When Worlds Collide

by Lon35hadow

The calm before-Pt 2- Royal meetings and a moonlit walk for six

It had been a few hours since Nightengale and Robin had met with Celestia, Twilight, Rarity, and Luna, and another event was being prepped for, with Lone informing the Princesses and Queens as to what it was.

"We hold this every year," Lone said as he and the four rulers walked alongside him into the Gala room. "It's meant to allow for the rulers of the various nations that know of us to be able to socialize, be themselves."

"And you have to hold it here?" Celestia asked.

Lone shrugged. "Have to. It's expected of the leader of lone team, which would be me, regardless of who you ask, to be there. Plus, here is the only possible location, seeing as how the place has been lone team certified for a Brotherhood scale attack. And I mean large scale ones, not the one me and the others stopped yesterday."

"Well," Rarity said, "would you mind telling us who's going to be here?"

"Not at all," Lone said. "The first is a friend of mine. I actually heard she's bringing two guests with her, which is allowed."

"Who is she?" Twilight asked.

"Queen of the Noble dragons. I doubt you'd recognize her name, but it's Saphira."

"You know her?" Celestia asked, surprise in her voice.

"Yeah. I assume you know her, Celestia?"

"Yes, Celestia said. "I've known her for nine hundred years." It was she who actually gave me Spikes egg."

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed, "You told me you didn't know where his egg came from."

"Actually, Twilight," Celestia said, "you never asked. I thought it was because you weren't curious about it."

"Of course I was, and I asked you, but I thought you said you didn't know."

"You asked where it came from, not how I got it. Saphira would not tell me how she obtained it."

"Well," Twilight said, "looks like I'm asking her."

"Good luck with that," Lone said. "I speak from experience when I say it's nearly impossible to get information from her when she doesn't want to give it."

"And I can also attest to that," Celestia added.

"And the other guests coming," Luna asked.

"Well, no griffons, due to their government being, as Maruco might put it, 'Fucked up beyond all recognition'.

"How?" Twilight asked. "The book Bygone Griffons of Greatness says that they have strong pride. Though it stops shortly after the coronation of King Guto(? on spelling)."

"Then you need a new book," Lone said. "That book is about as useful to understanding current griffon culture as a single pebble is for the planet. I speak from personal experience, there. As for the Minotaurs. They don't know of us, except the ones in the team."

"So, just us, Twilight and Rarity, and Saphira," Celestia said.

Lone inhaled a little here, pausing before answering, "No," saying it slowly.

"Then who else?" Rarity asked.

Before Lone could answer, there was a flash of green flame at the other end of the Gala room, in the shape of an oval. Two ponies stepped out. The first was a unicorn mare as tall as Celestia with a dark green coat and black mane and tail. Her cutie mark was that of an insect, more accurately, a scarab beetle.

The second was a stallion as tall as Luna, with a medium length electric blue mane and tail, with bolts of yellow through out, looking like lightning bolts. His coat was white, and his muzzle resembled Shining Armors. His eyes were blue, and his cutie mark was that of a spear, with an aura of lightning around it.

"Ah", Lone said, "You two got here early. The dragons haven't arrived yet, and you usually arrive after them."

"Well," the mare said, "can you blame us Lone. We had to talk face-to-face to talk about the hunt, seeing as how my hive is directly involved."

"Hive," Celestia whispered, not liking what it implied. She then looked at the two and said, glaring, "And what are two unauthorized changelings doing here?"

The mare giggled before saying, "Nothing gets past you, does it, Celestia?" and then bursting into green flames. When the flames died down three seconds later, the changeling standing there was none other than Queen Chrysalis.

"WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?!" Twilight, Rarity, Celestia, an Luna all screamed.

Calmly, Lone replied, "Didn't I say earlier? All leaders who know of lone team come here, and just about all changeling leaders know of us. And even if that weren't the case, Chrysalis is a member of the team. That means she would be here."

"So government leaders are a part of your team," Luna asked, still a little shocked.

"Only those who wish to be, though they go through the same training regimen as the rest of us," the stallion said. "Oh, apologies," he said. "My name's Lightning Spear, general of the Equestrian hive army. And nephew to Queen Chrysalis."

"I didn't know she had any relatives," Celestia said.

"Well, can you blame them," Lone said. "They aren't exactly the most beloved species on Equis."

"Well, she did attack Canterlot-" Celestia started before she was cut off.

"Because they had no other choice," Lone said. "Were you even listening to what she said when she was discovered? She said, basically, that she was doing what she did for her hive. And this brings me back to the point I made yesterday: 'Better to be considered a monster for the means, than for the reasons.' Wouldn't you do the same for your subjects, Celestia."

Celestia had no response to this. He was right. If her subjects needed sustenance, and there was no easy way of getting it inside Equestria's borders, if there were any, she would probably do the same.

"Then why didn't she try to do negotiations?" Twilight asked.

"And who made the first actual violent move. Cadence wasn't harmed, and food was regularly brought down to her. Terrible food, yes, but food nonetheless. It was the ponies. More specifically, Celestia," Lightning said.

"Oh," Rarity said. "You know, he's not wrong. It was Celestia who attacked first."

"RARITY!" Twilight exclaimed. "How could you say that? They imprisoned Cadence, one of the nicest ponies on the entire planet, underground. If they wanted to eat, than why didn't they just go for diplomacy?"

"Oh, we did, Queen Sparkle," Chrysalis said, earning a small chuckle from Lone and Lightning, and a glare from Twilight. "Unfortunately, the letter we sent was intercepted by Brotherhood forces, altered, and sent here."

Lone nodded. "And by the time we knew, the shield spell had been put in place. That meant the only way for Chrysalis to get food was to take the place of Cadence. The changeling army was there to ensure that there were no injuries, though some changelings didn't follow that, but they were stopped by members of lone team that were already in Canterlot, or their fellows.

Twilight was about to say something, her mouth open, but then his word sunk in. Nopony had been harmed, and some guards had even reported changelings fighting others, though it was rarely seen during the attack, and unheard of anywhere else, Lone's explanation made sense with the facts.

"I suppose so," she said after a minute.

"And how long have you been allied with Lone?" Luna asked.

"Thirty years," Chrysalis said. "Just five years after I was elected."

"I still can not believe that changeling government is a democracy," Celestia said

"Yes, well, that is why there haven't been any changeling hive wars for the better part of five hundred years," Lightning said.

The expressions on the diarchs and the Ponyville Queens was laughable, and that is exactly what Lightning, Lone, and Chrysalis did.

As they did so, Nightengale came in, giving a respectful nod to the leaders in the room. "Lone," he said, getting the others attention, "our patrols report that Saphira is en route, as well as her two guests."

As the laughing fit died down, Lone said, "Well, then. Might as well be where they're going to land. Where's that, Nightengale?"

"Gardens," he said, gesturing towards the gardens.

Lone nodded. "Right. Come one, guys."

With that, the group, now including Chrysalis and Lightning, left the Gala room, with Rarity, Twilight, and Lightning bringing up the rear.

"So, Lightning," Twilight said, "why are you still in your pony form?"

Lightning shrugged. "It's the form I'm used to. I imagine Lone, or one other member of lone team, told you of the rebellion involving Green Mist?" Twilight and Rarity nodded. "Well, you see, when the rebellion was in the last parts of it, the politicians decided it was best to get their children out of the hive. My mother, Chrysalis' sister, sent me to a Canterlot orphanage, where my adoptive parents, royal guards each, found me."

"And when did you find out?" Rarity asked.

"When I was ten," Lightning said. "I was with my parents, as well as their squad, in the Everfree, investigating strange activity." Lightning became somber here. "We were just at the edge, on the other end of the forest, when a manticore attacked and killed everypony but me." Tears were in his eyes as he recalled seeing his parents being torn to bits.

"How did you survive?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, do you know how rude that is, to make him remember that point in his life?" Rarity asked.

"It's okay, Rarity," he said. "Just as the thing was about to go after me, I felt a charge building up in my horn, becoming greater as my fear increased. I released it, and what happened is that I cooked the overgrown cat with lightning. The amount of magic I used was so great, that the spell that made me look like a pony, which was a subconscious thing, was deactivated. Needless to say, I freaked out due to both. After about thirty minutes, I had calmed down, and began to think about what I looked like as a pony, and, well, it worked."

"Whoa," Twilight and Rarity said at the same time. "What happened after that?" Rarity said.

"Well, I had discovered I was adept at Lightning related magic, and thus made my cutie mark what it is. A second group of guards found me shortly after, and brought me back here. I decided to go the guard academy shortly after. I attended it until I was fifteen. When I left, it was to find my genetic mother. I traveled the entire world, from Canterlot to Griffonstone. I thought I wouldn't find anything. But when I was twenty, I went into the badlands, which was a known changeling location. I made my way to the hive, almost as if I knew where it was from memory, which was the ancestral memory of my family."

"What about when you made it there?" Twilight asked.

"Well, when I made it to the entrance, the guards that were watching it thought I was just any other pony, so they surrounded me. I deactivated the illusion spell, second time in my life, I'd like to point out, and that's when they saluted me. Confused me, and I asked them why, and that's when I learned that my aunt was related to Chrysalis, and she was the leader of the hive at that point, and that automatically made me high-ranked enough to be a superior officer to the guards. They then took me to the home Chrysalis' home. It was a silent walk. When I finally got there, I was sent straight inside to the main office. That's when I first saw Chrysalis, who was wondering what I was doing there."

"Wait," Twilight said before Lightning could add more to the story. "How is it she didn't know, but the guards did?"

"Because I was extremely overworked," Chrysalis said from the front of the group before returning to her conversation with the others.

"Makes sense," Rarity said.

"Right," Lightning said. "Now, as I was saying, the guards then told her about everything, and when they were done, she did the one thing nopony would expect she was capable of due to two years ago."

Lightning paused for dramatic effect. "She began to cry."

Both Twilight and Rarity were shocked at the fact Chrysalis had cried, even though it was years ago.

"I can see your faces," Lightning said, "and mine was like that too. After she was done with the fit of crying, she told me everything about what had caused me to end up living in Canterlot. After that, I stayed in the hive, leaving it rarely, but I always stayed in my pony form. My changeling form may have been what I was born with, but it's my pony form that I've lived with."

By now, the group was in the gardens, waiting for the dragons. "Celestia," Chrysalis said, "I realize that you don't like me-"

"Understatement," Luna interjected, getting small chuckles from the others.

"I realize you don't like me, but could you at least look at what happened two years ago from my view? I think we can both agree that the planet has bigger concerns than a disagreement between five national leaders."

"Agreed," Celestia said grudgingly. "So, Lone, just how long has Saphira been a part of your team?"

"Longer than me. You have to keep in mind dragons have longer life spans than most ponies. As far as I know, she's been a part of the team for a few centuries. Why do you ask?"

"Because I am curious as to if she was in it when she met me."

"Not a legitimate reason," Lone, Chrysalis, and Lightning said at the same time.

Before Celestia could retort, the group heard muffled thumps that could only come from dragons in flight.

"Looks like they're here," Lone said as a sapphire blue blur shot across the sky. "She's just as flashy as ever."

"Indeed," Celestia said, just as two more blurs, one being a darker, ocean like blue, and the other a purple, flew over, though they moved too fast for one to know who the dragons were unless they knew them well enough.

A minute later, all three dragons landed. They landed in a triangle formation. The one at the front was a common, but tall, taller than Celestia, but smaller than a hydra, quadruped dragon, with shimmering blue scales, deep, blue eyes, and elegant- as much as possible for a dragon, but even then, very elegant- wings. The second had ocean-blue scales, was as tall as a teen aged dragon, a dagger like tail, and had shades over his eyes. The third . . . well:

"SPIKE!?" Twilight yelled as she saw the third dragon.

"Hey, Twi," Spike said in a deeper voice. He had a confused and surprised look on his face, most likely from seeing Twilight and Rarity as changelings. He was as tall as the second dragon. And, quite obviously, he had wings. "Since when were you a changeling?" he asked.

This got various reactions. Jaws agape from Rarity, Celestia and Twilight, a small smile from Luna, chuckles from those of lone team, and a small growl from the ocean blue dragon.

"Now, Nova," the dragon that was Saphira said, "you know that if Lone trusts changelings, which he clearly does with these two, otherwise, they wouldn't be here, than they're okay."

"Well," the ocean blue dragon said, "can you blame me? I did just meet them, mother."

This last line got a shocked face from Celestia. "You're a mother?"

This got a chuckle from Saphira. "Yes, but not to Nova, here. Him, I adopted." She then looked to Lone and said, "Lone," nodding her head in respect.

"Saphira," he said, doing the same.

She then noticed Twilight and Rarity, and she turned to them, though they shrunk in fear, which got a laugh that sounded as clear as water from her. "No need to fear me, little ones," she said, "I do not eat changelings." This last part, she said with a grin. "And I do know of you two, Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and sister to Rarity, Element of Generosity, and that the both of you lead your own hive."

"How did you," Twilight started before she remembered that lone team had numerous intelligence methods. "Actually, never mind." She turned to Spike and said, "But what are you doing here Spike? I thought you were kidnapped or hurt."

Spike rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly said, "Well, the first part was true at first. A few months ago, Nova and Saphira took me from the castle. I panicked, but they told me they were getting me away from there for my own safety. At fist, I thought that meant they were taking me away from ponies, but they said that there were ponies in Ponyville who wanted me dead, and they were trying to get me away. I didn't exactly trust them, but they were taller than me, so there wasn't much I could do."

"You could have sent a letter to Celestia," Twilight deadpanned.

"I did actually try that, but something they did negated the spell that allowed me to send scrolls. I didn't know how at the time. Then, after a few weeks, during which time they took me to their mountain cave-city, I learned that most dragons are naturally gifted with magic."

"Really?" Twilight asked enthusiastically due to the potential for her to learn new stuff, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, but those are actually dragon secrets, which, and I quote, 'Only few outsiders have the trust of the Dragon Ruler to know'.

Twilight immediately pouted at not being able to learn. She made a quick mental note to try to find out from Spike later.

That won't work, she heard Lone in her head, and turned to him, confusion and anger on her face, amusment on his face, as well as Chrysalis', Lightning's, and Saphira's. "The dragons rarely give out knowledge as to their magic, and what little they do is general stuff, except for a few spell that only their ruler knows, which is given only to those they trust without reservation."

"And let me guess: That includes you?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, but only because I helped create a few of their spells."

"You created spells?" Twilight said, dumbfounded. "Then why aren't you an alicorn? Everypony who makes heir own magic becomes an alicorn! Celestia said so."

Lone raised an eyebrow. "You still believe Celestia is an ineffable ruler, even though she A: cast a memory spell on the entire planet, and B: Nearly killed you last night. And don't give me any of that lapse of judgement crap. There are numerous instances that say you should not believe everything she says, but if I was to list all of them, or even half, we'd be here the rest of the day and most of tomorrow. As for the magic writing makes you an alicorn guaranteed," Lone said shrugging, "the answer is simple: I didn't want to be one. The ascension spell only works when one of two things occur. The first is a given: Writing one's own magic, but if that alway made ponies an alicorn, then where the buck is Starswirl the Bearded? The second is dependent on one of two things, the first being the pony wants to be an alicorn. The second, which is what Celestia used on you, even though you just used you'r abilities to change, is to be more powerful than the pony and force the change on them. I didn't want to be an alicorn, so the first was taken out, and few, if any, ponies could match my strength, if not skill, with magic. Not bragging, just an observation based on me knowing more magics then Celestia or Luna, and, as I say, 'A shallow but broad education is better than a deep but narrow, while a deep and broad beats all'. Plus, unlike them, I'm willing to use all kids of magic if I need to. That knocked out the second, so here I am, still a unicorn."

Shock appeared on the faces of Celestia and Twilight, with small anger on Luna's. "You told me she chose to be an alicorn, sister," Luna said angrily to Celestia. "Had I known you were planning otherwise, I'm certain I could have stopped you, or at least told her of it, even though you did nothing in the end."

"Lulu," Celestia started, "It was for Equestria. I'm certain that if I asked her, she would have said 'yes'."

"Don't you 'Lulu' me, sister. Even though we are princesses, you had no right!"

"You know that with with that logic, you had no meddling in the dreams of Applejack's sister and her friends."

"They needed the help, while not doing what you did would have no negative consequences if not done, while if I hadn't acted, who knows what might have happened!"

"That is a weak argu-"

"QUIEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT!!!!," Twilight yelled, causing the two sisters to stop arguing and look at her in surprise. "You two do realize that it doesn't matter, right? The ascension spell only works on ponies, so it wouldn't have affected me in the slightest, so the argument is pointless," she said angrily.

"She's right," Chrysalis said. "It's because of an argument you two had that set Twilight on the path Celestia set out for her. And I believe I speak for all present when I say there are more important matters."

"Agreed," Luna said just before John, Ken, the rest of the Spartans,the rest of the crew from the Spear, Tali, and Garrus came running in, weapons drawn.

"What the hell is going on," Ken asked before he saw the others. "Hooolllllllyyyyyy shit," he said, looking at Saphira and the other dragons in awe.

"Now that's awesome," Maruco said.

Saphira turned to the new arrivals and said, "Greetings to all of you. I assume that you are the aliens who Lone told me about?"

The fact she could speak dumbfounded all of them to where they couldn't speak. "I think you broke them, Saphira," Lone said.

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it?"

Maruco, upon hearing Saphira's name, was the first to break out of the logic jam. "Holy shit," he said. "She'd love this place." He said this to where none of the others could hear, but he did salute, as he and the others, honorary members of lone team, all, had been informed of this, and were acting as security. They just hadn't expected dragons.

The others saluted as well, even Sawn, who was one of the more, for lack of a better way to describe, individuals who didn't care about chain of command.

"No need to salute me," Saphira said. "We do not acknowledge official rank in lone team."

Those that had just arrived went to casual stances, weapons by their sides. "I think it's official," Garrus said. "This planet is more fucked than a Vorcha on drugs."

"What's a Vorcha," Spike asked, "And for that matter, who are you guys?"

"Long story, Spike," Twilight said. "I'll tell you later."

"Right."

"Well," Lone said, "seeing as how everybody's here, we might as well get started with this years event." He turned to Lightning and Nova and said, "Race you two to the Gala room."

Lightning laughed and said, "What do you think we are, Lone? Colts?" He then got into a ready position. "On three, once you guys are ready." The other two got into position, smiles on their faces. "One. . . . Two. . . . Three!" The three raced off at top speed for the Gala room, leaving the view of the others in a second.

Both Saphira and Chrysalis chuckled. "Ah, I do enjoy seeing him having fun," Chrysalis said. She then became somber. "If only his cousins were here.." A tear fell from her face as she remembered her children that Green Mist had killed during the rebellion.

"Were they yours, or did you have another sibling?" Celestia asked as the remaining individuals began walking towards the Gala room.

"Mine," Chrysalis said, sadness in her voice. "They were no older than three and two when the rebellion started. The oldest, Metamorpha, loved to read what ever she could get her hooves on, while her younger sister, Chitinia (pronounced Ki-tin-ee-uh), had an eye for detail so much, it was adorable. They went missing when Green Mist attacked my home. Their bodies were never found, and they are presumed dead."

Chrysalis was almost outright crying now, she would have broken down if Saphira hadn't put a wing over her, saying, "Chrysalis, I know how you miss them, but I do not think they would wish for you to cry every time you remember them. On the dates of their births and deaths, yes, but not on a day when you are with friends. How do you believe I felt when I had to give one of my eggs to Celestia, thinking I would not see my son at all."

Twilight overheard this part of the conversation, and stopped where she was as her brain processed this information. "Wait," she said, "doesn't that mean-" she said trailing off, still not certain if she had heard right.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as Saphira said, "Yes, Twilight. I am Spike's mother."

The jaws of Twilight, Rarity, Celestia, and Luna, dropped to the ground, which got an amused laugh from everypony and everyone else.

"Close your mouths, little Changelings," Chrysalis said with a sly grin, "don't want you to accidentally eat one of your relatives, do you?" This made those that were already laughing laugh harder, and even got John to chuckle a little, which caused Twilight to blush a little, or at least however much a changeling could blush. It even got the two alicorns to chuckle a little.

"So," Lily said, "what exactly is changeling society like?"

It was Chrysalis who answered. "It's a lot like what you would call a democracy, the only difference being the only ways a leader steps down is a military coup that's successful, they step down willingly, or they die of old age. Other wise, it's much like pony society."

"Well," Maruco said. "That's interesting. And what about dragon society?"

"Yeah, I'll admit," Twilight said, "I'm curious too."

"That would depend on which dragon society you're asking about, as there are two: the migratory dragons, which are the ones Spike traveled to during the migration, and what many ponies think of when it comes to dragons, and the noble dragons, which are the ones that actually have a conscience and care about others. The noble dragons more closely resemble Equestria in medieval times. Which is to we have queens. Full on ones, not the changeling queen title. We have knights, nobles, who are not at all annoying, as they actually have concerns. Ruling is inherent."

"Wait," Twilight said, "so that means Spike is a prince?"

"Not exactly," Spike said.

"What do you mean?"

"A prince or princess in dragon society," Saphira said, "can choose whether or not they wish to inherit the throne. Should they choose not to, they still keep the title and authority, but when the ruler is killed, as dragons don't die from old age, they remain that title, or become a citizen. Spike here choose not to become a ruler."

"I just didn't think it was for me," Spike said, shrugging.

"And that's all the reason he needed," Saphira said, smiling, "and I'm proud of him for taking his own path.

There was awkward silence for a few minutes before Luna asked Tali, "So Tali, how is the rest of your crew?"

Tali shook her head. "Not good. The headaches they got yesterday are getting worse, especially for the biotics." Just a few hours after the Brotherhood had been stopped from completing their plan, the other members of the Shepard had gotten bad headaches, Liara, Miranda, and the other biotics especially. "Liara, at least, is showing signs of recovering, as well as Samara, but the others are either not improving, getting worse, or slowly improving."

"Well," Rarity said, "that's good."

"Yeah," Garrus said. "Though I wish Wrex would come out of it. He looks like he's ready to kill someone for looking at him weirdly. And tha's bad news if you're in the same room."

"It's a good thing that Lone is an expert on strengthening spells, then," Luna said.

"Agreed," Celestia said grumpily, due to the fact he had blatantly called her out on trying to force Twilight to become an alicorn, which apparently wouldn't have worked anyway, seeing as how Twilight was actually a changeling.

The group continued to walk to the Gala room, and when they got there, they were all surprised to see a few other members of lone team there. Nightengale was talking with Lone, Octavia, to which Rarity was still surprised she was a part of the team, was trying to fend off Vinyl's attempts at flirting. What surprised them was that the other Elements were in the room as well.

"Applejack, what are you and the others doing here?" Twilight asked as she and Rarity walked over to them.

"Well, sugar cube, as it turns out, Nightengale said the 'any VIPs in the city of hosting are to make an appearance', and we count as VIPs," she said deadpan. That's when she and the others saw Chrysalis and Saphira, both of which made all of them, except Pinkie and Rainbow, who had already been informed as to the guests, cower as the two walked over to them.

"Hello, to all of you," Saphira said, which only served to freak Fluttershy out more. Saphira sighed, saying, "It would seem that the stereotype of dragons is still among those who know of lone team."

"So it would unfortunately seem," Chrysalis added.

"Uh, Twi? Why is Chrysalis and a dragon not tryin' ta kill us?"

This got a laugh from the two, while Rainbow was the surprising one to say, "Simple, Applejack. They're allies of the team."

This got dumbfounded faces on the two cowering. "Uh, what?" Applejack said, which got another laugh from Saphira and Chrysalis, and causing the others to laugh as well.

Saphira was the first to recover. "It is good to see one of you knows that I wouldn't eat ponies, which I wouldn't do anyway, as we noble dragons don't eat anything that can speak."

Nervously, Fluttershy said, "S-s-so you don't eat ponies? Or griffons? Or minotaurs?"

"No," Saphira said. "And you need not worry about me doing something terrible. My son has already told me of your fear, Element of Kindness."

Fluttershy actually perked up a little at hearing she had a son who knew her. "And whose your son, Miss. . .?"

"Saphira," Saphira said. "And you already know my son."

"Ah, I don't think we do," Applejack said.

"Actually," Rarity said, "we do. It's Spike."

The look on everponies faces, Rainbow and Pinkie included, was priceless.

"Spike's your son," Fluttershy said in disbelief.

"And a prince," Saphira said.

"But that means," Applejack said, surprised at what this meant.

"Indeed, Element of Honesty. I am the queen of noble dragons. And please do not bow It can be seen as an insult under certain circumstances."

The looks of the others said they wanted to bow, if only out of habit, but they didn't.

"Well," Rarity said, "now that that's out of the way, I'm going to mingle."

From that point onward for a few hours, it was just the Elements, the leaders of the countries, John and the others, and the members of lone team that were present talking about what they had done. Nothing politics related, for which all the leaders were grateful.

It went like this until late into the night, the only interruption being when Luna had to raise the moon. After that, it was the standard meeting between they leaders. That was, until Luna walked up to Lone, who was talking with Spike and Saphira to see how Spike had adjusted to his new life.

"Um, Lone," she said nervously , "would you care to walk int eh gardens with me now?"

Lone nodded. "Sure," he said. He then turned to the two dragons. "If you guys will excuse me," he said, then he and Luna left the room, with Maruco one one end seeing this, and Twilight on the other.

Both of them thought to themselves, Now or never, before walking to their respective loves.

Maruco was the first to reach Applejack. He walked up to her and, rebelling against the rational part of his mind, said, "Applejack, do you want to go for that walk now?"

"Sure, Maruco," Applejack responded.

Maruco, smiling under his helmet, said, "Then let's go."

The two left the Gala room, following the same route as Lone and Luna, just as Twilight made it to John.

"Um, John," she asked nervously.

"Yeah," he said, turning away from his conversation with Lightning, Nightengale, and Ken.

"Would you mind, uh, walking with me in the gardens?"

The silence that followed was so thick, it could would be hard to completely destroy with a covenant ventral beam (glassing beam).

"Sure," John said.

"Oh," she said, sadness in her voice. "Well, it was- wait! Did you say yes?"

John shrugged. "Yeah."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Then let's go," she said, joy in her voice.

. . .

Lone and Luna had made it to the gardens in five minutes.

"As beautiful as always," Lone said.

"Indeed," Luna said.

Lone smiled as he looked up at the night sky. "And this is, indeed, a beautiful night that thou has made," he said, surprising Luna that he knew how to speak how she used to.

"Thou speaketh this tongue with ease?" she asked, slipping back to old Equish as well.

"Aye," he said, before going back to modern language. "In all honesty, I never understood why ponies advanced language past that. It's a beautiful tongue." He then looked back to the sky. "Like I never understood why ponies didn't appreciate your night all those years ago. I always found it the most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on."

He then looked back down as he and Luna continued walking, and said, "Well, it's actually the second."

"Oh," Luna asked. "And what's the first?"

Lone looked Luna directly in the eyes, stopping them where they were. He then did the one thing she hadn't expected. He kissed, a small peck on the lips, pulled back and said, "You," in a voice barely reaching that of a whisper.

A blush appeared on Luna's face, just as the two heard, "Jeez, Lone. I didn't think you would be the one to woo the Princess of the night."

The two, with a blush and anger on their faces to see Maruco doubled over from laughter, and even Applejack chuckling a little.

"Hm," Lone said, "I didn't think you were xenophiliac, Maruco," which caused Maruco to stop laughing, as well as Applejack, who got a blush.

The imagined look on Maruco's face was enough to cause Lone and Luna to laugh out loud, even enough to where they rolled on their backs.

"Oh, shut up, you two."

"Oh, such a great comeback, I don't think we can come back with something better," Luna said, laughing harder.

"Hey, Maruco, are you sure like farm life, because that's all you're going to be doing!" Lone said, making Applejack, for some reason, blush harder.

It went on like this for the better part of three minutes, with it ending when both groups heard another pair of foot and hoof steps. "Hide," Maruco said urgently, as he and the others recognized the foot steps belonging to John. The dove into the nearby bushes, and waited for the other duo to pass.

"Uh, ain't that Twi with John," Applejack asked in a whisper.

"Yep," Maruco said. "And seeing as how the gardens appears to be the lovers resort, and John isn't exactly that type, I'd say Twilight asked him." He then felt the glare from Applejack. Knowing she would somehow know he would be lying if he did so, he said, "Yes, Applejack, I'm in love with you. We can talk about it later. Right now, we help Twilight."

"And how do you propose we do that," Lone asked. "And no, I won't put a love spell on John."

'Well, there goes that plan," Maruco said, grumbling. "On to plan B," he said before bring his left arm up and tapping his tac-pad with his right. A song that sounded like rock and roll, meets country romance started.

Both Twilight and John were confused as the song started, with a blush on Twilight's chitin.

Maruco chucled at Twilight's expression, and the imagined one on John's, as he had his helmet on as well.

"Do you want to ruin this for her," Lone said, smacking Maruco on the back of the head.

"What?" he said. "I'm trying to help!"

"And failing miserably at that," Luna said.

"Uh," Applejack said, "Ah'm not sure that's tha case, y'all. Look."

The four of them looked, and were surprised to see both of them on the ground, with Twilight nuzzling against John's side.

I'll be damned," Maruco said. "It actually helped.

"Then let's get out of here before you're able to ruin it," Lone said, grabbing hold of Maruco in his magic and dragging him back to the Gala room, with the mares walking behind.

Author's Note:

Five things. First:I think I found a good theme for lone team

Second: credit for Lightning Spear goes to mt friend Lightning Spear, whose page can be found here.

Third: Credit for Nova Blaze goes to Frostbite4, whose page can be found here.

Forth: I am still accepting OCs, though here's a criteria:
Can be changeling, pony, or dragon; you must be willing for me to make small changes to them. Nothing major, just stuff so they can fit into the story better; and you must be willing for me to use them in possible sequels.

Fifth: I know some of you may have read the inheritance cycle, so I won't pretend Saphira is mine. She is the intellectual property of Christopher Poalini (hope the last names right, in spelling). But at least allow me this. It's not like we have a large basis for dragon names in the show.

Comments

[Shadow-Dancer]

yay John pulled into this thing with Twilight. I kinda feel sorry for him being pulled into something he really dose not want to be in but is doing it just to be nice.

[Thesandman888]

I thought Spartan-II's don't have genetals due to the being removed during the augmentation process. Spartan 3's&4's still have them but the are steril (infertal)

[RegMoDII]

6682703
In halo nightfall we see a Spartan II who has a biological daughter so that's not the case