//------------------------------//
// Starry, Starry Night 
// Story: Twilight's Guide to Extraterrestrials 
// by Eventual Perception 
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She sat on her rock, feeling slightly more important than usual and twiddled her crown between her fingers, feeling the knobby tips between her fingers. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment as she peered between the branches to the skies above. The clouds had cleared and, beyond the visiting ships, she could see the stars - what was supposedly the work of Princess Luna, but Queen Chrysalis had never quite believed that and now these visitors had confirmed her suspicions: the princesses were just as powerful as her. No more, nor no less. 

She let out her breath, and her chest fell. She'd have to find someplace secretive soon, somewhere out of the way and protected - she could feel her skin closing in on her, the green band about her waist becoming more than slightly tight against her. Shedding was something she never really, truly had a knack for, let alone enjoyed - the way her skin left her body, the sticky, fresh skin beneath that was slightly softer to the touch, the way her hair and tail - which never seemed to shed, she never understood why - would cling to the wet skin when she moved. But for now, there was some time left before the chore, and she was content to stare past the sky into the stars and wonder, just wonder, what else was out there. 

Is there, on one of those dots of light, another Queen, staring into her own sky, towards me, wondering if she is also alone? Chrysalis thought. She let go of her crown, let it down on her rock, and leaned back onto her arms. She sighed again; sometimes, she could be quite lonely, in her own way. Yes, she had her horde, her minions and her soldiers and her children, but still... she was lonely, on occasion, when the vastness of the night fell over her and there was nothing much to do, when she didn't feel much like trying, she just wished that it was through. She closed her eyes, then opened them.

Above her, an Overlord ship quietly flew over, leaving no sound nor trace of presence, a ghost in the night sky. Chrysalis did not trust Overlords, nothing could come in peace; life was war, she knew this very well, had known since her early childhood. They were lying, they had to be. 





Kevin stared at the sky, laying on his back and breathing deeply. There hadn't been much to do, not lately - sure, there was planning, and secretly sneaking off into Ponyville to mingle on the outskirts, but really, there was nothing that really held his interest. He crossed his legs, rather awkwardly, and shifted his position as he watched the stars twinkle far overhead. Sleep, he decided, would not visit him this night, despite the tiredness, despite the need he clearly had for sleep. His armor lay in a pile beside him, cold and hard and uncaring, the way Kevin himself used to be. 

In reality, he had not been that way for a long, long time. 





Chrysalis did not know how long she had been staring at the sky, but she had the vague notion that she had remained still for a very long time. The hair over her shoulders was cold in the night, her hairless skin chilled, her fingers clinging to the rock. The stars remained silent overhead, as did their new Overlord companions. 

Chrysalis had heard the voice in Ponyville; it had been faint, Karellen had not been very loud when he had spoke, and it had not traveled through the Everfree trees very well. A slight drawback, she thought; the very thing that kept them from the wandering eyes of the ponies was the very thing that was now preventing her from satisfying her curiosity. Whatever he had said, it had been calm and direct and - Chrysalis sensed - intentionally vague. Still, she had the impression that something big was coming, in her own way; the way her full belly rumbled, the way her ears twitched, the way she and her soldiers seemed to be on edge. Something was coming, and if she had to guess she would have said from above, from "Luna's stars." Still, it was just a feeling, and they were wrong more often than right - or maybe they were right as often as they were wrong - but in any case she did not pay attention to it in the present. She sat, beneath the stars, in her loneliness. 





There's a long way to go between stars. A long time between stops, especially when you're travelling along, especially when using the alternate back routes. A long time for something to go wrong. A long time to hear nothing but the drone of the engines against the dead silence of space, to feel the chill of the empty cabin. A long time to miss the ship passing through the system of a minor star, and the slight change in navigation that sent the ship toward a small, pale planet inhabited by talking ponies. In his stasis, he shifted slightly as the laws of physics affected him. He groaned in his sleep, his eyes opening slightly. 

The eyeshine was brief, and he was asleep again. 





Twilight stared out the window as she lay in bed beneath Starlight's arm. The Overlord ship was not visible, only the darkness of the night and the stars. She sighed, pulled Starlight's arm closer, and went back to sleep.





Chyrsalis walked silently through the trees, occasionally placing a palm on the rough bark and stopping, looking at her hooves and kicking the dirt. She did not like this, not one little bit: she had not been so introspective in a very long time, and didn't like it. It made her feel vulnerable, which, she had convinced herself, was something that no queen should ever feel; it's why she'd killed her only mate - despite what the ponies thought, Changelings could pair for life. Chrysalis simply hadn't wanted to, because it was safer to be alone, to be feared by her underlings and to be thought cold and heartless. It was a fable about herself that even she enjoyed.

She looked at the stars. So very small, she thought; we're all so very, very small. 





The sun was very bright, and it took all Twilight had not to squint in its light. She looked at the crowd as she stood at the podium, the dress flowing down her body as her friends sat behind her, and on either end of them sat the other three princesses. The microphones amplified her every sound, and the crowd assembled before her in Canterlot watched her earlier, reporters sitting in the middle with the public standing around them. Overhead, an Overlord ship hung silently in the blue sky. 

"Hello," Twilight spoke. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the Spokepony of Karellen. He comes in peace, and there are a few things he would like you to know."