“All hooves, prepare to drop from FTL.”
Twilight sighed as she glanced out the ship window, only to see a mixture of blue and red light. Shaking her head a few times, she refocused on the job in front of her. Using one of her infamous checklists, the lavender alicorn expertly packed two enchanted saddle bags full of scientific equipment and plenty of sample storage containers. This was an incredible opportunity for ponykind, one that Twilight would be sure not to waste. With her tablet suspended in the air next to her, Twilight continued to pack as she thought back on the events that led up to where she currently was.
It had been eleven years since her first contact with the human race. Ever since that contact, the two races had kept in touch, though never actually meeting face to face. Fast forward to a year ago, Twilight had a fairly audacious request for both the humans and the other two Princesses; a chance to explore and take surface samples from the human homeworld.
Celestia was sure to caution the younger mare about being too forward with their new acquaintances for fear of offending the technologically superior race. So, with some lessons in diplomacy from Celestia, Twilight made her bold request to the humans. In a turn of events that stunned all three Princesses, the humans responded within a hour of receiving the request. Even more shocking, they approved it and asked if Twilight would like a historian to guide her.
So here she was. Sitting alone in the lab on the R.E.S. Loyalty. Twilight could only stare at her reflection in the golden visor of the EVA suit sitting in its transparent case against the wall. In mere hours, she would be trusting her life once again to only a few millimeters of fabric, glass, and ceramic. Though instead of catching a speeding space probe, she would be the first pony in history to set hoof on an alien world.
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight watched as a flash of light filled the room, signaling that her ship had just dropped back into normal space. Quickly glancing over to the large window, she could watch the planet fill her view as the Loyalty maneuvered into a stable orbit. From her vantage point above the planet, she couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the planet below. After her first encounter with the humans, they had been kind enough to provide her with an atlas of their old homeworld before the comet hit, showing her the old national borders, trade routes, and centers of population.
She smiled slightly as the Loyalty flew over the continent of North America, home continent of Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. It was almost hypnotic for the young mare, watching as the American west coast slowly transitioned from arid desert, to snow capped mountains, down into a sea of golden plains, before ending in the sprawling green forests and fields of the east coast.
Down in the Gulf of Mexico, Twilight could spot where a massive hurricane was cutting its way across Central America, while a tropical storm seemed to be making its way north toward the old island nation of Cuba. Moving out to sea revealed only patches of cloud cover and dark blue waters below. However, as the ship flew over the northern part of the african continent, something astounding came into view.
In her atlas, the African and Asian continents were connected by a land mass known collectively as the Middle East. In reality, most of that landmass was gone, replaced by a massive water filled crater from where the comet impacted. Twilight tried to remember the names of the countries that once existed where the comet landed: Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey. Suddenly, her vision was drawn to something else. Quickly coming into view was a rather familiar looking starship. While not quite as big as the one that originally confronted her eleven years ago, it was still easily three kilometers in length.
“Princess, we’ll be pulling up alongside the human ship in a few minutes. Their shuttle will then dock on our port side,” came the voice of the pilot.
Twilight merely let out a deep breath as she walked over to glass cass holding her suit. With a bit of magic, and plenty of practice back home, the alicorn was able to don her suit and before snapping her saddlebags magnetic clamps to her sides. As she lifted up her helmet, she took one last look at her reflection before securing it to her back before trotting out of the lab. Though she paused just before leaving. On the counter next to the door was a small plain picture frame. Without looking at it, she stored it in her bags and continued to the port side airlock.
A pair of ponies stood at the end of the hallway leading to the airlock. They merely gave Twilight a nod of encouragement as she made her way to the open door. Peering around the corner of the open airlock revealed the human shuttle was already in position. The exterior airlock door was still sealed, keeping the two vessels separated, but attached. Twilight nervously entered the small space and pressed the airlock controls, causing the door behind her to seal, but the door in front of her to open.
The inside of the human shuttle was rather spacious for the size of the craft. To her right were ten rows of two seats each with an aisle down the middle and what looked like a ramp all the way at the back. To her left was a small alcove with obvious storage lockers and a closed, airtight door that probably led to the cockpit. Sitting in the front row of the passenger section was a single human in an EVA suit. Much like Twilight’s own, his helmet featured a fully reflective silver visor, preventing the mare from getting a look at his face.
Cautiously, Twilight stepped forward and took a seat in the front row across the aisle from the human. He seemed to turn and look at her, even though she couldn’t see his face. The human then brought two fingers up to his own helmet and tapped the side twice. Twilight was initially confused by the gesture, too caught up in the moment of actually being this close to one from the enigmatic race, but soon figured out what he was motioning her to do.
The pony quickly removed her helmet from its spot on the back of her suit and carefully pulled it on before tunning her personal radio the the pre-agreed channel. With her radio tuned, she looked to the human for confirmation.
“Princess, can you hear me?” Came a distinctly male voice over her helmet.
“Uhhhh, yeah. Loud and clear,” Twilight replied as she lifted her sun visor.
The human nodded as he leaned back in his seat. “Excelent. My name is Doctor Trevor Maltese, I’ll be showing you around today.”
“Thank you again for agreeing to this whole endeavor.” she replied while leaning back in her seat.
The human chuckled, “It’s no problem at all. We were wondering when your people would be calling again.”
“Wait, you knew we would try contacting you again?” Twilight asked with a hint of disbelief.
Trevor nodded. “Many of us in the scientific community figured it would only be a matter of time.”
“What’s your field of study?” Twilight inquired, her nerves easing at the thought of talking to another scholar.
“I’m an anthropologist; someone who studies ancient humans,” Trevor replied as he tapped on the arm of his seat.
Twilight watched in silent amazement as a small holographic panel appeared in thin air before Trevor. He tapped in the air a few times before dismissing the panel with a wave of his hand. The alicorn then heard the door of the shuttle seal, followed by a small lurch as the craft undocked from the Loyalty. Twilight could feel the ship’s engines engage as she was pushed back into her seat. Trevor then brought the panel back up and tapped a few more controls.
This time both he and Twilight were pulled back into their seats as the sides folded up at ninety degree angles. Twilight tried for a moment to lean forward, only to find that she was unable to lean forward. Trevor took notice of this and raised a hand.
“It’s just the maglock in the seats. Think of them like seatbelts,” Trevor stated reassuringly. Twilight took a few deep breaths and looked out the window to her left.
The inky black of space slowly gave way to the approaching planet. Twilight’s excitement quickly began to increase as the alien planet began to fill the window.
“I’ve just got one more question. Why did your people agree so quickly to let us send somepony to explore your homeworld? You could have just as easily sent us samples.” Twilight asked as the shuttle continued to descend.
“Yes, we could have shipped you a box of materials, but that would have taken out the joy of exploration for you. There’s still a lot for us to discover in the universe, it would be much faster, and better, with friends. Besides, it may be our homeworld, but there’s nothing there that might compromise the security of my people.”
Twilight paused as she processed what the human had just said. “Earth is about to be the first planet ponies have ever stepped hoof on. We don’t have any experience going beyond our own star.”
Trevor chuckled over the radio. “Yes, but everyone has to start somewhere. Your people clearly have the ambition and desire to explore, and that has peaked our interest.”
“So that’s why you’re letting me explore your homeworld?” Twilight asked as the shuttle streaked across the sky.
“Correct. Earth would not only provide a new frontier for you to explore, but it would also let us safely guide you on effective ways to gather data from alien worlds. You gain the experience and knowledge from a new planet, and we get new perspectives and new minds working with us to decode the mysteries of the universe.”
The rest of the short flight continued in relative silence. The only sounds coming from the gentle hum of the engines and the ventilation system. As the shuttle descended to below a thousand meters, Twilight could begin to really make out the terrain of the region. Thick maple and oak trees formed an endless sea of dark green. It was hard for Twilight to believe that this lush wilderness was the birthplace of humanity. In her mind, Twilight had expected great ruins of massive industrial complexes, crumbling towers that seemingly reached far into the heavens.
The shuttle began to slow as it flew through a large valley before ultimately banking to the south. Twilight continued to stare in silent awe as the shuttle descended even further to follow a large river. Eventually the more mountainous north flattened out, giving way to subtle hills and thin woodlands. Suddenly the shuttle began to shake and the hum of the engines turned into a roar. Both occupants were pushed forward as their craft decelerated and eventually pulled into a hover only a few meters above a grassy clearing. Outside, Twilight spotted a few deer-like animals sprint out of the clearing and head towards a nearby tree line. She checked her suit’s control pad on her left forearm, making sure the video and audio recorder was turned on.
With an incredible amount of grace, the shuttle lowered itself down into the clearing. Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the landing pads made contact with the ground. A pair of mechanical clicks signaled that the magnetic locks in the seats had been turned off. With a bit of nervousness, but a whole lot more excitement, the pony got up from her seat.
“You ready, Princess?” Trevor asked from the ramp at the rear. Twilight nodded in response, cueing the human to lower the ramp.
Sunlight filled the cabin as the rear ramp of the shuttle dropped. Twilight stood for a moment, staring at the edge of the ramp depressed into tall grass that looked like it might be barrel high. Slowly, she took the first few steps toward the edge of the alien world. Just before stepping off, she cast one last glance back at Trevor. The human stood off the the side of the bulkhead, still within the body of the space craft. He merely gave the pony a gentle nod of reassurance. Gathering her nerves, Twilight looked back to the tall grass and trees that stood before her. With one last deep breath, she stepped off the ramp and onto the surface.
Twilight stood in shock for a few moments as the weight of what she just did sank in. She was now the very first pony to ever set hoof on another planet. While she knew this was a fact of the whole expedition, to actually experience it was a bit overwhelming. Refocusing her mind, Twilight took a few more steps, carving a path through the grass. Trevor stood midway down the ramp, content to just watch the pony.
A gentle breeze blew through the clearing, causing a mesmerizing rippling effect on the surface of the light green grass. Slowly and methodically, Twilight circled the shuttle, making sure to record everything in sight. She stopped every few meters to glance up at a flock of birds flying overhead, or to look down and examine an alien insect crawling up a weed. Very carefully, Twilight pulled out the first of her sample collection tubes. Using her magic, she pressed the open end of the tube down into the dirt. She gave it a few turns to loosen the sample before pulling it back up with a soil sample inside.
As Twilight continued to gather samples, Trevor pulled up a map of the area. The autopilot had set them down only three kilometers north of the former Manhattan Island. Satisfied, the human descended the ramp before closing it behind him.
“Find anything interesting?” Trevor called over the radio as he walked through the waist high grass.
Twilight’s head quickly popped up above the grass, looking for the human. “Absolutely! Though I have a few questions.”
“Alright, I’ll do what I can to answer them,” Trevor nodded. “Do you want to walk and talk?”
Twilight nodded before packing up her sample kit. “So, when we did our first orbital scans or Earth, we got some really nasty results. High levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, and even some trace elements of Plutonium and Uranium. We looked at five different sites and got shockingly similar results. However, this place here seems just fine.”
Trevor nodded. “Well, for starters some of those gasses were leftover from air pollution that we caused, but most of the residual was a result of the comet impact. Methane, sulfur, and various hydrocarbons were released when the planet’s plate tectonics went crazy. Methane and hydrocarbons erupted from the sea floor, while volcanos pumped out carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur. So my guess is you were looking in places that had recent volcanic eruptions.”
Twilight nodded as she and the human made their way south through the woods. “But that wouldn’t account for the radioactive elements.”
“Correct. The radioactive elements were released when nuclear power plants and weapons were destroyed following the impact. If you dig around the impact crater, you can even find some iridium and a few metals we have yet to name,” Trevor replied.
The princess and her guide slowly made their way through the woods, stopping occasionally to take bark samples from trees, leaf slices, water samples, and a few other soil and rock samples. However, as Twilight was gathering a moss sample from the rocky shore of a forest stream, a loud roar filled the air.
Dropping the specimen tube, Twilight spun around only to lock eyes with what looked like a large predatory animal that looked oddly like a small Ursa Minor. Remembering the amount of destruction that Ponyville suffered at the claws of that particular animal, Twilight ignited her horn.
Trevor however, took no such action, rather he placed a hand reassuringly on Twilight’s shoulder.
“Princess, that’s a black bear sow,” the man stated.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Twilight asked, keeping her gaze on the large predator.
“Nothing. She’s not being aggressive, just protective. All we need to do is walk away,” Trevor replied calmly.
“Protective of what? Her next meal?” Twilight rebuked, keeping her horn lit.
The human merely chuckled as he reached down and picked up the fallen tube and a piece of moss. “Not at all. She’s protecting her cubs. See them there, just behind her in the shadow of that fallen tree to her right?”
It took a moment of squinting, but Twilight soon spotted three black cubs hiding beneath the tree. She cast one final glance up at the human. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he knew what he was doing. Hesitantly, the mare began to back up before letting go of the spell she had ready. After a few tense moments of backing up, the bear vanished into the forest.
For another three hours, the pair made their way south, occasionally following the bank of a river that Trevor kept calling the Hudson. All along their journey, Twilight was diligently filling her sample tubes with plants, insects, air, water, rock, soil, and even a few pieces from deceased animals. Though soon they came to a point where the trees disappeared and the land seemed to split apart, leaving a long narrow bay between the two land masses.
“Do you want to cross over the river? There’s a site on the other side of the bay that you might find interesting,” Trevor asked, breaking the princess from her silent observation.
“Oh, sure! Is there a bridge or somewhere for us to cross?”
Trevor shook his head, “No. We can walk a little further down and search for a more shallow crossing spot, or we can-” Twilight quickly ignited her horn and in a flash, teleported both of them to the other side of the river. Trevor looked around in confusion for a moment before glancing to the pony for an explanation.
“Short range teleport spell. I figured it would just be a bit simpler to blink across rather than try to find a natural crossing,” Twilight replied proudly.
Trevor took a few more seconds to think about what he had just experienced. “Well, try something new every day. Is that just something ponies can do?”
“Not quite. It takes an experienced caster to pull off even a short teleport. Magic can be dangerous when not handled properly,” Twilight warned. “I’ll see about getting a book on the basics of magic sent over.”
“Huh... well then...” Trevor was still a bit uneasy about having just been teleported with nothing more than a thought from the pony.
Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the job at hand. With the problem of the river crossing suddenly solved, the pair continued south for another thirty minutes, finally stopping when they had water surrounding them on three sides.
“Princess, do you remember the atlas you received?” Trevor asked.
The princess nodded. “Of course. Do you have any idea how long I studied that thing? Want me to name every city in India?”
“No no, that won’t be necessary.” Trevor replied with a laugh, “I was just wondering if you recognized where we are?”
Twilight looked around for a moment and thought back to where they landed. “Wait, you said we just crossed the Hudson river, right? So if we went east from there... and then south... New York Island?”
The human clapped a few times. “Well done. Here we are, the once burgeoning metropolis of New York City. Population just before the evacuation, twenty one point six million. Where we are standing right now was once Times Square. If you study a bit of our history, this place will be talked about often.”
“Right! I remember reading a bit about this place. There used to be a lot of live theaters in this area too, right?”
Trevor nodded. “That’s right. Broadway would be off to the west.”
Twilight spun in slow circles as she tried to envision what the massive city must have looked like before the comet impact. As she thought back to the photos of the city, she could almost see where everything would have been. Central Park to her north, the Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building to her south, and the UN Headquarters to her east. Focusing a little harder on some of the street level pictures she had seen, Twilight could just barely imagine the hustle and bustle of all the foot traffic that crowded the city sidewalks.
Looking south out to sea, the princess could just barely spot a small bit of land sticking out of the water. Noticing her fixed gaze on the small land mass, Trevor spoke up.
“The Statue of Liberty,” the human stated.
Shaking off her trance-like gaze, Twilight looked up at the human. “Huh?”
“The island out there. You were wondering what it used to be? That’s where the Statue of Liberty used to stand. For many immigrants that came by sea, it was the point at which they knew they had arrived in America,” Trevor replied as Twilight drank in his every word.
“It’s too bad it was destroyed. Losing something of such cultural and historical significance,” the princess said somberly.
Trevor held up a hand to stop Twilight. “Actually, it wasn’t lost. The Americans managed to disassemble the whole thing. If I recall correctly, they had to remove all the rivets holding the statue together by hand. They didn’t want to risk damaging such a priceless artifact with heavy machinery. Plus I’m sure there was some symbolic reasons too.”
For almost two hours, Twilight and Trevor explored Manhattan. While almost all of the island was nothing but grassy fields and flood plains, a few ruins could be found just under the layer of dirt. It was difficult for Twilight to come to grips with the idea that there weren’t any sprawling ruins for her to explore. Truth be told, she was a bit disappointed by the small pieces of concrete and metal that once formed the foundation for an enormous tower. Even the famed subway system had been all but removed from the face of the earth by constant tectonic activity and erosion.
As the sun set on the east coast, both parties had collected dozens of samples, taken hundreds of pictures, and hours of video. Though out of all that they had seen, Trevor called Twilight to show her one last piece of humanity
Walking over to the human, Twilight was stunned to see a ten meter tall obelisk made of pure white marble. Falling back on her studies of the human language, Twilight read silently to herself as Trevor read aloud.
In memory of our home, and all those who never left.
To the world who nurtured us, and sheltered us against the void.
We were born on this world, but were never meant to die here.
Let this stone be our lasting legacy. A monument to any who may find it.
Allow us to leave this world as we found it. In peace.
As the sun began to set over the western horizon, the monument seemed to glow in a pure golden light. Slowly, Twilight reached into her saddle bags and pulled out the picture frame. Inside the enchanted frame, was a picture of her and her best friends from Ponyville; a memory from a time long past. Slowly, and with shaky breath, she set the photo at the base of the obelisk.
This was it. Their final adventure together.
A few silent moments passed before Trevor slowly walked up next to Twilight and slowly laid a wreath of wildflowers around the photo. As the sun finally began to sink behind the horizon, the two beings stood side by side in the dying light. Though it was a bittersweet end to the greatest chapter in Twilight’s life, the next chapter was looking to be even more exciting. With a smile on her face, and tears in her eyes, she looked up at the darkening sky. Here she was, standing on the precipice of the next frontier.
Author's Note
Finally, something new! Really, this is what we should have done in the first place after Voyage's End. Oh well, at least we learned something.
Questions, comments, concerns, things you liked, things you didn't like, haiku poetry, drop 'em below.
