Sophia spent the next few weeks exploring the planet to learn more about the other races. From what she found out from the zebras, they didn’t have an issue with the ponies though they mentioned that the ponies of Equestria were often wary of outside races. Of course, they were still initially surprised to see a talking rabbit.
The same was said from the bipedal cat people of Abyssinia. They did occasionally trade with Equestria but they couldn’t help but feel a slightly tense atmosphere from the citizens. The same was said from other races such as the griffons, hippogryphs and minotaurs. Of course, Sophia couldn’t help but feel disappointed in the former as they appeared to be consumed by their greed and paranoia and couldn’t see them as a good example in regard to Equestria’s apparent xenophobia since they didn’t seem trustworthy to begin with. She had to give a few dragons a beatdown before they respected her enough to talk about anything.
Returning to Equestria, Sophia decided to continue her impromptu meeting with the solar monarch that was interrupted by her crew members. She spotted Celestia having tea in a garden room. She placed herself where her imminent conversation partner could easily spot her. In response, Celestia summoned a couple of cushions and placed them in a chair opposite her to which Sophia levitated herself onto the seat. Celestia then poured a cup of tea for her before shrinking the cup to better accommodate Sophia and her small size. Sophia thanked the mare before she began her conversation.
“I have been around the world and I have seen that they seem a little apprehensive about trading with Equestria, why is that?”
Celestia sighed, she knew the reason and she wished that her little ponies didn’t behave that way. “My little ponies have grown used to centuries of an undisturbed status quo and feel that introducing new elements, such as other races to this land, could potentially incite chaos. While we still trade with other countries, the parliamentary council continues to act against my attempts to push for an immigration policy.”
“I suppose that will have to be on the list of things to address eventually. What about the military? For as long as your nation has stood, I would have thought it would have moved away from swords and spears by now. Certainly you must have anticipated the possibility of some warmonger coming to claim your lands from you?”
Celestia said nothing for a few moments as a brief memory surfaced. “My ponies are peaceful, though sadly none of them have distinguished themselves among the Royal Guard. They have been trained the same way for centuries without ever considering coming up with ways to improve their training. If my sister were here things would have been different.”
Sophia tilted her head, “I did find another like yourself; one with wings and a horn. She isn’t your sister I take it?”
“You are referring to Mi Amore Cadenza. She is an alicorn like myself but she was born a pegasus, having ascended a few years ago. She is still untrained in using her magic. She isn’t my sister. My sister, Luna, is…far away right now.” Sophia gave Celestia a deadpan look while pointing at her own head, reminding the solar monarch of what the bunny could do. Celestia sighed, “I will explain what happened. Please don’t let knowledge of her existence leave this room. I don’t want to risk anypony learning about her return and trying to find a way to get rid of her. I’ve waited nearly a thousand years for her return.”
Sophia closed her eyes in contemplation as she considered what she said. “I see, though perhaps we can make things fair for both of us. I believe an exchange of information would be beneficial?”
Celestia considered this for a moment, moving a hoof to her chin before nodding to the rabbit. “Since I have already given some information, I believe that it is your turn.”
Sophia took a sip of her tea. “That’s fair. If you are willing to indulge me, I can tell you the truth, or at least enough that I won’t end up overwhelming you.” Celestia considered for a moment and nodded for her to continue. “The fact is that I do come from a highly advanced civilization, though not from this world. That rainbow shockwave traveled much farther than you most likely believed; it traveled beyond this world and into the depths of the void of outer space. The energy was nearly completely decayed by the time it reached us but for something to extend that far would have taken a vast amount of energy which prompted me to investigate.”
Sophia continued her explanation while omitting unnecessary details involving advanced technology since that would still be too much for the ancient mare. She also mentioned that the energy, or magic, could be harnessed with the right equipment which would draw others to this world and Equestria may find themselves at war against people, fueled by greed, with technology advanced enough to counter their magic.
“Which brings me to my intentions. I am actually impressed by your ponies and their ability to construct an entire civilization with hooves which makes me wonder what they could contribute if they became a spacefaring race. This is why I am here, I want to uplift your ponies technologically to help them reach the stars.”
“Hmm…” Celestia took a sip of her tea. “And what would you get out of all this? I can’t imagine you being so generous as to do this for nothing.”
A grin formed on the bunny’s face, “Why the ultimate fusion of magic and machine, of course! I have a nephew who lives for inventing machines and seeking ways to improve it with magic but he has been unable to locate a source to conduct his research. He will, of course, be assisting with this project later.”
Celestia continued to ponder on Sophia’s words before a resigned sigh escaped her lips. “If only it were that simple. Like you have noticed, my ponies have stagnated as a culture and have become xenophobic over the centuries. I fear that it may require something drastic to motivate them into moving forward again and I can’t put my ponies through something like that.”
Sounds like I will have to wait until something threatens their utopia before I can enact the plan. “Perhaps I should take the time to get to know your ponies more,” Sophia considered.
“What about your duties to your people?”
“I have psionic clones for that. Sure, they aren’t very durable but they still carry my intellect and are capable of inspecting and signing papers on my behalf as well as giving speeches. Plus, if there is a situation that requires my physical presence I am a rift tear away. My people know this, which is why I am allowed to have my adventures…even though they still want me to be accompanied by bodyguards.”
“And where are your bodyguards now?” Celestia asked with a raised brow.
“Getting acquainted with ponies in some small town. It was the nearest we could find to our point of arrival. They are gathering information for me about your ponies and what they can do with magic. Bodyguards are a formality for me and if I were to visit you in an official way then they would accompany me.
“As for the information gathering, I need all the info I can get before I can formulate a more long term plan on accomplishing my goal of getting your ponies to explore the worlds beyond this one.”
Celestia giggled as a thought appeared in her mind, “You remind me of one of my students. She loves learning everything she can. So, how do you plan to get around my little ponies’ paranoid mentality?”
“Nothing I can do about that for the time being and this is the biggest hurdle at this time. I don’t have much choice but to wait for something to turn up that will motivate your citizens into action. In the meantime, I should look for something to do while I am in between missions.”
“I wish I could take you on as a military advisor but as you mentioned, nopony would take you seriously.”
Sophia shrugged, “I don’t mind offering my ideas in private. As for my bodyguards, I’ve been hoping that continued exposure to civilian life would help them to acclimate better. One of them didn’t get to have a childhood before she was raised as an assassin while the other was raised on the streets to avoid the same fate, even though he still faced the same training.”
The two discussed more topics until Celestia decided to entrust the bunny with the secret of her sister. She mentioned that her sister, Luna, was in charge of Equestria’s military and was a progressive-minded mare who sought new ways to improve the lives of the ponies and the military. However, the paranoia of the ponies took its toll on Luna where they began to outright reject her ideas no matter how beneficial they could have been and pleaded with Celestia to revoke some of her rights as a princess, sometimes under the threat of rebellion. The solar monarch, however, refused to give in to their demands and threatened to have Luna restructure the government however she deemed fit. The protestors backed down and didn’t bring the matter up again. Celestia had hoped that this was the end of the matter.
However, it wasn’t the end as a clandestine group of ponies had stolen a series of artifacts called the Elements of Harmony and found a way to bend their powers to their will. Acting behind Celestia’s back, this group infiltrated Luna’s bedroom and used the artifacts against her while her guard was down. The group had intended to use them to kill her but they banished her to the moon instead, not realizing that the Elements were not capable of taking lives. When Celestia found out what happened she had the group executed for treason while her own network of spies rooted out the other members of the group. The stolen Elements were relocated and placed behind many protective wards that would prevent anypony short of an alicorn from detecting them until the time came when they were needed to protect Equestria again.
However, the damage was done and Celestia found that the spell was going to last for a thousand years before the seal would weaken for her sister to return home. However, she had a sinking feeling that her sister was going to be on the warpath when she got back and it would be up to her to try to calm her down.
Sophia sighed with exasperation once the tale reached its end, “Great, so I’ll be dealing with a civilization of technophobes who let their fears dictate their actions.”
“Unfortunately, my ponies haven’t changed that much since then so there is still a chance she may be assaulted by assassins after she returns. The banishment spell on my sister won’t weaken for another ten years so I will have to plan for what comes after in the meantime.”
Sophia nodded sagely before she looked toward the sky in contemplation. “If your sister is going to be an issue upon her return, then if necessary, I know someone who can help suppress her if she proves hostile. I also have other members of my family who are willing to assist if I call on them. There is one I would rather not call upon, given her nature.”
“Is she that dangerous?” Celestia asked.
“Only when she isn’t on duty. She knows better than to meddle against the affairs of family members, it’s just that her methods are…well…it’s better that you don’t know for the sake of your sanity.”
“I’ll take your word for it. So what are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to live in Ponyville for a while. One of my bodyguards let me know that one of your ponies could be very close to devising a way to convert gems into metal and I want to make sure this filly is supported in her endeavors. This filly may be an important part of my plans.”
“In that case, may I ask a favor?” Celestia asked. “I have heard reports from Ponyville about a number of incidents that have occurred there, most of them involve creatures leaving the Everfree Forest and causing problems for the residents. The guards at the post set up there have done their best to keep the creatures at bay. Though that’s not what I want to ask of you. I have a feeling that town will be at the center of my future plans as well as yours. May I ask for a weekly report on what goes on there? I suspect that the greatest changes that will happen to Equestria will come from that town in the future.”
“I can do that. I hope that our collaboration will bear fruit one day.” With that Sophia left the garden and raced off to Ponyville.
As she was leaving, Sophia smirked as her gaze briefly turned toward one of the garden pillars where she had sensed one of Celestia’s students hiding. She had felt her presence during the entire meeting. If her memory of the filly’s psychic signature was correct, it was none other than Starlight Glimmer. Sophia didn’t care that the filly overheard, what did matter was what the filly was going to do with that information.
Feeling a bit lazy she decided to ride atop a train heading there. She couldn’t purchase a ticket since ponies still viewed her as a mere animal. Once the train came to a halt in Ponyville, Sophia sought Nova’s psionic signature and found that she was in a house with Tosh, likely the residence that Nova had procured for the mission. Once she reached the residence, she was greeted by her two bodyguards.
“How was your exploration?” Nova asked.
Sophia shrugged, “Sort of a good news, bad news deal. I did contact this country’s ruler and she doesn’t seem to be against us. Plus this planet is officially the richest planet in minerals that we have found so far. Your report on the filly who might be trying to invent a mineral refinery is also a plus.”
“And now the bad news…” Tosh lamented.
Sophia rolled her eyes, “Turns out that the ponies of this country are limited to primitive weapons and spellcasting as their primary means of combat and appear to be hesitant to move beyond that. Apparently this time of peace has left the ponies complacent and lacking in any real military talent, something Celestia is hoping to alleviate when her sister returns from her banishment. I will need someone to work with her when she gets back. A thousand years of isolation is a lot to recover from, though I think Umbra is up to the task. She may be the youngest of the family but her intellect and cunning make her a force to be reckoned with. Her magic is the stuff of legends, even by my standards, and I believe that she may be able to befriend Celestia’s sister.”
“What are our orders?” Nova asked.
“We remain on standby. This will most likely be the longest assignment you have ever been on so I suggest getting friendly with the locals. There’s no telling when Schezar will get here. He was the only other one I know who could have picked up on that energy wave since this part of the galaxy is unexplored. There is no way he will ignore the allure of Equestria’s magic since he will likely believe that he can get an edge over me with the resources of this world.
“We also need to help Tosh establish a relationship with the locals. We can’t have him sneaking around the place for years; someone would eventually find him. You will help with that.” The ghost looked like she was about to protest but was met with a glare that gave no room for discussion. “I will be sending the Aquaelie away tomorrow since I wouldn’t want them to hang around here for years while being away from their families. Also, there will be missions on other worlds to be conducted during our stay here so your skills don’t get rusty. Now, any questions?” Silence was her answer. “Then let’s do our best to get through this.”