Stellar was still feeling a little ambivalent when she entered the bridge again, her armor having retracted off her once she'd entered the zone with air. The fillies were stretching and waking up as she smiled at them, her worry about the unusual fold of the Haydonite ship pushed to the back of her mind for the time being. "Good morning, you three." She said as she reached Scootaloo and nuzzled her, then Sweetie Belle and Applebloom got a morning nuzzle as well. "Sleep well?" Stellar asked.

"Yeah, ah guess ah did, fer bein' away from mah own bed." Applebloom answered.

"Those mattresses felt almost like a cloud bed." Scootaloo added. " 'Cept they were a bit harder, like a normal mattress is."

Stellar chuckled. "Yes, I know. But they are easier to carry than clouds are, and don't fall apart into water, either."

Sweetie Belle helped as Stellar retrieved more packed food from her H-S pocket. "I like them." She told Stellar. "They feel really nice, and they don't lump up the way some mattresses do."

"They don't, that's true." Stellar agreed with Sweetie. "Luckily, these ones are strong enough to resist breaking when you walk on them with your hoofs. Other ones you might buy at Home probably won't be as strong... yet." She told Sweetie Belle.

"Ah, ponyfeathers." Sweetie Belle stated, to giggles from Scootaloo and Applebloom.

Stellar chuckled as well. "Now, I have some good news." She told them as they sat down to eat. "I've almost completed another step towards getting our ship, which is called the Xerxes by the way, operational again." The fillies grinned at that. "And Scootaloo and I managed to find a way to send a letter home."

"You did?" Sweetie Belle asked in a exuberant voice, then she and Applebloom patted Scootaloo on the withers in congratulations.

"Geez, guys." Scootaloo said. "I didn't really do anything; I was just awake when Stellar found that special candle she has that sends messages like Spike can." She explained.

Stellar was grinning. "Anyway, the second, and better, part of this is that while you were asleep, a reply arrived from Twilight." That got an ecstatic look from the Trio. "So what that means is that we are no longer cut-off from contact with Home. We can let them know what's happening and, I hope, they can send us things we need to help us get Home again." Stellar saw the happy grins on their faces and knew they were feeling a lot better about how things were at the moment. "Now, who wants to write letters Home?" Stellar asked.

"Yeah!" The trio said as one.

Stellar laughed. "Okay, just take care with my new writing set, then." She said, as she spread things out before them to use. Each of the teenage fillies took a sheet of paper and a quill, and started writing away. Stellar watched as they talked, wrote and sometimes sketched roughly what they could of what they'd seen. Stellar noted that Sweetie Belle's horn-writing was the neatest of them all, but surprisingly, Scootaloo's penmanship was quite neat as well, much neater than Rainbow Dash's writing. 'She has obviously been paying attention in her classes.' Stellar thought to herself. Applebloom's writing was also quite neat, but she had the interesting habit of doodling her 'o's to look like apples. It made Stellar almost giggle as she watched Applebloom doodle six apples into one sentence. As they wrote, Stellar touched one of her seals to each of their cutie-marks, and her mark was replaced by their cutie marks on each of the seals, one for each of them. That way, the letters would go to the right older sibling.

Stellar also stretched out next to the Trio and began writing herself. Once she'd completed the letter, Stellar began to draw a special magic circle on a sheet of the white paper she'd found in what had to be an office; it was how she would have laid out a commanding officer's office if she'd been bipedal all the time and needed an official space to call her own. The circle was to be the mouth of a large Hammer-Space Pocket dimension; similar to the ones her own body had anchored to her and to her various armors. Stellar would put tanks for compressed air inside it, and ones for liquid oxygen. She had seen that the Life-support room on the Xerxes had a number of tanks both connected to the system and set aside as spares. Some of those she could send back to Equestria in this pocket with machines she'd read could compress air into the tanks, and one that would separate out water into oxygen and hydrogen, and then liquify them both for storage in insulated tanks. Stellar would give Twilight instructions on how to use a couple of the mana generators Stellar had left with her to power them. Once Twilight had filled them and returned them, Stellar would be able to refill the entire ship with proper atmosphere, which would make things much easier to do, since they wouldn't need their suits any longer while moving around the ship.

As the fillies continued to talk and write, Stellar took the circle and moved to another big room on the Bridge Tower. Once inside, she took her time in activating the circle, getting it ready to receive its precious cargo. With that done, she headed down the stairs, to head through the ship to Engineering and Life-support. Inside the room, huge tanks sat in racks against several walls. Stellar checked over each one of them, disconnecting several from two of the racks and sliding them into the H-S Pocket that interfaced with the sheet of paper she held. She also found the portable equipment that would allow Twilight to process Equestria's atmosphere and not just filter and compress air to fill some of the tanks, but to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen, compress and liquify both of them and store them in the specially-insulated tanks. That went into the pocket dimension as well. Once that was done, she went back out into Engineering and added several insulated tanks for the liquid hydrogen from the stores there. Her tasks completed, Stellar returned to the bridge again.

As she reached the bridge, she found the Cutie Mark Crusaders arguing over some points, and grinned. Stellar could tell that, even if they sounded like they were really giving it to each other, there was no animosity in their tone. They were merely having a little fun together, as good friends were wont to do. They yelled "HI!" to Stellar as she approached them, then went back to their 'conversation' as Stellar stretched herself out near her writing set again and continued to write to Twilight, giving her detailed instructions on what to do and how to do it, just as Twilight liked. Eventually, the trio handed Stellar their letters, each one of them secured by a ribbon and their own seal. Stellar couldn't help but giggle at the expressions on their faces. "Nervous?" She asked them.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all nodded, looking somewhat subdued.

Stellar gave them a smile. "It's going to be okay, you three." She reassured them. "Your older siblings are not going to start anything while you're out here." Stellar said. "They'll wait until after you've been home for a week, had all the celebratory parades and medal-presentations from the Princesses and the press conferences, then they'll ground you for life." Stellar gave them an evil grin, to groans from all three of the C.M.C.

Then Scootaloo realised something. "Hey! They can't ground us any longer! We're not living with them anymore." She told the others.

"That's right!" Sweetie Belle agreed as she realised the implications.

"Ah poot." Stellar grumbled in a mock-grumbly voice. "I was wondering how long it would take you to work that out." She chuckled. The three teenage fillies giggled back at her, then moved to Stellar for a hug.

After checking the scrolls and their seals, Stellar lit her candle and burned the scrolls. The smoke from each curled up into a coil, then vanished as she sent them one at a time on their way. 'Well, there they go." She smiled at each of the three younger mares. The trio smiled back and got up. "Okay, now we'll start you learning about this ship and the sciences, technology and other subjects you need to know." Stellar told them. She sat them down at the bridge consoles and set them to start learning. While Stellar knew she'd need the big computer up and running to start the C.M.C.'s training properly, the bridge computer could start bringing the girls up to speed on maths and science well enough.

As Day dawned over Ponyville, Twilight awoke feeling invigorated and far more relaxed than the day before. Knowing that Stellar and the C.M.C. were safe took a huge load off her withers. Then Spike came rushing in, looking a little more green than usual. "Spike?" Twilight asked him, looking worried. Spike said nothing, just held his mouth shut and dumped four scrolls on the bed, one noticeably thicker than the others, before he raced off into Twilight's bathroom. Twilight gasped as she saw the thick scroll's seal bore Stellar's Winged Sparkle Star, but the other three bore the cutie marks of the C.M.C.'s individual members. Gathering them up, Twilight trotted out of her bedroom and into her office. She sat at her desk, putting the other scrolls aside, before opening Stellar's scroll, which Twilight saw held five pages. She started reading the front-piece, setting the other pages to one side on the desk before her...

Dear Twilight,

After two days of working things and settling in, we're making some progress. But things have taken a strange turn here. I got involved in a conversation with a very strange lifeform, which had a machine-body and I presume a computer for a brain. It apparently used to be an organic lifeform before their race developed an organic power-source they called 'Protoculture'.

Apparently, their race started trying to help other races by giving them Protoculture and teaching them how to use it. But it said that other cultures tried to use it to force 'evolution' onto their people, in order to advance their races faster than naturally-possible. It was this that led to the 'Haydonites', as they call themselves, having to put their souls into 'robotic' bodies and try to eradicate Protoculture from the other races. Protoculture was being used by the Humans as an advanced power source for their ships' Faster-Than-Light drive, or 'Fold'-drive, and this Haydonite removed every skerrick of Protoculture from the ship, which is why it was drifting. It looked over my mana generator and declared it 'a safe form of energy production', then gave me a very powerful warning against getting involved with Protoculture, for any reason. And I am inclined to agree with it, but for my own reasons. If we don't need to use this stuff, for any reason, then I think it would be better for every lifeform on Equis if we don't. We don't need it, and I agree it seems far too dangerous for us to muck about with, full-stop.

I have some ideas where to start to create a replacement for the missing Protoculture power source this ship used before, but the first thing we're going to need is air, food and water. I've attached a H-S pocket to one of the pages in my letter, as a Circle imprinted on the page. Inside it are tanks for compressed air and both Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen, which you can obtain from water. There are also machines in the pocket for compressing air and separating water into the two components, as well as chilling them down and turning them liquid. I've included instructions on how to hook them up to my little mana generators as well, so you can run them. Once you have the tanks full of the components, water itself, and compressed air, send them back, and we can start to bring this ship back to life properly.

I'm using my little mana generators to supply certain areas of the ship with auxiliary power, and I might be able to use a bigger one to power the fold-drive to get us home; but before then, I have to see if the main system will accept mana as energy it can use. Once I'm sure that the system will take it, then we can work on making a much bigger mana generator to supply power to the drive systems of this ship. But for the moment, the consumables are far more important for our continued survival, as well as efforts to repair our ship. The rest will wait for us to be ready, and hopefully we'll be on our way home with good time, Sis.

Give Spike a huge hug from myself and the C.M.C., and tell Celestia, Luna and all our friends we're thinking of them and miss them.

Your loving sister,

Stellar

Twilight nodded with thought when she read Stellar's letter. "This... 'Haydonite' sounds like a weird form-of-life." She said to herself. "At least we know now what happened to the ship a little more clearly than before, and what was behind it. And I definitely agree with Stellar on this... 'Protoculture' stuff. If she's successful in coming up with a replacement, then so much the better if it's something we already know about and know it isn't harmful to us." Twilight stated to herself. She wrote a note to Celestia, attached a copy of Stellar's letter, sent it on its way, then smiled at the other three scrolls. Gathering them up, Twilight headed out, intending to deliver them all herself... To Rainbow Dash first, then to Rarity; and finally to Applejack, Big Mac and Granny Smith.

Dash was snoozing on a cloud, since it was the off-season for the Wonderbolts and she'd just done a stint in Ponyville's weather service, helping to train some of the junior weather ponies there in proper cloud-bucking techniques. She'd just rolled over, stirring a little as somepony calling her name got closer and closer... then Twilight popped her head up through the cloud and yelled "Rainbow Dash!", startling Dash into shooting up off the cloud with a squeak!

As Dash looked down at Twilight, while the alicorn climbed up through the cloud and sat there, regaining her breath, Dash frowned as she came in to land by Twilight. "That was SO not-cool, Twi'." Rainbow Dash told her friend.

Twilight panted hard. She still wasn't in as good a shape as she'd wished she was. "Doesn't matter, Dash." She replied. "Letter for you, from Scoots." And she held out the scroll.

Dash's eyes grew huge, and she almost snatched the scroll from Twilight's grasp. She noted Scootaloo's cutie-mark on the scroll's clasp, then carefully unrolled it and read:

To: Rainbow Dash
From: Scootaloo

Heya Big Sis!

This is Scootaloo, coming to you from... well, we're not really that sure where we are right now, Dash. It's a long way away, according to Stellar, but we're trying to find a way home again. Guess what? We found a starship! It's not completely working yet, but Stellar's got sections of it where we can survive outside the suits she made for us.

There's more stars in the sky out here than we've ever seen before, Sis. It's absolutely incredible to see. The sky is jammed-packed with them behind us, but not so much ahead of us. Stellar says it's because we're not too far away from the edge of a galaxy, which is an immense collection of stars about a hundred thousand 'light-years' across, according to what the electronic library, or 'database' on the ship says about it. As you can see, we three have been keeping up with our lessons... they're just a bit different than anything back home, since we can study stuff normal ponies don't know about yet.

You'd love it out here, Dash. The ship has what Stellar says are 'aircraft', smaller mechanical flying ships that are way faster than even you are. She says that, once she figures out how to power them, She'll teach me how to fly one of them. Then I'll show you just how fast is fast! As it is, Stellar says it might be a while before we get back home again. But don't worry, Dash! We're safe and doing what we're told to do, and Stellar's making sure we do what's right. So hopefully we'll be back home before you know it, Sis.

Missing you heaps,
Your loving sister,
Scootaloo

Rainbow's big eyes teared up as she read Scootaloo's letter, and she sniffled as she wiped her face with a fore-hoof, as Twilight gave her a soft smile. "Thanks... thanks, Twi'." Dash said as she got a hug from Twilight. "I really needed this."

"I know." Twilight replied. "But if you want to write back... please, don't hassle Scoots about what happened. Stellar said they have way more to worry about out there than wondering what punishments they're going to face when they get back." She begged Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the letter. "Yeah, you're right, I guess." She finally agreed. Dash looked at Twilight again. "Do you think Stellar can get them home again?" She asked.

Twilight smiled and nodded. "We're both working hard on it; Stellar out there and me back here." She reassured Dash. "They're safe for the moment, and Stellar really thinks there might be a way of getting that ship they're on fully-operational again, so they can use it to get back here."

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Yeah, and if they do, Scoots is gonna be insufferably smug; with her being part of the first Ponies to travel out into Space."

"There is that, true." Twilight agreed. "It may have been accidental, but they truly have gone where no pony has gone before. And when they do make it back... they just might be the beginning of something incredibly world-changing."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "I always knew Scoots had greatness in her, her and the others." She told Twilight. "I take it you got letters from the others?"

Twilight nodded. "Yep." She simply replied.

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Then go give Rarity and Applejack their letters, Twi'. They need the good news every bit as much as I do." She almost ordered Twilight.

Twilight gave a grinning salute, then said "Will do, Lieutenant Dash." She then dove off the cloud backwards, rolled over and flew away, to Dash's chuckles.

"She's getting better with her flying." Dash commented, as she settled back down with the letter, reading it again.

Twilight came to a soft landing before the Carousel Boutique. She frowned as she saw all the window drapes were closed, and a 'Closed' sign was affixed to the door. The worst thing was when Twilight found the door was locked. "Rarity never locks her door..." Twilight said to herself. She quickly unlocked the door and carefully opened it, peeking around the door. "Rarity?" Twilight asked in a soft voice, her horn-tip glowing as she looked inside.

What she saw frightened and shocked her. The boutique's insides were in disarray. Pony-kins were scattered everywhere, remains of dresses and rolls of fabric all over the floor. Twilight cautiously slipped into the room and closed the door. Turning on the lights, she started to clean up. Twilight did sigh with relief when she realised none of the dresses under construction were actually damaged, just incomplete. She tidied up easily, rolling up the rolls of fabric, cleaning up the piles of sequins and gem-shards, brocade and lace, putting everything away where Rarity would keep them. Twilight found Opalescence was enschonched in a small enclosure between two cupboards, her favorite pillow under her and food and water laid out for her. Opal snarled at Twilight, until the alicorn put a bowl of milk before the cat, and Opal's face brightened as she walked out and accepted the offering laid before her.

Upstairs was almost as bad. The bed was unmade, things scattered on the floor, and Rarity was nowhere to be found. Only after tidying up and checking the bathroom did she find Rarity, unconscious, in the bathtub with several bottles of apple liqueur on the floor. They were all empty, and Rarity's breath was rancid with the stale alcohol. Twilight knew this wasn't like Rarity at all. Normally Rarity only drank wine, and to moderation. To have consumed four whole bottles of 'Old Applejack' like this, she must have really wanted to get drunk, and totally so.

Twlight pushed Rarity back into the tub and started the shower going. Rarity was half-way through being scrubbed-down when she woke, screaming incoherently. Twilight had figured this would happen, and had surrounded the room in a 'Hush' spell, keeping the sounds from leaking to the outside. Eventually Rarity stopped screaming and just collapsed again, letting Twilight clean her up. Only after Twilight had rinsed her, dried her and groomed her did Rarity show any signs she was actually awake, giving Twilight a filthy, then a grateful look. "Thank you." Rarity said in a rough, hoarse voice.

"You're welcome, Rarity." Twilight replied, as she led Rarity out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen, supporting her most of the way down as well as staying close to her.

In the kitchen, Twilight made up a medium-hot brew of rosemary and chamomile tea, stirring honey into it and putting the tall glass of it before Rarity, who lifted the glass and sipped at it. The unicorn mare was surprised at how quickly it soothed her throat, although a second glass was needed to clear her head. She gave a small, pained smile at Twilight, who returned it with bright interest, and then sighed as Twilight hugged her. "Thank you, my dearest friend." Rarity said again. "I... don't know what I was doing, what I'd do without you sometimes..."

Twilight shushed Rarity, gently putting a hoof over her muzzle. "It's okay, Rarity. I understand. The fear you had of losing Sweetie Belle must have been impossible for you to ignore."

Rarity took a strangled breath in, and broke down into tears in Twilight's arms. "Of... of all... the times... she's been in trouble..." Rarity said in a halting voice, "There... there was never a time... when I have felt... so... helpless..."

Twilight nuzzled Rarity tenderly. "I know." She replied softly. "Stellar's been through so much... but even I lost touch with her. No matter where she is on Equestria, I could always feel her presence with me... but not this time." She looked at Rarity. "I thought... I truly considered... I might have lost her for good this time... and it was all my fault."

Rarity snorted. "Nonsense." She said in a stronger voice. "You and Stellar, of everypony in this, did nothing wrong... save for maybe ignoring some safety protocols that should not have been necessary in the first place." Rarity reassured Twilight.

Twilight smiled at Rarity. "Yeah, you're right." She easily agreed. "And I think you will feel a lot better once you read this." She held out the letter to Rarity.

Rarity gasped, then almost gingerly took the scroll from Twilight's grasp. The seal with Sweetie Belle's cutie mark on it nearly had her in tears again, and she slowly opened it, to read:

To: Rarity Belle
From: Sweetie Belle

To my dearest sister, Rarity

First, I want to say how apologetic we are for what happened. We rationalised that Twilight wouldn't be doing any spellcasting at that time of night, and felt she would be more likely doing astronomical observations, which is why we were there.

Obviously, we were wrong.

As things stand, we are safe, secure and working on ways to get home, Sis. Stellar's discovery of an almost-intact starship was an incredible piece of good fortune, but it made things only easier in that it gives us a possible way home without needing an immense amount of assistance from Twilight and the Celestial sisters. Stellar is helping continue our lessons as much as is feasibly possible, but some lessons have been put on hold while we learn how to help crew this vessel named the Xerxes, instead. It is a very complex machine, as you might well imagine, and Stellar will need our help to equip it and make it work as we work to get back home to Equestria again.

Other than our current situation, everypony here is very 'hyped-up', as Scootaloo put it, and very eager to explore our new roles aboard the Xerxes.

I know you're probably going to be very disappointed in myself and my friends, Sis, and I know we deserve it. Please, just forgive us for the moment, until we return home. There is so much we have to learn and do out here, that I am begging you not to distract us while we try to make our way back to you and the others. Please, Sis?

I miss you terribly, Rarity. You're always in my mind as we sleep, and I want to feel your forelegs around me again, telling me that I'm safe and home again. Although moving out into our own place was needed, I never want to forget that I have the best older sister in the world (Stellar doesn't count. She'd not older than Twilight). I want to face you when we get home, knowing that we did our best to keep up the best standards of Equestria and that we made it home... for all the best reasons.

Your loving little sister,
Sweetie Belle

Twilight softly smiled as she saw tears slowly trickle out of Rarity's eyes as she read through the letter twice. Then she looked at Twilight. "They... they truly are safe, aren't they?" She asked in a choked-up voice.

Twilight smiled wider and nodded. "Yes. Maybe not as safe as they would be here, but as safe as they can be, given the circumstances."

"Oh, by Celestia..." Rarity said softly as she wiped her eyes. Twilight moved to the white unicorn mare who'd been such an incredible friend to her, and hugged her close once again. Rarity sniffled for a while, then nuzzled Twilight as they slowly separated. "Thank you, Twilight. Only you know what this means to me."

Twilight gave Rarity another soft smile. "Yeah." She agreed. "Will you be okay?"

Rarity took a deep breath, then slowly released it, tossing her mane around a little. "I will be, now that I know for certain that Sweetie will be coming back." She answered Twilight. "Honestly... I dreaded telling our parents more than anything else. This... whole situation is far worse than anything that has ever happened to them before. But I thank Celestia, Luna and all the deities that Stellar was with them. If not, I dread to think what might have happened... But I know that Sweetie would have never been coming back. However, my heart is lightened in knowing that Stellar has kept them safe, as I knew she would." Rarity smiled at Twilight, and the relief on her face was as genuine as Rarity's generosity.

Twilight smiled a big smile at Rarity. "I'm glad you feel better."

Rarity nodded. "Yes... well... hadn't you be better off heading to Applejack and telling her the good news, rather than spending time listening to me rant on, Twilight?"

Twilight chuckled. "No." She simply replied, then hugged Rarity once more...

Twilight walked amongst the lovely apple trees as she headed for Sweet Apple Acres. As much as she knew she could get there much faster on the wing, the smell of the apple blossoms, the sound of the bees buzzing in the air as they wandered from flower to flower, tree-to-tree; the warmth of the sun as it rose towards Zenith... it all made her so glad she was alive. She could feel the power in the earth under her hoofs, as it circulated through the orchards and filled the trees with life. She could feel the breeze as it tantalisingly slid around her, calling her to join it in the sky. And the feel of the mana in the very air itself as it flowed through her made her even happier that she had ascended to become an alicorn. All of Equestria's magic was at her beck-and-call... And it couldn't help but make her feel happy again.

She then heard a familiar voice cursing out loud nearby. Twilight trotted over in that direction to see Applejack there, in the trees, trying to pull a stubborn branch off one of the trees. Twilight could tell the branch was dying, something in it slowly oozing through the branch towards the tree. Applejack couldn't quite get the purchase to use all of her incredible strength and tear it loose. "Need a hoof?" Twilight called out as she approached.

Applejack let go of the rope. "Twi'?" She replied.

"Yep." Twilight said back with a grin as she came up to Applejack.

"Uh... sure, ah guess ah could relly use one raht about now." Applejack admitted. "That therre branch got itself ‘poisoned’ by a Too-noo-kee fly, an' if ah don' get it off, it’s gonna kill tha entire tree."

Twilight nodded. She looked the branch over, her horn lit up and she made a shearing plane out of her magic, something Stellar had taught her how to do. Putting it right at the base of the branch, Twilight forced the plane into the branch, slicing it free of the tree with seemingly little effort. Applejack dragged the branch away before it hit the ground, out onto the open path. Twilight could now clearly see the ugly brown mass of the dead branch at the outer end of it, things writhing deep in the rotting wood. "Wow. A Tunuke fly, you said?" She asked.

"Ee-yep." Applejack confirmed. "They lay their eggs in a certain type a’ junction in tha tree's branches, an' that mass is tha larvae moving through tha wood." She explained. "Now, ah gots ta burn this befer they can get out.”

“Leave it to me.” Twilight said, her horn lighting up. She fired it at the branch, and the whole thing just turned to ash in seconds; even the larvae were reduced to nothing but dust.

Applejack grinned. “Thank ya kindly, Twi’.” Applejack said, before clopping hoofs with Twilight. “So, what brings ya out to our place on such a bee-yoo-tiful day as this?” Applejack asked, as they headed towards the house.

Twilight smiled happily at Applejack. “I have a letter for you.” She answered.

“Fer me?” Applejack replied, feeling confused.

Twilight nodded. “Ee-yup.” She replied, imitating Applejack’s accent, to Applejack grinning. “It’s from Applebloom.” she added.

Applejack stopped, her face indescribable. “Applebloom?” She asked, her voice a whisper.

Twilight turned and looked at Applejack with a soft smile. “They’ve written Home, Applejack.” She told the older mare. She showed Applejack the scroll, with its cutie-mark seal.

Applejack tentatively put a hoof out and touched the seal, tears trickling from her eyes, then she moved to Twilight and hugged her hard. Twilight had braced herself, knowing the incredible strength her friend had in her muscular body. Luckily, her own earth pony magic allowed her to withstand the crushing hug, and she hugged back just as strongly. “Thank ya, Twi’...” Applejack whispered to Twilight as they hugged together.

“You’re welcome, A.J.” Twilight replied.

Applejack just hugged Twilight for a time, then slowly let go of her. “An’ tha others?” She asked.

“Rainbow Dash and Rarity have already gotten their letters.” Twilight confirmed to Applejack.

Applejack grinned. “Okay then. Let’s be gettin’ Home, so we can all read Applebloom’s letter.” She said, shooting past Twilight and heading for the house. Twilight just laughed and galloped off in pursuit.

Big Mac was washing up outside before he headed in for Lunch, while Granny Smith was busy in the kitchen. They both looked up as they heard galloping hoofs coming closer, and smiled when they saw Applejack and Twilight racing along together, laughing and urging each other on. Big Mac turned to Granny Smith and nodded, and the old mare just grinned and pulled her head back inside. “Ee-yup.” Big Mac said to himself as he saw the look on Applejack’s face. The relief was palpable. He knew then that something big had happened, and Applejack wasn’t worrying as much about Applebloom any longer. It also made him feel a lot better inside.

As they walked up onto the wide verandah out the front of the homestead's main house, Applejack called out "Big Mac! Granny! Twilight's got a letter from Applebloom!"

"A letter?" Big Mac asked as he walked up onto the verandah himself.

"A letter? How'd Ditzy get out that far?" Granny Smith asked.

Applejack and Twilight just laughed as they headed inside, Big Mac behind them. "No, Granny Smith, it came via Dragon Express through Spike." Twilight explained.

"Well, if that don't beat all." Granny Smith replied as she moved to the lounge and climbed up onto it. "Well, hoof it over, youngster. Can anypony find mah readin' glasses?" Granny Smith asked as Applejack and Big Mac joined her.

Twilight sat down with the three Apples and suggested "Why don't I read it out to all of you?"

Applejack smiled. "Sure, Twilight. You go ahead."

Twilight nodded, then began to read out-loud:

To: Applejack, Big Mac and Granny Smith
From: Applebloom

To my dearest, loving Family

The first thing I want to say is that I am very, very sorry for worrying all of you. I never intended for this to happen, and I know you've been horribly worried about myself, and only to a tiny lesser degree about Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Stellar. I hope you can forgive me for putting you all through this... well, not exactly again, as we've never done anything to come anywhere close to this before.

Second, I want you all to know we're about as safe as we could be, out here literally in the middle of nowhere.. well, compared to anywhere on Equestria. Stellar said we're at least eight of what she calls Light-Years away from any other star system, and Twilight said that we're over twelve-hundred Light-Years away from Equestria. That may not sound like much, but... it's nearly impossible to imagine. But the sky here is just so bright. There are millions more stars than we ever see from Equestria, and it's so beautiful.

Stellar's keeping us learning as well. The things she calls 'Computers' have more knowledge in them than all the libraries in Equestria put together, and she's keeping us busy learning from them, so we can help her get our ship, which is called the 'Xerxes', working again and to get her back there. I'd never thought I'd ever learn enough about Maths and Science to be any good at anything but farming, but we're all learning so much, it really surprises me how good we are at doing so. I think... I think I might have finally found out what I want to do with my life now. Well... maybe. At least it's going to keep us all busy until we get back home again. I think I'll leave deciding until I get back there and talk to you all. Then I'll decide on it.

Know for certain, beyond any doubts, that you are in my thoughts. I cannot go more than an hour without your faces look at me in my mind, and I can't help but get a little 'melancholic', as Stellar puts it, as I hurt really deep inside me that you're so far away. But Stellar says I have to stand on my own four hoofs, and that I have to rely only on myself while I'm out here, and that every pony reaches this point in their lives sooner or later. The only difference with us here is that we can't look back and stop walking away; we can only look forward, because that's the only thing that will get us Home again. So I'm going to do just that; I'm going to keep learning, keep on looking forward and know that I shall eventually come home again, helpfully a much more mature Pony than I was when I left.

Missing you more than I could ever write,
Your loving sister/grand-foal,
Applebloom

Applejack just wiped the tears away that ran down her face, as Twilight put the letter down on the table before the Apples. "Gosh darnit... she sounds so mature already." Applejack said softly.

"Ee-yup." Big Mac agreed. "She's growin' up." He said, as he wiped a few tears away from his own face.

Granny blew her nose into a hankerchief like a foghorn, then stuffed it away as Twilight held out a box of tissues. "Thank ya, Twilight." She said in her old voice, a little more trembling in it thanks to her mood. "Ohhh... she's gonna gets a good huggin' when she gets back, ah promise ya that." She stated.

Applejack gave a snort of laughter at that. "Ah don' think anypony could think anythin' but that she'd get that, Granny." She said back.

"Ee-yup." Big Mac couldn't help but agree, and Twilight grinned wide as the Apples hugged each other to themselves.

As Twilight walked home that afternoon, inside herself she was feeling so much better. She'd managed to give her best friends hope almost beyond hope, and reassure them that their absent siblings and kin would one day, very soon, come home to them once again.

She looked around Ponyville as she walked back into the village and the warm smiles of the residents... her friends, she was so proud to call so many by that honorific; their warm smiles greeted her and welcomed her home to their lives, and to their friendships. She was happy to answer their questions, to reassure them that those absent were safe and working to return to them again, and the relief that they showed and shared filled the air with cheer once again. Twilight could almost feel it as word spread throughout Ponyville that their missing friends would come home to them again.

As she approached the door to her castle... her Home, Twilight's heart swelled with all the Hope that radiated out from those that loved her and called her their Princess... and it had hardly ever felt as good as it did, right then. She only wished she could package it all up and send it out to Stellar and the C.M.C. as easily as she could send other things to them. But Twilight just gave Spike a warm smile and a huge hug as he greeted her home again, instead.

Hugs she could keep, for when she could give them to those far away...

Author's Notes:

Trying to write letters in character can be sooooooooooo frustrating. Trying to get their heads inside my own is hard to do...

Note: To remind people, the C.M.C. in this story are 15 years old and going to high school, so they are a good deal more educated than we've seen in the series. Likewise, Applebloom might still have her accent when she speaks, but it doesn't carry over into her writing.