Chapter 11 - Revelations
Chapter 11 - Revelations
The chilly morning air greeted Applejack as she stepped onto the porch of her house with a cup of hot coffee in hand, followed by her trusty dog Winona. The young farmer leaned with a shoulder against one of the pillars of the porch roof and took a sip of the steaming dark liquid, enjoying the sight of the rising sun over the hills covered by apple trees. A small proud smile appeared on her muzzle at the sight in front of her, the result of the work of four generations of farmers. Her life was a simple one, based on a few things like hard work and family, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
‘Yup, a simple, quiet life… with the occasional adventure involving some bad guy with a mad plan to conquer the world,’ she thought amusedly, taking a sip of her morning beverage.
The noise of the front door opening behind her, followed by the unmistakable sound of heavy steps on the old wooden planks, told the farmer that they were no longer alone. She smirked. There was only one other pony in her family who woke up so early and the sound of his heavy steps on the old wooden planks was unique solely to him.
“Morning, Mac,” she greeted, glancing at him.
“Morning sis,” the stoic stallion responded, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. He then kneeled and gave their dog a scratch behind the ear. “Morning Winona.” The border collie wiggled her tail and panted happily, enjoying the attention, then she lay down.
The two siblings and the lively dog remained on the porch, enjoying the simply moment together, but then, without apparent reason, Winona stood still and started flicking her ears.
“What’s wrong, girl?” Applejack asked with curiosity as the the dog started barking. “Ya smelled somethin’?”
The dog looked briefly at the orange pony, then pointed her head toward the road and emitted a howl.
‘Or maybe she heard something.’ Now it was Applejack’s turn to flick her ears. Sure to be told, she could hear a low rumbling noise coming from the road. “Do ya hear it?”
“Yup,” Big Mac said in his usual stoic tone.
With the passing of the seconds the noise became louder and more clear. A vehicle. Several of them actually, all of big size and proceeding at elevated speeds if the noise they were producing was of any indication.
The Apple siblings exchanged puzzled looks. It wasn't a common occurrence that a vehicle passed on the road in front of their farm so early in the morning and, given the nature of the country road, it would require off-road tires and good suspension to drive so fast without damaging the car.
The female collie darted toward the source of the noise.
“Winona, wait!” Applejack called her dog, only to be ignored. “Aww, shucks. Well, let's have a look Mac,” Applejack said. She put her now empty cup on the small table near her granny’s rocking chair and started jogging at quick pace toward the entrance to their property, followed by her brother.
In a couple of minutes they reached the front gate of the farm. Now that she could hear the noise more clearly, she could easily tell that the vehicles came from Whitetail Wood.
‘Strange, there’s nothing in that area, apart for the-’ her eyes widened in realization. ‘The Solar Guard base.’
Applejack gasped in surprise when the vehicles became visible. Driving down the road was a long column of military vehicles with the symbol of the Solar Guard painted on the hoods. The main body of the convoy was formed by four big infantry trucks, each one with a dozen royal guards sitting in the back, while both at the head and at the end of the column was a Puma (she never understood the name choice, the mean-looking cars resembled more like some kind of wild pig or warthog in her opinion...), each one with a gunner manning the heavy machine gun mounted on the back turret. The gunner of the first car crossed his gaze briefly with the apple farmers, but he soon returned to scan the surroundings, in search for potential threats.
“Ah have a really bad feelin’ Mac,” Applejack said in worry as she and her brother watched the convoy drive toward the town. They had seen Guards pass in front of Sweet Apple Acres in the past, but it was always to reach some training area or when their help was needed after a natural disaster like a violent flood. This time it was completely different. The Equestrian soldiers seemed ready to fight and whatever the reason was, it couldn’t be good.
A small group of fast moving shadows passed over her and only when she raised her gaze did she notice the five pegasi flying above the column.
“Hey! Hey! What's goin' on?” she yelled, waving her arms, trying to get the attention of the guards. Her calls seemed to be ignored until the last pegasus of the group, a stallion with a grey coat and red eyes, noticed her and descended until he was hovering a few palms from the ground.
“It’s an operation of national security, miss Apple,” the Guard said with a professional tone.
“Uh? National security?” the farmer asked, a bit stunned that a stranger knew her, only to feel a bit silly. Of course the members of the Guard knew her and her friends. “Whaddaya mean?”
“Apologies, miss Apple, but I’m not authorized to release this information, at least for now. All I can say is that all garrisons are in state of alert.”
“Sarge, we gotta go!” one of the other pegasi called to the stallion.
“Coming!” the guard replied before turning his attention back to the Apple siblings. “If I were you, I would stay home and turn on the radio or the television. I doubt the princesses will keep the kingdom in the dark,” he said, hurrying to regroup with his comrades.
The Apple siblings were not the only ones to have noticed the the military convoy heading toward the town. Tarya and Zhar stood on the top of a nearby hill, completely undetectable to the naked eye thanks to their active camo systems.
The light morning breeze carried a pleasant smell to her nostrils, causing her gaze to shift briefly toward one of the nearby trees. The red fruit hanging from its branches had an inviting look and it took all her willpower to resist the temptation to grab one of them and eat it. She really liked fresh fruit, especially after having been in space for long periods, but now wasn't the right time to think about such triviality. Especially not with the Commando right beside her; the last thing she needed was Zhar doubting of her professionalism.
She turned her attention back to the convoy. It was composed by six vehicles in total: four transport trucks, each one carrying at least twelve soldiers, and a pair of vehicles that looked like a primitive version of the Warthogs used by the UNSC. The machine guns mounted on these jeeps seemed to be of the same caliber as the LAAG mounted on their human counterpart, although these were single-barrel weapons, thus more susceptible to overheating when firing for long periods.
Using the zoom in her visor, she tried to get a closer look at the soldiers and their equipment. Their armor covered wider portions of body compared to the ones of the UNSC Marines, but she had no way to judge how effective they actually were. The design was primitive and at first sight it didn't seem able to stop a bullet, much less plasma, but she preferred not jumping too soon to conclusions.
The ponies also seemed to have some sort of air support provided by six winged ponies, pegasi if she recalled the term correctly from the books, who were flying above the column. Their armor was similar to the ones used by their ground comrades, although it seemed to be lighter in order to provide more agility, even if it meant less protection.
‘Not that heavier armor would make any difference if you fall from a few hundred meters.’
Their helmet cameras were recording all these details for future analysis, while the communication device in her backpack was sending the data in real time to the ship database.
Next to her, Zhar was briefly updating the ship about the situation by radio. “Copy that Last Sunset. Next contact in two hours if there aren’t major developments. Vadam, over and out,” Zhar said, closing the contact.
“Any news?”
“According to the communications officer, Equestria and the nearby countries are in a state of alert, if the drastic increase of radio dispatches during the last few hours is of any indication. They have mobilized their armed forces and police corps, as expected.”
The Zealot nodded. “What do you suggest should be our next move?”
“I was thinking to pay another visit to the local princess. Last night she didn’t seemed agitated despite the attack to that town, which means…”
“That she wasn’t aware of what happened,” Tarya completed his sentence.
“Exactly. If we’re correct, she’s the highest authority in this area and it’s thus likely that the commanding officer leading that convoy will have to report to her. We may be able to learn something useful.”
“Hmm. Sounds like a good plan to me, until we find a way to reach their capital.” She quickly glanced to the map on her wrist-pad. “Let's cut through the orchard, it will save us time.”
Scootaloo was sitting at the kitchen breakfast bar, absently munching on her morning cereal with milk while watching her favorite cartoon show on the TV, when a still sleepy Rainbow Dash walked in the room, yawning and stretching her arms. The cyan pegasus was wearing her usual night outfit, a blue tank top with the Wonderbolt insignia and a pair of black boxers.
“Morning squirt,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, affectionately rustling the purple hair of the filly.
“Morning Dash,” the filly saluted her adoptive big sister. “Where’s Tank?”
“Still in dreamland. You know how sleepy he gets when he eats chamomile flowers for dinner,” Dash said, grabbing the carton of orange juice from the fridge. “So, what are you watching?”
“Land of Adventures.”
“Oh, sweet!” Dash exclaimed, taking a seat next to the filly and pouring herself a bowl of cereal. “I love that show.”
The duo spent the next minute eating their food, occasionally bursting in a laughter over a joke or a particularly funny scene, when suddenly the monitor turned static.
“Aww, right at the best part,” Scootaloo groaned in disappointment.
Rainbow Dash huffed. “I'm gonna have another talk with Fluttershy later. I've told her to keep the storks away from the antennas on the roofs, but evidently she was too easy going with those birds.”
Just as she was about to turn off the television, the screen turned back to life. Her satisfied smile disappeared completely the moment she realized that instead of the kids show appearing, the logo of the emergency broadcast was instead displayed.
“We apologize for the interruption of the programs, but this is a statewide emergency,” said the sober voice of a mare. “Live from Canterlot, Princess Celestia will now address the nation. Please, stay tuned.”
“Uh, Dash? What does it mean?” Scootaloo asked, looking in confusion at the television.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, but she kept her cool as to not worry the filly. “Trouble,” she responded simply.
Celestia’s office was bursting with activity as a small army of technicians worked feverishly to ensure that everything was ready for her speech to the nation. In order to reach as many as her subjects as possible, her message would be transmitted simultaneously by radio and television. Luckily the room was big enough to house the equipment and the crew of technicians required to operate it with little trouble.
There was a studio camera standing right in front of her desk, with an operator making the last minutes adjustments, while on the desk itself was a mike. The large windows behind the desk provided the right amount of natural light while offering at the same time an excellent sight of Canterlot and the valley below it in the background.
The gaze of the princess shifted to the speech in her hands. The small stack of handwritten paper seemed to weigh a ton. ‘I hate this part,’ she thought bitterly as she gazed at the front sheet. There were a couple of points where her elegant and tidy handwriting had been ruined by now dried tears, but the text was still perfectly readable. It was a decent speech in her opinion, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that her words would sound hollow and meaningless to those who had lost loved ones during the attacks.
When she and her sister had accepted the role of rulers of Equestria after the unification of the pony tribes, they knew that it would be a difficult task and filled with hard moments, and delivering bad news to her subjects was one of the things that Celestia hated the most.
“Nervous, sister?” Luna asked, standing beside her. She was no longer wearing her uniform, instead she was wearing a somber long black dress with half sleeves. The simple yet elegant dress, combined with her stature and physique, gave her an air of authority, but without seeming aggressive like with the uniform. Celestia was thankful for her sister's change of attire, it helped putting her at ease; no doubt Luna was aware of it.
“I’m about to tell our subjects that some of them will probably never see their loved ones ever again, that despite all our efforts, our illusion of safety that we have built during the years has been shattered in the course of a few hours,” Celestia said bitterly.
“Oh, Tia,” Luna said softly. She hugged her sister and started stroking her back to comfort her.
“I hate this part Luna,” Celestia muttered.
“I know, dear sister.” Luna said, looking at her sadly. She would have gladly saved her sister from this painful task by taking her place as the one to give the grievous news to their subjects, but even after three years since her return there were still those who looked at her with diffidence.
Luna shifted her hands to the shoulders of her sister and looked her in the eyes. “If there is somepony able to address the nation without causing massive panic, that pony is you. Our subjects love you, Tia. They look at you for guidance when dire times arise. You are their harbor in the storm, their shelter from the rain, their light in the darkness,” she said, the last part having a hint of a smile.
Celestia could only smile as the kind words of her sister warmed her heart, knowing that she was speaking with absolute sincerity. “Thank you Luna,” she said, hugging the blue mare again. “You are the best.”
“I know,” she joked, breaking the embrace. Her expression turned to a more serious one. “Now go, dear sister. And remember, be strong for them.”
The eldest alicorn nodded and walked toward the desk. She sat on the chair and placed her speech ordinately in front of her, glancing at the pages for a last time.
“On air in thirty seconds, your Highness,” a pegasus stallion wearing a headset informed her.
Celestia nodded and took a deep breath to calm herself. Glancing at her side she could see Luna looking at her with a confident expression.
“Alright everypony. On air in five. Four,” the same pegasus started the final countdown.
‘Alright, Tia.’
“Three. Two.”
'Here we go.'
“One.”
The small red light in the corner of the desk turned on.
Celestia looked at the telecamera, trying to give the same reassuring smile that her subjects were used to seeing on her face, but she knew that her eyes probably betrayed her real emotions.
‘Be strong for them.’
“My beloved subjects, it is with utmost grief that I address to all of you...”
A strange spell seemed to hit Equestria as the message of princess Celestia was transmitted all across the kingdom through the ether. People of every kind, no matter of what age, gender, class, or species, stopped their activity to listen to the words of their beloved sovereign.
Golden Oak Library was no exception. Twilight, Spike, and Flash were all about to have breakfast in the kitchen of the library when the regular transmission of the morning newscast was abruptly interrupted by the speech of the princess. The three inhabitants of the library listened in rapt attention as the white alicorn narrated the events of the previous evening.
Spike dropped his bowl in astonishment, but no one seemed to either notice or care as it crashed to the ground, spilling milk and cereal on the wooden floor; Flash felt cold sweat run down his back as he was hit by a sense of impotence he had never experienced before; Twilight seemed simply frozen in place, her entire world reduced to the image on the screen of her former mentor and friend and her words.
“Great Maker,” Flash said slowly once Princess Celestia ended her speech, turning off the television. “I knew that there had been skirmishes in the last couple years, but this…” He shook his head, still incredulous over the news.
“What do you think will happen now Twilight?” Spike asked to his sister in everything but blood, only to be met by silence. “Twilight?”
The young alicorn was still staring at the dark screen of the television, ignoring her housemates.
“We are facing one of the greatest crisis’ of the last century and that's how I am informed of it?” she hissed, clenching her fists. “With a public speech?” Her body was shaking and more than a few hairs of her mane were now out of place.
“Twilight?” Spike called to her cautiously, trying to reach her with a hand. Before his hand could touch her shoulder, the young princess sharply turned her head toward him, causing the drake to take a step back in surprise.
“Spike, take a letter,” she said coldly.
The young dragon was starting to worry. He had rarely seen Twilight so angry. “Twilight-”
“Now!” the alicorn snapped, glaring at him.
Spike nodded hastily and hurried to grab a fresh scroll and quill.
“Twilight, please, you need to calm down,” the orange pegasus tried diplomatically.
“Calm down? Calm down?!” she yelled, looking at him like he had grown a second head. “The kingdom is in danger and you ask me to calm down?! How can I be calm in a moment like this Flash?”
“Well, getting mad with Spike or me will hardly change the situation!”
Spike shifted awkwardly, his gaze between the two ponies, shuffling on his feet.
“I, uh, I’m ready to write the let-” The young dragon stopped mid-sentence, making a strange grimace. He then belched loudly, releasing a long blaze of green flames from his mouth. The smoke from the magical fire began to swirl in the air, assuming a compact shape, then in a flash of light it turned into the familiar scroll with a red wax seal. As soon as it materialized, the scroll fell, but before it could land in the hand of the awaiting dragon it was enveloped by a magenta glow that snatched it from his grasp.
Ignoring the hurt expression of the young drake for her rudeness, Twilight broke the wax seal and started reading the message, apparently not noticing the way Flash was looking at her in disapproval for her unusually rude behaviour. As she proceeded with her reading of the scroll, her facial expression softened with each line, and by the time she had reached the end of the message, all her anger had completely evaporated.
“Is it from Princess Celestia?” Flash Sentry asked while the alicorn rolled up the scroll with care.
Twilight nodded slowly. “She apologized for not having contacted me sooner, but she needed me and the rest of the Bearers in Canterlot. She doesn’t say why, but I guess it’s pretty obvious.” She sounded exhausted, but also frustrated. The mare then walked toward Spike and hugged him.
The young drake was still confused over her change of mood, but hugged her back.
“Guys, I'm- I'm sorry for my previous poor behaviour,” she said, looking sincerely ashamed once she broke the embrace.
The two males exchanged a quick look. Between the destruction of her lab and the news of the attack, the last twenty-four hours had proved to be very stressful and burdensome for the young princess.
“It’s okay Twilight,” Spike said with a smile. “You’re not the only one distressed by the news,” he added, glancing uncomfortably at the now turned off television.
“Well, I'm gonna inform the girls,” Flash said as he grabbed his helmet and proceeded to fasten its strap. “Spike, can you go to the train station to take the tickets?”
“Sure,” the young dragon said with a nod.
“That won't be necessary,” Twilight informed them. “Celestia has already arranged the transportation. The Aurora will come to pick us up in a few hours.”
The young pegasus guard let a low whistle of surprise. “Really? Wow, Rainbow Dash will surely be happy once she hears the news.”
Sitting on his command chair in the control room of the Last Sunset, Vraal listened as the mare known as Princess Celestia addressed her subjects. Given that the ponies were broadcasting it on all their frequencies, the message was practically impossible to miss.
‘So this is what the leader of Equestria looks like,’ Vraal thought as he studied the mare on the screen.
According from what Tarya had been able to gather from a book, the princess was what the locals called an alicorn, a rare subtype of pony which apparently embodied the virtues and powers of their other races, although it wasn’t still clear what it meant exactly.
The pony monarch preceded to inform her subjects of the Changeling attack for several minutes. She didn’t include the involvement of the Sangheili in Greenville, but Vraal would have been surprised if she had done otherwise. Her subjects would be scared enough by the news of the attack, there was no point in spreading further panic by informing them that there was an armored group belonging to an unknown faction that roamed through their land.
Celestia continued with her speech, explaining what kind of security measures would be established, and while it was clear that she was grieved by what had happened to her subjects, the Shipmaster remained favorably impressed by her ability to remain resolute despite the nature of the events.
‘The princess won’t leave her subjects to live in fear, hiding until the emergency is over; she seems to be determined to do everything in her power to ensure their safety.’ A commendable choice, one that the Shipmaster could only respect.
Once the princess ended her speech, the Shipmaster stopped the video, freezing a frame of the alicorn on the screen.
“What is your impression of her, Haka?” Vraal asked to the Ultra standing beside him without looking away from the main screen.
Haka took a few moments to collect his thoughts, stroking his lower jaws with a hand. “Charismatic, strong, sincere. She struck me as the 'mother of the nation' kind of leader.”
Vraal hummed in agreement with the analysis of his second in command and friend.
His gaze lingered on the magenta eyes of the princess. He had learned that the eyes tell much about a person, and the princess was no exception. Her eyes spoke of a great intelligence and kindness, as well as wisdom. There was also something else, something on which he couldn’t initially put a finger on, until he recognized where he had already seen that kind of gaze. It was the same that the females of his own species had when their younglings were in danger. Celestia saw her people like her children, and like any good mother, Vraal had no doubt that she would have done everything in her power to keep them safe.
‘One thing is sure: one wrong step, and we risk starting a war.’
The Shipmaster wasn’t afraid of the perspective of a conflict. He had been trained to become a warrior since the moment he was able to stand and hold a weapon, and like for any other Sangheili, death was only a natural part of their existence. And yet, war was not something he sought, not when it could be avoided. Too many times he had taken part to the destruction of entire worlds and his hands were dirty with the blood of countless innocent lives. It was not his intention to start another conflict with a species that had caused them no offense.
‘This doesn’t mean that we shall not be ready if the worst were to happen.’ Glancing at a nearby surveillance monitor, he observed a team of Rangers using welding equipment to repair a section of the hull of the ship.
'Two days since the collapse of the slipspace portal and we're still licking our wounds,' Vraal thought darkly, thinking over the list of the repairs that the ship needed. Even with two Huragok at their disposal, the repair teams would still need several days to complete their work and bring the battlecruiser back to its fully functional condition. The slip space drive was still inoperative, several sections of the ship were depressurized and reachable only wearing EVA suits, and excluding the point defense lasers (basically of little use against ground targets), all the weapons of the ship were out of order. To be honest, his main concern in that regard was for the plasma torpedoes; the ventral cannons were pretty low in his list of priorities, given that due to their shortage of fuel, firing with one of those monsters would have just been a complete waste of plasma.
He tried to see the bright side of their situation. Sure, they were basically unarmed, but at least the shields were online again. ‘Great. At least we’ll be able to take a thrashing without having to worry about damage,’ he thought with dry sarcasm, taking a sip of his herbal tea, only to grimace when he realized that it was cold.
He was about to call an Unggoy to bring him another cup, but then he remembered that he had reassigned the little methane-breathing bastards to more important tasks. Grunting in resignation, he drank the remaining cold tea. It was a minor discomfort, but once again he was reminded how his species had become depended on them to perform all those small tasks considered too humble for a Sangheili.
‘How did we manage without them for so long?’ the Sangheili wondered not for the first time, trying to imagine how life must have been before the Covenant made contact with Balahao and its inhabitants. ‘We’ve grown soft. We were once able to do everything by ourselves, from farming to building spacecrafts. All without the help of Unggoy, Huragok, San’Shyuum…’
“She's not something that you see everyday,” Haka commented suddenly, snapping Vraal from his reflection about the consequences of the collapse of the Covenant Empire on the relationship between the different races which once formed it.
Vraal followed the gaze of his friend, noticing how the Ultra was studying the image of the alicorn on the main screen. “Agreed,” the Shipmaster replied. He couldn’t deny that the alien princess had a certain beauty. Not in the sexual way, her physical appearance didn’t exactly meet the canons of beauty among the Sangheili, but she was still beautiful, like a flower blossoming under the first light of the sunrise, or a rainbow originated by the mist of a waterfall in the forest.
Her body was like it had been carved from the finest kind of marble, covered by a candid coat of white fur so pure that it seemed to radiate light itself. Her ethereal multicolored mane waved slowly in the air as if it was underwater, giving her a supernatural appearance, with a particular lock covering her right eye that added a touch of mystery. Even if it was just a video, the mare seemed to emanate an aura of power and magnificence that was impossible to ignore.
Vraal couldn’t explain why, but he had the distinct impression that the alicorn was more than she let appear.
“Do you think that she may be connected in someway with the Forerunners?” Haka asked with a tone that betrayed excitement and hope.
The Shipmaster froze. Like many other Sangheili, after the events that had lead to the Great Schism, his religious belief has been severely shaken, to the point that he considered himself an agnostic; conversely, Haka was among those who still believed in the godlike nature of the Forerunners.
‘When everything around you is falling apart, you hold strong to what you care about most,’ he thought, careful to keep a straight face as to not betray his emotions. Haka was following a noble yet dangerous principle that had caused the downfall of many in the past, when not handled properly.
“It’s possible, but I think that until we have solid evidence, we shouldn’t let our minds be clouded by what could simply be a trick of smoke and mirrors,” Vraal said cautiously, before looking the Ultra in the eyes. “There’s no point in creating false expectations only to see them shattered by the truth.”
His words seemed to cause a change of mood in Haka. “I once let my faith blind my judgement; I won’t repeat my past mistakes,” the Ultra said with an undertone of bitterness.
‘I hope so, my friend.’
‘How disappointing,’ Tarya thought as she observed Captain Spear Head of the Solar Guards leave the library after his meeting with Princess Twilight. The Zealot had hoped to gather some useful information from the conversation between the green unicorn and the young princess, but besides details like the place where the Guards would set their camp during their deployment in Ponyville, most of the topics rotated around things that she already knew.
It still puzzled her that the young princess hadn’t been informed before of the attack, but then again the Sangheili didn’t have a precise idea about how their government worked, nor about their class system. ‘Maybe the title of princess is like our Zealot rank, with different subclasses.’
Tarya considered what to do next. Zhar had gone to examine the guards and their equipment more closely, leaving her alone. She briefly considered examining the propulsion system of one of the vehicles to see how it worked, but that would have probably drawn attention.
Peeking inside the window, she saw a strange creature coming out from the door that lead to the basement with a broom in hand.
‘And who or what is that?’ the young Zealot wondered with curiosity. She knew that different sapient species had evolved on the planet, but it was still strange to see it with her eyes.
The creature appeared to be reptilian in nature, covered by purple scales and green spikes running from the head to the tail. He was dressed with a pair of blue pants and a red shirt.
The Zealot observed with curiosity the creature helping the alicorn. At first she had thought that he was some kind of servant, which would have been logical given that the ponies appeared to be the dominant species, at least in this sector of the planet. On Sangheili worlds, especially in rural keeps, it wasn’t uncommon to have members of lesser races performing the most humble tasks. But as she observed the creature interact with the princess, she quickly realized that their relationship wasn't the kind between master and servant. The two of them spoke without barriers between them, and the alicorn even laughed when the boy made a sarcastic comment.
‘It’s like they’re siblings,’ the Zealot thought, feeling a painful pang of nostalgia at the memory of her brothers and sisters, killed during the Jiralhanae attack on her homeworld.
“Spike, are the files ready to be sent back to the museum?”
“They’re all here, Twilight,” the creature apparently called Spike said, indicating with an exaggerated gesture to a massive pile of bundled documents on the table.
“Did you double check that nothing’s missing?”
“Triple checked,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. Tarya could be wrong, but judging by his voice and the way he acted, along with his size, he seemed to be younger than the alicorn.
The purple mare nodded and gave him a pleased smile. “Alright then. Ready?”
“Ready. Just don’t turn me into some kind of orange-frog hybrid.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not the first time we’ve used the spell,” Twilight said.
“Doesn’t change the fact that it feels weird every time.”
Tarya was confused by the turn their conversation had took, but the confusion turned to shock when she saw the alicorn hit her reptilian friend with a beam of purple energy fired from her horn. The Zealot stared dumbfounded for a few moments at what she thought was an unprovoked display of violence, before noticing that Spike didn’t seem to have been hurt.
The alicorn then enveloped the big pile of volumes with what Tarya assumed was some kind of telekinetic field and levitated it front of the dragon.
Spike positioned himself so that he was beside Twilight, then he took a deep breath and released a long blaze of green flames from his mouth, reducing the documents to thin ash. Then something happened that Tarya hadn’t expected. Twilight collapsed the telekinetic field and the pile of ash, instead of falling to the ground, turned to a compact cloud of smoke. The smoke swirled in the air a couple of times, then it exited from a nearby open window and flew toward the mountain where their capital was located.
‘Wait. Did he just sent those files somewhere by incinerating them?’ she wondered in astonishment, darting her gaze from the occupants of the library to the now distant cloud of smoke a couple of times. She tried to find a logical explanation for the phenomenon, but with little success. Knowing that it wasn’t the best moment for a headache, she decided leave the problem for later. ‘My uncle was right. This planet is weird.’
“Do you need something else Twilight?”
“No Spike. Thank you.”
“Alright then. I’m gonna see if Rarity needs help with her luggage.”
“Fine, just be sure to be ready by the time the airship arrives.”
‘An airship? Interesting.’
“Don’t worry, my stuff is ready,” he assured her while leaving the library. In his haste to leave he left the front door open and apparently Twilight didn’t seem to notice it.
‘Hmm, why not?’ Tarya thought, snapping her maws. It was the perfect occasion to sneak inside and give another look at the book collection of the library.
With the bright daylight coming from the windows and without the urge to find some phantomatic energy weapon (she still couldn’t believe that their current situation was all because of an absurd series of coincidences), Tarya was able to notice details that she had missed during her previous visit.
Several framed pictures portraying the princess in company of Spike and other ponies decorated most of the walls and shelves; in a corner there was a wooden perch, probably for some kind bird which was absent at the moment; on one of the walls were attached several blueprints with schemes of a strange box with six keyholes.
What caught her attention was a pile of small wooden crates neatly arranged in a corner of the room that she was sure wasn’t there last night.
‘They must be the rock samples they were talking about,’ she guessed, getting closer. If she remembered her lessons of geology correctly, there were rocks and minerals of every kind of source and typology, from granite to rutile.
While she was busy reading the different labels on the boxes, one of her sensors came to life. Although the Commando harness that Zhar wore was superior in combat, her armor possessed several perks expressly designed for scientific field research. One of those was a portable mass spectrometer. The moment her gaze fell on a particular crate a blinking icon appeared in a corner of her HUD.
‘Well, well, well. What do we have here?’ She thought, approaching the wooden box. After a quick glance at her surroundings to be sure no one was in sight, she grabbed the lid of the small crate and opened it. The moment she opened the box, her mass spectrograph started analyzing the gray stone inside, quickly producing a long string of data. One detail was immediately evident: the rock sample contained Helium-3, and in big quantities nevertheless.
The eyes of the Zealot shone. ‘As the humans say: jackpot!’
‘Unclassified fine-grained sedimentary rock, basaltic origin, Frozen Lands, Crystal Empire, sample NH7-401B.’ Tarya stared at the label, reflecting. ‘It’s a start, but without a map and the right coordinates this information is useless. Now, I just need to find the relative file-’ that Twilight had just sent back to the museum thanks to her living mailing device. ‘Dammit! And I have no idea where the museum is!’
Directing an exasperated look at the ceiling, she barely suppressed a groan of frustration. ‘Why can’t things be easy for once?’
Ever since their fight with the Jiralhanae, things had continued to go from bad to worse and now that she had been so close to reaching one of her targets, she had literally seen it reduced to smoke. Smoke that once leaving the window seemed to dart toward the city on the mountain…
The Zealot blinked. ‘Wait. If they have sent the files of the rock samples, it means that they borrowed them, which in turns means that they will have to return these crates too. So… all we need to do is follow these crates.’
After taking some pictures of the rock sample and the relative label, taking care to capture the inventory number in detail, she was about to put the lid of the crate back in place, only to almost drop it when she heard the sound of incoming hoofsteps and a familiar voice coming from the stairs.
“Spike? Is that you?” Twilight asked walking down the stairs. “I thought you were already gone to help-” The room was empty. “- Rarity?” The mare looked around in confusion.
Her keen eye for details instantly noticed that one of the crates on top of the pile wasn’t properly closed, instead the lid was only propped sideways on the wooden box.
Perplexed, she grabbed the lid. “Strange,” she said out loud. “I could have sworn that all the crates were sealed.” With a shrug, she closed the box and headed back to finish preparing for their journey to the capital, but stopped when she noticed something strange, a faint disturbance of the air near the open door.
She blinked in confusion, but when she opened her eyes the disturbance was gone. She closed the door with her magic and started darting her gaze all around.
What if Pinkie was right? What if there was actually something in that alleyway? What if someone had entered the library without notice to rummage through her things? What if it was just Spike that had forgot to close the crate and the door in his haste to go help Rarity?
‘I'm getting paranoid,’ she thought, stroking her face with a hand. ‘My eyes are starting to see things.’ It must have been just the result of her stress. ‘After this is all over, I think I’ll gladly accept Rarity’s invitation to the spa.’
The Commando was exploring the town, taking note of locations potentially useful for future operations. He had identified the local police station and a big administrative building that was most likely the city hall and was now inspecting the pony soldiers. The equipment of the Guards wasn’t particularly impressive by Sangheili standards, but it was to be expected considering that the technology of his kind was several centuries ahead compared to that of the ponies.
He was more critical about the soldiers themselves. They seemed quite professional at first sight, but he doubted they had much or even any real experience in combat. A few of them showed signs that they were veterans of some kind, but the majority gave him the impression that they had never seen any real kind of action once finishing their training.
He wondered for a moment how the guards would react if they knew that an alien soldier over two meters tall was standing right in front of them. 'They would probably freak out,' he thought without hesitation. But for now, thanks to his active camo, they were completely oblivious of his presence. As long as he moved carefully and avoided anything that could disturb the light distortion field, the locals had no reason to suspect that he even existed.
‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,’ he reflected. Speaking of magic, maybe it would be better to gather more data about the unicorns and their strange abilities. So far he had witnessed them performing small daily life activities with their telekinesis, but considering what the Changelings seemed able to do, he was curious to see what else they could do with their horns.
His interest wasn’t pure scientific curiosity like the one of the Zealot, but rather pragmatism: there was a chance that they would have to fight the ponies in the future and he wanted to know more about his new potential enemies. After all, knowledge is power.
As he walked across the road, he noticed a couple of pegasi coming from the opposite direction, one was a young mare with cerulean coat and multicolored hair, the other was a little orange filly with purple hair. Not for the first time he wondered if there was a specific evolutive reason behind the bright colors of the ponies.
The mare had a scratchy voice and carried herself with confidence, and although she was a bit shorter than average, she had the slim and toned physique of an athlete. She wore a pair of black sport shorts and a blue sleeveless hoodie, leaving her arms and most of her legs exposed; like the rest of her body, her limbs were muscular yet not bulky. It was evident that her body was built for agility and speed rather than brute strength, but Zhar was sure that she was still pretty strong if the ease with which she was carrying a suitcase with a hand along with the backpack on her back were of any indication.
The eyes of the Commando shifted to the filly. She wore a pair of jean shorts, only with a T-shirt that matched the color of her hair. She was carrying in her hands what seemed to be a sleeping tortoise with a strange contraption strapped to its back. Deciding he had wasted enough time observing the civilians, Zhar was about to leave, but when his gaze fell on the eyes of the filly, he froze.
Her eyes were purple.
Just like hers.
In an instant his mind brought him back to Tribute.
The metro tunnels were dark, the only light was the one provided by the occasional emergency light that flickered erratically for a few moments before turning off. The air was cold and damp, carrying a distinct smell of dust and mold, along with a more faint hint of smoke and ozone. He would occasionally hear distant and distorted screams, yelled in languages that were either familiar or alien, followed by the sound of a firefight; most of the time it was just the sound of Covenant weapons, but sometimes he could also hear the characteristic thundering noise of human guns, as both parties fought with fanatical determination, one in the name of their unshaken faith, the other in the name of their right to exist. Then there was silence once again. None of this was of his concern. He was alone, his only company breaking the eerie silence was the soft sound of his armored boots on the concrete floor and the noise of water dripping from a damaged pipe coming from somewhere in the darkness.
The small team of human soldiers that he had killed moments before had not offered a real fight, being too busy arguing about their course of action, divided between following their duty and listening to the primordial instinct of self preservation typical of every creature.
His armor was now stained with their blood, filling his nostrils with the scent of death, but he ignored it, remaining focused on the darkness in front of him. A deadly game of cat and mouse was being played, with the roles of predator and prey that could be inverted at each single turn. In the desperate attempt to leave the planet before the Covenant Fleet managed to take complete dominion of the sky, many humans had tried to use the tunnels of the metro to reach the spaceport, only to end up in a deathtrap.
The only freedom the humans had now was to choose the way they could die, either hiding in fear in the foolish hope to escape their fate, or leave the world with dignity by fighting back.
Movement, in the darkness, just a moment before all hell broke loose. The human weapons opened fire with their trademark thundering noise, briefly illuminating the tunnel with flashes of flames coming from their muzzles. The violent flashes of the guns blinded him momentarily, but his reaction was automatic, the result of years of constant brutal training and countless deployments in the battlefield. He ducked and fired with his own weapon, aiming at the source of the lights and shooting every shadowy figure that he saw moving in the darkness, until screams and the shots stopped.
He could still hear weak moans of pain coming from the darkness, along with the sound of someone crying. Narrowing his eyes, he began advancing toward the enemy position, keeping his weapon in firing position, ready for use.
His foot kicked against one of the corpses, but even with the light enhancer in his visor he could barely see it. He turned on his shoulder mounted flashlight, revealing-
“Zhar, do you copy?” the voice of the Zealot called him by radio, snapping him from his trance. The Commando shook his head and blinked. Gone were the dark metro tunnels of Tribute filled with the stench of death, replaced instead by the sight of a peaceful town under a bright sky.
Zhar stepped into an empty alleyway nearby and he turned on his radio. “Loud and clear, Tarya. What’s your status?”
“I have great news,” Tarya said, barely able to control her enthusiasm. “While exploring the library, I‘ve found a sample of rock that according to my scanners contains high levels of Helium-3.”
“How high are the values?” Zhar asked after a small pause.
“Obscenely high. I've rarely seen anything like that on a planet suitable for life.”
“Were you able to find out the origin of the sample?”
There was a short awkward silence. “Yeah, about that… The relative documentation wasn’t there. But I know where is it! It’s in a museum in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. All we need to do is find the archive and we’ll be able to solve our energy issue without having to scan the crust of the entire planet.”
“And tell me, how do you plan exactly to reach their capital within an acceptable amount of time, while also avoiding the control points that they have surely established?”
“Well, I may have a plan. I’m still not sure, but we may be able to get a ride....”
“Aww, come on! Not again,” Derpy exclaimed after she dropped another egg on the floor of the kitchen. She was trying to bake some muffins, but no matter how much she tried to clear her mind, her thoughts were elsewhere. Like the rest of the town, Derpy Hooves had listened to Celestia’s speech, but despite the monarch having assured that she and the other princesses would do everything in their power to keep everypony safe, as proved by the Guards that were patrolling the streets of their little town, the pegasus mare couldn’t help but still feel worried.
Her apprehension didn’t pass unnoticed, because it wasn’t long before she felt a pair of familiar and reassuring arms embracing her from behind.
“It will be fine honey,” Time Turner said softly, lovingly nuzzling his muzzle against her cheek. “Have trust in the princesses.”
“I do,” she sighed. “It’s just… I can’t believe it really happened. I thought that after the wedding...”
“Yeah. Not exactly one of the most pleasant memories.”
“Especially not with your stunt,” Derpy mumbled darkly.
The stallion gave her a nervous smile. “Uh? I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“You know perfectly what you I'm talking about mister,” she said, looking at him and putting her hands on her hips, assuming her "I'm upset and you're in trouble" pose. The stallion thought she looked intimidating and adorable at the same time.
Time Turner coughed awkwardly. “Alright, maybe it wasn’t one of my best ideas-”
“Acting as bait is never a good idea.”
Invasion of Canterlot, two years before
‘The sky is on fire,’ that’s what Time Turner thought while he and his family ran through the streets of Canterlot, trying to escape the chaos of the battle that was now raging all across the city.
After the collapse of the energy dome, countless Changeling drones enveloped in green flames had started dive bombing the city below, turning what had started like a merry day for all of Equestria into a living nightmare.
The air was crossed by bursts of tracer rounds and combat spells as the Guards tried to hit the drones while they were still airborne, but the enemies were too many and returned the fire of the defenders with their magic powered energy weapons. Things weren’t going well for the ponies; despite the great number of guards the element of surprise had played an important role in the first moments of the attack, especially when coupled with the actions of sabotage performed by the Changeling infiltration teams, and before the pony soldiers could realize what was happening, half of them were no longer able to fight back, having either been captured, wounded, or worse.
And yet, despite the desperate situation, both the Solar and the Lunar Guard didn’t give up, continuing to fight the invaders while at the same time trying to save as many civilians as possible.
Time Turner and his family had been lucky enough to be found by private Silver Lance, a unicorn mare member of the Solar Guard, and now they were following her to one of the several safe location scattered all across the city built for times of crisis like this.
“It will be all right dear,” he said to Dinky, whose only reply was a whimper of fear. The little filly had tripped during the first minutes of the attack, hurting her knee, and now the stallion was carrying her, holding her tight to his chest. “How long before we reach the safehouse?!” he asked to the unicorn mare at the lead of their little group without slowing down.
“It’s not far sir!” private Silver Lance said without turning her head, keeping her gaze focused in front of her for potential enemies. “At this rate we should be able to reach it in a few minutes!”
They made a turn and ended in a small square in the commercial district. A Puma with the colors of the Lunar Guards was parked in the middle of the square; the vehicle was damaged to the point of being no longer drivable, but the machine gun in the back was still operative. There were two Lunar Guards near it, a thestral stallion and a grey unicorn mare, both of them seemed to have passed through Tartarus judging by the scorches and dents covering their armor.
The unicorn was the first to notice their little group. “Fall back!” the mare shouted, signaling them to go away with her arm.
“I have to bring these civilians to Shelter Bravo!”
“So take another route! The area is not secure!”
“What?!” Silver Lance exclaimed in shock. “I passed here fifteen minutes ago with another group!
“Fifteen mikes are eternity in battle! Go away!”
“Where’s the rest of your team?” Silver Lance asked with a growing sense of dread.
“Gone! The bugs took them, we’re all that remained! Fall back!”
Before Silver Lance could reply, a green globe hit her in the left shoulder, making her stumble.
“INCOMING!” the thestral yelled, aiming his rifle at the sky and opening fire.
“Are you alright?” Derpy asked with concern to the wounded guard.
The Solar Guard nodded. “Armor’s absorbed most of the damage, but it still hurts like a bitch,” she hissed in pain while she retrieved her pistol, which she had dropped when she was hit.
“Private, take those civilians to a safe place, now!” the grey unicorn ordered, right before a Changeling landed in front of them. The creature hissed like a feral beast and fired its weapon, hitting the Lunar Guard in the chest with a globe of green energy. Yelling in pain, she fell on her knees, but with an extraordinary effort, she managed to aim her weapon at the head of the creature and fired. They both fell to the ground at the same time.
Time Turner covered Dinky's eyes with a hand and turned away to spare the filly of the horrible sight, while Sparkle and Derpy screamed in horror.
“Aegis!” the thestral yelled at the sight of his comrade falling lifeless to the ground. Fueled by blind rage, the stallion hopped on the back of the vehicle and pulled with decision the loading lever of the machine gun, aimed it at the sky, and opened fire.
“Die! Die, you motherfucking soulless monsters! Die!” he roared with pure hatred, baring his fangs.
“Come on, we gotta move!” Silver Lance yelled over the noise of gunfire, hurrying the family inside a nearby doughnut shop.
The thestral guard in the meantime kept firing the heavy weapon at the Changelings while yelling profanities all the time, his voice barely audible over the roar of the machine gun and the sound of the cartridge cases falling on the floor of the car. The drones fell under the deadly barrage of fire, exploding in gruesome clouds of flesh and chitin, but they kept coming, undeterred by the fire of the machine gun.
Through the damaged blinds of the windows, Time Turner could only stare in horror as one of the blazing Changelings went crashing straight against the armored vehicle. The Puma exploded in a violent ball of fire, obliterating everything unfortunate enough to be too close to it. When the flames died down, all that was left of the brave thestral stallion were some burned remains in charred armor, still clinging to the now destroyed machine gun.
‘Oh, goodness!’ he thought in shock, trying desperately to not throw up after having basically assisted to the death of another pony.
He took a few moments to calm himself, then, making sure to not be seen, he dared to take a quick look outside, only to get down almost immediately. There were at least fifteen drones in the street, lead by the biggest and meanest looking Changeling he had ever seen. The creature must have followed a diet based on protein and steroids since birth, because it had a physique that would have put a bodybuilder to shame.
The hulking creature looked down and saw the battered golden helmet of Silver Lance. With the same effort of a foal stomping on a tin can, it crushed the metal headgear under one of its hooves, emitting a menacing feral growl.
“Search the nearby buildings for runaways!” the Centurion barked to the smaller Changelings with its cavernous voice.
‘Oh, no good. Not good at all. Must think fast.’
“The back door is locked.” Grunting in pain, Private Lance crawled beside him. “Shit,” she cursed softly glancing outside. “You must go. I’ll buy you as much time as I can,” she said to the stallion, loading with difficulty a new magazine. It was her last one.
“Not a chance, miss Lance,” Time Turner said. “You’re wounded, and I doubt you have enough bullets for all those monsters.”
“What do you suggest then, oh supreme commander?” she asked sarcastically.
The stallion remained quiet for a few moments. “Chess.”
“What?”
“In the game of chess sometime you have to sacrifice some pieces to win,” he said so that only she could hear him. “Is there another way to reach the refuge?”
“Yes, it’s-”
“Can you keep them safe?” he asked, looking at his family.
The private looked at him in confusion, before her eyes widened in shock. “You can’t be serious,” she said quietly.
“Can you, Private Silver Lance?” he repeated more forcefully, looking her in the eyes with such intensity that it was like he was trying to look into her soul.
The mare gulped and nodded slowly. “I’ll do everything in my power.”
Time Turner nodded in gratitude. “Thank you.” The stallion looked at the scared faces of his family. “Alright, here's the plan. Derpy, take the girls with you and follow private Lance to the shelter.”
The grey pegasus looked at him incredulously. “What? Wait! What about you?”
“Me? I'm going to distract those freaks and buy you some time,” he said casually, grabbing an empty coffee mug from a nearby table. “Once you’re sure they’re far enough, take my family and reach the shelter,” Time Turner instructed the guard.
“No, please,” Derpy pleaded him. “Don’t do it.”
“Don't worry, my dear. I’ll be fine.”
“You're lying,” she said quietly with teary eyes.
“I know,” the stallion said with a bittersweet smile, before kissing her lips quickly. “I love you all girls,” he said, looking at his family for what could have been the last time. “Geronimo!” he exclaimed in a hushed tone, darting toward the door.
He peeked at the street through the broken glass of the door. The Changelings were close, but luckily none of them were looking in his direction. ‘Perfect.’
Careful to be as quiet as possible, the stallion opened the door and walked outside. Once he was in the middle of the street, the brown stallion whistled loudly and threw the cup with all his strength, hitting the nape of the Centurion and attracting the attention of all the nearby drones as a result.
“Hey uglies! Look at me, I'm a target!” he exclaimed as loud as possible while waving his arms.
“Take him!” the Centurion snarled, pointing his clawed hand at the brown stallion. The Changeling drones hissed menacingly and charged.
“Oh, snap!” the brown stallion exclaimed before running away as fast as he could.
'Good thing I played soccer in college!' The only difference was that he wasn't playing a friendly match with his college classmates, he was instead running from a swarm of nightmarish creatures that basically wanted to feed off his synaptic activity.
The chase across the shopping district lasted for several minutes before he eventually managed to put some distance between the Changelings and himself, but never being able to make them lose trace of him. No matter what he did, the creatures were always able to follow him, like bloodhounds chasing a wounded deer in the forest. ‘It’s almost as if they can smell my fear,’ he thought while he took a turn, before realizing that it was most likely what they were doing. Their species feed off of love, but it was most likely that they were able to sense other emotions.
He changed his path again, but he realized too late that he had made a mistake by taking the wrong turn.
“Oh oh,” Time Turner exclaimed, looking wide eyed at the wall in front of him. “A dead end. I hate dead ends. Why must there always be a dead end in these situations? Ok Turner. No need to panic, you still have a few seconds before those freaks-”
“There he is!” a raspy voice exclaimed behind him.
“D'oh!” Looking behind him, the stallion saw that his chasers were blocking the only exit from the alleyway, trapping him.
“Your run ends here, pony,” the Centurion said menacingly, showing his fangs in a dangerous grin. He emitted some clicking sounds and immediately two of the drones broke from the formation and started to advance toward Time Turner.
“Stay back, you overgrown cockroaches! You don't know who I am. I have a doctorate in physics!” Apparently Changeling drones didn’t seem to have any respect for academic titles, because they kept advancing toward him.
“Don't force me to use this!” the stallion threatened, extracting something from his jacket. The drones raised their weapons at the sudden move from the stallion, ready to fire, only to stare in confusion when they recognized the object.
The Centurion raised a brow, unamused. “A screwdriver?”
“Hey! It's not just a screwdriver,” Time Turner said with indignation. He pressed a button on the side, turning on a small light on the bottom. “It's also a flashlight.” He flicked the flashlight a couple more times. “Pretty cool, huh? There was a special offer at the hardware store.”
The Changelings stared at him with a blank expression until the Centurion decided that he had enough of the antics of the brown stallion. “Take that idiot.”
The stallion took a few steps back but soon his back bumped against the wall behind him. ‘So that’s it,’ Time Turner though as a trio of drones advanced toward him, fangs bared and a sinister light gleaming in their unnaturally blue eyes. ‘This is how it ends.’
As the closest drone raise a clawed hand to grab him, his thoughts went to his daughters and his wife. “I don’t want to go,” he whispered just as the hand of the creature was a mere inch from his face.
The barrier of pink energy slammed against the Changelings without warning like a running train, throwing the creatures up in the sky toward the desolated territory of the Badlands.
The effect on the pony was far different; all he felt was a pleasant sense of warmth in his chest, just like when he was with his family.
Time Turner turned toward the castle and smiled. “I love the Deus Ex Machina.”
Present time
Derpy looked at her husband with her arms crossed. “I still think that what you did was really...”
“Heroic?” he offered with a grin.
“Crazy,” she deadpanned.
“Aww, come on, honey. I thought you liked crazy.”
“Not when there’s danger!” Derpy scrunched her muzzle. “You worried me sick.”
“I know and I’m sorry, but you know that there wasn’t any other choice. If anything were to happen to you or the girls, I would have never forgiven myself,” Time Turner said, caressing the cheek of his wife.
Their gaze met. “You silly hero,” Derpy whispered, closing her eyes. Time Turner mimicked her. Their muzzles got closer and closer, their lips ready to meet each other-
The doorbell rang, interrupting their little magic moment. Husband and wife stared at each other for a few moments before starting to laugh.
“I got it!” Sparkles called from the corridor as she walked to the door. They heard the front door of their house open, followed by the confused and somewhat worried voice of their elder daughter. “Hmm, dad? Could you please come here? You have visitors.”
“Uh? Sure dear.”
The moment Time turner stepped in the entryway, he was greeted by the sight of two pegasi stallions in golden armor standing in front of the entrance.
“I’ll take it from here Sparkle. Go see if your mom needs help in the kitchen.”
The unicorn looked at her father for a moment, but after seeing his reassuring expression, she nodded and left the room.
“So, gentlecolts, how can I help the Solar Guard today?” he said with an enthusiastic grin.
“Doctor Time Turner,” one of the guards began with a no nonsense tone. “We're here to inform you that your assistance has been required with the utmost urgency in Canterlot.”
“Wow, straight to the point aren’t you?” In front of the stoic faces of the soldiers, his smile faded a bit. “I would point out that technically I’m still on vacation for a week, but with recent events I assume that doesn’t matter anymore. So, what am I needed for? Still trying to improve the performances of the mana converters?”
“Command didn’t tell us, sir. They only ordered to communicate you a word. Phalanx.”
“Oh. I see,” the brown stallion said, now completely serious. “Alright, when do I leave?”
“The Aurora will come here at 10 a.m. to pick the Element Bearers and bring them to Canterlot. You will travel with them. Make sure to be at the aerodrome when the airship arrives.”
“Hmm, at least I’ll be in good company. Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Not that we were informed about, sir.”
“Fair enough. Thank you, gentlecolts.”
The two pegasi saluted with a simultaneous ‘Sir’ and flew away.
“Wonderful,” Time Turner said to no one in particular after the guards had left. “Honey?” he called while he got back inside the house. “Change of plans. I have to help save the country again. With science!”
“Sorry again for the suddenness of my request, Mrs Cookie Crumble,” Rainbow Dash said to the unicorn in front of her. The mare had a plump body and a pink coat, but it was easy to see from whom Rarity had inherited her eyes and mane. “Are you sure it's not a problem?”
The older mare gave her a warm smile as they both stood in front of a two storey house built in front of the river. “Nonsense, Rainbow Dash. There’s no need to apologize,” the pink unicorn assured her. “You know that Scootaloo is always welcome in our house.”
“Well, thanks again.”
“You’re welcome dear. Well, Rarity will come by to drop off Sweetie Belle soon, better if I go get her bedroom and the one for guests ready.”
Once the unicorn was in her house, the cyan pegasus sighed in relief. It hadn’t been much time after the TV speech of the princess before Flash had come knocking on her door to inform her that she and her friends were required in Canterlot with urgency. This meant leaving Scootaloo alone for several days. It wouldn’t have been a problem any other time; Scootaloo was a filly able to take care of herself for a few days, but this time it was different.
The little filly was sitting on the suitcase containing the things that she needed during her time at Sweetie Belle’s house, with Tank hovering lazily in circles around her.
“So, problem solved. I’m sure you and Sweetie Belle will have fun over the next few days.” Scootaloo looked at her and scrunched her face, flattening her ears against her head. “Hey, what's wrong, squirt?” Dash asked, kneeling in front of the filly to be at eye level with her.
“It's not that I don't like the idea of staying with Sweetie Belle and her family while you’re away, but why can’t Tank and I stay home alone like usual?”
Dash sighed and looked at the filly seriously. “Scoots, listen. It’s not a lack of trust in you. You are a good filly and I know how responsible you are. But after what happened last night, I don’t think that leaving you alone at home is the smartest nor the safest thing.”
They weren’t blood-related, but Rainbow Dash cared for the filly like she was her little sister and if anything bad were to happen to her… Dash shuddered, chasing away the thought. ‘I don’t even want to think about it.’ The athlete decided to crack a joke to ease the atmosphere. “And besides, I'd prefer to avoid another episode like the one with the bike,” she said with a smirk.
“I said it was an accident,” the filly pouted, looking away in embarrassment.
Rainbow Dash chuckled. Scootaloo was a good filly, but she had the habit of getting into trouble. ‘Eh, just like me when I was her age... nah, screw it. I was even more reckless. I still wonder how dad was able to handle me.’
“Well, let me help you with that suitcase. Our ride will be here soon and I still have to go get Fluttershy.” The cyan mare rolled her eyes. “I just hope it won’t take too much to convince her to leave her home.”
As it was to be expected, Twilight and Flash were the first to arrive to the town aerodrome. The place was simple, basically a big grass field with a few small wooden hangers to protect the aircraft from the weather. It was used mostly by amateurs and small transport aircraft, but it was designed to house bigger means of transport if needed.
As they waited under the cantilever roof of the wooden building that housed the ticket office, Twilight glanced for the tenth time in three minutes at the wall clock.
“If you keep staring at the clock, you risk breaking time,” Flash Sentry joked.
She blushed a bit in embarrassment. “I'm just a bit nervous, the airship will be here soon.”
“There's still plenty of time,” the young guard assured. “Oh, here they come.”
The first of her friends were Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The former was wearing sport attire while the latter was dressed with a pair of jeans and a green shirt, along with her trademark stetson.
Walking between them was a yellow pegasus mare with a very long pink mane and tail, dressed with a green sweater and brown pants. The mare was taller than Rainbow Dash but distinctly less muscular, with a thin and delicate physique.
“Howdy, pardner!” Applejack said, flashing a smile to Twilight and Flash. “Sorry if we’re late, Flutters here was a bit reluctant ta come.”
“She was barricaded inside her house,” Dash blurted out, rolling her eyes.
“I’m- I’m sorry,” the yellow mare said meekly, trying her best to hide her face behind her mane. ‘I wish I was brave like the rest of my friends.’
Applejack must have sensed her uneasiness, and soon the farmer gently put one of her big muscular arms around the shoulders of the pegasus to comfort her. “Aww, worry not sugarcube. After what happened, nopony can blame you ta be a bit jumpy.”
“Indeed, Applejack,” said a posh female voice. The owner of the voice was a tall unicorn mare who could only be described as stunning, dressed with a black knee length skirt that showed off her long legs and a blue blouse decorated with a diamond brooch depicting her cutie mark. Rarity’s body had the shape of an hourglass, with carefully groomed white fur that gave the impression that her elegant figure was carved from pure alabaster, and a long indigo mane and tail arranged in an elaborate hairstyle. Her visage was delicate and attractive, with deep blue eyes highlighted by a sapient use of makeup. The mare seemed to have the power to enchant stallions and mares alike with her flawless body and elegant manner, but few would have imagined that she was beautiful inside as she was outside.
Walking a few steps behind her was Spike, overstuffed with her luggage, as usual.
“Wow Rarity. Only four suitcases?” Rainbow Dash joked, looking at the overloaded dragon.
“I barely had the time to bring what was strictly necessary, darling,” the fashionista said while adjusting her elaborate coiffure with a delicate gesture, either ignoring or not noticing the sarcasm of her friend. “Luckily Spikey-Wikey was there to help me,” she added, smiling thankfully at the dragon.
“Always happy to help,” he said, looking at the beautiful mare with a dreamy gaze.
Twilight rolled her eyes, but smirked anyway. “So, the only one missing is-”
“Here we come!” a high pitched voice exclaimed out of the blue. Riding a bouncy ball the size of a car, rigorously pink of course, there was an earth pony mare with puffy curly pink hair.
The monstrous bouncing contraption came to a sudden stop right in front of the group. “Hiya! Sorry if I'm late, I gave a ride to the doc here,” she said, pointing a thumb to the brown earth pony behind her. The moment he realized the ball stopped, the eyes of the stallion snapped open and he hurried to get off from the unusual means of transport.
“I feel like a drunk kangaroo,” Time Turner groaned weakly as he wobbled a bit on his unsteady legs. “Oh, thank you Flash,” he said when the orange pegasus offered him a shoulder to lean on while he regained his balance.
“Doctor Turner? What are you doing here?” Spike asked.
“My presence was required in Canterlot. My department worked on a couple of projects for the Guard in the past, so I guess they’ll need some kind of assistance.”
“Really? What kind of projects? Do you build special gadgets for super spies?” Rainbow Dash asked eagerly, getting closer to Time Turner, only to be pulled back… by Pinkie Pie strangely enough.
“Dashie, you can’t ask that kind of question! Or he will have to cancel your memory!” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Unless you already did and we no longer remember it...” she said, suspiciously studying the face of the now confused stallion from a distance that many would have considered uncomfortable.
“Uh, is she always like this?” he asked, looking at the rest of the group for help.
“Eh, don’t worry,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Yah get used ta it after a bit.”
“So, we’re all here. Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked, looking at her friends.
“Uh, I asked the town’s vet to take care of my animal friends while we’re away,” Fluttershy said.
“Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will stay at my parents' house while we're away,” Rarity said.
“What about you AJ?”
“Mah folks can handle the farm fer a few days without me, there’s not much ta do in this period.”
Dash looked at her farmer friend, a thought bugging her mind. “You sure they’re gonna be ok?”
“The Guards set camp in the field between the town and mah farm. And before Ah left, Ah told Big Mac ta clean up mah father's pistol and rifle. Yah know, just in case.”
“I thought you trusted the Guards?” Flash Sentry asked the orange mare.
Applejack turned and looked down at the pegasus. She was easily a few inches taller than him. “No offense sugarcube, Ah really appreciate what yer guys do ta keep us safe, but it's mah family we're talkin’ about. Ah won't take any chance with those monsters around.”
The guard nodded. Knowing how much Applejack cared for her family and how protective she was toward them, especially her little sister, he could understand her point of view.
The mention of the Changelings caused Fluttershy to look around nervously. “Maybe it would be better to remain inside our homes until the situation is resolved. I mean, it sounds safer,” Fluttershy said meekly.
“What?! And force everypony to live in fear for who knows how long?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hovering in the air. “No way! That would mean admitting that we are powerless against those overgrown roaches!”
“I have to agree with Rainbow Dash darling,” Rarity said. “Even though I don’t support violence, there are times when you have to stand to protect what you care for.”
“I’m not really much for a fight…” Fluttershy mumbled, looking away.
“Oh, don’t worry dear. I’m sure the princesses didn’t call us to take part in a brawl,” Rarity reassured her. “And in the unlikely case we have to fight, you can count on us.”
“Yeah, especially miss ‘I'll fabulously wipe the floor with you’,” Rainbow Dash joked, referring to the black belt of the fashionista.
The white unicorn scoffed and held her face high. “A lady must know how to take care of herself darling. And martial arts are not so different from a dance after all.”
“Here it comes!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly while pointing at the sky in the direction of a small dark object. The object became bigger and bigger as it quickly got closer to the town, revealing its true nature.
The Aurora, first zeppelin of the new Dreadnought class, was the pride of the Equestrian Air Force. With a length equal to two soccer fields, these giant armored zeppelins were conceived as troop carriers and support ships for the infantry, thanks to the several turrets equipped with machine guns and cannons; the Aurora, however, had been repurposed as a personal transport for princess Celestia herself for her diplomatic trips, thus resulting in the removal of most of its weapons and the addition of more luxurious interiors.
“So. Awesome,” Rainbow Dash muttered with eyes sparkling in awe at the sight of the massive airship approaching the town. From what she had heard during her training at the Wonderbolt Academy, these airships were able to face pretty much anything in combat; the only thing that could give them a run for their money, aside from adult dragons, were supposed to be the Skyhammer-class airships of the Minotaurs, at least in theory. Nobody wanted to see a real battle between them.
The massive airship initiated the landing procedure, slowly lowering itself to the ground, obscuring a good portion of the small town aerodrome with its big shadow. The propellers slowed down as the engines were angled for the landing maneuver while a team of pegasi crew members assisted the procedure from outside and started to secure the ropes needed to hold the airship in place.
“Uh, sorry if I ask, but why can't we use the train like the other times?” Fluttershy asked, glancing nervously at the giant zeppelin.
“The railway traffic has been heavily reduced for security reasons, while a sky chariot would be an easy target,” Flash Sentry explained patiently.
“And we can't teleport due to the anti-intrusion spells that Celestia cast on the capital,” Twilight added.
Fluttershy gulped nervously. “So we have to go… into the belly of the beast.”
Seeing the distress of the pegasus, Rarity placed an arm across her back to comfort her. “Oh, don't worry darling. I’m not an expert, but from what I've heard these ships are the top of security. We'll be completely safe. And besides, this is the private ship of the princesses! Just imagine all the amenities inside!” the fashionista squealed excitedly.
“Pffft, right,” Rainbow scoffed. “They took all the badassness from the ship to turn it into a floating spa.”
Flash Sentry tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Technically, the point defense batteries are still on board. It’s still the personal airship of one of the princesses after all.”
This got the attention of a suddenly very interested pegasus, as well as a certain dragon. “Really?!” they both exclaimed in excitement.
“Do you think that we can have a tour?” Spike asked with a hopeful look. Excluding the occasional emergency, Ponyville was an ordinary rural town with little excitement.
“Well, you'll have to ask the captain, but I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah!” Spike and Dash exclaimed, exchanging a high-five.
The roar of the engines had in the meantime decreased until the propellers came to a complete stop. A double door opened on the side of the nacelle and a mechanical system slowly lowered a ladder. As soon as the ladder was completely extended, a small group of crew members wearing the uniforms of the Air Force descended from the ship and marched toward Twilight and her friends.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” a guard with the insignias of a sergeant saluted her, snapping to attention. “The Aurora is ready to take off as soon as you and your companions are on board ma'am.”
“Dibs on the seat next to the window!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed before Twilight could reply, rushing toward the airship.
The young princess gave the sergeant a sheepish grin for the antics of the pink mare, but he simply shrugged and gestured to the rest of the guards to take their luggage.
The rest of her friends chuckled and made their way to the ladder, Applejack and Rainbow Dash needed more than a bit of persuasion, but eventually they were convinced to hand their own luggage to the crew members.
While they boarded the airship, they couldn’t know that someone else was coming with them.
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What's this? An update and a 13,000 word chapter. What a glorious day indeed. It's going to be awkward for the Sangheili when they have to explain the Human-Covenant War after meeting them isn't it? Might as well bring the Infinity and the Shadow of Intent to help them when shit hits the fan.
Finally! The hiatus is over!
more. ASAP!
Fuck yes! It's here! But I need MORE
WOOOO! This finally updated.
On a side note, I'm just waiting for these poor ponies (and the changelings too I guess) to eventually get a good long look at the Last Sunset. The looks on their faces should be priceless!
7027537 Yeah, awkward indeed. Unfortunately the Shipmaster Rutaen and his crew will be alone during that s**t-storm
7028376 Hmm, I'm still working on it, but I guess it will be something like this
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/halohistoryandgaming/images/8/8c/CCS-Battlecruiser.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20101215081540
derpicdn.net/img/2014/8/9/695851/large.png
7027537 Imagine a joint UNSC-Sword of Sanghellios fleet, consisting roughly about 500 hundred ships including the infinity, Shadow of intent, and a CSO-Super carrier being their base of operations
When will the ponys meet the aliens face to face
7103840 I would say that is an unstoppable fleet no matter how many ships the enemy fleet has
7810044 unless an idiot decided to activate a halo ring
8035027
Granted that will fuck the Galaxy six ways to Sunday.
As always, you have written an excellent episode. As you are talented enough to be writing scripts for the actual TV series, have you ever considered studying screenwriting?
8772572
To answer your question, actually no, while I like writing I see it just as a hobby (furthermore I'm already studying environmental sciences).
Thank you for your kind words
I just realize the red versus blue reference lol
God dammit with the fucking pumas..... AND DAMMIT GRIFF!!! And.... i dont remember what side church was on but i believe it was blue.... all we need now is a team of Red spartans and a team of blue spartans trying, and failing, to kill the shit out of each other.
Seriously how do you fail to kill someone with equiptment like that?
Dont we all doc