> Star Trek Online: Sacrifice - Part I
>  by Admiral Wyatt Stone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: A Sudden and Unexpected Recruitment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's been a hell of a run, I'd never thought it would come to an end."

Endings.

When you go on a journey, you sometimes think that they could never end, that you'll always go about doing what you're doing. You don't expect or want to have to stop doing the things you love, despite the coming changes and things that'll happen to you.

You wish you could go on with your friends, stay with them forever and keep up the fun nonstop. But, sometimes, you have to change, let go, sacrifice your time with them because there's something more important to do. You have to say good bye and then fulfill your mission, even if it means you never see them again.

I know because it's what I've been through.

Ever since the day I left Stable 2, I had made friends, defeated many villains, and saved the Equestrian Wasteland from destruction. Though, in the process, I gave up the chance to see my friends in flesh and blood for a long time, having to tend to Equestria's weather, make sure that no one tries to take control of it or destroy the rebuilding Wasteland with it. While it's not the happiest fate I'd like, it's better than watching the whole world burn, my friends dying and me being utterly helpless, if not dead.

That's where my story ends.... Or, at least it should've.

<<<>>>

I awoke with a gasp as I took in my first breath in over ten years of operating that old pod, my bones weak and aching. I was touched by a... paw? No, this couldn't have been a paw, it felt hairless! I turned to see a face, also furless save for the eyebrows, a pair of eyes with grey irises looking back at me. The beings expression was calm, almost dad-like. He spoke to me. "Easy, you've been asleep in there for a while, this hypo should help you move after a moments rest."

I then felt pressure to my neck as another similar creature pushed a small device up to my neck and pressed a button. I'm guessing it was some kind of syringe, but there was no needle, just a bit of pressure on my neck was applied, not a sign of blood coming out of the pressured spot.

Surprised by the sudden intrusion, I spoke up. "Who are you? How did you get in this place? You know there's a shiel-" I stopped as I realized with horror that since I was out of the pod, I had no control of the S.P.P. systems or weather, the clouds could be going wild right now!

"Don't worry, we have satellites keeping the weather in check, and there are guards outside, no one will be getting in until we have everything set up." The entity I first saw said before letting out a chuckle and smiled as he continued. "Forgive me, I forgot about introductions for a moment. My name is Daniels, I'm from a group called the Starfleet Temporal Division, which is a part of the Universal Alliance. We're here because we've discovered a new enemy that poses a threat to not only our universe, but countless others, yours included." 

"And why did you wake me up from weather control?" I said back to Daniels as he responded.

"We brought you back from your coma because of your history. We at the U.A. not only keep an eye on other realms, but check for possible candidates to help out, and from your record, you are a very gifted young mare." As he said that, my mouth started to open to speak but he continued before I could start. "And you won't have to worry about your home, my people will make sure it's safe."

As he finished, I sat, puzzled. There was a "Universal Alliance"? And they were trying to protect my friends from harm by this enemy of theirs? While I had several questions to ask, I assumed I'd have to take this news in with a grain of salt. Taking a breath, I started. "So, you want my help? Alright, I'll help, but I need to know: you said there we're satellites covering for the weather, right?"

Daniels responded quickly. "Yes, they're actually supposed to be backup should the S.P.P. go offline, but we have them working until we can get your holographic stand-in to operate the pod."

"Holographic?" I questioned in bewilderment.

"Yes. Ensign..." He turned his head to another one of his guards who held down a small device. After pressing a button on it, a wave of energy shifted before it took the form of me, Pipleg and all. It was another me! Only made of energy from that device.

The "hologram" of me spoke up a second after its activation. "Is the pod read-" She stopped as she saw me still inside. "Oh, you decided to show me off?"

I once again sat bewildered by the sight before speaking up. "So she's going to run the weather while I'm with you?"

"Yes, if you come with us that is." He said as I asked another question.

"And my friends?"

Daniels frowned as he answered me. "Unfortunately, they won't be coming. However, if J'ula does attack this place, I may permit visits as they'll most likely know of what's going on."

I frowned back as he continued. "But I can allow you to bring the equipment around you with you if you wish, our people have holodecks as well should you feel the need to revisit old friends."

I took in his words with a breath. I was free, but I'd still never see my friends again, they wouldn't be with me for this adventure, protecting the other universes from danger and saving the day.... but, as far as they know, I'm still here, keeping an eye on the weather. But, what if they want to visit me, or at least, my holo-self, that is.

I looked to my holo-clone and asked, "So you know everything I know, right?"

"Yep!" The fake me responded with a smile. "From the day you were born to the moment you first saw me, or, you, I mean."

I held back a chuckle as I looked to Daniels and nodded, picking up Little Macintosh in my magic and putting it into it's holster as I gave my answer. "Alright, I'm in." He smiled as I stood up for the first time since I was out of that pod. While I was a little weak, whatever was in that hypo-thing really fixed me up. I walked up to him and asked, "Where do we start?"

"More like, when do we start?" He replied with a chuckle of his own as he continued. "You'll need to know all of the history we have on our group and governments, but don't worry, you have all the time you'll need or want."

I was a little confused by that, but before I could ask he looked to one of his guards and asked, "How long until she'll be in?"

The guard laughed, putting a paw(?) on the other me's head before answering. "It'll only take about 6 minutes, no longer."

"Great. We'll be at New Khitomer when you're finished." Daniels replied, his guards nodding before him and I were assaulted by a flash of white light. After a moment, I blinked to see a large silver platform surrounded by a purple sky(?). Around the platform were several... screens? Each of which was displaying a random scene from what I assumed was the U.A.s history. There were a few I could make out, one was of a person similar to Daniels standing on a platform as a large, glowing cloud-like field flew over him. 



Another was of a ship, built out of a saucer and some other section, being burnt apart, specifically on the top part of the saucer section, I think I could also see a name on the ship, but it was too damaged to be readable. 



A third one was of a massive object made up of several spikes and.... I think there were a few wires too. The 'ship' was in front of a smaller vessel similar to the one in the second image, dwarfed by the giant vessel, from how it looked, the view must've been terrifying.



As I looked around the massive room. Daniels walked beside me as he spoke up. "I almost forgot, with this device here, you won't age, something all of our agents are accustomed to as well." He put the small, circle shaped device onto my neck, a surge flowing through my spine as I stood, taking in the effects of the new piece of equipment added to my body.

I steadied myself as I spoke. "Wow, that's incredible." Daniels smiled before I continued. "So, I'm assuming this'll take more than a day, right?"

"Yes, approximately several weeks." He said dourly, knowing that I wouldn't be too happy with the answer. "But, as I said, you'll have all the time you need to know everything. Come, let's get started." He said as I followed him, preparing for the longest history course I'd ever taken.

---------

It had been about 4 weeks before I'd finished, knowing the history of the human race and their rise to become the United Federation of Planets, their feats, their failures, all that they'd been through had been put into my brain as of today, and I was now going to start practice in my new career: Engineering.

I was an apprentice for the pipbuck technician duty in my previous life before leaving Stable 2, and while I wasn't an actual technician, I was exceptionally good at the job, and how could I resist learning how to handle technology that was at least 200 years more advanced? 

As I walked to the Engineering station within the large ring shaped station around the planet New Khitomer, I saw several officers to my left testing their weapons against a hologram of one of the Voth dino-warriors, some being knocked back by the retaliating attacks as it turned to fight.

"A new cadet like you could use some of that training." I heard a rough, strong voice come from my right, he was a humanoid with dark skin, braided hair and ridges on his forehead, from my research, I could tell he was a Klingon.

From what I saw, he was the trainer at the Tactical station, where officers would hone their combat skills and practice holographic starship combat scenarios. As he looked at me, I spoke. "Oh, I'm on my way to the Engineering station, but I suppose I could try this place out sometime."

"You will most likely have to, my little tinkerer." He said, acknowledging my small size as he continued. "No matter your duty, every officer must have some practice in the ways of the warrior. There are many threats you shall have to face, and to secure victory, you must train the soldier within you to grow strong."

"Oh, if only Xenith was here." I thought to myself as he finished. I thought about the fights in the Pit, I was nowhere near the skill that even the weakest raider was when it came to physical combat. The only things that kept me alive in that hellhole was my telekinesis and wits. However, I think that now would be a good time to practice and make myself better than that, after all, I wasn't going to be able to grab all of the soldiers at once and throw them into a lake before they got a hit on me, right?

I looked to the Tactical tutor as I said, "Yeah, you're right, and I suppose Engineering can't save me all the time, right?"

The warrior gave a hearty laugh. "Ha! That's the warrior I see in you! But first, you shall fulfill your tasks at Engineering, then come see me afterwards, understood?"

"Yes Sir!" I said as I saluted and continued onwards towards the Engineering station, making a note on my Pipleg as I passed the officers in their simulation. I probably won't be the best fighter, but I could use the training and exercise to make myself ready. After all, this new threat I'd be facing soon would most likely have quite the brutes to fight against, and magic wouldn't be enough to stop them.

I put those thoughts to the back of my mind as I reached the Engineering station, my new teacher introducing himself as I walked in.

"Ah, Littlepip, you're here. Great! Now I hear you have experience in this field, yes?"

I replied back. "Yep, Stable 2 Pipbuck Technician apprentice here is ready for your first lesson!"

The teacher smiled as he replied. "Excellent! Now, Let's start with this 25th Century communicator here."

I watched and listened as he explained how the device worked. I would be here for a while, but by the time I was done, I'd be ready for my first mission.
> Chapter 2: Trial on the Holodeck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here in Starfleet, we don't take some essay for our final, rather, we put our newfound skills to the test."

Strength.

Strength is something we have in our lives, whether it'd be physical or mental. It could be only a little, or a lot, but we all have strength to get us through our lives. I had to stand strong if I had any chance of saving the wasteland. There were many things that could've broken me, the cannibal town of Arbu, raiders, and the near indestructible threat of the Enclave. But I was daring, witty, strong enough to dare to face such enemies, and while it would result in me never seeing my friends again, I would save my friends and many others.

But I'd had limits, I had strong, but limited telekinesis, I had worked on a timer, and I could only gather so many allies, it was a miracle that we had defeated them all, especially the Enclave. 

Though, given the situation that I went through there, I'll bet I have much more to spare, and I'd need it for what would come next....

---------

The Tactical station was rough and I had retried several times, but after about a week I was ready. I felt like I could fight a Tholian with nothing but my hooves (although that would be highly doubtful)!

Though the best part was Engineering, of course. After fixing up the communicator, I learned about how warp cores function, and with some research, I figured out how to build a irradiated warp core, with a mix of magic-induced nanites to keep it fixed up!

It was a hell of a thing, and I ended up getting a commendation for my efforts. After I was done at the station, I got my next orders and even a sweet little combadge with a custom engraving of the numbers "02" to remind myself of my old home, a place that had once cared for the lives of several ponies, their lives in my hooves once I left here.

Before I made my way to my next destination, I stopped by sickbay to fix myself up. The doctor got rid of most of my scars, save for the one on my neck under my request, I needed something to remember my heroism and sacrifices for the Wasteland, of course. The thing that really had my doctor surprised was the Pipbuck I had fused to my foreleg after the adventure to Canterlot in the Pink Cloud. she said that it won't pose any real threat to my health, but she could remove it with a little surgery. Not wanting to keep my CO in the holodeck waiting any longer, I declined, saying if something really bad happens, I'd do so. 

After putting back on my repaired stable barding and saying good bye to the doctor, I made my way to the holodeck. Although I'd finished all my training in the two career stations, I'd need to be put to the test. What it was I would know when I would arrive.

It had been about four minutes before I reached the holodeck, several other cadets within the room standing at attention in front of the CO, a Vulcan with a yellow 25th Century Sierra uniform. As he saw me walk into the room, he spoke up in a calm demeanor. "Miss Littlepip, it is good you're finally here. Please, stand at your assigned spot."

I nodded as I walked to my spot in the line. To my right, I saw another mare next to me, a light blue pegasus with a snow white and blue mane and tail, along with an ice flower for a cutie mark. The thing that caught my eye, however, was that she was wearing a green visor. She looked at me as I tried to start up a brief conversation, something the other cadets were doing as quietly as they could before the briefing. "Hi, you ready for the trial?"

The pegasus said in a low, cute voice. "Oh, yes. I believe my efforts at Engineering will be quite acceptable." She cleared her throat as she answered. "Oh, my name's Snowdrop, by the way. You probably knew because of the visor."

I silently gasped as Snowdrop finished her introduction, the poor filly was born blind! To never see anything with your own eyes sounded like a scary way to live, but with how she sounded, she must be quite brave.

Shaking off the revelation, I replied back. "Oh, no, I must've been to focused on my studies. Name's Littlepip."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Littlepip, and even more so as we'll be working together in the trial." As soon as she finished, we heard a noise that started low before raising to a high pitch tune, then snapping off as the alert notified us the briefing was about to start.

As soon as all the cadets were silent, the CO began. "Greetings, I'm Commander Sobat, and I will be monitoring your progress in your final trial. You have all shown exceptional capabilities in your careers, and now is the time to put them to the test." As he paused, a hologram of a nebula and a small starship appeared behind him, high enough to where all of us could see. He continued. "In this trial, you will be operating various stations aboard a Reliant class light cruiser, the U.S.S. Michigan, and will face several struggles as you proceed, such as the dense gasses in the nebula and a few enemy vessels. This should be treated as a real scenario, so make every decision worth it in your mission to get the Michigan to safety. Any questions?"

As all of the cadets shook their heads Commander Sobat finished with, "Excellent, let's begin the simulation then." 

As he concluded his sentence, the room shifted in waves of energy until I was in the engineering deck of the U.S.S. Michigan, several officers moving about the balcony of the second level. The room was similar to that of the Sovereign class engineering deck, only there were two levels high as the room was made to fit within the Reliant class ships interior. There was a small hallway that led to the next room outside of Engineering, a three-way hallway that led to various parts of the ship.

As I approached a nearby console to my left, I heard a similar sound to the one in the holodeck, only it was quicker and lower in pitch. A second later I heard Snowdrop speak through the ship's intercoms. "Attention all decks, we'll be entering a nearby nebula in approximately three minutes. The nebula is colliding with an ion storm, so there will be more hazards than just having no shields or visuals. We've also detected a small Tal Shiar battle group nearby, so we're going to Yellow Alert. Be ready if they attack."

As the comms shut off I kept to my station, making sure the torpedoes were fully stocked and the warp core was in perfect condition. I saw another officer walk up to me and ask, "What's the status on those EPS conduits?"

As I checked the console for its status, I replied, "We'll need a little more work, but we should be fine for the most pa-" I was cut off as the ship shook from something impacting the ship's shields. The Tal Shiar had found us.

"Red Alert! To your stations, everyone!" The deck became heated and packed with officers saying their orders to others as the klaxon sounded. I could hear phaser fire from outside the ship as the Michigan began its fight with the Romulans.

As I operated my console, I thought on a strategy, Romulan ships use cloaking devices, right? I remembered something from the history lessons with Daniels, in 2293 the Enterprise-A defeated a Klingon Bird of Prey using a modified torpedo. If I could make something similar, we could probably win this battle quickly. But with the nebula and the ion storm, the torpedoes wouldn't make it to their targets before hitting the ion pockets....

Unless, we could lure the Romulans towards the pockets, and then fire the torpedoes at them, without their shields, they'll be space dust in seconds!

With my plan set, I tapped the console to talk to the bridge. "Engineering to Bridge. Do you think you could get some tractor beams onto our attackers?"

"Yeah, but it could drain our power. Why would you wanna do that, Lieutenant?" The captain asked as I replied.

"I think if we take the Tal Shiar towards the ion pockets and fire a torpedo or two, we could take them out." I quickly checked the console to see that we were stocked on auxiliary batteries. I continued with, "We could use the batteries to provide more power. It's a risk, but we have to try."

The captain was silent for a moment before he gave his answer. "Alright, we'll try, you better hope this works. Johnson out."

As the comms shut off I raced to a nearby EPS conduit, opening its vent as I turned to one of the officers and ordered, "Ensign, get me as many auxiliary batteries as you can carry! I'm going to give our ship some extra juice for our plan!" The officer nodded and raced towards the nearby storage room. I turned to look at another nearby console, I spoke to it. "Computer, get me a view from one of the fore decks." The screen changed to show a hallway with a window showing the nebula we were now entering, several green plasma torpedoes hitting the ship as they were following us in.

For a moment, the two T'varo warbirds and one Mogai warbird started to turn away from us, knowing what we were doing, but they were too late as all three ships were caught in tractor beams, the ships slowly following ours into the nebula.

The Ensign arrived not a minute later with several power packs, setting them down as I hooked one up to the conduits. I tapped on the console and spoke. "Engineering to Bridge! Your power should be coming back up now!"

The captain sounded pleased as he replied. "Our readings show balanced levels, keep it up for a few more minutes!"

"You got it!" I said as I let the power pack do it's job. I kept the comms on to listen in on the battle, swapping out the dead batteries with new ones as we kept flying towards the ion pockets.

I heard Snowdrop speak through the console as the ship was hit once more, sparks emitting from a nearby console. "Hull integrity is down to 73%!"

"Just a little further now." I heard another officer say as I swapped the third power pack into the EPS conduits, the ship shaking as another torpedo hit the ship.

I let out a breath of relief as the officer spoke up again. "We're in position, moving enemy vessels near the pockets." I looked to the console to see the ships being slowly dragged towards the ion pockets. They started firing more aggressively now, throwing plasma beams and torpedoes at us. By the time they were moved into position, one of the torpedoes hit the hull, the tractor beams disappearing and the Romulan ships trying to get away.

"Tractors are offline!" The officer said in a panic.

"Doesn't matter, fire torpedoes, full spread!" Captain Johnson said as a flurry of red Photon torpedoes shot out from the Michigan, flying towards the ion clouds.

"Come on..." I muttered as I watched the torpedoes get closer to the clouds, only a second later did they hit, exploding with a blinding mix of orange and blue. I then let out a cheer of victory as the three ships were ablaze, exploding one at a time before being sucked back into their singularity cores. As the black hole cores shrunk and exploded one last time in a brilliant green flash, the bridge officer spoke up once more.

"All vessels have been destroyed, sir! We did it!" I heard more cheers from the bridge crew as the captain spoke once again.

"Excellent work, Lieutenant Littlepip, great work on helping us take care of those Romulans." I heard the cheering die down as he spoke to Snowdrop. "Commander, what's our status?"

"Hull is at 58%, but we should be able to fix ourselves up in a few hours." The pegasus said as I spoke up.

"I'll lead the team, it's the least I can do for making us take such a risk." Captain Johnson then finished the conversation in a calm voice.

"Good, back to Green Alert everyone, we've won the day." The comms shut off as I started to grab my tools, but the room flashed again as me and my fellow cadets were back in the holodeck, Commander Sabot looking at us with a pleasant expression.

"Excellent work everyone. Your performance was outstanding in this simulation, especially your plan against the Romulans back there, Miss Littlepip."

I was surrounded by several stares from both the cadets and Sobat's group, smiles on many of their faces as they looked me over. Sobat continued. "You've all proven your mettle against a dangerous foe, and you're all ready to start defending the many different universes that rest in your hands. Congratulations." 

As Commander Sobat finished, the cadets, including myself, let out cheers and cries of excitement as we all celebrated. About a minute later Sobat spoke up one last time. "Now, you shall head to the Assignment station where you will find out where you will each be heading. Once you have done so, go to the shuttlebay and find your assigned timeship." We all nodded as he left the room, the rest of us following suite.

I trotted up to Snowdrop, the beautiful mare with the green visor smiling as she started. "That was a great plan you had, Littlepip, we would've been blown to bits if we hadn't pulled that off."

"Yeah, sometimes I'm a clever little pony." I replied before changing the subject. "So, what position are you aiming for?"

"Oh, well the bridge could use a pony with good skills on fixing the consoles, as well as having the ability to make turrets that shoot ice bullets."

I looked at her with a shocked expression, I've never seen a turret shoot ice projectiles before, it sounded like a cool idea that I had hoped to see sometime, especially if I was going to be on the same ship as her. I replied with, "Well, I'm impressed, did you know I built an irradiated warp core, using a testbed variant, of course?" 

Snowdrop smiled once more as she answered. "Oh yes, that was something, though, I'd probably need a little more experience on that kind of device. I'm more of a console/turret mare, as you see." The mare chuckled as she spoke again. "Well, assuming we won't be on the same ship, it was nice to meet you, Littlepip."

I took in the realization of that possibility as I replied. "It was nice to meet you too, Snowdrop." I held my gaze for longer than I should have, Snowdrop realized where I was focusing my eyes on and cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Oh, I.. hope I didn't put the wrong uniform on." I shook my head as I noticed my mistake.

"Heh, sorry, it's just that... you remind me of someone back home." I replied, laughing nervously as Snowdrop's expression calmed.

"It seems so." She said, blushing before she finished. "Once again, it was nice to see you, hopefully we will again sometime out there."

"Yeah, I hope so too." Before I turned to head to the Assignment station, I looked back at my first friend in Starfleet, smiling as I said, "Stay safe out there, Snowdrop."

"You as well." She said before we parted ways, Snowdrop making her way back to the main deck while I turned and went to the Assignment station.

"Good thing Homage isn't here." I thought to myself, thinking about how Snowdrop would react at the mention of such perverted ideas. The young pegasus probably would've been embarrassed badly if my friend said such things here, but as a Starfleet officer, that wasn't behavior right for the uniform. 

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I looked up to see the Assignment station. The line was small for the moment, and after a few moments I walked up to the officer on the other side of the desk, his eyes meeting mine a moment later.

"Ah, your name's Littlepip, yes?" I nodded as he handed me a PADD with information regarding my assignment. The officer spoke once again. "You've been assigned to E.A.S. Harmony, year 2410. Go to the shuttlebay and go aboard Shuttle 37, you'll be flown there upon boarding."

"Understood." I said as I put the PADD in my saddlebags and trotted left, heading for the shuttlebay. I was almost out the door when I heard a blare of static across my right. Looking up, I saw static on a viewscreen at the edge of the room. The curious pony in my head made me trot over to the screen alongside other officers, some gasping as we listened to the officer talking to the crowd. 

"It seems we've gained some new intel on her situation, her fleet has attacked Outpost 38 in the Japori Sector, we barely managed to run them off before they could destroy the colony." Daniels said to us as he walked to the viewscreen. He was giving us all a briefing on our new enemy we would be facing soon, and the news didn't sound good. As he continued, I wondered what this enemy was, or who she was. I raised a hoof as Daniels looked us over after finishing his sentence. "Ah, Littlepip, good to see you're here. I assume you're wondering who we're up against?"

"Yeah." I said as I put my hoof down before continuing.  "Who is this 'She' we're talking about?"

Daniels turned and activated the viewscreen before answering me. "Her name is J'ula. She was a member of the Klingon House Mo'kai that fought the Federation in 2256." The screen changed to show a large Klingon ship, escorted by several other ships, facing off against a much larger Federation starbase. The ship was quite unusual for a Klingon design, it had a bulky center section holding three pylons that stuck out the front of the ship, along with two circular pieces that sat on the top and bottom of the hull.



"Her last known act in the present was attacking Starbase 1 and activating a device that transported her ship out of the battle. From what we know, she's recruiting anyone that can help her avenge her house, which was wiped out after a blood feud that lasted a century."

I looked on in shock as Daniels explained the situation with J'ula, no wonder she's causing trouble in the timestream, her own clan of the Klingon Empire wiped out in their attempts to gain power, and now she wants revenge. But, why would she attempt to attack other universes for that? What did they ever do to her?

"At the moment, she's found out about the U.A. and our attempts to protect the many universes that exist alongside ours, and now she's forming her own alliance to try and stop us. Unless we work together and uncover her plans, the Alliance will fall to her, as will the rest of the multiverse. However, with you all here today, I have a feeling we'll succeed, when she attacks again, we should pursue her and find a way to gather any and all information we know about her. Any questions?"

The officers were silent for a moment, then shaking their heads as I spoke up. "I think everyone agrees when I say none, Sir."

Daniels smiled as he replied. "Excellent, now, you should get to your ships as soon as possible, they'll need your help in any way they can. Dismissed." With that, the officers made their way to the shuttlebay, myself included. Once I arrived to the shuttlebay, I looked around for my ride. As I gazed to the right, I saw it, an Aeon timeship, with the number 37 on its side. I trotted towards the shuttle, the pilot waving to me as I stopped in front of him.

He smiled as he said, "Hello Littlepip, I'm Lieutenant Traz, I'll be your pilot for the trip. Do you have everything set up and ready to go?"

"Yep." I said as I hopped into the shuttle, Mr. Traz on my left side. The shuttle vibrated as it started up, lifting into the air and out the hangar's force field, revealing the field of stars and the ringed planet of New Khitomer, the sun setting over the planet as the day passed.

"Temporal drive engaging in 3, 2, 1." My pilot said as a blue vortex opened up in front of the ship, surrounding the vessel two seconds later. It would only take about a minute to get to the Harmony, so I kept myself ready when the time came to leave the shuttle.

Though I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the starry sight we saw a second ago. The little pony in my head said only one sentence for me to think over.

"I wonder how Xenith would feel about this."
> Chapter 3: One Hell of a Ride/Enter Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I see you still draw breath, Starfleet, this pleases me."

Legends

You hear about them from others, in some cases, you see them, and in few cases, you are them. Legends are something people tell of to remember them or to entertain. They help to inspire those who hear them, to make them do something in the world, to make things better.

When I succeeded in one of my missions, DJ Pon3 would tell the whole wasteland about it. My exploits inspired many to lead their own charge against the villains of the Wasteland. And while I wasn't very fond of the name "Light Bringer", it was something that brought hope to the people of the Equestrian Wasteland.

And I wanted to bring hope to the races of the Milky Way Galaxy, and with my newfound capabilities, I had high hopes for that. But it seems the universe wants to test me once more before I go saving the day...

---------

We arrived within the Laurentian System in mere seconds, the light of the sun hitting my fur upon the portal closing. The Laurentian System was a small place, a single planet with a starbase in orbit along with a destroyed moon. There was also a nebula around the area, adding more beauty to the system we were in.



Near the starbase were a few ships, they were too far away for me to make out, but one of them was an Yorktown class, or a modified version of it. We'd have to get closer to see the details on the hull.

Lt. Traz spoke up as we neared the starbase. "There's the Laurentian outpost, the E.A.S. Harmony is docked here. It should only be a few minutes until we dock."

"Great." I replied back. From what I heard, the E.A.S. Harmony was piloted by the Ministry Mares, more specifically, their counterparts from another reality where Equestria didn't go through and world-ending war, and strived to unite the many species of Equus together. I even heard that Twilight made a School of Friendship recently six of the students appearing to be her own star pupils.

Looking to Traz, I asked, "Twilight Sparkle is on that ship, right?"

"You are right, I also heard six of her students from her School of Friendship are visiting aboard the ship on a tour across the Beta Quadrant, so you'll have quite a lot of friends to meet before y-" The helmsman stopped as he heard a beep from his console and tapped his console. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but what appeared in front of us was enough to tell me.

"Brace yourself, Littlepip, we're under attack!" Traz said as a small 23rd Century Bird of Prey appeared out of warp. This was one of J'ula's warriors, the ship had a strange design like J'ula's ship, it had large, organic looking wings that drooped downward from the ship, with a short neck holding the bridge, a very ugly little beast, it was.



The vessel wasted no time in charging its weapons, two seconds later the ship fired its disruptors, the fact that the disruptors missed us on the first volley was pure luck!

"Hold on!" Traz said before the shuttle jerked to the upward, the shields taking a single hit from one of the Bird of Prey's many shots. We returned fire right after, two orange Phaser beams striking the shields of the Klingon vessel, barely getting through.

I started to tap the console, giving myself access to weapons as I spoke to my pilot. "You fly, I'll shoot!" Traz nodded as he focused, turning us to the left and around the ship. tapping the console, I locked weapons onto the aft side of the ship and fired twin shots, keeping the beams focused until they broke through the aft shield, hitting them right on the ass end that was the engine.

As we broke away, another beep sounded on the console, checking the sensors, I noticed it was an allied ship, but it wasn't from the starbase.

As I looked out the window another ship dropped out of warp, it was a Walker class, with a similar appearance to the Shenzhou, only instead of red markings they were yellow.



The moment it dropped out of warp, it fired a flurry of shots at the Bird of Prey, destroying the small warship in seconds. Our shuttle barely managed to get out of the lethal range of the explosion.

A rapid chirping sound from my console signaled that we were being hailed. I tapped it and heard a male voice from the comms panel. "This is Captain Na'Zev of the U.S.S. Stratus, we are here to assist you."

"Perfect timing, Stratus, we would've been dead if it weren't for you!" Traz replied back before asking, "Say, could you escort us to the starbase in case any more of them show up?"

Na'Zev's response was calm and immediate. "Affirmative, Shuttle 37, we'll cover you." Above my head, I could see the Stratus taking position over us, like a mother bear to her cubs. We resumed our previous course and made our way to the starbase, a few seconds after we returned on course another chirp sounded. I pressed the console to hear a familiar voice.

"This is Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Starship Harmony, identify yourselves." The captain of the Harmony ordered through the console.

Traz responded for us. "This is Lieutenant Traz of the Universal Alliance, we are here to transport an operative to your vessel, your Highness."

The Princess on the other end responded with slight surprise. "Oh, well dock at our shuttlebay then, we weren't expecting quite an entrance."

"Neither were we." I said with a chuckle as I finished with, "We'll be there in a few minutes, Shuttle 37 out."

With the Stratus behind us, we flew our way to the Harmony's large shuttlebay, it looked big enough to house at least fifteen shuttles! The rest of the ship was magnificent, the hull was a dark grey color, with purple and gold markings all along the hull. The ship's name and registry read "E.A.S. Harmony, ECC-2010". The vessel had a Yorktown class saucer, stardrive, and pylons, along with Odyssey class nacelles.

The Stratus broke off her escort as the large door to the shuttlebays interior opened. We saw only about six shuttles of various classes, along with several people standing near the edge of the shuttlebay, 6 of them being ponies and one being a small dragon. I assumed that was Twilight's crew.

As the shuttle landed the window opened to let us out, Lt. Traz stepping out first. Grabbing the PADD out of my saddlebags with my magic, I got out of the shuttle, readying myself up to face Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

The princess was the first to start introductions. "Welcome to the Harmony, I'm Twilight Sparkle, the ship's captain. These are my fellow officers and friends, Helmsmare Rainbow Dash, Chief Engineer Applejack, Science Officers Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and Nurse Fluttershy."

As I was introduced to the crew, I bowed in respect to the princess before speaking. "It's an honor to serve among your crew, your Highness."

Twilight was a little stunned upon my action, but started laughing. Before I could ask if I had done something wrong, she replied. "Thank you, but you don't have to do that."

"My apologies." I said back as I brought myself back to my hooves.

Twilight only smiled. "It's alright, I still do the same thing with the Royal Sisters back at Equus."

Realizing I hadn't introduced myself as well, I started. "I'm Agent Littlepip, I was tasked with assisting you with a dangerous enemy that threatens the U.A."

Rainbow Dash gave a curious look to my appearance upon hearing my name. "Say, haven't I heard about you before?" The rest of us gave her looks of confusion. She explained my story to us. "What? You haven't read the Book of Littlepip? I got myself a copy from the U.A. Central Library back on the Home Sphere. It's awesome!"

Twilight, still confused, responded calmly with, "No, unfortunately I haven't. I bet it's pretty good."

Rainbow handed her copy of the book over to Twilight as she replied. "Here, take my copy, you gotta see how good it is! And you," The rainbow-maned pegasus hugged me before I could permit her to. "I can't WAIT to go on adventures with you! Are your friends with you? Can I meet them?"

I frowned as I answered my newest fan. "No, they're still on Equus, or my Equus, that is. I came alone with Traz here."

Rainbow frowned as she heard the news, but brought back her smile as she responded. "Well, it'll still be awesome to have you with us! You know she saved the entire Equestrian Wasteland back at her home, right?" 

The other girls were surprised, but still a little confused. Spike walked up to me and asked, "Well, maybe you can explain your story once you're all settled in, right?"

I smiled as the idea of telling stories to new friends was a nice way to get to know me, I nodded and stared to speak, but the shuttles console beeped again and Traz went to answer the hail. "Yes?"

"Stratus here, we're requesting permission to guard the starbase should any hostile vessels approach." Snowdrop's voice spoke through the console. She was on the Stratus! 

I grinned excitedly as I trotted up to the console, Traz speaking to the pegasus on board our allied vessel. "Permission granted, Stratus. Let us know when you're ready to leave."

Before he shut off the console, I tapped a hoof on it and spoke. "Snowdrop! You're on that ship?"

The cute mare's voice responded happily. "Yes, I told you the ship's bridge would need a good engineer or two."

"That's amazing! Your ship is quite the fighter too!"

"Indeed she is." Snowdrop replied before finishing with, "I'll see if I can stop by for a visit before we depart. Stratus out."

As the comms panel shut off, I turned to see Twilight and her friends giving me quizzical looks, Traz smiling as I blushed hotly. Applejack broke the silence. "Ah take it you two have met before?"

"W-we were... classmates." I replied back as my blush faded, the crew giving me odd looks before changing the subject. 

"Ah reckon we should get to the bridge, we have a trip to K-7 to finish." As I nodded, the doors to the turbolift opened, and six other creatures stepped out of the cylindrical space. A griffon, a stallion, a dragon, and three other creatures I didn't know of. One was of a similar stature to the griffon, only taller and with hooves for her hind legs. Another was a large, hairy being with braids in her hair, she looked sweet despite her size. The last one was a small pony-like being with bug-like wings, and green eyes, she also had a horn, which was sharper than that of a unicorn.

As the six creatures arrived at our meeting spot, the stallion spoke up. "I understand we were supposed to stay on the bridge, Professor, but Silverstream here really wanted to meet your new officer."

"Yeah, and she's a temporal agent! You know, like the ones that our Professors helped out in their earlier missions!" The flying creature whose name was Silverstream said before giving me a gleeful look.

"Yeah, and nothing was going to stop her, not even me." The griffon said as he looked to me.

"Well, she wasn't what I was expecting." The dragon said dourly.

"Now now, Smolder, is that how you treat a new friend?" The bug-like pony scolded the dragon.

"Yona likes new friend!" The big creature called Yona said excitedly.

I stood stunned for a moment before politely saying, "Whoa, hold on. May I ask who you all are?"

"Oh yes, my name is Ocellus. This is Yona, Smolder, Sandbar, Silverstream, and Gallus." The bugpony named Ocellus said as she pointed to each of her friends. My confusion still visible on my face.

"Um, Ocellus, I think you're the first of your kind she's seen, why not explain to her?" I heard Rainbow Dash whisper to her student as the young creature beamed happily.

"Oh, I'd love to! I'm a changeling, I can use magic to change into different things." She said before a wave of green energy shot up around her, before turning her into a perfect copy of me. "See?" She said in my voice, eliciting a gasp from me as I replied.

"That's pretty cool! And you?" I looked to the large being called Yona. 

"Yona is a Yak, Yaks strong, but don't use magic." The adorable Yak said proudly.

"Oh, I'm a Hippogriff! We used to live in the water as Seaponies, but after the defeat of the Storm King, we could come in and out as we please!" Silverstream explained excitedly to me. I couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she sounded.

"That's pretty interesting. My name's Littlepip, formerly pipbuck technician apprentice turned Wasteland Savior turned Temporal Engineer." I said as I stopped to catch my breath, that was a mouthful.

Smolder gave a curious look as she asked, "Wasteland? What happened to your home?" 

I took a deep breath as I answered. "I'd love to explain right now, but maybe when we get to the bridge I could explai-" I was cut off as the Red Alert klaxon sounded throughout the shuttlebay, all of us standing with heavy concern.

Twilight tapped her combadge and spoke to it. "Report!"

"We've got a fleet of hostiles approaching! They have a similar signal that that one ship had!" A male voice said through the badge.

"Get us a visual!" Twilight ordered. As a viewscreen appeared out of the ceiling of the shuttlebay, a large Klingon warship warped in front of the starbase, then another, and another....

By the time they were done warping in, there were over forty ships around the starbase! This place wouldn't last a minute the moment they started firing!

The sight of J'ula's fleet held me still, letting me only mutter one phrase to myself. "Oh, Luna fuck me with the moon!"
> Chapter 4: Battle over Laurentia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you!"

Risk.

You have to take risks to succeed in your goal, whether it'd be putting many lives at stake or taking the chance of losing everything you know and love, we all have to play those cards at some point.

To save the Wasteland, I had to put my life (and in many cases my friends' lives) on the line in order to win against our enemies. In some cases, it led to them and I almost dying.... and for one of us, he did. Even though I felt guilty for failing one of my friends, I pushed on, and eventually I would put my future with Homage and all of my friends aside to ensure they would have a future worth living in.

Taking risks can hurt you, but how can you face the fire if you're scared of a little pain?

--------

The enemy fleet was still, waiting for the first move to be made. All of us were staring at the screen, pupils the size of pinpricks as Twilight broke the silence, tapping her combadge and speaking to it. "Harmony to Stratus, we need reinforcements! There are barely any ships out in this part of the sector!"

Na'Zev replied sternly. "You're in luck, Harmony, we've got our own garrison at the ready!" I could hear him tap a button on his command chair as he spoke again. "Stratus to Sebrova, send in the cavalry!"

"Aye." Another voice said as another flash appeared on the screen. It was another Federation ship, it had a saucer section that was attached to two pairs of pylons, two nacelles carried by them, a Shepard class.



Another two appeared out of warp, the first one had four nacelles connected together by an arc above the saucer, a Nimitz class. I could see the name and registry on the side of the ship's lower port nacelle: "U.S.S. Ticonderoga, NCC-1650".



The other was a large vessel, it had two connected rings for a saucer along with a triangular secondary hull, two overextended nacelles protruding from the pylons. A Crossfield class ship.



Several more vessels warped into the sector, some ships were the same, others were of different classes. Chronos, Paladin, Sagittarius, and many more. As the last one arrived, we now had almost 50 ships, more than enough to buy the base time to evacuate.

Na'Zev spoke quickly, interrupting the ship-molesting my eyes were so focused on doing. "You all have to evacuate, some of my ships will assist you in beaming survivors off of the starbase."

I took another look at the viewscreen, squinting my eyes as I saw a familiar ship, the same one that was in front of Starbase 1 in the footage I saw at the briefing.

"The Lukara." I said aloud, my crewmates confused at my words.

"The Lukara?" Pinkie Pie asked me quizzically.

"J'ula's flagship." I said. "It has a weapon that uses mycelium tech. If she fires that weapon at the base, there won't be an evacuation to take care of.

"Unless we can board her and disable the device before it can fire." I announced my plan as Twilight tapped her combadge.

"Harmony to Stratus, do you think you could take the Lukara's shields down for a boarding party?" She asked as the Stratus' captain gave his answer.

"I believe we can, make it quick though, we will only have a few minutes until it's charged!"

"Make it quick is my motto!" I said as the battle began on the viewscreen, the two fleets exchanging blue and green weapons fire as the ships flew around each other.

"...Maybe." I said as I saw the immediate carnage. One of the Chronos class ships had taken a large hit from the Lukara, the ships shields failing quickly.

"All of you, to the bridge," Twilight said as she turned to me. "Littlepip, Flash, you come with me to the transporter room!" 

"Yes Ma'am!" The rest of Twilight's friends said as I followed the princess, Flash Sentry behind me as we raced to the transporter room.

As I ran, I picked up a visor I picked up back at New Khitomer with my magic, putting it in front of my eyes. I spoke to the microphone as I gave my command. "Show me a view from the Stratus' bridge!" The visor obeyed as it displayed a view of the bridge from above Na'Zev, the Lukara ahead of the ship. Two shield draining beams, one from the Stratus and another from a ship I couldn't see, hit the Lukara's shields, which flickered as they began to fail.

I brought my focus back to the group as we reached the transporter room, one officer operating the console. Twilight ordered, "We're heading onto the enemy flagship, wait for my signal." The officer nodded as he stood at the ready, me and my companions stepping onto the transporter pads. I looked back to my visor, the Lukara's shields flickered for a few more seconds before they flashed away. We were clear.

I turned to Twilight as I said, "Their shields are down, now's our chance!" 

"Now." The officer took action at her words as he tapped the console a few times, before the three of us were surrounded in a energy field of blue, the sight of the Harmony disappearing as we arrived at a new place...

||||||

The field of blue dissipated as we arrived in the weapon control room of the Lukara, several Klingons seeing us and pulling out their weapons. The purple alicorn wasted no time in deploying a shield around us as the disruptors hit it, failing to hurt us.

"Find the weapon, quickly!" Twilight said as I took off the visor and looked around, the room had two lines going between three consoles, two of them operated the grapplers that would deploy the torpedoes before they were fired at their target. The center one, however, was for the special weapon J'ula used. It was a slightly modified console that had wires which were used to hook up the mycelium to the power banks around the center space between the torpedo launchers, the console would allow them to change the power output of the weapon. The rest of the room had a faint rust color on the walls and ceiling, with slivers of gold on the bulky cylindrical sections behind the torpedo tractor lines.

I pulled out Little Macintosh for the first time in ten years, reloading some replicated bullets from New Khitomer as I counted my targets, five warriors, three of them at each of the consoles. I watched as Twilight shot her shield outward, knocking the Mo'Kai servants back.

I went into the nirvana of SATS and shot three of them, the forth being shot by Twilight's unique disruptor pistol and the fifth being struck down by flash and his royal guard staff. We were clear for the moment, now I just needed to overload the device and they wouldn't be using it anytime soon.

"Flash, cover us." Twilight said to the guard.

"Gotcha." He replied as he took a spot near the room's door, deploying a combat drone to assist him. I could hear more Klingons heading our way as I raced over to the center console, taking a look at it's buttons as I figured out how to mess with it. "The lessons from the Tactical class will pay off." I thought to myself as I tapped several buttons. I heard a low beep as it denied me access to the command I tried to enter. 

I turned to Twilight. "I'll need a minute to hack it! J'ula's got security locks on it!"

"Do it, hurry!" The princess replied as more Klingons entered the room, Twilight placing a shield around me before they could hit me. The princess and the guard fought off the attackers as I took the console apart, checking it's computer core and starting my hacking attempt.

Another transporter field appeared as three more Starfleet officers appeared on my left side, firing their weapons at the Klingons. "We thought you could use some help." The familiar pegasus' voice said as she rolled and crouched behind the left torpedo console.

"Snowdrop! I owe you a Sparkle Cola after this!" I responded with a grin as I got through the security locks, inserting the computer core into the console before putting it's cover door back on. "Just like the terminals in the Wasteland." I muttered with a grin.

I stood up as I tapped several buttons to the console, the power banks roaring louder as they started to overload.

"You taken care of that weapon yet?!" Twilight asked as she vaporized on of the Klingons.

"We're ready to go now!" I said as I tapped my combadge and spoke. "Littlepip to Harmony, six to transport!"

My friends and I we're surrounded by blue fields of energy, the Stratus' party following a second later. Before she was beamed out, one of the Klingons got a lucky shot and hit Snowdrop in her right shoulder, letting out a yelp of pain as I gasped in shock.

"Snowdrop!" was all I could say before my sight blurred, the blue field dominating my vision once again. 

||||||

My vision cleared as we were back in the Harmony's transporter room, Snowdrop's team arriving alongside us. The young mare fell to her haunches as she clutched her shoulder, hissing in pain.

Twilight was quick to tap her combadge as she ordered, "Sparkle to sickbay, medical team to Transporter Room 2!"

I trotted over to my friend as one of her officers scanned her with a tricorder, the little device beeping softly and rapidly as it did it's work.

As soon as it stopped the Andorian officer said, "She's taken a bad shot, but it's nothing sickbay can't fix."

I breathed a sigh of relief as Snowdrop spoke to me. "Don't worry about me, Littlepip, go with your friends to the bridge." I nodded as I got up and went with Twilight and Flash out the door and into the hallway that led to the bridge, one of the Stratus' crewmen called out to me.

"We'll stay with Commander Snowdrop until the medical team arrives." Twilight nodded before continuing onward to the bridge, I put on my visor as I ordered it to display the Stratus' bridge again. The Lukara had its shields up again, and was firing a wave of disruptor fire at the Stratus. About eight seconds passed before the front pylon of the ship exploded, breaking off of the Lukara's hull.

I let out a "YES!" and laughed at my victory against the flagship of J'ula, the ship now breaking away from the battle, dragging its broken hull along in a tractor beam. "We did it guys!" I said as we reached the turbolift, the doors shutting the moment we were inside.

"Did it work?" Twilight asked as I nodded in response.

"I overloaded the power banks linked to the weapon, they can't get us now!" I said as I took a look at my Pipleg and tapped it, I wondered if I could hear J'ula's reaction to her prized weapon being destroyed.

Surprisingly, I found the ships communication frequency. I activated it and placed in my old earbloom as I listened.

"My lady, our weapon has been sabotaged, we can't fire it!"

"It seems that Starfleet's new agent is more witty than I expected. No matter, if we cannot take their starbase, then we shall burn it off of the face of the galaxy! Call our new assets, and destroy the starbase!"

"New assets?" I muttered fearfully as my laughing ceased, a beep from my combadge alerted me of another hail. I took the earbloom out of my ear and tapped the small device on my chest. "What's wrong?"

"It seems we've underestimated J'ula," Na'Zev said through the badge. "We're getting more signatures on sensors, they outnumber us!"

"What?!" I said as I pulled my visor back down and looked at the Stratus' bridge, several wormholes opened around the Klingon fleet and ships exited from them one by one. I had never seen these ships before, one of them had a triangular shape, with a small dome underneath its hull. It dwarfed every other ship around it!



Another ship was of a totally different design. It had red armor and several guns on its hull, two engine-like pylons sticking out the sides. There were at least 7 of these ships coming out of the portal.



The last type of ship was something I didn't expect to see ever again after my time in the Wasteland. It was an Enclave Thunderhead! How did J'ula get one of those things to fly in space?! Could they actually be space capable?



I would've been stuck staring into my visor at the strange new arrivals had Na'Zev not spoke to me again through my combadge. "We must evacuate the starbase! We can't hold off this many ships!"

"We'll beam everyone we can off of the station! We'll be at the bridge in about-" The turbolifts doors opened as we saw the bridge, Twilight's friends at their stations. "...Now." The princess finished with a surprised expression.

"The Sebrova and Ticonderoga will assist in evacuation procedures!" The male voice I heard earlier said as Na'Zev responded.

"Thank you, Captain, Stratus out." As the badge shut off we raced to the center of the bridge, Twilight and Flash taking their seats near Spike as I stood alongside them.

"Get everyone you can off of that station! Take us out of here!" Twilight ordered as the ship shook seconds later, detaching from the docking clamps as the ship broke off from the starbase's lower section.

On the viewscreen, I saw the new ships aiming their cannons at us, the barrels on them glowing a sinister red before firing, hitting the Harmony and the starbase. The ship shook violently, some of the officers falling off their feet as the ship's shields were damaged.

"Shields at 60%!" Rarity yelled as the ship sped away from the station. "We can't take that many hits again!" 

"How many-" Twilight stopped as Pinkie Pie's console beeped, the pink mare tapping the console as she spoke.

"We're being hailed." She said as the screen showed an officer on the screen, his hair a mess as he spoke up.

"We've gotten all non-essential personnel off the station, now go and get away from this place!"

Twilight argued. "But what about the rest of you?"

"There's no time! You have your orders, go and leave before they-" He was cut off as one of the weapons hit the station, the room exploding before the screen went to static.

"Get us out of here! Maximum speed!" Twilight said as the ship jerked to the right, going at full impulse as the other ships followed.

"We'll cover you!" Na'Zev said through my combadge.

"Sebrova moving to escort Harmony!" The Sebrova's captain said as all of our ships flew alongside the princess' flagship.

"Get me the aft viewer!" Twilight said as the screen changed to show the Laurentian outpost, it was being torn apart by the beams from the small cruisers, the Thunderhead was slicing away the dome of the starbase very slowly. The attack lasted a few moments longer until the starbase exploded, a shockwave pushing away the enemy ships.

The princess stood and turned to Rarity as she said, "Get me a report on our evac count." Rarity nodded as she went to a nearby console, checking the ship for the amount of people we rescued.

I sat on my haunches, looking at the viewscreen. We couldn't save the starbase, but we managed to get the civilian personnel off before it was destroyed.

Though the thing that locked my brain into focus was the fleet at the battle, what were those ships? And why would J'ula use them to commit acts of terrorism throughout the timestream?

I let myself be lost in thought as the Harmony and its escorts went to warp, Whatever J'ula was up to, I was sure I was biting off more than I could chew.
> Chapter 5: Prices to be Paid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There will be time to grieve... This is not that time."

Costs.

What are you willing to give to give to win the day? How much? It depends on the situation, sometimes, you barely lose anything, and in other cases, you can lose everything. I gave up my innocence to kill the cruel, depraved raider ponies that hurt so many other ponies, I removed my memories to face and defeat the Goddess, and I gave up my life for those who wanted to start Equestria anew.

I lost so much in order to give to the people of the Wasteland, and now I had a lot more to lose if I wanted to stop J'ula… but was I willing to lose it all?

---------

Rarity walked up to Twilight as she levitated a PADD in her magic, a sad expression on her face as she spoke. "We managed to get about 7,000 people off the starbase, that's counting all aboard each of our ships, the Stratus, the Ticonderoga, and the Sebrova."

"How many people we're left on the station?" Twilight asked with a hint of worry.

"We.... lost 9,000 officers on that station." Rarity said as she tried not to break out into a sob.

I sat near Spike's seat, holding my hoof to my face as I took in Rarity's report, 9,000 lives were ended in that battle, all thanks to J'ula's attack on the starbase. There would've most likely been more had I not stopped the weapon, and after recent events, that device and its power was the least of my concerns. 

Those ships must've been from other universes, the Enclave was destroyed when I hooked myself up to the S.P.P. back home, so how could they have gotten one of those things? Time travel, of course, travel back to when the Enclave was still active, take the ship and upgrade it if it wasn't capable of traversing the stars, and boom, one new asset to the massive fleet we saw at Laurentia. I wondered if the other ships were acquired the same way.

Standing up, I turned to Twilight and asked her, "Twilight, do you have any data regarding vessels from other universes? I think I need to gather more knowledge on what we're facing here."

Twilight gave a smile as she replied. "We've been involved in similar conflicts like that, I think Spike could help you with that." She looked to the small dragon as he got up, walking up to my side as he spoke.

"I'd be happy to, we might need to check them after what happened back there." As the two of us turned for the turbolift, the doors opened and Snowdrop appeared on the bridge. Her wound was healed, but her uniform would need some fixing. I trotted over to her and hugged her, my friend doing the same as I spoke to her.

"You're looking better." I said as we ceased the hug.

"Yeah, try telling that to my shirt." The Pegasus mare said with a small laugh, pointing to her shirt's damaged spot.

As the two of us chuckled for a bit, Snowdrop asked me, "Where are you off to?"

"I plan to gather some data on those ships, I think our new enemy is up to something big." I answered as my friend's eyes lit up.

"Oh, I think we can help with that!" She said before tapping on her combadge. "Snowdrop to Stratus, did our other team acquire any intel from the Lukara?"

"Affirmative, why do you ask?" Na'Zev said through the small device.

"Littlepip and I are planning to gather some research about J'ula's plans, and I thought you could help."

"Got it, we'll send everything we could get out of that ship. Notify us when you've finished. Stratus out." 

As the badge shut off, Snowdrop joined the two of us as she told her escorts, "I'll be helping Littlepip with her research, will you accompany us?" The two officers nodded as they took positions behind us, all of us continuing on to the turbolift. 

As we entered the turbolift and its doors shut, I turned to Snowdrop and asked, "I didn't know you sent two teams."

"Na'Zev felt that we should also gather any and all data regarding her mission, and with a situation like that, how could we afford to miss that?" My friend said as the turbolift made its way down to the nearby research lab, the five of us waiting as the turbolift shifted and moved in another direction.

(||||)

We arrived in the research lab two minutes after leaving the turbolift, it was a very bright room, in one area covered by a wall there was a large table that held several flasks and beakers, along with some filled ones held within the open sections of the wall. The other side of the room held a circular console that could display holographic images, the current image being one of an alien I couldn't remember the name of, though after asking Spike he told me it was a Hur'q creature, one of the stronger ones. 



"We had just went through a conflict with them, it turns out that the Dominion were the ones that instigated them, they took away a fungus they fed on, and it caused them to go to various places in the galaxy to harvest from, the war nearly destroyed the Dominion." As I listened to him, my jaw dropped. The Dominion was one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy, and if the Hur'q could hurt them that badly, I was sure glad we weren't fighting them now.

I walked over to one of the four wall consoles and tapped several buttons before I saw what I was looking for. "The data's been sent, now we just have to analyze it."

"I'll check the ship designs." Snowdrop said as she moved to one of the other wall consoles.

"I've got the visual recordings." Spike said as he moved to the third console. 

That left me with the auditory logs, and there we're quite a few of them. As we investigated the files, Spike and Snowdrop would occasionally take a look at the video files together, myself too focused into the logs to be curious. Many of the logs had some information that supported the idea I was looking for, but after several minutes of listening to them all, only one caught my ears.

"Asset Acquisition Log #824, Stardate 4511.6:

We  have acquired two new operatives in our journey to Universe #2537, one was a member of a large group that was lead by the entity known as "The Goddess", he has been rescued from a dishonorable death at the hands of one of his enemies the people of this world know as the "Light Bringer". He has shown his gratefulness at our rescue and we have repaired his body using our gifts from the entity called "Na'kuhl". The other asset we've acquired has proven to be... reluctant to our indoctrination attempts. Though I could find one like him and send him back to his grave he has important qualities I require from him. I've placed a device on him that will ensure his obedience, another gift of the Na'kuhl, though they claim it was from another ally of theirs by the name of the Terran Empire. I hope he will serve well in our mission to destroy the puny Federation and reclaim our place in the Empire once and for all."

As I finished listening to the logs, I turned to Snowdrop and asked her, "Snowdrop, could you look at this?" My friend came up to the console, analyzing it before looking at me with a fearful expression. 

"I think we've gotten enough information out of all of this, Pip. We should go and let Twilight know." Snowdrop said as Spike walked up to us.

"I've finished as well, there wasn't much I could get from the recordings, but there are exceptions."

"Good. We should head up there and let the crew know." I said to my friends as we made our trip back to the hallway that led to the turbolift. 

As the doors closed in front of us, I turned to Snowdrop and asked her, "What did you find in the analysis?"

"They have more than what we saw, Littlepip. They've got several more ships like that star destroyer you saw earlier, as well as more Venomian warships. All together, they could conquer half of the Federation with their fleet." Snowdrop said as I looked on in shock.

I only said one thing as the lift took us to the bridge. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

---------

"So, J'ula intends to take over the Klingon Empire after her house was destroyed during a conflict with the other houses, and destroy the Alliance with her newfound army?" Applejack said as I answered her and the others.

"Sounds about right." The others pondered over how we were to take care of this problem. The crew of the Stratus beamed over when I asked for a meeting, we all talked about the increasing threat of J'ula, her origins, and her recent activities within other universes. The audio and video logs we recovered brought quite a bit of new intel to the table, J'ula was working with several powers in the various realities she traversed in, such as the First Order, the Venomian Empire, and even won the support of a small group of soldiers from the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and that Thunderhead wasn't the only ship they had at the ready, from what we know, J'ula has taken control of one of the few spheres we haven't secured yet. and has brought tech from the other universes to serve her needs, one of them being a station that can build any kind of ship using energy from a star!

As we all took in the news, we discussed our plan. Twilight was the first to begin. "So how do we go about stopping her?"

"Our fleet could help sabotage J'ula's efforts," Captain Na'Zev said before continuing, "But we'll need to make it hit and run attacks, going full force could give her the chance to surround us."

Twilight defended his argument. "Even worse, Admiral Stone can't help us right now, from what he said, he'd be busy with several simulations that would help him in understanding J'ula's tactics."

"That's makes us fewer in numbers." Rarity said as she hung her head low, lifting a cup of tea to her lips as she drank.

I thought for a moment, then had an idea. "What if we infiltrated the ship?" The rest of my friends and allies looked to me with confusion. I defended by stating, "J'ula has one operative who was forced to comply with her commands, perhaps he could be a possible ally for us?"

The others pondered the idea until Na'Zev nodded and spoke to me. "That is possible, when we scanned the Lukara, we detected several lifesigns in the ship's brig, I believe they could help us with stopping her."

Snowdrop then looked to me as she said, "Also Littlepip, we may need to do another intel run, when I was looking at the logs Spike was sharing with me, I noticed the Lukara placed beacons at every place they visited that wasn't in our universe. I have a feeling she has plans for those places later on."

"That sounds like a good idea, I can do that too." I then turned to Na'Zev as I continued. "And I could also try and access the consoles, I might be able to do some sabotage if I'm aboard. With this little bad boy here," I pointed to my MG Stealthbuck II as I lifted it out of my Pipleg. "They won't see me coming." 

My friends considered this for a moment before they all nodded, Twilight being the one to speak on everyone's behalf. "I think we all agree, we should get the ship ready for battle as we pursue her. Na'Zev, do you know where they're heading?" The princess said as she turned to the Vulcan captain.

"From what our sensors say, she's heading straight for the Ganalda System, in Klingon territory."

"There are several ships in that system," Flash said as he looked to me. "We won't be fighting alone."

"Perfect! They'll have too much going on to keep focus on me once I'm aboard." I said as the two crews stood, looking at Twilight as she spoke.

"I believe our battle plan is set, beam Littlepip aboard the Lukara, and follow it wherever it goes until we get her back. Any objections?" The room was full of nodding heads as Twilight got her answer. Alright, let's get to our stations and prepare for one hell of a fight. Dismissed." With that, everyone made their way towards the two doors that led out of the meeting room. 

As I followed, I made my way to Rarity before asking, "Rarity, I need to ask you something, can you teach me shield spells?"

The beautiful white unicorn with the dazzling purple mane and tail smiled as she replied. "Why of course, Darling, you need them for the mission?"

"Yep." I said as the two of us changed course and made our way towards the holodeck. 

"Let's head this way, and I'll show you how it's done." Rarity said as I heard the Red Alert klaxon go off, the officers around us moving into a jog, the two of us dodging through them as we traveled through the hall.
> Chapter 6: Runnin', Shootin' and Breakin' Free!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well you know what they say, Lieutenant, be careful what you wish for, you may get it."

Will.

If you're gonna do something, you'd better have the will to do it. Are you strong enough to go on when the world hits you with everything it has? Are you still willing to keep going when you lose everything? Even if you'll end up dying?

I had to stay strong for the people of the Wasteland, I kept myself up even after seeing the raiders at Twilight's library, the horrors at the town of Arbu, even when Canterlot was destroyed, I kept going, as did my friends. Sure, we'd need a break once in a while, but we fought to the end. 

I knew a friend who was willing to follow me till death, he was one I knew closely, and it hurt me when he was killed by the hellhounds after the Goddess was destroyed. I believed he would've kept going despite our current losses, he would help ensure that I stopped J'ula and her crusade against the Multiverse. All of my friends would've been willing to follow me on my mission, and thinking about it made me wish they were here.

But I didn't know that while I was aboard the Lukara during my mission, I'd encounter some familiar faces...

---------

As the holographic Exocomp drones closed in on my position, they fired several Phaser beams at me, all of them hitting only a small bubble that was my shield. 

"Good Littlepip, now, use your shockwave!" Rarity said as I complied and focused my magic, the shield shot out towards the Exocomps and anyone that was too close to me, the drones smoking for a few seconds before exploding.

Rarity gave a clap of her hooves as she spoke. "Excellent job, Littlepip!" She stopped applauding as she walked over to me, steadying myself after pulling off the shield shockwave. "I believe you're more than ready to put that skill to use should you need it!"

"Yeah, thanks for your help, Rarity." I said with a gleeful smile before my friend spoke to the computer.

"Computer, end program." The room then shifted from the beautiful landscape of the Mars colony to the basic black and yellow room that was the holodeck. The two of us then walked out the door, making our way to the transporter room as we chatted a bit.

The training in the holodeck was easier than I expected, Rarity showed me how the spell works and then let me try it out. The first two times got me a shield that flickered the bit, but the third time worked like a charm. After giving it a few more tries I tested it in simulated combat, the first enemy was a single exocomp, then it was a Gorn officer that kept ramming me to test the shield's physical strength, and of course, five drones that fired everything they could, two of them kept ramming my shield until they exploded, leaving the three for me to finish off. 

As we walked to the transporter room, Rarity asked me with a hint of worry, "So, you have all the equipment you'll need, right?" 

"Yeah, and if I need anything else, we can-" I stopped as I saw Applejack and the six students I met in the shuttlebay, racing through the hallway we were in.

As they drew close to us, Rarity stopped them and asked Applejack, "Applejack, what are you doing with our students?"

"After they heard we were headed into battle with J'ula, they wanted to help, so Twilight asked me to lead them to the Aquarius and teach them to fly it." The orange mare said to us as the students stood close to her.

"I understand we're new to this ship, but we feel useless just sitting around while you guys are saving the day." Sandbar defended as Rarity replied.

"Alright, but be careful, we can't afford to lose you all." The students saluted as Applejack spoke up again.

"Now if y'all excuse me, I've got a ship to help fly!" She then turned and continued running down the hallway, the students following after her. We kept trotting as well, the door to Transporter Room 3 appearing in my sights.

I heard a ping from the ship's speakers as Twilight's voice spoke through them. "Attention all hands, we're dropping out of warp and into the Ganalda System, brace yourselves."

I felt the hall vibrate as the Harmony dropped out of warp, heading into battle against the fleet of J'ula. I pulled out my visor and spoke into it. "Bring up a visual of the Harmony's fore viewer." The device complied as I slid them onto my head, I could see the Klingon defense fleet over Ganalda IV, a large starbase stationed over the planet. In front of them was J'ula's fleet, firing on the allied Klingon ships. The Harmony closed in a little bit further before firing at one of the Mo'kai battle cruisers, a Sech class.



Rarity and I entered the transporter room as we saw Na'Zev and two other security officers, a small box containing supplies sitting next to them. "Oh hey, you need something?"

"I should ask you the same question." Na'Zev said before pointing to the crate. "We've gathered some additional gear you'll need for the mission, several Emergency Transport Units, a few phaser pistols, some stealth modules, and medical supplies." As I levitated the supplies and equipment into my saddlebags, Na'Zev continued. "You'll need the transporters for the prisoners, they've been modified to go through the shields and back to the Harmony. And in case you find anyone over there who'll help, hand them the spare phaser." I nodded as I stood onto the transporter pad, waiting for the signal.

I looked back to my visor, the Harmony was activating its shield drain, hitting the surface of the ship a second later. After about seven seconds the shields flickered, leaving the ship exposed to torpedoes and boarding parties.

"They're shields are down." I said as Na'Zev turned to the transporter officer.

"Now!" The officer complied swiftly as he tapped his console, a blue field of energy appearing around me. 

Before my vision was filled with blue, I heard Rarity say something aloud. "Be Careful!"

||||||

My vision shifted from blue to a hallway of the Lukara, thankfully, with no one in it. I quickly activated my MG Stealthbuck II and began to make my way through the hallway and to the brig.

I was thankful that the ship didn't activate the intruder alarm, J'ula and her crew must've been so busy dealing with the two-fronted battle outside that they didn't check for an intruder alert.

As I made my way through the ship, I passed by several Mo'kai warriors walking to their stations, not noticing the cloaked pony traversing through their ships halls.

Pulling out my earbloom, I tuned my Pipleg to the frequency J'ula was still using. Miraculously, it wasn't changed. I heard the Klingon captain speak to her soldiers.

"Good, ensure the deck is secure. Squad 29, report!"

"All is clear, no hostilities ahead or behind us. We'll head to the prison wa-" I heard a deep, familiar voice I hadn't heard since I left Maripony. I couldn't believe my ears as I heard it. The voice started to grunt as I heard a soft, nonstop whine ringing through my earbloom, it was annoying, but not strong enough to hurt. The grunting turned into screaming as the pain was too much for my old friend.

"....Steelhooves?" I muttered quietly under my breath. How was he here? How did he end up serving J'ula aboard her ship?! I remembered something from the audio log I listened to. "Though I could find one like him and send him back to his grave he has important qualities I require from him. I've placed a device on him that will ensure his obedience,"

J'ula, you bitch.

I heard the Lukara's captain speak through my earbloom as the whining stopped, Steelhooves ceasing his screams right after. "No, you have your orders, make your way to Engineering and ensure no assault teams attempt to attack!"

"U-Understood, my Lady." Steelhooves grunted aloud as he took a breath.

I took my earbloom out and took a look at my Pipleg's map, and was shocked by the sight. Steelhooves' team was nearby, and heading this way! I looked through the hall, trying to find a hiding spot, and found a small space near the left end of the hallway. I raced to it, setting myself up in the space as Steelhooves and his three Klingon escorts walked into view, turning to the right and walking through the hall. When I saw his helmet, I saw a small black device in the shape of a triangle with a glowing red circle attached to his head. That must've been the device that was controlling him!

I carefully pulled out Little Macintosh and my two phasers as I aimed towards the Klingons, moving my weapons close to them as to ensure their deaths. All three fired simultaneously, vaporizing two of them and the third falling to the ground. Steelhooves turned his head around.

I'd been so focused on saving Steelhooves that I forgot about my Stealthbuck, which burnt out the moment I shot the Klingon guards. I was in full view of Steelhooves now.

"Littlepip?!" Steelhooves said, turning to face me, arming his weapons as he readied himself.

Without thinking, I ran out of the space and to the right, missiles from Steelhooves' guns hitting the wall a second later. Rather than tear a hole in the wall, there was only a dent in it. I put my guns back as I took a breather.

"I didn't know I would have to fight you!" My old friend said as he ran after me, stopping as he reached the spot I hid at. I ran at him, lifting him up and turning him around in my magic. As another Klingon soldier ran into view from my previous path, I threw Steelhooves at him, knocking the warrior out of the way and unconscious. I then ran up to the Applejack's Ranger and stood over him, trying to pull the device off of him.

"Stop!" He yelled in my face before kicking me, knocking me onto my back. He stood over me, his weapons pointed at me as he spoke. "Don't remove it, it will kill me!"

I took the advantage and grabbed him in my magic, throwing him over me as I stood up. As he hit the wall, I could hear more Klingons coming my way.

I started to think quickly, the device would kill him if I tried to pull it off, so how would I....

The broadcaster, of course! It could jam the connection and give me a chance to remove it and save my friend! As Steelhooves started to get up, I ran up to my old friend, the warriors of House Mo'kai ganging up behind me.

"Hold on!" I said as I pulled out the old broadcaster, turning it on as it screeched into my ears. Steelhooves and I screamed in pain, as did the Klingon pursuers, taking my chance, I ripped the little device off of Steelhooves' helmet, turning off the broadcaster as I wiped the blood from my eyes.

"The device! It's set to explode!" Steelhooves warned me as I turned to the Klingons, who were just getting up from the ground. I threw the device at them, then deployed a shield around me and Steelhooves as the device exploded in a ball of energy seconds later.

As it shrunk away, the Klingons were gone, vaporized by the explosion. I dropped the shield as I turned to Steelhooves, who was still trying to get up. "Are you okay?"

My old friend nodded as he spoke. "That... was a hell of a thing you pulled there, Pip." As he stood up again, I stared at him, remembering what happened at Maripony, I hugged his metal suit tightly, sobbing.

"Y-You have no idea how much I've missed you!" I said through my tears as Steelhooves held one of his arms over my back.

"I understand I've been gone, but you have to go, do what you came here to do, and get off this ship." He said as I broke the hug, wiping my tears away. 

"Right, but one thing, h-how'd you get here?" I asked the Applejack's Ranger.

"That bitch grave-robbed my resting place and took my body. with some surgical work and cloning from a source I don't know of, J'ula brought me here to serve in her fleet. But thanks to you, she's lost a valuable asset."

"And I've got my friend back." I said before pulling out a ETU and holding it up to Steelhooves. "Use this to head back to my ship, when I get back, we need to talk."

"Got it. Be careful, Littlepip." I said as I placed the device on him, his form being surrounded by a wave of blue energy before fading away. I then took a deep breath as I took out a power pack, hooked it up to the MG Stealthbuck, and put it into my Pipleg as I ran for the brig.

---------

I made it to the brig after two minutes, the intruder klaxon went off shortly after I started making my way there. J'ula knew I was here now, and she would have every warrior on the ship ready for a fight.

As I entered the room, I saw at least 12 cells, 6 on the left and another 6 on the right. I saw a single rotating security camera above the room. Finding a place out of the camera's field of view, I caught the camera in my magic and crushed it, removing the eyes J'ula had in this room.

I looked to the closest cell on the left side, there were two people inside, one was a female Federation officer and the other was a male Cardassian soldier. As they saw me, they walked up to the door.

"I assume this is a prison break?" The Cardassian said as I deactivated the force field.

"Totally." I replied as I handed them each an ETU, the two putting them on as the Starfleet officer spoke.

"Thank you, we owe you our lives." I nodded as the two were beamed away to the Harmony, allowing me to access the next cell. It was a Gorn officer and a Xindi Reptilian soldier. I deactivated the cell force field and handed them each a ETU, both of them putting them on as the Gorn spoke.

"I am grateful for your rescue, now I shall honor my people once again!" He disappeared as he finished his sentence, the Xindi vanishing in a field of blue with him.

As I started to walk towards the third cell, I looked towards the right. Three of the cells were empty, in one cell there were two people, a humanoid dressed in soldier attire I hadn't seen, the other in white armor and with a helmet on, both with their weapons on their backs.

I looked to the third cell, and was shocked to see three alicorns, one blue, one purple, and one green, all with rings around their horns. They all looked to me and then to each other as I stood. I shook my head as I made my way to the door. "Well, finally, we can get out of this cage!" The green one said with glee in her voice.

"Calm down, Helios, we'll all be out once our friend here opens the doors." The blue one said to Helios the green alicorn as the force field dropped. 

"Are you an agent of the Goddess?" The purple one asked.

"No, but I'm here to get you out." I handed them each an ETU as I continued. "These will take you to the Harmony, my captain's ship. You'll be safe there."

"Thank you, we are in your debt, little pony." The purple one said as she and her sisters faded in blue fields of magic.

As I trotted over to the fourth cell, I heard a voice. "Littlepip! You're here to help?!" I stopped as I looked into the cell, seven ponies were inside, one was a white unicorn with black and red hair with cards for a cutie mark, along with robotic legs. Another was a stallion with a blue mane and tail and the male symbol and over a dozen dots for a cutie mark. There was also a filly next to him, she had a green coat and a blue mane and tail, I was surprised to see she was wearing a stable outfit, the number "99" sewn onto the collar of the uniform. One of the captives was a purple alicorn, with a large gatling gun next to her. Another pony was a grey pegasus with a purple mane and tail. Her cutie mark was similar to Calamity's, a dashite. Another was a pure white pony with a white hair and tail, she walked around like an animal exploring new territory. The last occupant was a mare with a cream colored coat with red stripes on her. She was also wearing a set of armor covered in spikes! She also had a red mane and tail, the latter of which was covered in barbed wire. 

As I recovered from hearing my name from somepony I didn't know, I asked her, "How do you know my name?"

"You don't remember me? We met at Tenpony Tower, remember?" As she mentioned that place I thought back, then thinking back to the memories I had removed...

"Oh! Yeah, your name's Blackjack, right?" I said to the unicorn as I tried to deactivate the force field.

"Yep, me and P-21, Morning Glory, Rampage, Lacunae and Scotch Tape were captured by that crazy bipedal lady running this ship earlier, and we've been here for almost a week!" Blackjack said as the force field deactivated.

As I pulled out the ETUs and handed each of them one, Blackjack tilted her head as she asked, "Wait, you're going to fight her alone?"

"No, I'm getting you out of here and then gathering some data from one of the computers, then I'll get off this ship." I said to Blackjack as her pegasus friend spoke up.

"Not without help, you aren't!" Morning Glory said as I held the ETUs in my magic, stunned.

"You want to help me?" I said to the two ponies.

"Yeah, help the others out of here and we'll assist you." Blackjack said as I put two of the ETUs away.

"You will need my assistance as well." The purple alicorn named Lacunae said as she walked over to me. "I can hold a stronger shield than the rest of us, so I'm going with you. No exceptions."

I nodded as I put a third ETU into my saddlebags. "Count me in too! I've always wondered what their blood looks like!" Rampage said as she snarled.

As I put a fourth ETU into my saddlebags, P-21 spoke up. "I'll go with my daughter, she and Boo need to be away from this place." He said as Scotch Tape held him tight. I nodded and handed them the two ETUs I had out, pulling out a third and put it onto the white pony named Boo. She was a little shy at first, but she didn't try to pull it off after I put it on.

"These'll take you to my ship, the Harmony. The crew'll help you out while we're gone." I said as they put on the devices, blue fields of energy manifesting around the two.

"Blackjack, you all be carefu-" P-21 tried to say as he disappeared from sight with his daughter and Boo.

I looked to the last two cells, there were two groups of Hur'q in the cages, which all started hitting the force field as I approached. Okay, freeing them last is the best idea.

I went over to the right cell and freed the rest of the captives, the second occupied cell on the right side held a human in an orange suit, along with a droid that looked a bit like a trash can.



As I opened the cell, I handed the human an ETU and placed another on the droid. As the droid was surrounded by a field of blue energy, I heard the human say, "Don't worry, R5, I'll be there in a second." The droid beeped a few times as it disappeared.

"Thank you for saving us, name's Wedge Antilles. The Klingons captured my ship and my two friends from an Imperial base during a rescue mission, I believe we're heading to your ship, yes?" I nodded as he placed his ETU onto his chest, a blue field surrounding him a second later. "I'll see you on the ship." He said as he vanished with the blue energy field.

As I handed the other two captives an ETU and they put it on as they started to beam out.

"Thanks, we both owe you one!" The person in white armor said as he vanished.

As I looked at the last cell on the right, it was filled with, guess what? More Hur'q. I looked to the others as Lacunae spoke. "I can levitate you all off the ground as you open the cells, then when we're clear, we can make our way to the place you need to go." I nodded as I went to each of the cages and tapped each of the cell consoles. Before they could ask what I was doing, I left the panels alone once the word "open" appeared on each of them.

"Oh, I see what you're doing." Morning Glory said as we were lifted into the air by Lacunae, her shield surrounding us as we reached the ceiling.

I heard several more Klingons heading our way as I tapped each of the panels with my magic, opening the cells and letting the Hur'q roam free. The Klingons arrived a few seconds later and were torn apart by the army of hungry Hur'q that were heading out the door.

"Welp, we just gave them hell." I said as I watched them all leave, heading to various parts of the Lukara to wreak havoc around the ship.
> Chapter 7: Collateral Damage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We know our duty, we just... have our own way of getting it done."

Teamwork.

When you have friends, it's especially good to work together in your struggles. For some it can be difficult to work with others, but when you and your friends are in danger, it can help you to help them get everyone out.

When I met Calamity, he and I went to another stable to prevent an outbreak of monsters within the stable. We wouldn't have gotten out if we didn't work together in that place. When my friends and I went to Old Olneigh, we'd nearly fell to the hellhounds lurking within that place, and we'd only gotten out by working together. If Spike didn't help me in breathing fire on me, I would've never gotten into the S.P.P. and the Wasteland would've fallen to the Enclave.

And now I had a new team to work with, and there was no way we'd succeed in our mission if I'd went alone...

---------

As the last of the Hur'q left the brig of the Lukara, my friends and I descended down to the floor. I ran up to a console that was near the door, tapping it as it displayed a map.

As I saw the layout of the ship, I grinned ecstatically. "Perfect!" I said as my friends looked at the map.

"What?" Lacunae asked as I looked at her, sending the map of the ship to my Pipleg as I spoke.

"There's a nearby shuttlebay, along with a research lab! If we can get there and get our data, we can steal a shuttle or two of theirs and we'll be home free!" My friends smiled as they approved of my plan. As the download finished, the five of us made our way out the door and through the hall.

As we turned a corner to the right, one of J'ula's soldiers was fighting with a pair of Hur'q Attendants, both of them forcing the Klingon against the wall. We ran past the small skirmish, none of them chasing us as they were too distracted with each other.

As we reached the end of the hallway, my team walked through the door to the research room. Surprisingly, there were no warriors in here. "Oh, please don't tell me there's some super dangerous soldier hidden in this room or something." I muttered as I slowly went towards a console at the other end of the room. Remembering that I would need to probably hack into the console to get the data, I started doing as such. As I pulled the tray that covered the console's inner workings off, I began my work.

I heard a few Klingons racing towards our position. "Just as I feared." I said to my friends.

"I'll handle them." Rampage said with a smirk. I tried to protest, but Blackjack walked up to me as she spoke.

"Don't worry, she's got this." She shared the smirk Rampage had as the door opened, two Klingons pointing their weapons at us.

Rampage let out a rage-filled battle cry as she sprinted toward the Klingons, their weapons firing but missing as the armored mare dodged their attacks. She landed on both of them, tearing their faces open and disemboweling them. I felt a bit grossed out as she dug her left forehoof in their blood.

"Their blood is pink, my favorite color!" She said with a ravenous grin as the rest of us looked on with a hint of shock.

I turned my focus back to the console, the download was almost complete.  I grabbed one of the pistols from the dead Klingons, wiped the blood from it and put it into my saddlebags. "I forgot to reload my gun back on the Harmony, I'll need this if things get bad." I wanted to facehoof so badly, sometimes, I was not a clever pony.

As the download finished, I got up and said, "We've got it all, let's get out of here!" My teammates all nodded as I exited the research lab and went to the left, all of my friends following suite.

As we walked towards the shuttlebay, I tapped my combadge as I spoke. "Littlepip here, I've got the data, we're headed to the shuttlebay!"

Na'Zev responded calmly. "Excellent, we'll beam you all out shortly."

My friends and I stopped as we listened to the communications. I broke the silence. "Beam my friends out first, I'll cover them."

"If you're sure, we'll keep a lock on them. We're detecting an odd ship within the Lukara's shuttlebay, one of the prisoners wants it."Na'Zev said as I looked to the shuttlebay door, which was now a few feet away.

"I'll get it, don't worry. Littlepip out." I looked to my friends as the badge shut off, their quizzical looks telling me this was not a good idea.

"Won't they try and shoot you down the moment you launch?" Morning Glory asked me worriedly as I gave a hopeful smile.

"Not if I can dodge them, knowing how consoles work, it shouldn't be too difficult." With that, they all nodded before we galloped to the shuttlebay entrance.

As the doors opened, I saw only a few guards within the room, standing near the shuttles and a few consoles near them. Hopping into SATS again, I used all but one bullet to take out the four soldiers in the room, leaving only us and the ships to fly.

I pulled out my earbloom as I tuned my Pipleg to the Stratus' shipwide communication network. I looked to my friends to get behind the right side of the Lukara shuttlecraft, myself racing to the one ship that stuck out like a sore thumb. It had a large cockpit big enough to hold two people inside, as well as a space that I assumed was for a droid like the one I saw earlier. The main hull had wires and tubes going all across it, two pylons sticking out the sides of the blocky, exposed hull. If I had a dorsal view of the ship, it would look like a Y.



I listened to the communication between the crew as Na'Zev said, "Do we have a lock?"

"Affirmative, Sir. We're ready on your word." Another officer said as I heard a beep from a console on the Stratus' bridge.

"Sir, they're opening a portal! They're going at full impulse!" The bridge officer said as I felt the ship move forward.

"Get them out of there, quickly!" Na'Zev said as I turned to my friends and spoke.

"Hold on, they're transporting you out!" My friends nodded as they were surrounded by fields of blue energy, their bodies disappearing as the fields did.

As I looked to the large ship that was Wedge's starfighter (according to my Pipleg), I heard more Klingons coming towards my location. I opened the cockpit and hopped into the ship's pilot seat, looking at the console, it had some resemblance to older Starfleet consoles. Because of this and my training back in the Engineering station, I found the power systems and activated the ship. The Klingon soldiers had come into the room and started shooting at me as I activated the ships shields, the disruptors hitting them the second they were activated.

I pulled out the visor and ordered a view from the Lukara's outer fore view. Even in Wedge's ship, I felt the Lukara slowing down as it exited the anomaly, and arrived near a yellow gas giant. There were several ships in orbit of the planet, some were of similar design as that star destroyer I saw back at Laurentia, others had a bulbous shape and were even larger than the star destroyers they were near. I could see flashes of light as the ships flew around each other, a few exploding as they were hit by weapons fire. There was a battle going on, but I didn't have time to watch space warfare.

Sitting on my flank and strapping myself in, I tapped a button with my magic and the ships engines activated, the ship itself lifting into the air a second later. I ordered the visor I was wearing to show the interior of the shuttlebay, and I was granted a view of my ship, the Klingons outside hitting my ship with disruptor blasts all the while. Seeing the turret on the top of the cockpit, I used my magic to remove my strap belts and look at the aft console. Seeing the view of the turret's barrels and the Klingons, I grabbed the two sticks and turned the turret around towards the two soldiers. I pressed the triggers and blew the Klingons off of their feet, the impact to the ground had to have hurt them badly.

"Let's see what this baby's got!" I said with a smirk as I fired four more dual shots around the shuttlebay, one of them hitting the door clamps. I quickly hopped back into my seat and strapped myself in as the doors opened, the Klingons and other shuttlecraft being sucked out into the vacuum of space. When the path was clear, I grabbed the controls and dove the ship out, kicking her to full speed. I let out a "YEEHAAAW!" as the ship sped away from the Lukara, the flagship of J'ula firing shots.

I kept focus as I turned the ship towards the gas giant, praying that I could find safety there. I tapped a few buttons before the statistics about the planet came up on a small red screen.

"Hmm, Taloraan? Sounds like a nice place." As I examined it some more, I gasped as I saw the description for civilian life. "No way, they have an artificial city in the clouds?! Oh I'm going to love this place!"

As I looked out the left window I noticed something odd. The Lukara had stopped firing. Curious, I tuned my Pipleg to the Lukara's communication channel, placing my earbloom in my ear.

Good thing it still worked. I could hear J'ula speaking as the Stratus and its allies arrived out of another anomaly, continuing their attack on the ship I had escaped. "It seems she is more impressive than I anticipated."

"Shall we open fire on the ship, my Lady?" One of the officers said to his captain.

"No, you will focus your efforts on the Stratus and her fleet, T'gath, do you have the inhibitor installed on that fighter?"

"Yes, my Lady, she won't be beaming away anytime soon." I sat in my seat as I heard that dreaded sentence, they'd put transport inhibitors in this thing!

"J'ULA, DAMN YOU!" I cursed so loud I thought the whole system could hear me from here.

I noticed I wasn't safe yet, I had a huge battle to get through, and Klingons were probably still on my tail! I once again kicked the ship to max speed, racing towards Taloraan. "No time to worry about that, it's time to face the fire." I said to myself as I got near two of the large starships near the battlefield.

The first obstacle I had to avoid was the capital ships. The star destroyers and the bulbous vessels focused their efforts on each other, but some shots got close, maybe too close. I maneuvered my ship erratically as they fought each other.

I almost thought I was clear as I passed through two-thirds of the battlefield, the ships ignoring me as I flew closer to the planet. All of a sudden, my console beeped as the sensors detected another ship pursuing me, thank the Goddesses it wasn't an enemy. The ship had a large fuselage with four large engines, and connected to those were wings, each wing boasting a laser cannon of some sort.



I removed my earbloom as I listened to the communication channel, the other ship's pilot was trying to talk to me. "This is Thunder 4 of Thunder Squadron, state your business on the surface."

Oh great, don't tell me to pull over when we're in the middle of a battle! I tapped the console and spoke to the pilot behind me. "Listen, my name is Littlepip, I'm a member of the Universal Alliance and I've just escaped from an enemy warship far away from the battle. I need to head to the surface so I can get back to my ship via transporter!" I held onto my controls as I waited for a response.

"Hmm, your ship's signal code registers as Rogue 3, that's Commander Antilles' ship you're in!" The pilot said as I replied.

"Yes, and that ship I escaped from stole it earlier! Look if you need to escort me down there I'll gladly accept, just don't shoot me down!"

"Very well, I'll ensure the commander's fighter is safe and so-" I was stunned by a blare of static as the ship behind me exploded, another ship following behind me. It looked like a ball with two pylons and two large, hexagonal wings.



"SHIT!" I yelped as I took control of the starfighter and flew towards the surface, my new pursuer following. I sped towards the surface, my pursuer firing green laser bolts as I flew, I got hit one time on the port engine, but I was alive, and tried to stay alive as I flew.

As I reached the atmosphere, I searched the console. "Dammit! Where's an auto-turret button when you need one?!" I let out a yelp of excitement as I found it, tapping it without a second to spare. Behind me, the ships turret spun and aimed at my pursuer, firing red laser bolts as I flew.

I reached the surface and sped between two large platforms, which carried cargo containers of some kind all over them, the enemy fighter behind me didn't hold back as he fired at me, missing and taking out some of the cargo tanks on one of the platforms ahead of me.

As I looked back, two more shots flew at the enemy ship, the latter one hitting it dead center. The cockpit exploded as the fighter burned through the clouds. I let out a cheer of victory as I steadied my ship.

"Woohoo! They must've been really stupid if they didn't have shields on that thing!" I said as I laughed, then ceased as I saw the large cloud city. It was massive, alright, it was a large circular platform that held over a dozen buildings, under it was a long spire that pointed down at the surface below.



"Wow... well let's look for a place to land." I said sheepishly to myself as I grabbed my control sticks and flew towards the city, looking for a safe area. 

How do you think they could build such a structure? The little pony in my head said as I searched, finally finding a landing pad on one of the lower areas of the city. I hoped my friends up there we're okay while I stowed away here, cause J'ula, from how she sounded, wanted me back alive, and I wasn't going to let her have me without a fight.
> Chapter 8: An Unwelcome Visitor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And together you and I can rule the Galaxy, make things the way we want them to be!"

Choices.

You have to make choices in order to survive. They can be choices for simple situations, and other times the decision you make could end your adventure just like that.

I made risky and heart-stopping choices during my adventure in the Wasteland, I chose to help Gawdyna Grimfeathers and her group against Shattered Hoof's old leaders, I chose to take another Party Time Mintal to do some convincing so I could have my memories removed, thus removing my weakness that the Goddess could use against me and my friends, and I chose to stay in the S.P.P. and stop the Enclave, giving my friends the chance to live the lives they deserved in the process.

And now that I was in the city of Taloraan, I had to make another choice, one that didn't just hold the fates of my friends back home, but perhaps trillions upon trillions of other worlds as well.

---------

I landed Wedge's starfighter on a large circular platform that looked big enough to hold a Starfleet runabout, a long pylon that acted as a walkway held the platform to the building. I opened the cockpit of the ship and hopped out, taking my visor off and putting it into my saddlebags, to think I managed to fly that large thing down here and not get shot down while wearing this.... yep, I was crazy!

Well, to be fair you were being chased by a ship that was bent on killing you, you didn't have time to take it off. The little pony in my head defended as I looked to the end of the platform, on the other side were two guards, a third exiting out of a large pair of doors and walking my way. From what I could make out, he was wearing a blue uniform and hat, and as he came closer, I could see red bands on the wrist sections of the shirt.

As I trotted over to the guard, he called out to me, "Hello, you aren't one of our scheduled arrivals, may you please state your business?"

I gave a polite smile as I told him the situation. "Okay, I know this sounds hard to understand, but I'm a member of a special defense group called the Universal Alliance, I've just escaped from an enemy vessel in orbit called the Lukara, and this fighter was stolen by them before I took it back. The original owner of the fighter is Commander Wedge Antilles, and he's onboard one of the ships that has followed the Lukara here to stop her."

The officer gave me a surprised look. "Well, you are right, that is difficult to believe, but with what we've found out, I have no choice but to believe you. We had recently detected another fleet in orbit, but our satellites didn't make them out as Alliance or Imperial." Those must've been the two sides clashing above us right now.

As we both started to walk towards the doors, I spoke to the guard. "Yeah, that makes sense. Well, if it isn't much trouble, I'd like to find a place to stay until my buddies up there can get me out of here, the Lukara's crew put a device that prevents me from being beamed out, so I'm on my own."

"I'm sure we can do that." The guard said as I gave a thankful smile. That smile was broken as another guard raced out the door of the tower. From what I could make out, he seemed to be in a panic as he raced towards us.

"Sir! Our satellites have shown several of the unknown vessels speeding towards the surface, I think they're going to attack!" The second officer said to us, my smile fading.

"It must be J'ula, let me see if I can call my frie-" I was cut off as I heard a surge of energy behind me. As I turned, a Klingon warrior started walking towards us, pulling out a sword-like weapon and pressing a button on it, the device unleashing blades of energy. 

I gasped as I saw the warrior and his (her?) new weapon, I'd never seen a soldier like this before, sure, they would've had the more basic bat'leth designs of the mid-23rd Century, but none of them had energy blades, and they didn't wear helmets like this one I saw, I assumed this was one of J'ula's elites.

"Oh, fuck me with the moon!" I said in annoyance as I turned to my friend, it just doesn't seem the world will give me a break today. "We need to run, that soldier will kill us!"

The two of us started running as my companion replied. "Let's get you someplace safe!" He then looked to the two door guards in front of us. "You two, cover us!" The guards nodded as they took positions behind two small barricades that were on the middle of the platform, pulling out their small pistols as the Klingon elite walked towards us.

As my escort and I entered the building, I took a look back. The guards began their defense as red laser bolts shot out of their pistols, later being deflected by the elite's blade. "Oh great, he can deflect laser fire! Could today get any worse?!" It would seem so as one of the bolts were deflected in the direction of one of the guards, the bolt hitting him right in the chest. He was surely dead. The elite then walked up to the second guard, deflecting more shots until he was close enough to strike at the guard with his blade, killing him instantly.

"LADY J'ULA DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE!" The elite warrior said in a muffled, mechanical tone. I could tell it was a female voice by how it sounded, despite the distortion added over it. My friend and I then continued down to the right of the tower, looking for the nearest elevator.

"We need to get lower into the city!" I said as we saw one of the elevators, my friend tapping a panel right next to it to open the doors. The moment they opened we ran inside, my friend pressing a button that read "LEVEL 4". The elevator started going down faster than I expected as we took a breath, my friend looking to me as he spoke.

"There's another elevator that will take us to the lowest area in the city," He pulled out a small circular device before pressing a button on it. "Here." The device showed a blue colored hologram of a large structure held by a large pylon, with a small walkway higher up on the structure, all of it surrounded by a spherical wall.



I nodded as the elevator finally stopped, opening to reveal a lower area of the city. We were outside again, but there were buildings all around us. My friend an I ran out of the elevator and stopped, looking for another elevator around us. I then heard a loud roar above us and looked up, two of J'ula's Birds of Prey had followed us down and were firing on the city, no... no they wouldn't dare!

I turned back to my friend as he found our target. "This way!" The two of us ran to our left, the next elevator in our sights. As my friend pressed a button on a console, the elevator's doors opened. We quickly stepped inside and the doors shut, the elevator moving downwards to our destination.

As we moved, my friend pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it. I assumed it was some kind of communicator. "Tavin to control, set the city on high alert! We have an intruder in the city and she's after one of our visitors, lock all elevators with a security code and have it sent to all units!"

"And get everyone evacuated, I think the invader's friends are trying to destroy this place!" I said to the communicator as another voice spoke up.

"Understood, be careful. Control out." As the device shut off, my friend and I waited, the elevator sliding down for a few more minutes until it stopped, the doors opening into a dark room with white and red lights. 

"Let's get up to the upper section, follow me!" We both raced out of the elevator and into the hallway, reaching the other end within half a minute.

[||||]

We reached the top of the structure after almost two minutes of riding another elevator, the doors opening to another hallway. We made our way to about two thirds of the hallway and saw a walkway ahead, small beams with red lights set up along the railings.

"This is one of the city's air-processing vanes," My comrade said as we took a look around, absorbing the sight and feeling the wind around us. "Not many people come down here other than maintenance teams."

As I listened, I kept my head up, not wanting to look down while being this high on the structure. I also heard some metal scraping behind us, but I assumed it was from machinery built into the walls. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Tavin, smiling as I spoke to him. "Thanks for helping me out. If it wasn't for you, the Alliance could've lost a valuable asset."

Tavin smiled back, "My pleasure. Once things clear up above us, we can get out of he-" He stopped as we both heard the door open behind us, pulling out our weapons and standing still. When nothing came out after a few seconds, we put our weapons away, Tavin turning back to me as he spoke. "Hmm, must've been a malfuncti-AAGGHH!" He gasped in pain as the elite impaled him through the back, her body appearing behind a shifting green field of energy. She was wearing a stealth suit!

"No!" I said in shock as I pulled out my disruptor pistol and fired several shots, all of them hitting the warriors blade before she swung down on the gun, cutting it in two. I pulled out Little Macintosh and took aim. The last bullet in the gun went into the blade, but the elite grunted, I surely hit her somehow.

My excitement was over as soon as it had started as the elite swung again at Little Macintosh, the barrel of the gun being cut off from the rest of the weapon, both pieces falling to the floor.

"NO!" I yelled again as I pointed a hoof to my precious gun, the elite took the advantage and swung a third time, slicing at my Pipleg. I screamed from the pain as I clutched my wound, my forehoof hitting the ground between me and the elite. The warrior pointed her weapon's blade at my head, I lurched my head back as she spoke in a low voice.

"You can't fight me, don't test my patience, equine." She said as I grabbed Little Macintosh and my dismembered arm in my magic, putting the former into my saddlebags as I scooted backwards towards the walkway's edge.

"You have shown some formidable skill on our flagship, little one. You could have a higher potential in our ranks, you won't have to live by a rulebook that permits the corruption of history!" The warrior said as I glared at her, tears welling in my eyes from the pain in my cauterized forearm.

"I wouldn't dare side with monsters like you! You disrespected one of my friends, killed innocent people! What makes you think I would want to side with you?!" I said back at the elite angrily, reaching onto the large beacon at the end of the walkway.

"To save your friends, Littlepip." I heard a voice I hadn't heard in ten years from behind the elite, who stepped out of the way to reveal our new visitor. My pupils shrunk as I saw him, he had a red coat and a pair of robotic legs on the back half of his body, along with a black mane and tail and a cybernetic eye. He also had a Pipbuck, slivers of red running along the edges of it. The last detail I noticed was the cape he wore around his neck, the number "101" bore on the side of it.

My grip felt weak for a moment, but I steadied my grip as I spoke to Red Eye. "No.... no, you died, at the cathedral... I KILLED YOU!"

Red Eye gave a faint smirk as he replied, "It was nothing J'ula couldn't fix." 

"one was a member of a large group that was lead by the entity known as "The Goddess", he has been rescued from a dishonorable death at the hands of one of his enemies the people of this world know as the "Light Bringer". He has shown his gratefulness at our rescue and we have repaired his body using our gifts from the entity called "Na'kuhl"." I remembered from the audio log I listened to as I buried my head into the beacon, crying from the pain and from the knowledge that one of the Wastelands most notorious enemies was back, alive and well with us.

"Littlepip, you could do so much more with what you've become. You could bring the Wasteland back to it's former glory, there wouldn't have to be a war that destroys our land. Your friends could have the lives they deserve... We could be friends." My old nemesis monologued as I looked down for once, the ground was far down, but I thought I saw a few vents down below.

"Please Littlepip, there is nowhere else to run." Red Eye said as his elite guard stood at the ready, making sure I don't try to fight back.

"..Oh yeah?" I replied as I slowly let go of the beacon, falling to the vents. I swore I saw Red Eye frowning down at me, disappointed that I refused his offer. I looked away as I fell into one of the vents, sliding through the cylindrical tube that guided the air to where it needed to go. 

I eventually stopped sliding as I reached a hatch, looking around as I tried to relax. I then heard a beep as the hatch started to open.

"Oh no." I said as I slid through the vent, another hatch opening and leading to the underside of the city. I hit one of the antennae, yelping as I felt pain in my lower areas. I saw my falling arm and caught it again in my magic, bringing it up to me as the hatch above closed.

Thank the Goddesses it still worked, I tapped the Pipbuck fused into my dismembered arm as I tried to locate a friendly frequency. As I searched, I heard several loud booms above the city, the Klingons were destroying this place, and I would die here.

I pulled out an earbloom as I found a frequency, the signal coming from Wedge's ship. I listened as he talked to the Harmony. "Wedge to Harmony, I've acquired my ship and am returning to the ship."

"Any sign of Littlepip?" Twilight's voice sounded through the earpiece.

"No, I'll take anoth-" He stopped as I heard him holding his helmet. 

"Under the city." I heard a chorus of female voices say as Wedge spoke up again.

"I know where they are, I'll get her and head back once I have her." He said as I heard the ship turn around. "Hold on, R5." I could hear the droid beep as I pulled my earbloom out, hearing the voices again.

"Call this our repayment for your rescue attempt." The voices of the three alicorns I saved on the Lukara said as I gave a faint smile.

"Thank you." I said quietly to the voices as the city shook, another hit to its upper area.

After a few minutes, I saw a small ship heading my way. I put my earbloom back on and listened as Wedge's ship flew to my position. "There she is." The starfighter flew over to me, stopping right under me as the back window of the cockpit opened.

"Hop in!" Wedge said as I let go of the large antennae, landing hard in the back seat as I spoke.

"Go!" Wedge closed the cockpit and we flew, the city above us starting to fall. The ship went to full speed as we barely passed under the city's edge, flying upwards towards the sky. I forced myself up to look at the city of Taloraan, it was burning, buildings collapsing and flying apart as the city's artificial gravity failed, sending everyone left on that city to their deaths. To my sides, I saw several civilian ships flying up with us. I smiled as I knew there would be survivors.

"All civilian ships, meet at these coordinates!" Wedge said as he tapped his console, sending the Harmony's location to the ships. The clouds covering my view as we left Taloraan's surface.

When the clouds cleared, I saw the Harmony and the Stratus' fleet. They were stationed right above us as we flew closer, avoiding the enemy ships and weapons fire from what was left of the two fleets. A Bird of Prey flew towards us, firing several disruptors at us before several Phaser beams hit its hull, the ship breaking off as the Aquarius came into view. I owed those kids a drink when I was all fixed up.

"This is the Harmony, we're opening the shuttlebay doors!" Twilight said through Wedge's console as he banked, leveling his ship with the Harmony as we entered the shuttlebay.

I put my earbloom back on as I changed the frequency to the Lukara's comms. I heard Red Eye's voice speak up.

"What's our status?" The cyberpony said as one of his officers replied.

"Our tractors are ready, the blockade is standing by."

"Excellent, ready our boarding parties, and find Littlepip, I want her alive."

"Yes, Sir." The officer said as I removed my earbloom, tapping my communicator and speaking.

"Littlepip to Bridge, the Lukara's blocking us with their fleet. They're trying to capture us!" I said as Wedge's ship landed, my body bouncing up slightly from the landing gear's recoil. I heard the princess respond back.

"Understood, we'll find a way through them. Rarity, can you extend our repulsor beams?"

"Yes, it'll take some of our weapon power, but I can do it."

"Excellent! Get it set up quickly. Apple Bloom, ready the warp drive!"

"Ya got it!" I heard Apple Bloom say as the cockpit opened, myself being levitated out by one of the ship's unicorn medical officers. Steelhooves, Blackjack and Fluttershy were also there, all of them gasping with shock as they saw my dismembered Pipleg.

"She need's medical attention, quickly." Wedge said as Steelhooves assisted me in walking to the nearby door, Fluttershy carrying my cut off arm with her wing. I grabbed my earbloom again as I looked to Fluttershy.

"M-Mind if I borrow that?" Fluttershy nodded and handed me my arm, I grabbed it with my magic and changed the frequency to the Harmony's bridge.

"The Aquarius has re-docked with our ship, repulsors ready!" I heard Rarity say as I felt the Harmony accelerate towards the blockade.

"Now!" Twilight said as I heard the repulsor beams go off, the enemy fleet being pushed away from us.

"The path's clear, warp drive's ready!" Rainbow Dash said as my friends and I neared the door to sickbay.

"Engage!" Twilight ordered, and a few seconds later I felt the ship shake for a moment, the shaking ceasing as the Harmony and its allies jumped to warp.

I took a breath as we were finally away from the battle, Steelhooves and I keeping up with the rest of our group as we entered sickbay. I laid down on a bed and rested, Steelhooves standing next to me as I handed Fluttershy my dismembered Pipleg.

"Oh dear, how did this happen?" The yellow Pegasus asked as I replied.

"It.. got cut off by a melee energy weapon." I said as I tried to get comfortable.

"Her pipbuck was also fused to her arm during one of our earlier missions back home." Steelhooves explained to Fluttershy.

"Well, I can remove it if you want, but I may have to take it apart." Fluttershy said with a frown.

"There's data on it. I'll extract it all, then take it apart." I told the medical mare as she nodded, handing me the Pipleg as I began the process.

"I'll stay with her, she needs someone to be here for her." Steelhooves said as he sat with me, watching as I started the download.

I looked to my old friend and said, "I'm so happy you're back with us." I said as I laughed softly. As Steelhooves cocked his head at me I answered his curiosity. "We've both had a hell of a day, haven't we?" 

Steelhooves joined in the laughing as he replied. "Yeah."

As the download completed, I handed Fluttershy my arm and she began her work. I laid my head down as sleep caught me, Steelhooves sitting by my side as I shut my eyes. I needed rest, we all did. I'd succeeded in my mission, and we all had to take a break before continuing in our pursuit of J'ula.

As I let myself fall to the comfort of sleep, I smiled faintly as I thought, "I sure fucked her day up, didn't I?"
> Chapter 9: Reopening Old Wounds/Into the Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There's a storm comin'."

Peace.

Peace is something we all desire, no matter what the situation is. We all have to relax at some point, but there are many things in the world that will make you work and fight for it.

I had to make friends to make the land of Equestria better, I had to fight foes bent on turning the Wasteland into their own twisted version of our old nation, I had to take on missions from my enemies to take them out, and I had to take control of the weather to stop the Enclave and allow the people of the Wasteland to work together in rebuilding Equestria.

And today, I had been through one hell of an adventure. And for the moment, I could finally take a break.

--------

It'd been about two days since I'd been fixed up, my forearm pipbuck-free and working as good as new. The pipbuck, however, was worse for wear. Fluttershy had to take it apart piece by piece to perform the surgery, leaving my old friend I'd had ever since my Cutie Mark Party back at Stable 2 as nothing but pieces of metal, wires and screws. Fortunately, I used some of my recently acquired engineering skills and rebuilt it, giving it a few upgrades such as the ability to scan and analyze minerals, display holographic images as well as create temporary photonic guards for a rough situation, and of course, gave it the ability to communicate with any allied signatures, thanks to a touch of my magic being added to its repaired spell matrix.

As for Little Macintosh, it was easier to fix. I had taken it apart,  gotten the damaged barrel fixed, and rebuilt the gun into a bullet/magic firing hybrid. The gun still had its trademark scope, as well as the old three apples on it, but now there were two barrels, one for bullets, and another for magical energy blasts.

As for the survivors, the alicorns and Blackjack's team have offered to help us in stopping J'ula, Wedge recruiting the two captured soldiers into the U.A. and heading off with the Alliance starship Freedom's Dawn. I'd contacted Daniels to have Steelhooves up for recruitment as a new agent, and was accepted, the two of us assigned to the Harmony to assist them in their missions.

We'd arrived at Twilight's Equus for our break, it was beautiful down there, Steelhooves and I were shown around by Twilight and her friends, met her world's Ditzy Doo, and even visited the Princesses! It was one memory I'd never forget, the only issue being that I wished my other friends were here to see it all. (And yes, I treated the students to a set of Sparkle Cola for their efforts, fresh from the replicator!)

In my quarters, Steelhooves and I sat and examined the data we'd acquired from the Lukara two days ago, with the assistance of Snowdrop, of course. Some of the files showed new starship designs and revealed new assets that J'ula had acquired. But I found one that caught my attention.

"I think I've found something here." I said as my two friends walked up to the console I was using, reading the log I was looking at.

"Starship Log, Stardate 4471.5, Lady J'ula commanding: I've made plans for the new worlds we've discovered with the assistance of the Multiverse Sphere, we will expand the empire to every universe we can conquer! With the new structure my adversaries call the "Star Forge", I can build a limitless army for my house. The Alliance will be forfeit the moment they discover my new weapon. As for our list of targets, Starfleet's newest temporal operative has shown quite the capabilities that could threaten my operations. I believe it is time we begin our campaign against the multiverse. We shall make our first assault on Universe #3127, then make a stronghold within Universe #2537, take control of or wipe out the towns and cities there and build a new, powerful fortress over the planet. It is time that House Mo'kai has it's vengeance against those who dare to challenge us!"

I heard Snowdrop gasp as I stared at the log, Steelhooves looking to me as I spoke. "They're heading for our home, Velvet, Calamity and Xenith are all on the chopping block." 

"This isn't good." Steelhooves said as I tapped the console, the log disappearing from the screen as I walked to the window.

"She's insane." Snowdrop said as I turned around and faced her. 

"Snowdrop, could you please let Twilight know of our findings? Steelhooves and I need a moment." Snowdrop nodded with a smile as she trotted out of the room, a PADD clutched in one of her wings.

After she was out of the room, I looked to my old friend, smiling faintly. "Well, it's time to revisit the old folk's home, huh?"

"Yes." Steelhooves said as I walked over, my smile turning into a frown as I spoke to him.

"Steelhooves... I'm sorry."

"For what?" Steelhooves questioned, not knowing what I was talking about.

"About your friend, Star Sparkle. I... I failed to save her, the Enclave destroyed Canterlot and wiped out all but two of the residents... Star wasn't among them." I said as I looked to the Applejack's Ranger, seeking forgiveness.

"...You are forgiven, Littlepip." I raised an eyebrow, I was expecting a scolding from my old friend for failing in saving one pony he cared about deeply, not this. He continued. "I saw what happened at Canterlot via J'ula's recordings, and while I was disappointed that she was gone, you were not at fault, Littlepip. Neither you nor your friends expected such a travesty to happen."

I nodded in understanding as he finished. "And besides, she's in a better place now... at peace."

"With her daughter, I believe." I said as we both turned to face the window.

"Yes, and as far as I know, she would want us to help our friends, before our new enemy strikes again." I nodded in agreement as we looked back to each other, myself wanting to change the subject after tying up that loose end.

"So, about your suit, what did J'ula do specifically?" I asked as he cleared his throat.

"From what I remember, they sent an away team to Stable 29 and recovered my body from the grave. After doing so, they surgically removed the suit from my body, rebuilding it into an improved variant. This new version has an upgraded EFS and also allows my missile launchers to shift to micro phase cannons." He then tapped a section of his helmet, his visor glowing a bright green similar to my pipbuck's screen. "It also has a scanner built into it."

I stared in amazement, my jaw on the floor. I stole a valuable asset, alright. "Wow." Was all I could let out as Steelhooves let out a chuckle.

"Yeah. As for myself, my corpse was too decayed to be repaired, so they took a sample of my DNA from the least damaged area and, through several attempts, cloned me. I was then told of J'ula's plan and made into one of her soldiers. And... there's something else." He said as he pointed to his helmet, making me confused.

"You... want me to take off your helmet?" I asked, to which he nodded. Reluctantly, I separated the helmet from the suit's joints and lifted it, revealing the head of a stallion with a bright green coat and yellow hair, along with yellow irises in his eyes. I was looking at the face of Applesnack.

I stared with surprise as my friend was no longer a ghoul, he was a normal stallion. "Wow... You look great." I said with a smile as Steelhooves replied, his voice no longer metallic like it was when he had his helmet on.

"Yeah, I feel one of the crewmen on this ship will be having quite an interesting time with me." I nodded as I knew he was talking about Applejack, oh how surprised she would sound when he told her about his past.

Our moment of bonding was interrupted when the two of us heard the Red Alert klaxon go off. "Red Alert, all superior officers to the bridge!"

"Looks like it's time that we get ready." Steelhooves said as I nodded and put his helmet back on, the two of us grabbing our supplies and heading for the Harmony's bridge.

(||||)

As the turbolift doors opened, Steelhooves and I walked up to the bridge, the crew were all at their stations, the two of us joining up near Applejack as Twilight saw us. "Ah good, I hope you're ready for another fight, Littlepip. Long range sensors have detected J'ula's fleet nearby."

"We've made a new station for ya, Littlepip." Applejack said as she pointed a hoof at a console on the right side of the bridge, I looked at it and made my way there, Steelhooves taking a moment to talk to Applejack.

"When we finish up at our Equus, I need to tell you something important." My friend said as Applejack gave him a quizzical look, but nodded as Steelhooves made his way back to my station. 

"From here, I can reverse shield polarity, eject plasma out of the nacelles, and emit an unstable warp bubble." I said as I analyzed the controls, Steelhooves looking on as Blackjack, Morning Glory, P-21, Boo, Rampage, Lacunae and Scotch Tape all entered the bridge, trotting over to me.

"You didn't think we'd let you seize all of the glory, did you?" Blackjack said as I smiled.

"Of course not, and I'm glad to have you all along." Blackjack and her friends all gave smiles as Twilight talked to the crew.

"What's the Stratus' status?"

"She's all set, along with her escorts." Rainbow Dash said as Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"Shields at 100%."

Rarity was the next to give her status. "All weapons are charged, Torpedo inventory is full, and the deflector array is at full power... perhaps a photonic fleet will bring a good fight to J'ula?"

Twilight smirked as she replied. "Definitely, and the warp drive?" 

"Purrin' like a kitten, Twi." Applejack said as Twilight faced the viewscreen, her face as stern as ever as she gave the order.

"Take us out." With that, Steelhooves and I looked to the screen as the ship moved forward, leaving the large drydock as it joined up with the Stratus and her fleet.

Rainbow Dash tapped the console as the Harmony's deflector dish fired a blue beam of energy at a spot in space before it turned into a wormhole of sorts, the portal that would lead to our Equus.

"The portal's been deployed, we're ready on your word, Twilight!" The rainbow-maned pegasus said as the Princess of Friendship gave the word.

"Take her in, Rainbow." Rainbow nodded as she tapped her console, the ship and it's escorts heading into the anomaly. We we're surrounded by a glowing tunnel of blue a moment later. The moment we came out, we would head into battle once again with J'ula's forces, trying to save the rebuilding Wasteland on the planet below, not to mention my old friends. And not only would I save them, I would ask them for their help. I would need it if we were going to stop J'ula once and for all.

 TO BE CONTINUED...