An Alien in Need, is a Friend Indeed

Chapters

Chapter 1: Rude Welcoming
Chapter 2: Gas for Dadab?
Chapter 3: A Crime Against Fashion
Chapter 4: Awkward Meeting
Chapter 5: Culture Shock
Chapter 6: Yes, Holy One
Chapter 7: Et Tu Brute?
Chapter 8: Trixie's Experiment
Chapter 9: Everfree Ruckus
Chapter 10: Trixie's Wrath
Chapter 11: Horse Feathers
Chapter 12: Discord's Journal
Chapter 13 - Aliens Be Here

Chapter 1: Rude Welcoming

Dadab awoke with a painful jolt. He put a four-fingered hand to his forehead, moaning. His thick cranium felt like a crushed watermelon, if aliens ate earth fruit. Not only that, his limbs hung limp like they were noodles. And wherever location he was in, the sunlight hurt his eyes. His current condition was comparable to that of a young individual after a night of hard partying and consumption of fermented beverages

To make matters worse for the alien, his gas meter told him his methane supply was running dangerously short. He would have to hit the gas somewhere, somehow, or he would eventually suffocate in a few hours.

After an unfortunate encounter with a hammer known as the Fist of Rukt from a certain Jiralhanae chieftain, it would seem karma was not yet done with the poor Unggoy. With another weary groan, the short, stocky alien pulled himself up from the ground, and sniffed the air. It smelled sweet, thick, and warm. Warm...not cold, which meant no methane to breathe, only oxygen. He made finding a gas supply his number one priority. His second: find out where in the Prophets' names he was.

Looking around, he discovered he was at the edge of some kind of dark, scary looking forest. The heavily verdant woods seemed to extend outwards for dozens of miles. The land around the forest though was positively beautiful, colorful, and peaceful looking. Flowers, tall grasses, and birds of diverse varieties dominated the area. A little brook babbled somewhere nearby, out of the grunt's line of sight. All in all, the region was much like the human planet Harvest, where Dadab last remembered being.

This gave Dadab an idea, perhaps he was still on Harvest, but he had gotten knocked out somehow in his fight against the mohawked-brute Tartarus. Still thinking about the fight, a loud noise brought the Grunt's surroundings back to his attention. He heard what sounded like ragged breathing.

Dadab looked around again, this time to the ground near him. Laying in the grass, was the source of the annoying wheezing. It was a Kig-Yar, a jackal. The bird like alien was face down, apparently unaware of the grunt's presence. Dadab picked up a twig, and poked the other alien twice. It twitched, but did not roll over. With a grunt of effort, the Unggoy flipped the jackal over onto it's back to get a good look at it.

It's avian-reptilian head gave it the appearance of a buzzard or falcon, crossed with an alligator. What distinguished it, however, was the lack of spines on it's head. This one was a female, and one Dadab just so happened to know all too well. He checked his belt, and seeing his plasma pistol, swiftly pulled it out, training it on the Kig-Yar. As the jackal came to, she saw the Unggoy, and narrowed her ruby-red eyes. She started chattering to him rapidly in the Kig-Yar's native language. Neither was obviously happy to see the other.

The jackal in front of Dadab was none other than Shipmistress Chur'R-Yar, or Yar for short. Former shipmistress would be a more adept designation for her, as she had blown up their starship, the Minor Transgression, in an effort to stop a human from taking the valuable treasure Yar had been secretly hoarding on board. In the ensuing explosion, she nearly killed Dadab and his engineer friend, Lighter Than Some, but they survived. The rest of the crew was not lucky enough to say the same.

Naturally, Dadab could be forgiven for wanting to attack the jackal. Just as he was about to respond to Yar's angry chattering tirade, something in the corner of his vision caught his attention. Up in the sky, Dadab saw briefly what resembled some kind of winged quadruped creature, flying in a direction away from the forest. It didn't give any indication it had seen him, and had continued on its flight path to parts unknown. Writing it off as nothing for now, the grunt finally spoke.

"What you angry about? I'm not the one who blew up the ship. You almost killed me and Lighter Than Some, birdbrain!"

Yar chattered something back. This angered Dadab further. "Who are you calling a useless gas sucker?"

This time with a mocking tone, Yar chattered in response a third time. "No, I was not hopped up on infusion. I would like to see you fight evil human with this friggin pea shooter! I wanted plasma rifle, but big old meanie quartermaster said I was too much of a 'half-pint'. The nerve of that guy!" Dadab began pounding the grass with his stubby little fists in frustration.

The jackal had finally stood up. At her full height, Yar was almost a head taller than Dadab. She still had her shield gauntlet on her wrist, as well as her needler at her hip. She carried both things with her at all times, and now stared down at the grunt.

"Me wish Lighter Than Some was still here. I need more gas." Dadab declared. Yar merely shrugged at him, indicating she had no idea how to solve his problem. Dadab started to throw a fit, but then he calmed down. "I think we are still on human planet Harvest. Maybe there are friends nearby, they have gas for me?"

While Chur'R-Yar had no strong desire to follow a lowly grunt around, she figured it would be better to try and find a nearby Covenant position with a grunt under her command rather than alone, for fear she might be mistaken as a human from the distance and sniped down by her brethren. And as a bonus, she could get the no-good gas sucker out of her feathers once and for all. She garbled out an order to Dadab.

"I no like you, but I might as well follow you, if it will get me methane. Following, 'boss'!" He replied. At that, Yar got a look at their surroundings. She wasn't about to go into the dark forest, the grunt would be too cowardly to enter with her anyhow. Looking over her shoulder she noticed what resembled a dirt road of some kind leading off over a hill. Yar was willing to gamble that her allies had established an encampment along it in hopes of ambushing human travelers. Where there were Covenant, there would be gas for Unggoy, and a ticket back home.

Just before the pair could set off however, something shook in the bushes near them. The creature made a growling noise. Without hesitation, Yar ignited her shield, and equipped her needler, crouching into a defensive stance. Dadab readied his pistol as well. It was then that the potential threat decided to strike.

Ten quadruped creatures with long snouts, and bulbous, glowing green eyes leaped out of the overgrowth at the edge of the forest. The pack moved in rapid succession. Instead of flesh or fur, they were made strangely of hardy tree bark and moss, and held together with sap. They all stood in place, growling at their next meal.

Yar had many plans, and being breakfast for indigenous wildlife was not one of them. She fired seven rounds from her needler, the pink crystalline projectiles homed in on their targets. One of the beasts was struck with all seven, and it erupted in a pink explosion, a super combine. The blast blew it and its fellow next to it into a pile of burning wood fragments, which were far too damaged to reassemble like normal. The Kig-Yar chattered in exhilaration.

Counterattacking, the beasts attempted to get around her shield gauntlet, but Dadab provided cover fire on her flank with his pistol, distracting them and injuring two of the creatures. The short alien pulled out a blue sphere from a pouch in his armor, and pressed the button in it's center, causing it to pulse with a blue light. Tossing it at one of the beasts, he shouted, "Here's one for your momma!" It stuck to one of the predators' snouts, causing it to yelp in alarm. The device, a plasma grenade, detonated, bathing it and four more of its comrades in a super-heated antimatter explosion. Only three of the beasts now stood alive.

With no bravado remaining, the beasts retreated back into the dark canopy of the forest, whimpering loudly as they ran. "We're champions!" Dadab exclaimed.

He started jumping up and down excitedly. Chur'R-Yar simply blinked at him. "What?"

The jackal chirped something back to him.

"What do you mean it was just a lucky throw? Grunts can be good fighters too, ya know!" Chur responded simply with what had to be the jackal version of a chuckle. Dadab didn't say anything much else after this, as they set off down the road. After approximately ten minutes had past, they chanced upon something.

Instead of finding a Covenant encampment, or even a gun or vehicle emplacement, they found some kind of town. Something was odd though. It looked nothing like the human settlements that were supposed to be dotting the countryside.

The buildings were not metal or concrete, but wood, bricks, thatch, and other more primitive building materials. Even stranger, one of the buildings seemed to actually be a hollowed out tree. Seeing that particular structure, Chur was instantly reminded of Kig-Yar houses in the forests of Eayn, where she was born. Feeling nostalgic, and at least a little bit nervous, she ordered Dadab to follow her into the township.

As they neared the small town, they duo finally got a glimpse of its inhabitants. Instead of humans, as the aliens had been expecting, they resembled the large quadruped creature Dadab had seen earlier, except for the fact that all the ones they could see at the moment either had no wings, or possessed some kind of horn on their foreheads. None of them had seen the duo yet.

"I no think we're on Harvest anymore, Shipmistress." Dadab declared, quite nervously. Yar chattered back.

"Alright, I'm moving boss." He ran, using his arms to speed himself up, and prepared to enter the town.

The jackal readied her shield, but did not yet draw her needler from her hip. Grunts were always cannon fodder, and if Dadab's meeting with these strange creatures turned awry, he would distract them long enough for Chur to make a quick getaway into the nearby woods. As she stood and carefully observed Dadab walking awkwardly into the settlement, she did not realize someone was watching her from the nearby woods along the side of the road.

"What are those two doing here?" The voice said with a haughty tone.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie only requires you for her purposes. You are to play an important role in my plans, my floating luminescent little friend." The subject of her words responded with a soft series of whistles. Its body flashed blue lights across the sacks that kept it airborne.

"Trixie cannot understand you dear, but she knows you can understand her. If your friends attempt to interfere with my plans by rescuing you, The Great and Powerful Trixie will have to dispose of them. Mark my words, that annoying unicorn will get what's coming to her, and if anypony, even an alien tries to get in my way, they will be dealt with severely."

The Engineer Lighter Than Some responded with a distressed whistle, and curled up into a ball, trying to shy away from the azure-colored unicorn. His buoyancy sacks glowed purple as he drifted. Trixie laughed malevolently at the Huragok's discomfort.

"Plans, plans, plans." She trotted off, tugging the alien along with her using her magic. The Engineer was too frightened to resist. Trixie laughed ever more intensely as she went, disappearing into the shadows of the overgrowth.

Chapter 2: Gas for Dadab?

Quite unlike his ‘boss’, Dadab had no reservations or inhibitions about meeting with what seemed to be a strange but peaceful new species. What irked him though, was how his companion had forced him to meet with the locals by himself. He may be smart, but the Unggoy was no diplomat, nor a true politician. That was the Prophets’ jobs.

Just before he entered the town to announce his presence, he looked back behind him at the road. Chur was still standing there, eagerly waiting and watching what was to transpire.

Dadab approached a stream spanned by a medium bridge of solid wood and stone construction. He poked at it with his hoof-like foot. It seemed of the sturdy enough sort. With a few tentative steps, the grunt crossed the bridge into town. “Why do Grunts always go first?” He mused.

Fluttershy was perusing around the Ponyville market, was on the look out for a cherry stand. The last one she tried had attempted to sucker her out of a few extra bits; bits she couldn't afford to spend. She may be timid, but Fluttershy would not allow herself to become a pushover for mean ponies who care only about making tidy profits off of others.

Seeing a sign depicting stylized freshly picked cherries, Fluttershy set off for the other stand’s location. As she trotted, she closed her eyes and hummed a pleasant melody. Because of this, she didn’t notice some of the strange expressions on many of the ponies' faces around her. A few looked shocked, others confused, and some curious. Without warning, somepony nudged her in the side, breaking Fluttershy out of her peaceful melody. Her eyes opened quickly in alarm.

Immediately afterwards, a comically high-pitched voice, too high to belong to a pony, asked her a question. “Excuse me friend, do you have any gas for Dadab?”

Not looking to see who had just asked her the question, she let out a loud squeak and jumped behind a pile of apple cider barrels. Shaking, she peeked ever so slightly over them. “Who...who said that?” She chirped, barely above a whisper.

The source of the question appeared in front of the barrels, bringing himself to Fluttershy’s attention. He was a short, stocky little biped. His arms were big, and his feet vaguely resembled hooves, were it not for the three big toes that jutted out of them. Where Fluttershy assumed the creature’s mouth was, he had equipped a mask, possibly for breathing. He was wearing light orange armor and had what appeared to be some kind of backpack on.

They both just stared at each other, before the alien finally said, “Gas, methane? You understanding me?” in a hopeful voice.

Fluttershy was unsure of how to respond. “What? You... you want methane gas? I..I wouldn't know anything about that, you should talk to my friend Twilight about that, she knows everything...um, if you want to, that is.”

Dadab pawed at the dirt uncertainly with his fingers. “Where do I find this ‘Twilight’? Middle of town? By the way, where am I?”

Slightly losing her fright over the alien, Fluttershy got up from behind the barrels, allowing Dadab to get a good look at her. She was like the large creature he had seen in the sky earlier, except her color was yellow, the other had a coat the sky-blue color of methane, the color of which any self-respecting grunt would know. “You’re in Ponyville. And yes, in the...the tree house over there, it’s the town library, but she also lives there. She should know where you can find some umm... gas. Like I said, Twilight...Twilight is the one who knows everything around here.” Fluttershy whispered rapidly.

Dadab could relate, being the smartest of his massive family back on Balaho. Unfortunately, most Unggoy take little stock in brain power, so his high grunt IQ didn’t merit him many accommodations outside of the Covenant, except when one time he devised a more effective method of hunting scrub grub pests, a popular pass time.

Fluttershy pointed a hoof in the Library’s direction. “Last I checked, Twilight should still be home, studying. Umm... good luck mister..”

The grunt jumped up and down casually. “You can call me Dadab. You seem nice, me like you. I go now to get gas so I don’t die. Bye-bye nice lady.”

“Oh my! Um...nice meeting you too, mister... Dadab.” Fluttershy whispered back. She made a mental note to tell the rest of her friends about the creature named Dadab as soon as possible. At least he didn't seem like a threat, although Fluttershy did notice what consciously looked like a weapon on the alien’s belt.

Dadab made his way towards the Golden Oaks Library, occasionally glancing at the locals. Everyone was unsure of how to approach or deal with the strange creature in their streets. Not wanting to take chances with such an exotic looking biped, many elected to just keep their distance, and looked at him with curiosity, creating at least a little awkwardness in the process.

Their glances creeped the grunt out a bit. “At least me know one of them is nice, what if some of the others want to eat Dadab? At least there no humans around, me no like alien meanies.” Dadab muttered to himself. He drew his pistol and thumped his head with it, trying to shake out such morbid thoughts and remain optimistic.

After what seemed to be an eternity of creepy stares, Dadab finally reached the front door of the tree house. The Unggoy propped himself near a window, and peered inside. The mare Fluttershy had been right, it was a library. He saw rows and rows of bookshelves, and sure enough, in the middle of the room, was somepony Dadab assumed to be Twilight. The creature had her horn in the air, and was levitating books in various directions, evidently re-shelving them. The sight of magic intrigued Dadab, who was always the most curious one of any group. The floating books also reminded him slightly of his Huragok friend, and he felt of small pang of sadness. Dadab filed the emotion away for later, more appropriate times. He approached the door, and knocked on the wood enthusiastically, awaiting the owner’s response.

Far off back on the road, Chur’R Yar had made note that no plasma fire or yelling had broken out. That must mean Dadab’s meeting with the locals has gone smoothly. With her keen Kig-Yar vision, she was able to see that Dadab had engaged in conversation with one of the winged creatures, who pointed in the direction of the tree house Yar had first noticed. The little grunt was now making his way there. She decided that if it was safe for him, it must be safer for her to enter as well. As the jackal entered Ponyville, Chur kept her needler close at hand. She wasn’t taking chances with these strange quadrupeds, even if they did look innocent and non-threatening at a first glance.

Seeing not one, but two alien-looking creatures in the same day, some of the ponies were starting to think they were hallucinating. With this conclusion, many of the townsfolk ignored the bird-like alien and went along with their business. Although at least a few gave her the weird stare they had given her grunt counterpart. The feeling of being watched as she walked made Chur’s feathers stand on end. She ignited her shield a second time, and started walking at a faster pace, intent on reaching the tree structure near the town’s center.

In her haste, she accidentally bumped the width of her shield into one of the locals who happened across her path. “I say, please watch where you’re going, you ruffian! You could have ruined my gorgeous mane. I spent nearly all morning getting it ready.” The native said with a classy, refined voice.

Chur chattered something in annoyance and raised her needler at the creature. Not knowing at all that the device was a weapon of war, the local gave the needler an enthused examination. “Ooh...my, my, those are some fine jewels, are they amethysts? If you don’t mind me asking, where per chance, did you acquire them? And uh, what are you?”

Before responding, the Shipmistress got a good look at the local. It appeared she was of the type with the horns on their head, which gave Chur, who assumed them to be for fighting, increased apprehension. The creature also had an elegant looking violet-purple mane and a white coat of fur. Chur couldn't shake the strange feeling that the local’s facial structure vaguely resembled the humans’ whom Chur’s allies were likely now fighting. Their languages sounded identical to humans' as well, of which Chur'R-Yar was only partially fluent.

None of these details really helped to calm down the Kig-Yar’s growing feeling of paranoia. If she didn't get to the tree house dwelling quickly, trouble would surely follow. Summoning the best speaking voice for a non-Kig-Yar language a jackal could muster, Chur finally spoke words to the local.

“I... am... of the race known as the Kig-Yar.” Despite her avian bird-like body structure, her voice had a distinctively feline-like purr to it. “We hail from the ocean planet of Eayn. I am Shipmistress Chur’R Yar.” Her tongue made a purring noise in the ‘l’ on hail, and the ‘n’ part of Eayn. “What are your people called here? What shall I refer to you as, hmm?”

“You, may call me, Rarity.” The local said with dramatic flare. “I take from your appearance and foreign looking equipment, you must be, an erm, foreigner” Chur nodded slowly. “Why, isn't that...exotic? It’s a pleasure to meet you, erm..” Rarity was unsure of how to pronounce the Kig-Yar’s name. She smiled at the alien apologetically. “May I call you just Chur, or Yar perhaps, for short?”

Chur merely shrugged. “If that is how one wishes to address me, then so be it. You have my apologies for colliding with you in the street. The unfamiliar sights of this place leave me most uneasy.”

The unicorn waved it off with a hoof. “Oh, it’s nothing dear. No harm done, no hard feelings. And you have my apologies for being so rude in return, darling, some mornings are just so hectic. Now, I simply must ask again, where did you acquire such dazzling gem work on that apparatus?”

Chur looked at the needler in her hand incredulously. “I am not sure where the military makes them, all I know is that they get the job done when someone is stealing my valuables.”

Rarity turned her attention to Chur'R-Yar's energy shield. “What is that for? I must say it is quite dazzling.”

Chur turned the device off and raised her left wrist, showing it to Rarity. Her wrist had a large bracelet looking device on it. “This is called a point defense gauntlet. If one finds themselves in battle, one could just simply activate it, like so...” Ria flicked her wrist, and the shield ignited to life. “And one is ready to defend themselves, and what they own, of course.” Turning to face a building’s blank wall, Chur raised her needler to the shield’s grooved opening, aimed, and fired a single crystal round.

The projectile hit the side of the shop, embedding itself in the wood, before shattering. At that, Chur powered down the shield and holstered her needler at the hip. Now realizing that in fact a weapon had just been pointed at her, Rarity understandably was no longer as cheerful towards the jackal.

“So then, you do use those elegant things for fighting? Why, that is simply the most uncouth thing I’ve ever heard of!” She raised her muzzle in the air, closing her eyes. “But elegant-looking nevertheless,” Rarity concluded with a sigh. She then gave Chur an appraising look, abandoning her earlier revulsion at the weapon. “Such gorgeous feathers you have as well, say.. I have an idea!”

Without warning, Rarity grabbed Chur with her horn’s telekinesis. “You simply must come with me back to Carousel Boutique, I have a few things that would look positively divine with those elegant feathers of yours!”

Chur struggled in protest, but the unicorn’s magic was too strong for her. “Actually, I was heading for... I have someone I have to...”

“No, no. I must insist. Fashion potential such as yourself can’t be allowed to slip from my grasp,” The fashionista proclaimed. "You shan't be disappointed!" Chur stopped struggling with a drawn out sigh. She chattered quietly in annoyance to herself. Bystanders who had seen the pair’s conversation were dumbstruck at what they had just witnessed. All in all, it was cutting out to be one strange day for everyone who happened to be on the streets..

Elsewhere, Twilight Sparkle, finally hearing the insistent knocking at the front door, got up from her previous activity of sorting some books. “Spike, could you get that, please?”

“Can’t you do it?” The little dragon replied with a lazy yawn.

“I’m a little busy here at the moment, If you can’t tell by all the books floating around above your head!” Twilight shot back, annoyed. Spike was very much an all-round dependable, competent, and loyal assistant, but he could be a major head case from time to time.

“Alright, but whoever it is, it better be important. I was hoping to sleep in a bit," Spike replied. A few moments passed as he headed to the door, whilst Twilight continued to work with sorting the books.

“Let’s see, A.K. Yearling's Modern Equestrian History: Volume One, goes there. Treatise on Extraterrestrial Life Forms? What is that doing here? I thought that was in the theoretical magics and sciences section where it belongs. Hmm, Spike must have improperly filed it under general history just to irritate me,” Twilight mused as she sorted more of the tomes.

While she continued her routine ministrations with the shelves, Spike’s voice issued from the front door. “Umm, Twilight? Someone’s here. They say they’re an alien from space, apparently. They also say they’re wondering if you have any methane gas they could have.”

“Ha ha Spike, very funny. Like an extraterrestrial being would just show up on our front door at random asking for methane, of all things! Stop joking and come on in, Pinkie Pie. We know you’re not an alien.” Twilight replied, not at all amused.

“Who’s 'Pinkie Pie'?” a funny high pitched-voice asked from the doorway.

Chapter 3: A Crime Against Fashion

As Twilight made her way to the door, she simply wasn’t quite sure how to address what it was she saw. Standing next to a rather confused looking Spike, was a little biped just a few feet taller than the dragon. In fact, he was barely taller than Twilight herself, if at all.

The creature was shuffling his hoof-like feet around impatiently, muttering to himself in Sangheili. "Zaruba gor'auba sempaak. Karimu ze'ekem." When he saw the librarian, he perked up immediately, switching to the natives' Human-like language. “You Twilight yes? Do you have gas for Dadab, mine is running low!”

The unicorn could hardly believe her own eyes. Sure enough, here was an alien being in her house, asking her for methane gas. Of all the weird, possible scenarios, not even Discord could have likely come up with this one. The biped noticed Twilight’s wide-eyed expression, and waved his hands around, seeing if she was even still conscious.

“Anybody home? Hello?” the alien inquired.

Spike decided to intervene, growing impatient “Hmm, I think you might have just caught her at a bad time. Lemme' try something.” He snapped his fingers loudly in front of his friend’s face. Twilight came out of her bewilderment, shaking her head to try and clear her mind.

“Huh?” Twilight said.

The creature continued to stare at her impatiently, before he turned to Spike. “Dadab thanks you, strange lizard man.”

Spike shrugged. “Don’t mention it, name’s Spike by the way, a pleasure to meet you..erm, Dadab is it?”

Spike and Dadab shook hands when the grunt nodded at him. Meanwhile, Twilight had finally collected herself. “How do you know who I am? And...not to be rude, but who and what are you?” she asked.

Dadab jumped up and down, a casual thing most Grunts did when they were in a relieved or excited mood. “I’m the grunt Dadab, deacon of the Great Journey, and possibly smartest Grunt in the whole Covenant! Me not from around here though, I come from the planet Balaho. Nice lady Fluttershy told me you could get methane for me.”

The young dragon shared the grunt’s excitement. “So it’s true, you are an alien then! Wow, this is so awesome!”

Twilight was still skeptical, even despite her shock at Dadab’s foreign appearance. “Alien you say? If you’re an alien, where’s your spaceship? Why aren't there more of you?” She stuck to her theory that Dadab was of this world, and that he was simply a member of a species that hadn’t been seen before, possibly from beyond the Everfree Forest. His people possibly dwelled in methane-filled warrens, perhaps. That sounded like a theory to be trusted, at least in Twilight’s mind. Alien life obviously existed, but what were the chances of it arriving on Equis of all places?

Before Dadab could answer the questions, Twilight heaped another one onto him. “Are you from the Everfree Forest?” The grunt fidgeted nervously. “Scary forest? No, Dadab stays away from the forest, can’t be safe for grunts at all,” he replied.

Then he made an urgent but hopeful motion at his backpack with his hand. “You make methane gas for me with magic, so I don’t suffocate?” The unicorn looked from the alien’s backpack, to his re-breather pack, and finally understood what the Grunt was actually asking of her.

“Hmm, methane. Should be able to conjure some up with a basic synthesis spell.” She charged up her horn, narrowed her eyes in concentration, and aimed at the Unggoy. “Here goes nothing..”

Dadab was hit by the spell in his chest, and he flinched slightly. When Twilight’s aura had faded from around the grunt’s body, he checked his gas meter. Sure enough, it was completely full. The grunt bounced around excitably. “Dadab thanks you, new friends!”

Twilight gave him a dubious expression. Her scientific curiosity over the little alien was only growing. “So, since we helped you get gas, how about you stay around and share with us a few things about yourself, maybe answer a couple of questions? What do you say?”

“I have time for an interview. Ask Dadab whatever you want.”

Twilight rubbed her hooves together in anticipation at the prospect of learning about a new species and their culture. “Wonderful, let’s get started. Hmm, oh yeah, what exactly is the Covenant? Are they your government?”

Rarity was in the midst of pulling Chur’R Yar towards her fashion shop near the middle of town. The jackal had long since given up by the time the duo had arrived at Carousel Boutique. Once inside, Rarity had spared no time getting straight to work.

Without asking, the unicorn sat Yar into a chair, and began taking various measurements of the alien’s head, snout, and lithe arms, waist, and legs. The Shipmistress felt as if she was becoming a test subject in one of the medical experiments the Prophets would secretly perform to random citizens back on High Charity. Understandably, she was beginning to really dislike the fashionista for the weird vibe.

Rarity gave the jackal a few more cursory glances, then set off for the second floor. “One moment, please. Oh, your body shape reminds me so much of a grown up Spike! I have just the things to make you positively irresistible with the townsfolk!”

"Spike?" the Kig-Yar asked, interested.

"Yes, Spike. He's a very close friend of mine, along with the girls," Rarity explained, beginning to disappear up the stairs. "He's the most adorable little dragon you'll ever meet!"

Chur remained in the chair, chattering to herself thoughtfully. If there was another creature nearby that resembled a Kig-Yar in even the slightest detail, it was definitely worthy of at least a brief investigation.

Looking around the shop, the pirate then got a different idea as her mind began to wander. Yar began scanning for anything of value. There wasn’t much in the immediate vicinity, just a few reels of expensive silk, a few clothes stands in the shape of an equine's, and polished, high quality sewing equipment. Only the silk slightly interested Chur'R-Yar; she was looking for other things.

Before Chur could continue her plot to potential plunder, the alabaster unicorn had returned, this time carrying a few articles of clothing and other products with her. Approaching Chur, she declared, “Now darling, I’m going to need you to be a still as possible, while I get to work.”

Chur fidgeted in her seat. “Is this all...necessary?” she inquired.

“I promise, you won’t regret the results. In fact, I would think you shall be bedazzled by my work!” Rarity declared. The jackal merely shrugged at this. Chur might as well just go with the flow of things...for now. If the horned clothing merchant was willing to give the former Shipmistress a free touch up, how could she refuse?

The fashionista got right to work on the jackal, preening and primming feathers. All in all, Rarity's work was quite painful. Chur was beginning to feel her rage boil over with each pluck of a feather, no matter how delicately it was performed.

Somehow, the unicorn failed to notice this fact, and unknowingly dealt the final blow to the alien’s cool. “Alright darling, now that the main part is out of the way, why don’t you get out of that...garish armor, and try on this fine garment?”

It was a civilian dress, recently cut to easily conform to the Kig-Yar T'vaoan's unique body shape. Just as Chur was about to draw out her needler to make her outrage crystal clear, something stopped her in her tracks. The strange-looking article of clothing was adorned with sapphires.

Much more about the gems were revealed in the light of the room. They were undoubtedly genuine finely-cut sapphires, by Chur'R-Yar's reckoning. Looking up from the dress, she saw that in addition to the clothing, Rarity had also brought a small box filled with more of the gleaming precious minerals.

Rubies and diamonds also beckoned to her from the container. The alien’s eyes widened like dinner plates in disbelief.

“Do be a dear and try it on, I fear I have forgotten something upstairs. Let me know what you think of it when I come back down, won’t you,” Rarity instructed. She closed her eyes as she sauntered up to the second floor.

No longer able to keep her intense Kleptomania under control, Chur rushed to the box. The alien grabbed it, the silk, and the dress, and dashed out of Carousel Boutique faster than a speeding ghost.

Putting the dress over one shoulder, and the reel of silk under her arm, the jackal made her way towards the tree dwelling she had originally intended to visit. Without hesitation, Chur jumped up into the shadows of the ancient oak's branches, stashing her new treasure hoard in the cover of its verdant leaves.

Chur then leaped down several feet to the ground, and approached the front door casually as if she hadn’t just stolen thousands of bits worth of merchandise. She looked through a window, and found another unicorn, this one with a purple coat and a star burst marking on her flank, and a being Chur was suspicious could be the Spike of Rarity's description, sitting next to Dadab. Quickly, the jackal pounded her fist on the door.

“That’s the Covenant then? Interesting! So, what do you call that thing you have strapped to your belt?” Twilight inquired.

Dadab reached for it, drawing it in his hand. “Elite bosses call them plasma pistols. We use for battle, but I rarely have reason to use it myself.”

“An...energy weapon then? How powerful is it?” Twilight inquired.

“I demonstrate?” Dadab offered

Twilight shrugged. “Just don’t hurt anybody, try to aim at the floor or something. Don’t fire at any of the books!”

Dadab put his finger to the firing mechanism, and let loose a green bolt of energy at the floor. Twilight and Spike both yelped in alarm as the bolt buried itself into the floor, leaving a charred hole that lead straight into the library’s cellar.

"Awesome, totally amazing!" Spike shouted, recovering quickly. "This beats watching a sci-fi flick at the cinema any day!

“Okay! That’s enough, I think.” The librarian said quickly, chuckling nervously.

“I’m sorry, I didn't intend to frighten you.” Dadab apologized. Privately, the grunt mentally snickered at how they might react if he had fired a fuel rod cannon in close quarters.

A banging sounded at the door. Twilight looked annoyed as she got up. “Darn, I still have so many questions. I’ll get it, I suppose.” Going to the door, she was shocked for the second time today. Where Dadab had been mere minutes ago, there now stood another strange creature.

This one was taller than the grunt, and resembled a vulture. That wasn't the strangest thing. The creature's feathers were all arranged in a strange pattern that could not have been natural, or comfortable, for its kind.

Finally, the bird-thing spoke to her. “Is Dadab here?”

Twilight merely nodded, still unsure as to how to process what she was seeing. Not one, but two alien species had inexplicably just appeared on her doorstep, and both in the same day. Still saying nothing, Twilight motioned with her hoof towards the living room. Just as the jackal had sat down on the couch with everyone else, a furious voice boomed from the once again open door, startling the entire room witless.

“Chur! Are you the one who stole my jewels! Get over here, you pilfering little RUFFIAN!” The normally elegant, polished voice was now seething with unbridled rage.

Chapter 4: Awkward Meeting

Rarity was boiling with rage. Her normally calm, pleasant face was now glowing red like stone melted by plasma fire-or the scorching fire breath of a great dragon. “I say, I know your in here! I’m not going to hurt you dear, IF YOU JUST COME OUT!” Instead of obeying, the Kig-Yar activated her shield gauntlet, and ducked behind the nearest couch, the one currently occupied by Spike and Twilight.

“Rarity?” Twilight and Spike asked in unison.

“Ahh! Enemy?” Dadab drew his pistol, unsure of what was going on. Spike saw the motion and urgently held up his hands, trying to keep the Unggoy from accidentally doing something everyone would regret. Dadab, who was on friendly terms with the dragon, complied at once and stowed the energy weapon away. For Dadab, half his brain told him to flee due to their not being an Elite officer present. The smart half told the first half to shut up, calm down, and observe the situation cautiously.

“Come on out this instant!” Rarity ordered again, charging her horn for a spell.

Twilight quickly got up and approached the enraged mare, trying to calm her down. “Rarity, what’s gotten into you? Who’s Chur?”

“Who do you think, darling? The blasted dragon lady!” she pointed to the jackal. “That miscreant stole from me, right under my nose! And to think I was offering to refine her look, without charge!” Rarity declared.

The Kig-Yar abandoned her defensive posture, instead opting to feign personal insult. “I stole nothing of yours, clothing merchant. I, Chur'R-Yar, sister of Chur'R-Mut, am a Shipmistress of the Covenant Navy! I am above such petty indecencies.”

“Above it all, you say?” Rarity bellowed in outrage. Unexpectedly, the power of her voice shook the branches just enough to loosen the jackal pirate’s poorly placed plunder. The stolen merchandise fell from above, and landed at Rarity’s hooves in a loud clatter. She looked up from her stolen goods and gave the lizard alien a withering look.

Chur chattered furiously in Sangheili, and then Kig-Yar, before switching back to Equestrian. “You had it coming, horn head!” Her voice purred angrily in her throat, making the bird-like alien sound ironically like a loud, happy feline.

Impossibly, Rarity’s sneer only grew in size on her face. “Is there no end to your abhorrent personality? You are like a pack of Diamond Dogs, and that’s putting it lightly!”

Twilight put a hoof on her enraged friend’s shoulder. “Rarity, I understand our guest here has greatly offended your hospitality by stealing from you, but we need to go through this with a calm, cool mind, okay?”

The fashion designer gave a long drawn out sigh, and replaced her sneer with a frown. “You’re right Twilight, I was behaving very unladylike.” She looked back at Chur. “That still doesn’t justify robbing me in broad daylight, Chur!”

“You tried to scientifically experiment on me, and seeking revenge, you left your goods ripe for plunder. It would have been a disservice to myself and my people’s nature If I had not plucked a few valuables for...safekeeping," Chur admitted. "If it offended you greater than I had intended, then you have my most sincere apologies, as a Shipmistress of the Covenant.”

Instead of a frown, the white unicorn now stared at the pirate with confusion. “Experimentation? That’s Twilight’s domain, dear.” It was now Twilight’s turn to frown.

“Hey! Are you insinuating that I experiment on living creatures? Fluttershy, Rainbow, or AJ would kill me if they found out about something like that!”

Rarity ignored the remark. “And...” she sighed again. “I accept your apology, Shipmistress.”

The jackal relaxed her muscles, and deactivated her shield gauntlet. “Under one condition, that is,” Rarity declared.

Chur stiffened up again, that old, familiar anxiety settling back into her as quickly as it had disappeared. “What is it, that this one desires from me?”

“Well firstly, your going to take what you stole, march with me over to Carousel Boutique, and put it right back where you found it. I’ll think of what else you can do when we get there as recompense!” As Chur made her way to the door, Rarity followed, her muzzle turned up in the air. Before the two could take their leave however, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy materialized at the front door in a rush.

“Hey Rarity! What’s up Twilight? Fluttershy tells us there’s some kind of alien or a new foreigner running around Ponyville...” Rainbow finally noticed the jackal right in front of her. “Whoa! You must be it then?” She stared at Chur'R-Yar with surprise, her wings flapping as she hovered in the air. The other three elected to stay quiet and see what the strange creature’s response would be. Pinkie Pie was struggling not to enthusiastically greet the jackal as an honorary guest, for fear of frightening the mysterious creature away.

In kind, the Kig-Yar looked at the pegasus and her friends with curiosity in her large ruby eyes. “So it’s true, Dadab was accurate, some of your people can fly. I envy this.” Chur motioned to the feathers adorning her head, and the back of her arms.

Dash looked at the alien as if she had crawled out from under a rock. “Well yeah, we can fly. We’re pegasi, after all. I don’t suppose your kind can fly, can they?”

Chur shook her head. “Our ancient ancestors may have once, but we have since adapted to life in the tall trees, and my people, the low gravity of T'vao. While we cannot use our feathers to lift us, we T'vaoans, a distinct and superior kind of Kig Yar, are able to sprint quickly, and climb and jump to great heights.”

Rainbow Dash merely shrugged at the information. “I suppose climbing high can be as cool as flying, sometimes.”

Chur chortled in amusement, pulling her snout into a type of grin. “Sometimes? Perhaps we should put that estimate to the test soon, pegasus.”

A competitive grin grew across the pegasus' face. “I’ll be happy to hold ya to that, umm...T'vaoan.” Saying the last part, Dash scratched at her mane with a hoof. “What’s your name, exactly?”

Chur decided to skip the formalities. “I am Chur’R Yar. Can you pronounce this?” Dash gave it a go, but the syllables were too exotic for an Equestrian speaker. She shook her head and shrugged again. Chur's grin only grew. “You put emphasis on the human phonetic letter ‘R’, with the ‘Y’ sounding like ‘E’, while the final ‘R’, is strongly emphasized. That is how you pronounce it. But for ease of communication, just call me Chur, I suppose.”

While able to grasp human language only to a limited extent, Chur had been able to memorize the most common human alphabets via her intelligence reports many months ago. Fortunately for her, Equestrians used an enigmatically near-identical alphabetic system, and the spoken words weren't too different, either.

Rarity was losing her patience. “Well I’m sure that is all so fascinating, but if you girls would kindly excuse us, Chur here was just about to return some things of mine she stole.”

This warranted a ruckus from three of the four mares. Applejack scowled disapprovingly at Chur, Pinkie Pie gave out a scandalous gasp, Rainbow Dash shook her head in disappointment, while Fluttershy remarked “Oh my, that’s not very nice.” The timid pegasus tried her best to look indifferent to all of it.

Twilight decided now was an apt time to play the role of peacekeeper a second time. Moving towards the four, Twilight noticed the device at Chur's hip. She had seen clearly what Dadab’s pistol could do to a wooden floor, and the librarian was not very eager to find out what the jackal’s needler was capable of.

“Girls, girls, it’s alright! Chur has already apologized to Rarity, it was just a misunderstanding.”

AJ’s scowl changed to a less menacing frown, and Dash now wore a neutral expression, but was staring daggers at the alien with her wary magenta eyes. Fluttershy hid her expression behind her mane, while Pinkie grinned at the alien in her usual friendly way. A way that was in such stark contrast to her friends’ demeanor, that it left Chur'R-Yar astonished.

It would seem the Shipmistress’ day was filled full of weird feelings. She figured that inexplicably finding one’s self in a strange world with equally odd inhabitants was playing a major role in that. Seeking to shake the feeling off, Chur decided to address the source (or rather, sources) of her weird vibes directly.

Looking to each of the four mares opposite from her, Twilight, and Rarity, Chur explained herself. “Once again, you all have my apologies for offending any of you.” she gestured at Rarity. “As well as your friend. I and my Unggoy...associate...awoke here without any explanation as to how we arrived, and we assumed we were still on a certain planet populated by a race we’re at war with. Surely you can understand my error in misunderstanding your intentions?”

The monologue payed off. Chur was rewarded with the sight of growing understanding on the faces of the others. Twilight caught her attention with a nudge of her hoof.

“We had a similar incident with a zebra named Zecora quite some time ago. We misunderstood her more than a little bit.” With a nervous laugh, Twilight rubbed her foreleg with the other. “We...kinda assumed her to be a witch. But hey, we’re all close friends with her now.” She grinned nervously at Chur

The skirmisher returned her grin as best she could. “You assumed her to be an evil spell caster?” Chur hit a hand on her hip, letting out a loud purr in her throat, chuckling. “That is most amusing. I am glad I am not the only one to have fallen into the trap of misunderstanding good intentions.”

Twilight smiled back, then looked around to everyone. “Well, why doesn’t everypony just come in? We all look weird standing here at the door.”

“Oh, very well.” Rarity sighed. “I suppose we can settle the rest of our business later then, Chur”

The friends and the alien walked in and settled down. Dadab and Spike all the while had passed the time in a rather interesting way. They were both on the floor, and Dadab was showing the little dragon how to play a mock game of scrub grub 'hunting'. Using books as the hunting rocks, and rolled up pieces of parchment to represent the little insects, the two took turns ‘killing’ scrub grubs.

Seeing her books being thrown around carelessly, and the parchment completely misplaced and scattered around, the librarian furiously told them to cut it out. For Dadab, Twilight’s voice carried over like an angry Sangheili, and he almost jumped out of his armor and skin in fright. “Clean this mess up, you two!”

“But it was Dabab’s idea!” Spike protested.

Twilight cupped her face in one of her hooves, sighing deeply. “No buts, both of you get to work!”

Spike looked at Dadab for support. “Help me out here, wont ya?”

Dadab fidgeted uncomfortably, before replying, “Twilight is big scary boss now, not Shipmistress! I’m just going to stay on her good side, Spike.” He started picking up books and brushing them off carefully. The dragon frowned at him.

“Pushover,” he muttered, before joining Dadab in cleaning up. Twilight briefly watched them get to work.

Satisfied, she joined her friends and Chur, who watched the whole thing from the couch. Remembering the incident with the poison joke, and Zecora’s role in fixing it, Twilight informed Chur about the past debacle. Upon hearing of the magical plant’s comical symptoms from contact with its leaves, the pirate laughed uncontrollably, making her sound almost like a happy manticore.

The six friends joined in, and all seven were now laughing up a storm. Chur's raspy laugh was almost drowned out by Pinkie Pie’s far louder giggling. “You should’a heard the way Fluttershy’s voice sounded, instead of all soft and gentle, it sounded all deep and baritone like an old stallion’s!” She declared, clutching her gut from laughing too hard.

Fluttershy frowned at Pinkie, but she was not in the mood to call her friend out on it. As everyone calmed down from laughing, Applejack stared at Chur curiously. “So, Chur, would ya like to tell us a little bit about where you’re from? What are your people like?”

Chur nodded enthusiastically. “I grew up on a world I assume to be far away from here. It is an orbiting colony called T'vao, near the heavily forested and watery planet we call Eayn, our homeworld, and where I was born. My race, Kig-Yar, have always had a notorious history of piracy and economic scheming amongst both ourselves and the greater Covenant Empire."

“Piracy? Your people are pirates? Well ain't that the weirdest thing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Out of nowhere, she put on an eye patch, and began trotting around the room, shouting. “Arg, maties! I be a dainty pirate!”

Other than a few odd glances, everyone else ignored her shenanigans. Applejack, however, frowned at the mention of such illegitimate business.

The jackal quickly noticed and hastily continued. "But, don’t let that foul your opinion of us. We are also renowned throughout the Covenant Empire for our trading, mercantile, and diplomatic prowess. For instance, the ill-gotten goods I acquired from Rarity, I could have sold for twice their value in your currency at a shop somewhere else in this town. Using my...charisma, the merchant would have been none the wiser. Of this, I am certain.”

Chur continued with a sort of twinkle in her eyes. “We Kig-Yar know how to make a tidy profit for ourselves. In short, we have a knack for making money, and amassing things of value, whether it be for good or ill.”

Twilight took the information about the Kig Yar in with a thoughtful smile. Applejack, on the flip side, rubbed her chin with her fore-hoof. She narrowed her eyes at the jackal. AJ was deciding whether or not to trust the alien, as Chur's people didn't sound like the kind who take pride in making it by the hard, honest way.

“What about the little guy over there? Is Dadab his name?” Dash inquired, pointing at the Unggoy, who was still cleaning up books.

“What about him?” Chur purred, bored already at the mention of the grunt’ name.

“Where is he from? What species is he?”

Chur waved a hand indifferently at Rainbow Dash. “Why don’t you just ask the little gas sucker yourself? He’s surprisingly smart, even for an Unggoy. I’m sure he can tell you all sorts of things, like how to properly bang two rocks together.”

"Hey, birdbrain, my people can have giant families faster than yours can even lay an egg!" Dadab shot back. "We could team up and take you down like we almost did! How does that make you feel?"

Returning to her businesslike demeanor and ignoring the grunt, Chur peered at each of the mares smartly. “Now, who here is interested in a joint business venture? I have seen first hand that you possess a fine garment and fashion establishment. Isn't that right, Rarity? Would you be interested in my mercantile skills for helping to sell and spread word of your work throughout this land?”

The fashionista raised a brow at her. “Really? After you just stole from me in broad daylight, you’re offering a business proposal, of all things?”

The part-entrepreneur, part-pirate nodded at her, grinning and resisting the urge to wring her slender fingers in anticipation. Rarity actually seemed to be considering the offer, much to Applejack's chagrin. “Hmm. You’ve already shown you have rather deft hands, and you are obviously quick of mind if you managed to find a way to slip out from under me so quickly with all those goods in your grasp. Such situational awareness is one of the hallmarks of a shrewd businesspony.”

Rarity put a hoof to her cheek thoughtfully. “Well, I suppose we could discuss it, after we return to Carousel Boutique. Perhaps I can see first hand whether or not you’re just a braggart. Or whether you're, in reality, Ponyville’s next premier business agent, darling!” Rarity returned the alien’s grin with a poker face of her own.

Twilight, a bit surprised by the two’s conversation, looked over behind, to where Dadab and Spike had just finished cleaning up after themselves. “Dadab, care to tell my friends all the fascinating stuff you already told me and Spike?”

The grunt felt a surge of dread go through him. Yet another endless barrage of questions were sure to follow. He shuffled his feet around uncomfortably. Sensing his reluctance, the librarian decided to up the ante. “Please?” Twilight was now giving him a sad puppy-dog look. This alone caused the stocky alien to finally cave.

“Fine, but you owe Dadab for this, boss Twilight.” The unicorn nodded at him gratefully. Recognizing Fluttershy among the group, Dadab brightened back up to his usual cheerful self. He waved at the pegasus. “Hey, it’s the nice lady again! Hi Fluttershy!”

“Hello,” she replied, barely above a whisper.

“Alright Dadab, why don’t you start from the beginning.” Twilight instructed, more than eager to hear about the alien’s culture a second time. Chur'R-Yar felt like groaning. Listening to an Unggoy, of all creatures, droning on about society and culture within the Covenant was definitely not on the pirate’s list of favorite pass times.

Chapter 5: Culture Shock

“You see the schematics, Engineer, and Trixie has brought you everything you said you needed! Why are you not getting to work?”

Lighter Than Some responded with a series of distressed whistles, his buoyancy sacks glowing pink instead of the usual azure blue. Accompanying his whistles, the fragile alien curled his tentacles around, using Huragok sign language.

“What do you mean it can’t work? This is magic we are dealing with here! If the Great and Powerful Trixie says it can be done, it can be done!”

(Whistling)

“Leave the power source problem to me! Trixie knows of a viable one holed up within a hole-in-the-wall curio shop in Canterlot. I shall bring it here. And in the mean time, you shall get to work building my machine!”

(Whistle, hum)

“No buts! The Great and Powerful One commands you!” Trixie moved to leave, and just before she exited her caravan, she glared at the engineer, her horn aglow. “And don’t even think about trying to leave to go find those precious 'friends' of yours! Trixie has created wards that not even you can break through, balloon boy! You’re stuck here until Trixie has finished her shopping.”

Trixie finished her statement with a mean little laugh. Her hooded form quickly disappeared around the doorjamb, a purse full of bits jingling loudly as she rushed away under the darkness of the rainstorm.

Dadab prepared to give yet another lengthy lecture, this time to a much larger audience. He also braced himself for the chronic question answering that was sure to overrun his storytelling. The Unggoy was rather nervous. Being outnumbered by another race in a close-quarters room always produced feelings of anxiety in many grunts, and today was no exception, even for Dadab, a scholarly deacon.

He cleared his throat, which was made comical sounding by his naturally high-pitched voice. “Right, starting from beginning. Hmm, let’s see... Ah-hah! I know where to start now!”

Twilight and Pinkie Pie grinned at the little alien. The rest of the girls stared attentively, and Chur'R-Yar seemed to be sinking into the cushion of the couch, her head resting on her hand in an overtly bored manner.

“Long, long ago, around seven Ages past, or perhaps roughly three thousand years ago, Elite bosses and Holy Prophets went to war in a big space battle! Bosses fight each other over holy relics left by great Forerunner Gods. The San 'Shyuum holy ones wanted to study and use all relics, while the Sangheili wished them be left alone. Dadab unsure of war, but I know that neither side wins, and the Writ of Union is signed, instead.”

Applejack’s hoof is the first to be raised. “Ugh, pardon me fer askin’ Dadab, but just who in the Princesses’ names are these Forerunner deities? What holy relics are ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Yeah! And what’s the Writ of Union? Some kind of political thing?” Rainbow Dash added, confused.

Dadab was regretting this already. He sniffed the air through his re-breather pack, before answering their questions to the best of his ability.

“Forerunners are a mysterious people who existed long, long before our Covenant. They left on a Great Journey and then became mighty gods. Their ‘relics’ are actually powerful machines. Creatures like the insect Yanme'e, and Huragok engineers like my friend Lighter Than Some, tinker with them a lot." The grunt pulled out his pistol again, which slightly startled Twilight and Spike. Sensing their discomfort, Dadab held the weapon's muzzle towards a wall in the neutral position, showing it to the girls. “We make stuff like these, and big, really big spaceships. The Prophet bosses also make cool new stuff all the time by studying the Forerunner tech!”

Rainbow Dash gave the weapon a look, then stared at the hole burned into the floor. “So, did your gun do that?”

He nodded, and the pegasus formed a mischievous grin. “That is so cool!” She exclaimed.

Dadab laughed at her. “Ha, maybe you should go onto a Covenant ship someday and see other weapons! They blow you away, literally!” Nobody could tell, but the grunt was grinning under his methane mask. Images of fuel rod cannons, plasma grenades, and plasma launchers floating in and out of his head seductively.

Shoving the intrusive desire for firepower away, Dadab returned to his lecture. “Writ of Union formed the Covenant. Dadab will recite it now.”

Chur chattered at him mockingly, but the rest all watched the stocky alien curiously as he stood as stiffly and tall as he could, puffing his chest out, and raised a hand in the air. He then recited perfectly from memory, the Writ of Union itself, the Covenant’s founding document.

“So full of hate were our eyes

That none of us could see

Our war would yield countless dead

But never victory

So let us cast arms aside

And like discard our wrath

Thou, in faith, will keep us safe

Whilst we find the path!”

Dadab closed his eyes and took a deep breath of rich methane upon completion. The others ran the grunt’s words through their heads, picking the Writ apart, and trying to decipher each and every word. After several moments of silence, Twilight raised her foreleg. “So, your people came to reject most fighting, you are a peaceful civilization?”

This made the grunt scoff. “No way. Let me tell you about the Grunt Rebellion some time. But first, I will explain the Writ of Union. It founded the Covenant in the First Age of Reconciliation. After that, Elites and Prophets became fast friends. Sangheili fight and protect, while San ‘Shyuum gather, give sermons, govern, and experiment.”

Now tensing up his body, he orally moved forward through Covenant history. “Then, the two find Lekgolo of the planet Te. Lekgolo fight back and nearly win, but Sangheili threatened to burn Lekgolo's home, so they join. Eventually Shipmistress’ people’s worlds are found and conquered, too.”

Chur perked up when the Grunt said this.

“Dadab’s people were pretty much the last to be found and inducted into the Covenant hegemony.” Chur interjected. “The little gas suckers were also responsible for several rebellions in recent history that have costed the Covenant greatly in damages to both personnel, and physical assets.” She purred and hissed with disdain at the little alien.

The Unggoy became angry, just as Chur had been hoping. “Grunts nearly won! Because we stood and fought so bravely, we get to carry gun in the armies, and some made deacon, like me.”

“What caused the rebellion in the first place?” Twilight inquired.

Letting out a chortle of anger, Chur replied, “Dadab’s kind breed at an unprecedented rate. They were beginning to overrun my peoples’ hatching grounds. So, we poisoned their methane supplies.”

Such information caused Twilight to contort her face in shock and revulsion, a long with many of the others. “That’s horrible, you tried to kill them all?!”

Chur merely shrugged. “Have to keep their numbers in check somehow.” Applejack was glaring daggers at the Kig-Yar, and Pinkie Pie was staring at her with an undecipherable expression. Chur could tell, but if she cared, the Kig-Yar did not attempt to show it.

Meanwhile, Dadab was barely containing his pint-sized rage. “I hate Shipmistress!" he snapped. "I no follow you anymore, and I hope you take a long walk off a short tree branch someday.”

Chur chattered to herself angrily. Surprisingly, Fluttershy raised a hoof, interrupting the aliens’ feud.

“Yes?” Dadab questioned, his angry voice disappearing instantly.

“Mr. Dadab, um... You keep saying you’re a deacon? What is that? Uh, if you you feel like telling me that is.” She whispered.

“We deacons ensure the rest of the grunts follow the words, laws, and teachings of the holy San 'Shyuum Hierarchs, and that we all piously march onward towards the Great Journey with super devotion!”

Pinkie Pie practically broke into a dance. “Ooh! A journey! Where to? Can we come with?” Dadab stared at the pink mare with confusion and incredulity.

“And just what is this ‘Great Journey?'” Twilight inquired, her curiosity only mounting. "It definitely sounds like something of deep spiritual significance to your people." Once again, Twilight was ignoring the party pony’s antics.

“Great Journey? You're right, boss Twilight. Very deep significance. So...how for Dadab to describe Great Journey... Aha! The Great Journey describes the efforts for when the Covenant finally finds the holy Seven Rings of the Forerunners that will allow us to go on the Journey itself. We shall activate them all at once, and spread their divine winds throughout the cosmos! Once we embark with the winds at our backs, we shall become, well, immortal gods like the Forerunners! It is the center of Covenant faith, and we deacons remind our friends to follow it, if they wish to join us on the Journey.”

Rainbow Dash held her hooves up in the air. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up there! Are you telling me there are things out in space that can make us somewhat like our Princesses?”

Dadab ran ‘princesses' through his mind, and then remembered the two beings called Celestia and Luna. Twilight had spoke to impossibly great lengths about the former, and just a little less about the latter. “I suppose so, yes!” he replied with finality.

Dash looked at her friends, and finally to Twilight. “Could ya imagine how awesome it would be for us all to be Alicorns! You should talk to Princess Celestia sometime about inviting some more Covenant over, they sound awesome to hang with!”

“I’m not so sure about that Rainbow. Having two of them here has already caused enough trouble. and what about the whole planet conquering, and piracy thing?” Twilight looked towards Rarity and Chur with a nervous smile. “No offense, Shipmistress.”

Chur shrugged. “None taken, native.”

Seemingly oblivious to her friend's argument, Pinkie had begun bouncing around the room, circling around the Unggoy. “Can I go on the Great Journey with you guys? I like the sound of it already; I bet it will be super-duper fun!”

The grunt Deacon put a finger to his stout little chin, deep in thought. “I don't see why not. Although I'm not sure how to contact the Navy or Covenant High Council, I'm sure your peoples would be welcomed in if they ever do find your world!"

Chapter 6: Yes, Holy One

Unbeknownst to any of the inhabitants of Ponyville, or indeed most of everyone on the ground, a lone starship floated in orbit high above the planet. At its helm stood a large, immensely built alien.

Cutting an ever so imposing figure, the alien had his arms folded at his chest, and a massive hammer strapped to his back. His body was furred in fine silvery hairs, and his head was topped off with a wild, sweeping mohawk. He was currently staring at a holographic projection of the planet, gazing in particular at a single large continent with jagged, meandering coastlines. The land was bordered by two oceans, a massive desert to the south, and the northern polar ice cap.

“Are you certain this is the right planet, Chieftain? Does it contain the renegade of which we seek?” someone to his side inquired. The speaker uttered his words with aristocratic, highly authoritarian flare.

Turning around in an instant, the large alien was greeted by the sight of another tall, slender alien seated in a floating gravity throne. “I am indeed certain, noble Prophet of Regret. Our sensor contraptions report that the slipstream space anomaly that the Huragok disappeared into leads straight to this world.”

“That is exquisite news, Tartarus. You have done well. Now, all we require is to ascertain the Huragok’s specific location. I trust that you have means of accomplishing this?”

The Jiralhanae replied with a grin, revealing two rows of teeth, all filed down to dagger-like menacing fangs. “I have a few warriors in mind who shall make for fine search and retrieval team material.”

Regret clasped his hands together merrily. “Splendid, splendid! But do not tarry, we have a war to fight. Every Huragok is needed now more than ever!” At those words, the San 'Shyuum Hierarch drifted towards the door leading away from the bridge.

“Of course. But, that is not all, I’m afraid.” Tartarus added hastily.

Regret stopped immediately, then turned towards Tartarus with his brow raised slowly, ominously. “Yes? Go ahead, speak your mind, then.”

“We've detected primitive communications broadcasts from some of the continents. Each and every one of them are as loud as a raging thorn beast to our instruments. The planet must be inhabited by sapients, Your Grace.”

“Vermin?”

“Nay, Prophet of Regret. No humans were detected. They seem to be a previously undocumented species.”

Regret changed from anger to enthusiastic satisfaction in an instant. “Fascinating," he said. "Once we have captured the rogue Huragok, I shall take it upon myself to initiate first contact with this species."

"Why?"

"The more forces we have to throw against those Heretics, the better!” Regret turned to look back at Tartarus one final time, sternly. “Bring me back Lighter Than Some, unharmed. If any of the inhabitants deliberately get in your way despite due warning, put peace aside and forcefully remind them of their place.”

The silver-coated Jiralhanae bowed deeply, putting one fist to the ground, and the other to his massive chest. “Yes, Holy One. It shall be done.” The Prophet nodded slowly, then disappeared around the bend of the corridor, the door closing behind him. Watching his departure, Tartarus refocused his attention on the planet projection. Without looking away, he barked an order at the Brute helmsman nearest him. “Pack brother!”

“Yes, Chieftain?”

“Summon me my most capable of captains," Tartarus said with a thoughtful smirk. "I have a task for him.”

The helmsman pounded his fist into the thick of his chest. “Of course, mighty one.”

Tartarus chuckled to himself as the officer carried out his commands. He zoomed the planetary projection in, showing a small village or town just outside of a large, almost jungle-like forest, “You have a task for me, Chieftain?” An deep voice inquired. Tartarus turned around at once.

Standing before the Chieftain was possibly the largest Jiralhanae who had ever lived in recent memory. He was at least ten feet tall, almost rivaling even Hunters in height. His skin, quite like the majority of Tartarus’ Brutes, was covered up by a thick unshaven coat of fur. In his case, the fur was snow white, even whiter than the Chieftain’s. In his hand was the shaft of his own personal gravity hammer, and clipped at his belt was a spiker carbine, a mauler pistol, four spike grenades and four plasma grenades. He wore no armor, only bandoliers that held more spiker and mauler ammunition.

“Indeed Ferus. I want you to go to the surface of this planet. There is a forest to the west of this settlement just over some hills. You shall land and make camp there. Inquire from the locals, any and all, about the Engineer’s location. If you describe him properly, they should know instantly if they have seen the creature or not. You have been selected for this task, for none would dare to challenge your imposing stature.”

Ferus responded only with a churlish chuckle. Tartarus contorted his face slightly, his expression darkening. “Do you understand the task I have given you?”

“I do, my Chieftain. They will tell me where the Huragok hides.” He motioned towards the personal armory he had attached to his person. “If not, pain will surely follow.” Ferus finished his statement with a cruel grin.

“Go then, Captain. Secure further honor for our pack within the Covenant, locate and retrieve Regret’s engineer! Do not fail me.”

Bowing, Ferus nodded. “It will be done.” The hulking brute bowed once more, then made his way out of the bridge, heading towards a hangar bay.

Therein, Ferus found a Phantom waiting for him. It was carrying all the supplies needed for a small encampment and keep an infantry lance properly equipped for a week. Among the supplies were a few purple weapons crates carrying a wide variety of plasma launchers, fuel rod cannons, and the occasional spiker, carbine, or Brute-modified plasma rifle.

Truly, many Jiralhanae were rather excessive when it came to preparing for operations. Firepower was equated with status and pack dominance, among other things. Strategy and finesse were second to the value of terror-based psychological warfare and overwhelming force.

Whether or not the massive arsenal was excessive for his task, it did not cross Ferus’ mind all that much as he clambered aboard the empty troop bay of the Phantom. The sight of the extra heavy munitions reminded him that he could possibly have a some fun somewhere, and still manage to have time to find the little floaty renegade.

He couldn't wait to see how the natives will likely respond to the demoralizing sight of his powerful musculature. The thought of mysterious alien weaklings running in fear from his hammer was too exciting to bear. Ferus cradled the weapon in his hands lovingly.

“Take me to the surface of the alien planet!” Ferus barked at the pilot.

“We’re disembarking now.” The Sangheili replied, with a hint of derision in his voice.

Leaving the Covenant assault carrier, the Phantom quickly made its way out of orbit and into the planet’s atmosphere. Only someone with a telescope, and a quick eye, could have detected its movement, and only at night. At this moment, it was the middle of the day over the Equestrian heartlands.

Meanwhile, back down to earth in Ponyville, a certain former pirate and one of Equestria’s finest dressmakers were getting along swimmingly, considering their rather turbulent introductions.

“Thank you for finally returning the items you took, darling,” Rarity declared pleasantly.

Chur stood next to Rarity as she went about organizing things around the shop. Rolls of fine fabric, finished and unfinished dresses, and various tools of her trade floated about in Rarity’s telekinesis field. The Kig-Yar was mesmerized by the show of magic, she was still unused to the strange esoteric force the horned Equestrians employed on a daily basis.

Snapping out of her trance, Chur replied, “Once again, I apologize for stealing from you and violating the sanctity of your hospitality. Such behavior is inexcusable among even Kig-Yar, no matter the profit to be gained.”

To the jackal’s surprise, Rarity frowned at her, pouting her lips. “Heavens, dear! If anyone should be apologizing, it ought to be me! I should have seen from the beginning how nervous you must have been from being in such unfamiliar surroundings. It’s my fault for not giving you time to acclimate, my dear,” Rarity explained, sighing. “It’s just so amazing having an exotic creature such as yourself wander right into Ponyville out of the blue, you know? Surely you can forgive my over eagerness?” she grinned at the alien nervously.

Chur responded with a friendly chuckle, and a Kig-Yar smile. “Don’t worry, Rarity. If you are on good terms with me, I must likewise return the sentiment.” she held out her hand to the unicorn. “So, shall we be business partners, then?”

Rarity’s response was a radiant smile and an offering of her forehoof. Without hesitation, the two both shook. “Partners indeed,” the unicorn agreed.

Outside Carousel Boutique and near City Hall, Dadab, Spike, Twilight and the others were gathered around a podium. To the Grunt Deacon’s opposite side, stood the Mayor of Ponyville. In addition, word had rapidly spread of his and Chur's presence. The inhabitants were now eager to see and learn as much about the inherently alien newcomers as possible. With the Shipmistress occupied with Rarity, that left only one Unggoy for the job.

Dadab stood nervously at the podium, his deacon training and intelligence the only things preventing his primal Unggoy side from breaking out and making him flee for the hills. His plasma pistol, and all armaments had been left at Golden Oak Library, thinking it wouldn't be needed. Seeing the size of the crowd, Dadab looked uncertainly at his new friends. Spike gave him two thumbs up, grinning confidently, while Twilight and the others smiled apologetically. “Erm, I'm not so sure about this...” Dadab’s legs began shaking involuntarily like small leaves in the sway of a wind tempest.

To everybody's surprise, Fluttershy approached Dadab, and gently laid a wing on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, they seem to really like you,” she said in her low, soothingly angelic voice. Her eyes looked into his with fierce intensity.

“You can do it! You had the courage to talk with us, even though we’re complete strangers to you. If anypony can tell Equestria about your culture, it’s you Dadab. Umm, for what it's worth, I believe you can do it.”

Underneath his mask Dadab was grinning, taken aback at the sincerity of the mare’s words. He almost felt his eyes get a little misty. “I thank you, Fluttershy! You are a true friend, not a meanie like some in the Covenant. Us poor Unggoy have few friends outside our own species, so allies like you are super-special to Dadab!”

Fluttershy felt like putting the alien in a bear hug, but her reserved nature resisted the urge. Instead, she gave him a heartwarming smile, then rejoined the others nearby.

“Fair citizens of Ponyville! I present to you, alien extraordinaire, and uh..." the Mayor quickly consulted a piece of parchment Twilight handed her. "Deacon of the Covenant Empire, Dadab!” Mayor Mare gave her announcement in a loud, professional voice. “Let’s give our guest from outer space a warm welcoming, shall we everybody?” The assembled ponies greeted Dadab with a chorus of applause, stamping their hooves in the ground, giving him a friendly wave of the hoof, or gawking at him curiously.

Dadab gave one final look to the others, who were all giving him reassuring nods and uplifting smiles. Kicking in the deacon and political sides of his brain, Dadab held up his stubby hands. The crowd slowly quieted down. “Thank you friends, Dadab thanks you all from the bottom of his heart! Hmm.. I'm uncertain of where to begin, so Dadab is simply going to answer your questions for now.”

As Dadab and the citizens exchanged numerous words, the five mares and Spike watched him, amazed at how the grunt had changed so quickly from a nervous and timid individual into a 'master' public orator in mere seconds.

Applejack patted Fluttershy gently on the shoulder, mimicking Fluttershy’s gesture for Dadab just moments before. “That’s a mighty fine thing ya did for little ol’ Dadab over there, Fluttershy!” she complimented with an approving smile.

Fluttershy smiled back shyly from behind her mane. “Oh, we just all need a little encouragement from somepony every once in a while. It’s the least I could do for him.” Twilight, AJ, and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement, while Pinkie Pie grinned at her.

“You have such a way with non-ponies, Flutters, it’s simply amazing!” Rainbow noted, now hovering in the air.

"Ohh! Umm, thanks Rainbow Dash."

“This is turning out to be quite an interesting day, girls. Let’s hope for more rewarding ones like this; it's not everyday that members of a civilization from beyond Equis show up in town,” Twilight declared, as Rainbow Dash returned to the ground. Everyone voice their agreement, and then together they returned to watching their newest acquaintance. He was now engaging their fellow citizens with vigorous, exciting tales of space battles, descriptions of distant planets and moons, and accounts of the various treasures of the beings called Forerunner that the Covenant had found over the centuries.

Out in the distance, on the mostly deserted outskirts of Ponyville, a massive figure observed the crowd through the scope of a fuel rod cannon. Seeing the Unggoy at the podium, the Brute chuckled as he holstered the cannon over his back and brought his beloved hammer to bear in his hands. The chuckle consisted of half surprise, half amusement.

“An Unggoy? He must be a deserter of some kind, perhaps? Maybe conspired with the Huragok to work with the heretics.. Time to deal with the little whelp, and all else who may stand in my way!”

Slowly approaching the crowd, Ferus growled to himself. “For the glory of the Covenant!”

Chapter 7: Et Tu Brute?

“Ooh! Mister Dadab? Mister Dadab?! I have a question!” A young colt in the crowd jumped into the air with excitement, trying to catch the Unggoy deacon’s attention.

Light jumping was a universal gesture of cheerfulness and sociability among young Unggoy, so it caused Dadab to notice the colt at once. Looking down at him from the podium he was presenting from, Dadab inclined his head curiously. “Yes?” he asked in a kindly voice.

“Is that guy over there an alien too? Is he one of your friends from outer space?” the colt inquired, his voice almost as squeaky as Dadab’s.

“Huh?” Dadab glanced quickly across the crowd into the distance. Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all looked towards Carousel Boutique, assuming the colt was referring to Chur'R-Yar and Rarity, who were indeed leaving the shop and making their way over towards the crowd. Neither groups had yet seen what Dadab now noticed. The deacon shook nervously in his armor once again that day, as he observed the being marching towards him.

The alien was a snow-furred juggernaut, his wicked hammer shifting from massive paw to massive paw like some bringer of the end of days. This was no ordinary brute, to Dadab this was for certain. The crowd of townsfolk collectively gasped as the Jiralhanae titan drew nearer, before stopping to regard them with cruel, malice-filled eyes. The ponies returned his gaze with mixtures of fear, and shock: borderline panic.

Raising and pointing a thick finger at Dadab, the brute finally uttered words. “Little Unggoy! Have you been hiding the Engineer from us?!”

The gasping, combined with the Brute’s clearly audible growl of a voice, caught the girls’ attention. Twilight peered at the alien, trying to get a clearer view of his features. “I can’t believe it! Not one, not two, but three aliens in one day? Princess Celestia will freak when she learns we made three friends all in one day... and extraterrestrials at that!” Twilight could scarcely contain her own scientific curiosity and enthusiasm.

Pinkie Pie on the other hoof, begged to differ. “I’m not so sure about this one, Twily, he looks like he’s a barrel full of scary! And not in a fun way either, not like a barrel of apples, or a barrel of monkeys, even considering he looks like a huge monkey...” The normally jubilant mare’s face was etched with worry.

“Umm, for once, I think I’m going to have to agree with Pinkie Pie on this one, sugar cube. That two-legged feller seems like bad news to me,” Applejack agreed.

Hovering in the air with her wings, Rainbow Dash glared at the distant giant with mistrust and slight distaste. “I really don't like that guy's body language. That monster better not try to do anything to harm Dadab or any of us, else there’s going to be trouble!”

Nearby, Rarity and Chur froze in their tracks. Chur was already reading the Jiralhanae's body language, and upon seeing that Rarity’s friends were likewise alert and wary, the jackal now had enough evidence as to the nature of the situation. Quickly, she pulled out her needler and ignited her defense gauntlet, its energy crackling the air around it.

Rarity immediately noticed her future business partner’s newly adopted battle stance. Looking from Chur'R-Yar to the brute and back again, she frowned with concern. “I say, dear! What has you and the others in ever such a tense mood?”

Chur shook her weapon in the Brute behemoth’s general direction. “The tall furry one you see over there? It is a Jiralhanae Captain! The Jiralhanae are the most savage warriors in all the Covenant. This one seems to be hostile, like he's about to go berserk!”

Taking a closer look at the hammer wielding giant, Rarity could finally understand her friends’ reason for alarm. “Come to think of it, that creature does look a bit like a Diamond Dog at first glance. I could believe anything resembling such uncouth savages would be a little trouble maker,” the alabaster unicorn said with graceful certainty in her voice. “Or in this one’s case, big trouble maker...”

Over on Dadab’s end of things, the situation was rapidly going from discomfort to downright heart attack-inducing fear for the Unggoy. The lumbering brute lowered his finger, and then grasped his hammer with both hands. “Talk whelp, before I start collecting skulls!” He bellowed.

The poor ponies closest to him were certain the ape-like alien had just started an avalanche somewhere on the nearest mountain slope.

“Wha...? I'm not sure you’re talking a..abo...about!” Dadab quivered like a jellyfish as he attempted to reply. “Maybe...you have...wrong Unggoy? Yes?” Growling, the Brute shot him a death glare. “Umm, okay maybe not...”

“Mighty Ferus tires of your nonsense, you little runt!” His paper-thin patience now run dry, the brute roared and lunged over the crowd, hammer swinging through the air with a loud ‘WHOOSH’. The ponies beneath him scattered like leaves in the wind as he soared over them. Acting on instinct, Dadab shoved the Mayor out of harms way, before jumping out of the brute’s path just in time.

The podium and every piece of furniture around it was vaporized to splinters as the hammer’s gravity drive exerted its force on the world around it. Turning around with a single fluid motion, Ferus snarled at the still living but shaken Dadab with utter contempt.

Without giving any prior warning other than a growl to rival Ferus’ own, Rainbow Dash soared at the large Jiralhanae, her sky blue face contorted with pure anger. “Pick on someone your own size, you dumb, giant walking sack of rotting Changeling flesh!”

The brute only understood half of the mare's insult, but it, coupled with the pegasus mare’s sudden attack proved enough to make the Jiralhanae warrior go 'bananas'. In full berserk mode, Ferus was seeing in red. Just as Rainbow was about to ram her entire body's mass straight into his fortress of a chest, the brute fired off a five-round burst from the spiker carbine he had drawn.

Three of the quill-like projectiles fortunately missed, but the two that remained managed to find themselves buried in the bone of the pegasus’ right wing. She toppled to the grass and cobblestone with a pained yelp.

“Rainbow!” The girls and Spike shout in unison. Ferus looked up from the groaning pegasus to her friends. He giggled at them cruelly, a low grumble within his chest. Twilight and Pinkie Pie stood with their eyes widened in disbelief, Spike tried to hide behind Twilight’s forelegs, and Applejack looked on at the Brute with absolute loathing in her eyes. Fluttershy shook fearfully behind her mane. First safe chance she got, she would rush towards Rainbow Dash and get her as far away from the brute as her wings and body would allow.

Applejack stomped her hoof into the ground violently. “Y’all are gonna have to pay for that dearly now, stranger. This town may be welcoming and hospitable, But there ain't no way, no how, we’re just gonna let you waltz right on in here and start trying to murder people, 'Least of all, our friends!”

Ferus rewarded the farm pony’s courage and duty to her friends with another unsettling chortle, this one sounding like the groaning of some massive old machine in need of a good oiling. “Such fierce determination to protect such a worthless little creature as an Unggoy,” the brute captain snorted, and spit upon the ground, causing Rarity to cringe in disgust. “Such idiocy is beyond pity. The Hierarch will only be wasting his time with your lot.”

For a few moments, he stood there, as if sizing them up to determine their possible combined nutritional value. “Now...prepare to die, meat!”

In the precious seconds between Ferus’ analysis of the mares, and his re-quipping of the gravity hammer, Dadab suddenly faced a moment of great courage. Staring at Fluttershy’s scared-looking form nearby, her words from just minutes before played back in his head. I believe you can do it.

Putting not even a millisecond to waste, Dadab drew his pistol, and fired a charged shot. The latent green energy of the plasma bolt detonated itself in the white of Ferus' back, charring his coat and melting the flesh underneath, leavening behind the sickening smell of burnt tissue. The Jiralhanae yelped in pain and flailed about, dropping his hammer in the process. Seeing the fuel rod cannon still strapped to the brute’s back, Dadab got an idea.

He quickly leaped onto Ferus’ shoulders, and clamped his hand on the trigger of the cannon. Dadab was also quick to turn off the audio sensors in his combat harness for a brief moment. The weapon discharged its deadly uranium bolt into the unoccupied grass nearby, creating a thundering boom that reduced Ferus’ hearing to nothing but ringing Tinnitus.

Taking advantage of the brute’s momentary handicap, Dadab shouted to his friends, trying to imitate a Sangheili officer's tone of voice. It didn't sound like an elite, but Dadab's words still carried the necessary weight. “Twilight, please go and get brave Rainbow, friend Spike, kind Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie out of the battle if they cannot fight! Shipmistress, you will help Dadab distract the bad guy while Applejack knocks the Brute down...” Ferus growled, trying to shake the Unggoy off, but he held fast, clamping down on the brute’s ears with his hands. “Okay?"

Applejack raked at the grass defiantly with her forehoof, nodding. “I hear ya sugar cube. Give the word, and I’ll have that overgrown ape straight and felled as a dead old apple tree!”

Twilight, despite her wish to pay the Jiralhanae back for his unwarranted violence and destruction, decided to leave the fight to them so the others can get away unharmed. “I’ll get everypony out to someplace safe. But as soon as they are safe, I’m coming back to help, if I can!” At that, Twilight picked up Rainbow Dash gently in her telekinetic aura. With a firm magic grip on the pegasus, Twilight looked to Fluttershy and Spike. “Guys! Come on! I’m teleporting us back to the library!” Without hesitation or words, both grabbed on, and with a shining of her horn Twilight zapped them all out of the battle.

Watching the four take their leave, Chur chattered affirmatively as she rushed towards to Applejack’s side. Looking back towards Rarity, she waved her needler in the air like a Sangheili field marshal ordering an infantry lance into combat formation. “Stand with us and fight, or be on your way, Rarity!”

Rarity narrowed her eyes at the flailing Brute. “While I do not truly appreciate the arts of fighting and...warfare...” The word rolled of her tongue uneasily. “It will help to have some magic on your side.” The fashionista galloped after Chur. With the force assembled, they faced the brute captain. Standing before the still struggling Ferus was one very angry and very strong earth pony. Accompanying her were a precise, graceful dressmaking unicorn, and a nimble, incredibly fast Kig-Yar. Observing Dadab's struggle, they all knew he couldn't keep Ferus under control for long.

Wasting neither time nor breath, the trio jumped into the fray. Flanking right, Chur fired her needler at the brute captain, the pink crystalline projectiles embedding themselves almost harmlessly in his thick leathery skin beneath his coat of fur. The rounds were unable to acquire the appropriate critical mass in one area to trigger a super combine that could kill Ferus instantly.

Simultaneously, Rarity used her magic to conjure protective shields around her compatriots. While not as powerful as Twilight’s magic, the shields were undoubtedly better than fighting with just bare skin or armor alone. In addition, flanking to the left, Rarity used her telekinesis to throw random debris such as wood splinters, pebbles from the cobblestone, and needler shards from Chur's discharged rounds at the brute.

Fueled by adrenaline and primal rage, Ferus finally managed to throw Dadab off of him. The Unggoy landed with a loud groan, as well as a slight grunt. Meanwhile, Chur and Rarity’s combined attacks only served to enrage the massive Jiralhanae even more.

With one massive swing of his hammer straight into the ground before him, Ferus knocked Rarity and Chur away like rag dolls, who each made hard landings on the ground next to Dadab. The deacon was still trying to regain his senses that had been knocked out of him. Rarity’s now collapsed shields barely protected her and Chur'R-Yar from spraining or fracturing any bones.

Upon seeing that his hammer pounding did not reduce his enemies to meager craters as he had so desired, Ferus finally gave into his primal urges. With reckless abandon, the brute ditched his own gravity hammer, and charged at the three on the ground, tapping into the hidden reserves of muscular energy all Jiralhanae possessed. Ferus was intent on finishing the job, with his own two hands if need be. What he hadn't accounted for, as his three would-be victims rolled out of the way, was the earth pony mare that had been trailing his backside the entire time.

With a quick, vengeful cry of exertion, Applejack bucked him in the back with all the strength her hind legs could muster. She had been bucking apple trees since she had been a wee little filly, and all that work had honed and sharpened her hind leg muscles into a powerhouse. The directed kinetic energy inflicted massive damage to the brute’s back muscles and vertebrae. Letting out another piercing yelp of pain, the behemoth toppled over like so many sacks of flour that had been poorly stacked upon one another. His fuel rod cannon clattered harmlessly to the ground near Dadab.

“Bested by an Unggoy...” Ferus wheezed. Applejack’s force had been enough to knock the air out of his lungs as well. As the brute warrior lay upon the cobblestone, trying to regain normal breathing, Dadab, Rarity, Applejack, and Ria surrounded him, looking down with angry gazes.

Suddenly, the brute seemingly lost all consciousness. Taking a long look at him, the four victors moved to approach what was left of the podium, to take stock of the damage Ferus had wrought. No one saw the giant move until he was already upon them. Seizing Applejack by her neck before she could react, the brute roared in fury. “Worms! Did you really think me finished? Twice more you insult me this day. Now, you shall meet the fate of all who would defy and humiliate a servant of the Hierarchs!”

Ferus held Applejack straight up in the air as he attempted to squeeze the life out of her. Rarity looked on helplessly in horror, discovering that her telekinesis alone was not enough to break the alien’s steel vice grip.

Chur's response was to equip a weapon of which Rarity hadn't noticed a whole lot before, but Dadab recognized quite well. It was an energy baton, often used to keep unruly jackal and grunt underlings in line, as well as the occasional Yanme’e drone. Chur re-purposed the weapon for a much more nobler use, attempting to save an ally in need.

Hissing and rasping wildly in the Kig-Yar language, Chur ferociously struck out at Ferus, first targeting his sides, then his actual arms. It worked. Reeling back from the burns and shocks the baton emitted, Ferus unceremoniously dropped Applejack to the ground. She drew in air with long, ragged breaths. Rarity quickly rushed to her side as Ferus went after Chur, while Dadab kept his eyes glued to him and his close acquaintance's new foe.

Gazing at the alien that had fought to release her as Rarity fussed over her own prone form, Applejack saw something inside Chur she couldn't easily detect back at Twilight's library. A certain inkling of hers, as she regained her breath, was that Chur'R-Yar secretly valued those she kept close by, but she was reluctant to make it obvious. They would need to have a heart-to-heart chat sometime soon, Applejack privately concluded in her mind.

Rarity followed up on Chur's attacks with a surprise move. Picking up the brute’s discarded fuel rod cannon with her magic, the ordinarily civil, mare rammed the butt of the weapon straight into the brute captain’s snarling snout as he attempted to stick a spike grenade into Chur's flesh, her shield gauntlet having collapsed moments ago under the barrage of his fists. The T'vaoan felt a sharp pain in her torso, and guessed that a rib or two most have been broken.

“That’s a very important pony..er, person to me you’re messing with, you barbarian!” Rarity barked. Ferus fell to the ground. Rarity then floated the canon over to Dadab, who happily took his favorite explosive weapon type in hand. Grabbing the now active grenade Ferus had drawn, Dadab summoned a martial spirit he never knew he possessed, and shoved the spiked explosive right into the alien's chest. Its barbs hooked into his flesh with a sickening squelch that made Rarity involuntarily grimace.

“This one’s for Rainbow Dash!” He then grabbed two of Ferus’ plasma grenades, repeating the process. “This one's for Lighter Than Some, and this one's for hurting Applejack! Die, devil!”

Ferus emitted a howling shriek when the fuses went off. The resulting explosion from the chain reaction-detonated grenades on his belt sent him flying straight through the air.

Plotting out the flying brute’s trajectory in his mind, Dadab: the deacon-turned Unggoy explosives enthusiast, shouldered the fuel rod cannon and fired. “I'll send ya on the Great Journey, early!” he declared.

The rounds were aimed not at Ferus, but where his brick of a body was heading. Almost flawlessly, the fuel rod projectiles slammed straight into the white-furred Jiralhanae in succession, further hastening his flight straight into the Everfree. When his large smoking form disappeared over the rooftops of the buildings, a welcoming change occurred in the skies above. Entirely coincidentally, the Sun emerged out from behind a thick white cloud that had been hovering overhead for some time, shining brightly and radiantly on the four triumphant friends.

Now gathered around Applejack, Chur look down to the farm pony, her throat purring in concern. “Are you alright? Shall we contact a physician of yours, perhaps?” She now looked on to Rarity. Before she could reply, Twilight Sparkle teleported back out from the Library.

“Dadab! What’s going on now, I...Oh no, Applejack!” She rushed over to the still standing trio’s side, trying to examine her friend for injury.

AJ looked up at them with a weak smile. “Ah’m fine, ah’m fine! Don’t ya go fussing over me now, just a little throat ache. Nothing to break your horn over, Twi.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Applejack! That monster nearly killed you!” Rarity interjected. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at this.

“Yeah, nearly.Were it not for our ‘pirate’ friend here, I’d been a goner! Ya have muh thanks, Shipmistress. I’m sorry for doubting your good intent, that was awfully hasty unfair judgment on mah part.”

Chur chuckled lightly. “You need not thank me, apple farmer. I am glad you have not blamed us for this one Jiralhanae’s hostilities. As you can see, not all of us in the Covenant can be... civil. And, I admit.... it is most pleasing to me to see that you were not seriously harmed.” Chur declared. "It would be most unbecoming for a friend of my newest associate to face a tragic turn of events."

Applejack stared at Chur in agreement, her smile widening a bit, even as Chur clamped her hand to her chest painfully. Twilight stepped in, noting every single scrape, bruise, and injury on those around her. “We need to get you guys back to the library so we can assess everything, then I can see about getting you and Rainbow Dash to Ponyville Hospital as quickly as possible!” Twilight noticed the Kig-Yar’s pained grimace as well. “And you as well, Chur. No protests."

They all gathered together around Applejack, as Chur offered a hand and pulled her up, ignoring the pain flaring in her own chest. The battle weary group teleported together back to the Golden Oak Library to see to the mending of injuries, and hopefully make lasting alliances. For with the appearance of Ferus and his superiors, Chur and Dadab's situation has changed, dramatically.

Chapter 8: Trixie's Experiment

“How goes the construction of the machine, engineer?” Inquired the silken, arrogant voice of Trixie, as she watched the floating Huragok go about its business within the cramped confines of her caravan. “It better be complete. Trixie’s patience is not infinite!”

After a few more moments of slowly drifting about the focus of his work, Lighter Than Some turned to face the unicorn with his beady black eyes. He whistled affirmatively, and Trixie’s face drew into a pleased grin.

“Excellent. Trixie possesses the power source we require for its activation,” she proclaimed sweetly, approaching Lighter Than Some’s new creation. Floating to make way for her, the engineer chirped in curiosity. His captor’s unusually cheerful mood caused the Huragok to calm in her presence, and he was no longer in distress. This was a significant development for Lighter Than Some, especially when the unicorn’s usually abhorrent behavior was taken into account.

Trixie noted the curiosity in the delicate alien’s tone, and peered at him for a second. “Indeed, it was found in Canterlot, just as the Great and Powerful has promised.” Using her telekinesis, Trixie opened up her saddlebags and brought out the object to show to Lighter Than Some.

“Behold, engineer, the might and majesty that is the Alicorn Amulet!” As Trixie announced it dramatically, a thunderclap from the rainstorm erupted outside and lightning flashed through the window, briefly illuminating Trixie’s face in the dim lighting of the caravan.

Lighter Than Some glowed purple briefly, as Trixie floated the amulet into the grasp of one of his tentacles. It was of elegant design, with a rather dark color palette in mind. The silver and black head of a red-eyed Alicorn jutted out from the central piece of the necklace, with the Alicorn’s raven black and blood red wings spread out symmetrically on either side. The center housed the source of the amulet’s dark power, a polished red ruby inlaid in the darkened silver, which itself almost seemed to flow, as if alive, across the surface.

Lighter Than Some twirled the powerful artifact around in his tentacles thoughtfully, humming quietly to himself. The Huragok found the magic energy it radiated fascinating and alien to him. Trixie watched him inspect it for awhile impatiently. Then, as her patience finally waned, she said, “Enough pandering to your idle curiosity, engineer. Insert the new power source into the device!” She motioned her foreleg towards the strange object near them. “Trixie wishes to see that it actually works.”

Obediently, the Huragok complied. Floating back over to his creation, he inspected the object and looked for the power receptacle.

The machine itself was surprisingly simplistic in its design, consisting almost entirely of a glimmering silvery box, about half the size of Trixie and Lighter Than Some’s bodies. The silver surface was immaculate and played host to several glowing magical runes and arcane symbols, while the top was dominated by a small circular opening, the natures of which only Trixie and the Huragok could know in detail.

Dexterously, Lighter Than Some navigated the bulk of the Alicorn Amulet towards the receptacle, a second smaller rectangular opening on the box’s side. Almost at once, the surface of the box seemed to sense the presence of the artifact, and the opening shape changed to mirror that of the Amulet almost perfectly.

As Trixie looked on, impressed, the Huragok inserted the Alicorn Amulet. The glowing runes on the box’s sides pulsed with an even greater vigor, casting rays of blue light all across the room.

Grinning once again as she scrutinized the machine, Trixie said, “You’ve done well, Lighter Than Some.” She raised a hoof to his head to rub him affectionately. He tensed slightly, but did not retreat from her. “See? Trixie can be kind and generous to those who obey and assist her, my dear,” she cooed, before her voice began to accommodate a hint of malice. “However, the Great and Powerful Trixie has no tolerance for those who should fail in their duty to her. Do you understand?”

Lighter Than Some hummed softly in agreement, and Trixie approached the machine. She looked from the schematics papers on the floor to the actual machine, and nodded with her eyes closed, satisfied. Humming triumphantly, Trixie ran her other hoof over its energized, pulsating surface. She could sense the mysterious mechanisms working within, and the energy of the Alicorn Amulet surging into her. Trixie’s grin only grew.

Looking from the machine and then to the Huragok, her magenta eyes began to glow an ethereal red. Lighter Than Some curled up slightly in fear at the sight, before Trixie averted her gaze from him and made her way towards the door.

Not looking at him, she declared, “Now that Trixie knows the machine works, it is time to find a suitable...guinea pig for Trixie to test it upon.” She turned to face her alien assistant one final time. “I have seen one of your compatriots, not of the two here, but a new one from a starship land nearby after those explosions near Ponyville.”

This caught Lighter Than Some’s attention, and he emitted a whistle of surprise, to which Trixie nodded. “Indeed, my floating little minion. Your Covenant have arrived to try and retrieve you. If the strange book Trixie managed to steal from that fool Discord is correct, you must be very important to them.”

Recalling the events on Harvest, Lighter Than Some hummed plaintively. For a moment, Trixie’s eyes returned to normal and she approached him again. “Oh, fear not my dear, it will be all right.” Suddenly, her eyes glowed once more, and she smiled, almost sadistically. “By the time they see what remains of this ‘guinea pig’ when the Great and Powerful is concluded with her experiments, so great will their fear be, that they will be swift in their egress from our skies, never to be seen again!”

Trixie finished her statement off with a bout of cruel giggling, before turning her back on Lighter Than Some again and bursting outside into the rain-soaked Everfree Forest, slamming the door ominously behind her. Watching Trixie gallop away through her caravan’s small window, with only the quiet purr of his creation to keep him company, Lighter Than Some was unsure of whether to be relieved, or paranoid, from the unicorn’s declaration.

Far from the treacherous marshes and shadowy vales of the Everfree, Twilight Sparkle, Dadab, Rarity and the others were dealing with the fallout from the Brute Ferus’ sudden and unprovoked attack.

After having given everyone a few moments to rest and regain their bearings at the Golden Oak Library, Twilight had rushed Rainbow Dash, Chur, and Applejack to Ponyville General Hospital post haste. The former had both protested, while Applejack had uncharacteristically gone along with little argument.

It was the mid evening now, and Spike, Dadab, and Twilight were all outside the room where the three were being looked at, sitting around tensely in wait. An important guest was arriving to address the entire affair of alien life appearing in Equestria directly, and it was up to Twilight to greet them. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie in the meantime, were inside with the others as well as one of the medical staff, Nurse Redheart.

The three mares were working alongside Redheart, doing whatever they could to help out. Fluttershy was adept with treating injuries from her years of work with animals, and Rarity used her observant eye to help the nurse find specific points of injury, while Pinkie Pie mainly tried to keep the situation pleasant for everyone, with largely mixed results on her part.

Redheart bustled efficiently about the sterile, white, but still surprisingly warm and cozy hospital room. In no time, she had Applejack put into a reclined position so that her bruised neck could slowly mend itself, while Pinkie Pie kept her occupied with some of her silly stories. AJ tried her best not to roll her eyes as the well meaning party pony rambled on.

Coming next to Rainbow Dash, the process was a bit more complicated for Nurse Redheart. With Rarity’s telekinetic assistance, she and Fluttershy had to restrain Rainbow slightly as they pulled each spiker round from the bone folds of the pegasus’ wing. Rarity cringed in disgust as the last of the two inch spikes were pulled out along with a few drops of blood, all the while Rainbow Dash barely stifled a scream.

“Ow, owwww! Just leave em’ in! Leave em’ in, dammit!”

Fluttershy hushed her, and spoke in as best a reassuring voice as she could. “Rainbow, its alright, they’re all pulled out now. The pain should numb away gradually.”

“Gah, that hurt! If that oversized monster is still alive somehow, I’m gonna rip him to shreds when I find him!” Dash muttered through gritted teeth. Applejack heard the commotion from the other side of the bed curtain and started to moved in a worried fashion, but Pinkie Pie doubled her efforts in distracting her.

Redheart had conducted the entire removal procedure with a neutral, professional gaze, but her face was now solid and stern as granite. “Rainbow Dash, you will do no such thing. By doctors’ orders, none of you three are to engage in any physically demanding activities for an entire week.” Rainbow attempted to argue, but Redheart’s expression as she moved to continue her work indicated it was not at all up for debate. With the spikes removed and disposed of, Redheart and Fluttershy wrapped Rainbow’s injured wing carefully in gauze, set the bones back into their proper order, and put the entire appendage in a sling.

“Ah, there we are,” Redheart proclaimed with a sight of relief, rubbing her hooves together. The nurse’s bright pink mane, formerly in a bun, was now loose and slightly tangled from trying to work against Rainbow Dash’s struggling, as well as having to deal with the mare’s repeated attempts to argue.

With Rainbow Dash treated and left to stare worriedly at her wing, Redheart set about the next task. “Now, onto the...whatever Chur is supposed to be,” she mumbled under her breath. "The dragon lady..."

Rarity and Fluttershy followed her over to Chur's section. The Kig-Yar looked odd, the way she slouched as she sat up in the hospital bed. Having heard the ruckus in Rainbow’s section of the room, Chur was feeling slightly uneasy as the three examined her chest dubiously. Her armor and shield gauntlet had been removed and set on a table at the foot of the bed. Upon returning to Twilight’s library, the Shipmistress had discovered her needler apparently spent of ammunition, and she had promptly tossed the now useless weapon into some bushes on her way to the hospital.

“Now Chur, is there anything you can tell us about your people’s anatomy and physiology, such as the configuration of your bone structure, perhaps? Normally I would give you an x-ray, but for all I know, that might melt you, or something.”

Chur'R-Yar shook her feathered head. “I am no Kig-Yar medical expert, but what I do know is that our bones are quite hollowed out, given our natural agility.”

Fluttershy’s face lit up a bit behind the shadowy veils of her mane. “Hollow-boned? So are birds and pegasi like me and Rainbow Dash!”

Rarity looked at her with confusion as to the relevancy of the fact. Nurse Redheart however, already understood its significance. “Wonderful news, then! We should be able to set your damaged ribs back into place with the same materials we use to heal pegasi who get injured in flight while doing them weather jobs. You’re in luck, alien.” Redheart winked reassuringly at Chur, then dashed to another corner of the room, gathering what she needed from a cabinet.

Unsure of what to expect, Chur gulped. Rarity noticed the jackal’s apprehension and patted her on the shoulder gently. “Don’t worry Chur, dear. Redheart’s one of the most capable medical mares in the whole region! If anypony can heal an injured creature previously unknown to conventional science such as yourself, it’s her.”

After a few more seconds passed, Redheart appeared around the curtain with an abnormally large syringe. “Now, we’re going to have to put you under first, or else its really gonna be painful.”

“I just don’t understand it.” Twilight declared, pacing the room. Beside her, Spike and Dadab sat together on a bench, watching her go back and forth.

“The two of you appear and are as peaceful as ever, erm....mostly. Then, another of a different species appears and starts attacking us for seemingly no apparent reason!” Twilight looked at Dadab with incredulity. “Just what in the world is going on with your Covenant? Are they an empire of interstellar crazies?”

Spike held up a hand to Twilight, stopping her pacing. “Whoa, c’mon Twi, that might be a bit too...broad, don’t you think?” Twilight looked as if she wanted to debate, but Spike raised an eyebrow.

In the time since he blew the attacking Jiralhanae straight out of Ponyville with high explosives, Dadab had been experiencing a massive mental conflict, which caused him to be incredibly delayed in his own response to Twilight’s inquiry. Finally collecting his thoughts on the matter, Dadab prepared to speak, but something, or rather, somebody, cut him off.

“Spike is correct, Twilight. We should ensure we have clear knowledge of the situation before we jump to any serious conclusions,” a regal voice proclaimed smoothly from nearby.

All three turned their eyes and saw the form of Princess Celestia enter into the largely empty waiting room. Two guards followed her in and took position at the entryway. The rest of their detachment were already scouring around town, in search of any evidence of other potentially hostile hammer-wielding monsters. Many still believed that the Jiralhanae was just a previously undiscovered type of barbaric beast race the Everfree had happened to cough up, like it had the Changelings in ages past.

“I...” Twilight sighed, and rubbed at her neatly-kept mane. “Your right, Princess, I’m sorry everyone. It’s just that it was all so sudden, right out of the blue! The creature seemed almost as if he were possessed. It’s a miracle no one else was hurt.”

Celestia smiled as much as the seriousness of the situation would allow her to. Regardless, the smile still managed to appear warm and radiant. “I’m sure our friend Dadab here agrees, isn't that so?” The white alicorn turned her gaze to Dadab, who was experiencing the same feeling he would get when seeing the Hierarchs in person, given the way that the alicorn towered over him.

“Huh? Please forgive poor Dadab, Holy One. I take no offense in boss Twilight’s words. Jiralhanae attack me, a Covenant deacon for no reason! I'm not sure about Shipmistress Chur'R-Yar, but I’m not part of the crazy Covenant any longer, I understand now why our Unggoy ancestors rebelled years ago.”

This seemed to trouble the Princess, as things were beginning to resemble the perfect ingredients for a powder keg diplomatic incident. “Dadab, could you please inform me on how you and your compatriots arrived here, especially the one that threatened some of my own citizens?”

Although the word ‘please’ was utilized, it was clear to Dadab that her question was not a mere request. Getting out of his seat and carefully formulating his words, Dadab responded, “I’m not sure how Jiralhanae arrived, likely by spaceship. Me and Chur'R-Yar practically woke up here, Dadab theorizes it may be slipstream space supernatural teleportation, but I'm not sure exactly how.”

“A space-faring vessel, incredible. So there are more of your people, then?” Celestia inquired, quickly and urgently.

“Teleportation, through outer space?” Spike murmured to himself, his eyes lighting up in wonder at how such a thing were possible.

“Yes, unless the Jiralhanae flew in on some tiny ship, but that’s unlikely. Bad guy shouted something about an engineer, a Covenant race we call Huragok, being missing on your planet, so it could be anything from a corvette to a giant assault carrier!”

“An alien warship, in orbit above our planet! How could our astronomers not have detected it? What if they are all hostile like the last Jiralhanae?” Twilight inquired worriedly.

Dadab shrugged helplessly. “Day approach, light pollution maybe? Dadab not so sure. The Covenant are at war with another civilization. That could explain brute bad guy’s short temper, but after what I have seen, Dadab wants no part in the Covenant anymore.”

Celestia gently tapped her hoof down on the tiled floor, catching Dadab’s attention. “Will they simply leave, if they fail to find this, ‘Huragok’ as you call it?” The Princess’ regal smile disappeared, and her pleasant face hardened sternly. “Please understand, deacon, that Equestria and the majority of her neighbors cannot afford to risk going into a war with a space faring civilization. The damage that they could wrought here in a single day alone, would be catastrophic.”

"Especially if word got out that we were being invaded. Do you remember that radio broadcast about aliens attacking from Manehatten eighty years ago that turned out to be a hoax, Princess?" Twilight said, looking worrisome. "The War of the Worlds...the mass panic all over the world..."

"Yes, Twilight."

Shuffling nervously, Dadab looked at the concerned faces of Spike, Celestia, and Twilight. “I’m not sure one hundred percent guys, but with the war against the Human heretics beginning, I theorize that they will have to give up their search sooner or later, and then they will leave us in peace. I wouldn't worry too much, but still be cautious.”

“What of yourselves?” Celestia pressed on. “Are they not looking for you, as well?”

On this matter, Dadab was certain. “No, we're supposed to be dead! Shipmistress disappeared when our ship, the Minor Transgression went bye-bye in a huge explosion. I remember nearly being crushed by the hammer of another Jiralhanae chieftain, after I fought him with this,” Dadab pointed a stubby finger at his plasma pistol. “In all honesty, I’m not so sure what I should do next, or what will happen. All Dadab knows is that he does not want to deal with or return to Covenant anymore, he honor the Forerunners in his own way.”

With that said, Celestia abandoned her stern expression, and her demeanor became tender again. “Thank you for being straightforward and sincere with me, Dadab. If it is indeed true that they shall take leave of our world soon, then all the better that you and your Shipmistress Chur'R-Yar stay here, for otherwise you would carry knowledge of our world's inherent vulnerability to your warring peoples.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, before continuing. “To be straight forward with you Dadab, I would rather the Covenant not know of this planet, and that includes whoever they’re fighting and whatever other space faring species that may exist out there. With the 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast in mind, this world is far from being ready to make first contact, let alone Equestria. Simply having you here is risk enough.”

While the Unggoy expressed his agreement, Spike said, “Welp, looks like you and the lady who looks a bit like one of my kind are stuck here forever, then”

In response, Dadab hopped once and sniffed at the air, before replying. "Dadab understands, I am happy with this. Where do we stay however, Holy One? I need a place to get methane, so having a unicorn around would be nice!"

“Please, please! You may call me Celestia, it will suffice.” The alicorn replied, slightly flustered by the Unggoy's choice of words. “Perhaps Twilight or some of her friends could make accommodations? If not, I would be more than happy to provide you a space in the castle over in Canterlot.”

“I could probably make room for one or the both of you, until a more permanent arrangement is made,” Twilight offered, after a moment’s thought. Dadab nodded graciously at her. “Now that I think about it, Rarity also might be willing to grant a room to Chur'R-Yar, if their whole business agreement works out well.”

Spike approached Dadab from behind, and tapped him on the back, causing the Unggoy to jump around in fright, nearly dropping his rebreather mask to the floor. Spike stared at him funny, then quickly recovered, grinning. “Looks like you and I are going to be roommates. I hope you enjoy sorting through books and running errands five days out of the week” He uttered the second sentence mischievously under his breath.

Celestia smiled at the three, before making her way towards the hospital room containing the others. “Come now, let’s see how everyone’s holding up. I promised the Mayor I would check to make sure you were all doing well.” All four of them made their way into the room. Celestia immersed herself in conversation with Nurse Redheart about her three patients, while everyone else discussed the specifics of the afternoon’s spontaneous events.

Trixie dropped an alien’s bulky body onto the floor of her caravan with an immense thud. Looking around the interior of her caravan, Trixie used her magic to close the door and to dry herself and the body she had brought in with her.

It had taken almost all the energy the Alicorn Amulet had provided her in a single hour to carry the furry bipedal beast, but now he was here, and taking up a large amount of floor space. Seeing the engineer toying around with something in the far corner, Trixie turned and addressed him with impatient eyes. “Trixie found him just where she expected, an impact crater near a camp full of purple containers and some of the little crab-looking aliens. Lighter Than Some, does this beast still live? He is useless for Trixie’s experiment unless he still draws breath.”

The engineer ceased whistled musically and began scanning the Jiralhanae, reading his vitals. The aliens’ hide and fur were horrendously burnt, and several of his bones were either dislocated or completely shattered. What little equipment that remained, the brutes bandoliers and weapon straps, were fused to his body from the past intense heat.

The first scan came up inconclusive.

“Well? Is it, or is it not, alive?” Trixie demanded.

Lighter Than Some hummed in frustration, then ran the scan again. Finally, impossibly, the results came up positive. The brute’s heart was still pumping blood, and brain activity was slight, but largely dormant. It was almost as if the creature’s body was in a state of extreme hibernation, likely a survival mechanism.

Turning to face her, Trixie noticed that Lighter Than Some had some new device she had not seen before, strapped to his side. “What is that, Engineer?”

To her complete and utter shock, a deep baritone voice emitted from the Huragok’s new apparatus. “This one is alive, but barely. By all rights, its body shouldn't even still be in one piece, oh Great and Powerful One.”

“You...can talk.” Trixie declared, leaning back and lifting her foreleg.

Lighter Than Some looked at her and blinked his beady little black eyes. "Communication device. This one created it from an old radio wave-emitting device you had laying around."

Trixie quickly recovered, and regained her default haughty gaze. “Impressive... Nevertheless, it is inconsequential. Let us begin with our experiment; help me activate the machine, won't you.”

“Of course,” Lighter Than Some replied. His new voice device faltered slightly, and the baritone voice assumed a comically high pitch, similar to that of a young foal's. “Right away. Oh dear...this device requires adjustment...”

Both of them made their way to the machine, Trixie telekinetically dragging the disfigured unconscious body of Captain Ferus. “Let the experiment begin!” Trixie exclaimed with a truly malevolent cackle.

Lighter Than Some made sure that the Alicorn Amulet was still in place and functioning properly, while Trixie tapped her horn on the runes circling the opening on the top surface of the cube. Both the amulet, the cube, and Trixie began to pulse with an ominous red aura.

Fazed by the sudden light show, Lighter Than Some reeled back and hummed urgently, his voice alternating between deep and high pitched. “Oh dear, this one hopes we have not doomed us all.”

Trixie grinned and continued her cackle as her eyes lit up white with pure energy, and her silvery mane billowed in a nonexistent wind. The azure unicorn then directed her growing aura at the prone form of the brute. “Now, let us see what my creation can truly do!”

In a jolt, the brute managed to regain consciousness. He roared with a piercing intensity that threatened to shake the wooden walls apart. Despite Ferus’ apparent muscular and skeletal damage, his body was able to stand upright as the scarlet-crimson aura engulfed his form. Ferus attempted to reach out and attack the unicorn, but it was impossible. The eyes of the Jiralhanae lit up like Trixie’s, and then the built up energy released all at once.

In a flash of light, smoke, and noise, Trixie’s experiment ceased. Her body was jolting with the massive amount of new power she now wielded, supplemented by what she had just extracted from Ferus. Lightning crackled around, emerging from her horn. As an afterthought, the Great and Powerful Trixie looked down at what remained of the Jiralhanae.

Watching from a corner, Lighter Than Some said, “It would appear the machine is...is a...success...oh Great and Powerful Trixie...” The Huragok’s simulated voice stammered from his sheer shock at the machine’s true abilities.

“Indeed. As I have said, you’ve done well, my floating friend.” Trixie levitated something she had brought in with her alongside the brute’s body. She dropped the massive gravity hammer on the floor in front of Lighter Than Some. “Since you like to tinker, feel free to toy around with this beast’s weapon all you want, Trixie’s reward to you. Now, you must excuse her, she has some cleaning to do, and more plans to make!”

Trixie set about her task, chuckling, then humming a pleasing melody to herself as she teleported the brute away and erased the scorch marks on her floor. “First, a message to those meddlers of why they need to leave our solar system right this instant, then it will soon be time to deal with that accursed Twilight Sparkle!”

Tartarus and the Prophet of Regret were in one of the muster bays of their starship, overseeing the deployment of the next lance of Unggoy, Kig Yar and Sangheili infantry down to the camp Ferus had established in the Everfree.

“Tartarus, would you mind indulging me as to why your supposedly most elite warrior has suddenly gone missing?” Regret shouted, slamming his fist down on the armrest of his throne. The floating chair tilted ever so slightly from the action.

The Chieftain growled irritably at him, holding a plate of slow-roasted thorn beast in one of his palms. “Perhaps he has gone native. I said he was my most elite, but not exactly my most disciplined.” He took a bite of the meat, smacking his lips together in a most impolite manner.

“The High Council does not settle for failure, Chieftain. If you and your forces cannot succeed in locating this Huragok soon, I will be forced to replace you with someone who can! If neither these lances nor Ferus report in that they have the engineer in hand within five days, I will...” Regret was interrupted by a loud bang.

In the center of the gravity lift platform, a massive discharge of red energy and yellow lightning broke out. As soon as it dissipated, something emerged. The new thing carried with it the smell of burnt flesh, that was not coming from Tartarus’ meal. Regret let out a shriek, almost falling out of his gravity throne.

“By the Gods!” Tartarus spit out the hunk of meat he had been chewing, his stomach nearly doing a barrel roll in his abdomen. Several nearby Unggoy crate movers fled the room in terror, screaming and shouting at the tops of their lungs, their elite overseers chasing angrily after them. The gravity lift was now littered with the heavily charred remains of Ferus. Half of his body was almost nonexistent, having been burned away by forces neither Covenant leaders could begin to fathom.

The San 'Shyuum's reaction was instantaneous. “Tartarus! Go to the bridge and plot a slipspace jump back to High Charity, at once! Have your crew expunge and destroy all records of this star system’s location from our data banks, leave no trace!”

“But, but Your Grace, what of the munitions and personnel being deployed on the surface?” Tartarus inquired in exasperation.

Regret slammed his fist down again. “Just do it! Those warriors knew what they were pledging the moment they took their oaths, let them die fighting whatever lurks down there. It would bring more honor than for them to fall at the hands of the Heretics elsewhere! We cannot afford to unleash yet another vicious race upon us in this war, humanity is more than enough!”

Tartarus pounded his own fist to his chest, bowing and clutching the head of the Fist of Rukt. “Of course, noble Prophet.” With his order in place, Regret floated away down a corridor, heading to his private chambers, shouting down anyone unfortunate enough to cross his chair’s flight path.

Tartarus watched the San ‘Shyuum disappear with a sneer. With his appetite lost, Tartarus threw the rest of the thorn beast down near the corpse of the brute captain. At the top of his lungs he roared, “Dispatch a cleaning detail here, at once!” He then made his way hastily to the bridge, muttering angrily to himself.

Chapter 9: Everfree Ruckus

Droplets of water from one of the many high trees splattered on the violet armored form of a Sangheili as he stood and surveyed a field console before him. The improvised energy shield canopy above him was irritatingly inadequate to fully protect the makeshift command center he and a few other Covenant Elites were standing in from water. The atmosphere of the great Everfree Forest was damp and humid, and the air smelled strongly of mildew and even rotten eggs in the worst of places.

The Major was analyzing a holo-pedestal that was providing projections of their current location in the Milky Way. The planet they were on was incredibly distant from the nearest Covenant system, being located in the Perseus Arm as it was.

“Garak, everything I see, everything I hear, it tells me we have been left behind on this uncharted backwater.” There was a long pause, and then the violet Elite forcefully slammed his fist into the device. “Tell me I am lying,” he said in an ominously low tone.

While others flinched at the impact, Garak stood silent for a moment, watching the holographic projection flicker wildly from the damage its projector had sustained. At last, the blue armored Sangheili Minor mustered his words.

“Alas, you just may speak the truth, Bero. Messages with the Hierarch’s ship have all but ceased just an hour ago. We’ve received not even a whisper on our communication nodes,” he said in a worried tone. The purple antenna-like devices in question beeped and issued quiet static behind him.

“What nonsense is this? We’re sent to capture a lone errant Huragok when a lowly Jir’a’ul failed to do it, and then we are abandoned while the Hierarch returns home without prior warning?”

“Perhaps they wish us to occupy this forest as a foothold, for a time,” Garak suggested. “There may yet be relics of Forerunners cloistered somewhere, perhaps near where the indigenous civilization have built their cities. Retrieving a Huragok and uncovering new relics on a backwater isn’t as terrible as it sounds.”

A moment passed, as the moon managed to break through the cloudy night sky and foliage canopy to shine light down on the command center. The combination of moonlight, floodlights, and holographic glow caused a number of bizarre shadows to lurk across surfaces in crazy patterns, including the bark of the massive tree whose trunk their lean-to was based around.

Bero turned around and gestured to everything surrounding them. “With a handful of poorly-supplied camps and a legion of Unggoy, Kig-Yar, and Sangheili patrolling completely unknown, treacherous alien ground, brother? This troubles me; we must contact the Ultra soon for further instruction, our camps require proper fortification from potential hazards.”

A rogue torrent of water splashing on Bero’s armor from above, followed by the distant howl and hiss of some native beast, only served to emphasize the Major’s observation. Some of the elites in the command center peered about in all directions warily as the howling faded back into the fog and overgrowth outside.

Garak nodded. “Indeed. Brother, if I may, it is confidence at least that our supplies of arms are bountiful. That missing Jiralhanae brought nearly more armament with him then our entire legion combined!”

“Such is the sophistication and tactical finesse of the Jir’a’ul,” Bero chuckled, ditching his seriousness for a fleeting second to galvanize the blunting resolve of his fellow Sangheili warriors. The Minors shared a murmur of assent at their commander’s sarcasm towards Tartarus’ Brutes. “Now, have the Unggoy and Kig-Yar finished constructing their barracks yet?”

“Kig-Yar and Sangheili quarters are complete. However, work on the atmosphere pit and various sniper nests are still ongoing, Bero.”

“Halfwit Unggoy. Come, Garak. I wish to see for myself that they are indeed working. The Legate has no tolerance for sloth among her ranks!”

The others watched briefly as Bero and Garak took their leave of the command lean-to, stepping into the fog and shadows where the camps floodlights failed to properly illuminate the ground. While the Elites’ eyes were elsewhere, dozens of fast-moving blips began appearing on the motion trackers.

Just as brothers were out of sight of the command center, the remaining Sangheili Minors turned to see their equipment going berserk. Motion trackers were alight with activity and their nodes were picking up garbled transmissions from other Covenant positions. The damaged holo-pedestal, still flickering and barely functional, replaced the galaxy with a display of a cackling alien with large, piercing green eyes, tall pointed ears, fangs, and a jagged-horned head before breaking in a shower of blue sparks.

That was when the howling and hissing began again, closer this time.

Two Unggoy were carrying building material from a stack of the ubiquitous purple crates the Covenant kept their field equipment in towards a clearing up ahead of them. Their movement was awkward, with their stocky bodies hefting large metal panels.

“Argh, why do Unggoy always do heavy lifting?” The first one griped.

“Because, we're the true muscle in the Covenant, the real hard workers. Never mind those big furry monkey men,” The other responded in a saucy manner.

“Whoa, hey! What if that missing Captain is still alive and he’s listening to us?” the first cautioned, his beady eyes widening as they reached the clearing.

In the clearing where only a few young saplings and some toadstools had taken root, building of the atmosphere pit was in progress. The site itself was a large oval-shaped quarry, two and half meters deep, and several meters wide with a single earthen ramp leading down into it on one side. Stores of methane and pumps were at the ready nearby, while tools and prefabricated building pieces lay in neat rows along and within the quarry.

“So he’s watching us, whoop-dee-doo. Be a proper Grunt and show some backbone,” the other chided, dropping his panel near a workbench. A sudden drawn out howl thundered from the surrounding trees, sounding like a distant Jiralhanae chieftain’s war cry. The Grunt threw up his arms and fled in terror towards the main camp, leaving the first standing there, surprised.

He then noticed for the first time that something was off about the worksite; all the Unggoy and Kig-Yar soldiers looked paranoid, as if they were pretending to keep busy to not draw attention to themselves. The Jackal who should have been keeping watch on a sniper nest above had seemingly ditched his post too, and his rifle as well.

“Umm, what’s wrong?”

“Shh!” one of the others hissed urgently. “They might be on to us…the bosses aren’t who they claim to be.”

“What?”

“They’re natives in disguise, and they’re not friendly to Covenant! They killed the bird-brain sniper because he knew what they were and tried to sound the alarm.”

Footsteps caught his attention towards a row of tents. The Unggoy relaxed when he noticed it was a group of Sangheili Minors, but tensed again when he saw that they had plasma rifles drawn, and did not look happy.

It was at that moment that the two Elites Bero and Garak arrived on the scene, checking in on the situation. When Bero saw the Minors alert with their weapons out and an Unggoy fleeing in the direction he and his brother had come, he immediately shouted, “What is meaning of this mischief?”

“Ruuun! Berserker Jiralhanae ghost has come to eat us!” the fleeing Unggoy cried.

One of the Minors fixed his gaze on the Major. “Nothing, leader. We’re simply keeping these Unggoy in line; a few of them have been lazy. You are most likely better served back maintaining the camp; we have matters under control here.” Something about the Sangheili voice’s sounded off, and he had yet to stow his plasma rifle. No sane Minor would ever address their superior in such a way.

“…Very well. See to it that the atmosphere pit is complete; we need to finish deployment of the perimeter guns before dawn,” Bero replied. The Minor nodded and turned towards the others, telling the Unggoy to get back to work.

Garak and Bero spoke quietly as the two slowly turned their backs to the work site, and faced the direction of their camp. “Brother, that howling and hissing…”

“…yes,” Bero said. “The natives must be shape shifters…”

The howling began again just a few feet away, and then plasma fire erupted in the camp as it suddenly fell under attack. The brothers nodded, then with lightning speed drew their rifles and spun around just as the enemy was upon them. Garak opened fire as one of the faux-Minors tackled his older sibling.

The body of the Sangheili assaulting Bero transformed in a crackle of green magic. A large, jet black quadrupedal creature with massive blue eyes containing no pupils replaced him. It hissed as it peered down at the Major. Its coat was covered in a carapace much like that of the Yanme’e.

While Bero attempted to wrestle the insectoid creature off, it roared fiercely in his face, revealing its massive fangs. Bero growled back and managed to raise his plasma rifle to the origin of the creature’s sickly hot breath, and fired a burst. With a frantic hiss, the creature slackened its grip and the Elite Major tossed the wounded Changeling off.

It lay on the ground, twitching sporadically. The plasma bolts had done little damage to the beast’s face or external chitin, but they had scorched straight into its throat, doing untold damage to anything inside. Bero had little time to confirm if the alien was no longer a threat, as more of their kind were now appearing by the dozens.

The Unggoy were already scattering and panicking, with only a few more grizzled Unggoy and the lances Kig-Yar from the main camp taking up defense. Garak had already been hit by one of the natives’ horns, which seemed to emit a green stream of energy akin to the Covenant’s own directed energy weapons. His shield flickered, and another four beams from attacking Changelings impacted both Sangheili, stripping their shields and forcing them behind the cover of a stack of crates.

“This is what I feared!” Bero roared, firing his rifle. “That we would encounter natives like this in ill-suited terrain!”

“It is now clear that the Jiralhanae Captain Tartarus sent must lie slain, then,” Garak replied. One of the methane tanks exploded, and the duo could hear someone beyond cover in the hollow of a large tree trunk trying to frantically assemble an unfinished Type-29 Shade turret.

The would-be gunner, likely a Grunt, cried out as a plasma grenade suddenly stuck to the body of the turret. “Not again!” Both were permanently knocked out of commission when the explosive went off, sending bits of shattered metal, bark, and water spray in all directions.

Burning methane and leaking plasma scorched the forest clearing, and some of the drier foliage began to catch ablaze, casting a wild glow about the area.

“We may soon join the Jiralhanae ourselves, brother. These aliens must have captured a cache of our weapons, and the Huragok is likely captured or dead,” Bero said with resignation, clutching his rifle with both hands.

It was clear, as more than just green energy streams were responding to the disorganized Covenant lance’s plasma fire. The stuttering sound of Brute Spiker carbines, and the burst of plasma pistols and a few plasma rifles echoed from every direction.

“Perhaps,” Garak replied, firing several bolts out at the Changelings. “But we are the aliens here. Should we attempt to muster the lance?”

Howling cut in before Bero could respond. Two Changelings appeared above them, perched higher on a nearby tree trunk. Three more appeared as the crates – the Elites’ only cover - dissolved into ash from a spell, hissing and popping. The trio held leashes which connected to the true source of the howling, an entire pack of Timberwolves under the Changeling force’s control.

Every one of the new hostiles let out low, threatening growls, and a helmeted Changeling approached to the middle of the group, glaring at the now exposed Sangheili. The clumps of Changelings together sounded like a colony of agitated bats whose cavern had just been disturbed. The group had moved and attacked so quickly and with such ferocity, it seemed to the Sangheili almost as if the native beings were some sort of angry spirits of the forest. Further resistance was futile.

“No, Garak. It’s up to the Legate, now. We've already lost.” Bero said angrily, lowering his rifle. “You’ve proven your martial prowess worthy of the Covenant with this victory, native. Kill us or question us, but do not prolong our humiliation with idle glaring.”

Garak looked behind the Changelings, and watched the remaining Unggoy and Kig-Yar finally breaking rank, wishing in vain for a pair of M'Galekgolo to appear and obliterate the defiant natives. Instead, all he heard was the helmeted Changeling's hiss, as saliva dripped from its fangs.

“Leader, we believe the violet one is the commander of this particular camp of intruders,” A Changeling declared, speaking to the helmeted one in their own language. “Perhaps they will be of interest to our Queens?”

“Their anger, their fanaticism, it is almost as delicious as love,” it answered. “Subjugate! Bring them back to the Badlands for processing!”

The Changelings hissed in agreement. A pair of them hovered over close to the Sangheili, regarded them with sneers for a moment, then promptly toppled both with savage blows. The entire group morphed into false copies of Garak and Bero, and drew their stolen plasma rifles.

While the Sangheili soldiers were dragged off into the tangled flora, the remnants of the defeated infantry lance were frantically scattering throughout the Everfree Forest.

Other camps were already under attack as the Everfree itself seemed to come to life with activity. A whole army of Changelings had revealed itself to be lurking amidst the labyrinth of the forest. The majority of leaderless Unggoy and Kig-Yar were either unknowingly heading towards the distant property of the zebra, Zecora, or were about to blunder right into the sleeping town of Ponyville itself. Anyone else less fortunate soon had to deal with the many hazards and predators of the forest.

In Twilight and Spike’s bedroom, Dadab awoke with a start.

The former Covenant deacon had taken a position on the wooden floor near Spike’s bed, sleeping in the common Unggoy military fashion. Dadab had not yet taken the liberty of growing accustomed to claiming a bed for himself even despite Twilight’s insistence to the contrary. Unggoy were usually denied such luxuries within the military, regardless of their rank.

Spike, being closest, was the first to be woken up by the alien’s yelp. “Whoa! What’s the matter, space guy? Did you have a bad dream?”

While the Grunt processed Spike’s question and his sudden interruption of sleep, Twilight awoke as well and turned on a bedside lamp. “Dadab, are you alright?” she asked. A thought crossed her mind and she became worried. “Are you low on methane?”

“N – no,” Dadab finally managed, collecting himself. “I’m fine, but…disturbance. I just sensed a disturbance. Big scary forest!”

Chapter 10: Trixie's Wrath

Trixie smiled confidently as she made her way into her humble caravan, levitating a small pouch of goods with her that she'd purchased in Canterlot earlier that morning. As she expected, Lighter Than Some was present, occupying himself with something in the corner. The Huragok had his back to her, delicately tinkering with an object Trixie couldn't make out from her angle.

“Lighter Than Some, Trixie has returned,” the unicorn greeted, her haughty smile broadening.

Lighter Than Some turned around quickly, blinking his beady black eyes and glowing bright blue. “Good morrow, Great and Powerful,” he replied in an normal but excited speaking voice.

“Trixie now has all she needs and more to finally exact revenge on Twilight Sparkle for making the great mistake of humiliating her!” Trixie registered the change. “And she sees you’ve finally perfected your voice contraption.”

“Yes, a voice synthesizer! This one is most excited to be able to speak words with you.” Lighter Than Some’s cheerful glow grew even brighter. “The elation is almost enough to make my gas sacs swell.”

Trixie caught a glimpse of something metal on the wooden tabletop, and her brow rose in curiosity. “What is that you’re working on, now?”

Lighter Than Some drifted to the right and revealed his new creation. “A gravity staff.”

He had meticulously disassembled the deceased Jiralhanae captain’s hammer Trixie had given to him piece by piece, and then reassembled it into an entirely new object that now bared the resemblance of a wizard’s staff. The tungsten alloy blade had been discarded entirely, and the head of the hammer containing the gravity drive had been filed down to consist of only the exposed drive itself, a flickering blue sphere of energy contained in a narrow metal frame of nanolaminate alloy.

“From savage weapon to practical levitation instrument in a mere thirty seconds,” Lighter Than Some explained.

“Levitation, you say?” Trixie replied, dropping her sack on the ground and taking out some of its contents: potions for fortifying one’s concentration while charging a spell. She cracked one open and took a sip, finding it oddly tasting like bananas. Trixie’s second drink was involuntarily spit out with a squeak as she felt her body suddenly lift into the air, as if it weighed no more than a feather.

“Most marvelous directed levitation,” Lighter Than Some enthused. He whistled with astonishment as he waved the staff about with one of his tentacles, tugging the unicorn gently through the air before setting her back down when she began flailing her legs in protest. “This gravity drive possesses a higher energy propagation when not encumbered by the weight of a Jiralhanae hammer’s head.”

Trixie dusted herself off with a displeased grunt and picked the potion back up. She was surprised the Huragok had not yet attempted to disassemble her very caravan into some newfangled creation. “Enough mischief. Our time to strike draws near!”

Energy crackled slightly as Lighter Than Some deactivated the gravity drive’s on the staff and set it upon the table. “Great and Powerful one?”

Trixie paused and frowned as she was preparing to drink more of the potions. “Speak. Quickly.”

“This one has constructed the machine as requested, so if I may…” Lighter Than Some ventured, slightly curling away in reaction to her severe expression.

“You’re not leaving Trixie’s service and rejoining your Covenant friends, engineer. Ever. Put such idle fancies from your many gas bladders.” Trixie downed the last of the potions, peered towards her sinister-looking machine, and then returned her narrowed, violet eyes to the Huragok. “Trixie nearly caused an extraterrestrial invasion of our world, destroyed an alien beast, almost attracted the attention of the Princesses, and stole from the Spirit of Chaos himself just to gain access to your unique capabilities. So you’re mine, understand? All mine, nopony else’s!

“Actually, I was simply going ask you the specifics of your revenge.”

The entirely neutral statement was met by surprised blinking from Trixie, whose mouth hung awkwardly open like a mailbox left ajar. She blinked again and recovered. “Oh. Uhh…I…Trixie, supposes she will take your questions. Again, speak quickly.”

Lighter Than Some inclined his slender head and whistled. “Since you used the siphon to absorb the Jiralhanae’s esoteric energies and claim them as your own, and in turn possess a powerful artifact, the Alicorn Amulet, how do you intend to utilize this combined might against the one called Twilight Sparkle? Remember that I do not fight; I help. I build. That is the way of Huragok.”

Trixie huffed and removed the Alicorn Amulet from her machine, clasping it around her neck with an audible click. “Simple. You and Trixie shall deposit the mana siphon in a strategic location in Ponyville. The energy it has provided along with that of the Alicorn Amulet makes Trixie unstoppable!”

The amulet glowed red, sparking a similar effect in the wearer’s eyes. “While you personally see to the device’s maintenance, Trixie shall use her newfound power to best Twilight Sparkle in a battle of magic. At first, a magical duel seemed sufficient, but absorbing the alien’s energy has unlocked potential for something even greater! When the Great and Powerful is victorious, the siphon will activate, and Sparkle’s magic shall be hers!”

“Oh my. I fear this could end badly for you,” Lighter Than Some remarked with a note of concern. His prior excitement and child-like enthusiasm had fled.

This left Trixie most agitated. “You dare to underestimate the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“You have spoken much about Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends. Dadab and the Shipmistress of the Rapid Conversion have joined with them. If I am discovered, they will likely go to great lengths to remove me from your service.”

“The little Unggoy and the bird-dragon girl? They can try, but they will fail.”

“How can you be sure of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, however?”

An eyebrow raised on Trixie’s frowning face. “What of them?”

“Your descriptions portray an individual who possesses profound and growing mastery of the esoteric forces unique to your planet,” Lighter Than Some explained. “Factoring in the variable of friends with such firm convictions and loyalty as hers, I humbly declare out of concern for the safety of the Great and Powerful that provoking the wrath of such a potent adversary would likely be disastrous.”

Defiance draped itself like a cloak of black across Trixie’s features. “Wrath?” she said in a low, hostile voice. “The latter could be said for them in kind, Lighter Than Some. Your concern is flattering, but such fears are unfounded.”

“Great and Powerful Trixie…”

Trixie shook her head and levitated the empty potion bottles into a rubbish bin, and then promptly pointed a leg at the mana siphon device. “Enough talk! Ready the siphon, we go to Ponyville!” Disappointed, the Huragok complied. He equipped his gravity staff and levitated the siphon out after his mistress, following in her wake through the clearing and into the forest.

Belligerent, misguided, and haughty though the unicorn might be, Lighter Than Some could not help but feel some degree of allegiance towards Trixie. Removed from Harvest via immense arcane forces reminiscent of the Forerunners’ own creators, and teleported to Equis just before a pack of Yanme’e drones could tear him asunder, Trixie Lulamoon had immediately gifted the Covenant Engineer with purpose and haven on this unfamiliar planet. She had provided things to build, repair, improve.

In fact, while lugging Trixie’s instrument of revenge through the verdant undergrowth, he began to ponder if she herself may require ‘repairs’ of some kind. His musings prevented his noticing of the small group of beings that had been watching him and Trixie from the tangle of bushes.

“It’s the missing Huragok, with that native! You see, you see?” a grunt declared frantically.

“We should alert the Ultra!” another added. “The floating guy would come in handy if the native bug devils attack again. Those ones must have big coordinated battle plan, so big trouble!”

“Me tough warrior, I’m not dying on some alien planet!”

The entire group of Unggoy whispered in agreement before breaking into an urgent run deeper into the forest, carefully scanning for signs of Changelings as they went.

It was high morning in Ponyville, and the town’s streets were busy with the daily hustle and bustle of residents going about their business. Twilight Sparkle had left home earlier to run some errands, so the Golden Oak library was left in the hands of Spike and Dadab, and the watchful eyes of Owlowicious.

The latter was perched near a window, watching passersby, and the former were situated in the middle of the front reading room. Spike was busy thumbing through shelves and sorting books, and Dadab was scouring the floor for offensive dust and debris to clean up. The six-inch hole he had burned through to the cellar below had been covered with a small oak board, marked with a crude white paint triangle depicting a red exclamation point.

Spike sighed with boredom and paused in his work. “Hey, Dadab.”

Painstakingly working a pile of dust bunnies into a dust pan with his broom, Dadab peered up at the young dragon curiously. “Yeah Spike?”

“You aren’t still uneasy about that ‘disturbance’ you mentioned last night, are you?” Spike asked.

Dadab smiled underneath his mask. “I’m mostly over it. Scary Everfree is only so scary after a while.”

“What do you suppose it was that you sensed? Twilight says ponies have shunned that forest for generations because of superstition and the dangerous beasts.”

“Big battle, something fighting something else, lots of ferocity and fear. It was probably just a nightmare, though,” Dadab mused. “Lots of big things happening lately.”

Spike’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “You know, Princess Luna is said to be able to enter dreams. If you ever start having nightmare troubles, she’d be the best pony to talk to about it besides Twilight.”

“Enter dreams?” Were it not for meeting Celestia in person yesterday, who had seemed entirely benevolent, the prospect of one of the powerful alicorn equinoid aliens entering into his dreams without warning or permission would have highly unnerved Dadab.

“Yeah,” Spike replied. He waved Dadab over to the living room and the two took a seat. The Unggoy sat awkwardly in the oak chair, its frame poorly accommodating the methane pack strapped to his armor. “I have no idea how it works, technically speaking, but apparently whenever a pony is most in need, Luna appears in their dream sequence and subtly reveals what they need to know to solve a problem.”

It was now Dadab’s turn to look thoughtful. His stubby little fingers rapped lightly against the tabletop at his musings. Spike could scarcely hide his astonishment at how quickly the little digits, about the size of his own, were able to move.

“Hmm, perhaps meeting your other Princess would be good for me. Celestia reminds me of the much loved High Prophetess of Obligation…if Obligation actually got things done like your Princess back when Her Holiness was in charge. If Luna’s like Celestia, she'll surely be nice to Unggoy.”

Curious, Spike nodded and was just about inquire about Obligation, when an urgent hooting from Owlowiscious caught he and Dadab by surprise. The owl was looking down at them, flapping his wings ever few seconds to catch their attention.

“Trouble?” Dadab inquired.

“I dunno,” Spike answered, glancing worriedly between Dadab and Owlowiscious. “Must be something outside. Let’s check it out!”

Both of them got up and dashed to the door. Owlowiscious hooted affirmatively and returned his sharply-focused eyes to the window. The dragon and the grunt were met with quite an alarming sight.

A crowd had gathered just down the street, and after parting their way to the front, the duo beheld Twilight and another unicorn glaring at one another. Spike folded his arms anxiously, and Dadab felt his hand instinctively reach for his plasma pistol. Judging by the body language and glowing red eyes of the azure, amulet-wearing unicorn in front of Twilight, she was not there to simply exchange pleasantries.

“Trixie!” Twilight said in a dangerous voice, her brow furrowed. “What are you doing here in Ponyville? What are you up to now?”

Trixie smiled malevolently. “Oh come now, Twilight Sparkle. Are you not clever enough to realize the obvious? One does not simply disgrace and humiliate the Great and Powerful Trixie and not expect retribution. Trixie hereby calls you to a battle of magic! Destruction magic!”

The crowd gasped and then widened their distance from the two by at least three meters. Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You really want to do this? You seriously think vengeance will solve your problems, Trixie?”

Her would-be opponent snorted at her through her nostrils. “Of course Trixie does.”

“I can say with absolute confidence, that you are beyond mistaken.”

“We shall see.”

“Why don’t you and I handle this civilly?”

Spike and Dadab watched almost helplessly, unsure if they should intervene. Pinkie Pie and Rarity appeared beside them, equally grasped by worry.

“Heavens! Trixie isn’t about to pull herself and Twilight into such a fit of barbarism as hurling combat spells at one another, surely?” Rarity said with much distress. The distress had mounted enough that Dadab now had his pistol readied just in case. The readout reported that his battery was now at just sixty-four percent after their dangerous skirmish with the blundering Jiralhanae.

“I don’t know, Rarity. Trixie looks super furious!” Pinkie Pie pointed out.

“When did Trixie show up?” Spike asked.

The mares turned to him and Dadab.

“Mere minutes ago, Spike,” Rarity answered.

“Should we intervene? Help the Boss?” Dadab inquired. Rarity saw his drawn weapon, and pursed her lips in distress, putting a hoof to her chin.

“I highly doubt we’ll have to go that far. Twilight should be able to deal with her, prim and proper.” Dadab nodded, and stowed his plasma pistol. “But, if Twilight even so much as hints at losing ground, we shall do what we must to end the fight!”

Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Dadab nodded affirmatively, then fixed their eyes on the fracas that was about to unfold.

“…enough talk! Trixie cares not for what honeyed words you have prepared to offer in a vain attempt to placate her!” the azure unicorn declared, charging her horn.

As the crowd gasped from afar, Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she dug her hoof into the ground. Trixie’s imminent spell reached full charge, and Twilight’s nostrils flared with a defiant snort. The initial barrage met with much fanfare. What Dadab took for a stream of pure plasma or an equivalent arced outward from Trixie’s horn, and her eyes glowed a sinister red in tandem with her red-black amulet and the shouts of the startled crowd.

The red-scarlet beam impacted Twilight just as she summoned a protective violet shield in seemingly less than the span of a heartbeat. The opposing energies clashed, and the crowd gave the two combatants even more space. Trixie’s beam relented.

Dust and magical residue parted, revealing Twilight to be no less worse for wear. Only her neat mane had sustained damage, and her expression conveyed more displeasure than nervousness at her apparent nemesis’ greatly increased magical power compared to their first, previous unfriendly meeting. “Very well. You leave me no choice, Trixie!” Twilight declared.

Trixie only growled, already preparing another spell. She summoned something this time: the shadowy silhouette of a ghostly Brute wielding a war hammer manifested in a cloud of violet and green eldritch smoke.

The alien roared, bringing their weapon to bear and charging towards Twilight. The librarian summoned another shield spell around herself, grunting as she maintained it under a succession of hammer strikes. On the fourth, Twilight absorbed its momentum in the shield and reflected it, causing the protective barrier to collapse and rebound its energy back at the Jiralhanae specter.

Roaring, the Brute broke down into a cloud of harmless energy.

“I tried to be civil,” Twilight remarked, ignited her horn once again. Trixie reeled back as her opponent finally struck her with a bolt of offensive magic. The lightning struck its mark in Trixie’s chest, singeing the fur and causing her nerves to scream in fury.

“A lucky hit! But not nearly enough.” the stage magician taunted venomously, licking her lips and taking a deep breath. Trixie prepared a new counterattack, and their battle continued on.

By now, Rarity was beginning to teeter on the edge of action. Dadab and Pinkie Pie reciprocated, but Spike remained unsure of what he could do personally to help. Dadab was beginning to notice peculiar changes in the unicorn that was attempting to best Twilight. Her teeth seemed to be subtly growing sharper, and the sclera of her glowing eyes was turning green.

Chance, as it would have it, found a way for Spike to help out. The young dragon noticed a creature floating slowly around the corner of a nearby house, interacting with something poorly concealed by the property’s small side garden.

“Hey guys, I think I see another alien!” Spike declared. The other three followed his pointing talon.

“A whaaat?” Pinkie Pie said, perplexed. “Where do you space guys keep coming from?”

“An alien it is, then!” Rarity affirmed. “Why, I wonder if that one is somehow involved in this brutish affair with Trixie.” Her suspicions were mounting. “See there! He’s tending to something…something rectangular. A box!”

“Looks like some kind of contraption to me,” Spike said.

Twilight and Trixie grunted, growled, and huffed as they continued to launch spells at one another, making a mess of the cobblestone, grass, and benches around them. The machine the new alien was interacting with pulsed luminously every time one of the combatants’ spells were cast.

“Lighter Than Some?” Dadab hesitated with disbelief, before he noticed the same magical light surrounding the machine and Trixie, putting two and two together. “That devil machine is powering the enemy! We gotta stop it and help the Boss!” he hollered.

“After it, then!” Rarity urged them, needing to hear no more. The four broke into a run towards the Huragok in the garden.

Lighter Than Some noticed them quickly, and curled up into himself, drifting away as quickly as he could. His gravity staff clattered on the ground. Rarity’s telekinesis stopped him in his tracks, and he whistled with alarm as she tugged him over to face them. “Stop right there minion, whatever you are!”

“I mean you know harm, I do only the Great and Powerful’s bidding!” Lighter exclaimed with a shaky voice, his nervousness threatening to overtax his voice synthesizer. He struggled to make eye contact with Dadab, as he had not yet prepared himself for another meeting with his old comrade. The Unggoy’s gaze was a mural of pure confusion.

“Why are you helping Trixie against Twilight?” Spike retorted, eyes narrowed.

“She enlisted my aid in vengeance against Twilight Sparkle. I tried to tell Trixie that pursuing this endeavor could end badly for her,” Lighter Than Some answered. “She refused to see reason, but build I must.” He made a tugging motion with one of his feelers in a show of mild protest, and Rarity released him from her telekinetic field.

“Be that as it may,” Rarity interjected, igniting her horn. “I’m afraid we must put a stop to this barbarism. Somepony could end up getting hurt. Dadab, if you will, please?”

“I’m helping!” he replied, aiming his plasma pistol at the magic siphon. Lighter Than Some drifted over next to Pinkie Pie, who still gazed upon him with a look of puzzlement.

Rarity and Dadab fired bolts of energy at the machine, intent on destroying or at least disabling it. A type of magical shield seemed to shrug the attacks off. Dadab followed up with a charged shot of plasma, but to no avail.

“Darn it, why isn’t this thing breaking! The ground should look like someone messed up making a glass vase by now,” Spike said, pitching in by trying to scorch the small object with his breath.

“I got it,” Pinkie Pie declared lightheartedly, pulling out a sledgehammer and approaching the siphon. She skipped past the others and gave the device a good smack. Its polished silver top caved in, and the glowing runes scrawled across its surface began to flicker and die out. Lighter Than Some was shocked at his creation’s sudden destruction, and the others gawked.

“We have much to discuss,” Dadab said to Lighter Than Some, shaking off his surprise at the success of Pinkie Pie’s simplistic solution. The Huragok produced a sound effect with his synthesizer mimicking a nervous gulp.

Nearby, his partner in crime had heard the sound of crumpling metal all too well. Trixie’s access to the dead Jiralhanae’s power cut off with the siphon’s destruction just as she was preparing to summon a counter to Twilight’s incoming attack. Her shield flickered weakly even despite the Alicorn Amulet’s attempt to channel more power to her, and Twilight’s spell looked like it was going to be a big one. "No!” she shouted at Pinkie Pie, her voice sounding almost like a snarl. “Stop! Trixie commands you!”

Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore Trixie, and raised the hammer again with gusto. “Whatever you’re doing, Pinkie, keep it up!” Twilight shouted, not taking her eyes off her opponent.

“Okie dokie!”

The magic siphon crumbled in on itself from the blow, and gave out its last gleams of light before finally breaking in a shower of magical sparks. Twilight’s spell reached full charge at the same time, and she unleashed it.

Another beam of pure plasma, more than enough to fatally wound a non-magical opponent, impacted Trixie’s faltering shield. The protective barrier absorbed most of the damage before collapsing, but the resulting entropic energy that was produced, drained what available energy Trixie had left for spell casting. She fell prone, panting as smoke rose up from the damaged ground surrounding her.

Energy crackled around the Alicorn Amulet as Twilight slowly approached her sternly. Trixie met her gaze with weary eyes.

“Finally,” Rarity said with relief. “Now Twilight can get to the bottom of this madness.”

“Don’t let Lighter Than Some loose, he can probably tell us more!” Dadab added. Rarity nodded and entrapped the Huragok in her telekinesis again, much to the latter’s displeasure.

Twilight noticed Spike, Dadab, and the others, and waved them over. They quickly joined her. “Thanks for the help guys.” She smiled lightly, then turned stoically back to Trixie. “Explain yourself, Trixie!”

“Trixie…Trixie let her anger get the better of her,” she replied simply. “The – the amulet…”

Trixie looked down at the Alicorn Amulet around her neck with newfound abhorrence. The stage magician unclasped the talisman and chucked it away from her as if it were a repulsive insect that has had just crept onto her neck. At once, her eyes returned to their normal dark violet, and her teeth lost their uncharacteristic sharpness.

“Well?” Twilight pressed, picking up the amulet and studying it warily.

“It’s pure evil!” Trixie grimaced at the sight of the amulet. Her own tendency to utilize the third person faltered for the moment. “My intent was to prove my talent superior to yours, to absorb your power and become the greatest sorcerer since Star Swirl! But that amulet has other ideas: destruction, death, chaos. Nothing but pure dark magic!”

The expressions on Twilight and Rarity’s faces darkened. “Dark magic.” They said in unison.

“It’s no wonder she started looking like King Sombra!” Spike remarked. “That amulet was controlling her!”

“Not…exactly,” Trixie confessed. She gestured at Lighter Than Some. “Trixie was still partly aware of what she was doing. This engineer helped advance Trixie’s plans, she enlisted his aid. He only really helped because…”

“Huragok were made to build,” Lighter Than Some interposed. “The siphon machine that the pink one destroyed was meant to absorb your power. It had already absorbed the power of another vanquished one, previously.”

Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically.

Twilight recollected the alien shade Trixie had summoned moments earlier. “The Jiralhanae. Well we know he’s gone for good, then. Rainbow and the others will be relieved to hear that when they get out the hospital.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is sorry for attacking you, Twilight. Truly!” Trixie said timidly. “She’ll have to learn to get a better grip on her thoughts next time.”

The other unicorn’s face shifted between conflicting anger, displeasure, wariness, and a growing idea to give the magician the benefit of the doubt. Twilight looked around her. Nobody in the now murmuring crowd seemed injured; only the ground and both of their coats and manes had really paid the price in their magical skirmish, fortunately.

With a sigh, Twilight came to a conclusion. “Well, as devious as this whole affair was, Trixie,” Trixie sheepishly curled in towards herself, almost mimicking Lighter Than Some’s response in times of fright. “I accept your apology. You didn’t hurt anypony, and I’m willing to admit that Covenant brute kind of had it coming to him.”

Dadab chuckled. “ ‘Had it coming?’ Me and Shipmistress must be a corrupting influence, here.”

Spike elbowed him playfully. “Humph! Please, you should have seen the way we took down King Sombra. You may have blown that Brute up with explosives, but Sombra was shattered, shattered like glass with the Crystal Heart!”

“Thanks in no small part to you, Spike!” Rarity threw in affectionately.

Blinking curiously and returning his attention to Trixie and Twilight, Dadab made a mental note to ask Twilight about that particular story the next time they’re not being attacked by something.

Trixie nodded at Twilight gratefully, and managed to get back to her hooves. Twilight summoned a small bubble around the Alicorn Amulet, glaring at the evil but somewhat fashionable talisman. While she did so, Pinkie Pie addressed the question that now hung in the air.

“So, now what?”

“I’m not sure, but I need to converse with Lighter Than Some soon; have some catching up to do!” Dadab stated.

“About that,” Twilight began, catching everyone’s attention. “Trixie, why don’t you and Lighter Than Some move your caravan into town and out from wherever you have it. Stay awhile.”

“Come again?” Trixie replied, flabbergasted.

“I’ll be sending this amulet to Zecora for safekeeping, but you and Lighter Than Some are what really have my attention. How is he linked to Dadab and Chur’R-Yar’s appearance here on this planet?”

Lighter Than Some floated to Trixie’s side, and the two started whispering to one another. Twilight raised an eyebrow at them as they turned back to answer.

“Trixie found knowledge of him from…stumbling…upon one of Discord’s journals recounting his occasional forays through time and space."

She shuddered. "Ugh, that ghastly penmanship of his. Everything he wrote about the Covenant Empire, Huragok like yours truly, and aliens like this Unggoy and the Shipmistress Chur, Trixie was able to uncover. Discord’s mention of monstrous terrors called the ‘Flood’ was almost enough to make her consider abandoning trying to retrieve Lighter Than Some for her plans altogether. But still she persisted, and eventually, she managed to summon him to Equis, inadvertently bringing Dadab and the other one along for the ride. Everything else that transpires, stems from that.”

“So, the Covenant coming here in the first place was your responsibility?” Twilight asked.

Trixie now seemed to shrink to one third her normal size. “By extent, yes.”

Chapter 11: Horse Feathers

Fluttershy awoke to the sounds of birds chirping excitedly just outside her second-story window. Lulled from her pleasant dreams by the serene avian calls, she let out a long, soft yawn and hopped out of the quilted folds of her bed. Golden shafts of sunlight brightened the wooden surfaces of the room, and the inherent coziness of her cottage just by sight alone brought a smile on Fluttershy’s face.

Not every part of her was as pleased to be greeted by so pleasant a morning, however. Fluttershy’s stomach had definitely woken up too, and was quick to let her know that she hadn’t eaten anything for the past eight or so hours that she'd been asleep.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy murmured with a chuckle, as her stomach rumbled like a prowling manticore.

Donning her morning purple-white robe from a clothes rack that stood near the door, Fluttershy immediately went downstairs to start breakfast. As she made her way to the kitchen, Fluttershy was starting to become curious as to what Angel Bunny was doing, since his bed near the base of the stairs was empty. It didn’t take long before she was able to figure that out.

Fluttershy heard the bizarre spectacle that was taking place in her kitchen before actually seeing it. A couple of high-pitched, whispering voices were issuing out towards her. When she peered around the corner, she saw that Angel himself was perched on a countertop, standing impatiently as four stubby bipeds roughly the pegasus’ height bustled about the room, accompanied by some of Fluttershy’s animal friends. Her entrance had been so quiet, that she was able to watch the group go about their business without them noticing her.

The tallest of the bipeds, clad in red armor and a two-pronged backpack, was leafing through a cookbook near Angel. She was glancing between the book and the rabbit with frequent nods, murmuring to Angel about what ingredients he wanted her to prepare, and by what means. The other three bipeds were wearing matching orange suits with triangular backpacks, which Fluttershy immediately recognized.

One of the trio of orange Unggoy was curiously browsing Fluttershy’s fridge with a raccoon, who was nibbling happily on half of a leftover clover and tomato sandwich. Another was going back and forth, sampling various foods that a group of mice and chipmunks were offering, taking off his mask in brief intervals to place the food into his mouth. He seemed to particularly enjoy the cheese. The last grunt was poking a stubby finger at various appliances before stopping at a toaster, unsure of its function.

Fluttershy stared on at them with wide-eyed surprise, unsure if she should greet them or not. Did they know Dadab, perhaps? Before she could make up her mind on how to make her presence known, Fluttershy’s obnoxious stomach decided for her.

All four Unggoy nearly jumped out of their combat harnesses with cries of shock, as they turned towards the direction of the low-pitched rumbling and grumbling.

“Uhh…” Fluttershy could only stand and blush with an embarrassed smile as the aliens regarded her with wide eyes. “Hello?”

“Wah, it’s one of the hoofed natives!” the Unggoy major cried.

“This must be her dwelling!” the minor at the fridge added.

The grunt who had been analyzing the toaster broke out in rapid Sangheili. “Meio, qutashi tana! Qutashi tana!”

“She’s gonna eat us! Flee!” the fourth urged.

“No, wait...please? I'm not going to eat you. I'm a friend!” Fluttershy implored, attempting to follow the grunts as they all bolted out of the kitchen’s wide bay window, which had been left open. “Oh dear…” Returning with a disappointed sigh, Fluttershy was met with the curious gaze of her animal friends, as well as the disapproving stare of Angel Bunny.

Fluttershy’s large cyan eyes swiveled to regard the open window, then returned to Angel, narrowed with concern. “I truly hope they’re alright out there. I should tell Twilight and the others about this right away…”

Angel frowned and gestured towards the fridge, which was still open. Uneaten food was laying around in places, and one of the Unggoy had dropped their plasma pistol onto the tiled floor in the panic.

Having mostly recovered from her surprise, Fluttershy smiled again. Between her stomach’s involvement in the events of the past few minutes, and Angel’s gesturing, it was obvious the universe was telling her something. “Oh, okay, breakfast first. But no carrot until lunch, mister.”

Carefully picking up the plasma pistol and putting it in a cupboard with a nervous squeak, Fluttershy then directed the animals still lingering around to help out, and within a few minutes, the whole cottage was soon filled with the aroma of fresh pancakes, and the crackle of sizzling eggs.

At a table in Café L'Août, one of Canterlot’s most cosmopolitan restaurants, Rarity and the former shipmistress Chur’R-Yar sat patiently with smiles plastered on their faces in the poshly decorated dining room, while three representatives from the House of Outrageously Opulent Fashion, or H.O.O.F. for short, unabashedly gushed over a series of clothing designs that Chur had presented to them.

“Look at that embroidery, positively exquisite!”

Despite having ingested a sort of tea before leaving Ponyville that Rarity claimed helped relax and focus the mind, Chur had also taken an instant liking to the frothy, dark steaming beverage the Equestrians called ‘coffee’, of which such establishments as this were apparently renowned for. As it were, several empty mugs now sat in front of her clasped talons on the gilded tabletop.

“Such striking design aesthetics, Miss Rarity!”

More mugs were likely to follow, if Chur had to endure any more of the Canterlotters’ flowery, overly-enunciated syllables.

“I must say, I’ve never seen feathers and gemstones applied quite like this before.”

Rarity’s smile brightened as she accepted the compliments with an appropriate amounts of humbleness. “Why, I am quite honored that you think so! I do take priority in ensuring that each design is the best that it could possibly be.” The unicorn chose her wording carefully. Too much pride, and the clientele may take offence. Too much modesty, and the prospective customer or merchant may doubt a designer’s confidence in their own work; a very undesirable situation.

“Quite as one would expect, Miss Rarity,” the lead representative responded in an almost nasally voice. She was an elderly unicorn of tan fur and silver mane, and dressed in a lavish white overcoat trimmed with peacock feathers. “Fashion is just as much art as it is business.”

Chur’R-Yar resisted the temptation to mentally ridicule the overcoat and its trim as she watched the unicorn occasionally stroke the feathers, reveling in their luxurious texture. Only pegasi and the land’s winged unicorn rulers could sport any type of feathers properly and naturally, in her opinion.

Speaking of the latter rulers, Yar could almost swear she’d seen the one with dark-blue fur sneak into one of her dreams last night, whispering something about “Quetzalcoatls,” whatever that meant. Chur’R-Yar did not trust those mystique-filled winged unicorns, not by a long shot.

The mundane, wrinkly but still stately unicorn’s two companions were a middle-aged, flamboyantly dressed earth pony mare who’s orange coif of hair nearly rivaled Rarity’s in intricacy, and another elderly unicorn who’s tricorn hat and powdered white mane gave him the impression of someone who'd walked right out of the colonial days of the Third Celestial Era.

Rarity herself simply wore a nice white wide brim hat, which accentuated her already stunning features. Chur had, for the first time since her arrival, replaced her armor with a set of flowing blue-golden robes and matching tunic based off griffon designs currently in vogue across their western hemisphere city-states. She had encountered the style whilst reading anything and everything within reach about her newly adopted homeworld, Equis, and Rarity had been more than happy to replicate it for her.

Since she had been accompanying Rarity to Equestria’s capital, Chur figured her shield gauntlet would have been rather excessive. However, she did have her energy baton’s idle hilt stowed in one of her robe’s inner pockets, just in case of some unforeseen disaster.

“I'm quite inclined to agree, Madame Silver Silk,” Rarity said, pausing to sip some coffee with cream. “Outfits of the highest caliber can display creative nuance just as much as any celebrated painting, under the right conditions.”

“Indeed. And what of your dragoness friend – Chur’R-Yar, is it?” Silver Silk regarded the Kig-Yar with mild interest, peering down her muzzle at her. “Are any of these designs the product of your work? You design too, do you not?”

Yar politely shook her head. “Goodness, no. I could never claim credit to such fine art of fabric! I am but the humble business broker for Madame Rarity.” At least they have no trouble pronouncing my name, she thought to herself with some relief. Looks like I'm a dragon, from now on.

“A smashing business broker, dear.” Rarity interjected with a kindly tone.

“Oh, I see,” Silver Silk replied, who began delicately sipping from a tea cup resting on its own saucer. As the cup and saucer levitated, Silver Silk absentmindedly ran a hoof through the trim of her overcoat. The other two representatives had momentarily buried themselves in appraising the stack of design drawings again, leaving Rarity to her sip own coffee. Chur scratched her snout, and ruminated over the events of the past week.

Their stay at the hospital had been surprisingly quick, all things considered. Unlike Rainbow Dash, whose wing still remained in a cast, any lingering injuries on Chur's part from the battle with the hostile Brute captain were now minor at best, much like Applejack. The effects of healing spells on hastening Chur’s recovery had greatly stunned her doctors, whom had no idea how effective – if at all – applied restorative magic would have been on her alien physiology.

For her part, Yar had come to tolerate, even like, Rarity’s eloquent style and diction over the past twelve days that she’d known her. Something about Canterlot ponies’ accents, though, still ruffled the T’vaoan’s feathers in a most unpleasant way. In fact, picturing the H.O.O.F representatives as Unggoy dressed in noble regalia helped upkeep Chur’s cheerful demeanor, which improved Rarity’s presentation. Only a fellow Kig-Yar, or a dragon, could easily tell a professional smile apart from a mischievous grin on her avian-reptilian face.

A clearing of Silver Silk’s throat drew everyone’s attention back as she finished her cup of tea. “Now then, it appears we are satisfied with your designs, Miss Rarity.” She chuckled lightly. “Ha, what am I saying? We are swept away by them! Isn't that right, Splendor?”

While the hat-wearing unicorn stallion chuckled as well, Chur felt her ruby-red eyes drawn meticulously to Silver Silk’s feathered overcoat once again.

“I must agree,” Splendor finally replied. “What say you, Bon Couture?”

The citrus-haired earth pony had an urbane smirk. “I do say: shall we negotiate the commission price that the House shall expect to pay for them, now?”

Rarity’s ears perked up instantly, and the feathers on Chur’s neck flexed. They briefly shared a look of understanding, before turning back to Silver Silk. “Of course. Would you please give me a few moments to consult with my partner alone?” Rarity answered.

“By all means, but don’t keep us waiting too long, young lady.” Silver Screen replied, her muzzle curled into a small smile.

Rarity headed towards the café’s register, gesturing for Chur to follow. As Chur put in an order for another coffee, Rarity placed some bits on the countertop and leaned in close. “Showtime, Chur! I'm estimating 15,000 bits for all the designs together, 20,000 if we can manage to knock their socks off, somehow. What do you have for me, darling?”

Chur’s beak-like snout was stretched into a full grin as she stole another darting glance at the now distant Silver Silk. “Rarity, you underestimate yourself. Your presented work is worth 75,000 bits commission, at least.”

“Seventy-five? Are you crazy?” Rarity hissed with incredulity, earning her an odd look from a passing waiter. “I thought you said Kig-Yar were shrewd masters of mercantilism!”

The grin on Chur could not grow wider by any natural means. “Feathers,” she stated cryptically.

Rarity scrunched her face in confusion. “’Feathers?’ Whatever do you…?” Following her associate’s gaze back towards their table, it slowly dawned on her. Rarity narrowed her eyes and smirked, her voice low and conspiratorial. “Ohh, very nice observation. It’s a good thing I decided to accept that exotic shipment from Aztlàn, after all. See, I knew you would be indispensable!”

“Don’t thank me yet, we still have to secure that commission!” Chur reminded her, idly messing with one of her blue robe sleeves and admiring the gold trim.

“Oh, of course, of course,” Rarity giggled. She rubbed her forehooves together, containing her excitement and adopting an astute, impassive expression. “Let’s get to it!”

With a nod, Chur collected her fresh coffee from the barista at the register, and then the duo walked back to their table to rejoin their potential clients. Silver Silk greeted them with the same smile, but her brow was raised expectantly, as were her companions.

“I take it you have an offer, now?”

Rarity and Chur sat down, both now equally straight-faced and thoughtful. “We do,” Chur answered. “Seventy-five…” she began.

Bon Couture and Splendor’s faces began to fall as Rarity dramatically drew breath to finish the number. “Thousand. ” Rarity settled back into her chair, awaiting their response. Both stared at her with disbelief, but Silver Silk reacted the most intensely, her skin spontaneously turning red beneath her coat.

“That’s simply….absolutely…outrageous!” she stammered, scowling. Before they could respond, the unicorn’s scowl curled into a wicked grin. Rarity and Chur’s poker faces were instantly shattered, and replaced with pure bewilderment. “We accept!”

“Indeed, we…wait, what?” Splendor did a double take at Silver Silk.

“C-come again?” Rarity managed, looking at Silver as if the mare had just turned into a talking cactus. To the fashionista’s credit, Bon Couture and Splendor were regarding their senior colleague with similar looks. Chur said nothing, her own grin having since crept back onto her face.

Silver Silk turned to Chur. “Chur’R-Yar, that one finished dress Rarity showed to me last week, they had feathers. Those were genuine Quetzalcoatl plumage, weren't they?” Silver Silk’s eyes were now ablaze with interest and anticipation as she put the design of the dress in question in front of her on the tabletop.

“Several dozen molted feathers, offered as a token by Aztlàni Empress Coatlicue to one of her royal attendants. Said attendant then offered it to interested foreign buyers, of which Carousel Boutique was one. At least, that’s what Rarity has told me,” Chur confirmed.

Silver Silk clopped her hooves together loudly and chuckled. “I knew it! I thought their texture felt exotic, yet oddly familiar! That was a dress truly fit for a sovereign!”

“Silver, maybe we should slow down here, and consider…” Bon Couture’s suggestion was brusquely halted by a spryly raised tan hoof.

“We accept,” the elderly mare repeated with gusto. “75,000 bits, it is!”

Rarity then did something that caught even Chur off guard. “Hold on a moment, you're quite fond of these feathers, aren’t you?”

We've got them now, Yar thought with a growing feeling of triumph.

“Tell you what,” Rarity continued. “If you raise the commission just a bit higher to 85,000 bits, I'll happily use what feathers remain in my inventory to custom tailor a whole Aztlàni-inspired series, just for you personally!”

“Tempting… but eighty,” Silver Silk retorted, pursing her wrinkled muzzle quizzically.

“Eighty-two, final offer.” Rarity pressed.

Silver Silk slowly tilted her head and smirked, greatly impressed. “You drive a hard and surprising bargain, Miss Rarity! I’ve come to expect this from big city types, not small town designers. I simply cannot resist, ‘Outrageous’ is in our very name, after all. 82,000 bits it is, then. The H.O.O.F commission is yours!”

Rarity was positively glowing as her companion nodded vigorously. “Done, and done!” Chur declared, emptying the last of her coffee mug down her gullet with an air of finality.

“Thank you very much for your business, Madame Silver Silk,” Rarity said, beaming.

“The pleasure is all mine, young lady.”

Splendor took off his purple tricorn hat and rubbed at his mane peevishly, all the while putting on a contradictory smile. “Done it is, Miss Rarity, Miss Chur’R-Yar. Allow me on behalf of the House of Outrageously Opulent Fashion to offer our thanks for your contribution to next month’s designer catalogue. Oh, and I'm sure Madame Silver Silk will be beyond pleased when the newest additions to her wardrobe arrives, as well.”

“Carousel Boutique shall get right to work on them, first thing next week,” Rarity replied.

“Very good. I believe this concludes our transaction,” Bon Couture stated, as the three ponies arose and she placed the outfit designs into her satchel. “The commission stipend should be deposited in your account at the Royal Bank of Canterlot before sundown, barring such an unfortunate unlikelihood as a diamond dog heist, or an act of Celestia.”

“Good day to you both, this meeting was quite the escapade,” Silver Silk commented to Chur and Rarity, as she followed the other two representatives out of the café.

“Likewise, Madame,” Rarity replied, inclining her head in a quick bow, which Chur mimicked, and Silver Silk returned. She and Chur then watched as the stylish ponies exited the establishment.

“Feathers are going to be your downfall, dearest,” Splendor grumbled to Silver Silk.

“Splendor, my love, I’ve been alive for over a century. Let an old mare live a little! I never bother you about that uncouth fascination of yours with the commoner music of ‘DJ Pon3’.” At that, their banter was now out of earshot, replaced by the regular gentle murmurings of the café’s many patrons.

Rarity emitted an exhausted sigh and looked to Chur as she cupped her chin in her right hoof. “High society…goodness, darling. For the first time in a long while, I now realize what I must sound like to other ponies, especially Applejack.”

Chur decided to indulge Rarity’s sense of self-criticism just a little. “Well, you do use ‘darling’ rather often. Your mannerisms can also become a bit overbearing, at your worst.”

Rarity laughed playfully and shot the Kig-Yar a fake hurt look. “Yeah? Well everypony assumes you're some type of dragon, yet you're actually more or less of a large, bipedal umm…” Rarity rotated her foreleg around in thought. “uhh…space turkey!”

“I actually wouldn't be surprised if Spike’s kind turned out to be a distant cousin of mine,” Chur answered back, dodging Rarity’s less than subtle bait. “And I'm one third jest on that, two thirds serious. Is it true he has a romantic interest in you?”

“Oh yes, absolutely.” Rarity said, nodding curtly. “Quite an adorable crush, really. I try my best to let him down as gently as possible whenever he tries to get too far into things. It’s the age thing, not that he’s a dragon, if you’re wondering.” The unicorn leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Just between you and me, he and my younger sister Sweetie Bell would make an adorable couple when they’re both much older.”

That was met by a snicker from Chur. “Couples, huh? I had hoped to find a mate once, upon securing my fortune, of course. That was before things started exploding seemingly at random. What about yourself, Rarity?”

Rarity peered at a ceiling fan above somewhat dreamily. “Settling down with a true love could be nice someday, assuming they could get used to my posh manner of speech.” She abruptly put a hoof to her forehead with a dramatic flourish, as if about to faint. “Dahling, dahhhhling! Simply mahhvelous, dahling!” Chur’s laughter picked up from the unicorn’s unusual Pinkie Pie-like scene, and she began clutching at her chest as Rarity joined in with an unladylike snort and series of chortles. “Heavens, is that what I really sound like, sometimes?”

Several seconds into her laughter fit, the T’vaoan’s breathing became a bit irregular as she rubbed at her chest irritably.

Having heard the exchange, ponies at nearby tables finally started eying the two with puzzlement. Rarity registered the jackal’s odd reflexes, and immediately halted her laughter, a look of concern on her face. “Oh Chur, I'm so sorry! I’d absolutely forgotten about your rib fractures from the battle. They’re still mending…”

“I'm fine, really, it’s alright.” Chur had calmed down now, and looked as equally worn out as Rarity. Her breathing had recovered to normal, but Rarity still wore a sheepish look.

“Well…alright, I’ll take your word for it. I-I think I might have drank too much coffee,” the dressmaker said.

“That makes two of us,” Chur agreed with an amused but weary murmur. “Are you ready to depart?”

“I believe I am, yes.” The both of them got up from their table. “I can’t thank you enough for your help today, Chur’R-Yar. Silver Silk’s penchant for those Quetzalcoatl feathers might not have even broached my mind, had I met with them alone. Shall we endeavor to lug our way back to the train station before the full caffeine crash sets in?”

Chur rubbed at her head; excess stimulant was beginning to cause an unpleasant buzzing sensation in the base of her skull. It would appear that mind-relaxing tea had already long since run its course. “I'm quite open to that suggestion, Rarity. If you wish to thank me properly, however, could you perchance find me a nice comfortable place on the train to doze off for…I don’t know…an entire Covenant Age or so?”

Rarity smiled radiantly as she held the door open for her alien friend. “Done, and done!"

Contrary to the Shipmistress’ expectation, the now familiar subtle reverberations and consistent click-clack of the train tracks several layers of metal beneath her did not hinder sleep. Quite the contrary, in fact, the noises were quite sleep inducing. While Rarity hummed quietly to herself and looked out the window in the seat across from Chur in their shared compartment, she was locked in deep, lucid dreaming.

Beyond the world of the waking, Chur’R-Yar found herself standing in a wide, verdant field. She could tell as much, for knee-high grasses were bristling against her digitigrade legs, swaying in a light wind which seemed to come from every direction at once.

The sky was a remarkably vibrant blue with the look of daytime, yet stars and constellations were still readily visible between banks of clouds. A cloak of thick mist clung to the periphery of Yar’s surroundings like shuttered stage curtains, obscuring from her view whatever features that may lie beyond.

When Chur moved backward, she felt her taloned foot hit something metallic that was concealed in the grass. Looking down yielded a sight of the familiar purple silhouette of an Iruiru Armories carbine. She knelt down and picked up the firearm, inspecting its gleaming surface with bafflement as to what it was doing there. You’re asleep, Yar reminded herself. Asking such questions is as pointless as teaching politics to the grunts.

“What is this place?” she wondered aloud as she peered across the high field and to the hanging mists beyond, her curiosity quickly winning out over her tendency for concise logic. Whatever you want it to be, you are dreaming.

“Be you unfamiliar with lucid dreams, Shipmistress Chur’R-Yar?” a regal feminine voice inquired. Chur’s head snapped to look in multiple directions, seeing nothing in the visible portions of the field that surrounded her. She readied the Covenant carbine at her hip, a taloned hand pressed firmly on the hand guard, and squawked loudly but said nothing as she continued to scan the area with narrowed eyes.

“This is quite unfortunate,” the disembodied voice continued. “For many ponies and those of other races, lucid dreaming is often found to be quite enjoyable, once mastered. It’s the freedom, we often surmise, having such creative power at their hoofs’ grasp that only the dream world could furnish.”

“Who speaks?” Chur finally demanded with suspicion. “Come out of that mist, so I may see you.”

The bank of low fog directly in front of her parted, revealing the majestic form of Princess Luna. Her mane flowed as it always did in its own magical aura, and a friendly, if tentative, smile lay upon her face. “It is we, who speak, Chur’R-Yar.” Like the Canterlot nobles, Luna’s pronunciation of the Kig-Yar name rolled off the tongue almost immaculately. “We are Princess Luna, noble Shipmistress; Equestria’s warden of the moon, Princess of the Night and all that revels in it, and of course, a guardian of dreams.”

“The younger regal sister?” Chur asked, still suspicious.

Luna’s features brightened a little. “Ah, so we are familiar to you?”

Something about the alicorn’s eloquent voice produced a calming effect in Chur, but recollections of Twilight Sparkle’s account of Nightmare Moon allowed the barrel of her carbine to be only slightly lowered further to what would be considered a semi-friendly stance. “Yes, if only through frequent mention of you, and catching glimpses of you on occasion in my dreams.”

“Indeed, we have explored your dreams before, over the course of the past several days.” Luna nodded and ventured a few steps forward to get a closer look at the alien. Chur was not yet prepared for the movement, and hastily raised the carbine again, narrowing her eyes. “That’s close enough, Your Highness! What brings you to my dreams, beyond obvious whim of royal authority?”

The Princess’ wings flared outwards as a look of irritation came over her. “Pray you, be calm! We are simply here to introduce ourselves to one of the comrades of fair Dadab, of which Celestia speaks much praise,” Luna answered. She sighed, and her demeanor turned downcast as she continued to study the Kig-Yar. “A desire for friendly conversation, and curiosity, is all. That is why I am here.”

“Really? How nice.” Chur’s face formed into a faux grin, before returning to a scowl. “I still do not trust you.” In truth, Chur’s impudence was feigned, she expected that this alicorn could very easily kill her if provoked to violence in the waking world.

“Perhaps there’s something I can offer that will help gain your trust, then,” Luna proclaimed, offering her left wing towards Chur’R-Yar. “If it is necessary for a more tender audience with you.”

No Kig-Yar – not even T'vaoans, the most avian-like of the species – possessed wings, but the gesture was nevertheless still recognized by Chur. Her ruby eyes widened in astonishment.

“You would offer a Karushar-ut? How do you even know of such…oh yes, dreams.” Luna nodded to her, and Chur considered the proposition, quite stunned. “This is no small gesture, Princess Luna. The exchanging of feathers in Karushar-ut, it is sometimes regarded as the equivalent of a declaration of true love. You are literally giving away a part of yourself, however small and insignificant, to another.”

“As well as a display of other important expressions, such as sorority and fraternity, humility, friendship, or trust,” Luna added, hoping she had not somehow offended the alien in a further attempt to get to know her. “I know this. I would humbly offer it, if I may speak to you without suspicion.”

Relief crossed Luna’s face as Chur finally nodded in understanding. She even stowed the carbine onto her back, which surprised Chur by morphing into a cloud of parasprites that promptly fluttered off and away. “Since I must be awaiting return to Ponyville as I dream, I suppose I cannot refuse.”

With a sharp grunt, Chur yanked a red-hued feather from the plumage of her nape with her left arm, which she then held aloft in an open palm towards Luna. The grunt had come instinctively, even though in her dream form, Chur felt no pain.

Luna lowered her left wing towards her muzzle, and quickly plucked one of the midnight-blue feathers from it with her teeth, grimacing briefly. The two locked eyes. Luna levitated Chur’s scarlet feather over to her, and placed her own blue one into Chur’s waiting hand. When Luna’s feather made contact with Chur’s skin, the surrounding landscape of the dream suddenly began to change with the completion of the simple but highly symbolic Karushar-ut.

The fog lifted, revealing the endless grassy field that was now giving way to the visage of an impressive sea coast, instantly catching the attention of both.

“By the Prophets…” Chur murmured with wonder, as the world disassembled and reassembled itself, and the profile of a majestic and sprawling manor house arose before her very eyes. The expression put a warm smile on Luna’s lips, and she was positively glowing when Chur’R-Yar returned her gaze.

“This…this is my clan’s ancestral estate on the beach near Tilu City on Eayn!’ Chur stated. She outstretched a feathered arm and pointed at the silhouette of a great gas giant on the horizon. “You can even see Chu’ot; I feel the warm sand beneath my feet as the talons sink into it, and the ocean breeze. It’s like we’re actually there!”

“Your homeworld looks beautiful, Chur,” Luna said, her smile growing.

Chu’ot began moving rapidly across the sky as if time itself were accelerating, reminding Chur where she really was. Homesickness for her home system notwithstanding, the shipmistress felt pure elation. “It is, but what…”

“Consider it a little gift, from a new friend,” Luna said.

Looking at Luna and analyzing her vibrant smile, Chur began to feel a sudden realization dawn on her. Her eyes darted between the blue feather still in her taloned hand, and the serene features of its previous owner.

“Gift… The whispering of Quetzalcoatl feathers…you are the one who showed me how to help Rarity negotiate such an impressive deal! This was all thanks to you, wasn’t it?”

Luna’s smile was all the answer Chur needed.

“Thank you, Your Highness, most profoundly!”

“It was my sincerest pleasure. Fare thee well, for now, Chur’R-Yar.”

With that, Chur’s dream ended as she awoke to the sight of a smiling Rarity, finding herself back in the compartment of their train. The train car was still, and there was no sound of the tracks below.

“Chur, darling, we’re back home!”

Yar smiled back. “Splendid.” She looked down. As her drowsiness quickly subsided, she noticed a distinct blue feather in the gentle grasp of her hand.

“How was your sleep?” Rarity asked.

“I slept like royalty.”

That elicited a giggle from the dressmaker. “On a moving train? My goodness, that’s quite impressive. Applejack would probably dismiss such a thing as 'horse feathers'.” Rarity began gathering their things. “Come on, I think Trixie said she would be showing us all Discord’s journal today. That should be one…interesting read, to say the least.”

Chur nodded and carefully slipped Luna's feather into one of her robe pockets. "We shall surely lose our minds though, reading the writings of such a strange being."

Chapter 12: Discord's Journal

Trixie approached the door to her caravan and opened it nervously upon hearing a short series of gentle knocks. Despite having already admitted five others into her quaint travelling home mere minutes ago, the magician was still quite wary of visitors, and every bit of that fact showed on her face in the form of her widened violet eyes, as Trixie regarded the two chatting newcomers standing just beyond the threshold.

The pair seemed quite occupied in their discussion, delaying their reaction to Trixie’s appearance right in front of them. Trixie was relieved, at least, by the knowledge that there was only the shade of the Golden Oak Library’s canopy casted on the ground behind the duo, rather than the fearfully expected small mob with obligatory pitchfork and torch in hoof that would surely come for her any day, now.

“It was Princess Luna you saw, are you certain? Goodness, no wonder you were sleeping so well during the ride!” Rarity exclaimed. “The Princess of Dreams had your attention!”

“Indeed, it was Princess Celestia’s younger sister beyond a doubt. While I admit my initial misgivings for your rulers, she was beyond eloquent, and she even…oh, hello.” Chur’R-Yar ceased her conversation with Rarity when they finally noticed that the door had opened for them. Chur plastered a friendly smile on her avian-reptilian features, while her equine companion frowned with distrust to a mild degree.

“Good day, Trixie. Thank you for opening your home us,” Rarity said somewhat stolidly.

Trixie nodded meekly at them. “N-no trouble at all.” She observed Chur for a moment as she stood patiently, blinking back at her. “And you must be Chur? Greetings as well, erm, Trixie welcomes you. I assume you’re here about the journal, as well?” Trixie stepped aside to make room for them and gestured a foreleg to invite them in, her mind struggling to make up its mind over whether or not to continue maintaining her stage persona.

Chur entered with a grateful nod, and Rarity followed closely behind. “Quite so,” the latter replied.

“Those are some fine robes,” Trixie complimented Chur, appraising her blue and gold garb. “Which reminds me, Trixie’s…erm, my old robes and hat could use a bit of another redesign soon.” Rarity felt the makings of a smile creep onto her face, even though the compliment had not been directed at her.

“Many thanks. They are an example of my companion’s adept work,” Chur replied with a dainty sweep of the hand in Rarity’s direction.

The features on Rarity’s face finally brightened into a smile at that, and brightened even more so as she registered the presence of Trixie’s other guests while scanning the inside of the caravan. Rarity found that it was a lot more spacious than the gypsy-like exterior gave it credit for.

“Chur, Rarity, you came here just in time! We were just about to finally take a look at Discord’s writings.” Twilight greeted from further inside.

With the exception of Fluttershy, Twilight was joined by all the girls, Dadab, and Spike, who were all comfortably seated on plush red cushions and the few chairs that Trixie owned around a miniature dining table. Lighter Than Some was above and behind Dadab; his faint bioluminescence cooperated with the sunlight from the caravan’s tiny windows and a couple lanterns to brighten the room significantly. They all nodded, waved, and whistled at Chur and Rarity.

“Just in time to lose our minds reading the scribblings of demented supernatural entities?” Chur’R-Yar quipped with a light, humour-filled squawk.

Twilight lifted her brow, but the Kig-Yar’s remark was also met with a chuckle from Applejack, who rubbed at her neck tenderly. “Ah sure hope not. Happened to us before when we first faced Discord down, but by different methods.”

“Sheesh, what a fiasco that was,” Spike said, turning as Dadab tapped him on the shoulder. Dadab whispered to the dragon and Lighter Than Some both conspiratorially, then the Huragok in turn whistled something at Chur with an interrogative rhythm while the other two snickered.

“No, I am not made of eggshells, gasbag,” Chur deadpanned, suspecting that the creature was refraining from using his voice synthesizer gizmo just to peeve her. Huragok communication had always been a massive challenge for her to grasp, and the reality that she could still understand an insult despite this fact irritated her greatly. She silently hoped that either Rainbow Dash or the Pink One will humiliate the gas sucker, the hatchling, and the gas bag each sometime in the foreseeable future.

Perhaps if she wished hard enough, Those Who Came Before would happily provide? Chur mentally snorted at such a religious notion.

“Thank goodness for us, the trains seemed to be running efficiently today. So, we got back here quickly for once, on top of making one smashing business transaction – 82,000 bits!” Rarity announced as Chur took a seat on a spare cushion next to Applejack and Spike, putting a stop to the latter’s conspiratorial snickering in an instant.

A congratulatory air swept through the whole group at Rarity’s words, and the unicorn blushed. She then turned her head and noticed Trixie was now tending to an iron kettle on the caravan’s little stove. “Oh, Trixie dear, let me help you with that tea.”

“Well, I…erm…” Trixie was so befuddled by Rarity’s sudden change in temperament towards her, that she made no attempt to assert her hospitality and decline the help.

“Uh, come to think of it, where’s Fluttershy, everyone?” Rarity asked, pausing.

“Fluttershy’s over at her place,” Rainbow Dash answered, inspecting the inner surface of one of her hooves. “She said Discord’s journal was too spooky to handle.”

“Hmm, well that’s quite unfortunate. I for one wonder what things, if any, Discord has to say about the fashion of other worlds,” Rarity murmured thoughtfully.

While the pair tended to the tea, there was a squeak of anticipation from Pinkie Pie as Twilight levitated up a single large hardcover tome from the small table and inspected its stylised golden Draconequus-decorated cover, before turning to look at Rarity, causing Pinkie’s excitement to waiver into a half-hearted pout. “So your business trip was a real success, you two? That’s great!” Rarity closed her eyes and smiled beside Trixie in response as they both began setting some cups out, and Twilight turned to Chur. “So, what did you think of my home town?”

“Canterlot is a fine, cosmopolitan place,” Chur answered. “Quite a bit like my native Tilu City back in the home system. The trade seems bountiful, the cuisine is masterful, and the nobility are insufferable.”

“Pft, swanks, am I right?” Rainbow Dash huffed in agreement.

Chur’s head plumage shifted a bit as she cracked a new, more boisterous smile. “Indeed. I was hatched into a whole family of them, but I terribly digress. Your home town is lovely, Twilight Sparkle. I look forward to future visits.” She and Twilight shared warm smiles before Pinkie Pie drew everyone’s attention to her with force nearly akin to a black hole’s gravity well.

“Journal, journal, journal! I wanna see what’s inside already!” Pinkie Pie urged excitedly as she bounced up and down on her cushion restlessly. “Who knows what kinds of forbidden arcane knowledge Discord has written down…think of all the dessert recipes from exotic chefs that could be in there!” She gasped. “Maybe even from other Pinkie Pies!”

There was a widening of the eyes on Twilight’s face at that. “Gods, no, not that again!” Dadab shot her a curious glance at both the lack of context, and the invocation of deities as of yet unknown to him, which Spike registered.

“Long story. Don’t worry, I can fill you in another time,” the dragon told him, earning Spike an enthusiastic nod from the former Covenant deacon.

“Right, about the journal; the long focus of study in my free time, and the…main reason you’re all here,” Trixie interjected with a nervous smile as she and Rarity started levitating silver cups full of steaming hot tea on little saucers out to everyone. She looked at Dadab, Chur’R-Yar, and Lighter Than Some in particular and chuckled. “Literally. Oh, and mind the heat, everyone.”

Dadab twiddled his fingers thoughtfully. “Long study, huh? Hmm…Ja eiro Ja kabonai qutashi ugedo ko’i urauli qutashi.” the grunt said to Trixie. His beady eyes had an excited flicker in them that hinted he was attempting to roughly evaluate how much knowledge she had gleaned from the journal before they began.

Trixie’s nerve-induced dismay grew when the other Equestrians turned to her expectantly as tea was smugly sipped by both Rainbow Dash and Chur. They were all curious as to both what Dadab had just said, and whether or not Trixie could translate any of it.

Not wanting to be terribly rude, Chur tried her best to stifle a giggle at their host’s obvious discomfort and pretended to itch furiously at her snout with both hands, setting her tea down.

Trixie’s voice came out quite sheepishly at first. “Well…” She reached back and scratched at her withers. “My grasp on Sangheili is beginner at best, but I believe you just said something about how you were surprised to be transported, ‘kabonai’…something strange, ‘qutashi’…erm, and something about a lump of wood, ‘urauli’?”

Chur spontaneously burst out laughing, causing Trixie to look downcast. Dadab and some of the others glared at her, while Rarity hissed her name reproachfully. The T’vaoan shrugged. “What? She just mistook the word for ‘world” and “ground” as the derogatory term the Elites use for the hairy hammer swingers, ‘Jir’a’ul.’”

“Ooh! You mean like,” Pinkie Pie finished her tea in a single gulp and mimicked the swinging of a gravity hammer as the tea cup remained in the air, then held one hoof aloft to signify something of tremendous height. “the Brute Captain guy?”

“Yep, Brute Captain Guy,” Dadab confirmed with a nod, eliciting a grin from Pinkie as he looked apologetically at Trixie. “No worries, Trixie, you got it mostly right! You must learn nearly as fast as a fellow Unggoy would, and we’re renowned linguists! What I said was: ‘I never could have expected I would be teleported and conveyed to a strange world in such a strange way.”

Crinkling her muzzle in befuddlement, Trixie eventually mustered an appreciative response. “That’s uh…thank you, Dadab. You and Chur’s presence here was entirely accidental, as you probably know.”

“You have yet to explain to me how such an accident was made possible during the process, Trixie,” Lighter Than Some said. After a week of seeing his compatriot shifting between her ordinary self and her more mystique-filled “Great and Powerful” stage persona with increasing frequency, Lighter himself had decided to revert back to normal Huragok mannerisms, both auditory and otherwise.

“Sorry. It was a result of my scrying and magical translocation efforts in that star system to retrieve you, or something like you. Any Huragok or Forerunner machine that could have helped. Elsewhere magic like Discord’s is powerful at best, and quite unpredictable at its worst. For the several hours the bound spells were active, they must have plucked random beings out of the system and deposited them in this one, and any number of other locations throughout the galaxy.” Trixie’s constantly apologetic and sheepish demeanor returned. “I shudder at whatever fate awaited anyone who ended up teleported into the void of space…”

“Right, about that,” Twilight interjected. “while we have gone over some of the specifics behind this entire occurrence, what we obviously have yet to do is investigate this journal. That is, the very thing that enabled you to perform such an impressive feat of unconventional magic.”

Trixie nodded and finally took a seat with everyone else. She made a point to push the weighty tome away from herself on the table and further towards Twilight, looking at it ruefully. “Yes, pretty much all of my magical power was expended at the time as a catalyst spark, but the translocation of our extra-terrestrial acquaintances was only made possible by the exotic magics the Draconequus had enchanted into this journal, here.”

“Yeah, because only in your dreams would you ever be ab-“ Rainbow Dash’s jibe was immediately rebuked with a newspaper to the back of the head, wielded by Rarity and courtesy of Pinkie Pie. “B-hey! You didn’t even know what I was gonna say!”

Rarity shot her friend a death glare when she noted Trixie’s growing dismay. “What Dash was actually going say was that only an alicorn could likely have pulled such a feat off on their own without Discord’s enchantments, assuming they possessed the necessary knowledge of course.”

“And Rainbow Dash, try to keep a lid on it, please? She’s already apologized at least a hundred times,” Applejack chided.

“Fine.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “At least I wasn’t the crazy that almost sparked a catastrophic war of worlds,” she added under her breath.

The apologetic gloom hanging above Trixie’s head disappeared briefly, to be replaced by worry. “Regarding those enchantments, remember that I did say they were unpredictable. I never experienced any magical threat while reading, but that does not make it any safer.”

“We all know that anything involving Discord is risky, but hopefully, learning the contents of his journal will give us a massive edge over him should he ever wind up free again. Okay, everypony ready? Like Trixie has been saying, I highly doubt this is just going to be some ordinary paper and text,” Twilight proclaimed, glancing at everyone else carefully, one by one. They each nodded or waved a tentacle affirmatively.

To everyone’s surprise, the Draconequus on the cover – a cartoonish depiction of Discord himself – also nodded its head and winked at any who happened to be glancing at him.

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Typical Discord. Let’s get on with, already!” She reached towards the cover to flick it open before Twilight could do the honours.

“Finally!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Rainbow…hey!” Twilight protested.

“And cue the surge of destructive supernatural energy...” Chur’s sardonic remark trailed off as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her jaw fell. Everyone else present with a facial structure capable of it, mimicked her.

The enchanted journal, was now wide open and emanating a miniature maelstrom of swirling blue light as page after page rapidly flipped back and forth seemingly into infinity. A rather strong breeze shot out and was enough to tousle Rarity, Twilight, and Trixie’s manes, knock Applejack’s hat off and over onto Dadab’s head, and blow Lighter Than Some and Pinkie Pie towards the ceiling where they remained like loose party balloons. Pinkie started giggling with glee as she drifted in lazy circles around the engineer.

Everyone had to raise their voices a bit to be heard easily over the whistling air.

“Ah, crud! My gut told me this was gonna be a bad idea!” Spike lamented.

“Don’t worry, Spike,” Applejack reassured him. “Probably just some weird part of how this here journal works, Ah reckon. Oh, thanks sugarcube!” Dadab had returned her hat firmly by hand to avoid it getting away, having found that it wasn’t quite his style. The apple farmer patted him affectionately on the head.

“Applejack is right, actually. Pages are supposed to be read while floating aloft, for some reason. The magical air current is supposed to be ‘normal’ for this thing,” Trixie told them, suddenly becoming buoyant like Pinkie Pie. Lighter Than Some whistled in agreement, having spent several occasions with his unicorn compatriot floating quite like him while they studied the journal for the information they needed to construct Trixie’s ill-fated magic siphon.

“Well, that explains why my body feels like it’s trying to float away,” Twilight mused. She let out a gasp as, sure enough, she began levitating gently the moment she relaxed her leg muscles. Moments later, everyone but Rainbow Dash and some of the lighter objects nearby were now floating in positon, forming a rough circle around the open journal, whose pages were still flipping back and forth in a possessed fashion.

One bunch of paper with glowing text jumped off and out of the journal and swirled idly in Chur’s direction, behaving much like an excited dog as Chur attempted to get used to the field of Draconequus magic that was making her feel nearly as weightless as her feathers. It affectionately licked her on the snout and bounded away. Her ruby eyes twitched in complete bafflement as her jaw fell.

Rainbow Dash giggled at her. “Hey Chur, I think the journal likes ya!” Chur let out a feeble squawk, completely at a loss for words. “Now, the weather pegasus part of my brain is saying that reading this is all too egghead, but the curiosity part is telling the other part to shut up.”

At least a dozen more pages emerged to float into the air while Pinkie Pie started going around everyone, practically eating rather than drinking the cup-shaped globules of tea that now drifted away from their cups. Meanwhile, Dash took to hovering, and grasped one of the small pieces of ethereal paper in her hoof.

“Where to begin?” Dadab wondered.

“Everywhere? Nowhere? Here? There? Nopony can tell!” Pinkie Pie said.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight responded to Dadab. She turned to Trixie. “Any ideas?”

“As you should expect, Discord set this thing to produce entries at apparently complete random to the reader. It was a wonder I was able to find the information I needed at all; I think the journal has a mind of its own beyond just the enchantments.”

Spike looked nervous. “W-what kind of mind?”

“A rather mischievous one, to be sure,” Lighter Than Some replied.

“…and with that said,” Trixie continued, “we shall have to go at random as well, if we wish to read.”

“Way ahead of ya!” Rainbow Dash interjected, clearing her throat to read the text on her page aloud. The talon writing (or paw writing) of Discord was strangely graceful, but almost seemed to want to turn upside down, or reverse itself. “Huh, it’s supposed to be a journey entry, but there’s no sign of any dates. It says: Dear Diary, there is more than one of everything. Everything plus one is more, and one can sometimes be more than…everything?” Rainbow’s voice trailed off. “Huh?”

“Discord.” Applejack muttered, rolling her eyes as she read a page. It was all the explanation that was needed, it seemed. “I wonder how my cousin in the Shivering Isles is faring with that whole Greymarch business. Perhaps cheese was the ultimate weapon, after all. Or at least, a great incentive tool with which to mount movements. The space hula-hoops are contenders for the former title.”

“Fun is infinite,” Chur read on another, narrowing her eyes. “but the fun to be had at the Cloud and Circus Pub on Codswallop Boulevard in Upside Downside is probably the greatest in that unregion of Elsewhere! I should go there sometime yesterday, I could use a break from that delightfully chaotic interregnum of mine in Equestria. I miss their infamous half-full drinks.”

“Here’s a head-scratcher!” Spike proclaimed. “Note to self: beware of Rosalind and that brother of hers. Couple of smug smarty pants. Also, beware of that parallel dimension Equestria. ‘Imperial this, unity that, ugh.’ That parallel Discord is all buddy-buddy with the ponies, too. Luckily for moi, such a travesty will never befall me.”

Rainbow snorted and broke into a hearty chuckle. “Discord? Being friends with ponies? That’s nuts!”

Lighter Than Some gave out a Huragok giggle in the form of a purr-like whistle. Unlike the others, he seemed to be more interested in some of his technological doodads and old Equestrian tech elsewhere inside the caravan to pay much attention to the bits of magical paper floating hither and thither, but he was listening to Trixie’s visitors quite attentively nevertheless.

Twilight caught a page of her own in her telekinesis and peered at it inquisitively. “Hey, here’s a lengthy one. One of the more troublesome of my findings during my ongoing scholarly fad, is a parasitic race that could be described as nothing less than the parasprites’ older, misshapen half-brother. To even call the Flood a ‘race’ at all is a tenuous matter, for at their very root is nothing but an immutable and painfully dull desire for unity through…bleh, ‘the universal eradication of the chaotic individual down to the most fundamental threads of life,’ according to one of their leading minds, of whom I had a particularly memorable exchange with.” Twilight looked to Dadab, her muzzle scrunched with puzzlement. “Didn’t you mention the Flood being an ancient enemy of the Forerunners?”

Dadab nodded. “They were; unholy creatures meant to be conquered by those walking the Path of the Great Journey. May I read?” He reached out a stocky little hand questioningly.

“Of course!” Twilight levitated the page over to Dadab, who was aloft in a cross-legged fashion.

“Upon their attempted (and rather rudely so) assimilation of my meaty-squishy bits, my true form was granted access to their hive mind.” Dadab continued reading aloud with a growing mixture of both dismay and morbid fascination. “What followed was absolutely one of the most entertaining events in recent memory, I must say. As my mother Intrigue would have put it, ‘you never know what a true false-utopia is until the forces of chaos give it a vivisection from the inside out.’”

“Whatever the Flood truly are, I hope they’re long gone,” Twilight thought aloud. There was not even a hint of disagreement from the others.

Rarity gasped, and looked at Dadab and Twilight with widened eyes after reading another page to herself. “This one actually addresses that very thing, including the Forerunners! It says: probably the most abundant, and culturally dead of the mortal societies I encountered in the earlier eras of our Milky Way, the race known as the Forerunners ruled an empire that spanned almost an entire galaxy’s worth of real estate. Planets were like toys, and their armour even protected against aging. But despite all that advancement, those folks were nearly as dismal as the Flood. Was it any wonder that they had to fire the hula-hoop super weapons to defeat the latter, killing anything in the galaxy unlucky enough to have at least one nerve cell?”

“What, what, what?” Dadab sputtered. He shook his head in bafflement, looking at his own hands as if he didn’t even recognize them. “Super weapon? The Gods were ‘dismal’? I don’t understand.”

“This is the Spirit of Chaos we’re dealing with, here,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “I wouldn’t take what he wrote too seriously, if I were you. Not if you value your sanity, that is.”

“Rainbow Dash speaks wisely, Dadab,” Chur added, now narrowing her eyes at the glowing journal with a critical flare. “One of the risks of this journey: falling afoul of a God’s insanity.” The former shipmistress never considered herself a true believer of the Covenant’s religion, much like the rest of her race, but she could very well tell the significance of what the Draconequus had written. The Hierarchs would deem it heresy of the highest order. But there’s nothing in their power they could possibly do to punish the writer as such. For how could one call inquisition against a physical embodiment of chaos itself? Summon a legion of Arbiters?

Chur was now convinced that something like this Draconequus’ journal could very well mean the end of the Covenant Empire if it were to somehow fall in San’Shyuum or Sangheili hands. All the better that whomever had come looking for the engineer had apparently decided to give up their search.

“Umm, perhaps we should leave further reading to Trixie and Twilight in the near future?” Applejack suggested in a soft voice, noting Dadab’s uncomfortable confusion all too well. Rainbow Dash and Chur voiced their agreement, and Dadab nodded slowly as well. The others followed suit, looking at both unicorns expectantly.

“Oh hey, I just found a recipe for right-side up pineapple soufflé with chocolate chip cookie grease glaze!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, making an attempt to soften the mood. Drifting closer to the journal, Pinkie produced a butcher knife from her tail and cut the tension in half, then returned the knife to a safe place.

“Right-side up wut?” Rainbow asked with incredulity.

Trixie giggled in spite of herself at Pinkie pie’s shenanigans, and even Dadab felt a smile begin to creep in under his mask as Pinkie’s tactic achieved the desired effects.

“Only you would be able to make something like that, Pinkie Pie,” Dadab stated rather light-heartedly. “You and Trixie should maybe only read now, Boss.”

“I can assist in further readings,” Lighter Than Some offered, inspecting his gravity staff and rearranging its components into several different configurations.

Twilight looked to Trixie inquiringly as she considered it herself. Trixie nodded with a tentative smile, and the purple unicorn finally made up her mind on the matter, meeting everyone’s glances with a thoughtful expression. “Alright, but please stop calling me that.”

Dadab stood awkwardly. “Sorry.” Twilight smiled warmly at him, and his cheerful and energetic demeanour returned.

Acting off its own volition, Discord’s journal ceased its maelstrom and dropped everyone back onto the ground, then slammed firmly shut unexpectedly, leaving everyone caught by surprise. The quiet was short lived as a series of gentle knocks issued at Trixie’s door.

Trixie excused herself from the group momentarily to answer the knocks. She lifted a foreleg in surprise, still expecting that mythical angry mob to manifest. Instead, it was a lone pegasus. “Oh, hello Fluttershy.”

“Hi Trixie.” Fluttershy replied, her voice barely just above a whisper. “Um, are Twilight and the girls visiting with you? I need to talk to you all about something really, really important.”

“Yeah, they’re here, come right inside and…” Trixie trailed off as she saw something sticking out of Fluttershy’s satchel bag. It was the snubbed edge of a plasma pistol. “Oh…” Trixie’s eyes widened, and Fluttershy turned sheepish.

“I-I don’t think that monster with the hammer was the only alien left behind.” The pegasus gulped and chuckled nervously. “I saw some in my kitchen this morning, but they ran from me before I could properly greet them. Um, it would appear Dadab isn’t the only Unggoy on our world anymore.”

Chapter 13 - Aliens Be Here

“Fluttershy, Ah’m mite surprised you have the steely nerves to carry that there alien weapon with you like you did,” Applejack remarked casually as they and their sizeable group of friends made the trek from town to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Seeing as how they can burn through wood and metal like nothing, and all.”

Fluttershy looked back to Applejack and the others with a mildly troubled expression as she went onwards. “Oh, I could hardly believe it at first, either. I only wish the weapon’s owners hadn’t been scared of my sudden presence and ran off like they did, they seemed to have been in the middle of offering…um…I know this may sound outlandish, but… to make something to eat for Angel.” She blushed at the bewildered expressions some of the others gave her upon mentioning that.

Up ahead of the party, which Applejack was at the front of, Fluttershy was accompanied by Dadab, Trixie, Twilight, and Lighter Than Some. The scholarly Unggoy could be heard sniffing at the air inquisitively while his Huragok companion scanned the surface of the winding dirt road ahead of them. Trixie and Twilight were also diligently scanning the area with detection spells, the latter at a more extreme range.

With the exception of Rarity, Chur, and Spike, whom had returned to Carousel Boutique to discuss all things Canterlot and begin work on a new outfit project for Trixie, the group of friends was in full force.

“Hmm…maybe they were seeking shelter, and thinking your pet Angel was the owner of the dwelling, offered to cook for him in exchange for temporary residence,” Dadab mused. “It’s an old part of ancient Unggoy reciprocal hospitality. Culture is still intact, somehow.”

“Fascinating,” Twilight responded.

“A bit heart-wrenching, too,” Trixie added, rather sadly. Dadab patted her shoulder reassuringly with a stubby hand.

“Endurance! Since the Rebellion, grunts shall grow stronger as a people every decade. All we need are enough fuel rod cannons.” Dadab half declared, and half joked. Walking behind everyone else as she brought up the rear of the group, Rainbow Dash snickered sceptically to herself as she heard that.

A faint smile crept onto Trixie’s face, and she nodded thoughtfully. “Of course, Dadab. Spoken almost like an Earth Pony.”

“Heh-heh, we sure are pretty robust. Well most of us, anyways,” Applejack replied.

“Fluttershy says more Unggoy are around,” Dadab then stated, to which Fluttershy nodded firmly. “Perhaps I can unify them somehow, they’re probably stuck here like us, after all. Then we team up with Applejack and Pinkie Pie’s race, Earth Ponies lead us, and nothing evil shall stand long against Equestria!”

Lighter Than Some let out a bemused hum, and Twilight raised her brow at Dadab.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now. We don’t currently know how many Covenant are out there still in the Brute Captain’s wake, let alone the Unggoy they brought with them. Princess Celestia was quite clear that making contact with anything that is currently spacefaring could potentially become an existential threat to the whole of Equis,” the librarian cautioned. Twilight tried to keep the authoritativeness absent from her tone as much as equinely possible, in hopes of indefinitely preventing the utterance of the word “boss” from the grunt’s mouth in address to her. Or any mouth, for that matter.

“Your enthusiasm is as beneficial to our party’s synergy as much as the Pink One’s omnipotent cheer,” Lighter Than Some also stated to Dadab with the accompaniment of Pinkie Pie’s affectionate grin. “But Twilight Sparkle speaks sagely.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Trixie said, nodding, although her previous smile faded into a shamed frown. “We should determine if these Covenant are truly stranded first, before making any attempt at direct contact. I was able to…rout…their mothership using that Jiralhanae’s body as a scarecrow of sorts after I used him to power that magic siphon, but I have no idea if they still have other smaller craft with them in their remaining camps that could be used to get off-world and alert the rest of their empire.”

Unbeknownst to the others until Rainbow Dash became vocal, the pegasus’ features had darkened considerably. “Isn’t that just the thing?” she retorted, glowering and with frustration clear in her voice. “Every time I want to tear you a new one for your role in nearly causing an alien apocalypse, seeing Dadab nearby conjures up a mini-Dash in my head. And guess what? Mini-Dash says that we’re all lucky that our planet has existed for so long as it did without encountering ETs sooner. To put things bluntly: It, Dadab, Chur, and the rest of my friends are the only things that have stopped me from doing something nasty!”

In an instant, the group stopped dead in its tracks on the road. Trixie seemed to shrink to half her size, and Lighter Than Some even began projecting a violet infantry-grade shield around every member of the group in an automatic response as he hovered defensively over her.

“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed. The others followed suit with disapproving looks. An itch in Rainbow Dash’s wing cast was beginning to flare up and become unbearable under her friends’ withering glare as she returned the looks with a sigh of reluctant acquiescence.

Trixie swallowed hard and mustered her voice, exhausting much emotional energy to convert her instinctively brewing anger into remorse. “If it’s any consolation to you, Rainbow – which I doubt – the Covenant cruiser isn’t coming back. While scrying, I saw the San’Shyuum up on his floating throne commanding them; the horror on his face made my fur stand on end. I’m well aware of the gravity of what I was involved with.”

“A Prophet?” Dadab inquired in astonishment. Trixie turned to him and nodded, her tired eyes showing not a hint of deception.

“To Trixie’s credit, um, I think that ‘mini-Dash’ was on to something,” Fluttershy said to Rainbow, before looking at Twilight. “With everything he knew, couldn’t Discord, or maybe even Star Swirl or somepony else like them have done a similar thing before? A number of the creatures in the Everfree seem like they don’t quite belong in our world…”

“With Discord, anything is possible,” Twilight answered irritably, still peeved at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow looked at Trixie’s troubled features and gave out a beleaguered harrumph. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, Trixie. I just needed to get that off my chest. I accept your apologies like everypony else. But unlike everypony else, my trust won’t be earned that easily by the likes of you. I’ll be watching you closely. Prove yourself, and maybe I’ll go a little easier on you down the road.” She punctuated her words by making a vigilant, commando-like gesture with her hoof and returning Twilight’s irritated glare. Although, rather oddly, the glare did not last. “Uh…no pun intended.”

The unicorn softened up, and even cracked a smile at Rainbow upon seeing Trixie nod with understanding gleaming in her dark violet eyes.

Lighter Than Some relaxed and dissipated everyone’s shields as Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “Rainbow Dash, you have impressed us. Or me, at least. You gave voice to something that was troubling you, and for that, we may have just done a bit to help resolve it.”

“And I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I am worthy of that trust, Rainbow Dash,” Trixie vowed.

“Yeah, I guess. And yeah, you do that, Trixie,” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

For the first time in many days, Trixie seemed to possess a sense of conviction and determination in her demeanour, rather than just rampant regret and guilt. Rainbow Dash had to turn away from the unicorn magician’s gaze as everyone began moving along the road again, lest Trixie see that she was visibly impressed, however mildly.

The friends’ banter was minimal from then on as everyone made a point at regular intervals to listen carefully for potential movement in the bushes of the nearby woods until they at last reached the grounds of Fluttershy’s property, having detected nothing but the usual insect and bird calls.

Sitting right at the precipice of the imposing Everfree itself, which was made even more so by the gradually darkening evening sky, the pegasus’ cottage was as tranquil and idyllic as ever.

Fluttershy made right for the cottage and crossed the bridge over the stream on the grounds, but then turned around the side of the cosy little abode, leading everyone to the bay window that lead into the kitchen of the cottage. She pointed a hoof at the open window.

“This is where they fled through when they became aware of my presence. I think it’s how they got in, too,” Fluttershy explained, looking between the window and the disturbed flower bushes directly beneath it.

“Hmm…certainly looks that way,” Twilight mused. “Those bushes here were clearly met with some rough action.”

“Boys, care to do the honours?” Applejack asked.

Dadab and Lighter Than Some immediately stepped and/or floated forward to investigate with borderline enthusiasm. It didn’t take them long to corroborate Fluttershy’s claim. Several pairs of small-shod boot prints dotted the ground much like animal tracks, leading right back into the Everfree.

“What’s the verdict, detectives?” Pinkie Pie chirped, while Fluttershy chewed on her lip with concern. The squat but friendly-looking aliens could be lost and in danger in the Everfree as they were speaking.

“Definitely Unggoy,” Dadab responded. Putting his boot into one of the imprints into the dirt as it began to grow damp from late day condensation, he found that they were a perfect match. Definitely standard-issue footwear for an Unggoy combat harness. Dadab then sniffed around. “I can even still smell the tail end of them. Ooh, and something else from the kitchen, too!”

Lighter Than Some whistled his agreement, then placed one of his kind’s mysterious glyphs on the wood of the cottage’s exterior wall just below the window frame, piquing Trixie’s curiosity as she watched him. The alien had placed similar glyphs in some of the areas they had visited around Equestria since she had plucked him several light years out from Epsilon Indi and to her homeworld.

Fluttershy looked up at the sky, and then to her friend whom also shared her name with the present time of day. “Um, we should decide what we’re going to do next.” She then turned to Dadab and the others, gesturing a hoof towards her front door. “It’s getting late, too. You’re all more than welcome to come in while we do so.” She patted Dadab on the head with a radiant smile. “We’ve got some leftover banana bread from lunch time in the fridge, so it must be the oven you’re smelling. I’ll be sure to get you some.”

“Thanks!” Dadab jumped in place twice to happily express his agreement, prompting Pinkie Pie to do just the same, earning a giggle from some of the mares and smiles from the rest.

Everyone else then expressed their unanimous agreement, and they all promptly made their way inside the cottage.

In a few minutes, everyone was comfortably settled down. Dadab, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all were happily attacking slices of banana bread, Lighter Than Some was fiddling with a broken old toaster, and Fluttershy was joined by Twilight and Trixie with some cups of tea made with herbs from a distant continent.

The herbs were procured by way of Zecora and the more avant-garde merchants of Canterlot, and the mares enjoyed their taste immensely. Twilight was somewhat delayed to set her own cup down to speak as a result, downing the rest of the steaming beverage down in one swift move and setting it down on the coffee table before her.

“Right, regarding these marooned Covenant…” Fluttershy’s ears pricked up attentively, and Trixie stared with rapt attention. Dadab also turned to listen, as did the others. “We do need to find them, and even contact may eventually be necessary, but we first have to be a hundred and ten percent certain that they have no way of getting themselves or a broadcast signal anywhere past the distance of the Moon. I don’t even want to think about what could follow if Equestria learns about the Covenant…and contrariwise.”

“Um, con what?” Pinkie Pie asked, her muzzle scrunched with puzzlement.

“She means vice-versa,” Trixie explained.

“Ohh, okay. I thought you were talking about some old arcade game!”

“We should contact the Princesses,” Dadab suggested. “If Fluttershy has seen more of my kind, then perhaps the far-seeing alicorns have noticed odd things as well! We’ll need their diplomatic talents in the long run anyways to deal with my former comrades.”

“Just what I was thinking. They have them telescopes up there in their castle. Can see for miles upon miles,” Applejack said.

“Perhaps they have even been able to determine why it’s taken so long for these Covenant to finally show themselves…” Trixie mused. “More than a few mere bands of grunts should have shown up near a town or two by now.”

Fluttershy nodded. “We could really use their guidance…especially considering the remote but dire risks involved…” The pegasus shivered beneath her fur slightly.

“I couldn’t agree more, everyone,” Twilight affirmed with finality. We need to go find Spike, Chur, and Rarity so we can all contact them together.”

“Not to rush anypony too much, but I think we should really hurry, too. The longer we’re in the dark, the more n-nervous I get,” Fluttershy added.

Rainbow Dash was already making her way out the front door. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get down to business already, before the end of the world starts, or something!”

“So it’s true, it really was more grunts?” Spike asked Dadab as everyone stood around the posh interior of Carousel Boutique.

“The boot prints match exactly, I could still smell their scent!” Dadab replied.

“Oh my,” Rarity remarked, putting a piece of fabric down belonging to Trixie’s cape and robes to gaze at everyone present.

“Magnificent, the gas suckers must be breeding already,” Chur jested, earning her a deadpan stare from Dadab and Spike, and a chuckle from Rainbow Dash.

“Nope,” Dadab retorted tersely.

The rest of present company wasn’t paying much attention; their minds were instead currently focused on the much larger matter unfolding.

“Spike, take a letter, please! We need to contact Celestia and Luna about what and who Fluttershy has seen.” Twilight instructed. Spike immediately snapped to attention and waved her an informal salute, then went to retrieve parchment and quill from a nearby table. He then stood in place expectantly, waiting for Twilight to dictate the contents of the letter-to-be.

Twilight cleared her throat and began. “Dear Princess Celestia, Fluttershy brought something of great importance to our attention this evening. It would appear that Dadab, Chur’R-Yar, and Trixie’s companion Lighter Than Some may not in fact be the only alien intelligences active in Equestria.” She sighed and began walking about the room as she continued. “Fluttershy spotted a group of aliens belonging to Dadab’s race inside her own kitchen, who promptly fled from her in fright. They must have come from a much larger group, but we cannot say for sure, yet. We would like Royal assistance in this matter before proceeding. Your faithful student, Twilight.”

“Right, there we go…” Spike held the now finished and rolled scroll in his palm, and blew. A gout of green flame enveloped the parchment and sent it on its way to Canterlot Castle.

A waiting game then set in as the front room of the clothing shop went quiet in anticipation of the royals’ response. While the minutes slowly ticked on by, Trixie approached Rarity and Chur as the fashion designer returned to work on Trixie’s new attire, and set a purse of bits down on the countertop. Chur’s eyes grew bright with interest, and the Kig Yar promptly extracted Trixie’s exact fee from the purse and put it in a register, then returned the bag with a reptilian grin.

Meanwhile, Lighter Than Some roamed around scanning Rarity’s sewing machines and other instruments with interest. Rainbow Dash looked restless enough pacing about that she might spontaneously combust, and the rest had their eyes wandering about the area, shuffling idly about, sighing, and occasionally whistling.

When the front door to Rarity’s shop sounded out with a series of urgent knocks that pierced through the lingering quietude like a lightning bolt, Rainbow Dash was such a cocktail of pent op anticipation that the knocks were met by a very feminine shriek.

“Hello? Madame Rarity?” an eloquent voice inquired from the other side of the front door. “I’ve been roaming all around Ponyville hoping to find one or all of you, but nopony seems to be home. I noticed your lights were still aglow; may I come in?” The voice was accompanied by an odd and persistent but quite subtle mechanical thumping that appeared to be emitting from somewhere above the shop’s roof. If one were not paying attention, they would almost have surely failed to notice it.

Before exchanging shocked looks with everyone else, Rarity rushed to answer the door. She was immediately greeted by the serenely impassive gaze of a midnight blue alicorn, and Rarity’s eyes widened, her body automatically gesturing to welcome the visitor inside.

“Princess Luna?” several of the room’s occupants greeted at once with a combination of surprise, relief, delight, and awe. Twilight and the others approached Luna as the Princess strode into Carousel Boutique with an urgent but stately canter.

“Princess Luna the Dreamwalker, in person? Well met!” Chur greeted amiably.

“What a coincidence, we just sent a letter to Celestia minutes ago!” Twilight added.

Luna looked at them all with a warm smile, but it was short lived. “Well met as well, fairest Chur’R-Yar. Hello Twilight, everyone. I’m afraid sister is currently too preoccupied to be reached at the moment. Celestia is recalling and directing the Royal Army from its frontier posts to supplement the Royal Guard should this become a full-out invasion.”

“Oh boy…” Spike muttered.

“Princess’ body language looks rather tense,” Dadab pointed out to Spike with a whisper.

Spike nodded, standing beside him. “Did she always have that crimson feather taped to her moon sash like that?”

“How me supposed to know?” Dadab deadpanned, letting his normally formal diction slide back into common Grunt speech for emphasis.

The young dragon elbowed him playfully. “Touché.”

“Whoa, back up a minute,” Rainbow Dash said to the Princess. “What do you mean?”

“You know, our Royal Army? The soldiers with the strange ranged weapons of your modern era…?” Luna responded, now looking just as confused as the weather pegasus. Lighter Than Some perked his elongated head up with interest at the mention of ‘strange weapons’.

“What invasion?” Applejack asked, clarifying her friend’s query and removing her hat to rub between her ears. Both of them flattened against her head as she pondered the possibilities. “Is it that group of supposedly stranded Covenant what’s wanderin’ about? Fluttershy, here, saw a number of Dadab’s people near her cottage. Little fellas ran from her, which must mean there’s definitely more of em’.”

“Covenant? You mean…my sister did not inform you earlier in the day?” Luna’s eyes widened in surprise before she let out a frustrated sigh. “Fie, Tia. Fie! Must I always be her unwitting deliverymare…? Ahem. My apologies in advance, for some of what I am about to share with you, you may already be aware of.”

“Please, do continue!” Rarity said. Luna nodded and her expression grew dire.

“Now hear this: the off-worlder with the destructive hammer you all vanquished must have been accompanied by a sizeable Covenant entourage. To make matters worse, said entourage is clearly martial in nature, and is currently engaged in a terrible and protracted battle within the depths of the Everfree Forest, the expanse of densely foliaged hills west of Ponyville, and portions of the Whitetail Woods, where the bulk of the still organized Covenant and their surviving commanders may have fortified themselves.”

“And the invasion?” Rainbow Dash pressed. “Who in Tartarus is actually invading?”

“You see, Rainbow Dash, the Covenant’s opponents appear to be a force of Changelings. The lights from the fighting have been visible from the castle in the late hours of the night for days, and the green glow of Changeling destruction magic is unmistakable. Indeed, one could likely see spells erupting hither and thither this very moment, like distant green fireflies…”

Chur-R-Yar let out a contemplative chattering. “Green fireflies? Sounds to me like a combination of light from our peoples’ energy weapons as well as the magic you mentioned. If the Changelings have managed to gain access to any of those weapons, that would be most dire.”

“Indeed, Chur,” Luna nodded. “We have dispatched scouts to investigate further, but I am of the mind that these Changelings, possibly the dreaded Queen Chrysalis herself, may be attempting to keep these Covenant corralled in specific locations, allowing their beleaguered troops to scatter only as it is strategically convenient to them. They must be planning something!”

Twilight’s face grew flushed as her worry started to boil over. “Lights… Princess, please tell me you haven’t seen any lights taking off into space!”

Luna looked at her with misunderstanding for a moment, but quickly realized what the unicorn meant. “Oh, you must be referring to…starships, I think you call them? Nay, I have seen no such movement of lights, and nothing anomalous has asserted itself in the path of the Moon’s orbit since the Covenant’s initial landfall, and we believe. If the Covenant had anything starworthy…”

“Um, they would have launched it already! Right?” Trixie interjected, her hoof held aloft like a schoolfilly answering a teacher’s question.

“Correct, Madame Trixie.” Luna answered with a nod. Twilight sighed with relief upon hearing that. Princess Luna then looked at each and every one of them. “Furthermore, the reason for me seeking you all out tonight is not just to impart this information. Your presence is needed in Canterlot, you see. Celestia has convened a summit encompassing all ponies and persons pertinent to the crisis at hoof. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are on their way from the Empire, and many others are already in attendance.”

Chur and Rarity exchanged looks of befuddlement. “Well then,” the dressmaker began. “Looks like it’s back to Canterlot again.”

“Fear not, you will not have to ride the train, again,” Luna told them with a little smile as everyone began making their way out of the shop. She waved towards the open expanse of grass in the marketplace several meters away from Carousel Boutique.

Several of the group’s faces lit up with surprise yet again.

The grass was occupied by a small group of curious onlookers, a uniformed mare and stallion in flightgear waiting patiently, and behind them, the idle rotors and metal-crystalline profile of a transport helicopter bearing the winged shoes insignia of the Royal Courier Service. To say that the vehicle was at odds with the region’s rustic style would have been an understatement, if the gawking townsfolk still about at such a late hour were any indication.

“Time is of the essence! We shall ride in the style and speed of the modern era!” Luna proclaimed.