Epilogue
A few years later...
Gleaming Shield shifted uneasily in her light environmental suit, until the sleeves settled properly over her wings. Most of the Martian-born ponies just wore respirators outside these days, and some part of her wished she could be so brave. But even if the temperature outside were getting better, standing under the pressure washer to remove every potential drop of poison from her coat wasn't worth a little extra sweat.
The suit was little more than light plastic, clear except for the portion that covered her legs. Ponies always preferred to get a good look at each other. That was fine so far as she was concerned. Gleaming liked seeing her subjects.
She crested the watchtower a second later, clambering through the tight rubber airlock and into the tower's secured observation post. A dome of clear glass looked out on all sides, with communications equipment in the center for the crew.
"Princess," said Blue Emerald, saluting with one clawed foreleg. His helmet bulged out a little to permit for the beak. "You didn't have to come up here personally. I emailed you the report."
She patted him once on the shoulders as she passed him. "I'm a little old-fashioned to trust the safety of Carnelian to a few pictures on a screen. I wanted to see for myself." She stopped at the edge of the curved glass, looking out on Carnelian.
The “city” was just over a dozen squat domes now, each one about a hundred meters across and ten high. Even as she watched, the vast fields of solar arrays stopped tracking the sun and began to retract, plastic shields folding over each bank.
The horizon was a vast wall of red, stretching unfathomably high into the sky. "I don't see a weather team out there," Blue said. "We're not diverting this one?"
"Not after two weeks ago," she answered, fiddling with her helmet for a second, then pulling it back. Like all the creatures born here, Blue Emerald would be more comfortable if he could see her face, instead of the matte black plastic of a respirator. "Team still needs to recover. Mirror gate with Equestria doesn't open again for another week. I want to keep them on standby for a real emergency."
Blue sighed, slumping into the observation chair. It was mounted into the floor, able to pivot around to look out in all directions. But from the position of his coffee, he spent most of his time staring at the screens. The cameras were mounted higher up, and gave a much better view. "So we'll be shoveling sand for a few more weeks?" He hesitated. "Wait. The alarm isn't sounding."
"Not this time." Gleaming spread her wings to either side, grinning back at him. "I couldn't let my city get all dusty for Princess Cadance’s royal visit. The Crystal Empire expects progress from its colony. We're going to show them progress. Real veggies, and grass growing outside. No storm is going to ruin it."
She looked away from him again, facing the oncoming storm-wall. Years of terraforming had transformed these storms from a minor annoyance to a serious hazard. Every dome in the city was rated to survive them—it was why the city had hired its own team of diamond dog excavators. But there was no reason to perform unnecessary safety tests.
I'm going to take her flying when she gets here. She could imagine Cadance’s pleasure with her progress, and how the Alicorn might express that satisfaction to her wife. Gleaming flushed bright red at the thought.
She focused, picturing the boundary wall of Carnelian on all sides. It was much like the domes themselves, a circle of reprocessed Martian soil and polymer, perfectly flat across its entire area.
A brilliant pink shield flared to life around the city, turning the growing maelstrom to perfect stillness. Moments later the wall struck against it, and Gleaming buckled—but her legs held.
After a few seconds she rose, still panting from the effort. But she'd kept shields up for the length of an entire invasion without any Alicorn magic of her own. She could do a dust storm.
"You can take the rest of the day off, Blue," Gleaming said, reaching for her respirator. "That shield will be up until after your shift ends anyway."
"Thanks, Princess." He saluted again, scrambling for his own respirator. "Sometimes I forget that we have our own Alicorn ruling Carnelian. You're amazing."
She grinned back at him a moment, before settling the mask over her mouth. "I'm learning."