//------------------------------// // 3rd Light: Secrets Revealed! / The Fiery Power Awakens! // Story: Shine on! Ultrawoman Aster! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// It had been over two weeks since the last monster attack, but everyone was still a bit on edge. The students of SMILE Academy still went about their daily activities, but the real talk of the school had been the announcement made by Commander Celestia last week, designating the giant, Ultrawoman Aster, as an ally. Of course, this was met with some criticism from the teachers and other rank in file agents of the base, but in the end, the decision was held up and no acts of aggression were permitted against the Ultrawoman, unless otherwise provoked that is. Sunset and Twilight had been taking some time to get to know their new teammates, it was evident that the two girls were loners by nature, and somehow found a budding friendship between them, but now their circle of friends had expanded to something that neither of them were expecting.  Lunch time was particularly livelier nowadays, with a table consisting of seven girls with seven different personality types, the conversations were sometimes louder, more dramatic, and more often than not with regards to Pinkie Pie, more nonsensical. Currently, Sunset was a guest of one Rarity Belle. Through talks with the fashionista, she found out that she wanted to be a fashion designer later on down the road and showing that she can work in any situation would show her versatility under pressure, and her ability to work with all manner of material. Sunset was standing on a platform, arms out, legs shoulder width apart, while Rarity was busy taking measurements.  “You know, darling, this would be a little easier without the uniform,” said Rarity.  “Yeah, not too keen on stripping down in front of a girl and teammate I just met two weeks ago,” Sunset replied.  Rarity made a few scoffing noises and said, “Puh-lease, darling, it isn’t as if you have anything that I don’t already have.” Rarity got closer to Sunset and wrapped the measuring tape around her chest, she then blinked a few times and gave Sunset an annoyed look. “Scratch that, perhaps there’s one thing. That or I’m off on my numbers.”  Sunset let a little smirk spilt across her lips at how Rarity tried to play off her slight jealousy of Sunset’s bust. “Still, maybe we’ll work up to that.”  Rarity rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. “Very well, but I would like you to know that I do maintain professionalism. Can’t very well be skittish or embarrassed about seeing anther person in their birthday suit when fitting and getting measurements in this business.”  “True. Either, that or you just really want to see me in my underwear?” Sunset asked with a wiggle of her brow.  “I see you’re like Rainbow with all her pervy ideas and innuendos. That’s fine, I’ve grown accustomed to them over the years. But…” Rarity got really close to Sunset, close enough for Sunset’s breath to hitch as she stared into those sapphire eyes. “If you’re feeling up to the task, I’d wouldn’t mind seeing if the grass is indeed greener on the other side, in a manner of speaking, especially if it was with the right person…”   Sunset began stammering a bit as she tried to make sense of what was happening right now, her mind was going to a million different places at once and some of them ranged from vanilla to gutter. After a few seconds, Rarity pulled back and had superior smirk.  “Rainbow isn’t the only one who can get someone flustered,” said Rarity as she booped Sunset’s nose before walking over to a large digital screen. “I’ll input the measurements, and after words I’ll speak with Twilight about the material I’ll need to craft us all a new set of body armor for field operations, both stylish and functional!”  Sunset shook her head as she tried to shake off the red blush on her face. “Y-Yeah, cool. Was there anything else? I kind of need to go and meet up with Rainbow and AJ in the training room.”  Rarity nodded and waved her off as she was deeply engrossed in her work on the board. Seeing the future fashion designer with such an intense look, reminded Sunset of how Twilight would concentrate intensely on her homework and books back at their dorm. The fiery redhead exited the design R&D lab and headed to the training room where she was to be given some hands-on training. There was one thing that Sunset had yet to make a decision on, she wasn’t sure exactly when or if the time was right to tell these other girls that she was Aster. With Twilight it was different, there really wasn’t a choice, either she transformed and saved their lives, or didn’t and they’d both be dead, well, one of them anyway… Without realizing it, Sunset had found her way to the training room, she placed her HoloFrame against the door to allow her entry since it was a private room. As soon the door opened, she could hear the sounds of the two girls yelling as their feet stomped against the ground with every landing from a kick thrown. Sunset watched as Applejack closed in on Rainbow, throwing rapid fire jabs at the girl to make her back up towards the wall, but Rainbow wasn’t slow, she was nimble and quick, dodging every blow that her girlfriend was dishing out.  Just as Applejack had wanted, Rainbow’s back was against the wall and open to some body blows. But Rainbow smirked as she squatted and jumped right into the air, and before Sunset’s eyes, Rainbow sprouted two, five-foot-long, cyan feathered wings from her back. The avian appendages allowed her to glide upwards, she then wrapped herself in her wings as she performed a spin in midair. Before her feet could touch the ground, Rainbow unfurled her wings and flapped them once, propelling her across the room. Applejack turned around just in time to watch Rainbow close in on her, grabbing her by the arms, and pinning her against the wall.  Applejack gave her girlfriend an annoyed look. “Dammit, Rainbow, that’s cheatin’! You used yer wings!”  Rainbow raised her eyebrow as a cocky grin appeared on her lips. “Really? I don’t remember there being any rules against not using them. Besides…” The rainbow haired girl flared her wings and gave a light flap. “You know you like ‘em, and I quote, ‘They give ya that exotic look, Sug’.”  Applejack blushed, neither denying nor confirming those words. As she tried to look away, Applejack’s embarrassed expression changed to one of shock when she saw the door close and saw Sunset Shimmer standing inside the room. Rainbow followed her gaze and she too shared the same expression, Rainbow quickly moved away from Applejack and hid behind her like a scared puppy dog, her wings covering her as if to act like a shield.  “Uh, okay, so…Rainbow has wings…that’s…huh?”  “L-Look, Sunset, we can explain…!”  “Explain what?” Sunset asked. “That she has big blue wings? I am curious about those, actually.”  “Please…don’t tell anyone…” Rainbow begged.  Sunset was taken aback by what she heard, Rainbow always sounded confident, and was bold and brash, but now…she looked so scared and frightened, as if she was anticipating Sunset to do something to her. “Rainbow, I’m not going to tell anyone if that’s what you want, but…I mean, I’d still like to know, y’know?”  Applejack could see the look in Sunset’s eyes, she was being sincere, but she just really confused by what she was seeing. The country girl knelt down and gently rubbed the small of Rainbow’s back where her wings sprouted from, the action seemed to calm Rainbow down a little. Her wings began to shimmer a little as they retreated into her back, now revealing a crying girl.  “It’s okay, Sug, she ain’t scared a ya, just confused is all,” said Applejack as she coaxed her girlfriend to look in Sunset’s direction.  Rainbow looked, and her fears were slightly eased by the look of wonder rather than disgust or fear. After wiping her tears away, Rainbow said, “I’m…not exactly all human…” “Say what?”  The sporty girl sighed heavily. “My dad, he’s an alien. He was actually one of the alien races that came to Earth’s defense during the First Incursion…he was injured and couldn’t go back at that time, then he met my Mom, and had me with my Mom. He’s an Alien Avian, and his people have wings and are, like, strong warriors. My hair matches his, so no, this isn’t a dye job it’s all natural…” Applejack placed her arm around Rainbow’s shoulders as she said, “Lotta kids used to make fun of her fer her hair color, the last she needed was the wings complicatin’ things.”  “So how do you know?” Sunset asked.  Suddenly, Sunset’s HoloFrame went off, she took out the device and read the message.  [Special Operations Message: Report to briefing room 103 immediately.] “That’s story for another day, Sug.”  \\\***/// [Briefing Room] The HoloFrame showed a map of the school and gave Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack directions to the briefing room. Two minutes later, they entered the room, saluting when they noticed that Vice Commander Luna was present. There were a few other special ops members as well, one of which she recognized, the boy with spikey blue hair that looked like a Rocker, the other with silver hair.  Once last few entered, Vice Commander Luna cleared her throat. “Welcome, for some of you this will be your first Special Ops Mission, for others business as usual.” The blue haired woman snapped her fingers and a holographic image of the Evefree Forest appeared behind her. “We’ve been getting some unusual readings within the forest proper, our scanners haven’t been able to pinpoint the source, but we do have a general area.”  The hologram painted a wide area in red just a few miles to the south of the base. “In order to pinpoint the source, we’ll have you go in teams of three with these monitoring devices.” A hologram of the device appeared, which was a backpack with a small antenna connected to tablet. “These are the coordinates that each time will be heading towards, we should be able to triangulate and pinpoint the source of the strange readings and get a better idea of what we’re dealing with. Be aware, the forest is strange. Even though it is responsible for keeping the Earth safe, that doesn’t mean that it itself is a safe place for humans to venture in. Understood?!”  “Yes ma’am!” they answered together. Everyone was dismissed, and Rainbow said, “Sweet! Our first mission together, well, least three of us.”  “Can’t say Ah’m too keen on goin’ into that forest, at least not without my Goliath,” said Applejack.  “You’d end up mowing down the forest if you do that and mind you it is the only thing keeping us somewhat protected from a Second Incursion,” Sunset pointed out.  Rainbow waved that off. “Yeah, but that was before we had Ultrawoman Aster! Now when one of those things shows up, she can just blow it away with that astro ray thing!” Rainbow then began imitating Aster’s stance when she performed her ray attack.  It’s called the Astronium Ray, Sunset thought with a slight blush on her face.  “Ah wouldn’t completely put all my chips on that bet. If we didn’t help her out that last time, Ah think that thing would’ve won,” said Applejack.  Sunset grumbled a little under her breath, while grateful for their assistance during the battle with Zetton, Sunset still didn’t like how close she came to losing to the overgrown space roach like that. I have to get strong somehow…I can’t let another one of those things come that close to winning against me. “Sunset, you alright, Sug?”  Sunset shook her head. “Huh, what?”  “You looked like you were thinking really hard on something. Some trouble in paradise with Twilight?” Rainbow asked.  “No, why would you think that?” Sunset asked curiously.  Before Rainbow could answer, Applejack swatted her girlfriend upside the head. “Don’t go projectin’ our relationship on others now. You and yer shippin’ nonsense.”  “……‘Shipping’?” Applejack patted Sunset on the shoulder. “Trust me, don’t worry about it. Let’s go and suit up.”  \\\***///  [Everfree Forest, 10:30 AM] Three black SUV vehicles drove through the field and right to the edge of the Everfree Forest. From each vehicle the three teams exited, along with them was a senior agent who would be leading their respective teams. Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack were teamed up with a fairly young lieutenant named, Ballista. She was a lithe woman, with lean muscles, raven colored hair, and dingy yellow eyes. Once they were out, Applejack went to the back of the vehicle and opened up the trunk, hefting the scanning device unto her back, having volunteered to carry the heavy machinery.  “Okay ladies, listen up, we’ll be heading in, I want weapons drawn, safeties off. Keep aware of your surroundings at all times, and do not – repeat – do not get separated. Do you get me?!” Ballista asked.  “We get you, Ma’am!” the girls stated together.  With that, the three teams made their expedition into the forest. Upon entering it, the differences were immediate, the air felt cool, but not freezing. The sun didn’t completely break through the canopy of leaves, only small rays of sunshine were allowed through, giving the already eerie forest and an even eerier feel. Tiny particles of light would dance in the shadows of the trees, it was proposed by researchers that this was either some insect or a kind of bioluminescent spore that the trees released, either way, it played havoc with their nerves. One couldn’t distinguish the particles for eyes or the other, at least probably not until it was too late.  Ballista was armed with a pulse rifle, fitted with a scope for long range sniping and recon. Sunset, Applejack, and Rainbow were armed with photon pistols, not quite as strong as their lieutenant’s weapon, but it would make sure that anything coming towards them would need to think twice before doing so again. Applejack kept one hand holding her weapon, and the tablet in the other, checking the readings as the strange energy they were tracking went up and down like a wave.  “Alright, our scan point is about fifty meters in, afterward we hold until the Bravo and Gamma teams set up and we begin the scans,” Ballista explained.  The girls nodded and proceeded further in. The foliage of the forest was a weird mixture of colors, some were violet, others were a blue-green, the bushes that littered the other portions of the forest had the same color tone, but the flowers ranged from either some kind of polka dot pattern, some were striped, and others looked as if they were dipped in a tie-dye machine. They were warned not to pick or touch the flowers with their bare hands, as the science division was not sure if the plants had a toxic effect on humans.  They eventually made it to their designated point, of course the constant noises that echoed through the forest, along with the snapping of branches always drew their attention, making them jump and point their guns in that direction. Ballista would often shake her head and whisper, “Rookies” under her breath.  “Alright ladies, heads on a swivel, we have to wait for Bravo and Gamma to get into place, so keep your eyes and ears open. AJ, keep your eyes on the monitor, if that energy reading starts to rise too quickly we’re pulling back.”  Sunset and Rainbow kept their eyes on the dense forest around them, with Ballista doing the same. Strangely, ever since entering the forest, Sunset had been feeling a strange headache, she hadn’t said anything so as to not hinder their mission, but now it seemed as if it was getting a little worse, still, she kept her attention forward, trying to spot anything that looked potentially dangerous. Then, Sunset’s eyes caught something, or rather someone. From what she could see, it was a woman, and she seemed to be holding something. Sunset made to raise her photon gun in that direction, but the headache suddenly spiked, images flashed through her mind, too fast to see clearly, a loud ringing sound echoed in her ears, deafening her to any other sound in the area.  It was only when Applejack took her eyes away from the monitor to look around did she see Sunset in pain. “Sunset, what’s wrong?!”  Ballista and Rainbow finally took notice and rushed to her side, Sunset looked back to where she saw the woman-like figure, but she was gone, and miraculously, so was the headache and the ringing in her ears. Sunset shook her head for a moment, trying to regain her bearings after what just happened.  “Hey, Shimmer, are you with me?! Hey?!” Ballista called out.  “Y-Yeah, I…I’m fine,” Sunset half lied.  Applejack looked to the lieutenant and said, “Maybe we should fall back, the forest might be doin’ somethin’ to us that we ain’t aware of?”  Ballista was about to say something but was interrupted by the echoing of blaster fire in the background. “Who’s firing?! What’s going on?!”  {This is Bravo Team, we’re retreating! There’s too many of them!} {Gamma as well, all teams full retreat!} “What’s attacking! Someone copy me!”  “Uh, Lieutenant…Ma’am!” Rainbow called out.  Ballista turned around and watched as several green glowing eyes became visible up ahead. One of the creatures finally came into the light, its body was canine in form, walking on four legs, but it was what its body was made of that gave them pause. Vines, bark, and moss were woven together, and tightly compacted, creating a body born of the trees themselves. Its teeth and claws were made of sharpened stone, its drool ran like sap down its long muzzle. In all honesty, such a creature shouldn’t be able to move or snarl, but this one did, it snarled and growled as it approached them, but not alone. Soon more appeared from the shadows, like a stalking wolfpack they crept closer towards their prey.  “What the hell are those?!” Sunset asked.  “They look like wolves made of trees, what else?!” Ballista answered. “We’re getting out of here, don’t shoot unless they start running at us, just start moving back slowly.”  All four SMILE agents slowly moved backwards, Rainbow was keeping an eye on the back, making sure that their retreat was covered and that the beasts weren’t circling around. Unfortunately, they didn’t get two feet before the wolves howled and charged straight towards them. With the slow retreat no longer an option, the agents of SMILE opened fire on the pack, several shots either pierced their hides or blew them up completely. The creatures went down easy, it was getting them to stay down that was the problem. Every time they fired and hit the creatures, they would just reform themselves by pulling from the earth and trees nearby.  “Anybody think to bring grenades?!” Rainbow asked.  “NO, BUT IF WE LIVE THROUGH THIS, I’M NOT LEAVING BASE WITHOUT ANY!” Ballista shouted.  Sunset watched as one of the beasts was about to lunge for Rainbow, she had to act fast. She didn’t want to reveal too much, but this was a dire circumstance. Sunset swiftly moved Rainbow aside just as the wolf began its lunge, when it was in range, Sunset backhanded the monster with her fist, and then fired three shots to keep it down, at least for now. It all happened so fast, Sunset was sure that Rainbow didn’t see that, but then she turned to her and saw a look of surprise, she had seen it. Just then a scream caught their attention as Applejack’s leg was wrapped up a vine and was quickly pulled in the opposite direction, she shot at the vine, but it kept regenerating faster than she could shoot it.  “RAINBOW!” Applejack cried as she pulled in the darker part of the forest.  Rainbow’s eyes widened with fear as she watched her girlfriend get carried away into the forest. “APPLEJACK!!!”  Ballista turned to see what was happening and was about to run in the direction Applejack was taken, but the pack was quickly beginning to circle, she looked to her subordinates, and to where Applejack was dragged off. With a growl of frustration, she dragged Rainbow by the arm, the athletic girl struggled against the lieutenant’s grip, fighting to try and escape to go after Applejack.  “LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SAVE HER! DAMMIT LET! ME! GO!” Rainbow shouted.  “I’m not giving up on her, but it does us no good if we all die in here! Now move your ass!” Sunset looked towards the direction where Applejack was taken, wanting to so badly to transform and rip Applejack free, but Ballista would see her, she didn’t feel too stressed if Rainbow saw, but Ballista… “She’s right, Rainbow, we can’t save AJ if we’re dead! We’re not abandoning her!” Sunset stated.  Rainbow hated to admit it, but they were right, the pack was getting closer and their numbers were increasing. “I’m sorry…”   \\\***/// The exploratory teams finally made it out of the forest, the wooden wolves had ceased their pursuit the moment they exited the tree line and went back into the forest. Ballista reported it to the base, and were told to standby while they sent reinforcements to begin rescue operations. Sunset was kicking herself for not doing more, she also knew that that woman she saw had to be behind this, it was only after seeing her that the wolves appeared, or “Timber Wolves” was what they were being called now.  Rainbow Dash was sitting off by herself, staring straight into the forest. Sunset could tell that she was readying herself to charge right back into the forest, punishment be damned, she was going to save Applejack, and Sunset was going to help.  Sunset took out her phone and immediately dialed Twilight’s number.  {Hello?} “Twilight, I need your help.” {What’s wrong?} Sunset quickly went through the events that happened, when she was finished, she could tell that Twilight was distressed.  {This is terrible, but what can I do?!} “Applejack was still wearing her detection device that was transmitting to the base. Can you…I don’t know…hack the system and give me the coordinates?” Sunset asked.  {……Normally I have morals against the hacking of official networks and databases, but granted this is to save a life, so this is the exception! Give me two minutes then check your HoloFrame.} “You’re the best, Twi!” Sunset walked over to Rainbow Dash and knelt next to her. “Hey.”  “I’m going in to save her, don’t try and stop, Sunset.”  “You’re not going to do that –” “I told you –!” “Without me.” Sunset finished.  Rainbow grinned upon hearing that, but her grin fell soon after. “How are we going to find her anyway…If we do…we’ll end having the rescue team rescue us instead?”  At that moment, Sunset’s HoloFrame began beeping. The redhead opened her device and saw a little avatar of Twilight delivering the info, and then opening it up to reveal the spot where Applejack’s backpack was transmitting from. “Thank Twilight for this.”  “Thank her! I’ll freakin’ make out with her for this! Let’s go!”  Both girls wasted little time and dashed towards the woods, amidst the protest of the team leaders and their classmates, they ran right into the woods. Sunset led the way, keeping her weapon drawn as the HoloFrame showed their position relative to where Applejack was supposed to be. The girls walked for three minutes through the still creepy forest, and had yet to run into the Timber Wolves, thankfully.  “So, how did Applejack learn about your wings?” Sunset asked.  Rainbow was caught off guard by the question, but still managed to get the words out. “Well, it wasn’t so much that I wanted to, more like I had to, or she would’ve died. When we were little I played at her family’s farm, we were running around playing tag until she ran too far and came to the edge of this cliff and fell face first. I didn’t think, I just acted, I tore off my shirt and let my wings out. I swooped down and carried her up enough to slow us both down before we hit the ground.”  “I was – still am – anxious about other people seeing my wings. So, when I did that, I did the same thing back in the training room, I shielded myself with my wings. I remember asking her, ‘Please don’t hate me’ over and over again. But she did something I definitely wasn’t expecting. She hugged me, and cried into my shoulder, and I did too…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck as she remembered her emotional moment. “It was the first time anybody wasn’t afraid of my wings…and she actually said they were pretty.”  Sunset smiled a little. “That how you got her as a girlfriend?”  “No, that’s a different a story–” Suddenly, a loud jingling sound echoed through the trees, catching the attention of Sunset and Rainbow. A thick fog began to appear, obscuring everything from sight. Sunset looked around and tried to reach out for Rainbow, but she wasn’t there, in fact, it seemed as if not even the trees were there anymore.  Soon, the woman Sunset had saw earlier reappeared before her, but now she had a better look at her. Her skin was ebony, with tribal stripes and markings done in gray paint. She wore a brown leather like bodice, and a skirt, and long knee-high boots, and a cloak made of the same material. Her left arm had at least four gold rings hanging off her wrist, which could’ve caused the jingling sounds from earlier. In her right hand she held a wooden staff, it bent and curved, and at the top were a few branches with leaves. The woman’s eyes glowed yellow in the shadows of her hood, but she made no sound or approach.  Sunset raised her weapon at the woman and said, “Stay right there! What are you doing here?!” The woman gave no answer.  “Did you sic those wolves on us?! Where’s Applejack?! Tell me!” Sunset ordered.  “Why?”  Sunset blinked. “What?”  “Why do you care for this girl?” the woman asked.  “Because, she’s my teammate, and her girlfriend’s worried about her!”  The woman raised her left hand slowly and grabbed at the edge of her hood. She drew it back slowly and revealed her face. She had blue-green colored eyes, and mohawk styled hair that was colored black and white. Her neck had three gold rings wrapped around it, and her ears had looped gold earrings. “No other reason?” “Do I need a better one?” Sunset asked in an incredulous tone.  The woman shook her head. “No, but it’d be wise to cease lying to yourself, and your wish to create bonds.”  “I’m not ‘lying’ to myself! What could I possibly be lying about?!”  “The fact that you are Ultrawoman Aster, and your fear of this group you find yourself among will see you as a monster,” she said.  Sunset’s eyes widened, but then narrowed as she carefully took aim at the woman, now on edge. “You know I’m her, how?”  “It doesn’t matter, what does matter, is your stubbornness to keep others at arm’s length or further.” The woman began slowly walking, tracing a circle around Sunset as she continued to speak. “Loyalty and honesty, such things are hard to do, and sometimes the truth hurts. But the truth needs to be spoken, and sometimes in order to have loyalty, you must show it. You placed your trust in another and spoke the truth to this person, why is it hard for you to do so again?” Sunset looked away for a moment. “Because…I don’t trust myself…I know nothing about myself or why I can do the things I can do…How I can be loyal to anyone when I don’t even know if that’s the kind of person I am?!”  “Memories of the past are important, but what matters is not to be chained to them, what matters is the future, and the actions you take now. Be brave, Sunset Shimmer, be strong, Ultrawoman Aster…”  As mysteriously and suddenly as when the fog came, it left just the same, leaving Sunset alone. She frantically looked about, trying to find Rainbow, but she was nowhere in sight. Just then, Sunset heard the sounds of blaster fire coming from up ahead. She glanced down at her HoloFrame and noticed that she was much closer to Applejack’s signal, Sunset didn’t wait to contemplate how this happened, she rushed through the brush, running as fast as she dared so as to not to hit a low hanging branch or trip on an upturned root.  Soon, Sunset made it out of the trees and into a clearing, where she saw Applejack and Rainbow fighting off a pack of the Timber Wolves. The pack had them backed up against a huge boulder, keeping them encircled and leaving little room to escape. From where Sunset stood, she could see one of the wolves jump up behind the rockface, climbing all the way to the top. The beast looked down at the two girls, right in their blind spot and ready to pounce on one of them.  Sunset didn’t think, she just acted, she called on the power within her, she didn’t care what they thought about her later, at least they’d be alive to think. The fiery redhead dashed across the clearing, just as the wolf jumped Sunset jumped, and delivered a flying kick to the beast’s head, kicking it clear off and sending its body tumbling into its brethren. Sunset landed in front of both girls, quickly doing an about face so that she was staring down the Timber Wolves.  “SUNSET?!” Rainbow and Applejack exclaimed.  “Hey, guys…I’m glad you’re alive, AJ,” said Sunset.  Applejack’s body armor was scratched up, some parts were missing, but through it all she managed to keep the device safe. “These mutts have been doggin’ me ever since Ah shook off that vine that snagged me earlier, kinda runnin’ on fumes here…” Sunset took count of the wolves, about fifteen in total. “We can take them, but we…we need to work together, and not hold anything back…alright?”  Rainbow and Applejack looked to each other, a kind of silent understanding passed through them as they nodded to each other. Rainbow removed the top portion of her suit, the only piece of clothing left was a sports bra, with a small grunt, her cyan wings flared outwards, creating a small gust of wind that made the Timber Wolves take a step back. Applejack cracked her knuckles and then worked the kinks out of her neck as she took a fighting stance.  “GO!” Sunset shouted.  Rainbow took off into the sky, using her blaster, she began raining down photon bolts from sky. Sunset and Applejack ran right into the fray, hitting a few of the wolves with swift kicks to their muzzles, one wolf attacked Sunset, but she quickly ducked below it and uppercut the beast in its stomach, another tried to attack her from behind. Sunset swiftly spun around and roundhouse kicked the wolf away from her. Applejack, in an amazing feat of strength, caught the Timber Wolf that Sunset kicked and got it into a headlock, she squeezed tight and jerked violently to her right, snapping the creature’s neck. Applejack took the limp creature’s body and threw it into another group that was coming at her.  “Rainbow!” Sunset called out as she tossed her weapon into the air. Rainbow swooped in and grabbed the blaster in midair, spinning in the air, she turned around and began dual firing her weapons, hitting the Timber Wolves with amazing accuracy. Being half Alien Avian gave her keen eyesight, allowing her to zoom in and shoot the wolves down without worrying about hurting Sunset or Applejack. Rainbow was amazed to see how fast and strong Sunset was, Applejack’s strength was nothing to sneeze at, but Sunset was practically tearing through them.  The pack seemed to finally get the picture that this was going to be more work than they had originally were ready to deal with. Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack stood side by side, all three girls were scratched up, but none of them lost their fierce gaze.  “Yeah, you get it now, we’re not going down without a fight! You won’t hurt my friends!” Sunset exclaimed.  “Got that right, you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!” Rainbow added.  “An Apple sticks by their kith and kin, so ya’ll aren’t gettin’ to them easily,” said Applejack.  Upon uttering those words, a flash of light went off from all three girls. Sunset’s body was glowing with a blue, sparkling aura, while Rainbow and Applejack both had red auras coming off their bodies. That seemed to be the limit of what the Timber Wolves were willing to put up with as they all made a hasty retreat back into the woods, not once looking back as they disappeared into the shadows of the forest.  Once they were gone, Applejack and Rainbow looked at their bodies with a bit of trepidation, not really sure what was happening to them. After a minute, their auras coalesced before them, forming two coins that floated between them. The coins floated towards Sunset, who held out her open palms for the items to fall onto, and upon contact with her hands her aura flowed towards the coins and energized them, awakening them. Both had the images of Ultramen, but they were different from the coins Sunset used to transform with.  “Uh, Sunset…what in the heck just happened?” Applejack asked.  Sunset sighed a little as she smiled at her friends. “What just happened was a way for me to tell you the truth. Guys, I’m Ultrawoman Aster, you helped me out during the battle with Zetton two weeks ago…and it looks like I was able to somewhat return the favor.” Rainbow suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter, holding her sidrs and wincing a little from the fighting earlier. “Hahahaha, good one Sunset, Aster’s a giant, you’re…I mean…you are joking right?”  Applejack looked at Sunset, trying to find any sign that the girl was lying. “She isn’t, Dash, she’s tellin’ the truth.”  Rainbow’s eyes widened as she said, “Seriously?”  Sunset raised her right arm, and immediately, the StaRaizer appeared on her forearm, along with the belt and coin holster. “Seriously.”  “……That…is…AWESOME!” Rainbow exclaimed as she rushed to Sunset. “You’re like a real live superhero!”  Sunset began to blush at how Rainbow looking at her all starry eyed. “Thanks…it actually feels good letting you know.” In the distance, Sunset could see the woman from earlier, she had a smile on her face and disappeared into the forest.  The backpack device began to beep, prompting Applejack to take out the tablet. After turning it on, they saw that the area where the strange energy was being emitted had disappeared. “What just happened?”  [Alert! Alert!] The girls quickly pulled out their HoloFrames.  [Space Beast alert, all combat personnel, please report to battle stations.] “Ah crap, a monster attack and we’re stuck out here in the woods,” Rainbow grumbled.  Sunset smirked. “Not exactly. If you guys don’t mind, I’ll get us out of here the express way.”  Rainbow started to get giddy. “Are you going to transform?! She’s totally going to transform!”  “Simmer down, Sug. Go on, Sunset, we’ll cover ya,” said Applejack.  Sunset nodded as she was once again engulfed in light. The starry universe spread out before her, as she reached into the Coin Keeper and pulled out the Ultra Coins.  “Grant me the strength of a hero!”  || ULTRAMAN! || “Grant me the power of a galaxy!”  || ULTRAMAN GINGA! || “Release the light within me!” || SHINE ON! ULTRAWOMAN ASTER! || The stars swirled around Sunset, transforming her body as she grew higher and higher. From the clearing, a giant of light arose, the giant known as Ultrawoman Aster.  Down below, Rainbow Dash smushed her cheeks together as she looked up at Aster and said, “So, AWESOME!”  Aster knelt down and held her hand out her hand. “Hop on.” \\\***/// A new space beast had arrived to Earth, Goliaths continued to barrage the behemoth, but it showed no signs of slowing down. The creature was forty-five meters high, had yellowish brown, segmented scales, with strong arms and legs, and a long tail, but with a small head. The creature lumbered through the city, its huge size and bulky frame proving it needed little effort to smash through the buildings by just walking. The monster opened its mouth and fired a hail storm of sharpened stone at the Goliaths, the tanks were pelted mercilessly, each impact chipping away at their shields.  Just then a streak of light shot through the sky and struck across the monster’s chest, causing sparks to fly from its body as it ceased the attack and backed up. Imbedded in the ground was the Stellugger, and floating down from the sky was its wielder, Aster picked up the blade weapon and assumed a fighting stance. Upon looking at the Space Beast, just like the others, another name popped into her head.  Red King, well allow me to give you a royal ass whooping! Aster ran towards Red King and slashed down with the Stellugger across its chest, again. Sparks flew from Red King, but the beast pushed back as she readied for another swing, body slamming Aster. The Ultra Warrior stumbled backwards, but managed to regain her footing, however, that allowed Red King to raise up its fists and slam them down onto the ground, a wave of energy rushed through the earth and erupted with several chunks of earthen debris exploding around Aster. Disoriented from the attack, Red King took advantage of the opening and used its powerful tail to strike Aster in the side, sending her flying into a building.  “Okay, now I’m mad!”  Within the starry inner universe of Aster, Sunset placed the Ultraman and Ultraman Ginga Coins into the Stellugger and the blade shined with power.  Aster ran at Red King, the behemoth of a beast fired more of its sharpened rocks but Aster’s Stellugger deflected all the shots with a skillful wave of the blade. Once in range, Aster cried out, “Star Burst Stream!” The hero slashed once, causing a bright blade of light to cut through the monster’s body as she reappeared on the other side. Several sparks erupted from Red King’s body as the monster staggered forward; Aster dismissed her weapon and prepared to finish it with the Astronium Ray, but something happened.  Red King’s body began to glow, well, red. Its scales resembled rock as veins of molten lava filled the cracks in those segmented scales. The scales were now black as tar, its arms had grown out to the point that they appeared simian-like in appearance. This was Red King EX.  “Okay…that’s new…” Red King turned around and roared as it stampeded towards Aster, throwing a punch with its huge fist and hitting Aster right in the chest. Sparks flew from her body upon impact, sending her straight to the ground, but Red King wasn’t done, the powered Space Beast grabbed Aster by the legs, raised her up, and slammed her mercilessly into the ground. Aster released a painful gasp when she hit the ground, but she didn’t have time to take it in as Red King tossed her into the air. The buff monster threw an uppercut as she came down, the second hit sent Aster into the air again, landing in the park with a thunderous BOOM as chunks of earth, cars, and trees flew into the air.  Aster coughed, and within the starry inner world of the giant, Sunset hurt all over. This monster was strong, stronger than Zetton, and she was alone, she didn’t have Applejack or Rainbow in their vehicles to give support, and she dared not risk the lives of the other SMILE agents.  “But I’m not alone…I can feel them…” Sunset could almost hear them, hear their cries for her to get up and fight back. The Coin Keeper opened up and before her floated the two Ultra Coins that were created from Applejack and Rainbow. “I get it, let’s go for round two!”  Sunset took the coins in hand and stood back up, her form as Aster doing the same. Sunset placed the first coin into the top slot.  “Bestow, the strength of the brave!”  || ULTRAMAN LEO! ||  Red essence flowed out of the coin and reappeared next to her, showing Ultraman Leo.  “Bestow, the power of the bold!”  || ULTRAMAN MAX! || Yellow essence flowed from the second coin and appeared on Sunset’s left as Ultraman Max.  “Ignite the fire in my heart!”  Sunset pressed down on the sun symbol on her StaRaizer; both Ultramen transformed into particles of red and yellow light and wrapped around Sunset, changing into blazing flames that erupted into a column that rose higher and higher.  || BURN UP! SOLARIS MAXIMUS! || Aster was engulfed in blazing flames that even made Red King wait before attacking. All around, the agents of SMILE watched and wondered what was happening, and soon they got their answer. The flames that surrounded Aster dispersed, changing into ember-like particles that danced in the air. Aster’s head had changed, she now sported a mantle of five horns that slanted backwards, with a green diamond shaped gemstone at the center of the forehead. Her shoulder pauldrons had become bigger, with studs to give it a look of metal rivets. A line of armor went down the side of her arm and ended around the forearm and hand, surrounding both was a metal gauntlet. The gauntlet had a cylinder similar to that of a revolver pistol, the hands had segmented armor around the joints to allow for movement, and the knuckles had raised spike-like vents.  The armored chest plate now had the image of a burning sun in golden-yellow metal surrounding the smaller sun color timer. Her legs were covered in the same thick metal and revolver cylinder, the vent in this case was located at the heel of the boot and the tip. Her body had bulked up, with the red of her body now showing some crimson armor plating around her stomach biceps, and thighs.  This was Aster’s power form, Solaris Maximus. I can feel it, this warmth, this burning in my body and soul! “I’ll burn you away with the flames of my heart!” Red King roared as it slammed its fists into the ground, channeling its heated power into the earth and causing a lava wave to rush at Aster. An explosion went off, engulfing the Ultra Warrior in intense flames. Red King ceased its attack, waiting to see its handiwork, however, thundering footsteps could be heard coming from the spot where Aster was hit, and from the flames and smoke, the empowered Ultra walked straight towards Red King, unfazed by its attack. Red King, now furious, charged at Aster, drawing back its huge fist to punch the Ultra Warrior once again.  Aster just stood her ground as she held out her left hand and caught the punch. A shockwave erupted from the sudden stop in momentum, but Aster did not flinch in the slightest. The powered Ultra pushed the fist away and struck the behemoth right in the chest, causing a huge number of sparks to fly from its body. Aster began unleashing a flurry of jabs at the monster, Red King held its ground, trying to weather the attack, but each punch was forcing Red King back. Aster drew back on her left fist, the revolver cylinder spun and locked, she then punched the monster right in the chest as she called out, “Break Buster!”  As soon as she made contact, all six salvos fired one after the other in rapid succession until all six had been discharged. The result was an explosion of fiery energy that cause the scaly armor of the behemoth to crack, not only that, but Red King was pushed back a good fifty meters away from the attack alone. Just then, the color timer began to blink red, her time was almost up.  Aster slammed her knuckles together, a sphere of orange, red, and yellow fiery plasma energy began to gather. When she separated her fists, the orb split into two for each fist.  “INFERNO SHOOT!” The Ultra Warrior thrust both of her fists forward, unleashing a stream of burning power that roared towards Red King. The Space Beast could not defend against this attack as it was blown into ashes, a massive explosion took place after, annihilating anything that was left of Red King. Aster ended her attack and took a calming breath, she then jumped up in the air and flew off into the distance.  \\\***/// [Alpha Dorm, 6:45 P. M.] Rainbow and Applejack were walking down the hallway, they had decided to come over and do a little celebrating of their safety and Sunset’s victory over the giant monster. Applejack had brought a homemade apple pie, and of course Rainbow couldn’t help but make many inappropriate innuendos regarding the confection and its relation to her girlfriend. But in all honesty, Rainbow did want to thank both Twilight and Sunset, it was only thanks to Twilight getting the coordinates from the pack were they able to find Applejack. The two girls arrived at the front door and were about to knock but stopped when they started hearing voices.  “C’mon Twilight, I’m tired, can’t we do this tomorrow?”  “No! We have to do it now! After what you did today, it just got me really excited and I need to this now before it’s too much later!”  Rainbow looked to Applejack, and Applejack to Rainbow.  “Should we…uh…should we come back later or…?” Applejack asked.  “Well…if it were me, I’d probably be a little irritated if someone interrupted us…you know, for whenever we go there, I mean…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck nervously.  Applejack gulped. “Well then…nothin’ to it but to do it…”  The farm girl pressed her hand against the pad, activating the doorbell that rang within the dorm room. About ten seconds later the door opened and showed a fully clothed Sunset Shimmer standing in the doorway, her pajamas were a bright mauve color, with the image of a sun done in a yin-yang style.  “AJ, Rainbow, what’s up?” Sunset asked.  “Oh, hey, Sug. Um, is now a bad time? ‘Cause we can come back a little later…” Applejack asked.  “Naw, come on in. Twi, we got company, so put that stuff away!”  Both girls gulped as they entered, not entirely sure they were ready to see what salacious things Twilight and Sunset had planned. Their nervousness immediately evaporated as soon they entered the living room and saw Twilight hefting a machine that was giving out readings and other data that neither girl understood. The table at the center of the living room had scattered papers with notes jotted down that looked like they were done by someone in a frenzy.  “Um, were you and Twilight about to get down to some egghead style of doing it? If you were, no judgement, just wanted to know.” Rainbow asked.  Sunset rolled her eyes. “No, Twilight wanted to get data on my latest transformation, of which I told her I’d give her the full details after I rested.”  “Sorry…I just wanted to get it from you while it was still fresh in your mind,” said Twilight. She then walked up to the Applejack and Rainbow did a small bow to them. “Thank you for helping Sunset out, and for accepting her as Aster.”  “Aw shucks, it ain’t like we got any right to judge, ‘sides, friends help friends,” said Applejack.  “Yeah, and since Sunny vouches for you, I guess it’s okay to let you know.”  Sunset took the hint and closed the blinds to the patio. Once she did, Rainbow took off her shirt and released her wings, making Twilight’s eyes widen with awe. “You’re an Alien Avian!”  Rainbow blinked. “Wow, not a lot of people figure that out right away. And technically, I’m only half.”  “Oh my gosh! You’re half alien! A hybrid! I’ve heard of instances like this, but I never thought I’d get to meet someone like you!” Twilight quickly took Rainbow by the wrist and dragged her to the couch, whereupon she took out her notepad and said, “Tell me everything, what are your bathing methods for your wings? How fast can you fly? Do you have a high tolerance to cold temperatures for when you’re high up in air? Do you still eat regular food, or do you need a special diet?” Sunset shook her head as she chuckled, “Oh boy, hope you weren’t planning on leaving any time soon.”  Applejack shrugged. “It’s fine, Ah can already tell Rainbow’s gonna like her, if there’s one thing I know about my girl, it’s that she loves talkin’ about herself. Probably best Ah don’t mention my crazy strength right now, huh?”  “Not if you’re planning on leaving before the sunrise.”  “I heard that!” Twilight called out. Sunset blushed and Applejack laughed.  “Seriously, though, thanks for accepting me, and Twilight as your friends,” said Sunset.  Applejack threw her arm over Sunset shoulders and said, “Sug, Ah don’t know how to say this, but bein’ with ya’ll feels right. And Ah wager Dashie feels the same way. Now let’s eat this pie before its cold.”  “That’s what she said!” Rainbow exclaimed.  Sunset and Applejack face palmed themselves, Rainbow laughed her head off, and Twilight looked confused.