//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Union 
// Story: Frames of War 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Catlin carried the half-broken frame back aboard her orbiter, as once she had been carried by her own mechanical body, while confined to the blindness of a Zariman suit.

She instructed Ordis to find a safe landing site as close to the city as he could, then changed into something more fitting. She considered and rejected an entire suite of different Warframes. All were powerful warriors, but the time for battle in Equestria was over.

For the ponies' sake, she could only hope Twilight's spell had removed the need for it for long to come.

"Catlin!" shouted Aldric, as soon as she sat down in front of the communicator. An image appeared, with several members of the clan all aboard the dojo. They stood in the drydock by the look of things, with every spare inch packed with crates and people. "Catlin, we thought you went down when they wrecked the Maeldune. Thought our founding warlord was sleeping in the cold below."

She grinned back. "Almost was. There's so much I need to tell you—but first, I need answers. Where are you?"

Ordis spoke before they could. "Your dojo has moved, Operator, including every docked vessel and occupant. It's located near this planet's L2, where a relay would usually sit."

"Yeah," Laurel agreed. Her old friends looked happy to see her, but the more she saw them, the harder it was to miss the signs of conflict. They had baggy eyes, dirty faces, and many little injuries bandaged in various ways. "Not sure how you did it Cat, but damn. The sense of timing on you is legendary."

"What happened since I died?" she asked. "Starting with the ship. Cy?"

"Feeling better to hear my captain is intact," joined another voice, deeper and vibrant. "Captain of nothing, unfortunately. Maeldune suffered catastrophic failure. Only drive section and central core recovered."

"Might be able to patch him up one day," Aldric said. "But that's not the biggest thing. Cat, we... we lost. They took Origin. People are running from planet to moon, trying to stay ahead of the Sentients. They've got themselves a new king, and he's forcing all the conquered people into his death-cult. We took in as many refugees as we could. Murex fleet found us right about the time you—" He trailed off. "What did you do, exactly?"

"A long story," she said. "One that'll make the most sense if you can hear it in person. But you've all been running things just fine without me, I trust you to hold down the dojo. Do you have the resources?"

They shared a dark look—the answer to that required no words for her to understand. "For a few weeks," Tiriaq eventually said. "Hydroponics was rated for a hundred, not a thousand. We're burning reserves."

"I think I know a way to solve the food problem," she said. "Just keep things stable for now. I might be coming up with some VIPs in the next day or two, alright? Just don't land. This is a Sentient planet."

They wanted to keep her on the line for days—hell, they wanted her to fly back and debrief them on everything she had learned. But she resisted that urge. For a little while longer at least, it wasn't the clan that needed her most. "

Catlin dressed in sturdy, practical clothing for her departure. That along with a better radio, and she left the rest aboard.

Despite Ordis's fears, she had no intention of walking back into Canterlot with a Warframe covered in weapons surrounded by her most vicious kubrow.

"But you must know how this sounds?" Ordis asked, as she descended the ramp. "One minute you're dead, and the next you're walking completely unprotected into a planet you've already told me is ruled by your most dangerous enemies?"

"There's only one sentient on the planet," she answered. "I think. Remember, the Orokin didn't create them to inhabit worlds, only to terraform. They probably have no interest in living down a gravity well."

He was silent as she descended the ramp, only speaking again when she reached the ground outside. Dangerous or not, she wouldn’t be returning alone—with that communicator, she could remain in touch with her allies in orbit, along with Ordis. Not that she expected it to matter.

"Get back soon, Operator," he pleaded. "Please."

As it turned out, there was somewhere large enough in the city for her orbiter to land—an athletic stadium. She emerged onto a grassy field slightly scorched by the landing, walking slowly past empty benches.

Bright banners hung from poles overhead, depicting scenes of the "Wonderbolts" in flight. They looked like an entire team of flying ponies, all working together in coordination.

They got along so well, despite being so different. Could the people of the Origin System ever do that too? Could she imagine the day when the Grineer stopped kidnapping biomass to fill their gene-vats, and the Corpus started treating the populations they ruled like people, instead of profit?

Now that vision would be even harder to bring into being—the Origin System was being invaded right now. Its mighty fleets, united through tense diplomacy, fell anyway.

Catlin had done her best to unite the Tenno, and even that hadn't been enough. Maybe they needed to outsource their diplomacy to someone who could do it better.

She wandered through the streets for a time, guided only by the distant castle on the horizon. Bright flags flew from it, and music rang out all the way down to the lower city. Ponies celebrated their victory. They had extracted survival from the gnashing jaws of extinction. 

She saw a few ponies wandering the streets with her. All of them looked dazed, and stumbled away from her without listening to her attempts to communicate. She could only imagine the pain they must be in, having their minds returned to them after so long infested. Would they ever recover their sanity?

She found a walkway leading to the top tier, one cut as stone switchbacks into the mountain. There were gondolas overhead, but she wasn't sure when those would be running again. So she walked.

As she did, she found one pony ahead who did not flee when the others did, a reddish unicorn. Maybe she was particularly insane—or maybe she just wasn't that observant. 

Either way, Catlin fell in beside her, hiking the slope towards Canterlot Castle.

"I haven't done this hike since I was a filly," she said, without looking at Catlin. "The gondolas are always running, rain or shine. Much more convenient than trudging up yourself."

That didn't sound much like half-insane screaming. Catlin slowed, considering whether to reply. Maybe the pony was only talking because she hadn't noticed her. Once she saw what Catlin really was, she would flee with the others.

"Your civilization didn't deserve this," she eventually said. "From what I've seen, you know more about harmony than anyone I've ever met. It's unfair so many suffered today."

The unicorn didn't look back. She continued her slow hike in silence, until they emerged onto the wide, paved streets of the upper city. 

The damage was as bad as she expected. Some buildings were leveled by combat, others had just been broken-into as the infestation spread. Many had strange blank patches in front of them—where lawns or flowerbeds had been. Evidently there was some limit to Twilight's restoration. Biomass that grew too twisted could not be restored.

"It would be the whole city if it wasn't for you, Tenno," she said. "The princesses are powerful, but they didn't know what to do. That monster you killed—would've stopped Princess Twilight, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," she said. Her ears strained—the more she listened to this creature, the more she recognized her. She had never seen her in her life, yet there was something about the way she walked, and held herself. "Power is important for any enemy—but just as important is knowing where to strike."

"No creature in Equestria knows more about that than you do," the unicorn whispered. "If I didn't know you, I would... be afraid. That you would try to take over, and rule us. But I know you won't."

There was familiarity, because Catlin had been this pony before. After a fashion. In the same way, she had been Catlin. "Ruby River," Catlin whispered. "Are you... cured?"

The pony stopped, and looked back at her. Catlin had spent her last few hours with Luna, who made her feel properly sized. But these ordinary ponies, they were shorter than she was. Ruby's face reached just below her breast.

She dropped down to one knee, so she could look the little horse in the eye, expectant. 

She had never seen Ruby's eyes of course, because she didn't have them until now. "You saved all Equestria," the pony whispered. "And I saw. I... unleashed the horror that almost killed us. And I found the one who saved us."

"You saved yourselves," Catlin said, resting one hand on her shoulder. Her fur was soft, like the finest kavat-mane. Despite all that they'd done together, this pony was clean. "You killed the infestation too. You protected those archeologists beneath the city. You helped me convince the princesses that I was trustworthy. You're a hero."

The pony started crying. She held herself against Catlin's arm like a child. Where size and age was concerned, maybe she was, even if the pony was fully grown. Catlin held her, and waited.

The pony was restored, she wasn't a Warframe anymore.

Catlin could still take away her pain this last time.

"Will I ever... stop seeing it, in my mind?" the unicorn eventually asked.

"Stop seeing—what?" 

In answer, she turned her horn on an overturned cart. It flashed with light, and the wooden cart exploded, sending smoldering debris raining down around them. "How we fought," she said. "When I close my eyes, I see war. I hear voices under an alien star. I'm killing."

Oh. Catlin rose. "I don't know, Ruby. No one transformed like you has ever been restored before. You're... the first of your kind."

Could she use the same magic on the Excalibur in her arsenal, the one still made from the tortured flesh of a human being? Or would it be kinder not to try—his family and world were all gone, after all. Only she gave him purpose now.

"I'll tell you one thing," she finally said. "Equestria won't be able to pretend it's alone after this. There are trillions of other lives up there—and most of them are in trouble. I could use the help of someone like you; someone who knows ponies and who trusts me."

The unicorn fell silent, deep in thought. "The... wonders I saw in your mind. Soaring through the stars, homes built deep in the ocean—thousands of ancient cultures to explore. They're all up there?"

"And the horrors," Catlin agreed. "The infestation we purified. Monsters who would kill everypony in your world if they could. But they'll still be there whether you help me or not. The only thing that might change is whether we beat them."

"My... archeological career is over," the pony finally said. "Almost everyone died. I don't know if I could face the University anymore. Maybe I could help you instead. If you don't make me keep killing."

"I won't," she promised. But the universe might. 

They walked the rest of the way to Canterlot Castle together. She hesitated on the other side of the drawbridge, poised on the edge of decision. 

This was a critical moment—she felt it, just as she had long ago aboard the Zariman Ten-Zero. Back then, she had decided whether or not all her friends would die as humans or live on as something else.

If she went inside, Equestria would change too.

We can save them, came a voice—her own thoughts, but not. All of them. But you have to want it.

Catlin crossed the bridge. Equestria followed with her, into a new age.