//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 - "Subtle" Is Not Part Of A Battle Droid's Vocabulary 
// Story: Ponies and Lasers and Clankers, Oh My! 
// by Tekket 
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19 B.B.Y. In Transit to Alien Capital City, Unknown Planet, Sector G6 (See Galactic Map)

72624 looked out the front viewport of the shuttle as it descended gracefully down to a majestic city, one that clung to the cliffs of a massive mountain that took up the entire view. They were just breaking through the clouds now, and he could finally see the city up close.

Marble houses and towers were decorated with golden roofs. Arches and fountains, gardens and domes, jutting spires and flying buttresses adorned the entire city, making it seem like it was supposed to be floating in the clouds. Indeed, several of the low-hanging clouds moved past on the rock face just below the main streets, and tiny colorful shapes could be seen bustling about their business.

Just outside the viewport, several Vulture fighters screamed past, then another wave, the first one zooming in a straight line to the largest open spot in the city and right past it, while the second spread out like the wings of a bird to do a pass over large portions of the city.

The first wave looped back on itself and began to come back, banking at the last moment to streak on either side of the shuttle. Beside the Captain, TV-44 watched the whole display impassively.

Another bank of fighters flew alongside the shuttle, matching its speed, alert for any threats that might make themselves apparent. Several of the colorful natives flew through the streets and above the buildings, but once the large shadow of the droids’ escort passed over them, or the screams of the vulture fighters reached their ears, they all ducked down for the safety of the streets.

As the first wave zoomed to the forefront once again and began landing at the perimeter of the huge open expanse in front of the large structure TL-90 had identified as a “castle”, the second wave of fighters came back and also took up defensive positions around the shuttle. Another fighter wave, unseen by those looking out the front of the viewport followed close behind them, and created a buffer zone between the shuttle and the massive landing craft that followed, bathing everything it passed over in shadow. As they neared the huge structure, 72624 could see that a large number of the native creatures were dressed in gold and had taken up positions at every entrance to the castle. Many more had taken up formation in the courtyard that the Captain planned on landing in, while others cautiously approached the landed Vultures.

“I hope those organics get out of the way. I’m pretty sure landing on some of them would put a damper on the negotiations,” he murmured to himself; however, the tactical droid heard him.

“If they don’t, then they will simply be a demonstration that we do not let others dictate what we can and can’t do. We are the CIS, perhaps the last of it anywhere in the galaxy. We convey our strength through actions.”

"That doesn't mean our actions have to be clumsy. Us B1’s get a bad enough rep as it is.”

The shuttle had, by that time, come to hover over the open expanse in front of the castle, while all of its vulture droid escort had come to land at the edges, taking up a defensive formation around both the shuttle and the landing craft as it came in and settled down on its repulsorlifts behind the smaller spaceship.

72624 finally commanded the pilots to lower the shuttle, having it face away from the large doors set into the front of the structure, so that the ramp would face them when it was lowered.

72624 wondered what the native creatures’ reactions must be to all of this right now, and allowed himself a little chuckle. They were probably shaking with fright, he thought, right as he sent the signal to the landing craft to begin deploying the complement of troops they brought with them as an escort.

***

Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle (the latter still wearing bandages and needing the support of a crutch, as humiliating as it was) as well as Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Trixie, and Starlight, stood gathered at the top of the steps to the royal palace, just in front of the massive oak doors, while they watched the spectacle before them. Rainbow Dash was still unable to move and so had to watch the whole thing from an upper window of the palace with Spike, watching from her hospital bed, which a nurse was attending to make sure the blue pegasus didn’t do anything drastic.
The solar princess had kept her regal wear; a sparkling pink dress that still allowed her a full range of motion for all of her limbs, while the lunar princess had come in full battle armor, complete with dark metal plates and two rapiers in scabbards at her waist. Both stared at the unfolding situation with grim-faced determination.

Another one of the small and strange silvery airships had come (Twilight assumed it was the same kind that her friends had described to her after they had made first contact with the newcomers), but this time it had been accompanied by three dozen extremely large, insectile blue creatures, that chattered and walked across the courtyard this way and that, maintaining a constant perimeter between the guardsponies and the ships in the center of the space. The guardsponies, for their part, didn’t try to approach too closely.

The strange creatures had also come with a second ship.

And what a ship the newcomers had brought. Twilight had never seen anything like it. Its scale alone dwarfed anything that she could have ever imagined possible from any creature she had ever heard about. It descended from the clouds accompanied by a loud droning sound, which became almost painfully loud as it settled to hover just above the ground, barely able to squeeze beside the Minotaurs’ airship, before sinking down onto massive landing struts on the bottom of the craft.

It looked like two tuning forks held together by the connecting ends, with some sort of gourd hanging down between them. The difference was that the craft was easily a thousand times bigger than a vegetable and two rods of metal.
As the craft settled onto the ground, Twilight felt a sudden surge of weightlessness, before the feeling vanished and the massive construct finally finished landing. She felt extreme awe and wonder at the vehicle before her. How in Equestria can something so large stay together and land on such a small point (relative to the rest of the craft) without buckling and crashing down upon itself?

After the giant dragonfly-like airship landed, the strange, silvery bathtub craft finally came down near the bottom of the steps to land in its stubby, insect-like legs.

A somewhat large expanse separated the two craft, and Twilight surmised that the smaller shuttle must have held the leaders, while the massive airship might have been a troop transport of some kind. The size of the ship didn’t fit any other explanation she could think of, and a moment later, her suspicions were confirmed.

As she watched, the massive front, lower section of the hull on which most of the large craft rested, opened up like a doorway and a shallow ramp extended, allowing two very strange things to come down and take up positions on either side of the opening, about halfway down the length underneath each front wing.

Twilight couldn’t think of anything the two… things… could be. They had a squat, shovel-like nose, which curved back like a saxophone to two stubby arms and a somewhat circular roof. The entire thing looked like some kind of floating beetle, covered in either a smooth carapace, or bristling with straight, blunt, forward-facing spines.

Maybe those are some kind of guard animals? But then why do they look kind of like they’re made of metal?
Twilight didn’t get to wonder any further, as she glanced to her mentor and friend, and saw Princess Celestia’s expression harden. Looking back to the huge craft, she saw why.

Rows upon rows of the strange, skinny, skeletal statues were walking down the ramp and moving off to make large squares in front of either shovel-beetle-saxophone-thing. Each looked exactly the same and each held some sort of black metal tubular device in its hands, while the sound of clanking and marching drowned out anything else in the courtyard.
Sudden movement from beyond the courtyard caused Twilight to look up. Out beyond the fence separating the palace grounds from the rest of the city, hundreds of ponies had gathered to see the strange newcomers that had inexplicably come from the sky and landed right in the Princess’ front yard. She could already see several flashes of light as some reporters began taking pictures.

Out of the airship and down the ramp the statues continued to march, to stand in neat rows and columns between the large ship and the small one, all facing directly forward. It wasn’t until no less than eight squares of the statue-creatures had filled up the space between the two craft that they stopped coming, and the doors in the small ship opened, lowering the ramp and allowing the occupants to walk down.

They were a motley bunch, if not seemingly at home with each other.

There was another of the tall, skinny sculptures, although it seemed to have a slight difference in coloration; it was followed by a mostly black, somewhat boxy creature, with sharp angles and tubular limbs. The third member of the party looked like a blunt approximation of her own Metal Mare, with silver coverings and what seemed to be a limited range of motion, if its shuffling gait was anything to judge by, although with some aesthetic changes that made it look closer in biology (or… would it be closer in design? Were these things even alive?) to the other members of the group.

For a second, Twilight didn’t even see the fourth member of the group, as it was hidden by the others, but after a few seconds she did managed to spy a small, two legged creature, looking vaguely like a rabbit, hurrying closely behind the heels of the first being, and carrying some sort of square slat that was glowing on one side.

The remainder of the group was made up of identical black-brown figures, who looked somewhat like the skeletal statues, but a bit more muscular and square-ish. There were six of them in total, and they stood straight and tall, carrying the same black devices that the army in front of the large airship did.

Standing with the two princesses as she was, Twilight looked over to regard their own group.

Applejack stared down at the approaching newcomers with open suspicion; Rarity was giving them a heavily-lidded stare that seemed to put her above their level; Fluttershy was doing her best to look assertive and intimidating, it seemed; Pinkie Pie was practically bursting with energy, although if it was from excitement or nervousness, Twilight couldn’t tell; and Starlight and Trixie were standing a little off to the side and behind the rest of the mares, looking quite unsure of whether they should be there.

Twilight suddenly heard Celestia murmur beside her, “What on Equus are they?” and couldn’t help but think the same thing.
Once the motley group reached the bottom of the steps the ponies stood on, Princess Celestia cleared her throat and put on a gentle smile, whereas Princess Luna scowled and adjusted her swords, before both of the diarchs stepped forward simultaneously. A small tug on her arm from the solar princess caused Twilight to step forward too, and realize that the two wanted her to come with them to introduce themselves to the invaders.

The procession of strange newcomers had stopped at the bottom of the stairs when the three equestrians had made their move, and as she got closer, Twilight couldn’t help but feel an increase in apprehension in the air, before she realized that Celestia was accidentally projecting her emotions to the general area.

I’ve never known Celestia to be this unsure of herself, Twilight thought, and the realization scared her. Before she could think anything else however, the feeling dissipated and the solar diarch spoke.

“Greetings, newcomers. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Canterlot, capital of Equestria. I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. Together we rule this great land in peace and harmony. May I ask the nature of your visit?”
It was clearly evident from the first few seconds of her introduction that most of the assembled creatures did not understand her, as almost immediately the silver creature began speaking to the others in a strange language, in an even, somewhat feminine tone, and stopped shortly after the princess had.

An interpreter? That would make sense if they evolved with a different language, but that doesn’t explain how they know our language in the first place. I’ve never heard of anything like these things before, and I think somepony would have reported it if they had made first contact with them before now. Twilight shook her head and listened to the yellow-marked, living sculpture as it spoke in a high, ratty voice, before the silver translator started up again and spoke in equestrian.

“Greetings princesses. I am the Captain of the Dawn of Dusk, and I have come to formally fold your nation into the Separatist Alliance and to lay some ground rules, as well as answer any questions you may have at this time.”

“I believe you may be speaking a bit too optimistically. While I do thank you for coming all the way here to speak to us directly, we have no intention of joining your alliance,” Princess Luna replied coolly.

The silver being translated once more and then repeated what the skeletal being said. “I do not think you understand the implications of what I am proposing. Perhaps if you gave me some time I could convince you to aid our cause.”

Twilight still hadn’t said anything during the exchange, and was getting the sinking feeling that she shouldn’t be here. I don’t know anything about handling matters of the state! What good would I be in political matters? I’ve studied nearly every aspect of the world, but politics never really interested me, what am I supposed to do now?! Celestia’s response only partially made it to Twilight’s brain, but it managed to calm her down just a bit.

“-welcome such a meeting between ourselves, but I’m afraid you’ve come at a rather poor time. As it turns out, we are currently engaged in political talks with another nation-”

At least, until the skeletal statue nearly jumped as it heard the news, and immediately started talking without waiting for the princess to finish, while the silver being spluttered for a second before redirecting the translation.

“Representatives of another nation are here? Wonderful! That will make things much easier! If we can smooth things over with both of your nations and it will make things go that much faster when we add the rest of the sovereign states to the Separatist Alliance.”

“I-, well, that would not be ideal. We are currently in a very heated political climate, and any interference would only be detrimental to the current situation. Until such a time as our current matter is resolved, I’m afraid we cannot hold any talks with you, the situation is much too urgent. Perhaps we could arrange for you to return at a later date? We could also guarantee a much better meeting place.”

The skeletal thing held up a three-fingered hand and spoke quickly, so much so that the translator seemed to have trouble keeping up, “Oh no, no, no! That’s not necessary! If anything this will be most helpful to all parties involved! Is this your capital? I’d assume so, not many of your other cities are quite as large, and if you’re the rulers of this nation it actually makes sense. So! If you’d be so kind as to invite us inside, I’m sure you’re very curious as to what I’m-”

The silver being suddenly stopped for a moment, looking once between both the tall skinny Captain and the Princesses, before finishing somewhat lamely, “-proposing.”

And without another word, the tall skinny being started marching up the stairs, followed by the rest of its companions, while several nearby guards stepped forward to block their way up with spears drawn. Celestia, however had had enough.

As the princess stepped forward, the sun suddenly blazed brighter in the sky, and her mane shone brighter than it had been a moment before. The tip of her horn glowed, and although there was no visible effect, the surrounding area suddenly became uncomfortably hot and still, and Twilight nearly fainted from the heat. She noticed her friends behind her also react similarly, quickly beginning to pant and slouch. Looking back to the beings trying to make their way up the steps, she was shocked to find they seemed unaffected.

In fact, the situation was suddenly turning against the princesses, as the group of invaders had already walked straight past the first line of guards, who fell over each other in the blazing heat trying to stop their advance.

As Twilight watched the tall thin figures continue to walk up the steps, she saw the magic aura around Princess Celestia’s horn dissipate, and the air slowly cooled to its previous temperature, allowing the guards to regain themselves and become competent once more, and Twilight and her friends managed to take a breath of cool air and stop themselves from fainting, slowly regaining their previous demeanors. The invaders for their part, hadn’t seemed to notice any difference in their hosts.

Unfortunately, by the time all of this had happened, the invaders’ group of leaders (or so that’s what they seemed to be) had already reached the top of the steps and were right in front of the princesses.

Twilight, in her surprise, took two steps back, and in all honesty, would recount this day as the one where the whole world stopped making sense. Although certainly not the shortest in their group of friends, Twilight was by no means tall, and even as an Alicorn, she hadn’t really grown much taller. The invaders on the other hand, were huge. They were way taller than her or any of her friends, and even stallions as large as Shining Armor and Big Mac would have had a tough time looking the skinny ones in the eye.

Twilight’s only saving grace in her moment of panic and surprise, was that both Celestia and Luna stepped forward at the same time with steely gazes in their eyes to meet the strange beings. As they stepped forth, Twilight was relieved to see the tiniest of smirks on Celestia’s face, before she extended her hand in greeting. The skeletal leader of the motley group, for its part, tilted its whole head to look down at the hand, before turning and saying something to the silver translator.

“Uncivilised ruffians.”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice, which had materialized just behind her left shoulder. Turning to look, she realized that the other girls had walked up closer while she hadn’t been paying attention, and Rarity was looking at the strange creatures with a combination look of superiority and disgust. “Honestly, why do all the ones who try to invade Equestria have to be barbarians? I mean, they don’t even know what a handshake is for goodness sakes.”

Twilight had nothing to say to that, still trying to form her own opinions of the strange beings literally on Equestria’s doorstep as they finally managed to understand what the princesses were explaining constituted a handshake, before the lead being grabbed Celestia’s hand and very vigorously yanked it up and down in a comical game of how-far-does-your-arm-swing.

Nodding its head in satisfaction, the yellow-marked, captain, statue-thing looked to its companions, all of whom declined shaking hands. Tuning herself back into the conversation, she saw Celestia and Luna, followed by the entire invader delegation striding back towards them and to the castle’s main doors, where the solar diarch beckoned Twilight and her friends to follow, and they all quickly fell into step.

If the princesses were hoping to have any privacy for their meeting with the strange invaders however, it was quickly thrown out the window as soon as they stepped inside the palace. A side door to the main hall just ahead of the group exploded open and several serious-looking Minotaur guards formed up on either side of the doorway while General Kratos stepped through, hands clasped behind his back and a dark scowl on his face.

Celestia, for her part, kept her chin up and didn't slow down in the slightest until the group was right next to the Minotaur General, at which point she stopped and turned to address the massive figure.

"General, I'm sorry, but right now I cannot attend to whatever matter has come up. Both my sister and I are having an emergency meeting. If you and the rest of your delegation would please just remain in your quarters, we'll have the situation resolved quickly and we can get back to the matters between our two nations."

"I'm a little shocked, Princess, that you would brush the Minotaurs aside so. You see, when I heard that our afternoon meeting was going to be suddenly postponed due to some other dignitaries arriving with an emergency, I had assumed that some of your ponies were in trouble and was on my way to offer the Minotaur's help, as a show of solidarity and good faith during these trying times. As soon as I looked out the window, however, it was quite easy to see that the emergency was with you, and not these... 'dignitaries.'"

The large minotaur general stepped to the side of the princesses and glared down at the motley group of invaders, one of the few creatures in all of Canterlot besides the princesses able to do so because of his enormous size.

"Princess, the Minotaurs and the Equestrians have been allies for many years, and I would have thought that at a time like this you would want a show of strength in the face of such an army." Kratos gestured to where the army of statue-esque creatures still stood outside, visible through the main doors and the large stained-glass windows on either side.

It was clear to everypony gathered there that the General was somewhat disgusted by the equestrian's apparent spinelessness and was upset at having been lied to, even if it had been mostly true in the first place. However, Princess Celestia raised a hand and silenced the General with only a look.

"General Kratos, while I would very much welcome any support that the nation of Minos can give, now is not the time to be jumping to conclusions. We have the situation well under control and I am asking as a friend for you and the other minotaurs to please let us handle this."

"Under control, you say," the General, snorted, the blast of air hitting the yellow-marked statue right in the face, although it seemed to take no notice of it. Kratos continued, "I can see from the fact that Princess Twilight still needs support when walking and the fact that an entire army is standing at your gates, not to mention that Princess Luna," he gestured to the princess of the night, "decided to attend this 'meeting' in full battle armor. Yes, this truly speaks of your having everything under control... and what do you keep muttering about?!"

The General roared at the silver being in the invaders' group as it quickly and quietly translated everything that was happening in the conversation to the rest of the statue-creatures. At the sudden declaration, the silver-plated being gave a start and shuffled to stand behind one of the blackish guards, all of whom seemed to tense and raised the black devices in their hands slightly.

"General, that is their translator, and I am going to ask you only once more, please let us-"

Celestia was at that moment rudely interrupted by the invader Captain as he squawked and gestured several times to the Minotaur General, the princesses, and the silver translator, who, after a few more seconds of inaction, quickly caught up and started translating again, though it stayed well clear of the General and firmly behind the tough-looking guard.

"You must be the other nation's representatives! Pleasure to meet you! We were just going to discuss with the princesses here how best to integrate their nation into the Confederacy of Independent Systems. With you here, we can be much more efficient and have you join as well!"

The invader captain seemed to be quite pleased with how he was handling things, but Kratos's face had changed from one of disgust and anger, to one of complete disbelief.

"Minos will never agree to any terms in order to become the lackey of some power-hungry despot, no matter how nice and friendly they may appear in their attempts to 'unify' the world. It simply cannot be done. If you came here for diplomatic talks, then why did you bring an army?"

These words were not spoken by the Minotaur General, but rather by the bent and stooped figure of Elder Morgath as he strode through the same doorway that Kratos had emerged from and looked up at the captain statue-creature with his eyes squinted behind a pair of spectacles.

"Even if we were to even consider it, it would take the decision of the entire Minotaur high council to agree to anything you have to offer. The answer is no. Minos will not be joining this 'Confederacy', and if Equestria decides not to as well, then I have little doubt our two nations will unite to stand against you."

With that, the old minotaur slammed his walking staff into the ground once and turned to shuffle back the way he had came, but not before turning to give Princess Celestia a wink. "I will leave you to your talks, Princess, but please consider my words here today."

Twilight's gaze was enraptured by the departing Minotaur Elder, who was followed shortly by a rather unhappy-looking General Kratos and the rest of the guards, before they were all out of sight and the group began moving back down the hallway again, if perhaps a bit quicker than before.

As they made their way down halls and corridors, and eventually to a large gold-lined door to one of the many conference rooms that the palace housed, Twilight couldn't help but think how in the world Celestia was going to convince the invaders to leave Equestria alone.

Along the way, the group was joined by an extremely humiliated and flustered Rainbow Dash (as well as Spike and the nurse who was pushing her bed; the cause of said humiliation), before both groups entered into the spacious room and took various positions around the large oval table in the center. Several royal guards stood at attention in the corners of the room, and plenty of very comfortable chairs sat around the table, while the two Princesses took positions at the head of the room and were followed by everyone else taking a seat; first the ponies, and then after a few seconds hesitation, the invaders. The dark guards of the invader group took up flanking positions on either side of the table near the walls, but still staying close to their charges.

"Now, as I've told you before, shortly after you arrived from your airships, we are not interested in joining any 'League of Nations' or 'Confederacy' or 'Alliance' what have you, but you are more than welcome to continue your point before we get to the real matter, which is what it's going to take to prevent you from trying to make us join through force." The princess gave a sly smile. "We know you wouldn't have come with an army in such a display of power if you had no intention of using it, but I hope there will be no need for violence here."

The yellow-marked statue-creature, the captain, pondered the question for a short while, exchanging several looks with its blocky companion before looking back at the princess with its blank gaze and the silver being started translating almost immediately.

"Dear Princess, we too hope to be able to accomplish our goals without violence, but as a collective government, the Separatist Alliance, also known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems, has had more than its fair share of attacks targeted towards it when it does try to make these sorts of deals. On another note, you misunderstand, our transports are not airships-."

"Preposterous."

Every head in the room turned to look at Princess Luna as she scoffed and crossed her arms, the steel of her plate armor clanging quietly together.

"You expect us to believe that you did not in fact arrive here in that massive machine? We all saw, clear as day, that it somehow flew and held itself aloft. What next, are you going to say that the army you brought is not an army, but rather a brigade of peacekeepers and relief workers?"

"No, your princessness," the captain continued, "that is very simply part of our armed ground forces, however, before I was interrupted, I wanted to stress that our vehicles are not airships, because they are rated for more than only in-atmospheric flight."

Princess Celestia, watching silently, leaned forward and set her hands on the table, squinting slightly as she tried to understand what the captain was saying.

"Are you saying that your vessels can also travel through water?"

The captain jerked backwards at these words, before twitching slightly and giving a short, shrill, squeaks. It took Twilight a few seconds to realize that it was laughing.

"No, no, no! Again you misunderstand! You see, the Confederacy of Independent Systems is so named because it is a collection of many thousands of government bodies, all of whom-"

"That's impossible! There aren't that many-" Princess Luna started, but was promptly quieted by the dark blocky figure, which had slammed a fist down on the table.

For the first time, the boxy figure spoke, a rough, flat monotone that was highly unsettling and very different from the almost comical voice of the captain. Although unable to understand what it said, the translator happily bridged the gap, despite the message being rather clear.

"Do not interrupt the captain when he is trying to explain things! It is for your own benefit."

"Thank you Colonel," the captain continued, the silver translator not breaking a beat as it switched from one invader's dialogue to another.

"Like I was saying, the Confederacy is comprised of many thousands of governments, all of whom reign from different systems. Hence the name. Your question of whether our transports can move underwater finally made the puzzle click for me. You see, our transports are not rated for underwater use, however, the 'Systems' in 'Confederacy of Independent Systems' are star systems, and that is part of what we are proposing if you decide to add your nation to the Alliance."

The captain straightened back in its chair and looked around the room for a second before continuing.

"Princesses, how would you like to take a tour of a starship?"