Heart of Courage

Princess Celestia stood at the windy peak of a much larger Canterlot with a determined scowl in her eyes. Covered head to hoof in golden armor, her cosmic mane and tail waved freely in their own arcane way, regardless of the wind’s direction. As the hologram filled in more detail and widened her view, Twilight noticed that behind the Princess stood an enormous artillery field gun. Slowly turning to look around her, more cannons and defensive emplacements came into view. Their barrels pointed outwards from the city, and she spun around to peak over the walls of Canterlot.

Cygnul filled the northern valley as far as the eye, and Twilight felt an almost palpable terror drape over her in a constricting blanket. Even during her own time period, Moonclaw didn’t have anywhere near as many wulven warriors. In the distance, several large hazy outlines marked cyg landing ships. The Canterlotian defenders must have been outnumbered a thousand to one. There are so many.

Suddenly, as if by some unspoken command, a loud motorized whine filled the air as the massive artillery pieces elevated their thick barrels high into the sky. As one, they took aim and opened fire. Twilight jumped in surprise when the first guns fired, even though the audible intensity must have been reduced by Alice in order to avoid harming their unprotected ears. If weapons of the future were anything like their predecessors, the sound level at the peak of the city should have been deafening.

Large mechanical arms and levers worked in a cyclical motion on each cannon’s receiver, and almost as soon as the first shot had left the barrel, the second was already primed to fire. The few guns Twilight knew from her time with were hoof-loaded and could launch a maximum of maybe three rounds every five minutes. These spat out rounds at a rate of fire of at least a hundred a minute. The roaring cacophony marked Princess Celestia’s first strike in the siege as the cascading volley screamed across the sky towards the cygnul forces.

Out in the valley, the first shells slammed into the ranks of cygnul, lighting up the entire countryside like a Pinkie Pie fireworks show. Some of the rounds went off deep in the earth, throwing rocks and dirt into the air, along with cygnul soldiers and vehicles. Others detonated above the ground, peppering the area with deadly shrapnel. The amount of firepower the ponies poured into the valley was staggering. Even so, the seemingly innumerable cygs still kept coming.

Eventually, the cygnul answered the pony cannons with rocket artillery of their own. Lines of tracers crisscrossed the sky as Canterlot’s defenders shot down hundreds of the incoming missiles. Small tactical shields popped into existence at the last second to protect the city from those that made it through the curtain of weapons fire.

Twilight held her breath during the resulting deadlock. Celestia’s forces held the cygnul at bay, but eventually, one of the unicorn shield casters on the outer wall failed to power up the spell before a cygnul rocket slammed home. Chunks of stone and steel flew high into the air, tossing ponies aside or crushing them. The cygnul infantry immediately made a beeline for the hole.

Twilight turned around to watch for Princess Celestia’s reaction. The snowy white alicorn stared in shock as the cygnul made to move into her city. Closing her eyes momentarily, she gave a resigned sigh and then glanced up towards the sky. “Oh, Luna. Where are you?”

At once, their view of Canterlot zoomed away at rapid speed, with an abruptness that made Twilight flinch with surprise. The hologram shot up past the atmosphere, giving them a good look at the massive cygnul fleet sitting idle in orbit over Harmony. A thick cloud of debris scattered amongst the alien-looking craft, indicated the existence of an extremely one-sided space battle. Further and further they soared, eventually stopping when the garden world was about the size of a billiard ball.

After a few moments of stillness, three small objects rocketed past, and Twilight ducked out of instinct. As she stood back up, more small objects passed them, flying towards Harmony. Their view followed suit, shrinking back towards the planet until the first three flying objects were close enough for her to make out. They were some form of spacecraft.

In the middle, a bat-like ship of deep blue and black flew upon twin pillars of cobalt fire. The vessel’s side bore the easily recognizable flag of Equestria; two Alicorns circling the sun and moon. Flanking this ship on either side were two spacecraft of similar size but a different design. They were painted grey with dark red on their leading edges, and unlike the middle vessel, these resembled darts with short stubby wings. Both boasted the same design of a somewhat familiar looking green and blue planet.

Slowly, the hologram left the three ships behind, forcing Twilight to turn in order to keep watching them. As she spun around, her eyes widened in shock. Now, she knew where she recognized the planet on the dart-like craft. Behind the three lead ships trailed an armada of warships on a vector centered on Harmony. Humanity, it seemed, had chosen a side.

From next to her, James spoke. “When Princess Luna left Canterlot, she had a hard choice to make. There was only enough time to reach one nation to ask for help. Griffon and Equestrian relations have warmed up considerably since your time, Twilight. Even so, they are extremely staunch about their neutrality and Princess Luna feared they would take too long to make a decision.”

“The Dragon Protectorate might have helped but their closest outpost was too far away for any reinforcements to arrive in time. Her best chance was to fly to the nearby star system where we had been quietly living. Luckily, she caught our fleet just as it was in the process of leaving the system. Princess Luna managed to convince Admiral Nelson, the supreme commander of the human fleet, to come to Harmony’s aid instead.

James called out towards the ceiling. “Alice, go ahead and show her the exchange between the two on the eve of battle.”

The hologram changed instantly. One second, Twilight stood in open space, and the next, she found herself in a crowded room buzzing with a dozen humans working with glowing and blinking equipment. On a raised dais sat another human who studied a thin device displaying an assortment of tactical data. Thick lines of worry creased his fur-less face, as one wrinkled hand ran through his short snow white hair.

Satisfied with the readout, he pressed something on his chair and on the far wall, Princess Luna’s face appeared on a large video screen, replacing a view of Harmony. Her large cyan eyes fixed upon the elderly human, and she gave him a respectful nod as her graceful starry mane fluttered in the air. Nearly five thousand years had passed since Twilight’s time, yet it still seemed that the Princess of the Night hadn’t aged a single day. Seeing her again brought a pang of homesickness to the time-traveling unicorn.

Before she could dwell on those thoughts for too long, the human cleared his throat. “Princess Luna, the cygnul haven’t detected us yet, surprisingly. We may be outnumbered, but surprise is on our side. If I may ask, please allow me to coordinate the battle from my ship. I mean no offense, but we have fought this type of war before and we are very good at it.”

Princess Luna’s lips tightened into a thin line and a trace of concern flashed across her eyes. “No offense taken, Admiral Nelson, I would have made the same suggestion. Thank you again for helping Equestria in this dire time. I would like to assist your fleet in the defense of my home, if possible.”

Admiral Nelson nodded back at Princess Luna, his face betraying no emotion. “Very well, Princess. You will join with the fifteenth flotilla and engage in hit-and-run strikes on their capital ships. Once their shields are down, our battleships will finish the job.” Nelson paused for a second and his stoic face softened. “Princess Luna; I want to apologize. We were ready to run away, abandoning your species to certain extinction.” The human lowered his eyes and took in a deep breath before sitting up in his seat and smiling at the dark blue alicorn. "Over the years, it seemed we humans forgot what was really important, and it is us who should be thanking you, Princess. Thank you for helping us find ourselves again.”

Princess Luna’s eyes sparkled and she gave the human admiral a second, much lengthier bow of her head. “You are most welcome, Admiral. I look forward to fighting alongside humanity, and I promise you this. When we win this battle; you will never need to search for a home again. See you on the other side, Admiral Nelson.” With a smile on her face, the front screen flickered back to the previous view of Harmony, though the planet now took up more area than before.

The hologram changed, and Admiral Nelson’s bridge faded out. Once again, Twilight observed the fleet from space as it raced towards Harmony, but now with Alice’s commentary once more explaining what all was going on. The human formations opened up to allow each ship a clear line of fire and they dove in as one into the planet’s gravity well.

Suddenly, in a synchronized fashion, every ship in the fleet unleashed a salvo of fury heading straight towards the unsuspecting cygnul fleet. Rays of fiery light stretched across space, burning away at the cygnul. Following their initial volley, missiles erupted from their launch tubes and arched downward at the cygs. In the center of the barrage, Luna’s personal craft joined the fight by firing a glowing bluish white beam of pure, untamed energy.

The initial barrage wrecked absolute havoc on the cygnul ships in orbit. Dozens were destroyed outright and many more were severely damaged. The cygnul began rearranging themselves in preparation for a classic distanced battle but the human ships did not allow them the luxury. They closed in clashed with the cygs at point blank range.

Human guns poured unrelenting fire into the cygs, sending a million deadly fireflies towards the cygnul ships every second. Their ships seemed to be completely covered in weaponry of all sizes. Luna’s ship blasted bolts of energy, melting through cygnul armor like a hot knife through butter. She may have only been able to fire at one ship at a time, but every volley resulted in a kill. Her escorts stayed alongside and assisted with both attack and defense. No missile or enemy was allowed close to the Princess of the Night.

A small group of large human ships made their way towards the planet’s atmosphere when a large group of cygnul began forcing their way to intercept. In response, Admiral Nelson’s huge flagship made her appearance, facing down several enemy warships on her own. The kilometer long human spaceship used huge thrusters to swing about to show the enemy her flank. On her starboard side, hundreds of turrets rotated outwards and opened fire. The barrage of shells blinded Twilight’s eyes, forcing her to look away. When the light dissipated, a cloud of floating debris had replaced the cyg formation.

Behind the Admiral Nelson’s flagship, Twilight focused her attention on the group of ships that hovered in the upper atmosphere of Harmony. James helped Alice with her commentary, pointing at them, saying “Those are specialized heavy cruisers. They are equipped for planetary assault and are about to rain hell down upon the cygnul ground troops.” One by one, an intense beam of red light emitted from each cruiser, linking them to the planet’s surface.

“Show the ground battle now, Alice.” James said. The hologram changed so that Twilight watched the conflict unfolding by Canterlot again. The battle was going badly for the Canterlotian defenders. Weakened by the constant assault, the unicorn’s shield had started to collapse and parts of the city were in flames.

Then, several bright red beams of light stabbed down into major cygnul troop concentrations. The planet-searing plasma cutters began tracing a path through the enemy army, leaving nothing but blackened glass in their wake. In the sky, human troopships created dazzling contrails as they fell through the atmosphere, ready to bring reinforcements to relieve the weary pony defenders. High in the towers of Canterlot, Princess Celestia looked skyward to the lightshow marking the space battle above. With a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, she whispered “Thank you, little sister.”

With the outcome of the surface conflict determined, Alice brought the hologram’s point of view back into space. Hundreds of miles above the planet, the battle looked completely chaotic. Ships on both sides maneuvered to avoid debris just as much as they did to avoid incoming fire.

While Twilight watched in awe at the complexity of the fight, James began speaking. “What ended up being the deciding factor in the battle over Canterlot was the fact that the cygnul had almost no experience in space warfare. It only took a simple study of their recent tactics to learn of their weaknesses in close range, ship-to-ship combat. On the other hand, humans have fought several wars since our space age began, so being outnumbered didn’t faze Admiral Nelson at all. He fought smarter than the cygnul which is why we won. Remember that Twilight, your mind is your best weapon.”

Twilight gazed at the battle. My mind is my best weapon. The thought made her smile. I like the ring of it.

As she considered the new advice, a medium-sized cygnul ship blew apart front of her, throwing pieces of molten armor everywhere. Through the expanding cloud of debris flew Princess Luna’s uniquely designed ship alongside her escorts. The Princess’ craft twisted left and right to avoid broken hulls and burning spacecraft. Rotating around a large destroyed cyg ship, she zeroed in on the largest cygnul vessel still operational.

Princess Luna opened fire, sending beams of scorching energy towards the massive craft. Her human escorts joined in the attack, launching their smaller but more numerous projectiles alongside her. The combined barrage of science and magic-based weaponry lit up the front of the enemy ship, turning it to molten slag. As Princess Luna dove out of the way, Admiral Nelson’s battleship came in behind and opened fire with her huge main guns. The weakened cygnul ship didn’t stand a chance. It broke in half before detonating in a huge ball of light, and the battle was finally over. Harmony and Canterlot had been saved.

Twilight’s heart continued pounding as she walked back to her room with Socket Wrench. “And after that battle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna invited the humans to live on Harmony?”

“That’s right!” Socket replied “Together, we formed the United Equestrian Nations.”

As they turned into Socket’s room, Twilight still couldn’t stop thinking. Her mind felt like it was moving at a million miles an hour. “Socket, I don’t think I can sleep yet. I’m much too awake after that history lesson, which is a strange thing to say. Your past is the future to me.”

Socket raised a hoof to her chin as she pondered or a moment. “Well, do you want to use my computer and start catching up? Alice can teach you how to use it and help you find whatever you want. Don’t forget that the Wells Doctrine will keep you from accessing some historical data.” Socket Wrench made her way to the bathroom. “I would stay up with you, but I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Twilight glanced over at the computer before facing her roommate again. “You’ll let me use your personal computer? Wow! Thanks, Socket!”

The pegasus vanished through the bathroom door when Twilight heard her reply. “I know you have a lot to learn but try to get some sleep.”

As she walked over to sit in front of the computer, Twilight thought about all the things Socket had done for her. I feel like I am a freeloader. Deciding quickly, she called out to the butterscotch pony. “If it’s okay with you, could I help out around the ship tomorrow?”

Socket Wrench finished brushing her teeth before answering. “Sure, you can help me out tomorrow morning. We’ve got some rigorous work to do, but I think your magic will help us finish earlier.” She smirked and crawled into bed. “Don’t stay up too late! Good night, Twilight!”

“Okay, I won’t,” Twilight beamed a wide smile, “good night!” There was so much she wanted to learn, and she had a feeling there would be many long nights ahead. Anyway, she was also afraid of sleeping. Her vivid dream of Rarity and Celestia disturbed her more than she cared to admit. The pain of her friend looked so real that the thought of falling asleep was terrifying.

Instead, Twilight powered up the computer and started researching. If I stay up late and read, I’ll be too tired to dream. The unicorn liked the idea but deep down, she couldn’t seem to convince herself that it would work.

“C’mon, sugar cube. You’ve got this.” Applejack helped a wounded earth pony solder climb over an upturned carriage. He let out a shriek when his wounded front leg knocked into its rear wheel. His scream echoed over the smoky ruins of Stalliongrad, a historic city that had seen better days. The orange mare patted the white stallion’s back reassuringly, taking a chance to glance behind her. She let out a yell of surprise and yanked him over the other side of the coach with her.

They both landed in a tangle of limbs when a howl sounded right behind them. Applejack turned around to watch a wulven carnibeast climb over the same carriage. It hunched, preparing to leap as she swung her clunky blunderbuss up and pulled the firing lever. An ear-ringing blast sounded as the beast fell backwards, already breaking down into black smoke. Another wulven climbed up immediately and locked a glare on the orange farm pony. Applejack’s eyes opened wide, clutching the now useless weapon to her chest. The wulven leapt towards her with a snarl.

As she cringed in preparation of the mauling sure to come, a whooshing gust flew overhead, culminating in a heavy wet thud as a fletched wooden bolt sunk into the carnibeast’s head. Applejack dodged the now dead body as it crashed down into the cobblestone street, dissolving away like its former compatriot. Breathing heavily, she turned around to see Rarity standing a dozen strides away. The white mare stood with one hoof curled up near her body. A thick recurve bow hovered next to her, floating in a light blue aura of magic. With wind blowing her mane, Rarity was the only pony who could pull off camouflage fatigues.

“Thanks for savin’ my rear end there, Rarity. I really appreciate it.” Applejack dusted herself off and gave her friend a deep hug.

“Oh, no problem at all, Applejack.” The white unicorn calmly replied as she brushed away a stray piece of mane. “I am always glad to be of service.” She smiled while slinging her bow on her back.

The pair focused their attentions on the wounded soldier when an armored pegasus swooped down at lightning speed. “If you three are done, the airship is waiting. We need to be out of this city yesterday if you want to see Canterlot again.” Rainbow Dash’s angry tone contrast the worry in her eyes.

“Calm down, Rainbow. We’re coming.” Applejack slid her blunderbuss into a sheath on her saddlebag. The three Elements helped the wounded stallion make their way to the last airship tower platform. Their zeppelin lifted off as soon as the four ponies were aboard, and it immediately angled south towards Canterlot. On the stern of the ship, Loyalty, Generosity, and Honesty stood and watched the Equestrian city burn behind them as the fires of war consumed another victim.

“Will this ever end?” Rarity whispered but neither Rainbow Dash nor Applejack could answer her.

Twilight sat alone in the empty galley. Just late enough to see none of the ship’s night shift and early enough that most of the day crew still seemed to be asleep. The brooding mare slowly stirred a pile of nano-fabricated grits on her plate. Victoria had claimed that the food should be indistinguishable from the real thing but it still tasted bland and boring.

She was technically still supposed to have an escort at all times, but after two weeks aboard the ship, Twilight had learned her away around well enough for James to be lenient and let her travel by herself occasionally. That ended up turning into a blessing because of the recent nightmares that plagued her sleep. Being alone helped her collect her thoughts without worrying about waking Socket Wrench up.

Staring at the apple next to her grits, the mare’s eyes drooped heavily from lack of sleep. Her late nights and early mornings were spent on Socket’s computer trying to catch up, and her days were spent working in the engine compartments. Most of that work involved heavy lifting, but Twilight’s magic really helped out when dealing with extremely hot mechanical parts. There were other unicorns on the ship, but their magical abilities paled in comparison with hers. Azure Lightning seemed to be the only other unicorn on the ship with a capable magical talent, but she spent most of her time training in the ship’s simulator. Her demeanor towards the lavender unicorn remained unchanged since their first meeting.

The apple on her plate brought back memories of the sleepovers at Applejack’s farm and the amazing breakfasts that followed. “Her grits tasted a lot better than this.” She mumbled to nopony in particular. Another memory flowed through her mind of the six of them laughing and running through the apple trees in summer. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as they grew misty. She could almost smell the trees and hear her friend’s laughter. So focused on her inner thoughts, the mare didn’t hear someone sit down across from her.

“Twilight Sparkle.” The voice of Isamu Zhang cut through her daydream and caused her to jump. “You are beating yourself up over something that isn’t your fault. It’s not healthy for you at all.” He then observed the state of her body before giving a heavy sigh. “Please pardon my forwardness, but you look terrible.”

Twilight took notice of her appearance for the first time in days. Her disheveled mane stuck up and curled in random directions, her scruffy coat looked dirty and unhealthy, and she felt as exhausted as if she just finished the Running of the Leaves race again. “Wow, you aren’t kidding.” Her face scrunched up as a pang of embarrassment cut through her.

“I know you love your friends, Twilight, and I know they felt the same towards you. Tell me, how would they react to seeing you like this? What would they think if they saw you this deep in the pit of despair that you created for yourself?”

She gazed down at herself and answered quietly, “They would be so upset and worried about me.” Twilight closed her eyes in shame.

“Then why are you beating yourself up?” Isamu leaned forward with a discerning stare directed at her.

Images flashed through her mind; bucking Rarity away, slamming into the shield, seeing her friends crying while staring at her, screaming as she felt her body disintegrate. Twilight’s eyes slammed open and she let out a slight whimper while fighting to suck in oxygen. Her lungs rapidly expanding and contracting, she began to feel slightly dizzy. She knew those were just memories but they felt so real; especially that last one.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

After a few seconds, she had calmed down enough to respond “Yeah, I’m okay.” She waved a hoof in the air trying to play it off. “It was nothing.”

“That wasn’t nothing, Twilight Sparkle. Something is haunting you and you’re not facing it. You’re ignoring your fears which will make them only fester.”

“Then what should I do?” She snapped back.

Isamu calmly replied, ignoring her outburst. “Talk about it right now. Tell me what happened. I want to know everything that occurred, not just the basic story you told us already. I know you left out most of the details. I also want to know what is keeping you from sleeping. Talk to me, Twilight. You need to do this.”

She gave him a pleading look but Isamu seemed dead set on this. With a shuttering sigh, Twilight gave in and started to talk. “It all started one day when I was researching in one of Canterlot’s secret libraries….”

Like a dam breaking, the story poured out of her. Twilight told Isamu about the discovery of the rift apparatus, her saving Rarity, the realization that she was going to die, the last sight she had of her best friends, feeling her brutal disintegration, and the flight down the multi chromatic tunnel through time and space. Tears ran down her eyes, and her body shook when she finally finished.

“Breathe, Twilight. Keep breathing and let it all out. You’re a strong pony, and you can fight through this. Nothing that happened to you was your fault.”

Twilight thought hard about what happened. The rapid pace of recent events had mentally burned her and she did not realize it until now. Her mind had been slowly dying by inches. Even though thinking about what happened hurt greatly, Twilight forced herself to. Eventually, her pain fizzled out and acceptance began taking root. Slowly, she retook control of her body once again and her breathing rate dropped down to a more acceptable level.

“I know you blame yourself for what happened, Twilight, but you shouldn’t and you can’t. Neither Rarity nor you are at fault for activating an ancient artifact, especially one so easily triggered as it was. Twilight, you saved your friend from this fate by sacrificing yourself. I have known many humans and ponies throughout my life and I am certain when I say this. Twilight Sparkle, you represent the pillars of friendship better than anyone I know.”

Twilight pondered over the words said by the human sitting across from her and she finally accepted what he was saying. It’s not my fault. She thought. It’s not my fault, and it was irresponsible of me to believe so. I may be trapped in this strange new world, but I have to make the best out of it. The final vestiges of pain from her memories faded away and for the first time in many dark days, a real, healthy smile crept onto the lavender unicorn’s face.

Isamu smiled back and chuckled. “That’s the face I wanted to see.”

Twilight grinned and leaned forward, giving Zhang a huge hug. Due to the table between them, it felt slightly awkward, but the human returned the embrace without hesitation. When they broke apart she felt slightly embarrassed for needing such an intervention like this. “I’m sorry about that, Mister Zhang. I guess I never realized how bad I felt.”

“Call me Isamu, Twilight. I am glad to be of service. If I may ask another question though, what has been keeping you from sleep? Socket Wrench told me she has heard you bolt awake several times while saying some strange things.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof on her head. “I think I’m going crazy. Nearly every night, I dream of what my friends are doing right now, but unlike a normal dream, these feel so real. That sounds insane because, well, I know the war ended thousands of years ago and it shouldn’t be possible for me to see them. It just is as if I was still in their time period. They can’t see or hear me, but I can feel what they’re feeling.”

Twilight paused for a moment before continuing slowly. “A week ago, I was in a field tent watching Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie frantically throwing together as many meals as they could for a line of wounded soldiers. I could hear a rumbling in the distance from some battle going on.” Twilight rubbed her face with her fore hooves, wiping a tear away. “Yesterday, I saw Applejack almost get mauled in Stalliongrad as the city burned. There was nothing I could do but watch. It was so hard to not be able to help.”

From behind her, a new voice spoke up. “That sounds like a serious case of time bleeding syndrome.” Twilight twitched in fear as she quickly spun around to see Victoria sitting cross-legged behind her.

“How does everypony manage to sneak up on me?” Twilight somewhat yelled out to no one in particular.

The human’s lips curled up in a ghost of an amused smile. “I walked in with Isamu because I wanted to observe your reactions. Sorry for startling you, but we do care about your health, dear. You’ve had us all very worried recently.”

Victoria shifted in her seat and brought her hands together. “As I was saying, time bleeding syndrome is something documented in a portion of other time travelers in the past. Its severity seems to correlate with the strength of the patient’s ties with family and friends, which explains why your experiences are so vivid. They should go away within a year or so but there is nothing I can do to help you through this. Not much is known about how the syndrome works but what is generally understood is that these images and scenes you see actually happened in the past.”

Twilight thought over the visions she already had witnessed. The knowledge that her friends had to live through violence and horror every day made her sick to her stomach. She began to seriously regret eating breakfast now. “So… I might see them…die?” Her lips threatened to tremble.

Victoria looked at Zhang with a pained expression. Taking a second to answer, Isamu spoke slowly. “Twilight; I….” He cleared his throat before continuing. “That is something you could be forced to witness.”

Twilight Sparkle drooped her head down towards at her half eaten breakfast and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt like throwing up. Oh dear Celestia. Please don’t let me see that.

Inconsistent with the dismal atmosphere in the mess hall, a loud cheerful voice suddenly brought her out of her melancholy. “Gahh! You humans are too hard on her!” Twilight turned towards to the sound in time to watch Dmitri walking into the mess hall. “All your death and war talk is ruining her! I want to hear good times in Ponyville! Tell me, Twilight. Tell me about your life and your friends’ lives."

The request stunned the lavender pony enough where she couldn’t answer right away. “You… you want to hear about my life before the war?”

“Da! Tell us please! I’m sure you have many funny stories!” Dmitri bellowed as he sauntered over and sat next to Isamu, bumping him aside roughly with his flank and earning an annoyed scowl from the human.

Victoria stood up and moved to sit next to Twilight. “Yeah, Twilight, Dmitri is right. Tell us about yourself. We already know what history says about you but what was it really like? What does our perspective have wrong about your world?”

”Okay,” the unicorn started as she thought of a story to tell. “Well, there was this one time when Fluttershy basically kidnapped Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix….”

James strode down the hallways of the Dash alongside Socket Wrench. “So are the engines going to be at one hundred percent? Command just sent word. They have an important mission for us and we have no choice in the matter.”

“Do they know who we have on board?” Socket angrily started to rant before she noticed her commanding officer’s stare. “Sorry, Captain. I triple checked everything. Unless we take an unlucky shot, the Dash will be able to achieve full acceleration. Also…” Socket trailed off when laughter reached her ears. They swiveled around until she locked onto the sound. “That came from the mess room. Isn’t it only five in the morning?”

James scratched his chin, “It’s unusually early for the crew to get rowdy. Let’s see what’s going on.”

Both of them rounded the corner to the mess hall entrance. More hooting and hollering ensued and to no surprise for James, he could easily discern the voice of Dmitri Bearclaw. They entered the hall to see a group of ponies and humans surrounding one of the tables in the middle. Sitting along the bench-style seats were Twilight, Isamu, Victoria, and Dmitri. The latter’s Stalliongradian accent effortlessly carried over the crew’s rambunctious laughter. “Oatmeal, are you crazy? Oh… I wish I could have met this Pinkie Pie!”

The laughter died down quickly as soon as everyone noticed their Captain was standing in the room. Dmitri still silently chuckled and Twilight bore a guilty look on her face. James Fletcher gazed around the room slowly. “Alright, we just received word that an abandoned cygnul orbital fortress was sighted by a reconnaissance probe in a nearby solar system; well within our jumping range. Because we are the closest capable ship, Naval Command has ordered us to board it and look for any intelligence. I want everyone at their stations in two minutes.”

Shocked faces stared back at him. Victoria and Isamu both looked from Twilight back to James. As one, they stood and opened their mouths to protest when Fletcher raised a hand to stall them. “I don’t want to hear it. I know. We don’t have a choice.” He then pointed at their ship’s precious cargo. “Twilight, you follow me. Let’s go everyone!”

Immediately, the mess hall began to clear as ponies and humans ran for their posts. Twilight Sparkle dodged the traffic and trotted after James as he navigated the frigate’s crowded passageways on his way to the bridge. “Do you think we will see a fight?”

James walked briskly, forcing the purple unicorn to keep trotting just to stay beside him. “The Admiralty thinks that we won’t, but the cygs are devious bastards. Why would an entire orbital fortress be abandoned near our border with the Griffon Kingdoms? We are pretty far away from regular cyg space for them to be messing around here without a good reason. This smells like a trap and I want to be ready for anything.”

Twilight followed in silence for a handful of seconds as she thought about the situation. Finally, she looked up at James and asked, “How are you going to tell if it’s a trap?”

James glanced down at her and smirked. “Because we will spring it.”