//------------------------------// // Mission // Story: Etheria's Sunset // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Etheria's Sunset By Wanderer D Mission "...and this is your room." Starlight and Sunset followed Glimmer into a rather spacious room and gazed around with mild interest. The Princess of Bright Moon smiled at the pair as they checked out the premises. "Well, it beats my room back on Earth," Sunset said after a moment. "but it does remind me of the one in Canterlot Castle." "The waterfall is a nice touch," Starlight said. "Twilight's castle is just a giant chunk of gem, no variety unless you really put some elbow grease into it." "Am I the only one that thinks a waterfall in a room is a bit too much?" Adora asked, throwing up her hands in frustration. "Doesn't anyone else think that it's unnecessary?" "Well, I mean, I admit I'm rather fond of Deer Architecture back in Equestria," Sunset admitted, "and they do have a lot of waterfalls around. Besides, they're the best thing to take showers in." Adora gave Glimmer a smirk. "Well, here we don't use them for that." Starlight blinked. "Why else would you have one in here?" "Because—" "Guys!" Bow interrupted, slamming the door open, eyes wide with panic. "We have a problem!" Glimmer's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?" "What? Nothing!" Bow looked offended at the notion. "We just got word from Princess Perfuma, she said a large Horde force made its way through into the Whispering Woods, and they were carrying several scanners!" "Perfuma?" Sunset asked. "She's a Princess with power over plants and flowers," Glimmer explained, "she can make them grow and flower and even attack!" "Wow, you guys must have ended world hunger fairly early." Glimmer and Bow blinked at Sunset. "What?" "Because… you know, never mind." "We need to go," Adora said, standing up and looking resolutely at the others. "If they have scanners, they are probably after First Ones tech." "This whole First Ones sounds so much like those Protean guys Zaeed and Shepard were talking about," Sunset muttered. Starlight smirked. "You mean Commander Shepard, right? The one that you and Adora were clinging to on each arm?" Sunset felt herself blush. "She's… very capable." "And strong." Adora nodded. "And tragic!" Sunset added. "Knowledgeable!" "The ultimate badass!" Sunset affirmed with a nod. "And sexy?" Starlight teased. "Very sexy," both responded immediately. "N-not that I cared about that," Adora corrected quickly, earning a knowing smirk from Sunset. "She's a Commander! She had much to teach!" "I'm surprised the pair of you didn't rip her in half or get into a fight," Glimmer muttered, taking their hands and guiding them out of the room. "Are you kidding?" Sunset blurted, "Why split when I can get two for one? Three if you count She-ra." Glimmer glanced at Adora, but her friend kept her face firmly down, although her ears were clearly red. "And, she said if we were ever in her universe, she'd help us join N7 if we wanted." "I wonder why Zaeed started choking on his drink when we said we'd love to." "I dunno, something about a meteorite and lack of oxygen," Sunset replied with a shrug. "Right," Bow spoke up. "That's all well and good, but can we please focus on what's going on right now?" "Hey, give us a break! We all just came back from days of partying and meeting really interesting people! You were there!" "I'll have you know that if I'm capable of paying attention to what's happening in the real world, then so can you." "Right," Sunset said, "so, tell us about more about what this Princess Perfuma saw." "There's not much else to say," Bow said, shaking his head. "If they get their hands on First One tech, they will use it to destroy us… ever since they somehow used their technology to almost destroy Bright Moon, they've been more active trying to get more working specimens." "Dammit Kyle!" Catra sighed. "Why is it so hard to just follow the instructions I told you?" "B-but Catra…" "That's Commander Catra." "Commander Catra, ma'am," Kyle stammered, swaying under the weight of the box he was carrying. "I would have put the other b-boxes where you said, but they said that we were close enough to the Whispering Woods that it was probably a bad idea to pile them all too close to the edge and that we needed more protection." "So your solution was to build a wall of crates?" "W-well…" Catra rolled her eyes, glancing at the snickering guards. Her glare returned to Kyle and she took a long, slow breath. "They're bullying you because they know you'll get in trouble. Don't listen to their instructions. Listen to mine." Kyle's eyes went wide, but he quickly nodded, glancing around nervously, before gulping and returning to organize the crates. "Aww, come on Catra, did you have to ruin our fun?" "Lonnie," Catra sighed. "Lonnie, Lonnie. What to you expect will happen when we're attacked and we need to evacuate and all our things are spread over several feet instead of being on their designated location?" She couldn't see the tough girl's face under the mask, but she assumed it to be displeased. Good. "Since you're so keen on keeping an eye on the Whispering Woods, you're taking the first patrol there. And if we're attacked under your watch and we're surprised by it, it's going into your permanent record." "Just because you're a Commander doesn't mean I can't take you down!" Lonnie growled stepping back slowly. "If it weren't for that—" She was interrupted when she bumped into something soft, yet solid. She turned around and looked up at the doubtful-looking Scorpia. "Gee, I dunno, cadet, not only is it bad practice to get snippy"—she snipped the air with her claw—"with your superior, but you do know that Catra actually beat Shadow Weaver, right?" Lonnie deflated, and Catra could sense a mild level of respect as she turned to face her again and saluted. "Sorry, Force Commander. I'll be on my way with the patrol." They watched her go and Catra looked up at Scorpia. "I had it under control." "Of course you did!" Scorpia said with a huge grin. "But we really need the troops in one piece just in case, you know, we're attacked." Catra chuckled and shook her head. "Thanks. Any advance on Entrapta's request?" "Yeah, about that…" Scorpia chuckled. "We hit a snag. Turns out, shouting random words doesn't seem to work. So far we've attempted Eternia, She-Ra, Mellon…" "Mellon?" "Kyle swore it meant friend, so we tried it." "Where did he even learn that?" "Some guy named Nodwick during some sort of minion convention." Catra massaged her forehead. "Fine. Take me there, let's figure it out…" The pair moved, not noticing the unicorn that slid around the crate wall, and hummed to herself, looking at the devices they had left on the table. To Be Continued...