Parked in high orbit above Eris, the NPSA Valiant was running combat drills. The squadron of twenty fighters were currently flying outside the carrier, painted and divided into teams of either red or blue, and were dogfighting with simulated weapons. The two 'lead' ships of each team pushed forward, using their heightened maneuverability to dodge around the armored hull of the Valiant and evade enemy fire. The five standard ships sprayed volleys of virtual projectiles at their enemies, while the sentinels did their best to protect their comrades. The communications frequency for each team was filled with call-outs, status updates, changes in strategy, laughter, and taunts.
Aboard the Valiant itself, the command bridge was divided into two sections, allowing them to coordinate with both fighter teams and to test the staff's ability to function with only a skeleton crew. Much like the comms, it was filled with ponies shouting over one another as they helped their team or kept things interesting by launching volleys of dud artillery and moving the ship. In the midst of so much noise, the voice of one non-participating officer went unheard.
"We're picking up a high-concentration buildup of thaumon particles. Coordinates..." The science officer trailed off, realizing no one could hear. He checked the scanner again to be certain. There were few good reasons to interrupt a war-game, but spotting enemy ships certainly made the list. Since there were no other Pegasopolan ships in their region, the only explanation was that the 'Corns were attempting a sneak-attack.
The stallion took a deep breath and started to shout, but it died in his throat as the ship was rocked violently. Nopony went flying, as it was standard procedure to be strapped in at one's workstation, but a glance out the window showed that a shock wave had overtaken the ship and given it a slight angular drift and roll. The staff fell quiet as an alarm klaxon blared and the captain began calling out new orders.
On his display, the science officer saw that a friendly beacon signal was now transmitting from the source of particle buildup he'd detected. What was more surprising, though, was the identifying tag associated with the beacon. Like any tag, it was just a string of four digits, but he recognized this one immediately from the countless hours he had spent as a foal studying every detail of the ship to which it belonged.
The Guiding Wing was home.
The crew of the Guiding Wing's arrival in Ponyville was one giant whirlwind of activity. Despite Twilight's best efforts to convince Pinkie that the matter needed discretion and privacy, a large welcome party was awaiting them at the train station. In a later conversation, the pink mare explained that "Everypony who visits Ponyville for the first time gets a Welcome-To-Ponyville-For-The-First-Time-Super-Surprise-Party," and added that she hadn't even gotten started on the "Welcome-To-Our-Planet" party that she'd be hosting once she was allowed.
For their parts, the off-worlders didn't mind. It was hectic, to be sure, but it was a perfect glimpse into the native culture. Patch in particular found herself wondering how both planets had developed such similar foods. There was a lot more variety here, but she noticed several dishes that reminded her of home.
After spending a few hours on the pavilion outside the train station, enjoying the festivities—Pinkie had evidently convinced Mayor Mare to rent the space in anticipation of the 'foreign dignitaries'—the crew followed Twilight to her castle for a more relaxed evening. They were joined at dinner by a collection of Twilight's friends, one of whom everypony recognized as the party host, and another as the pegasus they first saw when they arrived at the planet. Conversation was slow, given that Twilight had to act as a translator for everypony, but they all got along amicably.
The following two days were spent similarly, hurrying between events and tours and parties. Though there had been no official confirmation, rumors of the strange ponies from the sky had been circulating for months, and many of the citizens of Ponyville had evidently figured out who their visitors were. Everyone wanted to meet them, to invite them to their home or farm, to share their experiences.
After a banquet in the town hall on the night before their departure for Canterlot, White Noise was walking back to the castle by himself. Patch and Stem had departed early, and the others wanted to stay longer. While the prospect of being alone in a mud-pony town at night would have terrified him on Eris, that fear didn't translate into this society. Unless their hosts had simply gone to extreme lengths to obscure the true nature of things, it seemed that Equestria did not suffer the same problems of crime and hatred that his homeworld did.
It was for this reason that, when he saw grey-coated, black-maned unicorn stallion down the road, Noise actually offered a friendly wave instead of averting his gaze and hurrying on.
The stallion waved back, and called out, "Hail, friend! Where are you headed on such a precipitous evening?" He gave a short, deep chuckle at the question.
"Just returning to the castle to get some rest. That Pinkie Pie really does know how to throw a party."
"Yes, she never fails to surprise. She has a gift for chaos; truly a rare and delicious thing of late."
Noise cleared his throat, not wanting to be rude but also wishing to retire to his bed and conclude the bizarre conversation. Something about it was sitting ill with him. "Yes, well, I must be getting back, but perhaps I'll see you again tomorrow. Mister..."
"Day Lancer," the stallion quickly supplied. "And I'm quite optimistic that you shall." With that, he turned and went on his way, another faint chuckle in his throat.
White Noise stood there for a minute, puzzled at the encounter, before resuming his path to the castle. Only as he did so did he realize the fact that the stallion had been speaking Erisian.
"Tomorrow?" Focus asked, scowling. "They'll be here tomorrow and you're only telling us now?"
As her translator communicated his message, Princess Celestia gave an indulging smile, willing to overlook the pony's petulant manner. "This is the first I've learned of it. In her enthusiasm, Princess Twilight evidently neglected to tell me about her plans." She paused, her gaze turning somewhat sterner. "I trust that it will not be an issue, though, and that everypony involved will conduct themselves civilly."
The stallion nodded. "I assure you, Lady Celestia, that my crew would never initiate any conflict while here as your guests."
The pair of them exchanged a few more words before parting ways. Focus left the dining hall in the direction of the guest quarters, where he and his ponies had spent the entirety of their stay in Canterlot thus far. Reaching the city had been a rushed and ill-planned affair, and in the two days since arriving, Celestia had been occupied by matters of state that she could not neglect. Their confinement to the guest wing was not mandated or enforced, but they had not been invited out since they were originally directed inside and nopony wanted to be caught wandering the castle without permission.
Upon reaching his personal room and pushing the door open, Focus found his three friends had evidently been waiting for him. Amethyst Pear was idly trying to stack the contents of a fruit-bowl into a single tower, but kept continuously using telekinesis to stabilize the lower levels. Top Notch was inspecting the detailing on the canopy bed's wooden posts, and Florence Flask was unceremoniously dangling off the back of said bed, watching the entryway from her upside-down vantage point.
Upon seeing the captain enter, Florence waved a foreleg in his direction. "What's the word?"
Focus shook his head slightly at the scene and entered the room fully, pushing the door shut behind him and taking a seat on the floor by it. "Celestia finally graced us with her presence in the dining room, and said that we can expect to be sharing the castle with some special company tomorrow."
Notch turned to him with a curious look. "Company?"
"Yes. The New Pegasopolan crew we've been hearing so much about will be visiting this city tomorrow and likely staying in this castle."
Amethyst lost her hold on the fruit-tower, which promptly collapsed on itself and spilled its components across the table and floor. "What featherbrained idiot thought that was a good idea?!"
"Yes, what if they try something while they're here?" Notch added.
"I'm well aware of the potential concerns, but Celestia has already secured my word that we will not start anything with those wingbones. I expect she'll require the same of them." Focus paused, frowning. "That being said, if they do start something, don't be afraid to hold your ground. I'll not have one of you wind up hospitalized for trying to be the better pony."
"We're here, we're here, we're HEEERE!" Twilight sprung out of her seat and galloped to the door in a decidedly un-regal manner as the train slowed to a halt at the Canterlot platform. "This is going to be great!"
Smiling, Thatch Roof stepped up next to her and waited for the noise of the train to die down a bit. "So what's the plan, Princess?"
"There shouldn't be any crowd waiting to see you this time, so it'll be easy enough to head straight to the castle. You can drop off your stuff and rest up for a couple hours, and then I want to take you all to the Royal Library. You can see the place and we can eat somewhere low-key before getting you back to your rooms for the night. I'll be visiting my parents, but if something comes up you can always ask somepony to send a messenger."
"Sounds good." The two of them planted their hooves as the train stopped entirely. Thatch turned back to the other ponies and gestured towards the exit. "Come on, let's not waste time!" He would be the first to admit he had little love for crowded cities, but it being an alien city admittedly made all the difference. Not to mention, everything he had seen and heard of Canterlot thus far sounded beautiful enough to justify the hassle.
The walk to the castle was brief, but they spent little time there. Twilight led them through a series of hallways and courtyards to one of the guest wings. She explained that Princess Celestia had already arrived with the unicorn crew who were staying elsewhere in the castle, and then they quickly left to get started on their day.
Their outing was largely uneventful, and while they enjoyed it, the crew returned to the castle and retired to their rooms without incident. After a while, though, Crystal Clear found herself unable to fall asleep and decided to explore a bit. Twilight had mentioned several facilities in this guest wing, including a sauna, a courtyard, and a small kitchen. Her search brought her to the latter first, and Crystal made a brief stop before resuming her quest in the new-found company of a box of candied apples.
Some time later, she pushed open a particularly heavy wooden door and was met with the sounds and smells of the outdoors. Before her was a large courtyard decorated with several hedge sculptures and a fountain, with several benches and numerous flowerbeds spread throughout the opening. To her right was the tall exterior wall of one of the castle's grand halls or perhaps even the throne-room. It was decorated with a number of stained-glass windows several heights above her head. To her left was a simpler wall meant to close in the courtyard from the outside world. Across from her, comprising the fourth wall of the enclosure, was a structure that looked very similar to the guest wing she had just exited.
Only after a minute of surveying her surroundings did Crystal Clear notice the pony reclined on one of the courtyard benches. The mare, a purple-coated unicorn, nodded in her direction and spoke. "Haven't seen many ponies in here. Welcome to the Courtyard Of The Damned."
"That's a curious name if ever I've heard one."
The purple mare blinked in surprise and started slightly, obviously not expecting a response. "Yes, well, I've only just made it up. I'm feeling a bit homesick."
Crystal offered an amicable smile, trotting closer to the mare and sitting down. "You and me both. I'm sure you're perfectly aware just how well I can empathize with that."
"I'm sorry, have we met? I'm not sure what you mean."
There was a long pause as both ponies processed what had been said. Crystal had assumed the mare was aware of her journey from Eris given that she was able to speak Erisian, but if she wasn't... Eventually, Crystal asked, "What's your name?"
"Amethyst Pear."
Crystal Clear recognized the name from the months of publicity it had received following New Unicornia's rocket launch. She stood up quickly, bumping against a potted plant and knocking it over in the process. "Y-you'll have to excuse me! I should be getting back."
"Wait!" Amethyst called out, her horn alight as she rose to her hooves and telekinetically pushed the door at the exit closed. The purple glow of magic cast an eerie shadow over her face. "You're not one of Celestia's translators, are you?"
Crystal turned back to face the mare, her own horn flashing briefly as she sent an alert to Thatch Roof and the others. "No, I'm not. But now that we've established our shared origin, would you really like to re-enact the conflict of a planet thirteen light-years distant?"
"You're completely right. There's no sense in violence right now, and regardless, I am no practitioner of it. Unlike some ponies, I do not align myself with warmongers and foal-murderers."
Crystal sneered at the antagonistic mare. "I am glad we met, Amethyst Pear, because you have thoroughly calmed any mournful thoughts I've ever felt about growing up away from my own kind. If indeed you are their 'best and brightest,' bickering over ideology as you stand in a palace built by aliens, then I expect the war shall be won by the time we return. If you truly do not seek to do me harm, then walk away now."
"I have no intention of showing my backside to one who would so readily stab it! I suggest you leave first."
Both mares stared each other down, neither willing to make the first move towards disarming the situation. They likely could have continued far longer than they did, but they were interrupted when the door behind Crystal burst open and her pegasi crewmates came flying through the opening. On instinct, Amethyst shot a bolt of energy at them that sent Lime Cliff tumbling to the ground. Crystal immediately sent a wave of frigid air at the mare, staggering her. Thatch Roof, who had been the second through the door, promptly tackled the hostile unicorn to the ground and gave her horn a firm kick.
Patch rushed to Lime Cliff and began checking on him, while Thatch stood over Amethyst and turned to Crystal and demanded, "What happened?"
Crystal shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm not... I don't know. It just- I don't think she meant any harm." Thatch scowled and looked ready to interrupt, but she continued, "She was clearly hostile, but I don't think she would've actually hurt me if she hadn't been startled."
"Yes, well-" The door on the opposite end of the courtyard swung open and three new unicorns galloped into the opening. They took one good look at their comrade pinned on the ground before taking on combat stances. Crystal tried to say something, but there was little opportunity in the time before Thatch Roof stomped down on the pinned mare and leaped into the air. The rest of the pegasi looked varying degrees of displeased about the situation, but all followed their captain's lead and took wing as well.
In the moments that followed, the three Unicornian combatants began firing off a variety of combat spells as they scattered for cover. The grey-coated stallion on the left managed to land a shot one of Stem Bolt's wings that forced him into a rough landing, but he kept his momentum and launched into hoof-to-hoof combat with his assailant.
The blue mare on the right broke into a sprint for a short wall of shrubs, sending scattered but controlled bursts of flame into the air as she went.
The silver unicorn could scarcely do anything before Thatch Roof was upon him. The pegasus tackled him to the ground before locking his forelegs around him and taking to the air. His intention, hastily-formed as it was, was to use his hold on the unicorn to leverage the others into ceasing hostility. Instead, the blue mare just cried out "Focus!" and shot a bolt of energy at Thatch.
The beam struck him powerfully, launching him backwards through the stained glass window behind him. He maintained enough of his senses to let go of the unicorn and did his best to slow his descent, but still landed with far more speed than was healthy.
Dizzied, he tried and failed to rise to his hooves. Looking around, he saw that he was in a grand chamber of some sort, lined with stained glass windows on both sides and what appeared to be a throne on one end. Outside, he could still faintly hear the shouts of his ponies, but he found it difficult to focus on their voices. Surrounding him was broken glass from the window he'd crashed through, and several paces away was a similarly semi-conscious unicorn who clearly had no further interest in fighting.
His focus was firmly on one particular stained glass window across the hall.
Staggering to his hooves, Thatch gawked at the image and began limping closer to the window, trying to look at the inscription on the plaque mounted below it. His progress was when White Noise flew in and landed next to him. "Captain, are you alright?"
"Y-" Thatch coughed heavily, scowling. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit scraped up. How're the others?"
Noise frowned skeptically at his captain's self-assessment, but did not challenge it. "Everypony's okay for the most part. We got the horned pricks to stand down after you two went crashin' through here. Lime's still out of it, but Patch says he's breathing."
Any further discussion was put on hold when the purple unicorn appeared in the room with a flash, looking severely worse for wear but still on her hooves. A moment later, Crystal appeared too. "Captain, she just vani- Oh." She sighed, glancing around the room with a frown after seeing that Amethyst had not escaped anywhere.
It didn't take long for everypony present to see where Thatch and Focus's attention was directed, and soon they were all staring up at the stained-glass depiction of their long-lost god being slain by the ponies they'd called friends in Ponyville. There was no mistaking it; those six ponies, surrounding Discord and firing beams of energy at him as he twisted in agony.
As if it wasn't enough, White Noise stepped up to read the window's inscription. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thought it odd that the characters seemed to shimmer and turn legible, but as adrenaline-pumped and tired as he was, he simply wrote it off as his translating work paying off.
"The Vanquishing of the Villain Discord," he read aloud.
In the distance, he could hear shouting, presumably from guards investigating the commotion. Noise turned to his captain, who was still staring up at the image.
There was a long silence as Thatch Roof turned away from the window and walked over to the Unicornian captain, Focus, who was still lying on the ground. His wounds seemed less pronounced than they had previously, likely due to healing magic worked by himself or Amethyst.
As Thatch approached, Focus drew his body in on itself, tensing up, but the pegasus stallion simply outstretched a foreleg towards him. With a final glance at the window, he asked, "Need a hoof?"