Several Hours Earlier...
POV: Lieutenant Commander Simon Pershing
"So, that's the plan Captain?" I asked Captain Solace as we walked from the briefing room to the mess hall. "We're going to fly the Defender into the airspace of their largest city and basically ask them to 'take us to their leader.'?"

"You've been dying to say that, haven't you lieutenant?" She replied with a mixture of frustration and annoyance. "I've already heard the other captains joke around with that phrase when the decision was still out on who was going on this mission."

"It's a classic line, even if it is over two centuries old." I said with a grin. "Besides, how else will we ask to be brought to the highest ranking government official they have?"

"I was thinking of something similar to that, but more along the lines of 'we seek an audience with the ruler of these lands'." She shot back, before explaining. "We know they haven't developed spaceflight yet, so they are at best early-to-mid 1900s in comparison to our history and at worst, they're still in the renaissance age."

"So you're trying to keep the message as neutral as possible, that's actually a pretty good idea." I realized as we reached the mess hall and lined up for food. "Given the wide timeframe, a more specialized request like 'We request an meeting with the president' might sound weird to ask if their government is feudal and their leader is a monarch."

"Exactly, so we have to be as general in our communications as possible if we are going to avoid insulting someone." She said as she picked up her hamburger from the OMCS (Organic Material Cycle System). "Anyway, I'll see you later at the bridge, we'll begin the first phase of the operation after I meet with Commander Todo."

"Something feels off, how is it that we only have outdated information on this planet and its natives? It doesn't make any sense." I thought to myself as the Captain walked off. "It's almost like we were spying on them for years before the Garmillas war, but that is pretty much impossible since we've only had the ability to leave the Sol System for barely six years."

"Could it be we have another 'Envoy of Iscandar' situation?" I realized, remembering what happened when the planet of Iscandar made first contact with us.

It happened during the Garmillas-Earth war, when the Earth's surface was nothing more than irradiated rock due to the weaponized meteors known planet-bombs being employed by the Garmillans. Queen Stasha of the planet Iscandar, the planetary sibling of Garmillas, took pity on us and sent her two sisters, Sasha and Yurisha, to Earth in order to aid us in a test of her creation.

The test was to travel from Earth to Iscandar, collect the Iscandarian device known as the 'Cosmo Reverse', and return with it safely. The problem was that Iscandar was over one hundred sixty-eight thousand lightyears away from Earth and that the planet bomb radiation would have rendered the Human race extinct in a single year.

Since we didn't have anything capable of faster-than-light travel, Sasha and Yurisha brought parts and schematics for us to use in the creation the ship, named the Space Battleship Yamato, that was to make the journey to Iscandar alone. Sasha died when her ship's engines failed, while Yurisha survived her arrival, but was left in a coma following a terrorist bombing.

When the Yamato, built from the restored remains of her ancient battleship namesake, first took flight, Yurisha's unconscious body was set inside the ship's automatic navigation room to act as the map for the ship's computer so it could plan the route to Iscandar. After she woke up from her coma halfway through the trip, Yurisha acted as an observer for the crew and would eventually use her observations to plead our case to her sister when she denied us the Cosmo Reverse.

"Is possible? Could there a native of Eques Prime onboard, right now?" I asked myself as I tried to recall if there was any suspicious cargo brought aboard. "But there was nothing strange brought onboard in the cargo, so it seems unlikely that they are in a coma like Yurisha was.

As I ate my food, my mind sorted through all the possible options for how the native was kept hidden from the wider crew, slowly dismissing them one by one, before eventually landing on one last possible answer...

That they are hiding as a member of the crew...

Thirty Minutes Later...
POV: Captain Sarah Solace
"Commander, do you read me?" I asked before the computer screen flickered to life, revealing an image of Commander Todo sitting in his office. "Ah, there you are Commander."

"Please set aside my rank for now, this is supposed to be an informal meeting." He said before the screen split to reveal Captain Saki Todo, his daughter and captain of the Research Ship Ginga, sitting in her personal quarters. "Ah, my daughter, good to see you again."

"Hello again, Captain Solace, Commander Todo." Saki would say as she saluted, still following her habit of always including rank in her conversations. "It's been a while since we last spoke."

"Saki, please, this is supposed to be a casual conversation." Heikuro sighed before turning back to me. "Now that we are all here, let me be the first to say, I know you have reservations about going home, but-"

"Will all due respect, Earth is my home, Equestria might as well be a foreign land to me now." I interrupted, barely keeping my emotions in check. "Not only has it been over a decade-and-a-half since I lived there, but my memories of Earth have, for the most part, been more positive than my memories of Equestria."

"I understand, but you know very well that you are the only one with experience with this planet." Saki spoke up before her father. "As much as it is possible for your wish to be granted, do you really want to leave open the possibility for the Bolar Federation to take the planet over and enslave its population?"

"No! As much as I... disagree with my family, I would rather suffer the pain of my past than let others suffer the consequences of my inaction." I said, choosing my words carefully as to avoid insulting Saki, who has a unsteady relationship with her father. "I just hope that I'm not recognized. The last time I was there, I was not exactly on good terms with Princess Celestia."

"As long as you keep to the plan, you should be able to set the conditions for your reveal to both your crew and your old home." Heikuro said with a gentle smile. "Besides, if you were last seen almost sixteen years ago, I doubt that anyone would recognize you now."

Present Time...
POV: Captain Sarah Solace
"Sunset Shimmer, i-is that you?" Princess Celestia asked with a shaky voice as I watched the two insubordinate Cavalrymen walked back to their Cosmo Seagull.

"Really, Heikuro? Nobody would recognize me?" I thought as she stood there, her expression somewhere between fearful and hopeful. "Next time we speak, I will have to remind you that my teacher is several millennia old."

"Well, there goes that plan." I said before taking off my helmet and revealing my face to the Solar Princess. "Hello Princess, it's been a while."

"Is this real? Is it really you?" She said, tears forming in her eyes as she approached me, only to stop when my two bodyguards aimed their rifles at her.

"Stand down, she's a friendly." I ordered them before turning back to Celestia. "Sorry about them, they don't know about our history."

"What do you mean Captain, do you really know her?" The Cavalryman on my right asked me as he lowered his rifle.

"I wanted to tell everyone after first contact, but yes, I know the Princess." I answered before I was bear hugged by Celestia. "She was my teacher when I lived here over fifteen years ago."

"I can't believe it's really you!" She said as she squeezed me with her all her strength. "All this time, I knew you were still alive, despite what everypony said!"

"Please let go, I can't breath." I managed to choke out before Celestia let go. "Wait, everyone thought I was dead? Why?"

"The tracking spell I placed on you when I first took you in as a student, it failed as soon as you went through the portal." She answered while wiping her tears away. "To make matters worse, when I tried to reopen the portal after thirty moons, it failed to open."

"That makes sense, Earth has no magic field and the portal was destroyed by the initial planet-bomb strikes in 2192." I thought before turning back to my soldiers. "Set up the radio, I'm going to ask the diplomats to come down here, the plan's been screwed and we're going to have to improvise."

"Roger that captain!" The two Cavalrymen replied before they began setting up the two-piece mobile radio that they carried on their backs.

"Excuse me, but what is that?" The purple Alicorn asked me as she cautiously approached me.

"Another Alicorn? Where did you come from? Last time I was here, you were not around." I asked myself before answering her. "That is a mobile radio, it's a device we use to communicate with others across distances over twenty kilometers. I don't believe we've met, what's-"

We’re off to outer space!
Protecting mother Earth!
To save, the human race!
Our Star Blazers!

"Sorry Captain! It seems that we accidentally set the frequency to that of the ship's recreational channels." The radioman said before switching the radio to the proper frequency. "There we go, the radio's ready for you captain."

"Thank you, now can I please have some privacy?" I asked everyone as I picked up the headset and put it on. "Some of the things I'm going discuss are considered need-to-know only."

"Sure thing captain." The two cavalrymen replied before ushering the two Alicorns away.

POV: Second Lieutenant Jack Ryan
"What was that song we heard?" The younger princess(?) asked us as we went down the street in order to give the Captain some space. "And what was it talking about?"

"It's the main theme song for a factual fiction show called 'Star Blazers'." Private Mike, my assigned partner and one of the newer additions to the Defender's infantry compliment, answered. "It recounts the adventures of the spaceship Yamato and her crew as they fought to save and protect our home world of Earth."

"The verse you heard was the opening of the song, which basically states the current mission of the Yamato." I continued before I was pulled away by the older princess. "Yes, your highness?"

"Your captain, how would you describe her?" She asked me while looking back the way we came. "After all these years apart, I want to know what is she like now."

"When we first met in basic training, she was cold, secretive, and manipulative. But after the hardships we endured over the years, she has become a firm, but fair captain that cares greatly for those under her." I answered as honestly as I could without breaking OPSEC (Operational Security).

"Hardships? What do you mean?" She asked, inquiring about the very thing I didn't have permission to disclose.

"I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to disclose that information for now, your highness, but what I can tell you is that it affected everyone differently." I said as I watched the captain come down the street. "Sometimes for the better, other times for the worse."

"Pack up your gear and head back to the Seagull, you two are being rotated out." She said as she put her helmet back on. "While I can't order you to do so, if possible, please keep what you learned here a secret for now."

"We will captain, I promise." I replied before giving the Princesses a small bow and heading back to the mobile radio set alongside Mike. "Things have just gotten a whole lot more interesting..."

Author's Note

For those who haven't watch Space Battleship Yamato, here is an image of a Dreadnought-class Space Battleship, the class of ship the Defender is a part of.

(Armament and capabilities will be explained in future chapters)