Signal From the Stars
Long ago, so it was said, a great war was waged amongst the stars. A war of gods and mages, where many ancient races and grand old gods and mighty orders possessed of powerful magic perished in striving for mastery with one another. The result, if you believed that kind of thing and Daring Do had found that these old legends had a nasty habit of turning out to be quite true, was that there were a lot of old magical power sources scattered around the galaxy just waiting for when Starfleet might need a power up to face the enemy of the day.
Convenient for them, though not necessarily what those who left these magical power orbs and what have you behind might have had in mind.
But then she was a treasure hunter so who was she to talk?
A K Yearling Jr, AKA Daring Do, stood beneath the surface of the wandering planet A Baoa Qu, a world tethered to no star, drifting in the dark and shapeless void of space, attended by the moon of Solomon and a cloud of shattered asteroids floating around it like a hedge of thorns to keep away intruders. It was at A Baoa Qu, so said the legends, that the last battle of that ancient war had taken place and the power of evil had been vanquished.
For a while, anyway.
And, again according to legend, somewhere on this planet was hidden the most powerful of all those ancient weapons left from that conflict.
Judging by the glowing blue force field barring any further progress into the cave it seemed that the legends were right. Something, at any rate, was down here. Something that somebody - perhaps this 'Ray of Light' referenced in the pictograms that lined the ancient and cobweb-covered cavern walls as being the chief hero in the war - had wanted to keep hidden and out of prying hands.
Starfleet believed it was a weapon. Starfleet believed that it was a weapon so strongly that they had dragged her across space searching first for the wandering planet itself and then for the vault that they believed lay buried within.
And the key that they believed was hidden inside.
This was not the kind of job that Daring Do would ordinarily have undertaken. She didn't like Starfleet, she certainly didn't trust them with the kind of power the legends suggested lay within.
But when Starfleet asked, they didn't take no for an answer, as the presence of his mother as a hostage showed.
"You!" Major Dyno, one of the twin Starfleet officers overseeing this little expedition, gestured at a butter-yellow space pony, one of the many soldiers acting as gaolers to Daring Do and her mother. "Try the force-field."
The space pony in question didn't look in the least bit happy to receive such a command, but it was clear that his fear of Starfleet discipline and the consequences of refusing orders was stronger than his nervousness about the situation. He shuffled forwards, one hand held out tentatively before him, and gingerly placed his fingertips against the forcefield.
Then he started screaming. He screamed as flames leapt up his arm to consume his whole body, he screamed as he thrashed and flailed wildly in a futile attempt to put out the first. He screamed as his body was turned to ash before the eyes of all who watched him, until only a dark and smouldering pile remained.
"Madre de dios," muttered Major Myte, the other twin, his brown eyes wide with horror.
Dyno, on the other hand, seemed quite dispassionate. "So. Quite an effective barriers. Doctors Yearling, I hope you can guess the next part of your assignment."
"And why would we help you get past that barrier?" demanded A K Yearling Senior. She was an elderly mare by this time, her mane all turned to grey and her face lined with wrinkles, though her voice remained a strong, stout brogue that had left little to no trace in her daughter's accent. She had been old Equestria's leading expert in ancient astronaut theory and extra-terrestrial mythology, which was to say that most respectable academics had dismissed her as a crank...until space ponies came down from the sky and proved a lot of her theories right to the chagrin of many, including her daughter.
Vindication didn't seem to have improved her mood much.
"Mom," Daring Do said. "Don't-"
"Junior, you know what these people will do with power such as lies inside that vault!" Senior cried. "You know as well as I do that they can't be trusted to get inside."
I know that, Mom, Daring Do thought. But we have to play along until I can think of a plan to get out of this, okay?
That was the problem with not speaking to your mother for twenty years, she didn't trust you to think of something before the world ended.
Just like she didn't know not to call you 'Junior' any more.
Major Dyno scowled as he strutted across the cavern to where two of his soldiers held Senior fast. "Is your life not motivation enough to put aside your moral qualms, professor? Or the life of your son?"
Senior was uncowed. "Go ahead. Kill us both. And you goose-stepping morons will be sitting here until you're as grey as I am."
"We'll do it!" snapped Daring Do.
"Junior!" Senior hissed in astonishment tempered with disappointment.
"We'll get the force field down for you some how," Daring Do declared resignedly. Or at least you need to think we will.
Dyno smirked. "I'm glad that one of you is capable to being reasonable."
"We should make our report to His Majesty," Myte said. "The vault is found, even if it cannot be entered."
"Yes, His Majesty will wish to know that as soon as possible," Dyno agreed. "And then we must be on our way. The hunt awaits us."
Rainbow Dash was already moving as she heard the door into their warehouse hideout begin to open, with Fluttershy a step behind her. Rainbow’s heart began to rise with hope and expectation as she emerged out of the office to see-
“Rainbow Dash!”
“Pinkie!”
Rainbow Dash was the fastest thing alive, but Pinkie could be nearly as quick when she needed to be and so they met halfway between their respective starting points, colliding in a swirling mass of blue and pink as they embraced, holding each other tight and turning in circles like two binary stars locked together in eternal orbit. Rainbow could feel Pinkie’s pouffy mane on her cheek and tickling her nostrils, she could feel Pinkie’s back under her fingers, she could feel the warmth of Pinkie’s face upon her face.
“I’m so glad you’re back.”
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I was so worried about you out there.”
“I was so worried about you up here.”
“When you left-“
“When you left-“
“It was like-“
“It was like-“
Rainbow and Pinkie leaned a little away from one another. They stared at each other. Into one another. Into one another’s eyes. Rainbow stared into Pinkie’s eyes. Those guileless eyes so blue, blue like the sky where Rainbow soared so free.
“A piece of my heart-“
“A piece of my heart-“
“Was missing,” they said together.
They stared at one another. Rainbow felt her cheeks burning hot. This felt so weird…but so right at the same time.
“Pinkie Pie.”
“Rainbow Dash.”
They stared…and then they both gasped so loudly that one might have thought that they had seen a monster, as they sprang apart and pointed at one another, speaking quickly and in perfect unison.
“Oh my gosh!”
“I’ve got news!”
“I’ve got something really amazing that I have to tell you!”
“Twilight’s back!”
“You knew?”
“How?”
“Well, Twilight and a couple of other ponies broke into the zebra palace and the other two ponies tried to kill me and the zebra queen but then this zebra robot came out and it was like ‘rawr!’ and the other ponies were like ‘aagh!’ and I was like ‘Twilight?’ and then the zebra robot almost killed me but then Twilight saved me only she got really badly hurt and so the other two ponies carried her away and I can’t wait to see her again because Twilight’s back and isn’t this amazing!?” Pinkie cried. Her voice calmed down in an instant. “What about you, Rainbow Dash, how did you find about the great news, huh?” She glanced over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, and seemed to at last notice Fluttershy standing there, unobtrusive, half hidden in the shadow of the wall. “Fluttershy! You’re here too! You’re…you’re here! Did you finally get away from Rhymey! That’s great news!” Pinkie produced a party blower from out of seemingly nowhere and started blowing on it.
“Rhymey’s dead,” Fluttershy murmured.
Pinkie’s party blower deflated with the speed and sound of…well, it was the speed and sound of a comically deflated party blower, wasn’t it? Nothing else really compared.
The paper horn fell from Pinkie’s trembling lips to land with a tiny thud upon the ground. “He…he’s dead? That…Fluttershy, I…I…I’m so sorry.”
Fluttershy bowed her head. “Thank you, Pinkie. That’s very...I know that you didn’t like him very much.”
Pinkie walked towards her, brushing past Rainbow Dash as she did so. Her eyes were wide, halfway to engulfing her whole face. “I don’t need to like Rhymey to be sad for you.” She held out her arms, offering a hug.
Fluttershy frowned. “It’s okay, Pinkie. I don’t need a hug.”
Pinkie cocked her head to one side. “I think you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No I don’t!” Fluttershy snapped, her voice sharpening like a knife.
Rainbow frowned. “Fluttershy, calm down-“
“I don’t need you to tell me to calm down and I don’t need your pity!” Fluttershy shouted. “I know that you all pitied me when I was married: poor Fluttershy, trapped with that awful husband of hers, isn’t it sad. I know that you all felt so sorry for me like I was just…” she took a deep breath, her breast heaved with emotion. “Like I was just some weak and feeble and pathetic…like I couldn’t make my own choices, or take responsibility for myself, or…I know that’s what you all thought. I know that you pitied me when I was married. I don’t need you to pity me now that I’m a…now that I’m a widow.”
Rainbow Dash looked away, struggling to cringe on her face. The truth was…the truth was that she couldn’t deny the charge. Not one single word of it. She had pitied Fluttershy, even she, even Rainbow Dash, who had known Fluttershy the longest and had the greatest cause to know what inner strength there was in her friend’s gentle soul…and even she had pitied her, the helpless captive, the damsel Beauty to Rhymey’s ear-grating Beast.
And it was every bit as patronising as the way that Rhymey had treated her.
Rainbow Dash’s stomach turned cold and flipped over. She felt suddenly very ashamed of herself.
“I don’t…” Fluttershy said, and she sounded on the verge of sobbing now. “I don’t…I…I just…”
Fluttershy may not have thought she needed a hug, but Pinkie evidently disagreed with her, and it was Pinkie who made the move to enfold Fluttershy in her arms as she started to cry.
“I’m right here,” Pinkie said. “I’m here to help you cry, so that one day I can see you smile again.”
“I shouldn’t-“
“Sure you should. It’s okay to cry when you’re sad.”
Fluttershy’s whole body shuddered. “I loved him.”
“I know.”
“He was stubborn and proud and he didn’t understand me at all…but I loved him.”
“I know.”
“He was gallant and brave and he did love me, I know he did. He just…he just…”
“I know.”
“I know that you all hated him,” Fluttershy sobbed. “But I…I just…I can’t…”
“I know,” Pinkie murmured. She ran one pink hand through Fluttershy’s lavender mane. “I’m right here. I’m always going to be right here.”
Rainbow felt as though she were doing something indecent by continuing to watch, intruding upon Fluttershy’s private grief. She turned away, and set her back to it. “Um, hey Maud.”
“Hello,” Maud said, in her usual inscrutable tone.
“I, uh,” Rainbow cast about for topics of conversation to fill the silence. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I’ve been travelling with Pinkie for a while,” Maud said. “You might say that I’m on the run from the law.”
Rainbow’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”
“I’m told that I have an anti-social personality,” Maud said.
“I…I’ve got no idea who would think that.”
“Neither do I, although I do think I have a good face for a wanted poster.”
Rainbow stared at her.
“That was a joke.”
“Oh. Ha ha, I guess…” Rainbow muttered. She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “And um…” she gestured towards the zebras and the…the catgirl? “And, uh, you guys are?”
“I’m Kitty Snip,” declared the catgirl, who was glaring at Rainbow Dash with a scowl on her face. “I’m Pinkie Pie’s friend.” She said it was though it were a badge of honour – which it was, but there was no reason to pretend that it was an exclusive club or anything.
“And I’m Sephora, envoy from the Queen of Zebrica,” said one of the zebras, the one who stood on two legs like ponies did now. “And these are the elite pilots Karima and Ria.”
“Hey,” said Karima.
“We’re the ones who were like ‘rawr’,” said Ria.
“For whatever it may be worth, I am more than glad to receive the envoys of the Queen of Zebrica,” Luna declared. “Come, all of you, and let us make all things plain between us.”
Emerald Shaina stared.
The thing opposite her stared right back.
Captain Emerald Shaina did not consider herself to be a fearful mare. She hadn't gotten to be captain of the Royal Guard by being prone to swooning and to fainting fits, by shrieking at mice or flinching from the sight of dirt on her outfit. But this thing, and its unflinching and almost lifeless gaze...this thing was making her shiver.
When Starlight Glimmer lived - for certain sure you'd hardly call this living - she had never made Emerald Shaina so nervous as she was making her now.
Not that it was immediately obvious that it was Starlight Glimmer. Her body was mostly concealed beneath an armoured shell, a carapace of titanium and steel that protected her as securely as any knight of old had ere been warded by his armour. From beneath that carapace had come whirring and hissing sounds as she had walked across the throne room floor to present herself before His Majesty, though now that she was still all sound had ceased. She might, on first glance, have been taken for a robot.
But she wasn't. Looking closely, Emerald could see through the chinks and tiny gaps in the armoured plates patches of lilac fur, criss-crossed with wires. And one of her blue-green eyes remained, visible through the visor of her armour, robbed of all light and recognition robbed of all pony-ness.
The other eye, as far as Emerald could make out within that shadow-shrouded helm, had been replaced with a bright green mechanical orb.
Honestly she would rather that this new Starlight Glimmer had two of such, that lifeless but organic eye was making the hairs on her coat stand on end.
Professor Brain stood beside his new 'creation'. He looked far, far too smug for someone who had been in grave danger of losing everything, even his life, not too long ago. "As you can see, Majesty, by using technology scavenged from the Robot Empire I have been able to duplicate the process by which Prince Fratello was, ahem, cyberdised by the robots. You will recall-"
"I recall, Professor, that Fratello's heart warred with his programming," the Grand Ruler rumbled forth from his high throne. "Something that your novel creations have already suffered far too much from."
The smile on Brain's face disappeared as swiftly as a cat fleeing from water. "I assure you, Majesty, that there is no danger of that here. I am confident, supremely confident, that Project Janissary will avoid all of the...issues that made Project Sentinel a less than satisfactory answer to your needs."
"Are you indeed?"
"Yes, your majesty, I am quite certain of it," Brain declared. "The, uh, the key, you see, was the overwhelming interface of the technological with the organic. In addition to bracing her spine with cybernetics, amputating one shattered leg and replacing it with a cybernetic, removing one arm and replacing it with a combat system, cybernetics have also been integrated into both heart and brain. Her soul has, quite literally, been replaced by technology."
"What of her magic?"
"I regret, Majesty, that she has lost the capacity to perform unicorn magic, but I am confident that her enhanced abilities in all other respects will more than make up the shortfall."
The Grand Ruler leaned forward from his throne. "We shall see. To what does she answer now?"
"She will answer to Starlight Glimmer, to Janissary, or even to 'Soldier' if you wish it so," Brain replied.
The Grand Ruler smiled. "Starlight, turn to your right."
Starlight did so, and as she turned her motors whirred within her cybernetics.
"Turn to your left."
She did that too.
The Grand Ruler's smile became an ugly smirk. "Starlight...dance for me."
Starlight paused for a moment, and then she began to move in jerky, ungainly, awkward motions, flailing her armoured and half-mechanical arms in both directions like a puppet tugged upon her strings by the inexpert hands of an amateur. It was disconcerting for Emerald to watch. She did not want to watch it, it was indecent. It had no purpose but to humiliate Starlight Glimmer, and though she had not liked the mare Emerald Shaina saw little purpose in her semi-posthumous degradation.
His Majesty, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying. "How are the mighty fallen, Starlight Glimmer? How are the wages of your arrogance repaid! See now how all your pride is overthrown and all of your pretentions turned to dust."
"Your Majesty," Emerald murmured. "She was a faithful servant while she lived."
"She is not dead," Brain corrected her. "Do not think her dead, if she had perished the procedure would not be possible; although I will admit that the extent of her injuries made the modifications easier. But she is not dead, not by any means."
"I scarce think you can call this living."
"Peace, both of you," the Grand Ruler commanded. "True, captain, that she was a faithful servant. A faithful servant of a lesser race who did not know her place in the new order. I tolerated her, made use of her, indulged her on occasion...but I do not think that I forgot what she was, and do not presume to suggest that I should not take delight in her humiliation. ‘Twas ever thus for those who seek to fly too high, and come too close to the sun of true greatness."
Emerald Shaina bowed her head. "Of course, your majesty."
"Cease your ungainly motion, Starlight," the Grand Ruler commanded. "Cease...and kill Professor Brain."
"No!" Brain cried, as some kind of particle cannon emerged from Starlight's left arm to point at him. "Your Majesty you cannot...I...I beg of you to-"
"Stop!" the Grand Ruler commanded. "Do not kill him."
Starlight's gun retracted back into her arm.
"Fear not, professor, your usefulness to me is not yet ended," the Grand Ruler declared jovially. "I merely wished to test the limits of her obedience. Very well, I am satisfied that this is a great improvement over your last efforts. You may begin mass production immediately."
Professor Brain was still trembling in fear. "Your Majesty is most generous."
"I give to you all the wounded and the invalid in all the hospitals in New Canterlot, save only Lightning Dawn," the Grand Ruler commanded. "All the rest, even the space ponies, I do not exempt. Take these poor creatures, that are of no more use to me, and make of them irresistible warriors for my glory. And work swiftly, professor, I wish for as many Janissaries as possible to be ready by the time that Operation Nemesis commences."
Operation Nemesis? Emerald Shaina's ears pricked up even as her eyebrows rose discreetly. Nemesis had been in the pipeline for so long that it had acquired the nature of an urban myth amongst the headquarters staff. Everybody knew about it, but nobody knew anyone who would admit to working on it - or nobody would admit to knowing anyone who would admit to working on it - some people swore that it was real, others doubted its existence, nobody really knew what it was all about.
Except that His Majesty had just confirmed that it was real, and that he needed...these things for it. Or wanted them at least. What was it then? A new offensive? Some surprise attack against the Kallanians?
Professor Brain seemed almost as surprised and confused as she was. "Your Majesty...I had no idea, that-"
"We have lately received word from Dyno and Myte, in advance of their return," the Grand Ruler declared. "The Vault of Heaven has been found upon A Baoa Qu. The time of destiny draws near, fate itself drives us forward." He fixed Brain with a stern gaze. "Make haste professor, lest you be left behind."
Brain bowed low. "At once, Your Majesty."
It was getting pretty crowded in the warehouse office, even after the zebra named Sephora - who, unfortunately for her had suffered the same freakish modifications that the ponies were forced to endure but the zebras had otherwise escaped - had kicked out the two zebra pilots and sent them to do maintenance on their giant robot. That still left Luna, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Maud, Moondancer, Cerise Wonder, Kitty Snip - who was holding onto Pinkie's hand as though she was going to blow away and vanish the moment she let go, and it was kind of annoying even if Rainbow didn't have to look directly at it - and Sephora all trying to fit around the table, to say nothing of Brass Bolt stuck in the corner working on the computer.
She wouldn't have wanted to throw anybody out - except maybe Kitty Snip - but it was getting a little stuffy in here was all Rainbow as saying.
Still, there wasn't really any way around it. Sephora had shown willingness to brief her pilots on what she heard later, but for Pinkie and Maud and Sephora herself they all needed to understand what was going on and what they'd missed, and then the others would be needed to talk about what they needed to do next, which meant that there wasn't much alternative to just getting on with it. And so Rainbow, Fluttershy, Luna, Sunset and Moondancer all took turns explaining everything that had happened in New Canterlot since Pinkie left, and everything that they had recently found out about Twilight's clone and the other clones, about Twilight's research and Moondancer's narrow brush with death, about Raven's odd behaviour in and subsequent escape from prison, about...everything. Pinkie, Maud and Sephora in turn described the attack upon the zebra capital, and how they had come north looking for answers.
"So Twilight's a clone!" Pinkie exclaimed when they were all done.
"And Starfleet really did try to assassinate the queen and the ambassador," Sephora muttered.
"And you almost died, Pinkie," Rainbow gasped.
"Are we really going to have to go through all this two more times?" grumbled Brass Bolt.
"Shh!" Sunset hissed.
"The alternative, Mister Bolt, would be to wait until Rarity and Applejack returned to dispense all of this exposition only once," Luna said. "But who knows how long that might leave us labouring in ignorance, especially since you have not yet been able to located Rarity's ship."
"Sure, sure, blame it all on the tech guy," Brass Bolt muttered.
"Even if he can get a line open to Rarity that still leaves Applejack," Rainbow said. "And we still don't know where she is or how to get in touch with her. We got lucky with Pinkie coming back but we can't expect to get lucky like that again. I ought to go to Rangiveria and-"
"And how would you find her once you got there?" Luna demanded. "How would you explain your presence to Starfleet? How would you evade the caribou?"
"I...I don't know yet, but don't we have to try?" Rainbow cried. "How else are we going to get Applejack back, or Spike?"
"What are you guys talking about? Do you need to find a friend?" Kitty asked, in what Rainbow could only hear as a sly tone. She licked at one of her paws. "I can help you out with that?"
Rainbow's eyes narrow. "Is that a fact?"
Kitty nodded, her head bobbing up and down. "As long as your friend is also a friend of Miss Pinkie's then I can follow the thread of her friendship and lead you right to them. Won't that be awesome, Miss Pinkie?"
"Really?" Pinkie asked. "You could do that?"
"Uh-huh. Anything for you, Miss Pinkie!"
"That's amazing!"
"Yeah, amazing," Rainbow said in a deadpan tone. It was, truthfully, a big help and an answer to one of their problems, but something about that cat's manner prevented Rainbow from appreciating it properly.
"It's great," Sunset muttered. "Except that if you start walking now you should reach Rangiveria in about a couple of months or so."
"Could you trace this thread if you were in a starship?" Luna asked.
Kitty shrugged. "I guess so?"
"That's right, the Princess Twilight is rated for atmospheric entry," Sunset said.
"Yeah, if only we knew where it was," Rainbow remarked.
"I'm working on it!" Brass Bolt snapped.
Rainbow scowled. "I hate knowing that Twilight's out there somewhere and all I can do is sit around here because we can't get hold of Rarity!"
"It'll be okay," Fluttershy began.
"But what if it isn't?" Rainbow demanded. "What if...we don't know what's going on with her, we don't know anything about the people she's hanging out with other than that they're clones. We don't know if they're good for her, we don't know if they're taking care of her, we don't even know if...we don't know if she's safe without us."
Fluttershy frowned. "Twilight's strong. I'm sure that she'll-"
"Yeah, well what if she's not?" Rainbow snapped, making Fluttershy recoil away from her with wide green eyes.
Rainbow's stomach tightened in self-disgust. "Fluttershy, I...I'm sorry, I just...gah, I can't stand this!" she kicked a nearby aluminium bin, resting near the leg of the table; her stroke made it skid across the floor and hit the wall with a heavy rattle.
"A blow well struck against the dystopian menace of evil garbage cans," Brass Bolt observed dryly.
Rainbow didn't reply. She didn't have the energy to snark back at that guy. All her energies were taken up in worry...and regret.
I sat around and did nothing once before. I told myself 'Oh, Twilight's strong, Twilight's amazing, she'll be fine.' I stayed behind while she ran away, and told myself I'd give her a hard time about it later; really rib her for being so reckless.
But she never did come back, not alive. I never did get to tease her about the way she acted. I never got to tell her not to run off without me again. I never got to...
Raven was right, I did betray Twilight. I abandoned her. I sat on my flank and let her fight a hopeless and for what? So that the Grand Ruler would call me a good little soldier?
And now I'm doing it again.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, bowing her head so that her chin was nearly touching her chest. "I just...I gotta..." she stalked out of the room, and let the door swing shut behind her as she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
I'd never leave my friends hangin'
The door didn't close. Rainbow heard it strike something, a hand. She opened one eye to see Fluttershy sidling up to her.
"We all left Twilight behind," Fluttershy murmured. "We all share the fault."
"Maybe," Rainbow muttered. "But we don't all share it equally. I promised her that I'd always have her back."
I'd never leave my friends hangin'
"Do you think she wondered where we were?" Rainbow asked. "Do you think she thought that we were right behind her? Do you think, as she was fighting for her life, a part of her wondered why we hadn't come to back her up?"
"I don't know," Fluttershy said softly. "Maybe, when we find her, you can ask her yourself."
Rainbow snorted. "Thanks, but...there are some questions I'm not sure I wanna know the answer to, you know. Like...like...like did she hate us in the end?"
"Twilight could never hate us," Pinkie said, suddenly appearing on the other side of Rainbow Dash.
"Pinkie, sheesh," Rainbow said. "There's a perfectly good door over there."
Pinkie shrugged. "Twilight could never hate us," she repeated.
"I'd like to believe that," Rainbow said.
Pinkie grinned. "Well if you'd like to believe it, then what's stopping you?"
"I guess...I guess I'm afraid," Rainbow confessed.
Pinkie's smiled was beatific. "Twilight had one of the best, most friendliest hearts of anypony I've ever met. She could never hate us, because no matter what we did she'd always be able to forgive us, because she loved us. And because...because that's just the kind of pony she was."
Rainbow smiled, if only slightly. "I...you know what Pinkie, you're right about that. Twilight would always forgive. But that doesn't answer the question...do we deserve to be forgiven?"
"That's enough, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy declared, with assertiveness filling her voice. "Wasn't it bad enough listening to people put the blame for Twilight's death on Twilight herself, without you trying to put the blame on yourself, too? How about putting the blame where it really belongs, with Raven? Or better yet, how about looking forward to what we can change instead of looking backwards at what we can't?"
Rainbow stared at her for a moment. She recognised that look in Fluttershy's eyes: the look that didn't take no for an answer. Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I promise, I Pinkie promise, that you won't hear another word about this from me."
Although I can't promise that I won't still feel it, and fear it, in my heart.
Back in the office, Princess Luna glanced at the zebra Sephora. “So, what will you tell your queen? Will we have peace, still? Or will it come to war, between your people and ours?”
“Does Starfleet not seek a war with us?” Sephora asked.
“We aren’t Starfleet,” Sunset said firmly, raising herself up on her hind legs, with her forehooves resting on the table.
“No, you’re not,” Sephora said quietly. “But you don’t rule here either.”
Sunset scowled, but said nothing. Because…because what she had said was true, even if Sunset didn’t like it very much. Even if no one in this room, or in the warehouse outside liked it very much, nevertheless…it was true. They did not rule here. Publicly, Sunset Shimmer was a nobody, and in private she was but the head of an underground band who, if their existence were to become known, would swiftly be branded as traitors and seditionists. Publicly, Princess Luna was one of the three immortal triarchs of United Equestria, albeit the one who – as demonstrated by her lesser style – ranked just a step below the other two; in private she was sidelined and ignored, just like Celestia. Major Wonder had a little public authority…but that came from being an officer of the Starfleet, and so it wasn’t really that much help.
They could not deny what the Grand Ruler had done. Sunset did not doubt that the Grand Ruler had done it.
Does his ambition know no end?
No, appeared to be the answer to that. That was no surprise to Sunset, that was why she had sealed off the portal to the mirror-world, that was why she had stalwartly refused to open it up at the Grand Ruler’s request, that was why she was working to undermine him, because she saw this Grand Ruler and his Starfleet for what they truly were: a many tentacled monster that, not content with having corrupted a place of great beauty and tarnished the souls of many wondrous folk, would seek to reach out its dark tentacles not stop until it had choked the life out of the universe.
So how could Sephora’s simple statement be denied. The Grand Ruler had encompassed the death of the Queen of Zebrica, as well as Pinkie Pie. That was cause for Zebrica to go to war, if the zebras wished it so. And even if they did not…it seemed the Grand Ruler wanted war with Zebrica.
And how many more innocent ponies will suffer if he gets the war he seems to want? How many unicorns, and pegasi, and earth ponies will die in the armies, our caught in the crossfire because of his ambition?
“If Zebrica marches to war with Starfleet it will lose,” Luna warned.
Sephora’s jaw tightened. “Don’t take us lightly. We aren’t the savages you people think we are.”
“I have never called you savage, nor will I ever do so,” Luna admonished. “My lips have never, and will never utter the slur with which it pleases space ponies to revile you. But this is not a battle you can win alone. If your queen marches the armies of the twelve herds north it will be only to die.”
“How can you be so sure?” Sephora replied. “We may not have your magic. We may not have a space empire. But we are a brave people, and proud, hard-working and industrious. Our land may not be as arable as yours, we may not have so much of it spread across the stars, but barren though some of it may be our land is ours, and we’ll fight to keep it that way if we have to.”
“A few clanking machines will not be enough against the power that Starfleet can bring to bear,” Luna replied.
“What if it has to be?” Sephora asked. “What other choice do we have? My queen sent me here in the hope that this would turn out to be a big misunderstanding. In the hope that your Grand Ruler had no part in this. You say that isn’t so, and I believe you. So what choice do we have? They attacked our capital, attacked our sovereign, killed zebras, some of them my friends. What should we say to that: ‘thank you sir, may I have another’? If we do nothing we invite attack.”
“I did not say ‘do nothing’,” Luna replied. “I was about to say ‘do nothing alone’. The time is drawing near when the power of Starfleet will be taxed on many fronts, and when that time comes…I would ask that you remember that far from all ponies in United Equestria are willing followers of the Grand Ruler. Do you honestly wish for war?”
“Of course not, I’d have to be an idiot to want war,” Sephora said quickly. “Or Karima, maybe. I don’t want a war. But I want to see Zebrica become an Equestrian province even less.”
United Equestria, Sunset thought, because it pained her to see the name of her once grand and peaceful home conflated with this nightmare that United Equestria had become.
“Well, if it helps,” Brass Bolt said, not looking away from his monitor. “It looks as though there is going to be enough strength in Starfleet to wage war against Zebrica, for a while anyway.”
Luna looked at him. “Explain yourself, Mister Bolt.”
“I may not have been able to make contact with the Princess Twilight Sparkle yet,” Brass Bolt muttered, typing away. “But I have found some interesting stuff on the Starfleet battlenet. A lot of orders have gone out recently for something called Operation: Nemesis. Fleet and ground units are being assigned from the home forces, called back from Rangiveria, pulled in from all across the galaxy-“
“That sounds like the prelude to a major offensive,” Sephora said. “I thought you said that this was good news.”
“It is, because they’re not sticking around United Equestria too long,” Brass Bolt continued in a tone of peevish impatience at not being allowed to finish. “As I would have said, if I hadn’t been so rudely interrupted, the ships are taking on troops and supplies and then they’re all leaving again. Heading for some place called Helsinore to ‘await further orders’.”
“Helsinore?” Luna repeated. “Helsinore is…a desolate moon, barely capable of supporting life, why would Celesto despatch the heart of his strength to such a place?”
“Further orders for what?” Sunset asked.
“If I knew that, boss, I’d tell you.”
“How many troops?” Luna demanded. “How many ships?”
“Short answer: lots of both,” Bolt replied. “Long answer: I’ll print it all out and give you a list. But includes some of the top line ships, elite units, the royal guard and…oh.”
Sunset trotted across the room to peek up at the monitor. “Oh what?”
“The Grand Ruler himself is shipping out with this big old deployment from on board…the Grand Ruler. The new battleship, I mean, he’s not boarding himself, that would be…I’ll shut up now.”
“Keep talking, just talk sense,” Sunset muttered. “What about Princess Celestia, what about the children?”
Brass Bolt’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “Let’s see…Prince Castor…he’s riding with his daddy aboard the Grand Ruler. Also on the big ship is…redacted! Something from out of the prison levels? Oh, you think you can redact me, well I’ll show you, you-“
“Never mind about redacted items, what about Celestia?” Sunset demanded. “What about Leilani?”
He’ll leave her behind. Surely he’ll leave her behind. Why would he do anything else? He never wanted her before, why would he want her now?
But she had to hear it for herself. She had to hear him say that Leilani was not mentioned anywhere in the orders for this mysterious departure.
Brass Bolt made a kind of noise under his breath. “Celestia…Celestia…Celestia is being taken aboard the Grand Ruler. Orders are to prepare a separate cabin…and assign guards. There’s something about a Project Janissary but I’ve never-“
“A matter of no import at present,” Luna declared. “Guards. So, Celestia will be more prisoner than guest aboard Celesto’s ship.”
“And Leilani?”
Brass Bolt blinked. “She is to be transferred to the cruiser Neigh Orleans with somebody called Lieutenant Colonel Stern. A lot orders relating to her treatment: strict isolation, no unnecessary-“
“Yeah, yeah, I can imagine,” Sunset said. She turned to face Princess Luna. “We have to get them out! Leilani and Celestia both, we have to get them out before they leave, before they get transferred onto these ships.”
Luna frowned. “If we strike before then, while an unprecedented concentration of Starfleet’s forces is assembling on the ground and in the skies above us then we invite our own destruction.”
“We can’t just leave them!” Sunset cried. “If we do nothing, if we wait, then what will the Grand Ruler do to them to punish them for our rebellion? What if he kills Celestia, what if he kills Leilani? There’s no way I can just let that happen!”
Luna bowed her head. In that moment, it seemed as if all of her immortal years had suddenly caught up with her. “You…you are correct, of course. There is no way that we may leave Celestia or her children in the clutches of that monster. It will be difficult…it will make a rod for our own backs…it may even…but it must be attempted for the alternative…the alternative would make us near as vile as Celesto himself. Mister Bolt, when are all these preparations due to be completed? When are Celestia and her daughter to board their ships?”
“Six days time, fleet leaves on the seventh day.”
“Then we have little time, we must make our plans quickly,” Luna said. “Major Wonder, can you be of any assistance in this matter?”
“That depends,” Cerise murmured. “I haven’t received any orders but…hey, you, am I mentioned anywhere in those orders.”
“Nope. And it’s Brass Bolt, not ‘hey, you’.”
Cerise ignored that. “I guess that means my career has stalled out. But it also means I should be able to help take down some of the palace security.”
“Excellent,” Luna said. “Then let us devise a means to save my sister. Goodness knows that her salvation has been a long time coming.”
Lightning winced as he sat up in his hospital bed. Penny said that all of his major injuries were nearly completely healed, but he still felt as though his ribs were trying to stab him.
Still, he had been sitting in this bed for a few days now. He had been idling long enough. It was high time that he got up…there was something that he had to do.
Someone that he needed to stop.
He winced again as he tried swing his legs out of bed and stand up.
“Take it easy, Lightning,” Krysta said, from where she stood on the bedside nightstand. “You’re still not completely recovered yet.”
Lightning looked at her with a wry glance. “You’re one to talk. You got beat up worse than I did, and now look at you.”
“Yes, look at me standing on this table because I don’t trust my wings to carry me yet,” Krysta said. “And for your information, I did not get beat up worse than you did. I took a glancing blow, that’s all.”
“Yeah, sure you did,” Lightning muttered. He tried to rise to his feet but his legs trembled beneath him, and after only a few moments he collapsed back into his bed with a soft crunch of the mattress beneath him. He grunted, and prepared to try again.
I have to get up. I have to stop Raven.
“That’s it, you’re done,” Snowflame declared, padding around the bed to stand directly in front of him. “Get back in the bed and lie down.”
“Snowflame-“
“Get back in that bed, our Lightning, or I’m going to make you,” Snowflame said. “In a cruel to be kind sort of way, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Lightning replied. “Snowflame, I don’t have time to lie around-“
“And I don’t have the skills to put you back together again if you do something stupid,” Snowflame snapped. “Now come on, lie down and get better properly because you’re obviously not okay yet.”
Lightning stared down at Snowflame. Snowflame glared up at Lightning.
“You’re not going to get out of my way, are you?”
“Nope,” Snowflame said.
Lightning rolled his eyes as he pulled his legs back up into the bed and lay down again. “I don’t get it. I should be healing faster than this. It’s never taken this long before.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve never been knocked around like that before,” Krysta said. “Raven really did a number on you.”
Lightning twisted his head around – it made his neck hurt, but he gave no sign of it lest Snowflame start to mother him even more than she was threatening to do already – to look at her. “You seem to be making out surprisingly well.”
“Hey, I can lift several times my own body weight, don’t be surprised that I’m super resilient, too.”
“Show off.”
“Nah, I’m just born awesome,” Krysta said, as she winked at him.
Lightning sighed. “This is so…I need to get out of here.”
“Why?” Snowflame asked.
“Because Raven’s still out there,” Lightning declared. “I need to get out of this bed and track her down.”
“Oh, sure, because she kicked your ass the last time but now that you’re barely able to get out of bed you’re sure to get her on the ropes,” Snowflame said.
Lightning glared at her. It didn’t seem to have very much effect. “You don’t have to stick around here, you know.”
“I like to stay where I can keep an eye on you.”
Lightning’s brow furrowed, as he glanced over to where Princess Fairgrace slept curled up like a cat on the visitor’s chair. “And you didn’t have to bring her, either.”
It was Snowflame’s turn to frown. “I like to keep you both where I can keep an eye on you.”
Lightning fell back onto the pillow with a crunch. “I need to stop her. Who knows what she’ll do next.”
“Let someone else deal with it,” Snowflame said.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because the last time I let someone else deal with it, Twilight died!” Lightning snapped.
“Huh?” Fairgrace murmured, as she opened. “L-Lightning?”
Lightning closed his eyes. “I…I’m sorry, Princess. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It d-d-doesn’t m-matter,” Fairgrace stammered. “How d-do you f-f-feel?”
“Still sore.”
“Too sore to get out of bed,” Snowflame said, firmly.
“For now,” Lightning conceded. “But once I get better-“
“No.”
Lightning’s eyebrows rose. “No?”
“No,” Snowflame said. “You’re not getting straight out of hospital to go chasing that Raven down. I won’t allow it.”
Lightning smiled. “I don’t think that’s really your call.”
“I’m serious!” Snowflame yelled. “There’s a whole army out there, why can’t they take care of it. You…I might not be able to save you a second time, our Lightning.”
“It d-d-does sound p-pretty d-d-d-dangerous,” Fairgrace said, her voice trembling as she spoke.
Lightning sighed. “Raven is dangerous. And powerful. But that’s why I have to fight her, I’m the only one who can match her uniforce.”
“Power isn’t everything,” Snowflame murmured.
Lightning scowled. “Twilight thought so too. She thought that if she was smart, if she could think three steps ahead, then Raven’s power wouldn’t matter, she could take her out anyway. It didn’t work. It didn’t matter that Twilight thought ahead, Raven’s power is…it’s phenomenal, it overcomes all other advantages. I have that power too. There are only a handful of ponies who possess it. That’s why I-“
“No, it isn’t.”
“Krysta?”
Krysta folded her tiny arms. “These are your friends, Lightning. We’re all your friends and that mean we deserve the truth. You deserve the truth, instead of trying to deny it to yourself. This is nothing to do with duty and everything to do with avenging Twilight. Don’t deny it. Why would you even want to?”
Lightning bowed his head. “Because Twilight…Twilight wouldn’t want me to give in to revenge. She wouldn’t want me to feel this way, to have these desires.”
“Who was she, this Twilight?” Snowflame asked. “Who was she to you?”
“I’d l-l-like to know that t-t-too,” Fairgrace murmured.
“Twilight,” Lightning said. “Twilight Sparkle, her full name; Princess Twilight Sparkle, to give her her title too. She was…Twilight was…”
He was interrupted by the sound of heavy rattling outside of his private room, a sound like a stream of gurneys being rushed past the door and down the corridor. Judging by the stream of orderlies, whose heads he could see rushing past the window set near the top of the door, that might be exactly what was happening.
“W-w-what’s g-g-going on out there?” Fairgrace asked.
“It sounds like they’re moving half the hospital,” Snowflame muttered.
She wasn’t wrong. The sound didn’t stop, the rattling of wheels, the groaning of patients, the chatter of the orderlies, nurses and doctors who rushed past in an endless wave.
Soon, the clinical and mechanical sounds were just by others, even less pleasant to listen to: the sounds of shrieking, pleading, and crying out in vain.
“Where are you taking him? Please, why won’t you tell me?”
“No! Leave him! He’s too weak to move, what are you doing?”
“Please, leave her alone!”
“What’s going on? Why won’t anybody answer me?”
“Stand aside!” the voice was that of a Starfleet officer, cold and unsympathetic. “By order of His Majesty, Grand Ruler Celesto, all patients at this institution are being transferred to new facilities.”
“Where?”
“That is a secret of state and cannot be divulged to individuals without proper clearance.”
“Why are you doing this? You can’t do this to us?”
“This is a royal command and will be obeyed!” the officer snapped. “Any resistance will be met with force!”
“All patients?” Krysta said. “Does that mean-“
“All patients should mean all patients,” Lightning said. “I guess we’re about to find out where everyone is going.”
“They’ll have to get past me, first,” Snowflame said.
“Snowflame, calm down,” Lightning said. “I’m sure it’s nothing to be scared of.”
“No one is taking you away from me, not again,” Snowflame yelled. “I’ve lost you for too long already.”
But, though Snowflame planted herself in the door way so that she could fight anyone who came through it…no one did. No one so much as opened the door. No one tried to take Lightning out to join the others in being transferred. No one seemed to remember that he was even there. And in the end, as the rolling of the gurneys and the chatter of the orderlies and even the cries and pleas of those who had sought to save their loved ones died away, Lightning and his friends were left alone, to wonder from what fate they had been delivered.
Lightning didn’t know.
And, though it was cowardly of him, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to know either.
The moon was up, and Luna’s light shone down upon the world and provided the only illumination in the hideout.
Luna herself was not there. She was attending to her duties, keeping up appearances, bearing the insults of the Grand Ruler with a seemingly patient shrug until the time had come to reveal her true intentions and the feelings that, for now, she was forced to conceal.
Rainbow Dash was the only person in the warehouse who was still awake and so she paced up and down, with her hands in her pockets like a moody teenager, pacing back and forth as the moonlight shone in through the high windows.
Pinkie and Maud slept side by side, in sleeping bags that the zebras had brought with them. Kitty Snip was curled up at Pinkie’s feet, purring to herself in lieu of snores as her hands twitched and tugged at her own tail.
Fluttershy slept sitting up, hugging herself as though she were afraid of something. Rainbow’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, wishing that there was something that she could do – anything – to make things better for her; but there wasn’t. She had loved Rhymey, though Rainbow couldn’t understand what she had found in that creep that was worth loving, nevertheless in spite of all his faults she had loved him. That wasn’t the kind of thing that she, or anybody else, could just get over. She would carry it with her, for a while at least, and there was nothing that Rainbow Dash or anypony else, could do about it.
All she could do was be there for her friend, if she needed it.
So many folks need me to be there for them right now.
If anyone had said that to her then she would have brushed off their concern with a quip. She was, after all, the fastest thing alive; she had no problem being in as many places as she needed to be.
But alone, in the dark of the night, with all the rest asleep, it wasn’t so easy to believe her own bravado.
Twilight. I just…I don’t know if I…if I don’t…
Just hold on for me, okay.
I can’t lose you a second time.
Rainbow’s feet carried her into the office, where she saw clearly that she was not quite the only pony to be still up. Brass Bolt was sitting where he always did, in front of the computer; it’s bright screen was illuminating him in a kind of silhouette. He wasn’t typing though, he was staring at something in his hands, a picture or something. Rainbow couldn’t quite make it out, and as he heard her coming closer he put it down on his desk in some place that was hard for her to see.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“How did you tell?” Rainbow asked. “I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Brass Bolt’s expression was devoid of either sympathy or contempt. He picked up a large mug and drank from it. “You want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
“Great. There’s a filter machine in the back, help yourself.”
“Gee, thanks,” Rainbow muttered. She pulled up a chair, scraping it across the office floor, and sat down on in the wrong way, with her elbows resting on the back. “How come you’re awake?”
“I have to keep checking in case that ship of yours tries to make contact,” said Brass Bolt. He was silent for a moment. “You know…you got some nice friends, kid. Good people.”
“They’re the best,” Rainbow murmured. “They deserve the best.”
“This ain’t gonna turn into some kind of self-pity thing, is it?” Brass Bolt asked. “I’m not sure I’m the right guy for that kind of stuff.”
Rainbow snorted. “Don’t worry, I’m not looking for a shoulder to cry on. I just…I don’t know if I can do this.”
Brass Bolt leaned back in his chair, and said nothing.
Rainbow bowed her head a little. “You know…you were right about me. I did let this happen. All of this. Starfleet taking over, Twilight dying, the curfews and the rationing and the wars…everything that his world has become. I let that happen. It all happened right in front of my eyes and I didn’t say a word about it. I didn’t lift a finger to stop it. It happened because I let it. Twilight died because I let her.”
“Except for how Twilight ain’t dead,” Brass Bolt said, surprisingly softly considering his usual abrasive tone of voice. “Except for how she’s back, anyhow. You may think you got the weight of the world on your shoulders kid, but as far as I’m concerned you’re the luckiest mare alive.”
Rainbow’s eyebrows rose. “How do you figure that?”
“You know I wasn’t always this old grouch sitting here making quips at people,” Brass Bolt said. “I used to be a normal guy, I worked tech support at a hardware store.”
“You were a nerd herd guy?”
“Yeah, that’s right, the nerd herd, that’s what they used to call us,” Brass Bolt agreed. He picked up the picture on his desk. “I had a wife. I had a kid. And when Starfleet took over…I didn’t say nothing either. Go along to get along, right? I told myself that nothing would really change, that all the important things would stay the same. I told myself…” he stared at the picture for a moment. “I told myself that so long as I kept my head down and took care of my family like I always had, then…all the big stuff didn’t really matter to guys like me.
“And then I came home one day and…and they were gone. Both of them.”
“What happened?”
“Starfleet,” Brass Bolt said, as though it explained everything. “By the time I found out where they were…it was too late. I lost my family, because I didn’t realise what was going on, because I didn’t do anything about it, but you…you got a second chance here, kid. You got the chance to make this right, to get your family back. That…do you know what I’d do to get a chance like that. Don’t fret about what you’ve done, or how you blew it the last time. You just make sure that you don’t blow it this time, okay. Get it right, for all of us who ain’t gonna get a second chance.”
The headphones plugged into the computer suddenly began to crackle and spark, startling both ponies.
“What is it?” Rainbow asked.
“Someone’s responding to the automated transmission I set for the Twilight Sparkle,” Brass Bolt said. He picked up the headphones, but stopped before he put them on. Instead, he offered them to Rainbow. “Come on, kid, this is your show.”
Rainbow snatched the headphones out of his hand and put them on. “Hello? Hello, can anybody hear me?”
There was a crackling and a static sound. “Hello? This is the Princess Twilight Sparkle; we are receiving an automated transmission and responding as requested. Is anybody receiving us?”
“Rarity?” Rainbow demanded. It didn’t sound like Rarity, but then it was a pretty terrible line. “Rarity, is that you? Can you hear me?”
There was a pause. “Yes, this is Rarity, who is it?”
“Rarity!” Rainbow yelled. “Thank Celestia, it’s me!”
“…Rainbow Dash, darling, is that you?”
“Yes!” Rainbow shouted into the microphone. “Yes, it’s me, I…I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“You and me both, darling, I’ve been through some horrible experiences getting here.”
“Where are you?”
“Hiding in the debris field caused by the destruction of Sombra’s asteroid ship,” Rarity said. “There are so many Starfleet ships around, and more seem to be arriving every moment. I have to tell you that we daren’t quite show ourselves in front of any Starfleet vessels right now.”
Rainbow closed her eyes. “Did they come for you too?”
Rarity was silent on the other end of the line. “Is everyone alright. Please, Rainbow, tell me everyone’s alright?”
“Fluttershy and Pinkie are fine, they’re with me,” Rainbow said.
“And Applejack? And…and Spike?”
“We don’t know yet. We’re going to go them just as soon as you can get here.”
“Easier said than done, let me tell you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure, but we kinda need you to do it anyway,” Rainbow said. “Listen, Rarity…I mean that, listen very carefully: I’ve got something very important that I need to tell you.”