Chapter XIII
Admiral Zelgius pursed his lips as he flipped through the material in front of him. Honestly, the whole thing felt too good to be true. However, since his personal spy ships had confirmed that Allion was still firmly under Alliance control, he had little reason to doubt the evidence in his hands.
Other than the fact that they apparently had an insanely powerful, magical unicorn at the Psywarrior Research Facility, who could apparently undo the 'permanent' mental programming of the patients there, and had even beaten a Psywarriors at his own game.
Oh, and to top it all off, the Psywarrior she had beaten had been Hivanti. That was apparently a thing now.
Yet, even with all that power, this unicorn was also apparently benign. Zelgius had no illusions that this creature could have taken the entire planet if she wanted to, yet she hadn't. She was also in a position to make whatever demand that she wanted, and instead of giving orders like a little tyrant, she had asked as meek as a lamb if they could take her home.
The whole thing reeked of a trap, yet he couldn't help but trust that it wasn't. Maybe it was the video files that Doctor Morinth had sent. Maybe it was the fact that this 'Twilight Sparkle' had brought one of his top operatives home.
Maybe it was the fact that, without a real miracle, the entire Alliance was doomed to collapse under the weight of the war.
The stone cold truth was that the Dridune were consuming the Alliance piece by piece. It did not matter what weapons or armor the Alliance developed, what modifications they made to their ships, the Dridune simply stole the Alliance's soldiers and technicians and forced them to reveal their secrets. Every planet they lost added billions to the enemy's slave army, as well as another willing world to supply the Dridune's war effort.
The Psywarriors were unbeatable. It was a common fact. They had somehow managed to avoid all forms of assassination, turned whole planets into slaves for the empire, and had won each and every single engagement that they were involved in.
Yet, somehow, The Dridune's best Psywarrior had been crushed by a small, cute, purple unicorn who, if the files were to be believed, had the mentality of an obsessive/compulsive sixteen year old bookworm.
If this turns out to be true, it would prove that not only do the Gods exist, but that they do, in fact have a sense of humor, Zelgius thought as a smile came to his face.
So, even if this was some form of elaborate trap, Zelgius couldn't stop himself from walking into it. He couldn't help it. Deep in his gut, he felt that this was the real deal, that the universe wasn't about to play some elaborate prank on him, and end his life at the hooves of a small, adorable, pony-thing.
His gut had never led him wrong before, and it had been a long time since he had had a gut feeling this strong.
This is either the worst mistake of my career, or the greatest decision I have ever made, he thought to himself as he threw the datapad onto the desk.
“Sir, we will be exiting Hyperspace in five minutes,” Zelgius heard through the intercom.
“Thank you captain,” he responded as he straightened his uniform. He felt like he was going to his own funeral.
Or maybe his salvation. He couldn't really tell at this point.
* * *
It was over. The remainder of the planetary defenses had surrendered to his slave army, leaving him to stand victorious over those pretentious council members. He smiled as he remembered how he had casually set their world to burn right in front of their very eyes, then had slaughtered each and every one of them. Oh, they had begged and pleaded with him to spare their pathetic lives, but Tyranny just couldn't afford to let them live.
They could resist his power. Free will was a crime punishable by death under Tyranny's rule, and he had decided long ago to make them pay for their arrogance.
Then the system was finally at peace. For ten years he had slowly expanded his empire, consuming world after world. His thralls bringing more and more under his ever-growing dominance.
It seemed that peace would rule throughout the universe for all time. A Forefather's rejuvenating physiology meant that, baring physical injury, he would live forever as the universe's ageless emperor.
However, he had overlooked one factor in his quest for peace.
Freedom.
* * *
Twilight woke with a snort, her mane a mess, her bloodshot eyes wide as she gazed frantically around the semi-darkness of her holding cell. Quickly she sat up on her haunches, feeling extremely dirty after that dream. It had been so real, so vivid.
Shaking slightly, the pitcher of water on her table lifted itself and poured some of its contents into a metal tumbler. The cup then levitated itself over to her, glowing gently as it hovered through the air. Twilight then took the cup, drinking slowly as she pondered the dream.
The worst part had been the point of view. Instead of merely being an observer, or maybe even a victim, she had seen the dream from Tyranny's eyes. She would have preferred to have been butchered by that monster rather than be him.
Her horn itched as she thought about it. Before Luna's return, she would have thrown herself into her studies after a nightmare, that usually cheered her up. However, she didn't really have any study material, and she doubted that the people who ran this facility had anything written in her language.
After Luna's return though, she almost never had nightmares. The ones she did have however had been quickly calmed by Princess Luna, as the Lunar Diarch had quickly gone back to her sacred duty as the Warden of Dreams. However, Twilight doubted that even Luna could reach her here.
I don't even know if I'm in the same galaxy anymore... she thought to herself as she wrapped her blankets closer.
She felt so very alone. Even when she had thought that friendship was unimportant, she had always had somepony to go to when things had become too great for her to handle. When she had been younger, she had always turned to Shining or Cadence. Later, after her brother had joined the Guard and she had become Princess Celestia's private student, she had confided in Spike or the Princess herself. After Luna's return however, Twilight had an overabundance of friends she could confide in, always there for her, ready to help, to lend an ear.
She missed each and every one of them so much that it felt like a physical pain deep within her heart, the ache growing constantly until finally it had reached its peak, and Twilight couldn't hold in the tears any longer.
For the first time since she had woken up on that dreadful station two months ago, she broke down completely. She cried long and hard, her sobs wracking her small body as she burrowed her head deep into her pillow, her blankets wrapping tightly around her.
She was so busy crying that she didn't even notice the shadowy figure detach itself from a corner of the room. The small figure quietly made its way across the room until it reached the table. Once there, it pulled out a chair and sat down, taking special care to not sit on its tail as it did so.
It just sat there, staring at her for the longest time as she cried into the pillow. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it spoke. “You know, I spent every waking hour on my way over here trying to figure you out,” he said in a somewhat high pitched, yet still masculine voice.
“Eep!” Twilight said as her head shot up when she heard the voice, fear running through her veins. She looked around until she spotted the shadowy figure at the table. “...Who...who are you?” she asked nervously.
The strange creature ignored her question though, and continued to ramble at her. “I thought of hundreds of scenarios on how this would play out. I though that you might be a genetically altered Psywarrior, and this was simply a new way of getting into our heads. I quickly discounted that one, seeing as how they're winning anyway, and they don't really need to resort to such tactics,” he said, shaking his head and pulling the water pitcher towards him.
As he poured himself a cup, Twilight couldn't help but feel how absolutely surreal this was. Despite the fact that he was addressing her, he was clearly only talking at her, not to her. Nevertheless, she still tried to worm her way into the one-sided conversation.
“Um...” she said intelligently.
However, despite the attempt, the the person at the table continued to talk over her, ignoring her less than stellar attempt to interject her viewpoint. Clearly the strange creature was talking itself through something, and wouldn't answer her growing questions until he was good and ready.
“Then, I thought you might be some alien terror, who's cute exterior only served to hide the beast within. Theory after theory chased each other around in my head, like dogs chasing their own tails. I wasn't getting anywhere,” he said, then paused as he took a drink. “Finally, after three days of this, when my ship finally made port, I came up with an idea. I thought to myself, 'Halik old boy, you know the Alliance is pretty much doomed, you're just stalling the inevitable at this point. Why don't you just go in and see what she's like yourself?'”
He set down the metal cup and let out a sigh. “It was a substantial risk. Had you been a Psywarrior, I would have already been under your control,” he looked up at her when he said this, his head tilted to one side. “Did you know that? Did you know that they can take you in their sleep?” he asked, cupping his face in his hands. “I watched you sleep for so long, yet nothing happened. I was so sure that something terrible would happen, yet nothing did. Then you woke with a look of terror on your face, and I was sure that you had detected me, yet it turned out that you just had a nightmare.”
He took his hands off of his face, then looked up at her. “I have three beautiful little girls at home, and I can tell you that I know when they're fake crying or crying for real. Is this really what you are? Just a scared little girl, yearning for home?” he asked, hope rising in his voice.
This seemed like an actual question, so Twilight answered. “I'm not really little anymore, but...” she trailed off as the strange creature seemed to reach a decision. Slowly he stood up and snapped his fingers. Almost immediately the lights in the room increased their output until Twilight could see her strange visitor clearly.
He was rather short compared to the other aliens that she had encountered so far, probably only four and a half feet tall, barely taller than Twilight if you included her horn. His short fur had probably been a deep brown at one point, but was now a faded gray color. His uniform was a deep blue with gold trim around the shoulders and the hemline of the pants, while on his right chest pocket was some form of rank insignia. His face had a very distinctly simian look to it, which was fully complemented by the long prehensile tail that curled up behind him.
“My name is Admiral Halik Zelgius of the Galactic Alliance, and it would be my honor if I could personally escort you home,” he said as he bowed deeply to her.
* * *
“Yes, I know,” said Lucy crossly. “Wait a minute.”
“Daughter of Eve,” said Aslan in a graver voice, “Others are at the point of death, Must more people die for Edmund?” Hale read, but was interrupted from his book as the door to his holding cell opened, revealing none other than Admiral Zelgius of Naval Intelligence.
Hale quickly stood to attention, or rather, he would have if he still had his arms and legs. All that he managed to do was to flop forward and land face first on the bedspread in front of him.
“Mffg mfg al mffgg. Mffg mfgg mffgh mffgh?” he said intelligently.
“I know, I have that effect on people,” Zelgius said in an amused tone of voice.
Firm hands grabbed Hale and gently set him into a sitting position. Glancing around, Hale noticed that three other people had entered the room with the Admiral. Two of them were doctors, while the third seemed to be the Admiral's guard. Currently, the doctors were busy reattaching Hale's missing limbs.
“Uh... sir?” Hale said in a confused tone of voice.
“Against my more paranoid judgment, I have decided to take this whole situation at face value. If I'm wrong about her and her people, then all I've done is expedite the destruction of the Alliance,” the Admiral said as he took a seat in front of the confused Captain. “However, if I'm right, the Alliance might just have gained an extraordinarily powerful ally, one who could easily turn the tide of war for us. Personally, I think that the potential gain here far outstrips the loss,” Admiral Zelgius said with a grin.
Hale couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zelgius was supposed to be the most paranoid, cunning, wily old fox that the Alliance had. There was a reason why he had been in charge of Naval Intelligence for so very long. He seemed to have a sixth sense for danger, and had avoided several assassination attempts and mind control attempts on that sense alone.
Yet, if he was saying what Hale thought he was saying... “Sir, does this mean that-”
“Yes Captain, we are taking the young miss Sparkle home. Hopefully we will be able to make a good enough impression with her people to get them to help us,” Zelgius said as the doctors finished attaching Hale's limbs.
Hale rotated his arms a few times to make sure the weight was properly balanced. “Sir, while I am relieved that you have decided on this course of action, I can't help but wonder why you're here telling me all this,” Hale asked suspiciously.
Zelgius merely quirked an eyebrow at this. “Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm going to be making first contact with Twilight's people, and if I'm going into this metaphorical lion's den, then I'm taking you with me. Vacation is over, Captain Hale,” Zelgius said with a grin.
Hale gave out an exasperated sigh at this. “I didn't even know I was on vacation!” he said as the admiral left the room.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle was in awe. In front of her was probably the most incredible sight she had ever seen. Multi-colored lights winked at her from all directions, words were scrolling on the various screens that lined the walls, and people of various races and species hurried back and forth, busily fulfilling whatever tasks they had to keep a starship up and running. The whole thing had a sleek, silvery look that made her think of efficiency.
However, the most impressive sight was the large view screen positioned at the front of the room. She still couldn't believe that what she was looking at wasn't just a window. Nor could she believe the sight that this 'window' revealed. On the other side of the 'window', she could see what was unmistakably a green and blue planet, slowly turning as the sun rose on the horizon.
Twilight was so flabbergasted by the sight, that she didn't even notice as Captain Hale strode past her towards the Admiral standing in the center of the room. He started to talk with the admiral, but whatever they said was lost on the quietly hyperventilating unicorn.
This is incredible! How does all of this work? How does it keep track of everything? these and other thoughts quickly chased each other around in her head, but she was no closer to any answers when Hale approached her and gently used one hand to close her hanging jaw. “Yeah, I had the same reaction the first time I stood on the bridge of a starship,” he said to her.
When she didn't immediately respond, he cleared his throat a bit to get her attention. However, that did nothing to snap her out of the stupor that had befallen the purple pony. “I see that we broke the poor girl,” Admiral Zelgius said in Twilight's tongue as he approached the two.
“Apparently...” Hale said as he snapped his fingers a couple of times. “So, how are we going to find Twilight's home planet? Can she give us star coordinates? or...”
“Actually, we already have her planet's coordinateness,” Zelgius said with a smirk.
Both Hale and Twilight gave him a sharp look at that. “How do you know where my planet is? I haven't told you anything about it!” Twilight said in amazement.
Zelguis smirked at the two of them again. “On the same day that you made your little escape, my agent aboard the station sent me a communication. It had all the information that she was able to steal while she was aboard. Included in that datapacket was details on each and every prisoner that had ever been on that accursed station, including their home planet's coordinates. We can be there in a week,” he said as he waved down an ensign.
“Wait, if you had someone aboard, then she still might be there! We need to-” Twilight started to say, but was interrupted as Zelgius waved her down. “You don't need to worry about her. She was the Dridune that you picked up on your way out, and if memory serves, you already cured her earlier this week,” he said. “Thank you for that, by the way. She was one of my best operatives, and to see her returned safe and sound does this old heart a wealth of good.”
“You're welcome, admiral,” Twilight said as she blushed a little at the praise being heaped upon her.
“To be honest, your planet has been a bit of a curiosity for my people. Almost every day I see a request on my desk for funds to go and study your planet, but I've had to deny each and every one of them because of the war,” Zelgius said as he started to walk towards the chair situated in the center of the room.
“Why would our planet be such a curiosity?” Twilight asked honestly.
Zelgius didn't immediately answer. Instead, he took a second to ease himself into his chair, making sure to avoid sitting on his tail. “It's quite simple, really. Your planet is the only planet who's star orbits its planet, instead of the other way around. We would have had ships out there earlier, but the odd gravitational forces in the system make it dangerous for ships to even attempt it, hence the constant requests for funds,” he said as he glanced towards the small unicorn.
“You mean, that star out there doesn't orbit its planet?” Twilight asked with a gasp.
“No, nor is it normal for your star to be orbiting yours. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?” Zelgius asked as he quirked an eyebrow.
“No, I don't. I have a few theories, but nothing concrete. However my mentor Princess Celestia would know,” Twilight said after a moments' thought.
“Why is that, Sparks?” Hale asked curiously.
“Because she controls the sun.”
The silence that followed this statement was so profound that you could have heard a pin drop. Even those people who couldn't understand a word that was being spoken stopped what they were doing when they saw the look on the admiral's face.
“What?” Twilight asked after a couple of minutes of silence.
That's a perfect reaction.
First, the errors.
Than. Ah, my favorite consistent mistake.
Was this intentional for the character's dialog or no?
Um...
Now for the reaction.
I can't believe how casual Twilight was about explaining how her world worked. I bet Zelgius will meet with Celestia and ask for a temporary alliance. When she realizes the dridune and their psywarriors could be a potential threat to all on her world, she would have to help out. May what ever gods there are have mercy on the dridune.
Also I could see potential for the changelings to either work with the dridune to take down Celestia and Luna or they work with the equestrians and the alliance to infiltrate dridune ranks.
Sorry for double-posting, but this had been on my mind for a while. Am I the only one who thinks this could be a Star Ocean scenario?
That last line made me laugh. Just the pure bluntness of the statement. Keep up the good work man.
Is it problematic that I keep thinking of something along the following lines?
Luna: "Sister! There is an errant speck flitting about in my night! Could you wipe it out for me?"
Celestia: "But of course, it shall be no trouble at all! Then to cake!"
And that's when a hypervelocity star hits the Dridune.
"We also have someone who controls the moon!"
As they say, the plot thickens.
In case I missed it, what season is this after (or at least, what season was Twilight abducted?)?
Way to break the Admiral with the fact that your mentor is a super powered version of you.
On a another thought...
"EVERFREE! THE WHOLE OF THE REST OF THE GALAXY IS EVERFREE!"
Keep in mind that Twilight not understanding natural orbital mechanics implies some things about pony understanding of math/science, though it probably won't matter much.
Don't worry about this chapter being rough, it's mostly just the transition between the previous section and the next part of the story. The joke at the end is what everyone will remember anyway.
4619807 Well... yeah :) Her mentor control sun, Mentor sister control moon. Her sister-in-law control emotion and married on her brother who can cast shield on city. So... yeah she have very POWERFULL family :)
Oh, Twi. You so silly.
And now I can't wait for her return home! Who knows how long she's been gone, and the reunion will be awesome.
I love this story.
Write on,
Legion
4619807 And considering she's already basically Superman in their eyes to begin with...
YAY UPDATE!
Let me say I really needed some of this fic after finishing The Dark Ones.
I can't wait for the next chapter, especially since Twilight's inevitable reunion with everypony else will have so much heartwarming--and on top of that, we'll get a first contact-type scenario, and a probably more amicable one than in many fics. Hah, the Alliance thought they were lucky to have just Twilight on their side...Wait until they find out that she's a national heroine and on a first-name basis with two celestial body controlling rulers.
I too would like to know what season of the show this fic takes place...especially since I believe a certain draconequus will be a key part of this fic.
The moment you find out that what you tough was OP is just average...
Great story! Please, continue!
Rushing things? No way. I'd say it's going at exactly the right pace.
Can't wait for the next chapter. I feel like I've subscribed to an old-fashioned sci-fi magazine, and I'm waiting for the next issue.
You have no idea how long i was waiting for twilight to drop the 'Celestia controls a gargantuan ball of nuclear fission each day' bomb, i'd love to see the reaction of the admaral now!
No way are you rushing it, honestly if a warring faction happened to have found a solution to their near defeat, surely they would make all haste to grab said solution, right?
4622860 Yeah, me too. I want to say this so I will(the ""'s are crew of the ship) "Mind Blown" or "are you insane" ,I know I have over spoken this, sorry.
4619336
Ok, we have to races that are built tocontrol minds, one of them eats emotions, the other is a race of nut-cases.Wow your berilant to think of that. Also
They hate wars, so I don't know, I think your right but they won't like it, then again, who does like going to war with another alien species.
4619678 LoL or troll, one of the most dangerest things in the galaxy get token out like that.
4619431 What?
4620100
What if it's been 25 years, wait, nope, that's too long and she would have aged more though we don't know how she look, never mind, anyways it's perobly been a year or a mouth.
I knew it, there's a bigger picture here, isn't there, I bet you the pony's have something to do with Freedom or Tyranny.
4619336 I don't know how chrysalis would feel being subjugated by a mind controlling squid race, unless you mean they stand as partners? Then I don't see that happening anytime soon as the dridune have expressed that every creature that doesn't have tentacles for a face and an ego to match their mind powers, are considered less to the point of cattle if not lower.
If anything I'd like to see the changelings redeem themselves by helping the galaxy, surely earning love is stronger then stealing it right? Right?
Arthropod Vs cephalopod.
Place your bets!
But then again this only a theory and I could be wrong.
4625970
Star Ocean is a series of sci-fi RPGs developed by Tri-Ace. If you never played it, I suggest starting with the SNES original.
I wasn't thinking of any Star Ocean entry in particular, but the franchise as a whole. I know the scenario could fit any space opera, but Star Ocean came to mind.
4626060
It'd be a temporary alliance much like Japan and Germany during World War II. Once the changelings have served their purpose, then the dridune would either begin slaughtering them, probably starting with Chrysalis, or enslave them.
4626172 it could be terrifying if they did though, how easy would it be for a changeling to infiltrate alliance command, would the tech even be able to tell the difference? It's kind of a scary thought.
Infiltration and espionage for the changelings.
Control and brute force en mass from dridune.
4626389
Fridge horror.
I always love when Twilight gets around to explaining how their Sun works. This was a very good one.
"Way to go, Twilight. You broke the super cool good guy aliens!"
"Well, to be fair, they sort of broke me first..."
“Because she controls the sun.”
The silence that followed this statement was so profound that you could have heard a pin drop. Even those people who couldn't understand a word that was being spoken stopped what they were doing when they saw the look on the Admiral's face.
“What?” Twilight asked after a couple of minutes of silence
Stalker much?
cdn.meme.am/instances/24837028.jpg
Duh, because she controls the sun, dummy. Pssh. Everypony knows that. ~Diamond Tiara, probably.
Physics.exe has stopped working... just like the good admiral there
Typo destruction!
Didn't she just beat one?
Of course they do, I met them, nice chat I had.
7671667
Roughly around that point is when you find out that what you thought was the interstellar equivalent of an interesting patio decoration is actually a 10-megaton nuke, and it's now aware of you. That reaction on the Admiral's part is completely expected. :D
It still says psywarriors, not psywarrior. She only beat one, and the rest of the sentence is singular.