Heaven's Gift

by The Great Reader

First published 16th of February, 2015

Mankind has finally reached the stars and is now attempting to reach other systems in the galaxy. What will happen when one man finds himself stuck, unable to return home, on a strange new world with talking ponies?

Mankind has been traveling amongst the edges of it's system for years now, colonizing the planets. But now they have developed an experimental warp drive to allow travel to new systems. The first human to experience this new technology will have his life changed forever, as experiments don't always work out in the end. Becoming stranded on a new strange world with talking ponies and other creatures one would only know from fairy tales, he must make new friends and establish a new life. How will this world of magic effect him and his technology them? Only time will tell....

The Arrival

*Beeeep*

“Commodore, I’ve made all necessary adjustments and final calculations. We can begin shortly.” The synthetic voice of Athene spoke, which was the AI of the ship Radel Endorian was now the Commodore of. Though mankind had been flying through space and exploring the edges of its solar system for decades, this ship was something else. It was a newer design fitted for both militaristic and exploration missions, able to hold its own for small space and planet side operations. It was also the first cruiser to be fitted with the newly developed (and still experimental) warp drive that would allow humans to finally travel to other distant stars and possibly find new life. Even though he was just recently instated into the navy, he couldn’t pass an opportunity to have his own ship AND explore places no other man has been.

“Alright Athene, give me a moment.” Radel returned to his holopad as he continued his personal affairs within his quarters.

Speaking of the ship, it was quite the beauty. It’s weapon system comprised of two missile batteries, six railgun turrets, and one plasma cannon for a main gun with various point defense systems. The engines were recently developed involving ion propulsion making it the fastest ship yet created, being able to outrun even frigates. Its shielding was amplified through various arrays with a more advanced generator to increase their power and strength. Its hull was forged with the newest compound of elements making the metal more durable and resistant. And the cloaking and scanners were no less impressive as the rest of the ship. A ship that could hide in plain sight and be invisible on anyone’s scanners while picking them up on a planet across the system was an extreme advantage for obtaining strategic information.

The biggest mind blower for Radel, though, was the most advanced thing on the ship….. A integrated AI called Athene that served to man the ship in place of an entire crew at the hands of the Commodore. He could basically pilot the cruiser as if he was flying a starfighter… and it was his ship. The U.S.S Ender’s Blessing

All he had to do to keep it was test out the highly experimental warp drive and try to jump to Alpha Centauri. After that he had to establish a base of operations and explore the system and record all findings. If he finds signs of life he is to investigate them and if another sentient life form is found, to establish first contact peacefully if at all possible.

It’s an easy task man come on! Sure the thing has only been simulated and tested on unmanned probes to only open space between our system and others. And yeah we’ve never come across other life but that shouldn’t be too bad. What’s the worst that could happen? “Probably an explosion that would be big enough for a city on every planet to see, or we can never return home, Commodore.”

Dammit! That was the one downside to the integrated AI, it was connected to him indefinitely while he was on the ship. Now he wasn’t walking around with a cable to the back of his neck or anything like that. Thanks to the biotic and cybernetic implants he had, he could be connected to it wirelessly. And being connected to it meant it could read his thoughts, faster for it to do so than wait for a vocal command from him. Great tactical advantage, but terrible when one wants some privacy….

“I’ll be on the bridge in a moment, Athene. Just sending some final messages to my family in case this test doesn’t work out…”

Radel had been contacting his family and close friends over the last couple of hours to hopefully gain some more confidence in the test. Thankfully they had all wished him luck and had no ill feelings towards the outcome. His best friend John even joked with him about bringing the gift of fire to a form of life that was just starting to become sentient if it was even possible.

“Commodore, if I recall correctly, all of your friends and family have no fears of the outcome. Surely with that and how previous tests and simulations have been successful you would have no worries?”

“Yeah, well being the first human to warp to another unknown region of space is a little unnerving. We could end up warping on a direct course into the sun! Or even end up in the middle of an asteroid field, one can never know.”

“Well Commodore there is only one way to find out.”

“You’re right, warm up the engines, I’m on my way up.” As Radel said this he rubbed his forehead with a sigh. There was no going back now, it was time to begin his first mission. Radel got off the edge of his bed and made his way to the bridge.

(Minutes later on the bridge….)

“Commodore, we are receiving a transmission from the Admiral.” To confirm Athene’s statement, a flashing exclamation symbol was appearing on the CommLink.

I guess it’s time to get this over with… “Patch it through Athene.”

“Yes Commodore.”

As the AI began establishing the connection, Radel was left to his own thoughts for once, however short lived it was. I wonder if they tested to see if being connected to this AI would drive a man crazy...

*CommLink Active* The audio confirmation was followed by the screen manipulating itself as the link was established.

“Commodore Endorian, are all preparations complete for your warp to Alpha Centauri?” A man, possibly in his late fifties, stated as an image of him began to clear to show off his wrinkling skin and greying hair. The admiral was also a good family friend and was one of the main reasons Radel was chosen and given the chance at commanding Ender’s Blessing.

“Yes Admiral Shepherd, Athene just completed the last of the calculations and we are ready to warp out once you give the all clear.” I sound more confident then I feel...

“Good, before you warp out, do you remember your mission?” As the admiral asked this Athene brought up the mission briefing on another screen in case he needed it.

However Radel didn’t need it, as he began to mentally flip through a checklist of mission objectives he’d have to complete in the coming days. He had the mission files memorized almost indefinitely.

“Yes Admiral, I am to arrive at the destination and establish a base of operations. After that if I find signs of life I am to investigate them. If sentient life is found I must establish first contact peacefully and if they are a threat, return in an attempt to warn Earth.” If I don’t explode in the process or find out I can’t get back home….

“Alright, you’re all clear Commodore, Godspeed...” The man gave a salute to Radel, which he returned, and the image began to fade.

*CommLink Deactivated*

“Athene, are we all set?” Radel was switching between various screens as he looked at various systems and diagnostic reports of the ship.

“Yes Commodore.”

“Alright, make the jump to lightspeed.” As Radel gave this command, the ships various systems came to life.

“Charging warp drive… Engines preparing to activate…..” As Athene stated this, Radel thought he noticed something peculiar on the readings he was getting from the engine room.

“Commodore, there seems to be a strange power fluctuation pattern in the warp drive.” Athene then brought up on the main screen the current diagnostics of the warp drive.

I thought I noticed something strange. “Is it anything serious Athene?” Radel was beginning to lose what little confidence he had. There weren't any reports from other tests with strange power fluctuations.

“No Commodore, I can work with it without issue. Warp drive is fully charged and awaiting command to warp.”

Here goes nothing… “Warp.” As Radel gave the command he had second thoughts but quickly pushed them aside. It was too late for him to decide that he would rather not partake in this mission.

“Warp commencing in ten…..nine…...eigh- wait Commodore that power fluctuation is back but more severe!” As Athene stated this, the power readings from the warp drive began to fluctuate dramatically.

Suddenly multiple alerts began popping up and flashing across the screens. Whatever the problem was with the warp drive, it was affecting the whole ship!

“Stop the warp! Who knows what that could cause!” Great! Just great. More problems is what I really needed to make me feel better about this whole ordeal. Radel was now extremely worried and sweating profusely.

“I can’t sir! We’re about to ju-.”

*Warp Drive Active*

Shit….

As the ship entered lightspeed, various systems began to overload from a power surge within the warp drive. Lights were flickering and there were a few electric shocks given off that Radel was thankful to not be near.

“ATHENE!!! What was that just now!?” I really wish the circumstances were better so I could actually enjoy the fact that I’m WARPING to a new system. But NO, the warp drive had to have massive power fluctuations!!! Radel was busy working at the main console in front of him as he tried to figure out what the problem was.

“Commodore, that strange power fluctuation within the warp drive has caused a major power overload within the ship. I’m losing control over navigation and shields are down. We’ve been knocked off course and will be coming out of warp shortly.”

Before Athene could finish this report, various lights and systems went offline or simply exploded from the overload. Radel was about to have his day get worse...

“Well see what you ca-” As Radel began to ask Athene to find a way to fix the situation, a large explosion erupted within the bridge from the main console as the warp drive finally gave way. That was the last thing Commodore Endorian remembered before he was thrown against a wall in the bridge from the explosion and Ender’s Blessing came out of warp...

********************************************************************************************************

In a little town on another planet, six ponies were enjoying each others company…

“Euuughhhhh….. You girls have no idea how strange it is to be living in this place!”

“Twilight darling, what could possibly be so terrible about having a castle all to yourself? The place is simply gorgeous!” Another pony asked before daintily taking a sip of some punch.

“Well Rarity, you know how I feel about being a princess. I don’t like seeming like I’m better than everypony.” As the pony said this they pointed towards a crown on their head to emphasize the point.

“Well sugarcube, I don’t think it makes you seem like that kind of pony.” Another pony said with a honest smile.

“Thanks Applejack, at least there is plenty of room now in the library for my books....”

“Especially for the new Daring Doo series coming out next week!” A pony yelled in excitement as it casually flew around the group.

A highly energetic creature began bouncing around the group as well.”AND there is soooo much room for HUGE PARTIES!!!” After this statement there was a rather small explosion of confetti.

“I find this smaller room more enjoyable than the rest, it’s rather cozy. Though plenty of space for large parties is good too Pinkie....” The final pony almost whispered as it laid comfortably on a couch near a fireplace.

Now that Twilight thought of it, the room was very nice. It was much like her old living room, only more spacious and with a little more furniture. It’s fireplace was also larger and gave off more warmth to almost the entire room while her old one only warmed the area in front of it. It also had a rather large window that had a great view of the town.

“I agree Fluttershy, this room is one of my favorite to read in because of that. It also has a great view of the night sk-” What was that? I feel like something was disturbed greatly but only for a short duration, strange…. Twilight stopped speaking as she felt a strange surge of energy, almost like somepony tugged on her hoof. However it was her horn where the tug was felt and it was more so done by that of a magical force.

“Y'all alright sugarcube?”

“I-I’m not sure, I mean I feel fine it's just… I feel like something has changed, I don’t know how to describe it.”

After taking another sip of her punch the one known as Rarity replied. “Whatever do you mean darling?”

“I….don’t…...know……….” What in Celestia is that?!?!

Twilight barely finished her reply when she noticed something in the night sky, something quickly becoming bigger. Her eyes widened as she realized something was coming out of the sky at immense speed that looked like a great fireball.

When everypony else noticed that Twilight was staring out the window they all turned and gasped.

As they all watched in horror and awe, the strange object crashed into the Everfree Forest followed by a large explosion.

********************************************************************************************************

Somewhere else on the planet, in a beautiful mountainside city...

A majestic pony was standing on a balcony of a castle with a grand view of a city along a mountain. The moon shone brightly over the rooftops and reflected off the distant water of the fountains below. Suddenly, the pony felt...strange. They could not quite understand what they felt.

“Strange…. What is it that I sense?” Oh well, whatever it was it can’t be too much of a problem. These were the thoughts of the Princess of the Night as she gazed at her beautiful night sky. At Least the stars are bright tonight, especially that….one…..

As the princess was finishing her thought her sister began knocking on her door. “Luna? Are you there?” She eventually opened the door and saw Luna out on the balcony. As she approached her, she began to speak. “ Did you also sense something strange Luna? It was like noth-”

“Tia! I think I know what we have both sensed, look!” As Luna cut off her sister, she pointed towards her beautiful night sky. Celestia saw what she spoke of and quickly became worried. Some strange object was falling from the heavens and was on a collision course with the Everfree Forest near Ponyville.

“I’ll go inform some guards to prepare to leave immediately! We must be there as soon as possible once that thing has crashed.” As Celestia said this she began making her way out of her sister’s quarters in a quickened pace. She immediately began rounding up as many guards as she could.

As she left to do this, Luna continued to watch the descent of this strange object. As she watched, it finally met the Everfree Forest with a forceful embrace of destruction and fire….

Author's Notes:

This is the first chapter of my first story ever so any suggestions would be nice so I can make improvements if possible. Also, a small thanks to Pusspuss2 for the help he gave me for developing the story a little more.

Rescued

“That...was….AWESOME!!!” As the aftershock of the crashing object began to subside, Rainbow Dash was stuck staring towards the impact.

Twilight’s thoughts on the other hoof were more worried and concerned than apparently Rainbow’s; how could somepony not be worried about something like that falling out of the sky. She was also still transfixed on the location where it had crashed and could see the smoke rising from the impact still. That must be what I sensed earlier…. As Twilight continued to stare, Fluttershy continued to try and get her attention.

“Twilight…”

"…………."

“Twilight…”

Did I just hear something?

“Twilight!” *SLAP* “Get a hold of yourself Twilight! I m-mean if thats okay with you….” After her little, assertive outburst, Fluttershy began to cower slightly out of embarrassment.

“It’s ok Fluttershy, I really needed that.” Twilight began to rub the red mark on her cheek with a hoof as she now could think clearly again. Thankfully the act had not only knocked her out of her trance, but the others had also become more focused due to the whole ordeal. Of course Fluttershy slapping one of them was more surprising than a giant object falling from the sky.

“Okay, I think we should go check out the crash site.” Twilight thought this was the best course of action. Not only was she curious, but if the object posed any real danger, it was her duty as a princess to protect those around her from it.

“Uhhh…. ya sure that’s the best idea, Twi? I mean that thing just fell from the sky, we don’t know what it is.” Though Applejack was afraid of what the object really was, she was more afraid of any of her friends being hurt by it if at all possible.

“Well I’m going regardless, It’s my duty as a princess now…” Twilight began to get up and moved towards the door but was stopped by Rainbow Dash.

“And I’m coming with you, who knows what that thing was. You’re gonna need more ponies with you in case there’s trouble.” Rainbow Dash said this and then proceeded to mock a salute to Twilight.

As Rainbow did this, all of the other mares began voicing their own acceptance and willingness to go with Twilight.

“We’re with ya Twi, friends stick together no matter what.” After Applejack said this with a smile, the six of them began to make their way out of the castle and towards the Everfree Forest. They, however, were not the only ones heading towards the crash site, for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were on their way as well.

********************************************************************************************************

After minutes of walking and traversing the dense plant life of the forest, Twilight and her friends finally made it to the edges of the crash site only to stop in awe. What laid before them was something they had never seen before. A large metallic object lay before them with various signs of damage ranging from holes and a deformed exterior. It had slid across the ground for some time when it first crashed, making a large trench in its path until it had finally slowed. Trees around the object were either completely destroyed or uprooted and pushed away. The ground was charred and small bits of debris lay scattered with smoke and flames coming off of them.

As the six ponies began to snap out of their trance, they made their way closer to the object to hopefully find out what it truly was…

While Twilight and her friends made their way closer to the object, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were minutes away from landing at the crash site. With them was a couple squads of royal guards consisting of both Celestia's normal guard, and Luna's bat ponies.

The Princesses had a birds eye view of the damage and were awestruck by it. Luna herself was amazed at the size of the object, which could have served as the Canterlot Castle. “Tia, look at what that object has caused…. And not only that, but look at the size of it!” As Luna said this they began to make their descent and land next to said object, only to be greeted by a surprised group of ponies.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! It’s good to see you here right now.” As Twilight said this, she made her way over to them exchanging a quick hug with Celestia in the process.

After their greetings were finished, Celestia commanded the guards to secure the area and establish a perimeter.”Captain! Make sure that nopony other than us gets close to this strange object. We don’t know what it is or whether it is harmful to us.”

“Yes your highness!” The captain then went to the other guards and passed them the orders of the princess. They then began spreading out around the object, ensuring that nopony could get close. As they did so, other ponies from the town began to arrive, only to be stopped at a safe distance by some guards.

As the guards did their duty, Celestia then turned back to the strange object, and noticed that not far from the ground, there seemed to be an opening or breach in its side. “I think it’s best that we enter this strange object and see what we can find.”

“Princess Celestia, do you think there could be somepony in that….thing?” Though Twilight doubted it, she still couldn't help but feel something was in there. Why else would I sense something strange before this thing fell from the sky? As she thought of this she remembered a spell she had recently found in her studies, one that allowed her to detect life in any environment. Without waiting for a reply from Celestia, Twilight cast the spell and found that there was indeed something alive in the object, but it was definitely not a pony. Whatever's alive in there, it seems to be injured and….. Whatever it was it was not only badly injured but seemed to have a strange aura around it.

“Princess Twilight, I know what spell you just casted. Was there anything alive within this object?” Celestia questioned her once brilliant student with worry in her eyes as she noticed how Twilight’s eyes widened with what she learned of the living creature in the object through her spell.

“Yes Princess Celestia, there is something alive in there! And we must hurry, whatever it is, it appears to be badly injured and could be close to death!” As Twilight finished stating this, she quickly flew towards the gap Celestia had noticed and landed in what appeared to be some sort of corridor, the other princesses quickly followed. As they landed as well, Twilight created a magical path for her friends to follow, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up on their own.

Twilight was close to panicking as she viewed the aura in the bowels of this strange object. It’s aura was reminiscent of a flame but instead of a roaring fire like those around her the being within was a flicker slowly fading. She began looking either direction as she tried to figure out wich way would be the quickest to the gravely injured creature.

The corridor they had entered was in somewhat decent condition; only some loose panels on the walls and ceiling were the only signs of damage other than the gaping hole to the outside world. As everypony looked at the surrounding area, Twilight casted a tracking spell to help them find a way to the injured creature, and another to mark the path they took so they could easily exit the object.

“Alright' lets get moving, something in this thing needs our help!” As Twilight said this she began leading the way, with her friends and the princesses following her lead. As they got further into the object, they noticed it seemed to have its own sources of light on the ceiling along the various hallways. Every now and then there would also be a spark of electricity from various loose wires and panels. And now that Twilight thought of it, she thought she could hear a voice as they continued.

*Critical…..Systems…..Repairs Needed….*

As they traveled through more hallways and corridors of various states of damage, the voice became more clear as they neared the room with the injured creature.

*Critical System Failure, Major Damage Sustained, Repairs Needed*

“What was that?” Before anyone could answer Rainbow’s question, the voice said something that made them hurry towards the door ahead of them that lead to the creature….

*Severe Injury Detected, Immediate Medical Attention Required On The Bridge*

Once they reached the door, it attempted to open automatically for them, but got stuck half way, leaving no room for them to get through. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, help me open this thing, it seems to be stuck.” Together, the three of them used their magic to force the doors open; what they saw on the other side froze them in horror.

The entire room that the strange voice claimed to be the bridge was a mess, various spots had exploded consoles and various bits of electrical wires revealed due to explosions. There were also a few electrical fires. Of course, to them, all they saw was something in a total state of severe damage; they knew nothing of what any of it actually was.

But what froze them in place the most was the body of the creature that Twilight had detected with her spell. It was over to the side of the room, with its back against the wall, one of its legs appeared to be bent in a position that did not look normal! It had various gashes and cuts along its body and had a piece of debris sticking out of its shoulder. What looked like it was supposed to be the face of the creature appeared to have slight burn marks over it’s right eye, possibly from an explosion. It was laying in a small pool of blood that was slowly becoming larger as its various wounds continued to release it.

“Dear Celestia….” Twilight was frozen in horror at how badly injured the creature was. According to her spell it was still alive, but it probably wouldn’t be for long if it didn’t get help soon.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna quickly approached the creature and began to use their vast knowledge and experience with magic to slowly remove the debris in the creature and clean its wounds. As they began doing what they could with their magic, the creature’s left eye slightly opened as it regained consciousness for a few seconds.

All Radel could see through his one good eye was a blurry image of shadowy figures surrounding him. Is this what being dead feels like….? As he thought of this, one of the shadowy figures spoke. “It’s gonna be alright, you're safe now. We'll take care of you…” As the voice finished it’s statement of comfort, Radel lost consciousness again.

As the creature seemed to become unconscious again, Twilight went to the other princesses. “Are you sure you can help it?” She was extremely worried for the creature, its wounds were so severe it seemed magic wouldn't be much help…

“We can only stabilize it for now, Princess Twilight. They will be fine long enough for us to get it to the Ponyville Hospital. Then only time will tell with their more advanced treatment whether it lives or not.” As Celestia said this, both her and Luna finished casting what spells they could to help stabilize and heal the creature, then began to lift it gently in their magical aura, carrying it towards the hole they used to enter the object as if they were a newborn foal.

Once they were out of the object, everypony that was still there gasped when they saw the injured creature. Quickly Princess Celestia and Princess Luna placed the creature in one of the chariots with them, and took it to the Ponyville Hospital…

************************************
(A couple days later…)

Uhhhh….. I feel like I’ve had the worst hangover ever while falling off a 20 story building. This was the first thought Radel had as he began to regain consciousness four days after his near death experience in the crash of Ender’s Blessing.

As he slowly came to, he opened his eyes to see that his right one was obstructed; in response he brought a hand to it. What he felt was a soft gauze pad with some bandaging to hold it in place. What happened to me…?

He began to look around and noticed that he was in what appeared to be a hospital bedroom. So was that all just a dream? Did I never partake in that mission and just imagine it while I was out?

Suddenly he heard the door to his room open and the curtain around his bed was pushed aside; what he saw made his jaw touch the floor….

“Oh! You’re finally awake! It’s good to see since you’ve been out for four days, my name’s Nurse Redheart and I’m your nurse for the duration of your recovery.” The strange...pony…. said as it began to check on his IV and other medical instruments that were connected to him. By the sound of her voice, it was a female. She had a white coat, pink mane and tail, and a..... red cross on her flanks? Why does it have matching tattoos there?

Radel just sat there staring at the pony in bewilderment. So it seems I was not dreaming and ended up on another planet with life on it after all, however strange the life is… He was just not expecting to see something so similar to an animal found on earth. What Radel was expecting to see was something more alien like the martians or other movie depictions over the decades of mankind.

“Are you alright?” Nurse Redheart asked him, beginning to worry as he just sat there and stared at her.

“Y-yes, sorry, where am I exactly?” And it speaks the same language as me! How lucky can a man be?

“You are in the Ponyville Hospital. You were brought here by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna after they found you in critical condition within that strange object.” As the nurse said this, she finished her final task and became more focused on the human. “Speaking of the princesses, Princess Twilight will want to be informed that you are now awake.” As she said this she began to make her way out.

“Wait! Who are these princesses you speak of?” Radel asked this, hoping to get a better idea of the people of this new world and who lead them.

Nurse Redheart turned only to look at him and make a simple reply. “They are the ones who lead our great nation, Equestria. Now excuse me, I must go inform her highness, she’ll happily answer any questions you have.” With that said she exited the room, leaving Radel to his own thoughts.

Well if I survived a crash on the planets surface, then that means my ship is in better condition than I thought it’d be. As he continued to think about the condition of his ship, Radel also began to examine the condition of his injuries. Thanks to the biotic implants he had, his body had healed almost entirely. The only injury he could still feel was in his left leg, he assumed it must have been broken badly. Even with implants, bones in the body were still the hardest to heal. His right eye stun a little; probably just some scarring that is still breaking up.

Radel just sat there, stretching and left to his own thoughts for an hour or two when another six ponies entered his room. They were all various colors and only two had wings, one had a horn, and one of them had both while also wearing a crown upon her head. So this must be Princess Twilight, and an alicorn as well...

As the six ponies approached his bed, one with pink fur, tail, and mane, as well as a tattoo of balloons on her flanks, hopped over to his side, full of energy. “OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE FINALLY AWAKE!!! I’m so glad you are, we were all so worried when we found you in that strange giant metal thingy! I mean, it’s not every day that you s-.” The pony’s apparent speech was cut short by a hoof being placed in its mouth.

“Calm down Pinkie darling, the last thing it needs is one of your hyperactive moments!” The one the hoof belonged to was the pony with white fur and purple mane and tail; she was the only one that was a unicorn, and strangely, the tattoos on her flanks were diamonds.

“Sorry, Rarity! Anyways, I’ll have to throw you a party sometime for getting all better!” The energetic mare then bounced a little ways away, allowing the one I could only assume was this 'Princess Twilight' to step closer to me.

“Hello, I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and you are?” The purple alicorn gestured towards me with a hoof.

“I’m Commodore Radel Endorian.” Radel managed to reply, though his voice sounded a little nervous. How can I be nervous now when I was able to talk to that nurse just fine earlier?!

“Well, Commodore. It’s good to see you looking better, and in record time I might add! Normally with the injuries you suffered, a pony would be in the hospital for months if alive at all!” Twilight then went on to an expression filled with more concern and worry. “How do you feel?”

Didn’t I just think about this not long ago...? ”Well, pretty good considering what just happened. You say I was out for four days?” Radel wasn’t going to tell her how he felt when he first woke up. But honestly he felt fine, just a little stiff which was most likely due to being out for four days. By the next day he should have little to no signs of his injuries.

The princess looked at him, still with worry on her face. “Yes, when we first found you in that object you were quite beaten. Multiple cuts and lacerations, not to mention how many different bone fractures and cracks you had.”

“Well I can thank both you and my biotic implants for the speedy recovery from that.” As he said this he began to sit up and try to get off the bed. But before he could try to get on his own legs and get a good stretch, one of the ponies, a pegasus, stopped him.

“Oh no no no no, there’s no need to get up right now. Just lay down and relax for a little longer.” She said this all in a motherly tone and tried to gently push him back onto the bed. The mare had yellow fur, with a pink mane and tail, and a tattoo of three butterflies on her flanks. Are these tattoos part of their culture or something?

“Don’t worry, I’m fine now, I just need to stretch a little.” As he said this he gently pushed the caring mare away and stood on his own two legs. Once he did that he began to stretch out various parts of his body. “Ahhhh much better.” He said this after giving his back one last satisfying pop.

“So, Commodore, what were you doing in that thing, and what exactly is it AND you? I’ve never seen or heard of anything like you or that object before.” Twilight gave him a quizzical look as she waited for an answer.

Radel carefully thought about how he was gonna answer her question, he didn’t want to say anything to complicated or simple to the mare. “Well to start it off, I’m what my species call a human. And that thing I crashed in, that was my ship that I used to get here..... well, actually, I'm not even sure I’m where I planned to go at all.” Radel began to rub the back of his head as he tried to remember whether Athene had stated if they were to arrive at the right destination.

After hearing this, Twilight still seemed somewhat confused. “Well you're in Equestria; where were you headed and from where did you come from?” She failed to understand that Radel did not come from anywhere on their planet, which he noticed himself.

“No, you see...I’m not from this planet. Not even this solar system. My home is light years upon light years away from here.” As he said this he immediately wish he hadn't, he felt like he only just confused them more. Good going genius, you probably made the situation more awkward…

While Radel thought he had made things worse, the blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, tail, and with her own special tattoo, lit up and rushed to him. “Wait just one second. You're saying you're from outer space?! It’s just like that one Daring Doo book!” As she said this she began to fly around in a excited state.

Sooo… I guess they aren't as confused as I thought they'd be… “Anyways, how is my ship. It must be in a somewhat good condition if I am standing here right now.” While saying this, Radel brought up his right wrist up towards his face and activated the holo bracelet he was wearing, thankfully still intact.

Twilight, who unlike most of her friends, didn't notice the strange device now appearing on Radel’s wrist. Instead, she spoke as she watched Rainbow fly around. “It looked pretty badly damaged, but you probably should see for your...self……” As she finished speaking, she saw what the rest of her friends were mesmerized by. “What is that?” She said, switching her focus to the alien device on the Commodore's wrist, while getting closer to further inspect it.

As Radel finished using his holo bracelet to run a diagnostics check of his implants, he saw how enthralled everyone was with it, especially Princess Twilight. “Oh! This? It’s just a small holo computer within the bracelet on my wrist that helps me see how my implants and body are doing.” To emphasize the point, he brought the screen to a diagnostics of his recently injured leg which showed that though it was mostly healed, the bone itself was still a little weak and would take about another day to fully heal and strengthen. “It can also be used for a lot of other things, but we can talk about that later. I can see that you have a lot of questions.” Radel then closed the holoscreen back into the bracelet and returned his attention to the ponies in front of him.

“I’m definitely having some in depth discussions with you later, Commodore. I’d love to know how that gadget of yours works and learn more about yourself.” Twilight seemed to be studying what she could of the device on his wrist while she said this. “But for now, it’s time we went to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They’ll want to meet with you now that you are back on your own two legs.” She then turned as well as the rest of her friends, beginning to lead the way.

As they made their way out, Radel made sure he had all belongings he could possibly have had removed off of him when brought here. There was nothing of his however, so he then began to follow the group of mares. This is gonna be quite the interesting adventure I’m about to have…. As Radel finished this thought he walked through the door and shut it behind him, following these strange new beings that were ponies, as they led him to more leaders of their nation.

Author's Notes:

Big thanks to Enigmatic Otaku for the help he's given me.

Preparations

Once the group left Radel’s room, they stopped at what appeared to be the main reception area of the hospital. Twilight was talking to Nurse Redheart, possibly finalizing his discharge from the hospital. Judging by the tone of their voices, and the calm expressions they had, there would be no problems.

While the two mares talked, Radel began to notice how hungry he was. I've been out for four days, I would be surprised if I wasn’t! As he finished this thought, his stomach made a not too quiet growl, turning everyponies attention towards him.

“Well it sounds like somepony is hungry!” Nurse Redheart tried to stay professional but even she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. The rest of the group joined in on the laughter as well, making the Commodore feel a little embarrassed. “Well, Commodore, you’re all good to go! My only advice is that you find a good meal to treat that new ailment of yours.”

As Nurse Redheart finished stating her piece of advice, Twilight then spoke. “Let’s go find you some food Commodore, we still have some time before we have to go meet the other princesses.” Turning towards the exit, Twilight and her friends began to leave, but before Radel followed them he quickly thanked the nurse for her care over the last few days. And with a quick wave in goodbye, he rushed to catch up with the others.

Once Radel caught up with them, the group made its way towards town. It appeared that the hospital was on the edge, not far from the forest where he crashed. As they got closer, Princess Twilight’s friends began saying their goodbyes. “Well it’s good to see you up and about, but I must return to my shop. My clients orders won’t be filled on their own! Another time, darling.” After Rarity said this she gave a dainty little wave to the Commodore and her friends, making her way towards her own establishment. The others soon followed, with their own little goodbyes, leaving Radel alone with the princess.

As the last of her friends disappeared off into the distance, Twilight turned towards the human with a questioning look on her face. “So, Commodore, what do you eat?” Though Twilight may know that he was a human now she had no idea that humans were omnivores; capable of eating both plants and meat.

Radel was taken aback by this a little, he understood that she was asking mainly because he could use some food. He just wasn’t sure if telling her that he wouldn’t mind something like a juicy steak was the right idea. He could only assume that they were herbivores, it would make sense since they looked so similar to horses on Earth. So he thought it’d be better that he just grab some rations from his ship for now. Don’t want to scare the locals, making them think I’m gonna eat them or something...

“Well I would prefer to grab some rations from my ship, if that's alright. I don't know if anything here would be toxic to me or not.” As Radel said this, he also thought it’d be a great idea to get cleaned up as well. His clothes were a mess and his body was still dirty from the dried blood of his wounds, though they were long gone at this point.

After Twilight heard this she put her hoof to her chin in thought, “Hmmmm…. I think that would be fine, then you could also make yourself a little more presentable if you wish. Those clothes of yours are quite damaged and the blood stains would make other ponies uncomfortable as well I’d assume.” She saw the sense of letting him return to his ship, and she had no mistrust in him. “Here, take this. If you show it to the guards at your ship, they’ll give you no problems when you try to enter it.” Twilight had used her...magic?…. to make a royal seal appear out of nowhere for Radel to take.

Radel was extremely confused at what she just did. He knew from the old fairy tales that unicorns were magical, due to their horns, however this was real and it boggled his mind just thinking about it. Is this some sort of biological power, or is it really magic? “T-thank you, your highness.” He tried not to sound so surprised but a little stutter still escaped him, however Twilight simply saw this as him surprised with her trust in him.

“Don’t worry, it was nothing. Oh, and just Twilight is fine Commodore.” She had a genuine smile on her face, seeming to be one who felt she was making a new friend.

Though it was strange to see her express friendship with him so quickly and openly, he had no complaints. “Well then, Twilight, when should I expect to meet the other princesses?” Hopefully I’ll have enough time to get both cleaned up and prepared should things turn sour….

Twilight began to develop an expression he could only explain as a little embarrassed, as she brought a hoof to the back of her head. “Wellllll, I was planning on getting you some food at my castle. While you were eating, I would then send a message to Princess Celestia to not only inform her of your condition, but also to ask her when to meet with her. But since you are stopping at your ship instead, I’ll have to find you there and tell you when she gets back to me.”

That made perfect sense to Radel, he felt somewhat bad for making things a little more tedious for her but a great idea came to mind so it would be easier. Reaching to the back of his left ear, Radel took off the almost completely hidden communication device that resided there. “Here take this, it’ll save you time that you’d waste trying to find me in my ship.” As he said this, he began to carefully fit the earpiece to Twilight's own left ear.

While Radel did this, Twilight just sat there curiously, looking at the strange device. “What is it exactly?” Before she could receive an answer, Radel tapped the side of the earpiece, making it activate. She heard a small little beep and sat there, confused.

“A communications device, with this you should be able to contact me without having to be anywhere near me.” As he said this, he quickly ensured it was still working, and then set it to a specific frequency.

“Oh! So another one of your gadgets, much like that holo bracelet of yours.” Twilight seemed to be extremely excited with the fact that she was being given such a thing. “How does it work?” Before Twilight could hear an answer, she heard a voice that seemed to only be directed into her left ear.

While she was sitting there, puzzling over the strange gadget, Radel had found his spare earpiece in one of his pockets. At least it was still in good condition. "Well, Twilight, it works like this." He had put on the spare and activated it, and was now speaking into it for Twilight to hear on her end.

Twilight just sat there, staring at Radel as he spoke to her. Yes, she could still hear him because he was only a few feet away from her. But she had heard his voice through the strange device as well! "This is so fascinating!" Twilight, being the scientific book worm she is, wanted nothing more than to take this little gadget and experiment with it, learn how it works.

Radel then reached to his own ear and turned the earpiece off, signalling for Twilight to do the same. She slowly brought a hoof to her new gadget, and once she bumped the side of the earpiece, another quiet little beep was heard in her ear.

“So, to turn the earpiece on and off, just tap the side of it with your hoof. You should be able to contact me after two hours.” Radel said this while he lifted a hand to his face to block out the sun, scanning the treetops for signs of his ship. Once he spotted it, he returned his attention to a very happy looking Twilight.

“I think you and me are gonna have some great scientific discussions, Commodore.” She said this all with a excited smile, as her thoughts were filled with nothing more than experimenting with these new things.

“I wouldn’t mind it one bit Twilight! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I could really use some food right now.” As if on cue, another loud growl was heard from Radel’s stomach.

Giggling with a hoof over her mouth, Twilight began waving him off with the other. “Yes, go get a good meal and a fresh set of clothes! I’ll use your communications device to contact you in two hours or so once I hear back from Princess Celestia.”

Radel took the opportunity to get out of the embarrassing situation, starting the short trip back to his ship, waving goodbye to Twilight for the time being. Time to see the damage done…

*********************************************************

Well it could’ve been a lot worse…

Radel was standing at the edge of the crash site, staring at Ender’s Blessing as it lay there amongst the debris. From what he could tell, the exterior damage wasn’t major and the hull seemed to still be in one piece. Though it was a good start, the damage to the interior systems would be the most important to take care of. He could only hope the hull damage was a sign of the state of the interior. The commodore then began walking towards the ship, preparing to meet the guards so that he could enter. But as he got closer and closer, something felt off. Radel was practically close enough to touch the hull at this point, and there was nobody in sight. Wait, no pony would be the correct terminology I believe. Looking around, there seemed to be no evidence or signs of the guards Twilight said were supposed to be guarding his ship. They must have been called back by the other princesses or something…

If Radel would’ve looked around more closely, he would’ve noticed bits of a kind of green goo spread here and there around the crash site. But he felt there was no concern with the guards, so he instead focused on finding a way into the ship. Peering along the side of the ship, Radel couldn’t see any exposed airlocks for him to use as an entry point. What he did see, was a breach about seventeen feet above him. And this is why I love biotic implants.

With a smirk, Radel built up power in his legs, getting low to the ground, and launched himself up towards the breach with his upper arms barely latching onto the outer hull. “Fuck!” Radel yelled in pain as he pulled himself up and inside the small corridor. He should’ve remembered that his one leg’s bone was still weak. Because of that, his power in the jump wasn't as good as it should've been. Also his leg hurt like hell now, like he had pulled a muscle from stretching too hard.

After taking a few minutes for the pain to subside, Radel got up and brought his holo bracelet to his face. He began to wirelessly reconnect to the ship's systems, trying to determine the state of it. While he did this, he noticed that the lights were still on which signaled that power was still available.

Another minute later and he was connected, getting readings and diagnostics across all of the ship's systems. Surprisingly they were all fine; minor damage, nothing a simple repair tool couldn't fix. But then Radel saw something that made his blood run cold, though all systems seemed to be in relatively great condition, one was completely gone. It was the warp drive.... Shit!

That was gonna complicate things a little bit, if the warp drive and its systems were completely destroyed, then there was no way he could return home. His worst fears since he accepted the mission were coming true. I need to speak to Athene! As he thought this, a few various systems came back online, possibly from his presence.

“Hello Commodore, it’s good to see that you are alright.” As if called by his thoughts, Athene reactivated and her hologram appeared before him. “Before you ask any questions, I’d advise that you go to the medical bay and ensure that your body is fully recovered.” To emphasize her point, Athene opened a door at one of the ends of the corridor he was in, most likely leading to the medical bay.

Radel began making his way towards the medical bay. Athene was right, before anything else he should make sure that he was 100% better, especially since he had a limp from trying a power leap with a bad leg. As he arrived in the medical bay, Athene began operating the various systems within, preparing them for the various tests and treatments needed. Surprisingly, the medical bay had hardly any signs of damage, something he was thankful for. As he laid on the operating table, various instruments began scanning his body, taking diagnostics of its condition. He also received a renewed injection of nanobots, tiny machines that were the main reason he survived long enough to be aided by these ponies.

As Radel relaxed, letting the treatment continue, he began to run a diagnostics check with Athene on his implants. “Athene, Ocular?” As he asked this, one of the screens to the side brought up a diagnostics on his ocular implants, focusing on his eyes and parts of his brain.

“Active, no damage.”

“Strength?” The screen switched to scans of various areas like his arms and legs.

“Active, no damage.”

“Regenerative?” When the screen switched to the scans of this biotic implant, which was focused around his heart, some damage could be seen.

“Active, minor damage, repairs imminent.” As Athene said this, one of the instruments went to his chest, and injected a special kind of nanobots into his heart. Within seconds, the nanobots repaired the microscopic implants around his heart, doing what the normal ones in his bloodstream could not. “Alright Commodore, all implants are fully functional and your injuries should be fully healed.” The various instruments that were around Radel retracted back to their respective locations, deactivating.

After hearing this, Radel hopped off the table, once again bringing his holo bracelet to his face. “So, Athene, what can we do about the warp drive? Is it…..” He couldn’t even bring himself to finish that last question. The mere thought of him being unable to return to his family and friends was hard to bare.

“Sadly Commodore, there is nothing we can do. We can only hope that the navy discovers where we broke out of warp.”

While Athene stated this, Radel made his way towards his quarters, making a stop at his shower first of all places. “Well Athene, if that's the case…. Then it's time we started getting comfortable here.” I may miss my family and friends from now on, but this is one of the risks I knew of when I accepted this mission. There was nothing Radel could do about it, the sooner he accepted it, the better. He only hopes that his family and friends have a happy life and don't worry about him too much.

As he stepped into the shower and began making himself more presentable, Athene activated the onboard drone control system. Once this was done, she began sending out various maintenance drones to every part of the ship she could. Though the repairs would take a few days, the ship would be as good as new and ready to fly again...

************************************************************

While Athene went to work on restoring functionality to the ship, Radel finished his shower and found a new, clean set of his navy officer uniform. Not only was the uniform quite comfortable to wear, it also served as a simple ballistic mesh for basic armor. He then made his way to the small mess hall within the ship, grabbing some simple rations from storage. The rations were nothing more than various dehydrated items. But after being put into a special machine to the side of the room, they became hydrated and practically fresh again.

Once Radel had eaten his fill, he made his way to the ship's armory, planning on grabbing a simple loadout in case something bad happened while meeting with the other princesses. While he looked around for what he would possibly bring with him, he heard a beeping within his left ear. Activating the comm link, Radel answered. “Hello Twilight, have you heard back from Princess Celestia?” He began making his way to a weapons locker for various sidearms across the room.

“First, I have to say I still can’t believe these things! Secondly, yes I have. She said she’d prefer it if we took the train to Canterlot tonight, that way less ponies will be out and about on the streets.”

That sounded reasonable to Radel. Though the nurse at the hospital, Twilight, and her friends had all been kind to him, there was no telling how other ponies would react to him if they came across him. “I can understand her judgement on that decision, we don't want to incite any kind of panic or frighten any pony. Well then, where shall I meet you?” As he asked this he picked up two navy issue energy pistols, quickly ensuring they were in working order, and holstered them on his thighs.

“I’ll meet you at the edge of the forest, where we parted ways when you went back to your ship.”

Radel went to a weapons rack on one of the armories walls, grabbing what looked to be a blade with a strange design and look, and was one made of a metallic material stronger than steel. The blade was also capable of being charged with energy from the hilt, which would flow through the blade itself, adding to its cutting ability. “Alright, just contact me when you are on your way and I’ll head over.” Radel then took the sword and put it in its own scabbard on his left hip.

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you then Commodore.”

Walking over to a large locker on the side of the room, Radel opened it. Inside was what looked like some sort of strange exoskeleton. It had what appeared to be a large backpack connected by small guide rails which met with somewhat thick bracing around joints, as well as the feet and hands. Stepping into the locker, Radel placed his back against the exoskeleton, and within seconds the backpack-like part formed a plate of armor around his torso while the other parts around his knees, elbows, feet and hands did the same. He then stepped out of the locker and activated the exoskeleton, causing the fabricators within the suit to create various sheets of armor that followed the guide rails to fully encompass Radel and form a full suit of medium grade ballistic armor. “Indeed. Oh, and Twilight?”

“Yeah?”

The armor made Radel look like a futuristic knight of sorts based on its design and look, especially with the sword on his side. As he shut the locker, the final exterior feature of the suit was revealed. It was a metal work frame that, once deployed from the back, filled with energy. They made the shape of wings, and they actually worked as such. “You can just call me Radel.”

As Radel finished the call with Twilight, he stepped out of the armory, looking like he was ready for anything. Once he was out, he retracted the armor back into it's almost completely hidden exoskeleton that blended so well with his uniform, and made his way back to the bridge.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's the next chapter! Sorry for how long this one took, got sick for a week there and made me get behind in other work as well. Hope you all enjoy the path this story is taking!

Unexpected Encounters

Once the sun was beginning to set, bringing forth the moon and its beautiful night sky, Radel began to finish what repairs he was helping with on the bridge. In the couple of hours since he returned, the drones had made ample progress. Almost every system was fully operational other than the warp drive, and interior damage was on the same path. Ender’s Blessing was beginning to look like a true masterpiece again. The outside hull, however, was still practically the same. Athene had focused the drones on the ships systems and interior, feeling they were more important than exterior appearance right now, and Radel agreed. At this rate, it would only be a few days before the ship was fully operational again.

As he saw the moon rising into the sky through the small observation windows of the bridge, Radel put down the tools he was using. It was time for him to make his way to Twilight, and finally meet the other leaders of this alien nation of ponies. Time to put that diplomatic training to use…

Getting up from one of the main consoles, Radel took a nearby rag and wiped some sweat off of his face from working. “Athene, I’m leaving now to go meet with the other leaders of the nation we are in. Keep the repairs going and contact me if there is anything serious that comes up.” Once he finished saying this, he tossed the rag back onto the console it was lying on. “I should be back by tomorrow night.”

While Radel was working on the bridge throughout the day, he had updated Athene on his experiences in the last couple of hours and of their new acquaintances. This, however, was hardly necessary due to her connection with him. She immediately began taking this information from his memories once he had returned. He more so did this to help pass the time and keep his mind from focusing on the depressing factors relating to the warp drive.

“Of course, Commodore. I’ll inform you when the ship is operational again, should your return be later than expected.” After the Commodore moved away from the console he was working on, a maintenance drone flew by and took his place, resuming the repairs.

Grabbing the gear he had taken from the armory earlier, Radel began making his way to the same breach he had entered through only a couple hours ago. Sadly, the airlocks and cargo bay doors were all still blocked due to the way the ship had settled after crashing. He would have to wait till the ship could fly again before they could be used to access the ship.

Arriving at the breach, Radel activated the exoskeleton armor, making it surround his body yet again. After the couple of seconds needed for the process to complete passed, he activated the wings on the back, filling them with energy. I love these things, especially for situations like this. Backing up a couple steps, Radel then began running towards the breach and leaped through it, spreading the wings wide once he was through. Anyone or pony that would’ve been there would’ve been amazed at the sight. The Commodore was flying through the sky using wings made of pure energy, running through a special metal frame device.

How they worked like feathers of a real wing was quite amazing and simple at the same time. The special framework device took energy and morphed it into the right shape and mass to that of a feather, giving the ability of flight like a bird. Though the idea was simple, the device was quite advanced to morph pure energy into such a thing.

Once he was in the air, Radel made his way towards where he would meet up with Twilight. When he realized he was getting close he landed in the trees, and deactivated his armor, not wanting to spook Twilight with it. After a few minutes of walking, he emerged from the treeline and was greeted by a happy purple alicorn that also seemed to be impatiently walking back and forth. “There you are! We better get going, we don’t want to be late to the meeting with the other princesses!” As she said this she began to take up a fast trot towards the town, bidding for Radel to follow.

Quickly following her lead, Radel began jogging after the alicorn, eventually catching up with her. The time it took to reach the town was only a few minutes at their quick pace, and when they arrived Radel was thankful to see no townsfolk out and about. The less ponies he met before the other princesses the better, he didn’t want to risk anything with the locals. There was no telling how the majority of these ponies would react to his presence. They must obviously know he’s here by now, but how they feel about it is completely different.

As the two went through the town towards its train station, Radel took in the sights around him. The town was quite small, but with its own simple beauty to it that a larger city wouldn’t be able to have. However, there was a giant castle made out of crystal that stood out within the small town. He’d have to remember to ask Twilight about how they even made that castle sometime. Radel was suddenly interrupted in his thoughts by the sound of Twilight’s voice.

“Here we are Radel, wait here while I speak with the conductor quick.” As he regained focus on his surroundings, Radel noticed they were now at the town’s train station. Twilight was trotting towards another pony, who he could only assume was the conductor. After they exchanged a few quick words, Twilight waved for Radel to follow her, and then boarded the train. While he went to follow Twilight, the conductor looked at him, with a little surprise still in his expression. But after a few quick seconds it was gone, and the stallion nodded to Radel with a small smile, making his way towards the engine of the train.

As Radel stepped into what he assumed was a passenger car, he couldn’t help but think about how the ponies had trains. If these ponies have trains like this, than they have some advancement and understanding of technology. It also helped calm his nerves knowing that these ponies had technology he recognized from Earth’s past. It would make it easier for him to explain his own technology, especially when Twilight finally had a chance to have him for one of her apposed discussions.

Radel quickly found Twilight, since they seemed to be the only ones on the train, and sat across from her. He gazed out the window as the train began moving, starting its journey towards the other princesses. “So how long will it take for us to reach the other princesses?” Radel asked, turning his attention towards the alicorn.

“Oh, it shouldn’t take more than maybe thirty, forty-five minutes. See that city on the side of that mountain? That’s the capital city of Canterlot.” Twilight stated this, pointing her hoof towards something outside the window.

Following her gaze and hoof, Radel saw what appeared to be quite a large city on the side of a mountain not too far away. It definitely looked like a place where royalty would reside, unlike where Twilight seemed to live. It not only had the size to support royalty, but even from here Radel could tell those that lived there had vast amounts of wealth.

As the Commodore gazed out the window towards the city, Twilight noticed the pistols and strange sword Radel had grabbed. She hadn’t noticed them until now, since she was in a hurry to get to the train. She wasn’t one who liked to be late for anything and simply made her way to the station once she saw him approach. Though she was worried about the sword, seeing the other things on his thighs made her curiosity take over. “What are those things on your thighs Radel?”

Moving his gaze back to Twilight, Radel saw what she was looking at and took one of his pistols out of its holster. “Oh this? Well its what one from my home would call a gun. Something that shoots out projectiles, and this particular one shoots out projectiles that are made of pure energy.” While he said this he held the pistol out for Twilight to quickly observe. After a few seconds, he re-holstered the weapon, returning his attention to a worried Twilight. This might be bad...

“Why did you grab such things? Especially a sword!? We are only going to see the other princesses!” Twilight was obviously upset with the Commodore, she didn’t like the idea of him bringing any kind of weapons to a simple visit. She couldn’t think of a reason for him to need such things.

“I’m sorry if this has upset you Twilight, but being one from a military background this is to be expected. Not only is it a part of my uniform, but its a precaution I must take on an alien world. One can’t be too careful in a whole new world full of unknowns, I hope you understand.” He could understand her concerns, but he had no idea what to expect since he was on a world that was unlike anything anyone had seen or thought of before. He hoped she was sensible enough to understand his precautions. For all he knew, he could be on his way to his death due to the princesses taking their own precautions.

Twilight still looked worried, but she seemed to be more relaxed after his words. “I guess it makes sense, I almost forgot you are on a world you’ve never been to before.” It made sense he would be cautious in a world filled with so many things he knows nothing about. She also could understand any possible fears he might have, she too was in a strange world once, though only for a short time.

“So, Twilight, who are these other princesses I’m to meet?” Radel asked this, hoping to turn their conversation to a more comfortable topic.

Hearing this question from Radel did indeed help Twilight refocus her thoughts away from his weapons. “The other princesses would be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. There is also Princess Cadance but she is still in the Crystal Empire and probably hasn’t heard of your arrival yet.” Talking about the other princesses brought a smile back to her face, as it brought good memories as well. “We’ll only be meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna however.”

Hearing this confused Radel, how could a nation have four princesses and still operate smoothly? But instead of questioning it, he went to asking Twilight about ponies and other small things relating to her nation. It would be more beneficial for him to learn more about their culture and history, so he can better communicate with them. “So Twilight, tell me about Equestria and your world…”

********************************************************************************************************

The trip to Canterlot went by quickly, this was thanks to Twilight and how she seemed to go into professor mode, telling as much as she could to Radel on the short trip. She was extremely eager to answer any questions he had and teach him all she could. He now knew of her various adventures with her friends and how they were bearers of things called elements of harmony, and other various bits of knowledge about Equestrian history. Radel was also introduced to their understanding of magic, and how it played a key role in their lives. Seriously, a world where the rotation of the Sun and Moon was determined by the two princesses. How they even had the power to do this blew his mind, but he figured it was better to just accept it for now instead of questioning it. I’m stuck here now, so I’ll have plenty of time to prove or disprove things of this world. Heck, maybe I could even learn how to use magic!

Once the train came to a full stop, giving Radel a break from Twilights constant teachings, they both got up and made their way to the exit. As soon as they were off the train, they were met by six royal guards from what Radel had learned were from Celestia’s detail. “Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are waiting for you and the creature. Please, follow us.” As he said this, the other guards began to form a escort around him and Twilight.

“Of course sergeant, lets not keep them waiting.” Twilight then began following the guards as they escorted us out of the station.

But something was off, the guards seemed too close to him and Twilight to be an escort, more for control than protection. Also, as they exited the station, the castle that Radel could see closer to the base of the mountain was not getting closer. Their route was leading them not towards the castle, but away from it at an angle. It was like they wanted it to seem like they were headed there, even though they weren’t. The guards were also keeping them off the main streets, which would obviously be the quickest routes. They were sticking to smaller streets and even some alleys. Twilight seemed to be oblivious to all these things, probably trusting the guards fully. She probably thinks they are trying to minimize our contact with other ponies...

When Radel made eye contact with one of the guards, he thought he saw a green flash within his eyes. It was subtle, but he definitely saw it. Something is definitely not right here… Radel then activated his ocular implants and scanned the guards around him. Maybe the green flash had to do with something special that guards of the princess had biologically, or even magically. He then scanned Twilight and noticed something strange about the two results. Even though the guards all looked like normal ponies, what he assumed was pony DNA was not prominent within the guards. Whatever they are, they are NOT real ponies.

Time seemed to slow down as Radel reached for each of his pistols in their holsters, waiting till the guards had their eyes turned away. As he pulled them out, he quickly flipped the safety off and set both guns to stun. By the time the guards next to him had turned their eyes back to him, he had already fired his pistols at each of them, and proceeded to do so for the last four.

As they all fell to the ground stunned, Twilight turned to him in both surprise and horror. But before she could say anything, all of the guards around them were no longer guards. They were some strange, insectoid like creatures that resembled ponies, with wings and a horn. Once Twilight saw what was actually escorting them, she looked back at the Commodore, a new source of horror filling her expression. “This is not good…”

Switching his weapons to lethal, Radel looked back at Twilight. “Are these things dangerous? What are they Twilight?” While he asked this, Radel kept looking around them and at the stunned creatures, ensuring no more were nearby and that those stunned would stay so.

“They are changelings and yes, they are dangerous. They are magical creatures that can take the form of a normal pony. They feed off of our love, or rather that is what we know of them, which is little... Are they dead Radel?” Twilight gently prodded one of the unconscious changelings and jumped back in surprise when its wings buzzed.

“No, they were only stunned, but I have a bad feeling about their presence at our arrival.” As he said this, Radel began to aim his pistols at the heads of the stunned creatures. “I think it’s better that we ensure they will not harm us or anyone else.”

“No!” Twilight quickly leaped in front of Radel, obstructing his line of sight. “These creatures may be dangerous, but I’d prefer it if they lived. There’s been enough blood shed between us and them over the course of history…”

After Twilight said this, Radel then lowered and reholstered his pistols after turning them back to stun. He then gently pushed past Twilight, going to the changelings and kneeling next to them. He then reached to his side where a small pouch was located on his hip, and pulled out various handcuff like instruments. He attached them to the changelings and stepped away as they energized, preventing them from moving. He also had put their front hooves behind their back over the wings to prevent flight as well.

During this whole process, Twilight watched with a worried expression, fearing he was going to kill the changelings anyways. Radel turned and kneeled before her, “If you wish that their lives be spared in hopes that a better future may be obtained through peace...Then I shall respect it, and I honor you for believing in peaceful action.” Radel knew his history well, and how war and needless bloodshed had torn the human race apart at various points in time. Though he was willing to kill as he was a soldier, he knew the benefits of more peaceful solutions and encouraged them. Seeing Twilight have the same mindset made him respect her more than because of her position.

Twilight was now blushing slightly as Radel kneeled in front of her. “Radel, I’m glad you are respecting my views… But is it really necessary for you to kneel before me like that?” She was happy that he would spare the lives of the changelings, but she felt embarrassed to have him kneel like that for her…

Radel then stood up and while he activated his armor, replied, “Maybe not, but you deserve my respect and anyone else’s.”. Twilight eyes had widened in surprise as the armor surrounded Radel’s body. He then activated his wings and flew up, grabbing Twilight in the process, and flew towards the castle gates. “Now lets go check on the other princesses.”

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When they arrived at the castle gates, Radel placed a surprised Twilight on the ground, landing beside her. “Since when could you FLY?!?!” Twilight was trying to regain her composure after the act. When she looked at the Commodore, her mouth was agape and her expression filled with nothing but surprise and bafflement.

“Well I can’t fly, but my armor has a device that allows me to in a way.” Radel emphasized this by flapping the energy filled contraption on his back.

Twilight finally regained her composure, shaking her head a little. “Radel, I feel you have endless little gadgets to surprise me with. But forget about that for now, we must check on the princesses!”

As she turned to enter through the main gates, a pair of guards showed up on the other side, moving to block their path. “HALT!” As the guards moved to block their path, Radel put his hands on his pistol holsters. He quickly scanned the guards with his ocular implants and determined them to be changelings as well. It seemed that there were more changelings in disguise to deal with yet.

Drawing his pistols again, Radel shot both of the guards with them on stun, causing them to fall to the ground. As they fell and turned into their true form, another pair of guards were not far away and saw what he had done. Knowing their cover was blown, the changelings abandoned their disguises and charged towards them, casting beams of green energy from their horns towards them.

Before Radel could react, a purple barrier had appeared in front of him, absorbing the changelings’ attack. Then suddenly Twilight was above him, casting her own beams of purple energy at the two changelings, taking them out before they could get any closer. The changelings, however, were only stunned by the spell. Radel quickly restrained the changelings at the gate and made his way to do the same to the others.

That was the second time Radel had seen magic at work, and oh man did he want to know more about it! As the alicorn landed beside him while he finished restraining the last changeling, Radel noticed some strange green objects amongst some shrubs to the side of the courtyard. Cautiously making his way closer to them, he could see they were some sort of cocoons with what appeared to be the missing guards inside.

Twilight followed Radel and once she saw what he did, used her horn to cast a spell to cut the cocoons open. Once they were out of the cocoons the guards remained in what appeared to be a deep sleep, but they appeared to be alive. “Twilight, will they be alright?” He asked her as she studied the unconscious guards. Even with his ocular implants, Radel couldn’t gain an in depth diagnosis of the guards and their condition.

She looked back at Radel, “They’ll be fine, but they won’t be able to help us. They won’t wake up for some time yet.” She then began to walk away from them towards the main entrance of the castle.

So much for reinforcements… Radel followed the alicorn’s path, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.

Twilight suddenly stopped, with an extremely worried expression. “This is strange, all of the guards we’ve come across are from Celestia’s detail, but where are Luna’s? Their rotations should be starting now that it is night time.” As if in reply to Twilight’s question, an explosion was heard from within the castle.

Radel quickly rushed towards the main doors of the castle with Twilight hot on his tail. “I think theres your answer!”

As the two of them pushed through the main doors, they entered the middle of a brawl between changelings and what must be Luna’s own guards. They were different from the white stallions of Celestia’s. Instead they were mainly black furred or other dark colors, with fangs, pointed ears, and slitted eyes as Twilight had described earlier.

The source of the explosion was from what must have been some sort of offensive spell, for it had left a large impact in the wall behind the guards. The battle must have just broken out however, for there was no dead amongst either ranks, as they exchanged blows with each other, parry for parry. But when they had entered, a couple of the changelings had seen them and were swarming around the two.

Radel quickly un-holstered and aimed his pistols at each individual changeling that had surrounded them, dropping them each with a well aimed shot. But more had charged them and one of them had used its magic to shoot each of his pistols out of his hands. Quickly, Radel drew his sword from its sheath in time to block an attack by one of the changelings as it swung its own blade at him. The blade however was not made of metal, and it seemed to be its own leg.

After blocking its initial attack, Radel energized his blade and brought it down on the blade like leg of the changeling, severing it from the rest of its body. As it reared back with a hiss, it quickly grew the blade back, ready to attack again. But in the time it took to do this, Radel had charged a large amount of energy into his left fist and punched the changelings in the face with all the strength he could muster. The built up energy had a strong enough charge to stun it, leaving it alive but unconscious as it flew from the contact. He then brought up his sword in a defensive stance and looked around.

What he saw was Twilight taking down a group of four changelings with some sort of burst spell that had surrounded her. The spell knocked them away at intense speed into the walls around them, knocking them unconscious with the impact. After they were dealt with, Twilight quickly levitated his pistols to him. “Quick, take these! We must ensure the safety of Celestia and Luna!”

Sheathing his sword and accepting his pistols from Twilight’s magical aura, Radel found that the changelings in the room were all dead or unconscious. The guards all seemed to be standing, though a few had minor injuries. They really know how to fight don’t they?

Twilight rushed to the nearest guard, who looked at her with both surprise and relief. “Princess Twilight!? It’s good to see you!” The guard then saw Radel and his expression became one of curiosity and worry.

“Captain, this is Commodore Radel Endorian, the creature we saved from that strange object. Commodore, meet Captain Dusk Shield. What is the situation Captain?”

Turning his attention back to Twilight, the captain responded. “We are not sure your highness. We were all just on our way to look for missing guards from gate detail when these things jumped us. We managed to hold them off, but if it wasn’t for you and your friend, we would’ve suffered more than a few minor wounds.” The captain turned his gaze back to Radel, nodding in thanks.

“No thanks is necessary, captain, but those missing guards are fine. We found them in the courtyard incapacitated, they just need some time to recover. But more importantly, we must go find the princesses and ensure that these creatures do not harm them.” Radel continued to scan their surroundings as he hurried the discussion along. Other guards were doing the same, holding their weapons at the ready.

“Yes, and I know where they should be. Princess Luna was the one who told us to check up on those guards while she went to talk to Princess Celestia in her personal chambers.” As the captain said this, he reached to a changeling corpse next to him and pulled the spear he had lodged into its chest out. “Shade! I want you to stay here with four other guards and make sure the unconscious changelings stay restrained and subdued! The rest of you follow me. Lunar Guards, form up!”

As the captain gave the command, the one that must have been Shade grabbed four other guards, the other Lunar Guards in the room formed up around us as we followed the captain further into the castle. In total, the guards with them consisted of: two unicorns, four pegasi, and three earth ponies, one of which was the captain himself.

As they continued through the castle, Radel noticed that one of the guards in the back had slowed down. It was one of the pegasi, a mare as well, and she was now leaning against the wall.

Telling the others to stop, Radel rushed over to the injured mare. As he looked at her, he saw the gash on her side, as well as the trail of blood she had been leaving in the hallway. The wound had gotten worse since they had left the main entryway of the castle.

Not wasting any time, Radel activated his holo bracelet, and once he had done so, used it to activate a device on his right palm from his suit of armor. Bringing it to the injured mares wound, he slowly moved it back in forth in front of it.

Before everyponies eyes, the wound began to seal, and the mare seemed to gain more energy. What they didn’t know, was that Radel had just used a nanobot replicator tool to heal the wound and give the pegasi a boost of adrenaline. She looked at the Commodore, and did nothing more than utter a simple thank you as she rejoined the formation of the other guards.

Once Radel himself had joined them, they continued through the hallways. Eventually the captain silently signaled for all of them to stop at a corner.

Activating his ocular implants, Radel could see that around the corner was a group of five changelings outside a door. He could only assume the door lead to what must be Celestia’s chambers.

The captain turned to him and Twilight, with worry filling his eyes. “This is it, but there seems to be more changelings outside the doorway. Alright, heres the plan, we’ll.... Commodore wait!”

Before the captain could say anything more, Radel stepped through the other guards and around the corner. He pulled out his pistols and quickly stunned the five changelings with five quick shots. He then reholstered the pistols and turned to the guards and Twilight who were staring at him from around the corner. Though Twilight was unfazed, the guards were the complete opposite.

The captain’s mouth was agape and his expression was one of both surprise and amazement. “Commodore, you will have to train with us sometime…”

“Indeed, I’d like to see what you royal guards are made of.” Radel then walked up to the stunned changelings and restrained them, while Twilight and the guards came around the corner.

Twilight pushed passed the guards and rushed towards the door. “Maybe another time Captain, first we need to protect the princesses.” When Twilight pushed the doors open, what she saw made her stop in place. On the other side was eight more changelings who were standing guard next to one in particular. “Chrysalis…”

The changeling that stood out amongst the others was bigger than the others, looking like an alicorn turned changeling, and it began to laugh at Twilight’s comment. “Why hello Twilight, how nice to see you again. In time to see me make Celestia and Luna break to my will. I’ll finally have my revenge on them!” Behind the changeling, were two alicorns that were restrained against the wall by a strange goo like substance.

“Enough of this!” Radel quickly drew out both of his pistols and shot the eight changelings protecting the larger one, stunning them like the rest. “You will do no such thing, now come quietly or I shall use force.” Radel believed if this creature was a leader of the changelings, they’d be the one to deal with for a peaceful solution.

The changeling simply laughed at his demands, and stepped closer to them all. “If it isn’t the strange creature from the sky. What makes you think you could possibly force me into any kind of submission?!” As she stated this, her horn glowed green and she used her magic to force Twilight out of the room and into the Lunar Guards. While they struggled with getting untangled from the princess, Chrysalis slammed the doors shut and sealed them with a strange, green barrier. “Lets see you try!”

Immediately, the changeling known as Chrysalis fired a spell at Radel, who only had enough time to dodge to the side. While she began to charge another spell, Radel brought up his left arm, and deployed a metal like framework which was then filled with energy. The device was a shield made of energy, much like his wings. “Let’s dance.” Radel then charged the changeling, withdrawing one pistol and keeping out the one in his right hand.

As he charged Chrysalis, he fired multiple shots at her, only for them to be absorbed by a magical barrier she surrounded herself with. She then dropped it and quickly shot his pistol out of his hand before he could bring it behind his shield. “Ah ah ahhh! We’ll be having none of that.” Chrysalis then brought one of her forelegs up and morphed it into a blade, much like Radel had seen the other changelings do. She then fired another bolt of energy at him, forcing him to bring up his shield in defence.

As he brought it back down, he saw Chrysalis coming towards him with her blade raised. Quickly Radel drew his own blade from its sheath and brought it up in a defensive stance, parrying her incoming attack. As they delivered parry for parry, the princesses restrained to the side could do nothing but watch. Chrysalis attacked with such speed that Radel only had enough time to narrowly block it. If it wasn’t for his skill with a blade, he would’ve been dead minutes ago, but enough was enough. Radel energized his blade, and instead of simply blocking Chrysalis’s next attack, he swung through it. As her blade was severed from her leg, she reared back in pain.

As she was stunned by this, Radel brought a charged fist into her stomach and launched her across the room. However, unlike the other changeling, she was not stunned. She slowly got up and regrew her leg, but was in obvious pain. She hissed at Radel, fear and anger filling her eyes. “Maybe you are one who can impose such a thing, but not today!”

Before Radel could make another move, Chrysalis disappeared in a swath of green fire, leaving nothing behind but her severed blade and a scorch mark on the ground. Once she was gone, her barrier spell on the door failed, and the guards and Twilight came rushing in. They wasted no time removing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from their restraints who showed no signs of any injuries.

“Are you alright your highnesses?!” Captain Dusk Shield asked, as he frantically looked over Princess Luna and Princess Celestia for any injuries.

The larger of the two; which had a white coat, rainbow-like mane and tail, with a sun for a tattoo on her flanks, responded after a light chuckle. “We are fine captain, thank you.” She then turned her gaze to Radel, and brightened slightly when she did. “And this must be the stranger from the heavens, I wish our meeting was different. Regardless, we both thank you graciously for your aid tonight.”

Radel walked till he was in front of the two, and kneeled before them. “No thanks is necessary, your highnesses, it was nothing.”

As he kneeled in front of them, a hoof brought his head back up from beneath his chin. It belonged to the other princess, she had a dark blue coat, with a blue mane and tail, and a moon for a tattoo on her flanks. “But you shall receive it, for if it wasn’t for you, who knows how the events of tonight would’ve played out.” She removed her hoof, sharing her sisters expression of relief and happiness at the sight of him. But for some reason, when Radel looked into those eyes, he felt something stir within his heart. It was like that vary gaze was all he needed right now.

The larger one spoke again, regaining Radel’s attention. “I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister, Princess Luna. You already know Princess Twilight Sparkle I can assume?” As she introduced herself and her sister, Princess Luna giggled slightly, and gave a small wave with a smile.

So these two were sisters aye? “Yes, I know her already, she has been a great friend since I awoke after my crash.” Radel got off his knees and stood before the princesses.

“Unfortunately, the meeting you expected to have with us will have to wait. We must take care of the issues involving these Changelings. But before we send you away, may we know your name?” Princess Luna asked this, taking a small step towards Radel, giving him a warm and gentle smile.

“It is Commodore Radel Endorian, your highnesses.”As he stated this, he gave both a simple salute.

Princess Luna giggled a little at this, and nodded her head at Radel. “I think after the events of tonight Radel, we can both drop the formalities. Simply just call us Luna and Celestia.” She widened that same warm smile as she told him this.

Radel couldn’t understand what it was, but something about Luna made her different than the other ponies. “If that is what you wish Luna, then I’ll do so. Twilight has already made such a request.” What are these feelings I have for her…

Celestia then stepped before Radel, regaining his attention. “Well Radel, you must be exhausted after tonight. Let my sister bring you to a guest room, we’ll talk tomorrow, good night Radel.” As she nodded to Radel, he returned the gesture and wished her good night as well as he followed Luna out of Celestia’s personal chambers.

After a few minutes, they stopped at a door along one of the many castle hallways. “Here is your room for the night Radel, let us know if there is anything you need.” She opened the door and stepped in, and once Radel had followed, spoke again. “We really do appreciate your aid tonight, sleep well Radel, we are excited for the meeting tomorrow.” With this said, Luna winked at Radel and made her way out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her with her magic.

What a strange mare… As Radel turned away from the door, he took in the sights of the room itself. It was what one would expect to see in the presence of royalty, large king sized bed with a wardrobe and bathroom to the side. A large desk with a bottle of ink and quill for the use of those who stayed in the room. There was also a glass door that led to a balcony with a beautiful view of the city.

Radel made his way to the bed, deactivating his armor and removing it with his weapons, placing them beside the nightstand next to the bed. He then climbed into the bed and got comfortable as thoughts of the events involving the changelings and the princesses flowed through his mind. But before he could delve on the thoughts for long, unknown to him, Luna aided in his attempts to sleep. Within seconds his eyes closed and he was in the land of dreams, with another pony about to join him...

Author's Notes:

Now it's time for some interaction with Luna! Next chapter will be up in about a week. Also, largest chapter so far! Hope you guys enjoy the path this story is taking as it develops.

From Nightmares To Dreams

“That will be all, Captain. Thank you.” As Luna received the last of her guards reports, she dismissed him.

“Your majesty.” Captain Dusk Shield gave a quick bow and left Luna’s personal chambers.

Thank goodness that is all finally said and done… Luna had been taking care of countless reports and guard rotations ever since the nights recent events. She’d also had to deal with persistent guards and doctors checking over her to ensure that she was alright. Her guards even tried to go against her orders to not reinforce the guards around her chambers, when she wanted them to look for the remaining missing guards. But with a few quick words in her royal voice, they quickly followed them.

It was both surprising and worrying, the whole ordeal, to think changelings had so easily breached their security and almost gotten away with their plans. But they were all foiled thanks to one creature. Speaking of which..

Luna brought a letter to her eyes from her desk, one she and Tia had received from Twilight earlier that day. The letter was about said creature, and of how Twilight had befriended it and her personal thoughts of it.

Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,

I’ve just gotten back from visiting with the strange creature we had rescued from that object four days ago. Nurse Redheart had informed me that the creature had awoken and I just had to visit it immediately! My friends also accompanied me, and the creature was not afraid of us. We learned that its name is Radel Endorian and it holds a title of Commodore, meaning it’s possibly part of some military.
We were also dumbfounded when we learned that it was not of our world! Apparently that object we rescued it from was some form of ship it used to travel here from another planet!!! Imagine the scientific breakthroughs it could help us achieve with that kind of technology! Oh, sorry… back on topic.
So after a short conversation with the creature, there is still much more for us to learn from it, however I feel it has no ill intentions towards us. I’ve agreed for it to return to its ship to get a meal of its own diet, and so it can make itself more presentable. There is more I’d love to tell you about Radel but I feel it’d be easier to do so at our meeting! When would you like us to make our way to Canterlot for the meeting? I eagerly await your reply.

~Princes Twilight Sparkle

After rereading the letter once again, Luna still couldn’t believe what it contained. The mysterious creature was not only something not from their planet, but was also technologically advanced. As she thought more about the creature, an idea appeared in her mind, what are it’s dreams like. Does it even dream…

Making up her mind, Luna made her way towards her bed, setting the letter and report back on her desk. She laid down on her bed, getting comfortable, preparing to cast a spell she had used countless times before. As she closed her eyes, she focused on Radel as he laid in deep sleep. Lets find out!

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As Radel opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by nothing other than empty space. He continued to look around, trying to find something. Suddenly a voice caught his attention.

“We should’ve never encouraged him!”

Following the sound of the voice, Radel saw his mother with his father, engaging in a heated argument.

“There was no way for us to know his ship would experience a malfunction like that! You heard the test results your self honey, it should have been safe…” Radel’s father looked at the ground between him and his mother.

Radel tried to move towards them but found he was unable to do so. No matter how hard he tried, his legs wouldn’t respond.

“I can’t believe our baby is gone…” Radel’s mother brought her hands to her face, as she began to weep in grief.

“I know…” Radel’s father went to his mother, embracing her as he too began to weep in grief.

But I am here! Look, over here!!! But no matter how hard Radel tried, he couldn’t get their attention towards him. They seemed to never hear his voice and he was unable to move his legs. Suddenly his parents were gone and he was back on the bridge of his ship when the warp core malfunctioned.

“Commodore, we’ve been removed from warp, but the warp core malfunction has caused the power core to go critical!” Athene’s voice brought him out of his daze of surprise.

“Athene, is there anything we can do?!” Radel asked this, as he began trying to exhaust the excess energy to prevent the power core from going critical.

“No Commodore, its too late, I suggest-” Suddenly Athene was cut out as the power core overloaded and caused the entire ship to turn into a massive explosion in space.

The next thing Radel knew, he was in the black void again, but now his parents were replaced with some of his best friends. Another depressing scene of them reacting to his accident played before him. Make it stop!!! Radel closed his eyes and began shaking his head, hoping it would somehow end these nightmares.

Unknown to Radel, another being had entered his mind, seeing what nightmares plagued his sleep…

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Luna stood frozen in place, as she gazed at the sight before her. The creature known as Radel Endorian was having terrible nightmares which appeared to be related to his ship and what she could only assume were his friends and family. It seemed that he had been in this nightmare for some time, for he was begging for it to end.

Feeling great pity for Radel, Luna used her magic to end his nightmares as they went to another death scenario of him aboard his ship. She brought them to a beautiful field under the night sky. Radel was surprised when he was suddenly in a much more relaxing environment and finally realized Luna’s presence.

“Princess Luna? What are you doing here?” Radel was genuinely confused as to why he would dream of her, when he knew hardly anything about her.

“As keeper of the night, one of my other duties is ensuring my subjects enjoy their wonderful slumber. And it seems you need it more than most, come.” Luna beckoned for Radel to follow her as she began to trot away.

He obeyed and began to follow Luna, asking her another question. “So if you are able to watch over others dreams, why mine? I’m not exactly one of your subjects let alone one of your kind.”

Luna turned to Radel with a genuine smile on her face, “You are indeed neither, but curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know if a creature like you dreamed at all, and if so, of what.” Then Luna’s expression turned into one filled with concern as she stopped and fully turned towards Radel. “Though it seems that you needed my aid, it is not healthy for one to suffer from such nightmares.”

Radel noticed that they had stopped beside a tree on a small hill amongst the field. That was rather quick, though I guess I am dreaming. “Well I thank you for your help Luna, the change of scenery is definitely more enjoyable. I assume you helped rid my mind of the nightmares I was just experiencing?”

Luna nodded and took a seat beside the tree, patting the spot next to her with a hoof. “Sit, let us discuss what troubles you so much. It will help relieve your mind of stress and allow you to sleep more peacefully.”

Accepting her offer, Radel took a seat beside the princess, leaning his back against the tree for more comfort. “I’m sure you know the whole story about me not being from this world, right?” He turned to look at Luna as he asked this.

“Yes, I am familiar with it. My sister and I had received a letter from Princess Twilight earlier that contained most of the details you had shared with her.” Luna brought her gaze to the beautiful sky above them.

Radel joined her in gazing up at the stary sky, finding some comfort in it, helping him to relax from his recent nightmares. “Well, unfortunately, what allowed my ship to reach your world is completely destroyed, unable to be repaired. And this is not the coordinates everyone was expecting me to reach, so I won’t be found...” As he said this, a stray tear fell across his right cheek. I’ll never see my family or friends ever again...

Luna saw this, and she gently took one of her hooves and wiped it away. “So you are unable to return to your home, to see those you held close to your heart again?” Luna felt a new form of pity for Radel with this new information.

Radel switched his gaze from the night sky to the ground as his mood became more depressed. “Yes, my family and friends...They’ll never see me or I them ever again.”

Luna put a hoof on his shoulder, an expression of nothing other than compassion and understanding on her face. “I understand that you must feel terrible about this, but you should not let such thoughts trouble you. You never know if they have a way to track your ship here, and, there are friends for you here.”

Turning his gaze back to Luna, Radel looked into her eyes and knew immediately what she meant. “I thank you, Twilight, and her friends gift of friendship. I appreciate it immensely.”

What Luna did next surprised him, she got closer and hugged him tightly. What one would do to comfort a lifelong friend or loved one. After the initial shock, Radel returned the gesture, finding great comfort in the fact that he would not be alone in this world. But then Radel heard something he was not expecting, he could hear a quiet sniffle coming from the princess. Gently leaving her comforting embrace, he could see that she was starting to cry a little.

Seeing that he noticed her small emotional outbreak, Luna quickly began hiding her face slightly. “I’m terribly sorry about that Radel, I didn’t mean to get emotional there…”

Smiling a little at this, Radel gently patted her shoulder. “It’s alright Luna, I’m flattered my predicament even worried you as much. It also lightens the mood to know that the princess of the night can get ‘emotional’.” Radel began lightly laughing at this, hoping the small joke would help get the situation to turn more positive.

After Radel said this, Luna began to blush deeply, feeling rather embarrassed now that he brought up that point. “There’s nothing wrong with a princess showing emotion every now and then!” She tried to sound serious but even she couldn’t keep the laughter out of her voice.

Seeing that Luna was now out of her saddened state, he looked back into the night sky. “No more sad talk, lets just enjoy the beautiful night.”

Luna brought a hoof to her eyes to wipe away the tears that remained with a smile, looking up into the night sky with him. “Yes, lets do that.”

As time passed, Radel’s eyes began to close. Luna’s intervention had brought him great comfort, and he felt once again relaxed as the world disappeared around him...

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay in this chapter being posted! I've had a lot of family issues pop up and make it hard for me to have time to work on the story. So I apologize if this chapter seems a little rushed. Regardless, expect the next chapter to be ready sometime next week!

Just A Simple Meeting...

The next thing Radel knew, he was back in the bed within the guest room he had spent the night in. The sun was shining bright rays of light through a large window leading to a balcony, waking him from his slumber. Speaking of said slumber… It was strange to him that he was able to recall the events from his dream so vividly. It was like he had simply been awake the whole time but at a different place and time. This was different to his experiences with dreams back on Earth.

Radel could remember everything from his dream, from how it started as such a terrible nightmare to when he was sitting with his back against a tree, the Princess of the Night beside him, comforting him.

That was another bizarre fact to Radel, Luna was able to physically be in his dreams, which he assumed was due to her magical capabilities. But still, being new to the concept of magic, he couldn’t help but think that it was all a trick of his mind trying to find a way to help him with his nightmares, stress, and worries. That still led to even more questions, like why his mind would materialize Luna when he hardly knew her.

While Radel continued to think on the matter, he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he found that there was a toothbrush for him to use, though it was a little larger than a normal one for him. Radel pondered that it was due to Ponies having larger mouths than him. It was no bother for him, however; the slightly larger size hardly impacted the efficiency of the brush cleaning his teeth.

As he spat out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth, Radel turned towards the back of the bathroom, finding a rather large shower and bath tub. Stepping towards the shower, since he didn’t need a relaxing bubble bath, he found various bottles of shampoo and different bars of soap; each with their own fragrance. Finding a combo that was appealing to his nose, he stepped inside and turned on the shower.

After a couple minutes, Radel stepped out and began to dry himself off, only to stop when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. Covering himself with a towel, Radel called out a reply through the door. “Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you, Commodore, but the princesses sent me to inform you that they are ready to meet you in their council chambers.” The voice answered, sounding like it came from a mare, probably one of the servants of the castle.

Finished drying himself off, Radel opened the bathroom door and was greeted by a yellow mare with a orange mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of a feather duster, rather fitting with her maid uniform.

When he opened the door, the mare jumped a little, surprised that he was stepping out to speak with her. When the door opened however, she was stuck staring at his well defined abs, with a small blush on her cheeks.

“I’ll be ready in a couple minutes. Where can I find these chambers?”

When Radel began speaking again, the mare snapped her attention back to his face. “I’ll be bringing you to them, once you are ready of course. I’ll be just outside your room when you are ready to go.” The mare quickly made her way out of the guest room with a rather large blush on her face, gently closing the door behind her.

Radel hadn’t failed to notice the mare’s embarrassment, apparently masculinity was attractive on this planet as well. With a small chuckle, Radel turned to grab his clothes but noticed they were not in the bathroom. Confused, he looked around the rest of the guest room and found that they were neatly folded, and apparently clean, lying on his bed. Man, are these servants quick!

Picking up his freshly cleaned clothes, Radel quickly got dressed and grabbed his gear. Thankfully, that had all remained untouched and by his bedside. Once he ensured he had everything, he stepped out of the room and was greeted by the maid mare again. She quickly beckoned for him to follow her, seeming to have gotten over her embarrassment from earlier.

Following her lead, they walked at a brisk pace through the castles for a couple minutes. Every now and then, Radel would receive a friendly greeting from one of the guards he had briefly fought with the night prior. Eventually, they reached a large set of double doors with two guards in front of it.

The maid stopped a little ways away, turning towards Radel. “This is the council chambers. The princesses are waiting for you inside. Have a wonderful day, Commodore.” Giving a little bow, the maid mare took her leave back down the hallway.

Making his way to the entrance to the council chambers, Radel noticed that one of the guards on duty was Captain Dusk Shield from the night before. The captain greeted him happily, holding out his hoof. “Good to see you again, Commodore Endorian.”

Grasping his hoof and shaking it, Radel replied. “Likewise, Captain. How was the rest of the night after that little fiasco?”

Finishing their quick hand… hoof shake? The captain replied with a smile still on his face. “All quiet. It seems you scared the remaining changelings away. The ones you apprehended are currently locked up in the castle dungeons.”

It was good to hear that there were no more issues currently with the changelings, but hearing about the detained ones made him curious. “What will be done with those within the dungeons?”

“They will be interrogated. After that, I do not know. You’ll have to ask the princesses on that one.”

That would indeed be one of my many questions. “Well, Captain, keep up the good work. I’ll try to find some time to train with you and your... err... ponies… Is that the right terminology?” Radel nervously rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed of not knowing the right terminology for the captain and his men.

The captain let out a hearty laugh, being joined by the guard on the other side of the door. “It’ll do for now, Commodore. I won’t keep you any longer; the princesses are waiting for you inside.” Captain Dusk Shield pushed the doors open with the other guard, holding them until Radel passed through.

Giving them both a friendly nod, Radel stepped into the room and looked around. It was what one would expect for a council chamber: large open room with a table in the center and space around it for various seating arrangements. This one, however, seemed to be for smaller meetings. There was only room for five people or ponies to sit at the circular table, three of which were taken by the princesses.

The first to greet him was Twilight, giving him a warm smile and wave. “Good morning, Radel!”

Taking a seat beside Twilight, which also put him between her and Luna, he returned her greeting. “Good morning, Twilight. As well as to you, Luna and Celestia.” The seating arrangement was Twilight to his left, Luna to his right, and Celestia beside her sister.

“How was your night of sleep Radel? Hopefully, you are well rested.” Luna asked with what Radel thought was nothing short of a knowing smile.

Turning his attention to Luna, he answered her. “It was well needed after the events of last night. And I am indeed well rested and full of energy. Now, let’s get this meeting underway. You all no doubt have plenty of questions for me to answer.” I guess that proves that she was in my dreams for real last night…

“Yes, we have much to discuss today,” Celestia spoke, joining the conversation, “We know the basics about you, Radel, thanks to a letter from Twilight. However, we’d like you to tell us more about you in detail, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind one bit, Celestia, it’s the least I could do for you saving my life after my crash landing.” Radel gave Celestia a warm, friendly smile which she returned. “What would you like me to start with?”

“I think your origins are a good enough start.”

Radel sat there for a moment, gathering his thoughts on what he would say. “Well, I’m what my people call a human. Our homeworld is light years away from here, called Earth, and we had just developed the technology to travel across vast distances of space in the matter of seconds. This device was called a warp core, and it is what was on my ship: a prototype which I was to be the first one to field test.” Radel’s expression became slightly saddened, only for it to be banished by both Luna and Twilight placing a hoof on his shoulders while giving him compassionate smiles. He nodded in thanks to both of them before continuing. “Not only was I the first one to travel to another solar system, I was also possibly the first to come into contact with other life.”

Pausing for a moment, Radel brought up his holo bracelet, punching in a few commands before a holographic image was projected over the middle of the table. Only Twilight was not stunned by the technological marvel. While she was only curious and eager to learn how Radel’s gadget worked, Luna and Celestia were frozen in shock at the sight. In the thousand of years of their existence, they have never seen such advanced technology.

Their attention was refocused on Radel as he began to speak again, directing them to follow what was being projected. “My ship is the only of its kind, made from the newest equipment and technology mankind could muster. Much of what is on it are prototypes that probably won’t be released to the general public for years to come. I was to establish first contact, and after assessing the threat level of those I encounter, to react appropriately.” Radel gave a big smile to those around him, laughing a little. “I think it’s safe to say those I’ve encountered are friendly, but Earth may never know that now, since I crashed here due to a malfunction in the warp drive. The warp drive is destroyed and gone, so I’m stuck here. Earth will have no idea of where I am, since they can’t track where my ship came out of warp. Well, those sum up my origins and why I ended up here. Any other questions?”

Instead of asking another question, Celestia looked at Radel with compassion in her eyes for his predicament. “It seems we will have to find ways of making you comfortable in our world. I’m sorry you can’t return to your family and friends.”

“I thank you for your empathy Celestia. Though I can’t make new family, I can make new friends and have a life here.” Radel looked at them with a smile, focusing on Luna and Twilight.

“Well, we can take care of any arrangements that would need to be made for you. For now, let’s continue getting to know you better.”

Before the discussion could continue, a knock on the door made them all turn their attention to it. Celestia called out a enter, allowing the pony on the other side to enter. It was the same mare from earlier, and she was carrying a tray of what Radel assumed was tea on her back.

“Your refreshments, your highnesses.” She gently placed the tray in the middle of the table, bowing before each princess individually.

“Thank you.” After Celestia thanked the maid, she quickly made her way out. “Now, I don’t know about you Radel, but I’m feeling a little famished. What do you eat, so I can inform the kitchen for breakfast.”

There was the one question that really worried Radel, knowing that the ponies were herbivores. Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Radel finally answered her question. “Weeeeelll… Humans are omnivores, we eat both plants and animals.”

As Radel nervously looked back at the princesses, he was surprised to see no fear or anger in their expressions. They were all calmly looking at him, not upset at this news in the slightest.

“You aren’t worried or upset?” Radel was curious as to why the three of them were not freaked out by this information.

Luna was the one to answer Radel, giving him a smile. “There are other species on this planet that are omnivores as well, Radel. Though most ponies know this, most would find it uneasy to witness such eating habits. So, if you ever eat in public, I suggest staying green if you know what I mean.” With that Luna gave him a light bump in the side with her hoof.

“I understand what you mean; I’ll take your advice to heart.” Radel gave her a smile of his own and looked towards the middle of the table where the tea was. I could use a drink. As he began to reach for a cup, the one he was reaching for suddenly became surrounded by a sapphire colored aura. It was immediately levitated to his hand with haste. “Well, thank you, but whoever did that, it was unnecessary.” When Radel looked around the table to see who had levitated the cup to him, he saw surprise on everyponies’ face. “What?”

“Luna, that wasn’t you, was it?” Celestia asked her sister as she held her gaze on the cup now in Radel’s hand.

“No, Celestia, that wasn’t me… This explains what we all sensed before the crash.” Luna seemed to gain a moment of realization as she brought her gaze up to Radel’s confused expression.

Radel was utterly confused as to what they were talking about, and he still didn’t know who levitated the cup to him. “Am I missing something here?”

“Radel, reach for that tea kettle please.” Twilight asked him, as she seemed to focus on his every action.

“Ok?” Radel was confused as to the point of said request, but he needed the tea anyways if he was to have a drink. As he reached for the tea kettle, the same thing happened again, it was surrounded in a sapphire aura and immediately levitated into his grasp. “Ok. So, why am I letting one of you levitate things into my grasp?” He kept his gaze locked onto Celestia or Luna. He knew it wasn’t Twilight, since whenever he saw her cast spells, they were always purple in color.

“It isn’t any of us doing that, Radel, but you.” Luna stated this as she and Celestia both levitated a cup of their own. “See, our magical aura is not that color, and we are the only ones within this room. Also, the magical aura matches the color of your eyes.”

The cups had either a golden aura or a darker blue aura, golden being Celestia’s and Luna’s being the darker shade of blue. Also, Radel’s eyes were a sapphire blue. Radel looked down at the cup in his one hand, and the tea kettle in the other. He set both down and, thinking of levitating the tea kettle, levitated it up and poured some tea into his cup. Well, this is new… Turning his attention back to Celestia, he asked her, “So, care to elaborate on this development?”

“It seems that somehow, with our magical interaction with you and your exposure to magic, you have developed an ability to use it as well,” she then looked at her sister before continuing, “Just before we witnessed your ship crashing, Luna and I had sensed a great power coming into existence. This means that you always had magical potential, a powerful potential, that somehow awakened in the past week.” She returned her focus to Radel, seeming to wait for his response.

Radel just sat there for a moment, contemplating all this new information and the possibilities opening before him. He levitated his cup of tea to his mouth, taking a sip before setting it down and speaking. “This may be something completely new and surprising, but I can get used to it.”

The princesses couldn’t help but smile at how Radel seemed to easily get the hang of his new ability. After his reply, Celestia spoke again. “I think after this new development, it’d be safe to say that you should spend some time with Twilight. She is not only the element of magic, but a strong teacher. She is most likely the best one here qualified to teach a different species how to use magic.”

Twilight gave Celestia a warm smile for her praise. “I learned from the best, Celestia.”

After the two finished sharing their praise for each other, Celestia returned her attention to Radel. “Before we end this meeting to have some much needed breakfast, let’s discuss where you will be staying…”

Author's Notes:

And the next chapter is finished! A little thanks to Regreme for being my second opinion on the chapter before I posted it, it helps a lot! We've come across quite the interesting development for the Commodore. We'll see how it effects his new life in Equestria.

A Plan Devised

After discussing Radel’s living arrangements, Princess Celestia lead them to the dining hall, where breakfast was to be served. Thankfully, Celestia was allowing him to live aboard his ship, but she wanted him to remain close to Ponyville so Twilight could train him in the ways of magic. It was a simple request, and one he could easily fulfill. I’m just glad they trust me so much to not have any major restrictions.

Not only did she want him to remain close for the magical training, but it would help other ponies get used to his presence. This would be especially helpful, since it was practically impossible for him to return home or be found. There was also another... request, made to him about his technology. Well, it was more like persistent begging, but Twilight simply would not accept anything short of in depth discussions and theories relating to his ship and equipment. If only she knew…

Once his terms of residence were determined, and Twilight’s scientific inquiry sated for the time being, they sat at a large and highly decorated dining table. Within minutes of them getting comfortable, their breakfast was carried out by a single unicorn and his telekinesis magic. He had dark brown fur, a copper like mane and tail, and was wearing a black and white server uniform.

There were various dishes spread out amongst the table, some of which Radel couldn’t even recognize. However, there were still some dishes he was familiar with. For example, there seemed to be a Farmer’s Omelet of some sort, and a simple Caesar Salad, as well as a few other small items and ingredients. After awkwardly asking the server what was all served and the various ingredients of each dish and entree, Radel joined the princesses in the feast, and a feast it was indeed!

Surprisingly, after Radel had finished his last plate of food, there seemed to be nothing left but crumbs. Celestia and Luna seemed to have had bigger appetites than he expected, though it made sense, since they were larger than the average pony. And to think I had a large appetite at times…

After they all finished their meals, they casually conversed about things like how Radel was doing now and what he all knew and understood about Equestria, ponies, and their culture. They eventually moved these conversations to the castle corridors as they made their way towards the main entryway. The subjects discussed were quite helpful to Radel, as he learned more of Equestria and its neighbors. The ones that intrigued him the most were the Griffons, mainly due to the fact he’d never seen one yet. He couldn’t think of how different a Zebra could possibly be from a pony, and dragons sounded like they weren’t giant monsters like some of the old fairy tales from Earth.

As Celestia was going more indepth about the Griffon culture, a quiet beeping began sounding in Radel’s ear. “Just a moment Celestia,” Radel said, gently raising a hand, “Athena is contacting me, and I should answer.”

Celestia simply smiled at him, nodding at him so he knew she did not mind.

Radel lifted his right arm and activated his holo bracelet, and after doing so, did the same thing for the communication device he was wearing. “What can I do for you, Athena?” Radel asked as he casually walked towards a window within the corridor. It had a wonderful view of the main courtyard only a few stories below.

*Commodore, I have an update on the repair progress of the ship.*

Radel’s face lit up a little at this. “Tell me your update, Athena.”

*The maintenance drones have gotten the hangar bay doors operational again. We can now launch the automated repair ships to begin exterior repairs.*

“That’s good to know, Athena! Does this mean my personal shuttle is ready for launch?” Radel asked as a smile began to form on his face.

*Of course, Commodore. It can be at your position in two minutes.*

Suddenly, an idea sparked in Radel’s mind. “Athena, is there an undamaged crate of communicators?”

*Yes, Commodore. The crate has remained firmly secured in the cargo hold, as well as the rest of the cargo.*

“I want you to load it into my shuttle and send it to my location. I’ll be using it shortly, and I think I know of a useful way for communicating with our new friends,” Radel ordered.

*Yes, Commodore. Your shuttle will arrive in five minutes.*

Radel began making his way back towards the others. “Thank you, Athena. Radel out.”

As he was once again amongst the princesses, Celestia and Luna continued to give him strange looks. Luna was the first to voice her curiosity, “What were you speaking to Athena about?”

Smiling at them, he made a gesture for them to follow him as he began the walk towards the main doors once again. “She was giving me an update on the progress of the repairs on Ender’s Blessing, and something interesting and useful is now available. I’ll show you once we are outside in the courtyard.”

Luna gave him a smirk as they continued walking, as well raising a questioning eyebrow. “What else could you possibly surprise us with now?”

Luna’s question only made his smile grow more. “You’ll see soon enough…”

**********************************************************************************************************

After a few more minutes of walking through the castle, they made it to the main doors to the courtyard. As Radel led the way, the guards stationed at the doors opened them for them, and closing them again once they were outside.

Twilight stopped on the stairs and looked inquisitively at him, her features expressing nothing other than excited curiosity. “So Radel! What interesting thing do you have to show us?”

As if to answer her question, an object seemed to appear out of nowhere above them. As the princesses stared at it in awe and curiosity, the object began to slowly descend before landing in the courtyard before them. Once it was landed, a door of some sort opened and formed a ramp to enter it.

Radel turned towards the princesses, finally answering Twilight and Luna’s question. “The thing I wanted to show was this! Follow me, and I’ll explain more thoroughly...” As he was finishing this statement, Radel began making his way towards the object, waving his hand for the others to follow.

Once they were all close to the object, Radel lead the princesses into it before continuing his explanation. “This thing is my own personal transport. It’s basically a miniature version of my ship, solely meant to transport me and a dozen others.”

Almost immediately Twilight began hopping from one hoof to another in excitement as she looked at the transport around her. “This is so exciting!” She then trotted up to the cockpit of the transport, knowing nothing of what it was. “You must let me study this as well!”

Radel began to chuckle softly at Twilight’s reaction and it didn’t take long for Celestia and Luna to join him. “I’m glad you show so much interest in my equipment, Twilight! Someday we’ll look over some of it together.”

Celestia and Luna had returned their attention to the ship around them, studying its features in a more calm fashion. Celestia was the first to ask a question, “So, this ship is nothing more than a transport?”

Radel redirected his attention from Twilight towards Celestia, once he was certain she wasn’t going to start taking apart the cockpit. “Well, yes and no.”

That answer got another eyebrow raise from Luna. “What do you mean yes and no?”

“Yes, its main purpose is to transport, but it is also armed with small weapons systems. And, as you saw, it also has a cloaking device as well.” As Radel finished his clarification, he made his way to a storage crate to one side of the ship. As he opened the crate, he removed two communicators.

Luna walked up to the crate with Celestia, the two of them being on either side of him with the latter asking, “What are those, Radel?”

Before he could answer Celestia’s question, Twilight brought it upon herself to do so. “Are those more of the communicator you gave me?!”

“Yes, Twilight, they are.” He then turned and gave both Celestia and Luna a communicator each. “They are for Celestia and Luna, so they can easily contact me like you can.”

Luna brought hers close to her face as she studied it curiously. “How does it work?”

Radel reached to her hoof and grabbed the communicator. Once he did, he went to her side and helped her put it in her ear. “It just sits on your ear like this; all you have to do to speak with me is use your hoof to push the button on the side of it.”

After helping Celestia get her communicator on as well, Radel stepped out of the transport and began talking through his own communicator to the others. “So, can everyone hear me clearly?”

*This is so amazing! I can’t believe you are giving us such a gift.*

*That’s how I felt when he first gave me mine, Luna!*

Stepping back aboard the ship, Radel saw Luna intently studying the communicator on Twilights ear with Celestia doing the same over her shoulder. Chuckling a little at the sight, he made his way towards the cockpit. “I’m glad you all enjoy these devices. Later down the road, I hope to teach you more advanced uses of them.” He then looked towards Celestia, a more serious expression on his face. “It’d also make it easier and more efficient for your guards to communicate with one another, giving them a tactical advantage.”

Radel then turned back towards the cockpit and sat in the pilot seat, activating various systems of the ship and running a quick diagnostics check. As he worked on determining the state of the ship, the princesses watched over his shoulders, studying the controls curiously.

“Now, I plan on using this to return to Ponyville. Do you wish to join me, Twilight? Or will you be taking the train back?” He turned his head to look at Twilight, seeing her studying one of the monitors to the side of the cockpit.

Her attention immediately snapped to him, her face full of nothing other than utter excitement. She began to jump up and down, much like Pinkie Pie, as she said, “Really!? You’d let me join you in here for the return trip? I’d love to!”

Laughing at Twilight’s eagerness, Radel turned to Luna and Celestia. “Will you be joining us as well?”

Both Luna and Celestia shook their heads, though they had warm smiles on their faces.

“Sadly, we have other important matters to attend to shortly.” Celestia made her way towards the exit of the ship.

Luna put a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “Another time, hopefully.” She then departed as well, trotting to catch up with her sister. The two of them sat by the main doors of the castle, waiting to watch them depart.

Radel activated the controls for the ramp, causing it to raise and close, securing the ship for the journey. He began to read through the finished diagnostics of the ship and everything seemed to be in order. There was just one thing left…. “Twilight, take a seat in the co-pilot seat please.” Radel patted the seat beside him. “I want you strapped in to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Twilight’s excitement seemed to double as she hopped into the seat beside him. Immediately, she used her magic to grab the straps, and after a minute, was able to get them secured around her.

While Twilight did this and continued to study the cockpit, Radel had activated the ship's engines and other systems. The loud hum of the engines winding up was music to his ears. It’s been awhile since I was able to take this baby out for a spin! Turning his attention back to Twilight, he gave her a huge grin. “Hope you’re ready for a ride, Twilight!” As he said this he began to slowly gain altitude with the ship, getting some distance between them and the ground.

Twilight looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean GET READY FOR A RIDE!?!?”

Halfway through Twilight’s question, the ship had reached a good enough altitude to clear the cities tallest structures. As soon as that was the case, Radel punched it, causing the ship to launch forward at supersonic speeds. Unlike the train ride, they’d reach Ponyville in mere minutes.

As Twilight and Radel flew away, Celestia and Luna were staring after them. Both of them were completely stunned, and their mouths were agape. They’d never seen anything fly that fast ever. Radel’s ship seemed to be even faster than Rainbow Dash while doing a Sonic Rainboom! It only took a few seconds before the ship was out of sight, and they were able to break out of their state of shock and head back into the castle.

**********************************************************************************************************

After a few minutes of flying at crazy speeds towards Ponyville, with a few unnecessary maneuvers here and there, Twilight and Radel arrived back at Ponyville. Twilight was speechless the whole flight, holding onto her seat for dear life as Radel performed various stunts. As they were coming into view of the quaint little town, something big caught both their eyes.

Twilight gasped and held a hoof to her mouth. “Is that your ship, Radel!?”

It was his ship: Ender’s Blessing was slowly flying towards an open field next to Ponyville, emphasis on slow. Though it was an impressive sight, the damage on the exterior of the ship was still present. However, if one looked closely, they would see the various drones and automated ships making repairs to the hull.

I thought it’d take longer for Athena to get the engines up and running… “It is indeed, though I thought it would’ve taken Athena longer to get the engines operational.”

As if a signal was just given, Athena’s voice came through the ship’s communication system. “The engines still need work, Commodore. They are only good enough for slowly changing the ship’s position. It’ll take time to get them back to full power for speed, maneuverability, and penetrating the atmosphere.”

“So... why are you moving the ship, Athena?” Radel asked. He was utterly confused as to what made her think moving it was necessary or a good idea.

“I overheard Princess Celestia’s wishes of you staying near Ponyville. I thought it was best that you be as close as possible, should a situation require it in the near future.” Athena’s reasoning was reasonable. If something like those changelings hit the town, he’d be right there, ready to support them. I’d hate to have others navigate through the forest just to visit me or if they needed my help. If his memory was correct, according to Twilight, there are also some very dangerous creatures that live within the Everfree.

Radel began making an approach vector for the hangar bays of Ender’s Blessing, slowing down their speed in the process. “I agree with your reasoning, Athena. Please continue... also, I’m about to land in the hangar bay. Could you open the bay’s doors please?”

Immediately after Radel finished his request, the giant doors on the side of the ship for the hangar bay opened up.

Slowly flying towards the ship, Radel brought his personal transport through the large doors and entered Ender’s Blessing. While he looked for the landing pad for his transport, Twilight was busy looking around the hangar bay in awe. It was probably the craziest thing she’s ever seen. So far.

Once Radel found the landing pad for his transport, he placed her down gently with the expertise only a well trained individual would have. As the ship completed its landing, Radel powered down the shuttle’s engines.

Signaling for Twilight to follow, Radel led the way to the shuttle’s exit and stepped onto the landing pad. Twilight continued to gaze around them with both awe and excitement as she viewed their surroundings, but then she turned a curious look towards Radel. “Why did we land on your ship? Is this so we could discuss something?”

Radel continued to lead them as they made their way out of the hangar bay and deeper into the ship. “Yes, that is the reason Twilight.” Radel then turned to Twilight with a smile. “I hope I didn’t mislead you in thinking we were gonna discuss something about my technology.”

Twilight shook her head as she had a small laugh at that. “No, you didn’t, though I was hoping that was the case.”

Turning his attention back to the path ahead of them, Radel called the elevator they had come to a stop in front of. “What I actually wanted to discuss is related to the current issue of these… changelings.” Before he continued, the elevator arrived, and they both stepped in, Twilight needing an encouraging gesture from him. As the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent, Radel continued. “Is there an easy way for anypony to detect them?”

This caused Twilight to bring a hoof to her chin as she thought the idea over. “Well, other than noticing differences between them and the pony they replaced... It would take time to develop a tracking spell on their species.” Before Twilight could continue, the elevator arrived at their destination. She followed Radel as he led them into a wide open room, with some sort of circular table in the center and various consoles and screens spread around the room on the walls. “What is this place?” Twilight asked in curiousity.

Walking over to what Twilight thought was a table, Radel touched the side of it, making it come to life with a holographic image of the ship and the area surrounding it. “Welcome to the Command Center, Twilight. This room is meant for me to communicate with say... troops or other ships in my fleet, so I can easily and effectively give them orders.” He gestured to the device before him with the holographic images being displayed. “This holographic table allows me to see the area around me based on sensor data from it, other ships, or any other devices relaying their sensor data back to me. It’s called Tactical Control.”

Twilight walked up to the holographic table, studying it carefully. “This is amazing Radel, but what does this have to do with the changelings?” Twilight could see the use such a device would have in a battle between multiple ships under his command. But, what benefit does it give them against the changelings?

Radel then went to a console connected to the table, “You said there is currently no way of detecting them, correct?”

“Yes, there is so little known about them. Little information has been kept on changelings other than texts that have them as nothing more than a legend.” Twilight let out a huff of annoyance. “There is hardly any concrete information on their anatomy or anything else.”

This only caused Radel to shake his head in approval. “Then, it’s a good thing that I have a solution.”

Twilight looked up at Radel in excitement. “YOU DO?!”

With a big smile, Radel replied, “Of course. As I told you, other devices can relay their sensor data to me.” Radel turned his attention back to the console he was at and began to interact with it, causing the holographic display to change as he talked. “From our recent contact with them, I was able to extract a sample of their DNA. The sensors on my ship and other devices only detect key elements found in all life, so they would not be any different from a pony or tree on my scanners.” Suddenly, the display showed a device of some sort and a representation of various forms of life. “Buuuut. If I implement my sample of their DNA, any scanning equipment with it in their databanks would be able to distinct it from all other forms of life!” The display then changed to represent the ship picking up a changeling in disguise on its scans.

“That’s amazing Radel!” Twilight said in joy. “That’d help keep them from infiltrating Ponyville or anything else!”

Radel nodded his head in agreement. “Indeed. I’ve already had Athena work on implementing their DNA and other samples of pony DNA into our scanners and other equipment like it.”

Suddenly, another female voice spoke up, causing Twilight to jump in surprise. “The task is complete Commodore. So far, no changelings have been picked up in the area.”

“Thank you, Athena. That is good news.” responded Radel. Giving Twilight a warm smile, he continued. “Athena, I would like you to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle! She is one of our many new friends here in Equestria.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Sparkle.”

Looking around curiously, Twilight replied. “I’m pleased to meet you as well Athena, but just Twilight is fine.”

“As you wish, Twilight.”

Twilight then returned her attention back to Radel. “Where is Athena anyways?” She continued looking around the room.

Radel chuckled as he watched Twilight’s reaction. “She is in the AI core room, but we’ll go there some other time.” Returning his attention back to the console he was at, he continued. “I have her working on constructing a dozen sensor arrays. They’ll be complete in the next day or two; it all depends on the state of the constructors.” The display then zoomed out to give a view of Equestria. “Anyways, with these sensor arrays, if placed correctly, we could receive the location of any changeling within Equestria!” The display then faded away as Radel stepped away from the console and approached Twilight. “Of course, I will only implement this idea with the approval of you and the other princesses.” He then bowed before her.

A small blush appeared on Twilight’s cheeks as she looked at him. “Radel, you already know I consider you a friend and don’t like it when friends act this way towards me!” She then sighed and gave him a more serious look. “But I understand you are only respecting my position. I’ll speak with Celestia and Luna tomorrow and see what they think.”

After standing back up, Radel gave Twilight a smile. “I know you don’t like that, but it’s just a great way to mess with you.” Then, his expression turned serious as well. “But I am being respectful to your position.” Heading towards the elevator again, Radel signaled for Twilight to follow.

After their short trip with the elevator, they found themselves in the hangar bay once again.

Twilight was the first to speak. “I’ll let you know what the others think once I know myself.”

Radel simply stood there, gazing at the setting sun that could be seen outside the hangar bay. “Most likely by the time you tell me their answer, I’ll be ready to put the plan into action.” He then smiled as he looked back at Twilight. “So, do you want me to give you a lift back home, or would you prefer to do it yourself?”

Twilight returned his smile and replied, “There’s no need, I’ll just teleport myself home. See you later, Radel!” And then in a flash of bright, purple light… she was gone.

Radel then returned his gaze to the setting sun, watching as the moon began to show itself as well. I only hope this plan will help protect these ponies...

Author's Notes:

So my next chapter is finally done! Took longer than I'd like but hey, life's a bitch sometimes. Anyways, I plan to hopefully get the next one done and out in the next week or two, all depends on how well I can get my life back in order after the death of my grandmother and the same goes for the rest of my family. That will not only effect my time available for working on my own story, but the time I have for my editing jobs for some other authors which come first! But I'll never give up!!!

Also another big thanks to my editor and friend Regreme

A Familiar Face

The next day, as the sun rose to replace the moon and its night, a glorious sight to some could be witnessed. Overnight, the maintenance drones and ships had made ample progress on the exterior parts and hull of Ender’s Blessing. It was now in almost pristine condition, with hardly any damage on the outside, while the inside of the ship was fully repaired. All systems had become fully operational once more.

While the last of the repairs were being finished, Radel was preoccupied with ensuring the completion of the first sensor array. He worked at the main control panel at one of the many replicators that was located within the ship’s cargo bay, helping speed up the progress of the otherwise automated process.

As he was finishing the last of the components for the array, a beeping sounded in his ear, signaling that someone was trying to contact him. Or in this case, somepony.

Radel quickly accepted the incoming communication, greeting the pony speaking to him. “Good morning, Twilight. What can I do for you today?” As he asked this, the sensor array’s construction was completed, ready to be deployed.

*I’ve just received Celestia’s and Luna’s approval of your plan. They have high hopes for this sensor array of yours, as do I.*

“With devices like these, you’ll be able to easily stop changelings from infiltrating the populace and any future problems.” Radel then began to make his way towards the hangar bay as the sensor array was grabbed by a few drones and carried away. They would load the sensor array onto his personal shuttle, so he could transport it to Canterlot for deployment. “Also, you won’t have the problems of needing powerful spellcasters or multiple spellcasters to cast any kind of detection spell or enchantment.”

*Indeed, this device of yours will save us both time and resources we could put to better use elsewhere.*

As Radel entered the elevator leading from the cargo bay to the hangar bay, he said his goodbyes to Twilight. “Well, I’ll speak to you after I’ve spoken with Celestia and Luna and set up the sensor array.”

*Sure thing. I’ll see you later, Radel. We still need to get started on your magic lessons!*

"See you later this afternoon, Twilight." And with that Radel ended his conversation with Twilight as the elevator arrived at the hangar bay. As its door opened, he was in time to see the drones load the device onto a hover cart and pushed into his shuttle.

As he made his way towards the shuttle, the drones made their way off of it and returned to their stations or to complete other tasks on the ship. Once he stepped aboard, he was glad the cargo space of his shuttle was mainly a compartment underneath the floor of the shuttle with a simple hatch covering it. I really wouldn't like to have to climb over that thing to reach the cockpit..

After activating the shuttle, Radel brought it out of the hangar bay, setting course for Canterlot. After a short flight, he finally arrived, gently landing the craft in the courtyard. As the shuttle settled into place, he left the cockpit and began to remove the sensor array from the small cargohold under the floor of the ship. After punching a few quick and simple commands into a small console on the side of the shuttle, the doors opened, and a lift raised the sensor ray up, as well as other bits and bobs of equipment to go with it.

He then went on to press a button on a small console attached to the cart holding the equipment, causing it to lift off the ground and hover. After that, he began to push it out of the shuttle and into the courtyard. As he exitted his personal shuttle, he was greeted by a familiar face yet again.

“Great to see you again, Commodore!” None other than Captain Dusk Shield was standing before him. The stallion had an excited grin on his face as he stood with both Celestia and Luna beside him.

Giving him a smile of his own, Radel greeted the Captain. “Captain Dusk Shield, good to see you again as well!” He then stepped around the hover cart and shook his hoof.

“Captain Dusk Shield is here to learn how this device of yours works, since he will be working with it,” Celestia stated as she went up to said device and began to examine it. “How does it work?”

Radel went back to the cart, moving it towards a more open area in the courtyard. “Allow me to show you, but first, are you fine with it being in the courtyard?”

“Of course. It seems it would be the easiest place to place such a large device,” Luna said as she began to follow Radel with the others.

After a short walk and finding a nice open space in the courtyard, Radel deactivated the cart, causing it to settle back onto the ground. He then went to the side of it, where the sensor array had its own console. He used it to activate a hover mode on it so he could easily move it into place. He then deactivated it and input a set of commands before stepping back a few feet. The sensor array immediately began to deploy itself in a triangular shape, and after a short amount of time, was fully deployed. It stood about twenty three feet high with various antenna and sensor nodes covering it.

The others stood there in awe while the device itself deployed, but their attention was turned towards a holographic screen that was being projected on all three sides of the triangular device.

Radel then returned his attention back to the three of them. “If each of you would walk up to a holo screen, I’ll show you how it works.”

While the three of them each took a place at a holo screen, Radel brought up his wrist with his holo bracelet. After quickly imputing a few commands, he brought up his own holo screen linked to the sensor array.

“This sensory array will be able to detect any changeling presence within the city and within five miles of it,” As he said this, a visual representation of Canterlot appeared with ponies walking around and changelings being highlighted in red. “After our encounter with them not too long ago, I was able to obtain a sample of their DNA. With this, I was able to modify my sensor equipment to separate them from other ponies and creatures.”

“This is amazing, the tactical advantages of this device are astounding should the changelings try anything again!” Captain Dusk Shield began to eagerly look over the device, studying anything he could about it.

Luna then walked up to Radel, giving him a quick hug before speaking. “Thank you for selflessly aiding us against the changelings, Radel. It means so much to me and my sister.”

Radel had a smile on his face, happy to see everyone’s positive reactions to his sensor array. “No thanks is nece-”

*Commodore! Changeling signatures have been detected within ten miles of Ponyville. They appear to be massing their forces from somewhere within the Everfree Forest.*

Shit… Radel’s smile turned into a small frown for just a moment before he brought it back to hide his reaction.

He was not fast enough though, for Luna saw it and gave him a worried expression. “What is wrong, Radel?”

Radel dropped his mask and looked Luna in the eyes. “The changelings are massing somewhere in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville...”

Her eyes then widened, but almost immediately, they grew cold as she adopted an expression of determination and purpose. “We must ready the guard! Ponyville is almost completely defenseless!!!”

As Luna was turning to run back towards the castle, Radel stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Luna, ready the guard yes, but leave them here in Canterlot.”

Celestia gasped at his request. “You can’t be serious Radel, the Elements of Harmony are not strong enough to take on a whole changeling army!”

Ignoring Luna’s cold glare now upon him, Radel explained. “I know that, Celestia! But this could easily be a trap to leave Canterlot defenseless. Twilight told me about your first encounter with them.” He then turned his gaze back to Luna who looked as if she was being betrayed by him at that very moment. “I’ll defend the town myself. I don’t want you two to risk yourselves and Canterlot so soon after their almost successful attempt.”

Luna only grew angry at that remark, getting into Radel’s face. “How do you plan to stop an army by yourself?! Even with your fancy technology, you are only ONE pony!!!”

Radel gently grabbed her by the shoulders as he looked her firmly in the eyes. “Trust me, I have more tricks up my sleeve. We can’t forget about my ship at Ponyville…

As Radel said that, Luna’s anger died down as she lowered her head. “I believe you, Radel... Just please… keep them all safe, there are many dear friends in that town…”

Giving her a smile, Radel activated his armor and stepped back. “I will.” He then turned to look at Captain Dusk Shield as his helmet was forming around his head. “Keep them and this city safe while I’m gone, Captain.”

Captain Dusk Shield gave him a salute and stood tall. “I’ll do all I can and more, sir.”

With that, Radel quickly made his way back to his shuttle while contacting Athena. “Athena! I need you to prepare that present from Earth. I also want you to have every replicator on standby, ready to reinforce us.” As Radel finished giving her his commands, he arrived at his shuttle and made his way to the cockpit.

*Of course, Commodore. Our forces will be ready and at your command shortly.*

“Good. Also, ensure there is plenty of space within the ship’s cargo bay. We’ll have lots of civilians seeking shelter soon…” Within seconds, Radel was off the ground and blasting back towards Ponyville. I just hope we can protect everypony… As he continued to fly back, Radel opened a channel with Twilight. “Twilight, I need you to sound an alarm in Ponyville NOW! Changelings are massing not far from the town and will be attacking soon.”

*What?!?! Alright, don’t worry. Since we’ve been threatened so much by monster attacks and other forms of disaster, the mayor and I installed such a system within my castle.*

“Good, activate it and make sure everypony makes their way towards my ship. It’ll be the safest place. Just look for the opened cargo bay doors.”

*Will do! What are Celestia’s and Luna’s plan?*

“I’m having them remain in Canterlot to defend it in case this is just a trap.”

*Then, how are we supposed to defend Ponyville?!*

“Trust me, Twilight, I have a plan.”

*I hope it’s a good one… I’ll see you soon, then.*

“See you soon, Twilight.” And with that, Radel ended his call with her, continuing to fly through the sky at high speeds.

*************************************************************************************************************

After a couple of minutes, Radel arrived back at Ponyville. He quickly redocked his shuttle inside Ender’s Blessing as it was landing closer to the town. As he made his way out of the shuttle, he quickly ran to the elevator, taking it to the cargo bay. Once the elevator arrived in the cargo bay, he made his way to the main door as it opened and made a ramp to the ground below. As he stepped onto the rampway, he was quickly greeted by Twilight and her friends. But he was not alone...

“Radel! I’m so glad…” Twilight stopped as hundreds of other humanoid like machines began to march past them and down the ramp, forming ranks around the base of it. “I thought you were the only human…”

Radel only laughed at her comment, causing her and her friends to give him confused looks. “I am the only human, Twilight. These are just androids, robotic and AI controlled machines.” He then began to walk by them as the androids continued to march by. “How else did you think they expected me to fight any possible threats without an army when I was given my mission?”

Once Radel made his way to the front of his small army's ranks, he began to give orders. “Alright, this is our mission. To defend Ponyville and its civilians at any cost against the changelings! Do I make myself clear?!”

The androids saluted and replied, “Sir, yes, sir!”

“Good. This is the plan. I want platoons one and two taking defensive positions around the cargo bay ramp. I don’t want any changelings getting close to this location or the civilians that’ll be coming this way.”

“Yes, sir!” With that, the two platoons of androids departed, deploying various things like energy barriers and such in defensive positions around the ramp.

“I then want platoons three and four taking various defensive positions around the town to help cover civilians as they make their way here.”

“Yes, sir!” The next two platoons began running towards Ponyville, their weapons drawn and ready.

“And platoon five, I want you to divide into squads and search around the outskirts of the town. I don’t want anypony left behind just because they live on the outskirts!”

“Yes, sir!” And with that, the last platoon divided into a multitude of seven men squads, making their ways to different positions.

As the last platoon was on the move, Athena contacted Radel again. *Commodore, the changelings are moving towards Ponyville now and will be there within the next few minutes!*

Here goes nothing… Turning his attention back to Twilight and her friends, Radel spoke to them. “Alright, the changelings will be here any minute now. I want you all to stay on this ship no matter what, got that?”

Almost immediately, Rainbow Dash flew into his face, nothing but anger in her expression. “Are you kidding me?! I’m not letting you fight those things on your own out there!”

“I agree with Dash on this one sugar cube. We ain’t sittin’ on the sidelines.” Applejack joined her friend in front of me.

“Sorry, but I’m not putting your safety on the line for some extra support. The changelings need ponies to feed off of them, so you are bigger targets than me or my men.”

“So, you expect us to stay here and do nothing? It’s my duty to protect everypony as well, Radel. I am a princess, you know.” And with that, everypony began to pressure Radel, giving him their reasons for not wanting to stay inside and away from the fighting.

Radel facepalmed as he listened to all of their arguments against his command. “Fine, if you must help defend Ponyville, I ask you stay near the ship or my men.” But then, he removed his hand and helmet before looking at all of them in the eye. “But know this, I am not losing anyone to these creatures no matter the cost. I will not allow it.”

That last comment left them all quiet for a moment, but after a little bit they all nodded their heads in understanding.

“Good. Now, excuse me, I have ponies to protect.” With that said, Radel made his way off the ramp and stood amongst his men at the base.

Already, the residents of the town were making their way towards his ship. Either they were flying or running as fast as they could. As the first few got closer, Radel saw shapes getting bigger in the distance above the Everfree Forest. “Men, at the ready! Remember, use nonlethal means no matter what. No killing blows, only stun or disabling. I want as few casualties as possible!”

As the changelings got closer, Radel grew worried. The advancing changeling army was massive, hundreds of black shapes filled the skies. This is gonna be a hard fight…

As the first groups of ponies passed by Radel and his men, the first group of changelings came into range and engaged. Some of them fired off bursts of magic, while the others sped behind the incoming fire. Some of the magic salvo was heading towards the next group of ponies moving towards the ship. Immediately, Radel and some of his men rushed to them and covered them with a shield wall. When the salvo hit, it was harmless, being fully absorbed by their shields.

But within seconds, the changelings following the magical attack landed amongst them, immediately engaging Radel and his surrounding men. Using their shields to block attacks they couldn’t dodge, they all aimed their rifles and open fire upon the changelings around them. Within seconds, the changelings around them were stunned and unconscious.

Quickly, Radel and his men regrouped and aimed towards the skies, taking shots on the remaining changelings above. While the changelings were preoccupied in avoiding the shots from him and his men, more ponies were able to make it aboard the ship without a problem. They were holding them at bay so far, but suddenly, much of the remaining changeling force that had yet to arrive began to pick up speed. Not only that, but they formed balls of magical energy around them as they began to crash throughout the city.

Some of the changelings crashed amongst his men, knocking them off their feet and out of their dug in positions. While they were distracted by the changelings coming out of the craters around them or getting back on their feet, the rest of the changeling army descended upon them from the skies.

While another group of ponies was making their way to the ship, some changelings began to swoop down on them and grab them. The androids that were close enough to help them were busy fighting changelings that had crashed amongst them. Before Radel could engage them himself, a flash rushed past him and individually knocked the changelings off the ponies they were trying to abduct. Said flash was Rainbow Dash as she fought the changelings off. Those that were high off the ground were gently levitated down in a blue or purple aura. Twilight and her friends were joining the fray. Turning around to look at them, Radel signaled for them to follow him. “Come on! Let’s kick these bugs out of here!”

Charging forward with his rifle, Radel led Twilight and her friends into the thick of it. His men were struggling to keep the changelings off of what he assumed to be the last of the townsfolk, since the last platoon was with them. The changelings seemed to be focused on them, trying hard to abduct the ponies amongst his men.

Activating his wings, Radel took to the sky and charged a changeling that was charging a spell with its horn. As it looked towards him from the edge of its vision, he smashed an electrified fist into the side of its face, sending it flying towards the ground. Few of the changelings were flying around though, so Radel focused his next target on a group below him, surrounding two of his men that were shielding three fillies from them. Everytime the two of them fired at any of the changelings around them, the other would protect it with a magical barrier. I never thought about how ineffective they’d be against magical creatures without the proper training or tactics…

Not wasting another moment, Radel dived towards the closest changeling of the group and piledrived it into the ground. Once he was positive the changeling was out cold from the impact, he turned towards the next one, which had noticed his addition to the fight. It immediately charged him with those blades extending from its forelegs.

As it attempted to land various swipes and jabs on Radel, he extended his own blades from his wrists. These blades were a little special add on he made to the gauntlets of his armor after his first encounter with the changelings. They were just like his sword, with the ability to be charged with energy and such, but were smaller and easier to use in tight quarters combat or against the dual blades that the changelings seemed to prefer.

Raising his blades in a defensive pose, Radel began to block and deflect the changelings' attacks. After pushing the changeling to be defensive instead, he charged his blades and sliced through its next block, severing the blades from its forelegs. While it was busy screeching in pain, he quickly delivered an energized blow to knock it unconscious.

Once it was down, Radel quickly glanced around him. His men were beginning to turn the tide of the battle, slowly gaining the upper hand. His command to not kill any changelings had given them the advantage, but as more went down, that advantage was being lost. Though his army was of his same origin and technology, the changelings were still managing to disable an android here and there. Though their blades were struggling to get through their strong armor, their magic could still deal enough damage to disable one after a couple of direct hits.

The group of fillies were now safe as Radel looked around their surroundings. The other changelings had been taken care of by his men. "Quick, get those three to the ship!" As Radel gave the command, a couple other androids joined the first two around the fillies and escorted them at a quick pace towards the cargo bay ramp.

Once he was certain they were safe, he returned his attention to the battle at hand. While he was looking for the next changeling to engage, a cry for help caught his attention.

"They got Rainbow! Come on, girls!"

As Radel found the source of the commotion, he saw Twilight and her friends struggling to fight a large amount of changelings. A few of them already had Rainbow Dash pinned to the ground.

"I'm on my way!" Radel immediately began to rush towards them, aiming his rifle at the ones pinning Rainbow Dash down, but as he was about to open fire, a familiar face appeared before him and knocked him back with a magical burst of energy.

While Radel was getting back on his feet, the familiar face spoke. "We meet again, creature. And it seems this time... I have the upper hoof!"

Chrysalis! "Your changelings are losing this battle, Chrysalis. Either surrender now or your whole army will be defeated!" He raised his shield and aimed his rifle at her, bracing it against the side of his shield.

Chrysalis just laughed at his demands. "Mwahahaha! I think you are the one who should surrender and come with me." She stepped aside and gestured behind her. Her changelings had now captured Twilight and the rest of her friends. "Or shall I do something with them?"

Seeing that Twilight and her friends were unable to break free with the changelings holding blades to their necks, he lowered his weapon. "What are your demands?"

Chrysalis grew a big smile as she began to walk towards him. "You are to disarm yourself of all your fancy toys and call off your troops." She then placed a hoof under his chin, making him look her in the eyes. "Then, you will come with me... Or Twilight and her friends will perish."

Shaking her touch away from him, Radel removed his helmet. "You have a deal."

"WHAT?! NO, RADEL!!!" Twilight screamed as he began to deactivate his armor and lay down his weapons.

He then activated his comlink and ordered his androids to stand down. Immediately, his men began to disengage with the changelings they were fighting and allowing them to grab their injured and unconscious. While they did this, Radel's armor finished deactivating, and he removed it, letting the exoskeleton fall to the ground. "There. My men have backed off, and I've disarmed." He looked over to Twilight and her friends. "Now, let them go."

"Of course! But first, let me ensure they won't try to break the deal." Chrysalis' horn began to glow green as she turned and aimed it on the Elements of Harmony. Her changelings quickly dodged out of the way as their victims were suddenly held in place by a green aura. "There. Now, let us be off. I have so many things to do with you!"

The next thing Radel knew... he saw a bright green fire surround him and after that, darkness...

Welcome to my home, pet....

Author's Notes:

And the next chapter arrives! With this one posted, I'll be taking the rest of this week to continue on my editing job for other authors, after that I'll start work on the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoys the story so far, also on a side note, some sexy times might be happening soon.

Narrow Escape (Clop)

When Radel finally came to, he couldn't make out anything of his surroundings. All he saw was darkness... He attempted to reach around in search of anything, but he soon found out he couldn't move his arms or legs much. As he wondered what was keeping him from moving his arms or legs, a green light appeared in front of him. Once his eyes were adjusted to the harsh glow, Radel was greeted by the face of Chrysalis as she gave him a devious smile.

"You've finally woken up." Chrysalis began to slowly walk towards him as the room began to fill with an unnatural green light, her horn no longer glowing. "Now, the real fun can begin!"

Radel noticed that the light in the room was coming from various crystals surrounding them. It appeared they were in some sort of mountainside cavern or underground cave system. He then looked at his legs and arms as he tried to wrench them free. They were thoroughly covered in a strange, green, goo-like substance that was also extremely strong. Even with the added power and strength his implants gave him, Radel was unable to break free.

He ceased his attempts as he looked at Chrysalis with a neutral expression, attempting to hide any emotions he felt from the creature. "What did you do with the Elements?"

Chrysalis simply laughed strongly at the question, taking her sweet time to calm herself. "I may be ‘evil’, but I honor my deals. They were left unharmed after we departed." Her grin grew even more as she seemed to stare right into the depths of his soul as her eyes and horn gave off a subtle, green glow. "Now... You will tell me everything I wish to know about you, your little toys, and anything you've learned about the princesses."

Though Radel knew Chrysalis was speaking to him, he felt like she was doing more than that. He could feel another voice within his mind, another will other than his own, pushing for him to comply without question. Breaking his eye contact with her with a struggle, Radel furiously shook his head before going still and calming himself. He began to set up his own mental defenses as he pushed the foreign will from his mind, almost tearing it away. Whatever Chrysalis was using on him, it was a form of mind control, an attempt to turn him into her puppet, but he had had training for the off chance he was captured to avoid issues with torture or mind control. His breathing slowed to a relaxed and tranquil state as he kept his will strong within his own mind.

Cute, the strange creature thinks it can fight me... The voice echoed around him, making itself known to all of his senses. He continued to stay in that tranquil state, continuously focusing his will into a barrier to protect his mind. Suddenly, however, it was not enough for the tidal wave of magical will that attacked out of nowhere. Radel's tranquil state broke as he thrashed around in pain, screaming in agony of the pain he was experiencing within his own mind. Nothing can protect you from my magic... You. Will. Be. MINE! Radel continued to shriek in pang, tossing and turning in his restraints as the mental battle raged on. A battle he was losing... Until suddenly another magical force became present, pushing that which belonged to Chrysalis back and out with great force.

Ahhhhh!!! The mental voice yelled in anger as it was pushed away. What is this sudden power?!?! Chrysalis tried to push it away, but her attacks did nothing, now simply deflecting off of his mind. How can you have such power that you can hold me at bay within your mind?!?! Chrysalis canceled her spell, returning herself to the physical world. "It seems we will have to break you another way..." Chrysalis failed to continue her planning as she looked at Radel. He was completely still; he even seemed to not breathe. If she hadn't heard the quiet breaths he took, she’d have thought him dead. What really got her was the sapphire aura that surrounded his body. Somehow, her attempts to shatter his will had caused a natural magical defense to remove and block her from his mind.

She then smiled as her mind gave birth to the perfect way to solve the current dilemma. "Seems I'll have to feed off you to weaken that magical strength of yours..." Chrysalis walked closer to Radel, reaching with a hoof to gently caress his chest. "The question is, where do you keep it hidden?" She continued to run her hoof along his body, searching for her target. Eventually, she came across it between his lower legs. With a devilish smile, she used her magic to work his clothing out of the way to show her prize to the world.

She carefully studied it, noticing it's smooth appearance, and a... pink helmet at the end of it? "Though I've seen many dicks in my time, yours is definitely the strangest..." Her initial inspection complete, Chrysalis began to gently caress Radels length, causing it to slowly go from flaccid to erect. Once she was certain it was as big as it was going to get, she licked her lips as its scent brought her growing hunger to the forefront of her mind. "My my, seven inches isn't that bad..." Chrysalis began to stroke Radel's now fully erect penis, even beginning to sensually lick the sides of it. As she looked up to Radel's face as she worked, she noticed that he remained unmoved from her actions. "It seems that magical self defense of yours has you stuck frozen like that." She began to bring her tongue from the sides of his dick to the tip, licking along its opening and getting her first taste of his precum, and sensing the energy waiting for her to feed off of behind it. She then pulled her tongue back, swallowing the precum and humming in delight at the taste. "Don't worry, Chrysalis will help you out of that..."

Chrysalis then began to open her mouth as she took his length into it, enjoying the salty taste. After getting only an inch or two down, she pulled back before going down again but going another inch further. She continued this process until she was able to develop a steady pace, bobbing her head up and down his length. As her pace settled, she then began to snake her tongue around his length as it filled her maw, using its long, reptilian like, length to wrap around it multiple times. As she added to the stimulation she was giving him, she only wished she could hear him groan and moan from her ministrations. She began to pick up pace with her bobbing, sensing the surge of energy that was bubbling behind his dick, ready to be released. He was getting close and it only made her hunger grow. She then began to snake her tongue back and forth in a corkscrew motion. She also brought a hoof to one of his balls, gently massaging it, hoping to encourage a quicker release of the energy she so hungrily craved from his depths. Chrysalis kept her eyes on Radel for the last few moments as she brought him to a climax. As she greedily fed off of the energy that was released with his orgasm, she saw the magical aura that filled his eyes and the space around him falter and dim a little.

Just as she expected, her feeding was weakening his magical barrier. As she finished cleaning his length of any remaining essence, she used her magic to lower the restraints holding Radel against the wall. "This isn't as enjoyable when you are simply blank and unresponsive like this." She then moved them so that he was lying on the ground, his face staring blankly into the stone and crystals above. Moving herself atop him, she sat her haunches so her plot was grinding against his length. She did this to keep it erect as she spoke again. "Soon, you will be too weak to keep this magical barrier strong enough to hold me back, especially with me feeding off your essence like this." She then raised her plot along his length slowly, letting it feel the groove between her cheeks until it slid against her own flower. "And then we can truly enjoy these acts." Her flower was freely letting loose its nectar as she gently grinded it against his tip. She moaned in pleasure at the sensation. Not only had it been awhile since she'd fed on a male, but Radel's shape was unique when compared to those she's seen and fed off of before.

As her hunger continued to feel unsatisfied, Chrysalis began to slowly push herself down atop of Radel, allowing him to penetrate her. She continued until she was all the way to the base. Once she was, Chrysalis let out a long moan and raised herself and then lowered again, creating a slow but steady rhythm. She looked again at Radel, and, yet again, he remained unresponsive. This caused her to pick up the pace, wanting that barrier down even more. "I will have that barrier down, and you will cry my name as I make you mine!!!" She began to raise herself quickly, lowering herself at the same speed as wet slaps began to form in the air accompanied by her moan and pants of pleasure. Chrysalis's juices were flowing freely now as her excitement grew at the promise of more energy to feed her. She could feel it building up again as Radel came close to another orgasm. Her pussy tightly clenched his length, milking it and asking for it to hurry and deliver its load. Finally, after a few final slaps, Radel came again. Chrysalis moaned in delight as she felt his energy fill her again, making her feel stronger as her hunger was sated even more. This caused her to have her own orgasm, causing Radel's crotch to be covered in a mix of their juices. She kept herself atop him, firmly keeping the two of them close as she enjoyed the feeling of having such a good feed and orgasm.

As Chrysalis enjoyed a few moments of bliss, she finally opened her eyes and looked back down at Radel. The magical barrier aura was now faltering, almost flashing as it became extremely weakened. Just a little more, and I've got him! Chrysalis stood, allowing Radel's still somewhat erect penis to slide out with a wet *pop*. She then began to press her plot against it again, poking her other hole with its tip. "I hope you've made your final wishes, because now you will be mine!" Chrysalis began to massage his length with her magic, lining it up with her plot as he began to become fully erect again. After this last feeding, his barrier should fail. This is it!

Chrysalis was about to penetrate herself yet again when a stone door raised on the other side of the room. A changeling drone came running in, panic in its eyes as it looked up to its queen. "My Queen! The hatchery is in danger!"

Instead of angrily shouting at the drone for stopping her from claiming her prize, she immediately pried herself off of Radel and began to charge out of the room. Horror and rage filled her facial expressions as the drone chased after her. "What threatens my children?!" As the drone followed her through the door it spoke of some sort of cave in. However, the door closed behind them quickly, leaving Radel in his mind locked state in his cell, looking like a mess, with his dick still hanging out for the world to see...

******************************************************

"Why aren't you going after him?!?!" Twilight stood on her hind legs as she angrily attempted to shake one of the many androids that were in Ponyville. After the changelings had teleported away, with Radel in their clutches, the spell Chrysalis used to paralyze Twilight and her friends wore off. Now, the small army Radel had brought forth remained. They simply just patrolled the town or stationed themselves at its borders.

"Commands only accepted by the Commodore or other approved entities." The android simply stated with a robotic voice as it ignored Twilight's physical efforts to force it to do her will. It didn't even move an inch from her physical efforts.

She retracted her forehooves and went back to standing on all four of her legs. She sighed as she looked at the countless androids around Ponyville. This answer was the same one she got from about twenty other androids. It just seemed that no matter what she tried or said, they would only listen to a command from Radel.

*You know, you've tried speaking to all of the wrong machines, your highness...*

Twilight jumped in surprise at first, but realized the voice simply came from her communicator. "Princess Celestia! You know about Radel's capture?!"

*Yes, Athena updated me and Luna on the situation.*

Twilight mentally face hoofed herself as Celestia mentioned Athena. Of course she'd forget about the AI that Radel was always conversing with! "Athena! Can you locate Radel with the ship in any way?"

Another, more computerized, voice spoke up. *All scans come back negative. Results suggest he is either held underground or within a mountain. Such amount of minerals and stone will cause too much interference the thicker they are.*

Twilight groaned in frustration at Athena's revelation. "Then, how do we find Radel and rescue him?!"

Celestia brought herself into the conversation again, saying something that only brought extreme confusion to Twilight. *I already have a special team inbound to his location. They should be freeing him momentarily...*

******************************************************

Quickly dashing over to the corner before Radel's cell, a mare carefully peeked around the corner. As she saw the two changeling guards in front of it, she quickly reached a hoof to her back, where a white, fluffy spider made its way onto her hoof. "Alright, this is your chance to show them, Scary."

The spider quickly gave a salute to the mare before she tossed it around the corner towards the ceiling. With great practice and ease, the spider carefully attached itself to the ceiling above the changeling guards without them noticing a thing. Carefully, the spider moved forward and aligned itself with one of the guards and jumped down.

Immediately, the spider came into contact with its face, causing it to panic and run around the corridor. This ended up distracting the other guard as it watched in amusement as its fellow guard freaked out over a simple little spider. The changeling hardly noticed the mare as she got behind it and quickly hit it hard in the back of the head with a single swing of a hoof. As the changeling fell unconscious to the ground, the mare turned in time for the other guard to run head first into a wall. While it was stunned, a few rocks of debris fell from the ceiling and landed on its head, knocking it out cold. The mare hurried over to the other guard, looking for her partner in crime. To answer her frantic search, said partner landed with a light *poof* onto her back.

The mare turned her gaze to the spider and gave it a warm smile. "Nice work." She then made her way to the cell door, quickly finding the mechanism to open it up. After the door slowly opened up, the mare had to take time to let her eyes adjust to the darkness within. She looked down once they were adjusted and saw Radel with a fading magical barrier and... a tiny pink helmet between his legs? She quickly ignored that last thought as she approached him. She then pulled out a small vial of some sort of elixir from a saddle bag she was wearing, pouring its contents on his head.

Within seconds, the barrier began to fade away, allowing Radel to return to the physical world. Though he was coherent again, he was still extremely weak as he tried to raise himself up, only for him to crash right back down.

The mare gently patted his shoulder as she stood beside him. "It's okay. We're getting you out of here."

Radel's eyes slowly began to focus again as he saw the mare before him. Though he couldn't think of it then, he definitely recognized the mare from somewhere. "Who are you?"

The mare simply smiled as she adjusted her pair of black shades. "Special Agent Sweetie Drops, and I'm here with some friends to bust you outta here."

As Radel looked at her in confusion, the white fluffy spider made its presence known atop the agents head, casually waving at him. The spider had white hairs covering it, making it have a fluffy look. It also had a red circle on its back with eyes Radel could easily see friendliness within. But his eyes widened in horror as other figures began to move within the shadows behind the two. A group of at least half a dozen changelings made their way into the cell. Just as Radel was about to yell out a warning, the agent put a hoof to his mouth.

She smiled knowingly as she turned to look at the approaching changelings. "Don't worry. They're on our side." She nodded to a specific changeling of the group that looked different from the rest. Actually, now that Radel thought about it, all of the changelings looked different from what he'd seen so far of the creatures.

The changeling that was acknowledged by Sweetie Drops began to walk up to Radel, sitting beside him as it looked him over with concern. He was surprised when it spoke to him. "My name is Luminess." The changeling began to surround him in a magical aura, helping him to his feet and fixing his clothes. "I am Chrysalis' daughter." Then, she did the strangest thing ever, she gave him a caring smile as it asked. "Are you alright?"

Radel stood there, shocked by her presence. "Why would a changeling, let alone the daughter of their queen, care for anything other than a changeling?"

Luminess giggled at that, holding a chitin covered hoof to her mouth. Somehow, even though she was a changeling, the action was cute to him. "Changelings have nothing against ponies," Suddenly, her cheerful expression faded away, replaced by one full of despair and sadness. "we only follow our queen's orders to survive." Luminess sat in front of Radel, looking down at the ground. "But our queen is corrupt, instead of harmlessly feeding off other creatures, she seeks to completely control them."

Radel was once again surprised as Luminess began to weep a few tears. While she wiped them away, Radel put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Then, why have none of you removed her from power?"

Luminess slowly raised her head, looking Radel in the eyes with her own. "Because she was not always like this. She was much kinder, not only caring for us, but for other creatures as well."

"Then, what caused her to change?" If she was a kind and caring leader once, what could possibly change that?

Luminess shook her head as she got back onto her hooves. "All we know is some sort of magical force is corrupting her. We have no idea what." She began to make her way to the exit of his cell. "Come, we must hurry while we still have a chance to escape."

"Right." Radel began to get off the ground but immediately fell to the ground. "Augh! I'm still weak from... whatever she did to me..." Some of the changelings that entered with Luminess came to his aide, allowing him to use them for support.

Luminess signaled for everyone else to exit ahead of them, giving her time to explain to Radel why he was weak. "She fed off your energy, your life. This is why you feel so weak. Just be happy we got here before she was able to feed off more of it." She then made her way out the stone door, with two of the changelings beside him helping him out of the cell.

"This isn't good. With Radel so weak, we'll be even more vulnerable!" Sweetie Drops complained as she scanned their surroundings, her partner doing the same while he hung from the ceiling by a web. Even though he was feeling so weak, Radel still grew a smile from how adorable the spider looked with Sweetie Drops as they mirrors each other's scouting motions.

"Don't worry, Agent. That tiny cave in diversion will keep Chrysalis and most drones busy." Luminess then stopped as she was turning around the corner. "But that time is still limited, so move!"

Sweetie Drops groaned in frustration, waiting for Scary to drop onto her back from his little web vantage point. Before she moved though, she cast a worried look at Radel. Though he could think and speak clearly, the feeding had definitely drained his physical energy.

Even though they had Radel's extra weight, the changelings carrying him along were able to easily keep up with the rest of the group. As time passed, they continued to go through various tunnels and caverns. If it wasn't for Luminess leading them, they'd have been lost by now. How one could know their way around such a confusing tunnel system surprised him. Just when Radel was beginning to question their guide after another series of tunnels, she raised her hoof quickly for them to stop.

"What is it Luminess?" One of the changelings carrying Radel asked.

"An elite, Nova. Everypony wait here. I'll take care of this..." Luminess began to casually walk around the bend in the tunnel towards the two elites, causing them to look surprised at her presence.

"Princess Luminess?! Chrysalis thought she'd have to free you from Celestia's clutches." One of them stated.

The other began to make his way past her. "I must inform the Queen! She'll want to know you are safe again."

As the second changeling continued to head towards the group's direction around the tunnel bend, he stopped when he heard a loud thump from behind him. Turning around, the elite saw the other elite lying down on the ground, green blood pooling from a deep wound through its neck.

"I will NOT be its servant again!" Before the elite could react Luminess surrounded him in her magical aura and threw him into her leg blade she'd extended. As the elite clutched to life for a little longer with her blade deep in his chest, she looked at him with sadness. "I'm sorry that you cannot be saved..." She looked away as she removed her blade from the elite, causing him to fall to the ground dead. Luminess stood there, overlooking the two dead changeling elites. Small tears were running down the sides of her face as she closed the eyes of each elite before turning back to them. "Let's go. The exit is just down this tunnel." Before anyone could say anything, she began to trot down the tunnel, making everypony else hurry to catch up to her.

For a few minutes they walked in silence as they neared the exit. Suddenly, the sound of more hooves could be heard from behind them, accompanied by a very annoyed voice. "He will not escape, not when I was so close!"

Shit! Chrysalis had seemed to have figured out whatever distraction the others had had for her. Now, she wasn't far behind them...

"Times up! Move it!" Luminess yelled as she began to go into a full gallop for the exit.

However, Sweetie Drops stopped for a moment, setting down her bags. She pulled out and began setting up a strange contraption behind them before putting her bags back on her back and following. "That'll buy us a little more time to get some distance between us and them!" While she followed behind the rest of the group, Scary sat on her back, setting up and tossing a couple more of the same contraptions.

While the two changelings carried Radel as fast as they could, he turned to Sweetie Drops and Scary, a inquisitive look on his face. "What are those exactly?"

Sweetie Drops flashed him a devilish grin before focusing on their path again. "Flash Mines. A piece of enchanted equipment that emits a extremely bright flash of light when approached. Great way to stall a tailing party!"

As she said this a bright yellow flash came from behind them, accompanied by an annoyed snarl. "Ahh! What the-" Another flash went off cutting Chrysalis' curse short as she let out another annoyed shout.

Even though the whole ordeal was serious, Radel couldn't help but let out a quick laugh at the image of Chrysalis right now, blindly stumbling about, nor could Sweetie Drops as she tried to keep her laughter at bay.

After a few short minutes, with the occasional flash and annoyed yell of Chrysalis in the distance, the group finally emerged from the hive. They emerged within a wooded area from the base of a small hill. As they tried to get their bearings, an object appeared above them and began to slowly descend.

"That's not part of the extraction plan!" Sweetie Drops yelled as she got into a defensive stance while pulling out some sort of bottled elixir.

As the object got closer, Radel realized what it was. "Wait! Don't worry, Sweetie Drops. That's not a threat to us." He smiled as he watched his personal shuttle land in front of them, its ramp lowering down to the ground. His smile quickly turned into a mouth agape as he saw who was within. "Twilight?!"

Upon hearing Twilight's name, Sweetie Drops quickly dropped to a bow. "Your Highness!"

Twilight just looked at the group with a smirk. Before she could say anything though, a group of Radel's androids rushed by. They quickly took him from the changelings care and rushed him aboard. While they were busy tending to Radel, Twilight looked back to Sweetie Drops and shook her head. "You can drop the formalities, Bon Bon. We're friends."

Sweetie Drops puffed her cheeks in annoyance as she humphed at Twilight. "That's not my real name, and you know it, Twilight."

She just smiled and patted Sweetie on the shoulder. "True, but it's the same pony I became friends with."

Suddenly, Luminess cleared her throat as she led her changelings onto the ship. "Not to interrupt your friendly reunion, but we have to hurry if we don't want Chrysalis to show up while we're here." She then continued to walk into the shuttle, leaving just Sweetie Drops and Twilight outside.

Twilight raised an eyebrow to Sweetie as Luminess left. "Care to tell me why you're with changelings?"

Before Sweetie could say anything, a bright flash came from the tunnel behind them. "Shit, that was the last mine! Hurry! I'll tell you later!" Sweetie then quickly pushed Twilight back onto the ship. Once they were inside, it raised its ramp and began to take off.

As Radel sat in one of the many passenger seats, being looked over by a medical android, he couldn't help but shiver at his experience with Chrysalis. When she was forcing her will upon him, within his own mind, it was a maddening experience. It felt like he was being torn apart within his head. But now, he was away from that, and they could plan a counter offensive to take her down.

As the ship began to take flight, Chrysalis, and the changelings following her, came rushing out of the hive. She stared in anger and disbelief as Radel's shuttle began to fly back towards Ponyville. What she didn't see was the tiny beacon an android had left behind, marking that very location for Radel's forces...

Author's Notes:

Finally was able to get the next chapter out, sorry for the delay. Life sometimes . Regardless, there will always be more to come until this story is over! A thank you goes out to my buddy Pusspuss for some ideas for the clop scene in the chapter. Speaking of which, the sex tag is now relevant! Hopefully everyone enjoys.

The True Evil

As Radel’s personal shuttle continued to fly away from the hive, the medical android finished tending to him. As he was finally given some space from his androids, Radel turned his attention back to his rescuers, the strange Equestrian agent and her Changeling partners. "Thank you for getting me out of there, who knows what Chrysalis would have done with me."

Sweetie Drops just casually waved his thank you away with her hoof, a small smile on her lips. "Don't worry about it, Commodore. I'm just glad I had the right tools and help with me."

Yes, help. Help which Radel was still utterly baffled by. He turned his attention to the said help with a questioning gaze. "You have my thanks as well, Luminess, but though you've hinted on why you helped the ponies I’ve yet to hear the full story."

"I'm still confused as to why a changeling is even helping us!" Twilight decided to make her presence known again as she approached Radel, giving him her own once over with a few magical spells. "When Celestia sent me with your shuttle to aid in your rescue, I had no idea changelings were part of the rescue team to be picked up." She finished her magical check up before turning her attention to Luminess, a curious expression on her face as she waited for answers.

Luminess looked towards the floor of the shuttle as her facial expression turned from neutral to utter sadness. "It is true that there should be little reason for changelings to help ponies, what with our history..." She then looked at Twilight as her expression began to turn more joyful as she continued. "But after Radel had aided in our capture when we attacked again, Celestia showed us we could still have peace between our species."

Twilight's expression began to mirror Luminess's joy at that news, but she seemed to still have some doubt as she asked her next question. "How could there be though? I'm thrilled there's apparently a chance, but after your first siege of canterlot..."

Luminess and the other changelings all flinched at that. "Yes… a day brought on by desperation and panic.” She then went to a seat along the shuttle’s interior and appeared to be looking through everything, deep in thought. “How I wish that fateful day had not occurred... so many lives ruined because we were starving.”

Radel got up from his own seat, slightly struggling yet from the after effects of Chrysalis’s feeding. He made his way across the shuttle and sat beside Luminess, startling her as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “That is all in the past as far as I’m concerned, and if you truly desire peace between changelings and ponies, I know many others will forgive for such a thing to happen.”

Luminess’s eyes widened as she turned her gaze to Radel’s, her gaze filled with both joy and doubt. “You really think ponies would forgive us of our past transgressions?”

Before Radel could answer her question, Twilight beat him to the punch. “Of course they could, given time and the right reasons.” She joined the two by sitting on the opposite side of Luminess, laying a wing across her shoulder and Radel’s hand, but then her expression turned worried as she thought about her brother and sister-in-law. “The only ponies that would have a problem would be Shining Armor and Cadance, but that would be directly with Chrysalis, not with the changeling race.”

Sweetie Drops then made her way to the group as well, standing in front of them as she changed the course of the conversation. “Speaking of the evil queen herself, what’s the plan for taking her down?” She looked around the shuttle, waiting for somepony, changeling, or human to answer her question.

However, once Sweetie’s question settled in the mind of the changelings, they all jumped up from their various seats in anger. Even Luminess joined them as she glared at the mare. “We will not harm her more than what is needed!” She then sat back down, regathering herself before calmly continuing. “We just need to break the bond that has formed between her and this artifact she found.”

At the mention of a strange artifact, Radel’s and the mares’ attention was diverted back to Luminess. Sweetie Drops was the first to speak as she questioned the changeling, a worried look in her eyes. “What do you mean ‘artifact she found’?”

Radel looked over to Sweetie Drops, an eyebrow raised inquisitively. “Is something wrong, Sweetie Drops?” Though the idea of Chrysalis having an artifact in her possession seemed irrelevant, Radel wouldn’t be surprised if it had special magical properties.

Instead of answering him, Sweetie Drops paced back and forth inside the ship, a dark expression of horror on her face. “Yes, something is very wrong!” She stopped and returned her attention back to the group. “After your last attack on Canterlot and the princesses, there was a breach in the Canterlot Vaults as well.”

Twilight just looked at Sweetie Drops in confusion. “Bon Bon, why would a breach in the Canterlot Vaults matter? I’ve been inside them myself, there’s nothing worthwhile to Chrysalis within them.”

Sweetie Drops just shook her head as she went over to Twilight, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “No, there was! You’re too new of a princess to know what secrets are hidden within those vaults.” She went back to pacing around the shuttle as she continued. “And the very artifact that went missing after their attack is most likely what she has in her possession, the Horn of King Sombra!”

Everypony and changeling in the shuttle went rigid, their eyes widening in surprise. Radel just stood there in confusion. Though he knew the basics of the ponies thanks to bits and bobs of history Twilight and the others had shared with him, he did not understand why the horn from a dead body would make a difference. “Why does it matter if she has the horn of a dead pony? What can she possibly do with such a thing?”

Twilight was quick to answer his question. “You know how changelings can harvest the power of emotions, especially love right?”

Radel nodded, remembering that from one of their many discussions.

“Well, if she harvests enough power, she can use it to re-awaken the power from within that horn!”

“How does a horn hold onto magical energy after a pony dies?” Even though it was magic, Radel thought even magic left a being after death.

“You know they are the source of our magic as unicorns and alicorns, Radel. That magic, though faint, remains after death.” Twilight paused for a moment as she stopped to think. “And being from such a powerful being, that horn will still hold much magical power within it."

"So, she has an artifact able to give her immense power... is this what's corrupting her mind?"

"Most likely. Sombra's magic was dark. Those not trained to properly manipulate it could result in horrible consequences." Just to add to her statement, Twilight cast a simple spell of sorts, but unlike her normal violet energy, a deep, dark purple mixed with a little green appeared.

"Well, that explains the situation around Chrysalis." Radel then refocused his attention on Luminess again, an inquisitive eyebrow being raised. "But what is this about 'elites'?"

At the mention of the 'elites', a few tears began to form from her eyes. "They are monstrosities that need to be purged from existence."

That statement only served to confuse everyone but the changelings. Twilight was the first to question Luniness's statement. "Why do these 'elite' changelings deserve death over others?"

"Because they are mindless bodies, with no purpose other than to serve and die by the queen." Luminess brought a hoof to her eyes, attempting to wipe away the tears that were freely flowing. "Ever since she began devising our latest attack on Canterlot, Chrysalis began breeding the 'elites'. It's something I wish never happened."

After that, Luminess was unable to speak, being filled with misery for her hollowed kin. Kin that had no free will or conscious, their only purpose to serve the queen.

While the other changelings went to her side to comfort her, Sweetie Drops, Twilight, and Radel moved towards the cockpit to give them some time and privacy. As they made their way towards the cockpit, Radel's mind suddenly thought back to the elixir Sweetie Drops had used on him to break him free from his defensive mental state. "So, Sweetie Drops, how did you know you'd need that elixir to get me on my own feet?"

She at first looked at him in confusion but quickly understood what he was speaking about. “Oh! That elixir I used to break your magical mental stasis?” She grew a big smile as she continued her explanation. “Luna gave it to me, saying it would be necessary for an easy rescue.”

Sweetie Drops’ answer only confused Radel further. “Why would Luna know such a thing was necessary?”

“The princesses always seem to know things before anyone else. I know from experience!” It seemed Twilight was more so complaining then answering Radel’s question.

“Well then, I’ll have to ask her that when I get the chance.” Before they could continue their conversation further, one of the changelings that was comforting Luminess made their way towards them.

“I apologize for Luminess’s reaction. She has had a horrible… experience, with the so called elites.” The changeling spat out the last word with venom, showing its standing on the matter.

“So, what is their difference from the rest of you?”

After hearing Radel’s question, the Changeling’s expression only darkened more. “They are the remnants of the Changeling Guard. After Chrysalis returned from her last attempt to deal with the Sisters, she did… something to them.” The Changeling shivered in fear as it recalled those very moments.

Radel frowned as he listened to the changeling, both curious of what the changeling witnessed and feeling sympathetic towards the creature. “What’s your name?” As he asked the changeling this question, he placed his hand on its shoulder.

He flinched at first from the contact and gave him a surprised expression, but after a few moments, he spoke. “My name… is Specter. I am… I was captain of the Changeling Guard.”

Gently firming his grasp on the captain’s shoulder, Radel urged him to continue. “Why aren’t you anymore? What happened, Specter?”

Releasing a sigh of sadness, Specter answered his question. “Chrysalis demanded all of the guard to participate in a ritual with her. I was eager like the others to please and aid my Queen, but after some of my men returned from the ritual… I decided not to.”

Sweetie Drops joined Radel with Specter, gripping his other shoulder with her hoof. “What happened, Specter?”

Specter broke from our grasps and went to the cockpit’s window, staring out into the sky. “After my first group of men returned from the ritual, they lost themselves. They were nothing more than empty husks determined to do nothing but serve their Queen.” He turned back to the group as he continued. “They no longer knew who they were. All they knew was what the Queen asked. After that, I tried to convince others to not go, but only a few of the other changelings you see on this shuttle were of the Changeling Guard that left the hive with me.”

He then pushed past again, heading towards the other changelings, but stopped. “If you are unable to break the bond between that accursed relic and Chrysalis… please make her death painless and quick...” And with that he continued onward.

Before anypony or man could say a word, the android piloting the shuttle spoke up. “Coming into range of Ender’s Blessing now, Sir.”

As if on cue, a transmission was being received from Radel’s ship. “Hello? Is the message going through?”

Radel smiled as he recognized who the voice belonged to. “Yes it is, Luna.”

“Oh, thank the heavens... I- I mean, we were so worried you’d been lost for good!”

Chuckling at Luna’s embarrassment, Radel shook his head. “You can tell everypony I’m safe and should be arriving shortly.”

“We’ll be ready with a welcoming party!” And with that, the transmission was ended.

Before Radel could say or think anything else, he received a firm hoof in his side, gaining his attention. As he turned to see who the culprit was, he saw Twilight looking up at him with a devious smile on her face. “It seems a certain pony is smitten with someone.”

Radel’s smile faded, and he gave Twilight a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

Twilight only gave him a deadpanned look and walked back into the passenger side of the shuttle with a sigh. “Nevermind.”

Confused with Twilight’s comment, Radel simply shrugged his shoulders as he watched the shuttle approach his ship and Ponyville beside it.

*************************************************************************************************************
As the shuttle landed inside Radel’s ship, everypony and Radel were preparing to depart. Twilight was making her way to stand beside Radel, but before she could, the androids onboard got in formation around him. Humphing in annoyance that she couldn’t be close to her friend, she settled with being in the back with the changelings and Sweetie Drops, the latter giving her a bright smile and a pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Twilight. They are only making sure he stays safe.”

Twilight just nodded her head as the shuttle finally landed, the door having opened and lowered to form their ramp. As soon as they stepped off the shuttle, they were greeted with quite the sight. Ahead of them in the hangar bay was not only the Princesses and the other elements, but everypony from Ponyville.

As Radel led the way towards the core of the ship, he signaled for his androids to continue without them. As they followed his orders, he waited for Twilight and the others to close the gap between them. Once they caught up, he gave a quick nod with a smile and led the way to everypony waiting for them.

Everypony was stamping their hooves on the ground, clapping them together, and cheering Radel’s name as he and the group made their way towards them. Before the group made it all the way to the other elements and the Princesses, they were stopped by Mayor Mare.

She had a big smile on her face as she extended her hoof towards Radel. “All of us from Ponyville just wanted to thank you for your aid against the… changelings…” Her voice faded away as she saw the other members of Radel’s group. And she wasn’t the only one, everypony else saw it, too.

Mayor Mare lowered her hoof and stepped out of Radel’s way, confusion and fear in her eyes as she looked at the changelings.

Seeing the situation was at risk of evolving into something much worse, Radel went to say something, but before he could, Celestia beat him to it. “Everypony remain calm. These changelings are friends, not enemies.”

Everypony looked between Celestia and the changelings, uncomfortably shifting around. It seemed they believed her, but still held their doubts. Regardless, it seemed Celestia had prevented the ponies from going into a panic, or worse, trying to attack the changelings with Radel.

“It was nothing, Mayor Mare. I will always be here to protect my new friends.” Radel gave her a bow before making his way towards the other elements and the princesses, with Twilight and the others following him. The changelings, especially Luminess, kept casting fearful glances at the ponies they passed. It was clear they felt that peace and understanding between ponies and changelings was impossible.

That was an issue for another time, however, for they all had a greater problem to deal with. As Radel and his party finally made it to the others, he was practically assaulted as the elements all lunged at him in the tightest group hug ever.

“We’re so sorry we caused your capture, Radel darling!” Rarity cried out as she let a few tears flow down her face. In Radel’s opinion, she was being a little overdramatic, but from what the others told him, that was normal of Rarity.

Everypony else continued to give him their own apologies for his capture, but that all was of little concern to him, especially when he was starting to run out of oxygen…

With a little strength, Radel released the group’s death grip around his body so he could once again breathe. Once he had enough air in his lungs, he turned to the group and gave them a hug in return. “Don’t worry about that, any of you. For all we know, I could’ve been captured if you hadn’t involved yourselves.” He then released his hug and gave them all a stern glare. “But next time I give you all an order, I hope you’ll follow it! I may forgive you for your actions, but such behavior can cause horrible consequences we cannot risk.”

Radel’s expression softened as he kneeled before the elements, a small smile on his face. “Just promise me you’ll follow my orders in a situation like that next time, okay?” Then, his expression saddened as he continued. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost any of you because of it.”

The girls all hugged Radel again after that, but this time it was more tender and caring. Showing the strong friendship forming between them.

“We promise, Radel.” Twilight said as she joined in on the group hug.

“But if we can, we’re going to help your sorry butt out as well.” Rainbow Dash broke away from the hug and gave him a friendly hoof to the shoulder.

Radel chuckled at her statement. “I expect nothing more.” He then took a more serious expression and tone. “But we have some unfinished business to deal with.” Getting back up onto his feet, Radel led everypony into the ship. It didn’t take long for Celestia and Luna to come to either of his sides, giving him their own smiles of relief to see him return safely.

“We’re glad to see you safely returned to us.” Celestia laid one of of her wings against Radel’s back, Luna joining in with her sister with a wing of her own.

“Yes, we were worried Chrysalis had done something horrible with you.”

Luna’s comment made Radel mentally shiver, something only she noticed. She cast him a worried glance but decided to speak of it later.

After a couple of minutes traversing the ship, they made it to the bridge. Taking a slight detour into a room before reaching the main section of the bridge, they all entered the Tactical Command. While Radel went to the Tactical Viewer in the center of the room, interacting with a console connected to it, everypony else looked around until deciding on where to stand around it. None of them knew why they were there, but patiently waited for Radel to say something to clarify. After a few short moments, a holographic display formed in the center above the table. It was playing various video footage from the battle at Ponyville just the day before.

“As you can see, though my androids were still highly effective at fighting the changelings that invaded Ponyville, they are unable to fight against magic effectively.” Various clips of the changelings using their magic to gain the upper hand in various fights with Radel’s troops played. “If it wasn’t for the current strength of my androids in their armor and shields, the changelings would’ve overran our position quickly.” The hologram then switched to showcasing one of Radel’s androids, with another similar model next to it, only the other model seemed to be more heavily armored.

“To combat this tactical advantage the changelings had, one they will undoubtedly be hoping to build upon further the next time we cross paths, Athene has made some modifications for my troops.” The hologram then focused on the different model of the androids, taking it apart and showing each individual modification created by Athene. “To simply put it for everypony here, not only will their armor still be able to take extreme force and absorb strikes from the sharpest blades, their shields will now allow them to absorb more powerful magical attacks.” He turned to look at the alicorns present in the room. “Other than your most powerful unicorns, you three would be the only ones able to breach their shields with a single blast.” He then returned his attention back to the table before them. “Of course, after enough magical energy is within the shield, it will collapse. This should not be an issue, though, for no changeling should be able to concentrate with a big enough group of other changelings to bring a single unit’s shields down.”

The holographic display then changed to the form of a pony, with an identical suit beside it. “Now, this is something I’m both proud and worried to bring up.” Radel turned to Celestia and Luna as he continued. “I do not have the resources to build and manage a large enough army to defend all of Equestria at once, so I’ve had Athene work on power armor for a pony.” As he returned his gaze to the table once again, three different types of armor appeared, each resembling a different pony race. “She’s successfully created versions that work with any pony race, without hindering their flight, mobility, or magic.”

Before Radel could continue, Rainbow Dash cut him off with a squeal of excitement. “Being able to fly around in flank kicking armor like that is gonna be so AWESOME!” She then saw everypony else giving her annoyed glares, causing her to cough and find particular interest in the room around them.

“Yes… the armor is very awesome, Rainbow.” Seeing she was not going to interrupt again, Radel turned his attention back to the princesses. “I am only worried with how you feel about this and how it’ll effect your ponies.”

The princesses gave Radel warm smiles for his concern with mixing his technology, mainly militaristic technology, with them. Luna, however, adopted a more serious expression as she answered Radel’s concerns. “You need not worry about how it will affect our ponies, though the sentiment is nice, Radel.” She shared a quick glance with her sister before continuing. “If this helps us ensure further safety of Equestria, then we give you our blessing to arm the Royal Guard.” And with that, both her and her sister bowed their heads before Radel, acknowledging their acceptance and approval to him.

Radel sighed at their response with both relief and fear. “I will do nothing more than give them the armor and basic gear to ensure they keep other ponies and themselves safe.”

Luna went up to Radel and put a hoof on his shoulder with her wing around his back. “Don’t worry, Radel. I understand your concerns with your technology merging with our race. But we live in a world of magic, and that has already brought great danger to us all and will not be any different from what your technology could possibly bring.”

“Yes. Life is always filled with risk, but that does not mean we hide ourselves from all that brings us both happiness and sadness. We must continue to live life, no matter what.” Celestia joined her sister on Radel’s other side.

Radel nodded to the both of them, but before he could continue, Athene interrupted him. *Commodore, the beacon is now active. Visual feed being displayed now.*

Suddenly, the holographic image turned into a 3D overhead view of what appeared to be the changeling hive. What they all saw brought nothing but surprise. It seemed the changelings were erecting various defenses around the hive. The main of which being a magical barrier surrounding the hive. Thousands of what Radel assumed were the Elites scattered about, digging entrenchments and other defenses. There were even strange, cannon like structures sticking out of various growths that seemed to be spreading like a virus from the hive entrance.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Celestia stared at the display in horror as she watched the changelings change the landscape around them, making it look horrid and grotesque.

“Well, it seems we need to make a move soon, before those defenses become too much.” Radel stated as he scanned over the table, watching the changelings as they further entrenched themselves. “This is not good. Whatever Chrysalis is planning, she must be close to completing it.” He quickly grabbed Celestia and Luna’s attention. “I need you both to gather the best of your guard and bring them here. I don’t want you bringing every guard you have at your disposal. We don’t want to risk inciting panic or leaving ourselves weak in case of a counter attack or this being a trap.” He then looked over to the Elements of Harmony, ponies he’d come to establish a strong bond of friendship with. “As for you girls, I need you all to follow me and the changelings to the armory.”

Luminess gave Radel a curious look as he brought her and her changelings into the picture. “What do you need from us exactly?”

Radel gave her a smile as he turned to exit the Tactical Command Center. “We need someone to lead us through the maze of tunnels to Chrysalis and her artifact.” But before he left the room, he said one last thing. “This is your chance to hopefully win over the minds and hearts of the ponies of Equestria.” And with that he left the room, signaling everyone to attend to their given tasks. The princesses quickly teleported out of the ship and back to Canterlot to prepare their best for the coming mission. After sharing some worried glances, the elements followed Radel out. As they exited, Luminess looked at her reflection off the surface of the holographic table before her. As she stared into her own eyes, a single tear fell. Finally, after thousands of years being an enemy, she was going to be an ally. With that thought, a small smile grew on her lips, and she led her changelings to follow Radel. Finally, changelings could be friends with ponies, hopefully entering a time of peace between their species.

Author's Notes:

And here we are, finally the next chapter!!! I'm sorry it took me so long to update the story but I've been real busy in RL with things like college and work. Hopefully I'll be able to update monthly at the latest but we'll have to see how things go!

On another note, thanks for all the support guys! We've reached 100 likes for my small and first story, which I not only find surprising but great as well. If the support keeps up like this there may be a special something something from a friend of mine that'll appear related to the story!

But for now, enjoy the update and I hope to update within the next month again to keep the story going till we reach the end.

And as always, a big thanks to my buddies Regreme and Pusspuss for helping me out with either editing or story development!

New Bonds

Radel slowly led the way towards the ship's armory, the elements and changelings following not far behind. Tension hung heavy in the air, making idle conversation nigh impossible for the group. After a short time of silence, Twilight made her way to Radel’s side, lowering her voice so only he could hear her. “Radel…”

Before she could continue, he cut her off, “Twilight, I know what you’re gonna ask.” He cast her a quick glance as they continued onward. His hasty response made Twilight flinch back a little, her ears folding against her head as she looked away slightly. Seeing her reaction, he sighed, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, making her look back at him. “I didn’t mean to scare you Twilight, but I know you don’t want anymore lives lost than needed.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up a little as her ears perked up, hoping he would try to stick with being non lethal. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you, Radel, especially with how fortified Chrysalis’ position is. Not to mention it seems she’s been converting more and more of the other changelings into these mindless ‘elites’.” Her gaze saddened as she casted a quick glance towards Luminess. The changeling princess was walking with the other changelings, seemingly lost in her own thoughts and looking off into the distance.

Following her eyes, Radel cast a sympathetic glance to Luminess. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I have a plan to get us to Chrysalis without having to fight the majority of her forces.” Finally, the group made it to the armory aboard the ship, walking through its automatic doors. While Radel continued through without a second thought, everypony else behind him hesitated for a brief moment before following him.

“I’ll never get over your technology, Radel.” Twilight looked back at the door as it closed behind them, watching with intense curiosity of how it possibly operated without magic.

Radel smirked as he looked at Twilight, no doubt the scientist side of herself wanted to dissect the internal workings of the door. Alas, however, that was for another time. Hopefully once this changeling crisis was over and dealt with, Twilight and himself could finally have that day of sharing technology of their two worlds. “Maybe not, Twilight, but one day, we’ll be able to talk about such things more freely.” He stopped as he reached a console connected to a strange contraption in the middle of the room. “For now, I need all of you to take turns going through this scanner. And you’ll learn of my plan once I’m done devising it later, Twilight.”

Twilight stared at Radel for a couple of seconds with concern before nodding at him and stepping onto the strange device. “So, what does this do, Radel?”

“This scanner will allow me to better fabricate gear for you all when we go after Chrysalis.” As he spoke he began interacting with the console, manipulating the scanner. The scanner itself was quite simple. It consisted of a pad in the center for someone, or in this case somepony, to stand on. Then various rings(some only partial rings while some were fully connected rings) fitted with different scanners for detecting joints, eyes, and other various parts and aspects of the body would travel vertically around the subject to gather said information. “Not only will it help me with said fabrication, but it will also give me your biological readings.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at Radel at that last comment. “Why do you need all of our individual biological readings?”

Before Radel could answer her, he was cut off by an excited Rainbow Dash flying around the armory. “Are you telling me we get to have our own EPIC armor customized for us?!”

Chuckling lightly at Rainbow’s excitement, he finished inputting commands into the scanner and turned towards the pegasus. “Yes, Rainbow, that is one of the things I’ll have fabricated for all of you.” His facial expression got more serious as he continued, turning back towards Twilight. “Not only do I want to ensure all of your safety during this mission, but the biological readings are to ensure no changelings try to assume the form of anypony else without any of us knowing.”

Radel’s explanation tore Twilight’s attention from the various rings seemingly floating around her as if by magic. With a gasp, she brought a hoof to the bottom of her jaw, a thoughtful smile on her lips. “Of course! Your scans from your ocular implants allowed you to pick up on the biological differences between those changelings disguised as guards and me!!”

Nodding in acknowledgement at Twilight’s revelation, he looked at the data gathered from the scanner. “Indeed, and I can plug in such data into your armor and my own to prevent such issues.” He then looked at Twilight who was standing there while laying on the floor of the scanner, staring intensively at where the scanner rings disappeared as the scanner finished gathering the needed data. “Uh… Twilight, the scanning is done.”

Upon hearing Radel’s voice, Twilight jumped and began rubbing her foreleg while looking away. A strong blush developed on her cheeks, which Radel found strange how such a thing could show through their fur. “S-sorry! I was just getting really curious with how this device works.”

That moment made Radel laugh hard, and once he was able to recompose himself, he spoke to Twilight. “Never change, Twilight, never change…”

After about a half hour, Radel was able to get all of the data he needed from the elements and the changelings. Once he was sure the data was available to Athena to make the right calibrations to their sensory equipment, the group made their way towards the center of the ship. The awkward aura that existed before had finally settled, and everypony, even the changelings, were casually chatting amongst each other. Radel himself was deep in conversation with Twilight about nano circuitry when a beeping in his ear could be heard. After politely asking Twilight to hold on for a moment, he answered the call. “Yes?”

*Radel? This is Luna.*

“Hello, Luna. What can I do for you?”

*We’ve gathered a platoon of the best of our guard. They’ll be ready for you tomorrow morning.*

“This is good news. I’ll send transports to pick them up around nine?”

*That will work, and Radel…*

“Yes, Luna?” Over the comms, Luna sounded very anxious, seemingly struggling with what she wanted to say next.

*Is it alright if I speak with you privately, later tonight?*

“Of course! Just meet me on the bridge when you wish to talk.”

*Thank you, Radel. I’ll see you later tonight.*

“See you then, Luna.” Ending the connection, Radel returned his attention to Twilight and the others.

“What did Luna have to say Radel?” Twilight was looking up at him expectantly as the group continued towards the inner depths of the ship.

“She was just updating me on Celestia and her’s progress on gathering the best of their guard. My transports will be picking up a platoon tomorrow morning.” He then stopped before they went through a set of doors ahead of them. Focusing his attention on the changelings, he called to Luminess before continuing. “Luminess, you and your companions can stay in the crew quarters for the night.”

Luminess looked at Radel with doubt in her eyes, “Are you sure?”.

Radel threw her a big smile going towards the door so it would open before gesturing for them to enter. “I insist.”

“O-ok… thank you.” Following his lead, Luminess led her changeling compatriots after him. The door they had passed through brought them to a large hallway with at least a dozen doors to each side. Radel ended up entering the first one on the left, gesturing for everypony else to continue following him. As they entered the room behind him, they were greeted to the sight of a room able to comfortably house eight humans. And since the room was originally meant for humans, the small twin sized beds were more than big enough for a single pony.

Radel stood off to the side, giving Luminess and her changeling companions a caring smile. “Get plenty of sleep tonight. We have a busy day tomorrow.” He then motioned for Twilight and the girls to exit, himself following behind. Before he exited the room, he turned back towards Luminess. “Are any of you hungry by chance? I can have Athena put together any kind of meal for you.”

Luminess looked toward the ground and began to rub one of her forelegs at the gesture. “That’s nice of you to offer Radel, but we… don’t exactly eat normal food.”

Before she could continue, Radel began to speak again. “I know you feed off of emotions, thanks to some information from Twilight. I just wasn’t sure if it was all you survived off of.”

She looked up at him, a little taken aback at his knowledge of her species. “Y-yes, we can only feed off the emotions of other creatures.” Luminess then began to make her way towards one of the beds, the other changelings doing the same. “Thank you for trying, though. It’s nice to know others care for us.” She stopped at the edge of her chosen bed before turning back towards Radel. “Don’t worry about us. We are used to starving.” With that, she began to climb into the bed, but as she was halfway onto it, she stopped in shock at Radel’s next words.

“How can I feed you my emotions?”

When Luminess turned around to shockingly stare at Radel, she saw nothing but genuine concern in his eyes. She quickly turned away and continued climbing into the bed. “Don’t worry about it, Radel. We’re fine.” Once she was fully onto the bed, she used her magic to pull the covers over herself. “Good night, Radel.” As soon as the covers were comfortably over Luminess, she felt something gently grasp her shoulder.

“Luminess… I know you feel no one or no pony should care for you or any other changeling based on your history.” Radel then sat on the edge of her bed, keeping his hand firm, but gently grasping her shoulder in a comforting manner. “But if you want that to change, you need to accept the help and care of others. Now please… how can I help?”

It was several minutes before Luminess made so much as a sound, the other changelings watching from their own beds. They could all feel the strong emotion and truth behind his words, already starting to ease their empty bodies. Finally, when Radel thought he’d just have to get up and leave, Luminess spoke up. “Tell us about somepony you really care for, somepony like family…”

Radel looked at Luminess inquisitively, both wondering how such a thing would help while also having somewhat of an idea. “Can you really feed off of just feeling the emotion of something I say?”

Luminess got up on her haunches so she was sitting in bed, causing Radel’s hand to be removed from her shoulder. Though he knew nothing about it, Luminess didn’t like losing the feeling of his comforting hand. Such genuine care for her and her species from somepony other than another changeling was a new feeling she enjoyed alot. “Yes, even just your genuine concern and care for us feeds us a little but even just recalling a memory can do.” While she spoke, the other changelings got up from their own beds and sat gathered around Radel and Luminess.

Looking at Luminess and the other changelings around them, Radel got more comfortable in his seat. “Very well. Let’s see what I can recall.” Looking off into the distance as he recalled his memories of his parents, Radel began to think of some of the little special things they’d do for him and his brother as they were growing up and how such things showed their unconditional love and care for the two of them. One memory became more distinct as he thought of one particular trip his father had taken him on... to visit a city on Mars. It was his first time ever going anywhere other than a place on Earth, and it was a grand experience. He got to bond with his father as they explored various ravines and other uninhabited areas of the planet. Though there may have not been much to see, the most enjoyable and memorable part of the trip was how much stronger their relationship became. Such memories filled Radel with warmth as a small smile began to form as he was deep in recollection. But... that memory began to lead to a dark one, one that he cut any train of thought related to immediately with a frown.

As Radel did so, he became aware that a few minutes had passed, and a change had occurred in his surroundings. Luminess and all the other changelings had a relaxed, yet focused posture. Their horns were glowing a gentle green from what he could only guess as them feeding off of his emotions, slightly held higher above their heads. He only now noticed due to how deep into his own memories he was earlier. After a couple seconds of silence, they all realized he was done reminiscing and lowered their posture to their previous stance. However, they seemed… different. It seemed their chitin bodies had a little more shine to them, and some of their smaller gaps were even smaller now.

Focusing his attention once again on Luminess, Radel spoke, “Luminess, how do you feel?” He could already guess they felt better from his observations, but it was only right for him to ask.

Luminess simply gave him a big, genuine smile before leaning forward and wrapping her forelegs around him in a tight hug. “Better, thanks to you…” After a few short moments, the other changelings joined in the hug before they all let go, not giving Radel a chance to return the embrace.

Without being able to return the embrace, Radel simply gave them the biggest and brightest smile he could muster. “You’re welcome.” Getting off of his seat on the edge of Luminess’s bed, Radel began to make his way out and back to the Elements. “Should you need anything else, just call out for Athena, and she’ll establish a link between us if she can not assist you.” As he reached the door entering the room, he paused before getting close enough for it to open. “Good night.” And with that, he exited the room, rejoining the ponies on the other side.

“Finally! What took you so long?” Twilight complained as the door behind Radel closed, her and the rest of the Elements following him as he began to lead the way once again.

Radel just looked at Twilight and gave her a knowing smirk. “Just planting a seed that will hopefully be successful and grow once this threat of Chrysalis is resolved.” He then stopped as they came close to the door they had all used to enter this section of the ship. “I have a request for all of you.”

“What do ya need, tough guy?” Rainbow asked as she casually scuffed a hoof on her chest as she hovered over the others.

“I want you all to stay on this ship until we’ve dealt with Chrysalis.” His expression grew more concerned and serious as he continued. “That way, I can ensure your safety, and that you will be prepared for the coming battle.” He then gestured to a door across from the one leading to the room the changelings were staying in.

Twilight smiled at Radel as she began to make her way towards the gestured door. “I think we can do that for you, Radel,” but as she got to the door, causing it to open and reveal another room identical to the changeling’s, she stopped and turned towards the other elements. “Come on, girls! Let’s get some rest.” As she finally entered the room, everypony else began to following her, Pinkie being even more excited than the rest of them about staying on the ship.

“We get to have a slumber party with RADEL?! BEST DAY EVER!!!” Pinkie cheered enthusiastically as the girls made their way into the room. Radel followed them, ensuring they settled in comfortably.

“Is there anything else you girls need before you settle in for the night?”

As all the girls brought a hoof to their respective chins in thought, Applejack was the first to respond. “I reckon we could use some grub.”

“A nice meal sounds lovely. I believe we’ve yet to have dinner yet, haven’t we?” Everypony nodded in agreement as Rarity made all their hunger the foremost thought in their heads.

Giving all of the girls a warm smile, he gladly fulfilled their request. “Well then, just let me know what you girls would like, and I’ll have it prepared and brought to you immediately.”

“What does everypony think of a dozen simple daffodil sandwiches?” Twilight asked her friends, looking between them for agreement on her idea for their dinner. It didn’t take long for the other mares to agree as their stomachs gave loud growls, making the decision for them. “Well then, looks like we’ll have those with some water, Radel, and thank you!” She gave him a warm smile before deciding on what bed in the room she was gonna stake a claim on for the night.

“Think nothing of it. I’ll have Athena get the drones in the mess hall started on it right away!” Giving them all a smile, Radel made his way out of the room. As the door closed behind him, he thought he heard Pinkie yell something about a spaceship space party. His smile only brightened from Pinkie’s antics. He was glad to call those ponies his friends, and he’d be damned if he’d let anything happen to them. Tomorrow... tomorrow, Chrysalis will be freed from the control and influence of Sombra’s horn, and he will stop its threat to his new home of Equestria and the friends he has made. Suddenly, his train of thought was interrupted by a voice calling his name. He looked around but couldn’t find the source, but when he heard the voice again, he felt embarrassed he hadn’t recognized its source immediately.

“Yes, Athena?”

“Commodore, her highness, Princess Luna, is awaiting your presence on the bridge.”

Radel’s eyes widened in surprise as he had almost forgotten about his meeting with Luna. Changing his route to one that led to the bridge instead of his quarters, he picked up his pace to hopefully waste as little time as possible for the lunar goddess. “Thank you, Athena. Inform her I will be there shortly. I’ve only just finished getting the Elements and changelings settled in.”

“Yes, Commodore.”

After a couple minutes of traversing the ship, Radel finally arrived at the bridge, greeting Luna as he entered. “Hello, Luna. Sorry I’m a little late.” However, Luna seemed to not notice his arrival. She was sitting near the front of the helm, gazing at the night sky through the windows of the bridge. “Luna?” Radel asked with worry in his voice at Luna’s unresponsiveness, memories of how she sounded earlier that day over the comms coming back to him.

It took a few minutes, but Luna finally replied, a solemn look on her face as she continued to stare at the night sky before her. “So many nights I spent just sitting there, gazing at the beautiful night sky I forge. Looking at all those lonely stars in the heavens reminds me of how alone I have felt since my return to Equestria.” A few tears began to fall down the sides of her face as she continued speaking, her gaze and posture never changing. “My sister and I, though we share the same blood and care deeply for one another, will never have the same bond we once had. My banishment as Nightmare Moon will forever leave a scar on our relationship, as it has with the subjects of Equestria that cower in fear of my presence.”

Radel slowly made his way towards Luna, taking a place beside her and joining her in her stargazing. He just stood there, listening to her without making so much as a sound to interrupt her.

“Ever since my return, I’ve looked into ways of obtaining a being, pony or not, that I could build a lasting and meaningful relationship with.” More tears began to fall from her eyes, and her body began to slightly shake as she held back her whines. “I became so desperate due to my feelings of loneliness that I used an old and forbidden magic to summon a familiar. A being to make me feel wanted and cared for again.” Then, her tear filled gaze turned to Radel as she continued. “But in the end, I separated a being from his friends and family, making him live a life of loneliness like me…”

Radel’s eyes widened at the implications Luna was making. The idea that a spell she casted caused his arrival to their world was baffling. True, Athena couldn’t determine the reason for the malfunction in the warp drive. Was it possible the spell had somehow, instead of simply teleporting him to their world, took control over his warp drive and forced it to bring him and his ship to Equestria? Regardless of the implication and possibilities, he still knew little of what Luna meant with what she was saying. Radel placed a hand on Luna’s shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Luna… what are you saying?”

With those words, Luna began to openly weep as she looked away from Radel, cowering away from his touch and gaze. “Because of me and my selfishness, you’ve come to Equestria, possibly unable to return home ever again!” Luna continued to weep, feeling disgusted for herself. She had only realized what she’d done earlier that day, when she connected the dots in her mind when worrying about Radel before he was rescued. The feeling she had when Radel arrived, her strange attraction and feelings of a natural connection between them, and his sudden ability to use magic. It all pointed towards him being her familiar that she’d attempted to summon the night Radel crashed in Equestria. She’d thought it had failed at first and sought comfort in her night sky, but was instead graced with the sight of his ship crashing into the Everfree Forest.

Suddenly, Luna felt a warm embrace from behind her as Radel wrapped his arms around her waist. As his embrace tightened around her, Luna began to calm down and feel more at peace as her tears and whimpering finally ceased.

“Luna… I don’t know how I quite feel now knowing that you possibly caused my arrival here, but…” After a short pause, Radel took a deep breath before continuing. “Just know that no matter what, I will always think highly of you as a great friend.” If what Luna said is true and she brought him to this world, he’d have to figure out how he felt about it at a later date. But for now, all he cared about was her well being, seeing the state this knowledge has put her in. He wished for nothing more than continuing to have a strong friendship with her, a bond he would never want to whither away.

A strong warmth developed in Luna’s chest as she heard Radel’s words. She gently nuzzled his arms in thanks for the comfort he was offering her, regardless of what she had told him. After a few minutes of them just sitting there like that, Luna pulled away from Radel’s comforting embrace. “Thank you, Radel. I hope I can right this wrong I’ve brought upon you.”

“No. No more talking like that, Luna. I will not have it!” He gave her another quick hug before kneeling in front of her to be at eye level with her. “You will always be my friend, whether what you told me is true or not. That will never change.” He stood up and looked back out the windows of the bridge at Luna’s night sky. Luna’s revelation was making sense of a lot of the strange things that have happened to him since he arrived in Equestria. The sudden magical abilities and strange natural attraction and connection Radel seemed to feel with Luna began to make more sense. “Regardless, I appreciate you telling me this, Luna.” Giving her a warm smile, Radel put a hand on her shoulder and began to lead the way out of the bridge. “Now enough, we need to get some rest for the coming battle.”

“Yes, we must be prepared for whatever Chrysalis throws at us.” Luna smiled up at Radel as they exited the bridge, nuzzling his side. “Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, Radel. Good night.”

“Good night, Luna.”

And in a flash, Luna teleported off the ship and back to her chambers back in Canterlot. Though this newfound knowledge would change Radel and Luna’s relationship forever, it would only serve to strengthen it as time goes on. But that was an issue for a later date, for they had a more important issue to deal with the following day. An issue that holds the fate of Equestria in their hands...

Author's Notes:

And we have another chapter! Sorry it took me so long but unexpected issues with family and additional work has caused delays. Though it is quite a short chapter expect the next one to be a little longer. Finally, however, we have an update and there are only a few more chapters to go until the story ends. So, once again thanks for all the support and enjoy!

Also once again a big thanks to my editing buddy Regreme and also to my good friend Pusspuss for additional aid and support!

Equestria's Finest

Radel took a look around him as he walked around the halls of an unfamiliar place, seeing various signs of abandonment. The air was thick with dust kicked up from him walking around, the tapestry and carpet torn, shredded and faded after ages of exposure to the elements. As he looked at the various banners hanging from the crumbling ceiling, Radel noticed something peculiar about the faded graphics on them. He stopped his aimless walking and closely examined the banners, seeing the graphics held some sort of depiction of the sun and moon. The design was very basic, although it somehow held an air of elegance and royalty with the use of golden colors to accentuate parts of the graphic alongside clear whites and deep blues.

Finding his curiosity of the strange banner satisfied for the time being, Radel continued walking through the abandoned halls. After what felt like hours of aimless wandering, Radel found himself walking into a large open room. The ceiling above was either crumbling or caved in above what seemed to be a small staircase leading to a platform with two thrones residing on its center.

As Radel gazed in both awe and curiosity at the ruin before him, an elderly voice spoke from behind him. “You’re standing in quite the historical place, Blessed One…”

Spinning around in a flash, Radel pulled his pistols from their holsters and aimed them at the figure standing in the shadows of the hall he had exited only a few moments before. From his position in the open room, the moonlight from outside was preventing him from getting a good look at the mysterious figure. “Step out into the light, slowly.”

The mysterious figure gave a hearty chuckle as it began to shuffle its way into the room from the hallway. “I am far from a being you’d call an enemy, Blessed One.” As the figure spoke, it finished making its way into the light in front of Radel. The figure was a stallion well into his elder years, a large greying beard covering his face and reaching all the way to the ground. He wore a simple purple robe with a purple magicians hat resting on his bald head. The stallion continued to walk towards Radel, using a wooden staff with a crystalline ball resting on the top of it. “I am one you can call a friend.”

Sensing he had nothing to fear from the elderly stallion, Radel lowered and re-holstered his pistols. “My apologies, sir. I believe introductions are in order.” Radel gave a small bow to the mysterious pony. “My name is Radel Endorian,” he then returned to a normal posture as he gazed curiously at the pony. “May I know yours?”

The pony gave him a small smile as he grabbed his hat and brought it to his chest. “My name is Starswirl, The Bearded. As of who I am, that is something better learned from the princesses.”

Radel raised an eyebrow at that statement and was about to question how he knew the princesses. However, the stallion continued to speak before Radel himself could. “I know you have many questions, but time is not on our side. For now, all you need to know is I’m here to help you.” The stallion then raised his staff, the crystalline ball at the end of it beginning to glow brightly. “You have the power within you to deal with the coming darkness. However, you lack the knowledge and experience needed to wield it.” The light emanating from the staff became so bright Radel could barely see, raising his hands to shield his eyes. “With the last of my power, I will aid the Blessed One, as it was foretold long ago.” Radel began to feel his consciousness drifting away as Starswirl continued to speak. “With my knowledge and experience in the arcane arts, may you be the guardian for Equestria against the coming darkness.”

And with a flash, Radel’s consciousness slipped away…

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Awake…

Suddenly, Radel’s eyes shot open as he sat up in his bed back on Ender’s Blessing, a cold sweat forming on his face. Rubbing his head as his breathing slowed, Radel began to slowly recall the dream he had awoken from. The strange scenery, the mysterious stallion, and more importantly... What he had said.

Bringing his hands up to his face, he began to gently massage his forehead as Starswirl’s voice echoed in his mind. “...blessed one…” Radel’s mind was full of confusion and curiosity, as he pondered why he was a blessed one. He decided it was better to speak to the princesses about this new development when he met with them in the Command Center and the others. With that decided, the thought of waking up with a relaxing and warm shower made Radel smile.

Suddenly, a bright light shone through the skin of Radel’s eyelids as a strange sound he couldn’t even begin to describe resounded in his ears. When he opened his eyes to investigate, he found himself looking at the knobs for the shower in front of him. Quickly taking in his surroundings, Radel found himself standing in the middle of his shower connected to his personal quarters. As he began to question what had just happened, Athena’s voice spoke through a speaker within the room.

“Commodore, are you alright? I detected a large energy surge within your room just now.”

Radel couldn’t even reply as he was too busy going through all the spells in awe that were suddenly flowing through his memory and how he could utilize them personally. Eventually, after a security drone made itself known in front of Radel, shining a bright light into his eyes, he answered Athena. “Y-yes… sorry. I just zoned out there for a moment.” He began to rub his eyes as they readjusted from the assault of the drone’s bright light.

“Sir, you were unresponsive for three minutes and twenty three point zero four seven eight seconds. Are you positive?”

As the security drone continued to hover around Radel and scan him for health abnormalities, he began to establish a neural link with his current memories of his dream and what just happened, as well as the new found spells and transferred copies of them to Athena for analyzation. “Go over those, Athena, and you’ll understand to a degree. Also, call back the security drone, so I can get on with my shower!”

“Of course, Commodore. Shall I establish a proper report of these events and spells for the princesses?”

Smiling as the security drone finally gave him some privacy again, Radel turned on the shower before answering. “That will be unnecessary. However, I would like a detailed list of the spells from my memory for them to go over.” As the warm water began to flow from the showerhead and onto Radel, he angled his head up so it cascaded over his face.

“Right away, Sir.”

And with that, Athena was back to her normal duties while establishing a detailed list on the spells that were continuously making themselves known within Radel’s head. With that taken care of, Radel focused on the warm water as it chased away the remaining drowsiness from his mind…

*******************************************************************************************************

After just finishing dressing himself and gathering his basic gear and armor, which simply consisted of a light nano-fiber mesh plating along with his dual energy pistols and sword, from his personal armory locker within his private quarters, Radel began to make his way out of his room. As he opened the door to his quarters, he came face to hoof as said hoof gently knocked on his forehead once.

With a quick gasp of shock and embarrassment, the hoof’s owner stepped back with a deep blush practically turning their face into a tomato. “So-sorry, Radel. I was just about to knock on your door to see if you’d be joining us for breakfast!”

“It’s alright, Twilight. I was, in fact, about to come grab you and the girls, but it seems you’ve beaten me to the punch.” Radel smiled down at the alicorn as she stopped looking down at the ground with her right foreleg rubbing her left foreleg.

Once she heard she wasn’t in any sort of trouble with her new friend, Twilight looked up at Radel. As she gave him a relieved smile, a loud *squee* could be heard from her. “Well, let’s hurry then. Athena has already led the girls to the cafeteria!” And with that said, she began to gallop in the direction of the cafeteria.

With a light chuckle, Radel rushed to catch up with the giddy alicorn, engaging with her in some small talk as they met up with the others.

*******************************************************************************************************

After enjoying a hefty breakfast that was surprisingly supplied by Pinkie Pie, who somehow managed to pull countless delicious confectioneries from behind her back, Radel bid the girls farewell as he made his way to the hangar bay. Leaving them to converse for a little while longer within the cafeteria, Radel couldn’t help but smirk as he recalled the last image he saw before stepping out of the room. Pinkie Pie was busy devouring a cake that had materialized in front of her out of nowhere and was probably ten times her size. Everypony and himself were all struggling to comprehend how, and before Radel could vocalize his questions on how, Rainbow Dash flew in front of him to cover his mouth and gave him the strongest 'don’t ask' stare he had ever seen.

As Radel went through the current intel they had on the hive location on his T.E.C.H., a beeping made itself known within his ear. Activating the link request, Radel answered the call of Princess Celestia. “How are preparations on your end, Celestia?”

*Going smoothly so far. We’ve assembled a platoon of forty eight of the best ponies we have available. We have them finishing gathering their equipment and gear and should have them in the courtyard within ten minutes.*

“Good, I’ll see you and Luna then.”

*See you soon, Radel.*

As they ended their call, Radel returned his attention to the intel they had on the hive and its location. It was located underground, of course, with an extensive stretch of tunnels and rooms. All they knew currently of the exterior was that around the main entrance of a small hillside cave was a large expanse of deforested field, about a mile wide in any direction from said entrance. The intel gathered from their probe before it got cut off only shows how the Changelings were digging in by erecting various structures made out of some sort of chitin. The barrier that had formed around the hive had to be bypassed or removed to allow more intel to be gathered.

Continuing to ponder the actions they could take, Radel arrived at the hangar bay and made his way to his personal shuttle. Seven androids that were the most advanced and heavily armed they had stood at attention as he made his way on board. As he sat in the pilot seat, the androids began to take their places on the shuttle, one of them even sitting in the co-pilot seat. “Good to see the Ender Squad is back in action. I thought you all had at least another week till you were all back in prime condition?”

Both Radel and the android continued running their respective system checks and start up sequences, as if they had done it together countless times. “Athena seems to be good at expediting the repair of essential assets.” The android replied before reaching over and patting Radel on his shoulder. “It’s good to be back at your side, Radel.”

Looking over to the android, Radel laid a hand of his own on the android’s shoulder. “It’s good to have you back at my side, Wisdom.” With a nod to each other, the two returned to preparing the shuttle for launch. As they finally finished system checks, they lifted off the landing pad and made their way out the side of Ender’s Blessing. As they exited the hangar bay, two transport shuttles able to carry two squads each came into formation behind Radel’s shuttle. As they began to exit the immediate airspace around the ship, four Harrier-Class Escort Fighters joined their formation.

Even though they could arrive at Canterlot Castle within the minute, doing so would bring them to their location too early. Taking advantage of the next couple of minutes before they would arrive, Radel turned his attention back to Ender-01. Ender-01, or better known as Wisdom as his code name suggests, was the second-in-command of Radel’s personal squad. Not only was the squad at his command, but they served as bodyguards as well. Wisdom was like a central processor for the squad, taking into account all of the information gathered by the rest of the squad’s vision, hearing, etc. Within seconds, he could develop a course of action for the most deadly situations. He rarely left Radel’s side, hence he was able to connect to Radel the way he did with Athena.

“How is the rest of the squad doing?” Radel cast a quick glance over his soldier at the other six androids of his squad, watching as they sat in the back transport seats, waiting for action.

Without responding vocally, Wisdom initiated a neural link between Radel and himself, showing him diagnostics of the rest of the squad. Radel looked over each one individually, Storm, Thunder, Lightning, Breeze, Quake, and Rupture. Each of their personal diagnostics showed their systems to be fully functional.

With a nod, Radel noted the combat readiness of his personal guard and squad, happy to have them back in action. Not only were they the most well equipped and diverse squad at his disposal, they were also familiar with him personally, as they had grown a bond with him over the last couple of years. Before Radel took command of the Ender’s Blessing, he led the Ender Squad in countless battles back home against rebels and terrorists, ranging from full on frontal assaults to sensitive tactical and black ops missions. Though all of Ender Squad had a similar set of gear and equipment available to them as each other, some had certain equipment and gear that gave them advantages in certain fields.

These seven androids were the best the Knights of Ender could supply, and thankfully for Radel, they were by his side now. “It’s good to have you all back in one piece again. Has Athena updated your gear and equipment for the current enemy?”

“Yes, Sir. Our shields and armor have been adjusted accordingly for the strength of the chitin blades and their powerful discharge of offensive magic. Our other gear and equipment have also been adjusted and tuned accordingly.” Wisdom was quick to answer, as various aspects of each squadmate diagnostic focused on the upgrades designed by Athena for combat against magical foes.

“Good. Try not to scare the ponies when we land here shortly.”

“We’ll try, Commodore,” Wisdom promised as Canterlot Castle’s main courtyard came into view.

As the ships made a landing approach for the open courtyard in front of the awaiting princesses, ponies in the streets of the city looked up in awe as they flew overhead. Even the guards that could see the ships throughout the city lost a hold of their stoic stances and expressions at the sight. This was to be expected, as the ponies in Canterlot had heard little about Radel and his technology yet, since he had remained in Ponyville since his crash landing.

As Radel’s shuttle and the transports following him began to land in the courtyard, the escorting fighters began to pull off and set up a small perimeter around the landing zone. They took up hovering positions, staying alert for possible danger. As Radel’s shuttle finally touched down in front of the princesses and the guardsponies with them, he turned to Wisdom beside him. “Showtime!” Getting out of the pilot seat, Radel and his personal guard formed up at the shuttle ramp as it began to lower itself. Once it was done, Radel stepped out and made his way towards Celestia and Luna as they looked at the ships and androids with curiosity. The guardsponies with them, however, were more awed and mouth agape from seeing firsthoof the androids and ships for the first time.

With a smile, Radel went up to the princesses and greeted them, “Celestia, Luna, good morning.”

With smiles of their own, the two princesses returned the greeting, gesturing towards the guardsponies behind them. Luna was the first to speak, “Good morning to you as well, Radel. This is the platoon we have gathered.” As attention was brought to the platoon of guardsponies, they quickly shook themselves out of their current state of awe and stood at attention.

With a small giggle at the guardsponies reactions, Celestia carried on after her sister. “We have four squads of twelve, each containing five earth ponies, four pegasi, and three unicorns.”

As Radel looked over each squad, he noticed how different their armor and weapons looked from the other guard ponies he saw stationed throughout the courtyard. Before he could ask about said things, a familiar and friendly voice voiced his question for him.

“I assume that look in your eye and the furrowing brow in curiosity is of the weapons and armor of these ponies?” Captain Dusk Shield spoke as he made his way out from amongst the platoon of guardsponies.

Widening his smile, Radel met the bat pony halfway before sharing a firm hand over hoof shake. “Good to see you, Captain Dusk Shield! How are the other bat ponies from that last fight doing?”

“Doing just fine. The wounds they gave those changeling bastards are way worse than the ones they got!”

"I still got got some favors to return to those overgrown insects!"

With an unamused frown, Dusk Shield pointed out the bat pony that spoke up. “And speaking of one of the bat ponies involved in that fight, that would be Lieutenant Stoneheart…”

The bat pony stepped forward, saluting to its superiors as she gave a big smile revealing her fangs. "Lieutenant Blazing Stoneheart, at your service Commodore! It is an honor to both meet you and aid in stopping the current threat to Equestria." Said mare had a shade of blue similar to Luna's coat for her own, though the little strands of her mane barely visible through her helmet were a bright white. Her eyes were a deep crimson and due to the armor, Radel couldn't guess on what her cutie mark was.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Lieutenant… At ease.” He found himself questioning the strange accent the mare had, something reminiscent of the Irish. How such similarities continued to sprout around him on this world, Radel would just chalk it up to coincidence like many of the other things hes come across so far. Seeing as the Lieutenant returned to her position amongst her squad, Radel returned his attention to the somewhat annoyed captain in front of him.

“So, since you seem to be a mind reader, please elaborate on these weapons and armor your platoon are adorning.”

With a smile, Dusk raised a hoof, and each squad came to attention and formed orderly ranks. Once everypony was settled and in formation, Dusk gave off another signal which caused an earth pony to step forward. “The weapons and armor you see on these guards are the best and most advanced we have at our disposal!”

With his excitement obviously bursting from the seems, the captain continued to point out the equipment of the pony. “The first we’ll discuss is the armor.” The guard pony stood even taller as Dusk Shield continued on. “The armor itself is not too different in terms of composition when compared to that of the normal Royal Armor found being worn by guards at the castle. It is, however, forged with a thicker metal for extra durability but also with fragments of various gems and crystals. This allows for better protection against bolts and arrows as well as negating the effects of minor spells.” The armor was a mix of gold and silver colors, looking similar to a full suit of plate armor.

Dusk then continued to point at the helmet of the guard pony, bringing the gemstone embedded within the forehead of the helm to Radel’s attention. “That gemstone in the helm holds a spell that bonds with the wearer, connecting them with the other various spells within the gems and crystals within the rest of the armor and gear carried by the wearer. The gems and crystals forged within the armor serve as a nervous system of sorts for the wearer, allowing them to send commands via brainwaves to activate various spells found on their armor or weapons.”

To emphasize that point, the earth pony in front of Radel took a defensive pose, raising one hoof with a spear and another with a odd looking metallic shield attached to their foreleg. As the guard held the shield, it began to manipulate itself into various shapes, allowing the guard to better manipulate its use based on the current situation. Out of nowhere, the guard’s spear opened up at the metallic tip, exposing a crystal that he then aimed into the sky and discharged. The guard then closed the tip of the spear before it cascaded into itself until it was a tiny cylinder he latched onto his back and extended a hoof blade on the same leg that had held the spear. He then retracted the blade before grabbing a javelin on his back and throwing it into the courtyard at their side. Before it could even reach a patch of flora, it vanished in a flash and reappeared in the small quiver on the back of the pony.

“Amazing, right!? Thanks to this magical breakthrough we owe to Princess Twilight, we are able to better equip our ponies.”

“I agree, such technology amazes me! You did such things without much little engineering through magic.” Radel noted to himself to hopefully find time to analyze this pony equipment and see if he and Athena could improve it.

With a nod from Dusk, the earth pony returned to his original place in his squad before waving for another to join them. This time it was a pegasus mare, her armor looking lighter in comparison to the earth pony’s while also having modifications for her wings. “As I can already see from your observing eyes, Radel, you noticed the lighter armor.”

“Indeed, Dusk. I assume it’s to hinder the mobility as little as possible for the wearer?”

“Indeed! Though it holds the same forging technique, it has a thinner plating to reduce the weight and strain of a flying pegasus.” As if on que, the mare took a launching stance and expanded her wings to their full mast. “They also include a highly flexible plating over the wings to protect the sensitive structure from simple slashing attacks from a blade. However they are still vulnerable to piercing attacks.”

As Radel carefully observed the mare’s wings as she manipulated them, he was amazed with how the armor plating was able to be so flexible. He also noticed a strange contraption on the tips of each wing.

Carefully watching Radel’s observing eyes, Dusk was quick to answer his mental question. “Those contraptions on the wing tips of this pegasus are one of our most intriguing weapons in terms of engineering. Those wing blades are completely controlled by the movement of a pony’s wing, no magic needed.” The pegasus mare began to demonstrate as she hardly flexed her wingtips and extended the blades and retracting them. “They are quite the deadly weapon on an experienced pegasus.”

Dusk then brought Radel’s attention to the forehooves of the mare. “However, that is not all there is available to this pegasus. She also has a retractable blade on one foreleg like an earth pony, but instead of a shield, she has a boltcaster.” The mare once again responded to Dusk’s descriptions, manipulating the blade on her foreleg and raising the boltcaster and arming it with a bolt from a small quiver on her side. “The bolts they carry can have various enchantments contained within the crystalline tip for various situations. Of course, they require the enchantments to be made by a unicorn as the bolts do not come pre-enchanted.” With another nod, the pegasus mare returned to her squad and was replaced by a unicorn mare.

From what Radel could see, the unicorn’s loadout was quite simple. It had dual blades with strange handles across it’s back while carrying what appeared to be various kinds of crystals and elixirs within their rucksacks.The armor was similar to an earth ponies, however it was still a little lighter and had a special plating on their helm to protect the horn from physical attacks.

“A unicorn’s gear and equipment is quite simple in what they have at their disposal compared to the other races. They simply have weapons meant to be held within a magical grasp and carry various crystals and elixirs for a range of magical buffs and spell casting.” The unicorn made its way back to its squad with a nod from Dusk. “These ponies are the best we have. You won’t be disappointed.”

“I’m sure I won’t be if you and the princesses are leading them.” With a smile, Radel gave the bat pony a friendly pat on the back. “Seems you’ll finally get to have that sparring match with me once we get back. We have much to learn from each other before today’s mission.”

Returning Radel’s gesture, Dusk Shield laughed up at him. “You flatter this old stallion with such praise, Radel. I look forward to the sparring match!”

Looking back to Celestia and Luna, Radel signaled them to join him and Dusk. “Celestia, Luna, are we ready to depart?”

“Yes, everypony is good to-” Before Celestia could finish her go ahead, a voice cut her off with its yell.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING WITHOUT ME!!!”

Looking towards the nearest entrance to Canterlot Castle, Radel watched a very familiar earth pony mare rushing towards them with a certain familiar spider hanging onto her mane for dear life as she continued her gallop. Said spider was almost catapulted from her mane as she came to a skidding halt in front of their group. “Good to see you again, Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“*huff*Hi*huff*Radel!” While the mare attempted to catch her breath, Luna took the opportunity to question the mare.

“I thought we told you to rest and take the day off, agent.”

Finally catching her breath, Sweetie Drops spoke up with a determined posture. “I wouldn’t miss this in the world, Princess Luna. Don’t worry about me. I’m fully rested and got my potions restocked from Flashy.”

“If you feel you are all good for another mission, then you may join us. We trust your judgment, Sweetie Drops.” Celestia smiled down at the two as Scary bounced up and down on his little perch on the mare’s head in excitement.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia!” Sweetie Drops joined Scary in his celebration by hopping side to side on her hooves.

“Well, with that taken care of, let us depart. You all will join me on my personal shuttle. Have your guardsponies split between the other transports.” With that said, Dusk made a few motions with his hoof, and the platoon split in half between the two transports.

It took a few minutes for all the ponies to be safely seated and secured within their seats before all transports gave a green light for departure. Once it was confirmed the transports were ready, Radel ensured that the ponies on his ship were seated and secured as well.

As he looked back at said ponies, he noticed Scary had been seated in a smaller version of one of the chairs in the shuttle, safely secured for intense flight. While Radel pondered with everypony else where the seat came from, a distinct fluffy and pink tale could be seen whisking away out of sight past the shuttle's ramp as it closed. Before anyone could question it, Sweetie Drops silenced them with a 'don’t ask' stare that Scary mirrored as well as he messed with the adorable flight helmet and eight eyed goggles Pinkie had put on him.

Simply shrugging his shoulders and turning forward yet again, Radel gave the final green light for launch and began the shuttle’s launch sequence. As they began to take off and gain altitude, the shuttles fell in formation with them again, as did the escort craft. Everypony down below continued to watch in awe and curiosity, as this time, the ships continued to fly higher and higher up. Unknown to them, Radel and the rest of his escort were gaining a safe altitude to break the sound barrier and arrive back at Ponyville within seconds. He didn’t want to risk any damage to the city below or any harm to the ponies within it. Just before they reached the desired altitude, Radel shouted to the ponies in back, “Everypony back there prepare for breaking the sound barrier!” And with that, all the ships, including Radel’s shuttle, launched forward at incredible speeds.

Within seconds, they began to slow down and come to a cruise speed as they regathered their orientation and b-lined for the hangar bay of Ender’s Blessing. As Radel’s shuttle and the transports began to enter the hangar bay, the escort craft broke off and returned to their perimeter duties. Radel landed his shuttle on his personal landing pad and began to exit the cockpit. Without making it two steps, he stopped as he stared with amusement at the mess that unfolded behind him. Everypony, including the princesses, were shrunken into their seats in an adorable manner as he suspected the immediate acceleration to such speeds had surprised them. “Everypony all right back here?”

After hearing Radel’s voice, everypony seemed to shake out of their stunned state and return to normal.

“Yes, we’re all good, Radel,” Dusk Shield was the first to respond as he got out of his seat, struggling on wobbly legs for a few seconds before turning towards the ramp and exiting the shuttle. Everypony else were quick behind him, seemingly wanting to stand on more solid and unmoving ground.

With a light chuckle, Radel followed them out, watching as the guardsponies exiting the transports to either side of his shuttle shared similar reactions. Giving them all a few minutes to readjust and get their bearings straight, Radel signaled for everypony to follow him. “Alright, everypony, this way please! We have much to do over the next few hours before we begin our mission.”

Author's Notes:

What is this, another chapter?!

Sorry for everyone who's been waiting for an update for awhile, all I can say is LIFE. Regardless, I hope to continue with more consistent updates to HG along side my other story I started about a month ago. These updates for HG shouldn't be months apart as I already pretty much nailed down the coming chapters in terms of what they'll have in them. I even know how I want to end this story and prepare the way for the sequel I plan on having as well.

So hopefully everyone enjoys this next chapter, and as always feel free to leave comments on any edits/errors I may have missed so I can attend to them accordingly!