Stellar was pleased when, in the middle of coaching the C.M.C. about quadratic equations, a letter from Spike appeared and dropped to the floor. The scroll seemed very thick, Twilight's seal around the ribbon. "Okay, Girls. Break Time." She told the Trio, who sighed with relief and got up to stretch. Stellar opened the scroll up, finding over thirty sheets within it, most of which had the magic circles on them denoting them as H-S pocket carriers. On the face sheet, Stellar read:

Hello Stellar!

Things are slowly working here as you asked. Thanks to your very detailed instructions, I have been able to connect all three machines to the castle's power systems, and the first of your supplies have been sent to you. There's twenty tanks of compressed air, seven tanks of purified water, but only one tank of liquid oxygen and two of hydrogen as yet. We're having more tanks manufactured to carry water, so we can use those reinforced tanks to carry the compressed and liquified gasses instead of wasting them on just water.

Canterlot University is trying to reproduce your tanks, would you believe? They have always had problems getting samples of purified gasses, since magical methods of electrolysis and other methods of collecting and purifying gasses have always been slow. So now that we can supply them with the more basic gasses, including liquid nitrogen, they want supplies. I think this is going to be quite a nice little Bit-maker for you, Sis, as I'm going to be charging them about half the amount they spend on making purified gasses for what we make for them. It'll save them money, but make a very nice income for you as well, maybe to invest in a space program when you get back?

Anyway, I hope this will make things much more comfortable for you and the fillies. You'll probably really enjoy a nice, long shower after you've got the water connected. I know I would! I'll get the rest of the tanks filled for you as soon as I can, and send as many as you think you can spare. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. Celestia's given your safe return carte blanche in terms of gathering and transporting resources to you, so anything you need or want will be supplied, if possible.

I handed out the C.M.C.'s letters to their sisters, and it was a much-needed and massive boost to their hope levels. Even Ponyville's overflowing with hope and confidence that you and the girls will be back here, very soon. While Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been working to keep themselves occupied while waiting for news, I had to pull Rarity out of the deepest funk I have ever seen her sink into. But with Sweetie Belle's letter, and a little aid from myself, she's come out of it and is working double-time to get ready for that Canterlot fashion show next month... and I think she is going to really knock their hoof-shoes off this year. I showed her some of the images you sent back to me, and it seems to have inspired her towards new heights of 'Fabulosity', as Rarity terms it. But I know you can understand how good it is to see her so enthusiastic once again. It's lifted everypony's spirits, as she is once again out and about, doing what Rarity does best. Oh, and don't be surprised if I send you a care package from her, with uniforms for you and the Trio, made up to resemble those 'R.E.F.' uniforms you sent pictures of. Something about them has triggered Rarity into 'IDEA!' mode, and she is sewing like a mad mare, grinning and muttering to herself. It might be kind-of creepy for anypony who doesn't know her, but Rarity is definitely back 'in The Zone!' and sewing up a storm.

So stay strong, Sis. All our good wishes are heading to you, now, and we're going to do everything we can to help you get home safely again. Take care, hug the C.M.C. for all of us and you'll be back here before anypony knows it.

Your loving sister,
Twilight.

Stellar smiled as she read the letter, one hoof on the pile of pages with circles on them. Now things would be better and improve a lot faster. Being able to move around the ship without wearing suits would be much more comfortable, and with fresh water for amenities and other processes, conditions aboard the Xerxes would be comfortable, not just survivable.

Stellar headed for the Life-support area of Engineering, after closing all the external doors in the flight bays and Engineering, ready for repressurising the ship from the stores that Twilight had sent. The fresh air from Equestria was a welcome thing to the Xerxes' stores, and while there wasn't enough yet to repressurise the entire ship, there was enough to fill a good section of the Xerxes, including Engineering and the areas between there and the bridge. As she installed the water tanks and compressed air tanks to the life-support equipment, Stellar made sure all the filters had been cleaned and restored to as new as she could make them. There was no use pumping clean water and air through dirty filtration systems. "Maybe I should send some of the filters home, to see if they could reproduce them." Stellar suggested to herself, making notes to that effect. Hopefully the next shipment would also have more tanks of liquid oxygen as well as liquified air, since Stellar was going to send thirty more of the reserve tanks from the Xerxes home. Twilight had said that the equipment had been fairly easy to plug into the Castle's power systems. Stellar had hope that Twilight would be able to refill the tanks quickly; the Xerxes needed its full compliment of air to make it easier to bring the ship back to Equestria. Once she was sure everything was ready in Life-support, Stellar headed for the computer core's room.

The computer core, after Stellar checked it over thoroughly, seemed to be none-the-worse for the Haydonite having been connected to it. She had realised it was the Haydonite causing what the Captain had referred to as the 'Viral Infection' of its systems. It also appeared as if the Haydonite had not bothered to leave any traps inside the programming, or disruption to the systems. Stellar eventually plugged the core back into the array of secondary cores and powered everything up again. After running the system diagnostics several times in different configurations, she had to assume everything was working properly. Even the Fold Drive's control systems passed diagnostic inspection. Satisfied she could do nothing more to uncover any problems inside the computer systems, she told the computer to begin repressurising sections of the Hull, excepting the forward half of the hull and the flight bays. They were unnecessary at the moment and could be repressurised when the ship attained more air, probably from being delivered by Spike Express Postage.

Heading back to Life-support, Stellar knew she had to get the ship more power, now that the cores were functional. She had seven more mana generators on her, as well as the pair in her exo-armor, after she'd installed four more in Engineering for Life-support's use. She also knew it would be impossible for the generators to fully replace the Protoculture reactors or fusion reactors, so she needed something else. Ideas were coming together, but resources were needed first. The fusion reactors would be able to be brought on-line once she had enough liquid hydrogen for them to work, so a few more deliveries and they'd be available for low-level power generation in the meantime. The next phase was to tell Twilight to send her what she needed to make a working Mana generator big enough to power the Xerxes, and she hoped the Alchemical spells she'd pencilled out for Twilight to peruse would prove viable. Stellar knew Twilight could take the rough ideas for spells she had and make them work properly; they had worked before to do just that.

Stellar returned to Life-Support and disconnected another round of tanks for return to Equestria. The H-S pocket circles easily accepted the new tanks, and Stellar added some spare filters to the package, one of each type for Twilight to give as examples for back-engineering. Then she felt the best thing she'd felt for a while now: Her armor's systems were indicating the air pressure in Engineering was rising steadily, and the circulation systems were starting to kick back in again. Once they showed the atmosphere levels were comfortable, Stellar retracted her armor and stretched her body out, relaxing herself from Armor-protocols. Checking the status of the system, It showed that the hull and the systems were no worse for their time in vacuum. Everything was functioning at nominal levels, which made Stellar breathe a sigh of relief. Of all the systems on-board, Life-support was the most critical one there was. Now, once she'd worked out how to power the Xerxes, then any other problems would be secondary.

Stellar contacted the bridge via the intercom. "Water systems are on-line, Girls. Take a time-out and get yourselves washed."

There were three cheering voices that grew faint, as the Trio raced off for the washrooms. Stellar laughed as she headed for the lifts and back up to the bridge level. Once there, she headed for the Captain's quarters and its private bathroom. After all... Rank had its privelages.

As Stellar relaxed after her shower, slowly grooming herself out, her exo-armor stood in the bathtub after being hosed out and cleaned thoroughly. Sometimes it took just a little more than a cleaning cantrip to get the 'lived-in' smell out of it, and Stellar had always made provision for her armor to survive a good hosing and scrub. Once it was dry, Stellar retracted it back into its helmet, then she put it away, ready if she called for it. Dry and groomed, Stellar headed out of her quarters for the bridge

As Stellar entered the bridge, she saw three clean, happy fillies were looking over the information the bridge stations were now showing them, now that they had access to the main core again. Scootaloo, predictably, was watching footage of the fighters the ship was equipped with in action, while watching a simulator showing the cockpit and what controls and instruments were causing the fighter to be flown in the manner it was being piloted.

Sweetie Belle was, unusually, being 'walked through' the various star charts and astronomical programs by the computer, wondering curiously about their place in the universe. She also had a number of smaller screens on the science station open, and was using them to research other things about star travel, especially about other star systems.

Applebloom, Stellar could see over her shoulder, was delving deeply into the Engineering database, almost as Stellar expected. Stellar moved up beside the teenage filly and asked "Hey, Applebloom, would you like to help me down in Engineering?" Stellar smiled at Applebloom.

Applebloom's face lit up in delight. "You betcha ah would!" She answered, hopping up from the console.

"Come on, then. Let's head for Engineering and see what we need to get the Xerxes fully-operational again." Stellar told Applebloom.

"Yeah! Let's do this, Captain!" Applebloom agreed as they headed for the bridge access elevator, now operational again.

After leaving Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle at their lessons, Stellar and Applebloom headed for Engineering. Stellar wanted to inspect the Protoculture reactors, to see if she could use them as part of her new power source for the ship. It would make things so much easier and quicker if they could use the existing equipment in powering the ship, instead of having to make new equipment to replace it. Since Stellar had no idea what Protoculture actually was, finding it was pretty much an impossibility; and her conversation with the Haydonite, the only being that had known what Protoculture was, had been very unenlightening as to the nature of the substance. So, she was going to have to replace this Protoculture with a power source that was far more familiar to her. And if she could use the reactor housings as part of that, so much the better.

As Applebloom went off to look about Engineering for herself, Stellar moved to the reactor housings. Each had an inspection door built into the sides of the chambers, and she opened the door to the first one and went inside. Stellar looked about the interior of the reactor housing that had held the primary source of power for the ship. The Xerxes had two of the large spherical reactors that, as far as Stellar could tell from scanning their construction and what she'd read in the engineering manuals, were lined with equipment that absorbed an unusual energy produced by the Protoculture. The equipment then converted it into normal electrical power, in the range of several thousand terawatts per hour at the system's maximum operational level. The two reactors were empty of whatever the Protoculture had been and the surface was as clean as if hit with a Purification rune. "I wonder...?" Stellar said to herself. She retrieved one of her mana generators and left it floating inside the reactor. She would activate it remotely from outside the reactor and see what reaction the reactor's conversion equipment would have to the mana it produced.

Stellar watched the monitoring equipment outside the reactor as she activated the generator. Applebloom came up and watched as Stellar waited. "Whatcha doin', Stellar?" She asked.

"Hoping a theory of mine means we can generate power with these reactor bodies eventually." Stellar answered, as the power monitors started to show the reactor's conversion array was receiving power and, after five minutes, Stellar grinned as the reactor's systems adapted to and began to convert the mana into normal electrical energy. It was less than three kilowatt/hours, but the power the mana generator was making was very small compared to the energy levels this Protoculture had produced inside the reactor body. "And there it is." Stellar told Applebloom.

Applebloom looked, frowning. "That don't look like a lot of power." She declared.

"You're right, it isn't." Stellar agreed. "But the most important thing here is that the reactor's conversion array is reading the mana as a power-type it can convert. That means that, with the right equipment, I might be able to produce a much bigger energy generator array within the reactor, that will give us a similar amount of power to that generated by the Protoculture that it contained before." Stellar explained.

"Oh, I get it." Applebloom grinned. "So, what do ya think y'all will need ta make this power generator?" She asked.

"Mostly? Mana crystals and Arcanite, like my little generators." Stellar said.

Applebloom frowned. "But... didn't ya tell Twilight once that Arcanite was the scarcest stuff on Equis?" Applebloom asked.

Stellar nodded. "It is. But, from what I've learned from studying this ship's scientific database..."

"The whut?" Applebloom interrupted. She was better at book-learning than her sister was, but sometimes Stellar, like Twilight, used language that was a little too over-her-head.

Stellar chuckled. "Its inbuilt library on Science." Stellar clarified.

"Oh." Applebloom replied.

Stellar gave Applebloom a grin. "Anyway, after going through it, I think I found out what happened to the Arcanite that used to exist on our world. But better yet, if I'm right, I might be able to create a way of making it again."

"Really?" Applebloom was surprised. “Ya might be able ta make Arcanite?”

“It’s a possibility.” Stellar answered. “Twilight and I have transmuted metals before, using alchemical spells. This isn’t too different for it to be impossible, it just might be very difficult under normal situations. Out here, though, I think I might just be able to make this happen.” Stellar sighed, though. “But I am going to need some things we don’t have here. I’m just hoping that Twilight’s way to send them to us with her letters works with that much tonnage. I know she said it should, but there's a lot of distance between 'should' and 'does' when it comes to things like this.”

Applebloom nodded. "So, are ya gonna send Twilight another letter, tellin' her what we need?"

Stellar nodded. "I will, as soon as I do some work and see if I can write a few spells for Twilight to check over, ones to get us what we need, and ones to help make what we need from the materials I hope she'll be able to send us." She explained to Applebloom. "Right now, it's time for something to eat." She grinned at Applebloom.

"Oh yeah! Dinner!" Applebloom exclaimed as they headed for the lifts.

Twilight was sitting, reading, after a good meal spent with Spike, Starlight and Trixie. The pair of ponies had returned from the 'Human' Equestria that afternoon, replete with the good feelings of a job well done, and with loads of notes and pictures. Starlight had even brought Twilight back a new camera that didn't need film to work, and a computer from the other world to download and print them out with; something that Twilight was so happy to receive. After telling Twilight everything that had happened in their stay on the other world, Trixie had wandered off to bed while Starlight had listened to what had happened in 'Pony' Equestria while they had been gone. "So... Stellar and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are stuck over a thousand light-years from here on an alien starship, trying to get it functional while you supply them with what they need?" Starlight asked Twilight.

"That's.. pretty much it, yeah." Twilight confirmed sounding a little contrite.

Starlight chuckled. "Wow. That's really... out-there, even for a goof-up of this size." Starlight said, as Twilight winced. Starlight then showed a little sympathy. "Hey, it's okay, Twilight. I can tell this wasn't your screw-up. I know what it's like when a major spell goes wrong, believe me. We can both be glad that the four of them are all right and working to get back here." She reassured Twilight.

Twilight sighed. "Yeah... It's the one good thing about this entire situation." She agreed. "Well, apart from the fact of finding a huge alien starship!" Twilight grinned.

"So, do we know what species made it? Or are they just... hideous tentacle monsters?" Starlight asked with a grin, as Twilight laughed.

Once she'd managed to regain control of herself, Twilight replied "No, no. The ship was created and staffed by humans, from what Stellar's told me." Twilight informed Starlight.

"Humans?" Starlight asked. "As in... 'Human-Equestria' humans?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight answered. "Stellar thinks they're different Humans, not the ones that are copies of us in Human form." She told Starlight. "She seems to think they might be humans from our own reality, not the ones from the other reality."

"That's... that's going to stir things up in an interesting manner." Starlight commented. "To think, there's another Human Earth out there in our own reality." She thought for a minute. "Do you think we could make friends with them?"

Twilight shrugged "I don't honestly know." She replied. "We can try, of course; but I think it's going to be a very long time before we even figure out where they are, if you want to be realistic." She pointed out. "But we now know they're out there. It means we can make plans, and if they show up here first, we can be prepared for them. And if we reach their planet first... then we can show them we mean to be friends, and hopefully convince them of that." Twilight sighed. "I just hope things go as Stellar's planning them. There's so much riding on her..."

"She'll be fine, Twilight. It's not as if she's cut off from us. We can send her what she needs, when she tells us what she needs, and having contact means they're not bereft of emotional support, either. They know we're thinking of them, and are ready to do whatever they need to help them get home again." Starlight reassured Twilight.

Twilight nodded. "Well, Stellar said she might have an idea on providing the ship with a powersource the size and output it requires. She said that all the other power sources on the ship, like the 'fusion' reactors aren't nearly powerful enough to power the Fold-Drive it uses to cross interstellar distances. She's sent me equipment to make what she needs for the ship, such as liquid oxygen for Life-Support and liquid hydrogen for the fusion reactors, but there is no information whatsoever on what this 'Protoculture' is or how it works, save that it can produce several thousand terawatts of energy easily. We don't have anything that can produce power in that range yet." Twilight explained to Starlight.

"Terawatts?" Starlight was aghast. "How the buck can we make that much power? The hydroelectric dam in Canterlot barely makes four hundred kilowatt/hours as it is."

Twilight nodded. "Now you're seeing the problem. Apparently the fusion reactors on the Xerxes can make just over a megawatt/hour each. But the Fold-Drive needs terawatts constantly as it travels, which is why Stellar can't just use the fusion reactors to charge up the capacitors and jump with that."

Starlight nodded. "Damn. So, we're going to have to make a... what did Star Charter call it in that latest book of his?"

"You mean a 'Quantum Leap'?" Twilight suggested.

Starlight nodded. "Yeah. We're going to have to make a 'quantum leap' in power generation to make this happen." She replied.

Twilight nodded with a sigh. "I know. Stellar said she has an idea to do with those little mana generators of hers. But first she needs to find out if they interact well with the current system, or will she have to gut Engineering to fit new systems on-board the ship. If that's the case, then we might have to find some other way of doing this."

"Mmm... Compatibility is always the biggest issue." Starlight agreed.

"Anyway, Stellar has sent me some ideas she has, and as soon as she decides what she needs, then we can work at supplying her." Twilight stated, as Starlight nodded. "Also... Stellar hinted she might need me to check over some spells she'll be writing. Do I need to ask you if you'll help?" Twilight asked hopefully.

Starlight's face lit up. "Oh yeah!" She replied with a grin. "New magic? You know I'm always up for that!" She told Twilight.

Twilight grinned back. "Yeah, you and me both." She said back to Starlight. "Now, all we have to do is wait."

Stellar sat and looked over her notes, as the C.M.C. continued their lessons. Stellar had gone through what to the humans would have been several university degrees-worth of education in several hours, but the young mares needed more time to absorb the new knowledge, even with a spell or two to aid them. Sometimes being an Alicorn was a blessing, Stellar had to admit. She and Twilight had augmented their minds together to absorb information far faster than a normal pony, even a unicorn, could achieve, with perfect retention and recall. What had happened to Stellar in one of her other lives, with the Element of Magic they'd shared, helped her and this Twilight to reach this level of perfect recall together. And now it aided her in working through the half-dozen spells she was writing down for Twilight's perusal.

After checking on the girls, Stellar rolled up her latest scroll-bundle and applied it to the Candle, watching it burn into smoke, which curled up and vanished. Smiling, Stellar then headed for the control area, looking over the young mares' shoulders and helping them if they needed it, finding Scootaloo needing a little explanation on three-dimensional trigonomical calculations.

Twilight was relaxing in the library of Castle Friendship. The local school had just had their 'Book Day' visitation and she was recovering. Spike was helping to put the books back on the shelves as Twilight organised the book returns and the check-out cards into order, when Spike turned, looking sick, but as he burped loudly, this time only one scroll came shooting out. Warned this time, Twilight caught it before it got more than a metre through the air, as Spike sat down hard. "You okay, Spike?" Twilight asked as she moved to her little brother, concern on her face.

"Y-yeah... it's getting easier." Spike answered. "As long as Stellar doesn't send more than one scroll at once, my stomach can handle it." He told Twilight.

Twilight nodded. "Okay. I'll tell her in the next letter to limit to one scroll every five minutes." She answered him, getting a smile from Spike. "Go and get something to calm your stomach, then could you please tell Starlight we got a letter from Stellar?" Twilight asked.

"Sure." Spike replied, slowly getting to his feet before walking out of the Library.

Twilight watched him go, wanting to help him, but without limiting his gift. Knowing he was the critical link between Stellar and Twilight, something that Stellar was depending on to get all four of those lost so far away back home again, was making Spike so proud of his gift. Without him, Stellar and the C.M.C., some of his best friends, would have been lost for sure.

Turning to a reading desk, Twilight opened the scroll, finding multiple pages inside once again, and she started with the cover-page letter...

Dear Twilight,

Things are going well here on the Xerxes. We've got the hull fully sealed now and the computer cores seem to be unaffected by the Haydonite's take-over of them. All the ship's systems appear to be functional, save for the main power generation systems. The good news is that the 'former' Protoculture reactors seem to treat the mana generated by my generators as an energy-form they can convert to the energy system the ship uses. So now all I need are parts and materials to build a mana generator big enough to supply the ship with all the energy it can use. And that's where you come in, Sis. I've made plans for such a generator, but it is going to require a great deal of unusual materials, plus thirty-five large, specially-shaped mana crystals.

I've included a list of the materials in this letter, as well as diagrams showing the mana crystals I need made and to what specifications. Plus I need you to go over some alchemical transformation spells I've drawn up and check them for errors and side-effects, if any exist. They should be fairly straightforward, but if anypony can find out any mistakes I might have made, you can. Oh, and you're going to love reading what I've found out about the true nature of one of our rarest elements, and one I am going to need a great deal of: Arcanite. If I am right, then all Equestria's power generation needs might be solved, if I can get this to work properly. So your spell going awry might just result in the greatest leap forward in our country's history since we started codifying Magic properly.

Here's hoping,

Your loving sister,

Stellar

Twilight blinked with surprise, and some shock, when she read Stellar's next letter. "What the hay...?" She asked as she read Stellar's list of materials. "Why does she need a tonne of 'Carbon-14', and two tonnes of powdered Magicite?" She asked herself. "See page three." Twilight unfolded the third page of the quite thick sheaf of papers, and her eyes widened in sheer delight, as she read about Stellar's discovery. "Oh... My... GOSH!" Twilight exclaimed with glee as she contemplated what Stellar had deduced about the nature of Arcanite. Pulling across a sheet of paper, Twilight penned a quick note to the Princesses, added copies of Stellar's alchemical thoerem on Arcanite and sent them off quickly. Then she went to her blackboards and started working on the detection and sorting spell Stellar had sent her the basic outline for her to complete.

Starlight came rushing in once she'd gotten Spike's message. "Is it...?" She asked Twilight.

Twilight grinned at Starlight. "More than even I'd ever imagined, Starlight." She pointed towards the unfurled scroll.

Starlight lifted the letter, then her eyes bulged with surprise as she read it. "Arcanite...?" Was all she asked.

Twilight nodded. "And she's sent us six new spells to check over, to aid her in making Arcanite." She told Starlight as she continued writing on the blackboard.

Starlight read through the five remaining spells, as her magic pulled out two more blackboards from the storage room. Choosing one of the prototype spells, she moved to one of the blackboards and started writing. Glancing at Twilight, the unicorn and alicorn grinned at each other and continued to write, both in their element.

Celestia was waiting on Luna joining her as the moon slowly rose in the dusk sky, when Twilight's latest letter popped into existence above her. Catching it in her magic, she lowered the scroll down and unrolled it. Her eyes widened, though, when she read what Twilight had written about what Stellar had sent her, then she quickly went through Stellar's notes, just shaking her head slightly in disbelief.

Luna came in, frowning as she saw the disbelief on her sister's face. "Something perplexes thee, Dear Sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia started a little, then seemed to deflate like a balloon. "Luna." She said softly.

Luna frowned as she sat opposite Celestia. "Surely this is a major conundrum, to have you so... tense." Luna stated. "Pray share thy predicament with me, Tia?" She asked.

Celestia took a deep breath, then handed over Twilight/Stellar's letter. "It seems Twilight's sister is in need of something we'd hoped wouldn't be a problem, Luna." She told Luna as she read the letter.

Luna frowned more deeply as she read the page, then confiscated Stellar's notes and read them through. "Indeed." Luna replied. "Arcanite was a sore bone of contention all those centuries ago... and glad we were when the unicorns finally surrendered it to us." She looked at Celestia. "I know Stellar had been hunting down the few remaining deposits of it in our land... but to actually contemplate making it? And in quantity?" She asked.

Celestia nodded. "Yes... I can see so much coming of this, both positive and negative." She told Luna. "Stellar seems to think she can make it part of something that can benefit ALL Equestrians, by using it in ways that anypony can benefit from, not just unicorns."

"If so, is that not a good thing?" Luna asked. "After all, it was what the main argument against Arcanite was, back then."

Celestia nodded. "That is true." She agreed. "But I simply cannot see what the reaction will be of the others to the return of such a contentious substance." Celestia admitted.

Luna read over the rest of Stellar's plans, then smiled. "Then perhaps it is a good thing that this is taking place so far away, then." Luna suggested. "If Stellar and her young cohorts return with the creation of this 'Mana reactor' already done and demonstratable, then perhaps the pony-in-the-street will focus on the reactor more, and not-so-much on what it is made of."

Celestia turned to look at Luna. "Indeed." She replied, a smile flowing across her face. "Yes. Put the proper spin on the discovery, and hopefully focus the public on the benefits for the here-and-now, instead of the historical negatives." She said aloud, then nodded. "Once again, Luna, you demonstrate why we hardly advanced during my time alone on the throne. We work far better together than when we are apart."

Luna grinned. "Indeed, Sister. Our realm is benefitted with both its princesses on the throne, as well as our latest pair to stir the pot of Progress." She put the notes down and moved to nuzzle Celestia. "So... I shall have these notes transcribed and made available for the Engineers Guild to peruse, and begin working on obtaining the Magicite ore Stellar Sparkle requires, as well as this 'Carbon-fourteen' derivative she says would be easily found in coal or graphite beds. The Miner's Guild should know where the richest beds of these two resources will be found."

Celestia nodded as she rose. "I shall leave matters in your hands until the morning, Luna." She told Luna as she walked to her and nuzzled her again.

"Sleep well, dearest Tia." Luna replied as Celestia left the dining room for her suite. Then she returned her attention to Stellar's notes. "Magicite and Carbon makes Arcanite." She said to herself. "I don't think the greatest alchemists of the past, not even Starswirl himself, would have guessed this." After transcribing the notes, she gave the copies to a courier and sent her on her way to the Engineers Guild's hall, with a strict injuncture about revealing any of the content to any of the public, then rolled the notes up and slipped them under her wing. That done, Luna headed for the Audience Hall, hoping that the night would be quiet. She had a lot more reading to do...

Author's Notes:

I know this chapter is a little smaller than the others, but it was a perfect place to leave this for the moment. It also means I can post it a little earlier than I thought.

Okay. The benefits of being able to call home for delivery to them starts to make things easier for Stellar and the C.M.C. But it also brings the spectre of old problems back to Celestia and Luna.
Do they dare trust that the ponies of the present are more tolerant of each other than the ponies of the past were? And what happens when those with a penchant for hoarding power to themselves learn that Arcanite might be available again for their use?
Only time will tell...