Beneath Distant Stars

Chapters

Archive One
Archive Two
Archive Three
Archive Four
Archive Five
Archive Six
Archive Seven
Archive Eight
Archive Nine
Archive Ten
Archive Eleven

Archive One

In a dimly lit chamber of the New Pegasopolan capitol building, twelve ponies sat along the two long ends of a conference table, looking through papers and waiting for their boss. This room, dubbed 'the vault,' was where the Commander met with his advisers and dealt with any sudden crises. Today was one of those crises.

Stern Gaze strode into the room and took a seat at the head of the table. One of the officers on guard outside shut the door behind him. He looked around at the other ponies present. "Which of you has a clue what to make of this?"

NPSA Guiding Wing
:ARCHIVE BEGINS:

Mission Log:
MET: -00:00:01:15:27

'Something.' Happy?

Mission Log:
MET: -00:00:01:14:51

Per Command's orders, I've demonstrated that the transcription spell is working, and is relaying my words to them. Also per Command's orders, I'm clarifying for the record that this is Thatch Roof, the captain of this mission. Hence why you're reading this in the official mission log. Thought that was self-explanatory.

Mission Log:
MET: -00:00:01:14:12

Now I'm returning to actual, productive work.

...One hour left. Hard to believe.

Mission Log:
MET: -00:00:00:04:57

Last pre-launch entry. I hope you know that once we're out there, we're not going to be this meticulous. You going to come in here and pull me out now?

I didn't think so.

"Sir, we've had ponies pouring over technical records, documentation, and crew logs for the past twenty-four hours, trying to verify what we've learned through debriefing."

"And?"

"And it's a mess, sir."

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:00:12:17

We're in orbit now. First jump is in a few hours, and then we get to play 'ice-cube' for two years while the engine recharges.

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:00:15:23

:TRANSCRIPT:

Conversation logged in Common Area, involving crew members Thatch Roof (TR), Crystal Clear (CC), and Patch (P).

(CC) There he is! Everything looking good so far?

(TR) Yeah, just finished another log saying as much. We're not gonna fall out of the sky anytime soon.

(CC) I was hoping for something a touch more reassuring than that.

(TR) We're probably not going to fall out of the sky at all, then.

(CC) Glad to hear it. Patch and I were just talking about what it'll feel like... The teleport, I mean.

(P) She thinks it'll hurt. I told her the worst symptom ever documented from teleportation is mild nausea.

(CC) Yes, but the distance we're traveling will be orders of magnitude further than that.

(TR) Granted, but we'll also be teleporting through space instead of air, which is pretty unprecedented. This might be the smoothest jump ever. Where're the others?

(CC) Stem's making sure nothing came loose during the launch, I think. Don't know about the others.

(TR) Right. I'm going to go wait at the helm for now.

(CC) So soon? We've got hours still.

(TR) I'll rest easy once we've made the first jump.

:TRANSCRIPT ENDS:

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:00:23:45

Just figured out how to access and log stored audio from different parts of the ship... I didn't even realize it was recording. I wonder how much of a backlog it keeps.

"As best we can tell, everypony's telling the truth about what happened. There's no shortage of photographic and audio evidence to verify their discovery on Lambda Prime, and the technical logs corroborate much of what they've been describing."

The Commander shook his head in frustration. "I was not prepared to deal with something like this today... We as a people are not prepared to deal with something like this." He paused, looking up. "Do the screw-heads know?"

One of the ponies winced at his superior's use of the slur, but it was nothing he hadn't heard before. Another stallion replied, "They're almost certainly aware that the Guiding Wing is back in orbit, but the circle of ponies in Pegasopolis who knows anything beyond that is a relatively small one, and I'm confident that there are no leaks."

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
MET: 00:00:00:50:03

Figured I ought to start documenting my work since there's nothing else to do. I think everyone else is preparing their logs too, or sorting out their experiments or something. I don't know.

Anyway. Hi, mom!

Kidding... I'm kidding. I know you all probably won't make these public for decades to come. But do let her know I said hi.

...There's a strange thought, actually. In a couple hours time, we'll be so far from home that it would take years for you to see what I say here. For anyone to see what any of us say.

Still, enough of that. I'm in space! Yay! First unicorn to be in space under the New Pegasopolan banner, I guess. If you're reading this, Firestorm, thanks for putting your confidence in me. I'll do you proud.

Most of my work doesn't come until after the second teleport, when we're entering the Halberd Radiation Field. It won't be strong enough to hurt us--not inside the ship, anyway--but it's a great opportunity to study the effects of interstellar radiation on various forms of magical energy and storage mechanisms. I don't expect anything concrete will come of the study for a long time, given how isolated the conditions are, but it's science at its purest and that's a rare thing these days.

Personal Log:
Lime Cliff
MET: 00:00:00:53:25

Just marking the occasion. We're in space. Haven't made the first jump yet.

Nothing for me to do until we reach Lambda Prime, when I can analyze the planet's geology. Maybe, if everypony back home was wrong and it's not Discord causing it, I'll be able to find something that does explain the planet being orbited by its sun.

Uh... That's all. Mandatory personal log; check!

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:03:02:12

Sitting next to Crystal in the cockpit. We just made the first jump, and nothing's on fire yet. As she just pointed out, y'all won't know that for another few years.

Going to run sys-checks and send Stem on an EVA in the next few hours, so that we're certain everything's as it should be. Patch probably ought to look everyone over, too; some of the crew didn't hold up well.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
MET: 00:00:03:03:15

Holy horseapples! That was awful! For the record, Thatch was just as sick as the rest of us; don't let him try to omit that!

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:03:03:45

Crystal, I'm sitting right here! And, for the record, that was a crude exaggeration on her part.

"Good. See that it stays that way," the Commander said. "The last thing we need is the unicorns getting involved."

One mare spoke up. "Sir, have you reviewed the full dossier my team sent you this afternoon?"

"No, I've been in one meeting after the next. I l skimmed it, though. Why?"

She fidgeted. "Well, it's just that some of what we've found out... I'm not sure that a full closed-door policy is for the best."

Mission Log:
MET: 00:00:07:25:18

Primary communications relay appears undamaged. No hull damage detected, and the atmosphere and radiation levels onboard are stable. We'll still be here when you get this message, and it looks like we'll still be alive too. Stem Bolt went outside and took a look around; said it was incredible. You don't really get a sense for it in here, I guess, with all the lights polluting the view, but he said he'd never seen so many stars. I'll have to find an excuse to run an EVA myself, sometime.

Oh, he also said everything's fine with the ship. That too.

We won't be getting in cryo for roughly another week, while we let Noise and Crystal run a couple tests. The rest of us are just sitting on our hooves and helping out.

I've gotta say, guys, that's lousy. Back on Enyo, you knew how to keep us busy. Even if it was just running missile drills, we had something to occupy our time. Now we're out here, and... I don't know. I don't think I brought enough books.

Personal Log:
Stem Bolt
MET: 00:00:07:58:30

Well, I'm back from my spacewalk and just got done with the technical log to show everything's a-okay. The details of my walk are in that log, along with listing after mundane listing of 'no faults detected.' That was a fun hour and a half.

I've already looked the Jump Drive over, and it seems to be in working order as well. Obviously we can't actually use it for another few years while it recharges, but that's working too. We deployed the collection array, and it's already showing a steady flow of power coming in. It's actually drawing a bit more than we had anticipated; we'll probably get to Lambda Prime a week or two early if this holds up. No way the unicorns are going to beat us there at this rate.

Personal Log:
Stem Bolt
MET: 00:00:08:02:45

Actually, I'll say something else too. I'd tack it onto my last entry, but I can't figure out how.

You guys said not everything here has to be professional documentation, so... I'll make a personal note, I guess. When I was out on that EVA, I just... It was something else. All that time on Enyo, I'd gotten used to a star-filled sky, but out here... with nothing but a glass pane separating me from light-years of nothingness in every direction...

I told Thatch about it. Or, the captain. I'm not sure which I'm supposed to call him in the logs.

Buck it. He was my captain on the Enyo base too, but he's always been Thatch. Anyway, I told Thatch, and he seemed impressed. He's always been deep about things like that.

Personal Log:
White Noise
MET: 00:01:07:15:25

...Oops. I don't think my last log entries saved. I can't find them anywhere. I'll do my best to recreate them here, for posterity.

Something, something, space. I'm in space. Yay for space! (I was very happy to be in space. I still am.) Plans about frequency testing... Concerns about cryogenic stasis...

That's all I remember, anyway. But yeah, when I sat down to start this log, I'd planned on noting how the frequency testing was progressing. Now I'm told that we have a separate category for logging data anyway, so there's no point in boring the adoring masses with that information here.

Also, let it be known for future generations... freeze-dried carrot cake is an abomination, and if I had my way, we would have flushed it all out the airlock.

Mission Log:
MET: 00:01:11:13:51

I swear, I think Noise really would have spaced the rest of the carrot cake if I'd allowed it.

"Hrm...' The Commander grumbled, leaning back in his chair. "Perhaps you're right. Heirloom, I want you to prepare a statement regarding the Guiding Wing's return. Keep it vague; just emphasize that it was an unquestionable success, and that we hope to-"

His orders were cut short as a pony burst through the door, ignoring a startled cry from the guards as he shouted out, "Commander, we've just got word that Unicornian forces are advancing towards Cirrus Station! Estimates are rough, but at least three divisions!" A wave of gasps echoed around the table.

"Buck! They haven't made a direct push in nearly a year!" Stern Gaze kicked the table before rising to stand. "Alright. Meeting's over, everypony." He turned back to the stallion who had rushed in to deliver the news. "Get me Generals Alto and Remiges now!

Mission Log:
MET: 00:07:00:34:22

I checked with Patch a few minutes ago, and she says the cryo-pods are all ready for use. I'm not exactly thrilled about the prospect... I know that a lot of the others aren't either. I understand that the technology's been tested before, but this is admittedly the first time it's been used for an actual mission. There's never been any point in freezing somepony for a trip to Enyo or Bellona, given that neither moon is more than a day or two away at most.

Still, though, the pods are ready. We'll be getting in soon, and when we wake up, it'll be time for the next jump. I guess that means that you'll have received this log entry by the time I make the next one.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
MET: 00:07:01:05:55

Noise and Lime have already gotten in their pods. I just figured I should say a quick goodnight, though.

I'm really skeptical about whether we'll find Discord when we reach Lambda Prime, and this will be a huge accomplishment whether or not we do find him, but... I hope we do.

I've been thinking a lot about how tense things had gotten back home. I know nothing too big could happen while we're gone. I mean... They wouldn't. Everypony will still be there when we get back. I know that. But, still, Unicornia just kept escalating, and we kept responding, and it wouldn't take all that much for something to go really, really wrong.

It just scares me to think about the possibility that Discord really is a myth, and that we'll travel all this distance for nothing... or that we find him and invite him home to find that home is...

Nevermind. I'd better go get in my pod. Just don't buck things up while we're gone, you all.

The following has been included for referential purposes. It is inserted here because, by best estimate, it was recorded in the time between the above personal log and the next one.

The data in this transcript has been modified to comply with standard NPSA formatting, and to include names not logged in the original file.

Conversation logged in [unicorn ship Endeavor], involving non-crew [Focus (F) and Top Notch (TN)].

:TRANSCRIPT:

(F) Is- Yeah! HA! Notch, it's working! [unintelligible] Yeah, I'm sure! The light's on, anyway!

(TN) Great! It's recording, then!

(F) Alright, uh... Alright. This is captain Focus of the Endeavor. I suppose that last bit's obvious, though, since we can't transmit. We're... uh... Well, we're not sure how far into the mission we are. The consoles haven't been very reliable, and they keep resetting the logged time. This is the first we've even managed to get the interface to start an audio recording. That explosion really messed us up.

(F) Still, though, we're doing fine. The oxygen generator and water reclamation system are both still working, and apart from a few technical failures, everything else is more or less operational. We've got enough astrometric data that I'll know when we're approaching Curiosity, and the consoles come online intermittently enough that I should be able to line us up for aerobraking when we're near. It's not ideal, but it's workable.

(F) There is also the matter of why we're awake to record this at all... One of the cryo-tubes is completely fried. We've been taking turns, waking somepony up periodically and switching out so that nopony goes mad from the isolation. It's... still a bit maddening though. Once we're done with the recording, it'll be my turn in the tube.

(TN) Focus...

(F) Right... I know. I have to mention that when this mission was being planned, nopony ever intended for someone to be awake and needing food for the entire journey... We did the math, and we'll make it to Curiosity without any of us starving, but there's no way in hell we're getting back. This is a one-way trip for us.

Archive Two

Mission Log:
MET: 02:122:14:35:17

That was quite the nap... I certainly don't feel two years older, but I've got a neck-ache that might be trying to convince me otherwise.

Stem says the Jump Drive is fully charged, so we're making some quick preparations first. A bunch of medical supplies got scattered the first time around, so we're getting stuff to hold them down... that sort of thing.

Thankfully, there's no need to get back in cryo too soon. Crystal has a lot of work to do, and we'll all stay awake until she's done. I think I can probably afford to space these logs out a bit more.

Mission Log:
MET: 02:123:08:45:21

Second jump complete. We're in the radiation field now, so Crystal should have no trouble doing whatever it is she's doing.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
MET: 02:123:12:20:30

I'll keep this brief, since Lime Cliff caught me logging crystalline resonance frequencies a few minutes ago and practically had a conniption. Turns out there's a whole other section for that, and how dare I use the wrong one! That must be the first time I've seen him passionate—or even anything but utterly passive—about anything at all. But, hay, I won't get between a pony and his filing.

Regardless, I have started my work, and drafted some of the others into helping me. It's already become clear that this sort of radiation is seriously messing with our charged gemstones. The mission-critical ones are all in the heavily shielded aft section with the engine, so that there's no way they'll get damaged, but the ones we've deliberately exposed to the radiation were all but drained after a few minutes.

Personal Log:
White Noise
MET: 02:142:03:12:55

Oh, buck! BUCK! ALIENS! Giant spider-things! They're everywhere! AUGH! AAAAUGH! HELP US! DISCORD SAVE US ALL! THEY'VE ALREADY EATEN PATCH! I've hidden in my bunk, but I think they know where I am. I don't think I have much ti-

The technician on duty in the Mission Control center was having a pretty boring day. His job was to read through the various reports from the Guiding Wing as they came in, print them as needed, and file them away. There was occasionally something interesting to read, and he enjoyed being able to relay messages to the ponies mentioned in the logs, but for the past week it had been almost exclusively a stream of technical data he couldn't even faintly comprehend.

And then he received a report that the crew he was nominally watching over had been attacked by giant spiders.

Personal Log:
White Noise
MET: 02:142:03:42:20

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I know nopony would ever fall for that, but I bet in about three years time when that message reaches home, someone'll have a good laugh over it.

I told Patch; he was less amused... He seemed offended that I'd let him get eaten in my narrative, and insisted that he would be better able to defend himself against giant spiders than I would. The fact that I got eaten too was little consolation, apparently.

It hadn't taken long for the technician to contact his superiors, and even though it was only thirty minutes later that the second message was received, quite a few ponies had already heard what had happened.

The next morning's papers were headlined with the story of the prank. Within weeks, toy companies had come out with a new line of 'Arachnids from Space' merchandise to accompany the Lambda Mission playset.

Mission Log:
MET: 02:155:12:35:14

Crystal's finished up and we're all getting in cryo now. Once we're through the radiation field, the automated systems should take over and we won't need to wake up until the final one. I'm still going to have my pod wake me every time, though, just to be safe.

The data in this transcript has been modified to comply with standard NPSA formatting, and to include names not logged in the original file.

Conversation logged in [unicorn ship Endeavor], involving non-crew [Focus (F)]

:TRANSCRIPT:

(F) I'm up again, and it looks like the recording system's still working. That's nice.

(F) Everything else seems to be unchanged, too, but we're entering a radiation cloud soon. We knew we'd have to pass through when we launched, but all these other system-failures have me terrified that our hull shielding isn't as functional as it ought to be. I guess we'll find out, though. I made sure I was the one who'd be out of cryo for the duration of the cloud so that the others are safe.

Mission Log:
MET: 07:281:01:44:41

Just letting y'all know everything's fine. We're two more jumps in. I'm confident enough to just sleep the rest of the way, I think. It occurred to me earlier that these pods weren't really meant for quite this many wake-ups.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:84:20:05:33

Everyone's getting up now. We're a couple days from the final jump, and then we just need to use our conventional engines to make a stable orbit around Lambda Prime. I guess I ought to run through the plan, just to make sure I've got it straight.

Get into orbit. Scan for any anomalous heat-sources and perform visual surveys to see if there's any obvious indication of Discord's current or past presence. Locate a stable landing site and take the lander down. Let Crystal, Lime, Noise, and Patch do their thing. Make contact with Discord if possible, and deliver the message. Piece of cake.

Not carrot cake, though.

Personal Log:
Patch
MET: 18:86:05:30:12

Cap' says we're about to make the last teleport, so I gave everyone a small anti-emetic to hopefully counter the nausea. I'm just looking forward to seeing Lambda Prime; both because it's such a big deal, and because I am sick to death of zero gravity. I cannot wait to get out and stretch my hooves, even if it is in an environmental suit.

Plus, once we do get there, I'll actually have something to do. It's great that nopony's been wounded, but there's only so much a doctor can do with healthy people. I am more than ready to get my hooves in the dirt and see whether the soil is at all viable for supporting plant growth.

After entering the final command on his console, Thatch Roof pressed himself back in his chair and waited. The steady hum of the electric lights seemed to grow in intensity, but it soon became clear that it was coming not from those lights but from the internal structure and external hull of the ship itself. The ship did not feel like it was moving, but objects near the walls of the cabin began being accelerated toward the center. The hum reached a crescendo and took on a pulsating, throbbing rhythm. In a moment, the lights shut off and a bright flash came from seemingly everywhere at once.

When Thatch opened his eyes, the stars outside his window were different. He shifted in his chair to see towards the rear of the ship, and hollered "It's over! If you want to see the planet, get up here!'

It didn't take long for everypony to stagger in and crowd around the cockpit. The captain made a few adjustments before putting his hoof into the attitude controller and using it to gently rotate the craft. As it turned, the view out the window gradually shifted, bringing the planet into sight. It was still a significant distance away, and few details were discernible, but smears of blue and white could be seen.

The crew observed it in silence for several minutes before Stem Bolt whistled. "Hard to believe."

"Yeah..." White Noise frowned in confusion. "What is all the blue, though? Are we seeing the atmosphere, or is that water?"

Crystal leaned forward. "I think... I'm not sure. It is an awful lot for it to be water, though."

"Once we're in a stable orbit, there'll be plenty of time to get a better look. If you all could clear out, though, a bit of space would be great."

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
MET: 18:86:07:42:14

It's water.

Thatch finished the burn to get us in orbit a while ago, and we got a telescope lined up with the planet. It looks like much of the planet is covered in water, and the land... The land has a pretty distinct green tint.

It's like... You know those photographs of the old earth-pony ruins? The ones they took from orbit, where you can see the lush grass and trees and stuff all around. It's like a whole planet of that. There are definitely a few deserts too, but nothing like Eris. This definitely explains the oxygen atmosphere we detected.

Oh, it's also got a moon; a big one. It had me worried for a minute, since we're in a higher orbit than it, but I asked Thatch and he said that it won't be a problem for us.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:86:07:58:37

Well, we've done as much gawking at the planet as we can for right now. At least, as much productive gawking as we can... I'd still be happy to look at it all day. Even if Discord's not down there, the fact that we found life is more than enough to count this as a victory. Our original plan had been to take the descent craft to the surface almost immediately, but now I'm wondering whether this warrants extra precaution. This planet looks like a vast jungle compared to Eris, and if its plants are anything like those of our forests, I'm not confident that an environmental suit will be enough.

I'm going to bring our perigee lower, and ask Crystal to look for any areas near the equator with less vegetation when we make our next pass. Patch would kill me if we landed in a desert, but she'd better be prepared to settle for a grass field.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:87:14:25:12

We've reached perigee now, and Crystal's charting a basic map of the terrain. I've decided to go ahead and bring circularize our orbit at this altitude; it should be a whole lot easier to see the other side of the planet as well, and now the moon won't be blocking our line of sight periodically.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:87:21:40:53

Alright, without specialized surveying equipment that nopony bothered to pack, we're probably not going to get a better understanding of the terrain than we have now. It's like this: The planet seems to have two major landmasses, which altogether cover roughly a third of the planet. The remaining two thirds is covered in vast oceans. The larger of the two landmasses connects to the north pole and reaches close to the south one; the equatorial region is primarily desert. To the north is a large expanse of forested area and several mountain ranges that would make landing nearly impossible. There's a vast expanse of grassland to the north of that which would be ideal for landing, but its latitude is high enough that we'd need to burn extra fuel reaching it. We have enough in reserves to make it manageable, but it is unnecessarily wasteful.

The second landmass is narrower, but also spans the distance from pole to pole. Its equatorial region is almost entirely mountainous, and there are no especially viable landing sites beyond that, so it seems our choices are limited to desert or a grassland unfortunately further north than we'd planned. I'm going to see what Crystal says about it, and verify with Stem Bolt that the second site isn't overly wasteful.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:87:22:06:34

Problem solved. Crystal pointed out a third option, still north but much nearer the equator. It's on the western coast, bordered by mountains on one side and wooded areas on two others, but it is large enough to provide sufficient maneuverability, and we'll have a good sample of geological formations and plant-life. We're going to need to wait for our next pass to land, but fortunately, it doesn't take long at this lower orbit. I told everypony to make sure everything they need is in the lander. It ought to be about mid-day when we set down, and clear skies all around. Good thing we chose this continent, since the dark side has been terribly overcast.

With all their supplies stowed in the landing craft, the crew climbed inside and strapped into their seats. In truth, the 'landing craft' was just the fore section of the Guiding Wing. It contained the medical bay, the tool storage, the common area, and the bunks. It was controlled by the same cockpit that Thatch had used to guide the ship thus far. Once inside, Thatch Roof sealed the bulkhead leading to the jump-drive, and disengaged the docking clamps holding the sections together. Pulsing the reaction-control jets momentarily, he gave the lander enough lateral thrust to push away from the aft portion of the ship.

This design was chosen because there was no viable way to shield the jump-drive from re-entry heat, and because the drive itself was so massive that a huge amount of extra fuel would be required to return it to orbit. The lander craft, once clear of the other section, was free to ignite its engines and begin decelerating to achieve a suborbital trajectory. Its rear section, where it would be entering the atmosphere, was no longer very aerodynamic given the removed compartment, but the engineers had ensured the ship was stable enough to remain upright through the process.

Despite all this careful engineering, none of the passengers had ever experienced a more terrifying landing, pilot included. Thatch was forced to make constant adjustments with the reaction control system, and at one point needed to ignite the main engines and burn a considerable amount of fuel to keep the ship steady enough.

Once the aerobraking part of the descent was finished, Thatch verified that he was over the landing site and deployed the parachutes in sequence. The first was a large drogue chute to begin slowing the craft without jarring the ship; that chute alone would be unable to bring the ship to a safe landing speed, so moments later a much larger, much wider parachute opened up and brought the ship to a steady couple of meters per second. Looking over the displays with a relieved expression, the pegasus at the helm pushed one final switch in order to deploy the landing struts.

As the first leg made contact with the ground, the piston-like structure compressed in on itself and gauged the amount of resistance the ground offered relative to the measured speed of the ship. When the tilt sensor's alarm tripped in the cockpit, it signaled the legs that the ship was beginning to fall in the back starboard direction and the leg compressed further. The next leg contacted the ground, and a similar process ran again, calculating the slope of the ground and adjusting the length of the landing legs accordingly. Within the span of a second, the ship had stabilized.

Mission Log:
MET: 18:87:23:54:32

'Contact light,' you guys. We're here.

We touched down a couple minutes ago. Stem's already up and making sure everything's a-okay. The others are milling about and enjoying actual, Eris-like gravity. It still doesn't feel like more than a couple months have passed, and the cryo-pods did a decent job of preserving us all from atrophy, but it's just weird to think that we've been in space for eighteen years.

I need to go do some push-ups or something.

As the elderly yellow earth pony pushed open the door to the throne-room, a dramatic tribal drum began to play. As she walked forward, approaching the circle of crystalline thrones, it intensified. The rhythm grew faster, the volume louder. As she bowed before-

"Spike, enough!" Twilight smiled apologetically at the mare before her. "He's been practicing. Now, please, what is it you're here for?"

"Ah live out in White Tail Woods, Princess ma'am, an' we don't have any mail service out there so'm here to tell ya... Somethin' strange happened yesterday in the clearin' north of my home."

Archive Three

//ALERT 133
TAMPER WARNING TRIPPED - CHECK TIMESTAMP

Mission Log:
Day 1 - 18:30

Just to clear up any confusion, it's been about four hours since my last log entry. I talked to Stem, and he helped me rejigger the console to mark the logs according to the approximate local time. We're going to need to acclimate ourselves to this solar cycle, given how long we'll be here, and I expect that this will help at least a bit. I think 'day one' is an appropriate name, too. It's not only ponykind's first day as a true interplanetary species, but for philosophical purposes it's really this planet's first day as well.

Anyway, nothing else to report yet. Eager as everypony was to jump outside and frolic in the grass, I said we should wait for tomorrow. There's still several hours of daylight left, but if we don't get to sleep early today, we're all going to be out of sync.

In regards to more general concerns, though, everything is looking good. Stem says the internal components of all our hardware are still looking good. The ship is stable, despite it looking like we've landed on something of an incline. I did catch something of a design flaw, though. For all the amazing work our engineers did, some idiot decided that it'd be fine to mount the energy-collection array to the main hull of the ship. It's able to fold away and be safe when entering the atmosphere, which is great, but do you know what it's not able to do? It's not able to charge the mission-critical gemstones that are still in orbit with the jump-drive.

...Yeah. So, it's not a major problem, but it does mean that we'll be sitting on our hooves for an extra year or so once we'd otherwise be ready to leave. Thanks for that, Nameless Engineer Pony. When I get home, you (or more likely your children) are going to be buying me a whole library of books to make up for what I won't be able to read during that year.

Mission Log:
Day 2 - 06:00

Good morning, NPSA! We're all bright-eyed and bushy tailed on this fine morning, and ready to start the day!

Since these are all eventually going to be shared with the public, I figured I ought to maintain the facade, but I'm sure you can omit this paragraph when I say... wow. We've just landed on this alien planet, and the first thing we introduce to the ecosystem are Mondays and all the soul-crushing apathy that accompany them. Noise literally asked for "five more minutes."

Anyway, all that aside, we're getting started. Thankfully there was no big fuss over who gets to go outside first, since you all decided that back home. Once I'm suited up, I'm going to get in the airlock and cycle it open. I start by getting a sample of the air and one of the soil and grass, and then returning inside with them. I'll have to wear protective hoof-covers over the suit too, in case there's anything corrosive in the grass or dirt that I come in contact with.

Mission Log:
Day 2 - 06:45

The sun came up over the forest while I was outside. It was beautiful. Until I came back inside, I had completely forgotten that the sun literally was rising over the horizon. It's even more bizarre to see than it seemed on the way here.

Crystal's already analyzed the air sample, and says it's extremely similar to Eris. It's a bit more oxygen rich, but not harmfully so, and says it should be perfectly fine to breathe. Lime's looking at the dirt I brought in, and Patch at the grass. If they both say their samples are safe too, then we'll be free to head outside without the environmental suits. We'll still start off with just one pony at a time, though, in case we've missed anything.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
Day 2 - 06:50

I understand that precautions are a necessary part of landing on an alien planet, but it is maddening to be stuck in this tin can while there's grass right outside. I asked Thatch if I could be the first one outside without the suit, since I am supposed to be the second one out, but he said he's just going to go again. I know he's not trying to hog the glory, and that's not what I'm interested in anyway, but it's still getting on my nerves.

Mission Log:
Day 2 - 17:30

This is absurd. Neither of them are done yet. I told them to be painstakingly thorough, because we can't afford any mistakes, but this is brutal. Patch assures me he'll be finished within the hour, but even if Lime is too, I think we're still going to have to wait another night before we do anything further.

Mission Log:
Day 3 - 08:25

A bit of a late start today because there was a rainstorm. Patch and Lime both said there's nothing to worry about, so I went outside and trotted around for a half-hour or so. Just breathing in the air, admiring the view. Patch had even said the grass was benign enough to be edible, but we're not going to go snacking until we can do a more thorough inspection and make sure there's no micro-organisms living on it that are less harmless than the grass. It's a shame, though, given how rare a delicacy it is back home.

Despite how incredible the discovery is in its own right, I have to admit that with all this plant life around, I wasn't terribly surprised to see what looked like a couple of birds while I was outside. It was really, really far away, but there were definitely a few of the things circling over the forest to the south-east. I'm going to need to make sure the team is clear about not straying far from the ship. We have the rover, and we'll probably still get it out and assemble it, but I don't think we should be getting anywhere near those tree-lines.

Now that we've verified the surface is safe without a suit, I'm giving the go-ahead for the crew to get out and enjoy the fresh air. I'm going to ask Crystal to take a sample of the water too, before it dries up.

Mission Log:
Day 3 - 14:30

I swear, it's like these ponies were raised in a barn... Someone left the airlock open. Both sides of it. Just because the air's not going to kill us doesn't mean we need to let the wind blow dirt inside. I made it clear that this can't happen again, and said that everyone's going to be scrubbing air-filters for a week if it does, but I didn't specifically ask who was responsible for it. I trust it won't be an issue anymore.

Mission Log:
Day 3 - 21:00

First day with everyone outside wasn't groundbreaking, but it was a big deal in other ways. Also, we assembled the rover. It's probably not going to be ready tomorrow because the solar cells didn't have long to charge before sundown, but it'll be good to have. In the morning, we'll get the drill set up.

Mission Log:
Day 4 - 11:15

Just saw more of those flying things. At least a dozen of them this time, and in roughly the same area. I'd speculate that these are scavengers, and that something big died over there, but... These ones had an almost metallic shine when they caught the sun just right. I'm not really sure what that could mean, but I can come up with a couple of theories. The first is that they have particularly oily feathers, or even that they have scales instead of feathers. That being said, I have to imagine that their wings would have been larger if they were scaled. The other possibility I came up with is that they were wearing some sort of armor. That's a scary thought.

We really should have brought somepony with a thorough knowledge of animals. Patch is the closest we've got, but he's just a doctor and his knowledge of non-ponies is pretty limited. I guess nopony thought it was worthwhile to send one, given how unlikely this scenario was, but... Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Mission Log:
Day 4 - 11:20

I forgot to say, we finished setting the drill up. We've started it on the first cycle, which is likely going to be useless since we're just clearing dirt away.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
Day 4 - 13:00

I started sifting through the dirt the drill was spitting out, and I've realized there's a ton of tiny crystal fragments in it. I got Lime to stop the drill so I could get a better look in the hole. Evidently, these fragments are pretty evenly dispersed through the layer of dirt just below the surface. I've already collected a large sample of the dirt; now I just need to rig up something to sift it with. I don't think we packed one.

Mission Log:
Day 4 - 16:30

This is getting unnerving. Since my eleven-fifteen entry, there has not been one moment when there weren't at least two of those things in the air over that same spot, in direct line of sight from here. If I was right about them wearing armor, then I don't think it's crazy for me to say I suspect they're watching us.

Personal Log:
White Noise
Day 4 - 18:45

The captain gave us a pretty stern warning over dinner. He says he's noticed some creatures that might be watching us, and that we're to remain within the line of sight of a crewmate at all times when outside. Those giant alien spiders aren't sounding quite so laughable anymore.

Mission Log:
Day 5 - 07:30

I didn't get much sleep last night. I've been trying to figure out how to handle these observers. If they are just animals that've taken a passing interest, that'd be one thing, but I'm increasingly confident that they're watching us in shifts. None of them have approached yet, and they're too far to see distinctly. I can't believe we left the telescope in orbit.

For now, I think the best course of action is to let them keep watching us. We're not doing anything to harm them or their environment, so until I come up with a plan or they get tired of flying around up there, things can remain as they are.

I've also been considering the wider implications of this discovery on the nature of our mission. If Discord did leave Eris for this place, did he do so because he preferred these creatures to us? Did he create them? There are no stories of him possessing such powers, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility if indeed he can freely move stars. I suppose for now, though, it's all pointless speculation.

Mission Log:
Day 5 - 17:00

Good progress today. We set up the base of the transmitter. Once it's done, we'll be able to cover most of the continent with a signal strong enough to cut through the ambient interference. If Discord is in range, his concentrated magical energy should work as a de-facto receiver and let him hear the signal.

Personal Log:
Lime Cliff
Day 6 - 10:30

The drill's finally cleared away all the dirt and sparsely-rocky bits and finally hit relatively solid stone. The first solid sample should be finished in a couple days.

Mission Log:
Day 7 - 13:00

Finally finished hauling all the pieces and assembling that ridiculous transmitter. I turned it on a couple minutes ago, and drained our power fast. Once it cycled two full times, I shut it down. We'll run it again tomorrow, once everything's had a chance to recharge.

Mission Log:
Day 7 - 13:15

It looks like the natives are freaked out. A whole bunch of them flew off a bit ago, and now they've got four of them in the air instead of two. I'd be surprised if they could hear the transmitter, but this definitely started right around the time it switched on. I think time for pondering how to make contact is rapidly running out; I need to do something.

Mission Log:
Day 7 - 16:00

They're pegasi like us! One of them flew over, and I got a good luck, and they're PEGASI!

I don't even know what to think anymore. This is beyond surreal. But, let me back up first. We were out working like normal when this pegasus flew out of the forest and bolted for us. The observers already in the sky started to follow her for a moment, but fell back. I ordered everypony else back into the ship, but stood my ground. She got close enough for us to get a good look at each other, and there's no doubt. She had a blue coat and a multicolored rainbow mane like none I've seen before; she wore no armor, and looked pretty young. Definitely an adult, but younger than any pony initiating first contact has a right to be.

She yelled something at me and hovered there at a distance. I told her I couldn't understand, if only to demonstrate that we could speak too. When I answered, she looked frustrated and yelled a string of nonsense at me before flying away.

I'm really lost about what to do now. There's ponies here. Ponies with metalworking capabilities if their armor is any indication. The mare that approached me seemed angry, but they've not done anything collectively hostile yet. The way the observers started to pursue her when she left... I get the impression she wasn't meant to.

If one of them comes back tomorrow, I'll walk a ways away from the ship and meet them. I'm not sending everyone back into the ship again unless they start approaching en masse. I am going to tell Noise to leave the transmitter off tomorrow, though; all that commotion started when we turned it on, and I don't want to provoke them.

Mission Log:
Day 8 - 11:50

I, uh... They came back today. Not the same mare, but a different one. It wasn't a pegasus, though. Not entirely.

It had a horn.

I've never seen anything like it; it was disgusting. She looked like a normal pegasus in every other way, albeit maybe a bit taller, but she had a giant horn sticking out of the middle of her head. My first thought was that the wings were advanced prosthetics like the unicorns back home were working on, but these were absolutely real. I know the horn was too, because she used telekinesis to give me the package she'd brought.

She flew up while we were outside, but moved much less quickly than the mare yesterday and was accompanied by two of the armored pegasi. She seemed very deliberate about it, and flew like she wanted us to see. Once we did, I went out and met her halfway. I didn't notice the horn until we were up close, and then it was impossible to notice anything else. I think she saw how distracted I was, because she didn't stay long. She just floated the box off her back and onto the ground, bowed, and took off.

Looking back on the encounter, a few things have occurred to me. First, that she bowed. It's weird that the same gesture would develop on two different planets meaning apparently the same thing. I get the impression that it was meant as a show of respect, though, and not of deference. Second, the fact that she was accompanied by guards seems to suggest she held a position of authority. Also, she didn't fly particularly well. She certainly wanted us to be aware of her presence, but beyond that, there seemed to be a degree of inability in her movements. I wonder whether having developed both wings and a horn has resulted in a lack of efficacy with both.

If I assume that these ponies physiology is the same or similar to our own, then the only explanation about her I've been able to come up with is dark magic. Maybe our similarities are only superficial, and their genes are different enough to accommodate this, but otherwise... That unicorn found a way to give herself actual wings. Plenty of geneticists have tried, and long since established that pegasus-unicorn crossbreeding is not possible. A pegasus offspring might carry some recessive unicorn genes, but only one trait can manifest. If her horn and wings are both real, and these are actually ponies like us, then dark magic is the only answer I can think of.

So, assuming those inferences are true, these pegasi are commanded by a dark mage. It's important that I don't let historical biases influence our communications, though... It could be that dark magic is simply seen as a means to an end on this world. I can't be sure she's malevolent based on a single encounter and half an hour of guesswork; besides, she hardly seemed evil. For now, I guess the only course is further caution. I'm going to ask Crystal to accompany me on any further exchanges; she'll at least be able to tell if the mare is trying to use a spell to manipulate me.

Mission Log:
Day 8 - 13:10

I nearly forgot about the package she gave me. I've gone through it with the others, and it's fascinating. Included is a sample of basic arithmetic, and it looks like they use the same base-four system that we do. It's also got some more complex stuff that we're still identifying; some of their symbols resemble what we use, but there are some that nopony recognizes. There's a rough diagram of our ship, and attached, one of the jump-drive in orbit. I think they're showing us they understand we came from space, and that that is part of our ship.

Next up, there was a smaller container with a collection of plant parts that are presumably intended as food, but Patch is still going to take a closer look before anyone eats some. The only other things the box contained were a map of the continent with several sites marked and labeled in a foreign language, and a collection of hoof-sized sheets of rectangular parchment with large images covering a single side of each. They appear to be pictures of cities and landmarks, and I've confirmed that some of the alien writing on these cards match sites marked on the map. From the scale of some of these structures and the amount of land these ponies control according to the map, this is evidently no small civilization.

I'm going to talk with Crystal about what we should send in return. Building a rapport is going to be crucial for further interaction with these ponies, so we should definitely make an effort to demonstrate our good will.

Archive Four

Mission Log:
Day 9 - 8:00

Alright, I'm about to head outside with our box of stuff from home. I hope you all don't mind that I'm commandeering a sample container for this, because I'd like to keep the package these ponies provided. So, after much deliberation with the crew, here's the final tally:

-One star-chart of the region surrounding this star-system. I feel confident providing this information, despite the possibility that they could use its perspective to calculate the coordinates of our own star, because it's clear that these ponies are not advanced enough to do anything with the information. Scans in orbit showed no artificial satellites, and honestly, their military is walking around in plate armor. Don't worry.

-One high-capacity dioptase gemstone, spherical-cut, roughly point-five hooves diameter. They can probably infer from the fact that we've made it here, but this should demonstrate that we have advanced energy-storage capabilities.

-One rock core sample, which we've just finished digging up this morning. This was actually Lime's idea, and I think it's excellent. They've probably seen our drill running by now, and providing them with this should hopefully demonstrate that our interest is scientific in nature.

-A freeze-dried carrot-cake meal, still sealed. They shared some of their food with us, it's only fair that we do the same. Plus, Noise was happy to see this go.

-My copy of Nicker Tesla's autobiography. I'd initially planned on using Sun Shoo's instead, but I don't want to give them the wrong idea about us if they managed to translate it. Much better that the first words they read in our language be about the pursuit of knowledge instead of the art of war.

-One photo of the Guiding Wing on the launchpad.

-Two ounces of Patch's blood. She volunteered, of course. If they have the means to analyze it, they'll at least be able to determine how closely our species are related. We're also including the needle and an empty vial.

That's all. We'll have to see what they make of it.

Mission Log:
Day 9 - 8:30

Crystal and I walked a hundred meters or so away from the ship, and the winged unicorn from before flew up to greet us. Unaccompanied, this time, which I'm hoping was meant as a show of good faith. I lowered the sample container to the ground, bowed politely, and waited for her to put it on her back. Then we parted ways.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
Day 9 - 8:45

That. Was. Amazing!

It was crazy when the captain went out and met that mare the first time around, and especially when he told us what she looked like up close with the horn and all, but... Wow! I just met an alien!

Personally, I think everypony else is being way too uptight about this mare. If this crew were anypony else, I'd say they're just afraid of anything with a horn—that's been my experience with most pegasi. But... I think that even if they've accepted that not all unicorns are inherently bad, the thought of having a unicorn and pegasus combined is just different enough to bring back that prejudice. I'm hopeful that it'll work out, and that everypony will find common ground.

I also have to mention, for what it's worth, I think that mare was as excited about the meeting as I was. I swear her whole body was grinning when the captain set the container on the ground and she picked it up.

I wonder if she's a scientist like me...

Personal Log:
White Noise
Day 9 - 18:00

Leaving the transmitter offline again today. Not a whole lot I can do at the moment.

Mission Log:
Day 10 - 10:25

I've just realized, I haven't seen their guards circling over that forest at all this morning. I wonder whether they've decided we mean no harm and are relaxing their patrols now... I'm sure they've got somepony stationed on ground level along the treeline to keep an eye on us covertly, or at least that's what I would do, but it certainly seems they're not making a point of it anymore.

Mission Log:
Day 12 - 14:00

Just making a note that there's still been no word from the locals since I gave them our first-contact gift basket. I suppose that makes sense, though; we gave them a lot of things that they might require time to study. Hay, they might still be in transit to labs somewhere else on the planet.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
Day 13 - 11:30

Well, I mentioned a couple days ago that I gave up on actually sifting the dirt sample properly and settled on picking out the bits of crystal with my magic. After finishing that and running some basic tests, I've found something pretty impressive. A single fragment, maybe two centimeters in length, one in width and height, is capable of holding a magical charge level comparable to a high-density spodumene gem fifty times its size. I can't identify precisely what material these crystals are, but they're nothing like what we've got on Eris. I'll need to test whether they can hold the charge for long periods of time, but so far the results are promising.

Just imagine what we could do with materials like this! Storage capacity has been the limiting factor in so many technologies for decades now. With enough of these crystals, and the means to charge them, we could jump-start dozens of research fields. If these are just littering the surface of this planet, then I'm ready to see what we find further down.

Mission Log:
Day 14 - 18:30

I am really not sure how to explain what happened today.

I was helping Lime clear the drill when he spotted the pegacorn approaching, and this time accompanied by an elderly unicorn mare wearing glasses. Glasses was carrying a couple of papers with her, and after the pegacorn said something, she began to speak. Up until now, I've not heard anything that sounds remotely like Erisian coming from these ponies, and I'm still not quite sure that I have, but... Some of the words she used sounded remarkably similar to our own.

She began holding up drawings on her sheets of parchment, and naming them. A picture of fire, and then 'flamma.' A picture of a mountain, and then 'altis'. Some of their writing, and then 'lingua.' Almost none of the words the mare said were our actual words for the object, but there were clear associations between some of them.

It completely baffles me as to how they could guess the pronunciation or even the meaning behind any of those words with access to only a single book. I've said very little to them, and it's fundamentally impossible that they could derive sounds from what are effectively arbitrary symbols to them. Nor, if they could, why their attempts at translation were so... I don't even know the word for it.

It seemed as though they knew words from our language and wanted to verify that knowledge, but didn't know how to form any coherent thoughts. I'm not a linguist, but that seems completely backwards. If you're decoding a language for the first time, how can you identify the meaning of individual words without context before you understand any sort of grammatical construction? It sounds like what foals do when they study old languages, but they're only able to do it because they're staring at a book that provides direct translation from the old to the new.

...Hang on.

Mission Log:
Day 14 - 20:15

You all ready for this? Hold onto your horseshoes...

Actually, the dramatic buildup is probably pointless. I'm sure somepony smarter than me at Mission Control realized this within minutes of reading my previous message. Regardless, I talked to the crew, and White Noise pointed out that 'altis' and 'lingua' are actual words from Ancient Common, which I barely remembered was even ever a language. After that revelation, I listed off as many others as I could remember her saying and Noise verified that they were mostly actual words as well. I never saw the point in studying a millenia-dead dialect only spoken for the dozen or so years after the Scattering before everypony broke off into separate groups, but if my suspicion is right, then I'm sure glad that Noise did study it.

It'd be crazy to pretend that them speaking what sounded like Ancient Common is just a coincidence, but the alternative—that they're somehow familiar with the language already—seems equally crazy. The book I gave them certainly wasn't written in the dead language, and there's no way they could have derived those words from it. The best way I can think to test this... is to do exactly what they did. We're sorting out a few different pictures and objects we can use, based on what little Noise remembers of the year he studied it, and then I'll head out there with him and basically do what the locals did.

This seems so bizarre, and moronic, and pointless. There's no way these ponies could have ever developed the same language we used to speak. Still, the evidence is there, so even if it's a waste of time, I can't ignore this.

Mission Log:
Day 15 - 11:45

Success!

I mean, sort of. White Noise and I went outside, and were met by the same two mares. Noise used the Ancient Common words for about twenty different things and provided examples of each, and the mare who spoke yesterday seemed to recognize all but one. It was incredible. I really hope someone back home is making better sense of this than I am.

Unfortunately we didn't pack a phrasebook, and Noise doesn't remember a huge amount, but having what is evidently a common language will hopefully help to bridge the gap. After he'd finished, I asked if he could communicate a willingness to work with these ponies more tomorrow, and to do so on our ship. He says it's far from correct, but that he hopefully conveyed the message, "first sun more language on boat".

...If that's any indication, I suspect most of the heavy lifting on this project will be done by the locals.

Mission Log:
Day 16 - 19:30

The same two mares showed up again, and this time and brought a text written entirely in Ancient Common, along with what appears to be a textbook to learn Ancient Common for ponies who already speak the local language. They spent most of the day working with Noise to establish further common linguistic ground. Using the dead language as a medium, the three of them prepared a relatively long list of words in our language next to their Ancient translations. Since the natives evidently have a working knowledge of that language, they'll hopefully be able to cross-reference between our list and the books we've given them and use the context to help learn even more.

Also, today was the first day the pegacorn and her companion really got close to the ship, let alone entered it. You could tell they were completely awestruck when they got close, and remained that way for several hours after climbing aboard. It got a bit cramped so I had most of the crew outside during the day, working on whatever they could. We let the two of them explore as much as they wanted, but there were a few points where I had to warn them away from messing with certain things. Glasses nearly stuck her hoof in the reclamation port, but thankfully Noise had the foresight to teach me the Ancient Common word for danger.

The pegacorn seemed especially interested in the ship's gemstone conduits, and cast what Crystal later told me were a series of discernment and detection spells.

Personal Log:
White Noise
Day 25 - 13:15

Just a quick note while I grab a bite to eat. Not a whole lot new since this morning's entry, but when I got up a minute ago, the pegacorn actually asked me for carrot cake. In Erisian. I guess now we know they have poor taste.

Thousands of kilometers north of White Tail Woods, beyond the borders of Equestria and even the Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan was partying. In an effort to reciprocate recent efforts from Princess Twilight to generate good will between their peoples, Prince Rutherford had ordered a traditional Yakyakistani banquet. Princesses Celestia and Luna were both in attendance.

Following the main course, the guests were invited to explore the palace and mingle. Celestia had taken the opportunity to find a quiet room and read the latest correspondence from her former student.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Our work in translating the alien language is progressing quickly, thanks to what is clearly a direct link between it and Old Equestrian. Rosetta and I still have a long way to go before we're able to communicate any sort of complex ideas, but our cooperation with their linguist and my team's efforts to translate their books are providing us with a growing list of deciphered words.

We still have no answers about why our languages seem to share a common history, nor why the blood sample they provided is nearly a perfect match to ours. One of the more extreme theories I heard at the camp was that they're from a civilization that seeded this planet thousands of years ago and left us behind. Apart from the obvious reasons why that's unlikely, and the fact that they seemed just as surprised to meet us as we were to meet them, everything I've seen of their ship and equipment so far looks like they're here to study rocks and not to make contact with anypony.

Regardless of their original plans, it's clear that these ponies are putting significant effort towards being able to speak with us. I can barely wait until that day comes, because these ponies have so much to teach us. The technology on their ship is like nothing I could have ever dreamed of, and all of it is relying on such a small amount of magical energy to function that we'd normally consider it negligible. I'm grateful for your confidence in my handling this matter, and look forward to your return.

Yours faithfully,

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Smiling faintly at the sentiments conveyed, Celestia tucked the letter away in her spell of holding and turned towards the exit just in time to see Luna walking past and speaking amiably with a griffin emissary. She would have been content to let her pass, but Luna noticed her and halted, calling out, "Sister! Join us!"

Celestia trotted up and greeted her sister briefly with a hug before turning to the griffin and inclining her head respectfully. "Sir Clauws, it is a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, Princess. Your sister has been most kind in indulging an old griffin and his silly old stories."

Luna shook her head. "Nonsense. Clauws was just telling me about the year that he participated in his people's Great Hunt, and was actually permitted by their king to partake in the quarry after it was slain. It seems a most exciting game!" She paused, frowning in thought. "Do you think your king would permit a pony to join in this quest when next he holds it?"

"It is rare for such to happen, but I imagine he would make an exception for-"

The griffin's words were cut short as a thunderous booming sound rocked the palace and the towering glass windows lining the exterior of the hall all exploded inwards at once. Celestia flared her wings instinctively to shelter her two companions from the falling fragments, but raised a shield around all three of them a split-second later.

The danger and cacophony of the falling glass ended quickly, but the booming sound continued to repeat, growing in frequency until it became a steady roar. Celestia looked down the length of the hall in both directions, slowly lowered her shield, and stepped up to the window to look out.

In the distance and several kilometers above the ground, an object flashed across the sky trailing a massive river of flames, vanished out of sight, and re-appeared from the same direction as before. It moved so quickly that it appeared as simply a line of fire stretching across the sky, and Celestia required a time dilation spell to tell otherwise.

Luna stepped up to the window, casting a concerned gaze at the mare by her side. "Sister, what is it?"

"Something friendly, we may only hope."

Archive Five

Mission Log:
Day 35 - 8:20

Twilight came to the ship alone today; I think this is the first time I've seen her without her companion in at least a week. Speaking of which, we really do need to get a working translation for her name like we got for Twilight, because I feel rude referring to her as 'Glasses' now that I know her.

Anyway, she showed up with a form covered in alien nonsense that I couldn't understand, but explained in broken Erisian that our blood sample was identical to theirs. That has all sorts of world-altering implications, of course, but the most important thing is that we're free to stop eating these miserable packaged meals and actually sample the local flavor. Twilight must have suspected we would be eager to do so, because the very next thing she said was that we could join her for breakfast.

I feel nervous about leaving the ship... Especially about all of us leaving the ship at once. However, I believe that doing so is the next step in interacting with these ponies. Being invited to eat with them is a big deal; so far, we've essentially been intruders on their world, and now they're offering to make us house-guests. Refusing outright, or leaving somepony behind as a guard, would be a pretty clear denial of their hospitality.

As wonderful as it sounds, and as much as I wish I could be entirely without concerns on the matter, I just can't take the risk. I'll talk to Stem about rigging the airlock to fry anypony who enters. Crystal's good at teleportation, so she can get inside and disarm it provided all goes well. We'll also be counting on her as an exit strategy if anything goes south while we're with the locals. Normally I wouldn't rely on her to move six ponies at once, but she says her magic's improved significantly since we arrived.

Mission Log:
Day 35 - 13:45

That was no breakfast... That was a feast. I don't know that I've ever eaten that well. Ever.

So, right now, I really just want to take a nap and sleep off some of that food. But I know you'll want a detailed analysis of the location and the foods and everything, so I'll make a few quick notes before I turn in.

First off, I don't believe we went to an actual city of theirs. Given the photographs they shared earlier, we know they have urban centers and considerable building capabilities. What we saw today was little more than a sprawling collection of tents in a forest clearing, with some fire-pits and benches spread throughout. There was one area near the edge of the clearing where a row of tables had been lined up, but it looked like they had been put there recently and just for this occasion. All that leads me to believe this is a camp assembled after we landed, presumably to keep guards on station nearby and allow their linguists a place to stay.

One other thing worth noting about the location; there was a set of railroad tracks running along one edge. Or, I'm assuming they were railroad tracks. No trains passed while we were there, but they looked very much like something you'd see on Eris. I didn't see an actual station where the train would ordinarily stop, so I suspect we're a considerable distance away from any of their settlements.

Anyway, now for the good part! I was completely shocked by amount of food they had available, both in volume and variety. Much of the food was native plants and fruits with seemingly no preparation involved, but they also had a wide assortment of breads and pastries with an unseemly amount of sugar in them. I imagine this was meant to be a demonstration of the best they have to offer, because there's no way they eat like this every day.

There were roughly thirty other ponies in the camp, that I saw. Most joined us at the table for the meal, but I could see others who did not. Very few of them were wearing armor, and those that were didn't seem to be paying any special attention to us. They were a mix of pegasi, unicorns, and mud ponies. I could discern no obvious hierarchy between them (apart from some very obvious deference to Twilight), which has me wondering if their culture valuates ponies differently than we do.

Mission Log:
Day 35 - 14:00

I nearly forgot, Twilight pulled me aside at one point and showed me a photograph. Between being in grey-scale, and the fact that the exposure was completely messed up leaving half the sky as a solid white line, it was next to impossible to discern any details at all. Twilight clearly didn't have the words to explain what she wanted, either. I think she was hoping I could identify it, but the most I can say is that it looked like an image of some mountains.

Personal Log:
White Noise
Day 38 - 18:20

With all this work trying to teach these ponies Erisian, I feel like we've almost forgotten why we came here. I know I had; I haven't given a second thought to that transmitter since we started communicating. It occurred to me today, however, that Twilight might be able to understand now if I asked her what happened on that first day we turned it on. It clearly provoked a reaction out of her ponies, but thus far there'd been no explanation.

Sure enough, I asked her, and she confirmed that she was able to hear it. Or, rather, I pulled out the calendar she brought a couple weeks back and counted back to the day it happened. I showed her that, and then pointed at the antenna, and did my best to explain that it sends messages using magic. That's when she seemed to understand, and said that it had hurt her head when we used it last time. She also mentioned others who felt it, which is surprising given how much innate magic is theoretically required for the technology to work.

Personal Log:
Crystal Clear
Day 40 - 12:45

Twilight brought over a case of what I can only guess are magical artifacts of some sort. They're circular metal plates with a hollow circle in the center. They're roughly a hoof in diameter, and maybe a tenth of a hoof thick. Some of them have gemstones inlaid in the metal, and some do not. I've cast a number of spells trying to figure out what they are, but so far I've had no luck. The only thing she said about them was 'use for study.'

Since I couldn't seem to activate any of them, assuming they're even meant to perform a specific function, I decided to start by disassembling one of the less complex disks. I ran a standard storage-capacity test on its gemstones, and I've found something interesting... Much like the samples of crystal that I found in their dirt, these gems are capable of holding far more energy than something of comparable size from Eris. However, what really surprised me is that they are entirely unrefined. It's possible that they just choose not to use refined gems in these disks, but given how simple a task it would be with all this excess magical energy saturating their planet, I suspect their society never discovered jewel processing.

That makes sense, in a way, that they wouldn't need it. It was born out of necessity back home, and since they evidently have no shortage of naturally high-capacity crystals here, it's entirely possible that nopony ever thought to experiment with it. Still, just imagine what we could do with a supply of these gems and the means to refine them. The drill has uncovered so many samples as its gone deeper, and this planet's magical field would allow the industry to operate practically without cost. We could outpace Unicornia's gemstone-manufacturing capability so quickly that they simply wouldn't be able to fight us anymore. The wars would be over.

Mission Log:
Day 42 - 14:30

Crystal said she still hadn't figured out what those disks are meant to do, so I asked Twilight earlier today. She tapped her horn to one and it started glowing, putting off a bit of heat. She did the same to another and the room began to noticeably cool. It took Crystal a minute after that to successfully imitate the process, but now she says they must be primitive spell matrices of some sort. Apparently these aren't anywhere near as complex as what we can manufacture, but she also pointed out that there's no reason to assume these are advanced by local standards.

Mission Log:
Day 48 - 10:00

I think I know what that photo was... Twilight brought me a new one, this time in full color. It quite clearly shows the Endeavor sitting in some snowy field.

Before we got here, the possibility of meeting up with them always seemed so distant that I'd mostly ignored it. But now that they're actually here on the planet, and now that we know there's a civilization taking an interest... Well, I think some of the more covert preparations that Command insisted on may have been wise.

I'm still hopeful it won't come to that, though. Once Twilight showed me, I listed off every synonym for 'danger' and 'hostile' that I could think of. It was clear from her expression that she understood and believed me. I feel confident that she'll take measures to keep the unicorns from wandering far outside their ship, and hopefully she'll be a whole lot slower to initiate contact with them.

One other thing that's been on my mind is that it seems we were mistaken about Discord. The original plan had been to arrive, send out a signal to tell him where we are, and then study the planet itself to look for alternative explanations. It's been over a month since we sent out that signal, and he's nowhere to be seen. So far, our research on the planet hasn't yielded anything to indicate why the star moves as it does, but that hardly proves anything. I think it's high time we asked Twilight. On the first day she made contact, she demonstrated that her people have telescopes and have been watching space, so she must understand that there's something special about their sun. It might be a long-shot that she knows what it is, but she'll at least be able to rule out the cosmic manipulations of an immortal being living among them.

Mission Log:
Day 48 - 14:00

So, it turns out that these ponies do have an immortal being controlling their sun for them, but it's not Discord. Who knew!

The conversation was as brief and disjointed as any we've had thus far, but when I asked if she understood why their star orbits the planet, she just nodded and said there's a 'sun princess' who can move it at will. That sounds outlandish, but I cannot imagine why she'd lie about it. Besides, we'd be fools to assume Discord is the only creature in the universe with magical powers strong enough to do what he did. I tried to tell her that she'd essentially just finished our mission objectives for us, but I don't think she understood.

Still, I'm pleased with this; we've got roughly fifty days left on the schedule, and we could prolong that indefinitely with food from the locals. As captain of this venture, I'm electing to continue our work with these ponies and our study of their planet; there is much to learn, even if we've solved the biggest mystery. Among other things, I'm hopeful that we'll get to meet this sun princess once we're better able to communicate.

"You're sure it's a catapult?"

Top Notch peered out the window once more, frowning. "Pretty sure, yeah."

"I guess that means it's not a welcoming party we've seen gathering for the last couple days." Focus, the captain of the unicorn vessel, braced himself against the wall and carefully slid down the corridor towards the center of the craft. Because their ship was merely a retrofitted space station designed for a largely uncontrolled landing, it did not have any mechanism to stabilize its resting position. A series of metal struts held the two branches of the station and kept them from snapping away from the central corridor and control room, but the lack of effective landing legs meant that the vessel was forced to rest at an oddly inclined angle. Similarly, because the original design was never intended for use in Eris-like gravity, many surfaces and storage panels now hung upside-down relative to the ponies trying to access them.

Once at the center of the ship, Focus had to carefully navigate around the vertical shaft connecting to the control room above and engines below. Then he continued his downhill slide, coming to a stop in the science lab. It had been almost entirely buried in snow after their landing, but for obvious reasons the ship was so well-insulated that there was no noticeable cooling effect.

In the lab, he found Amethyst Pear working away at her recently assigned project, with Florence Flask assisting. It wasn't that Florence was better suited for helping than working in her own right, but merely that Amethyst was more experienced in the energy manipulation theory involved in the project.

"Notch just confirmed that the things outside are hostile, and that they evidently have a catapult."

Amethyst snorted back a giggle. "We travel twelve light-years and survive planetary re-entry at relativistic speeds... It'll be one hell of a day when a clumsily thrown rock does us in."

"It'll be ironic, sure, but we'll be too dead to appreciate it when they break the hull open and storm inside. And for that matter, we'll be just as dead if they're content to starve us out. There's life here, which means we've got a shot at finding enough food to survive the trip home. I'm not about to give that up because these stone-age fur-balls have taken a dislike towards us. So, that said, how's it coming?"

"Far from finished, but I'm now confident that it'll work. I had to strip over five meters of spell-conduits, but I'm being careful to save every fragment of it; I should be able to use them for the laser-focus and still return them afterwards."

"Good. I'm going to go bring the asteroid deflector back online. It'll be enough to protect us from a few shots if they decide to get aggressive, but it's only angled to protect the very front profile of the ship... If they get at us from the right angle, there's nothing we can do."

Focus turned and left for the command center, while the two mares continued their work on improvising a weapon. Roughly a hundred meters outside their ship, a large company of armed and armored yaks stood guard in a rough circle. They had been there since the week before, shortly after the vessel landed, and had been strengthening in numbers and assembling siege equipment in the time since.

Few of them had any information beyond their orders to stand their ground, but their adjutant general had spoken with the Yakyakistani prince himself. The prince had been corresponding with the Equestrian leadership regarding a similar occurrence within their borders, and after this new craft arrived, he received a message expressing concern that the newly arrived ponies might intend to cause harm. The letter urged a guarded approach to first contact, and placed a great deal of emphasis on Equestria's desire to foster good relations with these visitors.

Despite their recommendations, the prince had concluded that a more militant approach was necessary in the face of such a large potential threat. He immediately ordered his military to make preparations for capturing the invaders.

Archive Six

Florence Flask pressed her back against the outer door of the airlock, trying to make enough room to fit the large improvised laser weapon inside the chamber as well. "Amethyst, I think we're going to have to leave both doors open for this."

Her partner sighed, nodding resignedly. "I'd really hoped to avoid it, but we know the air outside is harmless, so it shouldn't be an issue." She paused, releasing her hold on the weapon. "Let me go tell Notch to shut off the air filtration system so we don't burn it out."

"Right. I'll be here... waiting..." The blue mare still trapped in the airlock shifted to the side a bit, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with having the operational end of the laser pressing into her gut.

It wasn't long before the ever-present hum of the air filters shut off, and not long after that that Amethyst returned. She pressed a series of buttons on the airlock control, and then the outer door slid open. "Alright, let's move quickly."

As Florence jumped out of the airlock into the snow below, and began tugging on the weapon to bring it outside too, she felt a pang of fear. For the moment, she was defenseless and outside her ship, surrounded by hostile aliens. Their one previous attempt at exiting the ship and approaching these aliens had been met by a warning shot from a crossbow; she only hoped they would not be so hasty this time.

With Amethyst pushing the other end of the weapon, it did not take long to free it from the airlock and lower it to the ground. Once she exited and took a place next to the other scientist, the two of them were able to raise the bulky object into the air and maneuver it adequately. Already, the two of them could see confusion and concern among the alien ranks. It wouldn't be long before an attack.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Thus far, the two mares had been making a conscious effort to direct their telekinesis field around the exposed arcane actuator sticking out of the rear of the weapon. When the two of them stopped doing so, and allowed their magic to reach that port, it quickly channeled into the core of their weapon and activated the energy storage gems inside. From there, that much-increased energy flowed into a series of eight gemstone conduits that had been stripped of their insulation. The damage to these conduits allowed the thaumic energy to convert into a great deal of light and heat. The single point where these eight conduits converged functioned as a focus, and directed all that light and heat towards a single point in the distance.

In effect, it was a giant laser cannon.

A massive burst of energy erupted from the end of the cannon as they activated it, immediately slamming into the distant hillside and sending up a massive plume of steam as the snow vaporized and the aliens nearby were thrown back by the force of the blast.

The damage was so sudden that both mares reflexively stopped firing. They glanced at each other and exchanged a manic grin, then nodded and returned their attention to the job ahead.

Rotating the weapon proved difficult, given how large it was, but they were able to do so after a moment and set it to a gentle spin while continuously bathing the enemy lines with heat. Though they only had a line of sight to half the circle of alien troops, and could scarcely manage to land a direct hit on any of them, the incredible show of force proved more than enough to scatter all of them. One of the catapult-operators made a token effort to return fire, but once he saw the ship's deflector shooting down his volley of rocks, he too gave up and ran away.

Focus and Top Notch watched the exchange from within the command module of the ship, and had a clear view of the surrounding area as their would-be assailants fled for their lives.

"We might not be able to move this ship 'til we're ready to return home, but at least we can feel confident that our neighbors know better than to harass us now."

"No doubt. So, what's the first order of business?"

"Finding food, and in great enough quantity that we'll be able to survive the trip home. Given all this snow, it might be pretty sparse... We should start with assembling the rover and mounting that laser on top so that we can safely explore the area."

WTW Phenomenon
Volume Three
Twilight Sparkle

7/25/1005

Another notebook filled! If I'd have known I'd need to write this much when I started the documentation, I would've picked a better title to write under.

Regardless, for summary purposes (because a table of contents is hardly viable for not-yet-planned research), here's what the previous two volumes covered: discovering the spacecraft in White Tail Woods, making contact, learning their language, and dealing with the second craft in Yakyakistan.

I'll address that last point first, since it's still on my mind... After our warning to Prince Rutherford a few weeks ago, we'd not heard anything from his people. There was a brief 'Message received' form letter, but otherwise nothing. Yesterday, that changed. We received a letter declaring that the 'off-worlders' attacked their peace caravan and wounded many of their diplomats. If that wasn't concerning enough, it wasn't signed by Prince Rutherford but instead 'Regent Reginald'. It didn't say that any harm had come to the prince, but the fact that it's from their regent certainly suggests as much. The letter also asked for Equestria's immediate aid in containing the situation and stopping the invaders.

Princess Celestia's leaving soon to see to the matter, along with some of my more capable linguists. I'm assuming she means to force a civil conversation with them. Thatch Roof has already asked several times about the status of the other off-worlders; I've told him it's being handled safely, but I'm concerned that giving him too much information will just make him more worried.

Regardless, my team and I have reached the point that we can understand most of what his people say. I'm still struggling with remembering the right words when I want to express something myself, but Silver Tongue and some of the others are managing quite well. Thatch Roof explained to me yesterday that his job here is technically done now that he knows why our sun orbits Equus, but that he and his crew wish to stay and see more of the planet. I think this is what he was getting at the other day. I told him his crew is welcome to stay as long as they want.

7/25/1005 (2)

Just got back to camp from the ship. Still making progress, but it was a bit slower with half my team getting ready to leave for Yakyakistan.

I've had my more fluent ponies just talking with the crew lately, learning what they can about their technology. Some of it looks like it came straight out of the local Alfalfa and Arcanum, but other parts are like nothing I've ever seen before. So far, Stem Bolt has been willing to indulge our curiosity and explain the functions of various parts to us, but it's clear that he's limiting what he says. It's understandable that they're nervous about sharing what is effectively, to them, a state secret. I'm grateful for whatever information they're willing to share for now, censored or not.

Most of my time today was spent with Crystal, as usual. She's been teaching me about "magic light studying." There's a better word for it, she says, but nothing that translates well. I'll go into it in more detail in the technical section at the back of the book. I find myself continually shocked by how brilliant she is, though. Not just in the sense of understanding this technology, but simply her ingenuity and diversity of knowledge. I have to wonder why she was the only unicorn that came with these ponies on a ship so heavily reliant on magic.

7/26/1005

Given Thatch Roof's desire to see more of our planet, I think it's high time we start planning a proper outing. I talked it over with Last Detail, and we've agreed (I convinced him) that Ponyville is the ideal first stop. It'll be simplicity itself to have a train stop at the camp and ride it in with our guests, and once we arrive, they'll have plenty of opportunity to see what life is like in small-town Equestria.

Of course, I can hardly let that be the end of it. Once they've had a chance to get accustomed to it, we'll go up to Canterlot. They'll be able to see the Royal Gardens, and the Royal Library, and the bookstore by the castle, and even my old tower! And Donut Joe's!

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. I do need to actually suggest it to Thatch first, and sort out all the logistics. If everypony's reaction to space-ponies is half as strong as their reaction when I first became a princess, they'll be beating down the doors of the train before it's even pulled up to the platform. We'll need to be sure that this visit is kept secret. Although, given that they'll need translators, that could be tricky. I don't like the idea of lying about who they are, but if necessary we could just frame their visit as 'foreign dignitaries.' That's what they are, basically.

7/27/1005

Still sorting things out. Also, I've realized that if the timing works out, Thatch Roof's crew might even get to meet Princess Celestia. There's no telling how long it'll be until she finishes in Yakyakistan, but I'm hoping it won't be long. The sooner she's done, the more likely it'll mean that things went well. I've written her a few times now, but she still has a ways to go. The trains only go so far, and I doubt even she could teleport that whole group across the mountain range without tiring herself unnecessarily, so now they're hoofing it.

8/1/1005

Thatch Roof agreed to the trip. Still no definite date for it.

8/12/1005

Princess Celestia reached Yakyakistan's capital today. After addressing some matters of state, she's headed off to the landing site to confront the off-worlders. I've finished making arrangements for the Ponyville segment of our excursion, and we'll be leaving in three days.

Also, she says Prince Rutherford is alive and well, thankfully.

Princess Celestia stood atop a snow-covered hill overlooking the alien ship. It's design was strange, and it rested at an odd angle that she suspected was not intentional. Around her were roughly twenty other ponies, huddled together in the protection of her shield as a blizzard raged outside. These ponies were mostly linguists and scholars who had been working with Twilight Sparkle to learn the alien language, but there were also several of her personal guards in attendance. Beneath her, strewn across the hill and on several others she could see, were collections of hastily-abandoned weapons and shields. She frowned.

Directly outside the ship itself, she could see two unicorns levitating boxes out of a strange chariot and into a hole in the larger craft. They didn't appear dangerous by any means, but the yaks had spoken of a dangerous magical artifact they wielded that seemed to harness the power of the sun. From the rough physical description they had provided, it appeared the device was now sitting on top of the chariot.

After observing for several minutes, still unseen, Celestia began to descend the hill and approach them. The two ponies soon took note of the crowd approaching them, and while one scrambled toward the hole in the ship, the other wrapped her telekinesis around the artifact and appeared to be working to rotate it. The princess immediately enveloped both of them in a shield and shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "PEACE!"

Naturally, neither could understand her, but both froze anyway. Now that they were unable to seek shelter in their craft or use their weapon, they stood together and waited. Princess Celestia approached them, her entourage following. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the ship's exit. She expanded her shield to encompass the craft, allowing the ponies inside to join their companions but still protecting her own.

Soon, there were four of them outside, either watching the Equestrian ponies or talking among themselves. Likely they were attempting to plan an escape, so proper contact could wait no longer. The princess nodded to one of the accompanying ponies, Rosetta, and the mare stepped forward to stand alongside her.

"Visitors to our world," she began, and Rosetta began echoing it back in the foreign tongue as accurately as she could. "I am Princess Celestia. Let me begin with the promise that we mean you no harm. The prince of these hills tells us you attacked his diplomats, but the remnants of siege-weapons on the hillside tell another tale." She paused, watching as gathered ponies' expressions shifted from blatant hostility towards guarded skepticism.

"We would like to extend a welcome and an offer of sanctuary to you. Regardless of the circumstances that led to your confrontation with the beings here, you will not be blamed for them if you behave civilly hereafter."

One of the ponies, a stallion, stepped forward. As he spoke, Rosetta began translating again. "I am Focus; I speak for these ponies. We accept your hospitality, and are grateful to have met someone on this world as dedicated to peace as we are. I must say, however, that encountering fellow ponies on this world is startling. I look forward to discussing its implications with you."

"There will be time for that, I am certain, but first we should return to my city. There will be food and housing for you, but you are welcome to retrieve any personal items you desire for the trip."

The ponies from the Endeavor reluctantly gathered a few personal items and joined their hosts in a trek to the nearest village, where they could wait for the storm to abate before beginning the journey home. After a show of such overwhelming force from the princess, they hardly had an alternative. Still, as they spoke with the various linguists present and learned more about Equestrian society, they felt optimistic about the trip to Canterlot.

Elsewhere, the crew of the Guiding Wing was resting in their train-car after having also embarked on a trip; first to Ponyville, and then onward to Canterlot.

Elsewhere still, in some strange ethereal realm which no sane creature would ever choose to call home, a pair of eyes watched intently as the two parties converged and a disembodied chuckle echoed through the void.

Archive Seven

Parked in high orbit above Eris, the NPSA Valiant was running combat drills. The squadron of twenty fighters were currently flying outside the carrier, painted and divided into teams of either red or blue, and were dogfighting with simulated weapons. The two 'lead' ships of each team pushed forward, using their heightened maneuverability to dodge around the armored hull of the Valiant and evade enemy fire. The five standard ships sprayed volleys of virtual projectiles at their enemies, while the sentinels did their best to protect their comrades. The communications frequency for each team was filled with call-outs, status updates, changes in strategy, laughter, and taunts.

Aboard the Valiant itself, the command bridge was divided into two sections, allowing them to coordinate with both fighter teams and to test the staff's ability to function with only a skeleton crew. Much like the comms, it was filled with ponies shouting over one another as they helped their team or kept things interesting by launching volleys of dud artillery and moving the ship. In the midst of so much noise, the voice of one non-participating officer went unheard.

"We're picking up a high-concentration buildup of thaumon particles. Coordinates..." The science officer trailed off, realizing no one could hear. He checked the scanner again to be certain. There were few good reasons to interrupt a war-game, but spotting enemy ships certainly made the list. Since there were no other Pegasopolan ships in their region, the only explanation was that the 'Corns were attempting a sneak-attack.

The stallion took a deep breath and started to shout, but it died in his throat as the ship was rocked violently. Nopony went flying, as it was standard procedure to be strapped in at one's workstation, but a glance out the window showed that a shock wave had overtaken the ship and given it a slight angular drift and roll. The staff fell quiet as an alarm klaxon blared and the captain began calling out new orders.

On his display, the science officer saw that a friendly beacon signal was now transmitting from the source of particle buildup he'd detected. What was more surprising, though, was the identifying tag associated with the beacon. Like any tag, it was just a string of four digits, but he recognized this one immediately from the countless hours he had spent as a foal studying every detail of the ship to which it belonged.

The Guiding Wing was home.

The crew of the Guiding Wing's arrival in Ponyville was one giant whirlwind of activity. Despite Twilight's best efforts to convince Pinkie that the matter needed discretion and privacy, a large welcome party was awaiting them at the train station. In a later conversation, the pink mare explained that "Everypony who visits Ponyville for the first time gets a Welcome-To-Ponyville-For-The-First-Time-Super-Surprise-Party," and added that she hadn't even gotten started on the "Welcome-To-Our-Planet" party that she'd be hosting once she was allowed.

For their parts, the off-worlders didn't mind. It was hectic, to be sure, but it was a perfect glimpse into the native culture. Patch in particular found herself wondering how both planets had developed such similar foods. There was a lot more variety here, but she noticed several dishes that reminded her of home.

After spending a few hours on the pavilion outside the train station, enjoying the festivities—Pinkie had evidently convinced Mayor Mare to rent the space in anticipation of the 'foreign dignitaries'—the crew followed Twilight to her castle for a more relaxed evening. They were joined at dinner by a collection of Twilight's friends, one of whom everypony recognized as the party host, and another as the pegasus they first saw when they arrived at the planet. Conversation was slow, given that Twilight had to act as a translator for everypony, but they all got along amicably.

The following two days were spent similarly, hurrying between events and tours and parties. Though there had been no official confirmation, rumors of the strange ponies from the sky had been circulating for months, and many of the citizens of Ponyville had evidently figured out who their visitors were. Everyone wanted to meet them, to invite them to their home or farm, to share their experiences.

After a banquet in the town hall on the night before their departure for Canterlot, White Noise was walking back to the castle by himself. Patch and Stem had departed early, and the others wanted to stay longer. While the prospect of being alone in a mud-pony town at night would have terrified him on Eris, that fear didn't translate into this society. Unless their hosts had simply gone to extreme lengths to obscure the true nature of things, it seemed that Equestria did not suffer the same problems of crime and hatred that his homeworld did.

It was for this reason that, when he saw grey-coated, black-maned unicorn stallion down the road, Noise actually offered a friendly wave instead of averting his gaze and hurrying on.

The stallion waved back, and called out, "Hail, friend! Where are you headed on such a precipitous evening?" He gave a short, deep chuckle at the question.

"Just returning to the castle to get some rest. That Pinkie Pie really does know how to throw a party."

"Yes, she never fails to surprise. She has a gift for chaos; truly a rare and delicious thing of late."

Noise cleared his throat, not wanting to be rude but also wishing to retire to his bed and conclude the bizarre conversation. Something about it was sitting ill with him. "Yes, well, I must be getting back, but perhaps I'll see you again tomorrow. Mister..."

"Day Lancer," the stallion quickly supplied. "And I'm quite optimistic that you shall." With that, he turned and went on his way, another faint chuckle in his throat.

White Noise stood there for a minute, puzzled at the encounter, before resuming his path to the castle. Only as he did so did he realize the fact that the stallion had been speaking Erisian.

"Tomorrow?" Focus asked, scowling. "They'll be here tomorrow and you're only telling us now?"

As her translator communicated his message, Princess Celestia gave an indulging smile, willing to overlook the pony's petulant manner. "This is the first I've learned of it. In her enthusiasm, Princess Twilight evidently neglected to tell me about her plans." She paused, her gaze turning somewhat sterner. "I trust that it will not be an issue, though, and that everypony involved will conduct themselves civilly."

The stallion nodded. "I assure you, Lady Celestia, that my crew would never initiate any conflict while here as your guests."

The pair of them exchanged a few more words before parting ways. Focus left the dining hall in the direction of the guest quarters, where he and his ponies had spent the entirety of their stay in Canterlot thus far. Reaching the city had been a rushed and ill-planned affair, and in the two days since arriving, Celestia had been occupied by matters of state that she could not neglect. Their confinement to the guest wing was not mandated or enforced, but they had not been invited out since they were originally directed inside and nopony wanted to be caught wandering the castle without permission.

Upon reaching his personal room and pushing the door open, Focus found his three friends had evidently been waiting for him. Amethyst Pear was idly trying to stack the contents of a fruit-bowl into a single tower, but kept continuously using telekinesis to stabilize the lower levels. Top Notch was inspecting the detailing on the canopy bed's wooden posts, and Florence Flask was unceremoniously dangling off the back of said bed, watching the entryway from her upside-down vantage point.

Upon seeing the captain enter, Florence waved a foreleg in his direction. "What's the word?"

Focus shook his head slightly at the scene and entered the room fully, pushing the door shut behind him and taking a seat on the floor by it. "Celestia finally graced us with her presence in the dining room, and said that we can expect to be sharing the castle with some special company tomorrow."

Notch turned to him with a curious look. "Company?"

"Yes. The New Pegasopolan crew we've been hearing so much about will be visiting this city tomorrow and likely staying in this castle."

Amethyst lost her hold on the fruit-tower, which promptly collapsed on itself and spilled its components across the table and floor. "What featherbrained idiot thought that was a good idea?!"

"Yes, what if they try something while they're here?" Notch added.

"I'm well aware of the potential concerns, but Celestia has already secured my word that we will not start anything with those wingbones. I expect she'll require the same of them." Focus paused, frowning. "That being said, if they do start something, don't be afraid to hold your ground. I'll not have one of you wind up hospitalized for trying to be the better pony."

"We're here, we're here, we're HEEERE!" Twilight sprung out of her seat and galloped to the door in a decidedly un-regal manner as the train slowed to a halt at the Canterlot platform. "This is going to be great!"

Smiling, Thatch Roof stepped up next to her and waited for the noise of the train to die down a bit. "So what's the plan, Princess?"

"There shouldn't be any crowd waiting to see you this time, so it'll be easy enough to head straight to the castle. You can drop off your stuff and rest up for a couple hours, and then I want to take you all to the Royal Library. You can see the place and we can eat somewhere low-key before getting you back to your rooms for the night. I'll be visiting my parents, but if something comes up you can always ask somepony to send a messenger."

"Sounds good." The two of them planted their hooves as the train stopped entirely. Thatch turned back to the other ponies and gestured towards the exit. "Come on, let's not waste time!" He would be the first to admit he had little love for crowded cities, but it being an alien city admittedly made all the difference. Not to mention, everything he had seen and heard of Canterlot thus far sounded beautiful enough to justify the hassle.

The walk to the castle was brief, but they spent little time there. Twilight led them through a series of hallways and courtyards to one of the guest wings. She explained that Princess Celestia had already arrived with the unicorn crew who were staying elsewhere in the castle, and then they quickly left to get started on their day.

Their outing was largely uneventful, and while they enjoyed it, the crew returned to the castle and retired to their rooms without incident. After a while, though, Crystal Clear found herself unable to fall asleep and decided to explore a bit. Twilight had mentioned several facilities in this guest wing, including a sauna, a courtyard, and a small kitchen. Her search brought her to the latter first, and Crystal made a brief stop before resuming her quest in the new-found company of a box of candied apples.

Some time later, she pushed open a particularly heavy wooden door and was met with the sounds and smells of the outdoors. Before her was a large courtyard decorated with several hedge sculptures and a fountain, with several benches and numerous flowerbeds spread throughout the opening. To her right was the tall exterior wall of one of the castle's grand halls or perhaps even the throne-room. It was decorated with a number of stained-glass windows several heights above her head. To her left was a simpler wall meant to close in the courtyard from the outside world. Across from her, comprising the fourth wall of the enclosure, was a structure that looked very similar to the guest wing she had just exited.

Only after a minute of surveying her surroundings did Crystal Clear notice the pony reclined on one of the courtyard benches. The mare, a purple-coated unicorn, nodded in her direction and spoke. "Haven't seen many ponies in here. Welcome to the Courtyard Of The Damned."

"That's a curious name if ever I've heard one."

The purple mare blinked in surprise and started slightly, obviously not expecting a response. "Yes, well, I've only just made it up. I'm feeling a bit homesick."

Crystal offered an amicable smile, trotting closer to the mare and sitting down. "You and me both. I'm sure you're perfectly aware just how well I can empathize with that."

"I'm sorry, have we met? I'm not sure what you mean."

There was a long pause as both ponies processed what had been said. Crystal had assumed the mare was aware of her journey from Eris given that she was able to speak Erisian, but if she wasn't... Eventually, Crystal asked, "What's your name?"

"Amethyst Pear."

Crystal Clear recognized the name from the months of publicity it had received following New Unicornia's rocket launch. She stood up quickly, bumping against a potted plant and knocking it over in the process. "Y-you'll have to excuse me! I should be getting back."

"Wait!" Amethyst called out, her horn alight as she rose to her hooves and telekinetically pushed the door at the exit closed. The purple glow of magic cast an eerie shadow over her face. "You're not one of Celestia's translators, are you?"

Crystal turned back to face the mare, her own horn flashing briefly as she sent an alert to Thatch Roof and the others. "No, I'm not. But now that we've established our shared origin, would you really like to re-enact the conflict of a planet thirteen light-years distant?"

"You're completely right. There's no sense in violence right now, and regardless, I am no practitioner of it. Unlike some ponies, I do not align myself with warmongers and foal-murderers."

Crystal sneered at the antagonistic mare. "I am glad we met, Amethyst Pear, because you have thoroughly calmed any mournful thoughts I've ever felt about growing up away from my own kind. If indeed you are their 'best and brightest,' bickering over ideology as you stand in a palace built by aliens, then I expect the war shall be won by the time we return. If you truly do not seek to do me harm, then walk away now."

"I have no intention of showing my backside to one who would so readily stab it! I suggest you leave first."

Both mares stared each other down, neither willing to make the first move towards disarming the situation. They likely could have continued far longer than they did, but they were interrupted when the door behind Crystal burst open and her pegasi crewmates came flying through the opening. On instinct, Amethyst shot a bolt of energy at them that sent Lime Cliff tumbling to the ground. Crystal immediately sent a wave of frigid air at the mare, staggering her. Thatch Roof, who had been the second through the door, promptly tackled the hostile unicorn to the ground and gave her horn a firm kick.

Patch rushed to Lime Cliff and began checking on him, while Thatch stood over Amethyst and turned to Crystal and demanded, "What happened?"

Crystal shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm not... I don't know. It just- I don't think she meant any harm." Thatch scowled and looked ready to interrupt, but she continued, "She was clearly hostile, but I don't think she would've actually hurt me if she hadn't been startled."

"Yes, well-" The door on the opposite end of the courtyard swung open and three new unicorns galloped into the opening. They took one good look at their comrade pinned on the ground before taking on combat stances. Crystal tried to say something, but there was little opportunity in the time before Thatch Roof stomped down on the pinned mare and leaped into the air. The rest of the pegasi looked varying degrees of displeased about the situation, but all followed their captain's lead and took wing as well.

In the moments that followed, the three Unicornian combatants began firing off a variety of combat spells as they scattered for cover. The grey-coated stallion on the left managed to land a shot one of Stem Bolt's wings that forced him into a rough landing, but he kept his momentum and launched into hoof-to-hoof combat with his assailant.

The blue mare on the right broke into a sprint for a short wall of shrubs, sending scattered but controlled bursts of flame into the air as she went.

The silver unicorn could scarcely do anything before Thatch Roof was upon him. The pegasus tackled him to the ground before locking his forelegs around him and taking to the air. His intention, hastily-formed as it was, was to use his hold on the unicorn to leverage the others into ceasing hostility. Instead, the blue mare just cried out "Focus!" and shot a bolt of energy at Thatch.

The beam struck him powerfully, launching him backwards through the stained glass window behind him. He maintained enough of his senses to let go of the unicorn and did his best to slow his descent, but still landed with far more speed than was healthy.

Dizzied, he tried and failed to rise to his hooves. Looking around, he saw that he was in a grand chamber of some sort, lined with stained glass windows on both sides and what appeared to be a throne on one end. Outside, he could still faintly hear the shouts of his ponies, but he found it difficult to focus on their voices. Surrounding him was broken glass from the window he'd crashed through, and several paces away was a similarly semi-conscious unicorn who clearly had no further interest in fighting.

His focus was firmly on one particular stained glass window across the hall.

Staggering to his hooves, Thatch gawked at the image and began limping closer to the window, trying to look at the inscription on the plaque mounted below it. His progress was when White Noise flew in and landed next to him. "Captain, are you alright?"

"Y-" Thatch coughed heavily, scowling. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit scraped up. How're the others?"

Noise frowned skeptically at his captain's self-assessment, but did not challenge it. "Everypony's okay for the most part. We got the horned pricks to stand down after you two went crashin' through here. Lime's still out of it, but Patch says he's breathing."

Any further discussion was put on hold when the purple unicorn appeared in the room with a flash, looking severely worse for wear but still on her hooves. A moment later, Crystal appeared too. "Captain, she just vani- Oh." She sighed, glancing around the room with a frown after seeing that Amethyst had not escaped anywhere.

It didn't take long for everypony present to see where Thatch and Focus's attention was directed, and soon they were all staring up at the stained-glass depiction of their long-lost god being slain by the ponies they'd called friends in Ponyville. There was no mistaking it; those six ponies, surrounding Discord and firing beams of energy at him as he twisted in agony.

As if it wasn't enough, White Noise stepped up to read the window's inscription. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thought it odd that the characters seemed to shimmer and turn legible, but as adrenaline-pumped and tired as he was, he simply wrote it off as his translating work paying off.

"The Vanquishing of the Villain Discord," he read aloud.

In the distance, he could hear shouting, presumably from guards investigating the commotion. Noise turned to his captain, who was still staring up at the image.

There was a long silence as Thatch Roof turned away from the window and walked over to the Unicornian captain, Focus, who was still lying on the ground. His wounds seemed less pronounced than they had previously, likely due to healing magic worked by himself or Amethyst.

As Thatch approached, Focus drew his body in on itself, tensing up, but the pegasus stallion simply outstretched a foreleg towards him. With a final glance at the window, he asked, "Need a hoof?"

Archive Eight

"...And next week we'll be starting our discussion of the Ancient Years, before nearly everypony and everything vanished in a day. Can anypony quickly tell me what you know about life back then?" A sea of hooves went up. "Yes, Stalwart?"

"Food grew all over the place and there were silly animals everywhere and nopony had video games!" the young colt proclaimed, prompting a laugh from his teacher and classmates.

"Yes, that's quite right, my dear. And does anypony know the name of our Commander from those days, who used his magic to create food and invent wonderful things for all ponykind?" Once more, every hoof was raised. "Yes, Thatch Roof?"

With a tone of youthful adoration and pride, the colt declared "Discord!"

Thatch Roof hoisted Focus to his hooves; there was a moment of uncertainty as to whether the unicorn could actually stay standing, but Amethyst Pear stepped up alongside him and helped to support his weight. "This changes things," Thatch said.

"I agree. This planet is perhaps not the haven of civility it presents itself as." He paused as a guard appeared outside the hole in the window and shouted something to somepony out of sight. "This warrants further discussion, but first we'll have to handle this mess."

In the following several minutes, a veritable swarm of guards came pouring in through the windows and doors, taking no hostile action but positioning themselves to clearly prevent the instigators from fleeing. Soon, one of the staff translators arrived, exchanged a few words with the guards, and then turned to their guests. "If you'll please accompany these ponies back to your rooms, the princess will be here shortly."

He didn't specify which princess, and nopony felt particularly inclined to ask for clarification, so each party filed out quietly and returned to their rooms.

On their way back, Thatch saw Lime Cliff being carried away on a stretcher by a pair of palace guards. He felt a tinge of anger at the unicorns for what they had done, but it was now tempered by a sense of kinship. Here, so far from home and living in a palace proudly displaying the murder of their deity, their quarrel suddenly seemed insignificant.

The wait for the soon-to-arrive princess wound up lasting nearly three hours, finally concluded when a pair of guards came through the guest wing and collected each of the five ponies present. They were then led to the same courtyard where the fight had transpired, where a collection of ponies now stood waiting. A number of guards stood around the perimeter and flanked either side of both entryways now, and Princess Celestia and the Unicornian crew stood in the middle of the yard, talking.

The princess said something final to them as the pegasi entered before nodding and turning to look them over. They had halted just beyond the door-frame, bunched together and hesitant to advance further. After a moment of studying them, she began speaking in perfect Erisian. "At last, we meet. Let me begin by welcoming you, both to Equestria and to my palace here in Canterlot." She paused after placing special emphasis on the possessive term, pointedly looking up at the shattered window next to them, before dryly adding, "Make yourself at home."

Turning, she paced the length of the courtyard to stand alongside the outer wall, speaking as she went. "Few ponies can claim to surprise me anymore; after thousands of years, many things become predictable. Routine. Your arrival here surprised me. I am disappointed to say that your actions this evening did not."

"I have already spoken with Focus and his ponies," she noted, gesturing towards them with a wing, "And he has taken full responsibility for what transpired here."

Before he could even think to do otherwise, Thatch Roof was blurting out, "Princess, that's not entirely true. We are equally at fault."

A hint of surprise flickered across the faces of both Celestia and the unicorn crew, though it was far more poorly concealed with the latter group. "An honorable thing to say, captain. I find such conflicts are hardly ever so one-sided as to leave the other side free from blame." The princess frowned, glancing up at the full moon overhead. "I'm pleased that you both seem to have recognized this folly, and if the cost is but one window, I shall pay it gladly."

Thatch nodded, trying to keep a level head despite the overwhelming amount of relief he was feeling. It was plain what the princess wanted to hear, and it was not terribly far from the truth. "Yes, thank you. I think we may have finally found some common ground tonight. We came here as ambassadors and explorers, and our conflicts have no place on your world. That much has become very clear now." Finished speaking, he looked to his Unicornian counterpart to close the deal.

"He speaks the truth. Our nations could learn something from yours; it is no wonder that Equestria is so idyllic when every unpleasantry can be resolved in such a peaceful manner."

The princess's proud smile faltered slightly with Focus's last words, but she recovered her serene appearance so quickly that it was difficult to be certain anything had happened. "Then let us put this matter behind us and retire for the evening, and I'll inform the kitchen staff that tomorrow night we shall all be dining together." She clapped a hoof down on the cobbled walkway with an air of finality before nodding to one of her guards and taking wing. The guard issued an order in Equestrian and then left the courtyard through one of the guest wings with the rest of his soldiers in tow, leaving only the Erisians still in the courtyard.

All nine of them, sans Lime Cliff who was still presumably receiving medical treatment, stared at each other for a short while, unsure what to do. Finally, Thatch just shook his head and sighed. "We should all get some rest. We can talk in the morning."

The crew of the Guiding Wing were all awake by sunrise, in accordance with the militant schedule they usually kept. White Noise was slow to climb out of bed, as was their group ritual, but by the time he wandered into the common area a half-hour later he found all five of his crewmates having breakfast.

"Lime, you're back!"

"Yeah, they magicked my wing together real nicely. Kept me at the hospital for observation overnight, but I'm great! They said I'm even flight-worthy." He frowned, taking another bite of his bagel and continuing around his mouthful, "Everyone's been catching me up on what Celestia said last night, and where we're at with the 'Corns."

"And, heads-up, Crystal's got a silence spell around the room, so speak freely."

Noise took a seat on one of the pillows around the table and grabbed a box of oats from the center. Turning to Thatch Roof, he asked, "Right, where exactly are we at with them?"

The captain sighed. "It's hard to say until we meet with them this morning, but just the fact that we're on speaking terms at all is definitely progress. If we're going to figure out this Discord thing, and potentially make it home under less-than-hospitable circumstances, we may well need them."

Crystal chimed in at that, echoing Thatch's words. "'Less than hospitable'? How do you figure that happening?"

"These ponies clearly revel in his defeat; if they learn that we came here looking for him, it could provoke them against us."

"It just doesn't make sense to me," Patch added. "Why would they hate Discord? They seem, for all intents and purposes, like perfectly decent ponies."

"Decent, perhaps, but clearly backwards and clearly with something to hide. This inane monarchical system of 'rule-by-those-with-the-most-appendages' can't possibly be sustaining the economy such a sprawling nation suggests. I think they've been putting up a facade for us." Scowling, Thatch pushed his empty plate away and shifted back on his pillow. "If Discord found these ponies, and discovered what they were doing... What if he tried to intervene, tried to free these ponies from the tyranny, and they killed him to protect their station."

"Do you even hear yourself?" Crystal Clear demanded angrily. "We've all met the so-called tyrants you're discussing, and there's nothing tyrannical about them at all! One's a dork and one's... whatever the buck you'd call Celestia! Understanding and peaceful, at least!"

Thatch looked ready to retort, but before he could, Stem Bolt noted contemplatively, "I expect I could put up a pretty solid poker face if I'd had thousands of years to perfect it..."

The discussion began to devolve from that point, continuing for a short while with everypony yelling at everypony else. Eventually, Thatch cut it off and the crew made its way to the courtyard, where the unicorns had yet to arrive. With the debate interrupted, nopony was quite sure what to talk about, so they largely sat in unresolved silence waiting for the other party.

They wound up waiting an hour and a half, before Amethyst Pear finally pushed their door open and staggered out, blinking, into the sunlight.

"Woah, you all are already awake?"

Once Amethyst had awoken the rest of her companions and apologized for their delay—she was always the early riser, she explained—everypony assembled in the courtyard and began the long process of deciding what to do. Eventually, the idea of a preemptive escape was proposed, and several means of doing so were put forward.

"As we've already established, there's been no sign of hostility from these ponies yet. Why should we sneak out like thieves in the night, unprovoked?" Crystal Clear and White Noise both nodded in agreement with Florence Flask's point.

"They have not acted directly aggressive towards us, granted, but I cannot abide staying here any longer with the knowledge of what they've done. It is only a matter of time before they realize our connection with Discord and kill us as they did him." Thatch answered, but he and Focus appeared to be largely in agreement on the matter, and were just letting the debate run its course given the magnitude of the decision.

"Why," Crystal asked, "don't we just tell them we need to leave, then?"

"Because the warm reception we've had so far could very easily end the moment they realize they're going to lose access to our technology. Undoubtedly, they've been studying it while we're away." Focus's horn lit up as he projected a diagram of their ship in the air. "It seems abundantly clear that we need to leave, so if you are in agreement, Thatch Roof, let us turn this dialogue to more productive efforts. I must say right now, I do not believe my crew will be able to make it home without the help of your own."

Thatch nodded to Crystal, who in turn projected an image of their own ship. "We'll need to rely on your aid as well, I suspect. And you're right, it is clear that this is what we must do; let's figure out how."

Eighteen hours later...

The sound of breaking glass rang out through the streets of the Canterlot Underside. In this part of the city, in the lower-lying and subterranean parts where much of the industrial and criminal elements thrived, breaking glass was not an uncommon sound at night. Nor, for that matter, were shouting, loud music, or screams.

At the source of the noise were five pegasi and a unicorn in a warehouse. The unicorn had cut through the lock on the exterior door and the pegasi had been maneuvering carefully around the various towering-high shelves in search of the right item, but one of them had just clipped a box by mistake and sent it tumbling to the ground. Upon impact, thousands of tiny glass gemstone fragments spilled out and across the floor, eliciting a wince from everyone present.

"We're probably on the clock now," a pegasus mare announced.

The search continued for several minutes more before one of them called out, "Got it!" and the unicorn stallion trotted over, wrapping the identified package in his magic and lowering it to the ground. Once finished, he forced the lid open and peered inside.

"Yeah, looks good. What do you think?" He held one of the items up in his telekinesis for the others to see.

Thatch Roof came to a landing just in front of it, his face illuminated by the brightly glowing, hoof-sized, star-cut diamonds that sparked with arcane power. "Good, that should do nicely. You'll take it from here, Top Notch?"

Archive Nine

"The biggest issue, as I see it, is getting to the Guiding Wing before our absence is noticed, because once it is, they'll undoubtedly have a company of guards surrounding it. Us pegasi could make the flight in five, maybe six hours, but there's no way Crystal could follow."

"No, and that doesn't even account for the time we'd need in order to reach the Endeavor and get the remaining ponies into orbit to meet up." Top Notch paused, frowning. "I may have an idea, but it's unorthodox."

"I believe we're well past conventional at this point," Thatch pointed out. "What are you thinking?"

"It's hardly a secret you stole your ship's propulsion technology from us, but I-"

"I don't-"

"But I," Notch continued, ignoring the interruption, "was lead engineer on that project; the energy-siphoning point-to-point matrix was based a spell of my own design; if we get enough gems, I should be able to keep pace with you pegasi. It will require some concessions on your part, though..."

Five pegasi flew past the sleeping hamlet of Ponyville just as fast as they could. The wind and the chilled night air kept them from sweating, but all of them were beginning to feel the fatigue of the long flight. It was made slightly easier by the periodic breaks they took to check for anypony following or to avoid passing too close to other fliers. The only one among them who was not similarly tired was Top Notch, who was teleporting gracefully along the ground below while draining energy from the crate of gemstones he carried.

Calling out over the noise of the wind, Patch asked, "Noise, how you holding up?"

Before their departure from Canterlot, the unicorn below had cast a spell to see through White Noise's eyes. This was the only way that Notch would be able to find new places to teleport quickly enough to keep up with the group, but it had the unfortunate effect of dimming the other pony's sight significantly and causing a powerful headache.

White Noise, who had been elected for the role due to his frequent work with high-power magical transmission equipment, was regretting some of his career choices at the moment, but grunted reassuringly. "I'll make it, don't worry about me."

"Then that much is settled. And you'll be able to teleport the whole rest of the group along with you?"

Top Notch snorted back a bout of laughter. "Buck, no. It gets exponentially more difficult to process the jumps with the more mass that you add. That's why we had to design a whole integrated-logic chassis for most ponies, since they can't even handle teleporting themselves." He sighed. "No, we'll still need to figure out what to do for everypony else."

By the time their next step in the plan was ready, Amethyst Pear, Florence Flask, Focus, and Crystal Clear had fully settled into their rooms in one of the seedier hotels located in the Canterlot Underside. After paying for their access, silently by necessity, they had quickly retired to the privacy of closed doors and simply needed to wait.

This had been the easiest part of the plan, at least in the abstract, but being required to sit idly while their crewmates were speeding across a foreign world towards a destination they only hoped was unguarded did little to make them less nervous. Matters were made mercifully easier, and significantly more bizarre, when Florence Flask went rifling through the nightstands and produced a box of playing cards virtually identical to the ones everyone knew from home. The following hours had passed in a breeze, as banter was exchanged and imaginary money changed hooves.

Finally, right on time, their game halted as each of the four ponies set their cards down and winced in unison as low-grade headaches took hold. Crystal thought she had an idea of what to expect, having been right next to the Guiding Wing's transmitter last time it was turned on, but after months of acclimating to this world's immense magical field, her perception was much more fine-tuned.

Whereas before, standing next to it did nothing more than make her mane itch a bit, she now felt the signal at a fundamental level, that could almost be likened to a pony whispering in her mind with hushed, incomprehensible tones. She strained to hear the whispers, and made out the familiar harmonics beneath of a 'debug spell'; a common construction when working with encoded thaumic scripting, used to relay detailed identifying information about the source of the magic. It was a spell she had used countless times in crafting spell matrices, normally tethered to enchanted paper or some other means of making the information accessible. Actually experiencing the spell was disconcerting to say the least.

Using the information carried on the signal and drawing on the power of the several gemstones that Top Notch had not carried with him, Crystal was able to conjure a small pony-sized orb of inky-black darkness in the center of the room. Straining from the effort, she grunted, "Who's first?"

With a shrug and a 'geroneighmo!', Florence jumped into the orb and disappeared. Moments later, Focus and Amethyst followed. After they were clear, Crystal stepped forward. Her magic self-negated as she entered, causing the spell to collapse and the orb to dispel, leaving an empty room behind.

The collected crews of the Guiding Wing and Endeavor watched as Crystal stepped into the clearing next to the large magical transmitter originally meant to serve as a beacon for Discord. The aforementioned ship stood a short distance away, undisturbed.

"That was fast," Patch remarked.

Crystal grimaced. "Yeah, that thing was way worse than I imagined, but it sure got the job done. You threading your debug spell into the transmitter worked like a dream. You can turn it off now." She paused, looking around the area. "No trouble getting here?"

"Smooth soaring," Thatch confirmed. "And not a single pony out here. Airlock doesn't look tampered with, either. You still up for teleporting inside and opening it up?"

"Yeah, I might not feel great but with the ambient field this strong, I've got magic to burn. Honestly, I'm gonna miss it a bit when we get home. These ponies are spoiled." With a flash, she was inside the Guiding Wing, just outside the interior airlock door. Looking through the glass at the outer door, she could see the power conduit rigged to the handle, intended to discharge on anyone who tried opening the ship up. She levitated it away and plugged it back into its original housing, then entered the airlock and opened the exterior, providing a clear path in and out of the ship. "All clear. Let's get started."

//ALERT 151
CLANDESTINE STORAGE ACCESSED - EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS ACTIVE

Five minutes into the process of readying the ship for takeoff, things stopped going smoothly. With most everypony occupied with disassembling the various tools scattering the landing site and storing them aboard the ship, Thatch Roof and Amethyst were left to stand by the box of gems as scanned the horizon and waited for the others to finish loading. This afforded them plenty of advance warning when a pegasus from the nearby linguist camp took flight and began heading straight toward them. With everything going on, though, and with no clue of his intentions, the two of them still had no plan by the time he arrived several minutes later.

The newcomer came fully into view as he approached and flew to a stop. He was a fairly large, orange pegasus, and wore armored plates over his barrel and a helmet through which showed his black mane and dopey grin. Thatch recognized him as Buzz, one of the guardponies that often accompanied the linguists to and from the ship.

"How do?" the guard asked in broken Erisian, grinning proudly at the chance to show off what he had evidently been picking up during his time with the linguists.

Thatch relaxed, the tension slipping away as he laughed in relief. "I'm doing good, Buzz. It's good to see you, but its awfully late tonight. We were just about to turn in."

Buzz nodded. "Saw pony go to ship. Had need check pony is you." He paused, glancing at Amethyst, who was hoping to be mistaken for a statue if her stillness was any indication. "New friend?" he asked Thatch in Erisian, then addressed Amethyst in a string of incomprehensible Equestrian.

She just stared back blankly for a long moment, unsure how to respond. Thatch intervened, "Yeah, new friend! She's a mute." Buzz only seemed to be half-listening though, staring past the two of them at the ship where the pegasus crew he knew was working with several other new ponies to load things aboard. "...Several new friends."

"You leave?" Buzz asked as he turned back to Thatch.

"Uh... No. We're just getting this stuff in from out of the rain, and these nice ponies offered to help," he hastily supplied.

"No rain tonight."

"You never can be too careful though, can you?"

"Rain lots of times before. Never pack before."

Thatch facehoofed. "Yes, right. But, you see..." He trailed off, both for lack of any response and upon realization that Buzz was looking at the open crate of charged gemstones, marked in various Equestrian labels Thatch could only hope weren't incriminating.

Buzz turned from the box to look at Thatch, to Amethyst, and back to Thatch. "I get. All okay. I go home now. Good sleeps." Before Thatch could think to say anything, Buzz had turned and taken to the air, flying back toward the camp in his bobbing, leisurely manner. He just watched him go in silence for a while, then turned to Amethyst just as her horn lit up and she pulled one of the harness-mounted rifles from its place of concealment behind the crate, quickly lined up a shot, and pulled the bit with a resounding explosive crack that dropped the departing pegasus from the sky instantly.

"What the buck?!" Thatch roared, starting to leap aggressively toward the mare before halting, turning in the direction Buzz had fallen, getting three hooves off the ground, and then halting again. He turned back to her, glaring.

"He could have been going back to warn his superiors, and even if he wasn't, he might have tipped somepony off without knowing it. We couldn't risk it."

The stallion's glare didn't soften, but he couldn't argue with her reasoning. He'd been frozen in debate over doing the exact same, after all. A moment later, he turned back to face the rest of his crew and Amethyst's, who had all gathered at the sound of the gunshot. He gave a small nod, and spoke. "New plan. Forget the rest of the equipment; we're off the ground in five. Get these gems inside and tell Stem to make sure the engines are clear. Amethyst and I will be the last ones in."

As the others began hastily getting inside, Thatch picked up his own battle-harness with a sigh and slipped it on. "So much for the quiet approach."

//ALERT 008
ENGINE IGNITION WITHOUT APPROPRIATE SAFETY LOGS SUBMITTED

Fifty minutes and one very expensive orbital burn later, the Guiding Wing had rendezvoused with its jump drive. With the docking maneuver complete, Thatch queued up a sequence of jumps to take them directly home using the wealth of magical power provided by their crate of borrowed gemstones. With the navigation data locked in and the auto-pilot on standby, he unstrapped from his harness, stretched, and left the cockpit for the main crew area where most of the ponies were gathered.

"Alright, looks like we're in the clear, and I've got everything ready to go up front. Any word from Stem?"

"Yeah," Lime Cliff answered. "He says he and Florence Flask were able to feed the new power supply into the drive using a chemical bath, but they're back there now making sure the rigging is secure."

"Smart," Thatch intoned solemnly. "Last thing we want is a bunch of goo and rocks spraying all over the place first time we jump."

Notch glanced over curiously, pausing his inspection of a wall panel with exposed spell circuitry. "That's something I was wondering about too. You said we'll only need a couple jumps to get back to Eris?"

"Yes, we're using a series of long-range jumps instead of your rapid-fire acceleration method."

"I'll be the first to admit that's more effective given a large power reserve like what we have now, but how did you manage the trip here without it?"

Crystal chimed in, looking eager to talk shop. "There's actually a very interesting answer to that! We kept charging on the way over, drawing magic from the system itself between jumps. The ambient field is so strong that you can basically just point a dish at it and get free energy. I mean, it's not as easy as that, exactly, but-"

Her speech halted abruptly as a flash of light and quiet rush of air came from the hallway toward the aft of the ship. "Stem? Everyth-..." White Noise's call trailed off just as fast when he saw who was there.

The mare who entered was Princess Celestia, but not as any of them had ever seen her. Her mane, normally a rainbow blowing pleasantly on an ethereal breeze, now flickered shades of red and swirled with fiery anger. She seemed taller, despite the cramped quarters of the ship forcing her to incline her head to keep her horn from scraping the ceiling—her horn, which now glowed a brilliant white that had everypony sensing the temperature in the room had just climbed several degrees.

"YOU DARE?!" She boomed in a voice that proved near-deafening in the metal chambers, sweeping up every pony present in her magic and lifting them into the air. "You come to our world, we welcome you to our home, and you DARE attack our ponies?"

Stem Bolt came running in from the engine room with a wrench upraised, swinging at the princess. An instant before the blow landed, her head snapped back and she caught him in her magic, then hurled him against the bulkhead. She grabbed him again and flung him as though across the length of the room, but her horn flared before he hit the other wall and he vanished in a flash of light.

The distraction had proven enough that Celestia had released a couple of the others for a moment. Amethyst and Lime Cliff scrambled for anything they could use to fight back, while Thatch rushed for the cockpit. Lime picked up a book, and Amethyst settled for a plastic spork. They exchanged a glance in the moment before Stem's disappearing act, then rushed toward their assailant. The alicorn caught Lime Cliff mid-leap, but the Amethyst was able to close the distance and actually get a jab in with her improvised weapon before she too was grabbed and held at bay in a telekinetic grip.

By the time Stem was gone, Thatch had already made it to the control panel and hit 'execute' on the readied jump command. A faint whirring sound began as the drive charged up, and he turned just in time to see Lime and Amethyst blinking away in a flash of light. Celestia, her horn now aflame and radiating staggering amounts of heat, turned and seized Thatch and Focus, the latter of whom had previously been attempting to diffuse things but began an attack when Amethyst was lost. "YOU! You command these wretches! How is it that you decided murder a fit answer to hospitality? WHAT EXCUSE DO YOU OFFER?"

By virtue of some combination of shock, fear, and heatstroke, neither one answered immediately. A knocking sound to her right drew the princess's gaze. Through the cockpit window she saw a familiar draconequus wearing a fish-bowl on his head, complete with goldfish. He pointed toward her—no, past her—and she turned around to see Discord, now standing inside the ship and wearing a cheap suit. "Your honor," he began, "My clients-"

"Enabler," Celestia growled over the building hum of the engines. "You will explain yourself too, but now is not the time." With a flash of her horn, he disappeared. Then reappeared in the same spot a moment later, now wearing a tropical shirt. "Today is not the day to test me, Discord." Her horn flared again, and this time he did not reappear. She turned back to the remaining ponies, all of whom now stared at her in absolute confusion, and cast a final spell to teleport them all away.

Now in an empty room, she fluffed her wings a bit and looked around as the hum seemed to take on a pulsating, throbbing rhythm. "Do not make me seek you out. I will be further displeased."

Florence Flask poked her head out of the engine room and was instantly blinked away.

"Anypony el-"

Archive Ten

Florence Flask blinked back into existence inside what presumably served as a prison barracks, given the heavy-set metal door and barred window, but was by all other accounts a perfectly nice living space. The room was spacious, housing herself and the nine other ponies comfortably, and was well-appointed with carpets, wood-paneled walls, comfortable-looking beds, and a kitchenette. It even had a beautiful view of the night sky and Canterlot cliff-side through the window.

Despite the above-average housing situation, however, the mare felt a pit growing in her stomach. This was not the kind of treatment she would have expected.

The rest of the ponies, now encompassing the whole of both crews from Eris, were still getting their bearings as well. Before any of them could begin to address what had just happened, their thoughts were derailed by the terribly exaggerated clearing of a throat by the exit.

Ten heads turned as one to see Discord, floating over the sheer cliff in a sitting position on the other side of the now de-barred window, looking disappointed with his head cupped in his hands and his elbows resting on the windowsill. The bars from the window, now shaped into a stick-figure, stood in silent judgment as it leaned against the adjacent wall.

"You ponies sure know how to ruin a punchline, you know that?" Met with a sea of awestruck and confused faces evidently unprepared to respond, he continued, "You were all doing fantastically until you went too far with that poor guard. If you'd just let him fly away..." He sighed, looking sincerely upset.

"I had a whole surprise reveal planned out for when you got back to your ship in orbit. It would have been hilarious, but instead I had to tell Celestia. Me, stopping a joke and snitching. Don't you know what snitches get?" Discord sat up, briefly pulling an embroidered blanket from behind his back and wrapping it around himself, shivering at the thought. The cartoonish quadrupedal blue alien creature pictured on the blanket seemed to animate, mirroring Discord's actions with a blanket of its own.

Florence looked nervously over the rest of the ponies, and saw they were all just as confused as her. Thatch's mouth was moving silently, as though trying to form a coherent thought. Crystal Clear was frozen, stock-still, halfway into a bowing position. Amethyst just stared inscrutably ahead, her gaze unfocused and her face a mask.

At their continued silence, Discord gave a mirthless chuckle. "There's nothing worse than having to explain a joke, but I guess I can make an exception if it means I get a monologue instead. It's been so long since I had a good monologue."

Twenty minutes had been enough for Discord to address the most immediately important topics, and for the gathered ponies to start to relax around him. They now sat in a semi-circle around the bed, where Discord had spent most of his time sprawled, and had begun asking questions prefaced with fewer and fewer Your Majesty's. He began with assurances that Buzz, the pony shot during their panicked escape, was not in fact dead. Discord had been watching, popcorn in claw, until that moment, and had intervened to stabilize him before the stallion had even hit the ground. After all, he explained, nothing is more boring than a corpse. Nopony seemed entirely satisfied with that, though, and Crystal pointedly observed to Amethyst that this did not make things right.

After that, Discord moved on to assuring them that Equestria really was as saccharine and innocently idealistic as it seemed. He explained that the stained glass window to which he had brought their attention -- as well as the accompanying placard he had delicately mistranslated for them -- depicted his being turned to stone, not killed, and that he had thoroughly provoked them into doing so.

The introduction of that last detail was when the conversation started to go awry, because there existed exactly one logical follow-up question to that.

"What do you mean, provoked?" Patch asked, retaining the skeptical look she had worn for much of the conversation.

"Oh, you know," Discord said with a dismissive wave. "Just the normal fare. Standard friendship... magic... pony... provocations." He finished meagerly, his flair for improvisation losing out for once in the face of what harm might be done by further misinformation. "It's all really boring, anyway. Now that you know these ponies didn't try to hurt me-"

"I just don't get it," Thatch Roof cut in. "You were their rightful ruler. What grounds could they possibly have had to turn on you?"

"Yes, well," Discord pushed his newly materialized eyeglasses up the bridge of his nose. "'Rightful' is such a strong word."

"Wait, yeah, that doesn't make sense. You wouldn't have been their ruler, because..." Crystal paused for a moment, working through this new information. "Why did you even come to this planet in the first place? And why were there ponies here? And if you weren't their ruler, why not just leave?"

Discord gave a laugh, relieved for the shift in topic to something he felt would be less contentious. "That's actually a great story. You're going to love this." With a snap of his claws, an image styled after a children's drawing appeared in the air before him, depicting a blue-green circle. "Behold, Equus."

With a wave of his paw, a bunch of small sketched-out ponies appeared around the circumference of the circle, first clustered into small homogeneous groups and then spreading out around the world and intermingling. "A long time ago, the ponies were divided and angry and attacked by windigos, and then they discovered the power of friendship and stuff." Discord spoke this first part in a bored tone, gesturing with a hand and causing the animated ponies to accelerate their movements.

"...And then I showed up!" A smiling Discord appeared in the center of the circle, as he continued speaking rapidly, "And I played all sorts of jokes, and invented the color blorange, and some ponies liked it and some ponies didn't, but that's not the point! Because that brings us to..." As Discord trailed off, he brought his hands together in a slow pressing motion and the drawing shrank to a singular point, seeming to zoom out.

"...Eris!" A new dot appeared, and Discord brought it into focus, failing to notice the mood of his audience shifting. Crystal Clear was glancing between Discord and the now-distant point of blue representing Equus, her expression one of dawning horror. White Noise bore a look of strained disbelief, watching the draconequus intently as if hoping for some exonerating word. Several of the others were murmuring between themselves, trying to figure out if they'd mixed something up.

"At least, that's what I gather you ponies call it. I actually named it Discord." He paused for a moment, now taking in their unimpressed looks. "After myself," he added. At their continued silence, he sighed, and gestured back toward Equus in a beckoning motion, drawing forth a number of animated ponies to the shimmery green-blue form of Eris as he depicted it.

Crystal asked through gritted teeth, "And then you left?"

Taking in her demeanor, Discord hesitated a moment, electing to summon a balloon animal in a desperate attempt at levity that immediately, literally, blew up in his face. Finally, "Technically, I never went there. I just sent some ponies ahead; didn't want to spoil the joke for them when I turned up."

"But you didn't turn up," Stem Bolt glowered.

"And that isn't Eris. This is." Crystal's horn lit up, superimposing a three-dimensional satellite image of Eris over the place where Discord's drawing had been. Unlike the crude sketch, there was little green or blue to be found on this world, consisting mostly of desert. "You might've known if you'd been."

Scoffing, Discord protested, "Please, I knew it was safe for them before I did it. And I was planning to go right over and surprise them, but some things came up. It may have slipped my mind... And then I had an unexpected appointment with a millennium's worth of pigeon posteriors."

"That doesn't excuse it!" Florence yelled, her own horn lighting up and conjuring dozens of graphs of drought records, death tolls from the planet's wildlife and uncontrolled weather, pictures of the aftermath of numerous battles, and finally several images of a vibrant forest burning as the cratered ruins of a sprawling metropolis sat smoldering in the background, a sickly green mushroom cloud looming over it.

Discord cleared his throat, now grasping the scope of his error. "Yes, well, uh." Looking across the crowd of angry faces, Discord tugged on the scruff of fur around his neck like a collar, paused for a moment, and then vanished with a flash. The moment he was gone, the window's bars were back in place and the two unicorns' illusion spells winked out as an evidently previously-disabled magic dampening field turned back on.

For a long moment, nopony could say anything at all, and then at once all ten of them burst out alternately crying, raging, or hurriedly discussing the implications. This wasn't an alien planet they were visiting. It was the home from which their ancestors had been stolen.

Hours passed, and the commotion slowly died out as everypony came to grips with all the meaningless suffering their people had endured, and the beautiful paradise they had been denied. The dialogue only momentarily touched on thoughts of escape; any will to resist was utterly sapped by this point, after the hurt they were feeling and the knowledge that they had been in the wrong to begin with. One by one, they split off to find a corner and curl up to sleep. This room, while nice, was not equipped for ten ponies.

The last two awake, Crystal and Florence Flask, had shakily transitioned away from darker topics and toward a discussion of favored books. It felt hollow... it was hollow... but it was better than dwelling on reality for the moment. Even that conversation, though, was winding down as neither could stop yawning.

"I didn't want to be sleeping when they came for us, but... they sure are taking their time," Crystal said with a sigh.

"Yeah, it must be-" Florence halted, glancing out the window at the night sky. "...Huh. This has been a long night."

With a grim, mirthless smile, Crystal nodded. "Yeah, it has at that."

"No, I mean..." Florence gestured out to the stars, "It's been a long night. It should be morning by now, shouldn't it?"

Crystal frowned, tilting her head in thought. "You're right. There was a clock in that hotel, and when we left it was already close. It's been..." Another pause, and then, "A good few hours at least."

With a final nervous glance shared between them, Crystal and Florence turned to stare out at a sky curiously deprived of daylight.

The last hour aboard the NPSA Valiant had been absolute chaos. The return of their first crewed extrasolar vessel, premature by several decades, would have been enough. The realization immediately afterward that it was hurtling away at escape velocity and showing no sign of slowing down was another matter entirely. The only good news was that its direction of travel was at least close to the equatorial plane, and traveling prograde.

The Valiant, being the closest ship to its point of arrival, received hastily confirmed orders from the ground to rendezvous, as well as authorization to employ their auxiliary engine. The deployed fighters, still awaiting confirmation to resume their war-game, were immediately recalled. Within a minute, the last of them had completed their combat landing, coming to an indelicate stop in the hangar bay as fast as equinely possible.

Once the deck chief confirmed all were aboard, the ship's main engine lit up, burning hard to match velocity with the Guiding Wing. It took half an hour at full thrust to get up to speed. With a minute left until their speed would be exactly matched, the ship's main lights dimmed as a series of purple-hued cage-lamps embedded in the walls lit up and a three-note whistle echoed through the ship. A dull hum began to build, barely audible over the roar of the engines.

With thrust matched, the roar of the main engine died, leaving only the now pulsing rhythm of the jump drive. Within a moment, the ship blinked away, appearing roughly a kilometer behind the Guiding Wing. It was a sensation most of the crew had never experienced before, despite it being installed on many of the fleet's newer ships. The technology was usually reserved for emergency disengagement or maneuvering during combat scenarios, and seldom used given its obscene energy requirements.

It had only taken a few minutes to scramble a team to fly over, using one of the Valiant's two multipurpose support shuttles. Now parked just a few meters away from the newly returned ship, the pilot and medic waited aboard the shuttle as their accompanying squad went EVA and boarded the Guiding Wing.

"Airlock's clear. Inputting the provided override codes now," their leader reported, sounding vaguely tinny through the communication gem mounted in his helmet. "Codes worked, it's open. We're cycling in now."

A minute passed. Two. "We're inside."

"Copy," came the captain's voice back aboard the Valiant. "What do you see?"

"Ship's a mess, sir. There's debris floating loose in the hallway, and- Red, go check the engine room. -Not clear yet what... Huh."

"Repeat your last?"

"There, uh. Sir, no sign of the crew yet, but there's somepony else here... Horn and wings, both biological as far as I can see. I think she might be dea-" A pause. "Scratch that, just unconscious. Breathing shallow." As the pony spoke, several others could be heard in the background calling out "Clear!" and at the very end, "All clear!"

"Red?"

"No crew aboard, no sign what happened. Might have a clue about how they got here, though... They've got a plastic container filled with glowing sludge jury rigged into the engine, and the energy it's radiating fried my hoofcorder when I tried to scan it."

After a long pause, "Command, please advise."

"Standby one," and after several more minutes, "We will be relaying additional override codes shortly. You are to input them in the helm to allow remote override of the ship's trajectory, leave the improvised power source alone, and then return to the Valiant with the aberrant pony." With a sour note, the captain added, "Ground's ordered us to hoof it and the Guiding Wing over immediately. I'm not sure which they're more keen to study."

Archive Eleven

Staring out the window by her bed at the moon low on the horizon, Twilight let out a low sigh. She felt as though far too long had passed since she'd first awoken with a piercing headache, the lingering remnants of which had troubled her sleep ever since. "That's it," she grumbled. "No more tossing and turning."

With a grunt, she sat up and hopped out of bed, turning on the lights and making a minimal effort at resolving her bedhead before heading to the door. Walking on the tips of her hooves, she slowly pushed it open, wincing as it let out a soft creak. The clock in her room had showed an hour well past dawn, leading Twilight to the conclusion it had been left to run without tuning for far too long. Thus, with no sense for what time of night it was, she proceeded to sneak out of her room as quietly as possible. Objectively, it was unlikely she would disturb anypony, since this section of the palace was reserved for the princesses and their rooms doubtless had soundproofing in place, but Twilight preferred not to risk it.

The hall was empty, and Twilight proceeded down it and toward the kitchen no more than twenty paces before coming to a reading nook in the wall. Though she had spent many an hour there in the past, she would have passed it without a second thought this time if not for something catching her eye. Resting on the well-crafted marble table, illuminated by a simple built-in light enchantment, sat a clock displaying the exact same time as the one in her room.

Frozen in place, three thoughts raced through Twilight's mind. The first was how inconvenient it was that she would now need to find a third clock before being able to reset the one in her room. The second concerned how silly that was, and that the odds of both being set to the same wrong time was very unlikely. The third... either somepony had entered her private room to play a bafflingly trivial prank, or something was very wrong.

With an encroaching sense of unease and a markedly faster pace, Twilight resumed her trek down the hall. However, instead of turning to one side for the kitchen, she continued on down a series of empty halls toward the throne room. She passed a number of other clocks along the way displaying the same late-morning hour, getting more nervous with each one.

Finally, she rounded a corner and found herself facing an unusually large crowd of palace guards talking nervously among themselves. Seeing her, they all immediately fell silent and snapped to attention, hastily un-bunching to clear a path for her to the door where they'd stood. When none immediately warned her off, Twilight proceeded through the double-doors and into the main throne room, where a frazzled-looking Princess Luna stood talking to a navy-blue stallion.

"Give this letter to the guard when you exit," she commanded, levitating over a series of scrolls and gesturing with each in turn. "He will bring it to his captain and ensure that you have the appropriate escort. And give this one to the airship captain when you arrive at the docks. This one is for anyone who gets in your way in Yakyakistan. It provides... a clear picture of what I will do if they fail to comply."

"Yes, your highness," the stallion affirmed, bowing and hastily leaving the room.

Now alone in the room, the two princesses regarded each other for a long moment. Twilight with worried insight, and Luna with sympathy and heartache.

"Celestia?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

"Gone." A deep breath. "The ponies from Eris fled in the night. Discord knew, and took it upon himself to alert my sister instead of me. She came to me, briefly, and then left in pursuit. An hour later, I felt the space vessel leave us, and her with it."

Blinking in shock and shaking her head, Twilight took a step back. "Wh- wait, hold... what?! Why would they leave like that? And why would they take Princess Celestia?"

"Discord witnessed an attack on one of our guards stationed in White Tail Woods. That is why my sister went to intervene, and I can only conclude that they chose to abscond with her through some alien skulduggery."

Sitting down hard and closing her eyes, the younger princess fought to hold back confused tears as she said, "I just... None of this makes any sense. Something must have..."

Trailing off and pausing, Twilight took a moment to steady herself, looking back to Luna with a coldness that had not been there before. "How do we get her back?"

"I have already begun to set things in motion, though the path ahead is yet unclear. We do not know precisely where they have gone, but I've spoken with several ponies at the Astronomical Society who believe they can decipher it using the perspective of a map of the stars near us, given to us by the interlopers.

"However, even so, the distance will undoubtedly be beyond anywhere we can teleport. I would ask Discord to simply tell us the location and bring her back if it is within his means, but I have not seen him since Celestia's disappearance."

"You don't think he was taken too?"

"I suspect not... I have felt a change in the essence of our world each time he was turned to stone. Were he absent from Equestria entirely, I suspect we would all know it. Thus, it seems likely he is simply playing the fool, and I would ask you track him down. I believe finding him is the quickest means of resolving this. One of your friends is close with him, yes?"

"Fluttershy... I'll head there immediately."

Turning to leave, Twilight halted as Princess Luna added, "And if you don't find him soon, come back here. I have a contingency plan that would also benefit from your aid."

Pressing his head to the floor and trying to peer beneath the large metal door keeping them in the prison barracks, Thatch Roof let out a sigh. "You'd think Celestia would've told somepony to come get us by now."

Two weeks later...

The sun had just begun to set over New Pegasopolis as Commander Stern Gaze and his aide approached their destination, a nondescript cloud bank an hour's flight west of the capital. The pair stopped above it, hesitating for a moment, before carefully lowering themselves down and sinking through the surface layer, landing firmly on a denser cloud floor set ten feet beneath.

Now concealed beneath the false surface of the cloud, the Commander walked with practiced ease toward a stairwell leading deeper into the hidden facility. His aide stepped much more delicately, flaring his wings on several occasions seemingly in fear that he would fall through the floor. This was his first visit to RHF-27, a blacksite used to house high-value prisoners and a safehouse for the Commander during emergencies.

The structure's location in the clouds gave it an unparalleled degree of privacy and security, as Eris's magical field was far too weak to support cloudwalking and cloud-based construction under normal circumstances. The architects of RHF-27 circumvented this at great expense. Rows of hydrogen generators flanked the two ponies walking toward the stairwell down this long open space, whirring loudly as they powered a series of dispersion sinks.

These devices, with a considerable power input, were capable of temporarily energizing the weak magical ley-lines that spiderweb across the planet, essentially creating a localized pocket of heightened ambient magical energy. The conversion rate of this reaction was extremely inefficient, but provided enough magic to support cloud construction, allowing for an off-the-grid military site in a place that nearly everypony would think impossible.

Descending the stairway and entering the door beyond, the Commander found himself in a metal corridor with several intersections ahead, and various doors spaced along the walls. To his left, he could see through a window into the guards' lounge area, where several ponies were playing pool and another was eating dinner. Each wore a simple uniform with a short-range stun weapon strapped to their side. The lack of secured guard stations and other bulkier defenses was a conscious decision, made to minimize the facility's profile and risk of detection from the outside. As all prisoners would have magical suppression devices, preventing unicorns from using spells and pegasi from flying, there was no real risk of escape anyway.

With a quick word to his aide, the Commander trotted through a door on his right while the other stallion stepped into the lounge. Finding his way down two more levels of the facility by way this secondary stairwell, Stern Gaze eventually reached the end of the another long metal hallway, this time ending in a well-crafted wooden door. In front of it, a light-grey mare with a short-cut slicked-back reddish-orange mane waited, wearing a black lab-coat. At his approach, she stood up and gave a polite smile.

"Commander Gaze, lovely to see you," she intoned with a crisp formality that suggested otherwise.

"Just Means," he sighed. "Surely we're past this, yes? The Wing's logs are clear enough; this mare governs another civilization, and we will treat her with the dignity of her position."

With that, he took a step toward the door behind the mare, only for her to side-step and block his path. "A mare with the power to move a star," she countered. "Think of what we stand to learn about large-scale stellar engineering, let alone the implications she has for biological research!"

The Commander let out a low sigh, dragging his hoof across his face in frustration. "We will learn much more if we can establish trade relations with her people, and that will be all the more likely if we bring her back happy and alive. Her long-term political value is greater than her immediate scientific value."

"We can do both! If you simply take her away from this facility, she will doubtless fall comatose again. Our world's ambient magical field can't sustain her; a few months of study, and then we bring her back and it will be to her as if nothing-"

"Doctor." Stern Gaze, in credit to his name, stared her down.

"...Yes, Commander," Just Means growled, stepping aside and then walking away in a huff.

With a final shake of his head, the stallion pushed through the door into a well-appointed bedroom intended to house members of the government brought here during emergencies. At the moment, it was serving as temporary quarters for Princess Celestia, who sat by the desk, staring at a tablet computer left there idling as the manufacturer's logo bounced around the screen.

Clearing his throat and drawing Celestia's attention, Stern Gaze pulled from his pocket a hoof-sized green gem covered in arcane sigils and accented with gold and silver mountings at several points. Setting it on the table and tapping it, the gem began to emanate a faint light, and the Commander asked, "Celestia, my name is Stern Gaze. Can you understand me?"

Standing up in surprise, Celestia responded at once, "I can. I am relieved to see you've worked out a translation spell."

"It is a variation of your own," Stern Gaze told her, taking a seat by the door and gesturing for her to do the same. "The sensors aboard our ship registered the base magics you employed to speak Erisian, and coupled with the notes our ponies were keeping about your language, we were able to reverse-engineer the spell and integrate it with a more refined spell of our own."

Despite her circumstances, a flicker of curiosity at this detail crossed her features. "More refined?"

"It is rather beyond me, but my ponies tell me your spell circumvented much of the finer points of translation by simply expending mass amounts of extra magical energy. The spell we're using presently was necessary so that we would not drain our nation of magic for a single conversation.

"That said, this spell does only last so long and there are much more important issues to discuss. I'm sure you have many questions, and I'll be happy to answer them, but there are a lot of ponies waiting for answers from you as well. Let's begin with the events that brought you here without my crew, and then we can move on to the matter of getting you home as soon as we can."

Inside a large, opaque purple dome deep in the snow-blanketed north of Yakyakistan, there existed a small pocket of Equestria. Several dozen ponies went about their daily lives and work, moving between the various tents set up in the temperate environment. The dome, though unable to be seen through, did allow sunlight to enter, creating a pleasant warming effect as the brilliant star overhead lurched indelicately across the skyline in fits and starts.

At the center of the dome and the focus of those ponies working therein, rested a giant construct of alien make. This vessel, damaged in its first flight and left behind by the Erisian unicorns when they fled aboard the pegasus ship, had spent the last week undergoing study and careful disassembly. Rows upon rows of tables were set up beneath open-walled tents, shielding the various removed components from direct sunlight.

Several unicorns were in the process of casting divination spells on a set of circuit-encrusted gemstones, enchanted in a way nopony had ever seen before. A number of other ponies were tinkering with various mechanical bits, peering into the insides of a portable generator and examining the alternator mechanism. A large cluster were gathered around the improvised laser cannon they had removed from the roof of a motorized chariot. The latter remained a mystery, but one of the scientists was now demonstrating how to operate the former.

Notably, the objects of greatest interest for most of the ponies here had not yet even been removed from the alien vessel. Several ponies were at work within its confined space, studying the connected spell conduits lacing throughout the ship. Four more were standing on a scaffold built around the outside of the craft, making sketches and discussing animatedly while looking through some exposed paneling at the main body of the ship's jump drive.