No Pony's Sky

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Princess Twilight Sparkle stared at the six-legged crab spider through her helmet’s scanner. It flashed once before the analyzing bar appeared and began to fill up, accompanied by the crackling and hissing of her processing computer. A quiet chime sounded and the creature’s characteristics popped up in the lower left of her visor.

Perfectious Totalis, the lavender alicorn mused. Aggressive, carnivore, nothing I don’t already know. She clouded up the front of her helmet with a snort for only a moment before her suit’s defogger kicked in. I could have told anypony that. Her lips curled up in an amused smirk as she watched the knee-high predator circling the rock she was perched on.

She had been mining out a cavern full of plutonium crystals when the thing had snuck up on her and tried to take a bite of her leg. Luckily she heard its skittering legs at the last second and she was able to throw up a personal shield in time. Rather than kill it, she chose to fly out of the cave to a nearby outcropping in order to study the brave little creature.

“You aren’t afraid of me, are you?”

The spider-like creature paused its circling to stare up at her. Its claws clicked angrily and she could see it working the razor sharp mandibles in its mouth. Twin beady black eyes met hers before it hissed and resumed its patrol around her rock.

“You aren’t afraid of anything, I bet.” Twilight smiled sadly at the predator. “I wish I could be like you.”

The alicorn mare pulled her gaze from the crab-spider and eyed her ship, located only thirty three seconds of travel time away according to her helmet’s heads-up-display. Spreading her wings, she took off and gently flew over to the weathered vessel that had been her home for many moons. Behind her, an almost wailing screech echoed after her as the alien predator’s meal slipped out of its grasp.

Twilight performed a pre-flight check of her vehicle. The first thing she did was take a step back to take in her entire ship. The craft had a bulbous cockpit sitting on top of six spindly legs. With a long fuselage stretching behind, and twin panels full of various scanning tools on either side, it more closely resembled a gangly insect rather than a spacecraft capable of faster than light travel.

The alicorn mare tenderly placed a hoof on its side, feeling its pitted surface. Portions of the leading edges of the craft had been polished all the way down to its hardened titanium skin. After weathering the light of a hundred suns, the deep purple paint on its exterior had almost faded to pink.

Pink. The color brought a whirlwind of images and sounds to her mind. A bubbly earth pony singing out loud at a huge party. Their last party. All of Ponyville came out to celebrate the triumph of a year of research and studies. Seven multi-colored ponies all danced and laughed around her. Then I saw the fire….

Twilight snapped back to reality, shaking her head once and resuming her inspection. I will need to perform some much needed maintenance soon or else my ship might start falling apart around me. That would be most unfortunate.

A loud cry somewhere behind her reminded her that this planet still had a population of predators that might try to take another bite out of her. Whether or not her different body chemistry might render her poisonous to them did not seem to bother these alien predators in the slightest. They may be unintelligent now, but who knows what will happen in a million years.

Twilight Sparkle took one last look at the unfamiliar sky of muted yellow clouds. Off in the distance, a cluster of towering heridium pillars broke up the horizon. The dark metallic crystals stuck up out of the ground in a seemingly random pattern. The sun would set soon, and this planet’s nighttime temperatures were far too cold for her. Unless I want to tax my life support system, I will be better off in my ship making for orbit.

She had no reason to stay on this planet anymore. All she needed was some fuel to get her to the next system. Her little detour with the carnivorous alien broke up her monotonous schedule; it was nice to do something different for a change. The last dozen or so systems she had visited held nothing of value or interest.

A quick handshake of her suit’s computer with the one on her ship opened the cockpit so that she could climb in. As the purple pony settled in the padded pilot’s seat, the canopy swung down and locked with a pneumatic hiss as the airtight seal pressurized. Ventilation fans quickly expelled the poisonous air from the planet and replaced it with a fresh mix of oxygen and nitrogen matching her homeworld’s atmosphere. Twilight pulled her helmet off and took in a deep breath, letting it out with a verbal whew.

The mare deftly worked her ship’s controls, repeating the same procedure she had done a thousand times or more. By now, every vibration and sound the ship made could tell her exactly what was working correctly, or what might need some tweaking. Today seemed to be going well for her, as no changes in the craft’s tune indicated anything bad happening.

Twilight’s head nodded slightly as a high pitched blast of her landing thrusters threw her ship in the air. Before gravity could take hold, the gangly craft’s engines lit up and she started gliding forward. One hoof pulled back on the control yoke, and the other feathered the throttle. A pulsing mechanical whine spooled up before the ship shot into the sky.

Pushed into the back of her seat, Twilight let the light g-forces on her body help stretch out her tired back muscles. Clouds zipped by in colorful blurs and the sky slowly grew darker until the pinpricks of stars became visible. She studied them for any patterns, but the constellations she loved looking at as a little filly did not exist this far away from home. A pang of remorse threatened to bring up old memories when a ping on her ship’s computer distracted her at the last second.

Seven ships exiting warp space. Twilight read off the data scrolling on her onboard computer system. They are running rather late. Grinning despite herself, she couldn’t help but activate her communications suite and hail them. Even though these ships were at best, thirty light minutes away, the specialized equipment she had let them talk as if they were flying alongside one another.

“I am not very impressed. You and your squadron are slacking, Captain.”

“Yeah, yeah, Princess,” the annoyed voice of a stallion answered, “I had a burnt out pulse drive that needed repairs. I got here as soon as I could.”

“Excuses, excuses.” Twilight quipped, not missing the fact that she sounded very much like a teacher admonishing a pupil. “I expect to see better progress in the next system. You are cutting it pretty close. There are not many jumps left.”

“I promise I will impress you next time, Princess.” The voice boasted back, yet she could still hear something else underneath what she thought was forced bravado. Regret maybe?

“Anyway,” Twilight decided to file that thought away to think about later, “I am transmitting my latest batch of findings. Would you be so kind to send it back to Canterlot to be studied?”

A long sigh preceded a few unintelligible grumbles. “Fine, Princess, I will do that for you. Send it over.”

Twilight keyed the correct buttons and her log beamed itself to the other pony’s ship. He remained quiet for several minutes, and she used the time to line up the next system to travel to. Picking out a gentle red dwarf star, she primed her warp drive to make the several thousand light year jump. Before completing the procedure, she waited a bit longer, partially from the fact that it was nice to finally have somepony to talk to; especially one that knew her so well.

“Wow, that thing looks hideous!” His voice came in over the communicator. “Did you see that? It tried to take a chunk out of you!”

Twilight giggled at his reservations about the alien she cataloged down below. “He was just a little thing. There is no way he would have hurt me.”

“Well, I cannot promise that I would have reacted as calmly as you did, Princess. I can only imagine a lot of flailing and screaming had I been in your shoes.”

She couldn’t help but burst into a gut wrenching fit of laughter. Twilight slapped a hoof on the top of her console, and tears trickled from her eyes. As she tried to calm down, all she had to do was picture him tearing out of that cave, wide eyed and screaming, with a swarm of the little spider-crabs chasing him, and the laughing started all over again.

It took her several minutes to finally calm down, and she gulped down long draughts of air as she recovered. “Oh, I haven’t laughed that hard in months.”

She didn’t get an answer immediately. At first, Twilight wondered if it might be her ship’s systems when he finally replied. “Twilight, please come home.”

Her hoof hovered over the final activation switch for her warp drive. She fought to slam it down, but part of her wouldn’t allow her to do so. “You know I can’t.” Her voice was barely above a murmur.

“It wasn’t your f…” His voice cut out when her hoof connected and the universe exploded into color as she entered warp space.

Chapter 3

Everything vanished behind a curtain of shimmering crimson light. An ear splitting scream of energy wracked the alicorn mare’s senses and she panicked, leaping forward into the side of a large tree. The thick trunk absorbed the impact easily and she bounced off and landed on the ground.

Twilight Sparkle staggered to her feet, just as another blast of raw energy slammed into her side. Already, she could feel her weakened shields give out and the brutal attack began to punch through her suit. Before it could do any more damage, she managed to place the tree in between her and her attacker.

Her lungs worked in overtime, sucking down oxygen as fast as her life support system could pump it into her helmet. Twilight took stock of her current situation and she did not like what she saw. Her suit’s entire left side bore a brutal scar tracing along her flank. Lined with flakes of ablative skin, they fluttered gently in the toxic wind. Already, she could hear a stomping growing louder as her hunter came closer.

She swallowed the lump growing in her throat when she realized how close the attack had come to removing her wing. Steeling herself, she peeked around her cover briefly, just long enough to take a peek at the sentinel chasing her. A four-legged mechanical beast trudged over the rough terrain as if it were nothing. Its blocky head swiveled in her direction, sensing even the tiniest bit of her exposed self.

The following laser blast clipped the tree she hid behind and burned away a section of bark. Twilight had luckily ducked away just in time, avoiding the attack entirely; but every second she wasted, meant the sentinel grew closer. She couldn’t out run or fly over, as she would present too tempting a target. That leaves only one option.

Twilight Sparkle held up her multi-tool in a nimbus of light and flicked the firing selector to its bolt caster setting. Unlike the precise cutting nature of its mining laser, the multi-tool’s energy projectile attachment served more as a powerful defensive weapon. Its ability to unleash a flurry of potent plasma bolts seemed suitable for her current situation and she readied herself for the confrontation about to take place.

The harsh stomping steadily increased in volume and an electronic buzzing filled the air. Taking a deep breath, the alicorn mare popped out of cover and opened fire. At a range of a dozen meters, she couldn’t miss. Every energy bolt flew true and slammed into the quadrupedal sentinel, which emitted an angry, computerized scream as it staggered back. Eyes narrowed in focus, Twilight kept the trigger depressed, dumping her weapon’s entire clip into the machine.

With a click, the multi-tool ran dry and Twilight spun around to put more distance between her and the quadruped, reloading as she ran. The sentinel lumbered after her, but emptying an entire clip of energy bolts seemed to have done some damage. It moved much slower than before, and she could hear the whining of overstressed machinery.

Galloping through the trees, Twilight ducked under a low hanging branch and she burst out into the open. Off to her left, she spotted a series of boulders thick enough to provide cover and she angled in to take advantage of the terrain. She had just about reached them when the quadruped noisily broke through the tree line. I won’t make it!

In desperation, the alicorn pony dug her hooves deep into the earth, spinning around as she brought the multi-tool up. As soon as she lined up the sights on the damaged sentinel, she squeezed down on the weapon’s trigger. A swarm of glowing blue projectiles spewed forth, peppering the quadruped. Sparks sprayed out of damaged joints, and several pieces of armor went spiraling away in the air, knocked free by the barrage.

The sentinel’s head turned towards her and she had no trouble picking up on a blood-red light growing brighter on its face even through the cerulean plasma storm from her weapon. Twilight’s eyes widened and time seemed to slow. Exposed without any cover, all she could focus on was the energy lance powering up to fire at her.

Just when Twilight thought she was done for, one of her plasma bolts punched through the sentinel’s weakened armor and triggered a chain reaction throughout its power systems. The sentinel released a final anguished cry before it blew apart in a short-lived flash.

Violet eyes stared down the sights of her multi-tool still aimed where the quadrupedal sentinel stood only moments before. Her chest heaved in and out and her legs wobbled slightly, threatening to collapse. Easing the weapon away, she calmed down enough to plan her next course of action.

I need to get out of here. She took a step in the direction of her ship when two alert icons came flying into view. Twilight may have forgotten about the two flying sentinel’s but they hadn’t forgotten about her. Once they cleared the treetops, both of them immediately opened fire, peppering the area around her.

Twilight brought her multi-tool up and returned fire. Her weapon had better accuracy at range, so she simultaneously backed up as she focused on the closer sentinel. She precisely placed shot after shot into the flier’s nose, and just before her clip went dry, it exploded into a cloud of burnt electronics and elemental titanium.

She quickly reloaded and swung her weapon towards the second sentinel. Just as she was about to squeeze the trigger, her right rear leg stepped back and felt nothing but empty air. Twilight tried to catch herself, but she couldn’t slow her momentum enough and with a short cry of surprise, she tumbled over the edge.

Her world spun around. Blue, white, and brown blurred together as she fell. Wings spread out wide, she flapped hard, trying to halt her decent. Twilight’s mind panicked, but she remembered the lessons drilled into her by Rainbow Dash during her flying lessons. Calm down… lean back… steady my wings… and there! She rolled backwards and her wings finally caught the air, allowing her to pull up and land on all four hooves.

Glancing around, Twilight took stock in the fissure she had fallen into. Small clusters of glowing alien fauna intermittently spaced broke up the long shadows cast by the tall rocky walls. It provided good cover and she trotted over to stand behind a particularly thick stalagmite. Aiming back up at the opening of the crevice, she could hear the flying sentinel growing closer. Her ears swiveled around and locked in on the whirling and buzzing as it approached her hiding spot.

She readied herself to blast the flier the moment it cleared the lip of the fissure when something massive slammed into the ground somewhere nearby. The impact shook Twilight hard enough to make her stumble and she had to put a forehoof out against the stalagmite to keep from falling. Oh dear Celestia, I didn’t get it in time, she thought as a colossal shadow loomed over her.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t even bother to look up. Instead, she took off immediately, using her powerful hind legs to accelerate around next bend of the crevice. Behind her, a hellish light filled every nook and cranny, searing away the shadows. A roaring in her ears threatened to blow out her speakers, but she had reacted in time to avoid the attack.

Galloping along the rocky floor, she sped around each twist and turn. Whenever the alicorn encountered a fork along her path, she chose whichever one angled more towards her ship. From somewhere above and behind her, a heavy clunking filled the air, reminding the little pony that she was still being hunted.

The distance timer next to her ship’s location dropped lower and lower, and Twilight took a chance at flying. Flaring her wings wide, she flapped hard and shot into the sky. Before she could present herself as a target, she dove low, placing a hill between her and the sentinels. Her ship came into view around the next bend and her hopes soared. I’m almost there!

She waited until the last possible second before pulling up and landing at a brisk trot. Twilight synced with the ship, opening the canopy just in time to leap into it. Throwing her harness on, she powered up the ship’s thrusters and launched herself into the air. Her forehooves gripped the controls, and she swung her ship’s nose around before keying the engines at full blast.

Twilight Sparkle glanced out the side of her cockpit and she spotted a towering bipedal sentinel, slowly trudging after her just before she shot over the next ridge. Staring forward once more, she slowly sat back into her seat, letting her breathing fall to a more manageable level. That was close. She glanced at the scar alongside her suit, already mulling over ideas on how to patch it. That was way too close.

Chapter 4

Thirty newton meters… and… there we go. Twilight Sparkle carefully studied the readout on her torque wrench. Satisfied that she tightened the cap to its specified torque level, she took a step back and admired her brand new warp cell. It looked no different from the hundred or so that came before, but its complicated recipe still gave her satisfaction every time she successfully completed it.

Encased in a semi-transparent aura of purple light, the glowing fuel cylinder floated in front of the alicorn mare as she made her way through the cargo hold of her starship. Twilight stopped before the ship’s Hyperdrive, popping out an empty cell and tossing it in a nearby bin for recycling. She bit her tongue in concentration as she carefully lined up the terminals before locking the fresh cell into place.

A short pop of static made her blink reactively, but she smiled and took a step back. The warp cell had taken to her Hyperdrive. Twilight nodded her approval and left for the bridge, moving at a hurried pace. I am cutting this pretty close.

As the sole occupant of her lonely ship, she lowered herself into its weathered command seat, flicking on her advanced sensor arrays. Twilight’s computer hummed gently while it processed the incoming data and a quiet ping brought her attention to its main screen where a warning appeared. Seven deep space fighters orbited one of the planets on the far side of the solar system. “Ah ha! There you are.”

After avoiding the moon’s sentinel patrols, she had been able to gather what resources she needed before hoping back into space. Safely in a lazy loop around the lunar satellite, Twilight refueled her ship in peace and waited for the Equestrian ships to warp in and detect her latest data canister. Anypony analyzing its path around the star might make the connection that she had launched it on her way to the far side of the system.

The fact that they fell for her trick brought an amused smirk to her face. I got you this time. Not long after, a window popped up on her screen, and she did not hesitate to acknowledge the hail on an Equestrian frequency.

“Well, I look like a fool.” Twilight still recognized his voice, even though it crackled with interference at such a long distance despite the best abilities of her ship’s software. He sounded embarrassed, but she also could pick up a bit of amusement in his tone. “I thought I had you when I backtracked the path of your canister. Don’t worry, I’ve already downloaded everything on it.”

“You didn’t really think I was going to be that easy to catch, did you?” Twilight smiled at her ship’s readout showing the Equestrian fighters angle towards her. Rather than light up their pulse engines, they cruised along at normal speed. There was no sense in spooking her off, since she could safely warp away several long minutes before they would ever arrive.

“I was hoping.” The Equestrian captain answered with a huff of exasperation.

Twilight Sparkle felt her smile fade. Eyeing her navigational map, she studied the last leg of her extensive journey. Only two stars remained between her and the galactic center. After enduring months of traveling, all of the alien worlds she had visited, and the challenges she had surmounted, it felt strange to be this close to her goal. Twilight wasn’t positive as to what would happen once she reached the center, but every single one of her top prevailing theories shared the same end result. It will be a one way trip no matter what.

She was the furthest pony from Equestria. Even though she invented the warp drive, she had originally done so for other ponies to explore the stars. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she would be the one out here, twenty five thousand light years from home. And yet, Twilight Sparkle could not think about anything else.

“How are things in Equestria?” Her throat struggled to string the sentence together.

Twilight’s question went unanswered long enough for her to consider checking the diagnostics of her comm system when she finally got a response. “Equestria is safe. The Equestrian games are coming up soon. They are holding them in Canterlot this year but there is a lot of talk about Ponyville bidding the next one. I think they actually have a shot.”

Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, trying to dispel images of burning buildings, pillars of choking black smoke, and a crater-marked landscape. For just a moment, she was back in Equestria, standing in front of her ruined castle. Acrid smoke burned her nose, and she had to blink away tears to focus on the devastation in front of her.

Guilt wracked her, and she could feel moisture welling up in her eyes when his voice came over her speakers again. “You know they completely rebuilt the town. It’s like it never happened. They are even building a stadium down by the river. Here, let me show you.”

A popup on her screen preceded a request to download a small folder sent by the Equestrian pilot. Her hoof hovered over the decline option, but she couldn’t fully commit to pressing it. A month ago, she would not have hesitated, but now she found it more difficult than ever. Maybe it stemmed from how close she was to her journey’s end, but part of her wished to see Ponyville again before it would be gone forever.

Moving her forehoof over, Twilight accepted the download and a series of pictures cycled across her screen. She saw the earth pony statue in the central square, the multistoried town hall at the heart of the city, the café she loved eating lunch at, and many more sights that brought a flood of memories to the forefront of her mind. Many of the photos showed parts of town that sharply contrasted what she had seen the last time she had been there. It was hard to believe that they had rebuilt everything when so much had been lost.

“You weren’t lying.” Her voice sounded quiet and far away.

“It took a while, but everypony was quite motivated and we had support from all over Equestria. We even had help from Griffons, Yaks, and the Dragons.”

“Really?” Twilight could not hide the surprise from her tone.

“Really. They all wanted to help us rebuild after the attack. After everything you and the elements have done for them, they wanted a chance to give back to you.”

Twilight Sparkle seemed lost for words, and a maelstrom of conflicting emotions swirled through her head. “I don’t understand.”

When he answered on the communicator, his voice came over calm and kind. It sounded more reassuring than anything she had ever heard before. “It’s what I have been telling you for weeks, Princess. It was never your fault for what happened.”

Twilight felt a knot tighten in her throat and she had to swallow before speaking. “He used my invention against me. I helped him hurt those ponies.”

“You are not to blame for what he used your invention to do. Whether he used a warp cell or not, he would have found another way to strike at you. You fought him. You know how persistent he was until the end.”

Twilight saw the explosion happen again, just like it did every time she dreamed of that day. A fifth of the city leveled by a bomb created with the sole purpose to take her out. Warning had come, but it came too late for her to fully stop his plans. “Why did he do it? Why me?”

“Out of the four princesses, he saw you as the greatest threat. You have saved Equestria in the past more times than I can count.” The stallion spoke carefully. They had never gotten this far before and she guessed that he chose his words cautiously to avoid scaring her away. “As to why he did it? I don’t know, and we may never find out. There is evil in the world that doesn’t have a purpose beyond spreading more hate and pain. Its ponies like us that have the obligation and duty to stand up to it in order to protect the ones we love.”

Twilight let out a deep sigh, keying the sequence to spool up her ship’s warp drive. “I just don’t want to do it anymore.”

“You are a Princess of Equestria and it is your duty to protect those under you.” He now talked with a more forced tone, in the manner of a parent admonishing a misbehaving child. “The harsh reality of life is that you can’t save everyone. I know that is a hard fact to accept, and it should be hard to accept. It will hurt, but it’s your job and you have to do it. Too many lives depend on you.”

“But those families…” She began, only to be interrupted right away.

“You saved hundreds more, Twilight. You stopped him from destroying Equestria and you ushered in a peace that still continues to this day.”

The warp drive had begun its final countdown. “Peace doesn’t last forever, Captain.”

“No, it doesn’t. But if you leave, how do you think we are going to survive the next attack? We can’t do it without you. Your family, your friends, me; we need you, Twilight.” He pleaded and begged, trying to bring her to change her mind and abandon this path she had chosen. His words echoed across the void and they might have worked in the end but he would never know because she was already gone.

Chapter 5

The universe at large unfolded back across her ship’s canopy as Twilight Sparkle dropped out of warp space. Only a single long jump away from the center, this put her in an extremely active region of glowing gas clouds and massive suns much larger than the majority of those she had already visited. This solar system held nothing particularly interesting for her. A lone airless world baked constantly by hard radiation looked no different from a dozen or so similar planets she had seen before.

It’s not like I have the time to explore anyway. She laid her ears back against her head and glared at her empty radar screen, which wouldn’t remain empty for long. The Equestrian fighters on her tail were closer than ever. Each jump not only brought her nearer to the galactic center, but also gave them ample opportunity to learn her tactics and anticipate her actions. She had begun her journey with a month long head start. Now, if her calculations were correct, she only had a minute or two tops.

As habit, she angled her ship’s nose towards the lone planet. Several asteroid fields orbiting it might provide a good place to hide if she ran into any problems changing out her empty warp cell for a fresh one. She had built several of the powerful energy storage cylinders to avoid any delays, but they still needed to be carefully swapped before every jump. Unlike her pursuers’ more modern equipment, her older warp drive did not automatically cycle out empty cells.

Her hooves squeezed the duel levers on her control yoke simultaneously, and a high-pitched whine filled the cockpit as her pulse drive spun up. The acceleration pulled her back, until the inertial dampeners kicked in and she could move around comfortably. Through the armored glass of her cockpit, the small lonely planet blurred into a dark smudge as her ship wobbled from an unbalanced engine thrust. Her computers automatically adjusted her ship’s vector, but it did not make the trip any more visually appealing.

This ship had thousands of hours on it without undergoing a single scheduled overhaul. Sure, she had been able to replace old or worn out equipment on her own, but the stress of such a long journey had begun to take its toll on her weathered starship. The various background clattering from its matured systems felt more familiar to her ears than pure silence would, and it allowed her to pinpoint any problems just by a change in the vessel’s usual ambiance.

As Twilight Sparkle quickly shuffled through her ship’s laden cargo stores, an unexpected chime quickly alerted her senses and an ear swiveled around to pinpoint its source. Carefully setting down a crate of lustrous emril ore, the alicorn princess followed the sound back into her ship’s cockpit.

In front of her, a holographic bar had appeared overlaid on the background image of the blurry planet that slowly grew larger by each second. She then spotted an outlined circle of black towards the top portion of her canopy. Encased inside, an image of a crudely drawn pony skull sat ominously above a single line of text.

Hostile sub-space scan detected.

‘What?” Twilight took a defensive step back. “That doesn’t make any sense!” She hesitated for a moment before climbing back into her seat and locking its straps securely in place. Reaching down, she lifted up her helmet from its stand next to her chair and slipped it on over her head.

The Equestrians have never initiated a hostile scan; ever! The most they’ve ever done is a cursory scan to narrow down my location. She tightened her lips and narrowed her eyes at this latest realization. Do they really find me as a threat now? After all that I have done to dissuade them? Are they panicking now that I am so close to my goal? She felt a knife stab through her heart and anger broiled up through her veins. Twilight Sparkle had just reached a hoof out to key her ship’s communication suite when another dire message flashed on her front canopy.

Hostile sub-space scan found valuable cargo.

“Valuable cargo?” Twilight spoke out loud to herself before pressing the switch to broadcast on all frequencies. “Hello? Captain? What are you looking for?” Too late she understood the significance of the probing when she waited for a response that would never come. Instead of a friendly hail, the dreaded skull icon once more appeared in front of her with a new alert.

WARNING – HOSTILE SHIPS ON APPROACH.

The horseshoe dropped at the moment when her pulse drive sputtered and died, leaving her with only her traditional sub-light engines to use. Though it definitely needed a little calibrating, the trusty inter-planetary drive had never failed on its own before. What now began to terrify her was the fact that if the Captain and his fighter wing chasing her had such technology to be able to remotely shut down the engine, they would have surely used it by now.

That only leaves one possibility… pirates! Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shot to the intervening distance between her and the planet. The numbers dwindled down but nowhere near quickly enough for her. She had met her fair share of aliens in the beginning parts of her journey, but they all seemed too callous, too distrustful, or too violent for her taste.

Twilight felt the cold creeping tendrils of fear sliding over her mind. Her darting eyes dashed across the expanse of stars outside of her canopy, looking for any sign of the approaching pirates. In a panic, she gripped the pedals on her control yoke to reignite her pulse drive. Instead of the reassuring high pitched wailing she associated with her inter-planetary thruster, all she heard was a pitiful moan as another warning flashed on her canopy.

Pulse Engine Interference Detected.

“No… no… no… No!” Twilight Sparkle repeatedly squeezed the accelerator triggers on her control yoke but the engine refused to start. All of a sudden, something struck her ship hard and then again, and again. A steady rhythm of hammer blows rocked her little spacecraft fore and aft, while the view outside the cockpit was replaced with a blinding fusillade of infernal red light. Somepony was screaming and only when the attack had ended did she realize that it had been coming from herself.

Whimpering in panic, Twilight ramped her sub-light thrusters to full and she pulled the exploratory craft in a tight turn away from the lonely planet. It represented the only safety she had but she knew she would never make it in time. The first strafing run had hit hard, and her eyes scanned over the system readouts in front of her. Luckily it seemed her shield had borne the brunt of the attack.

Shields at sixty-seven percent. Twilight worked on the math through her head as stars swung about at dizzyingly speeds. She spotted the nearest cluster of asteroids and vectored in towards the densest region she could see. I need to find cover.

The gangly insect-like spaceship rocketed around the outermost asteroids, neatly avoiding any of the tumbling bolides. As she placed a house-sized rock between her and where she thought her attackers might be, a line of glowing red photon shells flew by harmlessly missing her by dozens of meters. They didn’t anticipate that turn. Twilight felt a small rise of elation grow in her chest. Maybe I can get through this.

No sooner had the thought formed in her head when another pirate ship unleashed a much closer burst of its starship cannon. They stitched a line across a mountainous asteroid in front of her ship, blowing off huge chunks of it. Twilight bit down on her tongue with concentration as she spun her ship through a hole that extended all the way through the floating rock. On the other side, she yanked back on her yoke just in time as another incoming wave of fire passed right through the empty space where she would have otherwise been.

Twilight Sparkle continued the turn, coming up and over the now donut-shaped asteroid, where she could now see the pirate fleet chasing her. Seventeen ships! Any inkling that she had felt about escaping unscathed trickled away completely. In its place, she began to feel the inevitability of her inescapable fate.

The nearest hostile spotted her and it pulled up to bring its weapons to bear. Before the pirate could open fire, Twilight answered with her phase beam; the lone weapon she had installed on her spacecraft. For a split second, twin brilliant columns of golden light snapped into existence and linked her ship with the aggressor’s. Then, just as quickly as it happened, the lights vanished and the pirate’s ship broke apart in a tumbling explosion of flame and metal.

Her unexpected retaliation threw the incoming fleet into disarray, and the rest of the pirates scrambled to avoid her oncoming vessel. It didn’t dissuade them in the slightest, as she could see them coming about on her radar, but it bought her a few seconds at most. She took advantage of the respite and threw her ship off to the left at full throttle, hoping to reach another group of orbiting asteroids.

Sixteen versus one. I can’t outrun them, and I can’t use either of my FTL drives with their jammers activated. Twilight’s ears fell and she closed her eyes shut as the only option she had dawned on her. I have to try to fight my way out. A glance at her ship’s shield and hull integrity answered the unspoken question about her chances in the upcoming battle.

With nothing else she could do, the alicorn princess narrowed her gaze and kicked her thrusters around to turn back towards the pirate fleet. Already, the much nimbler vessels had formed up in a chevron formation aimed straight at her. Twilight Sparkle let out a primal yell, gripping the phase beam’s trigger as every ship opened fire simultaneously, and the universe filled with light.

Chapter 6

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood her ground against impossible odds. As fast as it could recharge, phase beam after phase beam stabbed into the pirate fleet harassing her for her cargo hold’s valuable stores. Her ship shuddered and shook from repeated hits; the sharper ones indicating direct impacts on its reinforced hull. Armored for extended deep space travel, it had never been designed to shrug off starship-grade weaponry.

Brilliant red motes danced across her vision, yet she continued forward. One, two, three explosions felled a trio of attackers. Almost as soon as it had begun, her battered starship burst out of the engagement zone and into empty space. The science-oriented vessel had suffered heavily from the onslaught, and Twilight could feel it fighting her commands.

The moment the wave of pirates had passed, her eyes shot down to evaluate the damage done to her ship. Shields offline… hull integrity falling… not enough raw oxide elements in my cargo hold to recharge my shielding systems.

A lump grew in Twilight’s throat. Only four enemy ships eliminated and there were thirteen left. After the damage she had sustained, it only meant that the odds against her had grown worse. Almost depressingly, she began to accept that she lived on borrowed time. I have no other choice.

She brought her ship around in a sharp turn to try and force her hunters to react individually before they could consolidate and overwhelm her with their superior numbers. They dispersed, as she suspected, but then something else happened that she had not been expecting. A flurry of light blue specks danced over her cockpit towards the lagging bandit vessels which had lingered too close in their arrogance of her lonely starship. Overconfidence proved to be their demise as they broke apart in a fiery finale.

A grey hulled starship screamed overhead, thrusters firing as it slowed down to come alongside her vessel. Twilight Sparkle’s fears about this stranger vanished the instant she spotted the Equestrian standard underneath the newcomer’s canopy. “Princess Twilight,” a familiar voice sounded over her communicator, “the cavalry is here. We’ve got your back.”

Twilight choked back a sob. Blinking away the tears that had distorted her vision, she spotted the pony who had followed her all the way from home. Even through her blurry eyes, she could see him waving at her. Keying her radio, she collected herself before sending a short reply. “You have no idea how good it is to see you again.”

“Then let’s do this together. All fighters, form up on the Princess’ ship; standard triad formation.” On either side of her vessel, Twilight spotted the rest of his squadron match her speed and vector. The more nimble Equestrian fighters had been designed for ship to ship combat, and that was a role they were more than willing to fill if it meant defending a Princess of Equestria.

“Alright, follow me, Miss Sparkle, and stay behind my ship. We will engage the remaining pirates while covering you.” The Captain called over her radio again. “Stay close and we will get through this. Ready yourself!”

The Equestrian fighter surged forward to take up a position in front of her own vessel. Then he banked left to initiate a gentle roundabout turn, one that she easily copied even with the sluggishness she felt from the controls. Her flight path continuously wobbled, but it was nothing she couldn’t adjust on her own. Twilight’s gangly starship had taken quite a beating, but it still trudged on.

Slowly, the Equestrian ships came about to face the hostile alien squadron. After losing four of their own to a single science vessel, they came in for blood. The flare from their engines running at full burn was easily visible to the naked eye. A swarm of angry red projectiles came flying across the void, yet they dissipated and cooled off completely as they opened fire well before they had gotten in range.

“Engage on my command!” The Captain’s voice filled her helmet. Twilight felt a cold sweat dampen her coat despite the best efforts of her life support systems. Trembling hooves gripped the control stick in front of her but she held her ship as steady as she could. Angled slightly off to one side of the fighter in front of her, it gave her a small window to still utilize her ship’s weapon systems. I may be damaged, but I am not out of this fight.

The two fleets closed the distance rapidly. Now, Twilight could even make out the seemingly random assortment of ship designs used by the bandits. No two pirates shared the same likeness. The incoming barrage grew nearer and nearer to the point where she could see the plasma globules evaporate into expanding gas clouds. Having reached the end of their short energetic lives, the Equestrians passed harmlessly through what was now just a thin vaporous fog.

Twilight Sparkle grew antsy in her seat, wondering when the command to open fire would be given. Being outnumbered, she understood that they had to wait for the perfect moment to maximize the efficiency of their retaliatory strike. Opening fire too soon would waste precious time by prematurely taxing their weapon’s heat dissipation systems, and opening fire too late obviously allowed the larger pirate fleet to engage them first. It had to be perfect.

It came down to the wire, and Twilight had just reached the limits of her patience when the call came over her helmet’s radio. “Fire at will!”

No sooner had he given the order when every Equestrian ship opened fire as one. Twilight’s phase beam struck out at the aggressor fleet, slicing cleanly through one of the attacking ships just ahead of the flurry of slower cerulean photon projectiles. No less deadly in their own regard, brilliant flashes indicated direct hits of the Equestrian weapons on the enemy.

The pirates did not go down quietly, and now that they were in range of their prey, it also meant that Twilight and the other ponies were in range of the aliens as well. Hellish lights danced by her cockpit and out of the corner of her eye, she saw several of them slam into her fellow ponies’ shields. Twilight gasped as the Captain’s vessel in front of her bore the brunt of the incoming barrage.

Twilight fired as fast as she could but she began to question how much longer they could hold up against the barrage when one by one, the pirate’s guns went quiet. At first, it stunned her since the closing formations had yet to pass one another, but she soon realized what had happened. Their weapons overheated!

It was an opening that the Captain of the Equestrian squadron had apparently been waiting for. “Alright, time to break formation! Stick close to your wingponies! I will stay with the Princess!”

The triangular formation peeled open as the Equestrian fighters split off in pairs to chase down the pirates before their guns could cool down. In their panic, several aliens lost all semblance of proficiency or skill and they tried fleeing on their own. In the end, however, this only made them easier to hunt down and destroy.

Not all of the aggressors turned tail and ran, and Twilight’s helmet soon filled with a babble of several different ponies all reading their statuses back to their squadron leader. Her ears twitched as she tried to focus on the updates pouring over her speakers, but the distraction nearly proved to be her undoing. A brutal impact on her starboard side knocked her hard against her restraints. Twilight quickly recovered and looked out the side of her canopy to see one of the larger pirate vessels bearing down on her ship.

The pilot inside had apparently not been sidetracked by the other Equestrian fighters and it had its sights set on Twilight’s weakened ship. Its photon cannons had cooled off by now, and another series of glowing shells raced across space to connect against her hull. Alarms and flashing lights filled the cockpit and warning popups jostled for her attention, none of them bearing good news.

Twilight Sparkle yanked the struggling science craft around and fired at the pirate as soon as it entered her targeting envelope. The powerful laser could break down the toughest asteroids in a single shot, yet this enemy proved to be more resilient. Her ship-borne weapon set the incoming vessel on fire, but it still accelerated towards her.

She futilely tried to continue the sharp banking maneuver, but she knew it was too late. Twilight Sparkle braced for the devastating impact soon to occur when a nearly blinding light came around from her left. The alicorn mare blinked the spots from her vision in time to witness a familiar grey-hulled starship fly in on a column of blue fire before it pulled in front of the oncoming pirate.

“No!” Twilight screamed as the two vessels connected. In the blink of an eye, the heavier alien craft punched through the smaller Equestrian fighter just behind the cockpit. The impact caused enough damage to force the burning attacker to veer off and miss her own starship by no more than a dozen feet.

Twilight’s eyes didn’t even follow the pirate ship as it passed by close enough to almost touch. All she could do was stare forward at the expanding cloud of debris that was once an Equestrian fighter. One that was piloted by a friend.

Her eyes blinked once, and she collected herself. Quickly accelerating forward, she slid the harness off of her shoulders and double checked her suit’s integrity. I don’t have much time, but there is still a chance… Twilight’s thoughts trailed off as she dumped all of the air in her cabin and pressed the override to open her canopy. In the middle of a pitched space battle, the little pony stepped clear of her spacecraft and leapt into the void.

Chapter 7

I can almost imagine seeing it from here. Twilight Sparkle peered out of the front canopy of her starship. This close to my goal, and yet I’ve never felt further. She kept her eyes glued on a patch of glowing clouds and brilliant suns. No different in appearance from any other direction in space, this particular portion of endless sky led to the core of the galaxy.

She pictured it now; settling herself in the worn but comfortable pilot’s seat, performing the same processes she had done countless times before, seeing the blurring prismatic palate of ever changing patterns, and then finally arriving at her destination. The universe would stretch back into normalcy except that she would not be in any normal solar system. Unique in its composition, this final system had something at its heart that it shared with no other place in the entire galaxy.

A super massive black hole. Four million suns worth of matter, crushed into an infinitesimally small point, warped space around its center so harshly that nothing can ever escape. This point of no return extends in a horizon that stretches outward for nearly fifty million kilometers. All of the magic in all of the galaxies could not help me escape once I cross that line, yet I still intend to make that journey. Twilight thought the temperature had dropped in the cabin even though a quick glance at her life support systems told her otherwise.

I have run the numbers again and again. She reminded herself, trying to stave off the anxiety that had plagued her thoughts with increasing occurrence over the last few days. My warp drive should be able to weave around the singularity and jump me safely to a nearby galaxy. The intense gravitational gradient should boost the FTL capabilities of my ship enough to bridge that inter-galactic gap.

In the middle of Twilight’s musings, her ears swiveled back when the sound of fabric rustling from behind interrupted her own brooding thoughts. She stood up in her seat and turned around to face rest of her slender ship. A short passageway extended past several shelves of stores and various equipment banks before ending at a bulkhead containing her living quarters.

The tiny compartment could not accommodate many amenities, but it still had enough room for a comfortable living space. Pictures of many of the wonderful things she had seen adorned each wall. From frozen mountain peaks dominating the sky underneath a shimmering polar aurora, to giant vistas of glowing nebulas serving as stellar nurseries for the next generation of stars, she had seen everything in between. Her favorite sights earned the honor of having a place in her cramped quarters.

It was one of these various snapshots taken during her long and tedious journey that caught the attention of a pony climbing out of her bed. One forehoof still encased in a damaged, yet un-breached layer of polymer touched a particular snapshot of a garden world she had visited several weeks prior. An ivory beach sloped away from a luscious verdant forest down to a cool blue sea. A small wave had just crashed, sending a torrent of frothy bubbles racing up the shore to be followed by a small flock of flying creatures hunting for a meal in the surf. This moment, frozen in time, was one of her fondest memories and she never wanted to forget it.

“This reminds me of a beach I once used to visit.” The pony spoke after a lengthy silence. “Every year, my family traveled south when I was out of school. I spent many summers as a young colt playing in the waves.”

Twilight felt a lump grow in her throat. The stallion’s words had dredged up memories of a place she had tried so hard to forget. Equestria….

Thankfully, her downward spiraling thoughts were momentarily dispelled when her visitor’s reflective faceplate turned towards her. “How long was I out?”

“Three hours.” She spoke quickly, staring at the pair of lavender eyes mirrored back at her, making it impossible to hide from her own discomfort. “Your life signs stabilized as soon as I brought you on board so I let you rest.”

The pony nodded and took stock of his situation, studying the space suit he still wore. Several scorch marks marred its surface, and a few deep punctures had nearly breached its final protective layer. His gaze returned to hers and she answered his unspoken question.

“Your suit was damaged and I was afraid of hurting you if I tried to remove it on my own.”

She could have sworn that he laughed. His shoulders bounced somewhat jovially and he placed a suited forehoof against his helmet. A small shake of his head preceded a long moment of silence, only broken by the intermittent buzzing and beeping of her ship’s venerable mechanisms. Finally, he spoke and asked the one question she had been dreading. “Why did you leave?”

Twilight swallowed thickly. “It was for your safety.”

“My safety?” He asked almost more as an accusation, than a question.

The alicorn mare narrowed her eyes and widened her stance. “I could not allow any more harm to come to the ponies of Equestria. Since the day I moved to Ponyville, Equestria has been attacked over and over again. Whether it be from corruption, chaos, changelings, or any of the other countless threats we have faced, there was always one common denominator.”

“And what was that?” The stallion mirrored her pose and the two ponies squared off against one another.

“Me! It was I who brought this upon you and the only way to keep you all safe was to leave; forever if need be. It was the only way.” She flared her wings for emphasis. “It was the only way to find peace.”

“Is that so? Then what did you find on your journey, Princess?” Twilight felt the venom lacing his tone as it grew in volume. “Did you find any friends? Did you find any allies? Did you find the peace you were looking for?”

Twilight felt herself shirking involuntarily away from him as each accusation felt like a physical blow. The pony took a step forward as his voice increased to a shout, and she tried to back away from him, only to feel her pilot’s seat bump against her rear, trapping her. She shrunk down, flinching at every harsh syllable directed at her when all of a sudden, the stallion stopped and froze.

Standing right in front of her, he finally noticed the terror plastered on her face. His shoulders sagged as he lowered his head in deference to her and he let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, Twilight.”

“It’s… okay.” She had trouble forming the words and her voice was only a mere whisper. Twilight felt no animosity towards the pony in front of her. However, his words still cut deeper than the sharpest knife because they had more than just a hint of truth to them, and she had refused to see it until now. What did I find on my journey? I’ve met several alien civilizations, but none of them had any of the answers I sought. They only brought me misery and pain.

One race seemed obsessed with nothing but war and conflict. Their whole society was built upon the ideals of confrontation and triumph. With the sentinels who endlessly patrolled the galaxy, they found a natural adversary, and. Twilight remembered many a dark night lit by the ambient light of their orbital engagements. Her own little science vessel only served as target practice to them and so she learned quickly to give their ships a wide berth.

Another race searched for enlightenment and they had given up their living bodies ages ago. Hiding behind blinking faceplates, they either paid no attention to her, or they chased her around with terrifying invasive experiments. What could a life form still trapped in living flesh ever hope to offer them, except to act as a test bed for some new painful laboratory procedure? Spurned by their apparent disregard for her wellbeing, Twilight kept her distance from them.

The third most common race were almost entirely comprised of shrewd traders. Many times they had tried to swindle her out of her ship, leaving her stranded forever. Her life and future held absolutely no value to them. All they cared for was what she could do to increase their wealth, no matter the consequences to her. Twilight learned she could never trust them, no matter how good a deal sounded.

The more she thought about the alien civilizations residing in the galaxy, the more she began to miss home. Am I just fooling myself that I would find answers out here? She blinked her eyes back to focus on the suited hoof held out in front of her. Reaching forward with her own, she grasped the stallion’s foreleg and he helped her stand back up.

“Twilight, what you have done for Equestria created something wonderful; something worth taking. That is the real reason why you have had to fight for it, over and over again. You ushered in a new golden era that has enriched so many lives. Not just for ponies but dragons, griffons, and many others owe so much to you and your friends.”

The stallion placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder before continuing on. “The best part is that you don’t have to carry this burden on your own. No matter what the future might bring, you will always have your friends and family to stand by your side. You aren’t alone anymore.”

Her vision blurred in and out of focus, forcing her to blink away the moisture threatening to build up. She fought to say something, anything, but her throat completely seized up. I don’t know if I can.

“Come home, Twilight.”

Memories poured forth of their own accord. She saw her friends again, smiling at her, beckoning her. Faces she had tried so hard to forget, she now remembered as if she had seen them yesterday. But it’s been so long.

“Come home with me.”

Twilight felt her legs wobble, threatening to give out under her. A wheezing grew in her throat as her lungs worked too hard to draw in short rapid breaths. She might have collapsed right there when a pair of steady hooves caught her and drew her in the first hug she had felt since the day she left.

Come home.

Epilogue

I never thought I would end up back here. Twilight Sparkle stood by herself, alone with just her thoughts. A gentle northern breeze pulled lightly at her mane and tail, and tickled along her coat, earning a reflexive shudder. It had been many moons since she had stood upon a world without her EVA suit, and it gave her a slight feeling of vulnerability.

On the balcony of her castle, the lavender alicorn lifted her head up and drew in a long breath through her nose. She smelled the vibrant scents of autumn’s end; apple trees ripe with fruit over at Sweet Apple Acres, the generous servings of cinnamon and nutmeg from Sugar Cube Corner, and even a faint smoky smell from the first fireplaces lighting up to warm their keepers. With winter right around the corner, only Equestria’s evergreens stood ready to withstand the colder weather sure to come.

The exhilaration she felt in her heart still held the chilly wind at bay and she was able to suppress another shiver from the next northern gust. She felt as light on her feet now as she had when her ship completed its last and final jump. Seeing that special blue and green marble again dispelled any doubts she might have had about turning back.

She could not accelerate home fast enough, and her sole passenger had to remind her more than once to take it easy. It would have been unfortunate to have something blow out on her ship so close to the end of their voyage. Though he kept his calm much better than she did, he still gaped slack-jawed along with her when they crossed over the vast celestial sea and the shores of Equestria came into view.

Twilight had nearly whooped for joy when she recognized the cities of Manehattan and Fillydelphia situated on the winding coast line. At their altitude, they had the rare opportunity of being able to spot both metropolises at the same time. From there, it was a gentle decent all the way past Canterlot and a textbook touchdown in Ponyville’s landing field.

From her perch on the castle, she could see ponies meandering along the town’s winding streets to her castle. The ones who noticed her waved cheerily and she happily returned the gesture. Many carried containers of food or drinks, meant for the party currently being set up downstairs by a certain pink earth pony.

Twilight stared off into the distance where she could just barely see Canterlot lit up by the setting sun behind her. All across Equestria, celebrations like the one unfolding in her castle were apparently being thrown in honor of her return. The entire nation welcomed their princess home with open hooves.

A voice echoed through the castle halls, shouting that they were ready for her to come downstairs. Twilight took one last look across Ponyville before turning around to walk back inside her room. As she made her way past her bed, she eyed a stack of metal crates along the far wall. The top most one had its lid unlatched and open, allowing her to see the device that sat inside. My multi-tool.

She altered her course and stopped in front of the stack. Lifting a hoof, she gently ran it along the multi-tool’s smooth rounded surface. I was so close to reaching the center. Twilight’s lavender eyes remained glued on the sidearm that had held the role of her only companion for many months. Just one more jump and I would have made it.

Twilight Sparkle blinked, taking a half step back from the case. Then, she spun around and took in her room once more. Her bed, her telescope, her favorite books, and then the pictures of her and her best friends she had hanging on the wall; all of these were mementos of her life here. A life I nearly abandoned forever.

A spark of determination flashed across her eyes and she turned once more towards her multi-tool. Reaching out, Twilight Sparkle eased the lid closed and locked it with a soft click. She had no more use for it anymore.

Princess Twilight Sparkle walked away from the crate, making her way towards the doorway to the rest of her castle. In her heart, she finally accepted where her future lay. It wasn’t to leave and explore the universe far away from home. It was to be here in Equestria with her friends and family; to spread friendship and make the world a merrier place.

Just before she crossed the threshold, she remembered something said to her by one of those friends; a pony who had risked everything because he thought she was worth saving. No matter what the future might bring, I will always have my friends and family to stand by my side. And with that thought, she stepped over the threshold and into the next chapter of her life.

Author's Note

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this story!

Here are some Author's notes in case anyone is curious.

I wrote this story alongside my other tale, Heart of Courage, partially because of several reasons. (The two stories are not related and do not exist in the same universe, just as a disclaimer)
First, even though the game, No Man's Sky, did have many issues and problems, I still found enjoyment on the exploration factor of the game. For all it's flaws, I did have fun playing it. I actually had a dream one night that was very similar to the plot of this story, except it was me instead of Twilight. After I woke up, I thought it might be a good Crossover story with FiM.
Second, I was also inspired by Cynewulf's story, 80 Days 'Til the World's Farthest Shore. It is a wonderful piece of work if you haven't read it yet. I don't want to ruin the story, but the same idea of Twilight leaving home to find herself on an adventure helped me write my own story.
Finally, the movie Inception and its soundtrack definitely helped me write the ending. Time is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard and I basically had it on repeat while I wrote this epilogue.

With that said, I also want to make a shout out to MrScroup for letting me use his amazing artwork for this story. Here is a link to his Deviant Art account. He is a very talented artist.

Some of you were curious, so I wanted to put on the record that I intentionally wanted to be vague about Twilight's past, what may have led her to leave Equestria, and the identity of the pony who was chasing her. There were a few small hints as to what might have happened to her back in Ponyville, but I wanted to leave the rest, as well as who the pony who followed her was, up to your imaginations and own headcanon. :twilightsmile:

Thanks again for reading my story!

Chapter 2

A blinding light filled the cockpit and the universe at large flashed back into existence. Twilight blinked away the stars dancing across her vision as she took in the new solar system, never before visited by her kind. A healthy blue star lay nestled at its heart many millions of miles away. By the passive sensor readings she could pick up, the massive solar furnace pumped out enough energy to host life on half a dozen planets and moons.

Too bad I don’t have time to catalog everything. The mare thought with some indignation. I don’t know how long I have until my pursuers show up. They should be right on my tail.

Twilight had bypassed the last fifteen or so stars she had encountered, attempting to widen the gap between her and the ships chasing her. This put a serious drain on her stored resources and her ship was flying with a nearly empty cargo hold now. Even though her destination lay only two or three more jumps away, she would have to restock somewhere in this system if she wanted to continue her journey.

“Okay,” she spoke to herself as she checked on her inventories, “I need carbon… that’s easy to find…. I have plenty of plutonium left…. My heridium stores are a little low and I definitely need zinc…. And finally, I have plenty of thamium.” Twilight nodded to herself for work well done now that she had a plan.

The alicorn mare fiddled with her ship’s controls and she initiated an active system-wide scan. Her ship’s computer buzzed as it processed the data and several points of interest appeared overlaying on her canopy window. Red icons with a long thin line connecting to whatever planet or moon they were located on all vied for her attention.

Twilight then lifted a hoof up and flicked on a switch in the top left console to begin recording. “This is Twilight Sparkle. It is day two hundred and sixty on my journey and I am currently orbiting a class O blue giant star. There are four planets and two moons, and after a cursory scan, I have discovered several notable points of interest.”

She cleared her throat before continuing. “There is an abandoned building on one of the moons, a transmission tower on the other, and I think I may have found a monument on the planet my warp drive dropped me off next to. Unfortunately, I am only here for resources before I must continue on. If somepony ever visits here again, I hope they can use this information to give them a head start on exploration. This is Twilight Sparkle, signing off.”

A quick command on her main console, and the recording, along with any information she had gathered since her last data drop all uploaded into a small canister and shot off into space. It sped away on a specific flight path to make any pursuing ship think she had launched it from the farthest world from the sun. A beacon on its side strobed every few seconds, ensuring it would be easily seen by her pursuers. Even though she knew they were trying to catch up to her, she trusted that they would make sure it would be sent back home.

Satisfied that her findings would not go to waste, Twilight looked over the star system around her and worked on deciding her next course of action. She only had time to visit one world, so it better have the resources she needed. The three that her scanner failed to pick up anything would be a gamble to explore, and they might be lacking in one or more of the things she needed. That left the remaining two moons and the large planet in front of her.

Twilight looked at the abandoned building icon and suppressed a shiver. She had already seen plenty of those structures on her journey to the galaxy’s center and she felt no inclination to see another one ever again. Whatever monster created the life forms within haunted her dreams on more than one occasion. I don’t want to wake up screaming in the middle of the night ever again.

She then glanced at the monument situated on the planet below her. Ancient stone data banks constructed during a time before life crawled out of the primordial seas of Equestria’s shores. They held stories and memories of species long gone; legions of ghosts that refused to go quietly into the night. Their downfalls and triumphs plastered all over the minds of anypony unfortunate enough to trigger them. I can’t stand living through another hundred lives, not when I have no power to help them in any way.

Finally she looked at the transmission signal. Its moon seemed promising, sharing a location not too far or too close to the system’s sun. By her estimates, it lay in a perfect position for unintelligent life to flourish until the super massive star burned up its fuel in the next hundred million years or so. That being said, she knew what tended to accompany such active towers. Finding a crashed starship and the remains of a fellow traveler always weighed heavily on her heart. It reminds me how fragile my life can be.

In the end, her conscious overruled her. It is the right thing to lay them to rest. It is what I would want.

Steeling herself, Twilight brought her ship around to orient on one of the larger moons she had ever seen. Depressing the acceleration bars of her control yoke, her vessel’s pulse drive kicked on and forced her into the soft padded seat of her nimble exploration craft. She dashed forward several times the speed of light, safely encased in a light warping bubble. Her ship shuddered as it made the journey, forcing her to bite down, lest her teeth rattle together.

The moon grew rapidly larger until it filled her entire canopy. Aqua seas intermixed with grey mountain ranges and fiery red forests formed a pallet of beauty in front of her. A rumble sounded and the proximity sensors on her ship automatically cut off her pulse drive. Twilight took over the controls and she brought the craft in for a gentle decent into the moon’s atmosphere on its sunward facing side.

She angled in for the transmission tower and accelerated forward. Hills whizzed by underneath her and she easily spotted several of the glossy pillars common on so many planets she had visited. At least I know one element I won’t struggle to find.

The seconds trickled down until she spotted a small cluster of buildings on a raised plateau. Skillfully, she brought her ship in and landed close by the entrance of a larger habitat. Twilight hopped out and ignored the twin smaller shelters nearby, as they held nothing of importance to her. Various crates and boxes seemed haphazardly placed in a disorganized fashion across the flattened mesa. Obviously no one had been here in a long time.

It was a simple task to boot up the facility’s computer and solve its encryption key. As the system rebooted and powered up, she glanced around the room that had apparently lay empty for quite some time. Unattended scanner tool upgrades she already knew, alien stock transfer funds that meant nothing to her, and several dead potted plants whose lack of care drew her ire attention. If someone had been properly monitoring this transmission station, maybe the distress signal would have been heard in time.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and she fell back into her natural analytical routine to sidetrack her wandering mind. The tower finally displayed a message that had remained hidden for many years. Her suit analyzed it and quickly determined the location of its source.

A chittering alien language came over her helmet’s speakers mixed in with an alarm in the background. It continued speaking, trying to be heard over the incessant wailing when until an explosion drowned out the creature’s voice for a moment. As it cleared she could pick up on the sounds of a starship engine tearing itself apart, and the pilot’s pleas for help turning into uncontrolled screaming that ended abruptly with a crackling hiss of static.

She closed her eyes and turned her head away. I only hope that it felt no pain.

Her suit zeroed in on its location, and Twilight closed the transmission computer before leaving the uninhabited building at a brisk trot. After listening to the alien traveler’s last moments, dark thoughts muddled her mind, but as soon as the felt the sun grace her face once more, the alicorn mare slowed to a walk and she worked to focus on other things. While she made her way back to her ship, she took a look around and spotted the crashed ship an hour’s walk away.

The estimated time of arrival dwindled to a hoofful of seconds once she had brought her ship online and a short hop over the nearby mountains allowed her to see the crash with her own eyes. A small single-seat cargo hauler had slammed into an open plain. From this distance, she could pick out a few intermittent sparks arching between various pieces of broken technology tough enough to survive the test of time.

Twilight had little trouble removing the broken pilot’s body from the crash and burying it before setting a small marker on its grave. The ship itself held no bounty for her, as her current craft outclassed it in every way. Even so, she felt a fleeting, yet no less satisfying, sensation of peace take hold over her. Though it lasted for no longer than a heartbeat at most, the alicorn princess treasured that moment more than all the gold in the universe.

Pleased with her lonely memorial, Twilight left the burnt out husk of a ship and worked on restoring her mineral supplies from nearby resource caches. A cluster of thick crimson crystals projecting into the toxic air caught her eye immediately. Wasting no time, she drew her compact multi-tool from its holster in a violet aura, and proceeded to mine all before her.

Next to the plutonium reserves, she turned her attention to a grove of alien trees. Brilliant red leaves flourished on their many branches. Twilight scanned and analyzed the species before she used her mining beam to harvest its pure carbon. Her blank stare faded into a frown as she did so. Such beautiful trees. I am so sorry I have to do this.

Her heart ached as each tree burned up into a burst of elemental carbon, which her suit gobbled up to be stored back on her ship. So focused on what was before her, she failed to notice an angry buzzing behind her until the first kinetic shots rebounded off her passive shield. Staggering forward, Twilight spun around in time to watch two sentinel drones converging on her, opening fire on her position.

Present on nearly every single world she had visited, Twilight learned early on to avoid sentinel drones whenever she could. Though they were not much smaller than her, they could fly and their twin cannons could dish out some serious harm. The robotic machines patrolled endlessly, searching for anything not native on the many planets of the galaxy, and they had just found a little pony interfering with the natural way of things.

Outnumbered, she took off running, and the sentinels gave chase. Twilight angled towards her ship but she had wandered far during her resource hunt. As she ran, the alicorn fired her multi-tool behind her in attempt to keep her attackers at bay, but if her suit’s readings were correct, they were already calling in backup.

Twilight dug her hooves into the soft topsoil around another grove of trees, neatly avoiding the next salvo of sentinel fire. Her ship’s distance now measured in mere seconds and she tried to kick it up another notch. Galloping for all her worth, the lavender pony did not notice the electronic crescendo of a heavy laser powering up until her world turned to red.