Applejack sat behind the human Wesley called Hampton, still amazed at what she had seen as they advanced their way up the hill. There was such tremendous power, the kind of power that she thought only Princess Celestia could hold, behind that single strike... it was fortunate that they had not sought to conquer Equestria, but rather, to aid it.
Wesley had carefully explained it to her afterwards; what she had seen was the direct output of something called an ‘ion cannon’. She commented on how it must have been a terrifyingly powerful device, and he had to agree: he explained that such weaponry was only used against the crystals as a measure that required immediate results. For the most part, it was to be used only on their enemies.
And when she asked Wesley about that, he merely deflected it, stating that it would be very, very fortunate if they didn’t show up. Given his tone, however, she found it unlikely, and she wasn’t in any rush to find out. It was certainly intimidating, though, and she wondered how many other devices they had at their disposal that could induce such awe.
So there she sat, watching on the screen as they trudged up the once-recognizable road that led up to the great Equestrian city of Canterlot. Hampton was speaking, though Applejack’s suit speakers struggled to identify the speech, and since the pony wasn’t wearing her helmet, it broadcasted the translation out loud.
“...check right for threats, and try not to fall off.” Hampton seemed to be masterful with the controls at her disposal, keeping a sharp eye on both her own displays and the terrain in front of her crawler as they trudged up the hill.
“It’s pretty empty here, don’t you think?” Wesley said. “Where are the crawler’s contingent of pilots?”
“They’re in the Titans at the moment. Usually the protocol is to bring along a regular force and deploy the crawler’s as backup support, but I figured that it wouldn’t hurt this time around. We’re making good time up the hill, though.”
“Mobius, we got readings coming up ahead. What’s the call?” came a voice from the comms.
“What’s going on over there?”
“Looks like a bend, and definitely a road. And... my radar’s picking up signatures. No idea what they are, but they don’t look hostile. Don’t take my word for that.”
“Infantry, keep your eyes open and make sure nothing fishy happens. Understood?”
“Understood, ma’am.”
“Doctor, did something happen?” Applejack asked Wesley.
“I don’t know,” he said, the canopy for his power suit raised. “They say we’ve encountered fliers, which is just our luck. For the most part, I think we were lucky that we didn’t encounter flight-based mutations for much of our operations, but it seems that luck is about to run out.”
“What do they look like?”
“Good question,” Wesley said, nodding. “Commander, what do these signatures look like?”
“It’s hard to tell at this distance,” she said. “The weather’s messing with our long-range detection systems, and there’s plenty of storm interference in the skies. I’m getting fuzzy read-backs at best here.”
“Hmm. Viers, what do you see out there?” Wesley asked.
“A whole lot of green and nothing to show for it,” Viers responded, spearheading the convoy. Behind him followed Yankee, their guns at the ready as the Titans maintained positions alongside them. “I can see them on my sensors, but they’re staying still.”
“Hmm. Maybe our sensors are being faulty. In any case, keep an eye out.”
“Will do, doc.”
As they continued forward, he noticed that the signatures always remained at a constant distance from them, even as they advanced along. That was a telltale indicator that they were being observed by observers who didn’t know that they were being observed right back.
“I wonder how long until the Scrin show up,” Yankee Four said. “Usually they’d be all over a planet full of Tiberium like flies to a plate of crap.”
“They’ll show up alright,” Yankee Three said. “And when they do, we’ll be waiting for them.”
“Really now? What happens if we run into Corruptor cult? Traveler? Subjugator? God, I hate that one. It’s a good thing we managed to counter their masterminds with all that fancy equipment G-Tech has been throwing out.”
“Leave that one up to ISDI Spec Ops to worry about,” Yankee Two said. “I’m more worried if we run into Reaper or Destroyer. Those tripods are tough to take down, and those cults just love their firepower.”
“Oh, yeah, those assholes are a pain to deal with. Don’t the Steel Talons usually get called in for those ones?”
“They have to. It’s not like they have a choice since regular grunts end up getting steamrolled by the better Tib-tech they run around with,” Lead said. “Hey, what the hell is that?” he asked, pointing to something in the distance.
“Whoa now. Convoy, hold,” Viers said, as the crawler and its escorts slowed to a stop. “Hey, Mobius, are you seeing this?”
“Hmm, a purple energy barrier. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn Michelin’s crawler teleported itself up here and decided to set up shop. I’ll ask our little guest here if she knows anything about it.” Silence for a moment, as the Titans shifted around on their mechanical legs, looking around for possible threats. “Wow, that was some pretty good time! Looks like that’s our objective, Dagger!”
“Yes, we’ll be disembarking now,” Wesley chimed in. “Lieutenant, I want you and Yankee to be our guard detail. Mobius and its protection will remain here, just out of bounds. I don’t want to end up scaring them.”
“Of course, doc. I suppose we’ll be bringing the miss along, too? I don’t think they’d be keen to welcome us with open arms otherwise.” Viers turned around to see Mobius deploy, opening up its cargo bay doors as the suit-wearing pony and Wesley appeared from within.
“Right, then,” Wesley said, pointing his cannon towards the glimmering city limits. “Let’s move out.”
“Princess? Princess!” Captain Golden Crest flew into Princess Celestia’s room along with his squad, circumventing the standard security protocol of ascending from the steps instead. “There are... things, Princess! And those things are headed this way!”
“I... who are they?” Celestia said, immediately turning to the mannequin near her and beginning to move the armor plates towards her. “What do they want?”
“I don’t know, Princess, but from what I can guess, they’re responsible for the pillar of light we saw from the skies earlier. I’m not entirely sure if they even know what’s up here, but they’re probably investigating the road. They cleared the giant crystal blocking the road up to Canterlot.”
“And if they continue investigating the road, then they will find Canterlot,” Celestia said. “Muster all of the remaining guard, and tell them to assume defensive positions on the outer Canterlot walls. We will meet these newcomers head-on.”
“But... what if they’re here to kill us?”
“Then it will save us the trouble of letting the crystal choke our kind out of existence,” she said gravely. “But we will not go without a fight. Go now, and alert the others.”
“Of course, Princess.” Crest and his squad bowed and flew out the window to the guard barracks, where the guards not on-duty would be raised to answer the Princess’ call to arms.
“Princess? Newcomers? You mean they’re... those things that we have to keep fighting off? The changed wildlife and other things?”
“I don’t know, Twilight,” Celestia replied, replacing her crown with a great golden helmet, adorned with intricate inscriptions and symbols. “But they might not even be such creatures if what I assume it true. All I know is that there is a possibility that they not be from our world. I know not of a single creature of this world that can call down such power from the skies themselves.”
Twilight gulped. “Should I... go with you?”
“I would like you to, but it’s a sensitive situation. But in the case where I do need you, I will call for you. Is that okay?” Celestia fitted the clasp onto her armor with a click, fastening her cloak into place. In her armored form, Celestia definitely fit the role of the ruler of Equestria, her wings guarded with light plate to allow for flight, but otherwise a shining wall of armor to stand against Equestria's enemies.
“Okay, Princess.... please, stay safe.”
Twilight could see her smile through the open helmet. “Fear not, Twilight, I will. And I will protect all of my little ponies... I promise.”
She walked out to the balcony, and with a powerful thrust of her wings, took to the air and directed herself south to the Canterlot city gates, the powerful barrier constructed by Captain Shining Armor still shimmering in the air above.
“So... what?” Yankee Two asked. “We just stand here and hope they notice us or something? Knock on the door? Ask if there’s anyone home?” He kicked the dirt and meandered around as they stood in front of the energy barrier, with a view of the massive closed gates of Canterlot before them.
“I’m pretty damn sure they noticed us,” Viers said. “Because my sensors are tracking movements all over those walls.”
“And what marvelous walls they are,” Wesley said. “Just look at all that. To think that these ponies managed such large-scale construction... well, they keep surprising us at every turn.”
“So why are we still waiting here, then?” Yankee Three asked, walking towards the barrier. “Can’t we just walk past—oof!” He slammed straight into the transparent wall, stopping him dead in his tracks. “Right... ‘barrier’... how silly of me to forget that.”
“Hello?” Applejack shouted in her native language. “Anypony home?”
“What’s she saying, doc?” Viers asked.
“Well... she’s asking if there’s anybody home...”
“Halt. Who goes there?” came a response from the battlements. “In the name of the Princess, identify yourself.”
“I’m Applejack, from Ponyville.”
“Applejack...?” Wesley could see that there were other guards on the walls, but only the face of one was visible to them; that very one took off his helmet to get a better look at Applejack. “We... I was there at Ponyville. You were attacked by the timberwolves... we thought you died!”
“And I would have, if these kind strangers hadn’t come along and patched me up,” Applejack said. “They’re here to help! They can get rid of the crystal!”
“That sounds very impressive, ma’am, but until we can confirm your identity, I’m afraid we can’t trust you or your companions. Princess Celestia is on her way here and...” The guard turned around, nodding at someone. “Right, she’ll be speaking to you momentarily. Open the gates!”
“Lower your weapons, Lieutenant,” Wesley said. “And you, as well, Yankee.”
“Setting weapons to safety...” Yankee Two said. “Don’t want to cause any trouble.”
The gate rumbled open to reveal Princess Celestia and her bodyguard detail, comprised of Captain Golden Crest and his squad. They approached the barrier edge as Celestia attempted to get a better look at Applejack.
“Uh... does she have a horn? And wings?” Yankee Three said.
“A unicorn-pegasus hybrid,” Wesley noted. “Strange indeed. But oddly fitting for the governing entity for a race of sapient ponies.”
“Uh, let us know what they’re talking about, doc,” Viers said. “Don’t keep us all out of the loop here.”
“Worry not, I am establishing a local link from my suit to yours and Yankee’s. The translator program’s a bit rough, but for the most part, we should be able to hear what they’re saying,” Wesley said.
“Applejack. Is it really you?” Celestia asked.
“It is me, Princess... uh, I’d take off my helmet right now, but the doctor told me that’s probably not a good idea to do out here,” Applejack said. “Uh, right, doctor?”
“Well, it would seem that the air up here has some breathability, at least. I wonder if that might be the barrier, though...”
“And who are you, doctor?” Celestia asked him.
“I am Doctor Wesley. My companions and I here were among the first of our group to land on this world, and we happened to find Applejack in dire need of medical attention. And before you ask, yes, I can speak your language, but to do so, I have to use a special device which I have built into my suit.”
“You have my greatest thanks for saving Applejack,” she said. “But I must ask of you: who are you, and why are you here?”
That was a simple question to answer. “We are the ISDI, the Interstellar Defense Initiative. And our organization is dedicated to stopping the spread of this green crystal wherever we find it, which has led us to your world. Who are you?”
“ I am Princess Celestia, the... as of now, lone ruler of the Principality of Equestria. So you’re here to help us, then?”
“Yes. This is a strange occurrence, though...” Wesley said, walking up beside Applejack. “In most cases, the crystal usually consumes all indigenous life on the planet long before we even arrive. I think it was extremely fortunate that we showed up when we did, and even then, at the right place.”
“And how do we know you aren’t the one who put this crystal on the planet in the first place?” Crest asked.
“That’s a good question. But we do have tools to destroy the crystal.” Picking up a small shard of Tiberium growing at his feet, he took out his sonic device and pointed it at the crystal. With a high-pitch whir, the shard began to disintegrate in his hands, leaving the ponies staring in awe.
“We could use some of those,” Crest simply said, exchanging a glance with Celestia.
“Where do you come from?” Celestia asked. “You do not appear to be from our world.”
“Well, that’s because we aren’t. We came from... well, up there,” Wesley said, pointing into the skies. “Our ship maintains its position high above the ground of this planet, and contains the majority of our other forces. We simply haven't deployed in full force yet because the storms are highly detrimental to our equipment and cause our transports to crash.”
“From above...?” Celestia said. Then it was true: they really were aliens.
“I won’t expect you to immediately trust us, so I’ll be limiting our exposure to simply myself and one of my bodyguards. Will you grant us access to your city? I need to know what sort of aid is required so we know what we need to send down.”
Celestia stood looking at them for a moment, carefully taking in the ISDI soldiers before her before sighing. “Very well. Doctor Wesley, you and one other of your choosing will be given permission to enter the city. Applejack will stay with you at all times.”
“That’ll be fine, Princess. It’s a strange feeling; it’s not everyday that I’d be able to address royalty.”
“And it’s not everyday where I’d be able to speak to an alien,” Celestia responded in kind. “Do you already know who to bring along?”
“Yes, I do, actually. Lieutenant, you’ll be coming with me. Yankee, I’m afraid you’ll have to remain here, outside the gates, until our business is concluded. Mobius is to remain at distance until further notice.”
“Yes, sir, doc,” Yankee Lead said. “Alright, Yankee, we are setting up shop here. Keep your eyes sharp and if its eyes glow green, you shoot it. Understood?”
“Crystal clear, boss,” Yankee Two said. “But I don’t think anything can get this far without Mobius noticing first. Time for another six months of suit-vision until all this Tiberium gets cleared up. Can’t wait to walk outside and actually breath fresh air for once.”
“Stay frosty and don’t do anything stupid,” Viers said.
“Roger that, Dagger,” Yankee Lead said, giving Viers a thumbs-up.
“Now, if you would, please,” Celestia said. “Follow me. We have much to discuss...”
“This is Dagger to Alexandra. Wesley and I have made contact, and are entering the city now. We’re going straight to protocol and trying to evaluate their situation so we can bring in aid, over.”
“Fantastic job, Dagger. With their cooperation, we might be able to pinpoint other settlements and see if we can’t alleviate their situation a bit. Until then, just help them to the best of your ability. I’ll have to start arranging our planetside moving operations, so I may not be in for a while. Contact EVA if you need to get in touch with me.”
“Roger, sir. Will keep in touch,” Viers responded, as the line closed.
“EVA, switch to autonomous observation state. I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Yes, commander.”
Alexandra exited the command center, marching past numerous Navy personnel as he entered the elevator at the end of the hall, pressing the button that led down to the engineering deck, where the reactors and the room where the local EVA unit was kept, the latter of which was his destination.
Unlike the more bustling halls of the Navy-centered command deck, the engineering deck was mostly empty, save for the occasional yellow-helmeted technicians scurrying about from room to room to monitor the plethora of instruments and diagnostic readouts. In one direction was the reactor core for the Methuselah, an advanced reactor core that was a scaled-up version from the ones that the old Kodiaks used to have, complete with new bells and whistles for increased output, and in the other direction was the ultra-max security bulkheads that led to the mainframe for the Methuselah’s EVA unit.
Walking up to the bulkhead, half a dozen turrets immediately appeared from the ceiling, walls, and the floor, their tracking lasers pointing directly at Alexandra’s center of mass. “State identification,” was the security system’s automated response.
“Commander Martin Alexandra, Steel Talons.”
“Step into the yellow box on the ground before you.” Alexandra obliged, and the walls shifted again as a scanner’s tracer flipped up and down as it scanned the body mass in the square, before beeping and retreating back into the walls.
The area in front of the square opened up, and a small terminal appeared. “Present eye and fingerprint identification.” Alexandra sighed and followed the instructions. As archaic as they seemed in the current time period, security measures were still as stringent as ever. And the turrets were always great incentive to make sure you did everything right, lest the ISDI be short one extremely talented but incredibly stupid commander.
“Stand by for mental scanning.” The ceiling above him opened up to a wavelength detector device, a new security measure put into place to oust any mastermind-controlled ISDI personnel. It wasn’t exactly needed, given that nearly every piece of ISDI equipment was equipped with a broadcasting nanochip that disrupted mastermind control wavelengths, but it was for contingency.
Yet not many knew about how the chips worked. InOps had such a stranglehold on the exact nature of the chips that it was rumored that inside were nanites that occupied the oxygen they breathed and even the food they ate. Even if most of them were false, at least one or two was true: it was well-known that the Washington headquarters had nanite detectors all over the station, making Scrin infiltration impossible.
“Identity confirmed. Welcome, Commander Martin Alexandra.” The locks began clearing themselves from the bulkhead in a timely fashion, before revealing an airlock within that led to a second bulkhead. The in-between was required, as it prevented immediate access into the core in the case the first bulkhead was breached.
The first bulkhead closed completely before the second bulkhead was allowed to open. EVA’s mainframe was a massive piece of technology, sitting directly in the center of the room behind specialized glass plating with a number of tubes protruding out of it to be used for reasons unknown. In the middle of the technological mess was a single table, messy and crowded with various Earth memorabilia and video game posters.
“Masterson!” Alexandra called, only to be ignored by the man sitting at the table as noises from the videogame he was playing boomed throughout the chamber. “Masterson...” Alexandra said, stepping forward over wires and boxes. He was nearly at an arm’s reach when Masterson suddenly turned around, a gun pointed at Alexandra.
“Aha, I got you now, you scumbag—oh, it’s just you, Marty. Sheesh, why didn’t you say something when you came in?”
“I did... but you weren’t listening.”
“Oh, right, sorry about that. Was busy trying to grind this boss out. So, what can I do for you, chief?” Masterson said, putting his GD-10 combat rifle into storage mode on his lap before removing his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “You don’t come down here all that often, so I guess something’s up. I’ve been checking up on EVA’s feeds, you know. Crazy stuff down there.”
Henry Masterson was Alexandra’s EVA maintenance officer, or simply ‘technician’, as Masterson wanted to be called; he believed that being labeled an actual officer of the ISDI would cause misunderstandings, since he was, by all accounts, a civilian contractor from the Idris Corporation, who helped to build and maintain most of the ISDI’s EVA units in interstellar troop carriers in the arsenal. He had helped to establish Alexandra’s unique EVA command patterns in the Methuselah’s mainframe, having transferred over with the commander to the Methuselah alongside Hampton and Michelin.
“So...” Masterson said, flipping off the monitor on his table. “You came to see me about something? Yeah, sorry, just let me move this stuff first so I can get you a place to sit.” A large box next to his chair was piled high with books, which Masterson moved to the floor with minor difficulty, dropping one in the process. Alexandra picked it up and gave a wry smile.
“Messiah: The Legacy of Kane...” He smiled. “...by Elias Alexandra. My great-grandfather. I didn’t know people still read this pointless crap,” he said, unceremoniously tossing the book to the ground.
“Just a recent pick-up for my book collection,” Masterson said. “It’s a pretty interesting read, if not to see how Nod operated back in the day. And of course, the information about Kane himself, probably why everyone ate that book up the day it hit the shelves.”
“Kane was an asshole, plain and simple. A smart and clever asshole, but still an asshole.”
“Well, you do have a point, I guess...” Masterson said. “Kind of strange hearing the great-grandchild of an infamous Black Hand confessor denouncing Kane, of all people. And to think that it’s usually me that’s the paranoid one.”
“Elias never met me. He died before I was born,” Alexandra said. “Not that we would get along even if he was, anyway; I’m ISDI down to the core, and he was a Nod fanatic. But enough of that; I came to talk you about moving the EVA mainframe planetside, not to wax philosophical on Kane’s past.”
“Already planning on moving it? But you haven’t even established a proper base on the ground, and much less an actual command bunker.”
“I’m working on that. I’m asking how quickly we can establish a local ground uplink when we do end up moving planetside. The Scrin haven’t shown up yet, and that makes me suspicious.” Standard procedure was for commanders to move their EVA units planetside to avoid a total loss of the command network in the case the ITC was lost. The occurrence was rare, but it never hurt to be prepared.
“Oh, man, there’s just... I bet they’re already on the planet,” Masterson said, going into his full-on conspiracy mode for which he was known for. “No, even better: there are masterminds on the planet and they’ve taken control of the locals. That’s the only way they can get through all this completely undetected.”
“Masterson, that’s a load of crap. You know better than I do that our uplinks on the ground would have picked up any mastermind broadcasts. Hell, what am I saying? You would know about it, because you helped build the damn things!”
“Stop! Stop, stop, stop!” Masterson said. “You’re bringing logic into my theories, and that just won’t fly. Anyway, yeah, sure, I can have this EVA unit ready to be transferred faster than you can say ‘tinfoil hat’. Just let me know beforehand, okay? But seriously, what if the Scrin took over the bodies of the locals? The Scrin like to use things with three legs, but these pony things have four! Maybe they upgraded! Evolved! Increased their leg count by a factor of one! Maybe this is some hyper-advanced Scrin cult that’s so good at subterfuge that they adopted basic human cultural objects and mannerisms. Maybe that’s why their stuff looks a lot like ours and why this planet is covered with Tiberium. It’s a trap!”
“Masterson, you’re crazy.”
“Ha! Laugh it up all you want now, Marty! But when I’m right, you’ll be sorry! Actually, no, that’s not good, because if I’m right, and all my other theories are right, we’ll probably be royally screwed over in a way that’ll make recouping from losses impossible for a prolonged period of time.”
“Henry... Tiberium kills the locals.”
“Oh... well...” Masterson stuttered. “Yeah, I guess that might be a problem... Tiberium doesn’t kill Scrin. But, I might still be right on the mastermind thing! Oh, you know what you should do? You should show them the transcribed text from the translated Tacitus! If they recognize it... then they’re Scrin! Or controlled by them. Doesn’t matter either way.”
Alexandra sighed. “Sometimes I wonder why you’re not in a mental institution...”
“Because I’m too damn good at my job! Haha! I’ve yet to see someone rewire EVA’s receiver mainframe faster than seven-point-two seconds, which is my record, by the way. I should know, I was the one who did it. Uh, I accidentally reset the command protocols to default again, though, but that was a minor thing.”
“So you were the reason why EVA started spouting off warnings like I was some greenhorn commander!” He hit Masterson on the head. “I thought I got strapped with a default EVA unit again.”
“Right, right, sorry about that, Marty, won’t happen again. Oh, hey, I forgot,” Masterson said, picking up his GD-10. “Sweet, isn’t it? I scored it off of the quartermaster.”
“...how, exactly?” The GD-10 was a discontinued rifle series from the Third Tiberium War. Most were decommissioned and replaced with newer models, so to find an actual one in mint condition was a surprise.
“We made a bet. He lost. Never underestimate the power of probabilities.” He pulled out a magazine and dropped it into the rifle through the receiver on top. “This tech was pretty high-end for its time, you know. An automatic rail gun, missile launcher, grenade launcher, and get this: a portable ion cannon, right here on the gun.”
“You know we have rules about firearms in the mainframe room, Masterson.”
“It’s on safety, don’t worry. And besides, if they cared about that rule so much, how come they let me install fifty Vulcan turrets in here?”
“Fifty...? Where?” Alexandra asked, looking around the room occupied with either Masteron’s random piles of junk or pieces of extremely sensitive equipment. There was no sign of a turret being installed anywhere.
“Everywhere. That’ll make those slimy Scrin fucks think twice about trying to get in here.”
“Right...”
“Attention, Commander Alexandra. You are needed in the command center.”
“Well, Marty, it was good talking to you, but it looks like you have less important things to attend to!” Masterson said, laughing. “And I’ll reiterate again: the conspiracy theories are a joke, so don’t report it up the chain, okay? I just like playing the crazy guy shtick a lot.”
“Of course I know that. Somebody reported you? Who was it?”
Masterson snorted. “Hampton. I messed with her crawler’s UI to endlessly play pop songs sped up by a thousand percent, then blamed it on space gremlins. When she found it I was the one who did it, she, uh... well, she can throw a mean right hook. I... hey... come on, it’s not that funny!” he complained, as Alexandra laughed his way out of the airlock.
“You called for me, doc? What’s going on down there?” Alexandra asked.
“Well, sir, I mean... sheesh, look at all this stuff,” Wesley said, activating his suit’s cameras to provide a feed to Alexandra. “I kid you not, those are doors. With door handles on them. They don’t even have hands, but they have doorknobs. Forks. Spoons. Mugs with those handles that hang off the side. And they use all of that.”
“They’re pretty colorful,” Viers added. “It’s like something out of a children’s cartoon. Except it’s real. And they’re in a pretty bad place.” The refugees all gathered along the sidewalks as they stared at the suit-wearing humans. Some of them had clear signs of Tiberium affliction on their bodies.
“Um, are all your people like this?” Wesley asked Celestia.
“Not all of them are like that,” Applejack responded, her voice echoing over her helmet’s filters. “It’s just that... only the ponies who have the crystal on them stay out here.”
“Right, so immediate medical aid to the afflicted first,” Wesley said to himself. “How many of them are there here?”
“Several thousand,” Celestia responded. “It... wasn’t easy. They live in cramped conditions, and most of the castle grounds has been changed to host most of my guard or for food production, so we don’t have any extra room. Those who haven’t been afflicted live in the inner sanctum located deeper within the mountain.”
“So you mean there’s more than just the ones here in the city?”
“Sounds like we might have to construct a refugee camp to host them, then. If she can spare the time,” Alexandra said, listening in to the conversation but unable to broadcast himself, instead having to use Wesley as a liason, “we can designate grounds for construction. Camp Greenwood has been mostly fortified now with shields and heavy defense emplacements, so we can spare having Aegis for defensive support to guard the site.”
“Planning to visit the surface soon, sir?”
“Not without a gun on me. I’m opening up all requisitions access to you, Wesley. If you need anything, just put a request through to EVA, and she’ll find the best way to get the supplies to you. I’m going to be busy trying to work things through with CENTCOM for a while... they just got my report.”
Ponies whispered all around them as they finally reached the gates to Canterlot Castle itself. Even the guards were surprised at the size of the beings that Celestia had admitted in, but more so at Viers than at Wesley, for the latter was armed with weapons that looked as if they could level half the city if he so wished.
“We are here,” Celestia said. The guards looked at her, awaiting her orders. “Please, open the gates.”
As the gates parted, Applejack could see the familiar colors of a certain group of ponies waiting for her. “Applejack!” Rainbow Dash immediately crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. “Whoa, what’s with the suit?”
“My friends here patched me up, Rainbow!” Applejack said happily. “They saved my life!”
“Oh, it’s so good to see you again, Applejack,” Rarity said, about to give her a hug when she eyed the suit. “Hmm... I could have done better. It looks absolutely... bulky, and very ugly.”
“Uh, those suits are built for utility, not aesthetics,” Wesley commented.
“Well, when you put it like that, then it’s really hard for me to complain... does this suit really protect you from the crystal, Applejack?”
“Obviously, it would,” Applejack responded, “otherwise the doctor and his friends wouldn’t be wearin’ them. All of them wear suits like that so they can move around without gettin’ hurt... like I did.”
“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. “You’re okay, right? You’re not hurt or anything? Oh, it’s so good to know that you’re fine. We were so worried, and... and...” She began weeping. “We thought we lost you...”
Twilight walked up to Applejack, wearing the biggest smile that the cowpony had ever seen from her friend. “They... saved... you...?” Twilight said breathlessly.
“Uh... yeah, Twi. Are you... okay?”
“We can... we can... “ Twilight began hyperventilating, then her eyes suddenly went wide and she turned to look at Celestia. “Princess! We can... we can... we can...” she continued stuttering.
“Yes, Twilight. We can save Luna.”
“Uh... does someone want to fill me in here?” Wesley interrupted. “Save someone? Save who, exactly?”
“I think it would be better if I showed you, doctor,” Celestia said. “Applejack, you may stay here. Feel free to catch up with your friends. Twilight, you will be coming with me.” Twilight’s excitement faded and was replaced with graveness, and Celestia’s faithful student nodded. “Let us go, then. Captain Crest, you will be in charge of maintaining security until our discussion has been resolved.”
Crest saluted. “Of course, Princess.”
Wesley and Viers followed the Princess as they passed through the gardens, which were now lined with fields of vegetables, no longer holding the well-tended grass that once sat in their place. The stone walkway was cracked and in disrepair, leading to the stairs that led into the castle proper.
“Uh... are you all normally that big?” Twilight asked, looking up at Wesley. “Are you... machines?”
“No, fortunately, we’re not. I’m just a small being in a really big suit. Mostly for protection, both against regular threats and the crystal that we’re dealing with. Tiberium is fatal, even for our species.”
“Tiberium? Is that what your species calls it?”
“Yes. For the most part, the generally accepted origin is that it was named after the river near which it was found, the Tiber River. It is a nasty piece of work, and we were nearly engulfed with it ourselves, had we not found the foresight to develop countermeasures against it.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, interested. “What did your kind do? We had so much trouble just trying to barely contain it ourselves.”
“Simple: we learned how to break it down. Tiberium itself is extremely dangerous, and highly contagious in both airborne and physical forms, but when broken down, it simply produces harmless raw minerals that are extremely valuable as a commodity both in our economy and in our research.”
“So... you use it to make things?”
“Essentially, yes. I think something important to note for your situation is that the Tiberium siphons all nutrients from the ground, essentially making it impossible to grow on for a while even after the Tiberium is removed. That is more than made up for with its utility due to its extreme mineral content; you will hardly find anything more effective in terms of resource production than Tiberium.”
“Then... if it’s not from your world, where is it from?”
“The exact location of origin? To be honest, we still have no idea. But we do know what the crystal originates from: an alien race known as the Scrin. We had a disastrous run-in with them the first time they showed up, but after much effort, we drove them from our world and they never returned. Our kind progressed, we traveled to the stars, and lo and behold, there they were, running around harvesting planets by seeding them with Tiberium and then using them as farms.”
“And you think they’re doing this with our world?”
“Think?” Wesley said, chuckling. “We know. The only thing we don’t know, is why they haven’t shown up yet. In most normal cases, the Scrin would have arrived, killed off any survivors, and then turned the whole planet into another farming operation. Consider it one big stroke of luck that we happened to show up before they did.”
They rounded a corner and proceeded up a gradually rising set of stairs, leading them to the room that Celestia had deemed off-limits to all save herself, Twilight, and a select group of guards. Wesley noticed that unlike the other portions of the castle, which usually had someone around, the area they entered now was almost completely empty.
“What do the Scrin use the Tiberium for?” Twilight continued. “Oh, I’m so sorry, forgive me. I’m Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia! Thank you for saving Applejack.”
“No need to thank me; I’m a doctor. I was just doing my job. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sparkle. I am Doctor Wesley. To answer your question: the Scrin have... well, as best put it by someone who is no longer with us: they are an addiction disguised as a species. Tiberium is their lifeblood, and they will go to some extreme lengths to obtain it. Our own forces have been putting them on the defensive recently, increasing their need for a great and sustainable Tiberium source... like your world.”
“We are here,” Celestia said. “I have a great request of you, Doctor Wesley, one that I dearly hope you will accept.” The guards standing in front of the great double doors split away, and with a flare of her magic, Celestia opened the door, gesturing for them to enter.
As they did so, the guards shut the door, leaving them inside with silence... and the floating bubble that sat within. Celestia removed her helmet, letting her waving mane flow freely, before stepping in front of the bubble, Twilight alongside her. At first, Wesley could barely see what was inside the bubble, but as he focused, he could make out the form within: another pegasus-unicorn sat unconscious, suspended inside, with most of her body covered in Tiberium.
He knew what she was about to ask, and he already had an answer for her. All that remained was for her to actually say the words.
“Please, doctor... I plead you... please save my sister.”