No Pony's Sky

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.