Fallout Equestria: Blue Destiny

by MagnetBolt

Chapter 98: Supercircus

I was still stuck in a gloomy haze when I walked onto the bridge of the Juniper. All the other bridges I’d been on had been set up like a split-level horseshoe shape with duty stations lining the curve and the captain seated at the focus where he could see any of the crew without having to turn around. They’d been a little like throne rooms.

The Juniper’s bridge was different. Polar Orbit was still in the middle of things, but it wasn’t a single throne in the middle of the activity. His captain’s chair was low and comfortable, one of several towards the front of the bridge, with only the helmsmare and a radar operator ahead of him, giving Polar Orbit an almost unobstructed view to the outside. I touched the wood railing around the bridge. It was cold, painted metal, not real wood.

“Good morning, Chamomile,” Polar Orbit said. He’d turned his chair to the side to look at me, sitting casually with his chin resting in his hoof. “Take a seat.”

He motioned to one of the chairs next to him. I expected them to be smaller, but they looked practically identical. I carefully sat down, almost expecting it to collapse, but it was sturdy enough.

“Would you like some coffee or tea?” Polar Orbit asked.

“Oh, uh, coffee is fine,” I said.

He nodded and touched a control on the arm of his chair. “This is the bridge. Could we please get a carafe of coffee from the mess? Thank you.” He sat back. “It’ll just be a minute. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

“I think it’s natural for ponies to care enough about each other to at least have common courtesy.”

“You’re not wrong,” I agreed quietly. We quietly watched the clouds stream by the moving ship for a few minutes before an ensign walked up to us with a coffee pot and a few mugs on a tray.

“Milk and sugar?” she asked.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, nodding. She added both to the mug and gave it to me. She didn’t have to ask Polar Orbit, carefully measuring out milk and two sugar cubes before passing it over. He smiled warmly and gave her a nod of thanks before she left.

“I understand you’ve been trying to do things by the book lately,” he said. “I can respect that, but I imagine for you it must have been a little frustrating.”

“I got more leeway than most people actually in the military,” I said. I took a sip of the coffee. It was better than I expected. It didn’t have the gritty, oily feel of most coffee.

“Exceptional ponies shouldn’t need the guidance and oversight the average soldier is put under,” Polar Orbit said. “You’re part of my chain of command at the moment. I think I can trust you to take care of yourself.”

“You’re not going to try and order me around?” I asked.

He laughed a little and turned his chair to look at the view. “No, not right now. I would like to ask you to attend a reception we’ll be having onboard this evening. We’ll be picking up some rather important ponies to serve as their transport to the naval review.”

“...Naval review?” I asked.

Polar Orbit nodded. “I suppose you hadn’t heard about it. You’ve been a bit busy and it was rather hastily put together. It’s something like a parade crossed with military maneuvers. Important ponies stand around and watch ships sail in formation.”

“That’s kind of weird,” I mumbled.

“It’s a waste of fuel and resources. Neighvarro is doing it to remind Thunderhead that they have the upper hoof if a real fight breaks out. A bit of muscle flexing to try and force them to back down without making open threats.”

“You make it sound like you don’t think it’ll work,” I noted.

“Ponies at Thunderhead and its satellite bases know more about the fleet than the ponies crewing them. It takes a big bite out of the threat when you can look at a battleship floating past and see on your reports that the fire control system is broken and the main cannon can’t traverse.”

“It’s still a battleship,” I said. “I’ve seen what can happen if you fly one into a city.”

“Thankfully, the Enclave isn’t prepared to use those kinds of tactics,” Polar Orbit replied. “At the highest level, it’s run by accountants. Ponies with military ranks and minds that only see the cost of everything and the value of nothing.”
“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll find out,” Polar Orbit said. “If you ask Ms. Bray about applying for a grant, you’ll have some sense of it.”

“I should go check on her. Thanks for the coffee.” I finished the cup, feeling a little more awake, if nothing else.

“It was my pleasure. If you need something to wear for the reception later, I’m sure we can find something that would fit.”

I paused, giving my cup to the waiting Ensign who was still lingering and waiting to refill our mugs. “I’ve got something that should work.”

---

“The ship is practically pristine,” Destiny said. “I don’t know if you noticed it, but everything here looks like it could have come out of a factory yesterday. It’s even like that behind maintenance panels.”

“Maybe that’s normal,” I suggested. “The Thunderhead faction does all the maintenance, right? If there’s one thing I know is absolutely true about logistics, it’s that you take care of the ponies you care about first.”

“So they might divert the best parts to ponies who support them, like Polar Orbit?”

“Yeah. But there’s another wrinkle.” I motioned to the ship around us. “This is a Garuda-class ship. It’s not something that should be on the books after the Enclave slimmed things down.”

“It is a rare ship,” Destiny agreed. “I studied cloudship design, you know. It was part of designing the Exodus Arks. The technology I ended up using was slightly different, but the design principles of the hulls are broadly similar. For a little while, every ship was unique, but the war demanded standardization to speed up production. That’s why the number of designs got pared down.”

“Right. But they still made other types. There could be warehouses full of parts for Garuda-class ships, or hulls that never got finished, or whatever.” I shrugged. “If they can afford to put the best parts together because nopony else needs the parts, maybe it’s not that strange.”

“Maybe,” Destiny conceded. “Or somepony just had enough bits to do it no matter the cost. A vanity project.”

“Since I’ve met Polar Orbit, I can tell you he absolutely seems like the kind of pony to spend a large fortune purely to show off. Speaking of showing off…”

I’d had a few options on what to wear. The obvious choice was a dress uniform. It would be appropriate, and if we were meeting ponies from Thunderhead it wouldn’t hurt to dress like I was on their side. I wasn’t sure I even had a side.

I could have gone in power armor. It was certainly the most expensive outfit I owned, but it might send the wrong message if I showed up looking ready for a fight. I was just going to be polite and maybe steal some canapes and drinks. It was impossible to resist the lure of free food and alcohol.

Then there was the third option. I laid out the red and black silk dress on the bed smoothing it out and checking to make sure I hadn’t somehow ruined it since the vampires had given it to me for another event that involved being polite to a bunch of bloodsucking leeches, though at least the vampires hadn’t been politicians.

Now that I’d thought of it like that, there was really only one good choice, wasn’t there? I picked up the dress and started pulling it on.

“So, why were you pulling panels off the wall?” I asked, getting my wings through the slits between the dress’ layers.

“Quattro wanted to check our quarters for listening devices,” Destiny said.

“How many did you find?” I asked.

“Two. One was obvious, the other was better hidden.”

“And - let me guess - Quattro’s guess is that the obvious one was there as a decoy so we’d think we’d disabled all the surveillance?”

“You’re starting to think like her,” Destiny said.

“I sure hope not,” I mumbled. “I’m not good at lying. If I had to go around pretending to be somepony else all the time I’d slip up. Can you give me a hoof with this dress? I don’t want to rip it putting it on.”

“Sure,” Destiny said, assisting me with the various buttons and catches hidden in the embroidered silk, the webbing of belts built into the structure of the dress making it almost form-fitting without restricting motion. It also made it difficult to put on without somepony helping.

Somepony knocked on the door.

“It’s open!” I shouted.

Quattro walked in, saw me getting changed, and immediately turned around so she wasn’t facing me, shutting the door and staying there looking at the wall.

“You could have warned me,” she said.

“About what? I’m just getting dressed.”

“Chamomile when you wear a dress like that, taking it on or off is an experience for anypony watching,” Quattro said. “Where did you even get that?”

“I got it from a vampire queen,” I said. “And I’ll take that to mean you like it.”

“It’s definitely going to turn heads,” Quattro agreed. “I thought you were going to wear your dress uniform.”

“Should I change?” I asked.

“No, this is better. You’re certain to get everypony’s attention.”

“You’re ready to go,” Destiny said, giving me a nudge. “It makes me wish I could dress up. This shroud is better than nothing, but…” She shrugged, the ghostly shawl letting me see her phantom shoulders but not much more than that.

“Sorry,” I said. “You know, now that things are quiet, maybe we can spend some time figuring that out.”

“Really?” Destiny asked.

I nodded and looked over at her. “It’s not ideal but what about a robot body? The basement of the Braytech lab outside Kludgetown was full of those murder bots. If you can control the Exodus Armor I bet you could control one of them, too.”

Destiny tilted, floating and thinking. “Maybe. It would be better than having to do everything with telekinesis. Even moving around is a constant drain like this. We’d have to run some tests, rig up a control system…”

“Sounds boring and safe,” Quattro said. “Might be good for a change, huh?”

“Let’s go eat a bunch of caviar and champagne,” I said, trying to playfully bump Quattro on my way out. She almost went flying.

“Careful!” Quattro said. “I’m a delicate lady!”

“What am I, then?”

Quattro chuckled. “Dangerous!”

---

The Juniper had an actual reception hall on deck ten, set in the forward part of the ship to give it a view of the outside. I wasn’t exactly late getting there - the reception was one of those events that was really spread out over a few hours as guests arrived, and I wasn’t the last pony to get there. A few ponies from Thunderhead were still trickling in on personal transports and skywagons.

I think it was the first time in my life that I was the best-dressed pony in the room. Everypony else was in expensive suits and dresses, but I felt like they were a tier or two below what I had on. It was a weird feeling, but I liked it. Maybe this was how rich ponies felt all the time!

“Who are you and what did you do with Chamomile?” Cube asked. She was wearing a dress uniform, Almost all white except for a burgundy vest and detailed gold embroidery around the sleeves and shoulders. “You actually got cleaned up. I’m nearly impressed.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think.”

“It’s a compliment, so just take it,” Cube said dismissively. “Come on. The Captain wanted me to bring you to him when you got here. I want to see his face when he gets a look at that dress.”

“I’ll be around,” Quattro said. “I enjoy mingling.”

“You enjoy spying,” Destiny corrected. Quattro shrugged, not correcting her. She walked off, waving over her shoulder and disappearing into the crowd of old ponies and unicorns. It was actually more unicorns than I was used to seeing in one place.

Cube led me through the crowd, and I felt ponies turn to look at me. For once it wasn’t because I’d made some kind of terrible mistake. I wasn’t even covered in blood. I could feel that they didn’t fear me, and there wasn’t a feeling of disapproval except from some of the oldest and crustiest ponies in the crowd.

“Chamomile!” Polar Orbit spotted me as we approached. He waved us over to where he was speaking to a half-dozen ponies in slightly nicer suits than the rest. “You have impeccable timing. I was just telling these gentlestallions about you.”

“Good things, I hope,” I said. I offered a hoof to shake, nodding to them and smiling and trying to be at least halfway polite and approachable.

“Of course,” Polar Orbit said. “You’re a pony with remarkable achievements. You’re a hero and a veteran of more combat than anypony else in the Enclave.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” I laughed. “There are a lot of ponies up here.”

“Don’t minimize your accomplishments,” Polar Orbit said. “It’s one thing to gun down a few raiders from the safety of a Vertibuck, it’s another thing to strap rocket boosters to yourself and charge at a Raptor-class cloudship.”

“You heard about that, huh?” I asked.

“I was hoping you could tell us about it,” one of the older unicorns said, adjusting his glasses. “Nothing quite like those ponies from Neighvarro getting a bloody nose, eh?”

“...Really? I wasn’t sure it was even a safe topic,” I admitted. “To be honest, I ended up there because I fell in with a bunch of Dashites. But even that was only a cover for what they were really after…”

I ended up telling them a good portion of the story. I left out the parts with Four. I wasn’t quite ready to spill my guts like that, and they wanted the exciting parts, not the traumatic bits where a pony I loved got killed and all my bones shattered. It was stupid but I still had phantom pains sometimes and I knew for a fact that my bones didn’t grow back in the right shape in some places.

I got to the part where I jumped out of the exploding cloudship and everypony looked suitably impressed. I admit, I sort of exaggerated a few parts in my retelling. I mentioned the Grandus but not Four, and skipped the part where I’d had a good long cry. To be honest I expected them to ask more questions about the invincible assault armor. If I didn’t know better I’d think some of them knew what I was talking about.

“Bragging about causing meaningless destruction? Did you forget all the ponies that died? Most of them were soldiers just doing their duty.” A pony rumbled behind me. Their voice was distorted and electronic, and I didn’t know why until I turned to look.

He was a stallion, just a little shorter than me, and I couldn’t tell you one other thing about how he actually looked. He had a black cape on that covered most of his body, and a thick suit under that, with boots and a turtleneck that concealed every inch of his coat. A smooth, almost featureless mask studded with tiny embedded cameras and complete with a rebreather covered his face and mane, turning him into a faceless mystery pony.

“I was asked to tell the story,” I pointed out. “And you are?”

He was silent for a long moment. I could feel something from him. A barely concealed rage bubbling under the surface. I think I’d have noticed it even without the weird sixth sense I’d developed. Every motion he made had that very careful, controlled sense that a pony had when they were a heartbeat away from snapping entirely.

“Tetra,” he said, once he’d gathered himself. If I’d bet money on that not being his real name, nopony in the world would have taken me up on it. It was obviously an alias. A pony dressed like that didn’t go around telling ponies their real name.

“Nice suit,” I said. Even that got a surge of anger out of him, a hitch in his breathing just from having to listen to me talk. The pony had something against me personally. I hadn’t even met him before.

Probably. I had no idea who he really was. I could tell one thing, though, the second he shook my hoof and squeezed just a little too hard for a normal pony.

“You’re enhanced,” I said. “Like Cube.”

“How did you know that?” Cube asked. The way she said it was confirmation. She was just surprised I’d been able to tell.

“You’re very perceptive,” Tetra said with forced lightness and politeness. “Perhaps you’d like to dance?”

It felt like he was inviting me to a duel, not a dance. I nodded anyway.

“Sure,” I said. “I have to warn you, I’m not very good. I never went to finishing school.”

“Then I’ll lead,” Tetra said, motioning towards the dance floor. I excused myself and caught a worried glimpse from Cube when we walked away. There weren’t a lot of ponies dancing, giving us plenty of space and making us the center of attention. If Tetra just wanted me to embarrass myself in front of everypony, he’d picked the right venue for it. I wasn’t exactly light on my hooves.

I took his hoof and we stepped onto the dance floor just as the music changed. The knot of anger in his core didn’t shift, but he kept it contained well enough that a pony could mistake him as being terse and awkward instead of seething. He swung into motion along with the music, and I hate to admit it, but he did know how to lead a pony in a dance.

My awkwardness and general clumsiness was turned around, Tetra using my own momentum against me. It felt like Judo. I wasn’t dancing so much as I was being danced, kept off balance and pushed around so I’d spin the right way on instinct, stepping with the right pace because I was being pushed and pulled. I could feel how strong he was. It wasn’t the kind of natural strength that Two Bears had. She could squeeze a pony in half but it was warm and alive. Tetra had the power of a cold machine. He might be able to play it like an instrument, but a real musician breathed life into their art. He wielded strength without passion, just determination.

He tripped me up, knocking me off my hooves and catching me. I was sure he did it on purpose. For a moment I thought he was going to follow up with a punch. Instead, he caught me before I hit the ground, sweeping me into a big, slow spin back to my hooves.

The ponies watching us clapped. They could tell it was all on him, but they thought he was just showing off his skill.
I was the only one in a position to tell what he was really thinking.

I leaned closer to whisper. “You know, if you’re feeling up to it, we could forget all the foreplay, go off somewhere alone, and have a knife fight.”

He bristled and set me back on my hooves.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you’d suggest that,” he hissed back. “You’re a killer and a barbarian.”

“And you really want to take me up on that offer,” I noted. “You’d love to take a shot at me. If you’re feeling brave enough, I’m right here.”

“I wouldn’t want to ruin your dress,” Tetra growled. “It’s fetching. Too good for a pony like you to be wearing it.”

“Thank you. I like the mask. It gives you a real sense of mystery. I’m sure you’re not nearly as interesting without it.”

He made an annoyed sound and bowed politely. “I swore not to do any violence today but every moment I spend around you makes me regret that promise,” he said. “So, thank you.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I considered forgiving you for everything you did, but now that I’ve looked you in the eyes and seen you once again for the monster you are, I remember why I wanted to kill you to begin with.”

He stomped away, dramatically swirling his cloak as he left and passed through the crowd. I shrugged and walked off the dance floor. Destiny was waiting for me, giving me what I recognized as a worried look.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Who is that guy?” I mumbled. “He’s really peeved at me and I can’t tell why. Any ideas on his real identity?”

“With that mask? No clue.” Destiny bobbed. “With how much you’ve been involved in, I can’t even make an educated guess. It seems personal, with how much of a grudge he’s got against you.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I thought the same thing. I just wish I could narrow it down.”

“He’s probably not anypony you killed,” Destiny joked. “That’s about all I’ve got.”

That got a snort of laughter out of me.

“Miss Chamomile?” A pony behind me spoke up. I turned to look. It was an older mare, with a suggestion of makeup and one of those understated outfits that meant it was expensive and also tasteful instead of just chasing whatever was popular in the moment. “My name is Dual Wingbeat. Could we speak for a moment?”

“I don’t think there’s a law against it,” I said. “What can I do for you?”

“In private, I meant,” she specified. “I’d like to show you something.”

---

She led me to one side of the reception hall, where fabric screens created a kind of quiet VIP area, away from the view and chatter of the crowd. The wall here was painted with a mural that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, covering almost every inch of the bulkhead.

“What do you think of the mural?” she asked.

I looked at it for a moment, taking a sip of the champagne I’d nabbed from a serving pony on the way over. I’d read books about art before. They tended to have lots of pretty pictures, which meant they managed to keep my attention even before I was old enough to understand the content and commentary. Dad had just been happy enough that it was theoretically historically important and kept me quiet for a few hours while I flipped through them.

“It’s in the art deco style that was popular right towards the end of the War,” I said. “That’s not all that surprising, of course. It’s still popular today because the arts haven’t advanced much in the last two hundred years, and it has to be at least somewhat contemporary simply because of the medium.”

I motioned with my glass.

“It’s clearly an interpretation of a story. Even without words you can get a sense of it. This part is set before the sky closed, setting it in the distant past, and it’s depicted as being sort of a mythical golden age. This shows the fall of the Princesses, then a long period of war, ending with a mirror image of the first section, but reversed. A savior figure rises up and reunites a broken Equestria, bringing in a new golden age.”

“You’re right,” Dual Wingbeat said. “That’s quite a good interpretation.”

I narrowed my eyes, thinking. “It’s pretty common. I think most ponies believe somewhere deep inside that this is how things have to go, that eventually, somepony will save us. You could even interpret the savior figure as being symbolic of the Enclave itself, in the way Celestia and Luna symbolize Equestria. But…”

“But?”

“Well, I’m not a professor, I’ve just been forced to write a lot of book reports. Usually with a symbolic figure, especially for something that’s more or less a prophecy, you’d make it vague. A pony made out of light, or maybe wearing Enclave power armor since that’s what everypony wears when they go down to the surface. This looks like they had some specific pony in mind.”

I stepped closer to look at the pony. I didn’t recognize them. A pegasus, pink and blue, with light shining around them in a halo and smiling serenely.

“Saying it’s a prophecy isn’t quite right,” Dual Wingbeat said. “It’s more like a hope. I’m sure you’re aware of the current tensions between Neighvarro and Thunderhead?”

I nodded, wandering away from the savior descending and back towards the center of the mural.

“I’m guessing that’s what’s depicted here,” I said. It showed struggle and strife, but not without hope. Ponies fighting ponies, but none of them were mortally wounded.

“If you like,” she said. “It could be this conflict or a fight to reclaim the wasteland, or just ponies struggling with their nature. Do you know what’s bringing on this current little disagreement?”

“Probably resources,” I guessed.

“Yes, but more importantly, control. Neighvarro wants everything wrapped up in a tight little chain of command where everypony knows their place and things are done without negotiation or questioning. We in Thunderhead disagree with that. We think independence is important.”

“And the top brass thinks that’s a threat. The same way they think Dashites are a threat because they don’t follow the party line.”

“Exactly,” Dual Wingbeat said. “I know you’ve got friends on the surface. Did you know the only reason we have any contact with the surface at all is because Thunderhead pushed for it? If it was up to Neighvarro we wouldn’t even send ponies down to gather supplies, much less on missions of mercy.”

I grunted at that. I’d seen what missions of mercy looked like in Dark Harbor.

“If war breaks out, which side will you be on?” she asked bluntly.

“I wasn’t aware I had to pick a side,” I retorted.

“A side should always be taken, even if it’s the wrong one.”

I put the half-finished glass of sparkling wine down. “Right now? I’m loyal to my friends, not some vague notion of a country. But… I don’t think I’d want to fight against Cube.” I sighed. “She’s a good pony, and family.”

“That’s a good answer,” Dual Wingbeat said. She looked over at the savior figure. “You know, friendship is the most powerful force there is. It’s the invisible thread that binds us together. It’s what makes societies function.”

“If it helps, I’m not here to cause trouble for anypony,” I said. “Before you know it, I’ll probably be off on another big stupid adventure, so I’m not gonna be a political bother.”

Dual Wingbeat laughed politely. “If you do go off on an adventure, I wish you well.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“I apologize for pulling you aside. Please, though, when you do decide which side of this coming war you’re on? Make sure you pick the side that helps ponies.”

I nodded to her. I could understand where she was coming from. I got the sense that she’d been asked to try and get some kind of commitment out of me. They probably wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to stab Polar Orbit in the back and give the Juniper to Neighvarro at the naval review.

Now that I thought about it, I was almost tempted. If I hadn’t cooled down a lot since he’d literally buried my hometown alive, I’d probably kill him just on principle. I hated that things were more complicated now. Politics and family. You couldn’t name two things that were worse together.

I stepped around the fabric divider. Quattro was waiting for me, speaking quietly with Destiny and holding a plate of hors d'oeuvres.

“Here,” Quattro said, offering me deviled eggs and strangely-colored paste on crackers. I gave it a look, then started putting the horse’s gift in my mouth. “How was the sales pitch?” she asked.

“I can’t figure out why they’re trying to sell me on it,” I admitted. “I’m not exactly famous and important.”

“Polar Orbit’s been talking you up,” Quattro said. “If you listen to what he says, you’d think you were a super-soldier that could replace a thousand normal ponies on the battlefield.”

“Those are big shoes to fill,” I mumbled.

“They are. Some ponies here have the impression that they could point you at the Naval Review and just watch from a distance with champagne and caviar while things explode. I’m not entirely sure they’re wrong, but you’d have to be awfully motivated to cause that much trouble for anypony.”

“If they were smarter, they’d try bribing Chamomile instead of talking to her about politics,” Destiny said.

“Come on, I’m not greedy,” I snorted. “So they’d have to make it a really good bribe.”

The crowd started shifting and murmuring. The music slowed, and ponies started all moving in the same direction.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Quattro said. “Ladies first.”

“That’s me,” Destiny said, going ahead of us.

I followed with the motion of the crowd. I could see over all but the most elaborate of giant hats. We were all moving towards the huge floor-to-ceiling windows at the fore of the room. Outside, the clouds opened up like a wide river. The conversations became quiet and private, just whispers. I could feel fear and anxiety, along with the dull excitement of ponies who believed themselves invincible and were as dumb as I was.

Ahead of us, one of the largest cloudships I’d ever seen, half-again as massive as the Juniper, hovered in place. It was a Thunderhead, and I couldn’t help but think that it was a little spiteful to use a ship named after the city specifically to intimidate that same place into obedience. More than two dozen Raptor-class ships held position around it in a precise formation.

“There are more than I expected,” Quattro whispered in the near-silence.

“I think we should have brought a bigger boat,” I joked.

“We did,” Polar Orbit said quietly, as he stepped past us to the front of the crowd. “Everypony! I promised you that we would not be outdone at the naval review. Here is the proof!”

He waved his hoof with immaculate timing. Something massive breached the clouds below us. It was a multi-decked flying wing, practically large enough to be a city in the air. Big enough for thousands of ponies. I’d seen this ship before.

“The Exodus Black?” I asked. “No, wait, this one’s different…”

“It’s the Red,” Destiny corrected. “It’s been here all along?”

“Mares and Gentlestallions, let me introduce you to Thunderhead’s great hope,” Polar Orbit said.

The Ark loomed over the assembled fleet, massing at least as much as they did if not more. It was subtly different from the Exodus Black, without the look of a ruined, haunted house. This looked like a machine built for war, like a ship built for an alicorn. The armored plates were painted blood red and trimmed with gold. The prow of the Ark was a huge wedge of polished gold, tipped with a statue of Celestia that had to be several stories tall, her wings spread to both sides like she’d been frozen in place in the moment of leading the ship in a charge against its foes.

Lights and sound blared from the ship, a note like a foghorn announcing its arrival and getting everypony’s attention as if the Exodus Red didn’t demand it on its own. A shimmering image appeared in the air, almost as large as the ship itself. A transparent pony stood there, wearing a familiar-looking suit of power armor.

“Is that…?” I asked.

“We shouldn’t be that surprised she has Exodus Armor,” Destiny said. “Your suit wasn’t unique. They must be using the largest illusory array I’ve ever seen to make that projection.”

“Welcome,” boomed the armored pegasus mare. “It has been a very long time, but we are here to rescue you from yourselves. Come and see! Bring your leaders to me, to this place where destiny is made!”

“I think we’re in trouble,” I mumbled.

Comments

[Just a tree]

So cynical, Chamomile, you see a giant pony in power armor and the first thing you think of is fighting them.

You're probably right anyway though.

[Thought Prism]

Ah, so this arc is Star Wars inspired! We already have our plucky crew of heroes and our Sith Lord, too. But just who is this Palpatine?

[Reese]

Well! Quite a development there!
And many questions raised. I look forward to seeing what happens next, and I continue to enjoy this story; thank you for writing. :)

[FridayPie]

“No, this is better. You’re certain to get everypony’s attention.”

Oh, no.. two tank ponies wearing ball dresses in same region are two too much.