“Fluttershy, Ah’m mite surprised you have the steely nerves to carry that there alien weapon with you like you did,” Applejack remarked casually as they and their sizeable group of friends made the trek from town to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Seeing as how they can burn through wood and metal like nothing, and all.”
Fluttershy looked back to Applejack and the others with a mildly troubled expression as she went onwards. “Oh, I could hardly believe it at first, either. I only wish the weapon’s owners hadn’t been scared of my sudden presence and ran off like they did, they seemed to have been in the middle of offering…um…I know this may sound outlandish, but… to make something to eat for Angel.” She blushed at the bewildered expressions some of the others gave her upon mentioning that.
Up ahead of the party, which Applejack was at the front of, Fluttershy was accompanied by Dadab, Trixie, Twilight, and Lighter Than Some. The scholarly Unggoy could be heard sniffing at the air inquisitively while his Huragok companion scanned the surface of the winding dirt road ahead of them. Trixie and Twilight were also diligently scanning the area with detection spells, the latter at a more extreme range.
With the exception of Rarity, Chur, and Spike, whom had returned to Carousel Boutique to discuss all things Canterlot and begin work on a new outfit project for Trixie, the group of friends was in full force.
“Hmm…maybe they were seeking shelter, and thinking your pet Angel was the owner of the dwelling, offered to cook for him in exchange for temporary residence,” Dadab mused. “It’s an old part of ancient Unggoy reciprocal hospitality. Culture is still intact, somehow.”
“Fascinating,” Twilight responded.
“A bit heart-wrenching, too,” Trixie added, rather sadly. Dadab patted her shoulder reassuringly with a stubby hand.
“Endurance! Since the Rebellion, grunts shall grow stronger as a people every decade. All we need are enough fuel rod cannons.” Dadab half declared, and half joked. Walking behind everyone else as she brought up the rear of the group, Rainbow Dash snickered sceptically to herself as she heard that.
A faint smile crept onto Trixie’s face, and she nodded thoughtfully. “Of course, Dadab. Spoken almost like an Earth Pony.”
“Heh-heh, we sure are pretty robust. Well most of us, anyways,” Applejack replied.
“Fluttershy says more Unggoy are around,” Dadab then stated, to which Fluttershy nodded firmly. “Perhaps I can unify them somehow, they’re probably stuck here like us, after all. Then we team up with Applejack and Pinkie Pie’s race, Earth Ponies lead us, and nothing evil shall stand long against Equestria!”
Lighter Than Some let out a bemused hum, and Twilight raised her brow at Dadab.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now. We don’t currently know how many Covenant are out there still in the Brute Captain’s wake, let alone the Unggoy they brought with them. Princess Celestia was quite clear that making contact with anything that is currently spacefaring could potentially become an existential threat to the whole of Equis,” the librarian cautioned. Twilight tried to keep the authoritativeness absent from her tone as much as equinely possible, in hopes of indefinitely preventing the utterance of the word “boss” from the grunt’s mouth in address to her. Or any mouth, for that matter.
“Your enthusiasm is as beneficial to our party’s synergy as much as the Pink One’s omnipotent cheer,” Lighter Than Some also stated to Dadab with the accompaniment of Pinkie Pie’s affectionate grin. “But Twilight Sparkle speaks sagely.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Trixie said, nodding, although her previous smile faded into a shamed frown. “We should determine if these Covenant are truly stranded first, before making any attempt at direct contact. I was able to…rout…their mothership using that Jiralhanae’s body as a scarecrow of sorts after I used him to power that magic siphon, but I have no idea if they still have other smaller craft with them in their remaining camps that could be used to get off-world and alert the rest of their empire.”
Unbeknownst to the others until Rainbow Dash became vocal, the pegasus’ features had darkened considerably. “Isn’t that just the thing?” she retorted, glowering and with frustration clear in her voice. “Every time I want to tear you a new one for your role in nearly causing an alien apocalypse, seeing Dadab nearby conjures up a mini-Dash in my head. And guess what? Mini-Dash says that we’re all lucky that our planet has existed for so long as it did without encountering ETs sooner. To put things bluntly: It, Dadab, Chur, and the rest of my friends are the only things that have stopped me from doing something nasty!”
In an instant, the group stopped dead in its tracks on the road. Trixie seemed to shrink to half her size, and Lighter Than Some even began projecting a violet infantry-grade shield around every member of the group in an automatic response as he hovered defensively over her.
“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed. The others followed suit with disapproving looks. An itch in Rainbow Dash’s wing cast was beginning to flare up and become unbearable under her friends’ withering glare as she returned the looks with a sigh of reluctant acquiescence.
Trixie swallowed hard and mustered her voice, exhausting much emotional energy to convert her instinctively brewing anger into remorse. “If it’s any consolation to you, Rainbow – which I doubt – the Covenant cruiser isn’t coming back. While scrying, I saw the San’Shyuum up on his floating throne commanding them; the horror on his face made my fur stand on end. I’m well aware of the gravity of what I was involved with.”
“A Prophet?” Dadab inquired in astonishment. Trixie turned to him and nodded, her tired eyes showing not a hint of deception.
“To Trixie’s credit, um, I think that ‘mini-Dash’ was on to something,” Fluttershy said to Rainbow, before looking at Twilight. “With everything he knew, couldn’t Discord, or maybe even Star Swirl or somepony else like them have done a similar thing before? A number of the creatures in the Everfree seem like they don’t quite belong in our world…”
“With Discord, anything is possible,” Twilight answered irritably, still peeved at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow looked at Trixie’s troubled features and gave out a beleaguered harrumph. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, Trixie. I just needed to get that off my chest. I accept your apologies like everypony else. But unlike everypony else, my trust won’t be earned that easily by the likes of you. I’ll be watching you closely. Prove yourself, and maybe I’ll go a little easier on you down the road.” She punctuated her words by making a vigilant, commando-like gesture with her hoof and returning Twilight’s irritated glare. Although, rather oddly, the glare did not last. “Uh…no pun intended.”
The unicorn softened up, and even cracked a smile at Rainbow upon seeing Trixie nod with understanding gleaming in her dark violet eyes.
Lighter Than Some relaxed and dissipated everyone’s shields as Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “Rainbow Dash, you have impressed us. Or me, at least. You gave voice to something that was troubling you, and for that, we may have just done a bit to help resolve it.”
“And I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I am worthy of that trust, Rainbow Dash,” Trixie vowed.
“Yeah, I guess. And yeah, you do that, Trixie,” Rainbow Dash mumbled.
For the first time in many days, Trixie seemed to possess a sense of conviction and determination in her demeanour, rather than just rampant regret and guilt. Rainbow Dash had to turn away from the unicorn magician’s gaze as everyone began moving along the road again, lest Trixie see that she was visibly impressed, however mildly.
The friends’ banter was minimal from then on as everyone made a point at regular intervals to listen carefully for potential movement in the bushes of the nearby woods until they at last reached the grounds of Fluttershy’s property, having detected nothing but the usual insect and bird calls.
Sitting right at the precipice of the imposing Everfree itself, which was made even more so by the gradually darkening evening sky, the pegasus’ cottage was as tranquil and idyllic as ever.
Fluttershy made right for the cottage and crossed the bridge over the stream on the grounds, but then turned around the side of the cosy little abode, leading everyone to the bay window that lead into the kitchen of the cottage. She pointed a hoof at the open window.
“This is where they fled through when they became aware of my presence. I think it’s how they got in, too,” Fluttershy explained, looking between the window and the disturbed flower bushes directly beneath it.
“Hmm…certainly looks that way,” Twilight mused. “Those bushes here were clearly met with some rough action.”
“Boys, care to do the honours?” Applejack asked.
Dadab and Lighter Than Some immediately stepped and/or floated forward to investigate with borderline enthusiasm. It didn’t take them long to corroborate Fluttershy’s claim. Several pairs of small-shod boot prints dotted the ground much like animal tracks, leading right back into the Everfree.
“What’s the verdict, detectives?” Pinkie Pie chirped, while Fluttershy chewed on her lip with concern. The squat but friendly-looking aliens could be lost and in danger in the Everfree as they were speaking.
“Definitely Unggoy,” Dadab responded. Putting his boot into one of the imprints into the dirt as it began to grow damp from late day condensation, he found that they were a perfect match. Definitely standard-issue footwear for an Unggoy combat harness. Dadab then sniffed around. “I can even still smell the tail end of them. Ooh, and something else from the kitchen, too!”
Lighter Than Some whistled his agreement, then placed one of his kind’s mysterious glyphs on the wood of the cottage’s exterior wall just below the window frame, piquing Trixie’s curiosity as she watched him. The alien had placed similar glyphs in some of the areas they had visited around Equestria since she had plucked him several light years out from Epsilon Indi and to her homeworld.
Fluttershy looked up at the sky, and then to her friend whom also shared her name with the present time of day. “Um, we should decide what we’re going to do next.” She then turned to Dadab and the others, gesturing a hoof towards her front door. “It’s getting late, too. You’re all more than welcome to come in while we do so.” She patted Dadab on the head with a radiant smile. “We’ve got some leftover banana bread from lunch time in the fridge, so it must be the oven you’re smelling. I’ll be sure to get you some.”
“Thanks!” Dadab jumped in place twice to happily express his agreement, prompting Pinkie Pie to do just the same, earning a giggle from some of the mares and smiles from the rest.
Everyone else then expressed their unanimous agreement, and they all promptly made their way inside the cottage.
In a few minutes, everyone was comfortably settled down. Dadab, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all were happily attacking slices of banana bread, Lighter Than Some was fiddling with a broken old toaster, and Fluttershy was joined by Twilight and Trixie with some cups of tea made with herbs from a distant continent.
The herbs were procured by way of Zecora and the more avant-garde merchants of Canterlot, and the mares enjoyed their taste immensely. Twilight was somewhat delayed to set her own cup down to speak as a result, downing the rest of the steaming beverage down in one swift move and setting it down on the coffee table before her.
“Right, regarding these marooned Covenant…” Fluttershy’s ears pricked up attentively, and Trixie stared with rapt attention. Dadab also turned to listen, as did the others. “We do need to find them, and even contact may eventually be necessary, but we first have to be a hundred and ten percent certain that they have no way of getting themselves or a broadcast signal anywhere past the distance of the Moon. I don’t even want to think about what could follow if Equestria learns about the Covenant…and contrariwise.”
“Um, con what?” Pinkie Pie asked, her muzzle scrunched with puzzlement.
“She means vice-versa,” Trixie explained.
“Ohh, okay. I thought you were talking about some old arcade game!”
“We should contact the Princesses,” Dadab suggested. “If Fluttershy has seen more of my kind, then perhaps the far-seeing alicorns have noticed odd things as well! We’ll need their diplomatic talents in the long run anyways to deal with my former comrades.”
“Just what I was thinking. They have them telescopes up there in their castle. Can see for miles upon miles,” Applejack said.
“Perhaps they have even been able to determine why it’s taken so long for these Covenant to finally show themselves…” Trixie mused. “More than a few mere bands of grunts should have shown up near a town or two by now.”
Fluttershy nodded. “We could really use their guidance…especially considering the remote but dire risks involved…” The pegasus shivered beneath her fur slightly.
“I couldn’t agree more, everyone,” Twilight affirmed with finality. We need to go find Spike, Chur, and Rarity so we can all contact them together.”
“Not to rush anypony too much, but I think we should really hurry, too. The longer we’re in the dark, the more n-nervous I get,” Fluttershy added.
Rainbow Dash was already making her way out the front door. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get down to business already, before the end of the world starts, or something!”
“So it’s true, it really was more grunts?” Spike asked Dadab as everyone stood around the posh interior of Carousel Boutique.
“The boot prints match exactly, I could still smell their scent!” Dadab replied.
“Oh my,” Rarity remarked, putting a piece of fabric down belonging to Trixie’s cape and robes to gaze at everyone present.
“Magnificent, the gas suckers must be breeding already,” Chur jested, earning her a deadpan stare from Dadab and Spike, and a chuckle from Rainbow Dash.
“Nope,” Dadab retorted tersely.
The rest of present company wasn’t paying much attention; their minds were instead currently focused on the much larger matter unfolding.
“Spike, take a letter, please! We need to contact Celestia and Luna about what and who Fluttershy has seen.” Twilight instructed. Spike immediately snapped to attention and waved her an informal salute, then went to retrieve parchment and quill from a nearby table. He then stood in place expectantly, waiting for Twilight to dictate the contents of the letter-to-be.
Twilight cleared her throat and began. “Dear Princess Celestia, Fluttershy brought something of great importance to our attention this evening. It would appear that Dadab, Chur’R-Yar, and Trixie’s companion Lighter Than Some may not in fact be the only alien intelligences active in Equestria.” She sighed and began walking about the room as she continued. “Fluttershy spotted a group of aliens belonging to Dadab’s race inside her own kitchen, who promptly fled from her in fright. They must have come from a much larger group, but we cannot say for sure, yet. We would like Royal assistance in this matter before proceeding. Your faithful student, Twilight.”
“Right, there we go…” Spike held the now finished and rolled scroll in his palm, and blew. A gout of green flame enveloped the parchment and sent it on its way to Canterlot Castle.
A waiting game then set in as the front room of the clothing shop went quiet in anticipation of the royals’ response. While the minutes slowly ticked on by, Trixie approached Rarity and Chur as the fashion designer returned to work on Trixie’s new attire, and set a purse of bits down on the countertop. Chur’s eyes grew bright with interest, and the Kig Yar promptly extracted Trixie’s exact fee from the purse and put it in a register, then returned the bag with a reptilian grin.
Meanwhile, Lighter Than Some roamed around scanning Rarity’s sewing machines and other instruments with interest. Rainbow Dash looked restless enough pacing about that she might spontaneously combust, and the rest had their eyes wandering about the area, shuffling idly about, sighing, and occasionally whistling.
When the front door to Rarity’s shop sounded out with a series of urgent knocks that pierced through the lingering quietude like a lightning bolt, Rainbow Dash was such a cocktail of pent op anticipation that the knocks were met by a very feminine shriek.
“Hello? Madame Rarity?” an eloquent voice inquired from the other side of the front door. “I’ve been roaming all around Ponyville hoping to find one or all of you, but nopony seems to be home. I noticed your lights were still aglow; may I come in?” The voice was accompanied by an odd and persistent but quite subtle mechanical thumping that appeared to be emitting from somewhere above the shop’s roof. If one were not paying attention, they would almost have surely failed to notice it.
Before exchanging shocked looks with everyone else, Rarity rushed to answer the door. She was immediately greeted by the serenely impassive gaze of a midnight blue alicorn, and Rarity’s eyes widened, her body automatically gesturing to welcome the visitor inside.
“Princess Luna?” several of the room’s occupants greeted at once with a combination of surprise, relief, delight, and awe. Twilight and the others approached Luna as the Princess strode into Carousel Boutique with an urgent but stately canter.
“Princess Luna the Dreamwalker, in person? Well met!” Chur greeted amiably.
“What a coincidence, we just sent a letter to Celestia minutes ago!” Twilight added.
Luna looked at them all with a warm smile, but it was short lived. “Well met as well, fairest Chur’R-Yar. Hello Twilight, everyone. I’m afraid sister is currently too preoccupied to be reached at the moment. Celestia is recalling and directing the Royal Army from its frontier posts to supplement the Royal Guard should this become a full-out invasion.”
“Oh boy…” Spike muttered.
“Princess’ body language looks rather tense,” Dadab pointed out to Spike with a whisper.
Spike nodded, standing beside him. “Did she always have that crimson feather taped to her moon sash like that?”
“How me supposed to know?” Dadab deadpanned, letting his normally formal diction slide back into common Grunt speech for emphasis.
The young dragon elbowed him playfully. “Touché.”
“Whoa, back up a minute,” Rainbow Dash said to the Princess. “What do you mean?”
“You know, our Royal Army? The soldiers with the strange ranged weapons of your modern era…?” Luna responded, now looking just as confused as the weather pegasus. Lighter Than Some perked his elongated head up with interest at the mention of ‘strange weapons’.
“What invasion?” Applejack asked, clarifying her friend’s query and removing her hat to rub between her ears. Both of them flattened against her head as she pondered the possibilities. “Is it that group of supposedly stranded Covenant what’s wanderin’ about? Fluttershy, here, saw a number of Dadab’s people near her cottage. Little fellas ran from her, which must mean there’s definitely more of em’.”
“Covenant? You mean…my sister did not inform you earlier in the day?” Luna’s eyes widened in surprise before she let out a frustrated sigh. “Fie, Tia. Fie! Must I always be her unwitting deliverymare…? Ahem. My apologies in advance, for some of what I am about to share with you, you may already be aware of.”
“Please, do continue!” Rarity said. Luna nodded and her expression grew dire.
“Now hear this: the off-worlder with the destructive hammer you all vanquished must have been accompanied by a sizeable Covenant entourage. To make matters worse, said entourage is clearly martial in nature, and is currently engaged in a terrible and protracted battle within the depths of the Everfree Forest, the expanse of densely foliaged hills west of Ponyville, and portions of the Whitetail Woods, where the bulk of the still organized Covenant and their surviving commanders may have fortified themselves.”
“And the invasion?” Rainbow Dash pressed. “Who in Tartarus is actually invading?”
“You see, Rainbow Dash, the Covenant’s opponents appear to be a force of Changelings. The lights from the fighting have been visible from the castle in the late hours of the night for days, and the green glow of Changeling destruction magic is unmistakable. Indeed, one could likely see spells erupting hither and thither this very moment, like distant green fireflies…”
Chur-R-Yar let out a contemplative chattering. “Green fireflies? Sounds to me like a combination of light from our peoples’ energy weapons as well as the magic you mentioned. If the Changelings have managed to gain access to any of those weapons, that would be most dire.”
“Indeed, Chur,” Luna nodded. “We have dispatched scouts to investigate further, but I am of the mind that these Changelings, possibly the dreaded Queen Chrysalis herself, may be attempting to keep these Covenant corralled in specific locations, allowing their beleaguered troops to scatter only as it is strategically convenient to them. They must be planning something!”
Twilight’s face grew flushed as her worry started to boil over. “Lights… Princess, please tell me you haven’t seen any lights taking off into space!”
Luna looked at her with misunderstanding for a moment, but quickly realized what the unicorn meant. “Oh, you must be referring to…starships, I think you call them? Nay, I have seen no such movement of lights, and nothing anomalous has asserted itself in the path of the Moon’s orbit since the Covenant’s initial landfall, and we believe. If the Covenant had anything starworthy…”
“Um, they would have launched it already! Right?” Trixie interjected, her hoof held aloft like a schoolfilly answering a teacher’s question.
“Correct, Madame Trixie.” Luna answered with a nod. Twilight sighed with relief upon hearing that. Princess Luna then looked at each and every one of them. “Furthermore, the reason for me seeking you all out tonight is not just to impart this information. Your presence is needed in Canterlot, you see. Celestia has convened a summit encompassing all ponies and persons pertinent to the crisis at hoof. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are on their way from the Empire, and many others are already in attendance.”
Chur and Rarity exchanged looks of befuddlement. “Well then,” the dressmaker began. “Looks like it’s back to Canterlot again.”
“Fear not, you will not have to ride the train, again,” Luna told them with a little smile as everyone began making their way out of the shop. She waved towards the open expanse of grass in the marketplace several meters away from Carousel Boutique.
Several of the group’s faces lit up with surprise yet again.
The grass was occupied by a small group of curious onlookers, a uniformed mare and stallion in flightgear waiting patiently, and behind them, the idle rotors and metal-crystalline profile of a transport helicopter bearing the winged shoes insignia of the Royal Courier Service. To say that the vehicle was at odds with the region’s rustic style would have been an understatement, if the gawking townsfolk still about at such a late hour were any indication.
“Time is of the essence! We shall ride in the style and speed of the modern era!” Luna proclaimed.