The Spirit of Harmony. 1,500 years ago, the great spirit was but a seed of pure magic, planted by the Pillars of Old Equestria on the eve of their final battle against the Pony of Shadows.

From this seed sprung the Tree of Harmony, and from the Tree sprouted the Elements: holy artifacts that could banish evil from the stars. Through these Elements, Princesses Celestia and Luna kept the Equis System safe from invasion against countless foes.

But Harmony's true power would not be seen for a Millennium more.

Twilight Sparkle: the Princess of Friendship and Heir to the Element of Magic. While Equestrians may have touched the stars before, it was Twilight who united them. Yakyakistan, The Dragon Worlds, The Changeling Hive, The Crystal Empire, and many others forged what would be called the Friendship Alliance.

From Twilight, the Tree of Harmony grew in strength, it's holy spirit reaching out to those that embodied it's defining traits. Until...500 years after Twilight Sparkle was declared ruler of The Equestrian Empire and unspoken leader of the Friendship Alliance, it migrated from it's home world to the edge of the galaxy and transformed once more...into a wormhole.

Gateway of Harmony: 502 years AU(after unity)

Brighter Tomorrow tried his best to stop smiling, but he just couldn't help it.

Three weeks ago, he was just beaten out of the captain's chair of The Envoy by his older brother Warm Welcome. As disappointed as he was, he nonetheless received the right to command Second Contact into the alien galaxy.

Three weeks later, and Brighter Tomorrow is on his way to meet with none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, and he could only of one reason: it was time.

The automatic door opened on it's own, beckoning Brighter Tomorrow into the General's Quarters. General Star Gazer would undoubtedly have debriefed Brighter Tomorrow herself, but Princess Twilight appeared to be just as excited about establishing long-lasting relations with another galaxy as Bright himself.

Brighter Tomorrow stepped into the quarters...and grew concerned.

Star Gazer and Princess Twilight both wore what Bright could only describe as haunted expressions. Star Gazer hesitating slightly before returning Bright's salute, and Twilight looking over the stallion with an analyzing eye.

What she saw was a cloud white Pegasus with a light yellow mane and tail, bright blue eyes, a captain's vest with three service medals, and a Cutie Mark depicting a sun shining upon a village.

Twilight's worry began to grow, but she shoved it aside and addressed Bright with a professional voice. "Captain Brighter Tomorrow: accredited with thirteen flight missions across five different vessels. Ten of which were uneventful, three of which were interrupted by bandits that you managed to fight off...one of which ended with you detaining one of the bandits and ultimately lead to the capture of the rogue Dragon Blaze and the Diamond Dogs he had been forcing to do his bidding...you are noted as pleading for the liberation force to be merciful to the Diamond Dogs in spite of their crimes and having fed and cared for your prisoner in spite of him killing your second in command during the initial attack."

"...that is correct ma'am-er Your Highness." Brighter Tomorrow.

Twilight's expression softened a little. "Just Twilight is fine. I was wondering if you could tell me the story of your Cutie Mark."

The request took Bright off guard. "M-my um my mark? Well, it started in my home, the Cloudsdale Nebula. My brother and I had become lost during a tour of weather factory, and some jerk had told my brother that stupid story about Pegasi murdering foals that can't fly in order to grind into rainbows...I love my brother, but he can be way too trusting."

"Anyway, I managed to calm him down and convince that the story was that, a story, and I found a spot in the factory that looked familiar and managed to find our way back to the tour group. That's when I realized that my purpose was to help others get over their fears and misery." Bright concluded.

"And you are willing to show mercy to creatures who hurt the ones closest to you." Twilight added.

That sentence sent a chill down Bright's spine, and he suddenly remembered what he believed to be his purpose here. "Has...has something happened to The Envoy?"

Twilight gestured to a seat opposite her and Bright took it. The Princess then opened a file of what Bright recognized as satellite photos. "When we sent an exploratory vessel into a foreign galaxy, we had no idea what to expect. The Envoy was equipped with standard defensive capabilities, but primarily served to research and document from afar. What it documented...was a galaxy at war."

That singular word froze Bright's heart. Ponies were no strangers to war, but to think that an entire galaxy could swept up in such violence was unthinkable.

Twilight showed Bright some of the pictures. The first was a clear image, it showed large green apes with axes and ramshackle firearms charging a line of...Bright didn't know what they were, but they defended themselves with laser rifles.

The second showed what appeared to be metal bipedal skeletons shooting lightning at more bipedal beings similar to the ones that fought the green apes, but they wore different armor with pointed helmets and fired very strange weapons.

The third picture was the most troubling. Large, Minotaur shaped beings with blue armor facing...a blur. A blur that could only exist if the image was distorted, which was only possible through magic. But while Equestrian magic was known to scramble photography, it always looked like a blanket was wrapped around reality. This looked like reality had been cut open by a chainsaw, which painted a very frightening picture as to the nature of this magic.

Bright handed the photos back to Twilight, who spoke to him. "I have already shared this with the leaders of the Alliance. Initially, we were going to extract The Envoy. And leave things alone, but two days ago...we lost contact."

"...He's...he's dead?" Bright asked in barely a whisper.

"We don't know. What we do know is that his very first report wasn't about the galaxy's natives. Some unforeseen magical phenomenon infected every and Unicorn, Kirin, and Changeling aboard The Envoy...those that didn't die were driven insane and attacked the crew." Twilight stated.

"Wu-what could cause this?" Bright asked. Trying to imagine something so horrible.

"The only thing I can of is Chaos Magic, like Discord, but this is far more sinister. Nevertheless, we're not leaving our Ponies behind. We are currently refitting The Liberator with modern weapons and shielding, and rounding up volunteers who are willing to take the risk, but their isn't a single Pony currently willing to go on such a dangerous mission." Twilight explained.

Bright didn't need to be told why that was a bad thing. Dragons and Griffins may be good in a fight, but unless a respected officer tells them ahead of time, they don't really know when to stop. And it's a safe bet that at least one of these armies is just trying to survive without being enslaved, and other armies are probably just mostly slaves.

"If you're asking if I still want to be in charge of Second Contact, the answer is yes." Bright declared.

6 Days Later

The Liberator, the eldest Equestrian warship still intact. It was first commanded by Flash Magnus during the Dragon Wars, and had been pulled out of retirement three times...now four.

Bright mauled over the ship's history in his mind while he made his way to the bridge. It had been 500 years since the last time The Liberator was deployed during the Changeling invasion of Canterlot. It had since been repurposed as a museum. Now, it was being outfitted with the latest weapons created by the more aggressive races in the Alliance.

This would be the first time any of these weapons would be used in combat, as most of them were the result of Dragons trying to make blowing up asteroids more exciting. But some of those asteroids had been shielded when they exploded so...

Brighter Tomorrow shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't want to think about fighting, he'd leave that to his second in command while he figured how to stop the fighting.

This got his mind stuck on another unpleasant subject. Sub-Commander Arizona was one of the most well trained fighters in the Alliance's military and practically threw herself at the chance to prove herself in a real fight, there was just one problem Bright couldn't make peace with.

A Minotaur...it had to be a Minotaur. Bright tried his best not to profile creatures based on their species, but for all the exceptions to the norm of Ponies, Griffins, Dragons, and other races, he had neither met nor heard of a single Minotaur that wasn't wholly devoted to cementing themself as the most obnoxious creature in existence.

It was wrong, it was rude, and Bright promised to apologize to miss Arizona if she, by some miracle, proved him wrong.

Brighter Tomorrow finally made his way to the elevator leading to the bridge. After stating his destination and feeling the surge of gravity as he ascended, Bright pulled out a Tablet stating the ship's statistics, armaments and crewmembers.

The Liberator was abnormally large, primarily because of the large amount of empty space reserved for refugees in the event of planetary evacuation. The Dragons took full advantage of the ship's size and equipped it with a Worldbreaker Cannon: a large laser that could drill into a planet's core and had a built-in railgun beneath it. The railgun fired projectiles forged from the same rock that Queen Chrysalis had forged her throne from, allowing them to absorb any shields that could've protected the target from the laser.

As if a Cannon that turned a large ship into a floating tank wasn't enough, The Liberator also housed a missile fabricator and one hundred missile ports. As well as numerous smaller lasers across the ship's broadsides.

The ship's crew were just as aggressive as it's weapons. Griffins and Hippogriffs made up the majority of the personnel, followed by Dragons and Diamond Dog mercenaries, and of course...Minotaurs, over a hundred Minotaurs.

The doors to the elevator opened and Bright stepped out. Sub-Commander Arizona was right there with her back to him.

Bright cleared his throat. Please make me apologize. Please make me apologize.

The Minotaur turned and smiled. "Well howdy there Cap'n. Ready ta get this show on the road?" She asked with a salute

...did not call the bridge crew to attention. Was not at attention when she saluted. And clearly thinks this is some sort of game...well, at least she's wearing a top.

Bright returned the salute with a tired expression. "Sub-Commander Arizona I presume?"

"Yep. But you can call me Ari. Only my pop uses my full name. Anyway, the crew's ready to go when you are." Ari stated.

A quick glance behind the Minotaur showed that the Griffins and Hippogriffs manning the bridge had all snapped to attention while the two other Minotaurs, presumably security, were snickering at them for doing what they were supposed to. "...I can see that. As you were."

The bridge crew resumed their posts while Brighter Tomorrow took his seat in the Captain's Chair. "Helmsman, detach us."

"Aye aye Captain." Responded a Hippogriff who proceeded to detach The Liberator from the port in orbit around the Gateway.

Bright activated his private communications link."This is Captain Brighter Tomorrow requesting permission to begin Second Contact."

"This is Twilight Sparkle to Captain Brighter Tomorrow. Permission granted, good luck out there." Bright smiled in spite of himself. For all the tension and horror of the situation, it couldn't take away from how he's waited for this.

"...alright, take us in."

Author's Note

And so it begins. To clarify, Equestria did not go from interstellar to intergalactic in a millennium and a half. If you want a prologue chapter into further depth, I'll write it.

Arizona is based off the character of the same name from Them's Fighting Herds.

The Liberator looks like a Galleon, but without a flat top. And the Worldbreaker is half the ship's length plus and an extra eighth. The railgun's barrel is exactly one fifth the diameter of the laser.