*Beeeep*

“Commodore, I’ve made all necessary adjustments and final calculations. We can begin shortly.” The synthetic voice of Athene spoke, which was the AI of the ship Radel Endorian was now the Commodore of. Though mankind had been flying through space and exploring the edges of its solar system for decades, this ship was something else. It was a newer design fitted for both militaristic and exploration missions, able to hold its own for small space and planet side operations. It was also the first cruiser to be fitted with the newly developed (and still experimental) warp drive that would allow humans to finally travel to other distant stars and possibly find new life. Even though he was just recently instated into the navy, he couldn’t pass an opportunity to have his own ship AND explore places no other man has been.

“Alright Athene, give me a moment.” Radel returned to his holopad as he continued his personal affairs within his quarters.

Speaking of the ship, it was quite the beauty. It’s weapon system comprised of two missile batteries, six railgun turrets, and one plasma cannon for a main gun with various point defense systems. The engines were recently developed involving ion propulsion making it the fastest ship yet created, being able to outrun even frigates. Its shielding was amplified through various arrays with a more advanced generator to increase their power and strength. Its hull was forged with the newest compound of elements making the metal more durable and resistant. And the cloaking and scanners were no less impressive as the rest of the ship. A ship that could hide in plain sight and be invisible on anyone’s scanners while picking them up on a planet across the system was an extreme advantage for obtaining strategic information.

The biggest mind blower for Radel, though, was the most advanced thing on the ship….. A integrated AI called Athene that served to man the ship in place of an entire crew at the hands of the Commodore. He could basically pilot the cruiser as if he was flying a starfighter… and it was his ship. The U.S.S Ender’s Blessing

All he had to do to keep it was test out the highly experimental warp drive and try to jump to Alpha Centauri. After that he had to establish a base of operations and explore the system and record all findings. If he finds signs of life he is to investigate them and if another sentient life form is found, to establish first contact peacefully if at all possible.

It’s an easy task man come on! Sure the thing has only been simulated and tested on unmanned probes to only open space between our system and others. And yeah we’ve never come across other life but that shouldn’t be too bad. What’s the worst that could happen? “Probably an explosion that would be big enough for a city on every planet to see, or we can never return home, Commodore.”

Dammit! That was the one downside to the integrated AI, it was connected to him indefinitely while he was on the ship. Now he wasn’t walking around with a cable to the back of his neck or anything like that. Thanks to the biotic and cybernetic implants he had, he could be connected to it wirelessly. And being connected to it meant it could read his thoughts, faster for it to do so than wait for a vocal command from him. Great tactical advantage, but terrible when one wants some privacy….

“I’ll be on the bridge in a moment, Athene. Just sending some final messages to my family in case this test doesn’t work out…”

Radel had been contacting his family and close friends over the last couple of hours to hopefully gain some more confidence in the test. Thankfully they had all wished him luck and had no ill feelings towards the outcome. His best friend John even joked with him about bringing the gift of fire to a form of life that was just starting to become sentient if it was even possible.

“Commodore, if I recall correctly, all of your friends and family have no fears of the outcome. Surely with that and how previous tests and simulations have been successful you would have no worries?”

“Yeah, well being the first human to warp to another unknown region of space is a little unnerving. We could end up warping on a direct course into the sun! Or even end up in the middle of an asteroid field, one can never know.”

“Well Commodore there is only one way to find out.”

“You’re right, warm up the engines, I’m on my way up.” As Radel said this he rubbed his forehead with a sigh. There was no going back now, it was time to begin his first mission. Radel got off the edge of his bed and made his way to the bridge.

(Minutes later on the bridge….)

“Commodore, we are receiving a transmission from the Admiral.” To confirm Athene’s statement, a flashing exclamation symbol was appearing on the CommLink.

I guess it’s time to get this over with… “Patch it through Athene.”

“Yes Commodore.”

As the AI began establishing the connection, Radel was left to his own thoughts for once, however short lived it was. I wonder if they tested to see if being connected to this AI would drive a man crazy...

*CommLink Active* The audio confirmation was followed by the screen manipulating itself as the link was established.

“Commodore Endorian, are all preparations complete for your warp to Alpha Centauri?” A man, possibly in his late fifties, stated as an image of him began to clear to show off his wrinkling skin and greying hair. The admiral was also a good family friend and was one of the main reasons Radel was chosen and given the chance at commanding Ender’s Blessing.

“Yes Admiral Shepherd, Athene just completed the last of the calculations and we are ready to warp out once you give the all clear.” I sound more confident then I feel...

“Good, before you warp out, do you remember your mission?” As the admiral asked this Athene brought up the mission briefing on another screen in case he needed it.

However Radel didn’t need it, as he began to mentally flip through a checklist of mission objectives he’d have to complete in the coming days. He had the mission files memorized almost indefinitely.

“Yes Admiral, I am to arrive at the destination and establish a base of operations. After that if I find signs of life I am to investigate them. If sentient life is found I must establish first contact peacefully and if they are a threat, return in an attempt to warn Earth.” If I don’t explode in the process or find out I can’t get back home….

“Alright, you’re all clear Commodore, Godspeed...” The man gave a salute to Radel, which he returned, and the image began to fade.

*CommLink Deactivated*

“Athene, are we all set?” Radel was switching between various screens as he looked at various systems and diagnostic reports of the ship.

“Yes Commodore.”

“Alright, make the jump to lightspeed.” As Radel gave this command, the ships various systems came to life.

“Charging warp drive… Engines preparing to activate…..” As Athene stated this, Radel thought he noticed something peculiar on the readings he was getting from the engine room.

“Commodore, there seems to be a strange power fluctuation pattern in the warp drive.” Athene then brought up on the main screen the current diagnostics of the warp drive.

I thought I noticed something strange. “Is it anything serious Athene?” Radel was beginning to lose what little confidence he had. There weren't any reports from other tests with strange power fluctuations.

“No Commodore, I can work with it without issue. Warp drive is fully charged and awaiting command to warp.”

Here goes nothing… “Warp.” As Radel gave the command he had second thoughts but quickly pushed them aside. It was too late for him to decide that he would rather not partake in this mission.

“Warp commencing in ten…..nine…...eigh- wait Commodore that power fluctuation is back but more severe!” As Athene stated this, the power readings from the warp drive began to fluctuate dramatically.

Suddenly multiple alerts began popping up and flashing across the screens. Whatever the problem was with the warp drive, it was affecting the whole ship!

“Stop the warp! Who knows what that could cause!” Great! Just great. More problems is what I really needed to make me feel better about this whole ordeal. Radel was now extremely worried and sweating profusely.

“I can’t sir! We’re about to ju-.”

*Warp Drive Active*

Shit….

As the ship entered lightspeed, various systems began to overload from a power surge within the warp drive. Lights were flickering and there were a few electric shocks given off that Radel was thankful to not be near.

“ATHENE!!! What was that just now!?” I really wish the circumstances were better so I could actually enjoy the fact that I’m WARPING to a new system. But NO, the warp drive had to have massive power fluctuations!!! Radel was busy working at the main console in front of him as he tried to figure out what the problem was.

“Commodore, that strange power fluctuation within the warp drive has caused a major power overload within the ship. I’m losing control over navigation and shields are down. We’ve been knocked off course and will be coming out of warp shortly.”

Before Athene could finish this report, various lights and systems went offline or simply exploded from the overload. Radel was about to have his day get worse...

“Well see what you ca-” As Radel began to ask Athene to find a way to fix the situation, a large explosion erupted within the bridge from the main console as the warp drive finally gave way. That was the last thing Commodore Endorian remembered before he was thrown against a wall in the bridge from the explosion and Ender’s Blessing came out of warp...

********************************************************************************************************

In a little town on another planet, six ponies were enjoying each others company…

“Euuughhhhh….. You girls have no idea how strange it is to be living in this place!”

“Twilight darling, what could possibly be so terrible about having a castle all to yourself? The place is simply gorgeous!” Another pony asked before daintily taking a sip of some punch.

“Well Rarity, you know how I feel about being a princess. I don’t like seeming like I’m better than everypony.” As the pony said this they pointed towards a crown on their head to emphasize the point.

“Well sugarcube, I don’t think it makes you seem like that kind of pony.” Another pony said with a honest smile.

“Thanks Applejack, at least there is plenty of room now in the library for my books....”

“Especially for the new Daring Doo series coming out next week!” A pony yelled in excitement as it casually flew around the group.

A highly energetic creature began bouncing around the group as well.”AND there is soooo much room for HUGE PARTIES!!!” After this statement there was a rather small explosion of confetti.

“I find this smaller room more enjoyable than the rest, it’s rather cozy. Though plenty of space for large parties is good too Pinkie....” The final pony almost whispered as it laid comfortably on a couch near a fireplace.

Now that Twilight thought of it, the room was very nice. It was much like her old living room, only more spacious and with a little more furniture. It’s fireplace was also larger and gave off more warmth to almost the entire room while her old one only warmed the area in front of it. It also had a rather large window that had a great view of the town.

“I agree Fluttershy, this room is one of my favorite to read in because of that. It also has a great view of the night sk-” What was that? I feel like something was disturbed greatly but only for a short duration, strange…. Twilight stopped speaking as she felt a strange surge of energy, almost like somepony tugged on her hoof. However it was her horn where the tug was felt and it was more so done by that of a magical force.

“Y'all alright sugarcube?”

“I-I’m not sure, I mean I feel fine it's just… I feel like something has changed, I don’t know how to describe it.”

After taking another sip of her punch the one known as Rarity replied. “Whatever do you mean darling?”

“I….don’t…...know……….” What in Celestia is that?!?!

Twilight barely finished her reply when she noticed something in the night sky, something quickly becoming bigger. Her eyes widened as she realized something was coming out of the sky at immense speed that looked like a great fireball.

When everypony else noticed that Twilight was staring out the window they all turned and gasped.

As they all watched in horror and awe, the strange object crashed into the Everfree Forest followed by a large explosion.

********************************************************************************************************

Somewhere else on the planet, in a beautiful mountainside city...

A majestic pony was standing on a balcony of a castle with a grand view of a city along a mountain. The moon shone brightly over the rooftops and reflected off the distant water of the fountains below. Suddenly, the pony felt...strange. They could not quite understand what they felt.

“Strange…. What is it that I sense?” Oh well, whatever it was it can’t be too much of a problem. These were the thoughts of the Princess of the Night as she gazed at her beautiful night sky. At Least the stars are bright tonight, especially that….one…..

As the princess was finishing her thought her sister began knocking on her door. “Luna? Are you there?” She eventually opened the door and saw Luna out on the balcony. As she approached her, she began to speak. “ Did you also sense something strange Luna? It was like noth-”

“Tia! I think I know what we have both sensed, look!” As Luna cut off her sister, she pointed towards her beautiful night sky. Celestia saw what she spoke of and quickly became worried. Some strange object was falling from the heavens and was on a collision course with the Everfree Forest near Ponyville.

“I’ll go inform some guards to prepare to leave immediately! We must be there as soon as possible once that thing has crashed.” As Celestia said this she began making her way out of her sister’s quarters in a quickened pace. She immediately began rounding up as many guards as she could.

As she left to do this, Luna continued to watch the descent of this strange object. As she watched, it finally met the Everfree Forest with a forceful embrace of destruction and fire….

Author's Note

This is the first chapter of my first story ever so any suggestions would be nice so I can make improvements if possible. Also, a small thanks to Pusspuss2 for the help he gave me for developing the story a little more.