3421046

The skids bit into the bio-material, and Orion kept the engines running hot. Jumping out, her suit swapped over to internal air supply, giving her no more than five minutes playtime.

The weapons door was a wreck, and spiraled away as Orion touched it. Inside, the damaged Cryonuclear missile glowed its bright blue. Orion reached in, and twisted firmly on the warhead. It came off slowly, amounting to something about the size of a Pringles can.

"Nuke is mobile." Orion attached it magnetically to her armor, pulling out an Assault Carbine. "Talons, retreat to safety."

"Roger. Godspeed." The surviving jets peeled away, easily evading any resistance.

"HQ, guesstimate where I've got to place this for maximum effectiveness." Orion trudged through the soft bio-material, weapon up and wary.

"Waypoint updated. Five hundred meters to go."

Orion could see it. The waypoint sat smack dab right on a structure of some kind. Raising her rifle, she screwed on a silencer to the barrel.

A Changeling appeared in her scope. It looked up for a second, before vanishing into a green ichor. Orion boosted herself forwards using her limited flight capabilities.

"Nearing target. Use caution."

Regardless of the warning, Orion did not encounter any other resistance. She entered the structure, keeping an eye out.

"Setting up the nuke." Orion bent down, placing the warhead flat on the ground. Typing in some codes, the screen flashed, before starting a timer, counting down from sixty. "Nuke is primed. Sixty till detonation."

"Received. Get out of there!"

Orion turned and jumped, throwing caution to the wind and activating her Wings of Light. She could feel the eyes of every Changling in a kilometer radius focus on her.

"Fuck!" She shouted as the plasma beams sizzled around her. The chattering grew louder and louder behind her, and she wasn't ready to look back.

The Interceptor sat, canopy open, and engines ablaze. Orion slipped in and gunned it, not bothering to close the canopy. The engines roared as she took off, racing against time.

"Ten seconds."

A sudden chill permeated the area, even through her armor plating. Orion eyed the mirror. Behind her, she could see a white front racing down the tunnel after her, flash freezing the material underneath. In some places, she saw cracks appear, as weaker bio-material was forcibly stripped from the walls and sucked into the main chamber. She felt the coldness sweep over her plane, and overtaking it. In the extreme chill, her engines died, unable to ignite the fuel. Unable to control the plane, it ricocheted off an outcropping, sending her into a spin.

Even with the dizzying spin, Orion immediately spotted something wrong. The tunnel was going the wrong way.

Her plane was being dragged back, by forces yet unseen.

"This isn't normal." Orion murmured.

She drifted back into view of the central chamber. Orion expected to see the equivalent of a winter wonderland.

She only saw a ball of material, forcibly smashed together and twisting about like it was possessed by nothing less than a demon.

"Yup. Something is definitely wrong."

Applejack pushed the hatch open, boosting the filly up. "Keep yer head down, kid." The filly nodded, curling up into a small ball.

Picking up an anti-machine rifle, standard issue onboard a Howler, she picked off the gunner on the main AA silo, seconds before he opened fire.

"Lets go!" She shouted as she twirled the rope twice around her hoof, the other supporting the anti-machine rifle.

The space around Unity boiled again, and the massive prows of the four remaining Capital Battleships poked through. They settled into a defensive wall, totally dwarfing the Space Station. Thousands of tinier portals opened, and the smaller Frigates and Destroyers popped out, orbiting Unity in a safe and coordinated manner.

"Registered detonation of Cryonuke. No sign of the Admiral."

3423348
"Status of Orion?"

"Still inside the ship."

"What for?"

"We don't know. We're getting some strange reading inside though."

Lightning gunned the throttle as soon as other Applejack got on. "Hang on!"

The rapid fire of the triple 30 mils didn't quit as they fought their way out. Applejack (or both of them) was pulled off her hooves as the Basilisk gained altitude. As they hung by the tether, the gunfire didn't stop, continuing to kill changelings.

"Hazard flight, damage report."

"Hazard 2-4, starboard wing pod motor disabled. Locked in vertical orientation. Gonna lose extra thrust."

"2-3, engine damage and left weapon pylon damage."

"2-2, all systems green. Medium armor damage, should be fine."

"Alright. Three of my .50 cals are out, but that's it. Let's get out of here."

Rainbow pulled the two Applejacks up and helped them onto the wing platform.

The alicorns in the DEITI chamber were told to take a break. Celestia and Luna were taking a breather, and Twilight was steadying her breath.

"Captain," Celestia asked, "What has happened to the threat?"

"We don't know," Star answered. "But I'm sure Orion's going to take care of it. Or she'll call for help."

3423594

Orion gave up wrestling with the dying plane, opting to yank the yellow handle and eject. Instantaneously, she was propelled out of the main chamber, ending up in one of the side tunnels. Here, the pull wasn't as bad.

"This is Admiral Orion." Orion fiddled with her radio, getting mainly static from it. "Orion to Unity, respond."

She waited another second before trying again. It was only when a particularly large chunk of wall broke from right next to her when she panicked.

"Unity, what the fuck would happen if your generator or laser or whatever powers the rift-ripper detonates? Cause I think the nuke blew a replica of that up, and now it's sucking everything in!"

Orion took out a scaling spike from her utility pouch, and rammed it into the wall, creating a reliable hoofhold. The force she could feel increased its tug, and she held on tightly, even as her bottom hooves were forced to leaved the arbitrary ground.

"Sucking everything in, INCLUDING ME!"

Applejack sat down on the wing, watching the ground retreat from her. She holstered the massive rifle.

A hoof tapped her shoulder. Applejack turned around, and saw the little filly, being held in place by Rainbow.

"Hey there. What's up?"

The filly pointed at a particular armor plate on her suit. Applejack followed the point, and saw the charring. "It's okay, that metal is very thick. I'm not injured."

The filly looked at Rainbow, who made sure she was firmly grasping Applejack before letting go.

Applejack pulled her close. "You're a brave kid. We'll get you back to your parents soon."

3423594
3423764
Jesus, you guys are still going?

3423764
"Reading dimensional tear inside AltUnity."

"We're receiving some comms from Orion, but it's all static."

"I'll take that as a sign for extraction. Projector, Mode 3. Let's get her out of there."

The FRIENDSHIP system gave a whir of power and whined as it fired its own, small rift. A camera feed to the main chamber showed an empty metal room lit by bluish white light.

This chamber was momentarily flooded by white light, and left there was the mare with a crazed look. For a moment, she froze, then looked around, and relaxed her tension.

"Admiral Orion, welcome back to Unity. Exit is through the large blast doors behind you."

"Star, your friend is back."

"Oh, well that's good. What about AltUnity?"

"It's imploding due to a dimensional tear from inside it. We'll let it continue for a bit, then shut it."

"Sounds good. Rest of the changelings?"

"To be found out."

Star turned to the alicorns. "Well, I think we're done here. If you want to come with me, I'm going to see Orion."

The air seemed to have quieted. Rainbow, cramped on the generally small weapons pylon with two Applejacks and a filly, continued to scan the sky. "Lightning, how's it look?"

"I think we're good. Nothing on sensors. But keep your eyes peeled."

"Hey, Rainbow?" Applejack said beside her.

"Yeah?"

"Remember that time when I slammed my MG's butt in your face?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm doing it again when we get back."

Rainbow chuckled. "Why?"

"For makin' me jump into a hot zone again." Applejack playfully punched her friend in the shoulder. "I've had enough of that for my lifetime."

"I'll make sure to keep finding opportunities," Rainbow grinned back.

3423795 3423827
We just restarted last week.

3423859

"Well." A well placed screen in the hallway let Orion see the dying Destroyer. "That's that."

She contacted the ground forces. "Admiral Applejack?"

"Still breathing."

"Please confirm loss of control for Changelings."

"... Confirmed. They're going nowhere. You guys did it. Finally."

Applejack stared at the swarm of Changlings, that had flew up to harass the gunships mere seconds ago. The creatures were slowing down and stopping altogether.

"... Confirmed. They're going nowhere. You guys did it. Finally." Applejack commed as the limp bodies began falling from the sky. "Operation Knifepoint actually worked."

Orion emerged into the control center of Unity, still in her battered and charred power armor.

"ADMIRAL." The purple ceremonial armor was immediately in her face.

Orion stiffened and swallowed, saluting rigidly. "High Princess Twilight Sparkle. Admiral of the fleet, Orion Lightfeathers reporting that..."

Twilight hugged her, and began to droop to the floor. Burdened with the weight of two suits, Orion awkwardly followed suit.

"We did it. It's over, the nightmare is over." Twilight began sobbing quietly into her fiery mane. "I didn't think I would live to see this day."

"Me neither, Princess. Me neither." Orion looked at the ponies milling around, watching. "Hey, we just won a war that claimed our world and millions of lives. We're entitled to savor it in any way possible asshats."

Her eyes focused on a grey mare, standing somewhere at the back. Their eyes made contact.

3423795

We're wrapping up, just one last interaction methinks.

3423920
"I sense it, I sense it, you're fantasizing running up to her and kissing her."

Star turned to Dusty, who had walked up beside her. She punched him in the shoulder. "Am not."

"You definitely are."

She just punched him in the shoulder a bit harder.

"I suppose we should finally have a formal meeting with them?" Twilight stated from beside them. She walked past the two grey pegasi, assuming they would follow, which they did. "High Princess Twilight Sparkle, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, representing the Unity Program and my home universe."

She motioned to Star. "This is Captain Stardust Rapture, more commonly, Star, a trusted operative of ours and good friend of mine. I'm sure you're fairly acquainted with her."

"Greetings, High Princess," Star said. She smiled at the other mare. "Orion."

Twilight then motioned to the stallion beside Star. "That's Captain Stardust Rapture, Dusty—"

"Or Stardust; ponies usually call me that more than they call Star that."

"—another one of our excellent operatives and soldiers, as well as a very close friend of mine. He's from my specific home universe, and I've known him from a while ago."

Stardust bowed his head. "High Princess." He turned to Orion and nodded. "Admiral, a proper welcome to Unity." Then he shrugged. "And if you've met Star, you've basically met me. Except I'm obviously better—"

"—Yes, a common misconception of his," Star interrupted. "You get to know us better and it's clear that I'm judged much better than Dusty—"

"—See? Mares. Gets extra points for being female—"

"—And it's not just personality either. Now if you look at our combat skill—"

"—Star's is definitely very good but is still not as good as—"

"—me, and in terms of being personable—"

"—reports show that my marks in that category are also better..."

Twilight just shrugged in regards to the two pegasi; clearly she was used to it. "Stardust does make a good point though. You may not be well-acquainted with him, but since you are with Star, it shouldn't be that hard to know him. Now, there are a couple of formalities we must take care of. Firstly is the part where we've made contact with sufficiently technologically advanced Equestrians. The second is the part where our existence is made known to those who are not as advanced. We should discuss that in a moment..."

"... Also, Star is simply too shy to say she wants to gladly celebrate the victory with a hearty kiss," Stardust said to Orion.

"Dusty! What the hell?! I-I don't!"

"You know you do."

"N-no!" Star was taken aback and scoffed. "Only in your dreams."

"I only share a similar mind with you."

Star gave him another playful shove. "You're also a stallion."

"And you are a mare. And besides, while you're also correct, my dreams at best involve both of you."

"You don't even know her!"

"She knows you and that already adds up decently."

"Y-you're making this hard for me!"

Stardust kept on grinning. "Exactly."

3424985

Orion stood up, keeping her own princess on the floor.

"She isn't ready yet. I'll take over for a while." Orion turned to Twilight. "You head back to Eternity, take a break, catch some kip."

"I'll... I'll start coordinating return of the refuges." Twilgiht stuttered. "I trust you then."

A quick application of chalk from her hip pocket, and a burning circle later, Twilight vanished. Orion turned back to the group.

"Yeah. I'll deal with whatever comes our way."

3426062
"Well, to touch on the first point, since your race is sufficiently advanced, I'm allowed to give you all an opportunity to join in the Unity Program after extensive research on your race's background. The benefits, are, of course, the opportunity for increased research studies outside of your own universe, mutual protection offered by many of our members (participation is also not mandatory), over time your ponies will be able to visit other universes for leisure, or like the two Stardusts and many of our ponies, explore other universes. And more."

Twilight looked at the pegasi. "... But you know what? I should go write a report home first. There's a lot to be done, and I'll need to discuss this with others. So you know what? I'll give you some time to catch up."

The alicorn left the pegasi to their own business.

"You should consider the offer," Star said. "It's rare that we've come across a universe that has and isn't satisifed."

"Granted, that's partially because of our background test screening..." Dusty added.

"Well, of course. From all that have passed and are accepted in, they're all satisifed."

"And no inter-universal rivalries between any yet either."

"Just food for thought," Star said. "But I'd imagine you'd want some time to cool down. Unity's not only a military station. There's a nice food court over in Section 5. I'd think you'd want something to eat after everything."

3426351

Orion rubbed her hooves together, looking down at the floor.

"Erm... Star?" She started slowly. "That's a nice offer... But..."

Orion looked wistfully at the displays in the control center. They were slowly tracking ECAF ships as they orbited around Unity, all coming to dock together in one giant clump of weapons.

"When you mean 'universe'..." She pointed outwards, gesturing to the surviving ships. "You're looking at probably all the ponies left in my universe."

"My Equestria was destroyed on the day we launched the fleet. Six billion innocent lives, gone, and all I could do was order the ship to cast off and launch while the meteorites landed." Orion shrugged idly, turning to face Stardust with almost tearing eyes. "Star, we watched our civilization burn to ashes while we were on our way to do the exact same thing to our enemies. We just committed mass genocide upon that enemy. I would like to think that at this point, all we want is to be able to find and call some dirt home, not going on an adventure across the fabric of reality."

"Maybe next time. Remember what I said to you when we were both healing the first time? I said, 'Well, you are right in some respects. But right now you're not. Priorities change.' And as Acting Regent of ECAF. I'll have to say no to joining, for now, at least. Keep us in mind." Orion stepped closer to Stardust. "But... There is something you can help us with... Do you think it is possible for us to stay here?"

Transmutation. The undocumented magic of Equivalent Exchange. While technically more of a mathematical subject than a science, Twilight wasn't one to complain, as she transmuted some scrap metal into a couple of metallic casts for anypony with broken bones. The Transmutation room was blackened with soot, as the Mage Division worked feverishly to provide supplies and medical aid for the refugees before sending them back down.

She finished her pile, and was ushered out by a pair of watchful Mages, keeping her away from the bursts of flames.

"Orion?"

"Gotcha, High Princess."

"Could you ask for them to show me whatever thing gives them the ability to bring back the dead and slice through universes?"

"... I could inquire, yes. Something going on?"

"Nothing, just naturally curious."

3432371
They had taken a transporter over to Sextant 6, Section 5. There were eateries around, and there was also a small raised platform with some low trees and assorted plants. If one looked up, the ceiling was glass, and beyond that, the beauty of space; the armor plating had retracted. The moon was visible from Unity's position.

Star smiled. "I suppose Twilight outlined the offer too specifically. It's simply a pact. Once you join in, there's nothing entwining you to service. Activity outside of your home isn't mandatory. If you want, you can just partake in research studies. Small things. There's even the benefit of assistance if you need it. It's a lot easier if you consider now than later. But even if you don't, we'll still give you a way to contact us."

"About staying in this universe," Stardust pondered, "Star, do you remember what the policy is? I recall that procedure says that they're offered instead a place in our home universe, with living space given as needed; entire solar systems if required. It was about keeping technology levels consistent. And keeping the locations of duplicates of the same pony in as few different universes as possible. Somewhere easily monitored."

Star shrugged. "I remember the same thing. We should ask Twilight. After the events that transpired here, I don't know if that changes anything. Understand that it's a procedure being continuously refined with our experiences."

Then Orion asked about the FRIENDSHIP system.

Star shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that's where, no pun intended, friendships end and bureaucracy begins. Understand, that's a very powerful device and we take no risks in it falling into the wrong hooves."

Stardust partially interrupted. "Although technically speaking, they have seen the device." He looked around. "You've seen Unity Station from the outside in its entirety. And since you saw the entire station, you've seen the device. It's the entire station."

"I suppose we could run over some general aspects of it. It's called the FRIENDSHIP system, or cannon, some prefer. The Full Range Interdimensional Energizer/Nominal Displacer, Sustainable High Intensity Projector, as I was last told, is its full name. The outer perimeter of the station base, there are twelve large circular areas, each a kilometer in diameter. Those are the mage generators, with a total raw magic output of at least eighty alicorns.

"There's more processes that go along the modules as all that power travels to the projector in the middle. And once at the component at the middle, that power is transformed to whatever purpose it needs to do. Cut through dimensions, raw destructive energy, simple teleportation, and yes, resurrection. The mast focuses it and there's a few more converters on the way to tune the magic.

Star shrugged. "But that's as far as I can let you know. If you join the multi-universal pact, I think you get better research opportunities. But getting intricate knowledge of the device itself is extremely difficult, and I can't pull strings for you."

Twilight received a message from Star. She began mulling over it. "Stay in this universe. Oh, what a dilemma. On one hoof, they did just help save the planet, and there's not a great number of them. On the other hoof, this universe, structurally, already has its own problems being stable. I need to go discuss this with a lot of ponies..."

She sighed as she stared at the message. Then she replied.

Tell them that the issue needs to be resolved later, and we'll figure it out as quickly as possible. But we're not rushing it, so they may be here for a bit while we figure it out. Unity and 1st Fleet might have to be stationed here for a week while we come to our decision.

3432664

"Like I said, I don't think we're ready yet to face the bigger guns, weakened as we are. We need to recuperate, start anew, and when we've become stable again, of course, by all means, Twilight may sign that pact." Orion tapped her chin. "As in, I think what she cares about is pride and first impressions, you know."

"I'm porting there now."

Orion shifted back a couple of steps, and watched the deck burn for a second, the blue flames revealing the Alicorn, looking more presentable, but still in her sleek combat armor.

"Well, we've got several clean up duties to pursue." Twilight flicked a folder into Orion's computer from her own. "There are some drifting Frigates and Destroyers that still have crew or munitions. Their orbits are all deteriorating, so we will want to move quickly, lest the surface get nuked by falling debris."

Orion eyed the folder, bringing it up over her visor. She could see the important flagged ships outside the window, and there were many.

Too many. She sighed and shut off the visor. "Yes, of course. We'll have to prioritize those with crew. And we'll need more ships."

"I'll signal the Corvettes, that'll give us about a thousand more ships?" Twilight raised the red coms unit.

Orion smiled. "I think so."

The signal flashed green.

The gas storm on Jupiter swirled across the visible cloud as usual. The Red Spot slipped across the gas giant, on its merry way around the body.

In its wake the disturbed clouds shifted and twisted. The normally orange gases suddenly lit up blue for a second, and boiled over as thousands of engines engaged, pushing the stealthy Corvettes out of their hiding places. The lightly armored and lightly armed ships were fast and quiet, designed to fly undetected into a fleet and mark targets for the heavier ships to destroy.

Now, they were pressed into rescue service.

3443823
So there are ships hiding in Jupiter.

Star shrugged, not pursuing it further. "That's alright. You can still call us whenever you need anything. Since we're probably going to be here a while, our ships are assisting in tasks where needed. I believe the fleet has already begun securing the space and assisting damaged ships. Is there anything else you wanted our help with?"

"Hazard, reroute to secure ground position."

The gunship banked lightly as it made a wide turn, headed for the intended coordinates, just outside of the city. Ahead, they saw a staging ground where more aircraft were setting down, transports were unloading, and supplies were being set up, no doubt for relief efforts.

Lightning ordered her flight to the instructed area, while she set her Basilisk down on an open field close to the center of operations. "That's it for today, Rainbow. I'll see you later. I'm off to the airfield to get any holes patched up before heading back to Unity. Don't know when I'll be able to see you, so maybe just back at Unity, 'kay?"

Rainbow got down from the weapons pylon and walked to the front where she could wave to her friend. "Alright. Later. Thanks for everything."

"No problem." The gunship took off once all of the impromptu passengers had gotten off.

"Okay, Rainbow," Applejack said as she walked up to Dash, "Where to?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Find field HQ, get a quick report done, report back to Unity, see if there's anything we can help with down here. Actually, let's go back to Unity in a bit. I'm hungry."

Applejack shrugged. "Okay. Whatever you say."

3443915

"Oh, I was just wondering how much damage we would do to your station now that your shields are down and our weapons are still up." Orion whispered slightly darkly, ending with a light-hearted giggle. "Not much, I'll presume anyway."

Twilight spoke clearly into her boom-mike. "All ships, report damage and filter to the docks if need be. Keep weapons hot, we don't know if there are any enemies left."

Applejack shouldered the filly, and waddled through the crowd of landing refuges to her scarred Threshold. The clamp still sparked where it was hit.

"There you go, kid." She dropped the filly and pointed to her father. "Go on, shoo."

The filly gave her one last quick hug, before galloping off. Applejack straightened, cocking her rifle.

"Something's not quite right." She whispered, looking up.

(The problem is I don't know if adding anything more would be wise, like a whole new campaign, because this arc is basically wrapped up already. I mean, I could begin another assault on you because your ability to revive the dead goes against my faction's laws of Equivalent Exchange, but I honestly think we should shut this down and start a new one somewhere else, like Gdocs.)

3444096
"You'd probably render it ineffective, if not destroy the station," Stardust deadpanned. "Seriously."

"Boo."

Other Applejack basically leapt up as she heard her own voice behind her.

Rainbow hoof-bumped AJ as they laughed their asses off.

"You're too uptight," Applejack said. "Relax. We're here now. Take a break. Get a breather."

"Ironic," Rainbow said, "Coming from the one who had the most trouble shifting into peacetime."

"Jus' helpin' myself transition." They left the other Applejack behind as they continued their way to the HQ tent.

"But you know, she does make a good point. We're dropping our guard already?"

"Just us. Everyone else is still on patrol. Why don't you ask Twi?"

"Asgard, Harmony, patch me through to Princess Twilight."

"... Hey, Rainbow, what's up?"

"Is the area clear of threats?"

"All of our scanners show clear. 1st Fleet is doing sweeps, and nothing to report."

"So we're good?"

"There's still a lot of patrols and searches, but we should be in the clear now. I understand the stress and precautions, but I'm sure it'll die down without incident."

"For once, I actually believe you."

I think we should just try and convert this to a story, then do a complete story-formatted fun thing on GDocs.

3444152

"Epsilon, look at this for a moment."
"Alpha? Of course..."
"Sensors detect massive gravity distortion on the edge of the solar system."
"Beta here, still collecting information, but it looks to be on par with the size of a Class S planet, although it has incredible speed for one."
"How is that possible? We redirected the Class S out of the system, it should never return for another ten million years."
"In any case, projected drawings show it speeding back in system. Preliminary ECHO suggests that the thing has fractured. If it hits the atmosphere of Earth, it will fragment like a nuclear shotgun."
"I'll alert the Admirals. Keep tracking it."

Orion eyed the crimson arrows in the far distance, alone at the window. The simple fact that they were crimson meant they had already passed the terminal line for redirection.

"We have to destroy it, then."

"How? That is a planet, positrons can't dissolve it fast enough. Any conventional explosives will trigger a premature fragmentation, make it even worse." Twilight leaned at her side, using the window as support.

"Maybe Unity has an idea..." Orion saw the streak just before the flames, as something small shot past the window. In that fraction of a second, though, she identified the vessel. Changeling Invasion Pods?

She felt a rumble. Twilight looked at her, cocking her dual SMGs.

"Looks like getting the queen wasn't enough." Orion pulled out her Automatic Shotgun. "We're about to have guests, of a very powerful and strong kind..."

3446572
"Well. That's an issue. I'll inform CIC."

"What?"Commander Raylight exclaimed. "Again?"

"Apparently. Check sensors."

"Checking." What he saw incredibly confused him. "We're getting it... and we're not getting it."

"The hell does that mean?"

"It's on some sensors, but not on others."

"What, is it just a ruse? An illusion?"

"It's a possibility. In any case, we'll start charging up the projector. Since we've got our fleet screening us, and so far, no other problems, we'll give it a hefty gravity nudge."

"Alright." Star turned her attention back to Orion. "What was that other problem you were talking about?"

3446668

Orion felt the deck tremble. "Looks like invading boarders. They must have snuck in close when your shields were down, now they will breach and try to kill everything that moves."

Twilight drew a different circle on the ground, and set it alight with her magic. "Looks like... About seven, plus minus two, pods on your outer hull. Containing... At least a hundred Evolved Drones, some ECM Drones, a couple Tanks... Maybe a Hunter-Killer, it's all too fuzzy. Getting too many signatures to accurately count."

"They'll have an upper-hoof in confined spaces, and I think they can and will shapeshift into your infantry, Star." Orion picked out alternating Buckshot and Anti-Personnel Flechettes, loading her Shotgun drum to the brim. "Be careful, and watch your fire."

Twilight loaded her SMGs, and galloped away, towards the first of many incursions. Orion followed shortly, their Power Armor giving them large bursts of speed.

3448795
Klaxons began blaring onboard Unity. "Star, let's get moving," Stardust said as he ran after Orion. "Match said he'll meet us further down with our stuff."

Star nodded and followed. "Let's get there so we can hold the line farther back."

"Lockdowns have already started in certain sections."

"What's the damage?"

"Damage to Generator 8, not too critical apparently. Some damage to the Unicorn-1 module corridor. But CIC is telling me they don't seem to be destroying equipment."

As they ran down a hallway, Captain Match Grade stopped them, already wearing his equipment. With him, he brought the two Stardust's own equipment. "Armor up and lock and load."

Quickly, the two pegasi did so and hurried to join the fight.

"Closest threats are coming from Sextant 5, Section 17," Stardust said as they ran, repeating what he was getting from CIC. "They're still streaming in. Blast doors have kept them from spreading to critical parts or non-military parts of the station. Interceptors have begun destroying the pods on the outside."

"Buggers are annoying and fast in corridors," Star said. "I had to run past them one time. And the High Princess mentioned tanks- they're pretty big, so I don't know how they'll get around the station past the module corridors. Hallways are pretty tight. What's the word on our own changelings?"

"Working with the analysts trying to figure out the source of the current hive mind if there's any."

"What's the power looking like in the corridors?"

"Well lit, power maintaining. I think they're just rushing for the populated areas. Luckily, half of the station is just machinery. CIC's giving us a datalink on bioscanners now. Should help distinguish any changeling fakes."

In the three pegasi's ARCANE eyesight, new information was being fed in through the link with their armor.

"Station sensors are being delegated to scan the station itself. Proximity maps being fed in."

"Up ahead. Storage Section 5-4. Changelings are coming towards it. What's in the room?"

"General items. No weaponry or munitions. Should be safe to engage there."

The three pegasi checked their rifles as they ran, ready to meet their intruders and get them off their station.

3451247

Orion roughly yanked the snarling Changeling off a pinned soldier, and blew its brains on the wall next to her. Not slowing down, she leapt over another and broke its exoskeleton.

Landing on all fours, she continued galloping past soldiers in varying levels of health, from lost limbs to simple bruises, although the injuries seemed to be getting worse as they continued on. Plasma burns, gaping holes, Orion blocked it all out, following the purple blur unerringly.

"Pod one in thirty meters, ready grenades." Orion took off, freeing her hooves as her wings propelled her down the corridor. As they passed the breach, four pins tinkled and four HE grenades flew into the transport, followed shortly after by twin blurs of death. The explosives went off, and Orion brought up her Shotgun, unloading the drum into whatever was left.

The smoke cleared, and Orion eyed the bloodstained cabin.

Twilight was back to back with her. "Looks clear."

"Not quite." Orion holstered her Shotgun and pulled out a heavy pistol. She approached a heap of destroyed insects and found what she was looking for. A hoof, connected to a still breathing body. A bloody face regarded her with unfocused eyes.

"Looks like a Unity trooper." Twilight kept a lookout, her SMGs turning. "CASEVAC?"

"Not likely." Orion raised the pistol and drove a .500 into the face. Green fire swallowed the body, turning back to the original Changeling. "Clear now. Quickly."

Twilight holstered the SMGs and moved over, drawing a triangular transmutation symbol, directing it at a specific green part of the wall, which, when it was in flight, would be the equivalent of the Navcom of any ship.. Orion kept an eye on the operation, and drew her shotgun.

"Lets see what you've got." Twilight let go of the triangle, which immediately exploded into a localized inferno, aimed right at the section.

Orion caught Twilight's falling body, laying it on the floor, whilst keeping the Shotgun up.

Her paralysis didn't last long, two minutes by Orion's count. "What did you get?"

Twilight got up and took out her guns. "They are going after the generators first, leaving ECM Drones to disrupt the energy, then it'll be a slaughter, without the lights and sensors those generators provide for." They left the pod and reentered Unity proper.

"That's why they brought ECM Drones..." Orion picked up an injured trooper, pointing him in the direction of friendlies. "Unity's repelling forces are already buying the farms by the acre, they won't last long without the lights." She looked at the dead bodies, half Changeling and half Equestrian.

"We're some of the most heavily armored units on this station, let's split up and go to the fronts to help them, then." Twilight went back the way they came from, disappearing quickly.

Orion picked up a radio off a dead soldier, listening in on the chatter.

"...rist, what the hell is tha...!"
"Goddam... Gigant..."

Tracking possible location of transmission

A waypoint appeared in her HUD, and it wasn't far. Orion sprinted towards it, eyeballing the corridors. There was a half-slagged sign on the wall, above a shattered and flaming doorway, splattered with still sizzling plasma.

"Looks like several Brute Plasma Tossers and at least one Tank... Damn, Twilight was right. There definitely were more than what she just saw.." Orion sped up, looking for the best way into without touching the melted doorway. Her eyes had a fraction of a second to glance at the barely-legible and melted sign above the door, before she leapt.

Orion leapt right through the middle of the hole, avoiding the flames. Landing with a deafening slam, she came up in a roll, Shotgun up.

Her mind processed many things, and one of which was the sign she had spotted.

It read 'Section 5-4'

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There's really only a few ponies that would talk like that so...

"Jesus Christ, Dusty, what the hell is that fucking thing?!" Match leapt out of the way as the Tank smashed through the storage crate he was hiding behind. All the while, he had to keep shooting at the other changelings.

"It's called a Tank!" Star shouted, jumping away as she was next to the stallion at the time. "It's pretty self-explanatory!"

"Goddamn gigantic bastard!" Stardust exclaimed. "Dude, are guns aren't going to do shit to it!" He was also killing the changelings they could.

"Dusty, do something fast!" Star yelled as it chased after her. It's rampage was smashing through numerous crates, reducing available cover.

"CIC, transport this bastard out!"

"Give us a moment to get a positive lock!" In the background, they heard the officer yell something akin to, "... Destination 1 kilometer from MAPS 1!..."

As it was just about to charge at Star again, it disappeared in a flash of light. Immediately, she turned around and shot another changeling lunging for her.

"Transport successful! You guys are the greatest!"

"We've still got other sections to attend to. Good luck, Arrowhead."

"Reinforcements?!"

"Coming in!" Match told them.

"Arrowhead, CIC, be advised, we're getting slight power fluctuations in Generators 4 through 8. Running slightly less than maximum potential. Unsure if this is significant, but nothing else seems to be affected. All essential systems nominal."

While they let others slowly arrive, they held back the waves, which was definitely not an easy task. In fact they seemed to be getting larger.

Star was especially struggling. Partially due to her previous condition of being basically dead, and partially because it really did seem that the changelings wanted to kill her. "Dusty! I feel like they're all trying to kill me!"

"Is that what your ARCANE analysis is telling you?!"

"Yes plus a gut feeling!"

Stardust looked to Star's general area, and indeed, it did look like more were streaming over to her. "I think you're right!"

"That's not comforting!"

"Match, what do you think?!"

"She's definitely right!" The other pegasus gave an audible grunt as a large changeling slammed into him, throwing him to the ground. It raised its sharp appendages, but was quickly shot dead by the other stallion.

Stardust helped his friend up and hid behind some crates. "You okay?!"

"Yeah, think so! Do we have any MGs?!"

"Some of the guys coming in should have some!"

"We're gonna have to retreat soon if we don't get more firepower!"

"I'm gonna need to get out of here soon if they don't stop!" Star yelled.

"I think they really hate you for what you did earlier!" Stardust replied.

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Orion looked up, her HUD flashing as it logged every living creature in the room. From the Ethereal pockets came out two quad-barreled AA coilguns and a Short-barreled Railgun. Cradling the Railgun in her forehooves, the dual coilguns locking onto the weapons gimbals at her side.

Orion took off, getting higher. Her computer flashed once more, logging the predicted paths of the melee down below, before queuing data bursts to the servos controlling the gimbals and her forehooves.

"Full-burst online." Orion intoned.

The Railgun flashed, as Orion pulled the trigger. As the shell left the barrel, the servos near her forehooves twitched the aim slightly, aiming at another changeling. At her sides, the twin Coilguns buzzed, reducing insects to dust as the positron shells were sent off with deadly accuracy.

Her guns clicked on empty after ten seconds. Orion panted, her wings faltering. Full-burst took a lot out of even the most hardened veteran. Falling out of the sky, she left a mare-sized dent on the floor as she slammed hard into the metal.

The thud was in stark contrast to the sudden silence of the room, devoid of enemies.

"They're going... to... EMP your reactors." Orion mumbled to space, hoping Star could hear her. "Hurry there! I'll... I'll catch up!"

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"Dusty, you two start going."

"Got it." As the two stallions got going, Stardust noticed something. "Data feed's getting a bit fuzzy... or is it?"

Meanwhile, Star ran over to Orion, checking on her. "Orion, you going to be alright?"

The other mare gave an affirmative.

"Okay." Star got down low next to Orion. "And are you sure about them targeting our generators? If they are, all twelve of them? CIC's only detected issues in 4 through 8. And you realize our generators aren't centralized- on the contrary, they're completely spread out. In any case- "

It was at that moment that a hidden changeling in the ceiling revealed itself, dropping down on top of the pegasus. Star was only able to gasp as it drove one of its spikes through her. Blankly and losing consciousness as she looked down at a bloodied spike sticking through her midsection, "H-hey, Orion, I th-think I have a prob-"

The changeling on her back struck her with a second spiked appendage in the neck. There was a sickening sound as it twisted the first one before pulling it out, leaving Star to drop to the ground.

Because. Just to increase the 'shit happens'-ness of this entire thing.

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Orion twisted her body sideways, coiling her legs together, before pushing out violently, ejecting her body from the vicinity of the attacker. Her helmet, already damaged from impact, fell off.

Leaping up, Orion ripped a wicked Tomahawk from her hindleg compartment, biting on the weathered handle. "Goddamn Stalker type."

Leaping forward, she collided with the lanky Changeling, wrapping her hooves around its neck. At the same time, the blade flashed, cutting off the impaled appendage and leaving it in the wound.

Rolling together, Orion ended up on top. The Tomahawk flashed again, clipping the hard exoskeleton of the Stalker as it bucked her off.

Orion tossed the weapon as she flew backwards, hitting the Stalker in the wing. As she tumbled, another Tomahawk came out of the compartment, her last one.

"You are very good." The Changeling looked at the Tomahawk embedded in its carapace.

Orion said nothing, raising the other Hawk. She charged, leaping off a nearby crate and spinning.

The Stalker kicked her out of the air. Orion felt the breath leave her body as the armored hoof broke an internal ceramic plating in her armor. Recovering, she limped backwards. Her dual Coilguns span up, tracking the Changeling and spitting shells. The Stalker dodged to the sides, avoiding the twin streams of death and closing the gap between the mare and itself. Within seconds, it was literally face to face with Orion.

"Good, but not enough." The Coilguns spluttered as the Stalker's bladed limbs sliced the barrels apart, rendering them useless. Orion stumbled one last time backwards.

Seizing the chance, the Changeling dashed forward. Orion felt metal buckle and the shattered ceramic plate shift aside as the limb impaled her through her chest.

The Changeling grinned as Orion stared down at the bloody object impaling her through her chest. Orion could almost feel the coolness of the blade, centimeters from her beating heart.

"I really hate to do this. You were quite a candidate for assimilation." Orion felt the blade shift ever closer. "But you forced me to do this."

Orion looked up, blood dripping from her maw.

And giggled.

The expression of glee on the Stalker's face suddenly changed to a one of bemusement. "What's so funny?"

In response, Orion reached over and swiftly yanked the prior embedded Tomahawk from the Changeling. Twisting the handle, it glowed red as the blade charged with positrons drawn from her suit's reactor.

Swinging, the blade bit deep, cutting through the Stalker at a molecular level. It got about halfway before Orion ran out of strength.

"TH one, set detonate." She muttered quietly.

The breaching charge within the handle of the Tomahawk exploded, turning the Stalker into a bloody heap of charred meat.

Orion slowly pried the blade from her chest, whimpering as it came out in a shower of blood. Falling to her knees, she crawled over to the other mare.

"Star? Hey." Orion crawled closer, before she felt something crack on her rib cage. She flipped over, lying on her back right next to Star. "Answer me... Idiot..."

No response. Orion shifted closer.

"You can't d... Die... not... Not again!" Orion forced herself up, looking at the first wound. The ragged edges faded in and out of her view. "They can't revive you until... Aft... After the battle... But... Need... Need you to fight..."

She pulled on her compartment for medical supplies, and fumbled on the clasp. The box sprang open, medicine rolling away from her. Her hoof landed on the only can of Biomedical Crystals in her limited range of motion. "First... You... Then... Maybe... Me..."

Orion dropped the pack onto the wound, watching it automatically break apart and dissolve into the skin of the other mare.

Her job done, Orion slumped over, hoof on the still body of Star.

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Worked as intended comrade.
"Orion, wake up!... Orion...

"Wake up."

Orion awoke to Star's face. Then High Princess Twilight Sparkle. There was a monitor beeping in the background, slowly starting to slow. She started spewing some things about an attack and ponies being dead.

Star looked to the High Princess, before looking back down at the mare in the bed."Orion... none of that actually happened."

The other mare stopped, trying to continue, but only stuttered.

"... Orion, you passed out a short while after the victory was announced."

Orion again tried to object.

"But even then, our shields are still up! There's too much debris around to be safe-" Star put a hoof to her face. "Forget it. We've talked with the High Princess, she looked into it, and we all made an analysis. After everything you've endured, all the distress, pain, trauma... We think you were subconsciously shocked with the prospect of peace... Maybe you conjured up a scenario that would fit with what you felt would normally happen. Where nothing goes right, everything goes wrong."

Orion just stared at her.

"I'm probably not the most qualified to talk to you about this. I'll leave you two to talk." Star left the infirmary.

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I actually toyed with this idea of it never happening before...

Orion rubbed her temples. "You saw everything, didn't you? When you made that analysis?"

Her Twilight looked around, before giving the tiniest of nods. "I did try treading into your Astral Plane..."

Orion caught her. "Something different, right?"

"Orion, your Astral Plane is like none other I've seen before." Twilight confessed. "Well... It had significant similarities... To only one other..."

Orion looked at her, giving her a perplexed look.

"Now, don't get me wrong. It only had similarities, for one, it wasn't as strong, nor as developed. On the other hoof, it was already complex and too large for any one pony..."

"Trying to say I'm a dreamer?"

"No... Not quite. What I'm trying to say is that..." Twilight shifted. "Your mind is unusually active for a generic Equestrian."

"I get that a lot."

"No, as in... Arg," Twilight gave up. "You aren't alone in that brain!"

Orion looked at her like she was some sort of modern piece of art.

"Orion, your Astral Plane resembles that of Princess Luna's!" Twilight got off her bed, moving closer. "Planes change for absolutely nothing. That only way your edited itself is to accommodate for two!"

"You're saying that..."

"What I'm trying to say..." Twilight looked away. "Orion, you may have somehow taken in a portion of Princess Luna's soul during your adventure in this universe."

Orion was going to say something, when she noticed a shifting shadow near the door. "Is there somebody there?"

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Star walked back into the room, slight puzzled. "You called?"
Stupid sinle line because I'm not sure what to go off of. But I do recall that random detail a while back...

3460945

"No... Just." Orion rubbed her eyes. "Well, this is comforting."

"It's quite an odd situation." Twilight nodded. "My hypothesis is that when you were being taken over by Poinsettia, you somehow attracted the attention of Luna, which proceeded to boot the Changling away and occupy the damaged portion of your soul, like how when a building gets structural cracks, you try to fill them in with more concrete."

"Well then." Orion flipped off her covers. "What happens now?"

Twilight considered it. "Well, you seem to be relatively stable, so I guess you're fine. It's unlikely Luna will try to possess you."

"Alright, putting me aside." Orion landed on the floor on her hooves. "What's gonna happen to us? ECAF in general?"

"The residents of this Equestria already have been relocated. All our ships are docked and ready to go, wherever the winds may take us." Twilight recounted. "Everyone that is still alive has been accounted for."

"At this point, we have no current objectives." Orion shrugged. "So, Star. What would you have us do?"

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"Well, the offer from earlier still stands," Star said. "That should be discussed again with Princess Sparkle. But first, I'd prescribe a mandatory 1 or 2 day leave, because you definitely need a break before returning to any duties. As for all of you, I'd recommend just cooling down and leaving the wet work to our fleet. Any of you are still free to volunteer in efforts though. Twilight might have Unity open to anyone that wants to visit, cross notes, et cetera.

"Now, let's got back to Sextant 6 for a proper relaxation period."

Over in some balcony seating above the restaurants and cafes sat the group of pegasi and both alicorn Twilights. Unity had oriented itself with a view of the Earth below through the glass ceiling.

Meanwhile, in the same area but down below, Celestia, Luna, and the six mares were comfortably sitting and relaxing, the ordeal finally over.

It had not even been a day of conflict before the weapons quieted.

"So when can we go home?" Rainbow asked.

"We were told that we should stay to discuss some things. So at least enjoy their hospitality for now," Celestia answered.

"The food's pretty good," Applejack said.

"And there's so much to see and learn," Twilight said. "Just look up." She herself looked up at the wondrous sight of their home planet.

From another side of the large court came another group of five mares.

"Geez, AJ, I didn't think you'd actually do it." Rainbow rubbed a bruise on her head.

"I told you, we should have stopped for some ice!" Rarity said.

"It's fine. I'm too hungry to care."

"Didn't you have breakfast, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"No."

"Look, let's just grab a bite to eat real quick before we head back down and help out."

Celestia, Luna, and the six stared at the group of five that passed by them. Then they met gazes.

Native Rainbow flew up right in Rainbow's face, who didn't flinch at all. "You! You, uh... lied to Twilight and, uh..."

"Helped save your home?" Dash offered.

"Yeah..." Rainbow landed and stepped back. "I guess... thanks."

Dash just smiled. "No problem. Just doing our job."

"Would you mind sitting with us and talking?" Twilight asked.

The five looked amongst each other. "It would be a little rude to decline," Rarity said.

"... Okay, sure," Dash accepted.

Back above, the two alicorn Twilights were at their own table, talking about who knew what, considering two Twilights were freely talking to each other.. "... I mean, if you want to meet Celestia and Luna, I could call them. They probably wouldn't decline assessing the situation themselves either..."

And lastly, four pegasi, two stallions and two mares, sat around their own table.

"Well, there was that one place where 'you' nearly shot me with a taser over breakfast..."

3461009

Orion listened in remotely, keeping mainly to herself as the three bickered over some situation involving a Taser. She was more interested in her hooves, mainly moving them around and mentally picturing several Transmutation Circles she had learned.

Transmutation of shapes. Gaudete, crea. Orion tried it on an unsuspecting unoccupied chair, changing the design of the leg, before quickly undoing it. She looked around to see if anyone had spotted her. They were still conversing like normal.

Okay then, Transmutation of elements. Solvite, et ædificabo. Orion eyed the spoon on her side of the table, a simple aluminum affair. Under her gaze and quiet application of magic, it slowly started to turn golden, losing shape quickly as she rearranged the sub-atomic molecules in the aluminum into gold. Again, she quickly undid her work.

Finally, Transmutation of life. Accipite, et dabit. This was... Different. She made a tiny cut on her fetlock, and allowed it to bleed. Orion eyed the Dandelion on an adjacent table, and focused on it. Pulling slowly, she watched the flower begin to wilt slightly. Taking the essence, she focused again on the wound, slowly plugging the life essence into it. The wound closed and the fur closed over it.

"Easy enough." She whispered.

That's when she lost control of the Transmutation Circle. It span wildly, rearranging the symbols. Outwardly, it would look like she was just thinking hard, but inside, Orion was quaking.

This isn't right. Something is happening. She thought as the latent magic engulfed her mind. She disappeared in a flash of light and acrid smell.

Appearing seconds later, Orion fell from the sky, landing hard one floor down. Standing up, she brushed herself down.

"Well, that was odd." Orion looked herself over, paying attention for any lost of limbs. Thankfully, the surge was large enough to take her entire body. She looked up at the odd gathering of five twins, one purple unicorn and two alicorns.

"Er... Hello?"

3461079
"Um, Orion?" Star asked as she and her counterpart flew down from the balcony. "What was that?"

"And don't think we didn't notice whatever was going on with your spoon," Stardust said. "Things don't get by us that easily."

"Does it have anything to do with... you know, your new... soul condition?" Unity Twilight asked.

"Wait, wait, wait," unicorn Twilight suddenly said. "Star... who's that?"

The stallion just chuckled. "I'm Stardust, pleased to meet you."

"Things are weird."

Unity Twilight shrugged. "Matter of perspective."

"... So are we done here?" Native Rainbow said. "I want to see if AJ can beat their Fluttershy in our hoof-wrestling contest!"

"Matter of perspective," Stardust humorously echoed.

Star shook her head. "Orion, can't you get past a couple of hours without getting into trouble?"

Humorously, the one that was talking was Stardust, supposedly to Orion, referring to that one random test RP we did.

3461194

"Nothing major." Orion brushed herself off. "I actually have no..."

She felt the world slip away into a blur of color, reassembling into the quiet Control Centre of Unity. Ponies turned and stared at her. Orion coughed, snorting away the soot.

The world dissolved yet again, this time dumping her in the Hanger. Orion shakily stood up, hoof on the weapons pylon of a nearby gunship. A surprised engineer reached out to her, offering to help.

Orion felt a firm force jerk inside her, and the world spun away once final time. She reappeared in the firm telekinetic grasp of ECAF Twilight, who was just wiping away a sooty Transmutation Circle. "Your mental Circles are unstable, what were you thinking?"

"A memo about that would have been nice." Orion crossed her forehooves over her chest. "The caster cannot detect if his or her Circle is disrupted, remember."

"Looks like multiple power surges." Twilight muttered. "Doesn't resemble yours, though, so I'll have to assume you unknowingly drew on Luna's latent magic."

Orion mentally broke down her Circles, watching the objects vanish from her peripheral vision. "I stopped them, you can let me go now."

The feeling of pressure disappeared, and Orion dropped to the floor on her hooves.

"Wait." Orion looked at the smaller purple mare. "You can use magic?"

"To an extent. I'm not generating it like you unicorns can, shaping latent magic to your wants using your horn." Orion brushed herself off again. "I draw on the magic that is readily available in the area using Transmutation Circles, which are crude, flattened versions of your horn, basically, with runes to shape the magic like you do subconsciously. There are only three things you can do with that, change shape, type and life of any given object."

Orion paused. "So yeah. Any ECAF pony was trained to use Transmutation, but it requires full concentration, so using it in the battlefield under fire is impractical. It's mostly for those times where there's a lull and you want to convert one caliber of shell to another to refill supply."

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Unity Twilight took out a tablet. "Intriguing. I'll have to make a note to look into this later." She turned to Orion. "Out of curiosity, since you have a part of Luna in you, do you think you can somehow communicate with her?"

Unicorn Twilight spoke up. "By the way, I heard something along the lines that you've boiled the topic of souls down to a science. Especially because of your device. Can we get some info on your reasearch on souls? I bet it would open up all sorts of new paths. Oh! And parallel dimensions. There's so much you know that could help everyone!"

Unity Twilight gave her a look. "I'm worried that if I mention a certain thing, there's going to be hell to pay. Not to mention that I'm not completely sure if I'm allowed to divulge that information to you." She nodded her head to ECAF Twilight. "They're okay though. Sorry."

"Well I'm sure you can let them know the basics about inter-dimensional travel," Stardust said. "After all, that's how we did things before Unity, and while the means have evolved, the concept's hardly changed."

"Um..." unicorn Twilight kept thinking. "What about Star's ability?"

Star shook her head. "Painful experience with a resurrection method that, apparently in my contract, would give me said additional ability. Unity was not involved in that situation. In fact, I'm sure Princess Celestia already has the process tucked away somewhere in her books," she said motioning towards Celestia.

The white alicorn did not give any hints confirming or denying the statement.

"Are we all done here? Anyone want to do anything particular?" Star gave a look towards Orion. "Except things that involve random experimentation."

She received a number of mixed expressions.

"I've had enough of random danger popping up. I mean seriously, I even died in Orion's hallucination."

3464404

"No, the Astral Plane doesn't quite work like that." ECAF Twilight piped in. "While she may have part of our Luna in her, it is only whispers of a fallen soul. There is no identity for souls that try to return from the realm of the dead, even if it was for a noble cause like Luna's."

"There shouldn't be any more danger." Orion shrugged. "ECAF is all packed and ready to travel at a whim."

Unicorn Twilight turned to her. "They say you're advanced enough, you probably have high tech that we could use in our pursuit of a better tomorrow!"

Orion patted the shorter mare on the head. "Sorry, kid. Nothing other than weapons of mass destruction on our side. Even if we had info that was partway useful to you, that's your destiny to discover, not to be given. Everything of non-military significance requires massive sacrifice, which we'd rather you not endure." Orion nodded to Twilight, who revealed her missing eye under the eye patch. "Now, I know you think we are being quite selfish. I won't deny that, we are, but, just remember everything happens for a reason, alright? We have ours, they have theirs."

Unicorn Twilight pouted for a second. "Alright."

Orion silently thanked her compliance, and turned around...

To receive a faceful of Technicolor.

"So I hear you can do magic." Rainbow laughed derisively. "Magic smagic! All pegasai need is speed and endurance!"

Orion blew a tuft of her displaced flame orange mane from her eyes. "First of all, I can turn you to a five point three centimeter lump of carbon of the floor if I so choose. Secondly, I have outflown you before, I can do it again."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"

"Which one, the Carbon lump, or the outfly?" Orion looked straight at her. "I'll be happy to do both."

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"Outfly her?" Unity Rainbow said. "Yeah, I'd believe. Little filly-"

"What?!"

"-doesn't know the soldier's life. Now, me on the other hoof... I'd be willing to place bets on that. On me, of course."

"I wonder if I can get some scans done to look at Luna's soul..." Unity Twilight mulled. "Both fragments in Orion and still somewhere out there... Some things stay the same between universes, and sometimes the laws change..."

Meanwhile, the others were returning to their own discussions.

"How often does Star wear a dress?" Rarity asked.

"Not often, I'm afraid," Unity Rarity replied. "She simply doesn't get much chances to. At least, that I know of. Shame, she does look good in them, and to her credit, she doesn't mind wearing them either."

"We got that impression earlier at a party we were invited to."

"Oh really? Please, do tell me all about it..."

"It was all wonderful before things took an incredibly disastrous turn... Suppose I'll only tell you the nice parts."

"No, no, tell me everything..."

"So if Star isn't from where ya'll came from" Applejack asked herself, "How'd you become good friends with her?"

"'Cause Dusty was our friend," Unity Applejack answered. "See, there was this weird mix up a while back that caused them to swap places for a bit, and that's how we bonded with Star a little better before the whole 'multi-verse hub' thing started. They weren't that different- same kinda kooky in their own same special way..." She chuckled.

"... Look here, little Rainbow-"

"Hey!

"-You haven't flown fast until you're in a spot hoping you can outfly bullets."

"... So have you outflown bullets?"

"Barebones? I've gotten close to outflying some of the older lighter rifle cartidrige loads, but not in combat. Trust me, back then we just had to duck and cover. No fancy power armor, fifteen to twenty-five pounds of equipment..."

"You're forgetting about the post-war years," Unity Fluttershy said. "When cybernetic augmentations were growing."

"Ah, that doesn't count though." Rainbow lifted a wing. "This here's the real deal, and it'll still fly faster than anything that isn't enhanced with technology."

"Did any of you get... augmentations?" Native Fluttershy asked herself.

"Well..." Unity Fluttershy answered, "Applejack did... but uh..."

"Why? How?"

"Never asked for 'em," Applejack answered, "but I did what I could with 'em. They were great- lotta fun, but..." She looked back at her legs. "Still glad I got these back."

"Hey! Star, Dusty," unicorn Twilight called out, "Out of curiosity, you are the same ponies essentially, right?"

"Separated by a single chromosome," Stardust answered.

"Have you... ever felt attraction towards one another?"

Both pegasi gave a questioning look. They glanced at each other, then made a few motions of their heads in debate. "Uh... Yes?" Star finally answered.

"Have you ever followed through with it?"

"This feels kinda ridiculous to answer, Star," the stallion murmured.

"Well we don't have to," she said back.

"I think... we should just keep things simple right now."

Star turned back to Twilight. "Nah."

"... Really?"

"80 percent," Stardust replied. Star gave him a look.

"So... What's the other 20?"

"Make up your own interpretation."

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"I'm sure she wouldn't mind." ECAF Twilight looked at Orion, who merely shrugged. "Although our rules are clear. Even if we recover our Luna's soul, resurrection is not allowed, not after so long. The law of Equivalent Exchange will have been breached, and there will be heavy consequences to everything you see before you."

Orion turned back to the chromatic filly. "If you're so eager, I'll race you to the Hanger. I'm sure you can roughly remember the route?" Orion flared her own wings, spreading the feathers out and getting them ready.

"You're on." Rainbow grinned.

"I'll be nice. You can have a twenty second headstart." Orion lifted a hoof to her face, admiring it.

Rainbow spluttered. "You...! I don't need no..."

Orion took off, one powerful flap propelling her down the long corridor towards the Hanger. "Should have taken the headstart, idiot!" She shouted back down the corridor as she rounded the corner going at 460 M/S.

ECAF Twilight coughed, the dust disturbed by the two speeders settling once again. "We all know who is going to win in that battle." She muttered offhandedly, looking at the retreating figures.

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"Oh, don't worry, we don't intend on tampering with anything that you don't want us to," Unity Twilight answered, warily looking at the two pegasi that left. "Just extra research. We don't encounter fragmented souls very often. Even if we did want to try and bring Luna back, I'm not entirely sure of the process to go about it with the current state of her soul."

"Aren't you gonna go, Rainbow?" Unity Applejack asked her friend.

"Guess I better get started, huh?" The remaining ponies were pushed back by the wash of the pegasus's take-off.

"Rainbow-" Unity Twilight tried to call after, but she was already gone. "... Racing in the corridors is a hazard and therefore prohibited..." She put a hoof to her face.

"Attention all, high speed flight within the station outside of specified areas is considered hazardous and is in violation of station code..."

"Applejack... Did you have to encourage her?"

"What?" the earth pony grinned. "Jus' havin' some fun."

"I think we all need some air," Unity Rarity said. "How about we get some fresh air? Do you think there's still some of that picnic from earlier left?" she asked herself.

"Er, probably not," other Rarity answered. "Although maybe the picnic area is still intact?"

Let's try and close this soon.

3468088

Orion tumbled in the corridor, narrowly missing shocked Unity personnel in the corridors. A barrel roll got her past a moving crate, still pushing forward.

"Attention all, high speed flight within the station outside of specified areas is considered hazardous and is in violation of station code..."

Orion flipped over, crouching sideways on a wall and tensing up. A well timed launch propelled her down an intersecting corridor without much loss in speed. Sticking to the ceiling proved to be advantageous as she avoided many of the obstacles on the ground, only having to worry about the occasional things like dangling lights.

Sneaking a peek back revealed the prismatic streak, quite far behind. Orion bounced herself off a hanging sign, pointing to the hanger.

"I'm not sure either, but she did trade her soul for most of our tech onboard our ships." ECAF Twilight scratched her head. "If we pull her back, I can only imagine all that tech will disappear. Without the reactors powering the antimatter containment, there won't be much of a fleet left."

Another Frigate flew past the skylight, this one slowly maneuvering itself to dock with an unseen ship outside of the field of view.

A quick notification from her ear-mounted mini-projector alerted her to several things that required her attention back at HQ. "I got to leave. I'll send Orion her Interceptor, tell her to try and get back to Space Dock ASAP."

Pulling out chalk, she scribbled down a Teleportation Circle.

"Wait!" Twilight paused midway, looking at unicorn Twilight. "You're a unicorn, why do you need Circles?"

"Teleportation requires Line of Sight, or at least a very precise memory of your target destination. With the logistics of controlling such a big fleet, there's no saying if the place I'm dropping into will have space or is even close enough to attempt a standard teleportation." Twilight continued drawing. "Alchemy is different. It isn't so much 'teleporting', rather, more like 'exchanging'. It breaks the host down into elemental composition, and uses free particles to rebuild him or her at the target. If there is not enough space, the Circle will reject, so it's completely safe."

She finished and pocket the chalk. "Besides." Twilight added, as she clapped and slammed her hooves down on the Circle. "It's easier than a Teleport."

A flash and acrid smoke lingered, as she left Unity.

I'm waiting for you, actually. Waiting to hear whether I can stay in this system or have to go some other universe.

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Ah.

Rainbow saw her own, younger, slower self down a corridor, and accordingly, Orion farther ahead. The hangars weren't far away. In fact, it was just a straight run from the next turn.

Easily, she overtook herself, not bothering to listen to any exclamations made.

She closed in on Orion, but she already knew she'd have to take a close second place; simply had that bit of a lead. As sge passed the doors into the hangar, she felt her body be yanked back as she flared her wings and slowed to a stop.

"Not bad," she said to Orion. "Filly should be arriving in a second."

There was a third whoosh as Native Rainbow came in. "Geez..."

"Couple more years, good motivation, should be able to match that."

"Yeah... Guess so."

"All personnel, clear the runways. Aircraft landings commencing."

Rainbow looked towards the open hangar bay doors, out to space. Something was approaching fast.

A gunship roared into the station rearwards, engines on full. The screeching of the tires against the deck pierced the air. It taxied off to the service areas while the deck crew looked on irritatedly and Rainbow went towards it.

"Lightning. Think you came close to the record on that."

The other pegasus leapt out of the cockpit. "How about burn marks? Any good ones?"

"Nah. Think you got this one down pretty clean."

"Damn."

"Might've broke the landing speed record though."

"We'll find out later."

Twilight suddenly looked down towards her coat. She took out her tablet. "They've made a general consensus."

"About what?" Stardust asked.

"About the ECAF ponies."

"Well?"

Twilight sighed, but if it was in frustration or defeat or because it was all finally cleared up, they couldn't tell. "They're sticking it to procedure. Luna says they've got a system reserved for them already."

Celestia then stepped up. "So what does this mean for us?"

"Your planet will remain undisturbed, once we've cleaned up the mess, while your universe will be a protectorate under our inter-universal organization."

"But what about the fact we've made contact with you?" unicorn Twilight asked. "And we can't act like an alien invasion didn't happen."

"We're still unsure of the effects of your universe's different fabric. It's what started this mess in the first place. We'll clarify this later, but for now, we'll have to wait and see. It's entirely possible that, if the board deems your exposure to the different technologies enough, that you'll become a full member."

"So what happens until then?"

"We'll have advisors stationed in your universe. Probably some researchers." Twilight looked back at her tablet. "Look, I should go notify my counterpart of this. It's going to take a while. You all... enjoy your picnic, if you're going to go back to the surface. Princesses, it was a pleasure meeting you. We'll talk later; you're free to go for now as well."

For reference: 3432664

3470493

Orion watched the Gunship slide in, and waited around as it cleared the runway. A couple of messages to her told her to stay there.

A couple of minutes later, the speakers blared again.

"Inbound ECAF Interceptor. Clear runways."

The bulky jet touched down the moment it entered the runway, braking furiously and leaving a large smoke trail. In the end, it flared, engine nacelles opening and redirecting thrust forwards, in a last ditch attempt to stop it from hitting the opposite wall. The concentrated ion trail scorched the runway as it grinded to a stop, nose barely tapping the wall.

"Forgive the auto V.I., it wasn't calibrated to land on such a short runway." Orion said offhandedly as the Interceptor burned backwards, rolling towards her at the middle of the runway. And again, burning the runway with ion trail. "Phoenix, stop already."

The plane shut down, everything swiveling back into position and closing up.

Orion eyed the newly made scorch mark. "That's gonna take a while to touch up." She turned to Rainbow. "But I do think that proves to be one of the longest streaks?"

Twilight sat in her Command Console onboard the Eternity, reading the logs and assesments sent to her by the various engineering branches.

"Smaller ships all reported securely docked in respective Carriers, Corvettes all back in their launch tubes. Carriers are attached to the CBSs. Fleet is go for collected jump."

"Thank you, Nav. Keep the fleet updated." Twilight turned to another pony. "Coms, has Unity sent us jump targets?"

"No, Princess. Unity has not communicated since last."

Twilight leaned back. "We can wait."

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"If only because it nearly went through a wall," Lightning said.

"Well, these runways were made to get roughed up anyways," Rainbow said.

"Unity to ECAF Command, we are undergoing departure procedure. Unity will open the wormhole when you are ready. Exit point will be in moon orbit, where your acommodations will be further organized and regulations discussed at Tranquility Lunar Installation. Confirm that you have received the instructions clearly."

"All generators at peak capacity. Mode 3 firing when ready."

"Destination dimension locked for home."

"So, you think the High Princess and her lot will recieve their new home well?" Stardust asked his counterpart.

Star shrugged. "I'd think that they'd just want to settle down after all this. I hope they welcome their new home. After all, we could provide any help they need and they don't owe anything back to us. Except live nicely and make friends with the rest of the neighborhood."

"A neighborhood with light-years between houses spanning a couple of galaxies."

"Well, they've got their space. Peace and quiet. What else could a group like them want?"

3481022

"Prep for jump complete."

"All reactors reporting stable. Slight hysteresis leakage in tertiary Fusion Reactor onboard CBS Noteworthy, accounted for with quaternary Solar Panels."

Twilight looked at the map. "We're passing through to another dimension, all ships clump together. Do not under any circumstances undock from your main ships."

Outside, giant magnetic clamps were launched from CBS to CBS, waving around until they clamped onto docking ports on the target ship. These retracted, pulling the massive ships closer together into a star formation. When they were close enough, thick heavy duty pylons extended, slotting into premade holes for the express purpose of linking the ships together as one entity.

"Locked in place. All clamps have been double checked, all green."

Twilight nodded. "Begin moving towards the moon at quarter speed. Signal Unity that we are ready."

"Aye."

"Admiral Orion's status?"

"Her Interceptor is coming in now."

The wheels kissed the metal plating softly under the careful hooves of Orion, and she taxied off into a sealed hanger. Behind her, the thick door slid closed, screwing itself into place and sealing the single-occupant hanger from the vacuum exposed runway.

Lights flickered on, and compressor whirred as air was pumped into the chamber. Another door opened on the other end, and Orion taxied into the cavernous inner mech bay. Catching onto a passing vehicle hook on the floor, Orion hopped out of the plane as the automated conveyor system dragged it down the massive hanger to the planes section.

"Good to be back." She murmured as she watched the familiar uniformed ponies scurry about.

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"ECAF Command, Unity, acknowledged. Prepare for transit in one minute. It will be similar to an FTL jump. Unity will open the wormhole in 30 seconds."

"Attention, all personnel, trans-dimensional jump in one minute."

"Ready to go?" Stardust asked.

"It was an intresting trip," Star answered.

"Think Unity's gonna assign you a mission when we get back?"

"I'm probably good for a week or two."

They watched the view through the window above as Unity rotated in space, pointed towards the vast void. They waited for the bright beam out of the laser mast, to open the gateway home.

"1st Fleet, Unity, we are departing shortly."

"Acknowledgd. 6th Fleet should already be in lunar orbit to meet you at home."

"That is correct. Good luck here."

"Make sure they settle well. They're good ponies."

"Affirmative. Take care of these guys too."

"We'll keep 'em safe."

3483417

"All hands, prepare for pseudo-FTL jump. Closing all apertures and sealing blast doors."

Across the massive conglomeration, shutters came down separating the different parts of the ship in case of a miscalculation.

"Man all turrets and prepare launch tubes to launch fleet. When we drop, we spread out and begin normal fleet activities."

Orion leapt, hooking onto another overhead railway system. It sent her zipping down the large corridor, moving much faster than possible when hoofing it.

"Dammit I just left my Interceptor." Orion grumbled.

As the system brought her to the other end of the hanger, she dropped off, landing gracefully and continuing at a brisk pace.

Her Interceptor was already refueled and armed, wings drooping slightly from the weight of six missiles on each of them. The suspension sat lower than usual, indicative of the anti-ship torpedoes inside the weapons bays.

Orion grabbed her helmet and leapt into the cockpit, closing the canopy.

"Alpha Ace is ready. All planes set rally point as me." Flicking on her IFF, Orion watched as the thousands of planes acknowledged her as wing king. "Begin taxi to launch tubes."

"Wormhole detected. Entry in twenty seconds."

"Hear that? I want all your asses in the tubes by then!" Orion let go of the brakes, rolling out onto the taxiway. Already, she saw hundreds of planes nosing out of their hangers, joining the queue for the hooks.

Twilight saw the laser ripple past, disturbing the space before them.

"Sensors, record."

"Roger."

The bow of the CBS disappeared into the swirling darkness.

"Good report. Boosting."

The screen faded.

The massive ship poked through on the other side of the wormhole. Instantaneously, pylons broke, releasing the CBSs. In turn, the Carriers dropped, followed by the thousands of Frigates and Destroyers. Corvettes lit up their engines, leaping from the launch tubes.

"All defenders launch in three, two, one."

Orion punched it. Across the fleet, all the fighters punched it at once. The tubes lit up as swarms of fighters left in a screaming frenzy, forming up with their wing leaders and going into orbit around, in and out the fleet.

The CBSs ground to a halt. Frigates formed up into an arrowhead shape, followed by Destroyers and Corvettes.

Fleet reports all arrived and accounted for."

3483463
Unity followed through the wormhole. Once the station passed through, it closed behind them. They were dropped in lunar orbit, and just on the horizon of the moon was slight glinting of metal from Tranquility Installation.

"Jump complete. Wormhole closed."

"Unity, 6th Fleet, welcome home. Those the ECAF Equestrians?"

"Affirmative."

"Ground control will handle the situation from here."

Twilight walked approached the central holotable in CIC. They were shown orbiting the moon. The ECAF fleet was in a clump ahead of them, and their ships were spreading out into formation. Blips of 6th Fleet's ships surrounded the moon farther out. "Princess Luna should be at Tranquility. Celestia is still in Canterlot."

Both grey pegasi entered the command center. "What happens now, Twilight?"

"We'll have a meeting with their ponies in charge. If all goes well, Celestia and Luna will meet them personally in Tranquility. Then we can send them off to the system we gave them."

"How long do you think background checks will take?" Star asked.

"It'll all be done through the week. Then, naturally, we'll keep tabs on them to make sure they're doing fine."

"Okay. Let's get it done."

3483639

Orion soared over the massive turret of a CBS, flipping over and looking down at Equestria.

"Make's you nostalgic, eh?"

"That's the second Equestria I've seen this week." Orion sighed. "I just want to find a home."

"I hear you." There was a pause. "Unity is calling us to them."

"Alright, I'm coming back."

"I'm already getting AJ, we'll get into a Threshold. You come and get your ceremonial gear."

Keeping just abreast with the Threshold, Orion placed the Interceptor down on the metallic deck. Opening her canopy, she dropped out of the plane, boots hitting with a heavy clump. She carried her usual loadout, a Position Cannon on one side and an Automatic Shotgun on the other, heavily stylized for ceremony.

She stood behind the two ponies in charge, Twilight and Applejack.

3483731
Twilight and Star, both in dress uniform, were already there to meet them. "High Princess. Admirals. Welcome back to Unity. Shall we proceed?"

They all gave an affirmative, and so Twilight led them along to a conference room to outline what they were to expect. Most of it was the regulations that would be further detailed with the other two alicorns. There were some questions asked towards them, but it all went smoothly. Questions directed towards Unity were asked to be withheld until the meeting. The final words were just some notes on the meeting itself with the Princesses.

"You're probably all tired, and you just want to find some peace. So, since I've covered everything that I need to, we'll now meet with the Princesses to finalize everything." Twilight turned her eyes to an arbitrary direction. "Transporter, clear for Tranquility."

"Yes, Princesses. Stand by, transporting shortly."

The group appeared in more a more lavish area. Guards were around in ceremonial armor. Ahead of them were open doors, and inside, behind a large table, sat Celestia and Luna.

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Orion stared at the HUD readouts, her face hidden behind a polarized visor. Actively scanning the two Princesses did not reveal any hidden weaponry other than two pistols, laced to their wings and hidden in the feathers.

Obviously just for self-defense. Those tiny shells can't penetrate. I'm far more wary of their magic. Orion idly thought, eyeballing the rest of the guards. They did wear some sort of Power Armor, but it appeared to be much lighter and thinner than hers. Not that armor can save anypony from anti-matter.

"Orion." She looked at her Twilight, who gave her a reassuring smile. "Stop over thinking things. They aren't here to hurt."

"Yes, Princess." Orion looked back at the table.

Twilight looked around. "I'm sure we'll be okay without you for a moment."

Orion took the hint, and stepped backwards. Her suit faded from all sensors, and she blended into the light.

Electronic and Magical countermeasures online, Admiral. Unless they begin throwing rocks, it's impossible to find us.

Orion flapped a couple of times, following a patrolling Guard out of the door closely. Wandering the halls in complete silence, Orion avoided the other Unity ponies, following directions to nowhere in particular. A red light attracted her attention. Shifting over, she watched as large doors swung open, releasing a hiss as cold air flowed into the corridor. A pony in a bulky spacesuit came in, and began to strip.

Orion snuck in, just under the closing hatch. She waited as the atmosphere vented, and the opposite door open to allow the next pony in. Slipping out, Orion's boots fizzed, turning slightly magnetic and keeping her attached to the lunar surface.

She trekked for roughly five minutes, getting up to the ridge of the crater the base sat in. Lying down, she looked at blue Equestria, spinning slowly above her head.

Raising her hoof, she placed it over Canterlot. Orion sighed, eyeing the brightly lit capital in the midst of darkness.

"I miss my Equestria." She mumbled to no one in particular.

"I understand completely." Twilight calmly answered. "There should be no problems setting up our own civilization, but rest assured, if we need help, we will call."

Applejack put down the folder. "Looks perfect. The surrounding planets have several large deposits of Osmium and Titanium, with gas giants that'll yield plenty of energized Nobel gases. The main planet itself closely emulates original Equestria in terms of climate and time cycles. Heck, even the Sun is the perfect size and emits just enough energy to power our pre-fab units. We can land the Carriers and have them deploy the pre-fabrication units to begin building some defenses and a city big enough to house what's left."

Twilight looked back at the Princesses, her armored hooves on the table. "Will there be anymore requirements or questions you would like me to answer?" Her tone, while sounding inviting, had that edge to it, as if daring the Princesses to go on.

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"Some last words," Luna said. "If you have any need of terraforming services, if you want to change the shape of landmasses (we've had requests of that before), do not hesitate to call- we can provide that service.

"You will be allowed to retain your entire fleet, but you are not bound to any service for us. However, any actions being taken outside of your system must be ran through us until your probationary period ends. Also, once you have regained your strength, we do expect your fleet to join in a universe-wide call should Canterlot call for it; this is essentially just for dire emergencies.

"Interaction with other Equestrian systems is permitted, but you will be left alone until you feel comfortable to reach past your borders. You are recognized as a fully sovereign entity and answer little to us; no taxes or services or the like, but are under jurisdiction of a few general laws, mainly pertaining to out-of-system activities. Standard currency is set by the Equestrian Commonwealth. You will be provided with an initial amount.

"Lastly, all of you are permitted to join the Unity Program, whether in research," Luna paused to glance at Star, "or field work."

Celestia looked at Luna, ensuring that her sister was finished speaking. "With all that said," Celestia signed the papers, "You are all ready to go, High Princess Twilight Sparkle. We do hope to see more of you in the future, but more importantly, that you restore your ponies' lives and well-being."

Celestia held up the document, ready to give it to the High Princess. However, quickly, she held it back. "And one last thing- take care of the other admiral. I've heard of her deeds, and I would very much hope that she finds serenity. We sensed her... paranoia, quite literally almost, in fact. Make sure she settles down well."

Then she turned to Star. "Captain, as one of the officers assigned to be their liason, will you join us as we accompany them to their new home?"

"Yes, Princess."

Luna looked towards the other Twilight. "You should call back your admiral. Although the view from outside is extraordinary, I would not wish to delay your arrival at your new home."

"Princesses," their Twilight said, "our flagship is ready to recieve us."

"Very well. We shall board shortly."