Return to Crusader's Peak!

The wind howled and roared around her ears, when she looked down, she was several miles in the air, hanging onto the face of a mountain. Up above her was another person, she could not make out their face, and she could not hear their voice, but when that person looked down, she could read their lips, the person above just said, “C’mon, slowpoke, or I’ll get to the top before you!” Sunset looked up, and at the peak of this mountain was a bright light, a light that took the form of a halo of light. Why was that? What was so significant about that symbol?

She wanted to know, she had to know. Sunset pressed on, feeling the roughness of the rock beneath her hands, scraping against her skin, but she did not care, she was going to get to the top, because somehow, someway, she knew that the answers were at the top of this mountain. The person ahead of her smiled at her and began climbing alongside her. It was like a race to this other person, and despite knowing that, Sunset did not feel like they were an enemy, but she was also not sure if she was a friend either.

The top was getting closer and closer, the answers she sought had to be up there, she just needed to get to the top. Finally, Sunset reached out and gripped the edge of the peak, she hoisted herself up and then –

“Dammit!!!”

Sunset awoke with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. Sunset groaned as she swung her legs out from under the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed. She sighed frustratingly as she ran her hands through her long hair.

“Again…always right before I get to the top…” Sunset groaned.

It had been a month since they returned from Hive Prime, Ocellus was on her way to becoming a great queen, and although she had not been at S.M.I.L.E. for very long, Sunset considered the young Changeling to be a good friend among them. But ever since she had her vision in the palace, upon their return home, she has had that dream off and on for many nights now. It was incredibly aggravating, so much of her life was a blank slate, she had no idea where she came from, why she had these powers, or if she even had a family. Was there anyone looking for her? Was she missed by anyone?

“How big of an a-hole did I have to be that no one is looking for me?” Sunset muttered to herself.

There was nothing more to do, all Sunset could do was go back to bed, as hard as it would be. All the while, Sunset was unaware that someone was listening to her, someone who was worried for her wellbeing.

\\\***///
[Wednesday: Lunchroom, 12:03 A.M.…]

Sunset looked tired, everyone at the table could tell. It was noticeable at first, but recently it was starting to become noticeable by her friends.

“Sunset, Darling, I think this has to be said, but…you look dreadful,” said Rarity.

“Gee, Rarity, don’t sugar coat it or anything,” Sunset remarked.

“Nicer than what I was going to say,” said Rainbow. “Seriously, though, what’s up? You not sleeping right or something?”

Sunset was reluctant to answer, but it seemed Twilight was not of the same mind.

“She hasn’t been sleeping well lately.”

“Twi!”

“Sunset, you’ve been having trouble sleeping this whole month. What kind of a best friend would I be if I don’t say something?” Twilight asked rhetorically.

The redhead sighed as she rested her chin in the palm of her left hand. “Guess there’s no getting around it then. Yes, I haven’t been able to sleep well lately. I keep having this damn dream off and on for over a month since we came back.” Sunset reached into her backpack and took out a notebook. She placed it on the table and opened it to reveal a drawing. “Each night that I have the dream, I draw what I see. And each time I have the dream, more detail is shown to me.”

The girls crowded closer and looked at the series of drawings, it depicted a tall mountain, almost pillar-like in shape. At first the drawings had no distinguishing features, but as Sunset flipped through the pages, it steadily began to get more detailed. Like she had mentioned, the picture was getting clearer with each subsequent dream. She turned to the final page and showed a much more detailed version of the mountain. There were jagged peaks all around in the background, the mountain that stood like a pillar amongst them all had more jagged features that weren’t prominent in the other drawings, there were two figures on the mountain, one had read and yellow hair that was clearly supposed to be Sunset, and a second person that was not as detailed. And at the top of this mountain, she drew a halo of light.

“Ah’ve never seen a mountain range like that ‘round here, or anywhere,” said Applejack.

“Same here, but, wow, Sunset, I didn’t know you could draw,” said Pinkie.

“Neither did I.” The girls looked at her in confusion. Sunset sighed heavily as she leaned back into her seat. “Look…I only told Twi and Fluttershy this, but…I don’t remember my past. My life is a blank slate to me. I don’t know if I’m even from this planet or if my family is even on this planet! The only ones who have looked after me are the Commanders. This mountain, this dream, my vision back at Hive Prime. I know they’re connected, and it’s equal parts annoying and frustrating that the answer could be right there and I don’t know how to find it!”

Fluttershy had remained quiet throughout Sunset’s rant, which was not anything new when regarding the alien girl. But her eyes were fixated on the drawing of the mountain. Something about it seemed familiar to her. After a few seconds, Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she shot up from her seat and exclaimed, “I remember!”

The girls all looked at her, startled at her sudden exclamation.

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked as she blushed from embarrassment. “S-Sorry, I…I just, I think I might know what that is…”

Sunset stared at Fluttershy with shock as she bolted from her chair and grabbed the busty, shy girl and shook her like a nanny possessed. “What?! You have?! Where?! When?! Details, Shy! DETAILS!”

“S-S-Shaki-n-n-ng t-o-o-o m-mu-ch! P-Pl-lease, s-s-stop!”

Sunset quickly released Fluttershy, allowing her to sit back down as the world tried to stop spinning. “S-Sorry, I’m so sorry! I just…”

Fluttershy raised her hand in a stopping motion. “It’s okay. Bear in mind, what I do remember comes from a story my grandmother used to tell me when she was alive, but I have no idea how much of it is true.”

“Right now, I’ll take anything!”

Just before Fluttershy could tell the story, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“Dammit!” Sunset cursed. “Shy, after school, meetup in our dorm room!”

\\\***///

[Wednesday: Dorm Room 4:05 p.m.]

After classes were done, the girls all met up at Sunset and Twilight’s dorm room. All attention was turned to Fluttershy, most of all was Sunset, her eyes were practically sparkling and wide with anticipation, like a puppy that was waiting for a treat. Fluttershy could not help but make the reference in her mind, it helped to ease her anxiety a bit.

“Okay…my grandmother told me that there is always a force for good in the universe. And sometimes, this great force would call upon those it deemed worthy, and compel them to climb the tallest mountain of the world this force resided on, a mountain called–”

“Crusader’s…Peak…” Sunset finished.

The girls all turned to Sunset in shock, and then back to Fluttershy, who was even more shocked than them as that was exactly what she was going to say.

“Sunset…?” Twilight asked gingerly.

“I…I don’t know…it just…popped into my head…What else is there, Fluttershy?! This might be triggering something!” Sunset stated.

“Uh…Um…Well, my grandmother said once they climbed to the top, this great force would bestow upon one or many, great power to fight against the evils of the universe,” Fluttershy finished.

“So…wait, what is this ‘great force’?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy shrugged. “My grandmother referred to it as the ‘Voice of Light’. But it was just regarded as a fairytale, and one that not many Vivirenden actually like. Being a warrior race, most of my people care more about stories of war and glory, not of heroes. But grandmama knew I didn’t like those kinds of stories, so she would tell me that one. In particular, of a hero that climbed the peak and saved the universe from a terrifying end. He was a stalwart fighter, always heading towards the setting sun. His name was–”

“Orb…” Sunset took out the coin of that very Ultra. “Ultraman Orb.”

“Wait, so does that mean that there are more Ultra people?” Pinkie asked.

“Ocellus said that the Belzeb Queen was defeated by a band of Ultra warriors, on Zodio, the creatures there mistook me for another Ultra clad in blue…Wherever Crusader’s Peak is, that’s where I need to start! If it’s not on Earth, then it’s somewhere out there!” Sunset pointed towards the window, more specifically, to space. “If I can find out on what planet this Voice of Light is on, I can go there and maybe start piecing together my past!”

Twilight thought about Sunset’s dilemma, finding a planet with a particular geographical feature was going to be difficult, partially because if this planet had gone undiscovered, then there would be no official record of it in the Galactic Planet Catalogue. “We can try looking through the database of discovered planets, cross reference them with your drawing, and maybe we can get close to it at least?”

“You can do that?” Rainbow asked.

“It won’t be easy, but if I tinker with the programming, I can get it to work, with a possible thirty percent margin for error. It’s not good but not bad either,” said Twilight.

“Whatever you can do, Sparky.”

\\\***///

[Friday: Space Observatory Wing, 2:10 P.M.…]

Twilight was determined to help out her friend, she made a copy of Sunset’s drawing and entered it into the S.M.I.L.E. geographic analyzer engine, with that, she was able to cross reference the mountain, known as Crusader’s Peak, to try and locate a planet that might have a similar feature. She doubted that the computer would find the exact planet, but if she could at least get some hits, it would give them a place to start.

That was two days ago, and today, the computer in the observatory still had no hits. Twilight tried to speed things along by stealthily diverting computing power from some of the base’s nonessential functions in order to overclock the computer. Twilight did her own search via her tablet, although she doubted that she would find it faster than the computer could, it was at least worth a shot.

“You seem to be hard at work, Ms. Sparkle.”

“Eek!” Twilight jumped when she heard someone behind her. The young genius turned around and gulped when she noticed who it was. “C-Commander C-Celestia!”

The tall woman smiled, a little mischievously, as she looked at the computer. “I was wondering why the observatory was drawing in so much power. You know, diverting computing power from other systems is against school and S.M.I.LE. regulations.”

“I…I…I…”

“And depending upon the reason why you were doing so, it could land you in detention, or a dismissal from the Academy,” Celestia added.

Twilight looked like she was on the brink of a full panic attack, she was just trying to help Sunset, she did not think that it would cause this much trouble.

Celestia could see that poor Twilight was about to break down, so she quickly said, “Twilight, relax, it’s okay. It was just a little teasing is all. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

The teen genius took a moment to breathe and release her tension.

“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to scare you,” Celestia apologized.

“It’s…It’s fine, Commander…” Twilight panted.

Celestia pulled up a chair and sat next to Twilight as she asked, “But, seriously, Twilight, what are you researching that you have to pull so much computing power from different systems. While against regulations, I must admit how impressed I am that you managed to do such a thing.”

Twilight fidgeted in her seat and began to nervously play with her bang. Commander Celestia Solstice was Sunset’s legal guardian, perhaps she had an idea of what was going on? But Sunset never mentioned that she talked to the Commander about this. And she never did say if she even wanted her to know about what she’s been dreaming.

The older woman reached out and gently patted Twilight on her shoulder as she gave her a warm smile. “Twilight, I’m not just a Commander, but I’m also the Principal of this academy. And as such, I’m here for my students, however, whether or not I am able to help is dependent on you telling me what the problem is, if there is any.”

Twilight sighed inwardly, Sunset might not like that she talked to the Commander about this, but this search might go a lot faster if more information was obtained from one of the two people who were looking after Sunset. “I don’t know if Sunset has told you anything, but…she’s been having trouble sleeping lately.”

Celestia pinched the bridge of her nose as she asked, “Tell me she’s not running herself ragged like what happened when the Phantom Zone Emitter was offline?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, not for that reason. She hasn’t been able to sleep because she’s been having this dream, and she thinks it’s connected to her lost memories.”

The tri-color haired woman sat up straight when she heard this. “You’re serious? She’s starting to remember her past?”

Twilight made a wavy motion with her hand. “Well, she had a vision back on Hive Prime, and ever since we’ve come back, she’s been having this dream about her climbing a mountain. Thanks to Fluttershy, we think we know what the mountain is called, Crusader’s Peak. Sunset drew a picture of the mountain, a very detailed picture, and I fed that into the computer to cross reference every known geographical feature on the discovered planets in the GPC. I drew power from nonessential systems to overclock the computer so it could scan faster. I’m sorry, I just really wanted to help Sunset.”

Celestia hummed in contemplation. “……For so long I’ve wanted to help Sunset regain her memories, to grant her some closure or peace. I know she doesn’t say it out loud, but I know it’s frustrating to her that she can’t remember. And it frustrates me that there might be someone out there looking for her, with no way to find her. Or even worse, she was just abandoned because she was different.” The older woman had a look of determination on her face as she added, “I’ll help you in any way I can, Twilight. For now, I’ll overlook this since the systems you took offline don’t impact the Phantom Zone Emitter or our defense or early warning systems, but next time, please ask for permission.”

Twilight blushed and replied. “Yes, Ma’am.”

\\\***///

Sunset once again found herself at the base of the mountain, but now she knew its name, Crusader’s Peak. This mountain was both a symbol of hope and despair for her. Would she be able to find this mountain, and if she did, would she obtain the answers she sought?

The dream began as always now, the other person appeared next to her, their face still cast in shadow, the only thing visible to Sunset was their mouth, of which no sound left it. However, even without hearing this person’s voice, she could still make out what they were saying to her.

“We’re here, just like we were called. I’m not losing to you, so don’t you dare hold back or give up on me.”

Sunset sighed, it did not matter what she responded with, the dream, or memory, was on a loop. Sunset could say, “Cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk,” and they would just say whatever line was next, unfazed. So, instead of saying anything, Sunset rushed ahead. Instead of saying a word, she was going to focus on climbing Crusader’s Peak as fast as she could, before she woke up, so that she could see what lied over the peak.

With determined speed, Sunset climbed the side of the mountain, the ground below her swiftly shrinking with each foot and handhold. She knew that things were accelerating in the dream, because now she was already halfway up when she was only about teen feet off the ground when she started climbing. But that did not matter, she was going to reach the top at all costs.

The person beside her kept pace, but Sunset paid them no mind even when they said something. All that mattered was the top of the mountain. The light of the peak was getting brighter, which meant she was getting closer. Sunset was close now, just one more handhold and she would see what lied at the top. As her head began to rise, that’s when–

“OH, SON OF A – UGH!”

Sunset growled angrily as her eyes flew open. She jumped out of bed and tossed the pillow across the room, angry that she was so close, but it was if her own mind was against her. “I just want to know where I came from! Is that so much to ask?!” Sunset released an exasperated sigh as she sat back down and ran her hands through her hair.

She glanced over at her nightstand, looking directly at the Coin Keeper that housed her Ultra Coins. Sunset grabbed it and opened the Coin Keeper, taking out the Ultra Coin that housed the power of Ultraman Orb.

“You were there, at some point, you climbed that very same mountain and became an Ultra. I know I’m desperate, hell, I’m talking to a coin for Pete’s sake!” Sunset continued to stare at the image of Ultraman Orb and then said, “Please…I just need a little help…from one Ultra to another…”

Sunset held the coin in both her hands, as if praying. Just then, the Ultra Coin began to glow in her hands. The redhead opened her hands, and as she did, the coin flew out of her hands and pierced through the wall as a trail of purple light followed behind it. Sunset bolted from her bed and ran into the living room, throwing open the sliding glass doors and going out onto the balcony. From there she could see the trail of light still shining bright in the sky and heading straight up.

“Are you…Are you showing me the way?!”

The young amnesiac ran into Twilight’s room and shook the genius awake.

“S-S-Sunset, w-w-why a-a-are y-y-you s-s-shaking m-me?!” Twilight asked.

“Sparky, go to the balcony and tell me what you can see!”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

Sunset did not wait as she practically dragged Twilight out of bed and brought her to the balcony. Once there, she pointed towards the trail of light and said, “There, do you see?!”

Twilight glanced at her friend with confusion. “What am I supposed to see? Cassiopeia? The Libera constellation?”

Now it was Sunset’s turn to look confused. “You really can’t see that?”

“Sunset, I’m serious, I don’t see anything other than the stars,” said Twilight.

Then…am I the only one who can see?

The flame haired girl shook her head and had a serious look on her face before she turned towards the direction of the light. “I’m going to go. Earlier, the Orb Ultra Coin glowed and shot through my bedroom wall and headed into space. There’s a light trail that I can see. I think Orb is trying to show me the way to Crusader’s Peak.”

Twilight’s eyes widened upon hearing this news. “WHAT?! Sunset, this is a major development! We have to tell Commander Celestia!”

“W-What? No, Twi, I have to go! Now! While the trail’s still there!” Sunset argued.

“Sunset, you shouldn’t do this alone,” Twilight retorted. “I told Commander Celestia what’s going on with you, and she wants to help. Just give her a chance.”

The teen girl looked back and forth between Twilight and the light trail, she wanted so badly to fly off into the sky and follow that light wherever it lead. But at the same time, she knew she could not just simply leave Earth defenseless all of a sudden.

Twilight could see the eagerness in Sunset’s eyes, as well as the mounting anxiety that whatever she was seeing would disappear soon. She feared that, too. What if this light trail Sunset was seeing was only temporary? What if in the time they take get everything ready to leave, the trail goes cold, and Sunset loses her one shot at finding some answers because of Twilight’s insistence on getting Celestia? She could not live with herself if she did that to Sunset.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, Sunset, but please, trust me. Let Ms. Solstice help you!”

Sunset glanced up at the sky again, and with a reluctant groan she yielded to Twilight. “Fine…but the moment I see that light trial fading – I’m sorry – but I’m leaving right then and there. Okay?”

“I promise, things will work out.”

\\\***///

[Saturday: S.M.I.L.E. Controlled Launch Port, Canterlot City. 3:10 A.M.…]

“Okay, this was faster than I thought…”

Upon contacting Celestia and telling her what had occurred, the commander of Concordia Base moved swiftly, jumping out of bed, and putting in a call to ready a S.M.I.L.E. lightspeed ship. Thankfully, being the commander of the first S.M.I.L.E. base ever made came with a lot of perks, one of those being no one asked that many questions when the commander gave an order. Within less than an hour after their call, Celestia had driven to the dorm and picked up Sunset, however, Twilight was insistent on going with her.

After a brief back-and-forth, Twilight went with them. The three women donned their space suits and entered the ship, after getting seated, Celestia pressed some buttons and flipped a few switches, and spoke to the control tower as she went through their check list. Finally, after everything was done, the ship took off, using the magnetic railgun to launch the ship straight into the air without incident.

Despite this being her second trip into space, Twilight was still not used to the g-forces that were exerted on her body. Partway through the launch she almost blacked out, but thankfully they managed to break free of Earth’s gravity before that became an issue. Now that they were outside of Earth’s orbit, Celestia placed the vessel into a holding pattern.

“Okay, Sunset, which way do we go?” Celestia asked.

Sunset unbuckled her harness and went to the window. She glanced around and that’s when she spotted the light trail of the Ultra Coin. “There!” Sunset pointed. “Fly in that direction!”

Celestia nodded and turned the ship in the direction that Sunset had showed her. Once she was aligned with the light, Celestia ignited the fusion engines and propelled them forward at incredible speeds. Stars and planets whizzed by them in a matter of minutes as they flew to their unknown destination,

Sunset rubbed her left arm as she took the co-pilot’s seat next to Celestia. “Hey…thanks…for doing this. I don’t know if you’re going to get in trouble for this, but…thank you.”

Celestia smiled at Sunset as she said, “It’s no trouble at all, Sunset. I’ve lamented the fact that I couldn’t give you any real answers to your past, so, when Twilight told me that you needed help, I didn’t think twice about it.”

Sunset chuckled a little. “You really do take being my guardian seriously, huh?”

Celestia shrugged. “I guess you could say I’m living a dream by doing so.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“…I’m not able to bare children, Sunset.”

Sunset shook her head in shock, and Twilight clasped her hands together.

“Seriously?”

Celestia nodded. “When I was a cadet like you and Twilight, I was selected for Special Agent status. I flew Gungirs back in the day, and during one Space Beast encounter, I got shot down, and was severely injured.” Celestia took her right hand off the yolk and gently placed it over her stomach. “The damage was…severe…some of my intestines were gone along with other organs. All of which had to be replaced by cybernetic prosthetics. Medical science and technology has come a long way, but the one thing that it can’t do is recreate a uterus. At least not one that can grow a human life.”

Twilight decided to chime in. “It’s not all impossible for you to have a child, Commander. There are other methods, adoption, surrogates, they even have incubation tanks. I’m sure with your being the commander of a S.M.I.L.E. base, you’d have plenty of funds to access any of those.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, all of those are viable options, and I do have the financial means to pursue them. But I want to feel it…I want to feel that life growing inside me, to have that connection to my child from the moment it begins to form inside of me. Call me old fashioned, I guess. Besides being a S.M.I.L.E. Commander, being a mother was my other big dream. You can imagine how devastated I was when they told me the news.”

Twilight never thought about it until now, her hands unconsciously moved towards her stomach. Having children had never crossed her mind, romance never popped up either even though she was at the age where she could start sifting through potential love interests. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“It’s in the past, neither of you have anything to be sorry about.”

“Wish I was around to make sure that didn’t happen…though.” Sunset added.

“Sunset, you were barely born yet. Don’t blame yourself for something that you had no ability to stop. Besides, now I get to take care of many children, watch them grow, stumble, laugh, cry, and I see new faces every year. But I will say that I’ve been happier since I was granted guardianship of you, Sunset. I know I’m not your mother, but I still regard you as my daughter. And as much as Luna will deny it, she sees you as the niece she never had.”

Sunset blushed a little, she had no idea that Celestia felt that way about her, or Luna. Perhaps she should open up to them a little more, Luna seemed to regard Sunset with a little more fondness after what happened on Hive Prime. Maybe it was time she did the same for them.

“Now that I think about it, what did Vice Commander Luna say when you told her we were going off world?” Sunset asked.

Celestia whistled a little tune as she kept her eyes forward.

“You didn’t?” Sunset and Twilight asked.

\\\***///

[Same Day: Concordia Base, 6:00 A.M.…]

Luna groggily awakened to the alarm clock blaring. She sat up in her bed, stretching her arms up as the black t-shirt that read, “Gamer Girl 4 Life”, rose just a bit to show off her midriff before she finished her stretch and brought her arms down. After smacking her lips, Luna got out of bed, the baggy t-shirt flowed down stopped halfway down her thighs.

She walked into the bathroom and began her morning routine, brushing her teeth, washing her face, brushing her hair, the usual. Afterwards she went back into her room and got out her uniform, which she ironed and placed on a hanger, ready to go. She knew Celestia would be up already, compared to Luna, Celestia was always a morning person, but lost steam during the night, whereas Luna’s internal clock had her more alert at night.

After getting dressed, Luna headed into the living room of their home and called out, “Tia, I’m ready! Is breakfast ready, yet?” When she got no response, Luna called out again, “Tia? Tia?! Ugh, sister, what in the world are you doing?” Luna walked into their kitchen and said, “Tia, I swear, you better not be in your underwear, listening to rock music on your headphones, and shaking your ass. That is the last thing I need to see in the morning! Again!”

However, once Luna reached the kitchen, she was surprised to find it vacant. There was not even a small hint that her sister had been in there.

“Odd…she never sleeps in. Is she sick?” Luna was about to head to her big sister’s room but stopped when she saw a tablet with its kickstand out, sitting on the bar area of the kitchen. Along with the tablet was a note that said, “Play me”. “What in the world?” Luna swiped open the tablet, brought up the video file, and pressed play.

[Hi little sis!]

“Oh, nothing good ever comes after she says that.”

[Now, don’t be mad–]

“Too late for that.”

[But I got a call from Sunset and Twilight Sparkle tonight, and Sunset might have remembered something from her past. So, we’re taking a S.M.I.L.E. space cruiser and heading out to follow a trail of light that only she can see to find some mysterious planet with a mountain that may hold the answers she’s seeking. So, needless to say, Aster is MIA for today, and you’re in charge of the base and academy! Don’t know how long we’ll be gone, but I doubt it’ll be that long. Do your best, Lulu!]

Luna’s left eye twitched. “You headed off to space…in the middle of the night…and you didn’t even tell me………TIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

\\\***///
[Space: In Transit, 10:30 a.m.…]

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she looked around and asked, “Did you hear something?”

“Kinda in the middle of space, no sound in a vacuum.” Sunset then began stalking towards Twilight, putting on a creepy, menacing face as she said, “And in space…no one can hear you scream, Sparky.”

Twilight, on the other hand, had a deadpan expression.

“Not doin’ it for ya?”

“Not even a little.”

“Eh, worth a shot.” Sunset turned around and then asked, “How far have we gone since we left Earth?”

Celestia checked the computer and said, “Well, we’re already out of our own solar system. It would be helpful if we could warp to this planet where the mountain is on, but without knowing the coordinates, we’ll just have to follow the trail you can see, Sunset.”

Sunset grumbled as she leaned back in her seat. “This place could be in another galaxy…do we even have enough supplies onboard for that long a trip?”

Twilight opened her HoloFrame and linked with the ship’s computer. “At best…if we ration the water and food supply, we could maintain this course for about two months max. Since the ship has a warp engine, we can always warp back to Earth once we get to this planet. Wherever it is.”

Celestia grimaced. “Two months…that’s a long time to be away from Earth. It’s been quiet for right now, but there’s no telling how long that will last.”

Sunset bit on her bottom lip a little. Celestia was right, two months flying through space was too long, and even then, there was no telling if that would be enough time for them to get to their destination, it could be much further than that. Part of her wanted to tell them that if it really did take two months, that they should warp back to Earth, and she’d fly the rest of the way there as Aster. But that would not do either, if a powerful Space Beast arrived, and she was not there to help, so many people might be killed, and it would be her fault.

Orb, I need one more miracle from you, please, she thought.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked as she looked out the window.

Just ahead there was a purple glowing light. Sunset saw that the light trail ended at that sphere of light. “Celestia, slow down, we’re reaching the end.”

Celestia did as Sunset asked, cutting the main engines and firing the retros to slow them down. After a minute, they came to a full stop before the glowing sphere of light. The three women looked around, and Twilight ran scans, but there was no sign of a planet anywhere near them.

“Why did it stop here?” Celestia asked.

“I…I don’t know.”

Suddenly, the sphere enlarged within a matter of seconds. That same sphere punched a hole through space, creating another light trail that lead into the newly made wormhole.

“I think it wants us to go in,” said Sunset.

“Alright then, girls, strap in! And helmets on, we don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side of that rift,” Celestia ordered.

Sunset and Twilight took their seats, and pressed the buttons on their suits’ colors, activating their helmets which constructed around their heads. Once Celestia had her helmet on, she fired the engines again and they flew straight through the wormhole. The tunnel was made of purple light that sparkled and shimmered, Celestia could feel a great force tugging on the ship, as if they were caught in some kind of cosmic version of an undersea current. The ship was tossed up and down and side to side as they followed the path the wormhole took them. After several minutes of rough traveling, the wormhole opened and revealed regular space.

“Hold on girls, we’re about to exit!”

Sunset and Twilight braced themselves, just as they exited the wormhole, Celestia fired off the retros and brought the ship to halt. The sudden stop jerked them forward, the harness digging into their chests as the momentum of the ship carried them forward. After a few seconds the retros stopped firing, and the ship was finally brought to a stop. Everyone groaned from the sudden stop, and the soreness felt from the harness.

“Is…everyone alright,” Celestia asked.

“I feel like my chest is a flat as Rainbow Dash’s after that, but otherwise alright,” Sunset commented.

“I think I went down a few cup sizes too,” Celestia remarked.

“I think I’m going to have an ‘X’ shaped bruise after that,” said Twilight. “Look!”

Sunset and Celestia stared out of the window and saw a huge planet in the distance. The planet’s atmosphere was a mixture of different blues, with clouds hovering around. Sunset unbuckled herself from the harness and stepped closer to the window, standing next to Celestia. A deep sense of nostalgia hit her, she definitely knew of this place, this planet, it was so familiar to her.

Celestia and Twilight quickly accessed the computer and began scanning the space around them.

“I’m not seeing any known constellations, either in our galaxy or any other,” said Celestia.

“I’m running this planet through the GPC, but there’s nothing, I’m finding no matches,” said Twilight. “We don’t even know what this planet’s name is.”

“O-50.” Celestia and Twilight both looked at Sunset with surprise. “This…This planet is called O-50. I…I know that…w-why do I know that? How do I know that?!”

Celestia looked back at the planet with determination. “Perhaps this place is where the answers you need are. But where do we even begin to look for this ‘Crusader’s Peak’?”

A bright purple light visible to even Twilight and Celestia zoomed past the ship and headed straight for the planet below.

“Follow that light!” Sunset stated.

“Strap in!”

Sunset sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, and once she had, Celestia went full throttle and chased after the light. She placed the shields to maximum as they entered the atmosphere, never losing track of the light as they passed through the multiple atmospheric layers of O-50. Once they were finally through, they could see vast land below them. The light angled itself and began curving to the right. Celestia angled the ship that way, keeping pace with the floating ball of light as it lead them, hopefully, to the destination that Sunset sought. It took a few minutes, but soon the light began to slow down as they entered a mountain range.

As they did, Sunset began to see things. The mountain range was familiar to her, but what was stranger was how the inside of the ship was shifting back and forth between the S.M.I.L.E. cruiser layout, and then to something else that was familiar yet strange to her. The light of the Ultra Coin faded and stopped, prompting Celestia to stop the ship as well. The coin flew towards the ship, phasing through the hull and floated before Sunset. The fiery haired teen took hold of the coin and put it back in the Coin Keeper.

“Wait, that’s it?! Where’s the mountain?! I thought it was leading us to Crusader’s Peak?” Twilight asked.

“Sunset?” Celestia spoke.

Sunset looked at the yolk for the ship and asked, “Can…Can I drive?”

Celestia’s first instinct was to say “no”, she knew Sunset could fly as Aster, but she has not logged that many hours in the flight simulators. However, the longer she looked at Sunset, the more she felt that something was resonating with Sunset, something that compelled her to fly this ship.

“Okay.” Celestia pressed a few buttons and switched control over to the co-pilot’s side. “You have control, Sunset.”

Sunset gripped the yolk, letting whatever instinct that was kicking in dictate her movements. The dials, buttons, and switches were relatively the same as the flashing vision in front of her. And after making the necessary adjustments, Sunset took hold of the reins and flew the ship forward. She lowered their altitude to about two-thousand feet in the air, which seemed odd to both Twilight and Celestia.

“Sunset, why are you bringing us lower?” Twilight asked.

“Crusader’s Peak…it won’t allow anyone to just simply fly up there who isn’t worthy…” Sunset was speaking these words but was unsure how she knew them.

Celestia was carefully watching Sunset as she piloted the ship, taking it slow and steady as she navigated the mountain range. It was all so strange, Sunset had never flown an actual cruiser, and yet, she was doing so with a steady seasoned hand.

Sunset continued to navigate the range, images flashed before her, shifting the environment of the ship to a different ship. She glanced to her left and saw the same person she had climbed the mountain with in her dreams. So, whoever that person was, we must’ve known each other. And…we piloted the ship. We came here, to this planet, together. But…this place doesn’t feel like it’s my home…But it does feel important to me. It’s almost calming.

After another few minutes of careful piloting, they had arrived. Twilight removed her harness and walked up to the front to join Celestia and Sunset. Twilight and Celestia’s jaws dropped when they saw the tall, spire-like mountain that pierced the clouds, and at the top of this mountain, even from their distance, they could see a halo of light shimmering at the very top.

“Is that…?” Celestia whispered.

“Crusader’s Peak,” said Sunset. “We’re…We’re here.”

[ALERT!]

Sunset was snapped out of her trance by the warning systems going off. Celestia regained control of the ship and began taking evasive maneuvers as sonic scarlet beams shot towards them. A high-pitched screeching sound could be heard coming from the beams that made all three occupants of the ship cry out in pain from the assault on their eardrums. Another beam shot towards them, but Celestia pulled up and away from the beam attack. However, there was a third beam that hit them from the left just as they dodged the first two. The beam exploded against the shield, knocking them off kilter.

Twilight, who was not in her seat began to tumble about the cabin. Sunset quickly unbuckled herself and launched herself at her friend. Before the bespectacled girl could slam into the ceiling, Sunset grabbed ahold of her and put herself between Twilight and the ceiling, letting herself take the blow. Celestia leveled out the ship, and from that, caused the two of them to fall. Sunset once again put herself between Twilight, allowing the redhead to take the impact of landing on the floor.

“Sunset! Are you alright?!” Twilight asked.

“Sore, but I’m good! What the hell was that?!” Sunset took this chance to get Twilight into her seat.

“We’re taking fire!”

“From what?!”

Suddenly, a pair of red glowing eyes appeared before them.

“THAT!”

Celestia pulled up as quickly as she could, making Sunset have to hold onto Twilight’s seat as they rapidly ascended to get out of the way of whatever it was.

“Okay, that’s it! I’m not letting some Space Beast get between me and my past!” Sunset raised her right arm and materialized the StaRaizer.

A bright light enveloped Sunset, and within that light, she was transported to the starry nexus. A comet of light fazed through the hull of the ship and expanded in the air above it. After a moment, the comet dispersed, revealing the Herald of Light, Ultrawoman Aster. Now that she was outside the ship, Aster could see exactly what it was that was attacking the ship.

The Space Beast was yellow in color, goldenrod streaks formed intricate patterns on its body, with a long snake-like trunk, its body was covered in scales, frills on the side of its face, and black spines that ran the length of its back. The monster had semi-muscular arms, with long black claws, and on its chest was a red gemstone that pulsed with power. The monster had a long muzzle, with rows of sharp teeth, and piercing, glowing red eyes.

Aster gathered energy to her hands and fired off multiple shots of her Beam Bullets at the monster. The yellow scaled creature bobbed and weaved each shot and now shifted its attention towards her. Just as she wanted. Aster flew towards the monster and threw a punch. The yellow monster dodged the attack and struck Aster in the stomach with her tail, swung her around, and threw her straight towards the ground. Aster impacted hard against the face of one of the nearby mountains, causing her to groan, but it was going to take more than that to take her down. That’s when she heard a crackling sound. The Herald of Light looked up just in time to see bolts of lightning raining down on her position. Aster narrowly dodged the lightning bolts as they cut grooves into the face of the mountain with ease, burning through it and boring deep holes that cut down into the ground.

“Okay, it’s tougher than it looks! But I’ve got more up my–!”

A huge explosion went off near Aster, sending her flying backwards. When Aster regained her balance, she paused and looked at what had attacked her. To her shock, there was another one. This Space Beast resembled the yellow one, but this one’s scales were purple, with streaks of turquoise that formed similarly shaped patterns like the first. Its black spines were more jagged than the first, it also had more muscle than the other, and looked even meaner. This one also had the same piercing red eyes and glowing gemstone on its chest as well. The second monster’s spines glowed as it opened its mouth and released a deluge of purple flames that scorched the land in front of it.

“Oh crap! Aurora Shield!”

Aster made a circle with her left arm, creating a shield of aurora light just in time for the deluge of flames to slam against it. The Ultra warrior dug her heels into the rock, cutting grooves into it as the sheer force of the flames was enough to push her back.

“Okay, one v two, I got this!”

Just then, Aster sensed something, but the moment she did it was too late. Aster was suddenly struck from behind by an extremely cold sensation, she managed to glance over her shoulder to see a beam of cryo energy striking her and causing multiple sparks to be let loose from her body. Aster could not maintain the shield any longer due to the second attack, causing both the flames and cryo beam to hit at the same time, releasing a powerful explosion that threw Aster into the distance. The yellow scaled monster intercepted Aster and released more lightning bolts that hit her, causing more sparks to fly from her body, and throwing Aster back down to terra firma.

When the smoke cleared, Aster managed to get herself out of the crater and she was now facing, not one, not two, but three Space Beasts. The third one was arctic blue in color, with navy blue streaks that formed similar patterns to the previous two, her spines were curved, she looked less muscular than her partners, probably built for speed rather than power, and she sported the same gemstone and glowing eyes.

“Seriously? Three on one?!”

“Unlucky for you,” said the yellow scaled monster.

“Who the heck are you?!”

“Adjya,” the yellow scaled monster spoke.

“Not like you deserve to know my name, but it’s Arjora,” spoke the purple scaled monster.

“And I’m Souja, nice to meet you!” the blue scaled monster greeted.

“What the hell do you three want?! I’m not here to fight you, I just want to go to that mountain!” Aster stated.

Adjya smirked as she winded about and said, “We figured that much, little Ultra, and that’s why we won’t let you.”

“What are you, some kind of guardians?”

“Tch, please, we came here to tear that mountain down,” Arjora corrected.

“Yeah, our Master was all like, ‘GO AND BLOW UP THAT MOUNTAIN! OR ELSE!’, totally rude. He could’ve at least said ‘please’ or something.”

“So, there you have it, we came here to tear down that precious mountain of yours. But it looks like we get a bonus, our Master will be pleased that we were able to take down the Ultra girl who has been a thorn in his side!”

Aster growled in anger and shouted, “I WON’T LET YOU DESTROY THE MOUNTAIN! IF YOU WANT ME, THEN COME AT ME!”

A flash of red light emanated from Aster as she entered her power form, she charged straight for the trio, but the only one who met her charge was Arjora. The muscular leviathan grabbled with Aster, their fingers interlocked and squeezing as they tried to bring the other into submission. Aster fired off one of the revolver cylinders on her leg and created a blast of force and pressure that propelled her right leg forward, allowing Aster to knee strike Arjora in the gut. Arjora grunted from the blow, but instead of letting go, she only got angrier and bellowed forth a torrent of flames, bathing the hero in them.

“Is that all you’ve got?!” Aster mocked.

There was a prideful glint in the leviathan’s eye as its spines glowed brighter. The flames started to glow brighter as well, becoming a full-on plasma blast that burned even hotter than before. Sparks were coming off Aster’s body, and it was becoming increasingly apparent that her high defense was not cutting it at point blank range.

“NOVA BURN!”

Aster gathered her cosmic and flame energy, igniting her body, and released a powerful explosion around herself. Arjora was sent flying but managed to bring herself to a stop as she raked the land with her claws. She growled indignantly at the, as far as she was concerned, cheap trick.

Out of the flames came a blue streak, Aster had switched to her speed form, closing the distance on Arjora as particles of water began to form around both her hands.

“Aqua Blades!”

Just as Aster was about to bring down both of her water construct swords, Souja slithered quickly towards Arjora, creating blades of ice in her hands as she blocked Aster’s swords.

“Hey! I didn’t ask for your help! Souja!” Arjora growled.

“Oh, don’t be mad, I just want a turn to play!” Souja then turned her attention to Aster as a sinister grin formed on her muzzle. “So, let’s play, Aster!”

Aster broke off from Souja and began fighting her with a flurry of slashes, but each slash was countered by the blue leviathan. She may have sounded a bit ditzy, but that did not mean she was not as dangerous as her partners. Still, Aster kept at it, the air resounding with the ringing sound of their blades’ impact. Souja’s grin widened as she struck Aster’s swords again, but this time, she funneled her cryo energy into her own blades and flash froze Aster’s. The Ultra warrior was caught off guard as her swords were turned to ice, and in the next moment, Souja struck again and shattered them, slashing Aster across the chest in an “X” pattern.

The Herald of Light quickly backed away and formed an energy bow in her left hand. “Artemis Arrow!” Aster drew on the light bowstring and fired multiple shots at Souja. The blue leviathan proved to be fast as it took to the air and began weaving and dodging each of Aster’s arrows. Souja’s spines glowed bright blue as she fired icicle missiles. Turning their battle into a shooting match as Aster had to switch between trying to shoot down Souja and intercepting the icicle missiles.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Twilight were watching from up above, worried at how the battle was going.

“We have to help her,” said Twilight. “Doesn’t the ship have any weapons systems?!”

“It does, but at this point we’d only get in the way,” said Celestia.

“We don’t have to defeat them, if we can at least make an opening for Sunset to gain the upper hand, then that should be enough, right?!

Celestia contemplated Twilight’s suggestion, the odds were not in Sunset’s favor, and she needed some assistance.

As Aster kept looking for an opening to counterattack, several bolts of lightning rained down on her position. Aster had no time to dodge as she was struck again by Adjya’s lightning bolts, but this time the damage was bit more severe due to Cosmic Wave’s low defensive power. The yellow leviathan chuckled evilly as she watched from on high as the hero fell back to the ground, smoking from her attack. That’s when all three of the leviathans lined up in a row, their spines glowed a bright scarlet in tandem with their gems.

Aster’s body reverted back to her original form, her color timer blinking red from all the damage she had taken. When she spotted the trio about to attack, she quickly gathered what energy she had left into her arms. The leviathan trio inhaled and released a long singing note that transformed into a combined sonic scarlet beam that shrieked towards Aster.

“ASTRONIUM RAY!!!”

Aster placed her arms together in an L-shaped pattern and fired her Ultra Ray straight up. The two attacks slammed into each other halfway, causing a powerful shockwave that nearly threw the S.M.I.L.E. vessel into the distance. Aster struggled against their combined might, pouring every last ounce of power she had into her attack. But unfortunately, it was not enough, the leviathan trio released a louder note, doubling the size of the beam and overtaking Aster’s Astronium Ray. Thinking quickly, Aster diverted the beam, using it launch herself away just as the beam hit the ground. The resulting explosion created a powerful, buffeting shockwave that tossed her into the air before she came crashing back to the ground.

Aster’s transformation ended as she changed back into Sunset Shimmer. The teenage girl groaned painfully as she stood onto her feet, her clothes scuffed, and her forehead bled a little, but she was still standing. Adjya, Arjora, and Souja floated down to the ground before Sunset and stared at her curiously.

“Huh, the great Aster is nothing but a little girl,” Adjya mocked.

“And Zetton lost to this punk? And in his evolved state? Pathetic,” said Arjora.

“But she is cute, do we really have to kill her? I wanna keep her,” whined Souja.

“Oh, by all means, go ahead, Souja. Just don’t come crying to me when the Master asks why she’s still alive.”

Souja’s expression fell. “Ah, that’s not fair!”

“Ugh, you’ll find another playmate, let’s just smoke this chick and get it over with!”

Sunset, despite seeing no way out of this, still stared defiantly at the trio. I just wanted answers…and now I’m going to die without getting any…Sunset looked up towards the ship and pressed on the communicator on her space suit. “Celestia, Twi, head back to Earth. Warp there now.”

{WHAT?! WE’RE NOT LEAVING YOU!} Twilight shouted.

{We have weapons onboard; we’ll attack now and give you time to run!} Celestia suggested.

“You both know as well as I do that that’s a stupid plan. You’ll only get killed…Celestia, you have a duty to protect your students, and Twilight is one of them. She has a family that cares about her, and will be devastated if she dies here,” said Sunset.

{AND YOU DON’T THINK I WON’T IF YOU DIE?!} Celestia argued. {Please…Please let me try and save you!}

Sunset glanced at the trio who were preparing to fire their own individual elemental attacks. “I’m sorry I never bothered to get closer to you, Celestia…Tia.”

Just then, a ball of light came careening straight down from the sky and impacted a few feet from where Sunset was standing. A cloud of smoke obscured what the object but was enough of a distraction that it made the leviathan trio pause. Suddenly, a harmonica began playing a strange melody. Sunset suddenly turned her attention back to the leviathans as they were now shrieking in pain as they pressed their hands against their heads, as if the sound was hurting them.

Sunset looked back at the smoke cloud, and out from it appeared a man. He was of Asian descent, or at least that’s what he looked like. The man wore a long leather coat, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. As he emerged, Sunset saw that it was him who was playing the harmonica.

“Who…Who are you?” Sunset asked.

The man stopped playing the harmonica and answered, “Gai. Kurenai Gai.”

“What are you doing here?”

Gai stood beside Sunset and pointed to the halo of light floating above the mountain. “The Voice of Light called out to me, it said someone was fighting to protect it and needed help. So, I came here.”

“The Voice of Light…it called for help?” Sunset looked up at the halo, and just as she did, the halo released a pulse wave of light. That coalesced over Sunset’s position and poured down on her, bathing the teen in that powerful light. All the fatigue and injuries she sustained from the battle had been healed, and she could feel that her energy had been replenished. When it was over, Sunset whispered, “Thank you.”

“Looks like you got a bit of a problem here, huh. Three on one isn’t very fair, so…” Gai reached into his jacket and pulled out a device that was red and silver and had a clear half ring that ran from one end to the next. “Let’s even things up a bit.”

“Wait…are…are you Ultraman Orb?!”

Gai nodded.

“Tch, so what! One or two, we’ll kick both your asses!” Arjora stated.

“Let’s find out.”

Sunset summoned her StaRaizer, when she did, both she and Gai were transported to a starry nexus.

“Ultraman-san.”

“Grant me the strength of a hero!”

|| ULTRAMAN! ||

“Tiga-san.”

“Grant me the power of a galaxy!”

|| ULTRAMAN TIGA! ||

|| ULTRAMAN GINGA! ||

“Let me borrow the power of your lights!”

“Release the light within me!”

|| ULTRAMAN ORB: SPACIUM ZEPERION! ||

|| SHINE ON! ULTRAWOMAN ASTER! ||

Two pillars of light shined forth, rising into the air, and causing the leviathans to turn away from the blinding light. Once it had faded, two heroes of light stood before them, Ultraman Orb and Ultrawoman Aster.

“I light the darkness and strike at evil!”

“My light will overcome the darkness!”

“Let’s go, rookie,” said Orb.

“Right behind you!” Aster replied.

Both Ultras dashed forward at the same time, Aster leading with a left punch and Orb with a right punch. The two heroes struck Adjya in the face at the same, launching the lead leviathan straight into another mountain a mile away. The other two were taken by surprise by the combined attack, which gave them time for a follow up. Orb and Aster spun on their heels and delivered a powerful double thrust kick to Souja, sending her flying far into the distance as she smacked into the side of a mountain, leaving Arjora alone.

“Taro-san!”

“Bestow, the strength of the brave!”

|| ULTRAMAN TARO! ||

|| ULTRAMAN LEO! ||

“Mebius-san!”

“Bestow, the power of the bold!”

|| ULTRAMAN MEBIUS! ||

|| ULTRAMAN MAX! ||

“Help me bring the heat!”

“Ignite the fire in my heart!”

|| ULTRAMAN ORB: BURNMITE! ||

|| BURN UP! SOLARIS MAXIMUS! ||

Flashes of red went off in front of Arjora, right before she got hit with two powerful punches that sent her skidding backwards. When the light cleared, both Orb and Aster had transformed into their powered forms.

“I’m burning crimson red!”

“I’ll burn you away with the flames of my heart!”

Arjora roared angrily, she charged up her spines and unleashed a torrent of her purple flames at the two heroes. Orb got in front of the attack and let the flames strike him. At first, Arjora thought that he was trying to protect Aster and intensified her flames, believing that she could take him down if he was willing to take the blow head on. However, she was shocked to find out that he was taking no damage at all. In fact, something was wrong. The flames, they were absorbed by Orb. Orb and Aster began advancing on Arjora, with Aster raising her right fist, and spinning the revolver barrel. Arjora hurriedly cancelled the attack, but it was too late, Orb had absorbed enough of the flames, changing their properties to match his own energy.

“Break Buster!”

“Stobium Counter Zero!”

Aster and Orb struck with both of their right fists. The revolver gauntlet released all six of its energy chambers, at the same time, Orb released all the flames he had absorbed. The combined power of the attacks struck Arjora hard, making the monster cough violently from the impact. A powerful explosion took place that sent the monster flying into the air.

“INFERNO SHOOT!”

“STOBIUM BURST!”

Orb generated a huge ball of fire and launched it, while Aster cocked back both of her fists and thrust them forward, blasting out a fiery plasma beam the combined with Orb’s attack. Arjora was helpless to block the attack as the explosion went off in the air and had the leviathan fall back down to the ground in a heap. Now with one down, they had another to deal with.

“Jack-san!”

“I ask for the gift of kindness!”

|| ULTRAMAN JACK! ||

|| ULTRAMAN COSMOS! ||

“Zero-san!”

“I ask for the gift of protection!”

|| ULTRAMAN ZERO! ||

|| ULTRAMAN AGUL! ||

“Give me something with an edge!”

“Let the waves of my soul quell your rage!”

|| ULTRAMAN ORB: HURRICANE SLASH! ||

|| FLOW AND CRASH! COSMIC WAVE! ||

Blue light shined forth from both Ultras. Souja managed to regain her senses and swiftly came back to help Arjora, but when she found her partner down, she fired her cryo beam at the two heroes. Now in their respective speed forms, the two Ultras easily dodged the attack, breaking in different directions and zooming right into the air.

“I cut down darkness faster than the speed of light!”

“I will wash away all cruelty with serenity!”

Souja fired several of her icicle missiles at the Ultras, but unlike last time, she had two targets to attack, which was dividing up how many she could fire at which Ultra. In order to counter this, Orb used the Orb Slugger Shot, firing off his two horns like boomerangs that floated around himself and Aster, smashing every icicle missile that came their way, and for the ones that he missed, Aster used her Artemis Shot to snipe the few strays that came their way, while also landing many of her own shots on Souja which was also damaging and disrupting. The blue leviathan needed a moment to come up with a counter, so she released her cryo energy and created a sphere of diamond hard ice around her body.

Orb dove in first, summoning his Orb Slugger Lancer, a long trident weapon with two bladed tips. Orb pulled the lever on the trident three times and pressed on the button below it.

“TRIDENT SLASH!”

Orb unleashed a flurry of slashes at an extremely fast pace, creating afterimages of himself, making it difficult to tell which slash came next, or which slash already happened. Streaks of light came with each slash, slicing and cutting away at the ice shell, which only made Souja worried. Normally when she used this, hardly anything could break through it, but here this Ultra was chipping away at it like it was nothing. Orb came down with one more powerful slash, cutting a large grove into the ice shell, but he didn’t manage to completely go through it. Souja felt relieved, but that relief was short lived when she saw Orb move out of the way as Aster came in next, her right arm glowing with blue and bright blue light.

“CALIBURN END!”

Aster thrust her arm forward, creating a huge and long beam blade that roared towards the spot where Orb had been concentrating his attacks. The blade of light struck that spot and pierced the ice shell, stopping just mere inches from Souja’s chest. The blue leviathan gulped but went full panic mode when the blade glowed brighter and brighter until it released a burst of energy that exploded in her face and sent the monster spiraling to the ground in a heap.

Bolts of lightning showered the two Ultras, making them have to dodge quickly to avoid getting hit. Adjya had managed to regain her senses, and she looked really ticked off.

“And then there was one,” said Aster.

“Let’s wrap this up,” said Orb.

Within the starry nexus, Gai pulled out his signature card and scanned it into the Orb Ring.

|| AWAKEN, ORB ORIGIN! ||

From the Orb Ring, particles of light shot out that combined together and materialized the Orb Calibur sword. Gai took the sword and pressed down on the trigger once. The sword’s guard lit up in sequence with four different colored symbols, each one representing one of the four elemental forces of nature. Once all four had lit up, the four powers combined, and from it the Ultra attained his true form, that of Orb Origin.

“Shine, the power of bonds!”

|| ULTRAMAN ORB! ||

“Shine, the power of knowledge!”

|| ULTRAMAN HIKARI! ||

“The stars are aligned for victory!”

|| CONVERGENCE! PLANET REVIVE! ||

“I am Orb! Ultraman Orb!”

“Witness our unified power!”

Orb, while floating in the air next to Aster, turned to her and said, “By the way, it’s kind of strange to hear my name announced for a transformation.”

“I’m sure, even my Color Timer has the same ring as you,” Aster pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right!”

“I’M STILL HERE YOU JACKASSES!!!” Adjya roared as she hurled several lighting bolts at them.

Aster took the lead on this one as her body began to glow with orange electrical energy. “Jupiter Stormer!” Her body started to unleash her own lighting bolts, striking at the ones that Adjya fired at her. The air came alive with the buzzing sound of electricity and the smell ozone as lightning danced between them.

Orb decided to lend a hand, and within the starry nexus, Gai turned the wheel on the Orb Calibur four times, and each time one of the symbols glowed, with the last one stopping on the green symbol for wind. Gai pulled the trigger of the sword, and spun it, activating the power.

“Orb Wind Calibur!”

Orb swung his sword around, generating powerful emerald gusts of wind, with one more swing of the sword her created a huge tornado that slammed into Adjya and threw her about, the leader of the leviathans growled and used her electrical power to create a powerful discharge that broke her free of the hold, allowing her to ascend to get the high ground so to speak.

“Mercury Racer!”

Aster flew faster than the eye could see, appearing as a streak of silver light that quickly met Adjya in the air, intercepting her before she could get any further.

“Hi there!”

“GYA!”

Aster came down with a roundhouse kick, striking Adjya in the face as she plummeted straight down into the ground.

“Uranus Collider!” Aster cried out as she thrust her right hand towards Adjya’s position.

Adjya’s body suddenly grew incredibly heavy, stopping her from moving altogether. While this was going on, Orb landed on the ground a few feet away. Gai turned the wheel on the Orb Calibur three times, the symbol that glowed this time was the one for earth. Gai pulled the trigger and spun the wheel, just as Orb raised his sword and cried out, “Orb Ground Calibur!” as he stabbed the sword into the ground, creating two dual energy waves that traveled along the ground, winding into a circle that was on an intercept course with Adjya.

Up above, Aster prepared her next attack. After flattening her right hand, she sliced the space in front of her, creating a rift in dimensional space. “Neptune Wave Crashing!” Out of that rift poured out a huge deluge of glowing, deep blue water that roared like a tsunami down towards Adjya. The yellow leviathan had no way to dodge or defend as the two elemental attacks hit her at the same time, exploding mightily and tossing her into the same area that her two partners were at.

Aster flew down and stood beside Orb. “You guys are done, give up while you still can!”

“I’d listen to her, this can only end one way for you three,” Orb warned.

All three leviathans rose, glaring at the two heroes in defiance and hate.

“We’re not going to lose here!”

“Failure is not an option!”

“We won’t be thrown away again!”

The leviathan trio’s spines began to glow red, along with the gemstones on their chests shining brighter. Aster knew what was coming next, but this time she was ready. Aster slashed upwards with her right arm, and in its wake created five different colored spheres, she then swiped her left arm in a horizontal pattern, creating four more spheres of light to form a cross.

At the same time, Gai raised the Orb Ring, and thrust the Orb Calibur through the gap in the ring.

|| UNLEASH THE POWER OF ORB! ||

Gai spun the wheel of the Orb Calibur, making each of the symbols light up and blink before the wheel stopped with all four of them glowing. Gai pulled the trigger and then spun the Orb Calibur’s wheel once more. Ultraman Orb raised the Orb Calibur into the air with his right hand and drew a circle of aurora light with the tip of the blade. Once the ring of aurora light was completed, he thrust the sword’s blade through the center, making the ring collect all its energy and then transferred it into the Orb Calibur.

“GRAND CROSS STRIUM!”

“ORB SUPREME CALIBUR!”

Aster brought her arms together in an L-shaped pattern, making all nine planet spheres combine and fire in the form of a huge aurora colored beam of light. At the same time, Orb pointed the Orb Calibur at the three leviathans and fired his own aurora beam in tandem with Aster. The twin beams roared with great power as the leviathans unleashed their sonic scarlet beam. The attacks met in the center, creating a huge shockwave that caved in the area where the two beams met. The two sides battled it out in the beam struggle, the three leviathans giving it all they had to overcome the two Ultras standing before them.

But the Ultras weren’t slacking off either, in fact, they were about to get serious. Aster and Orb released a loud battle cry as they poured more of their power into their beam attacks, making them glow brighter, and double in size as they began to push back against Adjya, Arjora, Souja’s combined beam. The leviathans were now worried, no, they were scared, the only thing holding back their inevitable destruction was their beam attack, but they were quickly running out of power, if they cut it off now, they would surely get swept away in the combined powers of Aster and Orb and be destroyed, but continuing this attack would only delay their death, either way, they were going to die.

They could no longer sustain the attack as the blinding light of the two Ultra’s broke through and hit, creating a huge explosion that bellowed upwards and shook the air and ground with its force. When the dust settled, there was not a trace of the three monsters, the invaders had been defeated.

\\\***///

Now that the battle was over, Sunset and Gai stood before Crusader’s Peak. The ship had landed a couple of feet away, with Celestia and Twilight standing next to Sunset. The older woman hugged Sunset fiercely, almost threatening to never let her go.

“Celestia…Celestia…! Can’t breathe!” Sunset chocked.

“You can bare it after worrying me so much!” Celestia shot back.

“Fair enough…!”

After a couple of minutes, Celestia finally released her. Only for Twilight come up and fiercely hug her best friend.

“Oop! Okay, not done yet.”

“Don’t you ever tell us to leave you behind, ever!” Twilight stated.

“I’m sorry…I just wanted to know you guys would at least make it,” said Sunset.

“We understand, but that doesn’t make it any easier to even think about doing that…” Twilight sniffled.

Gai found the whole thing heartwarming, seeing how strong this young Ultra warrior’s bonds with those who care about her were. “You seem to have a good parent, and a good friend.”

Celestia blushed at the compliment and replied, “Oh…well…I-I’m her guardian, not her mother, unfortunately.”

Gai shook her head. “Whether you are blood related or not, it’s how you feel and act that counts. From where I stand, you are a mother to her.”

“But…I…”

“Oh, just take the compliment!……Momma Tia,” said Sunset with a blush.

Celestia was practically gushing at being called that, restraining herself from hopping around like a child.

“Don’t get used to hearing that in public! I-I’m only going to call you that sometimes, not all the time, okay!”

“I don’t care, just hearing you say it once was enough for me!”

Twilight giggled at the reaction, but then turned her attention to Gai. “You’re an Ultra, I can’t believe it! Another Ultra is standing here with us! I have so many questions for you, I-I don’t even know where to begin?!”

“I do.” Sunset turned to face Gai and asked, “You said the Voice of Light called you here to help defend it. Does that mean this is the place where you became Ultraman Orb?”

Gai crossed his arms and nodded. “Yes, many, many years ago, my friend…and rival, Jugglus, climbed Crusader’s Peak. We were summoned by the Voice of Light to undergo the trial to determine if we were worthy of receiving its great power. We climbed to the top, but the power of light chose me instead of my friend. From then on I was Ultraman Orb, hopping around from galaxy to galaxy, universe to universe, defending the helpless and protecting the innocent from the evils that wish to exterminate life and all that is good.”

“So, that’s how Fluttershy’s story came about.” A thought just occurred to Sunset. “Wait a minute, Ocellus said that the Belzeb were defeated by a band of Ultra warriors, were you responsible for that?”

“I was.”

“And Fluttershy said that the story of Orb was something handed down to her from her grandmother, which meant it had to have been handed down from someone just as old or older before her…”

Twilight was starting to piece together where Sunset was going with this train of thought, and it worried her.

“Gai…tell me, how old are you?”

Gai rubbed the back of his head as he thought about that question. After a moment he sighed and said, “I wish I could tell you, it’s been so long that I’ve forgotten my age. But I know it’s more than a hundred years.”

The color drained from Sunset’s face as she began to stumble backwards. Thankfully Celestia caught her, but was confused as to why that answer would make Sunset react like that. “I…I don’t understand, Sunset, what’s the matter?”

“You…Did you stop aging when you became Orb?”

Gai nodded.

“No…then…then that means I could be…I could be hundreds of years old!” Sunset spoke in horror. “If that’s true then…anyone and everyone who could’ve remembered me, knew me, is probably dead and gone!”

Sunset turned and began crying into Celestia’s chest. The realization struck Celestia now, if this was true, then that meant that Sunset’s parents, friends, or any relatives she might have had were long since dead. There was no hope of finding anyone alive that could link her to her past. Twilight walked over and hugged Sunset from behind, sniffling as she felt her friend’s sadness and trying to offer some comfort to her.

Gai felt for the young woman, she came here to get answers, but it seems that the answers were not what she had hoped for. The wanderer looked up at Crusader’s Peak, and with a determined expression he said, “Sunset-chan, let’s climb.”

“W-What?”

“We’ll climb Crusader’s Peak together.”

Sunset broke out of the hug of her guardian and friend and stood before Gai angrily. “What good will that do?! Even if I remember my past, it won’t matter! ‘Cause everyone I know might be dead!”

“Might, not is. You’re giving up too early. You’re human, but you’re not from Earth. We are granted longevity from the power of light, and my people age just like normal humans. But who is to say that is the same for your people? You could come from an Earth-like planet that has a people that live much longer lives, but you won’t know that until you start somewhere, and getting to the top of Crusader’s Peak is your first step,” said Gai.

Sunset wiped her eyes free from the tears as she looked up at the tall mountain. Is it possible…?

Gai gently patted Sunset on the back as he started walking towards the base of Crusader’s Peak. “C’mon, rookie, or you’ll get left behind.”

“Hey! I never agreed to go!”

“Go, Sunset.” The flame haired girl turned around and saw that Celestia had a serious look about her. “Mr. Kurenai is right, if you don’t do this, you’ll only be haunted by this. Wondering ‘What if he was right?’ Don’t live in regret, Sunset. I’m telling you this as your…ahem…as your mother, climb!”

Sunset turned to Twilight, but it seemed she was of the same mind as Celestia.

“You need to do this, Sunset. For yourself.”

The teen girl sighed heavily, “Fine. Hey! Wait up!”

Gai smiled.

\\\***///
[Crusader’s Peak, 4 hours later…]

“Damn I forgot how tall this mountain was!”

“Don’t you have amnesia?”

“I do! And one of the things that’s coming back to me is how much I disliked climbing this friggin’ tall thing!”

Hours had passed since Gai and Sunset started their climb on Crusader’s Peak, and with each mile gained, Sunset’s memories were piecing back together. So far, she was remembering the arduous climb to the top, the buffeting winds that howled around her, threatening to blow her off the side of the mountain. She remembered a loose rock that nearly caused her to fall to her death, which was good because she managed to move around that very same rock.

Together, the two heroes climbed, and thanks to their altered physiology, the climb this go around was easier, at least to Gai, Sunset was just remembering how much she hated climbing this mountain. But they were getting closer, they had past the cloud layer and the peak was drawing nearer. The halo of light was bigger now that they were closer to the top, just a few more feet and Sunset might be able to get the answers she sought. However, before they could pass that last bit, she paused.

Gai looked to his right and asked, “Sunset-chan, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve been having dreams about this place, memories in the form of dreams anyway. And each time I clear that ledge, I wake up.” Sunset looked at Gai worriedly and asked, “What if all of this was a dream? What if I’m still back in my room, and I wake to find out that this whole ordeal was just something my mind fabricated?!”

Gai smiled determinedly and said, “Only one way to find out, Sunset-chan. But the only way I’m moving forward is with you. We can let go now, transform, and fly back down. We’ve come farther than I thought you were willing. But this last half has to be your choice.”

Sunset looked back up at the peak, just a few more feet, a few more feet separated her from the possible answers she sought. “Okay…thank you, Gai.”

Gai merely nodded and followed after Sunset.

One hand in front of the other, slow and steady, she was almost there. Sunset’s right hand grabbed ahold of the ledge; this was the moment of truth. Gritting her teeth, Sunset pulled herself up over the ledge, after getting all the way onto the flat surface of the peak, she lied there on her back, panting from the ordeal, eyes shut. Gai came up after her and sat down next to the young lady. Once she had caught her breath, Sunset opened her eyes and found that she was not in her room, this was real, this was not a dream.

Sunset stood up and looked above, being this close to the halo of light was awe-inspiring, and very nostalgic. The halo of light appeared around the pupils and irises of Sunset’s eyes, and in a flash her mind was flooded with memories.

She remembered flying a spaceship, accompanied by someone, that part was still shrouded in shadows, she knew she was with someone, but still could not remember who they were. Her and this person flew to O-50 together, and together they climbed Crusader’s Peak, summoned by the Voice of Light.

They climbed and climbed until, eventually, it was Sunset who reached the top first. There the halo of light released a sphere of glowing light in the middle of the platform, Sunset walked towards it, and placed her hand into it. Upon doing so, the light released a burst of energy, taking the shape of the sun symbol that was on Aster’s chest, and after a moment, it formed around her forearm, creating the StaRaizer bracer. Sunset turned to the person who came with her, she could sense some disappointment that the Voice of Light did not bestow its gift to them, but regardless, they seemed alright that it was her.

The person who accompanied her then mouthed the words, “Congratulations, now, let’s head back to Equenta. You don’t want to keep the Princess waiting, Royal Knight Sunset.”

Sunset came out of her trance with a gasp, causing Gai to quickly go to her to make sure she didn’t collapse.

“Sunset-chan, are you alright?” Gai asked.

“I am…I…I know the name of the planet I’m from.”

\\\***///
[Unknown Space…]

A portal of darkness opened, and from it spilled out Adjya, Arjora, Souja. The three leviathans fumbled about on the floor of the Dark Sanctuary, glowing in their respective colors before finally shrinking to the to a smaller size.

The yellow leviathan had transformed into a teen girl, she was fair skinned, with voluptuous curves, and had rose colored eyes. Her hair was curly and big, flowing down her back, it was goldenrod colored, with yellow streaks in it. The second had lean muscle on her body, with her purple hair done up in twin-tails sporting streaks of neon turquoise. The last one had her hair in a ponytail, which was colored bright blue with navy-colored streaks. She her curves matched the first girl, but her, ahem, assets were a bit bigger than the other two. All three of them had rose colored eyes, all three wore the same raggedy tops, all three had the same raggedy looking shorts, all three of them had ruby gemstone necklaces, and all three of them sported a tattoo of their monster form on their right upper arms.

“What…What happened?! I thought we died!” Arjora exclaimed.

“Obviously, we’re not dead, sister,” Adjya retorted.

“Or are we dead and we went to the bad place?” Souja pondered.

“Go back to sleep, Souja!”

Silence.

All three of the girls had a chill go down their spine upon hearing the voice of the dark one. Now that they took a moment to see where it was they were, they realized that they had returned to the Dark Sanctuary, sitting before Lord Tirek and Lord Sombra.

All three girls hurriedly got into bowing positions and said, “Greetings, Master!”

“Tch, we sent you with a simple mission. Destroy Crusader’s Peak, and you three couldn’t manage to do something as simple as that,” said Tirek.

“We’re sorry, Lord Tirek, but Ultrawoman Aster arrived on the planet at the same time we did,” said Adjya.

“We would’ve ended her if that stupid second Ultra didn’t show up,” Arjora added.

Sombra raised an eyebrow at that. “Second Ultra? Who?”

“He said his name was Ultraman Orb,” Souja answered.

The dark lord of the realm grumbled indignantly at the mere mention of that Ultra’s name.

“Please, forgive us! We can try again once they leave!” Adjya suggested.

Do not bother. This only proves to me that the Voice of Light will defend itself in one way or another. There is no point in throwing resources at a target that is this resourceful.

Adjya raised an eyebrow and asked, “M-Master, forgive me, but did you know that that might happen?”

It was a possibility, if you two failed to destroy it, and no defenses were mounted, I would have had sent Tirek to obliterate the planet. But as it seems, the Voice of Light will not allow itself to be snuffed out. You proved yourselves useful, which was why I used my power to save your lives.

“And we’re so grateful–!”

However, if you ever stop being useful to me. I will not hesitate to end your lives myself. My full resurrection will not be impeded by incompetence. From ANYONE. Understood?

“Yes, Master!” Tirek, Sombra, and the three sisters replied.

Once that was out of the way, the three sisters left the Dark Sanctuary and moved to their personal grotto room where they submerged themselves in the water. The moment they did, their bodies began to undergo a rapid regeneration process.

“Sis, I don’t like that guy,” said Souja.

“Like he cares. It’s the same story no matter where we go…if we’re not useful in some way then we’re thrown away,” said Arjora with hurt in her voice.

“Come here you two.” Adjya opened her arms and allowed her two sisters to rest their heads against her left and right shoulders respectively. “I promised you we would always be together, that we would obtain greater power, power enough to assure that no one could look down on us. And I meant it.”

“Yeah, but how? That guy’s got even Tirek and Sombra jumping when he says so, and he’s just a disembodied voice!” Arjora pointed out. “And you saw what he did to Chrysalis, the moment she turned on him he put her in a coma!”

Adjya held onto them tighter. “I will not let him hurt you, I will not let anyone harm us. Never again.”

Author's Note:

Guess who's back~
Back again~
HA!

Seriously, though, yes, Aster has been revived! I'm on a bit of a hiatus from writing a couple of fics for Amphibia and Owl House, both Kamen Rider themed, BTWs, and in the meantime I'll be writing on this fic and another. I'll try and drop another chap this week, hopefully!

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VampDash

VampDash #1 · Apr 11th, 2022 · · ·

AND THE KING RETURNS!

Aegis-Archives

Aegis-Archives #2 · Apr 11th, 2022 · · ·

“Adjya,” the yellow scaled monster spoke.
“Not like you deserve to know my name, but it’s Arjora,” spoke the purple scaled monster.
“And I’m Souja, nice to meet you!” the blue scaled monster greeted.

You thought you were being sneaky, but you thought WRONG!

The man stopped playing the harmonica and answered, “Gai. Kurenai Gai.”

I'll be honest, I was yelling like a fanboy when I read this.

red-sun

red-sun #3 · Apr 12th, 2022 · · ·

11208717
LONG LIVE THE KING

The Voice in the Water

The Voice in the Water #4 · Apr 12th, 2022 · · ·

So Sunset got some answers, and we meet the Dazzlings. Thinks seem to be heating up.

PonyofEntropy

PonyofEntropy #5 · Apr 17th, 2022 · · ·

So happy to see the update!! Looking forward to reading more.

Michael_Ravencroft

Michael_Ravencroft #6 · Apr 18th, 2022 · · ·

11213843 Glad you liked it, I went all out for the return.

Bookwurm666

Bookwurm666 #7 · Jun 28th, 2022 · · ·

“Yeah, but how? That guy’s got even Tirek and Sombra jumping when he says so, and he’s just a disembodied voice!” Arjora pointed out. “And you saw what he did to Chrysalis, the moment she turned on him he put her in a coma!”

is this disembodied voice by any chance "Radical Destruction Bringer"?static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultra/images/b/b2/RadicalDestructionBringer.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/317?cb=20211212025009

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Shine on! Ultrawoman Aster! - Michael_Ravencroft

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