Second Sun

“Since, in the long run, every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive...” –Carl Sagan

It began with, what some would consider, the biggest shitstorm to ever hit. Fires and earthquakes spread across Ponyville as the skies reddened, the sun nowhere in sight. Buildings began to crumble and burn under the might of this unknown force of nature. People were running and screaming, heading out of town and towards the massive spaceship that laid just outside of Ponyville. Twilight stood completely still while in complete and utter shock of what was happening. She couldn’t believe her eyes, even though it was happening right in front of her. It was gone. The boutique, the bakery, the forest, the library. The town she once knew and loved. It was all gone. This wasn’t just happening in Ponyville either. It was all of Equestria.

Behind her, Twilight could hear the cries of her friends as they begged for her to retreat back to the ship. But, she continued to just stand there, watching as everything fell apart. She looked up at the sky. She could make out some of the ships that were already taking off amidst the turmoil and it was high time Ponyville’s ship did the same. She then looked by to where her friends were. The Second Sun was ready and able. All it needed was its captain.

Twilight ran towards the ship as fast as she could, trying hard not to look back. When she made it to the set of stairs leading into the ship, her friends helped her make it inside. Once she made it in, she leaned against the wall, looked down, and began to close her eyes. She needed to keep the tears from escaping her eyes. She couldn’t cry. Not now. As the last few people made it out of the fires and onto the ship, the stairs retracted and the door slid closed.

“Come on, Twilight. They’re waiting for you.” Spike placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked back up to notice everyone was giving concerned looks towards her. “I’m alright, you guys. I’ll be okay.” Twilight tried to convince her friends, but it wasn’t working. “Honestly, guys. I’ll be fine. Let’s just get to the bridge, okay?” She got up and began to journey down the corridor with her friends following her. She hoped that she remembered the way to her destination.

As they squeezed through thousands of scared civilians, one happened to grab Twilight’s arm violently. She was a middle-aged woman with tears flowing down her cheeks. “Have you seen my son?” she begged, “I can’t find him anywhere. Please, I beg of you, help me find my son.” Twilight raised her free arm towards the crying individual, forming a purple aura around her hand and the woman’s, which pushed the scared mother away softly, causing the woman to let go. “I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “I haven’t seen him. But, I’ll let you know if I do, okay?” The woman ran off, grabbing other people and asking the same question. Twilight and her friends continued on.

They had arrived to two doors with two guards on either side. They saluted Twilight as the doors automatically opened like curtains revealing the bridge. The room was full of computers and a huge window that showcased what could easily be summed up as Hell. In the back, the captain’s chair sat there, awaiting Twilight. The crew was standing in formation and saluting Twilight as she entered the room. One crew member jogged up towards Twilight and saluted her personally, then turned to a tablet he had held in his hands. “The board is green, ma’am. Engines are up and running and the Striders are set. Awaiting your orders, ma’am.” Twilight had her order in mind, but struggled to get her sentence out. She didn’t want to leave, yet she had to. Eventually, she uttered, “Raise the ship. Let’s get out of here.” The man saluted once again, “Yes, ma’am.”

The rest of the crew scrambled to their positions and began The Second Sun’s takeoff. Twilight went to her seat in the far back and sat down, watching out the window as The Second Sun began to rise. The room shook a little, but not enough to throw anyone off balance. The ship began to point diagonally towards the sky. Twilight swallowed her sadness once again. This was it. The moment had finally arrived. The ship moved forward with a semi-high velocity. When the ship rose above the sea of clouds, it was the only peaceful moment Twilight would have this day. She could see the stars as they left the atmosphere, every constellation she ever learned.

Home was now behind her, and she could never go back.

Episode 1
Aboard The Second Sun

The ship cruised smoothly along the sea of stars. It was quite calm and peaceful as deep space could ever be. Inside, everyone was out and about, doing jobs, attending school, much like life back home. It had been 4 years since The Day of Departure and everyone seemed to be adjusted to their new lives amongst the galaxy.

A young man, about 19 years of age, silver hair, and wearing a brown windbreaker, had begun repainting the wall next to the entrance of the mess hall after someone happened to spray paint “We will never find home! The captain lies!” in red lettering. He was mostly quiet about his job. In fact, he would always keep to himself for most of the 4 years he’s been on this ship.

His ears were plugged in by earbuds connected to a tape player playing some old jazz music from Canterlot that he nabbed from the archive room, a place where he would spend most of his days when he wasn’t working.

Back in Ponyville, he worked as a janitor in his family’s business started by his late great-grandfather. He would usually go out cleaning windows and mopping floors with his father. When he wasn’t though, he just hid in his room reading action/adventure and sci-fi books and tended to stay away from a social life. He wasn’t much of a scholar, and he definitely wasn’t much of a jock. But when he worked, it showed. For a janitor, he was pretty damn good. Most of the customers would request personally if he could come over and wash the place. His parents didn’t call him Silver Wash for nothing.

“Yo, Silver!”

Silver pulled out his earbuds and pressed pause on the tape player. He looked to his left to notice a familiar girl with navy and sky blue hair was waving him over. “What’s going on, good buddy?”

Silver never considered him and local DJ Vinyl Scratch, or “The Beast with the Beats” as she would prefer, ‘good buddies’. He’d like to consider them ‘good acquaintances that usually met up from time to time.’ Since they both lived 12 rooms apart from each other, they would occasionally bump into each other time to time. After the 8th time, Vinyl had gotten tired of Silver not saying anything and introduced herself. Now she just won’t leave him alone.

“Oh, you know. Same ol’ same ol’,” he replied. Vinyl laughed, “Man, you have to be the most boring person I know.” She then pointed back towards the mess hall. “You wanna grab a bite to eat real quick? I’ve got something really cool to tell you.”

“Sure, I’m pretty much done here anyway. I could use something to eat.” Silver put his paint brush back into the bucket and carried it with him as he followed Vinyl into the mess hall.

***

Twilight opened her eyes groggily and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. It’s been 4 years and she still never got used to that ceiling. When she got up, she rubbed her eyes with her hands then began her usual morning routine. Showering, breakfast, the usual. She put on her uniform and her hat with The Second Sun’s insignia, an insignia that closely resembled Celestia’s symbol that she had plastered throughout almost the entire castle back in Canterlot. As she made her way to the bridge, she was stopped by Applejack, her first officer, who was catching up to her. “Twilight! Wait up!” she cried.

“Is something wrong, Applejack?” asked Twilight.

“Nah, nothing’s wrong. Ah just needed to chat with you, that’s all.”

“Alright then. Can you walk and talk at the same time?”

“Sure, Ah can try.”

Twilight resumed her walk with Applejack by her side. “Any news today?”

“We got another riot down in Sector D-7.”

“Same group of people?”

“Looks like it.”

“They just don’t get it, do they?” Twilight sighed. She had been dealing with this group of rioters at least 10 times now, all in the course of 2 years. “I swear, they’re out to get me. Get security on it. I want an end to this foolishness today.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. They’ll get it done.”

“I sure hope so. What’s the status on Poseidon?”

“All we need to do is send it out for a test run and everything will be good to go…”

“Good.”

“…all we need is a pilot.”

“Don’t worry, Applejack. We’ll find one eventually. Anything else?”

“Nothin’ that really matters much. Other than that, it seems to be pretty much a peaceful day.”

“Good. It’s been 6 months since we’ve been attacked and I’m not looking to lose that streak. I’ll talk to you later, Applejack.”

Applejack tipped her cowgirl hat to Twilight and headed off in the opposite direction. Twilight arrived at the bridge, only to be greeted by her assistant, Spike, a few seconds later. Twilight took her seat in her captain’s chair with Spike standing beside her. “You okay there, Twilight. You seem stressed about something.” Twilight responded with another sigh.

“The rioters again?” Spike asked.

Twilight simply nodded. “I just have a lot on my mind right now, that’s all. But, it’s not just that, though.”

“Oh?” said Spike, cocking an eyebrow, “What else could it be then?”

Twilight stared out the window showcasing the utter beauty of space for all to see. “I’m also a bit cautious.” Twilight continued to stare out the window, giving a more concerned look this time. “It’s been 6 months. 6 months since the pirates last attacked us. I don’t think they would give up that easily. They’re up to something. I just know it.”

“Well, let’s enjoy it while we can. Who knows when we’ll ever get a peaceful time such as this ever again?” Spike finished his sentence with a little chuckle. “Anyway, just let me know if you need anything, alright?”

Twilight began to rub her forehead. “Some aspirin would be nice.”

“Got it.” Spike began to take a mental note. Twilight gave a faint smile. “Oh, Spike. After all these years, you’re still my number one assistant, huh?”

Spike smiled back, “…and always will be. I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you, Spike.” Spike nodded then left the bridge, on the hunt for some aspirin for Twilight. As he left, Twilight faced forward and continued to stare out the window again.

“Thank you.”

***

Silver and Vinyl grabbed their trays of lunch and found a table nearby. They sat across each other and began to eat. Silver took a bite out of his sandwich while Vinyl scarfed hers down. “What’s the hurry?” Silver asked.

Vinyl stopped and glanced at Silver. “Nothing. I’m just really hungry, right now.” She continued to pig out, causing Silver to almost lose his appetite entirely. He looked to his left where there was a television hooked up to the wall. It was a news program talking about a recent riot down in Sector D-7.

‘Another riot?’ he thought. ‘No doubt the boss will send me down there to clean that mess up.’ But the more he watched the footage, the less safe he felt. Of course, the riot was probably over by now, and Sector D-7 wasn’t anywhere near where Silver was at the moment. But the thought of people like them in a ship like this scared him stiff. He looked back at Vinyl, who was still eating.

“So, Vinyl, you wanted to tell me something?” Vinyl held up a finger as she finished chewing and swallowed her meal. She then looked left and right to check if no one was around for whatever she wanted to tell him. She leaned forward towards Silver, beckoning him to lean forward as well.

“I heard they finished production on that new strider. What did they call it again? Possum? Parcel. It started with a P…P-P-P-P. Oh yeah, now I remember! Poseidon!...I think.” Vinyl still wasn’t sure but was confident in the intel she had. Silver sat back in his chair, rolled his eyes, and facepalmed.

“Vinyl, don’t tell me you’ve been snoop-“ Vinyl suddenly placed her hand over Silver’s mouth and put a finger on hers.

“SHHHHHH! Keep it down, will ya? I don’t want security after us. Or worse, the captain. You know how tightly she runs this ship. We could get life in the brig for having this kind of information.” She looked around again to make sure no one heard them. Turns out, they were in luck. No one seemed to care.

“Then why are you telling me this?”

She shrugged. “‘Cause it’s cool. Besides, I know how much you love striders.”

For once, Vinyl was actually right. Silver did happen to have a certain fascination for the mechs that defended the Second Sun from oncoming attacks. He always wanted to pilot one when he first saw one of them as they were loaded onto the ship three days before The Day of Departure. One night, up in his cabin, he watched 2 striders flying around outside his window. The pilots made it look so easy, it was almost as if it were dancing among the stars.

“So, you doing any plans after work today?” Vinyl asked

“Not really, no.”

“Hold up. You’re not planning on going down to the archives again, are you?”

“N-No.” He lied.

Vinyl groaned. “Oh come on, dude. You know how boring that place is. Why do you still even go there?”

“I don’t know. It’s just my preference, I guess.” Silver looked down at the table, furrowing his eyebrows. He knew Vinyl wouldn’t understand, but he sometimes wish she did.

Vinyl cocked an eyebrow, “Your preference, huh? Ugh, you do this all the time.” Suddenly, an idea popped inside Vinyl’s head. “Tell you what. 10 bits says you’ll have a fun time with me at the arcade, deal?”

Silver sighed in defeat. He could tell there was no convincing her this time. “Alright, fine.” As they got up and put their trays away, the room suddenly shook violently. Silver managed to keep his balance as Vinyl fell over. He went over and extended his hand towards Vinyl. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Hurt my ass, though.” She got up, rubbing her bottom to sooth the pain away. “What the hell was that?” she asked. Silver looked back at the television that managed to stay on the wall in one piece. Once he saw the news program, he finally figured out what was happening.

‘Figures,’ he thought. ‘Pirates.’

***

“Rarity! What in Equestria is going on?” yelled Twilight. The alarms blared as the whole bridge had been tinted red.

“Oh, this is dreadful! We have 5, maybe 6 pirate ships that just warped in! They’re opening fire!

Twilight sat back down. ‘So, this is what they were planning all this time? To bring more than one ship to attack this time? Not much of a plan. Then again, these are pirates we’re talking about. ’ “Damage Report!”

Rarity swiped at a hologram that depicted the ship. Parts of it glowing red with the word ‘DANGER’ flashing. “Shields are down to 88%. At this rate, we’ll be killed in a matter of minutes.” Outside, a huge firefight had broken out. 5 battleships were firing non-stop while the Second Sun’s cannons fired back, only doing about average damage to its enemies.

Later, they had begun to send out their own striders. Pirate striders were more generic looking, not having any special features or designs, with grey armor and a red cyclopean eye. They weren’t advanced as Equestria’s own striders however, but for the pirates, they got the job done. They fired the cannons placed upon their arms at the Second Sun’s engines. No one knew why the pirates had such a grudge against the lost Equestrians. Perhaps, they just thought of it has good sport.

“They’re trying to take out the engines!” Rarity exclaimed. Twilight needed to act quickly. Luckily for her, fast decisions came naturally after being the captain for 4 years. “Get all non-combatants to the shelters.” Twilight put her hand to her ear piece. “Spike, you there? I need you to-”

“I’m already on it!” Spike was already rushing through corridors, trying desperately to get down to the hangar where the striders lay in waiting. Spike tapped his earpiece slightly so he could get in contact. “Rainbow? Rainbow, are you there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” she yawned. “What the hell’s going on?”

Spike stopped. “Don’t tell me you just got up.”

“Maybe.”

Spike sighed then continued onwards. “Ok, never mind that. We’ve got pirates to deal with.”

“How many?” she asked.

“About 5, 6 ships total.”

“Well, it’s about time we got some action.” Rainbow’s tone was that of excitement. Spending 6 months doing absolutely nothing in a ship out in the middle of nowhere wasn’t exactly her idea of fun.

“Just hurry up, would ya? I’d rather not die today.”

Twilight stayed at the bridge, giving out orders. Applejack was pointing a few things out with some of the crew members. The Second Sun’s cannons helped fend off the pirates but not by much. Shields were still decreasing gradually over time. If anything, it only saved them an hour at least. However, she knew Spike and Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be enough. They needed at least one more out in the field of battle.

Twilight pressed a button on the arm of her chair. A projection depicting a girl with pink, poofy hair and black smudges scattered across her face popped up in front of the captain. “Pinkie?”

“HI, TWILY!!”

Twilight sighed. “Pinkie, we’ve been over this before. I’ve told you too many times to not call me that.”

“Oops, sorry.”

“Are Spike and Rainbow Dash there?”

“They already launched a few minutes ago, why?”

“Those two won’t be enough. We need to launch Poseidon now.”

Another engineer appeared next to Twilight. “What? Of all times, you want to launch it now? Poseidon isn’t ready yet. We don’t know if-“

“Enough,” Twilight interrupted him. “Spike and Rainbow Dash are in enough trouble as it already is.”

“But we still don’t have a pilot. It’s not like we can bring back the last pilot from the dead. If we could, that’d be preeetty freaky.” Pinkie did have a point. In the last attack, the last pilot had been overrun and killed almost instantly, which is why they even started construction on Poseidon in the first place. Regulations clearly stated that each Equestrian ship needed 3 striders. No more, no less.

“You let me handle that. Just get Poseidon ready, ok?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie.” Pinkie’s projection disappeared in a flash. Twilight pressed another button, causing the projection of a light pink haired girl in a doctor’s lab coat to appear. The girl turned around and gave a short but rather loud yelp.

“Oh, Twilight! You startled me for a second there.”

“Sorry, Fluttershy. I didn’t mean to. Listen, I need you to do something for me.”

“Ok, what is it?”

“I need you to find someone willing enough to pilot Poseidon.”

“Poseidon? But isn’t that-“

“Yes, I know. But, you know what they say. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Understood.” And with that, Fluttershy’s projection disappeared.

Twilight seemed confident that her plan might just work. All she needed was someone with enough will to pilot.

She clasped her hands together in front of her face, ‘Celestia, if you’re out there. Please, let this work.’

***

Vinyl and Silver got lost in the crowds as they rushed to their nearest emergency shelter. The feeling of panic and fear was everywhere amongst everyone. Everyone was rushing disorderly, pushing and shoving others out of their way. Silver looked around, desperately trying to find Vinyl.

“Dude!” Vinyl cried out, waving her arms above the crowd. “Over here! Come on!” Vinyl luckily managed to grab Silver’s attention despite the screams. When they caught up with each other, Vinyl lead Silver through a secluded alley way.

“Come on, I know a shortcut.” She took one look at Silver, who seemed terrified out of his mind. “You okay, dude?”

Silver looked up at Vinyl. “Huh? Oh, um, yeah. I’ll be fine.” Vinyl nodded, but was still unsure of her friend. As they made it out of the alley, they had made it to one of the emergency shelters that wasn’t crowded by too many people. As they went inside, the door had shut behind. A few others were standing around and pacing in circles. Others were sitting on the floor, praying that it would all be over soon. Vinyl pointed out to a corner in the back. “There’s a shelter over there. Come on.”

Vinyl grabbed Silver’s arm and led him to an empty spot. Vinyl sat down and leaned back against her hands. Silver sat against the wall, hiding his face in his chest.

“I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die.” Silver repeated those words over and over.

Vinyl became even more worried than she was before. Before she could say anything though, a knock was heard on the door. People stared at each other, wondering who it was. Could it be one of the crew, telling everyone that it was safe? Or was it the pirates, who had managed to board the Second Sun and were killing everyone on sight? A voice could be heard from the other side.

“Hello? Is anyone in there? Please, open up.” It sounded feminine, with a hint of fear in her voice. One of the citizens put his hand against the wall, opening the door. A girl walked in, a medic to be precise. She had long, light pink hair and was wearing a doctor’s lab coat. “Oh, um, thank you. If…if any of you don’t know, m-my name is…Fluttershy. I’m one of the medics aboard the ship. I’ve been sent…by the captain…to inform…that we need a new pilot.”

The crowd murmured once more. Most of them had refused, stating that they didn’t want to die, or that all of this was madness. Fluttershy had begun to lose hope. Silver kept repeating the same words under his breath.

“I don’t wanna die.”

‘They need a pilot.’

“I don’t wanna die.”

‘No one’s helping.’

“I don’t wanna die.”

‘Someone’s got to do something.’

“I don’t wanna die.”

‘Everyone’s going to die! ‘

“I don’t wanna die.”

‘Do something!’

“I’ll do it.” A voice was heard from the back. Everyone turned heads to see who this mysterious volunteer was. It was Silver, who tried to show no fear of dying. Vinyl took a double-take and grabbed his arm.

“Are you crazy?” she protested. “You can’t pilot something like a strider! You’ll get yourself killed out there!”

Silver looked back at Vinyl. “And what if no one else pilots it? Everyone would be killed. I can help.” He looked back at Fluttershy. “Let me help,” he begged. “Let me pilot the strider.”

つづく

予告

The pilot is chosen and Poseidon is launched.

Silver must learn to pilot whilst in the middle of a raging battle.

He goes face to face with certain death.

The Second Sun must be defended at all costs. But, is Silver willing to go through with his choice?

Next time:

Episode 2
Test Drive