The trio stared in incomprehension as Myrddin smiled enigmatically.
Techbird hesitantly said, “I… think I came across that name during my research.”
The unnatural human construct chuckled. “My birth name was Myrddin Emrys, but you may better know me as Merlin Ambrosius.”
The expressions on all three brightened in recognition.
“You are the legendary wizard Merlin?” Galena asked.
Merlin inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I am, or at least his avatar. Everything that the original knew and desired is a part of me now, but my one remaining purpose on this world is to complete the work that my original self began. However, I did not work alone. Two others reside with me here in the core of the Arcane Eye.”
He gestured and two more beings emerged from the walls, each about 120 degrees from where Merlin had appeared. The first was a quadrupedal dragon, her scales unlike anything the trio had seen before. They saw galaxies, nebulas, and whole planetary systems dancing back and forth across her scales, which contrasted greatly to her bright white teeth and her terrifying red eyes. When the three shrank back, she chuckled.
“You do not know me, but you two are created with my magic.” She pointed to Galena and Techbird. “You would do well to bow to your maker.”
The two bowed without hesitation as the dragoness laughed again, her form shifting until a tall woman was standing where the serpent once was, clad in a dress of shimmering blues and greens with a gold belt wrapped twice around her waist. As she moved closer, what first appeared to be scale mail or jewels was revealed to be thousands of green iridescent wings sewn onto the fabric for decoration. Her skin was fair but her eyes were shrewd and calculating. Her hair was the most saturated of brunettes which offset her green eyes. “You have not yet met my avatar in Equus, but you know my agent, the Nightmare.” While Merlin had a strong accent, the woman’s was faint and hard to pin down. She chuckled again. “But you may call me Morgan le Fay.”
The final figure was a snow-white alicorn with a bright red mane and tail. A cutie mark of an ink bottle and quill adorned her flanks. Unlike with Morgan, the trio was instantly put at ease by her mere presence.
“It has been so long, but finally my little Equians have returned,” the alicorn said with a pleasantly lilting voice. Her form started to shift as well until there was a medium-height woman standing in front of them, clothed in a simple white robe, but she still retained her smile. “Only three of your kind have seen me before. I tend to keep to the side maintaining balance while the other two vie for control. I have many names in Equus, but here you may call me Faust.”
Merlin spoke up once more. “It took centuries for the Puzzle to be realized, and even longer before Equus could unify as a whole to begin to understand its significance. As the generations passed, great philosophers among you realized it was something more. However, they could never do what you did. By travelling back to your first home, you already know the first part of the Puzzle. Speak your Question, Techbird.”
The griffoness firmed her voice as she looked at Merlin. “Why do we exist?”
The wise man smiled. “You exist to preserve what humanity has lost. During the old times, magic was everywhere in this world, but everything moves in cycles, as you know. After thousands of years, magic was on the eve of fading. Avalon and the last great king were lost to us, being forever sent to parts unknown. Humans were in the ascendancy and they crushed all that stood before them. Dragons were slain, unicorns and pegasi were enslaved, and fay creatures were feared and destroyed. Morgan and I were rivals, but the demise of all we held dear forced us to rally together.”
Morgan picked up where Merlin left off. “But just because we were allied did not mean that we were harmonious. Our magics still battled and raged with each other as we tried to preserve what little we had. Magical beings were dying. People were forgetting the old ways. We called in a third party – from the infinite we called to our aid the one being who could unify us.”
Faust took up the tale. “However, bringing a degree of harmony did not mean that we did not still have problems, but we were able to send out a call, a call for those not wanting to be forgotten, to rally for one last hope at rebirth. Together we built this array and the portals to access it. We pooled all the magic from the planet, all of the essences of the magical beings, into one seed. We only left enough magic to keep this scrying array functioning and to power these constructs. We had to give ourselves to the seed; it was the only way to ensure its viability.”
Merlin smiled. “We built the stargate and we cast you into the galaxy. I had the ideal place for you to begin anew. However, Morgan had other plans. She displaced the seed temporally and spatially – you were supposed to reside in the center of Orion’s shield and begin growing when conditions were right.”
At this, Morgan laughed. “However I sent you far into the past and in a random direction. Then I cast the stargate adrift. I did not believe it wise to keep a bridge to our children where humans might discover it and hound them once more.”
Tech gawked. “So that means...”
“That while the seed that would make you left this planet around 550AD of the old year system, you arrived millennia before that. But because your essence is of this world and this array maintained a link to Equus, the similarities never faded away. Magic never forgets.”
Galena spoke up. “So when you said that we were of your magic…?” She turned to Morgan.
The woman grinned. “I was known as an enchantress, a manipulator of emotions unequalled. Does that remind you of a certain species?” She turned to Techbird. “Griffons were created from the wild magic of Earth, but the magic that turned you crystalline – you have me to thank for that.”
Cosmic Dawn spoke up. “What about me?”
Faust spoke up. “The ponies take after my traits – caring, empathetic, and good-natured. It was all I could do to make sure that in the end, despite all adversity, harmony would prevail.”
Dawn nodded a few times and there was a long silence.
Merlin spoke back up. “That was only part of the Question – what is the other?”
Techbird spoke up. “Where do we go from here?”
The three avatars stepped toward them – Merlin moving to Techbird, Faust to Cosmic Dawn, and Morgan pairing with Galena. The room started to glow as a spell none of the three could identify started to charge up.
“You have solved the Puzzle, stated the Question and accepted the Answer. Now we will teach you the Old Ways.” Merlin said.
The last thing they heard before everything went white was, “In this multiverse, nothing truly ends, nothing truly begins.”
There had been many times lately when Wandering had been envious of Federation technology, but there was one instance where Equus had it soundly beaten and that was in communications. Contacting their homeworld 18,000 light-years away was as simple as turning on the comm just as easily as if they were calling the ship parked nearby. The word was passed on to the Crystal Kingdom and a mere twelve minutes later, Destined Path appeared with Shining Armor in the Pegasus’ designated teleport area. Boyce had been a little startled at the speedy response to his request, but Shining just laughed as he telekinetically lifted off his saddlebags.
“Admiral, the entirety of House Path has been waiting for the Federation to ask for help. The only thing that slowed me down was checking that Destined was free to teleport me here.”
“I did not mean to turn you into a taxi service, Your Highness,” Boyce apologized to Destined. “I expected to use the portal to get to Equus in a hurry.”
The alicorn shook his head. “The nature of the situation surely calls for the swiftest response, and that too is part of House Path’s credo. My princely duties have been adjusted accordingly as I am the only one capable of travelling this far.”
Boyce nodded in understanding. “We may have to consider stationing some of our few P5 teleporters on your world. As much as I appreciate the service, you cannot be expected to drop whatever you are doing just for tasks like these.”
“I understand that your teleporters accomplish their ’ports slightly differently to us, but even so, can they reach Equus?”
“I personally know at least one that can. We’ll have to see if shi’s willing to take on the task.”
“Not in Star Fleet, I gather?”
“No, shi works for Star Corps, the non-military arm of the Space Services.”
“Ah, yes, I remember that. Gidela Path will probably be the liaison for anyone who accepts the position.”
“Excellent. Now I hate to cut this short, but seeing as Prince Armor has been gracious enough to come so promptly, we had best take advantage of his speedy arrival.”
Destined nodded. “Don’t hesitate to call us if you need us, Admiral. We’re always there for our friends.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
The blue alicorn teleported away while the white one turned to Boyce with his trademark confident grin. “Time to get to work, Admiral?”
“First, we have to get to the nearest new battlefront. We can formulate our plans along the way.”
The good news was that the new front was on the far outskirts of Federation territory and still far from the first threatened world. The bad news was that it took a few days for the Pegasus to get there in spite of its great speed. It gave Shining and the crew of the starship plenty of time to strategize. Despite the assurances of Wandering, Boyce was nervous about Shining’s capabilities.
“I originally asked Captain Path for his help with the idea of protecting the Pegasus from some attacks while we deployed the fighter craft, then we’d retreat. You want to take us into the thick of battle. Are you sure you can defend the entire ship against constant fire?”
Shining waved a hoof dismissively. “No problem. That’s my special talent, and I’ve already used my magic to feel out the size of this ship and the scope of the task. Combined with what I have studied about your interactions with the Swarm, I believe I could have defended this ship at my power level of a century ago, and I’m far stronger now. In fact, I have a suggestion to take advantage of that.”
Boyce gave the alicorn a curious look. “I’m listening.”
The stallion indicated the hologram displaying the oncoming Swarm fleet that had been transmitted by the Federation scout ships. At this point, they were loosely gathered in a column approaching the outpost under threat. “I propose that we line the Pegasus up with that column and ram them.”
“What?! You can’t be serious?!” Rosepetal exclaimed.
“Oh, he’s perfectly serious,” Midnight said. Shi regarded the stallion coolly. “I can sense his confidence. The question is – has he underestimated the difficulty?”
Shining’s assured grin never wavered. “I know that it sounds like a radical plan, but believe me, I can handle it. I will only have to do it once anyway. As soon as the enemy learns that trick, they will know to avoid it.”
Boyce frowned. “It’s good that you feel confident, Prince Armor, but I would be risking a capital ship with its hundreds of crewpersons on an untested strategy.”
“Untested in this scenario, perhaps, but I have defended against firepower far superior to any that you have shown me so far.”
“Having seen the tame stars your people use for an energy source, I am not too surprised at that claim. However, it’s the physical assault that worries me. Shields are designed to deflect debris at most.”
“Your shields maybe, but not mine. Even my sister Twilight is familiar with using shields as a weapon. Of course, I taught her that.”
“It’s still a risky maneuver,” Rosepetal said sternly. “We’ve been battling the Swarm for a long time now, and we’re familiar with their capabilities.”
“Yes, I’ve spent the past couple of days studying everything you know about them. I’m still confident that I can handle it. Besides, my strategy will take out at least half of that fleet, greatly reducing the threat to your fighters which I understand are not as suitable to battling the Swarm as the blockade ships.”
Boyce had to admit that Shining Armor had him there. As powerful as the Pegasus and its fighter ships were, none were designed specifically for the unique conditions of Swarm combat. He needed every advantage that he could get. “Very well, we’ll do it. We are evacuating the outpost as quickly as we can, but there are still thousands of lives that are depending on us. Not to mention the millions on inhabited worlds closer in. We’re not going to let them down.”
“And if we blow up doing this hare-brained scheme, we’ll never know their disappointment,” Midnight murmured.
Shining’s grin just grew wider.
Gravitic mines had forced the Swarm fleet out of hyperspace and they had been spending the past few days approaching the outpost star system at sub-light speeds. This enabled the Pegasus to arrive with time to spare. Its fighter craft were all deployed and they took up formation behind the capital ship as it maneuvered in line with the densest part of the Swarm.
The tension on the bridge of the Pegasus was palpable. This was a situation that none had ever experienced before, nor even trained for. By any normal measure, what they were about to do would be insane and a spectacular near-total failure.
Boyce took a deep breath and looked over to the alicorn who was standing at his left side. The stallion’s expression had turned serious now, and his horn glowed softly. “Are you ready, Shining Armor?”
Shining nodded and the glow of his magic brightened as he firmed up his shield's strength. “I’m ready, Admiral. Let’s do this.”
Boyce turned to the person at the helm. “Execute ramming maneuver.”
“Aye, sir,” the helmsman replied without showing a hint of his nervousness.
The Pegasus shot forward at maximum acceleration. While they had still been out of range of fire from the Swarm, it did not take long to cross the intervening distance, and before the Swarm recognized the nature of the threat, the Federation starship crashed into the lead invader. Or more precisely, Shining Armor’s shield did. The wedge-shaped force-field sliced through the Swarm ship nearly effortlessly and continued on to the next. Swarm craft not directly ahead of the Pegasus were given a kinetic hit that was guaranteed to kill anything aboard. Ship after ship was torn apart or severely damaged as the Pegasus continued to plough through the thick of the enemy.
On the bridge, Boyce watched and listened as Shining Armor occasionally grunted when a particularly heavy impact was made, but the alicorn held firm. Then abruptly, they were through the fleet.
“Bring us about!” Boyce order. “Phasers at maximum – fire at will!”
Midnight and several fire-control crewpersons took up the task of the assault from the rear of the pack even as the fighter craft that they had deployed before the ramming maneuver attacked the front. As Shining had predicted, the Swarm scattered which made a second ramming run impractical. However, this also meant the Swarm were not coordinating efforts to gang up on and overwhelm individual fighters.
Boyce looked closely at the alicorn. To his eyes, Shining Armor looked weary. “Are you alright, Prince Armor?”
The stallion resumed his confident smile. “I said that I could successfully handle ramming the Swarm, but I never claimed it would be easy.”
“No, you didn’t. Will you be able to shield us from the Swarm’s fire?”
“Don’t worry, Admiral. I’ll be able to cope with that; it’s nowhere near as bad as the ramming was. Besides, now I’m letting your ship’s shields do some of the work.”
“Speaking of that, how are they holding up, Commander Midnight?”
“They are sustaining heavy fire from both projectiles and conventional energy weapons, but they are well within their tolerance and are still at 100% effectiveness. The mana blasts that have been directed at us are being stopped by Prince Armor’s shield.”
“Excellent. Let’s make the most of this, people! This incursion must be stopped with the minimum of casualties.”
The small fighter craft that were usually deployed hunting pirates were also very effective against the Swarm, with the single caveat that those without the new Equian shields had no defense against the mana blasts. As they were not as agile at evading those attacks as the specialty blockade fighters, they were at greater risk of damage or destruction, and therefore the pilots had been ordered to take no unnecessary risks. However, with the Pegasus safely doubly shielded, the mighty warship could afford to wade into the thick of battle. The Swarm ships were steadily whittled down. Obviously, in a losing fight, it would have been wise for the Swarm ships to retreat, but that was something that they had never done since the Federation had first encountered them. They were absolutely relentless, no matter what the odds. The capture of the first specimens only reinforced the opinions of the Federation experts that the Swarm were truly a hive mentality, and individual losses were of no consequence to them. They advanced, they overran, they usurped resources, and then they advanced once more. There was no such thing to their collective mind as retreating.
When the final Swarm ship was dispatched, the Pegasus counted the cost. While the battleship came through completely unscathed, several fighters had been damaged and had to be retrieved with the use of a tractor beam. One had almost been destroyed and the pilot critically injured. He was rushed to the infirmary as soon as the remains of his vessel were brought aboard, and Doctor Saarath and her assistants worked to save his life.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, Boyce had ordered the ship to stand down from Red Alert and taken his command staff and Shining Armor to his ready room. They made themselves comfortable before Boyce began the review of the engagement.
“First of all, thank you, Prince Armor. Your strategy worked perfectly,” Boyce said gravely.
The alicorn nodded. “You’re welcome, Admiral.”
“You do realize that this was just the vanguard of a greater force. Are you prepared to do it again?”
“After some rest to recover, yes, I am.”
“How long can you keep it up?”
“What do you mean exactly?”
Boyce leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “The attack on the blockade has not relented for a single day; we can expect no less from this new incursion, and we are not in a position to set up another blockade, at least not yet. That means that we will need to do this again and again indefinitely, and against ever-growing numbers. To remain this effective, we will need to fight them again and again and again. So I ask you once more – how long can you keep it up?”
Shining grimaced. “When you put it like that, not for too long. It takes time to recover my full mana strength after an engagement like this, and it’s very tiring. Even taking into account that the ramming maneuver will most likely be far less effective and thus less tiring in future engagements, at most I can buy you some time until more appropriate defenses are brought into play.”
“That’s still more than we could ever dare expect before meeting you Equians. Nevertheless, it’s only a stopgap measure. The war against the Swarm is only going to ramp up from here.”
“Don’t give up on us so soon, Admiral,” Shining said with a knowing smile. “You’re dealing with House Path now, and not the Equian World Council. We have a distinct advantage over them as the House is totally non-political. I’m not here as the Prince of the Crystal Kingdom, but as head of the Kingdom’s branch of House Path. As such, I can tell you that we have been a lot more proactive about the Swarm than the Council, and we’ve been making various contingency plans to deal with it.”
Boyce leaned forward, peering intently at the stallion. “What kind of plans?”
“For starters, you won’t have to rely on just me for shielding purposes. Your fighters’ greatest weakness is their vulnerability to mana-based weapons. Conventional energy weapons can be handled by your normal shields, but not even your blockade ships can deal with even a glancing blow from a mana blast. Our solution is to provide a battle-mage in two-person fighters like your blockade ships. While your regular pilots handle the maneuvering, trained unicorns will handle both defense and attack.”
“That sounds excellent, but how many can you provide?”
“More than you think, but less than you probably need. However, the alternative to blocking is of course dodging. We’ve studied the recordings that you’ve provided of battles with the Swarm. Do you want to know what the first thing that pegasi and griffins ask?”
“What would that be?”
“‘Why are they so cumbersome?’ Or words to that effect.”
Boyce blinked in surprise and Rosepetal frowned. She spoke up before the Admiral had a chance to do so. “Are you saying that our best fighter pilots are inferior?”
Shining Armor shrugged. “Commander – pegasi and griffins are born to fly. They’re better at it than any of your pilots before they even reach their teens. Our best spacecraft pilots are those species and they can make even the clunkiest craft dance gracefully under their control, once the maneuvering thrusters are boosted to allow the extreme G-forces that our pilot can tolerate. Put them in one of your fighters and they will outfly anyone and anything ever made.”
“They would have to be trained on completely new spacecraft though,” the Caitian pointed out.
“True, but we would be sending experienced pilots first. They won’t take long to get the feel of the fighter craft. I expect that you will need to build a lot more of them, and that takes time. By then, we’ll have more pilots trained up to fly them, especially if your technicians help us make simulators with your cockpit control layouts on Equus..”
“You seem to have thought this through,” Boyce commented.
“Like I said, House Path has been proactive in making plans for situations like these. Equus has been isolated for its entire history, but now that we have come into the greater universe, we must learn to deal with what we find. The more cautious among our people might call for withdrawing into isolation once more, but the wiser among us realize that threats like the Swarm never go away. Irrespective of what the Equus Council may decide, House Path is prepared to defend the people of the Stellar Federation and provide whatever assistance that is within its power. And I assure you, that’s no small thing.”
Boyce frowned. “No, it isn’t, which leads me to ask what you will demand in return for all this vital help?”
The stallion smirked a little. “Demand? Nothing. I mean it – that’s not how House Path works. However, we do expect fair and reasonable recompense. When Prince Destined Path, Starry, and the others enabled you to examine a Swarm ship and get specimens, something completely beyond your capability, we did not ask for payment. However, you fitted the Cosmic Lotus with warp engines and provided the knowledge behind the technology without being asked. We consider that a fair exchange, and that is what we hope to continue doing. House Path does not get funds from any government source. It is entirely self-funded in various ways, not the least of which is the advanced technology that we have sold to the rest of our world. The Federation has much in the way of knowledge that could serve the House well.”
“And you want the first crack at it before the rest of Equus gets its act together and tries to get a slice of the pie?” Boyce replied with a matching smirk. “So – enlightened self-interest is the name of the game?”
“Exactly. It is to the mutual benefit of Equus and the Federation. We do have one other request though.”
“And what would that be?”
“Chakona is still a young, developing world which welcomes immigrants of all kinds, some of whom have established new colonies in unoccupied territories. House Path wishes to do the same on an island that currently has no inhabitants. Emu Island has been selected because it is small enough for a pegasus weather team to establish weather control over the entire area but large enough to have a variety of biomes suited to our varied species.”
“I’m not opposed to that plan, but it’s not within my power nor Star Fleet Command’s to grant your request.”
“We realize that, but it is within the scope of the ambassadors that you sent to negotiate terms to exert their influence on the Chakonan government. Again, we are not demanding anything.”
“But you would be most grateful if we greased the wheels of bureaucracy,” Boyce concluded. “Prince Armor, if you can do half of what you think you can do for us, I’ll be sure to be there when you turn over the first shovelful of soil to break ground for your new colony. I’ll get on that as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we have plans to make. As I said before, that was just the vanguard of the latest incursion that we just fought – our scouts tell us that there are far more to come and they will be here soon.”
“Indeed. Thankfully, help is just 18,000 light-years away.”
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