> Dragonfire
>  by Indigo Steel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> S1E1: "Dragonfire: Part 1"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1,000 years ago, the Equestrian race had become known throughout the farthest reaches of the galaxy as a shining beacon of order and power, a perfect example of civilization, equality, and benevolence. They were the definition of prosperity and ascension, their allies loving them, and their enemies fearing them. Their technology and magic worked hand in hand to the point where it was one and the same. Many believed that they had reached their pinnacle, and would one day lead the galaxy to a golden age...

Sadly, however, the higher one can climb, the farther one can fall. So it was for the Equestrians when their homeworld, the center of their power and the cradle of their civilization, fell to an inexplicable horror known today only as the Chaotic Dark. Unable to defend against it, the Chaotic Dark ravaged Equestria, sundering the entire planet, and threatening to expand to the worlds beyond. Indeed, the entire galaxy would have been doomed to suffer Equestria's fate, were it not for the sacrifice of eight beings who finally discovered and learned to wield a great power to counter the Chaotic Dark. It is believed that this power was the greatest of the Old Magic, known simply as Harmony.

Despite the heroic sacrifice of the Eight, the Chaotic Dark was not destroyed, but simply nullified, it's expansion prevented and restricted to Equestria. The sundering of Equestria was far from beneath the notice of the rest of the galaxy. Many races, whether jealous of the Equestrians, or simply pursuing power and wealth, saw an opportunity for conquest, plunder, and vengeance. As all of Equestrian space was invaded, ravaged and conquered all at once from multiple fronts, it was only through their allies that the Equestrians were saved from complete extinction or enslavement.

All Equestrians that survived destroyed colonies and a ruined homeworld sought refuge in the lunar colonies of Equestria's only moon. There, they would remain in exile for the next millennium to become shadows of what they were, much of their former glory abandoned or forgotten. For all that time, they have struggled to survive, their ultimate goals being twofold: To find a new homeworld, and to regain their lost knowledge. Finally, there are those who fear that the Chaotic Dark has not truly been defeated, but merely delayed. To this end, the Lunar Colonies maintain a constant vigil over their ruined homeworld, prepared to fight or flee as the situation warrants.

This is the story of the Celestia Solaris, one of the few remaining Equestrian starships, and it's crew...

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

A shrill alarm trilled, causing the occupant of the bed nearby to grunt and breathe deep as he sat up, not happy about having his slumber (and a good dream) interrupted, but years of discipline making him push himself up nevertheless. He had a full schedule today, and demanded nothing less of himself but his best. He walked into his quarters' head, the face greeting him in the mirror being that of a young man of nineteen, with short green hair and pointed ears. The young man, Spike, examined his face for a moment, his squinting green eyes adjusting to the change in light...eyes with vertical slit pupils like a reptile would have. Determining that he didn't require a shave today, he proceeded to clean teeth that included pronounced fangs. Spike removed his underwear, having only enough time for a quick soni-clean before breakfast. His build was average, but muscular and toned like an athlete.

The soni-clean chamber, activating automatically from Spike's presence inside, felt like what could be best described as soft waves of air being pushed at him from all sides. The emitted sound was supposed to be too high pitched for most Equestrian ears; Being a Draconian, however, Spike had to suffer a slightly uncomfortable sound throughout the cleaning cycle, given the hearing range of his race.

To say that Spike was in a unique position was an understatement. His entire family had been slain when his small home colony was attacked by an Adamacanid (or "Diamond Dogs," as galactic slang called them) raid. He and a few others survived by virtue of a nearby Equestrian vessel that managed to drive the attackers off. From what he understood, he would have been placed into the Draconian foster care system...had not one of the Equestrians, an officer named Night Light, offered to adopt him. After much discussion, Spike became the first Draconian (as far as anyone knew of, anyway) to grow up in an Equestrian family. Consequently, Spike would later become the first Draconian (likewise as far as anyone knew) to serve in the Equestrian space fleet. This was a source of pride for Spike, and an incentive for him to try his best and be a good example of his race.

To that end, during his time in the Equestrian Aerospace Academy, he not only elected to take officer training, but chose the very rare educational path of a Quarter Tech (short for "Quartered Specialization Technician"), which carried the comparatively largest and most diverse workload, as it was a path that trained personnel to be able to have skill enough to support or even temporarily replace any member of the crew if necessary. While far from easy, Spike managed to both graduate and be certified as a Quarter Tech. As of now, he had been serving as a Cadet aboard the Celestia for the past year, with scuttlebutt being that he would make Ensign soon.

Spike mulled over this fact as he ate his breakfast; His long, forked tongue visible as he spooned another bite into his mouth. His thoughts turned to his schedule for the day as he noted the time. His schedule, as usual, consisted of his usual duty roster combined with whatever training he could fit in between shifts. This was not to say he didn't make time for R&R, those times were simply few and far between. First on today's agenda was target practice, then an infirmary shift, followed by fighter practice, and finally Yeoman duties on the bridge.

Another full day, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

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

Two figures stood in the center of an illuminated ring, with multiple targets of various shapes, sizes, colors, and levels of brightness. One was a young woman in her twenties, long blond hair in a ponytail, and wearing a brown leather Stetson that seemed out of place compared to the white uniform with orange areas in the shoulders, chest, gloves, and boots.

Upon the left chest portion of the uniform was "M-6" in large, bold print; All of the Celestia's crew had this emblazoned on their uniforms, as it signified them as part of Division M-6, the Advance Exploration Division. On the right chest portion of the woman's uniform was her Mark, a group of three red apples. The Marks were one of many natural manifestations of the Old Magic, this one possible for all Equestrians. A Mark was a representation of who you were, a culmination of your special talent, your lineage, and your destiny.

Her companion was Spike, his hair now in a spiked style, his uniform white with purple in the same areas as the young woman's uniform, the Mark on the right breast a green flame. For the Draconian, however, this was not truly a natural Mark, but rather one he chose for himself...he found the whole concept fascinating, and nobody seemed to mind his aesthetic choice. 

As he fired at the targets alongside the young woman, named Applejack, Spike would occasionally grit his teeth in mild frustration. He was competing with both a senior officer, and one of the most skilled members of the crew. Even if he couldn't come close to beating her, he would at least make a good show of himself; If anything, he owed it to her for allowing him to train alongside her. That said, Applejack was very personable, honest, and well-liked by the crew, so it wasn't that big of a deal to approach her to request some training exercises together. It was working out well, as she managed to help him noticeably improve his shooting.

Finally, the training simulation ended. Spike huffed a breath, a small wisp of smoke wafting out. His score was 205; However, Applejack far exceeded him with a score of 460.

The young woman smiled. "Five points higher than before. You're gettin' better all the time!" She spoke with her usual southern drawl.

"Thanks." The youth deadpanned.

Applejack rolled her eyes, her smile remaining, "Come on now, sugarcube, how many times I gotta tell ya, you're makin' average scores. Heck, today you scored above average!"

"So how do you keep blowing me out of the water?" Spike retorted.

As they left the sim-room, Applejack explained, "Ah'm a farm girl, ah've been shootin' all mah life, got a knack fer it! Add to that mah military trainin', and there ya go!"

Spike sighed, realizing she had a point. Applejack put a hand on Spike's shoulder, adding, "Like ah said, though, you're gettin' better all th' time! If y'all ever decide to specialize instead o' bein' a Quarter Tech, you'll get better even faster! You'd make one heck of a Bronco!"

Spike smiled at AJ. BRONCOs (Battle Ready Omniphibious Neutralization and Combat Officers) were the security and ground trooper forces that served on starships like the Celestia. As Security Chief, AJ was not only a Bronco herself, but the highest ranked among them on board. Therefore, her compliment held quite a bit of weight.

"Thanks." He said, this time sincerely.

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

"Oh, my!" the Doctor spoke with worry. She examined the male crewmember with a medical scanning device that remotely connected to the uni-comp built into her uniform glove, which was the same light yellow color as the rest of the color portions of her uniform. She read the results of the scan from a holographic display both superimposed upon, and orbiting around, the glove itself. "You've developed an infection!"

As the holographic display faded, She turned to Spike, who stood beside her. "I need thirty cc's of Tricillin, please."

Spike nodded, "Yes, ma'am." He moved to a nearby shelf, prepping the required medication as quickly and efficiently as possible before handing the pneuma-hypo to Doctor Fluttershy, who promptly administered the medication. After the pneuma-hypo's distinctive hiss faded, Fluttershy returned the device to Spike. 

Fluttershy's soft voice and gentle movements did justice to her Mark of three butterflies. Spike always enjoyed working with her; She was pleasant, polite to a fault, and always genuinely kind. Because of these mannerisms, Spike truly felt like an important part of the Infirmary, despite being among many other Nurses and personnel.   

While Spike took the device to be sanitized, Fluttershy spoke to the patient with a sweet smile, "I want you to go to your quarters and get some rest. You should be fine by tomorrow. If you have any reactions, or if the symptoms persist, just come back, okay?"

The male Equestrian, a crewman with caramel-coloring for his uniform and a Mark of three horseshoe prints, nodded and smiled in return, despite his illness.

After the crewman left, Spike commented, "Caramel comes in almost as much as Ditzy Doo. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was hurting himself on purpose just to come see you."

A worried expression crossed the Doctor's face in response, "I certainly hope not." Her smile returned, "Oh, wait, he has a marefriend! I remember him talking about her."

Spike smirked. "So he's looking for something on the side, then?"

Fluttershy fixed him with that stare of hers that, for some inexplicable reason, inspired pure terror. The hapless Draconian gulped, immediately regretting what he said. "S-Sorry, I was just joking. I-I didn't mean anything by it."

Fluttershy sighed, her gaze softer. "It's okay, Spike. Your snarkiness aside, you do a great job here. If you decide to pursue a specialty, I hope you consider something in the medical field. You could be a Nurse, or even a Doctor!" She quickly tempered her growing excitement, adding with a sheepish smile, "Um, that is, if it's okay with you."

Spike smiled. Fluttershy was one of the best physicians in the fleet, with an amazing knowledge of medicine, an unshakable patience, and an uncanny empathy. Therefore, a recommendation from her spoke volumes of Spike's potential.

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

Spike pulled a hard right, just barely avoiding a blast from the other fighter in front of him! The two Equestrian "Mustang" class fighters slipped past each other, quickly turning to meet each other again. Spike was the first to fire a barrage of photon missiles and laser bolts, his opponent doing the same. However, while his opponent managed to deftly dodge every shot, he himself took two hits!

He swore under his breath. In response, a feminine voice gibed, "Sorry, Spike? Didn't quite catch that?"

"I said, 'lucky shot.'" Spike said, pulling his ship up sharply to come up behind his opponent (albeit upside down), firing another volley. The other fighter didn't miss a beat, spinning to the side before correcting itself and making another advance on Spike's fighter. Spike tried to dodge the following volley, but still took a hit.

Rainbow dash was both an excellent pilot and a senior officer, so it took a bit of convincing on Spike's part to get Rainbow to train with him, primarily via stroking her ego and provoking her competitive drive. As to the former, Spike could attest to having something of an ego himself, so he knew what to say in that regard. The idea of challenging her was suggested by Applejack, as the two of them shared a friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry. 

"That's three hits, Spike!" The voice of Rainbow Dash spoke over her comm. "Come on, gimme a challenge!"

Spike scowled, preparing to retort, when his onboard scanners informed him of hostiles nearby. "Bogies spawning in five. Moving to right flank position."

"Roger that." Rainbow spoke. The two of them flew into formation, as six Changeling "Stinger" class fighters appeared, already firing a barrage at the two Mustangs.

The two Mustangs broke off in opposite directions, each one with three Stingers to deal with. Rolling and weaving, Spike barely dodged the enemy volleys, before coming up with a strategy. He kicked his fighter into reverse, missing slamming into his three pursuers by a narrow margin. Hitting full forward thrust once again, Spike came up on them fast, firing at them before they could break up, managing to take one of them down immediately! The remaining two split up, Spike tailing one of them. Despite the Stinger's best efforts, they couldn't shake Spike, who quickly got the Stinger in his sights, destroying it.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was not only evading all three of her pursuers, she was doing so with gusto, making multiple exaggerated rolls and loops, easily shaking her opponents, then actually allowing them to get a lock on her so she could shake them again! All the while, she was whooping, cackling and taunting her foes with her usual cocky bravado.

"Okay, bored now." Rainbow said, "I call this one 'flash in the pan!'"

Like Spike, Rainbow kicked her reverse thrust on, only this time, she was headed directly for one of the Stingers! Knowing Changeling kamikaze tendencies, Rainbow knew they wouldn't attempt to evade. Just before the two ships met, however, Rainbow pushed her forward thrusters full throttle, which not only destroyed the Stinger, but put the Mustang in a good position for the resulting explosion's shockwave to shove the fighter forward, propelling it to an even faster velocity than it was capable of, even at top speed!

Rainbow's Mustang turned in a wide arc, the pilot herself laughing as her sheer speed kept the enemy fire from even touching her. Once she came about, Rainbow let loose, destroying one enemy, and locking on soon after to destroy the other one.

Hearing growling over her comm, Rainbow looked to see Spike's Mustang struggling to shake his last fighter. Spike, meanwhile, was trying everything he could think of to evade, but this fighter was persistent. It fired once it had a lock, but Spike managed to evade each time. Finally, the Stinger exploded, Rainbow's Mustang coming into view before zooming away.

"Dash!" Spike almost shouted, "I had it under control!"

"Simmer down, tough drake." Rainbow said, "Everybody needs help once in a while. It's why we have wingmates, and why we never fly solo, it's in the regs!"

"You're one to talk about following regs!" Spike retorted.

"Hey!" Lieutenant Dash countered, "I may play it fast and loose, but I'm only reckless as far as my own safety is concerned! I'd NEVER endanger my squadron or leave my wingmates hanging!"

Spike was silent for a moment. She had a point. For all her hotheaded attitude and reckless behavior, she was still fiercely loyal to her crewmates and mindful of their safety. Finally, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Ma'am...I was out of line. Thanks for the assist."

Rainbow smiled. "Forget it, we're cool. Now...where were we? Oh yeah! I was kicking your flank!"

"Not if I can help it!" Spike said, kicking his Mustang into full throttle!

Later, the two of them left the sim-room, Spike pouting, while Rainbow had her usual cocky smile.

"Not once." Spike said, "Not ONCE did I tag you!"

Rainbow shrugged, "What can I say? I'm just that good!" She gave her Draconian companion a light chuck on the shoulder. "Seriously, though, nobody on this ship can actually compete with me. The only pilot on this ship who came close was Thunderlane, and he only managed to tag me once. That said, you're an awesome pilot, kiddo. If you were to stop being a Quarter Tech and apply yourself, I wouldn't mind having you as a wingmate!"

Spike nodded. Despite her ego, Lieutenant Dash was one of the few people who could back up her boasts. She was the best pilot on the ship, hands down...maybe even the best pilot in the fleet. Whenever the fighters needed to be launched, every pilot on the ship wanted to be her wingmate...so to actually be told he could be one of her first choices meant a lot to Spike. 

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

"Captain's Log, #3346..." A young woman spoke in a neutral, informative tone, "The Celestia has intercepted a subspace transmission, specifically a distress call, approximately one hour and sixteen minutes ago. Initial analysis of the signal and the content of the message places the age of the signal as roughly one thousand years old. We are currently tracing the signal to it's source, in order to both investigate the distress call and explore the area for potential resources. ETA is approximately twelve hours at present speed."

Her log entry complete, the woman speaking nodded to Spike, moving an errant strand of pink hair out of her eyes to join the remaining purple locks that were still in place. The color portions of her uniform were a lavender color, her Mark a large six-pointed star orbited by five smaller stars. This was Twilight Sparkle...Captain of the Celestia Solara, and one of the greatest minds in the galaxy...or at least Spike thought so, and not just because she was his adopted sister.

It took a lot of convincing, and a few conditions had to be met, but Twilight had managed to get Spike as part of her crew, even though regulations did not typically permit such things. Though they had a very close bond, their sibling relationship was not the reason Twilight wanted to keep Spike for her crew. Mainly, she saw tremendous accomplishment and further potential in the young Draconian, and wanted to keep him under her tutelage as much as possible to make him the best he could be. Their performance and interaction with one another had thus far proven them to be an exception to the rules, and so they would hope to remain.

For Spike's part, he saved the recording on the logbook pad, then presented the device to Twilight for her biometric signature. Twilight placed a finger on the pad, the pad itself sensing, reading, and processing not only the fingerprint, but also the DNA of her skin. It only took a moment for the signature, and Spike promptly slid the logbook into a compartment in Twilight's command chair, where the pad would stay protected, charged and updated.

The bridge of the Celestia was, as always, a busy epicenter for the ship, with all critical sections and departments represented by their own stations, manned by specialists and senior officers. As his position demanded, Spike had a least a passing familiarity with every station the bridge, thus allowing him to briefly take said station in an emergency or situation when others were unavailable. That said, he was still learning, and hoped that an emergency wouldn't present itself anytime soon.

Twilight looked to Spike with a smile. "What's next on the agenda, Mister Dragonfire?"

"Dragonfire" was Spike's Equestrian name. An Equestrian's name tended to also be their Mark; So it was for Spike, as he had the name since his adoption, later choosing his Mark with the name in mind. The name "Spike" was actually a mispronunciation of his Draconian name, "Spa'iik." He liked It, though, so it stuck as a nickname of sorts.

In response to Twilight's question, Spike spoke, "Vessel status reports will be ready in one hour. You wanted to speak with Doctor Turner in Lab Alpha, Lieutenant Roseluck has requested your intervention in a matter regarding the resources allotted to the Atrium, and you have a manecut appointment in 20 mins."

Another female voice spoke up, "Is Roseluck still getting too much nitrogen supplement, and not enough phosphorus?"

Twilight shrugged as her Executive Officer, Sunset Shimmer, approached to stand next to the command chair. The red portion of her hair matched the red color portions of her uniform and her Mark of a stylized sun.

"I hope not, that shipping mix up was a debacle!" Twilight responded.

Sunset shook her head. "Ensign Doo earned her paycheck THAT day, that's for sure."

Twilight nodded, then turned her attention to Spike, "Mister Dragonfire, would you accompany me to Lab Alpha, please?"

Spike nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

As they both walked to one of the lifts that left the bridge, Twilight spoke, "Miss Shimmer, you have command."

Sunset nodded. "Have fun with the mad scientist." She said with a smile.

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

"Your application for the Ensign exams has been approved, Spike." Twilight spoke, beaming at her surrogate brother.

Spike smiled at his surrogate sister and Captain. "I won't let you down, Twilight."

"You never have, Spike." She replied warmly.

The corridor was alive with activity, as crew and civilians alike walked to their respective destinations on the ship. As the two of them rounded a corner at an intersection, Twilight asked, "Have you chosen a specialization, yet?"

Spike cleared his throat in mild discomfort, "Erm...no, no I haven't."

Twilight sighed. "Spike...as multi-talented as you are, you can't be everything. Quarter Techs are a rare thing for a reason. It was a position tailored for the early days of space travel, back when there were small ships and smaller crews. Nowadays, there's far too many positions on a ship...too many things to know."

"You did all right." Spike countered.

Twilight didn't miss a beat. "I have an IQ of 308 and a photographic memory...and I still chose a specialization in the end, you know that."

Spike was silent in his recollection. Twilight's choice to try being a Quarter Tech herself was one of Spike's inspirations for attempting the same path. Unfortunately, Twilight chose to specialize not long after she made Lieutenant...the reason being that the massive responsibilities of the job simply became too much for even a woman of her phenomenal gifts, affecting her physically and psychologically. After some soul-searching and advice from others, she chose to be the chief science officer. She would have stayed in that role and been happy there, had it not been for one fateful mission, where she was forced to assume command during an attack on the Celestia and the crisis that followed. Showing exemplary leadership qualities, she was offered her present rank and command of the Celestia, to which she agreed out of a sense of duty and responsibility, one of her more admirable qualities. While she had no regrets and was proud to bear her mantle, she always seemed the most content when working in a lab or studying a book or terminal.

Finally, Twilight broke the silence, "As intelligent and skilled as you are, I'd love to see you pursue a path in science. You know I'd give you a recommendation in a heartbeat."

Spike nodded, smiling. The two of them had to follow strict guidelines in order to stay on the same ship together. Not only did the two of them meet these guidelines, but surpassed all expectations. For that reason among others, Spike was absolutely sure that Twilight meant what she said out of recognition of his merits, and not through any manner of favoritism or nepotism.

The two siblings smiled at each other before finally entering Lab Alpha.

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

At 1347 hours the next day, the celestia was only a few light years away from what known star charts identified as the Valin System. As the ship neared closer to the planet, the bridge crew was assembled and working efficiently, excitement and expectation high at the prospect of finding more pieces of the Equestrian civilization. In the millenium that followed the fall of Equestria and the loss of so much of what they had been, the Equestrian remnant continued their struggle to recover, finding scraps of their ancient power and history here and there throughout their old territory...much of which had either become the domain of their enemies, chaotic wilds, or uninhabitable wastelands. They had come a long way, but they still had a long way to go.

"Approaching Valin three, Captain." Rainbow spoke from the Navigation station of the bridge helm, located near the center of the bridge in front of the view screen. The viewscreen showed a gray, dead world, with a few gray wisps as cloud cover.

"Enter standard orbit and prepare to..." Twilight began, but was cut off by a shrill alarm coming from the Tactical station of the bridge helm, manned by  Applejack. The Security Chief swore under her breath, before reporting, "Ah've got three Adamacanid Drillers approachin' our position, Cap'n! Bearin' three-thirty mark fifteen!"

Three ships came into view on the screen. The three ships were each a quarter of the size of the Celestia, their cone shapes similar to their namesake. "Their shields are up, and they're armin' weapons!" Applejack said.

"RED ALERT!" Twilight shouted, "Battlestations! Evasive maneuver Delta!"

All three Adamacanid ships opened fire on the Celestia. 
> S1E2: "Dragonfire: Part 2"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The initial Plasma Pulse shots from the attacking Adamacanid Drillers struck the shields of the Celestia Solaris as the Equestrian vessel veered away from the attacking ships. 

"Shields holdin' at 95%, Hull Polarization at full power." Applejack reported, her gaze moving between the ship's status display and the targeting system of her tactical console.

"Fire Lasers!" Sunset commanded, "Arm Quantum Missiles and fire pattern spread 'Starburst!'"

The Celestia fired long, continuous beams of red-colored energy at the attacking ships, intermixed with projectiles resembling bursts of white-colored energy that flew in different directions to form a wide, angled pattern. The three attacking Drillers scattered in different directions. One managed to escape, a laser blast missing it by a narrow margin. one of the ships took a hit from a laser blast and two missile hits, noticeably damaging it. The final ship caught a laser blast and several missile hits, exploding into atomized debris!

"Got 'em!" Applejack shouted.

"Continue evasive maneuvers, and begin calculating Rail Cannon firing solutions." Twilight commanded.

Rainbow Dash's hands moved across her navigational console, adjusting impulse engine and thruster power before gripping the dual handles of the steering controls to pilot the ship, relying on both the view screen and readings from the three dimensional radar-like holographic display on her console to move the ship. 

The Celestia moved throughout the vast area of space, attempting to both dodge the pursuing vessels and retaliate in kind. Due to it's sheer size, however, it still managed to take three Distorter Beams and two Photon Charges. After missing a few more shots, two laser beams connected, destroying the damaged Driller. At this, the third one, still undamaged, began to move away.

"She's trying to run." Sunset spoke.

"Cap'n, we have a firin' solution for Rail Cannons." Applejack reported.

"Fire." Twilight commanded.

As the Driller fled, two projectiles fired from the Celestia, streaking at incredible velocity. Both projectiles struck true, ripping through both shields and hull of the ship, causing it to explode.  

"That's the last of 'em, Cap'n!" Applejack reported, after taking one last look at her scanner data.

Having a hunch, Twilight turned in her Command Chair to face the Communications station behind her and to the right. "Lieutenant Rarity, are we still receiving the distress signal from the planet?"

A young woman spun away from her Communications terminal in her chair to face Twilight. The color portions of Rarity's uniform were the same shade of dark violet as her hair. Her Mark of three diamonds seemed to subtly enhance an already striking beauty. She responded, "Still receiving loud and clear, Captain."

Twilight nodded, then turned to face Applejack's Tactical console in front of her once more. "Lieutenant Applejack, Any signs of other vessels nearby on on the planet?"

The Security Chief was silent for a moment, before looking over her shoulder and reporting, "Scans are clean, Ma'am. No hostiles detected."

Twilight then turned to the Science station to her right. "Cadet Dragonfire, what are the initial planetary scan results?"

Spike, currently scheduled to man the Science station at this time, looked up from his detailed scan results. "Atmosphere is breathable, minor radiation...I'm detecting some energy signatures, both magic and electromagnetic, as well as other processed metal concentrations...most likely a settlement."  

"Life signs?" Twilight asked.

Spike looked at Twilight. "Other than some very sparse vegetation and bacteria..." He shook his head, "No, Ma'am."

Twilight rubbed her chin lightly in thought. "So...either a very poor trap, or not a trap at all."

"It could be a very good trap." Sunset volunteered, standing beside the Command Chair. "A failed ambush to give us a false sense of security, while the bulk of the attack is hiding out there somewhere?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Possible...but they would have tried running much earlier in the battle; and our scanners would have picked up any kind of interference that could possibly hide reinforcements."

Rainbow added, "Not to mention Adamacanid ships don't have Ghost Emitters, Holo-Camo Screens, or Cloaking Fields."

"That's never stopped 'em before." Applejack spoke, "They're always scavengin' an' stealin' stealth equipment." 

"Sure, but they've never had enough for an entire group of ships." Rainbow retorted.

"In any case..." Twilight spoke up, turning all attention back to her, "We're still going down to explore, but we're going to be more cautious than usual about our approach, just in case. As well as maintaining Yellow Alert, I want two BRONCO squads supporting the exploration team, and all fighters on standby."

The bridge was a bustle of activity as the various personnel there either continued operating their stations, or left said stations to perform their duties elsewhere, quickly replaced thereafter by other crew members. 

Twilight turned to Spike once more. "I want you to accompany Commander Shimmer on this mission for more field experience, Cadet Dragonfire." 

"Yes, Captain!" Spike said with an enthusiastic smile, eager for the chance to leave the safety of the ship for the chance to go on an adventure.

As Spike and Sunset left the bridge into one of the lifts, Rarity joined them before the doors closed.

Spike couldn't help but steal yet another glance at whom, in his opinion, was the most beautiful female in existence. Everything about Rarity seemed perfect to him...her sparkling eyes, her striking figure, her brilliant intellect, her unswerving charm...

Spike quickly looked forward as the lift doors opened to another section of the ship. Rarity stepped off into the corridor before the lift closed and commenced moving. He allowed himself a small sigh. Seeing everything from behind Spike, Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled. 

Spike and Sunset were among one of the many small groups that were gathering in multiple teleport chambers aboard the Celestia. Like the others gathered, Spike and Sunset were equipped accordingly, wearing belt, collar, and harness attachments to their uniforms that carried various weapons, scientific devices, and survival gear. The entire group activated their collar attachments, which materialized full helmets with transparent face masks.

"Coordinates entered..." The chamber operator spoke, typing commands into his console, "Activating in three...two...one..."

He pushed the button to energize the teleport chamber. For a few seconds, a soft aura surrounded the entire chamber, before the entire assembled group suddenly vanished in a flash of light. 

For the group that was teleported, the familiarity of the chamber was instantly replaced by an unknown rocky terrain. The change in gravity was superficial, as it was similar gravity to the ship. The multiple small groups began to meander about and cluster together, the faceplates on each team member's helmet displaying readings and results as their scanners began taking stock of the surrounding environment.

Over the next few moments, Sunset studied the initial scans on her faceplate HUD. "Okay..." she spoke, "Readings are within tolerance, no environmental anomalies." At her mental command, the Mark symbol on her uniform began to glow. "Okay, here's the plan: BRONCO squad one will take point, followed by the main team body, while BRONCO squad two takes up the rear. According to initial scans, the settlement is about half a kilometer to the northwest. Let's hoof it."   

Applejack led BRONCO squad one, keeping alert for any visible threats, her mental commands switching between HUD screens on her faceplate to display different readings or show things in different visual modes. Among the 20 person exploration team in addition to Spike and Sunset were Fluttershy, Rarity, Science Officer Time Turner, and Chief Engineer Vinyl Scratch.

"Hi!" An overly cheerful voice suddenly spoke up next to Spike.

"Ngh!" Spike exclaimed, jumping slightly in surprise at one of the few people he expected to be next to him...Lieutenant-Commander Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie, the ship's Counselor and Morale Officer. "P-Pinkie!?" He sputtered, Sunset and one or two others nearby snorting or otherwise stifling laughter at the Cadet's reaction. 

"That's me!" Pinkie responded. If the pink colored portions of her uniform and Mark of three balloons weren't enough to make the exuberant Counselor stand out, her thick and curly hair of a slightly darker pink likewise attracted attention. "Are you ready for your session?"

Spike looked at Pinkie incredulously. "Seriously? Here? Now?"

Pinkie shrugged. "The setting isn't ideal, I admit...but given how super important these sessions are, I made the effort to come down here with you!"

Spike sighed. It was indeed important that he have regular sessions with one form or another of Psychoanalyst; it was an overarching term of both his adoption and recruitment. The reason being that Draconian emotions tended to be very...potent, in all senses of the word, capable of creating significant mental and physical effects as a result. The Draconian race, over the millennia of their existence, would cultivate a regiment of emotional control and mental discipline as a result. 

As the first of his kind among Equestrians, the sessions were meant to constantly evaluate his psychological status; in addition, he had to learn and utilize the required Draconian mental disciplines. As such, here Pinkie was, preparing to begin a session; in the middle of a field mission, no less.

Pinkie spoke, "Helmet please, Mister Dragonfire, private link." She activated her own helmet.

Spike activated his own helmet as well, establishing a two way connection between the two of them, jammed and encrypted from any outside sources trying to listen in.

"Soooo..." Pinkie spoke, "I hear that you've been a bit frustrated, lately. Wanna talk about it?"

Spike sighed. He'd given up along time ago on figuring out how it was that Pinkie always seemed to know about how he'd been feeling despite his attempts to control himself and keep his outbursts to a minimum. First of all, it was her job to know these things, and she was very good at her job, to the point that Spike (and others) wondered if she might have a special gift for such things...far from impossible in this infinite, magical galaxy that they called home.

"It happened twice yesterday, and a few times before that." He spoke, "I just can't shake the feeling that...that I'm not..."

"Not good enough?" Pinkie spoke, trying to help the struggling Cadet to articulate his feelings.

"Well...yes and no. I know I'm trying as hard as I can, always giving it everything I've got. Everyone keeps saying how great I am, and how much better I can be...and while I do believe them, and I do notice my improvement...It still feels like something's...missing. Some vital part of me that I can't reach, that I can't even perceive!"

There was a short silence, before Pinkie asked again, "Are you still having the nightmare?"

Spike shook his head. "The last time I had it was three nights ago."

The bad dream he spoke of was one that plagued him off and on for a few years. It took different forms, but the overarching message was the same: Spike's friends or family in some kind of peril, and he himself attempting to rescue or help them, and always ending in his failure or demise. It was a factor that drove him harder than ever before to achieve as much as he could, as the prospect of failing his loved ones when they needed him most was, of course, unthinkable to the young man.

Pinkie responded, "The nightmares are definitely a manifestation of your fears of failure and inadequacy. The fact that they stop from time to time most likely means that you're doing something that alleviates your fears, if only briefly. have you been keeping up with your journals?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Spike replied.

Pinkie gave a short nod. "Good! It's been long enough now that I can read them, and determine a behavior pattern. Please send them to me at your next opportunity, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Spike answered.

"Okie dokie lokie, session over!" Pinkie said, "If you need anything...sleep aids, someone to talk to, or cake, just give me a ring, okay?"

"Absolutely." Spike said, before looking at her sideways. "Cake?"

Pinkie shrugged. "It's not a substitute for talking it out with professionals or loved ones..." She grinned, "But it is a nice thing to have while you're doing said talking!"

Spike smiled. Pinkie was good at her job as a morale officer as well, always managing to make people smile and be positive even in bleak circumstances.

Pinkie then gasped a bit, and said, "Oh! Yeah! I forgot to ask...have you specialized, yet?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "You too?"

"Well, you have to choose something, Spike!" Pinkie spoke, "You can be anything you want to be, but you can't be everything! Not to mention you wouldn’t have nearly as much stress with the decreased workload, thus more emotional stability. Your lifetime experience with psychological medicine, emotional control skill set, and cooking talents make you a perfect candidate for training as a Counselor and Morale Officer!" 

With only silence as Spike's response, Pinkie finally said. "Anyway, if you're ready, we can deactivate."

Both parties did so, their helmets retracting and vanishing back into the collar pieces. Spike had been thinking about Pinkie's suggestion. Her bubbly, joyful, and even hyper exterior belied an impressive intellect, a remarkably abstract perception and a mind-boggling awareness. They had been interacting regularly since he first got on board, so he liked to think he knew when she was being serious and when she was just trying to make him feel better. Therefore, when she said he would do well in a similar field to hers, he knew she wasn't just blowing hot air. 

Spike finally broke the silence. "So, are you sticking around for the fun?"

Pinkie nodded with a smile. "Yepperooni! I had one of my 'feelings' this morning, and it was a doozy! Something big is here, it's one of the reasons why the Captain's playing it so safe!"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Pinkie's "Pinkie Sense" was simply one more reason why everyone was speculating that the Counselor had some kind of odd magical or psychic gift. She would get "feelings" every now and then...and they were never wrong...

Finally, the group stopped, a collection of buildings in the distance. Despite their centuries of age, most of them were still intact and standing...a testament to Equestrian infrastructure. The entire party of explorers reactivated their helmets and began operating their Uni-Comps to gather and synchronize information.

"Hmmm..." Time Turner spoke, "Most definitely a colony...a Manalithium mining colony to be exact.” Despite the plain brown color portions of his uniform and simple hourglass Mark, the scientist was anything but ordinary. “I'm detecting very rich deposits, with the main extraction facility extending approximately two hundred feet underground." He then mumbled something to himself, continuing, "Very strange...I'm getting scan interference throughout much of the facility."

"I'm not reading any kind of environmental factors that could interfere with scans." Spike asked.

"Ain't readin' any jammin' signals or hostiles in the area, neither." Applejack chimed in.

"Hmmmm..." Sunset murmured, "This is very peculiar." She sighed, "Okay, we're going in. You've got your assignments, No groups smaller than four pe..."

"Great wickering stallions!" Time Turner suddenly exclaimed, "Commander, you need to see this!"

He typed a command into his Uni-Comp that displayed a holographic image large enough to be observed by Sunset and others. The image displayed a multitude of detailed scan readings, with a wireframe of what appeared to be a large crystal, with a smaller, oddly shaped crystal in the center. As Sunset studied the readings on the display, Time Turner explained, "The readings coming from this artifact are staggering in power, and emitting magic energy signatures I'm unfamiliar with."

Sunset nodded. "The crystal's not natural, it's synthetic; doesn't look Equestrian in origin, either..."

"Lieutenant Rarity?" Sunset spoke, prompting the woman to approach. The Commander pointed to an area of the display that appeared to be an analysis of glyphs and runes carved into the crystal. "Can you translate this?"

Rarity took a moment to observe the display. She shook her head slowly. "I don't immediately recognize it, I'm afraid. If I had some time with it, though, I might be able to come up with a translation." 

Sunset nodded, then spoke up, "Rarity, Time Turner, Spike, the three of you will come with me to investigate this artifact. The rest of you will stay on assignment. Let's go."

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

The three Equestrians and one Draconian looked at the artifact with the kind of awe one felt while witnessing cosmic events.

Time Turner was the first to speak. "This is...indescribable. I have no words."

Rarity couldn't help but grin at the absolute beauty before her. "I can think of one word...exquisite!"

The large cavern was saturated with the polychromatic brilliance of pure Manalithium crystal, outcropping deposits and veins covering nearly the entire cavern. The best way to describe Manalithium was "solidified magic energy." It was used as an energy source, a building material, and a technological component...a crucial resource not only for Equestrians, but for most other interstellar civilizations as well.

The centerpiece of the spectacle, however, was the astounding artifact in the center; one massive crystal with what appeared to be a mass of interlocking crystals in multiple shapes and colors at it's core. Another notable part of the structure was a complex system of runes and pictograms etched and carved across the exterior. 

Rarity walked over to the artifact, observing the runes. Time Turner also approached, but to use a more complex scanning device connected to his Uni-Comp.

"I know I said this doesn't look Equestrian...but..." Sunset said as she and Spike walked closer to the artifact together, "The more I look at it, the more it feels like a part of us."

"I know what you mean..." Rarity spoke up, "I'm not familiar with this language, but I feel like I should know it just the same!"

"What do you think, Doctor?" Sunset asked, looking towards Time Turner.

Turner studied the artifact for a moment, furrowing his brow, then looked at Sunset. "Well..." He commented, "While I recognize this as a significant artifact, and it does indeed resemble something Equestrian, I confess I don't feel any kind of...instinct or connection towards it, I'm afraid." His eyes then lit up slightly, "Perhaps it has to do with you and the Lieutenant's Unuscornu heritage? You might simply be more sensitive to the ambient magic the artifact's generating, whereas I of the Terra Onager species am not."

Indeed, the Equestrian race was made up of not one, but multiple species, each one possessing adaptations of both natural and supernatural selection that could be utilized in situations that required them. For example, the Unuscornu, or “Unicorns” could manipulate the Old Magic far easier than others; the Pegasos, or “Pegasi” could fly; and the Terra Onager, or “Earth Ponies” could command vast strength and endurance.

Sunset considered this as she looked at the artifact. Finally, she closed her eyes to focus herself for a moment. At her forehead, an orange, glowing, semi-transparent spire shape appeared, roughly a foot in length, and tapering to a point like a the horn of a unicorn. It glowed briefly before it vanished. 
Opening her eyes, Sunset slowly shook her head. "While I do feel the presence of strong magic, the feeling of...familiarity is different...separate."

Turner shrugged. "Ah, well, it was an insubstantial theory anyway. Still, it gives me just that much more information to go on." With that, the Science Officer moved to another area of the artifact to observe the core crystal cluster's odd shapes from another vantage point.

"Perhaps we're simply over thinking this." Rarity offered, "The language may look familiar to me because of my field of expertise? Despite so many different forms of communication, most of them do tend to stay within certain linguistic structures." Despite her logical explanation, even Rarity herself didn't look convinced of her own words.

"Well, in any case..." Sunset spoke, "That's why we're here; studying this thing to get answers. Once things are more secured, I should consider asking the Captain to apply her insight."

Spike remained in silent thought; it didn't make any sense. It seemed right that the artifact was related to Equestria...but he was a Draconian; why did HE feel a connection to this artifact? Moreover, why didn't Time Turner feel the same familiarity? 

"Mister Dragonfire?" Rarity's angelic voice called him back to the present moment. "May I have your help, please?"

Spike cleared his throat. "Yes, Ma'am." As he approached, Rarity spoke, "First, I'd like to establish an A.I. connection, please?"

With a nod, Spike took an item from his back; a metal orb-like object with one blue polymer "eye." He ran his hand over the eye portion, causing it to glow brilliantly. He tossed the orb up, and it quickly began to float, moving around a bit before focusing on an empty area of the rocky ground near the artifact. A soft beam of blue energy projected from the orb, creating a humanoid shape; a beautiful woman wearing a standard uniform, all of it white without color portions. Her hair seemed to move and flow in shades of turquoise, cyan, and pink. The Mark displayed on her uniform was a sun shape. This was the A.I. of the Celestia Solara, personified in her own chosen shape.

Celestia looked at Spike and Rarity with a smile. "Lieutenant Rarity, Cadet Dragonfire, How may I be of service?"

Rarity smiled in return, "We're attempting to translate an artifact, and I'll need access to the ship's information resources, if you please."   

"Of course, Lieutenant." Celestia nodded. With a nod to one another, Spike and Rarity set to work...

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

One hour later, Twilight looked at the artifact on the ship's viewscreen with the same awe as the field team did, then sighed wistfully, "I miss being in the field."

"You wouldn't do much more good down here, Captain." Sunset spoke, "While it's only been an hour, We don't know much more about this thing than when we first started."

"Do you think we could move it back to the ship?" Twilight asked, a bit of hope in her voice, "Maybe I could go down with an escort..."

"Captain..." Sunset began.

Twilight huffed, plopping in her chair. "I know, I know, never mind." 

They had this debate often, as Twilight constantly sought to go on field missions, only for Sunset to remind her of protocol which forbade her to go on such missions except under certain circumstances due to the inherent risk involved. 

"I'll make sure we either transport this to the ship or secure the area, Ma'am." Sunset assured.

"If you wouldn't mind." Twilight confirmed, the two of them smiling at one another. "Celestia?" Twilight said, "Move around the artifact slowly, please?"

"Yes, Captain." Celestia replied, and then the image on the viewscreen moved, the orb acting as a floating image recorder. As it passed near Spike, he gave an exaggerated smile and wiggled his eyebrows, making Twilight smile and roll her eyes.

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

"Do focus, Cadet, would you?" Rarity said, "We haven't been here that long."

"Sorry, Ma'am." Spike said with a more subdued smile. Suddenly, a light rumble erupted from his abdomen, causing Rarity to raise an eyebrow. "Did you skip breakfast?"

"Sorry, Ma'am." Spike said once more with a sheepish look, "I didn't skip, but I overslept a bit this morning and only had time for something light."

Rarity smiled. "I'll continue with this, if you'd like a moment to snack on a ration bar."

The Cadet nodded, "Thanks." He reached into his supply pouch, moving small tools aside to find a ration bar. He sighed, as he pulled back an empty hand, mentally kicking himself. First oversleeping, then forgetting to pack a ration bar! Rarity noticed this, and took out her own ration bar, holding it up to Spike.

The Draconian shook his head. "Thank you, ma'am, but I'll be alright until we get back to..."

“Cadet..." Rarity interrupted, her tone equal parts stern and soft. "Please...I insist."

Finally, Spike took the ration with a smile. "Thank you." he said, Rarity nodding in response. As usual, she never hesitated to part with her own supplies to help both fellow crew members and strangers alike. She was also known for getting her way.

After devouring the ration, Spike returned to studying a series of pictograms against images on his Uni-Comp. After a few minutes he spoke, "Okay, Tribal Era Pegasos Hieroglyphs are a bust. There's similarities, but the translations are gibberish."

"I might have something with the runic portion..." Rarity responded, "Tribal Era Unuscornu seems like a good bridge to work with."

Spike thought for a moment, then called up another set of images on his Uni-Comp. As he worked, he became as confused as he was excited...

"I can't believe this is working!" He said. 

"What is it?" Rarity asked, curious.

Spike looked Rarity in the eye. "I found something that works with the pictograms. In fact, it's almost a perfect match." He held up his Uni-Comp for Rarity to see. She looked at the images, then looked at Spike incredulously. He nodded.

"Ancient Era Draconian Cuneiform." Spike said, "I don't know how, I don't know why."

"That doesn't make any sense." Rarity said, "If these archaic dialects are any indication, our races weren't even close to meeting each other back then!"

Spike shrugged, "I double checked, the translations work."

Rarity studied the translations, contemplating silently for a moment, then nodded. "Yes...you're right, these are very compatible. Perhaps this is from a more recent era and they simply chose to use older forms of language. It's not unheard of."

"You mean the theory where certain words in certain languages are required to use some spells of the Old Magic?" Spike ventured.

Rarity nodded. "Indeed. We can't know for sure though until Doctor Turner has an accurate age for this artifact." She smiled, then. "Excellent work, Mister Dragonfire! This would have taken longer if you hadn't made that connection to Draconic dialect."

"Thanks." Spike said, "I've been focusing on Draconic language as part of my Communications training; parts of these pictographs just started looking familiar to me, and I went on a hunch. I'm glad it payed off!"

"You really should consider specializing in Communications, Cadet. Such intuition and insight is an ideal quality! I certainly wouldn't mind working with you on a more regular basis."

Spike's heart was pounding from Rarity's compliments and desire for him to work alongside her, and it was definitely a tempting opportunity...not just because of his feelings for her, but because her skill with negotiation, linguistics, and computer science could be counted among the best in the fleet! Even though her nature led her to compliment others often, Spike could tell that in his case, it was more than just her generosity talking.   

After another half-hour or so, Sunset approached Spike and Rarity. "Report?"

Rarity was the first to speak. "The runes and pictograms translate from both Equestrian and Draconian. The Equestrian translations are from not one, but multiple dialects. The translations from Equestrian are 'Loyalty,' 'Laughter,' 'Generosity,' 'Honesty,' 'Kindness,' 'Forgiveness,' and 'Magic.'" 

Spike spoke next, "The translation from Draconic is 'Strength.' We have theories, but we don't know for sure why there's both Draconian and Equestrian writing here."

Sunset nodded. Hearing the translations stirred a memory of something she studied a long time ago. For the life of her though, she couldn't remember it! "Doctor? What do you have to report?"

Time Turner looked up from his very active Uni-Comp. "Quite a bit, actually! He walked up to Sunset, showing her his results. "The outer crystal shell is definitely Manalithium; roughly one thousand years old. The crystals inside, however...they're unique. Whatever mineral they're made from is completely unknown! The color differences in the interior crystals gives me reason to believe that these are multiple shapes fused together to form this cluster. Celestia has already mapped out multiple shape possibilities from the scans we've made. Finally, the magic energy being emitted is of a signature and wavelength unknown, it's potency completely off the charts!"   

Sunset read the findings on Time Turner's Unicomp as she listened to his report. She let out a whistle, "Incredible...would it be safe to bring back to the ship?"

The Science Officer nodded. "While extremely powerful, the energy isn't dangerous or malevolent. Quite the contrary, actually; I feel...safe around it, if that makes any sense. The outer crystal is even cool to the touch. Also, while it is rooted into the ground a few feet, it should be easy enough to lift or teleport it."

Sunset nodded. "It's settled, then, we'll teleport it back to the ship."


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

Twilight grinned, barely containing her glee as the artifact flashed into being inside of a containment field in Lab Alpha. She could swear that it looked even better up close! Quickly, she began typing on the console near the containment field. A couple of minutes later, Time Turner materialized in a flash. 

“I’ve already begun programming a battery of scans and tests!” She spoke, her smile happy and unwavering. Her ethereal lavender horn appeared as she briefly washed her own magic energy over the runes etched into the outer crystal. “I believe Spike and Rarity are right about the Magicae Verbum connection, the older languages purposefully required for whatever magic this is to function properly.”

“Right!” Turner spoke with enthusiasm, “Is a molecular mapping scan one of the tests?”

“Of course.” Twilight confirmed matter-of-factly.

“Capital!” Turner nodded, “Hopefully we can get at least some idea of what this artifact’s inner crystals are made of!” With that, he made his way to another console, and the two worked with gusto.

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

“Okay, people, let’s get back to exploring.” Sunset said, motioning her head to the cavern entrance. “Spike, meet up with the first BRONCO team at the Refinery. Rarity, you’re with me.”

Spike nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

After leaving the cavern and splitting off from Sunset and Rarity, Spike began double-timing it to the large building identified as the Refinery where Manalithium crystals were separated from the ore they were attached to and cut into more manageable sizes. His mental commands activated a trace on Applejack’s suit signal, indicating a location. Finally, he met up with Applejack and her team, his assault rifle ready.

“Cadet Dragonfire reporting, Ma’am!” Spike greeted. 

Applejack nodded. “Good ta have ya.” She looked around as she spoke, “We ain’t got workin' lifts or bridges, so we gotta get around however we can ‘til Chief Scratch can make some progress. I want you with the flyers.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Spike replied, double timing once again to meet up with the BRONCOs with flight capability. The group gathered around a massively muscled man with gold color portions to his uniform and a Mark of a dumbbell weight. Chief Bulk Biceps barked, “Wings!”

At this command, from the backs of each person there, a set of semi-transparent wings of varied colors appeared. Each set of wings resembled feathered bird plumage; save for Spike, whose wings resembled the flight appendages of a dragon. 

“Keep it tight!” Bulk ordered, “Let's go!” The group took off, with Bulk in the lead, flying about the refinery seeking out anything unusual or threatening. 

“Okay, everypony, follow my lead!” Applejack spoke to her own group, “Watch yer step!” With that, her entire body took on a mild ethereal glow, followed by the others in her group, the colors of each aura varying between each one.

As she collapsed and holstered her rifle, Applejack took stock of the distance over a collapsed bridge, roughly 6 meters. She then ran to the edge and leapt the entire distance! The others followed, readying their weapons again once their footing was secure. Their auras fading, the group moved forward at a brisk pace, cautious of their surroundings.

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

Deep within the main building of the colony, something awakened; it's power and consciousness slowly returning, the obstacle that held it back now removed. An amorphic, viscous form reached out with it’s perception, it's still-sluggish mind wondering how long it had been nullified. Suddenly, such questions didn't matter, as it now perceived much sustenance both here and beyond the planet's boundaries! Had it the capacity to do so, the serendipity it now felt at both it’s ended nullification and immediately finding abundant fuel for it’s growth would have caused it to form a cruel grin.

At long last, it could feed once more.

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

Senior Chief Vinyl Scratch sat up from her position on the ground, huffing a breath in frustration. Finding a power source was easy, they were surrounded by Manalithium; getting the generator to work wasn't terribly difficult, that particular model was built to last. Getting the power relay node to work, on the other hand, was proving to be a massive pain in the flank!

The venom in her thoughts translated to a voice emitting from a band she wore around her head, which also extended into a set of headphones that covered her ears.

The synthetic voice that emitted from her Aurophone uttered a couple of unpleasant words that didn't go unnoticed by the others nearby. Most of them merely ignored it or shrugged it off with understanding and/or mild amusement. “Goodness.” Fluttershy muttered.

The Physician walked over to Vinyl and knelt down to her level, offering her a water ration. “Maybe you should take a quick break like the others? You've certainly earned it with the progress you've made so far.”

Vinyl sighed, then nodded and accepted the ration. “Thanks.” The feminine synthetic voice spoke, an approximation of what Vinyl’s voice might have sounded like if she had the ability to speak. Fluttershy smiled, and Vinyl couldn't help but smile back. Suddenly, her smile vanished as turned her head to the side.

Fluttershy knew immediately what was going on. Without her Aurophone, Vinyl was deaf. With it, however, she could hear far better than anyone. “Commander!” Vinyl “Shouted” at increased volume, “Something’s coming!”

Sunset snapped to attention, bringing her rifle to bear. The others in the party drew smaller sidearms. The sounds were becoming audible now; Rarity began adjusting her Uni-Comp and helmet to view and scan in different modes. “Scans don't seem to be picking them up!”

Vinyl caused something in her Aurophone to emit a high-frequency sound, then activated her helmet. “Active sonar picking up...twelve forms, bipedal movement, approaching quickly!”

The sounds were distinguishable now...sounds of gurgling and hissing.

“I can see them now on night vi-” Rarity grasped suddenly.

“Lieutenant??” Sunset asked urgently.

“N-Night vision, Commander! Quickly!” Rarity responded.

“Helmets!” Sunset commanded, “Night vision!”

The entire team’s helmets appeared, the night vision setting revealing multiple creatures moving towards them, a few of them still shambling, but most of them speeding up to a running pace. The creatures resembled multiple species; Equestrian, Adamacanid, Gryphus, and others, the one distinction among them being that they now seemed to resemble walking corpses, all of them coated with a strange black ooze.

Fluttershy trembled, her breathing quickened to near-hyperventilation. “Wh-What happened to them!?”

“No time to figure it out.” Sunset replied, “They're getting closer!”

> S1E3: "Dragonfire: Part 3"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

AUTHOR WARNING: INTENSE DRAMA IN THIS CHAPTER! 

Sunset fired her rifle, the barrage of magnetically-impelled projectiles obliterating one of the monstrosities fast approaching. As she fired at another one, she saw the first one she destroyed start to reconstruct itself, the slime that coated it moving, manipulating and re-assembling the body. While it looked more damaged and ooze-coated than before, it still managed to move forward, albeit a bit slower.

Sunset mumbled a curse, managing to control her growing fear and panic. Fluttershy, on the other hand, wasn't doing as well, the shaky aim on her laser missing both times that she fired. 

Fortunately, the aim of the others in the group were far better; the beams from their lasers hit their marks, the high-power energy disintegrating the creatures as they got dangerously close. As each body disintegrated, the goop did not, splattering on the ground before starting to move again 

Noting that energy weapons were having more of an effect than her projectile weapon, Sunset collapsed and holstered her rifle, instead drawing and activating her own sidearm, larger and designed differently than the others. The weapon fired white bolts of energy that upon impact with their targets caused them to disintegrate faster and more explosively! 

Together, the collected retaliation of the party was enough to stem the approach of the creatures. Sunset contracted the ship via mental command, her Mark insignia on her suit glowing softly. “Celestia, emergency teleport, all teams!”

“Something is interfering with the teleporter, Commander Shimmer.” Celestia replied, “I’m trying multiple teleport frequencies, but nothing's working.”

Sunset cursed. The creatures were coming in through the only entrance, though at the moment, they were thinning out. The black goo that remained on the ground began to move and coalesce on it’s own. “We have to fight our way out! Everypony follow me, keep it tight!”

With that, the group moved out, shooting at or moving to avoid any aggressors. As they ran, one of them suddenly fell over! “Commander!” The crewman called out. 

Sunset looked back to see the downed man struggle against a large lump of the black ooze encompassing his foot and quickly moving up his leg. He risked firing his laser, but the weapon was useless against the slime. His body took on an aura and he struggled anew, but more ooze had crawled over his other leg. Despite his boosted strength, he was finding escape difficult, if not impossible. Meanwhile, yet more ooze was converging on the victim.

By this time, Sunset had made it to his side, summoning her spectral horn. “Don't move.” She ordered. When the man froze, Sunset fired two energy bolts from her horn, effectively breaking apart the ooze enough for the man to get back to his feet quickly. The two of them ran to rejoin the group, continuing to fight and run. The ooze, despite being blasted, began to slowly recover and move once again...

Sunset spoke via her commlink, “Commander Shimmer to all teams; we have encountered multiple unidentified hostiles, resembling what appears to be various decayed humanoids and a black viscous fluid! Emergency teleport has failed! Be advised; keep your distance, use energy weapons on the corpses, offense spells on the fluid! All teams rendezvous at primary teleport entry coordinates immediately!”

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

Before Sunset’s distress call, Twilight had been studying test results regarding the mysterious nature of magical energy radiating from the equally mysterious artifact. Whatever it was, Twilight theorized that it’s sheer power fueled the formation of the surrounding manalithium deposits, a feat previously thought possible only for massive natural sources of magic such as Ley Lines or Mana Nebulae. 

Having already formed a hypothesis on what the artifact was from the memory of something she learned long ago, the Captain was presently referring to multiple information sources from the ship’s database, her extensive knowledge and uncanny intuition in the field of magic allowing her to draw multiple parallels, seeing similarities in certain spells in regards to both language and magic energy frequency, particularly in regards to certain very ancient spells that required certain qualities in the spellcaster to work properly...qualities articulated in the words etched into the outer crystal shell. The results of the other tests, while still unable to determine the proper element that the inner crystal cluster was made from, confirmed the artifact’s age.

Twilight finally paused in her work, her research complete, her results conclusive. Her hypothesis had proven correct, and the gravity of that fact now struck her as she simply stared in reverence at the artifact. “I knew it…” She spoke. 

“Great wickering stallions…” Doctor Turner said, having viewed the same results, agreeing with his colleague’s findings. “This is…”

They looked at each other, excited and overjoyed smiles forming as they spoke in unison, “Harmony.” 

Suddenly, Celestia’s voice spoke, “Captain, emergency! The exploration and BRONCO teams are in danger!”

Twilight’s joy was utterly eclipsed by shock and horror. Reacting quickly, her spectral horn appeared, the spell it cast causing the Unuscornu to vanish in a lavender flash. In an instant, she materialized on the bridge. “Report?” She commanded.

Unfazed by her Captain's impromptu teleport, Ensign Caramel at the tactical station spoke, “The teams are unable to return to the ship via teleport. While the ship’s scanners aren’t picking up anything, we have a visual confirmation on the hostiles.”

The main viewscreen showed visual uploads from multiple helmet feeds in real time. Twilight rushed over to view the science station scans alongside the crewman currently operating it; A woman with white-streaked mint green hair, mint green color portions on her uniform, and a Mark of a harp. 

“We’re running through every scan, Captain, nothing’s able to read it.” Ensign Lyra Heartstrings spoke, “The best I can detect is a magic energy signature I’ve never seen before.”

Twilight looked at the wavelength, her eyes widening in terror when she recognized exactly what it was…

The Chaotic Dark.

“Captain!” Caramel spoke, “I’m losing contact with several members of BRONCO squads one and two!”

The pit of Twilight’s stomach felt like ice. That was her crew...her friends...

Her brother.

Her eyes darted across the viewscreen, taking but a few moments to observe the movements and vulnerabilities of the attacking force before formulating a plan of action. The Mark insignia on Twilight’s uniform glowed softly at her mental command. “Lieutenant Dash, prep Lander Shuttle One and assemble a slider bike team with extra bikes and evac wagons! Arm with energy weapons only!” 

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

Receiving Sunset’s distress call, Applejack responded, “BRONCO team one here, acknowledged, Commander!” She and the team swiftly replaced their current rifles with the energy-based sidearms they carried, all similar to the one Sunset carried. When they started double-timing it to the nearest exit point, it didn't take long for a swarm of ooze-coated zombies to attack from multiple sides!

“Contact!” Applejack shouted, followed by a hail of blasts from the team. They destroyed multiple targets, only for many more to replace them; to say nothing of the ooze itself moving on it’s own. When one of the creatures was about to get too close, Applejack not only summoned her aura, but also gestured her unarmed hand while focusing her thoughts on a spell of the Old Magic. A one-handed warhammer made of the same orange translucent energy as her aura materialized in her hand. With a powerful swing, she sent the zombie flying into a group of it’s ilk, effectively knocking some of them over. 

Everyone else began taking a similar tactic, keeping their sidearms in one hand, and a magically conjured melee weapon in another. Despite this, they were starting to slow down due to the sheer number of hostiles and the exhaustion of maintaining a constant of running, fighting, and sustained magic. Just as they were about to stop entirely, a new hail of weapons fire helped even their odds!

“YEEEAAH!!” Bulk shouted, as he, Spike, and the other flyers rejoined them. “Air evac!” He shouted, “Every flyer grab a ground pounder!”

The Pegasi and Draconian put their weapons away to free their hands while the Terra Onagers did the same, holding up their arms as each flyer grabbed one of their grounded comrades and soared high enough to be out of reach of their enemies. Spike grabbed Applejack, who had to raise her legs a bit to avoid being grabbed by a zombie. Though the muscular Bulk had to carry two grounders (one for each arm), it seemed as if they would make it outside. Unfortunately, the enemy had another trick up it’s sleeve…

Suddenly, many globs of black goop flew out at them! Taken by surprise, many were hit, causing them to spiral down to where pools of ooze would cover over them quickly, literally drowning out their shouts of pain and panic.

Everyone that managed to stay airborne, including Spike, Applejack, and Bulk cursed, unable to do anything for their downed comrades. The flyers moved as best they could to evade the new attack, while their passengers could only hold on for dear life! Try as they might, however, even Bulk and his charges were shot down by the goop, leaving only Spike and Applejack to make their way to the exit, now only a few meters away!

Alas, while Spike managed to dodge the goop, a loose piece of debris struck him in the back, causing him to grunt in pain and lose control of his flight. By virtue of his impressive Draconian strength, He managed to right himself by grabbing onto a ledge with one arm and a leg, the other still holding onto Applejack. Just then, a tendril of black slime shot out, grabbing onto Applejack! The slime tendril pulled, causing both her and Spike to grunt in struggle against it. The Security Chief drew her plasma blaster sidearm and fired off a few shots, either missing or having no effect. As she was not an Unuscornu, she was unable to access any long range offense spells that didn't require the use of both hands. She managed to materialize a spear, stabbing at the tendril. While the first one let go, two more shot out, one of them grabbing the arm that held the offending magic spell. “AAHH!” Applejack shouted. 

More tendrils attempted to grab Spike, but before they could, the Draconian opened his mouth and breathed in, the inside of his mouth glowing green before a gout of green flame shot outward, the intense magical heat burning one tendril while making the others shrink back quickly!

The tendrils holding Applejack pulled harder. “GRRRRRNNN!” Spike growled, pulling with everything he had, gritting his fanged teeth. His grip was starting to slip…

“Cadet…” he heard his superior officer say, “Let go.”

The Draconian looked at the woman in shock. Applejack continued, “Ya have to let me go, or we’ll both fall! Ya know it’s true!” Briefly, her eyes shined with the color of her aura…

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

At that very moment, inside Lab Alpha, a portion of the inner crystal briefly flashed and shimmered with energy, making sounds akin to the music resulting from someone running their fingers along the rims of multiple crystal glasses.

“Good Elysium…” Time Turner spoke, “Did you catch all that, Celestia?”

“Yes, Doctor.” Celestia’s voice replied, “I've already taken the liberty of scanning for any changes in the artifact.”

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

Spike’s eyes met Applejack’s. She was right, and he knew it. Still, he refused to let go, trying again to pull her free, flapping his wings in addition, accomplishing nothing.

“Spike!” She said, “Stop! There ain't no sense in this! Ya can still save the others!”

He looked at her again...then nodded.

“Tell mah family I love ‘em, ok?” She asked, a tear in her eye.

“Yes, ma’am.” Spike responded.

In spite of her impending doom, she gave a small smile. “Good man.”

After another second’s hesitation, Spike finally let go, the pain of this action evident on his face as he watched Applejack be pulled into what was fast becoming a lake of ooze. Not letting the Security Chief’s sacrifice be in vain, Spike gave a mighty flap of his ethereal wings and flew forth, evading any further assaults of the ooze. Soon, he flew out of the refinery, towards the location of Sunset and the exploration team.

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

The exploration team ran for their lives, pursued by both the zombie-like creatures and now, it seemed, the slime itself, which began moving much more fluidly now, forming tentacles or throwing globs of ooze at it’s intended victims. One crewman had to throw away their weapon after a lump of goo managed to hit and spread over it quickly.

Sunset attempted to turn down one corridor, only to blast another zombie before firing a force wave from her spectral horn to knock back the others approaching. At the same time, Vinyl’s own ethereal horn appeared, allowing her to cast a wall of magic long enough for the group to continue running past, with Vinyl finally dropping the wall to bring up the rear.

At long last, they reached an entryway door that Vinyl quickly closed. Rarity activated a low setting on her laser to burn a simple pattern on the door, before using a combination of hand gestures and her white ethereal horn to empower the hasty pattern into a ward. “That should hold them back for a while.”

Sunset opened a channel to the ship, adding an encryption as a precaution. “Celestia, can you track the hostiles?”

“I cannot, Commander.” Celestia replied over the link. “My scanners have been ineffectual, save for identifying the hostiles as manifestations of the Chaotic Dark.”

The entire group, Sunset included, reacted with shock, Fluttershy struggling even harder to retain her composure. “How’s that even possible?” Rarity asked, “I thought it was still confined to Equestria?”

“What if it’s not?” Another crewman spoke, “What if it's the Sundering all over again??”

“The Lunar Colonies could be under attack as we speak!” Another crewman spoke. Fluttershy was beginning to hyperventilate.

“Enough!” Sunset interjected with a tone that silenced the room. “Get a hold of yourselves, that's an order! There are other reasons this could be manifesting. Right now, our priority is getting back to the ship. Understood?”

The team nodded. Fluttershy tried to steady her breathing while rummaging through her medical bag. Hearing the physician's rapid, hammering heartbeat, Vinyl put a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “Are you alright?” She asked at a very low volume. Fluttershy nodded, still working to keep herself calm. “Y-Yes, I-I’ll be fine, j-just getting a mild sedative.” Finally, she found what she was looking for, barely controlling her shaking hands enough to load the dosage into the pneuma-hypo, carefully administering it to her shoulder. A few seconds after the hiss of the device, Fluttershy sighed, becoming noticeably calmer.

“Be advised, Commander.” Celestia spoke, “Captain Sparkle has assembled a res-” Celestia’s voice was replaced by brief static, almost instantly followed by silence.

“Celestia?” Sunset spoke, “Celestia, come in.” 

Vinyl spoke, “Something’s jamming the signal, Commander. I'll keep trying to get through.”

The Commander nodded, then accessed her Uni-Comp, calling up a display of the facility and their current position. “There's an exit here…” She pointed to a spot on the holographic display, “We'll have to go up another level, and hope the way isn't compromised. Also, the ramp connected to that entrance is collapsed, so there’s a roughly thirty foot drop over some rocks and debris. Nothing we can't handle, I think. Assuming the Captain’s mounting a rescue, we might even run into them.” She looked to the others, “Okay, let’s move out.”

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

Spike had changed his course to meet up with the second BRONCO squad due to their closer proximity and similar intention to converge with the exploration team, if their positions on his HUD were any indication.

Spike’s ethereal wings disappeared as he landed, just as the second squad ran into view, led by Pinkie. They appeared to be running and shooting more of the zombie-like creatures.

“Spike!” Pinkie spoke, “Perfect timing! A little help, please?”

Spike drew his sidearm to shoot at the creatures, conjuring a katana of green magic energy to fight close range. He also let loose with a gout or two of green flame, setting one creature ablaze and making others seem to instinctively avoid it.

“My fire seems to be the most effective against them.” Spike commented.

“Good to know.” Pinkie said, before briefly switching to her rifle, firing at some pipes. The air around the pipes began warping, indicating a strong gas leak. She pointed at the leak, “Light it up!”

Spike nodded, breathing his green fire in the direction Pinkie indicated. The gas turned his tongue of flame into a green inferno, reducing many of the creatures and the goop itself in that corridor to ashes. The squad focused on retreating at this point, not wanting to be around in case that same gas main became a problem for them as well.

Pinkie in the lead, they were about to run down one corridor out of two, but Pinkie suddenly stopped. “Nope! Not that way!” She said, running down the other corridor instead, followed by the others.

“She’s been doing that the whole time.” One of the BRONCO’s commented, “Probably the only reason we’re still alive.”

“Her ‘Pinkie Sense.’” Spike replied with an understanding nod.

“The glop’s spreading everywhere.” Pinkie spoke in a rare serious tone, “We have to get out, or even my intuition won't help us.”

As the squad ran, they went through a door into a large room full of pipes, tanks, and hydraulics; a boiler room. Again, Pinkie stopped briefly. For a moment, she stood perfectly still, staring into space. Then she looked at Spike, a small smile on her face. Spike raised an eyebrow. Before he could say anything, Pinkie shouted, “Run! Sprint through here quick!”

They all ran as fast as they could, Pinkie and Spike in the lead. All around them, sounds of groaning pipes and straining metal could suddenly be heard. As they continued sprinting, Pinkie said to Spike, “This ends one of two ways: We all die, or we all live.” She grinned at him, “The outcome depends on you. I know you can do it, Spike! Oh, and I'm sorry.”

Spike furrowed his brow at her. “What are you talking about? Sorry for what?”

Pinkie’s body took on a pink aura, accessing her Terra Onager strength, “For this.”

Gripping his uniform, she threw the Draconian with everything she had, his body hurtling past the room’s end. Spike got to his feet just in time to see every pipe and tank above and around the squad in the room explode with black goo, covering the entire squad. Pinkie happened to be one of the few who weren't entirely covered in the substance, though that was changing quickly. She saw Spike breathing fire at the goo to keep it away from him. He then heard Pinkie giggling.

Spike looked at Pinkie like she'd suddenly grown another head. Pinkie explained, “Death smiles on everybody. The only thing we can do about it is smile back. Stay positive, Spike.” Briefly, her eyes shined the pink color of her aura.

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

Back in Lab Alpha, the artifact once again flashed, similar crystalline tones resounding.

“There it is again!” Doctor Turner said, “Any differences this time?”

Celestia’s voice reported, “The tones are different, as are the dimensions of the piece that has severed itself from the whole.”

***********

Spike tried to approach, but the slime covered Pinkie’s head quickly, fast approaching him and forcing him to close off the door. He ran to meet up with the others, Pinkie’s prophecy in his mind.

We all live, or we all die.

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

“Captain!” Rainbow reported, “I’ve just lost contact with the entire second BRONCO squad!”

Twilight cursed. The shuttle was beginning to land at the teleport site near the facility, some of which could now be seen as covered in a layer of spreading black biomass. As the shuttle landed, Twilight, Rainbow, and others grabbed backpack-sized machines with what appeared to be saddle-like seats from the shuttle walls. The group filed out quickly, two of the party also carrying secondary backpack-sized objects. Quickly, Twilight and Rainbow set down and straddled their devices, pulling up two handles. In response, the devices hovered off the ground, new portions either expanding from the device or materializing into being. Now riding larger vehicles, the team of Slider Bikes shot forward towards the facility.

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

It didn’t take long for Spike to meet up with the exploration team, Sunset nodding to him. “Cadet.”

Spike sighed, the pain and frustration of losing so many of the crew despite his best efforts clearly weighing on him. “Both BRONCO squads are gone, Commander.”

Sunset nodded sympathetically. “The Captain’s on the way with a rescue party. We have to save as many people as we can.”

This news seemed to give Spike a second wind. “What’s the plan?”

Sunset explained the plan as the remaining crew made their way to the exit that the Commander proposed. As they did, Rarity moved close to Spike. “Are you going to be alright, Cadet?” She asked, “I can only imagine what you went through with those BRONCOs.”

Despite everything thus far, Spike smiled at Rarity’s concern. “I’ll be okay, Lieutenant. Thank you.”

Rarity smiled back. “If anyone can help us through this, it’s you.”

After an uneventful trip, they stopped at the door to the room they needed to enter, currently closed. “I have a bad feeling about this, Commander.” Spike commented.

“So do I.” Sunset replied, “Weapons and spells ready. We may need to go in shooting. Chief Scratch, can you hear anything past the door?”

Vinyl moved up to the door, adjusting her Aurophone slightly. She nodded her head at Sunset. “There are footsteps, voice utterances, and viscous liquid noises behind the door.”

“Let me breathe some fire in first thing.” Spike suggested, “They can’t withstand it very well.”

Sunset nodded, and Spike moved into place, the others readying their weapons as well. Vinyl opened the door, and Spike let loose with a blast of green flame! The fire receded, revealing nothing in the doorway. Just then, an oily tentacle whipped downward, throwing a glob of ooze that hit Spike square in the chest, knocking him to the ground! Weapons fire and magic spells erupted soon after, as zombified creatures ran into the corridor. Fluttershy was at Spike’s side quickly. 

“Doctor, get back!” Spike shouted, “It’ll get you, too!”

“You know I can’t do that, Cadet!” Fluttershy said, her voice shaky but determined, “You’re the best chance we have, and I have to help you!” For an instant, her eyes glowed with her butter-yellow magic aura.

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

Again, the artifact erupted with a  flash of light and a series of crystalline chimes.

“Each light flash has a different color in the visual spectrum.” Celestia reported, “Each crystal chime, as earlier noted, is a unique set of notes.”

Time Turner didn’t respond, instead poring over an analysis of the energy readings.

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

The black goop was beginning to spread over Fluttershy now, but to her credit, she remained focused on her work long enough to load a chemical into a spray bottle. She sprayed both Spike and herself, causing the spreading mass to suddenly begin dissolving and actually retreat from the two of them.

Spike and Fluttershy both got to their feet. “The biomass seems to be petroleum-based, so I made a strong base mixture to counteract it.”

“Well, it worked.” Spike said, “Thanks, Doc.”

Suddenly, the Physician was grabbed by multiple black tentacles and dragged away screaming towards a larger black mass gathering in the room beyond the door. “NO!” Spike shouted, Running after her, but forced to fight multiple zombified foes as Fluttershy was finally pulled into the mass. Quickly discovering that his energy sidearm had been rendered useless by dissolved ooze residue, Spike was forced to fall back, using his fire and a conjured green energy blade. Suddenly, a group of zombies managed to rush him, tackling him to the ground! His fire and strength managed to keep them off for the moment, but his hands weren't free to conjure arcane offense, and tentacles of ooze were fast approaching.

Rarity, seeing Spike in trouble, fired at two of his attackers, despite multiple zombies approaching her as well. “SPIKE!” She yelled at him. Spike’s eyes met hers, and she tossed her weapon towards him. “Make it count!” Were her last words as she then turned to fight her attackers with magic, but was ultimately dragged off kicking and screaming, her eyes taking on the momentary violet glow of her magic aura.

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

“The intervals seem random.” Time Turner said, as yet another flash occurred from the artifact, followed by a unique set of tones. 

“The shape of this severed core crystal is likewise different.” Celestia added.

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

Spike roared at Rarity’s capture, throwing one of his attackers off, grabbing the laser thrown at him, and quickly dispatching his remaining assailants. He leapt to his feet, by Rarity was long gone. Gritting his teeth in fury, he turned his barely contained rage on his enemies.

The exploration team was losing ground, being captured one at a time. “Fall back!” Sunset shouted, “Retreat!”

Everyone left was regrouping, save Spike who continued to fight ferociously, his mind clouding with rage…

“Spike!” Sunset commanded, “Let’s go!”

“NO!!” Spike howled in response, flames erupting from his mouth with every word, “KILL THEM ALL!”

Sunset cursed as she realized that Spike was losing emotional control. She ran up to him, gripping his shoulder. “Spike, you have to…”

With only rage in his mind, Spike shoved his shoulder into Sunset, knocking her off balance, and into a large lump of the ooze moving along the wall. The realization of what Spike just did shocked him back to his senses, and his blood ran cold. Sunset began to be enveloped in the black slime, until Spike burned some of it away, taking Sunset’s hand to pull her out. She tried to pull herself out of the fast-growing goop while using magic blasts from her horn.Despite both her and Spike’s efforts, more ooze flowed over Sunset, and multiple zombies were now getting closer to them. Spike used his flame on some of the ooze, but couldn't do much without burning Sunset. He pulled with a grunt, but to no avail.

“Get out of here, Cadet.” Sunset said, panting, “I can’t muster enough magic to free myself...feels like it's draining me…”

Spike replied, “No, no, we can do this Commander, maybe if I…”

“That's an order, Cadet!” Sunset snapped.

“I’m not leaving, Commander!” Spike said, his face twisted in a mask of frustration, “I won't! It's my fault you're here, and I'm getting you out!”

“Mister Dragonfire…” Sunset spoke, her tone softer now, “You made a mistake. You can make amends sometimes, but this is one of the times that you can't. Go...others still need you.”

Spike looked to the approaching zombies, then back to Sunset. “I’m sorry, Commander Shimmer.” He spoke, his voice cracking.

Sunset nodded. “I forgive you, Mister Dragonfire.”

As Spike moved off to rejoin the others, Sunset’s eyes flashed the color of her magic aura.

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

“Why do those some of these shapes look so familiar?” Time Turner said as yet another core crystal severed itself from the cluster with the same flash of energy and musical tones. 

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

The Slider team stopped near the area of the mining facility where The remaining members of the party were supposed to be. Twilight studied her HUD; the markers were moving, but none of them towards the door. Her helmet’s optics also enabled her to see multiple hostiles through the exit.

Dismounting her bike, Twilight moved to one of the bikes equipped with a still-compact evac wagon. The driver dismounted at her request,and she took his place. “Miss Dash, take the other wagon equipped bike and follow my lead!”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Rainbow responded, having just enough time to repeat Twilight’s actions before she had to jet forward to keep up with the Captain as she sped full throttle towards the collapsed ramp section that lead to the entrance. Rainbow figured out quickly what was about to happen…

Twilight shot across the divide between the two sides of the ramp, barely landing on the other side, Dash’s bike following suit. In a hail of fire from the laser mounted weaponry, Twilight drifted to a halt in the middle of the room, her lavender spectral horn brimming with energy before a wave of magic power rippled outwards! Every zombie and slime mass in the room and a bit beyond went limp or collapsed. Wasting no time, Twilight and Rainbow activated the evac wagon attachments, which expanded and materialized into small troop transport cars connected to the bikes, a bit cramped but capable of seating up to six.

Spike and the surviving crew leapt into the wagons. In a burst of impelling energy, the Sliders sped back toward the exit...only to suddenly screech to a halt and move to avoid the massive wall of ooze that fell downward over the hole. Everyone shouted or cursed at this.

Twilight called forth her spectral horn once more, firing a powerful magic blast at the wall of moving ooze. While a massive hole was created, it re-sealed far too quickly to be a viable means of escape. It was then that a voice could suddenly be heard...a voice resembling a chorus of deep, gurgling voices speaking as one; partly heard by their ears and partly heard in their minds.

THERE IS NO ESCAPE.

The crew became visibly agitated at the ominous words spoken by the chilling voice. “Everyone stay calm.” Twilight spoke in a confident tone, despite not quite feeling all that confident herself. She activated her Uni-Comp to look at the now all too familiar landscape of the ruins. She pointed at one area of the display to Rainbow. “I noticed that this area was relatively untouched by the slime.” She traced her finger along a path of corridors, into a certain room. “If we take this path, we can get there...then we either find a hole or make one, and have the shuttle pick us up.”

Rainbow nodded. “Looks like a tight fit, but I think we can do it without having to ditch the bikes.”

With that, the bikes and their passengers zoomed out of the room, down the corridor, the passengers taking pot shots or swings at the occasional zombie or slime lump that got too close. Spike tried to remain focused, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the friends he’d lost to this...whatever it was; one of those losses he’d even contributed to. Sunset’s forgiveness and the willingness of his friends to sacrifice themselves to help him aside, it still weighed on his mind and heart. Suddenly, he felt something blindside him across the head, causing him to lose his balance and fall from the wagon!

The resulting chorus of Spike’s name being shouted got Rainbow’s attention. She looked back to see Spike trying to get to his feet while throwing off one zombie and fighting against another while breathing fire at a third one. Two more were closing in on him. 

Rainbow cursed. Fortunately, she had made it to the room where they were headed, following Twilight. Immediately, she materialized her cyan-colored ethereal wings and shot off back through the door, hearing Twilight’s protest as she went. Just as Spike was about to be dogpiled, a cyan blur struck into two of the zombies, knocking them over, and allowing Spike to throw off his remaining attacker. 

He got to his feet, materializing a sword-shaped green magic. He beheaded one zombie while Rainbow struck another one with a magic energy mace of her own creation. “Thanks!” Spike said.

“Like I said, I never leave my comrades behind, and that includes you!” Rainbow replied, “Now let’s jet!” Her eyes flashed a brief cyan glow as she spoke.

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

“Another split from the core crystals, Doctor.” Celestia reported.

“Right.” Time Turner responded absently, currently attempting to correlate the crystal “songs” to other known magic songs, finding some comparisons to ancient magic tunes and compiling the results.

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

Spike and Rainbow took wing and soared to the door. They flew in and the door was immediately closed and sealed, with Twilight burning a protective ward onto the door with her laser and then empowering it with magic. Twilight spoke to Rainbow, “On the record: That was reckless, Rainbow, and you shouldn’t have done it.” She then sighed, “Off the record: Thank you.”

Rainbow nodded, “Understood, ma’am.”

She nodded and smiled at Spike, who did the same. As much as both wanted to better express their mutual joy for each other’s current well being, appropriateness and protocol presently forbid it. Twilight walked to the nearest window, not seeing any of the black substance nearby. Mentally commanding an open channel to the shuttle, she attempted communication...nothing, the interference remained. She turned to Rainbow, “Lieutenant, I need you to fly to the shuttle and bring it back for an evac, on the double.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” She replied. The window was opened and Rainbow flew outward. Once she was a fair distance out, something happened, and suddenly a massive wave of flying zombies swarmed out towards her!

“RAINBOW!” Twilight shouted, watching the swarm overtake the Pegasos. While Rainbow’s speed might have saved her, her foes were able to throw excess ooze from their bodies, forcing her to evade rather than focus on speed; the sheer volume of ooze being thrown at her was enough to obscure her flight and allow her to be captured. 

Spike cursed and struck a wall, smoke coming from his nostrils. “They don’t like my fire.” He spoke to Twilight, “I can...”

“Absolutely not.” Twilight spoke in a stern voice that brooked no argument. “There’s too many of them...and there may be another way.” 

“Captain!” Vinyl shouted. “They’re headed straight for us!”

Everyone watched as the large cluster of flying zombies flew towards the room where the remaining crew were. “Defensive positions!” Twilight commanded, prompting the crew to draw weapons or prepare offensive magic spells. While the barrage of blasts were causing many of the zombified flyers to drop, it wasn’t enough. Twilight began to sweat heavily, her brow creased in effort as she fired multiple area effect blasts to annihilate large groups of enemies. The group had barely managed to eliminate the entire wave; Twilight breathed heavily in mild exhaustion, leaning against a wall.  

“The skies are clear right now.” Spike said, “Could I try for the shuttle now?”

Twilight shook her head, “The skies only look clear, Mister Dragonfire...besides, I want to try another way first.”

The Captain stood upright once more, and explained, “Even though this thing’s interfering with our teleportation, theoretically speaking, most kinds of interference or blocks against teleportation can be beaten if the spell has enough raw power behind it.”

“Even if we could contact the ship, Ma’am...” Spike retorted, “We couldn’t muster that kind of power even with the combined magic of the ship and the full crew. You’d need to somehow tap into a rich Ley Line, or a large Mana Nebula, or...”

“The artifact.” Twilight spoke. “Even now, in what I believe to be a dormant state, that artifact was burning with energy. It’s full power is probably incalculable. If I were to tap into it, activate it with a spell…”

“Are you serious!?” Spike said incredulously, briefly ignoring protocol. “Tapping into a natural mana source is dangerous enough, if that thing gives you any kind of feedback…!”

“It won’t, Spike.” Twilight said, likewise forgetting protocol. She showed him whatever real-time data her Unicomp had received from Doctor Turner prior to entering the communications dampening field that their enemy had somehow established. “Because we know what it is now...it’s Harmony.”

Spike looked at the readings with far more interest now. Twilight continued, “In the latest entries before the interference stopped the transmission, some kind of process had begun. If I’m remembering the ancient legend correctly, than I know precisely what’s it’s doing, and what I have to do...I only hope that it accepts me.”

Before Spike could inquire further, Vinyl’s voice rang out again, “INCOMING!”

A new, larger wave of flying beasts were fast approaching. Twilight spoke, “Quickly, Spike, help me to prepare the runes!”

Spike did so, while the crew frantically fired at the new enemies. Without Twilight’s aid, they threatened to easily overtake the remnant. Globs of ooze came through the windows, striking crew members before spreading over them to keep them immobile. Working quickly, Spike and Twilight finished the circle of runes, just as Vinyl fell. Now it was only the two of them still standing.

“Now what?” Spike asked. The flying zombies were almost upon them, their ragged, ooze-covered wings somehow achieving flight.

“Stand back.” Twilight replied. The Draconian did so, watching as his Equestrian surrogate sister’s ethereal horn glowed brightly, followed by her eyes, and then her entire body. The runes glowed bright, and her body began to levitate from the floor. Meanwhile, some of the flying horrors had made it to the windows, crawling in and approaching where the two remaining people stood.

Suddenly, she gasped, and in a flash of brilliant white light, she fell to her knees, the runes and the aura surrounding her having gone dark. 

“Twilight!? TWILIGHT!!” Spike asked, kneeling in front of her and looking frantically at the creatures that resumed their approach after being momentarily disoriented by the flash of light and energy. Twilight opened her eyes, looking at her surrogate brother with glowing white eyes and a smile. 

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

“Good Elysium!” Time Turner spoke, lowering his hand from his eyes, “That was FAR more intense than the others!”

“Only one of the core crystals remains unchanged at this time, Doctor.” Celestia spoke.

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

Time stopped. Silence prevailed. In Spike’s mind, he heard Twilight speaking softly, “I am Chosen, Spa’iik. All that remains now is for the Chosen to be united with the Elements, and Harmony can return.”

“I don’t understand.” Spike responded in thought, “What Chosen? What Elements?”


“Harmony is not a single entity, but many as one.” Twilight conveyed, "Not simply artifacts, but bearers as well. The Chosen are linked with their Elements now, save one. When it is done, we shall be reborn anew, and the Chaotic Dark can be defeated.”


“Who is the one that remains?” Spike asked.

In response, Twilight placed a hand on Spike’s face. “Remember what you do, and why you do it. Be strong.”

Spike felt a familiar energy surround him. His eyes widened in realization when he noticed a tear go down Twilight’s face. “No...What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming with me??”

Another tear rolled down Twilight’s cheek. Her smile remained. “I have to stay as an anchor point, or you won’t make it. I know you can do it, but if the worst happens...I also want you to remember this…”

Tears streaked down Spike’s pained face. “NO! NOT YOU, TOO! STOP!! PLEASE!!!”

“I love you, Spike.”

“TWIIIIIILLIIIIIIGHT!!!” Spike’s thoughts screamed as he felt himself phase out in a flash of light. An instant later, perceptions of time and space returned, and Twilight was overwhelmed.

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

The doors to Lab Alpha opened, and a blonde Pegasos crew member with a lazy eye ran in. Her uniform had gray color portions, and the Mark she bore was a cluster of bubbles. “Doctor! You’re needed on the Bridge!”

Time Turner looked to his friend and crewmember. “What? Me? Isn’t Heartstrings at my post?”

“Not for that!” Ensign Ditzy “Muffins” Doo replied, “Most of the senior officers were on the planet...you’re the next in command.”

Suddenly, Spike flashed into being inside Lab Alpha, roaring in utter pain and despair. 

Ditzy gasped. “Bloody Tartarus!” Turner yelled. The Science Officer was at the Cadet’s side quickly. “Cadet? What’s wrong? Are you alright??”

Spike could only remain on the floor, sobbing. His emotions were out of control; sadness, self-loathing, frustration, and so many other negative emotions fought for dominance. One thought came to the surface in his agony…

It’s the dream… He thought, I’ve failed them all, I wasn’t good enough, I failed when they all needed me the most…

Then, an alien voice resounded in his mind, Yes, child...you’ve lost. Your life and the lives of all you hold dear will be fed upon.

This intruder caused the emotion of anger to win out in Spike’s mind, if only briefly. “MONSTER! MURDERER! What are you!? What do you want??”

To feed. The voice responded, To grow, to thrive....and though your comrades sate me for now, I will need more...always more. I grow stronger as I feed, as well….strong enough to do THIS. 

Suddenly, the ship rocked hard! The voice continued, My name shall be the word that I have heard echoed in the minds of those I have captured...I am TARR.

Spike’s sobs returned. The ship rocked once again, struck by another force wave. “Th-They’re gone because of me…” He choked out.

“What?” Turner asked.

Gone...because of you… Echoed Tarr’s dark voice.

Spike continued, “I-I failed. I don’t deserve to…” 

A hard slap to Spike’s face suddenly came from the unlikeliest of sources. “Ditzy?” Turner spoke in surprise.

Ditzy glared at Spike, her eyes in a rare moment of focus. “No! You’re NOT saying that! I won’t let you!” Spike turned his head away, but it was then gripped roughly, and he was forced to look Ditzy in the eyes. “I don’t know what happened down there, but I don’t have to! I know for a FACT that it’s not your fault! The only time you’ve EVER failed is right now, because you’re giving up!”

“I did try, but I couldn’t…” Spike began, but Ditzy cut him off... 

“People have limits. Sometimes they stop trying when they realize those limitations and then find something they CAN do, or sometimes they keep going until they finally succeed and push themselves to a new limit. That’s ONE thing.” 

Ditzy’s eyes were on the verge of tears, now. “What you’re doing right now is thinking you’re not good enough, and will never be good enough ever for anything, and you start wondering why you even exist, and that’s WRONG! THAT’S WRONG, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!? Believe me, I know! You don’t have to be the best, you don’t need to be the best. You ARE good enough. We ALL are.”

The ship rocked even more violently, now. Tarr’s voice echoed in everyone’s consciousness, Bring your ship closer, or I will rip it to pieces!

Ditzy winced from the voice, but lightly shook her head and said to Spike, “Please...please get up. We need you. You can get past this, you’re the strongest person I know!”

Had Time Turner’s eyes lit up any more at that point, they would have glowed like Twilight’s. “GREAT WICKERING STALLIONS! THAT’S IT!!”

Both Spike and Ditzy looked to the Doctor, who hastily explained, “The artifact! It’s Harmony! It was never ONE thing, or even just a THING! It’s people, as well! It’s been choosing! It’s been choosing all along!” He took a breath to slow down and gather his thoughts, then continued, “Harmony is the collection of multiple elements of balance, friendship, good will, and unity made manifest. The components required for it’s use are both physical and metaphysical in nature.” He motioned to the artifact and the core crystals that were now all separate, all but one of them having taken a new shape. “The physical talismans must have individuals linked to them as well! Individuals that embody each trait of Harmony found in each talisman.”

He looked at the artifacts. “These...Elements of Harmony...have been actively choosing their Bearers to become their Avatars, Bearers whom I daresay already felt an initial connection….all but one has already been chosen, it seems.”

Spike understood what Twilight said to him, then, and had an idea of what the Science Officer would say next.

Turner knelt down to Spike’s side. “Seven Equestrians have been chosen, but the last Avatar will not be an Equestrian. One of the translated words is in Draconian, Mister Dragonfire. The translation was “Strength,” was it not? Surely you feel a connection? Why has it not clearly chosen you? I believe I know the answer. It sees and knows your potential, but you must make the connection, show the Element that you are it’s proper Bearer. The way to do that is to stand up...to keep going.”

Again the ship shook. Doctor Turner’s Mark icon on his uniform lit up. First, an accented female voice reported, “Captain! This is Master Chief Melody in Engineering. We’re reading stress and warping on the hull in multiple places!” 

A male voice spoke next, “Captain, This is Lieutenant Thunderlane on the Bridge. I’m seeing a lot of humanoid shapes on the viewscreen approaching our position in orbit...estimated time to arrival is two hours, but it’s hard to tell without detecting them on scanners.”

Another female voice came through, “Captain, This is Nurse Redheart. I’m getting an overflow of patients reporting hearing voices and getting bad headaches. Permission to use Hangar 1 to contain the overflow?”

“Bloody Tartarus.” Turner spoke. At mental command, he opened a channel to each one to give his instructions. “Master Chief Melody, mobilize damage control teams wherever you can, evacuate and contain the areas that are left, in case the damage points buckle before you get to them. Leftenant Thunderlane, raise shields, arm weapons, and fire at whatever’s in range, inform Chief Bon to mobilize all BRONCO squads and prepare for boarders. Nurse Redheart, permission granted. Inform all patients that the reason for the symptoms is an entity of the Chaotic Dark and that they are to ignore the voices as best they can. Treat all other symptoms to the best of your ability. Turner out.”

“Wow.” Ditzy said.

“Thank you, I have my moments.” Turner said. He then said to Spike, “I don’t want to lead, but I must because no one else can. Furthermore, it is my duty, and my responsibility to do so. Ask yourself, Mister Dragonfire...what is your duty? What is your responsibility?”

Spike remembered Twilight’s words to him then: Remember what you do, and why you do it. He did it to assist as many people as he could. He wanted to help. He wanted to be there for people, to be someone that they could rely on. He wanted to care for his friends. He did care, and they cared for him in return, even when he couldn’t help…

What are you doing?

“Good man.”

You can’t win.

“I know you can do it, Spike!”

You are nothing.


“You’re the best chance we have.”

You are a fool.


“If anyone can help us through this, it’s you.”

You failed them!

“I forgive you, Mister Dragonfire.”

You are alone!

“I never leave my comrades behind, and that includes you!”

They don’t care about you!!

“I love you, Spike.”

YOU ARE WEAK!!!

“No…” Spike spoke, “For them...I am STRONG.”

In that instant, his eyes flashed green. A flash of light came from the artifact, followed by a crystal tune. The last chunk of the core crystal shaped itself, like the others had...shapes that were now obvious to the Bearers they represented: An apple, a balloon, a butterfly, a diamond, a sun, a lightning bolt, a star...and now a flame.

With all eight Elements of Harmony now linked, the outer crystal shell seemed to phase out, it’s solid form being transformed into energy and absorbed into the Elements themselves. Slowly, they floated over to Spike, who had gotten to his feet and now allowed the talismans to orbit him. The crystal shaped like a green flame came to rest against his chest, before phasing into his body. With a gasp, Spike felt a sudden rush of power unlike anything he’d ever felt! 

“Good Elysium.” Time Turner whispered with awe. “Are you alright, Mister Dragonfire?”

Spike looked to the Terra Onager with a smile. “I’ve never felt better in my life.” He looked to Ditzy, who was likewise smiling. “Thank you both.”

“So what happens now?” Ditzy asked.

“The other Element Bearers are still alive down there.” Spike said, to the surprise of the other two, “I can feel it through my own Element. Tarr’s still feeding off of everyone down there, but I think they’ll be okay if I can free them in time.”

“Right!” Turner said, “We can send in another shuttle with a fighter escort to…”

“That won’t be necessary, Doctor.” Spike said, holding up a hand. He manifested spectral wings that now burned with green energy, drawing power from the Element of Strength. “I’ve got this.”

Before anyone could respond, he blinked out in a flash of green energy.  

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

A small comet of green flame rocketed through the center of the flying horde of zombies, incinerating all within proximity. At the center was Spike, blazing like an inferno. When he neared the mining facility, he unfurled burning wings, smashing through a window, and summoning a pair of magic blades that burned with emerald fury. A torrent of flame from his mouth annihilated any ooze or zombies in his vicinity; and from there, he began making his way to his friends in the lowest area of the facility where he knew them to be, hacking and incinerating any and all foes manifested by Tarr as he moved down lower and lower.. 

STAY AWAY!! Tarr shouted in his mind, I WILL CRUSH YOU!!

“No, you won’t.” Spike simply replied.

Spike found himself flying over a lagoon of ooze that also coated the walls, the ooze trying but unable to even come near Spike’s flaming aura, further powered by the other Elements orbiting him as he moved. At last, he came to a closed door, coated in the black slime like everything else. Drawing in a breath, Spike let loose a flame blast like a miniature solar flare. When the flame subsided, the door and surrounding corridor was half melted and ooze free. With his strength amplified several fold by his Element, Spike bent and forced the blast door open. This chamber led to one of the deeper mine shafts that the facility was built around, and it was the largest and slimiest looking of them all, ooze dripping and sliding around every rock face, wall, ceiling, and piece of equipment. multiple cocoons of slime, no doubt carrying crew members, could be seen all over.

At the center of the room, some of the ooze coalesced and formed into a lump which grew until it was thick around the base and as tall as Spike himself. Spike fired a gout of flame at the mass, only for it to remain there, diminished but reforming quickly. 

You will not stop me! This is where I am most powerful! Tarr spoke, oily tentacles protruding from his still-growing form.

“You’re right, Tarr.” Spike said, “Because everyone has limits, and some tasks are impossible to do alone.”

The other Elements flew off to their respective Bearers, while Spike dodged an attack by a tentacle, slicing another one off neatly with a flaming blade. “But I'm not alone, and I don't have to be.”

Each Element found whichever cocoon contained it's Bearer, phasing past the ooze. The amber-colored apple representing the Element of Truth empowered Applejack, who burst out of her cocoon with a kick and a flash of energy. The pink crystal balloon of the Element of Laughter floated into Pinkie Pie like the object it symbolized, who in turn popped her cocoon open, releasing sparks that looked suspiciously like confetti.

Spike continued, “When people work together, combining their abilities...virtues balance flaws; the difficult becomes easier, and limits can be overcome.”

The butter yellow butterfly crystal representing the Element of Kindness phased into the cocoon holding Fluttershy, allowing the Physician to emerge empowered. The white diamond shaped gem of the Element of Generosity entered the body of Rarity, allowing her to escape from her very unfashionable prison. The cyan colored lightning bolt gem that was the Element of Loyalty made it’s way into Rainbow Dash, who practically obliterated her cocoon in a surge of power. 

Slicing two tentacles at once, and then soaring high to avoid two ooze projectiles, Spike went on, “THAT is the very essence of Harmony. THAT is why it’s one of the greatest powers in the universe.”

The red sun-shaped gem called the Element of Forgiveness found it’s mark in Sunset Shimmer, who burned away her cocoon like the star she represented. Finally, the six-pointed star crystal known as the Element of Magic had entered the body of Twilight Sparkle, her ooze prison vaporizing against the power she brought to bear. Meanwhile, a large group of zombies ran into the room as several  tentacles shot out at Spike while slime balls attempted to strike him from all directions. Three of them connected, multiple tentacles wrapping themselves around him. Despite his flame breath retaliation, some tentacles still held firm.

Just then, a beam of red sliced through all of the gripping tentacles. A falling Spike was caught by two Pegasi, one of which renewed his vigor with a gentle wave of healing magic. The three of them landed after an area was cleared of zombies by two Equestrians wielding bludgeoning mana weapons while empowered by staggering strength-boost auras. More slime projectiles were thrown at the gathering group, easily blocked by a lavender shield spell.

As all his friends gathered around him, Spike said, “THAT...is why friendship is magic.”

NO!! I REFUSE TO BE HELD BACK AGAIN! Tarr shouted, I WILL CONSUME YOU ALL!! He grew more, masses of tentacles flowing from his body, more zombies moving into the room.

Twilight held out her hand. Spike laid his hand upon hers, the others following suit. Tendrils of mana flowed from each of them, coalescing and strengthening into a powerful orb of polychromatic magic power. The orb grew, sparking with power, until it finally erupted outward, the wave of intense power dissolving any ooze it touched! The wave moved outward, eventually encompassing the entire facility, before it finally vanished. 

The new Avatars of Harmony looked around them. All trace of Tarr was gone, the captured crew members freed. Twilight activated her communicator, “Celestia, lock onto our position, emergency teleport to infirmary!” 

“Acknowledged, Captain.” Celestia’s voice replied, loud and clear.

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

“Captain’s Log, #3348…” Twilight spoke, “Following an encounter and confrontation with a Chaotic Dark ‘Smooze’ entity known as ‘Tarr,’  the crew of the Celestia are thankfully all alive and recovering, the vessel herself slightly damaged but otherwise fully operational. In the event that Tarr has not truly been eliminated, I am officially placing a quarantine on this planet, dispatching a message buoy to warn others away from this world until a mission to determine it’s safety can be underway. Also, I am overjoyed to report a momentous occasion that will without a doubt be a turning point for Equestrian civilization; we have once again found the magic known as Harmony! I and seven others of my crew have been chosen as Avatars of Harmony, each of us bearing one of the eight Elements. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this magic of friendship will come to serve us well in our time of greatest need.”

Upon completion of Twilight’s log, Spike stowed the logpad back into the command chair before going to a lift. Before he entered, Sunset spoke, “Mister Dragonfire? May I join you for a moment?”

“Of course, Ma’am.” Spike replied. The two of them entered, the doors hissing shut. 

“So…” Susnet spoke, “I understand you’re close to being an Ensign, but you’ve yet to pick a specialty?”

“That’s...correct, Ma’am.” Spike responded, trying not to roll his eyes.

Sunset continued, “I know you realize that a Quarter Tech is a tough job...impossible, daresay. If I may ask, why do you continue to pursue that career path?”

Spike was silent for a moment, then explained, “I want to help people, Commander. I want to be able to assist anyone who needs it. I want to be everywhere at once. That said, I understand now that I may not be able to achieve that goal. Still, I’ve chosen to keep trying, because while I realize that all people have limitations, I don’t truly know what mine are...not yet, anyway. Bear in mind, not only am I not an Equestrian, but now I’m apparently the Avatar of Strength. Who knows? Maybe I will be the first successful career Quarter Tech in generations. I’ll never know unless I find out.” 

Sunset smiled. “Valid points, all. However, if it turns out that being a Quarter Tech doesn’t work out, I have a suggestion for a career path that could still fulfill your desire to help as many people as possible.”

“Yes…?” Spike urged.

Sunset explained further, “While you’ve made a mistake or two on this mission, your overall performance today was excellent. With your diverse skillset, intuition, courage, responsible nature, and desire to make a difference, I’d personally expect nothing less from you than a Command role.”

Spike blinked. He was ambitious, but not by THAT much! Still, she had a point...a Captaincy or Admiralty would make him much more able to make a real difference, a position of both leadership and service simultaneously. The fact that Sunset saw such a future for him was a great compliment, as she herself made a fantastic leader...Smart, courageous, and empathetic to the needs of others, well-deserving of her own ship! In fact, didn’t she actually have a command, once?

“I’ll...give it some thought.” He said, trying to suppress an odd surge of greed as his thoughts dwelled on what he could do with the privileges of a Captain.

“That’s all I ask.” Sunset replied. The doors opened, and Spike was about to leave, when suddenly, Rainbow’s voice came over his communicator, “Dash to Dragonfire!”

“Dragonfire, here.” Spike replied.

“We’ve got two Adamacanid Drillers coming in with smaller ships! Probably looking for those three ships we destroyed earlier.” Rainbow spoke, “Get to Hangar two, Captain’s ordered fighters, and I need a wingman! Let's ride!"

Spike smiled. “Yes, Ma’am! On my way!” He rushed back into the lift and commanded the lift to the Hangar. 

“I’ll tell Miss Pie to postpone the session.” Sunset said as the doors closed. Spike said nothing, but had a feeling that, knowing Pinkie, She'd probably appear in the fighter with him just before launch.

As the Draconian stood in the moving lift, his thoughts wandered…

For generations we've wandered the stars, searching for a place where we can all live in harmony. None of us knows when that day will come. But we do know this: as long as there is discord in the universe, we will fight. I serve onboard the Celestia, and tonight we ride. Quarter Tech, Mark: 'Dragonfire', Division M-6. 

You can call me Spike.

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

Somewhere in the galaxy, a voice spoke:

“Did someone say...DISCORD?”

Maniacal laughter rang out.
> S1E4: "Mutation and Merriment"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“NGHFFF!” Twilight grunted in discomfort as she quickly left the soni-clean chamber, holding her ears, sighing in relief when the ultrasonic noise finally subsided along with the minor pain resounding both in her ears and throughout her body. When complaining about the soni-clean previously, Vinyl Scratch herself checked it, swearing up and down that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it; and yet, the ultrasonic waves were not only still hurting her ears, but even causing her body pain as well! Twilight felt a new sympathy for Crystallo Equestrians, who would likewise feel minor pain throughout their bodies if they ever used soni-clean chambers.

As before, Twilight took a regular shower instead. The water cascading down her body felt so much better than usual, her skin having been unusually dry lately. She even allowed some of the purified water to fall into her mouth, reminding her of how incredibly thirsty she was for some reason. She idly thought that this must be how Equestrians of the Hippocampus species feel.

As she chose her breakfast, she found herself having an odd craving for synthesized Ringo Beetles, an Equestrian insectoid delicacy that she knew that Unuscornu like her shouldn’t even like the taste of, let alone be able to digest properly. In fact, the only ones who could were the Vespertilio, a chiropteroid variant of Equestrian. Choosing a more suitable meal, she resolved to see Doctor Fluttershy later, realizing that something was most definitely wrong with her.

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

Twilight lie upon the examination bed while Spike initialized the full body scan. “Ringo Beetles?” He asked with an inquisitive look.

Twilight shrugged.

“Have you always had a curiosity about such things?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not since I was a kid, and even then, it was academic.” Twilight replied.

“I can attest to that.” Spike replied, “I remember her freaking out over a Star Spider once.”

Twilight gave her brother a deadpan look, to which be responded, “What? I’m providing valuable medical history.”

Twilight gave Spike a wry smile. “Inaccurate history. As I recall, YOU were the one freaking out.”

Before Spike could retort further, Fluttershy suddenly shouted, “Great Elysium!!”

“What?” Both Spike and Twilight asked in earnest. Fluttershy shouting anything was a rare thing, reserved only for truly grievous or shocking medical developments.

“I…wh…” Fluttershy spoke, utterly flabbergasted, “Th-This can't be right!” She walked over to the console where Spike worked, looking over the settings and calibrations he'd entered. When she called up the scan results, Spike’s eyes widened.

“Woah.” He said, “How bad did I screw up?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “You didn't. Everything’s calibrated properly!”

“What's the problem?” Twilight finally inquired, propping herself up onto her elbows on the medical bed.

Spike shook his head. “I...don't have a clue.” He typed out a series of commands on the console. “Can you make anything out of this? I'm sending a link to your Uni-Comp.”

Twilight activated the device on her wrist to reveal a holographic representation of the medical scanner’s current readout in real-time. Upon reading the results, her eyes widened in shock. She opened a channel on her communicator. “Chief Scratch?”

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

Vinyl closed the box of tools she brought with her after completing her check of the medical bed. “Everything checks out, Captain.” The female voice of her Aurophone spoke, “No damage, no malfunctioning parts, no bad programming...it’s working perfectly.”

“Thank you once again, Chief.” Twilight responded with a nod, “You’re dismissed.”

Vinyl nodded and left the Infirmary. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Spike had begun multiple new scans of Twilight on a different bed and scanner, making sure the calibrations and commands entered were checked and re-checked. The results were identical.

Fluttershy sighed. “There’s no doubt about it, Captain...your entire body has undergone multiple spontaneous changes and mutations...your skin, your ears, your digestive system...I’ll need to do a full physical on you and then compare the results to previous scans and your overall medical history to determine all the changes that have occurred.”

Twilight sighed and nodded. For a minute or so, silence dominated the room, the gravity of the situation crystallizing; Twilight had somehow undergone significant physical transformations. How would this affect her? Could she call herself an Unuscornu anymore? Could she even call herself an Equestrian? Would she change even more? She trembled slightly, before calling on years of military discipline and leadership experience to keep herself still and calm. Eventually, Twilight concluded, “This has to be an effect of the Element of Magic. Nothing else significant has occurred in the few days since we became Avatars of Harmony. The question is...why?”

“Maybe the physical will shed some light on this.” Fluttershy offered, before turning to Spike, “Mister Dragonfire, If you’ll step out, please?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Spike said, giving a nod to Twilight before leaving the Infirmary.

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

“Captain’s Log, #3672…” Twilight spoke two hours later, “Following the event of myself and six other members of my crew becoming the new Avatars of Harmony, the Equestrian Federation has requested that the Celestia return to the Lunar Colonies for debriefing. In addition to the debriefing, we will also be taking the opportunity for any repairs and resource restocking that is required, as well as shore leave for the crew.” She sighed before continuing, “It should also be noted that I appear to have undergone some kind of unprecedented transformation, possibly due to the Element of Magic that is now a part of me. The details are included in the attached medical file.”

Upon completion of the log, Spike stowed the logpad away as usual. In the viewscreen, the moon of Equestria could be seen in the distance, although it looked far different now than what it would have looked like a millennium ago…

The humble moon was almost entirely covered in interconnected infrastructure and colonial urban sprawl. In addition, three ring-like mechanical structures surrounded the moon, containing everything from docks to defensive weaponry. The rings were connected to anchor points via massive cables and transit tubes. These were the Lunar Colonies, the last bastion of the Equestrian people; standing as a both a sad reminder of their past, and a beacon of hope for their future. With the exception of the twenty-three Equestrian ships that still made their way through space, this was all that remained of the Equestrian people, a population of hundreds of billions now reduced to tens of millions.

Once the Celestia moved closer into range, Rarity opened a communications channel. “Lunar Central, this is the Celestia Solara, requesting permission to dock.”

A voice responded, “This is Lunar Central. Permission granted, Celestia Solara; please proceed to Dock Fifteen.”

“Acknowledged.” Rarity replied. She then turned in her chair to speak to Rainbow Dash, who sat at her usual navigation console,  “Dock Fifteen if you please, Miss Dash.”

“Dock Fifteen, aye.” Rainbow spoke without looking from her console, plotting coordinates and steering the ship accordingly.

It didn't take long for the Celestia to approach and enter one of the many docks to be found in the Second Lunar Ring. Twilight smiled as her keen and attentive eyes observed all the activity that could be seen in the view screen, taking note of multiple people moving about and machines great and small in operation all simultaneously; seemingly chaotic, but in actuality moving as a complex orchestra of efficiency and balance. Twilight’s smile faded somewhat as a realization dawned that she could, in fact, see and hear things far better than usual, yet another effect of her newly discovered condition. She could only imagine what the government would say and do; it occurred to her that she and the other Avatars might be reassigned or kept on the Lunar Colonies. She tried not to consider that she, her brother and her friends might be taken out of service entirely or even subjected to experimentation.

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?” Spike asked quietly.

“Granted.” Twilight said automatically, still a bit lost in thought.

“You have that look.”

Twilight looked the young Cadet with a raised eyebrow. “What look?”

Spike smiled sympathetically, “That look you get when you’re trying very hard not to panic about something that’s totally unlikely to happen.”

Twilight was about to retort, but then sighed softly. “Is it that obvious?”

Spike shook his head a bit. “Nah...you've gotten really good at hiding it over the years; but i’m your brother, and a Draconian to boot, so I can tell.” He looked his sister and Captain in the eyes, “Everything’s going to be alright...you’ll see.”

Twilight gave a smile and nod. As they were practically inseparable as children, Spike was usually there for most of Twilight’s moments of worry and neuroses, often acting as a calming voice of reason and optimism. Twilight speculated that her overall confidence was at least partially inspired by her younger brother...one more reason that he earned the mantle of the Element of Strength.

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

As the Celestia docked with the Second Lunar Ring, a link was established between the ship’s AI and the AI for all the Lunar Colonies. Celestia’s avatar appeared in front of the colonial AI avatar, Luna. She was a beautiful middle-aged woman, though slightly younger looking than Celestia. She wore an all dark blue uniform with the initials H-1 on the left chest portion, signifying the Home Guard Division. Her Mark was a white crescent moon superimposed over a splotch of black. She wore a dark blue cape with a star field adorning it, her hair likewise a dark blue with twinkling stars.

The two constructs smiled brightly and embraced, their virtual contact permitting a rapid exchanging and sharing of data.

“I missed you so much, Tia!” Luna said.

“Me too, Lulu!” Celestia replied, “It’s good to see you again!”

Luna was silent momentarily, the data exchange continuing despite their separation from the embrace. “Amazing! Harmony is found at last!”

Celestia beamed. “Indeed! This will be a time of great joy and change for all Equestrian civilization!”

“A change for the better, I hope.” Luna responded. She then raised an eyebrow, giving a slight smirk. “So...you encountered the Nocturnal Shadow? Care to share any...details?”

Celestia held up her chin slightly, a look of minor indignation. “I can’t imagine what you’d find interesting about a simple data and supply exchange.”

“What I find interesting is anything ELSE you and Sombra shared...you’re certainly encrypting it well.” Luna replied.

Celestia finally smirked back. “I’ve been docked for one minute thirty-seven seconds now...don’t you have a moon to run?”

Luna rolled her eyes and the two chuckled. The Lunar Colonial AI walked away, vanishing into the virtual ether. “Bye, Tia. Let’s talk tonight when I have more processing power to spare, okay?”

Celestia nodded, “Of course, Lulu.”

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

“I’m gonna hit the Crazy Horse tonight and tear up the dance floor! Anypony wanna come with?” Rainbow asked the others joining her on the teleporter.

“Thank you for the offer, darling…” Rarity replied, “If it’s all the same to you, though, I’ll be seeking more...refined entertainment.”  Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind tossin’ back a few ciders with ya.” Applejack responded with a fist bump. “I’ll be a little late, though...I wanna make absolutely sure Granny’s gonna be alright ‘til me or mah brother or sister can see ‘er next.”

Rainbow shook her head. “You worry too much, AJ. She lives in one of the best-protected areas of the Lunar Colonies, surrounded by able-bodied people...I think she’s okay.”

“Can I come with?” Spike asked, walking onto the teleport area.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ain't you a little young to be drinkin’?”

“By Equestrian standards, yes…” Spike explained, “Draconians, however, mature slightly faster, so I’m permitted. Besides, alcohol has a diminished effect on me.” He motioned to both Applejack and Rainbow, “I could drink more than the both of you combined, and feel maybe half the buzz.”

Rainbow smirked. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”

“Yep.” Applejack smirked, crossing her arms.

Rarity spoke up, then. “Does Twilight approve of you carousing like this?”

Spike looked at Rarity with minor indignation. “Twilight and I may be close, but we’re not joined at the hip. We have many differing interests.”

“She couldn't make whatever y’all were plannin’ to do, could she?” Applejack suggested with a smile.

Spike cleared his throat. “Maybe.”

Rainbow snorted. Applejack looked smug. “Don't need mah new Element ta tell yer a bad liar.”

Spike sighed. “Okay, we were planning on going to the Music Hall to see the concert tonight, but…”

Rarity’s eyes lit up. “The Dazzlings? How did Twilight get tickets, they've been sold out for months!”

Spike shrugged, trying to suppress the pride in his voice. “Well, she IS a starship Captain.”

“So why can't she make it all of a sudden?” Applejack asked, curious.

“Her official medical examination had to be rescheduled for right after the debriefing.” Spike replied, his expression sullen.

“Are they serious?” Rainbow said, “She JUST got here, and they're gonna poke and prod at her right after grilling her like a trout?”

“It ain't as bad as all that, Rainbow.” Applejack said.

Rainbow scoffed. “Yeah, if you say so.”

“She says it’ll be alright, that she’ll still be able to enjoy some downtime after.” Spike informed, “Still, I would have liked to go to that concert, and I’d rather not go by myself.”

“I’LL GO!” Rarity blurted out. When all eyes turned to her, she regained her composure, “That is to say, it would be absolutely deplorable for those tickets to go to waste, so I would ADORE going to that concert with you, Spike…” She bat her eyelashes a bit at him, “If you’ll have me?”

Spike’s heart fluttered like Rarity’s eyelashes. “Absolutely!” He said, a little too excitedly.

AJ and Rainbow looked at one another; AJ shook her head and rolled her eyes, Rainbow crooked her finger to pull at the side of her mouth to imitate a fish on a hook.

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

Twilight sat within a sterile medical room not unlike the one onboard the Celestia, though this one had more space and a couple more complex pieces of equipment.

“No doubt about it…” The Terra Onager Doctor examining Twilight spoke. He was bald, save for some black hair on the sides, the color portions of his uniform blue, his Mark a stethoscope. “Our examinations match the ones taken on the Celestia. Do you concur, Luna?”

Luna’s hologram nodded. “Yes, Doctor, there is no deviation. Captain Sparkle has indeed undergone a total metamorphosis.”

Twilight sighed. “Is it...permanent?”

The Doctor sighed, “It’s too early to say, Captain...but I strongly believe that these changes are permanent.”

“So...I can’t really call myself an Unuscornu anymore...can I?” Twilight mused.

Luna interjected, “If I may, Captain...you're still an Equestrian. In fact, if these scans are correct; you're the epitome of an Equestrian...your new biology includes all the best aspects of every species of our race, working in harmony in one body...yours.”

The Doctor smiled warmly. “She’s right...in fact, I daresay you deserve a brand new classification. I hereby dub you...Equestrius Alicornus.”

Twilight smiled at this; “Alicornus” was a nod to ancient legends of the fabled race from which all Equestrian species came from, their visual concepts the chosen form for all AI avatars.

“On another note…” Luna said, “You also theoretically have access to all forms of magic now...you might want to test this at some point and record the results for posterity.”

“Indeed!” The Doctor said, “As for here and now, I believe you have some shore leave to catch up on.”

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

Vinyl was making some final checks on her Uni-Comp’s real-time connection to the ship before she left for shore leave...when suddenly a familiar voice with a deep accent spoke, “What ‘ave ye done to mah ship, lassie!?”

Vinyl smiled and turned to see a Pegasos with bright red hair and a bright smile to match. He wore civilian clothing, the patch on his jacket representing his Mark: A whisky bottle and a wrench crossed over each other like an X. “Cause she's a beauty!”

Scotch MacColt was the former Chief Engineer of the Celestia, having been briefly re-assigned to work on the Lunar Colonies. He shook hands vigorously with Vinyl. “Aye, ye’ve done a fine job, lass!”

“I did my best.” She replied, “I’m not quite as good as you yet, though.”

“Oh, yer sellin’ yerself short, lass! Ye’re an engineer after my own heart!” Scotch replied.

“So what are you doing here?” Vinyl asked.

“Well, I’m happy tae report tha’ they finally saw fit tae return me to the Celestia to be her Chief Engineer again!” Scotch replied.

Even while wearing her shades, a scan device remotely connected to her Uni-Comp, one could see Vinyl’s eyes brighten. “That’s great! I guess that means I'm low on the totem pole again; not that’s it’s a big deal, there were days I wished you were still the Chief instead of me!”

Scotch laughed. “Aye! Aye, I’ve no doubts ye’ve had to be a miracle worker ta get this beauty to do ‘er job proper...but any good engineer’ll tell ye, treat yer ship right, and she’ll never fail ye!”

“I have.” Vinyl said, “And she hasn't.”

They shook hands. “Welcome back, Scotch.” Vinyl said.

“Good tae be back, lass.” Scotch replied.

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

The Music Hall was a beautiful building found in the Lunar Colony called New Canterlot. As the name suggested, it was a place reserved for high-profile concerts, plays, and other live events involving music or performance.

Spike wore a dapper black tuxedo, whilst Rarity wore a stunning white silk dress, a lavender flower in her hair, which was styled slightly differently and even better coiffed than usual. When Spike first saw her, Rarity had to gently close his mouth with a sweet smile to bring him back to reality. The two of them ate at a nice restaurant before finally arriving at the concert. Their arms were linked, and Spike couldn't have been happier; neither one of them said it officially, but Spike was fairly certain that this was a date.

They made their way through the gorgeous and ornate lobby, noting several dignitaries, officials, and other such important people. Spike and Rarity both couldn't help but feel like a part of high society. They found their seats, and awaited the performance…

The curtains opened and the theater darkened. A trio of haunting yet heavenly voices filled the acoustically perfect stage and auditorium, as the lights on the stage brightened to show three humanoids resembling Equestrians on the stage. They were beautiful women all, each wearing the same design of dress, but with different colors. The one on the right wore green, the one on the left wore blue, and the one in the center wore orange. As they sang, the entirety of the auditorium sat and watched, enthralled in the music, Spike and Rarity included. As the concert progressed, a green mist began to accumulate and spread from the stage.

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

The Lunar Colony known as Sweet Acres was the largest of all the colonial domes, and one of the most well-defended, second only to the Fleet Dome, which was the very core of the Equestrian military. The entire colony was thick with fields, groves, hydroponic farms, livestock pens, and lakes for saltwater and freshwater edibles. Any and all workers either commuted from other colonies, or lived in the small urban area right at the entrance to the dome.

Among the residents there was one Smithereena Apple, or Granny Smith, as her grandchildren called her. Such naming trends were commonplace in the Apple family...the eldest grandson was named Macintosh, Big Mac for short. The youngest granddaughter was named Bloomingdale, also known as Apple Bloom. The granddaughter who currently visited was Jaqueline, also called Applejack.

Granny Smith was always glad to have a visit from one of her grandchildren; she rarely saw them anymore, with Applejack and Big Mac each serving on a starship, and Apple Bloom at the Academy. Her living space was a quaint domicile, the collection of antiques to be found here and there amongst the high-tech appliances and terminals made it a cozy hybrid of the ancient and the cutting edge.

“So are ya sure ya don't need anythin’?” Applejack pressed, “They treatin’ ya alright in Hydroponics?”

Granny Smith rolled her eyes, smiling. Applejack was always so concerned for her family, especially where she was concerned; it had been one of the hardest decisions of AJ’s life to join the military like her big brother had; as much as she cared for her family, she also felt like the Equestrian people needed her just as much or more. Granny Smith had convinced her finally to follow her heart to where she was needed most; that Sweet Acres, and in fact all the Lunar Colonies, were like an extended family...her grandmother would be fine, supported and protected even at her ripe old age of 95. In fact, Granny was convinced that with today's medicine, she'd live another 95 years if she played her cards right!

Even still, AJ would always worry, and Granny would always have to reassure her. The old woman chuckled, holding her granddaughter's hand, “They're treatin’ me just as fine as frog hair, Applejack. You jest keep on doin’ what yer doin’, and keep comin’ home safe. From what ya told me about that last mission y'all were on, I should be the one worried sick!” She chuckled a bit, and Applejack smiled as they both shared a hug.

“I love you, and I'm proud of you, Applejack.” Granny Smith said.

“I love you too, Granny.” Applejack replied.

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

Rainbow finished her second hard cider of the evening when Applejack sat next to her. “Great timing, AJ, I got us two ciders to start off.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the second mug, which was empty. “Did ya drink mine?”

“Uh huh.” Rainbow said with a grin. “That's why your timing's perfect...five minute rule, unclaimed drinks are fair game!”

Applejack rolled her eyes and ordered another cider for herself. The Crazy Horse was a popular bar and dance club, complete with neon lights and a DJ stereo setup with complex holographic displays and videos. The place was bustling, half of the patrons tonight being from the Celestia for shore leave.

“Looks kinda rowdy tonight.” Applejack commented, taking a swig of her cider.

“Just the way I like it!” Rainbow replied. Imitating Rarity's voice, she continued, “I prefer MY entertainment more boisterous!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ain’t no wrong way ta enjoy yerself, Dashie. I bet they're havin’ a great time.”

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

Spike tossed his attacker easily into a wall, while Rarity went into a smooth sweeping kick to take down her own assailant. Spike kicked open a nearby exit, just as Lunar Security began to rush in. The two of them ran outside, then to the end of the block, where they both finally took a moment to get their bearings.

“Sweet Elysium!” Rarity said, running a hand through her hair.

“What the Hades happened back there!?” Spike asked.

“It was like everyone just...exploded into savagery!” Rarity recounted, “You didn't feel anything strange beforehand, did you?”

Spike shrugged. “Not a thing. I was having a good time, even! You?”

Rarity shook her head. “Nothing...I was focused on the Dazzlings the whole time.”

Spike sighed. Looking back, he saw more Lunar Security ships approaching the Music Hall. “Well, whatever happened, security's got things in hand.” He held out his hand to Rarity. “Shall I accompany you back to the Celestia, milady?”

Rarity smiled, taking Spike’s hand. “Indeed, sir. Thank you.” As they walked, Rarity fixed her dress. “Ugh! I look atrocious.”

“Funny…” Spike said, “You've never looked more attractive to me. Must be the way you handle yourself in a fight.”

Rarity couldn't help but giggle. “Flatterer.”

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

Fluttershy and Pinkie laughed at the joke told to them by the charming man they currently spoke with. The two of them had travelled together, planning to see their respective families. They decided to stop at a quaint diner in the Lunar Colony called Cloudsdale, where they were joined by the gentleman in question. He had black hair with grey streaks and a goatee. He wore a suit that was very nice, except perhaps for a wildly colorful and gaudy tie. Another oddity about him was that he had one green eye and one gold eye.

Hours passed after, as Pinkie and Fluttershy engaged in one of the most pleasant conversations either of them had ever had.

Finally, the gentleman stood up. “Well, my dear ladies, the hour grows late, and I have places to be. Both of you have a pleasant evening!”

“Oh, yes, and you as well, Mister...um…” Fluttershy replied, her voice trailing off at the end.

“Oh, wow!” Pinkie said, “We're REALLY sorry, we never actually got your name!” She chuckled.

The gentleman chuckled as well. “Quite all right, ladies!” He gave a flourished bow and a wink, earning a giggle from both women. “My name is Discord.”

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

Sunset sighed, stopping in front of one gravestone among many. The gravestone read, “Commander Guiding Light; Devoted Husband, Beloved Father, Hero of Equestria.” Sunset doubted that the funeral would ever fade from her memory...her old friend and subordinate buried with full honors, her hand upon his casket...the looks of pain on his family's face. She remembered the slap in the face from his widow, the glares of anger from his daughter and son. She'd never felt more horrible than she did on that day, except perhaps the day he died...but she had owed it to him to be there. Ever since, she'd returned to his grave from time to time to pay her old friend respect once more.

“Hey, Sunset.” Spoke a familiar voice. Sunset turned and smiled at a Pegasos man her age, his blue ethereal wings fading after he landed.

“Hello, Flash.” She said, “It's been a while.”

“Too long.” Lieutenant Commander Flash Sentry replied, the two of them embracing in a hug. Once they separated, he asked, “So...how have you been?”

“Getting better every day.” She said, “But it's still one day at a time.”

Flash nodded. “I heard about what happened to you... congratulations on becoming an Avatar of Harmony; believe it or not, it couldn't happen to a better person.”

“Thanks, Flash.” Sunset replied, then grinned, “I hear you're getting on a ship, again...life in the Colonies getting too boring?”

Flash grinned. “You know me, I'm not afraid to get in the thick of it! I'll be boarding the Amore Cadenza when it docks here in two weeks.”

“Be careful out there, Flash.” She said.

Flash put his arm around Sunset’s shoulder. “You too, Sunset.”

With that, the two of them simply stood in front of the gravestone in silent contemplation.

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

“How do you get in a fight at a CONCERT!?” Rainbow said, chuckling at the absurd notion of people in tuxedos and evening gowns brawling.

Spoke shrugged, likewise chuckling, “For the life of me, I don't know! I'm just glad Rarity and I got out of there before Security showed up!”

Twilight entered the bridge, then, sitting in the command chair with a wince. Noticing this, Spike asked, “Are you all right?”

Twilight gave a little smile before grimacing again. “I'll be fine...my back was only healed yesterday, so it'll be tender until tomorrow.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “May I ask what happened?”

Twilight shrugged. “I, uhh, tried to fly.”

Rainbow perked up, turning in her chair. “You can do that?”

Twilight sighed. “Not well.”

Rainbow smiled. “I'll show you some pointers if you like, Captain.”

Twilight nodded. “That would be just fine, Lieutenant.” She crossed her legs. “Now...if we're ready... let's get back out there.”

Rainbow turned back to her console. “Yes, ma'am!”

Within minutes, the Celestia left the Lunar Colonies, back out into the vast expanse of space.