Cadance joined the technicians as they labored around that crystal. They were working hard, but looked to be getting frustrated at what they saw. "Are we making any progress?"

The head tech grumbled quietly, looking over her notes. "No." She adjusted the monitor to a better angle for Cadance to see.

She leaned in closer, eyes darting over the maze of data. "This means nothing to me." She frowned as she studied it. "I don't know how you expect me to help."

"Pinkie thinks that you being here will kick start our processors." The tech shrugged her shoulders. "She's not usually entirely off. Try looking, even if you don't get it."

Cadance took a seat on the stool offered to her and leaned in. The computer held all sorts of numbers, letters, and symbols, but she had no idea what it was meant to be. A 1 there, and a 0 over here. An image came to her mind, sitting next to Shining armor on a pleasant evening, the wind ruffling their fur. The sound of bells ringing across the city as a mare sang in harmony with them. "It's so... busy."

The tech looked between the data and Cadance. "You're seeing something we're not. Keep going. Tell us what you see."

"I'm not sure it's words." Cadance closed her eyes, seeing it better that way. "So many memories, wrapped up in a single moment. Me and him, walking along the street. A song echoing around us." She perked up, then relaxed slowly. "It's gone."

"It doesn't matter if it comes back or not. If it was something, we'll try to extrapolate more." The tech struck her keys. "A street, what color?" So began a game of hunt in the data, where Cadance would point out things that caught her eye, and the computer did its best to connect them into one big picture.

With their help, they made great progress. They reconstructed his memories, as well as put together pieces of code that would create Shining Armor if it were accurate. All the techs in the room let out a heavy sigh as the computer compiled what they had found. "We found a pony. Is it the one you're looking for? We can't say until we run it and say hello to what comes out. Are you ready for this?"

Cadance perked her ears at that. "Well, I'm still not sure if it'll be him or not, but let's do it." She was offered a chair to sit in while she watched the loading bar slowly fill. "Harmony be with us. Return to me, Shining." She put a hoof to her chest. "Please."

The bar filled completely, and the program finished. A pony appeared in the center of the room. A stallion with bright blue eyes and a full white coat. He smiled at Cadance, his hooves together nervously. "If you are seeing this, I must have died."

Cadance inclined her head. "You did, in my arms." She shivered at the memory. "What is the last thing you remember? Please, be as specific as you can be. It will help me know that it is you."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Well, alright. We had landed on the new world, a pretty place. That's when we started setting up the colony." He glanced away guiltily. "When you asked to tear apart the syncing device, I gave it a ride before we tore it down. I figured, what's the harm? Uh, I hid it. I didn't want you to see it. You hadn't told us to do any more syncs. Sorry? Guess you found it."

Cadance snuffled loudly. "You idiot." She looked ready to tackle Shining, but he was a flat image on a screen. "You hiding it made it almost impossible to find. You're the last pony we're digging out of there!"

"Aw man." Shining scratched at his neck with a hoof. "Sorry." He smiled awkwardly. "The good news is, I did sync after we landed, so all my memories are intact, not that much different from being alive. So, uh, tell me about this place?" He looked around from the screen. "What are those creatures? They seem to like you."

"We call them humans. Twilight has an affinity for them, so they helped us. We will be living in their world, as it is very similar to Equestria, as well as to the human homeworld." She coughed into a hoof. "Now, there is a tradition."

Shining perked. "Tradition?" He glanced about. "What tradition?"

Cadance gestured with a smirk. "A certain pony must properly greet you." She bowed her head and grinned at him. "Go on, she's just around the corner."

Pinkie came dancing into the room, leaping up onto the console. She threw her forelegs around Shining, despite her being three dimensional, at least until the hug was given. She passed right into the screen, becoming a flat image with Shining. "Welcome! You're gonna have so much fun! All your crystal buddies are already here. We have to throw a party for you." She flung her hooves into the air. "A crystal pony welcome back party!"

Shining sat down with shock. "Wha? Uh, okay." He laughed tensely. "Nice to see you too, Pinkie, but I'm not a crystal pony."

"So?" She grabbed for his left leg. "All the crystal ponies were hoping you'd show up, so it's still a crystal pony welcome back party!" She dragged him away with a pop, both vanishing.

Cadance shook her head. "I am unsure if I am ready for a digital life." She turned to the humans who had watched that. "Thank you all. Thank you so very much." She wiped at her eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

The tech smiled back at her. "Don't worry about it. We're happy to help. Besides, it's what we do best." She leaned back in her chair. "So, I don't know what will happen next. These guys, uh, do their own thing."

Cadance took a slow breath. "I never synced. Considering the miracle it has allowed, perhaps I am being foalish, denying it for as long as I have." She started for the door. "I will reconsider it, when the option is there again."

"It might not be for a while." The tech sighed. "Closest sync hardware is all the way back on earth. Speaking of that, are we headed there?"

The other technicians mumbled among one another, none of them entirely sure.

On the deck, Roger drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "On one hand, everyone on this ship signed on for only so long of duty. It is our responsibility to see them home on time, or as close to it as we can. On the other, we know there are other lost seed words in need of examination."

Casey grinned over at him. "Plus, those pretty princesses. Which reminds me, what do you think of Crystal Cadance?" She swooned against her seat. "So pretty!"

Roger rubbed at his temple. "Which is another vote for heading home. We have living beings with no syncs who may want them." He drummed all the harder. "Humans may be uncertain, but ponies don't have that hesitation. I imagine dragons won't either. Denying them the chance to sync, no, we shouldn't be doing that."

Twilight appeared as a hologram on the deck. "I do believe it's time we headed back to Earth. I'm sure there's much my crew is eager to share with their families. For my part, I am confident that once our current guests are taken care of, and aide has been offered, I can consider my next course." She inclined her head. "Perhaps, when they dispatch a ship towards the pony seed planets, I can accompany them, as a member of the crew, rather than the ship."

Roger turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "You would have an official rank, then?"

"Absolutely." Twilight grinned widely. "They already gave me one. So, by the powers granted to me by the Space Force of Earth, we will set course for home!"

Roger laughed good-naturedly at that. "You're not the captain of this ship, ship." He gestured forward. "But I agree with your idea. Let's get home. The brass can figure out who, and what, is done next. We've done more than our part."

Twilight snapped a salute to him. "As you say, Captain."

The humans on the deck let out a cheer as they turned the ship around. Twilight vanished as they set the course.

Rainbow worked her controls, cheering from the digital realm. "Aw, yeah! When we get home, getting a physical body. And it's gonna be great! Awesome awesome awesome!" She did a backflip. "In the meantime, there's work to do!"

And so the ship turned back towards its home.

The ship would return with more people than it had left with, and number of species, but they'd all be glad to be there.

Author's Note

T'end! I couldn't resist finishing it today, so I did, so there.