Of Starships and Golden Armors

by Devona

Act II, Chapter 7: Close, Yet not So Much

"Broadside salvo, fire! Lock on target, full ahead!" Giorgio cried in fervor as his battlecruiser zoomed dangerously close to a Swarm detachment, making two of its ships fire on each other, failing to catch the dashing human vessel.

As the craft emerged on the other side of the perimeter, having just punched a hole in the hastily-assembled defences, Giorgio cast a smile.

"This is it, everyone! We are closer than anyone else, it's up to us to finish it off! Fire all weapons!" he shouted, wildly waving his arms. One of the bridge technicians sent the captain an uneasy look.

"But sir, if we-"

"I know this ship's workings, lad!" Giorgio abruptly cut him off. "You know Absolute Priority! It's all or nothing now, and we have a clear shot! Fire all weapons!"

The technician hesitated briefly, although he did not attempt to delay the order. "Y-yes, Sir! Relaying appropriate firing solutions to Fire Controls Alpha and Bravo," the man, a yound Earthborn in his early twenties, stood up, breathing heavily but stably. "Sir! It's been an honor, Sir!" the technician eventually declared, rising his right hand in a 'victory' symbol.

In this moment of silence the rest of the bridge crew, not essential for the firing of the last salvo, mirrored the young boy's gesture.

The rest, besides the captain.

"Not yet, it hasn't!" he declared, locking gaze with the lone dot in the distance that was the target Swarm vessel. "Fire the weapons. We'll bring them down with us."

"Moving to firing position," a crewmember reported, eyes filled with hope. "Target in range, all simulations concluded. Fire Controls standing by to take the shot. Permission to open fire?"

The captain, whose face previosuly burned red with vigor and fighting spirit, closed his eyes, taking in the beeping and cracking of the vessel's bridge equipment. He knew these inconspicious sounds would soon bring about the Swarm's demise.

"Permision granted. Fire."

---

A cascade of lights, bolts and smoke trails raced through the darkness, getting ever closer to a lonely grey ship. Before its last remains subsided near the human battlecrusiser, the payload had made its mark, cutting the Swarm battleship in half, smashing its hull into pieces, one section at a time.

Giorgio took the view in with a wide, vivid smile, as chunks of debris and remaining munitions passed by the bridge's portholes. The canonade broke through hostile defences without breaking a sweat, decimating the already damaged Swarm vessel. Eventually, its dim windowlights got extinguished forever.

Giorgio's face turned red once again as he observed the magnificent destruction. All around though, one at a time, his ship's consoles and LEDs turned off, until nothing remained inside besides the faint glow of the distant stars and a weak, red, emergency glimmer.

---

"Combat overflow!"

"Copy that, we see them, switching channels; Hailing RSNS Palaces of Ship Formation 415, this is Fleet Command, immediate: RSNS Nikolski-Unalaska has just made a run through enemy perimeter, hostile target neutralised, but they've got a combat overflow. Rally up, make a push, and get Nikolski-Unalaska the hell out of there, over."

"Roger Command, affirmative, ETA to target location approximately ten minutes, we're reading enemy forces retreating from their perimeter, awaiting instructions, over."

"Roger Palaces, we know; Absolute Strategic Priority dictates to attempt a rescue. Proceed without special alterations. Good hunting, over."

"Roger, out."

Hearing such a conversation made Nikolai involuntarily cast a smile. The recent assault had proven far more challenging than initially anticipated; Allied warships were usually able to outmatch their Swarm equivalents in one-on-one fights - not now, however. For some reason, even though by no means fanatical, enemy resistance had already proven incredibly fierce during this assault, but it finally started to look like all the recent setbacks were only just temporary.

"Sir! The final battleship preventing us from striking directly at hostile coordination center has been neutralised! Enemy vessels are retreating from the area. Battle Squadron Crimson and Levy Host Adombek report readiness for an immediate assault, the Fleet of Sarak Conquest is mopping up the final resistance behind our current lines. All are requesting permission to engage the enemy!" a young technician suddenly reported, confirming the optimistic prospects. Nikolai however, did not give in to emotions.

"Negative, tell them to move in-range and hold positions. We're going to take a page from Andyman's book; blockade the enemy fleet but not attack until we can account for a possible counter-assault," Nikolai breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in almost a day he didn't feel a sharp string of pressure and risk passing through as gave the orders. "Nikolski-Unalaska opened a way for us to strike. Let's make sure we don't waste it. Selina?" the admiral glanced at the ceiling. "By my authority you have direct command over the primary strike force, that is Crimson, Adombek and Sarak Conquest. Also, prepare to to call our displaced friend when we're done. Once we get the fold site, there'll be no time to waste."

Even before Nikolai could fully finish his request, the blue LEDs on the RSNS Constitution's bridge flickered twice, indicating Selina's acknowledgement. The admiral returned his sight to the ship's portholes; the scent of victory could finally, at last, be sniffed at least somewhat clearly.

---

"The next question I'd like to ask is... what would you consider your greatest technological advancement? Or one of the greatest, if that is easier," Stanley asked, scrolling through his - or, more accordingly, Selina's - notes. With the exception of a rather unpleasant misunderstanding regarding the consumption of meat, the talk took a drastic turn for the better, especially after Celestia offered to move to her private study - which in all honesty looked much more like some type of a leisure room than an actual office. No matter though, as the cozy ambience only made the whole thing seem less formal, a sensation Stanley was willing to take any day. Overall, the confusion back from the breakfast having faded into oblivion, some rather interesting facts had been figured out - like comparing and temporarily standardizing several key measure units.

"Hmm...," Luna tappen her chin in thought. "A difficult question, although I would think our iterations of the computer device, as thou hath called it, or perhaps the airships."

"Okay, that's... that's interesting," Stanley replied with a tinge of confusion; no graph he was currently seeing in his helmet's visor had these two things even close to each other. "So... what do you mean by 'airships', if you don't mind me asking? No details needed, just the general idea."

"We mean a large vehicle capable of flight utilising sufficient air containers. Shall... shall we go further?" expanded Luna, tilting her head to the side.

"No, it's alright, I think I know, what... what you mean..." Stanley scratched his head; the problem persisted... "Alright, I'm going to list a few technological advances many species consider significant milestones, and, if that's not a problem, I'd like you to tell me whether it's something your kind has already achieved, or... or not. I... I know it may sound... humiliating, but... it's, well... not that at all... it's just to determine your advancement level, as many procedures depend on it. Is that okay?"

"I understand, Lieutenant Colonel. Of course, ask whenever you please."

"Thank you. So, first off - the harnessing of steam power. The steam engine?"

"Bah! Not an innovantion!"

"Okay, then," Stanley sighed. Honestly, he would have naver thought otherwise. "Now to a more... general thing. Production of goods - is it mostly done by han-... ugh, hoof, like, each ware individually, or is it... automated? Done by contraptions or systems?"

"The latter, I believe," Celestia answered. "The discovery of innovative spell mixtures can allow production at a rather... impressive pace."

"Oh, alright," Stanley's faceplate hid his annoyed expression; how to assess their tech level if they don't even seem to try using it at all? "So... okay, yeah, that's a valid answer, thank you. Next up, there is.... well, this may be quite a jump: achieving orbit...?"

Never could Stanley suspect that the question would cause both Princesses to freeze, completely flattening their expressions.

"Could you specify, if you may?"

"O... kay?" Stanley agreed warily, hiding his confusion. Well, to tell the truth, the term was pretty broad, at least according to Selina. "The... we count the milestone as fulfilled, if... if you had one of your kind on a stable orbit around the globe, or a machine without a crew, or maybe you've ventured to other celestial bodies..." Stanley trailed off as he listed more examples, but when he finished, the soldier was once again met with grave silence. A good minute passed before any of the diarchs returned an answer.

"I have been on the moon," Luna simply stated, with the same menacingly neutral expression and firmly clenched teeth.

"I... alright, that's... that's gre-... ugh, I mean, interesting," Stanley caught himself mid-sentence, as he realised it was evidently too risky to judge the development in the two's presence. "Next up, we have.... actually, could you tell me something about the craft you've used first?"

"There was no craft," Luna simply answered, quickly yet without emotions. The Princess gazed at Stanley with a cold, but deeply pleading look, as she gulped evidently desperately trying to suppress... something. For Stanley though, it was everything he needed. He had some more time here, and there was absolutely no need to get on the rulers' bad side so quickly; preserving relations was a secondary objective, yes, but if it didn't nullify the priority... why not? Stanley was about to cut tight to the next question, before Celestia abruptly cut him off.

"It was a spell," she specified, casting a small, symbolic smile accompanied by a nod that quite clearly said that the statement closed the topic off for now.

"Okay... I... yes, that may be enough for me... I think. Now, for a change of topic, we'd like to know more about your... Kingdom. What type of entity is it? A nation-state? A union? A confederation, or a federation maybe? Or, well, a feudal ladder?" Stanley coughed a few times, attempting to validate the sudden change of subject. Thankfully, the Princesses didn't seem to mind; quite on the contrary, as their eyes suddenly glimmered once more, and the only thing to assume was that both had only been waiting for such a development.

Soon however, the hopeful frowns were replaced with ones of uncertainty.

"I apologise, Lieutenant, but I'm afraid a thorough description of Equestria's workings would prove far too long for either of us... and quite boring," Celestia winked, in an attempt to lighten the mood, annoying Stanley to no end with such a blatant refusal to answer. "Unfortunately, none of the examples seems to fit the Kingdom fully."

"Alright," seeped Stanley, once again glad he had his helmet to hide the 'are-you-kidding-me' face he was currently making. "Maybe... maybe we'll, yes, we'll change the question a bit, if you don't mind."

"You're free to ask."

"Alright, so, would you hesitate to call Equestria a country or not?"

"I cannot say I would."

"Brilliant! Now, is such a societal structure common on..."

"Equis," Luna chimmed in from the side. Stanley turned to her and nodded his thanks.

"Yes, Equis. Is it common here?"

"It is, to be sure."

"Okay," Stanley sighed, content that he was able to get at least the basic information from the monarchs. "Now, how would you describe Equestria's position in regards to other... pony nations?" the trooper asked, as he leaned back in the comfy counch next to a fireplace. Confusingly enough, even though grossly soft, the seat actually proved itself to be a rather comfortable place to sit.

Luna meanwhile looked at Stanley with confusion as she tilted her head slightly. "Why would our species maintain a multitude of states at once?" she inquired with a tinge of bewilderment in her voice.

"Wait, you-... wait!" Stanley nearly fell out of the sofa at the revelation. "So, are you saying... whose are those other countries?"

"There is a true multitude of species on Equis; the ponies, griffons, zebra, dragons, diamond dogs... changelings. Although not all maintain states of their own, to be sure," Celestia replied instead, wincing slightly mid-sentence. "Why, pray tell? Is that not usual?"

Stanley however was already barely listening; as far as he knew, so many species evolving on one planet alone was enough to confuse pretty much any biologist, and then there were the species themselves.
'The zebra'? What the actual hell? Are they talking about the same exact zebra native to goddamn Earth? Some stray trader millennia ago, or... actually, no; no way. Nothing would evolve in just a couple thousand years.
So, outside help, maybe? Definitely not human. Stanley could hardly accept that any species being uplifted would evade his attention, and as far as he was concerned, the only 'animals' ever given sentience by mankind were batches of cats and dolphins, more for experimental purposes than anything else.
Or perhaps the 'zebra' weren't zebra at all. Maybe, like with the ponies, the similarity was just superficial, and the word simply turned out to be the most adequate translation? Maybe.

After a couple seconds, Stanley coughed a few times, as he finally registered what the Princess had said, and returned his answer. "Ugh, no, I mean... actually, you know what? I think my friend will handle the answer best," he said, symbolically tapping his faceplate.

Right on cue, Selina spoke up, carrying on with the reply. "In the vast majority of recorded cases, only one species on a planet was ever able to come even close to sentience. These instances make up more than 99.9% of all known races," she stated matter-of-factly.

Celestia shook her head in disbelief. "That's... that's certainly... unusual... What about the remainder however, pray tell?" she asked, as Stanley for the first time witnessed the Princess truly stuttering, seemingly at a brief loss of word.

"An adequate question! You see, the remaining 0.1%, or more accurately roughly 0.034%, are comprised of observed instances of the so-called 'syncretic evolution', when more than one race on the same world is able to develop sentience and build up a civilisation. Cases like this are incredibly rare, as often times one species ascending to this evolutionary level successfully prevents any other, although there have been some prominent examples rising on the galactic stage throughout history. Usually, such spacefaring civilisations end up united, or, in one instance, interestingly established two rival interstellar empires based on the same globe. In most cases however, either one or both species are wiped out before achieveing space age due to their social inability to coexist with one another."

If the Princess was at a loss of words before, now she might just as well have been deceased. Celestia's dead-eyed face gazed forward mechanically as her majestic fur, already nearly snow-white, lost all remaining vigor. Even her iris, previously so vibrant and emanating with age-old wisdom, was now no more, replaced by a bleak, miserable halo. Nowhere was to be found the ethereal mane, filled with lively, optimistic colours, locked perhaps perpetually in a mystic, unexplained flow. No, now in its place was an intruder, a weird, out-of-place, almost faded cloth.

And yet, even though frozen and shocked beyond belief, the Princess did not let herself to be put off-guard. One second, and already - Celestia from before was back, if a little unnerved. Short evaluation? Likely. Only speaks of experience... especially as, just a bit to the side, Luna wasn't doing nearly as good.

But even as Celestia had pulled herself together, silence still echoed through the small study, and so, Selina went on to elaborate further. "In all recorded history, every instance of syncretic evolution involved no more than two different species. Every instance except one, in which case three separate, unrelated sentient races evolved on one globe, however long before contact was established with wider galaxy, one of said species was already firmly gone due to an ancient war of genocide," she stated in the same polite, but cold and calculative tone.

Launching a probe there, I see? thought Stanley. If you weren't an AI, I'd assume you're just stupid.

Opposite Stanley, Luna was vividly trying to to hide her face away, why, Stanley couldn't tell. It soon became clear as day however, as, having found no success, the Princess turned to the trooper, her expression all but locked in chaotic shifts between seeping anger and incredible pity. Unsure whether to shout or cry, Luna soon went with whatever came to mind first.

"Why... what!? Thou couldn't... why would that be, hewmon!?" the Princess exclaimed, her tone rising with every spoken word. After a while, she resumed, this time much more softly. "Is that... does such fate await us as well...?"

Oh, yeah... so that's the thing here...

As Stanley opened his mouth to calm Luna down, he was suddenly cut off by a familiar, feminine voice. "Don't worry, that is not a certainty. Most of these species had in time began to suffer from extreme social prejudices against one another, which eventually led to violent and destructive conflict. If nothing like so on any significant scale can be seen on Equis, no catastrophe seems possible." Yeah, but that's a big fucking 'if'. Unless... "Moreso, judging by your technological level, if such an event was ever to take place, it is likely it would've already occured a long time ago." Huh. Of course, as in 'not completely impossible'. "Finally, most importantly, there is a huge difference between Equis and all the planets I've mentioned; namely, you already have had your first contact - it is happening right now, and if any danger ever transpires, the members of the galactic community have everything they need to prevent bloodshed."

In that moment, that single moment, Stanley understood.

Well, maybe it hadn't been a probe after all.

Oh, having an AI as a companion was truly an irreplaceable advantage, Stanley had to admit - both in combat and times like this. Was all Selina had said true? Well...

Of course they'll prevent bloodshed; and good they will, we can't have anything pulling the hor-... ugh, 'ponies', away from the frontlines

A quick glance at the Princesses was enough to concluded the reassurance had somewhat worked, even though despite evidently hard efforts, both still maintained a visible tinge of disgust and horror, but curiously not unfamiliarity, on their expressions. Of course though reading anything from Celestia's stoic smile was once again, as usually, hard as it can be - Luna however was a different case. She retracted her head a little and with slightly narrowed eyes, slowly nodded at Stanley. She then kept looking between his faceplate and her own couch, as if a little unsure how to react, before receiving a barely visible - for a non-trained eye, that is - nudge from Celestia. After promptly betraying the affair by taking a long, confused and a bit pretentional look at her sister, Luna turned back to Stanley.

"We... I... understand. And we-... I am grateful for your effort. I... I apologise," the Princess declared, evidently part-genuinely, despite the thing being nigh-forced, but still almost held back by some unknown force, everpresent in Luna's eyes.

"No need to," Stanley replied, immediately sensing an opportunity. Before any of the diarchs could react, he quickly moved on to change the topic. "But anyway, let's move to the next inquiry, shall we? My... yes, my last one for... for today... thank you for all your answers, really, uh... and then we'll move on to yours... I'm sure you still have quite a few questions."

"That we do," Celestia winked, everything from before akin to forgotten, as the Princess seemed more than happy to change the subject as well, even if just for now. Thus, the way to deduce the monarchs' reactions once again ended up amounting to observing Luna, whose overall posture was very akin to those she had had before every previous question - a mix of curiosity and interest, only this time accompanied by a tinge of just plain neutrality, like the one a Poker player would be expected to show.

"So, okay... I think this may be a short one, actually... but everything in due time; we need to know your governing system, like, you know, form of government. Before... uh, uh, be-before you ask, this is all because we strive to handle all diplomatic matters with efficiency, and cooperation between governments naturally requires substantial knowledge regarding the functioning of said governments. Also, we need to somehow categorize your country," Stanley forced a chuckle, as he kept reading what Selina had graciously displayed on the visor. "From our observations so far, we assume Equestria is an absolute monarchy. Is that correct?"

"It is a monarchy, that's correct," Celestia answered with a nod, back with her friendly smile. "Unfortunately however, I cannot say I'm familiar with your further... categorization," she said, shaking her head apologetically. Stanley let out a quiet sigh.

"That's... alright, but... I'd like to ask a few more questions if that's okay, just to make sure about that one part."

"We'd be happy to answer."

"It won't be much. First off: who in Equestria is responsible for introducing or changing the law, in general?" Stanley inquired, forcing on himself the friendliest tone he could.

"That would be me and my sister, of course," Luna answered instead with the slightest tinge of annoyance, but mostly just perplexed with the doubting question.

"Okay, again, we assumed so; I'm only asking to make sure there are no misunderstandings," Stanley turned to the Princess, who nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, another thing: who's responsible for actually implementing such laws?"

"That's a rather complicated question, I'm afraid," Celestia took the talk over, much to her sister's apparent irritation. "There are many ponies on various positions responsible for tasks like so."

"Alright, but... who's the highest ranking? Or a group, if it's like so? Who do they answer to, at the top of the chain?"

"To appropriate ponies assigned by us, to be sure."

"Assigned by you? So could those... supervisors be accountable to you?"

"Theoretically, they are, however I would not interfere unless there's a serious necessity."

'I'... 'I'... what happened to 'we' here...?

"Alright, I understand. The last question, albeit not less important: who handles judicial affairs?"

"All I can say is that depends on the importance of the case. Some I can handle in person, while many courts will help everypony else," Celestia stated, nodding once more. Stanley could already feel the coversation's outcome.

"But could you, in pure theory, override these courts' verdicts? In pure theory?"

"In pure theory, yes, although it's not something either of us is used to do," Celestia informed, as Luna once again briefly looked at her sister with protest, although this time, she caught herself almost in time for Stanley not to notice the gesture - a rather impressive feat, to be sure.

"Okay, uh... yeah. That would be all, thanks for the help... you're definitely an absolute monarchy. Or, rather, an absolute diarchy, as it seems," Stanley declared, already worried about his next words. Luckily, he had remembered to go ahead and, after muting external speakers, ask Selina to take the talk over immediately after that, just in case - how could he not, that's what she's here for, anyway, right?... And the entire matter to come was something Stanley would've never even thought of himself - which, after learning it, was not a big surprise - so was it not only natural to take the chance not to potentially screw things up? "You... you see, that may... that absolute monarchy thing? It... could be a problem. Later on," Stanley doked out, still far from used to the weird, over-expansive way of talking.

Celestia tilted her head with an uneasy frown. "What? Why so... pray tell?"

In response, Stanley simply patted his helmet a few times, and the microscopic flashlights on its sides lit up with a dim, cyan light. "Sela?"

"Gladly!" the AI began. "You see, absolute monarchy is not a government form liked by most of the galactic community. This is, of course, no rule, as there are numerous exceptions, however in general, that fact alone may serve to strain your relations with most of the formidable powers."

"They... they'll shun us?" Luna shook her head in bewilderment, stuck inbetween simple shock and suppressed anger. "Just because our state happens to differ?" Her eyes, though slightly narrowed, glimmed with tinges of disbelief. For a brief moment, Celestia similarly froze; the first time when something so unforseen transpired that it overcame even her diplomatic might.
Unforseen, but likely not unheard of, as Celestia's recovery was still rather quick. Maybe, for some unexplained reason, she did not expect the humans in particular to display such standards?

Not like we'd do right now anyway, just join the war and you're cool. That's the only worthy thing, why would anyone care about the government...? Eh, I'm already going for reeducation after such an info intake... Again...

Selina meanwhile slowly moved on to reassure the monarchs again. "Don't worry, that would not likely be the case. You see, this affair has more to it than just inner workings of your government; the reason why many of us don't like monarchies is more connected with how such states often turn out, as well as actions they tend to commit. Fear of such actions transpiring once more has a potential of effectively isolating Equestria from foreign powers, however if no wrongs take place, I am sure you don't need to fear a thing. Of course, monarchies' unpopularity is also partly due to strong human position on the galactic stage and the vast cultural influence the Republic of Sol had on others throughout millennia, however I'm sure you can guess this reason is strongly connected to the former."

Celestia slowly nodded. "If it is so, what system does the Republic operate on, pray tell?"

The entire entire time however, Stanley was not listening - not to the talk, at least. External speaker turned off, the only thing he heard was a transmission, nearly as unexpected as anticipated.

Right when Selina had resumed her explanations, a short communique blinked on Stanley's HUD - not the one on his depolarised visor, however, but rather within his eyes themselves.

A communique, for once, clear and about as optimistic as they get.

"FLEET COMMAND BRIEFING
STANDING ORDER
PRIOTITY 1.5
CONNECT ASAP"

So it was like this; they must've finally found a way to establish a stable connection, or perhaps it was just another window of opportunity. Either way, the Allies were here - and they did not want to wait. Granted, neither did Stanley, but the moment was not the best to say the least - that, and he currently had his visor depolarized, so talking with Command, even muted, was out of question.

Or, rather, for Stanley it was.

As soon as it appeared, the communique vanished, replaced by a handful of live connection data and Selina's voice ringing inside Stanley's helmet.

"Devon One-Prime reporting and standing by. Talks underway, two top-level priority VIP contacts at point blank," she reported, not for a second ceasing her simultaneous speech to the Princesses.

As the small soundwave in the corner of Stanley's eye bent, a very familiar voice responded. "Roger Selina, even better," said Nikolai in his distinctly friendly, yet formal tone. "Link's breaking on our side, how copy?"

"Lima-charlie."

"Good. I authorize temporary program merge, data tranfers at good output, use while possible."

"Roger," with that, another set of data joined the others on Stanley's visor, as the admiral continued his update.

"Devon One-Prime, listen closely, fold coordinates secured but it'll be a while until we reach you, critical enemy presence. Science teams already dispatched, two to five C-U-T-days for the tunnel, maybe more, but I wouldn't hold my breath," Nikolai went quiet for a few seconds just as Selina's merging reports flashed green with 'complete', before returning to Stanley once again. "Selina says your translator works by-the-book, so I'm gonna talk with the rulers. Scratch that, show them what we're against. We'll have to pull a play here. Selina already has the plan, right?"

"Affirmative, Admiral," the de facto barely-lower-ranked AI could be heard in unison both from Stanley's helmet and, a little more muffled, the other side of the connection. The other, more familiar side.

"We just need you to try to play along, Devon One-Prime. Good luck in your endeavor, soldier," Nikolai finally wished, before freezing the connection. Immediately, without a word from Stanley, Selina switched external speakers back on.

---

"If it is so, what system does the Republic operate on, pray tell?" Celestia's gentle yet worried voice ringed from the left, as Luna listened to the conversation closely, trying to snatch out as much useful information as she could, while also waiting for a window to chim in and acquire answers to at least some of the uncountable questions which still flooded her mind.

Such a window however she would never get - not for a while, at least, as none of the two space visitors even got a chance to answer Celestia. Instead, Luna's mind was suddenly filled with sharp flashbacks from the first encounter and the weird, cyan light wave, as a blight, red flash filled the royal study for a split second, following by a booming alien voice.

"ATTENTION! FLEET COMMAND STANDING ORDER
IMMEDIATE CONNECTION REQUESTED
PRIORITY CODE: ONE-DASH-FIVE GREEN"

At first, Luna moved at lightning speed to defend the meeting; the alien tongue sent shivers down her spines, and another Darknight Cult incursion into the Castle could not be allowed!
This time however, the Princess though better... or, well, perhaps simply heard the strange speech transcend into clear Equestrian. Either way, she managed to stop herself before her hooves even touched the ground and, after a brief glance at Celestia, decided to keep her guard up, but allow whatever was transpiring to unfold.

And transpiring was a lot.

And unprecedented as well.

Stanley, previously thoroughly engaged in the conversation, quickly stood up, ignoring the two monarchs. "Sela? Can you relay this from the pod to my gear?"

"For a minute or two, at most."

"Good enough," the soldier declared as the dim, red light turned dark blue and a low humming sound filled the room.

"Devon One-Prime reporting for duty, Sir!" he exclaimed, not turning to anyone in the room.

Suddenly however, akin to Selina, another bodyless alien voice joined the talk, tired and yet mildly optimistic, young, but most of all... weirdly distorted. "At ease," it ordered calmly. "Situation report."

"No hostile action. Talks with contacts in progress, underway at present."

Silence. "I understand," the voice stated, after a significant while. "Contact grade?"

"Two top-level priority VIP contacts."

"Roger," another pause. "Princesses of Equestria, it's an honour to greet you, even though I'd prefer to do so in person. My name is Nikolai Stratoi, Admiral of the Republic of Sol Navy's Battle Squadron Indigo and Supreme Commander of Operation: Fiery Remorse. Once again, it's a real pleasure to... meet you," the voice, the admiral, introduced himself.

"Likewise, admiral," replied Celestia in the most gentle and honest tone Luna had ever heard her use. "I hope in due time circumstances will allow us to meet in person."

"Agreed. Apologies, but I think we're going to have to make this quick. Devon One-Prime, we've got, finally, numerous breakthroughs across the perimeter, a strike to break the deadlock prepped and ready to commence. Fold site secured. Estimates, about-"

Suddenly, a loud crack accompanied by a booming explosion eclipsed the admiral's voice. A few faint rambles could be heard from The transceivers.

"Lawrence! Situation report!" The human, Nikolai, shouted at somepony unseen, presumably wherever he was himself.

"Additional contacts! Identification, enemy strike craft, and quite a lot!" another human answered, barely heard at all.

"AA?"

"96% of batteries online, but we miss targeting data! Sudden snatch, unknown cause."

The first voice, Nikolai, sighed. "I authorize temporary manual override. Yun, tell Fire Control A they're being re-assigned to bridge sectors Charlie through Omega, but have them dispatch fast response in case something happens. We need a clear way forward, but we can't risk anything."

"Roger that, Sir! Relaying orders now," another voice exclaimed, as weak as before, presumably different, but virtually indistinguishable. The admiral turned back to Equestria.

"We have an update. Devon One-Prime, Your Highnesses, we estimate two to five C-U-T-days for a stable tunnel. Science teams are just waiting until I tell them to work on the thing, and the Diplomatic Corps are en-route to our location right now, which means that this deadline also stands for a more official diplomatic representation. Keep in mind though that military escort might be necessary at first, though its size and significance is, of course, negotiable," he informed calmly, but very quickly at the same time, evidently keen on getting the coversation out of the way as soon as he could, as the transmission slowly began cracking once every often.

"I... I understand," Celestia assured, caught a little off-guard. "I can only hope we'll be able to talk again before you arrive."

Ugh... perhaps we should have shared more about our yesterday talk beforehand, after all...

"I think we can both agree on that," replied the admiral, with a tinge of - likely forced - optimism in his voice. "Devon One-Prime, you'll be issued further orders when we arrive. I wish you all a fruitfull endeavor, and-" before Nikolai could finish however, everything suddenly cut off, leaving only the dim, red light from before. After a few seconds, a soulless voice filled the room.

"CONNECTION LOST."

And the red glow was lost. And silence reigned.

At first, Luna wanted to restart the conversation, after wrapping her head around everything that had transpired, but one short glance at her sister was enough to hold her tongue back. Looking at Stanley, she guessed he must've been thinking the same way.

Celestia, the Diarch of Equestria and Raiser of the Sun, remained frozen, slowly shaking her head, with mouth half-open as if stopped right before speaking up. Her eyes still emanated with deep, eternal knowledge and wisdom, as did her ethereal mane, but despite this, the Princess was, somehow, out of place. As if she'd suddenly realized something vast, or... something shocking, that had overridden even her millennial diplomatic experience.

Thinking more, Luna came to the conclusion that this was likely actually the case.

Oh, silly her! The fear of another critique, of yet another scolding and rebuke for the sole, simple act of seeking another that could finally, at last understand her, another which she could - just maybe - yet truly talk to, made Luna withhold almost everything of her talk with Stanley from Celestia. She had never seen it that way before, but... the truth was, she had only really shared bits and pieces, and not for the sake of scheming or lying either - simply just in case, as the talk itself did break the plan they'd developed together earlier.

Why can I not even once truly trust my sister!? I truthfully do! Why is it so I cannot break free of these treacherous, decadent habits, then? No, that is not... why can we never put thought before our... instinct? Our emotions?

Not knowing about the war's existence, the battle scene must've been easy to shock Celestia - of course it would, why wouldn't it? Luna herself could feel shivers down her spine as the vigorous human officers sent vivid, quick-thought orders between the cracks and smashes.
But that was not what troubled Celestia, no... Luna had known her sister for far too long not to figure that out, especially as Stanley's use of a military pod had obviously already had its own implications. And it's not like the two hadn't seen any fighting in their entire lives - even if nothing every remotely similar to this short... sound sequence.

No, there was something else.

The two monarchs had already discussed why Stanley would possibly ever be deployed into Equestria, but eventually shelved the matter under a simple mistake or some variant of the navigational illness - pony ships had similarly sometimes sailed off course, often even, if their unicorn captain fell victim to said disease. Both possibilities combined served as a suitable explanation for Stanley getting stranded, especially as neither Princess could possibly have any more in-depth knowledge about the rather abstract concept of space travel. Both Celestia and Luna had agreed they should keep the matter in mind though, as it was still something suspicious enough to ask and try to figure out later - it was an actual, active military operation being conducted in Equestria for all they knew, after all, and protecting their little ponies was and will always be the most important thing.

And now?

Now, there was an open statement about bringing a powerful, unknown military force into Equestria. Luna had prepared for such an eventuality, for she actually could.

Celestia, in turn, could not.

And the fact persisted all the same.

Luna could not help but internally facehoof.

Cheers!

Author's Note:

Not a month between updates, huh?
Well, watch me, because I'm just getting started!

At least one good thing from this whole situation...
Ehh...

Better than nothing, I guess; stay tuned for updates, wash your hands, stay home, and - of course - stay pony, my friends!

Comments

[RTK]

Golden, I love this story