{VARIANCE START}
The blue transporter fields faded around us as we arrived at our old homeland, several Starfleet officers with weapons in their hands standing around us. The day had went better than I'd expected, I was rescued and reunited with my friend, Littlepip, we had crippled J'ula's flagship, and we had rescued several prisoners from the vessel, not to mention gain some intel as to what that bitch is trying to do.
And now we were heading to our old home, Junction Town. J'ula and her forces were intending to take the planet and make a stronghold here, but we wouldn't let her, especially because this was our home, our friends were here, and we'd be damned if they were going to take this place from us.
As we examined our surroundings, Littlepip turned to face me, pointing a hoof towards a certain direction in front of us. "It's beautiful, isn't it, Steelhooves?"
I looked to face where she was pointing to, and I saw our old home. It looked better than I expected, the boxcars were still there, and there were some newer buildings around the settlement. I think I could see a medical facility there.
"Yes, it is." I replied to the Stable Dweller, both of us turning back to face our officers, all of them standing at attention as Littlepip spoke to them.
"Alright, that town there's our target. We need to get over there and take out any Klingons that have beamed down here, or they'll kill everyone there, including my friends. They may have set up defenses on our path, so keep your eyes peeled and weapons at the ready. Clear?" The officers all saluted in acknowledgement, my friend smiling as she spoke up. "Good, now let's get to it."
We all turned towards the town and began walking, a low groan sounding above us as we looked up into the sky. A large battleship was flying towards the town, it had a large, bulky main hull with two fins at the sides, on the top was a small bridge.
As the large battleship flew over us, I went into SATS and tried to lock my two cannons onto it, but wasn't given a chance as several green laser bolts struck the ship's hull, which screeched from the impact as it turned away. As it went to it's right, four small fighters were flying towards it, they had a large fuselage with two wings, connected to those were four blue engines.
I turned to face Littlepip as we stopped, the grey unicorn tapping her Pipbuck as she tried to access the device's comms. "We thought we'd give you all a hand up here!" A male voice said through the device as we looked up again, my friend smiling as we watched them harass the large warship.
"Thanks, we'll make our way to the town from here." Littlepip said as we all continued running towards the town, the small group of Klingons also heading towards it as we tried to beat them there. Thanks to the efforts of the Stratus, they managed to take out the last transport before it could get half of the troops down to the surface. Unfortunately, however, J'ula had sent backup to ensure they succeeded, and we had just seen one of her assets try and stop us before the allied fighter squadron above helped us out. Hopefully, the ground units wouldn't be too difficult for us to take out.
As we reached the edge of the town, we saw several green beams of energy shoot out, several ponies running away from them in fear as the Klingons began their attack. We took cover in between two of the buildings, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As we watched, I saw a large speeder slide into the area, it's large turret firing red bolts of energy at it's targets. I heard a scream and looked to see one of the ponies fall to the ground, a gaping, cauterized wound in her flank.
"This should do the trick." I said as my right cannon shifted, a grin forming underneath my helmet as I prepared to fire one of my new power bombs at the speeder. Once again, my kill was taken by several bullets coming from what must've been a machine gun. As the speeder was struck several times, the vehicle exploded from the damage, the troops around it being knocked away and falling to the ground, none of them getting back up.
As the fiery blast receded, we broke cover and ran into the fray, my friend firing her pistol at several Klingons to our left while I took out the ones to our right. I brought my left cannon up as it shifted, then holding position as several Phaser bolts fired out and struck seven incoming Klingons. As they all fell to the ground, I examined the area. There was one pony on the ground, no, a zebra, injured and holding her leg as she grit her teeth from the pain. I looked to Littlepip, who was checking her gun after gunning down four more Klingons. "There's injured, Littlepip." I said as we both turned to face the injured zebra, who saw us as gave a hopeful smile as Littlepip gasped in shock.
"Xephyr! Steelhooves, you help the people on the left side, I'll hold off the ones on the right!" I nodded as I looked to the right again, seeing Blackjack and her team galloping over to us as Lacunae took to the air.
"Mind if we lend a hoof?" The white unicorn asked as Littlepip smiled at her.
"Definitely, you guys stick with me, the rest of you, take care of the other side of the town!" Our security escorts and I nodded in agreement before our groups split up, Littlepip and her team running towards the front of the town while my team went further in. I stopped as I saw a familiar griffon shooting at two of the Klingons, both of them falling to the ground as a third one aimed his weapon. I didn't permit him even one shot as I fired my left cannon, the Klingon being hit by several orange Phaser bolts before joining his dead colleagues.
As I trotted over to the griffon, she wiped her shoulders with a claw as she looked to me. "Thanks fer the help, friend.... wait, aren't you-"
"Steelhooves? Yeah, it's a lot to explain, but let's take out the enemy forces before talking about that." I replied to the griffon as she nodded in agreement.
"Right!" As she flew to the edge of the town, my guards and I continued trotting onward, but stopped again as I saw two very familiar faces.
"Get yer claws off mah wife!" Calamity yelled angrily in the air at the six surrounding Klingons, his wife crouching behind him in fear as the Klingons held their weapons at them.
I lifted my right cannon as it shifted, both of them firing Phaser bolts at three of the closest soldiers. My escorts lifted their rifles up as they fired, the three other soldiers getting struck down before we began walking over to my old friends.
"S-Steelhooves?!" Velvet shrieked fearfully, Calamity landing himself as he examined me with wide eyes.
"Yes, it's me." I looked to my escorts, all of them standing at attention before I continued. "Scout the rest of the town, make sure there aren't anymore of them." All of them nodded as they began splitting up, myself turning to face my old friends before speaking to them. "I understand that I've been gone, but we need to take care of the enemy forces first."
"Ah think yer friends over there have done quite a bit already." Calamity said as I looked to see the other end of Junction Town, there were no more Klingons around, Littlepip was helping Xephyr up as Blackjack and her team were checking the area.
"I see, then may we-" I was cut off as Velvet Remedy embraced me, Calamity doing the same as the former started crying.
"You're alive! We never thought we'd s-see you after Maripony!" Velvet wailed into my shoulder, Calamity breaking the hug as he spoke to me.
"Ayep, Ah'm happy t' see yer face in these parts! How's it goin' old friend?"
I smiled under my helmet as Velvet broke the embrace. "I had a hell of a day, and Littlepip and I came here to help with these Klingons."
Calamity grinned happily as he spoke to me. "So that's who's tryin' t kill us? Well, Ah'll be happy t' hear the whole story once we find-" I was cut off as I heard a cry of pain from behind us, the three of us turning around to see Littlepip, an energy blade stuck in her chest. The weapon's wielder was an armored Klingon soldier, a helmet obscuring her face.
"LITTLEPIP!!!" Velvet and Calamity screamed, both of them racing over to the grey unicorn as I raced after them.
"NO!" I cried out with them, activating my weapons as we sped towards the Klingon. The warrior ripped the blade out of Littlepip's chest, Calamity firing his battle saddle as the assassin spun her weapon around to deflect his shots. Before I could fire my cannons, however, the Klingon tapped a small panel on her armor, her body vanishing under a green energy field that vanished with her in seconds. The fucker had a personal cloaking device!
As Calamity and Velvet stopped and crouched over Littlepip, I turned to Blackjack, all of them looking on in shock and fear as I yelled, "Get a medic over here, now!"
Blackjack nodded as she and her team raced to the nearby medical center, myself turning to look down at our injured friend.
"Velvet, can ya fix her up?!" Calamity asked worriedly, the charcoal unicorn checking her saddlebags before I began taking a scan.
As my scan finished, I looked over to our friends, my hopeless expression hidden by my helmet as I spoke. "The strike went very deep. Unless we can get her to the ship quickly, there's nothing I can do."
Calamity and Velvet then shared my hopelessness as the latter gripped me angrily, tears falling freely from her eyes as she spoke. "Then do it! We can't lose her now, not after all that's happened!"
"G-Guys!" Littlepip choked out loudly, all of us turning to look at her before she continued. "There's no t-time... you-ACK-.... you need to... get to the Star Forge as soon as you can, we.... this place won't have a future if.... if you don't."
"We're not goin' anywhere 'till yer fixed up, 'Pip." Calamity replied, I could see him start to join his wife's sorrow as a tear started to fall from his eye.
"You-you have to..... please, you need to finish this.... the whole m-multiverse is counting on you all." The grey unicorn choked out, a little bit of blood dripping out of her mouth as she lifted a hoof. She started to cry as she spoke once more. "I-I'm sorry that.... we didn't get to be together for this-HCK-... one last ride. At least.... you're all the last things I see before I'm done..... I.... I'll miss you all." As she finished, Calamity and Velvet brought their hooves up to hers, myself joining them as we held our dying friend for a good long moment. I felt her hoof weaken as she took her last breath, the light fleeing from her eyes as she let out one last breath, her head resting on the ground as Littlepip passed on.
"*sniff*… Littlepip?" Velvet squeaked sadly, the sight hitting her like a ton of bricks as she began bawling, her husband holding her tight as the two cried over the corpse of their old friend. I let my grip on Littlepip's hoof loosen, the forehoof falling to the ground as I fell to my knees.
I could hear a few doors around the town open over Velvet and Calamity's crying, in front of us, I saw Xenith trot out with a shocked expression, the injured zebra Xephyr racing over to her to join her as they embraced. I saw Blackjack and her group arrive back with another doctor from the hospital, all of them looking on with wide, sad eyes as they saw their rescuer on the ground lifeless. I saw the green filly Scotch Tape hold P-21 tightly, the stallion holding her with a forearm to comfort her.
Our sorrow was interrupted when we heard a loud roar above us, all of us looking up to see a single Bird of Prey taking position over the town. Several cries and screams of fear sounded through the town as they saw the large starship, Velvet shrieking loudly as Calamity held her in fear.
My sorrow turned to anger as I activated my weapons, both cannons firing a flurry of Phaser beams at a single point on the shields. I screamed in rage as I fired, the ventral shields finally flickering as I gained an opening. I wasted no time as I shifted my weapons, the two cannons firing several missiles at the engine of the Bird of Prey.
As the missiles hit the ship, the engine exploded in a fireball as the warship fell, turning to it's left before hitting a flat area of land, the ship exploding brilliantly as it crashed.
As the shockwave hit us, I stood my ground, holding myself in place as the wave passed us. After the air steadied, Calamity and Velvet Remedy looked to me, their eyes red with tears and manes a mess as I spoke to them. "We need to talk, get everyone we know over here and have a room set up, it's going to be a long meeting."
"R-Right." Velvet said as Calamity helped her up, myself tapping my helmet to activate my comms as I spoke.
"Steelhooves to Harmony, get some medical teams down here..... we have wounded."
Twilight replied to me with a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "No problem, we've taken care of the ships in orbit and are taking defensive positions around the planet. Is everything alright down there?"
I tried to hold myself together as I replied. "...No. No, it's not alright, we... lost one down here."
I heard a gasp through my speakers before Twilight replied. "I...I see. We'll be down there shortly."
"Thank you. Steelhooves out." As I cut off the comms, I followed my old friends into the bar, the two wiping their eyes as they tried to hold themselves together.
----------
"...And if it wasn't fer her, Ah don't think we'd be here today. Ah *sniff*... Ah'll miss her greatly." Calamity said to the crowd as he finished his speech, sniffles and faint cries from the crowd being the only other noise in the room. Shortly after dealing with the Klingons, the Harmony's crew beamed down to help with the injured. They shared their sorrow at the sight of our fallen friend, and I wished for us to have a funeral for her before we depart. Twilight agreed and we began to clean up the bar and change it to look more appropriate for the situation. Homage had arrived along with Ditzy Doo, both of them horrified by the news, I stayed with Homage as she mourned over her dead lover after she asked to see the body.
As for myself, I stayed with Applejack and sat with her as the funeral took place. Littlepip had done so much to help us all, she nearly got herself killed on countless missions to make the Equestrian Wasteland a better place.... and now she was dead, murdered by the enemy and denied a chance to live in peace with her friends.
As Calamity looked back up to us, he looked around the crowd as he asked, "Would anyone else like t' come up?"
Throughout the whole event, all of my friends had shared their condolences on the stage, Velvet, Homage, Xenith, and everyone else had already gotten theirs out of the way and had left Calamity and I to give ours out. Now that it was my turn, I raised a hoof. Calamity gave a faint smile as he stepped off of the platform, myself standing up as I made my way to the podium, Littlepip's coffin sitting behind it as it held her resting form.
As I stood upon the platform, I began, my helmet having been removed as to not cause any distractions. "My friends, everyone. When I was travelling the Wasteland several years ago, I had never expected to come across such a mare as Littlepip. When I was incapacitated by the alicorns under the control of the Goddess, the Stable Dweller and her friends opted to save my life despite my condition, and I was very grateful for their help." I cleared my throat to continue, Velvet and Calamity sitting together as they listened.
"And, as I stayed with them over the course of their adventure, I would come to appreciate Littlepip even more after an.... incident regarding the old town of Arbu." Some of the crowd gave raised eyebrows and gasped upon my words, but kept on listening as I continued. "She showed me that none of us are perfect, we all make mistakes, do evil once or twice, even if we didn't mean to, and... it helped me regain my faith in life." The crowd calmed as they now understood my mention of the cannibal town. "And despite my passing at Maripony, I would owe her my life once again when she saved me aboard the Lukara, J'ula's flagship."
I noticed Homage wiping her eyes as I kept on with my speech. "And... after today, I felt as if I was broken, like I had failed her. But, she gave us one last request, one that I intend to fulfill no matter the cost."
"W-what is it?" A blue amber mare asked as the others looked to me attentively, though I didn't meet her back in the days of the Wasteland, I heard she was a member of the Wasteland Crusaders, a group that Littlepip would encounter during one of her missions.
"Before she passed, Littlepip and I were asked to help in stopping J'ula from using a powerful structure called the Star Forge. If she succeeds, she'll have an infinite army of warships to conquer the multiverse with, and we won't have a chance." I gulped as I started to say the other part of the story, before putting her body into the casket, I asked to check her Pipbuck for important data, and was surprised when I checked one of her personal logs.
"And, if her logs on her Pipbuck are correct, then I think we'll also be dealing with an old enemy of ours from ten years ago."
"And who w-would that be, Steelhooves?" Velvet asked as she tried to hold herself together.
"Red Eye." Upon saying that, everyone in the room gasped in shock and surprise as they took in the information. Before they could ask, I answered their worrying curiosity. "It seems that J'ula managed to recover him before Littlepip could destroy his cathedral, and he's been given a high position in her fleet."
"Then it seems we must hurry, then. If he can get his fleet here, this place is doomed." Rarity said with a frown as the crowd gave gasps and cries of fear before I spoke up again.
"Yes, and I can't do this alone." I looked to Calamity, Velvet Remedy, and Xenith, the trio all looking back to me as I continued. "I need your help."
They all shared the same surprise for a brief second, but it faded as they smiled approvingly. "Well Ah'll be, ol' friend! Ya didn't even have t' ask, we wouldn't take no fer an answer!"
I raised an eyebrow at the pegasus' words before Velvet spoke up. "That was our friend back there, she wanted us to have a better life than what we all had."
"If it wasn't for her efforts, I would have most likely died at Fillydelphia when the Enclave attacked, and my daughter would not have survived by herself without her help." Xenith said as Homage stood up, the crowd looking at her as she spoke.
"Littlepip was the mare that brought hope to not only the people of the Wasteland, but myself as well. She was my light in the darkness during all of the chaos." The dark grey unicorn seemed to shed a tear as she finished. "...And now she's been taken away from a life she deserved to live, and I'm not going to stand by while the people who killed her are wreaking havoc up there."
"Ayep." Calamity said as he and the others joined me, Homage following after them as she stood with our group. "Those Klingons need a good kick in the flank, and we'd be damned if we're not gonna spill some blood fer our friend!"
The whole crowd cheered and cried out excitedly, the rest of us standing before them as they supported us. As the crowd calmed, I saw three alicorns stand up, the trio looking to us as the blue one spoke. "Well, if you're going to be wreaking havoc out there, we'll be coming along as well."
"As are we." A mare's voice said from our right before we all turned to the door, five pegasi in blue and gold carapace armor stood inside, the lead one removing her helmet to reveal a white coat and fiery orange hair. "I think it's time the Wonderbolts stopped running from danger and started doing good for once."
I smiled as I examined the newcomers, the unmasked one smiling back as I replied. "We'd be happy to have you all with us."
As the Wonderbolts joined us, Twilight and her crew all stood, Rainbow Dash giving a cocky smirk as the princess spoke. "We should get going, then. Let's gather ourselves up and head out."
We all nodded as we started to make our way to the door, Life Bloom trotting over to us before speaking. "We'll get Littlepip's body taken care of, be careful on your mission."
"We'll try to." I replied as my friends and I all went out the door, turning to our left as we made our way to a nearby boxcar to gather our supplies before departing to our next destination.
{VARIANCE END}
My friends and I all stared at the console with wide eyes, Velvet holding Calamity's hoof as she tried not to break down at what we just witnessed.
"Well.... that was a bit unpleasant." I said to my friends, the silence broken as Calamity replied.
"Ayep, Ah'm glad that ain't our timeline, we couldn't have stopped J'ula without 'Pip in our team." The pegasus' expression grew fearful as he faced the console, the screen having shut off before we began the conversation.
"Well, at least they won, right?" Velvet asked as I tapped the console several times, the screen reappearing to show data regarding that universe's current status. I smiled at what it said.
"Thankfully, yes, it says here that despite my death at Junction Town, you all managed to succeed in destroying the Star Forge and end J'ula's alliance." I raised an eyebrow as I saw another section of it. "And it says here that thanks to a little hint from Red Eye, you all found some kind of machine that can produce clones before destroying the station, allowing me to be brought back."
My friends raised an eyebrow at that information, Velvet giving a hopeful smile as she replied. "Well, that makes things less worse than I thought they would be."
"Indeed." Steelhooves said as we all turned to face him and Star Sparkle, both of them taking a place around the table as the Applejack's Ranger continued. "We thought we'd join in on this little crusade of yours. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all." I answered with a smile, all of us turning to face the console once more as Xenith spoke up.
"This device seems to peak quite an interest when you get a chance to use it. It makes me wonder how things would play out if something had changed."
"Yeah," I replied, thinking of another good question to ask the console before replying. "and after that little scene we saw, I think I've got something else on my mind." My friends all watched as I spoke into the console, the screen returning with another scene after I finished asking the question.
"What if J'ula arrived early?"