusty day. The campfire still burned, giving some measure of warmth against the growing winds. Under the watchful eye of the armored car’s turret, Prism had been content to snuggle with Silver overnight, yet now the pair were packing up their gear to move out. Whereas Prism stowed things away with practiced efficiency, Silver’s tense posture throughout the past ten minutes after breakfast had not gone unnoticed by her. Yet she passed it off as fieldwork jitters. That is until he voiced a question.

“Hey, Prism.”

She hummed inquisitively while shoving the sleeping bag into a container.

“Do you still want to go after that turtle monster?”

Prism clamped the container shut and gave Silver a careful look. “I’d be lying if I said no.” A grim partial frown took hold. “But we have new orders. ‘Sweep and destroy,’ and last I checked that turtle monster was on the rear half of the swarm.”

“That’s… not true anymore.” Silver made a flinging gesture towards Prism, bringing up an up-to-date map of the swarm.

The swarm was scattering to the four winds, but there was only so much land for them to disperse into in such a short time. Huge swaths of dead land stretched from the xenomass marshes all the way to fifteen miles outside of the colony proper. All of it was picked clean by the denizens of this world. Even the marshes themselves were being drained by a throng of beasts. A single blue line marked a path right through the growing fissures in the swarm right to the turtle monster highlighted in red.

“If we hurry, we could drive straight up to the thing before it leaves the area of operation.”

Prism’s irises dilated to the point her eyes went almost entirely black. “Seriously!? It advanced all the way to the place I found the thorium care package.” Prism vaulted towards the driver’s cockpit and was about to call Silver to hurry up when that cursed brain of hers acted up, making her give him a suspicious furrowed brow instead. “Did you really find the turtle thing yourself?”

“I never said I did,” he remarked defensively. But then he quickly dropped his resistive tone for a more neutral one. “Firefly forwarded it to me last night after you went to sleep.”

Prism’s eyes narrowed, but kept her tone laced with concern. “Why do I get the feeling he’s been saying more than just where to find the turtle.”

Silver clammed up for a moment and started sweating. “He’s just been giving advice is all. Nothing major.”

“Nothing major, huh?” Prism averted her eyes to think, giving Silver a silent excuse to finish packing the camp. Silvy was fine with the whole FoF until he freaked out over news of the swarm.

Prism recalled memories far back in time when she had walked through the snow covered streets of Ponyville the tenth anniversary of the Seed Project’s announcement. Nopony really believed it back then. They just thought it was just propaganda until we started actually building the spacedock.

In her memory, there were only a scant few ponies out and about that day. The city-run snowplows had not even bothered to show up for work, and those in charge didn’t care enough to do anything about it. Those few going to work had that creeping silent fear she was now witnessing in Silver. That same quiet terror of wanting to run and cry in a corner, but public decorum made them act tough. She sighed with growing melancholy.

Prism saw that Silver had the last of the cooking equipment stowed away and flew over to stand beside him. He jumped a bit as she startled him. “Silver, I—” Prism hesitated, trying to get her words right. “We’re not going after the turtle. The FoF is already satisfied. We needed to destroy some monsters threatening the colony and we did just that. End of story.”

Silver didn’t think quickly enough to try and hide the extreme relief that exuded from his face, slackening posture, and halted sigh, an act that only confirmed Prism’s suspicions. Yet when his brain caught up with him, Silver’s fear only redoubled. “W-why though? Sure we got rid of a few dozen bugs, but they were no match for a Greyhound, no matter how bad of a shot I was.”

“You’re better than most,” Prism countered with reassuring defensiveness. “And bugs or not, they were still a legitimate threat.”

Silver flashed a grateful smile before shaking it off for dread. “But I mean, it was too easy. Your mom and dad took down a giant tatzlwurm for goodness sake! We didn’t do anything close to that.”

“Yeah, true.” Damn, now I wish I had kept my mouth shut about that. Prism inwardly kicked herself. “But mom is about the strongest mage to exist and an alicorn to boot. Dad…” A wistful smile crossed her muzzle as Prism glanced at the rifle on the rack near the driver’s door. “Dad was a hero through and through all the way to the end.”

A glint of iron found its way onto Silver’s tongue. “Okay, I admit it, I really don’t want to fight that turtle monster. Firefly said the damn thing shrugged off three airstrikes like they were bee stings. But even I know you don’t need to be fearless to be brave.”

“How much of that talk is Firefly?” Prism shot back accusingly before outright yelling, “I don’t care what Firefly thinks I want, I don’t want a hero!”

Silver took a step back in shock. It took Prism a long moment to feel her vision misting over, and an even longer one to notice the fur below her eyes were damp. “I - I - I was an idiot. I am an idiot.”

Silver was stuck on what to do or say, and stood there with a half-raised foreleg and a knitted brow. “No you’re not. I just need to get better at fighting, that’s all. Work in progress, right?”

Prism shook her head hard. “You don’t get it. The FoF is supposed to only be between pegasi, and only between soldiers. I got so caught up in having my own Flight of Feathers, I didn’t think!” Prism bowed her head, unwilling to show her face. “I wanted to hold on to tradition. I knew you weren’t the gun-type of fighter and that’s fine. So I thought we’d get a big safe tank - or - armored car as it turned out,” she added with a derisive snort, “kill some isolated baddy, take some pictures, and call tradition satisfied. Then we could go home, and let Spike burn the whole damned jungle to the ground for all I cared.”

Silver let her vent quietly as a shift to anger clouded Prism’s posture.

“But then Spike couldn’t wait three more days and just had to kick a hornet’s nest, and now,” Prism threw her face up and kicked a fork away, “it’s all ruined!”

“That’s a bit harsh on the commander isn’t it?” Silver offered hesitantly, flinching a bit when Prism cast an angry eye his way. “Didn’t he say the weebles were breeding like doped up rabbits?”

“Puh! Real life isn’t Wing Commander, Silver, real bombs don’t have a kill limit.”

It was Silver’s turn to give a sour look, but he couldn’t tell if Prism was perturbed by it. “It’s not that simple. What about the eggs and pupae they brought with them? I read the reports, the weebles brought eggs with them during the migration.” Before Prism could bark a response, Silver stepped up and hugged her tightly, freezing her protests.

“Things may not have gone according to plan,” Silver started after a few moments’ thought. “But you said it yourself, we just needed to remove some real threats to the colony, and we did that.” Silver pulled away to see tears welling up in Prism’s eyes. “So it wasn’t a big bad, but a whole bunch of little ones instead. We still did it, and we survived!” he added with a none-too-happy faux grin. “That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“You know it does,” Prism chided limply. “When I saw how scared you were when the swarm was announced, I didn’t know what to do.” Prism vigorously wiped her tears away with a sleeve. “Should I have cancelled the FoF, and just let you sit on the sidelines and let somepony else gun for me? Maybe try… something. But at that point, I didn’t know how to back out without hurting you after seeing you get so into it. Especially after Spike promoted you on the spot. I don’t mind being in danger. Rut, I only survived super cancer because of my bloodline. I’m not like mom, I - don’t need a stallion who’s all gung ho about glory and real combat. Let’s just finish the job and go home, okay?”

Silver held her gaze for a bit longer, as if searching for some hidden meaning, but at last he sighed heavily and was able to stand a little straighter. “You’ll get no argument from me on that. When I wasn’t training on the gun, I was psyching myself into fighting some big monster thing. I - I can handle that…” He shuddered and drew in close to hug her. Prism responded with a strong bear hug, momentarily crushing the wind out of him. She held him tightly, as though he were some remote lifeline to her long dead father. It took a few raspy gasps for help for her to let go in a start.

“Sorry, sorry. This damn earth strength keeps popping in when I don’t want it.”

Silver hoarsely gulped some air and waved her off. “I’ll be fine. Gimme a second.” Silver felt some deep bruising would start up soon. Something is moving that shouldn’t. I think I better go to the doc to see if I got a cracked rib. When he felt like he could speak again, Silver tried to harden his gaze. But to keep from showing Prism the physical pain she caused, he kept staring at the mossy ground. “Like I said, I’m pretty sure I could deal with a single monster, big or small, but when I heard about the swarm… it was just like when I heard the news of my family’s death at Briarburg. The family that wanted anything to do with me at least,” he added bitterly. Even the knowledge that his mother’s extended family were long dead did little to ease old betrayal. “Assuming they didn’t weasel their way onto the other Seeds.”

Prism knelt down to nuzzle him. She tried to search for what to say, but nothing felt right. And there they stayed for a time until both of their personal displays buzzed a timer alarm. With a groan and a wheeze, Silver stood up with Prism to do the same. “We’re going to be late getting on patrol.” She lept into the air and towards the driver’s compartment. “Once we’re done, why don’t we watch the storm from the promenade and eat some smelly cheese?”

“Now that sounds like fun.”

By day’s end, the swarm was gone. The vast majority of the animals had simply left or were eaten by their former brethren. The aftermath of their departure, though, had left barren clay or rock for dozens of square miles. While Spike had personally led a force to defend the xenomass swamp, nearly three quarters of it had been destroyed.

The tropical storm had grown stronger over the day as well. Since the horde was no longer a direct threat, Prism had been given the recall order, and was driving along the flooding river. Rain blasted at the canopy in sheets. Dark clouds loomed over every stretch of sky, leaving both winged ponies in a gloomy state. Being so close to the colony, Silver had powered down the turret so he could freely look about, not that there was much to see. “Still feels weird to have natural storms.”

Prism on the other hand was having fun. The waterlogged fungus and soil beneath was easily conquered by the six wheeled greyhound. Visibility was a non-issue as well, thanks to other sensors giving outlines of the terrain and various obstacles. “It’s not so bad. Sure, we can’t rely on solar or satellite power, but the thorium reactors are more than enough for several years.”

At the mention of the solar farm, both ponies turned to look at the row of panels, which had retracted to be flush with the ground. A few meters later saw the Greyhound thump onto the furthest stretch of road.

Once finally on pathed ground, Silver relaxed and sagged in his seat. “The home stretch at last. I can taste that hot chocolate now.”

A sly grin crossed Prism. “Some cocoa would hit the spot right now.”

The two fell into idle chatter as the armored car thundered on its way to the garage.

Things had calmed down in the Command Center. Spike was going over the thankfully short list of casualties. He was sitting stiffly in the isolated throne situated in the center rear wall, surrounded by additional screens of data and camera feeds. With Twilight and Praxia gone, he was thus far left to his own devices.

I don’t think we should keep using infantry on moderately easy terrain. Not a single Greyhound was knocked out of action, but of the three overrun hardpoints, thirty soldiers were injured with five being life-threatening. It’s not like we need infantry support where we don’t have to concern ourselves with anti-armor weaponry. Speed and agility is what we need against this world. I can limit combined arms to forested and very rough terrain.

“Sir,” a stallion operator called out, drawing Spike’s eyes towards him. The stallion looked a bit worse for wear since the shift change had not happened yet. “We’ve lost contact with sonar buoy three.”

Spike considered it for a moment, frowning in thought. “How long has it been out of contact?”

“Over a minute now, sir. I wanted to wait to see if it was just a connection loss due to the storm. So far it hasn’t popped back up. Could just be a malfunction.”

Spike shrugged and returned to his list. “Doctor Seashell warned that might happen. Requisition a replacement after the storm dies down.” A pause elapsed after the operator sounded his compliance. “…Did the sonar pick anything up before it went out?”

The operator spooled back the recordings. “Ahh… Yes sir, it was a creature about twenty five hooves long.” Spike was about to forget about the whole thing until the operator continued. “But uhhh… strange.”

When the operator didn’t elaborate, Spike wasn’t the only one to give the now silent earth stallion an expectant eye. Eventually though, Spike lost interest. Eh, if it was important, he’d say something. It’s not like we have anypony out at sea this week. A small voice echoed in the back of his mind that the colony’s reliance on satellites meant there were no other sonar buoys between the colony and the open ocean.

Less than two miles off shore, the water bulged upward as a truly massive entity glided under the water. The natural deep water harbor allowing it easy passage.

Prism rolled the Greyhound into the garage and jumped out as soon as she could. The brightly lit Pathfinder HQ was awash with the smell of lubricant, burnt electronics, sea rain, and just a whiff of teriyaki.

Prism stretched like a cat with her broad wings flared out as far as they could. “Rut, I’m hungry.” She followed her nose to Firefly, Ruby, and a couple of engineers all seated around a table crammed with greasy food. Her mouth instantly watered, but she turned towards Silver who was still in the middle of getting a crick out of his spine.

“Gah, that turret is way too cramped.”

“I hear ya,” Prism said as she cantered over to nuzzle him briefly. “You want to get some food with the others, then go watch the storm?”

He shrugged. “I could eat, but Spike would probably kill me if I don’t make sure to degunk the Greyhound before I leave the garage.”

“Then let me join you,” Prism replied, catching Silver a bit off guard by the offer. “I can work the dark-light magic better than you because of my alicorn magic.”

A sly grin crossed his muzzle. “I won’t stop you, but you’re in my world now, Miss Alicorn. Just follow my lead and we can get done in no time.”

Time seemed to pass in a blur. Dinner lasted for over an hour with each of the Pathfinders, minus Ruby, regaling each other with wild tales of exaggerated close calls and crack shots. Prism was in rapt attention as Firefly sang about a difficult shot when the normally harsh fluorescent lighting flickered severely enough to bring the song and dance to a halt mid-note. Red warning lights blared to life as Voyager cut in through the intercoms. “Danger. Hazard Level One Emergency has been declared. All combat personnel are to report to action stations. All civilians are to move immediately to the nearest designated shelters.” A howling klaxon started up, partially drowning out the AI as it repeated its announcement.

A second later, every Pathfinder’s and engineer’s personal display lit up with individualized directions on what and where to go. Firefly was the first to leap to his hooves, one eye on his fellows and the other on the beacon directing him to the armory. “What the Tartarus? Is the storm worse than we thought?”

Ruby pushed her way past Prism and Silver on towards her Greyhound, nearly knocking Prism off her hooves in the process. “Did you sleep that day in basic, Firefly? Level One means a monster attack, now get your tails moving!”

Prism watched the engineers race to assist in readying the armored cars, with Silver in the lead. Snapping out of the klaxon induced trance, Prism bolted for the cockpit of her Greyhound. As soon as the hatch opened enough, she scrambled inside and started the boot up sequence.

She studied the readouts as they came back up. Damn, only half a charge. I hope it’ll be enough. The engine thrummed to life shortly after the computer registered a gunner had locked in. Prism switch the camera on to see Silver shakily prepping things on his end. “You going to be okay?”

“Don’t have a choice, now do I?”

Prism frowned at the almost harsh tone. She knew him well enough to sense it was fear, not anger that was talking. Yet words escaped her on how to calm him down, so she switched topics. “Systems ready, we’re moving!”

Prism guided the Greyhound to the elevator. Within short order, though, Prism and Silver were back out into the storm. Wind battered at the armored car, and rain drenched everything. Only the colony’s emergency lights, bathing everything in stark harsh white light, gave any means to see. On the mare’s HUD was a single, large red diamond guiding her eyes out to sea.

A myriad of soft blue icons scattered about the rings of Seed One told Prism that the flying infantry were already in position. Bah, I should be up there and let one of the ground pounders take the AC.

The electric motor squealed as Prism raced to put herself between the ringed structure and the beach. As she navigated passed the heavy struts, the lights of the colony were enhanced by spellcraft and pointed out to sea. A giant mass of seaweed clogged rock jutted from the water, and was moving straight for Elysium.

The living island reached the shelf of the harbor, and heaved itself up and partially out of the water. On a mass of leathery flippers and tentacles, a monster easily rose three hundred feet above the water. Large waves rushed away at the behemoth’s every move, cluing the ponies in that most of the creature was still below the water. Rising with it, was a flat face that was more shell than flesh. Seven eye stalks leered at the colony with a screeching beak-like maw rasping an animalistic challenge.

“Hhhhollly balls that’s a kraken! What did we do to piss that thing off!?” Silver blustered at Prism. “The Greyhound might as well be a pop gun compared to that thing!”

As if to follow up on its threat, the kraken lurched forward. Massive limbs clawed away at the silty seafloor, which made its progress slow but steady. The waves and wind almost appeared to be aiding its advance, parting away from it or blowing at its back.

True fear prickled at Prism’s thoughts. The sea monster already looked massive from a few kilometers away, and her imagination ran wild with how much it would loom over the colony if it got in close.

“I - I don’t know,” Prism shuddered out. “B-but we have to fight it anyway, we can’t let it destroy our home.” A cold sweat dampened her face and neck at the sight of the surging sea monster.

A prickling sensation tingled at her fur like static electricity. Prism first thought was just more signs of terror, but her horn was aching. It felt like it was sensing a powerful build up of familiar magic.

Following the sensation, Prism’s gaze moved up to the very spire of Seed One. The HUD reflexively zoomed in to reveal her mother hovering barely a meter above the spire. Twilight’s horn was glowing like a star against the dark and stormy night, and her mane fluttered in a gale even harsher than the storm raging around her. Prism gasped in awe at the sheer volume of controlled power, not just seen with her eyes, but her very core. She felt stripped away, with her spirit basking in the wellspring of alicorn magic. In that long moment as Twilight Sparkle engorged her spell, Prism’s world was fixated on that power.

Prism was able to break from the trance the instant Twilight unleashed a pinprick sized lavender laser at the kraken. The beam of concentrated magic burned the night sky and hit the behemoth dead center. She groggily blinked the spots out of her eyes while Silver’s muffled cheers twisted her sudden yet short-lived migraine.

By Luna’s star-encrusted flank, what was that?! Some stupid unicorn weakness again? She wiped her eyes with a foreleg, gritting her teeth at the fading headache, and blinked tears away to see what was happening. With the HUD already zoomed in on the sea creature, Prism half groaned as her mother’s magic washed over the beast in the form of an electrical storm.

Instead of keeling over or fleeing, the beast waded through the torrent of lightning strikes as if they were nothing at all. Soon enough, only the tropical storm’s natural sporadic lightning remained.

“Eehh ahh… Prism. Tell me that thing is actually dead and I’m just hallucinating.”

Prism beat through the cotton in her brain see if the encroaching kraken was indeed still there. Any answer she might have given was cut short when a broadcast blared in their radio and on the colony’s exterior PA system.

~“This is Commander Spike to all military personnel. Conduct an immediate evacuation of all civilians from the residential domes and greenhouses. All Greyhounds and Mosquitos are to remain on station to provide fire support. I’m going to take a more direct approach.”~

Prism’s face scrunched in utter confusion at the last part until her HUD blinked with a new position designated by Voyager. She pushed the danger and her odd reaction to her mother’s magic out of her mind to keep her thoughts focused on the kraken. “Just stay calm, Silver. I’m not enough of an idiot to try and get too close to that thing.”

She brought up the camera feed on him to find the bat stallion’s face and exposed neck were completely discolored from sweat. “And stay hydrated.”

“Rrrright, gotcha.”

A short distance away, near the center point between the beach and Seed One, a flash of purple light saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike teleport to the ground. Spike’s white and purple uniform flapping in the storm, with Twilight’s ethereal mane being wildly tossed about. Both of them bore grim looks at the kraken that was dead set on a fight.

“If you do this Spike, you’ll be out of commision for months, maybe a whole year.” Twilight gave the hard faced dragon a concerned frown, and placed a caring hoof on his shoulder. Spike’s grimace narrowed at the touch. “This attack isn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” Spike’s reply wlas barely audible over the wind and rain. The kraken was as slow as it was big, and Spike’s claws dug at the clasps around his bracers. “I ordered an airstrike on a wolfbeetle nest, and six different species we didn’t even touch go on a rampage. Something is controlling the wildlife on at least some level. The kraken’s attack is too convenient to be anything else. I can sacrifice a year or so to save the colony, Twilight.”

Twilight wanted to argue, but time was against her, and she knew Spike would need every second she could buy him. If she were honest with herself, she knew that she would not have even teleported him out here where she not willing to go through with it. “Very well.” She cleared her throat and took on a more mechanical tone. “Size Lock, release code zebra niner alpha one two.”

Spike’s bracers and anklets came to life as lavender lines of mana filled every crease and joint. Nodding in thanks, Spike deftly removed them all, freeing his limbs for the first time in centuries. Keeping his eyes fixated on the kraken, Spike summoned his wellspring of draconic magic. Twilight took a few steps back, giving Spike room to heavily plant his feet apart into a wide slow stance. The ground quaking and cracking under his stomps, and then he began to grow.

25: Spirit Journey

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Near hurricane force winds blasted Twilight, pressing her goggles ever tighter against her face. She gritted her teeth as she watched from behind Spike as he grew, dwarfing her in moments. It’s not fast enough. Not even close.

A new sound joined the rain and charging kraken. Thumping blades growled as two Thunderbolt gunships crawled their way into the air. Generations of living in a weather controlled society made the pilots and gunners unequipped to counter the ever growing storm. Twilight dared to turn her gaze away from her brother to watch the struggling aircraft with desperation. “Of all the oversights! To think some part of me regrets Thorn’s peace treaty. Otherwise I’d have insisted on harsh weather pilot training.”

Still, I’ll just have to trust Praxia and the other commanders with direct operations. I’m going to need to focus all my concentration on Spike.

As the Greyhounds opened fire, Twilight’s eyes glowed with a blinding white light that pierced the rain drenched night. Her horn was a spear of light and her mane and tail sparkled like a backdrop on the night sky. She flared her wings, fighting against the relentless wind all the while. Above and between her wings, a circular portal opened, not to a different place, but to a different realm. Twilight’s connection to the astral plane was made manifest to the naked eye, and its power shot forth to bathe Spike in raw mana.

The dragon’s already steady growth surged with renewed speed. His clawed feet dug deep gouges in the soil. Soon he reached three stories tall, then four, then more. As he grew, his mass shielded Twilight from the worst of the wind, allowing her to hover behind his back. Yet this growth came at a cost. Spike forced his eyes to keep the kraken front and center in his reddening gaze. His mind ebbed away with a single thought repeated over and over. Rip and tear, rip and tear, rip and tear.

Both alicorn and dragon held back, allowing him to grow for as long as possible. Small and erratic puffs of broken shell or blood blossomed off the beast; something Twilight took note of as she stood on Spike’s shoulder. Good. They’ve wised up and switched the mana shells into kinetic mode. But it might as well be bug bites to that thing. Twilight’s eyes searched the kraken for potential weak points. She didn’t get the chance.

While still a good distance from the beach, and well within the deep harbor, the kraken halted and dragged a truly gigantic tentacle into the air. Twilight’s eyes shrank out of morbid fascination as magic, her magic, crackled up and down the leathery sea-green limb. It doubled in length, tripled, then quadrupled. It seemed to linger in the air, an impossibly tall pillar for being so thin, uncaring for the storm billowing around it. In Twilight’s personal display, she activated the rangefinder. With the monster staying so far away to remain in the harbor, it’s only going to be able to hit us with the leading tip of that. After hanging in the air for a moment, it started its crash straight down towards Seed One.

Gritting her teeth as her horn strained under the stress, Twilight closed the portal and teleported away. “Release!”

Spike’s eyes shot up to the tentacle. He jumped, cracking the ground below him. With a feral roar, he grappled the tentacle in midair, his arms barely long enough to encircle it, but he had no wings to direct the attack.

Twilight’s horn seared with light. “You think you can just steal my magic?!” She fired off a rippling wave of magic. A ribbon of explosions rippled along the left side of the tentacle, shoving both it and Spike off course.

She watched both of them crash into the rows of domed houses. Dozens of homes were demolished into unrecognizable ruins. Once on the ground, the kraken tried to pull the tentacle back out to sea, but Spike dug in his claws and heels to halt its retreat. The Greyhounds began to start swarming behind the great dragon after a new voice chirped on Twilight’s radio. ~“Ground Cav, focus all fire on this point. Let’s give the commander a chance to rip it off!”~

Twilight wanted to praise Praxia’s strategy, but she knew it would be distracting to both of them. As the kraken raged and tried to free itself from Spike, Twilight saw another massive tentacle rising out of the sea. I really hope you’ve only got two of those.

Keeping her eyes fixed on the plunging tentacle, Twilight’s horn flared with such brilliance that onlookers could only see a purple star. The wind howled and the kraken screeched as the tentacle, now as wide as a highway, fell towards Seed One. A massive baseball bat with Twilight’s cutie mark solidified in midair. “Let’s see you absorb this!” The building-sized bat swung and connected with the tentacle, pushing it off course. The huge limb crashed into the river delta, smashing the series of small bridges and fishnets, yet the tip of it slammed into the biolabs, destroying the entire east end of the building.

Twilight let go of her spell, causing the dented bat to explode in a torrent of loose mana, cast to the four winds by the storm and rain. Twilight couldn’t spare the time to see what was damaged. She raced down to the tentacle as it was slithering back into the ocean. She landed on top of it, near a patch of tissue with a collection of small mouths and gnashing teeth. “I’ll be taking my magic back now.”

Twilight’s battle gauntlets came complete with diamond pointed claws that pierced and sank easily into the beast’s leathery hide, smashing a couple of mouths in the process. She flared her wings as wide as they would go. Using a merger of all three tribes’ magic, she grappled the mana flowing through the kraken’s tentacle and ripped it out through her hooves and vented it out of her wings. Twilight was awestruck by not just the sheer concentration of mana inside the beast, but the sheer volume of how much she was stealing away. By Celestia’s sunburnt flank, it’s like an ocean of mana!

Fearing what was going to happen, Twilight weaved a particular protective spell with what little stolen mana she could control. The density of atmospheric magic surged to the point where it was visible to the naked eye as long blue wisps being thrown about by the storm. And it was just Twilight’s luck that the magic acted like a homing beacon for the storm. Lightning struck the growing mass of mana, causing it to erupt in a massive mage-fire inferno that raged and fought against the rain.

The kraken screeched in horrid pain as the mana drain numbed the limb into complete uselessness, preventing the beast from thrashing Twilight off. All it could do was pull the deadened tentacle back into the sea. Yet as it did so, the collection of Greyhounds and explosives armed infantry had managed to blast enough of a hole into the other tentacle that Spike was able to rip it off completely.

Blood and leaking mana in the form of an evaporating mist shot out of the wound, yet it too was struck by lightning, turning the kraken’s spilling lifeblood into ribbons of expanding crystal. Spike was unaffected by the encroaching crystallized mana, and focused solely on his trophy, but the tentacle started to wither and dry up, shrinking down so fast he lost his grip on it. Between the combined efforts of Spike, Twilight, and the military, the kraken was paralyzed from sheer pain, halting its effort to drag Twilight into sea. The alicorn stopped in the middle of the beach, still venting huge amounts of mana that started to scorch the walls of Seed One.

“If I can just keep the fire far enough away…” Twilight growled under the strain of intermingling her magic with the firestorm of magic she was venting. It was taxing enough already to keep the heat ward in place, but she managed to move and shape the inferno to mimic the shape of her own wings, only on a grand scale.

Her fur and mane burned away from the enormous heat, but her body and feathers remained intact. A shrill alarm rang in her ear and personal display, but before she could gather enough wits to read it, her horn-circlet shorted out and started melting onto her scorched skin. Monster first, alert second.

The tentacle underneath her was shriveling like a prune. As it lost mass, it became desiccated and started to crack open. Twilight was not satisfied with just draining mana out of the limb; she wanted to pull it from the kraken’s entire body. The kraken had finally collected enough wits to try and reverse Twilight’s drain. What the creature lacked in finesse, it tried to make up for in raw strength. So powerful was its attempt that Twilight risked breaking her concentration. She risked looking out to the harbor to see if anyone had made progress in besting the monster. The sea creature frothed and raged against both Spike and Twilight, and was shrinking at an alarming rate. The color of its flesh was discoloring badly with rapidly spreading bruises and fissures weeping blood, but that was all Twilight could see through the flaming mana engulfing her.

I can’t let up yet. This drain could be the only thing keeping the kraken from doing any further damage. The sands were scorched to black glass, the storm even balked at the superheated updraft she created. Whether it was a few minutes or an hour, so focused was Twilight that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the kraken unleashed an ear-splitting unholy shriek of agony that all but drowned out the storm. Trying to ignore both the strain of her spell, and the ringing in her ears, she looked over again, and saw Spike had waded through the tides. The feral drake had grappled the kraken’s beak open, and was drenching its mouth with dragonfire.

A dozen smaller tentacles wrestled with the raging dragon, but none of them had any strength left. The beast slumped as its brain was boiled alive. It was at that same time that the mana flow cut out, abruptly ending the flames around Twilight. In death, the kraken started sinking into the water, nearly dragging Spike down with it.

I better get over to him before he starts looking for new things to fight. With the mana no longer flowing, the flames around Twilight died away, leaving hot rain to pelt her bald and cooked skin. Twilight tried to detach her mech-gauntlets from the tentacle, only to find them unresponsive. She looked down with a scowl, expecting to find the exterior just as charred as the bubbling and blistered flesh of the beast they were rooted in. Her fears were confirmed, but even more than that, the machinery inside was completely slagged, trapping her hooves inside them. It wasn’t helped by the fact it was horribly uncomfortable to have cooling metal encasing her limbs. Through it all, however, Twilight’s vision swam and blurred. What… what’s happening?

Muscle weakness gripped Twilight, and her wings fell limp along with the rest of her. She was held partly up due to her gauntlets being melted into her hooves. This is so strange - nausea? Fatigue? My horn feels so numb. A light blinked on in her mind while a goofy grin crossed her face. “Is this what mana exhaustion feels like? How novel.” A second later, the world went dark and Twilight passed out.

Twilight awoke to a gentle lullaby. It was an old tune, like a familiar blanket that warmed her spirits. It brought such peace with it that Twilight allowed herself those coveted five more minutes and continued to doze, completely forgetting everything but that sweet lullaby.

As with all things, that peace came to a shattering stop. A desperate voice called out to her from the distance, echoing like a speaker within a concert hall and silencing the soothing melody. Begrudgingly, Twilight stretched and cracked an eye open, only to find no warm bedroom, but a sea of stars and thin wisps of mist everywhere in a dark realm.

“Woah, what?” Twilight instinctively tried to stand, only to find she had no hooves, no legs, no anything. She was a formless cloud floating in the aether. Her body, if it could be called that, was easily the size of a stadium. A few moments of bewilderment were quickly shut down as her logic and experience kicked in and the shock of her situation faded. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised I ended up here.” She was slightly amused by how parts of her cloud body lit up when she thought aloud.

Well, if I don’t have a corporeal body, dead or otherwise, then logic dictates I must be in spirit form. Or at least a close analogy to it. Twilight reached out to feel her connection with the astral plane. It was a bit difficult to locate without a body to anchor it to, but find it she did. The polarity is reversed. That must mean I’m on the astral plane and the connection is to my corporeal body. Twilight would have sighed in relief if she had lungs. Good, that’s proof my body’s still alive. I guess I’ll have to leave matters in Praxia’s hooves for now.

“Momma, help! Where am I? Are you here?” a familiar voice called out below her. Being in the state she was in, Twilight’s vision was omnidirectional, but had very little clarity of sight. Yet by focusing on the direction of the cries, she was barely able to make out Prism Flash of all ponies in desperate flight. The young mare’s head and eyes whipped back and forth, trying to find her, but ultimately not moving forward in the slightest, such was the nature of this realm. All around her daughter were lenses into the past, memories even Twilight couldn’t recall anymore, hanging in midair around well-lit puffs of vapor.

With a bit of effort, Twilight managed to make her voice heard from the part of the cloud nearest to the panicked mare. “Prism Flash, dear, momma’s here.”

Prism skidded to a halt, or at least made the motions to do so. She scanned the horizon up and down, but didn’t see anyone, completely ignoring the purple vapor. “M-mom? Where are you?”

“I’m right above you, Little Wing,” Twilight said calmly, hoping her tone would sooth her daughter. She expected the confusion on Prism’s face when she looked up to find only a mass of glowing motes. “I’m a cloud at the moment, so you’ll just have to imagine I’m smiling reassuringly at you. Throw a wave in too.”

Twilight watched Prism’s eyes go wide at first before narrowing into a mixture of suspicion and disbelief. “Let’s see. I get blasted into some void zone, apparently, my memories are on display like some cliché security camera room for a claustrophobic guy, and now a cloud entity is trying to pose as my mom. You’ll have to try better than that, cloud monster. Why don’t you just drop the act and show me your disgusting alien face.”

Twilight sighed deeply, unaware that her body was slowly condensing. “If you are so against clichés then why would you force me to do another cliché of me reminding you of something super embarrassing to prove who I am?”

“You could always pick something not embarrassing… Okay, point taken.” Prism’s eyes wandered over the cloud claiming to be Twilight with less suspicion. “At least you sound like mom when she’s exasperated.” Prism shrugged, her heartbeat and breathing slowing to normal. “So why are you a cloud? Did you beat that giant squid thing? Where are we? Why am I not a cloud? If you start to rain, would that count as relieving yourself?”

“No, I don’t rain - at least I don’t think so. Also, gross. Anyway,” Twilight fumed as she tried to get her train of thoughts back on track. “I believe we did defeat the beast. I witnessed Spike breathing fire into the kraken’s maw before I woke up here.”

“He beat it doing that?! Damn, I wish I coulda seen it in person.” Prism kicked the intangible ground she was standing on, wishing there was a rock.

“You can watch it all on replay later I’m sure.” Twilight’s cloud had now shrunk down to half its original size and had started to take on a rudimentary pony shape. She only noticed as much because her vision was narrowing to her normal eye range, and had to bend down to keep Prism in sight. “I’m more interested in how you got here. You say you got sucked up here?”

“I remember it was your fault,” Prism barked with no real malice. “At least I think so.” Prism glanced down as she rubbed her chin at the memory. “My horn was burning like the dickens the whole time you were showing off your best phoenix impersonation.”

“Phoenix impersonation?”

Prism flapped her wings and wiggled her hooves while making a ‘whoosh’ sound. “You know, big ol’ fire wings the size of flippin’ Seed One! It was pretty flippin’ cool, I’ll give you that.” Twilight tried to take it as a compliment. “Wish I could have taken a picture, but those wings were pumping out some kind of pressure or whatever because it felt like my head was being pried open with a blowtorch.” Prism rubbed the base of her horn from phantom pain.

Twilight moved in to try and hug Prism, but only succeeded in roping her in with mist. “I’m sorry, Little Wing. I didn’t think that mana bleed would have caused anypony any suffering - well, aside from the kraken and Seed One’s paint job at least.”

Prism waved her concern away, and ran to escape the suffocating embrace. “I’m alive, you’re alive - I hope, so long as we can get back home I’ll give you a pass this time.”

“Ever the paragon of forgiveness,” Twilight chuckled sheepishly.

A smug grin cleaved Prism’s muzzle. “Yes, well, I am the nice one. So ah - any chance you can get us back home?” Prism scowled at the floating memories of ice and snow, crying with her mother, and watching ponies freezing in the streets. “I can think of a million different places I’d rather be.”

Twilight studied her solidifying body with more curiosity than anything else. “I can feel my magic control returning, but I believe we’ll need to wait until I’m down to size before I can make the attempt.”

“And how long will that take?”

“Well… time moves differently here,” Twilight mused aloud. “The material world could be moving faster or slower than us at random, so it is impossible to say. Although I suspect we have nothing to worry about. I taught Praxia how to quell Spike in the event I am unable to rein in his primal state. Plus I instructed Praxia on how to revive me should this ever happen, so we shouldn’t be trapped here indefinitely at least. This is just a guess mind you, but I suspect once I’m back down to normal size, my corporeal body will have recovered enough for me to open a portal back home.”

“You act like you’ve done this before.” Prism wished there was a face she could scowl at.

“Let’s just say I didn’t get to sit and have tea in the castle all that often,” Twilight replied cryptically. She knew Prism was going to pry so she changed the subject. “At any rate, I have little doubt the colony is in a tizzy with you missing and me presumably comatose. So Praxia isn’t going to make a public to-do about reviving me. At least she won’t if she doesn’t panic and misinterpret the signs and try the wrong method.”

Prism scoffed. “She’ll be fine. So the neigh unstoppable archmage had a backup plan for dying? I don’t know why you keep denying you’re a chess master.”

“Just because I believe in contingency plans, doesn’t mean I’m some kind of puppet master.”

“I know, that’s why I called you a chess master,” Prism teased back. “Why? Do you think you’re a puppet master too?”

“Ugh, I don’t know whether to be glad you can handle strange situations with jokes, or be terrified.” By now, Twilight’s body had shrunk down to the size of a baseball diamond, giving her enough physical presence to pinch her nose in frustration.

“So ahh…” Prism’s studious eyes lingered on her mother’s shrinking body for a bit before wandering around to take in the scenery, or lack thereof, and settling on the memories buzzing past her. The scenes playing out in front of her had changed to show her younger self running and playing inside the Ponyville Castle to grieving with her mother at her father’s funeral service. Prism made a point to look away from that painful memory. “Wait a sec… is this is the alicorn realm you used to sing about? No wonder you don’t visit often. Seems like a boring place full of depressing home movies.” She tore her gaze away from the memories, giving Twilight a melancholy frown at the dismissal. Prism pointed at the balls of gentle light surrounding them, both near and far. “So what’s with these lights? Are they portals to somewhere or some cheap lighting?”

“You seem awfully at ease for somepony who just got booted out of the known realm in the midst of a battle. Repressing your fear isn’t healthy, you know. Why not take the time to meditate?”

Prism hesitated in her study of the strange space around her. “I - I don’t think I can center myself enough in this freaky place. I just want to go home and see if Silver is okay. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to have your pilot suddenly disappear right in the middle of a fight.”

Now that she had a more defined form, Twilight was able to swing herself below Prism’s floor so she could be eye level with her. She tried to nuzzle Prism, but her body only offered a hint of resistance before Prism’s face passed through her clouds. The act produced a stifled chuckle out of the young mare. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine when you return, sweetheart. And don’t worry about the rest of the colony. Praxia has things well in hoof, I’m sure.”

“What makes you so sure she didn’t flip a feather when you went brain dead?”

“Because she doesn’t have any to flip,” Twilight quipped, causing Prism to let out an amused snort.

Prism tried to hug her mother, and found more physical resistance, but still nowhere near enough for a proper embrace. She slumped with her weak smile gone and a depressed frown in its place.

As with most mothers, Twilight hated to see her daughter being miserable and was quick to think of a distraction. “Little Wing, have you taken a moment to remember what I specifically said about this place?” Prism looked up and balked at the twin lavender suns her mother’s eyes had become, yet Twilight mistook it for her getting confused. “While your arrival here was premature, you are here nonetheless.”

“Iiis that a problem?” Prism’s ears flattened and she held a foreleg in close.

“I do not know, my child.” With the greatest of care, Twilight caressed Prism’s cheek with a truck sized hoof. There was just enough resistance for Twilight to know when she made contact. “We alicorns are so rare, and thus far, each of our ascensions has been unique. The only unifying element is that we all came here as the final catalyst of our ascension.”

“Ascension?! Me? Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” Prism pealed out with a girlish squeal of delight as she touched her horn, only to find it was the same length as before, barely long enough to poke through her bangs. Her elation deflated almost as quickly as it came. “Uhh, are you sure?”

Twilight’s body was now only fifteen feet tall, and she was able to stand on the same ‘ground’ as Prism. She extended her right wing, drawing Prism’s eyes towards it. “My wings only appeared when I returned to the material plane, so you will have to wait until our return to see.”

“Oooo! Why did you tell me that now?” Prism’s scowl only elicited a playful yet innocent smirk out of Twilight. “Now I can’t wait! How much longer until you can take us back?!” Prism tried to hug her mother’s leg, only to fall right through and go into a tumble as if she were in low gravity. With a few flaps of her wings, she corrected herself easily enough.

“Soon if the rate I’m shrinking is any indication,” Twilight said she looked herself over. “But again, time could be moving differently for us. We could have been gone anywhere from a few hours to potentially years, so just don’t be surprised when we get out.”

“A few years?! Prism shouted in a panic. “The colony’s going to have a conniption if both of us are gone for that long.” Prism searched her mother’s face for shared terror, but Twilight’s face still had a misty appearance, obscuring any definitive body language. “There’s no way the colony’s not a flaming wreck by the time we get back if it’s really a few years. Praxia probably died of love starvation without us!”

Twilight did feel heavy concern threatening to bubble to the surface. Oh no, I didn’t even think about that! But I can’t let Prism see me freak out. “I trust Praxia to hold the fort, and I’m sure she could ask some new parents to borrow some parental love. Changelings are nothing if not adaptable survivors.”

“But years?! What if Silver really thinks I just melted or something? Would he move on, thinking I’m dead? Would he get all super depressed thinking my death was somehow his fault?! He already suffered that with his folks!”

Prism started pacing back and forth, muttering increasing levels of panic and fear. “What about Spring Roll?”

As Twilight’s body took on a more normal appearance, her mask of control was starting to show cracks. “I have every confidence in Sawbones to look after her.”

“But you said Spring Roll needs an alicorn to nurse her or she could go Fire Shrine 2.0! She could be going insane at this very moment!” Prism’s mane had frizzed so much out of stress she looked like an electrocution victim. “The colony could be in flames! We—”

Twilight pressed a solid hoof on her daughter’s muzzle, yet the attempt to silence her failed as Prism just kept on jabbering. Twilight furrowed her brow and used both hooves to clamp her daughter’s mouth shut long enough to get a word in. “The common ponies are not so dependent on us that they cannot keep things together. Have a little faith.”

Prism pulled her face away from Twilight’s hooves. “What if Praxia’s gone super lonely without us and was forced to create a harem for herself just to stay sane?”

“Honestly, that might be the healthiest thing she could do for herself,” Twilight rebuked softly. At least she’d stop hovering around my office door. She shuddered involuntarily for a moment.

Twilight’s body flashed with light as her form became solid at last. “Ah, there we go.” She gave herself a once over, not really expecting anything to be wrong with her soul’s appearance. She did notice some scars that she did not have in her real body. A few healed lines, a knot of scar tissue here and there, but on the whole she looked healthy. Some scars never heal if not treated in time. Shaking it off, Twilight beamed a smile at Prism. “Ah, I can feel the connection to my body is still intact, as expected,” she added in a mildly patronizing tone, hoping to have some irritation replace the panic in Prism’s mind.

“Now then.” With a swipe of her horn, Twilight tore a clean hole in midair, revealing a hospital room in Seed One. Without waiting for Prism to register the portal, Twilight unceremoniously kicked her daughter through the portal and jumped in after her.

Prism face-planted on the sterile white ceramic floor with only her pained groan and a heart monitor to welcome her. She groggily picked herself up to find a stunned, slack-jawed nurse in the middle of checking her mother’s vital signs.

Twilight was stirring from the bed and sat up groaning at stiff muscles and a throbbing pain at the base of her horn.

The one thing that Prism noticed right off the bat was that her mother was completely bald, only the ghost of regrowing hair was present. “Laugh later,” Prism said more to herself. “Hey doc, how long have we been gone?”

“Uh, nurse actually, but um, two days.” The unicorn nurse seemed to recover a bit and pressed the doctor call alert on his personal display. “Might I ask where you went?”

“Oh, nowhere special,” Prism commented so offhandedly it might have been insulting, “just the alicorn secret clubhouse. Speaking of which! I need a mirror.”

The nurse blankly pointed behind Prism to the requested object resting on the wall. Twilight strategically remained silent, allowing Prism to occupy herself so she could do something about the horrendously embarrassing lack of fur.

Upon seeing that mirror, a mad hatter grin cleaved Prism’s muzzle at the much longer horn crowning her forehead. Excitement mounted so rapidly she started to hyperventilate. The nurse stepped around the bed to reach her when Prism’s breathing got uncontrolled enough for her to start to foam at the mouth and wobble on her hooves. Twilight forgot her baldness and reached forward with her magic when she saw Prism faint and keel over. She would have hit the floor if the nurse had not been quick to catch her in his telekinesis, as Twilight’s own magic only fizzled at the attempt.

“Oh, by the stars, that girl.” Seeing Prism was unharmed, Twilight allowed the nurse to tend to the young mare while she whispered a few commands to Voyager via the wired phone next to the hospital bed.

Sawbones all but burst into the hospital room along with a second nurse. “The alarm - oh, so you’ve awakened at last.” Seeing that the situation was not critical, Sawbones gave whispered instructions to the nurse that had followed him to depart.

By the time he refocused on Twilight, she had put the finishing touches on her hair and mane illusion while Prism was coming around thanks to the nurse’s assistance. “You gave all of us quite a start, your highness.”

“My apologies, doctor,” Twilight replied as she climbed out of bed. “I overexerted my alicorn magic.” As soon as her hooves hit the floor, Twilight was suddenly lightheaded, and would have collapsed had she not shot out a wing to hold onto the bed.

Sawbones was quick to help her stand properly, and she gave thanks for his support. “You alicorns may be made of sterner stuff, but maybe you should take it easy, at least for an hour or so.”

A weak smile crossed her lips. I think I’ll take you up on that advice.” With his assistance, Twilight got back in bed and gave him a grateful smile once she was comfortable. “If you can spare the time, I’d like to know all of what’s happened while I was out.”

Sawbones heaved a fatigued sigh, but kept his face professionally warm. “That would take more time than some of my other patients can spare, I’m afraid. But I suspect Praxia would be a bit more accurate than I.”

A saddened frown marred her face along with flattened ears. “Was it really that bad?”

Before Sawbones could elaborate, Prism all but bulldozed the poor doctor in racing back over to her mother and painfully banged her horn into Twilight’s own. Prism couldn’t care less about the pain because only one burning question was on her mind. “I need a second opinion!” She pointed at her much longer horn with both wings. “Is it official? Is it? is it?”

A sly yet proud grin crossed Twilight’s face before being quickly replaced with that of an archeologist studying some mildly interesting uncovered pottery. With a hoof, she positioned Prism’s face left then right, up then down; humming a studious hum now and again. It was a distraction from the coming bad news that she welcomed. Prism’s grin slowly morphed into a scowl of confounded annoyance. Twilight knew exactly how long she could play her game of studying the lab rat, and spoke up right as Prism was going to voice her displeasure. “Yes, I dare say you are now a full alicorn.” The mask of an impartial judge vanished as Twilight roped Prism into a squashing bear hug and giggled happily. “I knew you could do it, sweetie. I’m so proud of you.”

Prism decided to have mercy and dropped her irritation for one of shared joy, and returned the embrace with full force. It was enough to slowly crush the air out of Twilight’s lungs. “Can you hold off on announcing the news though? I wanna celebrate with Silver.”

Twilight let go of the hug and kept an eye fixed on her daughter as she climbed out of bed. “Just be sure to have protection, okay?”

“Psh, I’m not stupid. Bye, love you!” Prism bolted for the exit, nearly running into Sawbones again, but the doctor managed to duck to the side.

The good doctor had used the interruption to recover his warm bedside manner and inform Praxia of Twilight’s awakening and Prism’s return. “I would love to spend the evening catching back up with you, your highness, but you rarely need a doctor’s eye, and I can’t say the same for one of my other patients at the moment.”

Twilight nodded in understanding. “I trust my house is intact.”

“Yours is, not mine, sadly.” Sawbones waved the nurse over and shared some orders via the personal displays. “It’s been crushed into splinters, so I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of staying in yours while I cared for Spring Roll.”

“Not at all.” Not caring for his staunch professionalism in the workplace, Twilight dragged Sawbones over so she could nuzzle him. “Why don’t we make it a permanent affair?”

Prism’s first destination was the nurse’s station on the medical floor, and found one doing documentation on the wall display. “Heyya, miss?”

The cream colored unicorn turned around and gasped at Prism’s presence. “Oh my, you’re Prism Flash right? I heard you went missing.”

“I got better,” Prism shot back with a proud grin and a mane flip to show off her new and improved horn. “You got some spare display goggles? I sorta lost mine somewhere.”

“We have a small printer that can replicate you a copy, I’m sure you have clearance to use it.” The mare pointed at a nook in the wall and ordered Voyager to start making a copy.

“Sweetness, thanks. And one more thing.” Prism started to plan on what sort of reveal she was going to do to Silver. “Can that printer make the pill?”

Over an hour later, and a brief announcement that she was awake again, Twilight stood outside further inland. She gazed forlornly at Spike’s hibernating form, and held a hoof on his car-sized chin. The dragon was circled up and lying upon a massive pile of fake gold coins and replicas of other valuable looking artifacts.

The ground around his hoard was still waterlogged from the storm and light flooding. The clear orange tinted sky glinted on his scales. His huge frame rose and fell with slow breaths that reeked of sulfur. Loose mana steamed slowly off of him and was pulled into a trio of pylons that stood on the outer edges of the gold pile. They were responsible for drawing out the excess mana that his body clung to like glue.

Spring Roll was asleep inside a carrier that Twilight kept strapped to her while Praxia stood at the bottom of the coin pile. “I made the mana leech to the specifications you left in your scenario four plan.”

“You’ve always made me proud to be your teacher, Praxia. By all accounts, you’ve handled my absence well.”

Praxia blushed to the point where her whole head was red. Her wings buzzed excitedly as she bowed reverently. “Thank you, Sensei. Keeping everypony’s eyes away from you was somewhat easy by focusing on damage control,” Praxia replied a bit too fast, “but I admit I couldn’t think of a plan after that.” The grey changeling’s mane was styled rigidly straight-cut to a fault, yet she still managed to look like she was recovering from rebellious disguise magic, and her head was ever so slowly returning to its normal color. “I - I wish you wouldn’t push yourself to such extremes. What if the soul tether ritual didn’t work?”

“Then I would have to trust you to find some other way to bring me back,” Twilight replied with pride coloring her tone, hoping it did the changeling good. “I have complete faith in you, Praxia.”

Praxia visibly swallowed the lump in her throat, and had to ride the high she felt from the praise. Some part of her felt Twilight’s accolades were justified after all. “I’ll do the best I can, Sensei.”

“Glad to hear it.” Twilight’s manner hardened a bit as her thoughts drifted to the conflict with the kraken, in particular, the two gunships that were rendered useless due to the storm. Either one of those could have warded the kraken away. Yet it had to fall to Spike and me. As much as I dislike pulling a Celestia, the common ponies need to be able to deal with such threats without my direct intervention. If the natives are going to be this hostile, we all need to be ready. “Praxia, inform Spike’s advisors and staff to report to my office. With Spike out of action, I will be taking a more direct hoof on military matters.”

“It will be done, Sensei.”

Just before Twilight announced her return to the waking world, Prism Flash had used a mixture of stealth and pleas to arrive at the Pathfinder garage with her coworkers unaware of her. A grey snout poked its way through the open shutters between the hall and the garage. Prism already knew from Voyager that the other Pathfinders were out on assignment. So that should leave only the engineers, and one bat in particular.

The garage had not changed much. The rover docks were empty, save for her own. Sure enough, only three ponies were present. A unicorn stallion was in the machine shop working on parts, and a pegasus mare was working underneath a new rover model that Prism had only seen on proposal memos Ruby had forwarded from R&D. It had specialized robotic wheels that were cycling between a wheel and robotic claw form. That looks cool. Might be useful in mountain ranges where the air is too thin for it to fly.

Dragging her thoughts away from the new toy, Prism cast her eyes upon Joe and the particular bat stallion eating lunch on top of it while the rover’s camera stalk was looking at him. Perfect, everypony’s distracted.

Before she tiphoofed into the garage, Prism spotted her imperfect reflection in the metal frame of the shutters. Her eyes drifted once more to her fully fledged alicorn horn and blew a kiss at it. Lookin’ awesome, girl!

Returning her attention to Silver Belle, Prism fussed with her bangs to make sure they were just right. Ruffled hair took a surprising amount of precision, as a matter of fact.

Once she deemed herself presentable, Prism crept her way through the garage. With grinding machine noises drowning out her hoofsteps, Prism got all the way to directly behind the hapless engineer.

With a mad-hatter grin, Prism pressed a few buttons on her personal display and the garage’s hologram projectors created a mask around Prism, making her look ethereal and ghostlike, complete with spectral chains that loudly clattered. It was that clattering that drew Silver’s attention out of the maintenance panel. “Gearbox, be careful with that calib—”

Silver jumped out of his fur the instant he registered a ghostly Prism with black hollow pits for eyes and worms burrowing in her tongue and flesh. “Siiilver, why did you damn me?!” Prism accused harshly. “Whhhyyyyy?”

“P-p-p-Prism?!” Silver scrambled over the rover, kicking tools off the side of the machine in a mad scramble to flee. His wings locked to his sides, keeping him from flying away.

“You doomed me to Tartarus with that cursed soup!” Prism swung a zombie-like hoof. “It was sinfully good. And now I suffer!”

The absurdity of the accusation didn’t even register on him for a long moment, enough time for Prism to slowly fly above him, rattling her chains. “Sssoup? But I thought you liked it!”

“I liked it toooo much. You should have made bad soouuuppp.”

Finally Silver stopped trying to distance himself, and scrutinized the so-called ghost with a critical eye. Pony holograms were rather good, but they still had faint scanning lines that passed over them if you knew how to spot them. Silver noticed three of them oscillating around the chains first, then the ghost’s body. Prism was in the middle of another accusation when Silver’s fear was starkly changed to supreme indignation and he jabbed a hoof on the ghost’s very solid chest. “Come on, Flintlock, way too soon! Prism died, for Twilight’s sake!”

A stupid grin cleaved Prism’s face as she tapped the off button and the hologram was replaced by her normal appearance. “I told you it’s weird when you swear in my mom’s name.” There was only great amusement in her tone.

A series of expressions colored Silver’s face from disbelief to shock before settling on jubilation. “Y-you’re alive?!”

Prism shot him a playful salute. “Sorry about that; mom decided I needed an upgrade a bit early.”

She didn’t get another word in before Silver jumped forward and roped her into a desperate hug. Prism was initially shocked by the stifled sobs that heralded an even tighter hug, as if he couldn’t believe she was real. It was that shock that reminded her of the same fear she had in the astral plane before Twilight revealed herself. Prism eagerly returned the embrace, her tears joining his.

26: Technical Difficulties

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Barely a week after the kraken’s attack, and Praxia was just as neck deep in work as she had been an hour after the fact. The changeling was sitting on Twilight’s throne in the command center. A plate of now cold food sat on a fold out table while she intently read a collection of chat forums. She was disturbed by what she read, making her barely focus on levitating a bite of food.

“How are we going to survive another attack like that?” One asked with only a scant few trying to be the voices of reason.

Praxia added a few words to try and calm ponies down before moving on to another thread. “I’m not saying the Princess or our general are incompetent; if anything, they’re the real MVPs. What did our so-called boys in blue do? Squat, that’s what! Who’s to say when the next kraken hits? Without Commander Spike, the Princess can’t save us alone! The military’s practically useless without them!”

“That’s a bit too harsh,” Praxia muttered. While slowly chewing a bit of sandwich, she glanced out at the operation staff while making it look like she was still distracted by her display, easy feat with a touch of disguise magic. On the outside, the ten officers around her appeared slightly tense, but more or less confident in their jobs. Yet to her empathic senses, all but one of them were in various stages of smoldering anger and mild depression. The last one was barely holding her righteous hostility in check if Praxia was any judge. Feather Soft should really stay away from the forums until things cool down.

Being around this many ponies didn’t gnaw on her senses like the atmosphere inside the cafeteria earlier. The roiling negative emotions saturating the dining area felt to Praxia like having an annoying sound playing nonstop in one ear.

Praxia read several more threads since she was technically still on break, and found little positive. If anything, the general mood of the commenters threatened to envelope her in a malaise. Someday I’m going to have to find out how ponies put such emotions into text that I can sense it.

An alert went off on her personal display, drawing her attention to a request sent in by Twilight. Praxia dropped her sandwich and read the message. A slow grin threatened to break her outwardly stony mask. Oh, this is rich. I can hear the chessmaster accusations already. Not one to ignore a direct request, Praxia spoke up to the nearest operator. “Warrant Officer Shim Biscuit, I’m going to dive for a while on crown business.”

The unicorn nodded curtly. “Yes, Regent, I’ll screen any requests for you.”

Pushing away all distractions, Praxia called Prism up. After a few rings she found the new alicorn was wearing a horn circlet now instead of the display goggles, but had her face twisted in frustration. Praxia caught sight of a few toppled pieces of furniture and a plastic plant that was smoking. “Practicing magic, I take it?” The snarky yet tactful changeling gave Prism her trademark friendly-yet-strangely-detached smile.

Prism groaned from the dull hornache she had worked up and started rubbing her forehead. “I was actually trying to just learn how to work this stupid circlet like all the other hornies do it.” She gave Praxia a quizzical eyebrow. “What’s up?”

“Do I want to know what you mean by hornies?” Prism started to open her mouth but Praxia made a quick slicing gesture. “Scratch that, I’d rather not.”

“It’s not dirty if that’s what you think.”

“I’ll take your word for it. To get to the point of this call however, against all sound reasoning, your presence has been requested at court. You have roughly ten minutes to arrive, so I suggest a bathroom break if you need it.”

Prism angrily puffed a lock of yellow hair out of her eyes. “Well, that just baffles my apples. I thought mom wasn’t going to give me any Princess duties unless I asked for them.”

“For once, I am as bewildered as you are,” Praxia said in that carefully crafted tone that gave the barest hint of teasing mockery without it being obvious to anyone who didn’t know her like family. “Sensei isn’t the one summoning you, it was the petitioners’ idea.”

“Well, tell ‘em ta buzz off. I got a horn to practice with.” Prism tried to swipe at the end call icon, but all she managed to do was flail a foreleg at thin, unresponsive air. “See?!”

Wholly unimpressed with the display, Praxia gave Prism a slightly condescending look, complete with half-lidded eyes. “Given that you would be hanging up on me, I’m not feeling any sympathy at the moment. But alas, your reputation precedes you. The supplicants expected this reaction and wanted to add that this is a job only a Pathfinder could pull off, and they needed the very best.”

The grumbling new alicorn twisted her muzzle into a contemplative scowl. Plagued by a certain curse of self-awareness, Prism knew her ego was being played. But at the same time, she didn’t care enough to remain stubborn. “Damn it all. If I don’t at least hear them out, then somepony else can brag about being the top Pathfinder, and it sure as Tartarus ain’t going to be Firefly again. No way, no how.” She cast Praxia a begrudgingly amused grin. “Alright, you win, royal bug. I’ll listen to them.”

Praxia’s professional mask danced on the edge of a snarking smirk. “Excellent. You know how to dive with a circlet right?”

“I can figure it out,” Prism pouted as she powered her horn, yet kept swiping at the air.

“Oh, I have little doubt you can, and if we had a year to wait, then I’d leave you to it.” Praxia made a show of tapping an imaginary watch on her fetlock.

“I’m not listening to you.”

“Why don’t you give Voyager consent to do it for you? It would be a public disaster for the newest Princess to be late to her first court date.”

“I hate it when you do that.” Prism’s logic told her to calm down, but her ego rebuffed it. “I said I can do it myself!” Prism focused all of her ire on the series of buttons that would lead into cyberspace. She made a point to ignore Praxia’s mounting amusement and impatience at watching Prism’s hoof gestures. She made wide and exaggerated swiping motions and tapped her way to the proper command, but progress was made all the same. Once she tapped the command at last, Prism’s vision went spinning. The world around her was wholly replaced by what she knew was the entry plaza of the colony’s cyberspace.

Within the confines of virtual reality, modern pony culture was as vibrant and alive as it had been in the old world prior to the Great Freeze. The entry plaza was translucent concrete with sky-pointed searchlights illuminating a grand city of marble, glass, and wondrous art that was unbound by the expense or physics of the material world. The sky beheld a gentle mid-sunset where Twilight’s cutie mark stood tall and proud above it all. The government sector to the subjective north was a spiraling castle of amethyst marble and geodes. Since nopony was ground bound here, roads were only cosmetic. Monolithic statues of the princesses, minus Twilight, and old historical figures were on display. Each of the legendary ponies were on a ten second loop performing one of the heroic deeds they were known for.

Prism had to take a moment to reorient herself, casting confused eyes back and forth before settling on Praxia who was floating over. “So you’ve graduated to a foal’s level in circlet use. Most impressive,” she added with just enough snark for Prism to catch, but none of the three dozen ponies around them.

“Considering this spike on my head’s only been useful for a week, I’m going to take that as a compliment, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Prism blew a raspberry at the goading changeling. “Besides, you can’t blame me. I’m too used to having to go into a VR booth to come here. Doing it at will is weird.”

“Granted,” Praxia admitted, dropping her mockery. “Just remember that unlike the booths, there is no treadmill, and you are still present in the real world. So try not to smack into the wall or furniture as you navigate.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that,” Prism grumbled, as she wasn’t exactly sure how to accomplish that. There’s got to be a setting to let me move without doing so in reality.

Prism stood there swiping her hoof around, and did everything she could to ignore the odd looks she was getting from the ponies around her. The annoyingly professional sass Praxia was exuding through her presence alone was of no help either. It was a generally unwritten rule that anyone with a horn did not use VR booths to fully enter cyberspace, so hoof movements for commands was relegated to the non-horned tribes or unicorn foals.

Eventually, Praxia didn’t like how close to the deadline they were and lost her patience. “Prism, enough, just give me consent to transfer us to court.”

“Hold on, I can do it.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Praxia looked to Twilight’s cutie mark in the sky. “Voyager, regent authority override, force transfer User Crown Princess Prism Flash to the Dusk Court.”

The plaza morphed into a large throne room with no walls or ceiling, revealing a sky of perpetual twilight. Wispy clouds of welcoming light red and orange backed by an inviting sun were spaced all around. Marble tiled floors and columns framed the solitary throne on a raised dais. Twilight was currently resting upon said throne, although Prism wondered where her mother’s real body was.

Probably on some bar stool or her bed with lil’ Snack Roll.

The elder alicorn was lounging upon the symbol of power and authority with such grace and comfort it looked like she was made for it. The two young mares materialized roughly a meter in front of the throne.

Twilight Sparkle clapped happily upon seeing Prism, but her joy was sluggish and tired. “You came! I’m so glad to see you take this seriously.”

“I had to drag her here,” Praxia cut in before Prism could take advantage of the showering praise.

Prism shook a fist at the smug changeling. “One of these days, Praxia, bam, zoom, straight to the moon!”

“Which one? We have two up there now,” Praxia shot back with a cocked eyebrow.

Twilight stood up and pressed her wings on the mares’ backs. “Alright you two, now’s not the time. The petition is going to start in less than a minute, and I want you to make a good first impression, Prism.” The young alicorn cast a begrudgingly apologetic look at her mother. “Thank you, Praxia. That’ll be all for now.”

Praxia bowed deeply and vanished, leaving mother and daughter alone.

Prism swept her gaze across the throne room. “At least you’re not being pushy by making a second throne for me.”

“I would hope by now you know I’d respect your wishes,” Twilight replied with disappointment. “If you must tease your poor mother about something at least get some new material.”

“Don’t think I’m not onto your tricks,” Prism warned with a hoof wave and a sharp eye “But I’m already here, so I might as well go through with it today.”

Twilight gave a sad frown, but opted to remain silent and reclaimed her throne. Prism stood tall and proud near the throne as a trio of ponies materialized a few meters away.

“Announcing citizens Cherry Dye, Sweet Tart, and Nanoweave,” Voyager called from no definitive source.

Two pegasi and a bat stallion respectively bowed before the alicorns. Twilight felt her mood take a bit of an upturn that all of her petitioners today were in person. So many non-unicorns went to court on the old world with just avatars. I picked my colonists well if they all go the extra mile to go to a VR booth. She knew she was grasping at straws to make the day better, but grasp she would.

Sweet Tart was the first to speak. “Thank you for seeing us, princesses. We represent the Float Stone Initiative, and we’d like to offer a… modest easing of the current housing crisis.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at the offer. “Taking a dent out of the five hundred homeless would certainly be welcome. What do you have in mind?”

Why would I be needed for a housing project? Prism grumbled to herself, not quite so adept at hiding disdain as her mother was.

Nanoweave stepped up to stand beside Sweet Tart. “The three of us, along with fifty seven others, want to take an M-pattern outpost crawler to here.” Nanoweave swiped a hoof and had a satellite map of the lands claimed for ponykind materialize with a gentle green highlight. A mountain range almost five hundred miles to the northeast and much further inland was highlighted. “This site hosts a massive quantity of float stone, and we’ve been monitoring it for the past five months. None of the larger hostile monster fauna reside there. Not to mention the peculiar local weather there would allow us to better study it for future control.”

Cherry Dye was about to add her piece, but hesitated when Twilight had not offered any sort of commentary. When her companions gave her stressed looks, she cleared her throat while practically jumping to the front. “We know the risks involved, your highnesses, but all sixty members of the FSI have agreed to go. Admittedly, some of the holdouts’ homes getting destroyed finally incentivized them enough to go.”

Twilight’s neutral expression hardened a touch, making Cherry Dye break into a cold sweat. How very opportunistic of you.

“Aaanyway,” Cherry Dye continued as she tried to fan herself, “the satellites can only tell us so much, which is why we requested assistance from the Pathfinders to scout the area more closely for any dangers we can’t see from orbit.” The red pegasus swiped the air, granting Twilight the entire document of the proposal with the bullet points at the front. “We hope you will approve.”

“Interesting.” Twilight nodded slowly, deep in thought as she accepted the literature. “Voyager, give Prism and me a privacy screen.” A few moments later, the three petitioners went fuzzy and were muted. Twilight looked to her daughter with a carefully crafted unreadable expression. “Convenient. You ran a mineral survey over that region, correct? What do you make of this?”

Prism’s gut reaction was to tease Twilight about being a chess master, but something about the sudden weary fatigue in her mother’s voice made her show restraint. Instead Prism decided to focus on the actual question. “It’s risky as Tartarus that’s for sure.” Prism was granted a copy of the files and perused the maps and logistics for the route. “But I’ll give them this much, these guys have done their homework at least. An M-pattern could make the trip easy enough, as long as you’re willing to spare a military escort.”

Twilight’s jaw tightened into a scowl that lost any semblance of regality, and revealed to Prism the mask of a tired mare. “Let me worry about the protection if this ends up being good enough of an idea to back.”

One of Prism’s ears went limp at seeing her mother in such a miserable state. Really glad I didn’t start teasing her. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired, that’s all,” Twilight sighed dismissively. “Do you know anything else about the region?”

Prism didn’t want to drop her concern, but also didn’t want to press the matter. “Well… one of the planet’s jet streams runs right through the float stone field, which already rings the mountain like a comically dense asteroid belt. Airlifting anything through that is suicide, so the crawler would be the only way in, since we can’t space-drop anything yet.”

“That would certainly make it difficult to resupply... but highly defensible, should the need ever arise.” Twilight lapsed into silent brooding, her brow furrowed with troubled thoughts.

Prism hummed aloud disapprovingly. “We’re not going to take control of the land by hiding in a mountain fortress.”

“Perhaps not, but it is a step in the right direction.” Renewed energy seeped into Twilight’s voice as she became a bit more animated. “Yessss, this might be exactly what the colony needs right now. Not some speech of solidarity in the face of the natives’ attack, but an actual show of determination to claim the land as our own.”

Prism was caught between concern for the tone of Twilight’s ramblings and for the colony as a whole. “I wasn’t aware morale was bad enough to take a risk like this.”

Twilight snorted derisively. “That’s what you get for staying largely ignorant of the colony’s mood and chatter. The kraken’s assault ended up being a perfect storm for bad morale. Between you, me, and Spike getting removed from the board, and the damage both the swarm and kraken inflicted…” Twilight trailed off as dark and old memories skirted the surface of her mind. “Let’s just say this was too much too quick for most ponies to handle. And to top it all off, the fact that the storm exposed a glaring flaw in our military’s ability to defend us made everything go from bad to worse in the eyes of the common pony. We need a win, the military most of all.

“Do you consent to spearheading this as the designated Pathfinder? This mission might take a while.”

It took Prism all of two seconds to blurt out the one response she didn’t want to be first. “Only if I can bring Silver Belle with me.” Prism sweated a bit and quickly added, “I-I’ll need somepony who can maintain my rover since I’ll be gone for who knows how long.”

Twilight instantly went into embarrassing mom mode complete with the cooing. “Oh, now you know I wouldn’t dream of splitting up two little lovebirds.” She squashed Prism’s cheeks with her hooves, or at least tried to. “My little wing is a grown up mare looking for love, what’s a mother to do?”

Prism’s face boiled beet red. “Mooooom! They can still roughly see what we’re doing behind the privacy screen!”

“I think they can let me have this,” Twilight snickered as she planted a kiss on both of Prism’s cheeks. As her daughter pouted in her own indignation, Twilight called out to Voyager. “Lower the screen please.”

The ponies beyond the veil were making a painfully obvious effort to look everywhere except the two alicorns. “On behalf of the lavender crown,” Twilight paused a moment to give them time to focus on her, “I fully back your initiative. The crawler and all relevant supplies you need will be generated with as much haste as the housing project can permit.”

Smiles and cheers rang out from the trio, who quickly remembered to bow before the crown. “Thank you, princesses,” Cherry gushed. “Will we get the honor of having you as our Pathfinder, your highness?”

Quickly acting as if the mother induced embarrassment had never happened, Prism puffed out her chest and struck a heroic pose complete with a toothy winning smile. “On a quest this important? Look no further than moi.”

27: One Last Day in Safe Harbor

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Twilight Sparkle stood proudly on a balcony overlooking the new plaza five stories below it. The plaza was located at the foot of Seed One, and was a mosaic of their journey from Equis to Avalon. Almost half of the entire population stood there, looking up at her with anticipation. A few camera drones floated a short distance away from Twilight to give others who couldn’t attend a chance to listen in. A storm was rolling in from the sea as well; dark clouds roiled above the harbor. The dark, windblown clouds created a strange dichotomy with the bright, cloudless sky above the colony.

Standing at her sides was Praxia on the right and Prism on the left. While Praxia was in her clinically professional mood and stance as always. Prism had taken up styling her mane to draw attention to her horn. Unlike her changeling friend, Prism was practically bouncing on her hooves, and was scanning the crowd looking for Silver or her fellow Pathfinders, Firefly and Ruby. The latter so she could give a smug flourish with her horn, public spectacle be damned.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” Twilight began with that same motherly smile Celestia used so often in her childhood. “We came to this world because we refused to go quietly into the night with our stricken star. Through equine resilience and force of will, we have endured everything thrown at us thus far. The sacrifices our soldiers have made have been many and honorable. The new mothers and fathers of the colony have no less a difficult task… I should know.”

The joke may have garnered a few polite laughs, but not one pony could see it as anything other than a warning coming from Twilight of all ponies. Not even Prism Flash was willing to crack a smile.

“This world, our Avalon, is a harsh one, the Everfree Forest on a global scale. Nevertheless, we are here, and just like the Equestria of old, we will bend this planet to our design. I know some of you worry about the mandated gene therapies. It was a necessary step, I assure you, to better our chances of survival. I know of many deaths and close calls that happened because we could not breathe the atmosphere. But make no mistake, I am not goose-stepping our way into being assimilated into this world, to allow us to be the tamed. Just as our ancestors tilled the soil, bent the very ley lines themselves, and of course, commanded the weather…” Twilight turned towards the storm and waved her hoof.

Well over twenty pegasi had been waiting along the periphery of the colony’s immediate airspace. Due to Avalon’s clouds being much higher than their homeworld, each of them wore respirators and had thermal enchanted clothing. At her signal, the weather team went right to work busting up or diverting the storm. It would take almost a week to tame this storm cell alone, but all Twilight was going for was immediately noticeable action. Something the colorful contrails the pegasi left behind helped with immeasurably. “We will be the masters of this world!” Twilight briefly adopted a humored grin. “Well, outside of the Dominion, that is. And if the Minotaurs didn’t get lost along the way.”

A few ponies gave off genuine chuckles with a good deal of approval ringing out on the net.

“To those who think my brush with death last year may have cowed me, or the continued hibernation of our venerable dragon commander, I can finally declare our outpost crawler is complete and ready to go! Let actions speak for themselves.”

Off in the distance, just past the river, the cranes and scaffolding encasing the mammoth, building sized crawler had been pulling away since before the speech had begun. Now with Twilight’s signal, the house-sized hover engines grumbled to life and the mobile town lumbered forward a few meters off the ground as anti-gravity spells took effect. The stadium sized holographic coat of arms of House Sparkle materialized above it. The heraldry had been slightly modified to include a stylized version of Avalon behind Twilight’s cutie mark. In addition, the five stars of her cutie mark had been replaced by the symbols of the five pony tribes. This attracted more cheering from the crowds, both in the real world and in cyberspace ringing in her ear.

“This is but a prelude, my little ponies! We have claimed so much land, we need only to fill it. To that end, I am pleased to announce that mere survival is no longer our primary concern. Our brave colts in blue have recently declared our goal of a monster exclusion zone is complete, and through all of our hard efforts, we have the infrastructure and automation in place to support a population ten times what we have now.”

Twilight paused for a long moment to gauge the crowd. The multitude of cameras and posted keywords from the net gave her a good picture. Almost to the last, her subjects had a mix of tired yet proud faces. Each of them, be it blue collar or white, had earned their bread.

“Expansion is our new watchword. Our earlier breeding incentive were a good start, but we are less than two thousand adults strong, due in no small part on this planet’s determination to cow us into submission. Regardless, We have claimed dominion over sixteen million square kilometers, and none of us needs a doctorate in mathematics to see how this could present a problem. Since it was Regent Praxia who spearheaded this next incentive, I will allow her to speak on this matter first.”

By the time Praxia had started droning on about plans for the next major population boom, Prism had already tuned her out. She was still standing at the balcony, of course, but she knew she was only there for appearances. She had no part in any of the speeches, only to stand in solidarity as the new alicorn. Since she couldn’t find her fellow pathfinders in the crowds, she was far more interested in training herself in the use of her horn.

Prism could use a simple eye-horn coordination exercise as freely offered to young children or used by therapy professionals, but that wouldn’t do for Prism, oh no. Prism got it in her head to play the shooter game World War Griffin. She had mastered the game before Seed One ever launched, but it was a whole different experience playing it with only a horn. Prism’s personal display projected the game as a mostly transparent filter, allowing her to barely see the world beyond. Presently, her pegasus character was riding in a shaky aerial transport closing in on the griffin city of Briarstone. The drone of the engines were occasionally broken by distant anti-air fire. Looking around, she saw her character was queued in a line along the right side of the large transport with all the other pegasi or bat ponies, while a few unicorns and earth ponies stood on the left with parachutes.

Only one pegasus was walking freely, the ranking officer and her personal hero: her father, Captain Flintlock. Even though Prism had played this mission hundreds of times, seeing her father alive and well never got old. As the aircraft neared the landing zone, the red condition light winked yellow. More than a few ponies jumped at the change, so many of them wore the rank of recruits fresh out of boot camp.

Prism watched as Flintlock stopped next to a mare directly in front of Prism who was quaking in her boots and trying her damnedest to keep from outright bawling out of fear.

Flintlock opened a channel to the whole platoon as he gently clapped a hoof on the mare’s shoulder, an act Prism so dearly wished had been her.

“Save your tears,” he began singing strong and loud over the engines. The mare looked at her captain with a mix of fear and awe. “For the day,” he continued before looking for more ponies who were quavering. “When our pain is far behind.”

The scant few scarred veterans in the unit went lockstep and stomped their hooves once as Flintlock met as many eyes as he had time for. “On your hooves, come with me.”

Prism gently stomped a hoof as hard as she dared and mouthed his battlesong. “We are soldiers, stand or die.”

The yellow light started to blink slowly, and Flintlock returned his gaze back to the original mare. “Save your fears.” The mare seemed to take strength, and her shaking seemed to blend in with the rattle of the aircraft as they approached the anti-air fire. “Take your place,” he sang out at everyone. More of the recruits joined Prism in standing more resolute. “Save them for the judgement day.” Flintlock nodded in pride, an act that was aimed more at the player: Prism. “Fast and free.” Warmth spread through her chest at seeing her father seemingly acknowledge her directly. “Follow me.” He started walking towards the back of the plane. “Time to make the sacrifice.” The yellow blinking sped up rapidly.

Flintlock got into position at the front of the drop ramp. “We rise or fall!” The instant his song ended, the rear hatch fell away and he jumped through. With a great warcry, the rest of the ponies bolted for the ramp with Prism just as eager to follow now as she had been the first time she played the mission.

She mouthed her character’s reply almost to the letter, “I got your back, daddy!”

A few seconds into the charge into the air, Prism felt a small but intense point of heat on the side of her face run up to the edge of her eye. It felt more like a bug bite, making Prism slap her face. Before she could pull her hoof back to see if she had caught the bugger, she spotted a blinking text message from her mother superimposing itself over the war-torn skies. Uh oh. She risked a glance at her mother, absently banishing the game. There was no outward indication Twilight had done anything, but Prism was getting suspicious that the heat sting was a spell to evaporate a tear.

With Praxia still giving her speech, Prism dreaded reading the text message. “Is there a reason you’re playing WWG in the middle of the state of the nation address?! Seriously, Little Wing!”

Through it all, Twilight maintained her regal, friendly gaze at the crowd below. Prism, however, fidgeted on her hooves, her tail swishing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a moving speech.” She hoped her mother was too busy maintaining appearances to catch or even remember the lie.

“Girl, you forgot to set your Vapor account to offline mode. Everypony could see you were gaming in the middle of the address! Shut it off!”

“Yes, ma’am.” Prism did her best to keep from cringing under her mother’s presence. The plethora of whispers she was getting online about her little game session from the general public wasn’t helping. Bah, this wouldn’t have happened if she actually gave me a part to speak.

After the address concluded, the internet exploded in a scandal revolving around Prism, a fact none of the most powerful mares in the colony were ignorant of. Praxia was skimming the more prominent chat logs, while giving Prism an entirely unamused look. “Well then, apparently most ponies believe you were moved to tears because of the call to have even soldiers and Pathfinders participate in the next stage of population expansion. So you—”

Prism went bug-eyed for a moment. “Wait, what? Why are we that desperate for more foals?!”

“I’ll get to that in a moment,” Twilight cut in sharply with a scowl. “What possessed you to play games in the middle of the address?! Especially one that got you emotional!”

Prism gruffed and flicked a wing irritably. “Because I was bored! You tell me I have to go sit and be pretty to show everypony we alicorns are united when that shouldn’t even be a blip on the question radar, but you don’t even give me a part to speak!”

“You want a part in the next speech don’t you?” Twilight countered with faux anger.

“Don’t even start with all that chessmastering!” Prism warned with a wag of her other wing. “I know that’s a segue into giving me more of a princess role. I’ve got forever to decide when I want to do that, and it ain’t now.”

Twilight huffed, but let the push drop. “Fine, you’re going to have your hooves full with escort duty for a good while anyway. As for your punishment for making a fool of yourself…” Twilight turned to face away from Prism to think.

The pregnant pause gave Prism time to imagine some sinister retribution, making her ears fall flat and her tail twitch nervously.

Praxia took on a smirk and flew into a hover next to Twilight so the two could scheme together, and to make a show of it in the process. For a solid minute, the two devious mares let Prism sweat and stew in her own thoughts until at last they turned around. Twilight gave her daughter a dark grin. “As it turns out, the net has proven to be far worse than either of us were willing to pull off.” Twilight allowed Praxia to continue since it was her section of the address that was scandalized.

“There have been a myriad of online forums puzzling about what your short lived cry was all about.” Praxia moved her hoof about in thin air, acting as if she were selecting something. “How about this one. It seems several ponies think the speech struck a chord regarding your unannounced plans to step down from the Pathfinders and start your political career alongside Sensei.” Seeing Prism’s stunned silence as an excuse to elaborate, Praxia continued on while making a show with her hoof to act like she was typing on a keyboard while really typing via her horn. “I think I’ll just drop one of those ‘I can neither confirm nor deny’ statements on that thread.” Praxia acted as if she hit the ‘post comment’ button with a hoof. “I think that would make us even.”

Recollecting her wits, Prism saw her mother was hard at work trying not to go bug-eyed at Praxia. “Whoa, hold on one damn second. I am not leaving the Pathfinders! I’ve told that to everypony who cares. Who started saying crap like that?”

“Ruby Quartz,” Praxia replied offhandedly. “She’s using an alias, but Voyager’s been quite helpful in giving me her name.”

Prism’s personal display started to explode with questions regarding what her ultimate role in the government would be. It was getting so bad so fast that Voyager had to step in and clear up Prism’s display before she went blind. “M-mom! Come on, can’t you stop this?! I’m going to get nagged by just about everypony thinking I’m going to be the new Luna!”

Twilight had to remember to close her mouth for a moment. “Prism, dear, maybe you should see this as a opportunity. The life of a ruler is a rewarding one.” Prism stared at her, sunken shoulders and a withered face that spoke of anguish. “Besides, Ruby is more than qualified to scout for the crawler.”

Praxia closed her display and nodded in agreement.. “You know, Sensei, I just had an idea. Why not let Prism train to be the outpost governor. That would be a perfect learning experience for the future.”

Prism started rubbing her head as a headache threatened to take root. “Praxia, you are so dead after I fix this! I told you guys I had no plans to be a ruler like that! Just - just don’t say another word about this on the net until I can fix this.”

“How do you plan to do that, Little Wing?” Twilight asked with a touch of worry.

“First, I’m going to deck Ruby upside the head and get her to stop posting junk like this. Then make her admit to everypony this was just her talking out of her ass!”

Praxia sighed her obvious exasperation. “Can you at least limit your physical persuasion to that single punch? It would look bad if you clobbered somepony on your first day of official rulership.”

Prism growled at Praxia, but found no desire in the changeling’s face to undo her part in this debacle. She looked to her mother only to find a slight, but very amused grin on her face. Finally, Prism had had enough of them for one day. “Ugh!” She turned about face and threw her head back as she made for the exit. “Uuuuugh!”

Prism stormed through the door and headed off to the garage, leaving her mother and Praxia alone. Twilight held her composure for a moment longer before finally letting heavy snickers escape from behind a raised wing. Her throat started to sting from the effort of keeping some measure of decorum.

Praxia gave only slight laughter from behind a hoof. Not even here could she fully let go of her professional posture.

Slowly, Twilight gave up the ghost and let her wing fall so she could laugh in earnest. It was the laugh of one releasing tension caused by the burden of rule.

Being more controlled, Praxia was the first to break the string of laughter. “I must ask, Sensei, how long have you been holding onto that prank virus?”

Recollecting herself with a content sigh, Twilight worked up enough control to talk. “About seventy years, give or take. It helps that Voyager knows not to disable it.” On her display, Twilight was able to watch the false internet rumor mill going hard at work dreaming up increasingly more ludicrous claims, one of which was that she would take up sewer planning. Where in Tartarus are they pulling these stupid ideas from!?

Prism ran through the halls trying to do damage control. Voyager was in on it, of course, and made sure to tactfully redirect any real communication to and from Prism until Twilight gave the order to end the farce. I think I’ll wait until she arrives at Pathfinder HQ, right before she undoubtedly starts to punch the daylights out of Ruby. I don’t think it’d be a good idea to let one of my scouts get hospitalized.

Twilight gave one last chuckle as the good humor died down. She thought about her prankster friends of the past, Rainbow Dash, Bean Counter, Daisy Trim, and a few others now long gone. I tribute this prank to all of you. Assuming some of you’re still watching me from above and haven’t reincarnated yet, she added with a longing smile.

She cast her gaze back to the live feed Voyager was sending her of Prism. The young alicorn was alone in the elevator due to some clever redirection on the AI’s part to keep Prism isolated for now. Twilight eagerly anticipated the moment Prism realized she’d been had. Well, I’m pretty darn sure one of you got reincarnated. I couldn’t be happier to have you at my side for this oh-so-long life ahead of us.

Prism flew out of the elevator so fast she left a contrail behind her. The online rumors were getting worse, and Ruby was making it worse by dragging the entirety of the Pathfinder Corps in on the speculation. Only Silver remained strangely silent throughout it all. At least he has some damn sense.

Prism did her best to ignore the odd looks she got from passersby, hoping to keep her face from showing too much of her mounting fury. Every face, every eye that looked at her was a silent question. It didn’t help that with the speech over, most ponies were in the halls on their way back to work. So Prism had to keep bobbing and weaving through the other airborne pegasi. None of them could possibly miss the speeding alicorn. While most were wise enough to veer out of her way, a good number of them called out for questions undoubtedly mirrored on the internet.

Prism made it to the closed doors of the Pathfinder garage and was about to storm inside and pummel Ruby when all of the message boards, personal messages, and even the three live debates Prism was watching evaporated into an empty personal display. In their place came Twilight’s and Praxia’s smirking faces. “Ha, got ya!” they chuckled in unison.

Prism unsuccessfully skidded to a halt and faceplanted on the garage door. Pulling back and rubbing her sore snout, Prism quickly checked to make sure no one saw that before finally looking at her mother and pseudo sister. “What are you talking about?”

“As much as it may surprise you, Little Wing, the colony doesn’t revolve around you,” Twilight stated with a shake of her head. With a preprogrammed command, Twilight projected an extensive list of all recent social activity on the net. A scant few out of three hundred were highlighted in orange. “Barely anypony is talking about you crying on stage, let alone any speculation as to the cause.”

“Most ponies,” Praxia added in with more professional coolness, “are talking about the new breeding initiative. Not that you cared to pay attention,” she added with only the barest hint of hurt feelings.

“So - so nopony thinks I’m giving up the Pathfinders?!” Not trusting her mother’s data, Prism tried to banish it to perform her own search, but was sloppy in executing the command, as she still lacked decent muscle memory with typing via horn alone. Yet Voyager was accustomed to her sloppy motions and predicted what she really wanted via her conversation instead of what she typed out. Sure enough, barely anyone took notice of her crying, save for Silver who had sent a private message asking if she was alright. Prism slumped on the floor in relief. “Not cool.”

A part of her was hurt by the prank, but she was thankful Praxia and her empathy was not physically next to her anymore. I can’t let them see me mope about this, not after all the shit I constantly pull on them. Swallowing her anger towards Ruby and her family, Prism put on her best half-chuckle, She playfully snapped her mechanical fingers at her mother and Praxia. “Hah, yeah, okay, ya got me fair and square.”

Giving a nod of satisfaction, Praxia made ready to end the communication. “Next time, I’m giving you an actual speaking part so you pay attention. I put a lot of work into selling the initiative, you know. It’s not going to be as popular as the first one.”

“Ehhh, there’s no need to go that far,” Prism waved a hoof insistently. “I’ll, ah, I’ll watch the replay of it later when I have time. Maybe even give it a hooves up.”

“Well, good, I’ll see you out there then, good luck.” With that, Praxia ended the call.

Twilight kept her side open and looked to the side, waiting for Praxia to leave the room. “Prism, my dear, you know I love you.”

The sudden shift from playfulness to somber almost distracted Prism from noticing a flying drone arriving next to her. Her horn could feel the magical pressure wave of the teleport beacon it was carrying a moment before Twilight blinked into the hallway next to her. With a guiding wing, Twilight gently prodded Prism onto a bench and summoned a privacy spell complete with an opaque shield. “I want you to know that I loved your father too.”

Prism’s casual mask threatened to break. “So… I didn’t know you played WWG.”

Twilight could only flash a brief smile. “We ancient alicorns are not like the elderly; we can readily pick up on new things. Games can have quite good stories to tell, and the trials you face to hear that story make it worth more. Plus there was the whole asking for my permission to use his likeness and all.

“But let’s not go off on a tangent,” Twilight added, fully expecting the distraction was intentional. She adopted a supportive yet still firm tone. “I know you miss him.” Twilight gave Prism a wing hug despite Prism’s apparent hesitance to accept it.

Prism hung her head, the tears finally breaking free again. “This is the anniversary of his big win at Briarstone. What made him a hero to Equestria. Those games are the only way I can still be with him… even if he can’t know it’s me.”

“Oh, Little Wing, I know.” Twilight brushed a hoof along her daughter’s chin to lift her up to meet her eyes. “But I know your father would be so proud of the honorable and beautiful mare you’ve become. I have no doubt he’s watching over you from The Fields, or he may have reincarnated already, so he could be with you in person again.”

Prism shook her face to get Twilight’s hoof off her chin, but kept eye contact. “Do you really think daddy would have accepted reincarnation already?”

Twilight gave a wiry smirk and gently tapped Prism’s horn. “Well, not for nothing, Little Wing, but your life is potentially as infinite as the universe itself now. He would be waiting a very long time to see you again if he waited. I know for a fact all of my original friends have reincarnated at least once.”

The scholarly half of Prism took the bait, helping to lift her spirits a bit. “What makes you say that? Don’t ponies become completely blank slates upon being born again? A hero in one life could become a mass murderer in the next, and vice versa.”

“True,” Twilight said with a nod, “but a theory of mine is that my original friends were, for a time, bound to each other by a set of artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. It didn’t seem to really amount to much back then, outside of allowing us to channel the artifacts’ power when needed. That connection persisted after we gave up the elements, a sort of hold-over I suppose, should we have ever needed them again.” Twilight had gone straight into lecture mode, and was loving every second of being able to share her theories to the one person it was relevant to. “I would imagine that deep, subconscious bond would have faded upon our deaths, but my ascension made it a permanent mark upon all six of us.” Twilight had a faint smile, momentarily losing herself in fond old memories.

“I hope they still teach about Rarity and the others in history class,” Twilight stated at length, turning to her daughter. Prism shook her head, making Twilight groan in profound annoyance. “I told the School Board changing the common core to minimize history classes was a mistake, but nooo, nopony listens to the Princess of Books, now do they?!” Stupid idiots were lucky I was far too busy to fix it all, or I’d have canned the whole lot of them.

Prism snickered at the nickname, eliciting a bigger smile out of Twilight. “So you actually agree with the title?”

“Yes.” Twilight giggled and booped her daughter’s nose with her own. “But never in public, of course. Anyway, I had no way of knowing it at the time, but over the centuries, I’ve noticed a recurring theme among those five friends. Unlike every other reincarnation, my friends always seemed to retain their tribe and core personalities. Take Applejack for instance, you know of her, right?” To help her out, Twilight created a hologram of a trio of red apples.

“Oh yeah, that’s one of the cutie marks you used to have on a mural in your bedroom. An…” Prism tried her best to remember. “Orange earth pony right? She was part of the Apple clan wasn’t she?”

“That’s right. Applejack always seemed to come back as an earth pony, and always in the Apple family. Which… isn’t too hard considering how prolific they were.” Twilight shook her head to get back on track. “I didn’t always find her new body, but often times when I did, I just kept a distant eye on her, and didn’t want to interfere.”

“But if she had that much control over her new lives, why not go meet her again?”

A pained, fragile smile crossed Twilight’s lips and she retracted her wing from around Prism. She was silent for a long moment to collect her thoughts. “I did, for the first one I found. Apple Cracker was his name that time around. He had all the hallmarks of Applejack, brutally honest, such a terrible liar even a blind pony could see, and those same freckles were on his face,” she added with a short laugh. “A few others things, but that’s beside the point. What mattered was that he didn’t have a single shred of Applejack’s memories. I was a perfect stranger to him… Well, as much of a stranger as a Princess can be, I suppose.

“Some part of Applejack lived on inside of him, though. I could feel it; he wasn’t a completely blank slate, but he was enough of one to have completely forgotten who he used to be.”

“Apple Cracker…” Prism said slowly as she searched her memories. “Wait a second, wasn’t he your second husband?”

Twilight’s cheeks flushed beet red, and she attempted to hide it behind a wing. “Cracker was very charming, okay? He was quite the looker too,” Twilight had a sultry look on her face at the memories. “Oh, he was such a player, and I was in a phase, and-”

“TMI, mom, T. M. I.” Prism forcefully kept that image out her head. “Switching topics, so who do you think I used to be?”

Twilight blinked, her memories of Apple Cracker put aside. “What makes you ask that?”

Prism rolled her eyes. “Come on mom, you and I both know I inherited your brain, I can see where this is going from a mile away.”

Twilight let off a warm-hearted chuckle and nuzzled her daughter. “And what a marvelous brain it is to have.” Pulling back with a wistful sigh, Twilight summoned a picture of a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. She had a thundercloud cutie mark. “Rainbow Dash has always, always come back as an athletic, tomcolt pegasus with at least three colors in her hair.” Twilight’s eyes went distant as she flew back into her memories. “But more importantly, every one of your incarnations has found his or her way back to me. Almost as if your spirit felt compelled to seek me out, even if you never knew why outside of some base need. I was always more than happy to have your previous lives as friends.” Twilight gently ruffled Prism’s mane, ruining her mild attempt at styling it. “Amusingly enough, I kept running into your incarnations at increasingly younger ages. Almost as if you were racing yourself. None of my other friends actively sought me out.”

Aside from being a meaningful person to her mother, Rainbow Dash’s name only felt barely familiar to Prism. Even if she’s right, maybe I’m too far removed from Rainbow Dash to really… care? No, that’s not right… to feel like it matters? Prism ultimately inwardly shrugged. “Well, whoever I used to be is cool and all, but I’m staying me so long as there’s a rock or star I haven’t explored yet!”

“Heh, I should have expected as much.” Twilight grinned proudly, but a small part of her was sad to see Rainbow’s latest incarnation wouldn’t have any interest in her soul’s anchor. That might change with time I hope. “Speaking of exploration, you better run along. The crawler’s leaving in forty eight hours, and you need to get out there today to make sure the way is safe.”

“Oh, you can count on me getting it done!” With one last quick hug, Prism Flash blitzed into the garage to make ready, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts.

Twilight gave a calm breath and dispelled the privacy field. Either I’m right or I’m wrong. But I suppose I’m just glad Prism turned out the way she did. Her mind drifted towards a time when Rainbow Dash had pulled some clever prank, and the trickster had that mischievous smirk Twilight saw all too often on Prism. That same raspy voice that Twilight remembered fondly, and Rainbow’s utter loyalty. A loyalty so deep it kept bringing her back to Twilight. I hope I’ve raised you right. You deserve no less, my old friend.

28: Nopony Told Me Wisdom was a Tenet of Harmony

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Prism lounged on top of the new and improved Joe. Silver had overseen a number of upgrades, and the one Prism was enjoying the most right now was a hammock strung up along the right side of the rover. It was just after midday, and she was snoozing while the rover made good time through the gentle rolling hills that offered no flora that could hinder its progress. Their path had them running away from the river that ran through the colony, but one of its tributaries was nearby. It was this lack of anything new, that hadn’t been cataloged already, that gave her the excuse to take a nap.

She was greatly enjoying the warm sun, only to be interrupted by a call from Firefly. His transparent face manifested like an annoying gnat buzzing where it wasn’t wanted. Given that this was on the official Pathfinder channel and they were out in the field, Prism didn’t have the option to ignore the call that activated almost immediately. “Heyya, horn job, you going to sleep all day, or are we going to do some actual work?”

Pressing her mouth flatter than a pancake, Prism cracked open a disgruntled eye. “Call me that again, and you’re going to have both of your horns on your head. Secondly, we don’t leave the monster exclusion zone for another six hours, so I’m going to get some shut eye until then. If you have the brains to match your mouth, you should do the same; we’re going to have a long night ahead of us.”

She could see Firefly’s gaze venture off to the sides and a worried scowl crossed his muzzle. “I think you’re putting too much stock into this so called exclusion zone. It’s too wide an area, and we don’t have enough troops or drones to really monitor it all.”

Prism deepened her voice as much as possible. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

Firefly arched a confused eyebrow. “Uhhh, okay.”

Prism inwardly groaned. Crap, that’s right, momma never had time to prepare those movies for an Equestrian audience. Too bad the portal collapsed after Sunset died. “Never mind. The point is, relax while we can. We’re not going to get another chance until Seed Two is planted.”

Firefly sluggishly nodded his agreement. “Speaking of planted seeds, when are you and Silver going to have a foal?”

Prism sat up and gave him a scowl so heinous that he balked a bit. “What Silver and I do in that regard is none of your damn business.”

“It kinda is,” Firefly rebutted, recovering from the initial intimidation. “He’s my best friend, and as much as you may not like it, we need more foals.”

“The Pathfinders need Ruby and me more than we need two extra mothers. Besides, I doubt Ruby is even capable of loving anypony, let alone a child.”

Firefly shrugged while giving a worried grin of sorts. “Okay, so maybe she’d be full of tough love, but I’m sure all she needs is time away from you.”

“Psh, I won’t say no to that fact.” Prism laid back and watched the scant few clouds in the sky go by. “But I’m ageless now, so I don’t have a menopause to worry about.”

“You may not age,” Firefly countered with a sad tone. “But Silver does. Try not to forget that, alright?”

Before Prism could think of a response, Firefly ended the call. That left her stewing, unable to enjoy the simple act of napping. Bah, what does he know? Stallions can sire kids long into middle age or later. We’ve got forever and a day to worry about having some ankle biters, plus I have to be a good sister to Spring Roll.

Roughly on time with Prism’s prediction, the two Pathfinders reached the edge of the exclusion zone, a rather nondescript affair as they continued on moderately difficult terrain. It was dusk by now, and the only real warning either of them received was a red indication light on their personal displays alerting them to the known, yet uncontrolled dangers ahead.

Momma says this is all going to be suburbs one day for the capital. Prism gazed about from on top of her moving rover. The area was mostly tall reeds and grass analogs obscuring the shallow boggy ground. The dampness came from the tributary. There were only a scant few tall plants or fungi, but there were plenty of large stones generated by a collection of Ruby’s Towers that had been weathered away long ago. She tried to picture rows of nice warm neighborhoods complete with stores, schools, and various other locations she assumed suburbs contained. Well, after the bog’s been drained at least. Pee-ew.

In the end, it felt like a nice idea, but not one Prism was ultimately interested in. Let other ponies fill the cities, give me the unknown and a rover any day of the week. A wiry grin crossed her face. And Silver by my side, of course.

Firefly’s comments from earlier decided to echo in her head. Her best attempts to ignore it were dashed upon hearing the high pitched whine of Firefly’s rover rolling up to her position. The orange furred and red maned unicorn jumped off his rover and approached Joe, prompting Prism to join him on the ground. Joe had been wise enough to idle on a patch of drier, more stable ground.

“Alright boss, are you finally going to tell me how you want to handle this whole thing, or just play it by ear?” There was no irritation in Firefly’s request, only bemusement. His booted hoof dragged some clingy green fronds with him, which he tried to kick off as Prism reached him.

“It’s not really complicated,” Prism stated with a bit of boredom. “Run the path satcom laid out, and see if there’s any hazards we’ll have to circumvent. I was going to take the right side of the path.”

“Guess that leaves me with the left.” Firefly’s horn lit up as he tinkered with his display. “You think we’ll actually find anything dangerous satcom missed? You know, besides migrating monsters.”

Prism cracked a smile, and looked upon the wilderness ahead of her with glee. “Only one way to find out.”

Back in Elysium, Twilight Sparkle was closing her home down for the night. Spring Roll was in her crib, being lulled to sleep by Twilight humming a gentle lullaby. It was a wordless melody that her mother had passed down, and so it was that Twilight did the same.

The foal’s room was a cramped affair compared to what Twilight’s previous children enjoyed, being barely larger than a walk-in closet, but it would have to suffice. The building fabricators had so many other projects, and there were far too few ponies willing and able to build better homes the old fashioned way. Still though, no matter how cramped her little cabin in a jar might feel, Spring Roll made it home.

And there she might have stayed, watching her newest daughter sleep, maybe even pulling her from her crib so the foal could curl up under Twilight’s wing. That plan was foiled however when Sawbones made an urgent call. That can’t be good. He’s still on shift for another hour. Answering the call revealed his haggard face. Sawbones had weary bags under his eyes, and some of his mane was shaggier than usual.

“Colonial Princess,” he started.

The formal address over a private call had been dropped entirely a few months ago, even when Sawbones was on the job. To use it now made Twilight more than a little fearful.

“We’ve had a serious incident. One for which the state will have to file criminal charges.”

Standing up quickly, Twilight cast a sleep spell on Spring Roll to make sure the filly was out. “I’m on my way.” As Twilight ordered Voyager to create a relay of teleport beacons between her home and the hospital, Twilight pressed a new button on her personal display.

A holographic unicorn materialized in the hallway after Twilight stepped out and shut Spring’s door behind her. The unicorn had a carefully created image exuding maternal care; a sweet yet knowledgeable face, a gentle yet reassured posture, and a warm voice that spoke of patience and love. “Colonial Princess Twilight Sparkle, how may I help you tonight?”

“I have urgent business to tend to. I know your program isn’t necessarily finished yet, but I don’t plan on being gone long. Can you watch over my foal? She’s asleep for now, and no pony else is close enough.”

The holographic pony placed a reassuring hoof on Twilight’s foreleg. Recently installed force field projectors along the walls and ceiling allowed the new AI to actually touch her. “I am honored by your trust, although I’d imagine my creators would be more so, I think.” The AI had a twinkle in her eye that felt more real than Voyager had ever accomplished. “Do not fear, Princess, Spring Roll is safe in my care.”

Twilight’s display flashed an alert that the relays were in position. “Good, thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, Twilight blinked away.

Twilight finished her string of teleports by landing in the hospital’s reception area. Sawbones had been waiting for her, looking just as bad as when he called her. He was sitting heavily on a bench with barely wiped blood on his scrubs. It was not an unheard of look for him, but those times were typically reserved for post-combat injuries.

Twilight rushed over and nuzzled the clean side of his face. “What happened?”

“A riot broke out at the Salt Lick. Twenty five injured, twenty of them hospitalized, five in critical condition.” Sawbones climbed to his hooves and started walking to the recovery bay.

“What caused it? Just drunken brawling gone bad, or is something behind this?” Twilight inquired with far more concern than anger at her subjects.

“I’ve been too busy saving their idiotic lives to get any more details than what I’ve given you.” Sawbones slid into a room with two occupants. “I’m sure Voyager could give you all the details,” he stated with mild confusion, assuming she didn’t already ask the AI.

“Voyager can give some excellent analysis as to the cause, but he’s still lacking some insight. I can get a clearer picture by asking the instigators directly. And by asking them first, I don’t go in with preconceptions.”

“Well, if that’s your prerogative, then be my guest. I’ll let those two speak for themselves,” Sawbones huffed with a wave of his hoof at the two patients. “I’d love to listen in, but my break has lasted too long as it is. I have paperwork to do before I can head home.”

“Save it for the morning,” Twilight started with both love and a firm tone. “You need the rest, and you’ll be able to finish it faster when you’re not so exhausted.”

Sawbones considered it for a moment before shaking his head. “Sorry. Protocol demands finishing it asap, but I’ll request some help from some of the nurses who are coming on shift in an hour. Deal?”

The current situation forced Twilight’s hoof into agreeing without further negotiation. “Alright, Honey. I’ll see you later tonight then.”

Watching him go, Twilight’s face wilted. I wish he wouldn’t have so many night shifts. Putting on her best nonjudgmental expression, Twilight marched in to find the two patients had been separated by not only privacy fields, but two earth pony guards. The first pony was an irate green pegasus stallion that Twilight vaguely remembered from the original colonist screening for Seed One, while the other was a familiar earth mare: Apple Kuchen, the current director of Hydroponics.

Apple Kuchen’s injuries were serious, but not life-threatening. A compound fractured foreleg, a black eye, and various minor scratches. Twilight noted the stallion on the other hand, had two fractured legs, a bite taken out of his right ear, and from what the wall mounted screen told her, a ruptured spleen. He was currently asleep, and the medication Twilight saw in his IV meant he wasn’t waking any time soon.

More importantly to Twilight at the moment, was that Apple Kuchen was able to talk. Both of them also had IV drips of magically charged fluid on one end of the bed. The mana charged medication could temporarily allow a drunk to think clearly, but it was dangerous to use for long. Looks like both of them were stinking drunk.

Giving a nod to the guards, Twilight commanded Kuchen’s privacy field to shrink so the earth mare could see her, but not the stallion. “Director, I see you’ve been keeping yourself busy.”

Apple Kuchen tried to sit a little straighter. “Colonial Princess, can’t say I’m surprised you came to see for yourself.”

“Yes, well,” Twilight let her eyes drift along the mare’s injuries. “This is something I had hoped wouldn’t happen until at least the next generation of ponies reached adolescence. So what happened, AK? Was the liquor watered down? Somepony called you a fake Apple? Got accused of being a draft dodger? What was it?”

Kuchen averted her gaze in shame. “I have no excuses.”

“Then don’t think of it as excuses, think of it as reasons why it happened.” It was a trick Twilight had used quite often in her motherly career. “And if you don’t talk, I’ll get your neighbor’s story first. And if I have to wait for him to be awake, it’ll be worse for the lot of you.”

Kuchen ground her teeth for a long moment. She glanced at what appeared to be a vacant space in her room, but Twilight’s threat made it obvious who was there. “I was being stupid and letting words rile me into a fight.” Twilight’s silence allowed Apple to keep speaking. “I just - I wasn’t myself. You know me, Twi—” Apple Kuchen hesitated, “Princess. I toss banter back and forth with the best of them, but lately, I’m just angry all the time. Briar Patch talked a bit meaner than he normally does, and I tossed it back even harsher. Next thing I know I get bashed in the back of the head with a stool. After that, we all started beating each other senseless. Me, Briar, everypony. It was a good release at least, for… what it’s worth.”

Voyager and Twilight watched Apple Kuchen sigh and fall silent, awaiting a verdict. Sensing the pause, the AI spoke up for only Twilight to hear. “Colonial Governor, I’ve finished reviewing the security footage from inside the Salt Lick. Citizen Apple Kuchen’s story is correct from her vantage point. The chair was actually thrown at another pony who avoided it rather clumsily.”

The relevant video feed appeared next to Twilight, but she largely ignored it, save to take note of the thrower. What she did take note of, was that Apple Kuchen was the brawler in the highest position of authority. Seems Sawbones thought she was the original cause of the fight, or thought I should make an example of her. I could give her a lighter sentence since she didn’t really start the fight, but what sort of message would that send, hmm? “Kuchen, normally a crime of this sort is resolved via fines, community service, or jail time if the other injured party wants to press for damages beyond medical bills. So you and the rest of your brawler ‘friends’ leave me in quite a bind seeing as how I haven’t established a currency yet, and everypony’s work could be seen as community service by the letter of law.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I suppose this is a wakeup call for me to write some new laws. But in the meantime, incarceration will have to do.”

She gave Apple Kuchen a hard stare. “This is not the old world, Apple. The colony is a family, we all know everypony else, if only by face and name. We can’t afford to let this slide.” She paused to let it sink in. “You and the rest of the brawlers will be under house arrest for the time being. You will work, and then go straight home under guard, you will be on three fourths rations, and be restricted from any form of alcohol for the duration. Understood?”

Kuchen squared her shoulders as best she could and nodded crisply. “Yes, Princess, it won’t happen again.”

“Good,” Twilight replied firmly. “I would hate to have to replace you for somepony less qualified if this behavior becomes repetitive.” Sensing the earth mare quietly accept her punishment, Twilight departed the room. Once in the hallway, she made a recording of herself giving a less personalized sentence to all of the bar fighters, and allowed Voyager to determine the length of time for each individual.

When she was done and ready for some sleep, Twilight noticed a text message from Praxia waiting for her. Opening it revealed a single line: “We need to talk about the bar fight.”

Odd. It’s not like Praxia to be cryptic… well, towards me anyway. Instead of following her teleport beacons back home, she opted to make her way to the elevators to reach Praxia in the command center.

Shortly thereafter, Twilight walked into Praxia’s office, just outside of the Command Center. Since the founding of the colony, the changeling princess had personalized the room into a sort of collage of history. Pictures of notable ponies, past and present. A bust of Twilight’s head sat on a marble pedestal to Praxia’s right side. There was even a holographic drawing of the time Twilight and the Elements partook in the Hearthswarming Eve play. One thing that saddened Twilight about it all was the sheer lack of anything belonging to the changelings or any other of the now long dead civilizations.

Praxia had been sitting ramrod straight, but still jumped a bit upon seeing Twilight enter the room. “Sensei, you got my message?”

“I did,” Twilight answered as she took a seat in front of the desk.

Praxia blushed furiously and got out of her much nicer chair and magically pushed it around towards Twilight. “Here, I can’t possibly have a better chair than yours.”

Twilight sighed heavily and remained in her less comfortable chair. “Praxia, as much as I appreciate the gesture, it’s late and I’m about two inches from being as grouchy as Spring Roll. What did you want to talk about in regards to the bar incident.”

A phone call would have been alright, no need to come in person. Praxia kept that hint of bewilderment under wraps.

With her mind returning to the present, Praxia nodded slowly and sat back down in her desk chair. “Okay, to the point. I don’t think the bar fight is an isolated case. I think it’s a symptom of wide-scale stress across the whole colony.”

Twilight was slow to shrug. “And? No pony was under any illusions that a new world would be a vacation. Granted, stress tolerance wasn’t exactly very high on my screening metric for the colonists, but it was up there.”

Praxia’s ears wilted and she nervously tapped her hoofs together a few times. “Well, um, Sensei, I think the colonists have done an amazing job so far, but I think they're at their breaking point. If we don’t do something soon, tonight’s bar fight will only be a herald for even worse incidences.”

Twilight’s first reply died on her tongue as she took a moment to think. I guess I have been so busy with Spring Roll, Sawbones, and running general affairs that I may have been lax in reading the forums.

Twilight’s continued silence gave Praxia the time she needed to recollect her argument. “The thing is, Sensei, ever since the kraken attack almost a year ago, the ambient stress I feel in the hallways, cafeteria, work places, what have you, has been rising steadily. It used to wax and wane in a sort of balance, but now the general level of stress doesn’t release as much anymore. And in the past week, there’s been a sharp increase in anxiety.” Praxia shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to enjoy her better chair.

“…I see.” Twilight ground her teeth as doomsday scenarios threatened to run amok in her mind. “Do you think I was too ambitious trying to go for another breeding initiative? It received glowing applause at the time.”

“It’s been proven that foals create a lot of stress and fatigue in parents,” Praxia recited almost as if she were reading it from a book. “But my theory is that the admission that survival is no longer our number one priority might be the root of the problem.”

Twilight was taken aback, and narrowed her eyes in a mixture of curiosity and grave confusion. “I don’t understand, that should have been a relief more than anything else.”

“Perhapsss,” Praxia coughed and pulled up two things and sent them to Twilight’s display. The first was a laundry list of forums with various highlighted keywords, while the other was some medical text on psychology about causes of stress. “The thing is, Sensei, just about everypony has been on anywhere from sixty-five to ninety hour work weeks since we started.”

Praxia adopted a short-lived, yet proud façade. “Now, I know you and I can weather that easily enough, what with being able to do a lot of our work remotely and on the fly. But not everypony can, or at least are not as willing to anymore. The crisis of survival is over in their minds, but nopony’s work weeks have been reduced to pre-Seed levels. Not one.

Praxia waved at the highlighted forums.“ And it’s got ponies talking.Fearful more like it. The gist of the speculation is that you and I are covering for something. The push to get an outpost away from the ocean and into a natural fortress hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ponies are worried, more so than ever now that they think we’re hiding something.”

Twilight took it all in and nodded solemnly. “And no amount of reassurance speeches will convince them otherwise. We had better act on this now before things get really dicey. ”Twilight looked up to the ceiling. “Voyager, inform all work crews that work weeks are to be incrementally curtailed until everypony is at forty mandatory hours. I won’t stop ponies from working extra if they desire it.”

Twilight closed her eyes to think for a long moment. “This is going to have to include us as well; if on a smaller scale. Ponies will need to see the two of us taking it easier to truly believe it.”

Praxia brightened considerably and nodded quickly in agreement. “Thank you for hearing me out.I was half expecting you to double down on keeping long hours thinking we’d all be used to it by now.”

A heavily, tired exhale escaped Twilight, as if she finally relented in showing her own exhaustion. “To be honest, I’ve been tapping into my alicorn magic more often than I care to admit to keep up the pace. I can’t tell you how much respect I have for the others pulling those ninety hours along with us.”

That could be why you’ve missed this crisis. You’re spreading yourself too thin, Sensei. “It’s been rough, to be sure.”
Praxia was already adjusting her schedule to allow more sleep. “We’ll have to work in some more ways to automate more tasks. Perhaps retooling some of those military drones for civilian use could be a good start.”

“We’ll see. For now, though,” Twilight yawned wearily again, “I’ll sleep on it, how about that?”

Prism flew side by side with Joe as the two made their way along the fringe of a mushroom forest. The massive blue stalks around her were not as tall as their adult counterparts, and were flimsy enough for the rover to shove or break out of the way.

“Pathfinder’s log ascension date…” Prism stuck her tongue out as she decided between using a fake date or the real one, and ended up giving a blasé shrug. “235.9. The wilds around me are fearful, petrified even, of my awesome power. Sensors detected no less than five critters of incalculable ferocity, yet a few warning shots across the bow were more than enough deterrent to chase them away.”

Prism swooped to the other side of Joe, and gave the machine a playful salute. “Crew morale is holding steady, with promises of rum and plenty of loose green alien stallions waiting for any tired mare’s attention. But as captain, I must fly above such wild and raunchy times.”

On her personal display, Prism summoned an image of Silver’s head, complete with that fang filled grin that still gave her tingles. “Besides, I have a first mate to tend to the captain’s needs.” She caressed Silver’s jawline, oh so wishing she could actually touch something, or someone, physical.

Banishing the image with a wistful sigh, Prism shouldered her father’s rifle and took aim at the forest. “Red alert! Something wicked this way comes!”

Without slowing, Joe turned its camera stalk towards the dusty grey alicorn. “My sensors currently detect no wildlife larger than a dog, Pathfinder. And even that is staying back from the tree line for visible light sensors to not detect them.”

“Don’t be fooled, Number One!” Prism smirked from behind the butt of her rifle. “The beasties ate some poor ensign and now they have active camouflage. Only my mighty, cosmic alicorn powers can sense their unspeakable eeevil.” Prism started actually searching for the critter her rover mentioned. Using her circlet to mold the spell, Prism fired off a few firework spells in the shape of her head and cutie mark.

“Pathfinder, might I suggest a more—” The AI was cut off by Firefly calling Prism up on the priority channel. Prism lowered her rifle and glided down to land on Joe’s back.

She accepted the call before it auto-connected, allowing her fellow Pathfinder’s head to materialize. “Hey, boss, I got a bit of situation here. You need to see this.”

Prism’s gaze briefly slid to the left as a set of coordinates appeared. “What’s got you in a fuss? You don’t look like you’re getting eaten at the moment.”

“Just get over here. Knowing you, sending a camera feed would just spoil the fun.” Firefly gave a knowing smirk.

Firefly looked as if he was ducking behind something, but Prism couldn’t be certain with only seeing his head. “It’s that cool, huh?” Prism didn’t try very hard to hide her growing excitement. “What angle should I fly in at for the best reveal?”

Firefly’s toothy grin only widened. “I’ll have Barbie alter the flight plan. Just get over here soon; I don’t know how long I’m going to be safe here.”

“Oh, I am on my way!” Prism ended the call, and reared up so she could hook one foreleg around Joe’s camera stalk, and the other hoof pointing the way. “Come on, Joey boy, we got ourselves a right good mystery to unravel!”

The trip towards Firefly’s location had to take a sizable detour as they flew above the otherwise impassable terrain. The fungal forest canopy cover was so dense there was no place small enough for Joe to return to the forest floor. Nothing but a vast blue expanse yawned in all directions, broken only by the occasional hole carved by insects or herbivores. One such pack of bird-like things had been eating away at one section of the massive mushroom caps, but more importantly, was where Firefly’s rover was parked. Prism jumped off of Joe to approach the other rover while Joe eased into a landing.

“Barbie, where’s that marenizer of a pilot of yours?”

Barbie had been watching Prism’s approach with its camera stalk and spoke in a sultry female voice. “My master is currently following a fascinating energy signature on the forest floor. He said to direct you down this breach in the canopy, then follow his locator beacon.”

Figures he would get his rover to address him like that. Prism rolled her eyes before looking down into the gloom of the hole. The whole place gave Prism the shivers.

Ugh, I swear, if Firefly is luring me over to some giant wasp nest I’m going to strangle him. “Stay here and watch the exit, Joe. This deep in and we could see some actual threats.”

The rover came to a landing and anchored its legs into the center of a sturdy mushroom. A newly installed mana canon, roughly the length of a leg, pulled itself out from the side of the machine. “Sentry mode engaged. Stay safe, Pathfinder.”

Poking her head inside the breach to scan for bitey things, she saw nothing threatening, for the moment. Gulping down the lump in her throat, Prism slid inside the small hole and landed heavily onto the spongy ground. Using magic to pull her rifle off her back, and smoothly wrapping her robotic hands around it a second later, Prism checked every corner, barrel first.

This forest was much like all the others; the mushrooms had a steady blue bioluminescence about them, while something resembling trees grew in between the towering stalks. The mushroom caps were easily eight meters high, allowing the glow to give the whole forest a surreal look. A scattering of ferns and moss coated the ground.

Firefly’s beacon directed her north through a thinned path due to some tell-tale cuts with a spellblade. What was he even doing this far into the forest anyway? We’re supposed to be finding the quickest route around this damned place.

Steeling herself, Prism opted to fly above the underbrush. Weaving between the mushrooms and trees wasn’t overly difficult, since she had long grown accustomed to compensating for her larger wingspan in tight places.

The general din of animal noises clamored in all directions, making Prism’s ears constantly shift in search of danger. The thick humidity was warded off for the most part by the suit under her duster, except for her head and neck, which were now drenched with sweat. A good portion of that sweat was caused by the worm of terror in her heart. Come on, PF, there are no wasps. This place is too dense for them. You’re safe, you’re definitely safe.

A sharp buzzing noise was growing in front of her, with Firefly’s beacon centered right on it. She came to a stop, and rested near a patch of clear soil. Panic threatened to grip her heart like a vice as the giant wasps filled her mind’s eye. She squeezed her eyes shut, her grip tightening on her rifle hard enough to make it groan. Calm down, PF, calm the rut down!

Hissing through her teeth, Prism released her left leg’s grip on the rifle and placed it on her chest. “Breathe,” she chanted to herself. In and out, slow, in and out. “You’re cooler than this,” she challenged herself. “You going to let some damn monsters chase you away?!”

With perhaps more bravado than sanity, Prism grit her teeth and clenched her rifle. “No freak’n way!” Rounding the tree she had been hiding behind, Prism flew towards Firefly’s beacon. It was all she could do to keep her teeth from chattering.Wish meditation helped against fear, that’d a been a good thing to include in the package deal now wouldn’t it?

To her eternal gratitude, she found her fellow Pathfinder crouching behind an earthen mound overlooking a massive gap in the canopy. Prism rolled to a stop next to Firefly in a mad attempt to hide her fear a bit longer. The buzzing was omnipresent now, yet Prism had yet to sense any bugs trying to investigate or sting her mercilessly.

It took her a few moments to realize this fact, long enough for Firefly to pull her up by the collar into a proper prone position. “Took you long enough.“ He gave her a superior smirk. “I half expected you to freak out and run away.”

Prism shoved his hoof off of her, using irritation to squash her fear. “What could possibly make you think I’m afraid of anything?” A fetid stench about the place, only noticeable now that she was no longer upwind of it, blunted her desire to toss harmless banter with him.

Firefly shoved his face into Prism’s own, making sure she wouldn’t look over the mound. “Your biometrics were going crazy as soon as you entered the canopy. You were as scared as a rat in a cat convention.”

“Well, I’m here aren’t I?” Prism pulled her face away and tried to pinch her nose shut. “Can you stop playing coy and just show me why you went off course to play in the woods?” Prism didn’t miss the mushroom canopy had been completely missing in her mad dash to arrive here. I could have just flown all the way over here, the jerk. I swear if he brought me all the way out here to see some ginormous turd I'm going to bury him six feet under it.

Prism used her magic to shove him and looked over the side. Below was the source of the buzzing, but it wasn’t a massive swarm of insects in the traditional sense. Something looking like flesh constantly folded in on itself lining a massive stadium-sized chasm. Stabbing up towards the sky on what Prism assumed were artificial stalagmites was even more of the strange folded mass. All of its surface danced in the full rainbow of colors. The strange folds were vibrating at a steady rate while worm-like things crawled all over the place. A strong wind blew hot air straight up, and it was only now that Prism’s feathers could feel the air outside of the pit being pulled in, but not anywhere near strong enough to account for the massive updraft.

“Wow, okay, this is really cool.” With the source of the buzzing not an apparent threat, the vestiges of her terror ebbed away, replaced by the far more enjoyable excitement of discovery. “It looks like somepony took the gills off a ginormous fish and planted them all over a cave.”

Firefly joined her on the lip of the ridge, a scant few inches from the edge of the closest part. “Now are you glad I dragged you out here?”

“Alright, no lie, this is pretty great,” Prism started while taking pictures with her circlet and her eyes acting as the camera. “But as much as I hate to admit it, we can’t stick around. Mom wants us to keep a twenty-four hour lead against the crawler, and it’s making better time than we originally planned for. We should head back to our routes.”

“Not so fast there, boss,” Firefly challenged by keeping a restraining hoof on her withers. “Take a look at this.” He sent over a remote camera feed showing both normal light and infrared. “I picked up some really weird, high-heat, narrow objects further in with a drone. I'm talking lava levels of heat here. I think we should grab some asap.”

The visible light showed rows of what could have been hoof-long narrow eggs. But the thermal camera revealed an enormous heat signature within. “Holy…” Prism went wide eyed. “That’s hot enough to be magma!”

“I told you,” Firefly proclaimed while ducking away from where he assumed her video was playing. “A biological substance capable of containing that level of heat could be a huge leap in insulation technology. I say we snatch it while we’re here, and have one of us take it to the crawler. From there, somepony can ship it back to Seed One.”

Prism scratched the base of her horn in contemplation. “We could just flag this location and come back later.”

“But then somepony else could take the credit of retrieving it,” Firefly countered with a sad, goading frown. “The glory typically goes to the one who brings treasure back to civilization, not so much the original discoverer.” Firefly noted Prism’s eyes widening. “And since I don’t want to walk all over that gunk, and Barbie’s too big to fly in. That leaves you fly over and grab them.”

Prism’s excited grin faded before she eyed him suspiciously. “Why are you so worried about somepony other than me grabbing it?”

“Because you’re not just a fellow Pathfinder, but a future Princess as well!” he replied as if it was obvious, eliciting an even deeper scowl from Prism. “This discovery should belong to us. Plus, leaders need fame to inspire those that follow, right? Nopony thinks too highly of a leader who is only there because of their parents.” Firefly poked Prism in the chest. “If Ruby can still think you’re here because of nepotism, then so could others once you eventually claim her job.”

“I’m not using my horn as an excuse to kick Ruby to the curb,” Prism growled. “I thought I made that abundantly clear.”

“Sure, sure,” Firefly answered almost dismissively with a wave of his hoof. “But even if you don’t, at some point down the line, Ruby’s either going to retire from the corps, or end up dead like Thunderbeard did last month. And since you’ll never age out of your prime, that means you’re going to be top dog one day.

“Just look at your mom for example. Sure, she took on the Princess title right after ascending, but she had an impressive resume before that. Being the de facto leader of the Elements of Harmony, fighting off a changeling invasion plot, defeating and purifying evil Princess Luna, etcetera, etcetera.”

Prism couldn’t help but to be a bit impressed. “You actually know all that about mom’s pre-alicorn life?”

Firefly looked truly insulted, giving off a mad scowl. “You may not understand this, living in the same house as the Twilight Sparkle, but there’s not a lot of ways to know a pony you don’t live with. Doubly so with all the pro-princess propaganda the media is inherently stuffed with. So I researched her before we left the old world. Of all the princesses, after reading everything Twilight’s done to earn that crown, I wanted to make damn sure I got on her ship.”

“Pah, I know how awesome mom is, okay?” Prism flared a wing and admired her plumage for a moment, noting how meticulous she was with her wings, and her efforts showed with perfectly precise feathers. “You’ve got to be an awesome mare to produce somepony as radical as me.”

“Yeah well, you may think you’re all that and a bag of chips,” Firefly punctuated with a light hoof jab. “But no pony else will believe it if you, the self-proclaimed best explorer around, toed the line and let somepony else take the glory. It goes without saying that you can respect the title, but not the pony.”

Firefly’s argument struck a chord in Prism Flash. Any sort of counterpoint she wanted to make was washed away by that driving need to be the best explorer. It’s just a little detour. Fly down, grab a few magma eggs, and boom, done. She gave Firefly a brash smirk and stepped to the edge, her wings flared. “You made your point. I’ll have this done in no time flat.”

29: Alf Wakes, or Tries to Anyway

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You know, I was half tempted to simply leave you as biological slurry. A synthetic voice gloated lazily, faint laughter echoing its words. But these… pony allies of yours quite intrigue me. As I broke your body down, I sifted your memories. Abhorrent for the most part. However, a species with a corporeal goddess, two now it seems, actually living among them. Quite fascinating wouldn’t you say?

Oh, right, you’re not much of a conversationalist in this state are you? No matter. I shall allow you to keep your useful engineering knowledge, but everything of your culture and gods must die, even their final memory. The only thing you will remember is that you are the living monument to my vengeance… and mercy. You earned that much when you didn’t even wait to exit the transport to sever yourself from your old pantheon.

Now go to your new goddesses, serve them well. Provided they care enough to save you now that you are no longer a novelty.

It was close to three in the morning. Bio Lab Seven was dark, save for a single desk lab. Polypeptide was using a collection of recyclable takeout boxes as a pillow. Some of last night’s dinner juices were matting the unicorn stallion’s fur. It was a time honored tradition of his frat house chapter to sleep like this at least once a month, although he did it more often due to the colony’s heavy work hours.

“Alert,” came Voyager’s commanding voice, snapping Polypeptide awake. “Non-Citizen Alf’s cocoon is breaking open. All on-duty laboratory personnel report to Observatory Seven immediately!”

“Ahh!” Polypeptide screamed as he fell out of his chair and landed hard on the rubberized floor. He groggily rubbed his head and climbed back to his hooves. “Eruggg, I really need to lay off the hot sauce.” He was still in a sleep deprived stupor until Voyeurger repeated its warning. “Seriously?!”

Snatching up his portable scanner out of habit, the biologist practically shoved himself through the iris door leading into Alf’s domicile. The light came on automatically as he weaved around the various furniture pieces. A wet, heavy thud smacked onto the floor ahead of him. Polypeptide jumped onto and past the bed to at last come upon Alf. The former alien had crawled out of the pit where his cocoon had been, only to collapse barely a foot away.

Polypeptide skidded to a halt upon seeing him. Alf had a dual colored mane of neon green and yellow along with a brown coat. That alone made Polypeptide’s muzzle wrinkle. Yet what really grabbed his attention was the horn and wings. “By Twilight, an alicorn?!” He raced to close the distance to wake him up. “Hey, Alf,” Polypeptide half-shouted while lightly slapping Alf’s cheek. “Ya got ripped off with those colors, but hot damn, an alicorn is top shelf!” Polypeptide’s excitement started to ebb when Alf proved unresponsive. “Uh, buddy?” It sank lower. “You awake?”

Finally remembering his scanner, Polypeptide ran it over Alf’s still form. The readings made his jaw drop and his ears flatten out of horror. “Voyager! Immediate medical stasis around Alf, hurry!” Polypeptide scooted away from Alf to give the stasis a wide berth. As soon as he was clear, Alf started glowing blue with the stasis spell. Polypeptide quickly brought up the emergency radio channel. “Medical, report to Observation Lab Seven, I’ve got a patient in cardiac arrest!”

Twilight Sparkle took a brisk walk through the central government building on the way to sickbay. While the maternity hospital was quite large, that was all it was. Any other sort of patient still had to go to the original sickbay. While Alf’s critical state lingered on her mind, she ultimately had little cause to worry. He’s in stasis, and Sawbones was on call, so he’s already tending to him. Now that he’s a pony, we should have no issue correcting the problem. Reproachable Instigation wouldn’t have bothered giving him a full body just to kill him after hatching, right?

Twilight felt that life-long friend of hers clawing at her mind: Anxiety. She shoved it back to focus on something far more historic as she looked over the picture of Alf’s body. The picture was of him after getting cleaned up, with his body glowing from stasis. Twilight absently nodded at night staff who bowed at her passing. A male alicorn. I don’t think even Celestia’s seen an alicorn stallion before! This is big, bigger than big! Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, only barely realizing she had stepped into the elevator. She took a moment to notice the two sleep deprived earth ponies who had already been inside. Between the three of them, Twilight’s ethereal mane threatened to suffocate everyone. She absently toned it down to normal hair length. “Sorry. Medical, please.”

The stallion near the buttons nodded hastily. “Right away, Princess.”

Twilight turned to face the door so she could think some more. A grin wormed its way onto her face. I can hardly believe it! I could finally have a son! A son!! The thought of holding a baby colt of her very own sent her heart aflutter. Four hundred years of only daughters made the ancient mare silently wish of living that other half of motherhood long denied her. But here and now, she could finally have her wish fulfilled. Twilight shook her head, trying to set her thoughts straight. No, I can’t get ahead of myself. Alf’s been through a lot. It’s going to take him a good long time to settle into his new species, let alone new culture. Not to mention sense of attraction in mares. At least I hope he prefers females after all this.

But we have all the time in the world to wait for him to settle down. Besides, that wouldn’t be fair to Sawbones. Twilight idly brought up the camera feed of the medical director at work. Sawbones was talking to a couple of other doctors close to Alf. Seeing him work warmed her heart and brightened her thoughts. He’s a wonderful pony, and there’s no reason to break up with him just to satisfy an impatient mare. A coy thought danced in her head, making Twilight snicker. And who knows, maybe in a hundred years or so, Alf might choose Prism instead. A son or grandson, just so long as I finally get a colt in the family, I’ll be happy.

Dreams of holding a son teased her all the way to Alf’s hospital room. If Twilight had not spent a good chunk of her life as a diplomat, she might have kept wearing that massive grin when she walked up to Sawbones and his team. “Hello doctors, how’s Alf doing?” Sawbones’ dark, worried look did not speak to Twilight of a lover feeling threatened by his mare eying a more ideal mate. Twilight’s mood dropped upon realizing Sawbones and the others wore beleaguered expressions.

“Quite poorly, actually. He’s suffering from total organ failure brought upon by Polycarbuncle Disorder.”

Twilight blanched at the news. “Polycarbuncle? But he’s an alicorn. His magic should be perfectly stable.”

“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about his tribe just yet,” one of the other doctors commented, a cherry red pegasus stallion. “Sure he has wings and a horn, with the magic to go with it, but he doesn’t have a singular carbuncle and your daughter possess. In fact, he has three of them, one for each base tribe. If memory serves, you and Prism possess only one carbuncle.”

Sawbones nodded in agreement. “Polycarbuncle is extremely rare, but typically happens in the offspring of inter-tribe couples, and even then, only with partners that have a long family history of mixing tribes.” He waved at the stasis emitter above Alf’s bed. “Most sufferers die soon after childbirth once they are no longer stabilized by the mother’s magic. If Polypeptide had been any slower, Alf would have suffered acute cerebral hemorrhaging.”

“Among a laundry list of other maladies,” piped in the third doctor. “I hope you can… offer some insight into this from an experienced alicorn perspective. Polycarbuncle’s never been seen with three carbuncles before. At least in the records we were able to bring with us.”

“Let me see him,” Twilight half-commanded, trying to keep from letting her dreams of a son die before even the hour was out. Using her circlet to guide her magic to a razor degree, Twilight probed Alf’s body. Sure enough, he possessed the magic of all three tribes. Yet not a drop of alicorn magic existed. Without it, the unicorn magic permeating his brain, as is normal so they could conceptualize spell patterns more naturally. However the earth magic was trying to make his organs more shock resistant, resulting in an unstable formation. Moving on, his hooves and legs were in an equally bad state as his pegasus magic fought to structure his bones to be more shock and toque resistant, while the earth magic struggled to make his bones far denser and compressive resilient. Patches of bone in both pegasus and earth styles made his bones brittle to the point already fragmenting along the lines. Then there was his body as a whole, the earth magic tried to make him resilient and strong, his unicorn magic worked to make his body a conduit of mana, and his pegasus magic tried to implant several nodules throughout to make him lighter during flight. Such things were present in Twilight, but for her, a combination of alicorn genes and the magic itself allowed a harmonious balance Alf clearly lacked.

“Damn it.” Twilight once again felt her hopes for a son be crushed. She loved her daughters of course, but who hasn’t longed for something they can never have?

Some part of her felt this was some sort of jab Reproachable Instigation hit her with from beyond the grave. I should have known better that it would have never allowed Alf to become what he saw as a god. You really are a foolish, sentimental old mare. Sighing, Twilight looked at the doctors. “You’re right. He’s a mishmash of the three tribes. Can we save him?”

“I think so,” Sawbones offered. “Physically speaking, he has all the parts of the three root tribes. I’d imagine we can surgically remove two of the carbuncles and the corresponding body parts, and then he would stabilize.”

“I agree,” said the cherry red doctor. “Alf is a unique case as he has not lived as a pony before, so he has no psychological identity as any of the tribes. Choosing one for him here and now shouldn’t cause any such problems… at least as far as tribe is concerned.”

The last doctor spoke up with a nervous tone and dug at the floor with a hoof. “He still sees you as a goddess. If you were the one to select his tribe, I highly doubt he’ll have any issues over it.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Twilight tried to sigh away her dashed hope in order to focus on the moment. It was a difficult and maybe even cruel choice, but Twilight had experience with those. Just picking who got to come here out of all the others, possibly separating families in the process. This is easy by comparison.

Ultimately, she didn’t need to think long. “Alf is used to having six limbs. Make him a pegasus. He may not have access to projected magic anymore, but…” She unfurled a wing in front of her and wiggled her primaries. “Let’s hope he sees flight as an acceptable trade.”

Sawbones nodded tiredly. The late night adrenaline was wearing off. “We’ll get started right away.”

“Very well, I look forward to helping him adapt.”

Prism Flash was on the hunt. The constant updraft of the living pit made low-level flight precarious at best. The stadium sized, fleshy mounds crawled with all manner of nasty that not even an explorer like her was willing to touch. Still, the allegedly lava-filled eggs were quite enticing, and it was a treasure trove once she got to the right spot. Prism flew over to an outcropping that had eight of the long and narrow eggs. More importantly, the updraft was much more manageable here.

~“Are you done playing around in the air? Hurry up and grab one already!”~ Firefly goaded from his safe perch near the treeline.

~“Lay off! You try flying through this storm and see how you fare.”~ Prism flicked her tail at him, nearly rocking herself out of the sky for her efforts. “Right, focus!” She eyed the eggs, searching for a good target. Of the lot, one of them had only a quarter of shell clinging to the rock. At least a dozen of the worm things were crawling on it, covering the egg in mucus. Wow, ya know what, I am so super glad I went through all the hassle of getting my horn. I don’t care if my fingers are robotic, ain’t no way I’m touching that.

Prism’s horn lit up and she started flinging the worms off one by one without a care to where they landed. Once free of its tenders, she magically grabbed hold of the egg and started to jiggle and shake it free, which took some doing. Prism still thought in terms of grabbing the object like she would with a hand. She used her telekinesis to grab and pull on the most stable parts she could see, and used her mass as leverage, an act that was quite difficult to do in midair. Nevertheless, the rock eventually gave way, only for the sticky mucus to give one last effort to keep the egg attached to the others.

“Ahhh ha!” She cried out victoriously. An excited grin cleaved her face as she beheld her prize up close. The egg was easily the size of a pony’s leg, both in length and almost in width. The magma-looking liquid was clearly visible through the glasslike shell. Prism had not quite learned tactile sensing through magic alone, so she couldn’t tell if it was a hard shell or gooey. Her curiosity wanted to get a better look, but the wind was shifting, and threatened to fling her high into the air. “Right, let’s get you home.”

Returning to Firefly was easy enough for the experienced flier, and Prism landed right next to him. She presented the egg to him with a prideful smirk. The liquid within sloshed while the shell was starting to smoke. “Alright, I got the stupid thing. Get a containment canister so we can get back to our actual job.”

“Ahh, Prism, that thing wasn’t smoking like that in the pit,” Firefly cautioned, worriedly. He stepped back a bit, making Prism drop the smirk.

She looked at it, and the white wispy smoke was getting thicker and darker by the second, but the liquid within seemed unchanged. Was the shell thinner? “I’m sure the updraft was just blowing the smoke away. “Just hurry up and get a stasis box already, I don’t know if this thing’ll break if I put it on the ground.”

The smoke was starting to burn Prism’s nose hair, and she finally had enough after seeing the hot core was starting to expand like a balloon. “Ya know what? Screw it, we’ll get another one later.” Reshaping her kinesis like a catapult, Prism was about to fling the egg back to where it came from. However, instead of launching the egg, the moment she put force into the throw, the shell cracked wide open. The instant the egg broke, the liquid hit open atmosphere. The egg exploded like a massive gas grenade, kicking up a huge cloud of red smoke. “Ah rut!” Both Pathfinders raced to escape the scalding hot gas, but they couldn’t stop themselves from breathing in a lungful.

They stumbled past the cloud and almost smacked into Barbie. Prism’s vision was swimming and the last thing she saw was Firefly collapsing next to the rover’s front tires as she herself face planted the ground.

As the world around her blurred out, Prism felt as if her spirit was being pulled away into the air. He mind was swimming too much to think, let alone realize what was going on. She stopped close to a few thousand feet above the surface, and her deceleration twisted her path so she spun around in lazy rolls. Prism was gleefully enjoying the feeling until a massive pressure wave strike her, blasting away the mental fog.

She glanced all around her, and instinctively started flapping her wings. It took her a few more seconds to realize she wasn’t feeling any air moving against her, and her efforts were not effecting her altitude. “What? Where am I?!” She scanned the skies, finding that despite her distance from the ground, the air felt as if she were at sea level, and that the atmosphere seemed to have no end, with clouds reaching distances they had no right to. “Trippy.” She looked back at the ground in time to see a ripple pass through the distant plants and animals like a water drop on a still pond. “I think I just found this world’s newest psychedelic drug. But, why don’t I feel high or anything? This drug sucks.” When the ripple converged directly below her, a gust of air burst towards her. “Hey woah, hold it!” Prism channeled her pegasus magic through her horn and created a bubble of calm. The wave crashed into her, only to flow around her bubble like a river against a boulder. “Okay, if this is how drug trips normally feel like, I’ll pass. Should I even be coherent enough to know it’s a drug trip?”

Prism’s question was forgotten when she noticed the planet itself was changing. The greens and blues were coalescing into a single point directly below her. “Uhhh oh…” The mass of blue and green something started to stretch out towards her. “Okay… drug trip or not, I’m not going near that stuff.” She tried flapping her wings again, to put some distance between her and the organic mass surging up towards her. But no amount of effort worked. Real fear took hold when it was getting close enough to see the mass consisted of millions of animals. Wolf beetles, the giant wasps, every single beast that had formed the massive swarm that marched on the colony was roaring to catch her.

Prism scrambled with both wings and legs trying to put some distance between it and her, only for a dark thought to hit her. It’s - it’s just like that dream world I found momma in. I can’t move!! Panic almost threatened to push all other thoughts aside until she remembered a detail. “But I could move back then, but with—” She stopped trying to fly regularly and simply willed herself forward. Prism shot away like a cannonball. The mass of plants and monsters behind her started to shrink away, yet her triumph was short lived. An enraged growl so deep, so primordial that it could have only come from the planet itself hit Prism with enough force it would have killed her had she been in the real world. She looked back to see the pillar of life was quivering with fury and surged forth with frightening speed.

“Can somepony give me an antidote to this gas already? Please?!” Prism was being overtaken so she poured even more willpower into speed. Even with her renewed effort, the pillar was still gaining on her. This close, the growl revealed itself to be the conjoined efforts of a billion monsters, all calling out for her. “Go away!” A particularly loud roar shook every fiber of her incorporeal being. She freaked as the pillar of monsters seemed to accelerate at her defiance. Far too fast for her liking. Real terror gripped her. “Please anywhere but here, anywhere but here!”

The pillar surged ahead of Prism, causing her to stop out of sheer panic. Teeth, tusks, and spines all encompassed her like a spiked cave. The growling was omnipresent now, and an electrical shock jolted through Prism. She gasped in pain and lost her breath. The globe of spikes surged to impale her, only for a second shock to make the world around her go completely white.

Prism sat bolt upright, sucking in a ragged breath. She looked around in a panic to find she was still near the cavern while Firefly’s rover Barbie had three arms around her, two holding shock paddles while a third held an empty syringe. She flailed about, knocking the limbs away as her gaze darted between the machine, sky, ground, and everywhere in between looking for the pillar of monsters.

“Pathfinder Prism Flash, please calm down,” the rover requested in the most sultry feminine voice possible.

“What? Where? Did?” Prism’s heart threatened to beat its way out of her chest as she scrambled backwards, only to get a hoof caught on her wings, making her stumble painfully.

Barbie rolled over slowly, not daring to get too close. “Pathfinder, you are safe. The effects of the gas are mitigated.”

The longer Prism looked at the rover, the slower her heart and thoughts became. She stole a few more glances around her before focusing on the vehicle. “Barbie, what the hay was that?!”

“A psychotropic substance by all appearances. I have summoned medivac from the crawler, and transport should arrive shortly.”

A killer migraine pounded Prism’s head, but the wake-up drugs Barbie had pumped into her were keeping her awake. “What - what happened after that egg popped?”

Barbie tilted its camera head before rolling sideways to reveal Firefly who was strapped down in his chair and was twitching violently. “Both you and Pathfinder Firefly went unconscious for ten seconds. After which—” it was cut off by the whine of aerial engines decelerating, and the white and red medivac coming into a hover. Both exhaustion and the sedatives Barbie finally took hold and Prism collapsed, this time in a much quieter sleep.

Sickbay onboard the crawler was tiny in all respects. It consisted of two cots, one surgical table, a few counters, a sink, and a storage closet for medication and equipment alike. The vast majority of the medical supplies were in the cargo bay. It was very much a rushed construction with the “prevention over cure” mindset. Sickbay wasn’t even a seperate room, and was more like an oversized alcove along one of the crawler’s central passageways.

Prism Flash was sitting up on a cot with her hind legs dangling off the side and a cup of hot black coffee resting in both of her hands. She had a massive headache that was making magic all but impossible. The only medical doctor the crawler had was looking over some readings on his personal display since they didn’t even have space for any screens. “I have to say Prin— Pathfinder,” he began, a little uncomfortable with the title. “I’m not sure how you’ve recovered so well compared to your partner, other than chalking it up to ‘because alicorn’.”

Prism raised a worried eyebrow at the olive green pegasus. “What kinda medical diagnosis is that?”

“The kind from a gastroenterologist that has no idea what to make of a brain repairing frayed neurons. If your partner is anything to go by, the damage was minimal, but he’s still in danger and you emerged largely intact.”

“Wow, even my brain repairs itself—” A moment later, the rest of what the doctor said registered with Prism, and she felt her temper rise as she looked at Firefly. The stallion was in stasis on the surgical table, frozen with a horrified expression, and flailing at some unseen creature. “You got some serious bedside manner issues there, Hemoglobin.”

The doctor looked away from his display to glare at Prism and opened his mouth with a witty barb ready, but held it back upon remembering who she was. “S-sorry. I never wanted to be a chief of medicine.” He looked back at his frozen patient. “Why Doctor Sawbones thinks I’m the best pick is beyond me.”

Prism didn’t pretend to know everypony’s record by heart, and right now, she wasn’t too keen on using magic to search for the answer. A best guess was called for. “Weren’t you second in command? Er - as far as doctors are concerned?”

Hemoglobin scoffed derisively. “Only because of the maximum age Princess Twilight set for colonial registration. If we were back in Manehattan Central Hospital, I’d be a junior surgeon at best. Now I’m here looking at brain waves to which I can only say ‘it’s not supposed to be like that’.”

Prism averted her eyes from Firefly. Guilt rooted her to that cot and she couldn’t bring herself to leave her fellow Pathfinder’s side. Stupid idiot. If only I had just ordered you to get back to work instead of getting that damn egg. “Sawbones is too busy, or just too far away?”

Hemoglobin resolved to simply monitor Firefly rather than risk doing something he knew little about. “Central says he went into surgery one hour before your distress call went out. Given the hour, he’ll probably be too exhausted to assist here for another six hours.”

The pair lapsed into silence for a minute or so before a hologram of Praxia materialized in the nearby hallway. The changeling’s worried expression relaxed upon seeing Prism sitting on the cot with a mildly perturbed face. “Prism! I heard what happened. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Prism waved her off. “Just like I told mom and Silver, I’m fine. Just a bit spooked.” At least Silver knows when to leave me alone.

“Yes, well, the spooked part is why I’m here.”

The comment drew renewed attention from both ponies, who shared a glance before Prism focused on Praxia. “What? Interested in a new narcotic?”

Praxia wanted to roll her eyes, but the presence of the doctor make her keep a professional frown. “Hardly. Doctor, the medical staff here in Central has gone over Prism and Firefly’s bloodwork. The gas they were hit with acted as a psionic gateway.”

“A what?” Hemoglobin ask blankly.

“The brain scans, they are exactly what the aftereffects of a psionic attack look like for Prism, and the mid-attack patterns in Firefly.”

“Forgive me for asking, Adjunct, but there’s nothing about psionics in medicinal science… or science in general.”

Praxia gave him a measured look. “I would imagine so.” She returned her attention to Prism. “Changelings are the only naturally psionic species from the old world. As you might expect, once my kind started embracing technology, our scientists started delving into this power with more… gusto. Fast forward, and my mother had a drone among Seed One’s drydock crew. He implanted data concerning psionics within Voyager’s systems, so that I’d have access to it when I’m ready.” An annoyed twinge in her tone bled through her professional mask. “Mom apparently neglected to tell anypony about it, so Twilight and I only learned of this after Voyager offered a diagnosis when the med teams were unable to.”

“There was a drone on the shipyard?! I thought only ponies were part of the dockworkers!” Hemoglobin half-shouted in a panic. “N-no offense to you, Adjunct, but I I would have thought giving such a position to another species would have been made public.”

“It was a concession on Sensei’s part,” Praxia admitted calmly. She hid it well from the doctor, but Praxia couldn’t hide her hurt feelings from Prism. “Mother would give me up to Princess Twilight in exchange for having a single worker at the dry docks so mother could make sure I would get off planet.”

“You need to relaaax, doc,” Prism chided grumpily on how they were starting to ignore Firefly’s condition, and how he was annoying her in his indirect insult towards Praxia. “It was just her mom’s way of keeping an eye on her. Ya know, make sure Praxie here went on Seed One like mom promised.”

“Let’s get back on topic,” Praxia admonished the doctor. “I bring this all up because both you and Firefly were attacked psionically.”

“By what?” Prism asked the question that was on Hemoglobin’s mind as well. “A weird ass dream?”

Praxia glanced over at Firefly, a sorrowful frown creeping over her professionally neutral face. “Psionic attacks differ greatly depending on if the victim is awake or asleep. When awake, the victim’s willpower is stronger and harder to keep control over them unless previously subverted. A victim who is asleep is typically much easier, provided they are not lucid dreamers.”

“But I’m not—” Prism’s rebuttal died on her lips. A memory struck her from the attack. “It felt like the alicorn space,” she whispered to herself. Weird.

“That can’t be right,” Hemoglobin rebutted politely, weary of causing further insult. “Every time I brought the patient out of stasis, his brain waves would remain erratic. I already denatured the gas in his system as well. Why is he still being attacked while Pathfinder Prism isn’t?”

“That is what I hope to find out. The data my mother gave us showed me how to cut a pony off from… prolonged psionic control and or attack, which is why I’m flying over to the crawler now. I’m hoping I can trace the attacker back to a rough idea of its location.”

Hemoglobin sighed in relief while Prism jumped to her hooves and almost went so far as to hug Praxia’s hologram. “That’s great! Any chance some of that data can show us how to correct any permanent damage as well?”

Praxia shook her head. “If it was a changeling attack, I’d say there wouldn’t be a risk for it in the first place. Hard to extract love from a brain damaged victim after all. But here there’s no way to tell until I get there. More importantly though, is what exactly attacked you.”

Prism shivered as a flashback of the dream passed over her mind’s eye. “It wanted me dead, probably some new monster we haven’t seen yet.”

Hemoglobin hummed aloud, his brow knitted with thought. “I doubt it. If that dream of yours was part of the attack itself, then it sounds to me that you evaded its efforts--if your recollection of it is any indication--but poor Firefly did not. Even after his rover administered the field treatment, he keeps seizuring. Hence why I’ve been forced to keep him in stasis except for brief treatment periods.”

It was not an answer Prism liked. “If that’s the case, then maybe it wasn’t trying to kill, but something else entirely?”

Praxia tilted her head in thought. “Perhaps it is a leftover from Alf’s people. It’s possible it served a constructive purpose—if you can call what his people were doing constructive. Yet biological evolution has rendered its fine-tuned function a scattered mess.”

“No, no!” Prism stomped her hoof, making Hemoglobin jump a bit. “There was purpose behind that… thing. That pillar of whatever was narrow, focused. If Praxia’s right about all this, then something is out there. And we can start by firebombing that cave.”

Twilight Sparkle, four-hundredish year old mare, ruler of a colony, and magical prodigy, snored on a waiting room bench. The purple alicorn was half draped over the furniture after she failed to summon enough energy to even walk back home. With Spring Roll in the capable care of the nanny AI, Twilight was more inclined to wait the surgery out. The only receptionist on duty couldn’t help but to be embarrassed for Twilight, and made made sure all the security camera were pointing away from her.

It was already past breakfast time, and the waiting room was deliberately kept closed for Twilight’s sake. That is except for one person. A claw rested on Twilight withers, followed by a gentle shake. “Hey, Twi.”

“Herrm?” Twilight blinked for a moment before using a wing to bat at the sleep robber. “Just one more turn…”

“Come on, bookhead, there’s a line outside of sickbay to use the waiting room,” he joked trying to imitate his adoptive father Night Light’s voice.

It was a good enough approximation for Twilight to jump awake. She hurriedly looked at the speaker to see not her long dead father, but a green and purple dragon smirking at her. “Spike? Spike!” Twilight roped him into a tight squeezing hug, one he was eager to reciprocate. “I missed you so much,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“Heh, feels like just last night we were fighting that big sea monster.”

Twilight gave a final squeeze before letting go. “Well, it’s been a year, you overgrown couch cushion. We have so much to catch up on!”

Spike pulled away so he could sit comfortably. He gave a long, slow sigh. “Voyager and some of the guys filled me in on the big stuff.”

Twilight grinned from ear to ear. She knew Spike did that so he’d be updated on any threats, while leaving the personal matters to long chats with his age-old sister. “Well, as it turns out…”

Brother and sister spent most of the day catching up, and for that short time, Twilight felt like she was back in her crystal castle, back in the warm days of Equestria’s golden age. A time when she was there with her little brother, still small enough to ride on her back.

After a long walk together, brother and sister ended up looking out of a window towards the sea. The docks had all been repaired, and several new shore batteries were being built. But to Twilight, she imagined the old dirt roads of Ponyville before cars and snow claimed it all.

Her eyes drifted along the warm streets until she imagined her first husband, a bright green unicorn with a short pale red mane. There, she imagined a little colt with her purple fur and his mane laughing and running alongside him. A scant second later, she banished the daydream. Stop it right there, old girl. You know that can never happen.

Twilight let her gaze rise to the sky. Via her personal display, she replaced the midday sun with the night sky. Celestia’s star was in the center of her vision, or at least it would be if it still shined. To think I outlived Equestria. A part of her wondered if some survivors still eked out an existence once the final Seed left orbit. Were any more made after Celestia departed? Twilight rested her head against Spike’s shoulder, taking a bit of comfort in his familiar scales. He had stopped chatting, content to let them sit in silence. Maybe. Not that we can do anything about that now. “Spike, when do you think we’ll hear from the other princesses?” She could easily do the math herself, but for the moment, she wanted someone else to give a better estimate.

“I guess it depends on how far away their chosen planets are, and if they figure out a faster way to communicate with us.”

“So, too long, then.”

Spike tilted his head so he could see her. “I don’t know. If we focus on nation-building, we’ll be ready to do the searching ourselves one day. Frankly though, I’m more worried about the minotaurs.” he added with a worried brow.

Puzzled, Twilight pulled away from him. “Why?”

“They’re late. Far later than they should be,” Spike answered honestly. “I expected them to have arrived by the time I woke back up, and yet not one sighting.”

“I see.” Twilight looked back out of the window. The landscape of Ponyville had vanished from her mind’s eye, replaced by the hard reality she was left with. “Perhaps they overpacked. Our engine technology was roughly on par with them, but they had a far larger ship. Inertia is a real speedbump, you know.”

“I guess.” Spike stood up and stretched. “I need to get back to the briefings to finish getting brought up to speed. But before I go, I have to ask, why did you put Prism in charge of that crawler? I would have thought Praxia was going to be your first pick.”

“It was a good first step into leadership,” Twilight admitted with a grin. “The settlers know what to do, and an administrator AI is already going to do the delegation while Prism is out exploring, but when she returns, she’ll be in charge.”

“Ha, you’re just giving her an excuse to go on long range missions.”

A twinkle in Twilight’s eye joined her widening grin. “Not if her special somepony is there.”

Spike giggled while rubbing his chin. He gave his sister a mischievous look. “The chessmaster strikes again.”

Friendship: Beyond Equestria

by law abiding pony

1: Those We Leave Behind

2: Planetfall

3: First Contact

4: Murphy's Law in Practice

5: Complications

6: Mandatory R&R

7: The Dig

8: A New Mission Statement

9: The Derelict Part 1

9: The Derelict part 2

10: Who Needs the Prime Directive Anyway? part 1

10: Who Needs the Prime Directive Anyway? part 2

11: Alf

12: A Thorn in Her Side

13: Cultural Incompatibility

14: The Life and Times of an Accident Prone Pegasus

15: Something is Amiss...

16: Spirit Journey

17: An Alien's Idea of Subtlety

18: Spelunking for Fun and Profit

19: Reproachable Instigation

20: A New Generation

21: A Matter of Ritual and Tradition

22: From One Life to Another

23: Fear

24: Confession

25: Spirit Journey

26: Technical Difficulties

27: One Last Day in Safe Harbor

28: Nopony Told Me Wisdom was a Tenet of Harmony

29: Alf Wakes, or Tries to Anyway