Author's Note

For those coming back to this story after previously reading it, know that this addition to the chapter was just the second part of the mission being compiled into the first part, and I deleted the second part chapter. How it'll work is for missions where I split them into parts, as those parts are written and published they will eventually be compiled into one chapter, such as now. There will likely be another part for this mission later on, and you'll see it be added as a segment until later on when I add it to the rest of this chapter.

For those who are reading this for the fist time, I hope you enjoy!

Their Abilities Discovered

To gaze upon a tombstone,
Only warriors are visible,
But their mission can be unearthed,
Their abilities discovered

Study on human society-Second observation
I have not been watching these soldiers for very long. I have yet to learn more about them, much more. They are a true enigma to me. Over the course of the second observation, however, I can tell they do in fact have purpose, and that they are not just random marauders. Dunn, their leader, having lost his right leg during the collapse of a very large building, was most likely unconscious in the back of a strange motorized carriage when he had stated something about 'intel' on an 'Admiral Chang' and 'Russians'. These are apparently other empires, and the other soldiers that Tombstone has been in conflict with are from one of them. I am assuming this means war is about to break out among Earth, and Tombstone is involved. I do not know why yet, but I can tell it is for a reason very important to the empire they serve. To support this theory, Dunn later sacrificed his own life to allow the rest of Tombstone to escape, with said 'intel'.

__________

_ONE DAY LATER_

Princess Luna walked along the tall and narrow corridors to the dining hall for breakfast, lost completely in thought. Only muscle memory prevented the princess from walking straight by turns or bumping into walls. The only thing that she could do was think of Dunn, and how he had willingly handed down his own life for the sake of his squad and the 'intel'. Rounding a corner a solar guard saw her and straightened out. Luna payed no heed and walked right by him to the large doors. She was about to open them and join Celestia and Twilight and the others when she stopped, her hoof on the door. Should she say anything? Why would she? Celestia told her to destroy the device and she disobeyed. What about Twilight? No... She couldn't do that to Celestia.

Setting her mind straight, she opened the door and walked in, a gentle smile on her face as she was greeted.
"Good morning, Luna." Celestia said from the head of the table.
"Good morning, Princess!" Chirped Twilight from the same side of the table.
Luna only nodded calmly in response. It felt like doing anything would set off the thoughts of Tombstone right now, and she didn't want to take any chances. She sat down opposite from Twilight and glanced around.
"Only the three of us?" She asked?
"Apparently. The other five are busy." Replied Twilight.
"I'm not sure where everyone else is." Celestia added, using her magic to use a fork and take a waffle from the middle plate.
The middle plate had plenty of breakfast foods, including waffles, pancakes, and sugared french toast. Twilight took a large pancake and some powdered sugar and took a big bite, making her cheeks bulge a little. Celestia chuckled and Twilight blushed as she started chewing.

Celestia watched with a grin and a slightly raised eyebrow as the lavender alicorn struggled to swallow the food, before smiling at Luna, who still wore a blank expression.
"Are you alright, sister? Did you sleep okay?" Asked Celestia with her head cocked slightly to the side.
She didn't even tighten a muscle, her eyes didn't move or blink. She just sat staring forward into emptiness.
"Luna...?" The sun goddess said slowly, a visible look of concern on her face. "What's wrong?"
Still no response. Now both Celestia and Twilight were worried.
"Take my gun, it's yours now. For the wolf to survive it's gotta chew off it's own leg..."
"Luna!" Twilight said just under a shout as she leaned forward.
This got the night goddess out of her trans as she jumped in her seat, letting out a quick gasp as her eyes widened in shock. She glanced at the two worried alicorns before drawing in a shaky breath.
"I-I must leave..." She said with a voice just over a whisper as she stood up and made for the door.
"Luna!" Celestia yelled, making her freeze by the door. "You need to tell us what's wrong!"

She slowly turned, her face fearful and her body shaking ever so lightly.
"It's..." She stopped and sighed deeply. "The human soldiers."
"What? Luna I told you directly-" Celestia started.
"No listen!" Luna snapped, making Celestia recoil. "There's something about these soldiers that makes them more than just killers! I've yet to find out, but they are doing what they did for a reason! I am trying to unlock it!"
Celestia stood still, a look of utter shock plastered on her face as Twilight stood next to her with the same look. Luna could tell both were at a loss for words. She was about to turn and quickly leave when an idea came to her head.
"Let me show you."

__________

Celestia walked into Luna's room behind her and shut the door, locking it. Luna could tell Celestia was still having a bit of trouble coping with this situation, but the only thing on her mind right now was seeing what Tombstone was up too. She was setting up the device with intent focus when Celestia called her, breaking her concentration.
"Have you been taking notes on these humans?" She asked, slightly, and understandably baffled.
Luna looked up from the console and nodded.
"Yes, and I'm sorry again for going against you." She replied.
"It's okay. I understand now how much this means to you, so I won't stop you until I truly feel it is necessary." Celestia said gently. "Is it ready?"
Luna scrunched up her face as she turned a final nob and flicked the switch upwards.
"I think so."

The screen then started up and the white static started to slowly form into a scene, which neither of them recognized. There were bright flashing lights of various colors and people were yelling at each other in what must have been some other language. The human being pointed a finger towards a large box like carriage with blue flashing lights and green and yellow checker paint while glancing at another human in black armor like equipment, shouting,
"Se mettre en position! Se mettre en position, maintenant!"
The human than looked down a wide street and raised a... Celestia gasped in shock as the human raised a small weapon.
"This isn't the right one..." Luna said somewhat to herself as she started fiddling with the nobs again.
The screen returned back to static before clearing up again. Hoping it was the right one this time, she held her breath and sat back and turned to Celestia, who was reading her notes.
"I have no idea what's going to happen. If it's anything you can't handle, feel free to exit." Luna said quietly.
"Luna... These notes..." She said slowly before glancing at her sister. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Here, I think this is it."

__________

A short gasp escaped the mouth of Sergeant Wrecker as he almost hit his head on the bunk above him. After a few milliseconds of observation he remembered he was back aboard the U.S.S. Valkyrie. He stretched his clothed arms in front of himself and gazed at his gloved hands for a moment, rotating them slowly before something reached his ears.
"Yo." Something whispered, just barley distinguishable as a noise. "Yo." It whispered again, sounding more like a 'oh', but still barely. "Yo. Wrecker!" A male voice called from his right.
He probably would've still had to think about what the 'oh' noise was until the man said his name. He looked over and saw a man resting on his side in a bunk parallel with his own, looking at him. He wore a dark blue body suit, so Wrecker assumed he was one of the Valkyrie's original sailors and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Damn, dude, you were thrashing about." He said calmly. "Bad dream?"
Wrecker simply rolled halfway back onto his back and looked at the bunk about him with a sigh before moving to climb out. As he was about to push himself down he stopped as the sailor spoke again.
"Sleep rotations in ten."
Wrecker looked up at him, still in his position.
"Two hours about up anyway." He continued. "I'm amazed you were able to sleep at all after what happened."
Wrecker only shifted uncomfortably, the horrific memory still glued to the front of his mind.

"It's fucking roasting in here." He said as he rolled onto his back and placed his hands on his chest. "It's like there's no air anywhere on this ship."
Wrecker started scooting himself backwards to get off the bunk.
"By the way, Irish swam by. Didn't dare wake you." He said as Wrecker sat facing the soldier. "I'm telling you, man. You gotta steal sleep while you can." He said as Wrecker hopped down and turned left. "Peace, Wrecker." The sailor said, holding up two fingers as he walked out of the small room.
He proceeded down the hallway towards a intersection where two sailors were working on something in the ceiling.
"This one's okay." Said the one doing the work.
"Hang on a second... Navigation, satellite uplink, radar, sonar, internal cooling, lights mid deck quarters. Alright." Replied the other, checking things off on a list as Wrecker walked by them, taking a left towards a door.
"What were you saying?"
"Please tell me all that navigation, sonar, cooling shit's not on us to fix?"
"This is a big list. at least we have propulsion. God bless diesel." They chatted as Wrecker opened up the loud door lock and opened it.
He was forced to look away for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the strong mid-day light before stepping outside onto the catwalk, where a bunch of other Marines and sailors were talking among one another.

The sight was really one to admire; the bright day sunlight reflecting off the clear ocean water as seagulls flew about, squawking at each other while the other Naval vessels cruised beside the large aircraft carrier. A Marine looking through a pair of binoculars at the other ships sighed.
"Clear weather and binoculars. A hundred years ago we would kick ass. Now, we're blind as bats. Fucking Chinese." He groaned as Wrecker walked past him and down a flight of stairs, stifling a chuckle while the Marine behind the other stepped up.
"We don't know it was the Chinese."
"You wanna bet? A hundred bucks it was them. When we rendezvous with the titan we'll know for--"
The Marine was cut off as the intercom buzzed to life and the PA's voice came through. Wrecker walked through the doorway and down a short hall.
"All hands who speak or understand Mandarin, please report to your CO."

__________

Even though Wrecker hadn't gone far, a hundred answer-less questions were rampaging through Luna's mind. The same appeared to be happening to Celestia, as her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes were wide.
"They... They have a titan...?" She said, slowly turning her head to look at Luna. "They said they were going to join with a titan, Luna. Do you know how powerful these beings could be to call upon a god?
Luna looked down at the floor, a frown on her face.
"Perhaps these humans are... far more powerful than I anticipated..." She muttered to herself.
"A-and those two humans working on the hall back there!" Celestia continued loudly. "They were mentioning all this equipment that gods only know what can do..."
"And the water." Said Luna. "The water was moving below them when he was outside, but that..." She stopped, realization finally knocking on her head as her jaw dropped. "They're on a boat. A very large boat."
Celestia nodded slowly, her face possessing the same baffled look that Luna did as she turned back to the device.
"I can only wonder just what kind of tech these soldiers possess..."

__________

"~We Gotta look at the main feeds here and make sure the sewage clears. Alright?" Wrecker heard the voice of the captain fade away as he walked down the next hallway. It may have just been his very bad sleep deprivation, but he couldn't help but feel there was the presence of another entity wherever he went. Almost as if there was something else watching his very mind. He shook the irrelevant thought from his head as he turned a corner, where a Marine completely decked in his hear leaned tiredly against a wall, M16A4 in hand.
"All hands. Prepare for rendezvous with the U.S.S. Titan in twenty-five mikes. I say again. Prepare for rendezvous with the U.S.S. Titan in twenty-five mikes." The PA called over the intercom as Wrecker walked into the mess hall. He had taken a few steps in when a fellow Marine walked in front of him and stopped, giving him a disgusted look.
"Hey, Wrecker! Go and put a leash on Irish. You clowns brought the whole damn city on board." He scolded as Wrecker started walking past him towards the door. "Turned us into a shelter for people we ought to leave the fuck alone." He continued as Wrecker rounded the corner. "They're the enemy!" He called out.

Wrecker simply shook his head bitterly as he walked down a corridor. The door on the far side flew open and a person rushed out.
"Med bay's just down there." A familiar voice followed.
Pac stepped though the door and caught Wreckers eye as Wrecker walked up to him. He glanced down the hall again before giving Wrecker an unsure look.
"Her husband was talking a few minutes ago." He said quietly. "But the dude's head trauma might be more severe than we thought."
Closing the door, he walked down the hall to the med bay, followed by Wrecker.
"Whoa, you can't go in there, ma'am." A guard said.
"Are you insane? My husband's in there!" The soldier Wrecker recognized as Hannah angrily replied.
"I'm sorry."
"Let me in. He needs to see me. I must see my husband?" She pleaded before throwing her arms down in defeat. "Who's in charge here?"
"Would you please step back, ma'am?" The Marine said sternly as he took a step forward and put a hand forward.
"She's on our side. Let her through, squids!" Pac said as more of an order than anything.

The two guards glanced at one another before stepping aside, Hannah marching quickly through the door to the nearest treatment room. A black haired woman stood by the open curtain and watched briefly as Hannah quickly surveyed her husband, Jin Jie.
"We need to do a CT scan. He may have intracranial bleeding." She said, turning her attention to the worker.
"We've got no means." The woman said sadly. "Most of out equipment went down in the EMP blast." She said, making Hannah sigh angrily and look down. "Look. Our Plan is to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Titan and then we can use their facilities." She continued, putting her hand up. "Ma'am, I'm going to keep close tabs on your husband."
"I will stay with him; I have medical training." Hannah replied firmly before walking into the small room and standing over the unconscious Jin Jie.
"Fine. I'll take all the help I can get..." The nurse said with a sigh before shutting the curtains.

__________

If curiosity and sheer concentration could be measured in apples, then the entire mountain Canterlot is poised on would be one large red spike. The two sisters watched without a word as Wrecker proceeded through a few more corridors after leaving the female human with her husband, which had done nothing to reduce Luna's (and now partially Celestia's) will to uncover the purpose of the humans. New ideas had qualified as possibilities in her mind, but she had decided to save them for later. When Wrecker and Pac walked down a ramp to another floor on the massive boat, there were multiple of the strange box-like carriages with flat surfaces on the back and more humans by them. One of them, sitting on a nearby carriage was the male Luna remembered as Irish.
"Hey! Irish!" Pac called.
"Pac!" The man replied as he hopped down, afterwards kneeling before something that Celestia and Luna gasped quietly at.
A small human child looked up at Irish from her sitting position.
"Hey what's up, kid?" He said softly, taking what looked like an orange and tossing it to the child. "Here you go."
The child looked down briefly at the fruit in her hands before she ran back to the adults and Irish turned to the two soldiers.

"I... I see what you mean now." Celestia said quietly as she looked at Luna. "About these soldiers having a purpose other than to kill."
Luna nodded in agreement. "They're caring for children. Killers don't care for children..." She said before looking down. "There's... Just something we're missing to knowing why they're doing this, and I just think we can find it by following in Tombstone's mission..."
"I understand Luna," Celestia said, finally showing a weak smile. "But I do not wish to see these soldiers and their killing ability. Not yet." she said. "Not until I think about them. And I want you to be careful too, Luna. I don't want any scars in my little sister's mind."
Luna chuckled but nodded in understanding. "Okay." She said.
Celestia was just about to turn and leave the room when a loud alarm like sound blared through the room, making both of them jump from the volume and turn their attention right back to the device. The screen was flashing red and Tombstone was running down a hallway as the intercom screamed.
"General quarters, General quarters! All hands man your battle stations! This is not a drill!"
"Let's get topside!" Irish called as they ran up a flight of stairs.
"I say again, this is not a drill!"

Celestia quickly stepped back to Luna's side. "What's happening?"
"I don't know!" Luna said frantically, her heart racing.
Both princesses held their breath as Wrecker came to the deck shortly after the two, but they knew something bad was happening as Pac and Irish stood frozen in shock on the side.
"Mother of god. Look." Pac said slowly.
The tension seemed to make the window rattle as Luna and Celestia leaned forward to see what was happening. First there was an endless pillar of black smoke, but it wasn't what the soldiers were looking at...
"Oh my gods..." Both princesses said in unison as a colossal flaming mass was presented in front of them.
To say this thing was big was an understatement. This... thing took up nearly half of the visible horizon as it drifted slowly past them.
"Wait a second..." Luna narrowed her eyes at a thin wake of water around the monster as if it was moving, and then widened them as she realized something.
Celestia may have not known at first but Luna was sure of it as her ears splayed back and a look of almost horror crossed her face.

That was another boat.

__________

Even from the distance Wrecker was looking at the vessel from, Luna could tell this was no ordinary ship. The whole top was flat with the exception of the large spire that jutted out towards the back. The entire hull below that was angled inward towards as a wedge in the front and in the middle. There were also several large platforms that were lower than the deck on top with very large gateways leading to them. It was halfway closed though, so Luna couldn't see what was on the other side from the angle. Celestia had sadly left a few moments prior to handle necessary royal duties, so she didn't get to really see it.

She was so marveled at the sight before her, she didn't hear any mumbles or anything said by the others she was spectating until the loud screech of one of the ship's doors opening got her attention, and Wrecker's.
"Tombstone!" An unfamiliar man called as he stood by the door by a small catwalk, overlooking the small crowd on the deck. "Where the fuck is Tombstone?"
Before he said anything else Luna took notice that this man, like some others (other than the men of Tombstone itself) there was not wearing the same thing as Wrecker, Irish, and Pac's armor and rig, but rather what looked like the uniform the sailor in the bunk was wearing in a different color.
"Sergeant Wrecker, bring your men. With me." He continued before walking back through the door.
"On your six, sir." Irish replied.
"Come on, Wrecker." Pac said as he and Irish walked towards the small staircase, Wrecker behind them.

Once the three got inside the room and formed around the man, he started speaking to them in a firm voice.
"The clock is ticking on the Titan." He said, putting his hands on his hips. "I need eyes on board before she's lost forever into the deep blue. There's a number of variables at play, we don't know who attacked them or if they'll be back. We can't afford any surprises."
As he said this something clicked in Luna's head. The man had said that the Titan will be lost forever into the deep blue, which Luna knew was the ocean. The "clock was ticking". It was attacked. This looked a lot like the fiery monster she'd seen out next to their ship.
"These humans don't have an actual titan, that ship is the titan... Obviously something big must've hit it to cause so much damage."

__________

After Garrison's little flash-briefing, he turned to Wrecker with a stern look on his face.
"Sergeant Wrecker. Agent Kovic's taking the reins. You will obey his orders as if they're my own." As he said this the door to Wrecker's right swung open and Kovic walked out, decked out in full combat gear with two duffel bags in his hands.
"Permission to speak sir--" Irish started.
"Dismissed." Garrison cut him off flatly.
"But, Caption. Sergeant Wrecker's--"
"We're not having this discussion, Irish." Garrison pointed at the Marine with the papers in his hand. "You will obey your squad leader. I'll make room for any survivors." And with that he started for the door, leaving the four Marines that included one annoyed Irish and a slightly betrayed Wrecker to face Kovic in silence. "Setting the Valkyrie in a defensive posture one click east of the Titan. Agent Kovic..." He said suddenly, turning to him as he stood at the door. "...muster your squad."

Without another word he shut the door and Kovic looked over the three before him briefly.
"We search the Titan for intel and survivors. Gear up. Weapons and re-breathers." He said flatly.
Wrecker walked up to the nearby weapon crate and opened up the top container to reveal a MK-17 SCAR-H. His SCAR-H, complete with holographic gunsight, PEQ-15 laser, and angled fore-grip under the barrel. Picking it up he slapped in a fresh mag and charged the powerful rifle with a loud, snapping cling from the bolt release.

__________

It didn't take a genius to realize this Kovic was not appreciated very much as the new leader of the Tombstone Squad, but what really and still caught Luna'a attention was the strange weapons these humans carried. She couldn't even compare them in appearance to anything in the Royal Guards arsenal of spears, crossbows, javelins, catapults... And they didn't even seem to launch any sort of projectile! They just make their noise with sometimes a little flash of fire and their opponents fall dead almost instantly.

And it was absolutely horrifying, not to mention how different some of the weapons looked from each other.

After Wrecker took his weapon he grabbed a very foreign object from the crate. It resembled sunglasses only the lens were clear and the bottom bulged out sideways and a little cup like slot sat between the bulges. Luna's head tilted slightly at the sight before Wrecker put it away.
"I've readied a RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) for launch. Move." Kovic announced. at he opened the large door next to him.
"Errand Squad Oscar Mike." Irish growled as he followed Kovic out, followed by Pac and Wrecker.
Moving out into the open area, Luna was once again baffled at the sight; the endless ocean, and now a strange little, flat pontoon platform with a small box sticking out of the top towards the back. On it was a single wheel.
"Hurry up, Marines. Time is not our friend. Sergeant Wrecker, take the wheel." Kovic said sternly as they climbed into the pod.

"What in the gods name is that? What is a rib? What are they planning on doing?!" The questions started their onslaught as Luna watched, now much more curious than bewildered. Right as the focused again on the screen, she heard a faint knock on the door.
"Princess Luna...?" Twilight Sparkle's soft voice rang through Luna's quarters and she instantly leaped up and nearly slammed the off switch on the device. "Luna, a-are you okay?"
As Luna opened the door she nearly smiled as she saw Twilight had been pressing her ear up to the door. Twilight almost stumbled and backed up a step with a dumb smile on her face.
"Oh, h-hi, Princess! Sorry, you kinda caught me off guard." The alicorn squawked nervously.
"Hello, Twilight. Is everything okay?" Luna replied quietly.
"Uh, yeah. May I come in?" Twilight asked, back to her usual state.
Luna hesitated, if only for a split second, before nodding.
"Sure."

Luna closed the door behind Twilight and walked over to a small sofa near a window.
"Please, take a seat." Luna said, beckoning Twilight over next to her.
She did just that and sat in the soft furniture, glancing at Luna.
"So..." Twilight said, looking down at the carpeted floor. "Are you doing okay...? I understand you're still doing the studies on humans and their warfare--" Twilight said, giving Luna a genuine look of concern, before Luna waved her off.
"I am okay, thank you for your consideration. Yes, the humans warfare is... traumatizing to say the least, but I'm not sure what I'm going through is something you'd quite understand, Twilight." Luna said, closing her eyes lightly. "These soldiers... they have, some purpose for their being; their mission, their bravery... I mean, when the Changelings attacked during the wedding, they showed no fear, and some relentlessness will to cause harm. Our Royal Guard, they showed bravery, and the will to keep themselves and our citizens safe... There's a difference between an attacker and a defender, but these kinds of soldiers show both... They show no fear, and will kill like it's nothing, but I see some desire to keep those around them safe as well..." Luna was resting her head in her hooves, her vision blurring with tears. "I see some abstract form of goodness in these four, now three, men of Tombstone. I need to know if these soldiers are the protectors... or the attackers..." Luna looked up to Twilight, who was staring in saddened shock at Luna. "I need to know the purpose of these beings."

Twilight was in awe at what Luna had just told her.
"I... I think I should go." She quietly said after almost a minute of silence as she got up and walked solemnly to the doorway.
She stopped at the door and looked back to see Luna looking back. Neither said a word and after a moment, Twilight opened the door and walked out, leaving Luna on the verge of tears. After a moment, Luna stood up and turned the device back on and sat down, ready to only an extent for what she might be faced with.

__________

"Go around. Circle her!" Shouted Kovic.
The small RHIB craft floated calmly near the back of the massive aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Titan. There was no sign of the crew or a way of entry yet.
"Yeah, look for a hull breach or something." Irish added.
With that Wrecker turned the wheel and moved the boat around the right side of the ship slowly, taking in the many different features and looking for anything that would gain them entry, until a large smoking gap came into view. What was that part of the ship called again?
"There!" Irish called, pointing to the hole. "Hole in the B.G.B."
"I've seen that damage before. Chinese anti-ship missile." Kovic said as Wrecker pulled the boat away to angle himself to drive into the breach. "Drive through, Wrecker!"

Wrecker slowly approached the hole as Irish and Pac knelt on the front of the boat, ready to hop off and pull it in, before giving it a burst of throttle and driving the craft through the hole.
"Listen up." Kovic said after the four of them had gotten out of the boat and Wrecker killed the engine. "The Titan was not in range of the Shanghai EMP blast. She has several hours of report data gathered--stuff we never saw. That's why we're here." By the time he finished his briefing they were already climbing through a small vent shaft near the back of the room.
"We'd better move fast." Pac added as Wrecker hoisted himself into the vent.
He ended up having to hold his breath a little bit as the shaft started fogging up with smoke as he got further into it before pulling himself right and positioning himself to climb out of it. As his feet hit the floor the whole ship groaned and shook violently, making the four of them stagger as they walked with their weapons ready.
"Oh shit. Kovic, you got an exit strategy if this thing rolls over?" Irish demanded in a worried tone.
"She will slide off the reef at some point. When that happens we'd better be out of here--with the voyage recorder." Kovic responded in a somewhat monotone attitude as they rounded a corner.
"Not exactly an exit strategy, is it?" Irish grumbled to himself, loud enough that Wrecker still easily heard it.

__________

Luna was doing nothing short of gluing her attention to the events going on in front of her, as well as brainstorming what to add to her research notes. However, something else bit at the back of her mind. It was about Twilight and...
"My gods, I can't believe I almost broke down like that in front of her." She deadpanned to herself.
Standing up she turned off the device, set her notepad on a desk, and made for the door where she opened it softly and stepped into the long hallway. Unless Twilight was for whatever reason running Luna could catch up to her quickly.
"I'd best go straighten things out..." She thought out loud as she neared the end of the hallway.
After about a minute of walking she finally came to a set of doors but was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Twilight told me about your little scene." Celestia said from Luna's right. "Luna, this needs to stop."
Luna cringed and turned to face her sister with a sunken expression.
"But sister, you have to und--"
"Luna!" Celestia suddenly snapped, making Luna jump slightly. "I can't and won't sit by as you tear your mind apart over these alien soldiers! Your little 'study' has been doing a number on you and I can see it in your eyes!" Celestia then approached Luna comfortingly and nuzzled her, which Luna returned. "I'm worried for your well being, Luna, and so is Twilight. I don't want to see you anymore like you are now..."

Before she even realized it, Luna had tears dripping down her cheeks.
"I... I'm sorry, Celestia... I had no idea I was affecting you so heavily..." She cried into Celestia's chest, who wrapped a leg around her. "Just, please let me continue this observation, I promise I'll be careful."
Celestia released her and looked down at her with an expression between worry and heavy thought. After a moment she sighed.
"Okay, Luna... I'll let you continue but if I hear of another breakdown I'll dispose of the device myself."

Twilight had overheard most of the conversation from the doorway and was also in deep thought. This was taking it's toll on Luna but, for what? This is actually fantastic! A distant planet, full of alien life, and we catch them at a civil war with their own species! It may not help with learning any of their culture or lifestyle, assuming it isn't actually war... But it could actually help with us! We could learn from this as well! But just how exactly...?

__________

Painfully crestfallen, Luna slowly made her way through the various corridors of the castle until she was met by the standing doors of her own room. She looked down at the ground and stared at it for what felt like a while before letting out a long sigh and stepping into her room. She shut the large doors behind her, maybe with a bit more force than she intended, but she payed no heed and sprawled herself out on her bed. Then she did something she mostly expected herself to do, and cried. She buried her face into her plush pillows and just cried. She felt awful about everything that had happened ever since she was started her devastating observation of these human soldiers, and not because of the toll it was taking on her, but everyone else around her. It was almost like others were more hurt from the experience than Luna herself, despite her being the one who did the most of the study.

After numerous minutes she glumly sat up on her bed and turned to face the device. That dreaded, powerful device she so desired to dive back into. The black screen reflected her image, and Luna saw through the blur of her eyes that she did not look very... good, to put it lightly. She let out a quick huff and walked into her bathroom, stepping in front of her mirror and almost recoiling at the pony that looked back at her. Her mane was horribly messy, her coat, normally smooth and soft, looked almost brittle and dulled in some spots, her eyes were bloodshot, she was an absolute mess. Without a word she prepared a hot shower. Within a few minutes a thin steam filled the bright room, Luna waited until she was satisfied with the temperature of the water and stepped in. She closed her eyes and let the hot water caress her, washing away the stress and filth she had accumulated. A good ten minutes passed of the relaxing shower before the pony stepped out and dried herself with her magic on a towel. She felt much better after that, and much cleaner, like a princess should feel. Still a bit damp she waked back into the main room and stopped, looking hard at her desk which held her notes.
"If I can't continue for right now, maybe... No. The observation must come before such." The small mental brawl lasted only a short time and Luna cautiously approached the device, as if afraid it would lash out at her.
Her left hoof reached forward towards the power nob and she hesitated, if only briefly, before clicking it on.

Through all that Luna had witnessed these soldiers go through, she could never have prepared for what lay not far ahead.