Soft light drifted throughout the cockpit, illuminating its interior as the various consoles and data streams displayed numerous calculations and readings. The pilot was busy adjusting the different instruments in preparation, a list held firmly in one hand. His face was obscured by his helm, a blocky and worn thing that had saved his life numerous times from sharpshooters and would be LightEaters. His hands danced across the screens and consoles, adjusting and re-calibrating the various components and systems within the vessel for the coming test.

His companion floated beside his head, her soft grey shell barely visible in the dim cockpit, while her bright cyan eye darted from feed to feed, double checking the warriors work. They had to get this right or it could spell disaster for themselves, maybe others. Paracausality had a tendency to react in unexpected ways, even when directed by those who could wield it.

The small drone suddenly perked up as her shell plates adjusted them selves. She looked towards its charge, a series of digital chimes sounded as it addressed the pilot.

“Incoming hail from the Drifter, want me to patch him through,” she asked. Her companion offered nothing more than a subtle nod. He wasn’t usually this quiet, but the task at hand required a great deal of focus.

“Alright, one second,'' The drone briefly closed its eye, the plates surround ding it once again beginning to rotate around the circular eye, before a small amount of static filled the once silent cockpit, a familiar voice soon replacing it.

“Hey there Hero! You ready to get this show on the road? Ol’ Drifter’s been looking forward to this all day!” The man's voice was slightly distorted by static, but his ever present charisma shined through clearly. To most this enigmatic figure was just another scoundrel from the Frontier. A Risen of the Dark Age that had abandoned his duty to both Humanity and the Traveler in search of ill gotten profits. But to those who had become a part of his crew, who had earned the right to call themselves Dredgens, he was as close and as trusted as any fireteam member. Though that didn’t stop the pilot from rolling his eyes at his friends' favorite nickname.

“Almost, just a few more alterations and we should be good to start the test. Let’s just hope this thing doesn’t blow up on us.” The pilot answered back, his voice low and gravelly from disuse for the past several days.

“I have to agree with Cyrell, this thing is even more ramshackle than any of your other contraptions by far!” The drone piped up, her tone harsh and cold as she addressed the shifty Risen her Guardian was so fond of. “It’s one thing to mess with a little Darkness here and there, but combining it and the Light? Let alone in an NLS drive” the drones shell was violently spinning around its small core, but Cyrell was quick to give her a gentle pat and another small nod, his own way of comforting his companion. He understood her wariness, this was a pretty big gamble even for him. Maybe even for the drifter himself to be honest, but the potential good was something he couldn't pass on. Not with everything at stake.

“Ah cool your servos ghost, Drifter knows what he's doing! Have I steered you wrong yet” Drifters question sent the drones shell into another flurry of motion. She could almost see the crooked small as he spoke, and it annoyed her to no end.

“I guess we’ll find out won’t we, Rat,” She countered, an ever growing warmth radiating within her core. This man was not what she would call trustworthy, even before she found out about his fondness for the Darkness. He might claim it was all for the survival of Humanity, but deep down she was sure he was only looking out for himself. But Cyrell was adamant about helping, and she couldn’t abandon him no matter what.

“You've been hanging around Moon Dust too much, heh. Say what you want but I know this little beaut will make life much easier for all of us! NLS Drives have been needing an upgrade for a while now, might as well use what we got to give’em a little boost” as the Drifter finished speaking Cyrell placed his list on a nearby console, looking towards his lone companion.

“It’ll be alright Selene, we’ve survived worse than an explosion.” He calmly opened his palm as the ghost hovered near him. She placed herself in his palm and sighed, thankful for his reassurance.

“You better be right about this…” the ghost looked into the faceplate of her Risen, unable to see his face, but more than aware of his intent.

Cyrell calmly began activating the ship's “new” NLS Drive, his hands gliding over the various screens and consoles, switches and buttons activated with a practiced precision developed over the years. This old Arcadia Jumpship wasn’t the prettiest bird, but she was his and he knew her better than any other pilot he had met, save perhaps for Amanda. The ship shook and rattled as it attempted to interface with this foriegn device.

From his own ship, The Derelict, Drifter watched his own data feed with rapt attention. The drive was installed successfully, and his own mods were operating as designed. He mentally patted himself on the back for his ingenuity, his experiences crafting both the Mote Bank and Prismatic Recaster had led him to this, the Paracausal Engine… name pending. With any luck Guardians across the system would soon be making trips from planet to planet in nearly half the time, hell they may even be able to jump out of the system in case things got… too dark.

He stroked his chin before leaning closer and placing a gloved finger to his ear. “Alright Kid, everything looks good on my end. You ready to light this match?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” came Cyrell’s gruff response. The guardian quickly began inputting the coordinates for Earth. If this worked like the Drifter said it should only take him a couple hours to reach the distant planet, maybe less if that were possible. He couldn’t say he completely understood how this makeshift device worked, he was no Warlock after all, but he trusted the Drifters craftsmanship well enough. With a final calming breath he reached his armored hand towards the ship's controls. “Starting jump in 3… 2… 1!”

The ship's engines began to roar as it began building speed, the drive pouring power into them as the stars and planet disappeared in an astounding burst of speed. All around him the familiar multicolored wafts of light speed past his ship as it barreled through the void towards its destination. Selene glanced at the incoming reports from the drive, watching the power build as they soared towards Humanity’s home world.

“Ok… ok! All systems normal, power fluctuations are matching projections. It’s.. It's actually working!” Selene couldn’t hide her amazement, by her own calculations they would be home in a mere three hours, twenty seven minutes! Travel to Saturn usually lasted at least a day or two with a ship this old, even with a newer NLS Drive!

“What’d I say? Drifter knows how to build’em! Hahaha!” The Drifter laughed as he began collecting the drives data. Yet another gamble paid off for him and he couldn’t wait to rub it in the Vanguards faces. For the next hour the drive continued to operate, the light and dark energies combining and flowing into the ship's engines.

Suddenly though the entire ship began to shutter, and crimson red warning lights began to appear rapidly across both the cockpit consoles and the Drifter’s own readout.

“Uhhh Kid? I think you might wanna try and slow down!” Drifter’s voice oozed concern, the readouts showed the paracausal forces had sharply risen in intensity and were beginning to further increase the ship's mind boggling speed. “Don’t think you wanna crash that bird right?”

Cyrell offered no response, instead desperately trying to divert the immense waves of power flooding out of the experimental machine. Around the jumpship distortions in reality began to take place, as if the very universe was collapsing into itself, before unraveling back with explosive force. The ship jerked and rattled with each disturbance, all the while accelerating more and more. His hands flew across the controls, sweat running like rivers behind his helm as he desperately tried to regain control.

“Boss we got a problem! I’m reading spikes in sterile neutrinos! Whatever is happening you gotta act fast!” Selene flitted from screen to screen, aiding her guardian as best she could to prevent the coming disaster.

“Kid just shut it down, that thing is looking like it's gonna pop any second!” the Drifter’s mirth had long since died, replaced with a dread he was all too familiar with. This was a gamble… he shouldn’t have made.

Cyrell tried to shut the ship down, but to no avail. The system seemed to almost have a mind of their own at this point , as the paracausal forces began to enforce their will against one another and upon the ship. Reality bubbled around them, churning and twisting as the Light and Dark clashed around. Cyrell had enough time to turn towards Selene, intent on making peace before the final end as the energies overwhelmed them. But she would never hear it.

Drifter watched in horror as the readout suddenly halted. Connection errors sprang up across the various instruments and consoles aboard his vessel. The ship was gone, without so much as an explosion or impact. It’s almost like it just… stopped existing. His ghost hovered behind him, its red eye drilling into the back of his skull.

“...Don’t look at me ghost. We all knew this was a shot in the dark…” He stumbled into his seat, head lolling down as he tried to think how he would explain to the Vanguard what had happened to the Hero of the Red War.

Cyrell struggled to open his eyes, hoping that perhaps a miracle had saved both himself and Selene from certain doom. His body raked with sensations familiar and foreign. One was the familiar warmth of the Light, soothing and calm like a hearth in the winter. The other was frigid and painful, it reminded him of the moon, of the dark and disturbing Hive Magicks he stopped down there in the depths of the Hellmouth. The two sensations danced across his skin like dancers from a Golden Age film. He reached his armored hand towards the controls of the ship, the consoles and screens all dark.

“Cy… rell? Are you….ok?” The familiar chirps of Selene called out, quiet and unsure. The little drone hovered shakily towards him, having suffered the same sensations as her charge.

“Mhmm. Where… Where are we?” Cyrell glanced around outside the cockpit, his eyes scanning the inky void for anything familiar. As he did, his hands began to once again glide over the ship's controls, unconsciously attempting to restore power to the adrift vessel. As he searched his eyes soon fell upon a glowing orb in the distance, around the size of the purple ball so many guardians loved to mess with in the Tower. It was bright blue with bits of white swirling across its surface.

“…is that? Cyrell could hardly believe his eyes, it was Earth! Despite everything they had made it back to Earth in one piece. Well more or less in one piece. He redoubled his efforts, desperately trying to activate the ship's emergency power. He needed to give the Drifter a piece of his mind, in the way only a Titan could. His efforts were repaid as the ship slowly began to hum with life, emergency lights flickering on within the cockpit.
He glanced to Selene who was transfixed on the horizon, longing to return home to the safety of the Traveler.

“Selene, can you help me get this thing up and running?” Cyrell asked, trying to shake the little ghost out of her stupor.

“Huh…? Oh! Right, right power first then we go home.” The drone immediately hovered towards the back of the ship's cockpit, intent on aiding her guardian’s endeavors. Time passed slowly as they worked to bring the various systems online again. Eventually all that remained was the experimental drive, though after attempting to restart it they were met with a curious message.

Error! Paracausal Engine power at critical levels, begging recharge sequence. Allotted time: 87.600 Hours

Cyrell turned his head to look at Selene, hoping for an explanation. While he was by no means an utter meathead like some other guardians liked to think, especially given his nature as a Titan, he nevertheless was not too fond of complicated math.

Selene simply hovered in place, shocked by the revelation. “You can’t be serious… this thing takes 10 years to charge!?” her outburst startled Cyrell as he quickly leaned away from the irate drone. “That rat faced good for nothing Risen better be glad we are so close or I would have… have… ugh i don’t even know what to think!”

Cyrell decided to simply let her wear herself out as she ranted about their mutual acquaintance on the long trip towards the little blue planet.

After many hours of ranting and colorful language, the Jumpship had finally reached synchronous orbit with their home. It’s surface was covered with numerous groupings of swirling clouds, small pieces of green or blue appearing beneath the white blanket of clouds and occasional storms. Curiously though, they had no luck when attempting to hail either the Vanguard in the Tower or any other official channels to request permission to land. Even Eris was unreachable, though that ,ight have been simply because she was on Io instead of Luna.

“We might have fried our comms equipment, which means Amanda is gonna be mad about finding or buying replacements. Again.” Selene muttered as she tried another emergency channel, but receiving only static. She hoped that was all this was, but the fear of the Pyramids left her morbidly curious if perhaps something else had happened to cause the radio silence .

“Then we do this the old fashioned way, I can deal with Amanda. Just means we’ll be making another unsanctioned trip into the Cosmodrome for some rare gifts.” Cyrell replied, as he deftly guided the ship towards the planet below, intent on returning home for some much needed rest.

The two flew for hours, searching for the ever familiar sight of the Traveler and The Last City, eager to put this entire day behind them. But as they continued to travel with no sign of either, worry began to set in. Cyrell could feel his heart beating faster as he began to build speed, racing across the sky searching for home or anything familiar. A total of six hours passed before he once again guided the ship back into synchronous orbit, puzzled and terrified at what this might mean.

“Have you tried-” Cyrell began as he was swiftly cut off by his panicking ghost.

“Yes! I’ve tried every channel again, I’ve even tried Fallen and Cabal channels! But there's nothing! Not a peep or threat, just…. Just nothing.” The drones shell dropped, the individual pieces acting as limbs as they slumped down her core in defeat. “I can’t find anything… not even the Traveler…”

Cyrell was at a loss for words, unsure how to react or what to think. Theories and probabilities began to flood his mind as he desperately tried to use his past experiences to make sense of this.

Could this be a trick of the Vex? No he had made sure the drifter used none of their tech for this experiment. Perhaps they had traveled in time? No that was ridiculous, even Osiris had stated something like that was impossible without a great amount of precision. On and on the thoughts came until one stood out amongst the rest. A dark theory that he shuddered at as it began to quiet all the others.

“Either we somehow overshot our destination and just happened to arrive at an earthlike planet or…” Cyrell couldn’t finish. The idea was too devastating to consider. He glanced towards Selene and could see that she understood his meaning regardless. The pair remained quiet for a while, unsure what to do or how to react.

Finally, Cyrell began to fly back towards the planet, as Selene’s shell perked back up questioningly. “What are you doing? There's nothing down there Cyrell.” she said as he dove beyond the clouds.

“I refuse to believe that we lost everything again, we must have simply jumped further than intended. Tech like this is bound to do that right?” he asked, hoping she would allow him at least this much.

“Okay big guy.. But what are going to do? 10 years is a long time to rough it on an alien world.” she responded, trying her best to remain supportive of her charge. Humanity had long since been on the brink of annihilation, but she refused to give up. Especially if her Guardian was still willing to fight.

“Simple. We need paracausal energy, so we're going to make some.” he stated matter of factly. Guardians could generate the Light, it was how they grew stronger after all. So long as he had something to fight he could create orbs of Light to power the NLS Drive. And he still had that…. “Gift” as well, which would help him create its parallel. THis was all he had left, a final gamble. With the last of his hope on the line.

The Sun blazed high above, giving its warmth and cheer to all the denizens of Cloudsdale. The city was buzzing with energy as pegasi fluttered to and fro on various flights of fancy or business. Even the tourists, both winged and flightless alike, couldn’t help but be swept up in the sheer positivity radiating across this wind swept paradise.

This peace however would soon be broken, as a low roar began to echo across the sky. Ponies all around began to search all around for the source, afraid an irate dragon might be throwing a fit like the incident in Ponyville some time ago. But no such sight appeared, at least as far as they could tell. The sound persisted, gaining in pitches it seemed to get closer to the main thoroughfare of the city. A squad of Royal Guard suddenly looked up as screeching overhead was a large oddly shaped…. Thing. Fire bellowed from what looked like large tubes, jetting overhead at insane speeds. They quickly took flight, intent on tracking it wherever it may be going. Suddenly the strange shape did an about face and began racing back towards the city allowing the guards to observe a little more clearly. The object had a long blunt tube connected to a much wider body, strange lights just barely visible in the mid afternoon light. Connected on either side were large cylindrical tubes roaring with bright orange flames, with a third circular tube jutting from the back of the larger portion producing a similar flame. The most baffling aspect of this strange machine however, to the guards at least, was that it was made entirely of painted metal. Most of the machine was a dark grey with small accents across its various sections being painted a dull green.

The machine quickly overtook the confused guards, racing back towards the thoroughfare. The guards decided to keep pursuing, watching with apprehension as the strange object began to slow until it reached its destination. It hovered in place for a few minutes, allowing the guards to quickly surround and examine it. They couldn’t find a view port of any kind, perplexing them further as the large object continued to simply hover in place. In the streets below dozens of creatures began to gather to see what this odd flying object might be, with some pegasi even being brave enough to fly closer to try and inspect it from a distance.

Without warning the strange machine suddenly burst forward, causing the crowd below to gasp and panic. The guards however, quickly began resuming their pursuit of it, pumping their wings as hard as they could to try and catch up to the impossibly fast UFO. Try as they might, the UFO was simply too fast for them, especially while wearing armor, and it swiftly disappeared over the horizon. The lead guard watched as it slowly faded from view, a single thought entering his mind. Guess my cousin was right about aliens after all…

The final rays of sunlight lazily shone through Duty Bounds office window, coating it in the bright oranges and purples of Celestia’s magnificent sunset. The walls, covered in photos of friends and family and few medals denoting his stellar service all glowed in the ethereal twilight, but despite this picturesque scene Duty was filled with immense anxiety. Only a few hours ago a strange and never before seen UFO had flown into Equestrian controlled airspace around Cloudsdale, even hovering above the city itself! The reports that had begun to flood into his office, alongside the numerous letters of concerned well to do Cloudsdale nobles, had been nonstop ever since the incident.

He slid out of his chair, all four hooves slowly plodding onto the pristine wooden floor, as he prepared to leave for yet another interview. He had managed to find out exactly who had been on scene during the whole debacle, and he was going to hear every word of what they had to say. Every other report was filled with information he couldn’t begin to take seriously, and the letters were even more far-fetched in their descriptions of the event.

Duty stepped out of his office, closing the door with a burst of magic, and began the long walk towards the conference room. The unicorns armor clinked as he trotted along, passing by various members of the castle staff who seemed to be whispering to each other far more than usual. It seemed that word was already begging to get out, which meant his life was about to get a lot more difficult. He sighed and quickly ran his stark white hoof through his two tone mane, the enchanted armor giving it a two tone blue appearance.His amber eyes briefly flicked towards the large floor to ceiling windows of the hall, taking in the sight of another perfect sunset as he marched towards his destination.

Some time later he arrived in front of a large oak door, set within the wall of the hallway. Duty reached up and firmly knocked on the door with his forehoof, before opening it and entering inside. The conference room was formal if a bit spartan in design, small tapestries adorning the wall with the symbols of the twin princesses, while the far back wall was almost entirely covered in a large metal-worked Equestrian Seal made of pure gold. Beyond that the walls were similar in color to the rest of the castle, a stark white to the solar diarchs coat whilst the violet velvet carpets covered every inch of the room. The room was empty save for Duty and a single stallion in armor standing by the table, the symbol on his chest piece identifying him as a member of the Cloudsdale Barracks, an icon of a pegasus flying in front of a cloud, with the sun and moon situated above and below the figure respectively.

“Sir! Staff Sergeant Lightning Spear reporting as requested!” The lone guard quickly stood at attention, offering his commanding officer a salute. “I am ready for your orders, sir!”

Duty chuckled and shook his head before addressing Lightning. “At ease colt, this is an interview not a debrief. I just need you to help me make sense of this mess of a situation.” He slowly eased into an adjacent chair, motioning for Lightning Spear to follow suit. “I’ve been hearing a lot of fantastic tales out of Cloudsdale, and could really use an eye witnesses perspective.”

“I’ll do my best sir, though I have to warn you, the rumors and hearsay aren’t as ridiculous as you might think.” The young guard said as he followed Duty’s example.

Twilight needed a vacation, and she needed one badly. As if being Crowned Princess of Friendship not but a few short months ago hadn’t been enough, now she was being bombarded with questions from all of Ponyville about the rumors of some UFO spotted around Cloudsdale. Sure the populace of Equestria were prone to exaggeration and panic when confronted with something strange, but aliens in fire spewing metal ships? That was going too far. The lavender alicorn groaned as she finished locking the castle, just in case somepony got decided to try and ask more ridiculous questions, before slowly making her way to her bedroom where Spike was currently preparing himself for a nice long trip to dreamland.

“Oh, hey Twilight, finally finished preparing for the siege I see!” Spike chimed as he waddled over to his bed. He hoped his little joke might help brighten his adopted siblings mood, dealing with swathes of panicky ponies was always draining. Twilight chuckled, making her way towards the bathroom to prepare for bed herself.

“Snark all you want young drake, but at least you didn’t have to calm down a village sized stampede!” shaking her head before using her magic to brush her teeth.

“Well I mean, the Crystal Empire does consider me a hero, so I mi-” before he could finish his self aggrandizing spike let loose a large belch, bright green flames eruptions from his maw as a wisp of magic coalesced in the air in front of him. The wax seal upon it denoting a missive from the Equestrian Royal Guard. “Uhhh twilight, I think this is for you…” the young drake started as he waddled towards her, scroll clutched in his claws.
Twilight used her magic to unfurl the scroll, simultaneously dreading and curious to learn its contents.

From the Desk of Duty Bound, Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard

To Her Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle

I hope this letter finds you well Princess Twilight, despite its lateness. As you have doubt already been made aware, earlier this day an Unidentified Flying Object, here referred to as UFO, was spotted by a multitude of civilians and military personnel above Cloudsdale. I don’t need to tell you how substantial this alone is so I’ll get straight to the facts. THrough a multitude of interviews with eyewitnesses, both civilian and military, we have been able to confirm the following details.

Princess this is an unprecedented situation we find ourselves in, and it is best that we act swiftly so as to determine the origin and purpose of this machine. With that in mind no official stance or plan has been proposed by any of the other Diarchs. If anything should happen near Ponyville please let me know as soon as possible.

Your humble servant,

Captain Duty Bound

Twilight read and reread the letter a dozen times, hoping to find some kind of fault. Some possible mistake that would render the whole thing as nothing more than one of Celestia’s foalish pranks, but she had no such luck. She turned her head towards Spike, twitch slowly developing in her left eye before stating to her loyal assistant.

She promptly went to bed, tossing the scroll onto her nightstand and flopping onto her side in a huff. She closed her eyes, dreading the rising of tomorrow's sun. It was going to be a very long day.

Harmonious Destiny

by OverlordCornutt

Chapter 1: I'm a Gambling Man