//------------------------------// // Aftermath // Story: Outside the Reaching Sky // by Karazor //------------------------------//         It took Dauntless hours to limp back home on the remains of her drives, but Twilight refused the Council fleet’s offer to tow her.  In spite of what had happened, she didn’t fully trust them, though she was relieved and glad that they were finally talking to her.         The final casualty list was horrific.  Tens of thousands of ponies and other sapient beings had perished in the destruction of the orbital facilities and space habitats, though thankfully the Princesses had managed to maintain the planetary shield at a strength sufficient to protect the inhabitants of the planet.  Dauntless had suffered hideous losses; less than a quarter of the crew was active and functional, and several had been trapped, isolated by wreckage and battle damage.  The Warden ground troopers had proven invaluable, their power armor giving them the strength and resilience to work through the damaged areas to rescue stranded friends.  About half of the crew was still alive, though many were suffering from various degrees of trauma that had come from the extended link they’d been forced to maintain.  Of the bridge crew, Chatterbox had died on disconnect, Silver Stars was in a coma, and Night Breeze had suffered some kind of neural damage.  The brilliantly intelligent pegasus hadn’t spoken a word since she’d awoken, and Doctor Rosethorn’s prognosis was uncertain.  Wingblade was all right, as were the bridge engineer and the navigator, though all were slated to be hospitalized for evaluation upon return to Equestria. Twilight hoped that Night Breeze at least could be saved; the mare was one of the smartest she could remember encountering. Such a brilliant mind deserved better. One way or another, it would likely be days before she knew anything; the neurological hospitals were going to be utterly overwhelmed by all the cases coming off of Dauntless.         Twilight maintained an attitude of suspicious distrust toward the Council fleet, though she did thaw a bit when she learned that several detachments had fanned out through the system to do search and rescue.  Astoundingly, they even found a few survivors; a zebra crew in a surveyor ship that had been only crippled rather than destroyed, and a cluster of ponies and one griffon, near-dead from hypoxia, who had managed to seal themselves into the only surviving compartment of one of the out-system research stations.  Both groups had been brought back to Equestria as fast as the ships that found them could manage, and in the case of the second group, Council first aid proved to be literally the difference between life and death for almost half of them.         She thawed a bit more when, in an effort to work through that distrust, the Council flagship contacted her shortly after Dauntless returned to her homeworld and began shuttling her crew back to Equestria for evaluation and treatment.  In a message addressed to her specifically, another alien introduced itself as Shuur Delsinac, informing her that he was the Council’s appointed representative and diplomat, and that he would like to meet her as soon as possible, in order to explain what had happened and to discuss possible reparations.  Feeling tired and not up to dealing with the situation, she put him off, saying that she would decide later, but indicating that she and Fluttershy would be willing to meet with him at some point.  She also arranged for her captive, Zziir, to be returned to the Council on an Equestrian shuttle, a gesture the representative had appreciated. Zziir had offered to remain, even after the horrific pounding Dauntless had taken, but Twilight had felt that it would be better to have him back among his own people.         Eklsee’s second rescue attempt manifested a little less than a day after she’d been forced to flee by the combined strength of the Fifth Enforcement Fleet.  Tazaft ships, in small detachments, jumped into the system in dozens of different places, clearly intending to draw off any Council ships they could in an effort to spare Equestria.  Eklsee herself was once again among them, and she was suspicious when Twilight contacted her to tell her that a tentative truce had been arranged.         “It does me good to see you, Thlaaht Shkarku,” the Tazaft said, at one end of the long communications delay.  “I had feared the worst.”  Her tone hardened, and her quills bristled.  “Tell me true; have you been conquered, my friend?  Have our foes taken your world from you?  I will shift my campaign focus towards your liberation, if you have.  You need but to tell me.”         Twilight shook her head, as she recorded her response.  “No, Uhlsie, we haven’t.  We’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen at this point; my friends and I have a meeting with a Council ambassador at some later point, to determine exactly what happened and what we’re going to do about it.”         Eklsee’s quills rustled restlessly when she replied.  “Shkarku, I wish to believe you, but it is difficult with so many Council warships around your world.  I wish to see for myself that you are well, and that your people are well.  Is this possible?”         Twilight blinked when she listened to that message, and she immediately contacted the Council flagship.  High Admiral Turthak and the representative, Shuur, both answered, and Twilight wished that they’d spent the time to work out a video link.  Having to communicate voice-only was strange, especially since both aliens were evidently using a translator keyed to Equestrian.  “High Admiral, Representative, my Tazaft friend, Siluth Uhlsie, wants to come see for herself that Equestria is all right.  I want to be able to give her my assurances that she won’t be attacked by the fleet you have in-system.  Are either of you able to offer those assurances?”         There was a pause.  “Director Sparkle, do you mean Seelith Eklsee?”  Shuur asked, his voice lacking the flat tone of a translator.  It made Twilight wonder if the creature had actually learned Equestrian; he’d managed to pronounce Eklsee’s name properly, which was quite a feat.  Perhaps he was good with languages.  “The war-commander of the Tazaft Warrior Caste?  That Seelith Eklsee?”         “Yes.  She’s a friend of mine, and she promised to come back to try to evacuate any ponies that she could.”  Twilight’s voice turned sour.  “She didn’t expect to find any, since your people clearly intended to exterminate everypony in Equestria.”         Another pause.  “How in the world did you… never mind.  I believe we can arrange safe passage, so long as we have the Tazaft’s pledge not to fire on our ships, if you so request it.  This is your space, and we intend to behave as guests in it.  We will abide by your laws and your requests; we’ve wronged you enough already.”         “I concur,” The flat tones of the translator the High Admiral was using stated.  “I will issue the appropriate orders.”         Twilight sighed in relief.  There was that hurdle out of the way.  “Thank you, gentlefolk.  I appreciate your willingness to work with me.”  She was also a little surprised by it; the Council commanders had been surprisingly accommodating since the arrest of Fifth Fleet.  It was heartening.  She hoped they were as genuine as they seemed.         “Director Sparkle,” Shuur interjected, “while I have you on the line, would you mind giving me an idea of when I could meet with you in person?  Again, there are a great many things I think we need to go over.”         Twilight stifled another sigh, this one not a sigh of relief.  “I don’t...” she quickly linked to the terminal in her office, pulling up her schedule.  It was quite full, with meetings scheduled with numerous ponies and representatives of the other species, trying to put things back together in the wake of the Council assault. Equestria's infrastructure had been utterly shattered in the battle, decades of work obliterated and thousands of skilled ponies killed. Only those industries entirely located on the homeworld had survived, and there were precious few of those.  She didn’t feel too much like bumping any of the reconstruction meetings to meet with the Council representative.  “My schedule is very busy, Representative Shuur.  I have a number of things I have to deal with, especially since the Princesses are both incapacitated.”  Luna and Celestia had both nearly collapsed from fatigue in the wake of the siege, and both were still recovering.  A group of accomplished unicorn mages were ensuring the smooth passage of night and day, with the help of the defense systems. Twilight herself had sort of assumed a state of de facto rulership until one of the diarchs recovered.         “I understand,” the alien said sympathetically.  “All I ask is a tentative idea of when we could meet.  I want to help, Director Sparkle, and I was given to understand that you were eager to talk to me when we first spoke.  Please, just let me do that; the Council itself empowered me to speak for them in an emergency session.  I have the power to offer you and your people significant recompense, but I need to meet with you first.”         Twilight rubbed her forehead.  “Very well.  I have a tentative opening in two days, a little after noon, Canterlot time.  Would that be sufficient?”         “Entirely.  I would like to bring High Admiral Turthak as well.”         “Fine.”  A thought struck her.  “Could you bring Admiral Glenmore as well?  I’d like to get a chance to meet… her?”         “Him,” Shuur corrected absently.  “Certainly.  I will see to it that he accompanies us.”         “I’ll inform the admiral immediately.”  Turthak cut in.         “Thank you, gentlefolk.”  Twilight cut the connection, and set her terminal to record for transmission to Eklsee.  “Uhlsie, the Council leaders have promised you safe passage.  I can’t enforce it, but they seem sincere to me, and they did prevent their own people from destroying my ship.”  She quickly recounted the events leading up to the second Council force’s arrival, finishing up with, “I’m not sure I trust these people yet, but they haven’t betrayed us.  I’ll be waiting for your response, and I’d be happy to welcome you to Equestria.”         She ran the message through the translator and sent it flying through the void to the Tazaft flagship, turning to continue the report she was working on.  The Dauntless voyage had resulted in a large number of mistakes that needed to be examined, and she intended to learn all she could from all of them.  It was what a good scientist did.         Her terminal pinged her, indicating it had received a reply from the Tazaft, and Twilight allowed it to open.  “I share your skepticism, Shkarku,” Eklsee said gloomily.  “And I cannot afford to risk my fleet on the word of the Council.  I do intend to come and see for myself whether your world needs to be rescued, however.  I shall come alone, just my flagship, while the rest of my force waits in jump readiness.  I doubt they will break their word just for me; it will gain them nothing.”  Eklsee’s quills twitched.  “I will see you when I arrive, Thlaaht Shkarku.  I look forward to our reunion.”         Twilight blinked.  That was… incredibly brave.  A single Tazaft ship would stand zero chance against the armada stationed throughout the system; even a single Council ship would be able to kill her.  “I will meet you when you get here, Uhlsie.  I… thank you, for your courage, and for your willingness to stand with us.  I will not forget.”  She tried to remember if that was close to what Eklsee had said to her before; she suspected that those were powerful words among the Tazaft, and she hoped that the alien realized how sincere she was being.         The reply, when it finally came, was brief.  “I will not forget, either, Shkarku.  I will see you soon.” Twilight returned to what she'd been going over, checking the records of the battle and reviewing everything that had happened prior to Dauntless's return. It was hard. She broke down crying several times, notably when reading about the last stand of Equestria's fledgeling navy; the Warden cutters had sacrificed themselves as the Council juggernaut bore down on the shipyard. They'd flung themselves suicidally at the flank of the fleet, trying desperately to decoy the vast force away for just a few moments while the evacuation ships got as many ponies as they could down to the surface, under the shield. It had worked, to an extent; the Council force had actually turned to engage the cutters, buying precious seconds for the evacuation. Twilight estimated that almost three hundred shipyard workers had been saved while the tiny Warden fleet had died in fire. They'd never known whether their sacrifice mattered or not.         It took most of the day before Eklsee’s ship arrived.  When it did, Twilight thought it looked terribly lonely, settling into orbit amidst the swirling debris of the shipyard, with Council ships moving in squadrons through the orbital tracks as they carefully gathered up the wreckage, moving it to collection zones at the Lagrange points for later use.  They didn’t seem to be taking any of it, and Twilight had made sure that the planetary telescopes were watching like hawks to make sure they didn’t.  They were even gathering up the bodies, what few they could find; one of the things Representative Shuur wanted to discuss was what would be done with them.  Twilight was planning on asking for their return, so their families could at least hold memorials for their lost kin.         The Tazaft shuttle grounded at the spaceport outside of Canterlot, and Twilight was there waiting.  The other five were busy with their own affairs; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity were working on modifying the planetary defense network, just in case the Council forces changed their minds, and Pinkie Pie was working her tail off trying to cut and edit all of the recordings she’d taken, putting together the story of the Dauntless’s voyage for all of Equestria to see.  Fluttershy was busy talking via radio to the Council representative, working out protocols and making sure that he wouldn’t be embarrassed when he met with Twilight, and that he wouldn’t embarrass her.         Eklsee was the first to exit the vehicle, striding out confidently, once more wearing her large, ornate hat that Twilight assumed was a badge of office.  She was also wearing a breathing mask again; probably a wise precaution, since there hadn’t been a chance to find out if anything in the Equestrian air might be toxic to the alien.         The Tazaft commander’s quills moved in a pattern Twilight had come to associate with a smile as she saw the unicorn.  “Shkarku, your world is beautiful.”  Here in Canterlot, Twilight didn’t need portable systems to run her translation daemons; the city’s own network architecture was more than enough.         “I’ve always thought so,” Twilight replied, her translated voice emerging from the air next to her.  She looked out across the city; it had grown quite a bit in the last eighty years.  The buildings were delicate, soaring things, held together by spellware woven into their structures that made them vastly tougher than they looked.  It leant Equestria’s capital an ethereal appearance.  She turned back to her alien friend with a smile.  “Would you like a tour?”         Eklsee’s quills stirred, and she made a gesture with one hand.  “Yes, I would.  I need to see for myself that this world still belongs to you.”  She stepped closer, pulling a small device out of a pocket.  “Shkarku… this is a signal jammer.  It is preventing any Council eavesdropping devices from being able to transmit, and generating white noise that will foul any attempt to spy on us with laser microphones or long-range audio systems.”  Twilight could believe it; the second Eklsee had pulled the thing out it had started making a tooth-grating buzz.  “You can speak to me now without any fear that they will hear you.  Are your people in danger?”         Twilight swallowed hard.  The concern her friend was showing touched her heart, especially since if the suspicions the alien held were borne out, she had put herself into mortal danger by coming here.  The unicorn smiled up at the Tazaft.  “No, Uhlsie, I don’t think so.  I’m not entirely sure what is going to happen, but they don’t seem like they want to conquer us, and they did actually fire on their own ships, when those ships tried to kill us.”         The Tazaft looked at her searchingly, making Twilight wonder if the alien could read her facial expressions.  The reverse wasn’t true; Eklsee had a rigid, mostly-immobile face, with most of her expressions clearly generated by the quills on her head and back, cues which Twilight hadn’t fully deciphered yet.  Finally, though, the alien gave a quill-nod.  “Very well.  If you need us to, we can stage a diversionary attack to pull their forces away, and I have five hundred bulk freighters with enhanced life support systems waiting one jump away.  All you have to do is ask, and we will do everything we can to evacuate as many as possible.”         Twilight smiled.  “Thank you, Uhlsie.  The offer means a lot to me.”         She spent the remainder of the day leading the Tazaft through the streets of Canterlot, showing her the sights and introducing her to the ponies and other creatures they passed.  She even called back to her office in the Bureau of Technology, getting them to send a hoverdisc so she could take the Tazaft up to the small pegasus town that managed Canterlot’s weather.         Eklsee seemed fascinated by the tour, exclaiming occasionally about the architecture or the scenery, more than once referring to the city as the most beautiful she’d ever seen.  Canterlot’s inhabitants were initially hostile to the alien, assuming that she’d come from the fleet that had assaulted the system, but that attitude quickly changed when Twilight explained what the Tazaft had actually done.         When it was time for her friend to leave, Twilight escorted her back to the landing field.         “Your world is lovely, Thlaaht Shkarku,” Eklsee observed, “and your people as well.  It does my soul good to see that you do not lie under a conqueror’s blade.”         “Thank you, Uhlsie,” Twilight replied with a smile.         Eklsee’s quills stirred in small, circular motions.  “It is time that I departed, then.”         “I’m sorry, Uhlsie,” Twilight said softly.  “You’ve done so much to try to help us, but it looks like we won’t be able to help you as much as I’d wanted to.”  Equestria’s space forces were, for all intents and purposes, gone.  Dauntless was all that remained, and she was a crippled hulk.  Without the shipyard, it would take months, possibly years, before she was fully functional again.  And with a truce with the Council likely, based on what she’d heard from Fluttershy, Twilight doubted that Equestria would be able to fight alongside the Tazaft.         Eklsee made that quill-smiling gesture.  “I knew that when I returned with you, Thlaaht.  At the time, I sought only to preserve you that you might help later.  Now, though… I think that someone who is able to speak in peace with both my people and our foes may be more valuable than a battlefield ally.  The Tazaft are used to having a mediator in our conflicts, and this one has lacked that.  Now it may not.  I wish your people had not suffered so… but I am pleased to have gained a friend who can speak to my foes.”         Twilight’s heart warmed.  That was a kinder reaction than she had even hoped for.  Despite her alien appearance and demeanor, the Tazaft was a good person.  She bid her friend a fond farewell, and watched as the shuttle streaked off into the sky, before heading back to her office.  She had a meeting with the Council tomorrow, and she needed to be prepared.         Twilight was considerably more tense the next day, as the shuttle carrying the Council delegation descended through the atmosphere to the Canterlot spaceport.  Her friends, waiting beside her, were just as tense.  This was going to be the first official contact between the Unified World Nation of which Equestria was part and the Baltornic Council, and the pressure she felt to make sure that the war didn’t re-start was immense.  Fluttershy had invited the griffons, zebras, and buffalo to send representatives of their own, but all had declined for different reasons, so it was up to Equestria to handle it.         Twilight and her friends were alone on the landing pad, but they weren’t unprotected.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both armed; the former with a harness-mounted energy gun and the latter with a pair of low-profile light levinguns plugged into her forelegs.  There was a full company of armored Warden troops standing by as a response force, too, complete with heavy armored support and technogolems.  She didn’t intend to let them ambush her the way the tribe of reptilian creatures had ambushed Fluttershy, and she didn’t want to take any chances on their sincerity.  Ponies had been standing by on the planetary defenses since the shield had been lowered, but they were at a high state of alert right now, and the Princesses knew that they might have to raise the shield again.  The thought of making them do that chilled Twilight to the bone; the two winged unicorns had had a chance to rest and recover, but they were still badly fatigued, and she feared what might happen to them if the siege began again.         The Canterlot constabulary had cleared the sky for the Council shuttle’s arrival; there were no flying vehicles or pegasi visible anywhere in the sky while the vehicle came smoothly down from space, following the course it was directed on without wavering.  Twilight watched it come, evaluating it carefully.  The vehicle seemed a little more responsive than the Tazaft shuttles, though it clearly employed a field-based drive rather than the noisy reaction drives her allies used.  It still made a lot of noise as it shoved the atmosphere out of the way, and from its maneuvers it didn’t have anywhere near the kind of maneuverability or agility of an Equestrian vehicle.  She filed the information away for later; she wasn’t sure how it could be useful, but all information was potentially valuable and deserved to be remembered.         The shuttle settled down on a pair of skids that extended from its belly, and Fluttershy stepped forward.  They’d decided to let the soft-voiced pegasus speak for them; it let Twilight stand back and evaluate.  It was something she’d realized would probably have worked better in their contact with the Tazaft, when going back over the records.         A ramp lowered from the shuttle’s side, and there was a long pause before anything emerged.         The creature that stepped out was a member of a species Twilight had seen before; one of the stocky, armored creatures that had been on board the cargo ship she and Rainbow Dash had boarded.  This one had a different attitude; it carried itself more smoothly, and held its head higher, further from its carapace.  Probably because it wasn’t frightened, Twilight mused.  It was clad in soft, comfortable-looking robes, rather than the uniform she’d seen the other creatures in.  The alien walked toward them across the tarmac, alone, its slightly lumbering gait unhurried and outwardly unconcerned.         “I greet you, gentlebeings,” the alien said in perfect Equestrian, with a slight accent.  “It is a pleasure to finally meet you directly, though I do wish the circumstances had been different.  I am Representative Shuur Delsinac; Shuur is my given name, Delsinac my clan name.  You may call me Representative or Shuur, whichever makes you most comfortable; the clan name is not typically used as an identifier among my people.”         “It’s very nice to meet you, Shuur,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile.  She introduced herself and her friends, who all had different attitudes.  Rarity was looking at the fine, soft cloth of the creature’s attire with a slightly critical eye, though she was smiling welcomingly.  Pinkie Pie was beaming widely, though there was a hint of nervousness to the expression.  The pink earth pony hadn’t completely gotten over her trauma at the ambush she and Fluttershy had been through, though she was putting on a brave face and she was genuinely happy at meeting new creatures.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash were watching both the alien and his vehicle closely, with a strong air of suspicion.  Twilight was deliberately holding herself somewhat aloof, watching the alien with what she hoped was a cool, unimpressed look.         She really hoped that’s how she looked, anyway.  She’d practiced this expression in the mirror, and it had looked alright, at least to her…         “A pleasure to meet all of you.” The Council representative said warmly.         “Hey, weren’t you bringing two admirals with you?”  Rainbow asked suspiciously.         “And how exactly is it that you speak Equestrian?”  Applejack added with matching suspicion.         “I did indeed bring both High Admiral Turthak and Admiral Glenmore with me, but I wanted to meet with you alone first.”  Hmm.  Twilight thought, I wonder if he’s trying to show us that he’s the one in charge?  “As for your language,” Shuur heaved a surprisingly Equestrian-sounding sigh.  “That’s a long story, and it has to do with everything that’s happened here.  Would you mind if I called Turthak and Glenmore out here to join us?”         “Oh, no, not at all,” Fluttershy said gently.  “I’m looking forward to meeting them.”         Shuur started to turn, but paused.  “Ah.  Before I do, there’s something I need to warn you about.”  Twilight braced herself, and she saw Fluttershy’s expression turn uncertain.  “Admiral Turthak is from a species called the Kao Ur, and most people who speak a gendered language have a little difficulty dealing with them.  Gender is a very private subject with them, and you must be very, very careful not to refer to the High Admiral by any gendered pronoun.  The High Admiral will not react violently, or any such thing, but it would be deeply offended, and I would prefer to avoid that if possible.”         Fluttershy blinked.  “So… what should we call… the High Admiral?  Using the title every time would get awkward, wouldn’t it?”         Shuur made a wheezing sound that Twilight couldn’t identify.  “Very.  Just use ‘it.’  I know it sounds disrespectful, but in your language that pronoun is far more palatable in the Kao Ur’s eyes than ‘he’ or ‘she’ would be.”         Fluttershy nodded.  “Oh, okay, I think we can do that.”  She looked around at her friends.  “Right, girls?”  She received nods from all five other ponies.  The pegasus turned back to the diplomat, something else occurring to her.  “Representative Shuur?  Will the High Admiral be offended if we refer to each other as ‘he’ or ‘she’?”         Shuur made that wheezing sound again.  “No, not at all.  Some Kao Ur do have problems with that kind of thing, but Turthak has been working with other species for most of its life.  As long as it’s not directly addressed in such a matter, it won’t take offense.  You won’t face any similar problems with me or Admiral Glenmore; both my species and his are difficult to offend by accident.”  He turned around, tapping at his ear and speaking a short phrase or command in what Twilight assumed was his own language.  A moment later, the first figure emerged.         It was large, was the first thing Twilight noticed.  Quadrupedal and taller than most ponies, it was also incredibly heavyset, with a wide build and a thick body.  It didn’t seem to have a distinct head, instead having a small mouth set directly into what looked like its chest, while two eyes waved on short, thick stalks, and four stumpy tentacles drooped from the front of its body.  It was a mottled dark brown in color, and was really shockingly ugly to look at, especially with the odd appearance of its uniform, which was clearly the same type of garment they’d seen on the Council crew of the ship they’d boarded.  There was a metallic mass on its back that Twilight couldn’t identify.         “That’s Turthak,” Shuur said in an undertone, as the creature began making its way carefully toward them.  “Don’t let the slow movement fool you; it isn’t particularly slow by nature, it just comes from a heavy-gravity world, and thus has a habit of moving carefully.”         The second figure made Twilight’s jaw drop.  Taller than a pony, slender, standing on two legs with two arms hanging down from its shoulders, the creature looked very familiar.         “No way…” Rainbow whispered, noting the resemblance.  It looked very much like Duran in build.  It was shorter, considerably so, and its skin was a bit darker than his had been, but it… he... was clearly the same species.         “And that’s Admiral Glenmore,” Shuur said turning back and pausing at the ponies’ expressions.  “I’m sorry, does he bother you?”         “No,” Twilight interjected, speaking over Fluttershy, “No, not at all.  His species… are they called ‘humans’?”         “I… yes, they are.  Humans, or Terrans.” Shuur said slowly.  “Have you encountered them before?”         “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash’s voice was dry and quiet. “We met one.  A long time ago, almost ninety years now.  He was from something called the Tethinar Imperium.”         “The what?”  Shuur sounded confused.  “I’ve never heard of that.  Ninety years, you say?  Equestrian years, I assume?”  Rainbow nodded wordlessly, still looking at the human approaching them.  “Council scouts found you a little over a hundred years ago, but they weren’t human-crewed, and as far as I know, humanity has never visited this world.  I’ll check, but…”         “No need,” Twilight whispered.  “Rainbow, he wasn’t from this reality,” she said to her friend, quietly.  “We know that.  Crazy as it sounds, this species must have evolved in both places.”         “Three places,” the pegasus corrected quietly.  “The guys who made that base were human, too.”         “True.” Twilight frowned. "I wonder why we could understand them, and not these humans?"         “Can we talk about this later?”  Fluttershy whispered emphatically.         “Yes, of course.”  Twilight cleared her throat.  There were more important things to discuss.         Shuur was looking at them oddly.  “If he bothers you, I can send Admiral Glenmore back to the fleet, but humans are a fairly prominent species in our government…”         Fluttershy shook her head.  “No, no, he doesn’t bother us.  You don’t have to do that.”  She looked up at the two approaching aliens.  “Welcome, um, gentlebeings, I think was the word?”         “Thank you.”  Turthak’s voice bubbled in its own language, translated by part of the metal equipment on its back.  Its mouth didn’t move when it spoke, the sounds instead emerging from either its back or side, it was difficult to tell.         “I am honored,” Glenmore added, also through a translator he wore.  “And may I again express my deep gratitude to you for trusting me.  After what happened, I’m not sure I would have done so in your place.”         “Speaking of what happened…” Fluttershy prompted.         “Yes.”  Shuur’s voice was sad.  “I wanted the Admirals to be here, so they could contribute the Enforcement perspective.”  He sighed again, and Twilight wondered if the expression was natural or if it was one that the diplomat had learned along with the Equestrian language.  “This is a bit of a long story.  I told you that the Council found you a bit over a hundred years ago.  The Infiltrator Service at the time appears to have undertaken an operation on its own authority, aided by one of the probationary members of the Council, to… well, to slow or prevent development of non-spaceflight-capable species.”         Fluttershy frowned.  “Why would they do that?”         “To preserve their own power.”  Shuur made a gesture with both hands that Twilight couldn’t interpret.  “The probationary members of the council get one vote that they all share.  They vote among themselves, then the outcome of that vote is considered one vote in the Senior Council.  Does that make sense?”  Fluttershy and Twilight both nodded.  “At a certain point, probationary members are accepted as full members, typically after consultation with the full Council.  The problem with this system is, well, probationary members don’t like seeing other probationary members admitted, because it dilutes their vote.”  Shuur’s eyes closed for a moment.  “Believe me, there have been major scandals over this, and endless debates over how to fix it, but no one has decided anything.  Maybe they will now.  Regardless, your world was the target of a long-term operation designed to effectively destroy your civilization by causing a massive, global war.”         Twilight blinked in shock.  “What?  How in the world were they going to do that?”         “By increasing tensions between your nation, Equestria, and the zebra nation, hopefully causing you both to go to war,” Shuur said grimly.  “You were the two most advanced civilizations on your world.  An annihilating conflict would cripple both of you, and hold you back considerably.”  He snorted.  “Instead, you seem to have rocketed ahead, and the infiltrator service lost touch with its agents.”         “What kinda agents would these’ve been?”  Applejack asked.         “Surgically altered or rebuilt operatives, modified to resemble your people,” The High Admiral answered before the representative could.  “It is a disgusting practice that nearly always irreparably damages the agent.  It is a mystery why the Council allows the infiltrator service to continue it.”         Applejack gave Twilight a significant look.  “Betcha a thousand bits that those ‘changelings’ we caught way back when weren’t changelings at all.” The orange mare’s voice was grim.         Twilight shook her head, remembering the captured changelings who had somehow suicided and destroyed their bodies.  “No bet.”         “Regardless,” Shuur continued, shooting a look of his own at Turthak, “The gambit failed.  The infiltrator service went through a reorganization around that time, and it appears they forgot about you.  They rediscovered those records about a year ago, and decided to re-implement their plan, with a different probationary member assisting them this time.”         The Interloper, Twilight realized.  The ship whose attack had galvanized the construction of Dauntless.         “You encountered the ship they sent to drop off their agents,” Shuur continued, confirming Twilight’s suspicion, “showing them in the process that you’d advanced much faster than most species do.  You should still be starting out your space program, maybe colonizing one of the more benign worlds in your own system if you were going particularly quickly.  Instead,” the alien gestured around him, at the soaring buildings of Canterlot.  “You have managed to surpass our level.  That touched off a huge debate in the Council over how to properly contact you, especially once the news about the infiltrators’ prior contact with you came to light.  I got involved early on, and I was given the records already gathered on your culture and language.  I’ve been studying your people for over a year, learning your language, your mannerisms… I was supposed to be the one to lead the first-contact mission, once the Council had decided on the tone it would take, and how we would approach.  Unfortunately for us, the debate and the fact that their operations had been made public knowledge sent the infiltrator service and their sponsors into a panic.  They reached out to a frontier admiral in the Enforcement branch, and made sure he was transferred to this region.  That was Admiral Peters.”         “That bastard!”  Glenmore suddenly spat, his face twisting in fury.  Twilight blinked at the human’s vehemence, and Shuur turned to give him a quelling look.         “Are you all right?”  Twilight asked, recognizing the human’s anger and remembering the way he’d spoken when his fleet had moved to shield her ship.         “Yes, ma’am.”  Glenmore took a deep breath.  “I apologize.  I know Admiral Peters personally, and I detest him.  Even more so now, after he’s managed to make my entire species look bad.”         Shuur turned to lay a hand on Glenmore’s arm.  “I assure you, Admiral, the rest of the Council will not blame humanity for Admiral Peters’ crime.  We could scarcely throw one of the founding members out, after all.  He and all his co-conspirators have been arrested, and the trial will show everyone who the guilty parties are.”  Interestingly, the alien continued to speak in Equestrian.         “Every tree has its bad apples, sugarcube,” Applejack added in a reassuring tone.  “Just ‘cause one went bad don’t mean they all did.”         The admiral offered the Warden a tentative smile.  “Thank you.”  He turned to Shuur.  “And thank you, sir.  I apologize, I won’t make any further outbursts.”         “See that you don’t.”  Turthak burbled.         “Admiral Peters,” Shuur sighed, turning back to the ponies.  “After the infiltrator service realized the state you were in, and that you had possibly uncovered its operatives in a previous attempt, they seem to have pressured him to cover up what they had done.  We aren’t sure exactly how; it scarcely matters.  What matters is what he did.”         “Which is to nearly destroy us.”  Twilight interrupted.         Shuur’s eyes lowered.  “Yes.  Murder on an unprecedented scale, and attempted murder on an even larger one.  Nothing like this has ever happened in our history.  To attempt to kill an entire sapient species… several, with your world’s unique biosphere…”         “Monstrous,” whispered Glenmore.         “Thoroughly,” Shuur replied.  “When the Council received the courier from Peters’ chief of staff, we almost didn’t believe it.  But she’d included a huge amount of information, and after an initial debate, we decided we couldn’t afford to ignore it, especially since it would take several days for a fleet to reach this system.”         “We put together a fleet as fast as we could,” Turthak interjected in its deep, bubbling voice.  “I grabbed every ship that was available.  Ships in refit, squadrons in transit.  I sent couriers to the nearest worlds, but we didn’t have time to muster their full defense fleets.  I took the first responders, and every ship that could be made ready, and came here as fast as I possibly could once I judged that I had a large enough force. We received the courier from Ta Ahii just before we left; it was what convinced me not to wait any longer, and to take what I had and go right away.”  There was a pause.  “I should not have waited for the defense fleets.  That was a severe mistake, and it cost me several hours.  You have my abject apology for my failure, and if you wish for me to atone, I will.”         Fluttershy frowned.  “What kind of atonement are you offering?”  She asked warily.         “The sacrifice of all my wealth and my position.  Should you ask it of me, I will donate everything I own, resign my commission, and should you wish it, move to this world and work to rebuild what was destroyed by my failure.  I have significant organizational skills developed by my work in the fleet; I could be quite useful.”         Fluttershy looked to Twilight, and the unicorn responded for her.  “You don’t have to do that, Turthak,” she said quietly.  She was starting to believe that maybe this really had been some huge, awful crime.  It was hard to accept, hard to imagine that this could have been essentially one person’s fault, but Turthak’s offer broke through a wall in her heart.  “I can understand not wanting to believe that this could happen.”         The alien’s tentacles twitched in what looked like agitation.  “Even now, it is difficult for me to comprehend.  It is against every ethical code, every moral imperative.  I should have believed it, but it was so difficult…”         “It was hard for all of us to accept,” Shuur interjected.  He met Twilight’s eyes.  “The Council owes you a debt for the harm we have done, Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.  I have been directed to offer you nearly anything you could ask for.  The Council will aid in reconstruction of your destroyed industry, we will compensate you in resources and time for each of your slain citizens. Whatever you need.  There is already a convoy on the way, carrying doctors, rescue personnel, and food that should be compatible with your biology, though since the planet itself wasn’t harmed, you may not need any of it.  Whatever we can do to make up for the harm we have done you, please, just ask.”         Twilight’s eyes narrowed.  “What if I ask you to stop your war against the Tazaft?”         Shuur paused.  “That… is a complicated request.  We would not be willing to let them simply kill our citizens, or destroy our property.  Indeed, we have been looking for a way to end that conflict for some time now. I…” he hesitated, then continued.  “If… this may be an imposition to ask, but you actually have friendly relations with the Tazaft.  If you would be willing to mediate negotiations, then we may be able to do as you ask.”         Twlight glanced at Fluttershy, and got a subdued but emphatic nod.  She didn’t even pause to think about how the pegasus had managed to combine the two.  “I would be quite willing to serve as a mediator in that issue.”  It was, after all, exactly what she had promised Eklsee.         “What else?” Shuur asked.  “This is something I’d planned to ask you for anyway, later.  It is hardly fair to offer it as restitution.”         Something else occurred to her.  “May I speak to my friends in private?”         Shuur nodded.  “Of course.”  He gestured to Turthak and Glenmore, who followed him as he stepped away to give the six ponies space.         “What are you thinking, darling?”  Rarity asked the moment she judged that the aliens were out of earshot.         Twilight bit her lip.  “I’m tempted to ask for membership in the Council,” she whispered.  “I mean, if we had a say in their government, we might be able to change it so something like this never happens again.”         “I think that sounds like a very good idea,”  Fluttershy said firmly.  “Very good.  Turn this into something good, instead of just letting it end in blood and hate.”         “I agree,” Rarity said softly.         “Oh, me, too,” Pinkie murmured, feelingly.  “Oh, I really, really do.  More friends is always a good thing.”         They turned to look at the two Wardens, who shared a glance.  Rainbow looked back, and nodded firmly.  “I’m with ya, too.”  The pegasus’s voice was as hard as her expression.  “I mean, if nothing else, we can find out exactly who did this to us.  They’ve been kinda cagey about that.”         That had occurred to Twilight, too.  “So it’s settled, then?”  Her friends all nodded and made noises of agreement.  “All right.”  The huddle broke up, and Twilight called Representative Shuur back over to her.         “You have something, then?” The alien asked.         Twilight nodded.  “We want to ask for membership in your Council.  This happened once, and we want to be in a position to make sure it never happens again.”         There was a long pause, before Shuur lowered his head and let out a long sigh.  “I had hoped you would ask that, but I had feared we had wounded you too badly for you to consider it.”  He raised his head again, looking Twilight in the eyes.  “I pushed for exactly that in the Senior Council.  While Turthak was gathering the fleet, I was arguing in the chamber, and I told them that we should offer this.  They agreed just before we left.”  The alien straightened his clothing.  “In the name of the Council of Baltor, the Meeting World, I hereby offer the Unified Nations full membership, with all the rights and duties entailed therein.  You would be immediately given the position of full voting member; the pain we have caused you entitles you to that, at the least.”         Twilight nodded, smiling.  “That… that sounds good,” she said.  “What exactly are these duties and rights?”         “I can explain them to you fully,” Shuur offered.  “Might we step inside?  The weather out here is nice, but my people prefer shade.”         “Of course.”  Twilight and her friends led the three aliens into a nearby terminal building, one that she knew firsthoof had a very comfortable lounge.  The diverse group of beings kept their pace to a comfortable walk as they crossed the open field, the words they exchanged seemingly inconsequential, but tremendous in importance. They were the words that would build the future, that would lead from the blood-drenched nightmare of the previous days into a new day, one that had hope. But that's... another story. END