Title: Captain Anonymous - Chapter 10 - Burden of Command Author: somewritefag Pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/2WJ9swPn First Edit: Sunday 9th of August 2015 10:11:17 AM CDT Last Edit: Last edit on: Sunday 9th of August 2015 12:18:33 PM CDT                                         Captain Anonymous - Chapter 10 - Burden of Command -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   >You both decide it's best to return to the castle to discuss your options, Twilight levitating the pod in tow behind the two of you. The walk home is uncomfortably silent as each of you ponders and worries over the situation, occasionally shooting each other concerned glances. When you finally reach the castle, Twilight makes sure the pod is stored in a safe location before you both make your way to the same meeting room you'd been in just hours earlier and sit across from each other. Neither one of you is quite sure how to begin, but Twilight eventually begins to question you.   >"Anon, be honest with me. What are the possible outcomes here? Anything you can think of at all. We need to start preparing for any contingency."   >Her loving demeanor seems to have been shed for the moment, the concern for her subjects overriding anything else, for the time being. You don’t know how to respond, simply shaking your head as you speak.   "Twilight, there are probably dozens of ways this could play out. I still don't have enough information to be certain about anything, all I can do is hypothesize."   >Twilight levitates a blank scroll with a pen and inkwell to you.   >"Well, start hypothesizing then."   >That definitely wasn’t a suggestion or request. You can't blame her for being a little angry, and try to set your own emotions aside while you think and begin putting pen to paper, talking out loud as you do so.   "Okay, Twi, I've thought of a few ways this could play out, and honestly none of them are very good."   >Twilight clears her throat, waiting for you to continue.   "The first scenario, is I do nothing, make no attempt to return to the Confederacy, and hope they fight it out amongst themselves without getting Equestria involved, however that would also mean a massive loss of life, the Confederacy is vast with billions of subjects, 25 planets, a border larger than I can even describe. My first officer said the shipyards are focusing on warship and heavy weapons construction now. That's a very, very ominous sign. He also said they've designed newer battleships, which is another deeply disconcerting development. If civil war DOES break out, I doubt anyone will be concerned with guarding the quarantine zone here anymore. In that case, we should be safe, at least for a while."   >You hesitate for several moments and avert your eyes from Twilight.   "If that happens, millions of innocent civilians could die, the Confederacy that I swore an oath to protect and defend with my very life will be torn asunder, it would mean the total devastation of all that I once held dear. On top of that, there's no guarantee that the winning side won't come to Equestria with hostile intentions. If they've developed any kind of defense against magic there may be nothing we can do to stop them. They had ample time to examine my ship if they decommissioned it and I know for a fact they would have studied what caused the damage in great detail. Also, there will most likely be an arms race of sorts between the factions, a civil war will spur on the development of newer and more lethal weapons and technology. In all likelihood any intelligence I could provide you and the other princesses with that might aid in our defense would be out of date and worthless."   >Twilight sits in silence as you continue, taking in everything you say, a mixture of anger and concern on her face.   "The second scenario, is I build the ship and try to make it back to the Confederacy. I looked at the schematics and with enough help we could probably finish construction in under a month with the materials we were provided. Once built, I'd have to be prepared for evasive maneuvers immediately upon leaving the surface. There's a chance I could get shot down by a patrolling warship if I'm not fast enough or my reflexes aren't perfect, and obviously it's been a while since I've piloted a ship."   >Twilight's expression immediately contorts from anger to fear when you mention the possibility of being shot down and killed.   "If I successfully make it off the surface and manage to jump back to the Terran sector before getting caught, there's a good chance I might be able to facilitate peace in some way. I have a lot of friends in high places. However, I also violated dozens of laws and regulations in the way I handled our first contact. I would most likely face court martial and prison, regardless of how powerful my friends are. I might never see you again."   >"I'd come with you, help you expla-"   "No, Twilight, I'm not going to endanger you like that if that's the way we go. You're staying here where you'll be safe."   >"...but I can't just let you..."   "Twilight, from what I know there seems to be some animosity toward your species from some in the Confederacy. You wouldn't be safe with me, and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you..."   >Twilight hangs her head   >"And I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."   > You both fall silent, exchanging both worried and loving glances.   >"What else can you think of?   "Now I’ll tell you straight away that I don't like the idea of this at all. I could stay here and we could begin preparing Equestria for war, and hope that they haven't developed the technology to resist magical damage or penetrate magical force-fields. Even if they haven't, they may try to bombard the surface from a great distance, in which case we'd be unable to return fire."   >You try to reassure Twilight as a look of hopelessness begins to fall over her.   "That doesn't necessarily have to happen though. When I was just a lieutenant I helped design orbital defense arrays for two different planets on the outskirts of the Confederacy that were a bit paranoid. Being so far away from the bulk of our defense forces there were concerns about attacks by any other unknown spacefaring civilizations. Their worries were completely unfounded, but we went ahead and did it anyway to ease their worries, as they were rather insistent, and there was no shortage of resources with which to do it. I was trying to imagine some way we might be able to deploy orbital defenses here, but my engineering skills aren't as good as they used to be since I became a Captain."   >Twilight begins to look a little more hopeful.   "We COULD try to deploy a network of orbital defense arrays, but there are certain materials we'd need that we don't have access to here. We'd also have to build them here on the surface and somehow get them into orbit, whereas the ones I helped build were constructed directly in space, not to mention finding a power source for them, given the timeframe we have I don't think that's a viable option."   >"Even if we had every pony in Equestria working on it?"   "There just wouldn't be enough time, Twilight, Equestria just doesn't have the technology..."   >"Anon you keep talking about technology this and technology that, but have you ever even THOUGHT about any ways we might work magic into some kind of plan like this?"   >You shoot her a puzzled glance.   >"Do you really think Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn't get those things into orbit? They move the sun and the moon, it wouldn't be a problem for them."   "I hadn't thought of that," you reply. "There's still the matter of building and programming the targeting systems, and finding a source of power for the weapons, as well as way to protect them, the type of armor I designed for those defense platforms, once again, we don't have the resources to create here on Equestria."   >"Anon I think you're not listening to me, we have access to magic."   "Twilight I may have been a decent engineer at one point in my life, and I still know my way around the workings of Confederate technology, but I have absolutely no idea how magic works, what it's capable of, or anything about it that might be useful here. It took me years of study to get a good grasp on engineering, and even more years of practical application of that knowledge to be any good at it. I can't just learn the intricacies of how magic works in the span of a couple of months. For one thing it seems to violate just about every law of physics I can think of, so my skills would be useless in designing a magical device of any kind."   >"Well, if nothing else, I think it's one of the better options on the table right now. With my knowledge of magic and your engineering expertise we can work out the logistics of it together somehow if we have to. Can you think of anything else?"   "That may work to defend Equestria, but what about my people?"   >"What do you mean?"   "I swore an oath to defend them. There may be corruption in the higher ranks but the innocents shouldn’t have to suffer because of that. I can't just let them start killing each other, Twilight, I need to do something, ANYTHING, to stop this war from happening, it’s my duty…"   >"But you already said if you leave you probably won't make it back,"   >She begins to tear up, a tone of desperation in her voice as she speaks that you’ve never heard before.   >"You promised you wouldn't leave me... I can't lose you... PLEASE Anon, think harder, there must be other options, we're both intelligent, we can come up with something that will prevent you from having to leave AND convince your people to pursue peace rather than hostility, I just know we can..."   >You shake your head   "I don't think that's possible, Twilight."   >"Well, using that thing that crashed here, maybe you can contact them now, maybe you don't have to build a ship or anything, just talk to them and-"   "Twilight, you heard the same message I did. Communications are being jammed, I'd have no way of getting through to anyone, even if there WAS anything in that pod that would allow me to do so."   >Twilight places a hoof against her forehead, closing and squinting her eyes in deep contemplation, her lips mouthing words silently now and then. You rest your elbow against the table with your hand on your forehead, also deep in thought.   >Twilight suddenly jumps from her chair and slams both front hooves on the table, yelling "PRINCESS LUNA!"   >She startles you so badly you nearly fall out of your chair.   "What about her?"   >"Princess Luna has the power to enter the dream world and communicate with others in their sleep. She might be able to link you to another of your people in the dream world. I don't think any 'communications jamming' would have any effect on that."   "But I'm not a pony, how can we be so sure it would work? And who exactly would we be trying to communicate with anyway? Powerful though she may be, I don't think she'd be able to project far enough to reach any of my people."   >Before you go any further a troubling thought crosses your mind, as you look into Twilight’s eyes, a deadpan expression on your face.   "Wait a minute, why did you never bring this up before? I knew Luna was Princess of the Night, but nobody ever bothered to tell me that particular piece of information. I never knew she could enter dreams, or that she could allow others to communicate in their dreams. That would have been a really valuable piece of information to have when I was trying to get home.”   >Twilight's eyes dart around as she considers her response.   >"Well, I never even thought about it until now."   "Twilight, come on, you're smarter than that, it had to have crossed your mind at some point."   >Twilight lets out a deep sigh, closing her eyes tightly and cringing slightly, already anticipating hostile response from you.   >"You're right, it did cross my mind, but I thought the chances of it working were so slim that… I didn't want to give you any false sense of hope in case we failed... I didn't want to break your heart..."   >Her ears lay back and she looks at the floor in shame.   >"I'm so, so sorry Anon, I really truly am. Part of it was also me being selfish, not wanting to let you go."   >Anger and a sense of betrayal flood your mind briefly, but you restrain yourself from saying anything to hurt her, she already knows what she's done. It takes several minutes of silence for both of you to calm down enough to continue talking.   "So, what do we do now then?"   >Twilight responds almost immediately.   >"Now, we go to Canterlot."