In Space, We Don't Abandon Innocence

by David Silver

18 - Stories of the Past

Commander Tela started at Twilight's words. "You came to Earth specifically to colonize it?"

"We did." Twilight shook her head as she looked away from the screen. "I saw some of those ships leave. We sent over one hundred off in the first wave. I know many of them reached their destinations, but I do not know if they survived." She let out a slow sigh. "Be it landing, colonizing, or thriving after that." She glanced over at Roger. "I apologize, as late as it is, for being duplicitous. We were truthful in wanting the best for humanity."

She smiled thinly. "We would share the world. What was good for you would be good for us as well." She put a hoof on her chest. "That is why I cast that spell."

Roger raised a brow. "Spell?"

"Sorry." Twilight shuffled in place. "A word we use for things too complicated to go into details. The first several generations of ponies bred with humans. The history is recorded of that."

Roger's eyes widened. "That explains some things." He shook his head. "I have a pony on my mom's side, a great aunt. Why didn't ponies and humans ever make more humans?"

Twilight folded her ears back. "The spell was designed for our survival, of ponies. Having the children be of the other species would hardly advance that goal. Besides, I had figured that if we dropped down onto an already thriving populace, they'd not need our help in reproduction."

Tela laughed at that. "Fair enough! If you wanted to survive, then keeping your species going was number one. It would seem that it worked, in the end."

They all knew that ponies had spread across the planet, living joyfully alongside their human friends. The 'magic' had faded, but that hadn't stopped some from falling in love anyway, even if no children could result of it. The thought of it made Roger perk. "If this was your technology, Twilight, couldn't you do it again?"

Twilight considered that. "I am the ship. I know the technology involved, but to actually enact it would require bits and pieces I do not currently have. Why? Did you want me to? I could start assembling the needed bits, but it would take time and effort. Roughly, hm." She frowned with thought on it. "Approximately 4 days and 10% processing power."

Roger sat up at that. "That's barely anything. Go ahead. I can't see anything wrong with having the option ready."

Twilight nodded once as she produced a screen on her side. "My first action then. A contingency, in case the worst should happen." She paused as a second screen appeared on her other side. "Initiated. Captain, I have given you a new button."

There it was, a big purple button with Twilight's cutie mark on it. "Press that when it pops up to use it. I trust you to know the best time. It will affect all creatures on board the ship."

Tela shifted nervously. "All of us? Even you?"

Twilight did not shift at all. "Yes. That includes myself. If I were to desire to start a family with another species, and they returned the favor, a child would be created. Difference: We now have enough information on humans. If one of the creatures involved is a human, they could be human."

Casey peeked over her shoulder. "What about pony-humans?"

Twilight was still a moment, dumbstruck by the question before she shook herself free. "A pony human hybrid would be a new creature. We don't have enough information to create one of those. Attempting to create such a species would require upwards of an Earth decade and 70% of the ship's processing power. Do you want to proceed?"

"No!" Roger slapped the console, clearing the screens. "Do not proceed with that."

Casey sank in her seat, laughing quietly. "Sorry, Sir, I got curious."

Tela rested her head on a propping hand. "Having the ship basically out of commission for a decade's a bit too high a price while we're floating too far away from home. Still, you have me curious too. Maybe something to look into when we're not in the middle of exploring."

Twilight chuckled at that. "Humans are more curious than most of the species we met. As well as smarter and cuter."

"Um, thank you?" Roger blushed at the compliment. "Cuter? Really? Twilight, I mean no offense, but 'cute' is a word we use for ponies."

Twilight only brightened at that. "Then I am glad we met, as species. That we regard one another as adorable and worthy of protection is a good thing for our mutual relationship."

Roger considered that. "Good point. But still, how could we be cute? You've seen a lot of us, haven't you?"

Twilight crossed her forelegs over her chest. "And you are all adorable simians in my eyes. Tall, but so delicate. You have no protective layer of fur, and love making contact with species that do have fur, as if you wished you had your own. It's very cute. You don't see it?"

Casey burst into giggles, as unprofessional as that was. "I doubt you see what's so cute about ponies. Your big childlike eyes, you have pictures on your bottoms and you come in so many pretty colors to boot."

Twilight swished her tail. "We're adorable to each other, not much can be done about that. Captain, I am starting to get reports on the writing we received."

Roger leaned forward at that. "What are you finding out?"

Twilight opened one of the screens up for the two of them to read. "It's not only writing, but historical records as well. It, unfortunately, is worse than I had feared. The population of Equestria was already declining when I left. That angle only went sharper downwards. Ponies, as I knew them, went—" She paused to swallow heavily. "Extinct..." She shuddered at the thought of that heavy word. "At least on Equestria. That I am here to describe it is proof enough that we did manage some reach beyond it."

Tela was trying not to speak, her face going white with the news. "Twilight? Why is that? What actually happened?"

Twilight was quiet, simply sitting there. The others let her have her time. "We reached too far." She sat up. "We reached too far, and had only ourselves to blame. Technology so advanced it could only be called magic, we thought we were fully in charge. We were grossly mistaken."

Roger shook his head at that. "What happened? Was it a plague? Some alien disease?"

Twilight laughed quietly at that. "You would almost be right, Captain. It was the germs. But not the germs that you might think of." She pressed her forehooves together. "It was an illness of our own design. It was meant to bring out the best in a pony, in theory."

She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. "This all happened long ago, before I left the planet, but I was part of it, thinking I was helping the world, and all ponies." A tear ran down her face, even if the tear and her face were fake. "I thought I was helping, but all I was doing was ushering in the end of Equestrian ponies."

Roger frowned at that. "Explain, please."

Twilight slumped a little bit, like a wilting flower. "We had mastered how to use the data from ponies to improve their own performance. We have these." She coiled, pointing with a wing at her cutie mark. "We gain them when we realize what our talent and drive is. It's quite natural, for us. I had thought to enhance that property, to bring us to a new stage." She trembled gently. "I was wrong. I was so, so, very wrong."

Tela spoke up. "Is there any possibility that you were not the only pony trying this? That the failure was some unfortunate combination of technologies?"

Twilight shrank in on herself a little. "Of course I wasn't the only pony involved, but that does little to make me feel better. We all trotted side by side, not realizing we were dooming our own species." She put a hoof over her face. "At least the, hm, backup plan, wasn't entirely a failure."

Roger pressed a hand to his mouth, covering it. "That is terrible. If you need time? Regardless, as cold as this may sound, it's history now. Worth knowing and learning from, but we have to do what we can today, for the people who are living, today, and in the future."

Twilight lowered her hoof and stood tall. "You're right, Sir. I'm sorry for bringing up the past." She straightened herself out, fluffing her wings. "I do not require another break. Work will continue on deciphering the words we've spotted."

"Thank you." Roger patted her side. "And if you need more time, that's fine too."

Tela sat back with a sigh. "One hundred ships, and that was the first wave." She ruminated with folded hands. "I imagine humanity would try just as hard, if that was the very last option available to us. I imagine it'd take a lot to make us think that was the only option."

Twilight puffed out her chest at that. "We were getting desperate. The problem we had was outside our control." A new window appeared. "This was our population." It showed a nice upward trend until it hit an abrupt plateau, then began angling down, sharper and sharper. "We had precious little time, and we already knew ponies away from the problem, the rogue magic, were safe. Sending them away was the only solution we arrived at."

Tela stared at the data. "There would have been rioting in the streets." She imagined how humans would react. "People would be burning."

Twilight cringed at that. "Some did. I wasn't there for what were likely the worst days, having undergone my own seed project."

Roger raised a finger. "Wait. You went. What about the others, the more powerful ponies? You mentioned you had a mentor, and she was alive. Did she flee too?"

Twilight huffed gently. "Not at the time I left, and I couldn't check afterwards. Her status is entirely unknown to me, but the odds are not in her favor."

Tela rested a hand on her mouth. "It's amazing how little things matter when the world is ending. All that remains is preserving the species. Humanity wouldn't react any differently." She snorted at the thought. "I would say not to feel bad, but it's also very human, or pony, to feel bad anyway."

The deck filled with murmurs, most agreeing that it would be a rough thing to go through.

Twilight perked. "Getting a report. One of our crewmembers has received an invitation to dinner with a dragon family. How delightful!"

Roger leaned in. "Do we know anything about this dragon family?"

"Yes!" Twilight smiled as she regarded her screen. "It seems they are among the upper class. This will be a social event, no worries of trouble." She waved at the screen as it switched to an opulant cave. Still a cave, but quite well furnished with marble floors and bubbling fountains of magma done in specific aesthetics. "Delightful."

"Ooo, darling, I want to be there." Rarity had appeared suddenly next to Twilight. "That looks like my kind of place. Is it too late?"

Roger snorted at that. "Yes, unfortunately. We sent exactly one pony, and they're not the one invited. Are they?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. It seems a human crewmember was invited. I will keep you posted as things develop, but it's good news to see friendships are developing."

Author's Note:

Questions linger. How did the other princesses fare?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Twilight was quiet, simply sitting there. The others let her have her time. "We reached too far." She sat up. "We reached too far, and had only ourselves to blame. Technology so advanced it could only be called magic, we thought we were fully in charge. We were grossly mistaken."

They delved too deeply and greedily.

As for a nobel dragon family having a new, rare and unique human species turn up for dinner?

As that guy said in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, with flowing lava?

Ah, Chilled Monkey Brains.

[Okie Brony]

Tela rested a hand on her mouth. "It's amazing how little things matter when the world is ending. All that remains is preserving the species. Humanity wouldn't react any differently." She snorted at the thought. "I would say not to feel bad, but it's also very human, or pony, to feel bad anyway."

Sad chapter is sad. I hope that the other princesses are still alive somewhere.

[Numinos]

Oooh, nice one. A lot of questions were answered. Another lot were born.

So, cutie mark v2 project went haywire. Wondering what it was. Latest Forgalorga video where everypony is an alicorn comes to mind : )

[PrincePegacornV]

Much like @Okie Brony said before this post, it surely leaves open the question of what happened to the elder princesses.

Also:

They delved too deeply and greedily.

Ah, ha! An LOTR reference!
Thnx @Booster Spice!

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

Still following as little revelations are made. However, I think for now I'll be a bit...scientific and wait until a little more happens before commenting in more detail.