Future's Past

Chapters

Chapter 1: Lost in Space
Chapter 3: The Path Ahead
Chapter 4: Homeland
Chapter 5: Right Back and Away
Chapter 2: A way back home...?

Chapter 1: Lost in Space

The vortex surrounded me and my starfighter with a swirl of colors, the likes of which I had last seen while traversing the mirror whirl to the world where my friends from Canterlot High used to live all those years ago.

Seriously, traveling through any vortex, while sometimes making you want to empty your lunch on the carpet when you’re not used to it, also makes you reflect on many things. Right now, I’m thinking about how much Spike has grown these past 129 years since I've been coronated to princess, give or take 30 extra or how much Equestria has changed in that time.

Oh, and it also reminds you of how much you actually miss your parents. Mine died far too early and never got to witness all this. I hope they would be proud of-

There! I’m out of the vortex. Now, where exactly am I? There are still dim stars everywhere you look. Speaking of which, all those pictures of space you have been shown as a kid? All wrong, changed, enhanced both in color and looks to make them appear much more grandiose than they actually are.

To someone who has no eyes for the bigger picture, space may look positively boring. That perceived “boredom”, however, is actually what makes space so fascinating and humbling every time you witness it with your own eyes.

Just see your own home planet from orbit once, and you will forever be another pony entirely. That view of such a valuable and vulnerable world makes you cherish what you have even more. What was that term Carl Sagan once used to refer to Earth? I think it had something to do with dots…

*chuckle* Just listen to me, becoming all philosophical over a background of darkness dotted out with dim lights. If this cockpit weren’t so incredibly dark itself, the nothingness only illuminated slightly by the dials and status updates on a black background presenting the current status of the ship, I would probably be entirely incapable of seeing anything at all.

Oh, that’s another thing I find truly fascinating, albeit in a somewhat morbid and even very slightly disgusted way. This ship, an Orion-class small fighter, is a joint-venture between ponies and humans. Both species poured their blood and sweat into the design of this craft. It possesses a fusion engine capable of 50000 Wingpower, its four solar panels supply it with the sweet electric juice it needs when a star is nearby, and finally the ship is even equipped with a magic-enhanced hyperdrive, enabling it to fly at the unfathomable speed of that of light. To think that such a device could only be placed in a spaceship far bigger than the one I’m currently trapped in, just under 20 years ago, is amazing.

And then this admirable amalgamation of advanced technology and arcane preeminence (Hey, almost an alliteration!) is abused to kill people and ponies. Way to go, Sunset Shimmer…

I mean, what could have made her fall back to her cruel and dishonest ways? Was it something I said? Was it something that happened back in the Mirror World at some point? I myself had witnessed her reformation and eventual redemption by engaging the Dazzlings when I had run out of ideas. To make any sentient creature commit such heinous acts often requires a series of rather unfortunate events…

I guess I'm bound to find out sooner or later, anyway, so there's little point in brooding about it now.

Did I mention those “humans”, yet? They’re almost completely hairless bipeds with skin colors mostly in the brownish area of the spectrum. They kinda remind me of the creatures I met at Canterlot High. One day, a single one of them piloting a space ship crash-landed in Ponyville and it didn’t take long for more to follow.

They have been both a blessing and a curse to us ponies since then. While our own knowledge of the universe has expanded drastically since first contact through trade, many of them tend to be rather xenophobic and there have been multiple assaults on ponies by humans, both on Equus and Earth.

Admittedly, the same has happened to humans, but to a far lesser degree. I’m not claiming outright that us ponies are paragons of morality, we also have a past after all. But I also won’t deny that the humans could learn a thing or two about harmony from us.

What time is it? Celestia, 2 hours have passed already since I entered that vortex. At least, that’s assuming that this ship's internal dating system hasn’t malfunctioned-

Wait, 2 HOURS?! I’ve been here for 2 HOURS, and no pony or human (or anyone or anything else, for that matter) in sight ANYWHERE? Where am I? What actually happened?

“Status update”, I said to no one in particular with a voice that tried way too hard to hide the anxiety within.

“Ship systems update follows. All weapon systems destroyed. Hull strength at 40%. Shield offline. Engine capacity at 56%. Life support systems at 79%. Hyperdrive destroyed. Current date March 28th 2142/Planting 08th, 129 AC. Current time 1525 hours. Current location unknown.”

That last part confirmed the “emptying your lunch on the carpet”-part from earlier, and now my space suit smells terrible. Can this day possibly get any worse?

Also, has it really been 129 years since I’ve been crowned Princess of Friendship? Time sure flies when you’re busy…

So apparently I've been alive for around 150 years now and yet, when I look in the mirror in the morning, there doesn't seem any sign of aging whatsoever. Being immortal may have its perks, after all.

But that would also mean that I could send a distress signal now and then just spend the time pondering until someone eventually finds me. Unless of course the life support fails in the meantime.

But while it may be interesting to know what would happen if you were to place an immortal being in a vacuum for a few years, and science kinda being my thing, that is one of those experiments I wouldn't want to conduct right here and right now. Mostly because it stinks under this cheese dome of a helmet.

Mental note: Take a shower after this.

Seriously though, I can't just spend the rest of my life hanging around here, since first, for me, as it stands, there's no such thing as “rest of life” and because the atmosphere in here is just going to become worse and worse as time passes on. Also I may have read once somewhere that being in denial of a fact for too long makes you prone to believing all kinds of crazy junk.

Yeah, I'll send out a distress signal.

“Generic distress signal transmitting now."

Now while I wait for someone to respond to the distress call, what could I do next? Maybe I-

“This is Captain Starshine of the USCSS Candlelight. We have picked up your distress signal, but we have been unable to identify your ship's IFF code or even ship class. Please identify yourself.”

Wait, how did that work? I sent that distress signal not even two minutes ago, and already someone has responded. I may have never heard of a ship called “USCSS Candlelight” before, but being picked up by any ship is many orders of magnitude preferable to drifting around in space for years with nothing but the regurgitated contents of your own stomach to keep you company, I suppose.

I'm just surprised it went along that quickly. Then again, my fighter's radar is broken, space is big, I mean, REALLY big, and this ship has rudimentary FTL communication capabilities.

Maybe I didn't even jump out that far away from where I started. But that doesn't explain why Sunset Shimmer flew into the same vortex. I really need to look into this further once I return to base.

Hold on, what sort of spaceship is THAT!?

***

What crossed the view of my windshield was unlike anything I had ever seen before. This ship didn't share those same old and crude design choices as others built by either human or pony space agencies that were based on 20th and 21st century spacecraft.

Its sleek and pointy design was more reminiscent of space ships found in science fiction films humans liked. Its fuselage was overall far more rounded than the more blocky shape of my fighter and had no noticeable cheap materials anywhere, contrary to the part of my fighter where the solar panels are connected, which was partly covered in tin foil as a cheap reflector for sunlight.

Speaking of which, that ship seems to have no solar panels at all. Perhaps it has a more advanced way of supplying its internal systems with electricity.

It was also far bigger than any ship I've seen yet. This thing must be at least 1 kilometer in length! It even sports its own hangar bay!

Oh, and that blueish exhaust coming out of its engines looks much more clean and efficient than the orange-yellow exhaust of mine.

Wait, maybe that ship isn't even of human or pony origin at all. Maybe I could meet another alien race? Oh, I'm so excited, I get to make first contact with a new race!

When I finally decided to turn on the Vidcom to respond back, my excitement was snuffed out instantly by the very pony-looking face that stared at me.

“Hello unidentified starship, this is Captain Starshine of the USCSS Candlelight. Do you read me? Please identify yourself.”

Okay, there is something seriously wrong here. Why am I talking to a pony when there aren't any ships like this one registered with any space agency I'm aware of? I'm a princess for Pete’s sake, I'm informed about all this!

If there were some sort of strange experiment with a new type of highly advanced class of spaceship designed for any purpose, perhaps even for the war effort against Sunset's insurgent forces, someone would have told me about it!

Also, this pony should have recognized me. It's not like that one time in Manehatten with Rarity where no one seemed to recognize me. It's been well over 100 years since then, and I can't say that I've been hiding from the public this whole time. Maybe for a few days or weeks to study, but not always.

Someone at the Equestrian Space Administration is going to have some explaining to do once I finally get back to Equus...

“I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equus, and this ship is the Orion-class fighter #0034.”, I responded in a more condescending tone than I would have wanted.

“My ship has been damaged and I've been stranded out here after I followed Sunset Shimmer through a vortex she had opened. My hyperdrive is destroyed and my navigation system doesn't seem to work anymore.” I also really wanted someone to finally tell me what is actually going on here.

“Your ship doesn't send any known IFF code. What is your affiliation? United Systems law prohibits flying a ship that doesn't provide a known IFF code.”

What in Celestia's name are the “United Systems”? The only known “affiliations”, as Captain Starshine put it, are the Terran-Equestrian Coalition and the Freedom Fighters under Sunset Shimmer. There is simply no such thing as the United Systems, and if there were, once again, someone would have told me about it. These ponies should quit their stupid game and finally rescue me.

But if that were the case, and this was all just a joke at the expense of my current misery, why do I still feel getting nervous? There is nothing to worry about, this is just a big ploy. Right?

“I'm affiliated with the Terran-Equestrian Coalition. My rank is Commander.” Come on, just calm down, there is nothing here. You came out of a lot of weird things over the years, a simple game by some jokesters with a slick spaceship shouldn't disconcert you.

“I'm sorry, miss, but there doesn't seem to be any “Terran-Equestrian Coalition” registered as a valid IFF code right now. Furthermore, while a ship class called “Orion” is registered, it is a light freighter and looks nothing like your ship, which you claim to be a fighter.”

By now, the feeling I had was a mix of desperation and annoyance. I still don't understand why desperation feels to provide the majority of the feeling, however...

“Please, I've been drifting out here for two hours, my helmet is covered in dried vomit, I'm hungry and tired and I just want to get out of this ship, right now! Quit messing around and help me!”

“Uh, miss, would you mind me asking what you mean by “messing around”? I'm just checking the Galactic Starship Administration records. Perhaps your data is out of date?”

Alright, this joke just turned from being in bad taste into the realm of just being plain immature. Don't they see I need help here? Who let these brutes onto a spaceship? And why do I start swearing like Rarity?

“Can we please, please please please please argue about that later? Your ship is so big, surely you can take me with you? I need to get back to Equus, and fast.” If this doesn't work, I honestly wouldn't know what will.

“While we do still have enough space in our hangar for you to park your ship, I'm afraid I can't take you to Equus. First of all, this ship is currently en-route to Spark, and second, Equus is on the other side of the galaxy. How did you end up all the way out here in the Eclypse Systems sector if you wanted to fly to Equus? That's a level of 'off-course' I have never heard of before...”

So, they weren't actually joking? Okay, don't panic now, it's fine, it'll all be fine. Just fly into their ship's hangar and everything will sort itself out.

“Requesting docking clearance.” I said, desperate for answers.

“Request granted, please fly into hangar bay 2.”

***

I must say, this ship looks even slicker from the inside than it did on the outside. Also, what is that? I can walk around freely and it feels like it did on Equus? Wow, this ship is amazing. I may be completely lost in space and probably smell like a horse's backside after eating too many beans, but at least there's more new things for me to learn about.

But what happened to my friends? Were they lost as well? Where are they? And if I've been thrown halfway across the galaxy, will I ever get back to see them again? If I send out a message now, when will they receive it?

Oh, they must be worried sick about me by now.

Relax, Twilight, you have come up with a solution to many problems by now. But then again, it was Sunset who saved the day back when the Dazzlings put everyone at Canterlot High under a spell with their singing, and we pulled that one of without the usage of the terrible counter-spell I had created.

Alright, let's try to remain focused. I have a planet to get back to.

As I made my way to the bridge I noticed how clean and bright everything looked in here, a stark contrast to the very gray and metallic-looking interiors of other space ships I have been on, particularly the USS Celestia. With my completely messy and dirty mane and coat, I felt strangely out of place.

But I also felt a tingle deep inside, as if my own brain was trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t entirely sure of what it could be.

“Hello Captain, nice to meet you”, I said as I went through the door to the ship’s bridge. The captain was a stern-looking Pegasus mare with an almondy coat and green mane, her Cutie Mark being three different-sized stars accompanied by a rocket ship. She looked pretty cute, actually.

“Same here. Wow, you look terrible. What happened?”

I felt slightly annoyed at being asked the same question again, but decided to just run with it for now. After all, these ponies could help me out of my current situation.

“That’s something I would be interested to know as well. I flew into this vortex Sunset Shimmer opened to escape from a space battle near Equus, and since then I’ve been stranded out here, sitting around a dark cockpit with my head stuck under a smelly cheese dome.” I said in a somewhat sarcastic tone. “Now, I need help getting back to Equus. Yes, I know you can’t take me there directly, but what would be the shortest route? I’m not exactly familiar with this part of space.”

“Well, if you cover the extra costs, we could take a detour to Olympus, from where you can get on a long-distance flight directly to Equus.” The captain responded. Great, now I need money. I don’t have any money on me, I’ve been sitting in a fighter engaged in warfare with the forces of a pony whom I until a few months ago assumed was my friend.

“Uhm, I don’t have any money on me. Not even a card.” I said. By now, I was beyond worried.

“Hmm, well, now we have a problem. Your ship is definitely in no condition to fly halfway across the galaxy, but at the same time, our shipment is already behind schedule and we can’t afford to feed you for too long or fly you to Equus by ourselves. You know what, we’ll make a deal. I’ll lend you 1000 credits, that’s enough to get from Olympus to Equus. Once you have money, you’ll pay us back 1000 credits plus 200 in interest.”

Great, now I would owe some stranger with a sleek ship tons of money. I suppose me asking if this day could get any worse jinxed it. Also, what are credits?

“I won’t accept.” I responded sternly.

“Well, if you prefer to ride in a cargo container for several weeks, I could help you with that as well. For 500 credits. Nothing is free, after all.”

Was this pony completely nuts by now? This was unmitigated blackmailing! But I suppose I have little choice.

“Oh, all right, fine, I accept the first deal. Just tell me what to do and you’ll get your money back as soon as possible.” Do you catch up on me starting to become angry?

“Right, I knew we would agree on a deal that we would both benefit from. Now make yourself at home, we’ll arrive at Olympus in 4 hours. The shower is down the hall. Need anything else?”

Yeah, an explanation. But for now, I was just interested in one thing.

“Yeah, we still have June 25th, 2142, or Planting 8th, 129 AC, right?”

The captain started looking at me in a way I wasn’t comfortable with at all.

“Ugh, no, it’s March 28th, 3997. And who is this ‘Sunset Shimmer’ you keep talking about?”

Chapter 3: The Path Ahead

So, I guess I jumped out of the frying pan straight into the fire. First a cramped cockpit, now a prison cell on a space station orbiting whatever remains of my homeworld.

I’m not even sure if I took my ID with me onto that fighter, since this whole debacle would have been the last thing even remotely within the realm of what could actually happen during that space skirmish.

But I’m usually so organized, a trait that hasn’t worsened over the years. Or at least I thought it hadn’t, or I would probably not be in this mess. Then again, who’s to say that the local authorities would even accept a passport from the 22nd century? Probably the same people who wouldn’t question the fact that I successfully got a money management tool from this time period to run on a smartphone manufactured in 2140. I really need to figure out how that worked once I get out of here. That of course assuming I manage to escape this mess by somehow proving to the authorities that I actually exist.

Still exhausted, I turned away from the small window and slowly scuffled over to the metal frame endowed with old rags they call a bed and threw myself on it, the back of my head resting against the way too small pillow.

Gee, Twilight, this really isn’t your best day. Right now, I can only hope that I’ll be able to prove my existence somehow when they take me in for questioning tomorrow. Who knows what may happen when I can’t? I’ve already been thrown into prison simply for not having an ID, something that leaves all sorts of possibilities for even worse fates open.

I could try to sleep again, but I slept for around three days straight on that long-distance flight, and I don’t exactly feel tired right now. Okay, yes, it was an 8-hour flight from my perspective. I’m sure the pilot mentioned something about time compression.

While I’m waiting for my interrogation, I might as well try to reiterate exactly what happened between my coronation and my involuntary time travel.

The day of my coronation to Princess of Friendship was easily one of the happiest days of my life, and while there of course had been several major crises in the time after that, such as the Plundervines Discord had released several thousand years ago, the Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire, the attack by Tirek or that strange town Starlight Glimmer had established with the ultimate goal of archiving a Soviet-union-style dictatorship under everyone’s muzzle, overall, life was peaceful, or at least peaceful enough that little major damage was dealt to Equestria or its citizens.

At least until the Third Eternal Night. Since the spirit of Nightmare Moon had never been fully destroyed and instead was only forced out of its two hosts, namely Luna and Rarity, it was still lingering in the darkness, waiting to return. And return it did, as one fateful day, it once again forced itself onto and took control of Princess Luna.

This time, Nightmare didn’t just want to plunge Equestria in eternal nighttime, it also wanted to make sure that no one would be able to stop it from doing so or from maintaining that night-which-shall-last-forever.

What followed was the worst conflict Equestria had ever experienced in its several-thousand-year history. Ponies were forced to attend to crops that would barely grow from the lack of sunlight and to maintain a society that was guaranteed to last no longer than a few years, all out of spite from a dark spirit seeking revenge for having been defeated thrice. Whomever dared to resist was abducted into makeshift prison camps or worse, killed on the spot.

But Nightmare was “kind” enough to grant anyone a more comfortable lifestyle who joined Nightmare’s “peacekeeping forces”. Many Ponies actually accepted that twisted offer. Suddenly, Ponies who we thought were our friends were poking at helpless workers with their spears for fun or even took them in as their personal slaves, all with consent from Nightmare itself.

But my friends and I and many other Ponies and even inhabitants of other realms on Equus were brave enough to resist. What initially was just an assortment of small resistance groups eventually turned into an organized rebellion against Nightmare’s forces, with us being able to seriously hinder its operations across all of Equestria, sometimes even from multiple fronts at a time.

After a long and tiresome struggle, we finally had them cornered. This was it, the final battle for the fate of Equestria, and by extension, the entire planet. All of our forces were assembled, and off we went. Unfortunately once again, things didn’t go so well for us. While we were able to quickly free Princess Celestia from her prison at Canterlot Castle, the ensuring battle left large parts of Equestria in ruins.

While it did go in our favor, Princess Celestia knew that the only way to finally destroy Nightmare for good was for her to face the entity directly, and even though I did try anything in my power to dissuade her from this move, for fear over losing her, she had made up her mind, and was off to confront Nightmare.

To this day, I’m not sure what happened to her or even where she is, but I fear the worst, especially since the sky abruptly began bursting apart, turning night into day in a whim.

And indeed, this move allowed the rebellion to claim its victory. But it was a pyrrhic one. Significant amounts of the Equestrian infrastructure had been destroyed and large swaths of land devastated.

What hit us the hardest, however, were the number and diversity of casualties the war had demanded. Both I and my five closest friends had each lost at least one family member. I had lost both my mother and my brother, whom had sacrificed himself to protect a group of civilians at the Battle of Manehatten, Rainbow had lost her father, Rarity had lost both Sweetie Belle and her mother and Applejack had lost Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. I’m not sure about Pinkie and Fluttershy, however, since they both refuse to mention it to this day, but I presume it had hit them equally hard, if not worse, though I do know for a fact that Maud Pie had survived, as I saw her walking down the street in New Canterlot a few years after the war, with the same empty expression she always maintains, a matter I actually find somewhat disturbing given the circumstances.

There wasn’t a lot of time to grief, however, since Equestria had just lost both of its primary rulers, and with Cadence having to oversee the rebuilding of the Crystal Empire, I found myself in the position of power over the rest of Equestria. And the odds were stacked against me, since not only was the soil of the land significantly damaged from both the war and its fallout, the weather and day-night cycle had suddenly fallen out of our control and began going its own way.

It seemed that whatever had allowed us ponies to previously control the climate and daytime had been disabled or destroyed by Celestia’s and Nightmare/Luna’s confrontation.

Still emotionally bruised by my loss of family, I went ahead and gathered the surviving parts of the Equestrian council, in order to come up with an interim solution to the crisis we were faced with.

The solution appeared to be quite simple at first. We would just have to follow the signs of the times. The war had caused a shift in sentiment on how the country should be ruled, and that everyone should be able to add their opinion to the mix and decide what ultimately is best for everyone.

The destruction of the Equestrian infrastructure proved to be both a blessing and a curse during the transition to a parliamentary monarchy that the citizens sought to establish. On one hoof, the rebuilding process allowed us to create a new infrastructure tailored specifically to this new political system. On the other hoof, progress was rather slow and many crucial facilities took weeks, months, sometimes even years to be rebuilt, causing further problems and even some civil unrest, which only worsened the situation.

But eventually, 4 years after the war ended, the rebuilding process had progressed enough to truly kick the country back into high gear and resume standard operations. Well, as “standard” as a war like that would allow us. Many wounds never truly heal, after all.

But at least it turned out that we had made the right choice. A system where everyone could make a contribution regardless of social standing, Cutie Mark, birth family or any of the sort. It comprised a House of Commons whose members were elected by the people and whom were organized into several political parties, each with their own stance on how the country should be lead; a Senate that gave each city in Equestria an opportunity to influence politics on a federal level; and finally a Supreme Court that would be the highest court of law in the country. I personally was the leader of the Senate and had the right to veto any bill that came through, unless I was overruled by both the Senate and the House of Commons by a 2/3 majority. This in turn made me the official Head of State, and I was directly competing with the President, whom is the leader of the House of Commons and of the most powerful political party represented there.

“Miss, we must ask you to follow us.” The prison guards suddenly came walking into my cell and broke my daydreaming. Well, having to manage so many things at once for so long can cause you to become a lot more alert, even if you are one of those ponies that would otherwise be entirely unfazed by disturbances. Well, I suppose I have little choice, especially since that one human in the back was pointing a gun at my general direction. What kind of methods are those?

They led me into a room with two chairs and a table. Nothing conspicuous. They pointed me to one chair, while one of the human guards took the other one.

“Okay, miss, do you know why you’re here?” the guard asked.

“Not exactly.” I responded, looking around the room for anything that was out of the ordinary. It seemed like a completely normal but rather dark interrogation room. Great job, Twilight, you went from a whole castle all the way to an interrogation room. What went wrong with you?

“Well, you should be aware that it is illegal for inhabitants of the autonomous regions to the north to enter the primary United Systems sectors without a valid ID. And not only that, but you also entered the Core Systems, which in itself is a felony without a permit. Something that, of course, you didn’t have, either.” The guard said in a tone that somehow felt both flat and intimidating at the same time. I starting getting nervous.

“I honestly didn’t know. But you need to believe me, I don’t have an ID, I traveled to this world from the distant past and got stranded out in deep space! I wouldn’t be able to show you a permit even if I wanted, which I really would.”

The guard placed his elbows on the table and began resting his head on the back of his hands.

“Well, miss, that’s certainly a story I have never heard before. Ever. Not in a thousand years. Oh, wait, actually, that’s the exact same story I heard from some mare with a yellow and red mane a few months ago. Didn’t have a permit either. However, authorities had her released once it came to light that there were no known charges against her and that she apparently didn’t even exist. No one I know of has seen her since. Personally, I would have left her in her cell to rot, but I’m just a petty prison guard and not one of those government freaks who think that they can solve any problem with money and talking.”

Suddenly, there was a weird noise coming from somewhere inside the walls, as if someone was running past, laughing.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, slightly startled.

“Hear what?” The guard asked, somewhat mad from having been interrupted. “There’s nothing there, this room is soundproof. Also, I’m the person talking here, not you, Horse. Don’t interrupt me. As I was saying-“

“Wait, why did you just call me ‘Horse‘? Aren’t humans and ponies working together? Isn't that like me calling your kind ‘Monkey’?” I responded, regretting it immediately after.

“I SAID YOU SHAN’T INTERUPT ME!” the guard yelled at my face, giving me a whiff of his breath. It smelled like he hadn’t brushed his teeth in years.

“As I was saying, you need to be absolutely relentless towards your enemies. Don’t show them mercy. If they start begging for mercy, hit them harder. If they beg you to stop destroying their home, destroy more of it. If you rape them and they urge you to leave them alone, do it again. But never show any mercy. It only gives them time to recover and overwhelm you.”

I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This man was nothing like the humans I’ve met before. This was a feral creature with not a shred of empathy in his voice. Was he trying to intimidate or disgust me on purpose? Or did he really believe the things he was saying?

Again I heard a weird noise from inside the walls. This time, it sounded like someone was screaming in agony, but really muffled.

“Did you hear that?” I asked again? The guard looked at me in disbelief. “I told you already, this room is soundproof. Nothing can come in and nothing goes out, except a recording of our conversation here. Oh yeah, surprise, surprise, our conversation is being recorded, and don’t even try to get me fired for my views, because I won’t be. I’m a certified prison guard and you are a criminal. I can just tell the authorities that these views are just my methods of interrogating people. Who do you think the authorities are gonna believe? Me or you? Of course, they are going to believe me. Also, my colleagues won’t blow the whistle on me, either. They are too afraid of me, yet they also value my high success rate in the breaking of suspects.“

That confession settled it, this guy really meant what he was saying. I had to believe it, even though I didn’t want to. What went wrong in the development of the Terran race? How could people as vile and wretched as him still exist?

“Well, now you know what I will do to you if you don’t start talking.” The guard said to me in a really frightening tone.

“Talk? What do you mean, ‘talk’? I already told you, I don’t have an ID!” I said, slowly becoming legitimately terrified.

“Then what are you doing in the main United Systems, and by extension, the Core Systems? Only criminals come here without a permit.”

I tried to reason with him.

“Well, yes, perhaps that may be right, but shouldn’t-“

The noise in the wall came back, and this time, it sounded like it was screaming out to me.

“Don’t you hear that? Someone is being attacked. We have to help them!”

The guard again looked unconvinced.

“But I can’t just let them die!” I yelled, desperate to help whoever was out there.

“No one dies in this prison without me knowing about it. Also, are you deaf, or just crazy? I told you there’s nothing there.”

You can’t believe him, Twilight, he’s a monster. Someone is in danger out there, and you need to help him, her, it, whatever it is. Problem is, I am unarmed, so the only one who would be able to help that poor thing was the guard that claimed that nothing was there. I wanted to get up from my chair, but immediately I saw myself looking down the barrel of a gun.

“Don’t you dare moving from that seat. There’s nothing out there, and you better quit worrying about it, it’s starting to really annoy me. So, since you don’t have an ID, I’m gonna need a name. After all, I need to write down something into the protocol once you’re dead. Don’t care what it is, just give me any name and I’ll note it down. It could be ‘Sunset Shimmer’ for all I care.”

Wait, ‘Sunset Shimmer’? Now I was curious.

“You know Sunset Shimmer?” I asked, my spirits slightly lifted.

The guard’s response dashed my enthusiasm really quickly. “Yes, I remember. I had some mare with a red and yellow mane sitting on that very same chair you’re in a while back, I had mentioned her a few moments ago. When I asked for her name, she claimed it was ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Never saw her again once she left this room. Didn’t care, either. Actually, I did care, as she was a criminal that would leave this room unpunished. And I’m not going to let that happen again, especially not when I have yet another weak little horse sitting in my chair. So, what’s your name?”

“What if I don’t want to reveal my name?” I responded defiantly.

“Then I’m going to write down ‘Purple horse’ in my records and proceed with killing you.” The guard responded, completely unimpressed. I was running out of time, and it seemed like there was no end to the downhill race for me.

“Fine. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” I said in the same stern tone Captain Starlight had used on me a few days ago.

“Right, another one of those generic names with no clear meaning. Are you horses into that sort of thing again lately? Doesn’t matter. I’ll note it down.” The guard pulled up a holographic interface and typed something in. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell what it was, as the interface was somehow blank on my side, even though I could still see through it and into the face of that monster that was that prison guard.

“Oh, and don’t think I’m a monster, Miss Sparkle. I just have a very special worldview that sadly is sorely missing in today’s world.”

Suddenly, the door slid open and in walked five mares. Five mares I knew exceedingly well.

“My friends! Oh, am I happy to see you!” I ran over to them, completely disregarding the guard’s earlier threat against leaving my seat and being overjoyed at seeing my friends.

“No Twilight, go away.” Rainbow said.

“What?” I said, being caught completely off-guard and stopped in my tracks.

“Sorry Twi, but you did something ah never would‘ve expected you’d do, sugarcube.” Applejack said, head raised and eyes closed.

“How could you have done this, Twilight? How could you have broken the law? After all these years!” Fluttershy said with her head lowered and visibly close to tears.

“No, it’s not what you think it is! It was entirely beyond my control!” I replied. These are my friends, they have to believe me!

“I as well can’t find myself able to believe that a ruler of an entire country for over 100 years would suddenly descend into petty crime.” Rarity affirmed.

“Sorry Twi, I know I may not have always been perfectly clean myself, but this is low even by my standards.” Rainbow put forth with a scolding face I didn’t even know she was capable of.

Pinkie, finally, was just completely quiet, but her mane had noticeably lost its usual poofyness, instead falling flat down her head.

“But, guys, I can explain!” I begged, desperate.

“Sorry Twi, but we don’t want no explanation. You’ve shown us what you really are, and we don’t want anything to do with you no more!” Applejack replied sternly.

They left as they came, and the door closed.

And I was in tears. No. This did not just happen, did it? Please tell me this didn’t just happen! They can’t just leave me! They just-why?!

“Oh you poor horse, look what you have done, even your friends don’t want anything to do with you anymore.” The guard added to the mix, adding further insult to injury.

“Why would they do this? How can they leave me, just like that? I thought we were friends?” I screamed.

“Well, no one wants to be associated with a criminal, Twilight. You should have considered that before committing a crime. Now, since you have lost everything else, anyway, might as well add your life to the mix as well. I have conjured up the perfect method for a horse like you, and I waited a long time to test it. Check this out.” The guard said in a disgustingly amused tone. He touched something on his holographic interface and a hidden hatch on the ground began to slide open.

What emerged from the hatch was nightmarish. It was a grating with six fetlocks and several Plundervines wriggling about it, presumably attached to the back of the unit.

I have been on the Internet long enough to know what this device’s concept is, but I would have never expected anyone to actually create a device that would utilize that horrific concept.

“Now, I’ll assume from your face that you know what’s about to happen, so I’ll make this quick. The killing process could take anywhere from minutes to days, not sure. I only read about the origin of these creatures and the way they kill you, not how long it actually takes.” The guard said gleefully.

He forcefully grabbed me, blindfolded me and strapped me back first into the horrific torture device, with my legs spread away from my body, my head forcefully being held up by the fetlock and some weird clamping mechanism going into my mouth and holding it open.

I felt the vines taking ahold of my body, as if I wasn’t already restrained enough. One of them wrapped around my tail and moved it behind the unit.

This was it then.

The vines began moving about my body-

“WAIT!” I heard someone bolt into the room.

“What is it now?” I heard the guard saying in a slightly mad tone.

“You can’t kill her! We verified her identity! This is Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Oof, someone was here to rescue me from my horrific fate! Thank you, Celestia!

“Why should I care? She’s a criminal!” The guard replied, apparently worried that he would lose someone he could torture otherwise.

“Do we need to release those recordings of you constantly spewing your hatred? I'm sure the public would really fancy your remarks.” The other person responded.

“Oh, fine then, take her away! She was too easy to brake, anyway.” The guard responded, audibly disgruntled.

“Shoo! Go away, you wretched creatures!” said the guy, scarring the vines away. He took off my blindfold and released me from the stretch.

“We’re terribly sorry, your highness, it was an accident. I’m not sure whose great idea it was to put you onto death row, but I will personally see that he or she be sacked.” The new guy, a stallion, said, his head moving in motions that suggested he was genuinely sorry for what happened.

Having no other options I was inclined to buy into his gesture. Also, what did the guard just say? I was easy to brake? Hey, then maybe my friends didn’t abandon me, after all! Maybe that weren’t even my friends, but just my mind playing tricks on me! Oh boy, I haven’t been this happy in, I don’t know, how much time has passed again? 1800 years?

Another pony walked into the room, this time a mare. “Your highness, please follow me. We will escort you directly to the surface of Equus, the President herself has requested meeting you in person.”

“Request granted.” I replied formally.

“Alright then, we’ll lead you back into the hangar.”

***

The past few days may have been truly terrifying and confusing. But at that moment, I knew that everything would be back to normal very soon. Or at least as normal as possible, since, I was still over 1800 years away from home. But I guess this will suffice for now.

Chapter 4: Homeland

As I followed the two ponies out of Cloudsdale Station’s detainment level, I once again wondered what had just happened to me. After being thrown head-first into the future, being picked up by some money-hungry trading mare, jumping halfway across the galaxy in only about half a week…wait, what? I travelled halfway across the galaxy in merely a week? Oh, that’s incredible! How are they doing that? I need to find a library.

Focus Twilight, you just barely escaped death and have been saved by your compatriots. That’s pretty much the definition of getting one’s act together. So, where was I? Right, so I landed on this station, got stopped at customs, thrown in jail and „interrogated“ by the most sadistic human I’ve ever met. That was quite a day and surprisingly I still manage to keep myself from falling over right here on the floor and taking a nap. Perhaps its my curiosity keeping me awake.

„Alright people, make way for Your Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle! Please don’t stand in the way, we need a clear shot for the hangar here, people!“ I heard the stallion guard yell into the hall and several heads turning toward us.

And then the second pony, a unicorn mare with a cyan coat, or at least I assumed it was cyan since it was mostly obstructed by her uniform, turned her head towards the stallion and her face changed from stern to mad in the span of what felt like less than a second. „Are you crazy, private? The President ordered absolute discretion during the escort of the Princess! Don’t you know that this is exactly what every damn tabloid outlet in the entire galaxy is just waiting for?!“ she almost yelled, desperate to keep her voice down.

The stallion began to mope. „I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. I’m new and wasn’t aware that-„ and was immediately interrupted by the mare.

„Dismissed, private!“ she replied and the stallion walked off after a quick „Yes, ma’am“. Great, first no one knew me and now everyone does. As I began analyzing the situation, my gaze turned out the main window of the station.

Ah, from here you once again have a nice, clear view of Equus below. I’m pretty excited to see how it has changed, but at the same time, I feel like I shouldn’t see it. Would that count as a spoiler?

„Is she really a princess?“ „Did that mare call the winged unicorn a ‚Princess‘?“ „Mom, look, it’s a real princess!“ I heard ponies and people of several different species alike murmur around me as we walked through the main hall. Feeling flattered, my cheeks reddened a bit.

Anyway, about spoilers. If I understand time travel well enough, any action I take will not affect the timeline. Basically, if I travel back in time and attempt to kill my grandfather (why I would ever do that, I don’t know, I liked my grandfather the few times he came to visit my family when I was a still a filly), that attempt would fail and cause the timeline to happen the way it originally did. I think I once read something like that in a paper where the phenomenon was referred to as Novikov’s self-consistency principle.

But that theory is entirely at odds with what happened when Starlight Glimmer got ahold of a time travel spell by Star Swirl the Bearded and tried to stop Rainbow Dash from effectively causing our Cutie Marks to appear, unwittingly changing the entire history of Equestria into something worse and worse with every new loop in the process. Perhaps it requires a special set of conditions to actually be able to modify the timeline. Or we just jumped from one alternative universe to the next.

Whichever theory is correct, I’m bound to find out soon enough. That, assuming I ever manage to get back to the past.

„Ugh, Your Highness? Are you still there?“ the mare suddenly asked, waking me from my daydream. „Yes.“ I responded. Actually, no, I might have fully left reality there for a moment, as I suddenly found myself staring at a very sleek-looking shuttle, with a wide-open hangar gate leading straight into the depths of space behind it.

„Right, great, Your Highness. Please, board the shuttle so that we may take you to the President.“

Wanting to get off this station and craving real fresh air after spending about half a week breathing nothing but this sterile, canned and processed stuff, I followed up on the mare’s request and boarded the shuttle, where I took a seat in the very center of the ship after being stopped from sitting directly next to the long window going almost completely around the circumference of the ship. Wow, these ponies went from treating me like a criminal to apparently becoming overly paranoid about my safety in no time.

But to be perfectly frank with you, after all that has happened to me since I got here, I really wouldn’t want it any other way, at least for a little while.

The ship’s pilot, a stallion with a white coat and orange mane, turned around from the ship’s controls and announced „Welcome aboard Your Highness and crew, we will now depart for the surface of Equus with destination set on the city of Equinopolis.“

What in the name of Celestia is „Equinopolis“?

The shuttle’s engines began whirring up and we slowly began lifting off the ground. We then promptly proceeded to fly the ship out backwards through the hangar gate, which while at first making me raise an eyebrow before remembering that we’re in space and not in an atmosphere.

„Do you feel comfortable, Your Highness?“ the mare with the uniform asked. „Yes, all things concerned, I do feel quite well, thank you.“ I responded.

„Great. Anyway, my name is Commodore Solar Flare. Command has picked me to watch your transfer into safe territory. I’m terribly sorry you had to experience that interrogation process. If you want me to, I can fill you in on any details you might want to find out about.“

I looked at her with a pretty „unroyally“ curious face. „Yes, please. That is precisely what I have been wanting to hear for several days and two trans-galactic journeys now. First question is just to reassure myself: What is the current date?“

Solar Flare looked slightly puzzled, possibly since she had expected a more elaborate question. „It’s April 1st, 3997, at 0634 Galactic Standard Time.“

Slightly disappointed but also intrigued, I began pondering what else I could ask her about, and then realizing that the amount of questions I would have is too great to be easily covered over the course of a flight to the surface of Equus, so I considered which questions I was most keen on having answered right away, and what I came up with boiled down to „What in the holy name of Celestia is wrong with that person?!“.

I also immediately regretted wrapping that question in a small outburst, since both Solar Flare and the pilot seemed reasonably frightened. „I am aware that this event was very traumatic, Your Highness-„ „And stop referring to me as ‚Your Highness‘! I’m no more worthy or valuable than any one of you! I’m just a pony trying to find its place in society myself! Just because I had been granted these wings and given position as the Princess of Friendship of Equestria way back when, that doesn’t automatically make me better or more important!“

Okay Twilight, you are safe now. Keep calm, you are just alienating the very first ponies, or people for that matter, around here that don’t want your head on a silver platter or your stacks of non-existent money.

The resulting silence of the ship was finally broken by Solar Flare.

„Uhm, about the wing-thing, your highness…“ she said, and began to unzip her uniform. And below the military attire, she revealed a set of perfectly normal-looking wings. I gasped.

„You see, Princess, in the centuries since your disappearance, Pony society went through some changes. Some ponies no longer wanted to be restrained by biological factors, particularly Earth ponies. The amount of Earth ponies wanting more than just the ability to grow crops kept rising in numbers, and over time, research into manipulating genes both before birth and during life reduced the amount of Ponies with neither a horn nor wings to a bare minimum, something you rarely see outside of the lowest classes of society nowadays. However, Alicorns like yourself or I are still relatively rare. I was born a pegasus. When I joined the United Systems Navy, my abilities became more and more apparent to the higher-ups at Command and ultimately, as a sign of their gratitude for my ongoing loyalty, gallantry, intrepidity and sense of duty, they granted me a horn, increased magical abilities and all, though that doesn’t include the rank of Princess, which is given away by the shape of my wings, which are those of a normal pegasus.“ Solar Flare explained.

I’m torn on what she said. On one hoof, the society I grew up in and that I helped rebuilt after it was almost completely destroyed by Nightmare Moon was highly based on tolerance and celebration of each Pony’s naturally-granted abilities.

This change, basically viewing lack of both a horn and wings almost as a disability limited to the weak, sick or simply less fortunate, was entirely contrary to that idea, a borderline disgusting notion. I even once fought some Unicorn ponies who had stolen Rainbow Dash’s wings to turn themselves into Alicorns, since they clearly both used highly forbidden magic and, well, they had stolen the wings from somepony else.

But had they actually given themselves wings, they too wouldn’t have become Princesses. What was the term I had used to refer to such a Pony again? „Pseudocorn“? Solar Flare is one of those, but contrary to the wing thieves, she didn’t commit any crimes or employed forbidden magic to obtain her horn. Or maybe she did, I can’t say. And even if she did, the magic at work here is perhaps no longer strinctly forbidden.

Though in hindsight, perhaps my punishment of briefly causing their magic essences to fizzle out was somewhat drastic.

But on the other hoof, Solar Flare does have a point. Granting each Pony heightened abilities offers them a lot more freedom to built their own destiny instead of just the single one given to them by their Cutie Mark. And in a twisted but strangely sensible sense, Earth Ponies are put at an inherent disadvantage compared to both Unicorns and Pegasi. They can channel their magic through their hooves, allowing them to grow and harvest crops more quickly and efficiently than other ponies could.

But after the invention of mechanized farming by both us and the humans, we essentially rendered these abilities obsolete, in a way making Earth ponies second-class citizens. So one might argue that giving everyone a horn or wings promotes a more just and equal world for everypony.

However, the humans of Earth, from what I have gathered about them, have survived and thrived for millennia without any apparent magical abilities. They don’t even seem to have any particular demand for them. But, again, this is 1800 years after that and reality is bound to disagree with me again, just like it has about the current date and the usage of cash. Speaking of which…

„Uh, yeah. I do have a request. I’m currently 1200 credits in debt to a pony I met shortly after I arrived here. The money was meant for a flight ticket from Olympus to here.“

Solar Flare looked stunned. „You came here all the way from Olympus? Why didn’t you inform anyone? We could have easily picked you up there! Olympus may be one of the United Systems’ most distant worlds, yet its still an important part of it and the Navy has a major outpost located there.“

Any response I could potentially provide here is bound to be somewhat embarrassing. „Well, the fact is, I wasn’t sure if anyone would even recognize me, let alone buy into my story that I’m a Princess. It began when the Pony that picked me up asked me for an autograph and then scoff at the idea that I would be anyone famous, only having the autograph in hand should I end up becoming famous and then being able to resell the autograph for a possibly insane price to a fan of mine.“

Thankfully, reality decided to be kind to me for once and Solar Flare didn’t seem amused in the slightest. „What was the name of the Pony that picked you up, exactly?“ she asked.

„If I remember correctly, it was a pegasus by the name of Captain Starshine.“

Solar seemed almost a bit annoyed by my response. „Starshine. Don’t worry about her, Princess. Starshine is a trader seeking to make a fortune in the outer regions of the galaxy. She has resorted to tactics like this one several times and has gotten in trouble with United Systems law more than once for them. Any dirty trick that allows someone to increase his or her fortune one can imagine has probably been employed by her at some point. I know her myself, we went to school together. Okay, not exactly ‚together‘ as in the same class, but we were together on our six-month mission into the Orion sector during senior year. She’s actually a much nicer and generous Pony than she purports to be.“ Solar explained in an ernest but faintly reminiscing voice.

She looked back to the controls in front of her and continued: „I haven’t seen her in ages. So it would be of benefit to both of us if we pay her a visit later, once you had your talk with the President. You can pay your debts to Starshine and I can reunite with her. Is this idea to your liking, Princess?“

Lines like that last one still make me blush a bit every time I hear them. „Yes, I do like that. But you don’t need to be so formal. Like I said, just because I’m a Princess doesn’t mean I’m better than any one of you. Just talk to me like you would talk to a friend. Just call me ‚Twilight‘“

Solar chuckled. „Sure, Princess-, ugh, Twilight, I will.“

Suddenly the pilot turned his head. „I’m sorry having to interrupt your little tea party, but you might want to brace yourselves, we’re about to enter the atmosphere of Equus. We’ll arrive at Equinopolis in around 30 seconds.“

„But I still had some questions!“ I exclaimed.

Solar looked over and said „Save it for another time. For now, just hold on to your seat. We’ll have ample time to talk soon. Now, just concentrate on your meeting with the President.“

She turned her head back towards her console and the shuttle began to rock from the reentry process.

„Capitol tower, this is Darkstar. Requesting landing clearance.“ the pilot began talking. A voice from the speakers responded with „Confirmed, Darkstar, you are cleared to land in bay 2. Please make sure that the package is delivered to the president right away.“

I raised an eyebrow. „‚Darkstar‘? ‚Package‘?“

Solar Flare looked over and explained „Code words that, when used right after each other, are meant refer to the ship that carries the Princess of Friendship, i.e., yourself. It’s called the ‚Darkstar protocol‘. We already caused quite a stir back on Cloudsdale Station, and the fewer people aware of your arrival, the better.“

Since I’m assuming that something like the Internet would still exist in this world, that explanation seemed downright ludicrous to me. Literally anyone with a smartphone or whatever camera-equipped personal assistant people carry around these days could snap a photo of myself or our shuttle as it departed from the station, post that to any public site and have it spread around faster than one can say „Apples!“.

Solar Flare tried to explain it with the apparent fact that this protocol never had to be activated and thus the code words would be unknown to the majority of the population, coupled with the fact that we deliberately used a generic Station-to-Surface shuttle for my transportation. While this explanation would seem sound at first, under closer inspection, it still falls apart, as no one would need these code words. Plenty of people and Ponies saw me being escorted to the hangar bays and just going from the social-media-addicted population of the 22nd century, I’m going to assume that more than one of them shot a photo of the event. While I don’t recall seeing any flashes, the lighting conditions on the station were more than adequate for a phone of even that age to take a really good shot.

I was suddenly pulled back into reality when I noticed that we were flying straight through a city riddled with massive skyscrapers and cars flying through the urban canyons creating by said skyscrapers in double-file at multiple heights. This looked nothing like the Ponyville I remember.

But it was. In the distance, I could see, standing on a massive pedestal and towering above most other buildings, my old castle. I suppose someone uprooted it and placed it on a hight spot at some point to make it more easily visible. The only difference I noticed was that the flags hanging from the castle’s flag poles appeared to be different. There was some emblem emblazoned on them, but from this distance, it was tough to make out.

This is Ponyville. Almost 2000 years after I disappeared.

„Everything all right, Twilight?“ Solar Flare asked.

„Nono, everything’s fine. Just thought I’d seen a ghost or something.“ I responded, wanting to escape that particular conversation as quickly as possible. Nothing against Solar, but seeing my old castle was both a relief and punch to the guts at the same time.

Finally we approached the Capitol. We passed through another set of hangar doors and the shuttle settled down on the ground with s thunk.

And to my great dismay, the hangar doors closed right behind us. „Can’t I at least go out into the open for five minutes? I haven’t had the chance to breath fresh air for almost two weeks now, half of which I spent on various space ships in a time period I’m unfamiliar with.“

Solar Flare made it very clear to me that this wouldn’t be possible, as the Darkstar protocol was still in effect and the amount of people coming in contact with me or even witnessing me should continue to be kept to a minimum, at least for the next few time intervals. Bummer, but I also really don’t want to argue with her right now. I’m just glad that no one is out to strangle me to death with plundervines at the moment. I need to mention that when I get a chance to talk to Solar Flare again.

The pilot ended the flight with „Thank you for traveling with Air Equus, I hope you had an enjoyable flight and will cover the fuel expenses.“. Very funny.

As I climbed down the ramp from the shuttle, I looked around and noticed that this hangar bay was strangely empty. „Is this another side-effect of the protocol?“ I asked Solar. She nodded, asked me to wait here and began trotting over to two ponies who looked like futuristic Royal Guards waiting over at the far end of the hangar.

„If you would please follow us, Your Highness, the president would like to meet you as soon as possible.“

These Ponies just won’t let me catch my breath for even a second. While I certainly appreciate their efforts to make me feel comfortable, which I somewhat welcome what after my first impressions of this place were like, I still feel locked up. I can move around, but not freely. One more time, 3997.

„Yes, guards, go ahead.“ I responded, somewhat resigned. We began walking through a pair of sliding doors and into the main hall.

Wow, this hall is beautiful. While it only had a single window at each far end, it was decorated with crystal lights and red carpet. Very posh, as Rarity would perhaps say.

„President Cera is waiting in her office. Please, Your Highness, enter this elevator, so that we may bring you to her.“

I’ve never truly gotten used to the hifalutin way some Royal Guards talk. Hopefully the President doesn’t talk like that.

We stood in the elevator for a mere ten seconds while the floor number on a holographic sign above rose faster than I could count. When the elevator came to a halt, the sign read ‚Floor 400‘. Wow, that’s pretty high.

The elevator doors opened and we emerged into a fully open dome, with the president’s desk being immediately noticeable at the back, flanked by two other desks helmed by a Pony and human, respectively.

„Ah, Your Highness, please come in, I’ve been expecting you. Have a seat over there, I’ll tend to you in a moment. Would you like a drink?“ the president, who was a human woman, asked me.

I replied with „Nice to meet you, Mrs. President. Yes, I would like to have a cup of coffee.“, and were confused when the president asked me what coffee was.

It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?

Thrown of the trail, I just said „I’ll have whatever you have, then.“, to which the president ordered the guards to bring us a cup of Ol’ Joe.

‚Cup of Ol’ Joe‘? Is that seriously what they are calling coffee nowadays?

The fact that I was all of a sudden drinking a high-quality brew of coffee answered that particular question with a resounding ‚Yes!‘.

As we were sipping our, erm, „Ol’Joe“, the president began with „I don’t think we have been introduced yet. I’m President Colleen Cera. I’ve actually entered office just last year, but so far, things have been well. The United Systems parliament gets along with me. How about you?“

Fair enough question, I should really introduce myself. „Yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I study magic and I was given the position of Princess of Friendship some 1900 years ago.“ Celestia, help me, this is getting awkward. I have absolutely no idea what to talk about, even if the amount of questions I would have is immense. Just come up with something, Twilight! Think! Ask Cera whatever!

„Why do pseudocorns exist?“ Horseapples, Twilight, that just came over as incredibly racist! Also, Solar Flare is the first sentient being in this time period you have subtly referred to as a friend. Way to ruin that for your own subconscious!

Trying hard to suppress a somewhat offended face, Cera began. „Well, since we have always strived for a more equal world, with equal opportunity for every human and pony alike, we had to break down some structures, even if they are otherwise perfectly natural. We developed the necessary technology, we just had to go the next way and actually implement these technologies. And few ponies have seemed to mind. We have been tampering with Pony genes for centuries now, so most Ponies are either unicorns or pegasi. And sometimes, a Pony gets granted both as a reward.“

„But those two concepts are entirely contradictory! You seek to establish a more fair and just world for Ponies by removing their natural ‚handicaps‘ of having neither a horn nor wings and actually grant some of them both. I had to deal with something similar at one point in my life, shortly after I became a princess. You see, miss, there was this village, located at the edge of this land when it was still known as Equestria, where all Ponies who lived there were equal, or so it was implied, since they all gave up their Cutie Marks and joined a quasi-collective. The whole concept broke apart when myself and five of my friends were sent to investigate the place, and it turned out that the town’s founder, a Pony by the name of Starlight Glimmer, had been conning everyone and seeking power, i.e. ‚Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others‘. I later found out she did this because she was entirely abandoned by her friend in magic kindergarten after he had gotten his Cutie Mark and was whisked away into a private school. Somewhat drastic, but case-in-point for trauma. Cutie Marks, combined with each Pony’s natural magical distribution, are a good thing. They celebrate each Pony’s natural abilities and allow all of them to express themselves in a way to maximize their contribution to society. You don’t create a more equal world, you drive a wedge between them without even noticing it.“ I tried to explain. But apparently I had failed to notice a flaw in my own logic, and Cera was quick to point it out to me. Yes, I have wings myself.

Also, would she please judge my arguments based on their merits and not by the amount of limbs I have?

This is not going well. I suppose I’m more conservative than I had thought I am. And once again, shifting each Pony’s magical capabilities allows them to express themselves in a way they might prefer, if just by the ability to shape their own destiny.

Nothing is eternal.

I honestly don’t want to think about this any further. I’ve missed millennia, and right now, I have little choice other than trying to fit in. Society might have changed in a way I may find somewhat odd, but the same sorts of changes, albeit with fewer or even no changes to genetic code, or so I presume, from what I have seen work really well for the humans of Earth. You know what, Twilight, push aside the past for a while and give this new world and its workings a chance. You are after all keen on always discovering something new.

Anyway, what else could I ask? Maybe…

„Different topic. Who does the United Systems represent? I have seen several different races when I was visiting Olympus station.“

The President looked slightly relieved, likely because the previous topic made her feel pretty uncomfortable. I wouldn’t blame her, honestly.

„Yes, quite. The United Systems represents the territories of the Terran, Equestrian, Lomar, Sculari and Valencia races across a grand total of 332 planets. They are all situated in the US main sectors to the galactic south. The north is composed of more autonomous regions that aren’t directly represented in the parliament but are still bound by United Systems regulations. The Palamen live there, however they don’t recognize United Systems . Beyond that, little is known about those regions.“ the president explained.

Sounds reasonable enough. But why would a government claim hegemony over a place it is barely familiar with? „Do you maintain diplomatic relations with the Palamen?“ I asked, wanting to resolve this apparent contradiction.

The president however wouldn’t let me. „No. Like I mentioned, the Palamen don’t accept the United Systems as a legitimate government over any part of the galaxy. Any attempt by out diplomats to make contact with them have been met with trespassing warnings, and they have attacked US ships multiple times.“

So I might have popped right in on an interstellar war just waiting to happen. Great.

Suddenly one of the guards in the room approached the president. „Mrs. President, I’m afraid you will have to cut your meeting with the Princess short. You were asked to speak to the parliament about the recent tensions with Jovalia.“

Jovalia?

The president looked over to me. „You must apologize, your Highness, but you heard the guard. I’m afraid I have to go, and unfortunately I doubt we can resume our conversation anytime soon. I’m usually very busy. But it was great getting to know you. Do you need anything else?“

Two things, actually. „Yes, what is Jovalia?“

The president seemed uneasy. „Jovalia is a planet in the northern regions of the galaxy.“

That wasn’t a whole lot of info. Strange. „One last thing: I have a debt that I need to pay back, 1200 credits. Who could help me with that?“

„Don’t worry about that. Commodore Solar Flare requested you return to her right away, she will help you. I’m sorry, but I really need to hurry. Nice to have met you, Your Highness“. The president tried to shake hands with me and rushed off, escorted by two guards.

That was quite an odd encounter. Not only did the president appear to avoid my question about this planet of Jovalia, I also still didn’t get the chance to mention that prison guard who wanted to strangle me to death with Plundervines. One thing is for certain: I’ll mention that to Solar Flare first thing later.

***

I’m out of danger for the time being, yet I still feel uneasy. I know I should be a lot more rational and not believe in things like signs, but I still have the strange feeling that something bad will yet happen. All I can do right now, however, I try to find out exactly what is going on. There’s something off and I’m determined to find out what it is.

And I need to find Sunset Shimmer. Somehow.

Chapter 5: Right Back and Away

Where was I? Right, I just left the President’s office and Solar Flare requested I return to her. She failed to mention exactly where that is, but since there’s little that would indicate to the contrary, I’d assume she’s waiting for me back at the hangar, from where we will launch back into space straight away to track down and rendezvous with Starshine, the pony I owe 1200 credits to.

Because apparently it’s too much to ask to allow me to give myself some room to breathe. Quite literally, too, since I still haven’t gotten a chance to breath fresh air, even with me managing to return to my home planet, or at least the version of it that’s close to 1900 years in the future.

Also, I need to watch myself. It seems those last few days are already starting to make me cynical, and that’s something I’m trying to avoid.

Anyway, hangar. Off we go then. As I was trying to remember the way I came in, I once again noticed how clean everything looks. The absolutely spotless walls were endowed in a luxurious shade of crimson and the hall was flanked with Corinthian order steel columns, which managed to make the entire hallway look both grandiose and tacky at the same time. Thanks, human history books!

„Princess Twilight, over here!“ I suddenly heard a familiar voice. I turned my head and found myself looking straight into the hangar, with Solar Flare waving at me in a pretty enthusiastic way. I walked over and we exchanged niceties.

„Ready to pay a debt, Princess?“ Solar Flare asked me. I duck my head. „Actually, I would much rather go for a short walk, I haven’t been able to breath air for the past week or so. Even longer if you factor in time travel shenanigans.“

Solar Flare began pulling me by the wing. „Sorry, Princess, the Darkstar protocol is still in effect and we cannot allow you to roam freely just yet.“

Oh, come on! Seriously? Do I seriously need to re-elaborate what I just went through? I just want to stretch my legs for a few minutes! Instead, I’m being pushed from one place to the next with both figuratively and literally no room to breathe.

„And for the record, I haven’t gotten a chance to breath normal air for the past two months myself.“ Solar Flare said in an unpressed tone.

Unfazed by my protesting, we boarded the same shuttle that brought us to the surface earlier and left the hangar, which proceeded to close its heavy steel doors behind us.

Off to the next adventure today it is, then. I groaned audibly.

Having finally taken notice of my objections, Solar explained „I’m sorry, Princess, but we must act fast. You haven’t exactly popped in at the safest point in time.“

Aha, so someone does finally decide that it’s time to tell me what’s going on here!

„I cannot reveal any specific details yet, as our intelligence on the current situation is as of right now both incomplete and inconclusive.“

Or not.

What is it with these ponies and their secrecy? I rarely go about peddling my status as Princess since I don’t want to come over as boastful, but this is seriously starting to get on my nerves.

So I broke with my principles and demanded an explanation.

„Commodore, I must ask you to reveal whatever it is that you know so far. And don’t give me a ‚That’s below your pay grade‘ attitude.“

Was that good? I’m not exactly trained in military jargon.

But it seemed Solar finally decided to come around.

„Alright, here’s all I know. As you might already be aware, the United Systems controls most of the southern half of the galaxy and maintains some authority over the systems in the north. The only race we have come in contact with that aren’t represented by the United Systems are the Palamen.

Furthermore, we are unaware of any system or planet controlled by a race represented by the US that isn’t a part of it.“

Somewhat pretentious to claim sovereignty over something that is quite possibly still both little explored and colonized, but I’ll run with it for now. Solar continued.

„Now, here’s the kicker. There’s a planet in the Gamma Quatoris system, located in the Northern Traverse, called Jovalia. Originally a human colony established some centuries ago, this world disagrees with several key aspects of US policy and thus seeks full sovereignty over its local regions and full independence from the United Systems. Now, politics apparently prohibit this, I’m again not fully aware of all the details. US policy is both enormous and sometimes hard to grasp.“

I know how that feels quite well. Our laws weren’t always straight-forward, either. Neither were the laws of, say, the land that originally claimed the ‚US‘ acronym.

„So, this has lead to diplomatic tensions and no contact between US and Jovalian diplomats for several months now. I’m not one to believe speculation at face value, but many say that war between Jovalia and the US is inevitable. That’s all I know.“

She looked back outside where we could see another, larger ship. Its looks reminded me of Starshine’s transport that picked me up, however this one was quite a bit more bulky and had more hangar bays.

Solar fiddled around with the controls on her seat and began:

„USS Tranquility, this is Darkstar. We have the package. Requesting docking clearance.“

The loudspeakers responded „Hello Darkstar, acknowledged. You are cleared to land in hangar bay 1.“

Solar ended with a thank you and closed the comm channel. She turned her head back to me and opened her mouth once more.

 „That’s the Tranquility, a Menelaus-class carrier. They form the bulk of the US fleet and carry several dozen fighter craft. These are vital to our military power as FTL capability has actually managed to make long-range combat obsolete and ship-to-ship combat assisted by squadrons of specialized fighters is the norm.“

Hmm, I remember reading several books and papers on combat in space that predicted combat would be similar to air warfare, just at far larger distances. It seems that concept still hasn’t caught on. They use fighters, we used fighters.

I wonder if no one has thought of the implications of massive amounts of debris orbiting a planet. Or perhaps they did and have implemented something that avoids ablation cascades.

We landed, got off the shuttle, headed to the bridge, leaped into hyperspace, meet with Starshine, paid off my debts and came back. Right?

Actually, no. Seeking to satisfy my cravings to see new things, I had other plans. I took a look around the large hangar and noticed many fighters attached to the ceiling by clamps.

Noticing my interest in them, Solar Flare again began explaining: „Those are Raider Mk III multipurpose fighters. While I have never flown one myself, I have heard mostly good things about them from pilots I talked to that have. Apparently they are widely regarded for their versatility and reliability.“

A stallion walking around the hangar overheard our conversation and came over to join in. „Yes, these Raiders are really great. They are also one of the few classes of fighters used by the navy equipped with their own transit drive, meaning they can operate independently of home base for weeks on end. Actually, did you know that these have been in production for almost 400 years now, yet are only in their third generation? While both the Navy and the company that produces them, Altair Aerospace, have added and changed many things over the Raider’s time in service, the general design has remained the same. Its wings are equipped with two hyperspace stabilizer nacelles and retract back when the ship engages a transit, and at a top transit velocity of 0.21 lightyears per second, these can outrun almost all other ships in the fleet. It is equipped with twin beams and particle cannons and enough missile banks to blow an entire enemy squadron out of the sky. These babies may be decidedly average, but damn son, you wouldn’t want to pick any other if you had the choice. Except maybe for their successor, the Raider Mk IV that Altair has recently unveiled as the top price at a StarSword tournament and will begin selling just a few months from now. Oh Celestia, that thing is gonna be SO AWESOME! Oh, sorry, Commodore Flare. Princess.“

The stallion bowed his head and left.

„Who was that?“ I asked. „One of our pilots, don’t remember the name. Come on, I’ll lead you to the bridge.“

Solar began trotting off, fully expecting me to follow suit.

This wide-open hangar gave off a strange mixture of freedom and claustrophobia. It was pretty big, at least 300m in diameter. Yet it also felt confined, closed off from the wider world by a bluish energy field erected over the gate, likely to keep the atmosphere in and the colt-hearted vacuum of space out.

I don’t quite know how or why it happened, but I suddenly felt an intense urge to explore, to rid myself of the shackles these Ponies sought to impose on me, even though I knew perfectly well they just did so for my own protection.

And it appeared that the world had picked up on my stated desire, as another Raider fighter entered the hangar a close distance behind us. The formidable fighter settled down on the ground and the pilot, apparently another pony, began climbing out.

I thought to myself „Now or never.“.

I dashed over, knocked the pilot over, snatched his helmet and began climbing into the fighter’s cockpit.

„Princess, what exactly is it that you’re up to?“ Solar Flare yelled over. I wasn’t willing to respond to her, I just wanted to be free, at least for a few minutes. I haven’t had a chance to truly go about quenching my thirst for exploration since I’ve gotten here, even though there was so much that I had already seen. But I wanted to see it all up close. I put on the helmet and settled into the fighter’s seat.

The canopy began closing and a variety of holographic displays began appearing around me. A feminine voice said „DNA and identity analysis successful, welcome aboard, Princess Twilight.“.

I looked around the cockpit looking for the controls, but I only found the flight yoke and throttle. Perhaps the rest can be accessed via these displays?

A blinking light on the right screen lead me on the right path. I looked over and it read „Launch“. Yes, that was exactly what I was looking for.

I waved my hoof at the area where the button was located, somewhat surprised to find the hologram resisting me putting my hoof all the way through it as if there were a piece of glass behind the hologram and the ship began lifting off the ground.

I moved the only two physical controls in this cockpit around and immediately bumped into another ship, a strange blue waving pattern, possibly another force field, briefly flashing in the area where I had bumped that other fighter. Wow, this is certainly a lot more twitchy than what I’m used to. Not that I am some sort of ace pilot, but I have piloted other ships before. Okay, one other real fighter, the one that had brought me to this time period in the first place. All the other ones were in training simulations.

However, the controls, while twitchy, also somehow felt very precise and instantly familiar and I didn’t have to account for inertia, as the ship itself appeared to handle that particular issue with space fighters.

I pointed the ship at the hangar gate which had already began closing its doors and pushed the throttle to max.

The resulting sensation felt similar to the one I had experienced at one time when Rainbow Dash had given me some flying lessons and allowed me to ride on her back. Case in point, we had pulled off a Sonic Rainboom. That’s how it felt when the fighter burst out the hangar. And it was exhilarating. I passed the blue force field just before the gate had fully closed and I finally entered the orbit of Equus, its majestic bluish hue filling my view. It was an indescribably astonishingly beautiful view. Sure, it wasn’t the first time I had seen it like this, but it was the first time I was given such a wide view. The canopy was triangular, with its catheti meeting roughly 40cm above my head and the longer side extending at least 2 and a half meters away from my view to the front of the ship. It wasn’t a right triable though and the back of the cockpit sat merely 50cm away from my back, behind the seat’s head rest. The cockpit itself was around a meter wide or easily as wide as a normal desk. It was a lot less cramped than the old Orion capsules, and aside from a few cockpit struts, the entire canopy was transparent, allowing for a complete 360°-view of the surrounding space. It was every hobbyist astronomer like myself’s dream.

Still dazzled by the astonishing view bestowing itself upon my face, I heard a yelling in my ears coming from the helmet. While it was certainly loud enough and I could make out random words that sounded like they came from Solar Flare, the experience I currently found myself in had absolutely overwhelmed all of my senses.

I looked over to the left display that had a list of all the closer surrounding star systems. I scrolled through them and found another very familiar system: Sol. I tapped its entry and a dropdown list appeared. One of its entries in particular sparked my interest, the one reading „Transit“. I remembered both Starshine and the pilot of the rapid transit cruiser I used to travel here from Olympus refer to a starship’s FTL capability as „Transit“, so my curiosity took hold again.

Also for some reason I suddenly felt like one-upping Rainbow Dash in flying speed. She had challenged me to friendly races a few times and I had never been able to beat her. That won’t happen this time, Rainbow.

I picked the Transit option and a tailless arrow appeared at the edge of my field of view. I maneuvered the ship over to the area the arrow pointed towards and saw a circle with four more arrows pointed inwards, the symbol flanked by the word „Sol“ and a value, 11.9 ly. Eleven point nine lightyears. Back where I had come from, that distance took weeks, even months to cross. Let’s see how much starships of today have stepped up their game.

Okay, yeah, I already experienced a total of four Transits. But I slept through pretty much all of them. This would be the first one I experience first-hand from beginning to end. I was so excited my heart began racing and I already felt the adrenaline pumping throughout my bloodstreams.

I tapped the symbol, then confirmed my selection. The ship then took over the controls and that same feminine voice announced „Preparing for Transit jump. Five, four.“ The world around me began being slowly stretched longer and longer, particularly the stars which were changing into streaks. „Two, One.“ This is it, my first jump. I was ready for anything.

„Jump!“

Except for this.

We began moving so fast that I couldn’t even see the surrounding space zip by me and I found myself being pressed hard into the seat. Or was it just my body reacting to the insane apparent change in movement velocity?

Whatever it was, next thing I found myself staring down a rapidly swirling blue tunnel that my ship raced through faster than I had ever moved before. I was so overwhelmed by the sudden intensity of light that I had to close my eyes. I just wanted it to be over right now. After what felt like an eternity, the tunnel began disappearing, replaced by streaks of stars and then a planet briefly rapidly closing in on me, and finally falling back down to the speed I had left the hangar at and the new planet, one looking eerily reminiscent of Equus with the same blue hue, moving towards me very slowly.

***

The trip had lasted a little over 56 seconds. But they felt like the longest 56 seconds I had ever experienced in my life. My heart raced in anxiety and a felt pearls of sweat rolling down my forehead.

Chapter 2: A way back home...?

Nononononononono, this can’t be happening. It’s 3997?! I travelled through time? How? I thought these vortices could only move you spatially, not temporally. I really did jinx it back there.

But, if it’s almost 2000 years from where I left, what happened to my friends? The Terran-Equestrian Alliance? Equestria? The rest of Equus? Anything I have ever known? Will I ever get back? And even better, how will I survive in a world that is guaranteed to be even more foreign to me than Canterlot High was, with absolutely nothing on me and a debt a currency I’m also unfamiliar with? This is too much…

***

“’you alright?” a voice said to me from somewhere I couldn’t make out. What happened? “I suppose.” I looked around, my surroundings being very blurred. I must have hit my head particularly hard in bed last night. “I just had this really weird dream that I flew my starfighter into a vortex and traveled through time to the 3990s.”

My vision slowly started to improve, I could make out that I lay in what felt and looked like a hospital bed. It also quacked like a hospital bed. Must be a hospital bed, then. To my right there was a purple-ish window. Is it night time or am I in space?

“You suddenly fainted, and we brought you to the sick bay. You must have had quite a day. Care to explain what you were even babbling about back there? I’m already somewhat stressed, and I’m sorry for having to put it this way, but your crazy antics don’t make the situation I find myself in any more easy or relaxing.” Why did this pony have to yell at me like this? I just woke up from sleep, I didn’t faint. “Leave me alone.” I said.

“No, I certainly won’t, my winged unicorn stowaway. You tell me what happened, or I will immediately cancel our earlier deal and send your sorry flank right out the airlock."

“I already told you, I’ve had a nightmare and woke up here.” Great, first I get thrown out of bed after whatever just happened, and now someone is threatening me with death by vacuum, over a deal I don’t remember agreeing to and in a tone that is not okay in anypony’s book.

“So, you claim to not know, and I’m supposed to just take that at face value? Are you trying to cheat me out of the 1200 credits you owe me or what? *groan* You know what, fine, I’ll just assume that’s the case, since you are worth more to me alive than dead. You must have hit your head pretty hard, after all, you were out for almost 3 hours.”

Once my vision was finally restored, I noticed that the place I found myself in was eerily reminiscent of the place I encountered in my dream. Wait, I did dream, right? “Where am I?” I asked, a lot more calm that I would have thought possible.

“You are on the sickbay on the cargo ship USCSS Candlelight, currently on a detour to the planet of Olympus, since I agreed to take you there if you were to cover the extra costs resulting from the time lost on my original shipment to the planet of Spark and the flight ticket you need to get to Equus. We’re currently in Transit, just one hour out from Olympus. Also, since you asked earlier, it’s the year 3997. Any questions?”

So, I didn’t dream, I fainted. Great, now what? “Not really.”

The pony staring back at me put on a slightly angry face. “Good, now that that’s out of the way, you tell me. Who or what exactly are you, what happened to you and who is this Sunset Shimmer?”

My head was still grumbling from my accident earlier, but I looked over what I could remember clearly. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, I volunteered, together with my friends, to deliver a blast of Rainbow Power to Sunset Shimmer by starfighter in order to reform her and make her abandon her cruel ways. She is both an old friend and enemy of mine, and an ex-protégé of Princess Celestia. I first met her on a world beyond a mirror that was similar to Earth, where she terrorized the local high school and one day broke into the crystal palace in Equestria to steal my crown, out to take over Equestria as well. The equivalents of my Ponyville friends and I defeated her by channeling the power of the Elements of Harmony through my crown, which by that point rested on her head, turning her into a she-demon. At first, we thought she had reformed, even saving the day together with us a few months later when this other world was attacked by Equestrian sirens-turned-humans. But something must have happened, as this same Sunset Shimmer, whom I had left in the other world with my friends from Canterlot High, suddenly burst into Ponyville Palace in 2123. She rushed over to me and screamed something to me I will never forget. “Where were you when I needed you the most!?” She ran out, sobbing, and I only met her again in 2141, when she began invading Terran-Equestrian space with a fleet of highly advanced spacecraft. The forces of the Coalition were pushed back to the Core systems very quickly and with high losses, our fleet being somewhat underfunded from disputes between several of Earth’s nation states and Equus. Once the enemy fleet reached Equus, however, the Coalition seemed to come out on top for the first time, so Shimmer created a weird vortex to escape. I followed her, and somehow ended up here. That’s all I know.”

The captain raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m inclined to believe anything at this point, so, sounds good enough. Now please, go and take a shower, you’re still covered in vomit and it’ll probably take several weeks for me to fully eradicate the stench. After that, come up to the bridge, we’ll arrive at Olympus in 45 minutes.”

***

Ahh, that shower has been one of the most refreshing things that I have partaken in over the past few days. Days. You know, that term has suddenly started to sound peculiar, since it has technically been almost two millennia since I’ve last taken a shower. Or eaten. Or went Number Two. Or did anything to keep myself alive, for that matter. While it would certainly be interesting to know how a living being would cope with being kept alive for 2000 years while deprived of the ability to meet its basic needs, that’s another experiment I’m not too fond of conducting on myself at this time. But time travel itself is a strange and intriguing subject. You could get anywhere, “anytime” you wanted and still be home in time for dinner.

Hold on, that reminds me, this isn’t the first time I’ve been travelling through time. Back before I became a princess, when I was still living in the tree that was the Golden Oak Library, I got worked up over a failed attempt at communicating with an earlier version of myself after a later version of myself tried to communicate with me and warn me of something I deduced was a disaster, and it later turning out that pony was myself trying to communicate with myself from the past. Wrap your head around that one. If you couldn’t, please remain in your seats until after class and I’ll explain it to you once more. *chuckle* Apparently nothing’s changed. Silly me.

“What’s so funny?” some voice asked. “Oh, nevermind, it’s nothing special. Just a joke I read in a newspaper this morning.” Yeah, that sounds convincing enough. But then why was the response “What’s a newspaper?”? Are these Ponies informed on anything that’s going on in the world right now? Or did society descend into a flock of television-internet sheep while I wasn’t looking? Judging by the amount of time I've missed, that could very well be the reason.

As I went along towards the bridge of the ship, I once again noticed how bright and advanced everything around me looked. Even the ambient hum of the engines was barely noticeable. Wow, all this just asks for closer examination. And at that moment, I made a decision: I’m going to purchase a ship like this one. After I get back to Equus, find a job, get a place to live in, find out what happened to my friends and paying my debts to Miss Blackmail, that is. Now where’s my phone, I need to write down some notes.

***

As I entered the bridge, the captain looked over to me, her face suddenly turning from stern to jarringly gleeful. “Ah, you look much less miserable now. Somewhat drizzly mane, but you look far more presentable than earlier. Come over here, I want to have a good look at history’s first interstellar time traveler. Can I have your autograph?”

What?

“Ugh, why?”

“Because I can sell it for tons of money on the internet once you get famous, of course! Why would I collect an autograph from someone whom no one has heard of before? Certainly not to hang it on my room wall. But you can never be too sure, and in case you do happen to get famous in the future, I have the first autograph of you. TONS of money, I tell you!”

You could practically see the dollar signs in her eyeballs.

Also, ouch, that was harsh. Did people really forget me, just like that? Did I really leave such a tiny mark on history? Okay, Twilight, focus, everything will fall into place eventually. It always has.

"Well alright, I guess..."

"SWEET!" the captain exclaimed, handing me what looked like a holographic tablet. "I already took a photo of you, now just place your hoof there and done."

I already thought that mass surveillance on Earth was an outrageous breach of privacy, but this is just ridiculous. Perhaps the captain has a small camera embedded in her uniform, but still, it would have been nice if she were to ask if I even want my picture taken. But then again, I popped right into 3997, and Equestria itself has also changed a lot in 2000 years. With Princess Celestia and Luna gone since the Third Eternal Night, and then us meeting a species from another planet within our own universe, those changes are bound to be even more significant. And I'll find out about those changes sooner rather than later anyway, so it's probably wise to focus on what's important right now: Finding out what happened to my friends, the whereabouts of Sunset Shimmer and, most importantly, getting home. Or actually whatever of my home remains.

Speaking of which...

"Sublight in five, four, three, two, one, disengage Transist!" the computer announced. And with a sudden jolt that almost had me slamming into a nearby support pole, we came to a halt. Yes, technology did improve, but physics are still the same, apparently. And before I could recover from my shock, the captain approached me again, this time looking eerily happy. "Alright then, tell me where to send it and I'll transfer you your ticket money. Please pay me back as soon as possible, as agreed."

I took out my phone and levitated it over to her. Good to know my magic wasn't affected by my quite stressful day. And then technological progress came over to bite me in the flank.

"Uh, how do I use this?" the captain asked, eying the phone with a rather bewildered expression. Does she really not understand how to use something as simple as a phone? I thought technology had developed and with it the knowledge of the ponies and people on how to utilize it! But then again perhaps the concept of a 22nd century phone is alien to someone from the 40th...

No, stop right there, I really don't want to deal with something like this now, I just want to get home. Or sleep on a bench or whatever is available. So I asked if they had cash money on board, and after another half hour of explaining what cash is, I finally stood in the Candlelight's airlock, waiting to be let out onto the orbital space port, and with a gold ingot roughly worth 1000 credits in my possession.

While the notion of massive space stations already did exist when I left, it was just that: a notion. Not even a proof of concept existed. The most advanced space stations at that time were mostly nothing more than orbital laboratories tethered to the ground with space elevators made from carbon nanotubes. Sure, there were two space hotels, one around Earth and one around Equus, but these were prohibitively expensive, even for me, especially since neither one of them was equipped with such a space cable, requiring expensive launch vehicles and sequences. I even remember there being multiple accidents with these launch vehicles, six of them with no survivors, among them several government officials of both Equestrian and Terran origin. I don't even want to remember the political fallout from that, but the backlash for private spaceflight was immense, resulting in a multi-year ban on flights that weren't sanctioned by the TESA.

But, here is one in the flesh. As the airlock swung aside to reveal the exterior of the craft, I almost immediately noticed, beyond the hallway leading into the port's transit area, how much was going on here. Everywhere I looked, there were sentients both pony and human of all colors or ethnicities, robots, androids and even some species I have never seen before, walking to and fro, either to the shops lining the transit area, to the other nearby terminals or just sitting around on the many benches around the hall. It quickly reminded me of a very busy airport on Earth, however this one wasn't built out of concrete, but rather out of a white painted metal, and with the added bonus of being able to look up, left and right and seeing more floors with more people, ponies, stores and benches instead of a roof, with the people walking around the walls of this massive cylinder that was the transit area, with the lights bathing it in a light that felt both neutral and welcoming at the same time. I was ecstatic and really wanted to explore the station more, but then I noticed the holographic flight plan being projected into the air above me that announced a flight to Equus in just 2 1/2 hours. Better get my ticket, I can still explore after that. Maybe, this world isn't so different, after all...

***

"You're lucky, miss, one passenger jumped off at the last minute and you can take over his seat. Second class, section B2, that would be 587 Credits." the lady behind the check-in said, eyes focused on a screen. I levitated the gold ingot on the counter to pay.

"Uh, sorry miss, but that won't do. We only accept digital money, no physical goods. You can however sell that block of gold at the local market."

Great, now I can't even pay for something I would probably have enough money for. Being thrown head-first into cold water is rarely fun or pleasent, and this is certainly a case where it isn't.

After yet another two hours of opening a temporary bank account, since cash is apparently not just unknown with random space truckers but also with the entire economic system, obtaining a money management tool that would be compatible with my phone, and trying to find someone who would purchase gold, I finally got my ticket. Since there was so little time left, the lady was kind enough to just send me through the scanning system and then give me a warrant to enter the ship without proper identification, since I obviously had nothing on me. The stinky space suit and fighter I left with Starshine by way of pledge.

I rushed over to the crowd of people and ponies standing in a somewhat chaotic queue at Terminal 7 where our mass-transit ship was docked. The entire boarding process was rather mundane, as one after another was checked for a valid boarding pass and then directed to the tunnel that would lead them to the section of the ship they were assigned to. While I did notice the flight attendant looking somewhat skeptical as he inspected my ticket and warrant, he didn't start another argument with me, thank Celestia, and instead just held his validation device over it and gestured me through.

Another flight attendant greeted me at the airlock of ship section B2 and I went to my seat. The interior of the cabin once again reminded me of home, specifically airplanes. While there were no windows lining the walls, the rows of seats were divided into three sections of four seats each, going all the way to the back wall of the cabin.

As I approached my seat, I noticed a strange six-legged creature and a mare occupying the seats directly next to mine. Do I smell okay? I don't want to bother my seatmates with the stench of old and dry

vomit.

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen, fillies and gentlecolts, I'm Captain Turbulence and contrary to what my name may imply, I'm known among my fellow pilots as one of the best in the business of mass-transit. I'll be taking you straight to Equus tonight. Flight time is an estimated 85 hours real-time, compressed to 9 hours on-board time, with three Transit jumps across a grand total of around 67,000 light years.

The second class cabins aren't equipped with gravity modules, so I would advise everyone in this class to remain seated and to keep their seatbelts on at all times except in emergencies, such as having to visit the toilet. Beyond that, the paths to the escape pods are marked by lights on the floor and smoking tobacco is not allowed anywhere on the ship. Consuming recreatives or alcohol is only permitted as per discretion of the stewards and only for substances sold on the ship.

For first-time passengers, this ship is equipped with dampening systems that offset the rockings resulting from de-transits, but you may still feel a slight jolt or a stinging sensation when the craft re-enters Realspace. Thank you to those who actually bothered to listen and the crew and I wish you a safe and enjoyable flight."

And with a slight rocking, we departed the station and commenced the jump, and I didn't even notice how exhausted I actually were, for too fast did I fall asleep.

***

"Captain Turbulence of Flight 4567-89A from Olympus to Cloudsdale Station, requesting landing clearance." the on-board speakers suddenly blared, waking me from my sleep.

"Good evening, this is Cloudsdale Station, permission granted. How was your flight, 89A?" another voice responded. "Everything fine so far, Cloudsdale, thanks. How do things look like from there?" I'm pretty sure the captain doesn't care about that.

"Oh, same old, same old. Black, with the occasional blue and green-ish." the second voice responded in a voice that tried hard to hide the apathy of the owner.

The captain finished with a quick "Right then, thank you and good day, Cloudsdale" and turned off the speakers. Finally, I'm getting home. Hopefully I'll get over this with no more repercussions. The ship docked, and the passengers made a standing ovation for the captain and slowly made their way to the airlock.

This starport had a massive window through which Equus was visible. It didn't look too different from what I've last seen, but there were noticably more lights scattered around its surface. Massive cities, perhaps?

Since it was my intention to leave the transit area for the planet surface this time, I would have to pass border control. Apparently something like the "United Systems" still wasn't enough to fully abolish those, though it could very well just be a safety precaution, and seeing as there were no ships set to fly to the surface anywhere in the transit area, I decided to wing it. Surely the authorites here will recognize me...

"Miss, we will need a valid ID, or we can't let you through. The core systems are protected and passage requires a valid ID coupled with a permit. If you do not have that, we'll have no other choice than to take you into custody for trespassing in protected territory."

WHAT? I became a princess for THIS?! I tried really hard to remain calm, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold back the stress for much longer. Focus, Twilight, you can do this.

"I lost my ID when I conducted a time jump from the distant past to here, and then I got lost in space and had to work my way back here." I responded, hoping that it would work.

It didn't.

"Nice story, miss, it isn't the weirdest one I've heard yet. But no valid ID means we will have to lock you up for now, until we can verify your identity proper. GUARDS!" the Pony border officer behind the counter yelled. Immediatly two pegasus guards clad in airtight body armor came galloping into the room. I felt like irony was sitting in a cloud, laughing at me.

"Take this pony away, her identity couldn't be verified. We will have to keep her until tomorrow for questioning." the officer said to the guards.

Being too stressed out, I found myself both unable and unwilling to fight back, and a few minutes later, locked up in a dark prison cell, with the small window showing nothing but a few entirely emotionless stars in the distance.

Yes, it can always get worse.