Her Majesty's Starship Philomena is a generational ship designed to save ponies from the devastation of Equus and ferry them to a new world. The trip will take 150 years: the first generation will carry on the memory of the old world, and the third will set hoof on the new world.

The second generation is ash and engine grease: those born in darkness and destined to die in darkness, who will never know the bounteous fruits of which the hydroponic gardens bear only echoes and promises. Twilight Sparkle is one such middle link, tasked with maintaining the hardware of the ship's onboard AI, Celestia.

_{gold medal in thousand words iii (slice of life)
cover art is an edited screenshot from neon genesis evangelion. shoutouts ritsuko
russian translation courtesy of zebrowski}