Operation Sombra

Lord Captain Gilda sat on her chair in the bridge, gazing silently at the tactical readouts on the holographic display in front of her chair.

After several minutes of checking the strike force's status, she looked over at the stallion at the helm. Fury Comet, her first mate and newly wed husband, was grinning slightly. It was hard to tell. He always wore cloaks or uniforms that obscured most of his body. Only Gilda and Drake, a Pegasus rear admiral of the Solar Empire, had ever seen his cutie mark, which is his most valuable secret. He was grim and loved explosives.

Gilda was wearing a fancy suit and hat showing her status. She preffered her shotgun in combat, and had had the thing since she joined. After the incident, oh, what, nine, maybe ten years ago? Anyway, she shaped up, realizing Dash had been her only friend, and she had thrown her away. The space program was her best bet.

Then, in walked the two ponies Gilda loved being around, if only for their unique company.

The first was Twilight Sparkle. Once a tender, loving librarian and the Element of Magic, Twilight has emotionally changed over the war. Being kidnapped by Gilda and the New Lunar Republic, she saw the horrors of the war up close and personal. She was still her good old self, but not quite as funny or emotional. She wore a light vest with the Republic's insignia stamped on its shoulders.

The second was Rainbow Dash. Thought dead during almost the entire war, she came back, alive and well, and part of the Moonjumpers, a mysterious and militaristic group that served under Princess Io, Luna and Celestia's older sister, who had also miraculously returned after being banished by Discord for one thousand some odd years. While still being her wise-cracking, dare devil self, Dash wore her armor a lot, so she towered several feet above most ponies in the menacing black suit. She also was very grim at times, and can be quite the opposite of the old, optimistic Rainbow Dash.

War changes ponies. They were all no different.

Twilight started talking first. "Gilda, I heard a report that there is one squad still not here, but when I look on the list, everypony is here and accounted for. Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

Gilda chuckled. "Of course." she said sarcastically. "Well, we have, oh, four more passengers to take on, then we're off."

"Hey, you got a lot more than four!" came an indignant voice over the comm, to which everypony in the room smiled.

Fury turned to the comm. "Hello, Admiral! How are you doing!"

A laugh came from the other end. "Good to see you too, Fury." came Rear Admiral Drake's voice. "Anyway, is it possible that you could squeeze in, oh, a battleship, a pair of cruisers, four frigates, and an Interdictor Crusier?" An Interdictor Cruiser had a special generator that caused any Teleportation Drives in its area to malfunction when used.

Gilda nodded. "Sure Drake. We'll send you the coordinates for the Crystal System here in a minute. We're waiting for one last shuttle before we take our leave."

"That's us, right?" came another voice, one Twilight knew too well.

"Rarity?" she said, a smile starting to spread across her face.

"Yea, Sugercube, it's us." came Applejack's voice.

"Guys!?" stuttered Twilight, astonished.

"Darling, please, don't tire yourself out. I believe Captain Gilda has promised us some training. You included. So dear, save it for the simulator."

Twilight smiled. Apparently she wasn't the only one changed, and Rarity's gun-ho-ness pleased her greatly.

"Alright, come on aboard. Training starts tommorow, so you best get on board." Twilight grinned into the comlink.

Then, Gilda took over. She turned to the comm and began giving orders in her normal fashion. "Alright, dweebs. All ships, we jump for the coordinates on my mark. All units and ships, report in."

"Sixth Republic Fleet, reporting."

"Second Imperial Fleet, reporting."

"Crystal Empire Prism, reporting."

"Fourteenth Republic Infantry Division, reporting."

"Eighth Imperial Infantry Division, reporting."

"Fifth Imperial Mechanized Division, Reporting."

Gilda nodded as several more reports came in. When all the reports finished, she turned to an officer hovering over a peers console. "Soldier, is the shuttle aboard?"

"Aye, ma'am."

Gilda nodded. "All ships, Mark!"

From the windows of all the ships, ponies could see the stars replaced by the colors of teleportation travel. By the distance and speed of teleport spells, they had 3600 hours before they arrived.