//------------------------------// // CHAPTER 9 // Story: A Thousand Voices // by SpartanD014 //------------------------------// CHAPTER 9 “’Homeworld’ is a symbol of regret, loss, and anger. We do not understand that.” Legion set the small craft down a few hundred meters from where the IFF was said to be, then shut off the engines. It stood from the pilot’s seat, and turned to face the sleeping pony sitting in another chair. Legion softly shook her shoulder, urging her to wake up. “Twilight Sparkle,” it said, “we have arrived at our destination.” The alicorn stirred, and slowly, her two amethyst eyes opened wide, taking in the light. “Legion?” she asked tiredly, sitting up in the oversized chair. “Yes,” Legion confirmed. “Come, we must investigate.” Twilight’s eyes opened wide as she seemed to remember what she was doing in the geth ship, and quickly she shot out of the chair and landed on the floor. Legion turned and exited the cockpit, then jumped the short distance out of the door to the snow-covered ground below. The pony followed it out, immediately shivering against the sudden change in temperature. According to Legion’s internal scanners, it was -36° Celsius, which to the geth did not matter. But for the organic pony standing at its side, Legion was concerned. “Are you able to function in these temperatures?” it asked. Twilight lit her horn briefly, and the shivering stopped. “I’ll be fine,” she answered. “I have a heating spell that isn’t too difficult to maintain. Just if it gets too much colder, I’ll have to increase the power, and that will take more of a toll on me.” “Understood,” Legion said as it began to walk to the source of the IFF transmission. When Legion came within a meter of where its sensors were detecting the signal, it became clear that nothing was there. All that Legion could see for miles around them was snow. “Uh… I don’t see anything,” Twilight observed, staring at the geth. “We do not know how long this IFF has been here,” Legion began. “It could be buried. One moment.” Legion turned and quickly jogged back to the ship, jumping inside upon arrival. It opened a small cargo container at the back of the main entry room, inside of which were two compact deployable shovels. Geth usually had no need for tools, as most construction processes were automated, but they always made sure to pack prepared for anything. Legion exited the ship once again and returned to Twilight, who was waiting where Legion had left her. It handed her one of the shovels, deploying the tool to nearly twice its original length in the process. The geth deployed its own, and began digging right over where the IFF was. Twilight wasted no time in helping the machine to dig, and in a very short time a fairly sizeable pile of snow had built up next to them. “Legion…” Twilight said, beginning to pant. “How… how thick is the snow here?” “Based on observable weather patterns, it could be several meters deep,” Legion replied, continuing to dig. Twilight sighed, but resigned herself to continue digging… Princess Luna trudged slowly through the darkening halls of Canterlot palace as beams of light from the newly-raised crescent moon began to filter through the large glass windows. On any normal day, she would now go to the dining hall to have her breakfast while her sister enjoyed dinner, she would be briefed on the events of the day, and finally she would wish her sister a good night and assume her duties. This, however, was not a normal day. On the contrary, her entire week had been the most abnormal one she could recall having. And she still remembered with perfectly clarity the years that Discord ruled Equis. The reason that she was not going to the dining hall as per usual rested on a napkin that Luna had left on her desk. On this napkin was a hastily written note, the writing of which matched Celestia. Meet in study. That was all it had said. And so, for reasons that the princess of the night did not yet know, she was walking through the hallways of the castle toward her sister’s study, observing the guards changing shifts as she went. Her dark-furred ponies of the Night Watch relieved the exhausted ponies of the Day Guard, who began their walk to the barracks for a well-deserved meal. Even though they were not on duty, they still politely bowed and stood aside for the princess, not wanting to impede her progress. A few moments later, Luna came to the door of her sister’s study. Because the door was warded against sound leaving, Luna did not hear the two ponies already having a discussion until she opened the door and saw them. Sitting behind her desk was Princess Celestia herself, and across from her was a pale blue unicorn mare who Luna recognized as being Healthy Heart. “-don’t think you understand!” Heart pleaded, ignoring Celestia’s obvious annoyance with the mare. “Ms. Heart, as I have said many times now, I understand fully,” the solar princess replied, turning to Luna with a look that said ‘help’. “But-,” Heart began, before being interrupted by an armored hoof on her shoulder. The mare turned around to see Princess Luna staring at her disapprovingly. Sighing, Healthy Heart offered a simple bow before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Luna paused for a moment, watching where the mare had been, before turning to her aggravated sister. “Some ponies, Luna…” Celestia said. “Apparently living for over three thousand years just isn’t enough to make them get that you understand.” “Indeed…” Luna nodded taking a seat across from Celestia. “What was that all about?” “That’s actually why I asked you to come here, sister…” Celestia said, immediately taking on a less confident countenance. “Luna, earlier today… I received news that a pony has died from the disease in Westrock.” Luna froze, not sure how to respond. She had considered the possibility, but she also was confident that Healthy Heart’s specialists would be able to devise a cure in time. “That is not all, sister…” Celestia continued. Luna gulped, bracing herself for the news. “As of fifteen minutes ago, four more have died. I am now issuing the entire area under full lockdown. Nopony goes in or out under any circumstances.” “… I see,” Luna said a moment later, not being able to think of anything else to say. “And Ms. Heart? What did she say you did not ‘understand’?” “She wants to send more specialists to help,” Celestia said, standing up and stretching her wings. “But I will not allow it. No more of our ponies are going to be subjected to this illness, magical wards protecting them or not.” “I quite agree, we must be safe,” Luna said, nodding. “But I sense that that is not all you wished to tell me?” “No, it is not,” the solar diarch said, sitting back down. “Legion, or rather, its ship, discovered something in the north, near the badlands border. It says it is an ‘IFF’, a signal that other ships use as an identification system.” “What does that mean?” Luna asked, quizzically staring at her sister. “It means that another ship is here, and may have been for a while,” Celestia said. Luna simply added this new information to her growing list of reasons why this week was the strangest yet. “I assume that Legion is up there now?” she asked, keeping her eyes focused on a single point of Celestia’s desk. “Yes, and Twilight Sparkle is with it,” Celestia said, nodding. “It said it will return sometime in the night, which means that we have quite a while before we get answers.” “Just more time to figure out the whole Westrock thing, I suppose,” Luna said, standing up. “If there is nothing else, I should take up my duties. And you will be getting some sleep, I assume?” “On the contrary, Luna…” Celestia said, standing up as well. “I think this is going to be one of those weeks where I am going to have to take advantage of not requiring sleep.” Luna grinned as she turned and opened the door to her sister’s study. “Well then, if you need anything,” she began, “I shall be in the throne room, waiting for the scores of ponies lining up to speak with me. Farewell.” With that, she exited the room and closed the door behind her, then continued on her regular path to the throne room, summoning a history book from her room to keep her busy. It was going to be a long night. Twilight panted heavily, the movements of her digging becoming sluggish and slow. Over the past three hours, the pair had successfully dug a ten-foot deep hole, with a diameter of about four feet, and still there was no sign of the IFF. Legion had jumped down into the hole to dig from down there, while Twilight was relying on her telekinesis to do it from the surface. “Legion…” Twilight said between breaths. “I don’t think I can… can keep digging with… this heating spell…” Her horn burned from the constant use, and occasionally her heating spell would collapse, allowing very brief bursts of freezing winds to rush across her coat before reactivating. Sweat beaded on her forehead and dampened her coat, some of it dripping into her eyes and briefly obscuring her vision. Every time she swiped her shovel under a spot of snow to dig it away, it would take even longer to repeat the process. In a very short time, she was down to a few swipes a minute. “Return to the ship,” Legion said, not looking up from where it was digging. “It is insulated from the cold. Restore your energy there, then return and continue assisting us.” Twilight did not reply. She could not find the energy to do so. Instead she simply released her telekinesis spell and dropped her shovel next to the pile of displaced snow that had built up, then slowly trudged back to the ship. As soon as she entered she dropped her heating spell and collapsed to the metal floor, welcoming the smooth texture. Still, it was hardly comfortable, so she forced herself to stand and relocated to the cockpit, where she sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back, closing her eyes for a brief rest… Legion continued digging after the alicorn disappeared into the ship, the motors in its arms incapable of becoming fatigued. Of course the motors could wear down over time, but with a task as simple as digging, Legion could keep it up for years if it had to. Since it had begun digging about three hours ago, the rate at which the machine dug had only increased. Much of the pile of displaced snow was attributed to its own work, though Legion did not want to discredit Twilight Sparkle. She had been an immense help, though for the past hour or so she had started to become a liability. Her movements had started to become sluggish, and were beginning to interfere with Legion’s own ability to dig. Had she chosen to stay out for a few minutes more, Legion would have been forced to send her back to the ship on its own. But now that the mare was asleep in the ship, Legion was able to continue working. Already the hole that the pair had dug was around ten feet deep, and yet the IFF continued to be elude them. But Legion knew that it was there, and until the source of the transponder was discovered, Legion would not stop digging. As it dug, Legion began to consider what type of ship it was to which the IFF belonged. It was no doubt organic – there were no records of geth going missing, as Legion was the only one that operated beyond the Perseus Veil. But what other organic had had the misfortune to enter the same relay coordinates as it? Perhaps a simple scouting vessel, or a trade ship, or even an organic warship. Whatever it was, Legion would find out soon. SEVERAL HOURS LATER Princess Luna sat on her throne, holding a history textbook and idly reading it while occasionally glancing up at the door, hoping against hope that just one pony would come to speak with her in her court. The only other ponies present were her guards, and they were far from effective conversationalists. They had not moved since taking up their positions, only occasionally glancing around for threats to their princess. While previously that had simply been part of the job, Luna now felt that her guards actually cared for her safety. From what she had heard, her public appearance in Ponyville several days prior had scored her some valuable reputation points. Ponies were less apprehensive around her as she wandered through the palace, and now the guards actually seemed to care about the life they were tasked with protecting. Luna smiled at the thought, and continued reading her book. The founding of Ponyville in 1873 Fall of Discord had a profound effect on the region in which it was built. The once empty fields became home to acres upon acres of apple groves, first planted by the Apple family who moved from the dying fields of Trottingham following the Equestrian Soil Crisis. Additionally, it provided a halfway point between the quickly-expanding southern frontier and the capital at Canterlot. It attracted earth ponies from other nearby settlements, most notably from the settlement of Hoofville, built on the base of the Foal Mountains. Hoofville was originally established as a mining town, but ponies were driven away after the gem deposits that were thought to stretch for miles turned out to only go a few meters underground. The sudden influx of migrant workers from failed settlements created a prominent working class, many of whom settled down in the town and whose descendants are now successful ponies. The workers did jobs for very low wages, allowing the town to be built up and maintained with relatively few bits. However, once the majority of construction had completed, many decided to leave. The majority went to Manehattan searching for work in the growing industrial department. The first elected mayor of Ponyville was-- “Ahem.” A pony coughed from in front of Luna. The princess of the night looked up with a start, and was surprised to find Healthy Heart standing in front of her. Checking the clock hanging near the thrones, Luna found it to be very early, only around 5am. That being the case, the chief medical officer did not appear tired at all. Instead, she stood in front of the princess, keeping her posture straight. “Forgive the intrusion, your highness,” she said with a quick bow. “But I believe that we should speak.” “What about, Ms. Heart?” Luna asked, setting her book aside. “The disease at Westrock.” At this, Luna sighed. She shook her head before addressing the mare. “Healthy Heart, was my sister not clear when she said that no more ponies were to go there?” Luna asked, sitting back in her throne. “Of course your highness, but…” Healthy Heart faltered, picking her words. “… I believe that she was incorrect. Princess, this disease spreads with an effectiveness that we have never seen before. As such, it is imperative that we cure it as soon as possible. The only way to do that is to send more of my specialists!” “If it spreads like nothing we have ever seen, then how can you be sure that sending more ponies is not going to put them in danger as well?” Luna asked. “Our magical wards have never failed us, your highness, and I think--” “Ah-ah-ah,” Luna interrupted, waving a hoof. “Hang on.” She picked up her history book with her telekinesis, and flipped it open to a page fairly early on. Once she found the page she desired, she cleared her throat and began to read. “In the year 1204 FD, a disease hit the small settlement of Manehattan. It spread at an alarming rate, soon infecting over half of the population, which at this point was no more than five hundred. Under orders of Princess Celestia, the chief medical officer, Vibrant Pulse, sent forty-five medical specialists to cure the disease, all of them protected by magical wards. This proved to be ineffective, as the wards were unable to protect the specialists from the disease. However, a cure was found eight months later, and the disease is now known as the chicken pox.” Luna closed the book shut. “See, your wards don’t always work.” Healthy Heart frowned, her eyes flitting back and forth as she tried to find something to say. The corners of Luna’s mouth turned up, though just enough that the medical mare would not see it from where she stood. A moment later, Heart sighed, and turned around. “Excuse me, your highness…” she said as she began to walk away. She opened the throne room door and disappeared outside, slamming it shut behind her. Sighing, Luna picked her book back up, opened it to where she left off, and continued reading… Twilight Sparkle slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes with her hooves and soon her vision returned to normal. “Legion?” she asked, looking around the cockpit of the ship. It was empty, looking untouched since she had come in only a few hours before to get some rest. Twilight shakily got to her hooves, placing a hoof on a control panel until she regained her balance. While most of her energy had been regained in her rest, she still felt fatigued. Even so, she probably had enough energy to continue digging for at least another hour or so. If they didn’t find anything by then, Twilight was ready to call it a hopeless effort. Twilight stepped out into the entry room of the ship, noticing streams of sunlight beginning to shine through the open doorway. When she had gone to sleep, the moon had still been high in the sky, as it was only a few hours past midnight. If Twilight had to guess, she’d say it was now about five or six in the morning. Activating her heating spell, Twilight jumped out of the ship and landed softly in the thick snow below. She looked around for Legion, and while the geth was not visible, Twilight could still see occasional tufts of snow being thrown out of a large hole in the ground, adding onto an already towering pile. Twilight trotted over to the hole and looked in, finding the geth still digging. “Still nothing?” she asked. Legion did not turn around to acknowledge her, but it did make a strange stuttering noise that Twilight thought sounded a bit annoyed. “No,” it replied. “Since you went to sleep, two more feet of snow have been removed. There are still no signs of the IFF signal, or the ship to which it belongs.” “Could your ship be getting false readings?” “Unlikely.” Twilight stood on the edge of the hole, waiting for Legion to elaborate. When it didn’t, the princess simply sighed and grabbed her shovel, which was still lying on the ground where she had left it several hours before. She swooped it back down into the hole, digging right into the center. Only this time, rather than immediately coming back up with a new load of snow, Twilight heard a soft ding. Legion clearly heard it as well, as it stopped digging and looked to Twilight’s shovel. “Bring it up,” it commanded. Twilight did as it said and placed the load of snow onto their displaced pile. They both started quickly digging over the same spot, and soon spots of dark metal were beginning to become visible, standing out against the white snow. Legion discarded the shovel and got down onto its knees, clearing the rest of the snow with its hands. When it was done, a round metal hatch was visible. “Target located,” Legion noted. It looked around the hatch, as if it was searching for some way to open it. When nothing presented itself to the machine, Legion instead activated its omni-tool and waved it over the hatch. A moment later the omni-tool faded away and a green rectangle appeared on the outside of the hatch. In the middle of the rectangle was segmented circle, broken into four parts. Legion pushed its hand into this circle, and the apparition pulsed, then faded away. The hatch receded an inch into the ground, then diverged into two halves with a puff of steam. Beyond the now-open hatch, Twilight could not see anything. It was complete and total darkness. Legion brightened its single photoreceptor ‘eye’, and shined it into the open hatch. From what Twilight could see at the top of the hole, there appeared to be a ladder that disappeared far down into the ground. Wishing to get a closer look, Twilight concentrated on the bottom of the hole, then disappeared in a flash before reappearing again next to the geth. “This warrants further investigation,” it said. “From just the hatch, we cannot determine the origin or manufacturer of the vessel. We must go inside.” “I’m coming with you,” Twilight said, waiting for the inevitable pushback from the geth. “Very well,” it said, surprising the alicorn. She had completely expected the machine to deny her, and to force her to stay outside. But Twilight was not going to push the issue. Motioning for Legion to go first, she stepped back and allowed the machine to begin the descent down the ladder into the dark ship. Once Legion was out of sight, Twilight jumped down the hatch, using her wings to slow her descent until her hooves landed softly on the metal floor of the mysterious ship. Legion was only a few feet away, shining its eye at the walls, trying to determine architectural styles. “Standardized airlock,” it noted. “Used in almost all organic ships to make trade more efficient. We must go further in.” With that, it walked to a door on one side of the room. Twilight followed it, using her horn as a light. It was more powerful than Legion’s eye, and brightened most of the room, revealing it to be quite small. It was only a couple of meters in either direction from the ladder, which was stationed in the center of the room. On the two walls across from the ladder were doors, both of which lay dormant. Legion once again waved its omni-tool, and the same green rectangle from the hatch appeared. Legion pressed it and the door slowly slid apart, the unused mechanisms making quite a lot of noise from inside the walls. “The power plant is likely depleted,” Legion said as it walked into the hallway that was now open to them. “The IFF operates on emergency power, though it is very close to being depleted as well. This is likely why we did not detect the transponder immediately after we arrived.” Twilight nodded, wishing that she had brought parchment and quills to take notes of everything she saw. Instead she would have to commit it to memory, which she never liked doing for fear of forgetting. Legion led the princess down a very long hallway made of a dark brown, reflective metal. The metal refracted the light that came towards it, causing all reflections to appear wavy, as if they were underwater. The only part of the hall that was not metal was the floor. Instead, it was made of a beige stone, which was occasionally interrupted by metal supports. Twilight found the whole situation very eerie. Whatever Legion was thinking, it was not showing it. Instead it simply kept walking down, although at a more hurried pace. “Legion?” Twilight asked, speeding up briefly to catch up with the machine. “Is there something wrong?” “Yes,” Legion said. “We simply require confirmation.” “Confirmation of what?” Twilight was beginning to grow nervous. Legion did not respond to her question. Instead, it simply sped up once again and rushed to the end of the hallway, where yet another door lay dormant. Legion repeated the process of activating it, and when the door opened, Twilight’s jaw dropped. Stretching out before them was a massive chamber. The far wall was at least a hundred meters away, and the floor stretched dozens of meters below them. Legion urgently waved Twilight forward, and the two stepped onto a hexagonal platform immediately out of the door. Legion pressed a button and the platform descended to the bottom of the chamber, allowing the two to explore it. Lining the room were hundreds of cocoon-like pods. They stood about as high as the geth, with most of the front side being transparent. Each pod was empty, and most had been knocked off of their position on the wall, likely in the crash. Legion ignored the pods, however, and moved to a raised dais in the center of the room, on which was a waist-high metal pillar. Legion stepped onto the platform and approached the pillar, which lit up at the geth’s presence. Several apparitions of screens appeared, each one displaying something in a language the Twilight Sparkle did not recognize. Legion read each screen, then waved its arm, causing them to change. The geth repeated the process several times, before finally it stepped off of the dais and turned to Twilight. “We must return,” it said, beginning to walk back to the elevator platform. “Wait!” Twilight called, causing the geth to stop. “I thought you said we would return at night?” “This is too important,” Legion explained. “Your kind may be at risk.” Beginning to grow worried, Twilight trotted behind the machine and joined it on the elevator. It lifted back up to the door, and the pair wasted no time in sprinting down the hallway back to the airlock. However, when they reached the airlock, a bit of snow that had gathered on the ground beneath the ladder stopped them in their tracks. Legion slowly approached the ladder, and Twilight was not far behind. They both looked up the hatch, and Twilight was dismayed to see a blizzard raging on outside. “Oh…” Twilight said, falling back onto her haunches. She looked at Legion, who was staring up at the storm. “I don’t suppose your ship can fly in that?” “Our sensors indicate that wind speeds are exceeding one hundred eighty seven kilometers per hour,” Legion said. “While the ship could technically operate in that, the snow provides another obstacle. It has likely already begun to gather in the heat dissipation vents. If the engines cannot dispose of their heat, they will overload. Additionally, navigation equipment can be disrupted by hazardous weather conditions.” “So we’re stuck here?” the princess asked, her face falling. “For the time being, yes,” Legion answered, stepping away from the hatch. Sighing, Twilight got to her hooves and walked in a circle around the room, coming to a stop in front of the geth. “Well then maybe you could tell me what has you so worried?” she asked Legion. “There is a large quantity of data to exchange on the subject,” it replied. “We would prefer to do it with all princesses present.” Twilight sighed once more, but decided that arguing with the machine would be fruitless. Instead, she sulked over to one of the walls and sat down against it. “Then maybe we could talk for a little?” she asked. Legion did not answer, but it walked over to the pony and sat down next to her. “Topic?” Twilight narrowed her eyes, trying to think of a good question to ask Legion. They had covered all of the important bases, like society, history, and some personal experiences. When Twilight finally settled on a topic, she was not sure if Legion would be up for discussing it. “What about… your creators?” she asked, watching the geth to gauge its reaction. If it was uncomfortable, it did not show it. “You mentioned them when we were going over history, but since then… nothing.” Legion paused for a moment, likely thinking over how to answer. Through it all, it remained staring forward. “… They are called the quarians,” Legion finally said, which was a fact that Twilight already knew. “A bipedal dextro-amino acid based species from planet Rannoch. They average one-hundred sixty-seven point six four centimeters in height, and due to a weakened immune system must at all times wear special environmental suits. They--” “Legion,” Twilight interrupted. “I meant… what are they like? What’s their story?” Legion paused for a moment, reassessing the question. “… Recorded quarian history stretches back two thousand, five hundred and eighty two years,” it began again. “Compared to other organic species, they gained technological dexterity relatively early on. Whereas species such as the humans only industrialized around three hundred years ago, quarian industry using more complex tools and processes started nearly a thousand years ago. “Six hundred and forty-seven years ago, quarians successfully achieved orbit around their own planet in a spacecraft. Ten years later, they visited their moon. Five hundred and twelve years ago, they made first contact with the other species of the Citadel. Two hundred years after that… we were created. “Ever since their exile, they have roamed the galaxy in a massive Migrant Fleet. Some wish to wage war on us and retake their homeworld. Others are content to find a new one. Unfortunately, the latter group is a minority. They do not realize that the geth never intended for them to be exiled. We hold no grudge.” “You really do regret chasing them away, don’t you?” Twilight asked, truly starting to believe the geth. “Have you had any contact with quarians since then?” “The entirety of the geth consensus? No,” Legion answered. “This unit? Yes. The human ally we mentioned before, the one who defeated the Heretics. He was building a team to assist him in a mission, which we eventually joined. A member of that team was a quarian. Her name is Tali’Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya.” “That’s quite a name,” Twilight noted. “How did she react to working with a geth?” “Initially, Creator Tali’Zorah was apprehensive around us,” the geth said. “She held us at gunpoint. Fortunately, she was talked down. We tried to explain to her that the geth regretted their actions. We do not know if it had any effect, but by the end of the mission, she did trust this unit more than she had previously.” “Well, I guess that that’s some progress…” Twilight said, yawning. She looked around, noticing the small pile of snow beneath the ladder beginning to grow. “This storm could be going on for hours…” “You should rest. Your energy will be needed,” Legion said. Twilight nodded, and curled up next to the geth, resting her head against the cold metal side of the machine. If Legion was bothered by it, it did not let Twilight know. Twilight closed her eyes, and in no time at all she let sleep wash over her. Princess Celestia walked through the endless hallways of Canterlot palace, not letting the fatigue that she felt be reflected on her face. She had raised the sun only an hour or so ago, then returned to dealing with Westrock. However, once her abilities to deal with the situation had dried up, she decided to pay a visit to her sister, to see how she was doing. Celestia pushed open the doors to the throne room, taking in the large hall. From the front door of the throne room, the hall stretched for a hundred meters, where it ended at a raised dais, upon which were two thrones, each one with colors matching its owner. Sitting in one of the thrones was Princess Luna, holding what looked like a history book. Celestia smirked, finding it amusing that her sister had been back for three years, and yet was still not caught up in history. Luna noticed the arrival of somepony new, and raised her head to see who the guest was. When she saw Celestia, she smiled widely. “Hello, ‘Tia!” she called from the end of the throne room. Celestia chuckled to herself and walked the rest of the distance to the throne before replying. “Hello, sister,” Celestia said. Luna stood up from her throne, appearing amused. “What is it?” Luna held up a hoof to her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. “Oh, nothing…” she said, failing to retain all of her laughs. A few escaped from her upturned mouth, which began to make Celestia anxious. “Luna, what did you do?” Celestia asked, sighing. Luna held back a few more laughs, before turning her history book so that the pages faced the solar princess. Celestia squinted, reading the small text. In 1904 FD, following the failed attempt of seventeen royal ponies to court Princess Celestia at the Grand Galloping Gala, Princess Celestia is quoted as saying, “All of these dignitaries can kiss my-- “Hey!” Celestia said, swiping for the book. “I thought that they stopped printing that edition!” Luna dodged Celestia’s swipe, but her last comment caused the princess of the night to fall into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She fell to the ground, dropping the book in the process. Celestia grabbed it in her telekinesis, then teleported it to her own bedchambers. When Luna regained her composure, she looked at her sister slyly. “So you really told all of those ponies to go and do that?” she asked, smiling devilishly. “… Yes,” Celestia sighed. “But what that book neglects to mention is that they all tried courting me at the same time. You try rejecting seventeen stallions who all want the same thing.” “Oh, it’s not that, sister,” Luna said, wiping away a few tears that had collected beneath her eyes from her laughter. “It’s just I can never imagine you swearing. You always were the prim and proper one, after all. I was more the type to tell somepony off. What did I say to that young prince from Saddle Arabia? Something about his--” “Conversations we do not need to be having!” Celestia interrupted, shaking her head. Luna grinned, and stuck her tongue out. “See,” she said. “Prim and proper.” Celestia sighed again, trying to think of a way to change the subject. “So, did anypony visit you over the night?” she asked, although she had a fairly good idea of what the answer was. “Yes, actually,” Luna said, surprising Celestia. “Though it was not a citizen with a question… It was your chief medical officer, Healthy Heart.” “And what did she have to say?” Celestia asked curiously. “She said that she thought you were wrong about not wanting to send more ponies to Westrock,” Luna explained. “So I formally and eloquently told her to ‘deal with it’, and sent her on her way.” “Hmm…” Celestia said, unamused. “I shall have to have a chat with her about that later today. For now, does breakfast sound good?” “Indeed it does,” Luna said, stepping off of the dais. “I haven’t eaten since I woke up.” Celestia smirked, and the two walked out of the throne room, heading for the dining hall. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes flickered open, and she found herself still in the airlock of the strange vessel. While a fair bit of snow had collected on the ground, Twilight noticed that no more was falling through the hatch, which seemed to be a good sign. Sitting up, Twilight realized that Legion was exactly where it had been when the princess fell asleep. “Legion?” she asked. “Did you move at all?” “No,” Legion answered. “We were analyzing data.” “Oh,” was all Twilight had to say. She stood and walked over to the hatch, then looked up into the sky. It was still day, though it did look like the sun was on the decline. More importantly, the blizzard had stopped. “Not sure if you noticed, but the blizzard stopped.” “We did,” Legion said, standing up to join Twilight at the hatch. “We were waiting both for you to wake up, and for night to begin its approach. Coincidentally, both happened within close timeframes to one another. We believe that if we leave now, it will be night by the time we reach Canterlot.” “Good,” Twilight said. “You can finally tell us all what’s the matter.” Legion nodded, as it grabbed onto one of the ladder rungs with its hands. Hoisting itself up, Legion began the long climb to the surface. Fortunately, because it was a machine, it made the journey fairly quickly. Once it was up, Twilight focused back on the hole they had made and teleported herself to it. The amount of snow that had fallen had made their hole significantly less deep, enough so that Legion was easily able to climb out of it. For Twilight, another simple teleportation spell did the trick. They both headed back to the landed ship, which had accumulated a layer of frost throughout the storm, ready to return to Canterlot. Celestia and Luna each stood side-by-side at the edge of the castle loading docks, eagerly awaiting the return of Legion and Twilight Sparkle. Standing behind the princesses were the five remaining Elements of Harmony, and being them was a small squad of guards. Celestia honestly didn’t think the guards were necessary at this point, but they were quite insistent. “Sister, the night lasts a long while,” Luna whispered to Celestia. “They may not be back this early. I did just raise the moon, after all.” “I know,” Celestia whispered back. “But it is important for us to be here. Legion seemed… troubled… that that IFF was there. It could be important.” Luna snorted quietly. “Legion, troubled?” she asked. “What that must have sounded like!” Celestia allowed herself a grin. It was true that the machine was emotionless, but it still had slight vocal inflections to emulate tone. That combined with the flaps around its eye made for some rather telling emotions. “Uh, princess?” Rainbow Dash said impatiently from behind the two diarchs. “I don’t see that ship anywhere. This could take hours!” “Patience, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. Not a moment after the words left her mouth, a silver dot appeared on the horizon. “Here they come now.” The wait for the ship did not take long. The ship moved incredibly fast, so fast that it only took a few minutes for the ship to move from the horizon to the outskirts of Canterlot. It came to a hover in the loading docks, then landed on a platform, the side hatch opening. A moment later, Twilight Sparkle and Legion both jumped out, landing on the deck below. Twilight appeared anxious, like she had been told bad news but did not know what to make of it. Legion had its facial flaps extended out all the way, and the iris around the blue eye was spread all the way out, giving the impression of panic or feeling rushed. It hurried over to the princesses, and said quickly: “We must speak. The collectors are on Equis.”