Shine on! Ultrawoman Aster!

by Michael_Ravencroft

5th Light: Rescue the hostages! / The Serene Warrior cuts down evil!

Sunset had been asked by Fluttershy to help at the local Canterlot Wildlife Preserve. It was here that the Preserve catered to a menagerie of different animals, but they’re specialty mostly consisted of animals that were not native to Earth. 

Ever since the First Incursion, Earth received assistance from different planets to both battle the Space Beasts that had come, and to rebuild. Part of Earth’s ongoing partnership with the different alien races and planets, was to help in preserving some of their species that were in danger of going extinct. For some of those planets, Earth provided an environment that was close to if not an exact match to the conditions that the alien animals’ habitats. However, this was not a permanent residence, once a new planet had been discovered that could safely serve as a new home, or if the threat to the habitat on their home planet had been dealt with, the animals were to be transported to their old or new home. 

Fluttershy had been helping at the Preserve since she was a little girl, and had built up quite the reputation for being the local “animal whisperer”, not just for alien animals, but even the Earth based ones. 

On this particular day, Fluttershy needed help with some of the new arrivals, a creature called a “Pukwudgie”. She had asked some of her friends and others for assistance, but out of those she did ask, only Pinkie Pie was able to volunteer. And somehow, without Sunset knowing it, she had as well. There was just something about Fluttershy that made it hard to say no, as if, if you did, your very soul would feel unimaginable guilt that it would be crushed. 

So, Sunset made the long drive to the preserve. It was located some miles on the other side of the Everfree Forest. Some had cautioned against it as they were not sure of what the forest was and how welcoming it would be. But the forest’s presence seemed to have a calming effect on not just the Earth based animals, but also the alien ones. With that said, the Preserve was built, and a section of that forest was enclosed. 

Sunset had driven the three, using one of SMILE’s official vehicles. Fluttershy mainly took public transport to the Preserve and didn’t like to drive much, and Pinkie, well, Sunset didn’t trust Pinkie behind a wheel, call it instinct. 

The three girls approached the Preserve, it was a large expanse of a facility, stretching over a hundred miles in both directions. The main entrance was a giant, two story gate that read “Welcome to the Preserve”. The gate led to a bridge that went on for about five miles before entering the main hub. The preserve was spilt into sections, and each section housed different animals. For simplicity’s sake, the section that housed mostly alien creatures was dubbed the “Xeno House” and for local animals, the “Terra Residence”. 

Fluttershy directed Sunset to head towards the Xeno House, Sunset made a left and they were soon taken through a long tunnel before exiting and seeing multiple buildings spread out through the area, each one catering to a specific type of alien animal, one was for aquatic animals, insectoids, reptilians, and mammals. Fluttershy pointed towards the building that was for mammals and Sunset pulled into the parking lot. 

When they exited the car, Sunset sighed. “I can’t believe I’m spending my Saturday with smelly, alien animals.”

“Sorry…” Fluttershy apologized as her gaze turned downcast

Sunset cursed inwardly, not realizing she had said that below a whisper. “No, don’t be. I’m just being cranky.” 

Pinkie Pie appeared next to Sunset and threw her arm over her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Sunset, I’m sure we’ll have fun here! I mean, this place is filled with alien animals! How can that not be fun?!”

Sunset rolled her eyes, but she did admit, this could be interesting. 

Since this was a weekend, the girls had adopted their casual attire, and as per Fluttershy’s instructions, they were to wear something comfortable and airy since they were going to be moving around a lot today. Fluttershy had put on a plain white tank top with brown shorts, and pink and white tennis shoes. Sunset had put on a red t-shirt with flame decals around the sleeves, black, hip hugging shorts, and black running shoes. Pinkie wore a cotton candy pink, sleeveless shirt, and a tri-colored skirt made up of yellow, white, and blue colors. 

The three made their way to the main entrance, it was there they saw many people, some were their age, but the majority were older. The staff were either dressed like they were about to go out on safari or had white lab coats. Fluttershy led her companions to the front desk and cleared her throat. 

A young woman with brown hair and freckles looked up and beamed at Fluttershy. “Well, hello Fluttershy! Here to help out with the new arrivals?”

“Yes ma’am, I also brought some friends of mine from the Academy to help, if that’s okay?” 

The receptionist looked at the two girls and smiled at them as well. “Well of course, the more the merrier, we’ll just need to sign them in. Oh, do you have your card dear?”

Fluttershy reached into her pocket, fished out her wallet, and took out an ID card from it. The card had Fluttershy’s name on it, along with her picture, and read as “Canterlot Wildlife Preserve: Junior Xeno & Terra Specialist”. 

“What’s that mean, ‘Junior Xeno & Terra Specialist’?” Pinkie asked. 

“Oh, that means our young Fluttershy here has been coming to the Preserve for so long, that we presented her with this special card that grants her access to both the Xeno and Terra facilities. But not just because of her attendance, she has displayed excellent knowledge when it comes to the care of the animals that reside here. It may say ‘Junior’, but considering how long she’s volunteered her, it should read ‘Senior’. But, hopefully we’ll see you in a more official capacity when you graduate.”

Fluttershy blushed at the kind words of the receptionist. She handed her card to the young woman who scanned it into the system, and then produced two sign in sheets for Sunset and Pinkie. Once they were complete, they were given visitor badges. 

“Now, be aware, those badges will only grant you limited access to the facility, they’re only good for opening and closing doors in the facility. Only badges like Miss Fluttershy’s here have the access needed to get into the habitats, labs, and storage areas. So, Fluttershy, remember, you’re responsible for your friends so long as they’re here.” 

“Yes ma’am, I promise, there won’t be any trouble.”

The girls made their way down one of the many hallways in the facility, a lot of the workers stopped to greet Fluttershy on their way to whatever assignments they were working on. 

“Wow, you’re pretty popular here,” said Sunset. 

Fluttershy fidgeted. “Oh, I-I don’t think of myself that way.”

“Don’t see why, considering most of the guys at school seem to think you’re cute.”

The light-pink haired girl blushed. “Oh my…”

“Shy, you never did tell us, what is a Pukwudgie is,” said Pinkie. 

“Oh, well, they’re small mammal creature from planet Correlida. Their habitat is being threatened by an atmospheric event that’s harmful to them, in fact, most of the species of that planet are being shipped to this Preserve, as well as a few others on Earth. They’re just one of the ones I’d like your help with, once we’re done, you guys can have a look around if you’d like, or you can head back to the Academy.”

The trio eventually arrived at a door that read “Preparation Room”. Fluttershy swiped her card and the door opened, allowing them entry. Once inside, they noticed it was a ladies locker room, complete with showers, and to the far side of the room were some suits, and a little bit further was a door. 

“Uh, Fluttershy, what’re we doing in here?” Sunset asked. 

“The Pukwedugies are sensitive to smells, so we’ll have to scrub with a special soap that will coat us in a nonthreatening scent. Leave all your clothes in the locker, and once you’re done drying off, get into the suit.” 

Sunset walked over to where the suits were contained in a case that was sealed. They looked baggy, and had a helmet with a clear face visor. “Soooo…we’re supposed to wear these things completely nude?” 

“Ahem…well…yes, any of our clothing could have a variety of scents that could leak out through the suits. They’re designed to prevent that, but it’s best not to take any chances. Oh, and don’t worry, they may look baggy, but they have a button that allows them to shrink and fit your body.” 

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Form fitting, protective suits. I’m starting to wonder if we’re in one of those ecchi anime things.” 

“Ah don’t worry about it, Sunset. If we were, the author would go into a detailed explanation of us undressing, washing our bodies, and getting into the suits. At best he’ll cut us off now or else he’d have to give this an ‘M’ rating.”

Sunset blinked and then shook her head. “Wait, wha–?”

Outside the facility, five black SUVs were parked out by the woods. A man with black hair and dressed in a black suit gazed at the Preserve through binoculars, zooming in on one of the habitats in the distance. 

“That’s our target, the Xeno House.”

Another man, who almost looked identical to the first, stood next to him and said, “We got intel that the creature housed entrance to the creature is somewhere in there. Are you sure you want to use her for this mission?” 

“She’s disposable, and talented. I’d rather walk away with both, but I’ll settle for what’s in there. Bring her to me.” 

The second man turned around and motioned towards one of the other SUVs, the back passenger side door opened as an alien walked out. His body was white and lumpy, with red dots scattered about that made the lumps look like eyeballs. The alien had fur around its wrists, and wore a black belt with a holster. The alien’s head was rectangular in shape, with two red eyes and at the center of his head was a red glowing crest. Around this alien was a poncho, black in color, with silver markings. 

The alien reached inside the vehicle and pulled out a young alien girl. She was insectoid in appearance, but humanoid as well, her carapace was an arctic blue color, and was smooth to the touch. She had long ears that were pressed to her skull, which possessed a horn that was twin tipped, and a translucent frill that ran from the top of her head to the back of her neck. The alien girl also had beautiful, translucent red wings, and a tail frill that was of the same color and see-through like her wings. 

The girl wasn’t bound, nor were her wings, however, she did have a strange metal collar strapped around her neck. The large male alien pointed his gun to the small of her back and pushed her forward, making the insectoid alien move forward. 

The alien girl looked up with fear at the man who was still looking at the Preserve. Her cyan eyes were pleading, as she said, “Please, let me go, I don’t want to do this…” 

“That is unfortunate, because you don’t really have a choice.” The man put down the binoculars and took out a device from his pocket. 

He then pressed the button on the device and immediately after, the collar began to open, revealing red glowing rods. The rods then released red lightning the surged through the young girl’s body, causing her to writhe and scream in pain. The torture continued until she collapsed onto the ground, her legs losing strength as continued to thrash about until the man switched off the device. Collar closed back up, and the pain ceased. The young alien girl took in deep, raspy breathes of air as the pain was subsiding a little. 

“You were given to me by your Queen with the promise that you would be useful.” 

“I…I was taken! And she’s not my queen! I…I’m nothing like them!” 

“Regardless, if you wish to live to see your home again, you will fulfill your obligations to us, or…” The man raised the remote device and the insect girl’s eyes widened with fear. “Now, get to work.” 

The young insectoid girl walked forward until she was standing at the edge of the tree line. She gave a tentative look to the man, her eyes still pleading for him to let her go. But she only saw coldness in his eyes. Taking a shaky breath, the young alien’s body became engulfed in arctic blue light that swirled around her. The light danced like flames, growing bigger and bigger with each passing second, and then, after a minute, the young alien girl was no longer herself, but something else entirely. 

The creature stood about forty meters tall, not including its four wings, and twenty meters in length. The primary wings were about thirty meters in length, the secondary about half that, and the wings themselves were a translucent lime-green color. The creature had a mostly blue-green carapace, with a light-blue underbelly color. Its head was long with red oval eyes, and two red antenna. The top of the creature’s abdomen was a darker shade of blue-green and had course hair, and its thorax had a long red stinger. 

The creature released a shrieking sound before it fluttered its wings and took off with great haste towards the Preserve, at the same time, the SUVs all floored it, following after the insect monster they just unleashed. 

Sunset and Pinkie panted as they slumped up against the locker room wall. 

“Those things…are…little monsters!” Sunset exclaimed. 

“They…They could do with an attitude adjustment,” Pinkie panted. 

Fluttershy removed her helmet and gave her friends an apologetic look. “I’m sorry girls, I didn’t think they’d be that testy.”

“‘Testy’? ‘Testy’?! They shot their spines at us! Thank God that these suits are reinforced gradium fibers or else we’d be pincushions! And they want to ‘preserve’ those things? They’re like miniature Space Beasts!”

Fluttershy’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. “N-Not all Space Beasts are evil, Sunset.” 

Sunset stood upright as she made her way to the locker where her clothes were kept. “Tell that to all the ones that came and tried to kill us all in the First Incursion, or the ones after that, or the ones that Aster has taken out.” 

“I’m just saying…not all of them have to be destroyed, some are just animals,” said Fluttershy. 

Pinkie Pie finally caught her breath and joined in on the conversation. “I gotta agree with Shy, it’s the same for aliens, not all of them are bad, it’s just like us. Some people are bad and some are good. We can’t judge an entire race on the actions of a few bad apples. And we can’t judge a Space Beast’s species to be all bad just because one or two of them attacked us.” 

Sunset sighed as she deactivated her suit into its baggy form for removal. “Look, I have yet to meet a ‘good’ Space Beast, and until then, all are bad guys.”

Fluttershy puffed up her cheeks as she marched over to Sunset. “Well, what if I showed you one?”

“Say what?”

Just then, the entire building shook violently, followed by a series of explosions that made Fluttershy yelp in fear. Sunset activated the suit, allowing the form fitting protective gear to form to her body. Another violent shake occurred and Fluttershy lost her footing, Sunset quickly grabbed her and held her close as the shaking continued. Pinkie Pie joined them, but just when she did, the shaking stopped. 

“What…What was that?” Pinkie Pie asked. 

Just then, the door to the room burst open, revealing an alien, its body had black and white stripes all over it, and its head was big, and half-moon shaped. The head was black, with the face white, and its eyes were large and magenta. In the alien’s hand was a blaster, and Sunset instinctively put herself between the alien and her teammates. 

“Oh, so there were people in here too. Come with me.”

“Or else…?” Sunset dared to ask.

The alien shot the blaster up at the ceiling, making Pinkie and Fluttershy duck. “Or you won’t live through this.” 

“Can you at least let us change out of these suits first?” Sunset asked. 

“No, now MOVE!”

The trio was moved into the lobby area, where most of the staff had been corralled like cattle, forced to sit down while their captors had blasters pointed at them. Sunset, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were in the back, with the alien who escorted them there walking back to join his crew. 

“T-That was an Alien Dada, they normally go by numbers, no actual names,” said Pinkie. Her eyes then caught sight of another alien with a poncho, talking to a man in a black suit. “A-And that’s an Alien Nackle!”

“How bad is this?” Sunset asked. 

“Really bad. They aren’t very friendly, they’re practically hitmen for hire!” 

Alien Nackle walked up to the only human among the group and said, “We’ve secured the building, the Changeling is circling the perimeter as we speak.”

“How many are here?” 

Alien Nackle scoffed in annoyance as he said, “Unfortunately, the little wench didn’t make it to this building in time, and because of that, a lot of the staff here has evacuated, all we have is this lot of ten.” 

The human narrowed his gaze as he sighed. “Very well, bring her inside and barricade this entrance. It won’t be long before SMILE finds out we’re here, but with some hostages, they’ll be cautious in their actions. Remember our main objective.”

Alien Nackle nodded and went outside. After a minute, a large creature came stomping towards the building, and in the next second, that creature shrunk down until it was of more manageable size. Sunset watched as Alien Nackle and the insectoid alien walked in, the latter of the two looked depressed. 

“Stand over there and keep the hostages in check, if you lose one…” Alien Nackle let that hang in the air. 

The alien girl didn’t need much more instruction as she walked over to where the hostages were being kept, the guards who were looking after them left to attend other duties, some were already going through the computer terminals. 

Fluttershy managed to glance at the sad alien girl and gasped. “She’s…She’s a Changeling,” Fluttershy whispered. 

“A what?” Sunset asked. 

“They have this incredible ability to take on the form of whatever creature they see, it doesn’t even matter if it’s a different species, sex, or size. Their eyes allow them to scan every small detail of another being, right down to their DNA, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between them and whatever creature they’re mimicking. But it isn’t perfect, they can’t copy the memories.”

Sunset eyed the alien girl, she was keeping an eye on them, and the fact that she was the only one assigned to the task meant she was the most dangerous one in the group. “How tough are they?”

“Well…their carapace is strong, but not impenetrable, it also depends on their individual endurance and pain tolerance…why?” 

“I’m trying to do a threat assessment. Right now, that Alien Nackle and this Changeling are the biggest threats, if I can neutralize them–”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to stop you there, Sunset,” Pinkie interrupted. “I don’t think she’s with them, at least not willingly.”

Sunset gave her teammate a skeptical look. “And what makes you say that?” 

“Well, the fact that she has bright colors.”

Sunset blinked. “Okay, I’ll bite, why does that matter?” 

“There’s currently a civil war going happening on their planet, with one faction converting to a race that doesn’t need to be parasitic in order to live, the mark of this change is bright colors on their bodies. The other wishes to stay parasitic and become really tyrannical, their shells are black as night, and they look a lot scarier. They both have that changing power, but I think this one may have been kidnapped.”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy exclaimed. 

“Regardless, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, we can’t make a move until then.” At least, I can’t anyway.

Police and SMILE Agents had swarmed the Preserve, SWAT units along with SMILE’s elite extraterrestrial combat unit, Foxtrot Alpha, or as they were nicknamed, the “Roughnecks”. Unfortunately, the building that they had occupied had an entry way that led to the Everfree Forest and their ability to attack or infiltrate was limited by the access codes granted to certain staffers. 

Inside, the Alien Dadas were still searching around for something. Sunset had overheard the leader of the group give their demands. They stated that they were here for a creature, and that so long as the SMILE and police maintained their distance, the hostages would remain safe. Sunset didn’t trust this guy, they were definitely looking for something, that much was certain, but their safety was another matter. If and when they found what they were looking for, there was no guarantee that they would let them live. Sunset wished she could fight these guys, with her abilities she could easily overpower them, but that was if she was alone, she couldn’t risk everyone’s safety. 

Meanwhile, Pinkie had somehow managed to scoot herself closer to the alien girl. She then looked up at the girl and said, “Hi, my name’s Pinkamena Diane Pie. But everyone just calls me Pinkie Pie. What’s your name?”

The alien girl fidgeted. “I…I’m not supposed to talk to you…”

“I don’t remember that scary man saying that. He just said to guard us, so long as you’re doing that, you’re not breaking the rules right?” Pinkie asked. 

“Um…I guess not…Well, my name’s Ocellus.” 

Pinkie Pie smiled. “That’s a pretty name, you’re a Changeling right?” 

“Y-Yeah, I am…”

Pinkie continued to focus on Ocellus’ frown. “You don’t look like you’re liking any of this, are you?” 

Ocellus furrowed her brow. “No…I hate this! I…I don’t want to be here…!”

Pinkie watched as Ocellus unconsciously rubbed the collar around her neck. “Is that thing the reason why you’re doing what that mean man says?”

Ocellus nodded. “It attacks my cells, it makes it feel like I’m being ripped apart. I’ll die if he leaves it on too long…I don’t want to die…I don’t want to hurt anyone either…” Ocellus’ eyes began to water a little. “I miss my home, I miss my parents, my brothers and sisters…”

Pinkie Pie’s smile grew somber as she placed her hand against Ocellus’. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Things will work out, I promise.”

“You don’t know that…so, please don’t lie to me.”

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “I never lie when I make a promise, a Pinkie Promise is never broken, and that’s my solemn oath.” 

Ocellus managed a small smile, her eyes darted to one of the guards and she quickly spoke. “Please go back with the others, they’ll hurt you if they see you talking to me.”

Without a word, Pinkie Pie scooted back to where Sunset and Fluttershy were sitting. Sunset glanced at Pinkie and asked, “What were you doing?”

“Just talking to a new friend,” Pinkie answered. 

“Pinkie, don’t go Stockholm on me now, she’s our captor, not our friend!” Sunset hissed.

“She doesn’t want to be here, Sunset! She’s just as much a hostage as we are! Look at her, does she really look like a bad guy?” 

Sunset gazed at Ocellus, her hard expression softened just a bit when she saw the sad look on the Changeling’s face. Still, she couldn’t just completely put her faith in that, not yet anyway. 

One of the Alien Dada’s behind the desk exclaimed something in their language, prompting their leader to come over and see what he found. The man’s brow furrowed after seeing what was on the computer. He then pulled out his own blaster and began walking towards the ten hostages. 

“It seems we have hit a snag in our operation, ladies and gentlemen. In order to get what we came for and be on our merry way, we need someone with level nine clearance.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened upon hearing that, however, other hostages just murmured amongst themselves in confusion. 

“It also appears that the files as to whom has access are restricted. So, I’m going to ask everyone, who here has level nine access?” the man asked. 

No one spoke up.

“I see, well, here’s how it will go.” The man snapped his fingers and two of the Alien Dadas grabbed the receptionist and brought her to the leader, making her kneel before him as he pressed the barrel of his blaster to her forehead. “If no one speaks up before I count to five, I will execute her. I will then do the same thing to someone else and we will continue until someone eventually says they do. Bare in mind, the longer you draw this out, the more blood is on your hands. One…”

Sunset gritted her teeth, she felt the urge to speed towards the leader and break his jaw, but the moment that she made that move, the others would surely open fire on her and the hostages. 

“Two…”

Ocellus looked away, she knew people would get hurt, but she had hoped she didn’t see something like this. 

“Three…Five.”

“WAIT!!!”

All eyes fell on the light-pink haired girl who stood up. “I-I have level nine access!”

“Fluttershy!” Sunset and Pinkie exclaimed. 

“I can take you to where you need to go!”

The leader removed his blaster from the woman’s head and nodded for his subordinates to put the woman back with the others. Afterwards two others walked towards Fluttershy, taking her by the arms as they brought her before the leader. 

“You had better not be lying to me. There are worst things than death for you if you are.” 

Despite how scared she was right now, Fluttershy managed to put on a brave face as she said, “I-I’m not lying. I know exactly why you need that clearance, you want him, don’t you?” 

The leader smiled wickedly. “Smart girl. Let’s go then, call the ship and have them be ready for transport.”

“Um, I don’t think that’ll be very good.” Everyone looked to Pinkie Pie. “You’re going to halve your team to go and do whatever it is you’re going to do, and leave the rest here?”

“Girl, you had better shut up and sit down,” Alien Nackle warned. 

“I’m just saying, you’d have way better leverage with three SMILE students, plus, it would give you more time if you let the rest of these hostages go,” said Pinkie Pie as she winked to Sunset. 

Sunset smirked and nodded. “She’s right, the three of us are have been granted Special Agent status, which means they won’t go smashing their way in here if they think we’re in danger.”

“So, what do you say?” Pinkie asked. 

The leader looked to the group and then to Fluttershy, running the numbers in his head, not counting Ocellus, this was a team of ten, and if it was down there then he’d need more manpower. “A good argument, very well. We’ll release these hostages, but you three will be staying with us.”

As was promised, they released the staffers, but kept Sunset, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. After being informed that they had three of SMILE Academy’s students as hostages, the assault team was quick to stand down. Just as Pinkie said they would. Now with a more manageable hostage size, the captors and three girls were led to a door in the back which led to a subbasement. 

Fluttershy walked up to a set of lockers that looked old and unused. However, when she opened one of the lockers with the number “203”, it released a panel with a card reader. This was the moment of truth, the other Alien Dadas and Alien Nackle pointed their weapons at Fluttershy, ready to punish her if she lied. Fluttershy took a deep breath and swiped her card, inputting the locker number right after. As soon as she did that, the lockers rattled as they opened inward, revealing a long tunnel. Lights flickered on and showed just how far it went down. 

Pinkie and Sunset were noticeably confused as to what was going on. The group headed down the lit pathway, going deeper and deeper, at the same time, they noticed the tunnel was getting wider and wider. After about ten minutes of walking, the group stopped when Fluttershy did. There was an entrance to their left, before that, there were several computers and tables setup, as if there was work being done down in the cavern. 

“Around that corner, he’s there,” said Fluttershy. 

“Who’s there?” Sunset asked. 

“The Terra Beast, Gomora,” said the leader. 

“So, you are after him!” 

“Heh, heh, of course we are,” said Alien Nackle. “A monster like that that’s able to fight off several Space Beasts on its own, that’s worth something to the right person.”

Fluttershy narrowed her gaze. “All you want to do is use him as a weapon!”

“We were hired to do a job, we don’t really care what it’s used for, so long as we’re paid. Now, you’re going to tell us how to restrain him. I’m not so stupid as to just walk in there and let that Beast tear us apart.”

Fluttershy looked away from the leader. 

The leader narrowed his gaze and snapped his fingers, and immediately the other Alien Dadas pointed their weapons at Sunset and Pinkie. “You really don’t have any room to negotiate. I have no qualms with throwing one of them to the Beast and seeing what happens to learn what I need to do. It’ll be messy, but we can avoid that.” 

“……He’ll respond to me. I can make him calm long enough for you…”

“Good girl.” 

Fluttershy walked on ahead and turned the corner. Inside the larger cavern rested a giant Beast, its horns were curved upwards, its body was scaly and brown, with long sharp claws. The ancient Terra Beast, Gomora. 

The Terra Beast sniffed the air, its giant eyes fluttering open as it caught a familiar scent. It looked forward and saw Fluttershy standing there. 

“Hello, Gomora.” 

The giant creature gave a low growl.

“I know, it’s not our normal time that we meet up, but…something’s happened…”

Gomora tilted its head to the side, a look of concern on its face. 

“Gomora…around this corner are some really bad people…they’ll kill me and my friends.” 

Gomora’s eyes narrowed as its body rose higher; a threatening growl echoed in the cave. 

Alien Nackle grew angry upon hearing this. “That little bitch, she’s going to sic that thing on us! That’s it, I’m killing the redhead!”

“Wait!” the leader ordered. 

“I know you want to protect me, but you can’t, if you do, my friends will be killed! Gomora…you know I wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t important, but please, for my sake and my friends’ sakes, please don’t fight back.”

Gomora now caught the scent of the intruders that Fluttershy spoke of, its eyes locked on the spot behind the cave wall. But then, Gomora looked down at the pleading Fluttershy, and its expression softened. 

“I promise you, it’ll be alright! I’ve never broken a promise to you, isn’t that right?!” Fluttershy pleaded. 

Gomora thumped its tail against the ground, causing the cave to shake. There was frustration in its eyes, but even still, there was a deep trust that did not waver. Gomora lowered its body back down into a submissive stance. 

Fluttershy walked up to Gomora’s enormous muzzle and patted him on the lower jaw. “Thank you, and I promise, it’ll all be alright.” The young animal lover turned towards the opening. “It’s fine, he won’t attack.”

The leader of the mercenaries, along with his crew, brought Sunset and Pinkie inside. The leader walked up ahead of them and smirked. “Magnificent, our they’ll pat out the nose for this Beast. Set up the collar and have the ship lock onto our coordinates!”

Four Alien Dadas ran off towards the Gomora, but as they did, Gomora released a threatening growl that gave them pause. Fluttershy made some cooing noises as she petted Gomora on his muzzle, and within a few seconds the growl subsided. The leader nodded to them and they resumed their work. 

The Alien Dadas took positions on the right and left sides of the Beast’s neck. They opened up their duffle bags and took out two large black blocks. The Alien Dadas pressed on one of the panels, and the two blocks grew out, angling themselves as they formed a semicircle around Gomora’s neck. The two bars fused into one large block, becoming the top half of a collar. 

As they set up for the second half, Sunset whispered to Pinkie, “We cannot let them take that thing! We have to stop them!”

“I’m with you, and I have a plan.”

As before, the guards left the two girls alone, leaving only Ocellus as their sole guard. Pinkie stepped backwards so that she was in earshot of the Changeling. “Ocellus, we’re going to stop them, and set you free.” 

“Y-You can’t…please, just let them do this so I can go back home,” Ocellus pleaded. 

“There’s no guarantee that they will let you. Once they have Gomora, they’ll either kill you, or keep you to use for more jobs, bad guys like that don’t keep their word! But I do, and so does Sunset.” 

Ocellus looked at Pinkie, and then to Sunset. Her eyes then turned towards Gomora, a creature that was soon to wind up in the same horrible situation as herself. No creature should be subjected to this, to be used as a weapon, as a slave. The Changeling looked to Pinkie and nodded. 

Sunset looked to Pinkie Pie with a little surprise. Gomora had such trust in Fluttershy that it was willing to let itself be captured, and Ocellus was willing to place her faith in Pinkie’s promise that everything would be alright. Maybe she had it all wrong, there were good and bad aliens and Beasts out there, and sometimes you needed just a little faith and trust. 

Just then, they heard the snapping of the second half of the collar as Gomora released a roar. The device released red lightning that was similar to Ocellus’ collar, but then the Terra Beasts’ eyes shined red. 

“Perfect, now he’s obedient.”

“Sunny, when I give the signal, go in!” Pinkie stated. 

The cotton candy haired girl reached into her curly, puffy hair and pulled out something. She then tossed it right at the two guards before them, and as soon as she did, a series of mini explosions went off before them, both burning and disorienting them. 

Sunset sprang into action as she rushed towards the two Alien Dadas, using her enhanced speed to wrench the blaster out of the first one before punching him in the face and sending him sailing to the other side of the cave. With the same speed, she swept the legs of the second, and then elbow dropped onto the alien’s stomach, the result was a blow that made the ground fissure slightly. 

The other guards finally noticed what was happening and were about to attack, but then Fluttershy pressed the button to her suit, letting it become saggy and loose. The moment she did, she slipped out of the suit and immediately her body transformed. She grew five long tails, yellow fur, and white ivory claws. Her ears morphed into dog-like ears as her legs took on a lupine appearance. 

“What?!” 

The leader only managed to get out one word before being punched by Fluttershy, his body went straight down, eating the dirt. Fluttershy jumped up and tailed whipped the two guards that were beside her. Alien Nackle was about to shoot, but Fluttershy’s eyes began to shine as she stared directly at him. The mercenary stopped dead in his tracks, his body became stiff, feeling an oppressive force pushing down on him. 

A two more guards came to assist, but Pinkie Pie tossed her mini bombs towards them, stopping them before they could attack. That allowed Sunset to rush them, drop kicking the first Alien Dada on the right, and then tossing its weapon straight at the one at the left, nailing him in the face as he went down. 

One of the guards wasn’t completely unconscious and was about to attack Pinkie Pie, but a swift large orange fist backhanded the guard into the cave wall. Pinkie turned around and saw that Ocellus had saved her. 

Fluttershy’s keen ears heard the sounds of blaster’s being primed behind her. Without looking, two of her five tails shot out and wrapped themselves around the two mercenaries’ legs. The tails hoisted the two Alien Dadas into the air and threw them towards the cave wall, knocking them out on impact. 

Sunset finished off two more by delivering a flying kick to its chest, and body slamming the last one. The redhead looked around and nodded with satisfaction that the mercenaries were knocked out or incapacitated. “Uh…Shy, you’re uh…you’re a wolf?” 

“Vivirendan, the closest Earth animal you can compare me to is a maned wolf, but right now, I need you to knock out Alien Nackle, my Stare won’t last much longer,” said Fluttershy. 

Sunset was about to do just that, until Fluttershy yelped. The sound of a blaster went off and Sunset watched as Fluttershy fell to her knees, clutching her right arm. The leader of the mercenaries finally revealed his true form, it was another Alien Dada. 

“That’s enough of that! This is 334, lock onto us and get us out of here! Alien Nackle, give our potential clients a show!” 334 ordered. 

Alien Nackle took out his own remote device and switched it on. Both Gomora and Ocellus began to wail, Ocellus’ eyes turned red like Gomora’s eyes. “Grow and fight!” 

Ocellus started to change, and at the same time, Gomora started to rise up. Alien Nackle removed his poncho and then he too began to grow in size. 334 glowed blue, along with the rest of his subordinates, and then they disappeared. The cave began to rumble and shake as the ceiling began to give way to the three gigantifications that were going on at the same time. 

Sunset tapped into the power of her speed, time seemed to slow down as the debris rained down around her. The redhead dashed towards Fluttershy, grabbing her at the waist as she hauled her over to Pinkie Pie. Sunset hooked her left arm around Pinkie’s waist and sped off once again. The cave continued to collapse behind them, with Sunset trying to outrun it. Faster and faster she ran, hearing the thunderous symphony of rocks falling behind her. 

The entrance was coming up, and Sunset pooled all her might into diving straight for it. The trio cleared the entrance and made it back into the subbasement just as a huge plume of dust bellowed out from the collapsed tunnel. All three girls coughed and wiped their eyes from the stinging dust in the air. Fluttershy and Pinkie helped Sunset up and took her to the top of the stairs outside and into the hallway. Now in a more fresh air environment, the girls breathed in. 

Sunset finally recovered as she sat up against the wall. “You two…okay?” 

“Yeah, A-Okay,” said Pinkie Pie. 

“Shy, your arm…”

Fluttershy looked to her scarred arm, but it already looked halfway healed. “Don’t worry about me, my people heal quickly from wounds, so long as they aren’t too severe.”

Sunset sighed in relief and asked, “So, how long did you guys know that I could get us out of there?” 

Fluttershy and Pinkie looked to each other, and then said in unison, “From the start.” 

“You looked like you were ready to take them all, but were holding yourself back because of the hostages, and us,” said Fluttershy. 

“So, I convinced mister Dada back there to let them go and keep us,” said Pinkie. “Once that was done, we just needed to show you that we could fight too, that way you could take them. But, we kinda weren’t expecting super speed and super strength.” 

Sunset chuckled, these girls read her like a book, and what’s more, they were willing to place their trust in her, even if she was kind of acting like a jerk earlier. “You guys…thanks.” 

All of sudden, Fluttershy glowed bright blue, and Pinkie glowed a navy blue. That light then separated from their bodies and formed into two round, coin shaped objects. The coins floated towards Sunset who took them into her hands, upon doing so, the light faded from the coins and revealed two new Ultra Coins. 

Pinkie smiled and said, “You’re her, aren’t you? Ultrawoman Aster?”

Sunset nodded. 

Some explosions went off outside, shaking the building. 

Fluttershy looked to her friend and teammate and said, “Please, Sunset, you have to help them!”

“Don’t worry, I will!”

Sunset rushed out a side door, she could see even from her position that Alien Nackle, Gomora, and Ocellus were heading towards the city. Sunset looked about her surroundings, no cameras, and no people. The heroine wasted no time as she summoned her StaRaizer and allowed the starry nexus to expand around her. 

“Grant me the strength of a hero!”

“Grant me the power of a galaxy!”

“Release the light within me!”

The trio of giants made their way towards the city, almost immediately the sky turned purple. Alien Nackle knew what this meant, but it was of little concern, he was going to show their products’ destructive power, and it would be recorded for their client and potential buyers to see. Alien Nackle looked up and saw that their spaceship was hovering a safe distance in the sky, ready to record the mayhem that was to come. 

However, a being dropped down from the sky, landing with a great “BOOM” as dirt and rock were thrown up into the air from the impact of her landing. Aster stood to her full height and entered her fighting stance as she stared down the three before her. 

“Release them from your control and I’ll show you mercy!”

Alien Nackle laughed sadistically at the threat. “This is perfect, an Ultra to fight, if they can kill you, we can charge whatever we want! Gomora, Ocellus, kill the Ultra!”

Gomora and Ocellus’ eyes shined red. Ocellus flew straight for Aster, her stinger glowed bright red as it began launching blazing red stingers at a rapid fire rate. Aster back flipped away from the attacks as each stinger exploded against the ground upon impact. At the same time, Gomora’s horns glowed as he fired a Super Oscillatory Wave straight at her. The attack came out as an orange and magenta colored flame beam that roared towards Aster. 

Aster performed one more back flip before stopping, but the moment she did, she quickly fell backwards as Gomora’s wave came flying towards her. The beam flew past her, but struck a building in the distance, causing a massive explosion that leveled a city block in one shot. Aster propped herself up on her elbows as she looked back at the destruction Gomora caused. 

“Jeez! And that was one attack!”

“Pay attention, hero!”

Before Aster could react, Alien Nackle came up and kicked Aster in her side, sending her flying before she landed back down on the ground hard. Aster coughed as she rolled about and recovered, getting back to her feet. 

“Okay, now I’m mad!” Aster’s hands glowed as she powered up. “Astronium–!” Before she could finish her attack, Ocellus appeared in front of Alien Nackle. Dammit…

Aster cancelled her attack as the light faded from her arms. While she was distracted, Gomora charged towards her and struck her with his mighty tail, the blow hit Aster in her chest, causing sparks to fly from her body as she was once again sent to the ground, unfortunately, the onslaught didn’t stop. Ocellus flew in and grabbed Aster, flying her up into the sky before she released her and fired several stinger shots at her. More sparks flew from Aster’s body as she was sent into freefall and hit the unforgiving earth hard, leaving an ultra-sized impression of her body on the land. Within the starry nexus, Sunset was growing frustrated with the current flow of the battle. 

Great…I’m getting blitzed, I have to set Gomora and Ocellus free before SMILE’s Gungirs and Goliaths get her and attack them! Sunset took a breath. Calm down, getting worked up won’t solve this problem. I have to think clearly, I have to be calm. 

Sunset’s Coin Keeper opened up and the two blue Ultra Coins appeared before her to answer her call. “Alright, help me save these two!” 

Sunset stood up, and Aster did the same. She took the first Ultra Coin into her left hand and said, “I ask for the gift of kindness!” Sunset placed the coin into the upper slot as light blue essence flew from the Ultra Coin, and to her right appeared a new Ultraman.

“I ask for the gift of protection!” Sunset took the second Ultra Coin and placed it into the bottom slot. Navy blue particles of light flowed from the coin to her left, the essence took on the form of another Ultraman.

“Let the waves of my soul quell your rage!”

Sunset pressed down on the crystal, once she did, the two Ultras broke down into particles of light and melded with Sunset’s body. A stream of water and sparkling cerulean light flowed upwards as Sunset assumed her new Ultra Form. 

Aster’s body was completely engulfed in cerulean energy and water. The two controlled Beasts and Alien Nackle were on edge, not sure how to attack or if they should attack now. When the waters dispersed, Aster had transformed into her newest form. 

Unlike her Solaris Maximus form, which was bulky and armored, this form was sleek and lean. Her chest still sported the sun color timer, but surrounding it was a four-pointed golden star. Aster’s forearms and lower legs were black in color, the black coloring was outlined with golden edges, and had a deep blue line. On the arms, that line began from the ocean blue hands and stopped at the gold band. On the feet, it encompassed the whole foot and stopped at the gold band. 

Along the arms and legs, sky-blue and ocean-blue colors mixed and swirled like water against the contrasting silver color of Aster’s body. This pattern continued on her body, stopping around the color timer which looked like the star was splitting a wave. Aster’s head still had her crest, but instead of appearing like a helmet plume, it was reversed to look like a shark’s fin, but she still had the emerald jewel at the center of her forehead. The fin was ocean blue, which covered the top of her head and stopped around her eyes. 

Aster’s movements had changed as she assumed her fighting stance, it was more fluid, calm, and relaxed, exerting no effort in her movements. But that belayed the strength that she possessed, she was like water, able to flow like a stream and crash like a mighty wave. 

“I will wash away all cruelty with serenity!”

Ocellus swopped in and fired her stinger at Aster. The blue Ultra Warrior became a blur as she dodged the first stinger. Ocellus didn’t know what to make of it so she fired more in rapid succession. Aster exerted no effort as she flowed through each of the stingers, her enhanced speed granted her time and clarity to see the attacks coming. The stingers that were close to hitting her, she merely gave them a gentle nudge to make them hit another stinger that would’ve hit her, causing a chain reaction that made the other stingers explode. 

Ocellus took to the skies and so did Aster, her speed translated well into her flying speed as she not only kept up with Ocellus, but was out pacing her, getting in front of the Changeling multiple times. 

“It’s time to free you from your bonds.” 

Aster brought her hands outstretched before her, and then made and arch. In the wake of the movement a crescent made of blue light appeared before her. Aster grabbed the crescent at the center, making the construct take the form of a bow. The Ultra Warrior created a drawstring as she pulled back and formed an arrow of cerulean light. Ocellus began making quick movements, trying to avoid Aster’s sights, but it was to avail. 

“Artemis Arrow!”

Aster released her arrow, shooting it off like a beam of light. The arrow snaked through the air until it finally hit its mark. The collar around Ocellus’ neck began to crack, and in that moment, it shattered to pieces. The red glow faded from her eyes as she looked about in confusion. 

“Wha…What happened?! H-How did I get out here?!”

“Peace, Ocellus, I just freed you from that collar,” said Aster. 

Ocellus’s compound eyes widened with awe. “Are…Are you an Ultra – AHHHH!!!!”

Suddenly, several laser bolts struck Ocellus from below, sending the Changeling into freefall as she fell to the earth. 

“OCELLUS!” Aster used her right hand to draw a circle in the sky above her, creating a ring of sparkling sky-blue light. “Healing Halo!”

Aster tossed the Healing Halo over Ocellus’ position, and almost immediately, the Halo began to shine down a sky-blue light that ebbed the pain away, the wounds from the attack were starting to close just as quickly. 

“Tch, just die already!” Alien Nackle cursed as he fired his blaster again. This time, his blasts didn’t hit their mark, as each bolt bounced off against the screen of light that had enveloped Ocellus. “What the?!”

“No harm will come to those within the Halo’s light. Now it is time to free your second prisoner!”

Aster raised her hands up as particles of water and light gathered to them. With swift motion, two swords made of water and light formed in her hands. 

“Aqua Blades!”

Gomora fired another of his Super Oscillatory Wave blasts. Aster flew down towards the great Terra Beast, weaving around his flame beam like a surfer weaved through a wave. At the last second, Gomora tried to tail whip Aster, but Aster merely performed a flip while still in midair and slashed with both of her blades. She landed gracefully behind Gomora before standing back up. At that moment, the control collar snapped, falling to the ground before the behemoth’s feet. 

Gomora shook its head, it too was in a state of confusion, looking around the area and trying to figure out where it was. 

“Damn you, Ultra!”

“You still have a chance to surrender, I suggest you take it.”

Alien Nackle’s reply came in the form of several blasts from his blaster. A few of which hit Gomora’s back. The Terra Beast roared in slight pain from the attack, but then turned around and glared at the mercenary. Gomora charged for the mercenary, hitting him with a head-butt and throwing him into the air. 

Aster flew up higher to intercept. Her right arm began to glow with sky-blue and ocean-blue light, that light grew brighter and brighter until it was shining all over Aster’s right forearm. 

“CALIBURN END!”

The blue Ultrawoman thrust her right arm forward, creating a blade of dual blue lights that roared towards Alien Nackle. The blade pierced through the mercenary’s body as the blade shined brighter and released a burst of energy that made Alien Nackle explode into nothingness. The blade of light dissipated and Aster turned her attention up to the spaceship. 

Inside the spaceship, 334 was not pleased by these results as he said to the pilot, “Get us out of here, so long as we know it’s here, we can come back for it with greater force.”

The ship suddenly lurched forward as alarms went off everywhere. 

“What’s happening?!” 334 demanded. 

“Our starboard side was hit,” said the pilot. 

“Was it the Ultra?!”

“No, it…it was the Terra Beast!”

Indeed, down below, Gomora was charging up for a second strike. The ancient creature fired off its Super Oscillatory Wave straight for the ship, however, its aim was off and the wave only hit the engines. The engines exploded, and with that, the ship began to fall from the sky. It descended faster and faster until it stopped. Much to 334’s displeasure, they were saved from the crash by Aster.

The Ultrawoman flew the ship down close to the Preserve entrance, so that SMILE could arrest them. However, Gomora was stomping towards them, enraged for what they had done to him, and for what they had put Fluttershy through was not forgotten. 

Aster turned around and said, “Gomora, stop! It’s over, they can’t hurt you or Fluttershy anymore!”

Gomora roared, its mind dead set on destroying the perpetrators.  

Aster took a deep breath as she waved her hands around and thrust them towards Gomora as she called out, “Aura Rect.” A wave of blue, sparkling light washed over Gomora. The Beast’s movements ceased as he looked at Aster. “Listen to me, Gomora, you’re a good guy. You helped bring these men to justice. Fluttershy promised you that everything would be okay, and she never breaks her promises to you. And I’m here to tell you, everything is alright.”

Gomora’s fierce gaze softened, Aster ceased her Aura Rect and watched as Gomora approached her. She stood her ground, not sure what to expect from the Terra Beast. But what happened next was completely unexpected, Gomora sniffed Aster for a moment, smiled, then opened its mouth and licked Aster’s face. 

“Um…good boy. Now, um, go back to your home.”

Gomora nodded, the Terra Beast took a few steps back and then quickly dug into the ground. His Super Oscillatory Waves did more than allow him to fire beams of fiery energy, they also allowed him to destabilize the dirt and rock so that he could burrow deep down into the earth. Whatever tunnel he dug closed up as soon as his tail sunk down. 

Aster couldn’t rest yet, a squadron of Gungirs and Goliaths were making their way towards Ocellus. She stayed within the Halo, afraid to come out for fear of getting attacked by the humans’ weapons. Aster flew over to her and raised her hands towards the fighters. 

“Do not attack her! She’s not our enemy!”

The Goliaths cannons lowered upon hearing Aster’s words, and the Gungirs retracted their missiles. Aster dismissed the Healing Halo, causing Ocellus to shake with fear. It wasn’t fear of the Ultra Warrior, no, even among her people, the exploits of the Ultras were legendary as defenders of the universe. Her fear came from the numerous tanks and fighter jets that were around her.

The Ultrawoman knelt before the Changeling and said, “A promise between friends is never broken.”

Ocellus’ eyes widened further. “Are you…you’re not the one I made the promise to, you’re the other one.” 

Aster nodded. 

Aster held out her hand as Ocellus flew up and steadily changed her form until she was her normal self, fitting within the palm of Aster’s head. The Changeling looked up at the Ultra Warrior and cried tears of joy. 

“Let’s get you some help, and then we’ll get you home.”

Several things happened towards the end of yesterday. First off, the criminals that held the Xeno House hostage were placed in prison, pending extradition for other crimes 334 and his crew had committed beforehand. Gomora had returned to his underground den, using his powers to open up the tunnels that had collapsed earlier and allowing those with access to the Terra Beast to set their equipment back up as well as check on the behemoth, Fluttershy was brought into check on him once she was through being questioned. 

Of course, a lot of suspicion was placed on Ocellus for her role in attacking the Preserve and the battle with Ultrawoman Aster. But, thanks to Pinkie Pie’s statements, as well as finding more control collars on 334’s ship, she was seen as just as much a hostage as everyone else, cooperation under duress. She was to be sent back to her home world of Hive Prime before the end of the week. 

After they returned back to the dorms, tears were shed as Twilight hugged Sunset tight after hearing that she was in a hostage situation, and once she was done bear hugging her roommate, she then proceeded to asking numerous questions about her latest transformation. 

Everyone had agreed through messages that they would convene in Twilight and Sunset’s dorm room the following day to discuss what had happened. 

“I still can’t believe you’re an alien, so, half or full?” Sunset asked. 

“Um, full, I’m not like Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “You can imagine my surprise when I found out, it felt really good to have another friend who wasn’t exactly all human.”

“Did you two know?” Twilight asked as she looked at Pinkie and Rarity. 

“Well…yes, we did, we have been friends for a long time, so this was known to us,” said Rarity. 

“We didn’t mean to not tell you guys! It’s just, we wanted to gauge your reaction. Not a lot of people are open to aliens from other planets migrating her, especially…well…” Pinkie stopped and let that hang in the air. 

Twilight and Sunset looked confused, and the others didn’t see to want to finish that sentence. 

Fluttershy took a deep breath as she spoke, “I’ll tell them, they should know. A lot of people forget, it wasn’t just Space Beasts that joined in the First Incursion, there were also some alien civilizations that joined in. One of those…was my civilization, the Vivirendan.”

Sunset raised and eyebrow, while Twilight stealthily took out a notepad. 

“My people are war like, and excel in combat and conquering other planets. But, there are some of us who don’t want to engage in such violent acts, some of us just want to live peaceful lives. Such wishes are seen as weakness, and weakness is either met with rehabilitation, or death. My mother and father fled our home world when I was just three years old, and my little brother Zephyr, he was barely a year old.”

“When we arrived, my parents immediately surrendered themselves to SMILE, requesting asylum. It was granted, but it was a tentative request. Not many forgot that my people did assist in the attack on Earth, so we were granted asylum, but only under the condition that we would be under surveillance so as to assure we weren’t spies or a potential sleeper cell. That was almost thirteen years ago.” 

Sunset nodded. “I thought it was taking you a bit when they were questioning you. Was that the reason why?” 

“Yes, it would be easy for them to assume that I was possibly embedded with those mercenaries to help steal Gomora, but the staff, as well as what you and Pinkie Pie told the agents and police, helped to clear me of any suspicion.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “That’s ridiculous, to have you under such surveillance for all this time while there are legitimate threats out there!”

“Commander Celestia has actually been helping my family with lifting the surveillance and travel restrictions, but its fine, I’ve made friends that don’t care about where I’m from, just who I am. Plus, I don’t think I could leave Gomora alone, he’d get lonely.”

“Yeah, we’re going to need to talk about that later. But…” Sunset got up from her seat and walked over to Fluttershy as she knelt in front of her. “I’m sorry for what I said, about labelling all aliens and Space Beasts.”

Fluttershy placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder as she smiled her kindly smile. “It’s alright, because I can see that you’ve changed your mind on that, you just needed to see a different perspective.”

Sunset smiled gratefully and stood back up. “Well, I guess I should ask, anyone else an alien or half-alien?”

“Nope, one-hundred percent homegrown human,” said Applejack. 

“Same!” Pinkie Pie chirped. 

“All natural, darling,” Rarity replied.  

“I can attest that I am unequivocally, homo sapien,” said Twilight. 

“Hey, I knew it! Welcome to the club Twi!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. 

Applejack face palmed. “Not homosexual, homo sapien, it’s the fancy way of sayin she’s human too.”   

Rainbow’s face burned a crimson red color as she crossed her arms and stated, “I-I knew that!”

“Okay, so, seeing as Rarity’s the only one who doesn’t know by now, I guess it’s time I let her in on the secret.”

The others nodded, but Rarity looked noticeably confused. “Um, pardon, was there something I was supposed to know?” 

“Nah, it’s just that at this point, almost everyone here has learned about it because of some life or death circumstance and I’d rather avoid that happening with you.” Sunset turned and looked directly at Rarity. “I’m Ultrawoman Aster.” 

Silence hung in the air for several seconds, at this point the others were getting worried since there was no visible reaction from the resident fashionista. After almost a minute of silence, Rarity stood up and said, “I KNEW IT!”

“Huh?” Sunset stated dumbfounded. 

“Oh please, darling, it may not be obvious to others, but I do have a fine eye for details. And I pieced it together after these last few instances. The fact that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were saved from the Everfree by Aster, your multiple absences when the Phantom Zone Emitter was down, and of course our recent incident with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. I must say, I’m glad to have this confirmed, and it makes much more sense why Commander Celestia said we’d be involved with operations concerning Aster. I assume she and Vice Commander Luna are aware, correct?” 

Sunset nodded. 

“Well then, you needn’t worry, I know how to keep a secret. But now I can create official gear centered on your giantess form!” Rarity exclaimed with glee. 

Sunset looked around as the others shared in a bit of laughter, their smiling faces, the warmth of this moment, it felt…familiar, and nice. 

Within the shadowy space, three thrones appeared, the center throne had the familiar man with the red horn, but two others flanked his, forming a triangle. The second obsidian throne was larger than the rest, but that was only due because of the size of the one who sat in it. He was a centaur, with a black lower half and silver hooves, his lower body rippled with muscle, much like his upper half. His arms were bright red, with tight muscles and sinew. The centaur had two long, curved horns which pointed up, and a goatee that ran halfway down his body. 

The Seeker and Devourer of Power, he went by the name of Tirek. 

The third obsidian throne had a woman sitting in it, but she wasn’t human, more like humanoid. Her body was covered in a thick, jet black carapace, her legs and arms had hollowed out holes, but despite this, she managed to move her arms and clawed hands as if nothing was wrong. On each forearm was a retractable claw-like scythe, her stomach had a light green and teal coloring to it, and was almost translucent. Her wings were jagged and see-through, like a dragonfly’s wings. The insectoid, had glowing green eyes, with black, slit irises. She had hair that was the dual shade of teal and light-green, which parted and flowed down over her chest. Upon her head grew a crown, a symbol of her authority and right to rule. 

This insectoid woman was known as Queen Chrysalis, the leader of the Dark Changelings.

A shadow appeared over the thrones, prompting the trio to look up as a blue glow emitted from the center. The Ultra Warrior has shown her power, now we can proceed to eliminate her.

“I should hope so, I had to sacrifice one of my drones to impersonate Zetton, and he was destroyed!” Chrysalis slammed her first against her throne in anger. 

Tirek scoffed. “Spare us, you have, what? Thousands of drones? And besides, can’t you just make more?”

Chrysalis seemed to blush a little at the thought. “Don’t talk as if you know how we reproduce! I just don’t want to use my forces when I’m currently fighting a war right now!”

“Then you should’ve kept that brightly colored one, she seemed strong, we could’ve had her impersonate Zetton instead. But you went and let her be sold off to some mercenaries and now she’s out of your reach.” 

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH SOMBRA!” However…that little one does seem interesting…

The shadow pulsed and the three went silent. Regardless, now we can prepare to end her. What is Zetton’s status?

“Currently undergoing his metamorphosis,” Sombra answered. 

“Tch, thinks he’s so tough just because he killed an Ultra once. Allow me to go to Earth and I’ll take care of this Aster!” Tirek proclaimed. 

Were it that easy I would’ve dispatched you already! The Forest’s power keeps the likes of us from getting close to the planet, so for now, we will send those who can to attack the Forest, or kill the Ultra Warrior before then. How went our other operation?

“That went off without a hitch.” The three rulers watched as a young woman appeared in a flash of light, she wore a black robe that obscured her face and body as she knelt before the dark rulers. “I can confirm that the Tree is there. My apologies though, I couldn’t get closer to it.”

I didn’t expect you too, what you’ve done gives me more than enough information. It is time we planned our next course of action…