[Story/Chapter Tester]

Chapters

5A - [1] They Say a Picture Says a Thousand Words
[5A] Notes
The New Lunar (Constitutional) Republic
AToR - Description v2
NTE [C1]
NTE [C2]
TV [OS]
1,000 Years, 7,000 Meters Per Second [OS]
No Rest [1]
No Rest [2]
No Rest [3]
1kY7kMpS - New Horizons
1kY7kMpS - Halfway to Anywhere
1kY7kMpS - 600,000 Meters
DST [OS]
AToR - Description v1

5A - [1] They Say a Picture Says a Thousand Words

Astral Audacious; An Alicorn's Account

By: The Grey Pegasus

< 1 >

They Say a Picture Says a Thousand Words

On a hill outside of and overlooking Trottingham is a house. Outside of this house, one would find organic architecture dominating its lines. Wooden walls, some stone brick walls, a full-wall glass window spanning a second floor hallway, all-around clean lines, and modest shrubbery.

And outside this house on this particular day was an intriguing figure. Said intriguing figure was wearing an inconspicuous coat over his back with a blue bow tie. His black coat was groomed, as was his gray and red mane. His appearance was not formal, by any means, however; quite casual-looking, in fact. He was a bit taller than the average pony, around the size of larger stallions. His horn, also a bit on the 'more than average' size also added to the image of his height.

Said figure pressed the doorbell with his magic.

"Yes, yes, coming!" a female voice echoed from indoors.

He patiently waited until hoofsteps could be heard approaching the door. A lock was unlatched, and from behind the glass storm door was a white pegasus. With his magic, he held up a piece of paper. "I'm here on business?" he inquired. "Uh, residence of Crystal Chroma? I'm Astral Audacious, and I was told to come here, by, uh, ponies in town."

Crystal gave the stallion a questioning look. "What kind of business that they sent you here?" She mumbled, "I can only think of one."

"They said you were the best chance of getting a portrait done on a weekend," Astral replied.

"Of course," the mare sighed. "This isn't exactly the greatest time to come by, so you're going to have to do some very persuasive convincing for me to take you up on your... business offer."

Astral looked around, contemplating. He then proceeded to unbutton his coat and take it off. As he slid the coat off with his magic, he stretched out the wings hidden beneath them. Notably, his otherwise black wings had black feathers tipped with red.

Immediately, Crystal gasped and unlocked the second door and held it open for the stallion. As Astral walked in, she receded and bowed. "I-I-... My apologies."

Astral held up a hoof. "No, no, it's fine- you don't even have to bow- I'm not royalty."

Surprised with what she heard, Crystal got up slowly and confused. "But- you're- an alicorn!"

"I... am not exactly an alicorn. The closest I got to being royalty was serving in the Royal Guard." He shrugged.

"Oh." She scratched her pink-and-aqua mane. "Well, nonetheless, it isn't everyday I get someone like you at my door," Crystal said, with barely noticeable hints of excitement hidden under her flat expression. "Coat rack on the right. Would you like to get started immediately?"

"Oh, oh sure." After hanging his coat up, he followed the mare down through a hallway, then through a door leading downstairs. "How long will this take?"

"A couple of hours." Crystal was still curious. "So... is your body... from a magical doing? Born with it? Or—"

"Both, actually," Astral replied as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Huh." Crystal quickly set up her studio, motioning for the alicorn to stand in a certain spot while she set up her canvas. "Do you have any specific requests for this? Any poses? Preferences?"

"Just a... simple portrait. Standing. I can stand." Astral looked down at his hooves and around the studio where he was going to stand for the next few hours.

The pegasus slipped on some sort of metal claw on her hoof, with which she started picking up various tools. From Astral's position, he could see her already working on the canvas. "Well then. They say a picture says a thousand words. Tells a story. So what's yours? Surely a pony like you has a story."

"My story?" Astral asked, not budging from his upright position. "Where do you want me to start?"

"We're going to be here for a while," Crystal said as she finished sketching his figure. She showed her face around the easel once more to study him with her icy blue eyes. "Start from the beginning, then. Horn and wings and just you in general- what's the story behind those?"

"Well, okay. Like I said, I was born with them, but I'd just be a normal unicorn without magic coming into the picture..."

<<+>>

I was born twenty-seven years ago. But the wings? They came before that. My mother worked in Canterlot, over in medical magic research. She told me that at the time, four months into her pregnancy, they were looking into pegasus wings, specifically for those in military service. They were looking into wounded pegasi who had lost their wings. As a pegasus yourself, you know how important wings are to a pegasus and their life.

Even after hundreds of years of research, they still haven't found a good way to solve this issue. Unicorn magic is different from pegasus magic, which makes even healing broken wings an issue- it's why they say it's better for wings to heal naturally instead of quickly using a spell; less likelihood of a problem developing. And here, my mother and her colleagues were trying to figure out wings that were gone altogether.

To make the story short, she said had made a mistake and walked in on a spell test at the wrong moment. My mother was hit with the spell, but even after extensive studying, they found no harmful side effects to her or me. And so life went on, until I was actually born.

When I was actually born, mom said that surprise would be an understatement. Worry, too. Again, I was put under intensive study. What they found was that I was really just still a unicorn. With wings. But those wings were only there physically- I had the skeletal system, nervous system, muscles- everything to make them function normally as a bodily function, but I wouldn't be able to fly.

Remember what I said about the differences in magic? Still applied. Regular ponies can only be of one type- they can't be born with two types of magic. A pony's magical make-up is set on conception. No changing it.

My parents agreed on the name 'Astral Audacious'. Black coat, black wings, dark gray mane, blue eyes. My father was an astronomer- night and sky related things come to him quickly. My mother thought that, even if I couldn't fly, it was a sign of great destiny. A sign of a future of importance.

<<+>>

"... And so, that's the story of my birth. Story of my horn and wings."

Crystal's hoof moved with every brushstroke as she painted the background with brown paints. "Well then. You can't fly?"

"Actually, I... can, now. It... happens later."

"Like I said, we've got time. So... how about you keep going? What's your history? Where do you come from? What made you? What's your background?"

Astral shrugged. "Well, alright. I guess I could talk about when I was just a colt..."

<<+>>

My mother warned me that I might get teased about not being able to fly. She told me to ignore ponies that said that- that my horn still worked and that's what was important. She said that, while it would be great if both worked, it was better for my horn to work and not my wings, rather than the other way around. I still agree with her. I was a winged unicorn by magical composition, not a horned pegasus. And being a horned pegasus might bring more insults. At least, that's what I feel.

My father taught me when I was young that it didn't matter if I could fly or not. They were just something extra. As long as I could use my unicorn magic like everyone else, I would be fine. Pay attention to my studies. Be a good colt. Everything would be alright. If other ponies were curious about my wings, tell them the story, and if they were genuinely interested, then all the better. Basically, he told me to choose my friends carefully.

Since we were a unicorn family living in Canterlot, naturally they applied for an entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. After all, I was their special little winged unicorn colt, born to a respectable unicorn family. It was just a custom amongst unicorn families to do so.

And believe it or not, I was actually accepted in. The winged unicorn part was probably a big part of it. Not that I'm complaining.

As I grew up and went through school, I had to constantly keep in mind what my parents taught me. Mostly everyone was either on one side or the other- they either teased me for being flightless or they complemented my wings and saw a bright future. I'm willing to be even the teachers were split like that.

But I got through it. Grew in my magical practices. Started becoming a pony with a future in the academic society, just like the rest of my class. Got my cutie mark eventually. These five comets forming a star. It means I'm an inspiration to others.

<<+>>

"... Really, it's my foalhood years. I don't remember much that stuck out from that time that really mattered in retrospect," Astral said as he paced around, holding a drink with his magic. Crystal had offered to take a break in her kitchen after some time. "Other than that I couldn't fly and that whether or not I became friends with ponies was very likely dependent on their opinion of 'that one winged unicorn'."

"I'm sort of surprised you weren't just mercilessly teased," Crystal said as she sat at a table eating a biscuit. "You know, being young and all. When life boiled down to a simple competition of 'who was the best'. And their potential competition was flightless."

"Heh," Astral chuckled. "Nah, the worst was obviously yet to come. Starting when we were really growing up. When our minds started really developing."

"Oh yes, that stage."

"Yes, that point in life, when you think everything important is happening." Astral paced around idly, his thoughts drifting to what this own mare's life was like. He had been giving his life story all that time. But what about Crystal? He resorted to exploring the walls of the artist's home, to see if there was any insight to be found in the various paintings.

He came across a set of two doors. "What's in here?"

"Personal gallery," Crystal answered. "We can visit it later. Right now, we should get back to work." She got up and walked towards Astral.

Astral continued walking along the wall. Walking past the two doors, he came to a portrait that caught his eye. "Huh. There's a grin I've hardly seen on a military portrait before," Astral commented, looking at a painting of a grey pegasus. Said pegasus wore a beret, a uniform with medals, and a smile that almost broke the regality of the work.

Crystal chuckled in return. "Oh, that's Stardust. He can't help it if he's forced to look at me for the length of time it takes to paint a portrait. I swear he had me do it just so he could see what would happen if he was forced to look at me for that long."

"Hm?"

"He's my coltfriend. Have you ever had a marefriend, Astral?"

"Well... yeah. It was during that time, but it was definitely a relationship, openly romantic or not..."

<<+>>

She was always reading. Indoors, outdoors, under a desk lamp, under a tree. It made it easy to sneak up on her.

"Heeeeey," I grinned. As I came up to her, reading on a park bench, I brushed her along her back all the way up to her head with a wing.

She turned her head to me with a pleased smile. "Astral!"

I sat down next to her on the ground while she sat on her park bench. "How are you doing today, Twilight?" I continued playfully.

"Oh, just reading this book Princess Celestia recommended to me," Twilight replied. She held up the cover. It read—

<<+>>

"Wait, wait," Crystal interrupted, stopping from her work to look at Astral directly. "Slow down. You're saying that when you were teenagers, you were in a relationship with Twilight Sparkle."

"Um, yes?" Astral said matter-of-factly. "Yes, the unicorn-turned-alicorn princess Twilight Sparkle? We went to the same school together. Increases the likelihood of knowing her."

"Right, right, okay, okay," Crystal said, still incredulous. "Carry on."

<<+>>

And even back then, she wasn't much different. Smart, studious, cautious, observant, considerate, curvaceous-

Dear Celestia, just get on with it.

And she legitimately liked me.

"And how was your day?" Twilight asked back.

"Ugh. Star charts. Dad already taught me all of that." I chuckled.

"Well then," she smirked, bringing her head down lower towards me. "Why don't you teach me then?"

I could feel her using her magic to subtly stroke my wing. "Twi, with you around, I wouldn't even need working wings to fly." With her face that close to me, I sneaked in a kiss.

"Ooh! Such audacity," she grinned. "Kissing the Princess's personal student in public."

"But of course," I grinned back. "It's only my name."

Twilight sighed wistfully. "Have you ever thought about a day when you could actually fly with those wings?"

As you can tell, Twilight was one of those that felt for me. That saw my wings as a gift that had not yet given. Sometimes I'd joke with my friends that she liked being with my wings more than the entire me. She was already an incredibly magically talented unicorn by that time and her thoughts were likely to veer towards something academic.

"Of course," I replied. "And then I could take you all the way up and we could watch the stars. Under the watchful eyes of the Mare in the Moon."

"Planning to make her even more jealous?" Twilight smirked. "You do remember how the story went."

"And I am in the school of thought that it wasn't the ponies that were the problem, but a pony."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Equestrian mythology sounds like an entertaining class."

"It is. You'll enjoy it next semester." I stood up. "You wanna go to town and get something to eat? I believe Princess Celestia would recommend spending time with your peers to further your knowledge of Equestrian social life."

"I am not introverted nor anti-social!" Twilight said, playfully punching me in the shoulder. "I am just a good student who believes it is better to be well-informed about her classes first, then take care of her social life. Which is pretty hard when you hog up the time reserved for that second category."

I held my hooves up in defense. "Hey, hey, I discuss magic theory and applied magical physiology and whatnot with you when you want to, crossing over into the former category."

"I just... Your condition just intrigues me so much!" Twilight exclaimed. "And I'm lucky that the object of study comes with a caring, charismatic pony."

<<+>>

"So, again, what was she with you for?" Crystal asked. "Your wings or you?"

"To be honest, it was just the wings at first," Astral admitted. "But, you know, we were still young, and when you spend enough time with someone, you eventually just start talking to each other about things. At that age, not even Twilight Sparkle was completely immune to socializing. So she got to know me because I'd just talk, then she opened up to me, and soon enough I got to know her."

"Ah, so were it not for your non-functioning wings, you'd never be in a relationship with Twilight Sparkle," Crystal smirked.

Astral grinned back. "Like I said, even if they didn't work, they had their perks."

"But what about that horn? You were in a school for gifted unicorns. I'd expect that horn has done quite important things."

"Heh, yeah." Astral chuckled, before growing serious. "Other than the obvious things a young unicorn could do with their horn, there's one that doesn't happen to many others..."

<<+>>

It was just supposed to be another night out.

"So when you graduate, what do you think you're going to do?" Twilight asked me as we walked down a Canterlot street.

I shrugged. "I'm thinking astronomy like my dad. Unicorns are coming up with some great ways to study the sky once they got past the astrology mindset."

"What about your wings?"

"You can dedicate your time to that if you want," I smirked.

"Maybe I just will," she grinned back. "I'm thinking advanced magic studies. Princess Celestia says she sees great things for my future."

<<+>>

........

[5A] Notes

Astral Audacious; An Alicorn's Account

[X]-General Story Notes

Outline:

We shall respond to Obs's challenge. Because fuck him for posting Fortresses too quickly. We shall take the following two prompts: Alicorn OC and 7th Element of Harmony. And with it, we will totally not win, but we'll try anyways because supposedly anything is possible.

okay /rant

Astral Audacious is an alicorn. Physically, at least. He was born as an accidental alicorn. Originally, however, he was going to be a simple unicorn. Then he somehow got wings. Perhaps his mother got struck by a spell or something while he was still in the womb.

The story is inspired by Forrest Gump (irony, I never finished that project).

His story will begin with him walking into Crystal's place to get a portrait painted of him. From there, she will begin asking him about his life as she draws and paints parts of his body.

Stardust will be in the story in a painting. Could possibly segue into Astral's soldier segment.

Anyways, to keep the outline short, the first part will be told in flashback form until it reaches the current point. Then he mentions the seventh Element and how for some reason, it's actually dangerous. And the last part will focus on later events.

Yup. That's how we're going to give the contest a shot.

... Astral Audacity?

Current prompts taken: Alicorn OC (WITH RED AND BLACK), 7th Element, Romancing a main character (sort of?)

Rough word count goal: 10-15k (... that's actually the max allowed)

Current estimated word count total: 3k

Estimated final word count total: 11k (Chapter 1)

Current point: Horn

Plot points:

Walk into shop/home

Converse with Crystal

Introductions

Go downstairs to start painting

Crystal - basic alicorn form

Astral - story about his birth and early life

Crystal - horn

Astral - story about youth to maturity

Tea break

Astral notices Stardust's portrait ("He's smiling.")

Segues into his military story

Crystal - wings

Astral - death of his pegasus friend and why he can fly

Stardust comes in (?)

7th Element

Maybe mentioning trying to become royalty (because everyone suggests it?)

========

List of other characters

========

-Pinnacle Point

-Radiant Ray Redshift

========

Random Plot Points, Chapter 1

========

"Huh. There's a grin I've hardly seen on a military portrait before," Astral commented, looking at a painting of a grey pegasus. Said pegasus wore a beret, a uniform with medals, and a smile that almost broke the regality/formality of the work.

Crystal chuckled in return. "Oh, that's Stardust. He can't help it if he's forced to look at me for the length of time it takes to paint a portrait."

"Hm?"

"He's my coltfriend. Have you ever had a marefriend, Astral?"

"Yeah. Yeah..."

(Segues into life event)

"And those wings. Beautiful wings you have. I've rarely seen wings with a variance of color from coat color. Red streaked feathers. Where have they been? Where have they flown?"

Astral's face grew solemn. "My wings weren't always like this. I already told you that before. But there's a lot to them. I wasn't born with any red; not even in my mane. The red in the feathers and my mane? Those were my best friend's..."

(Segues into life event)

"You know, sometimes I wondered why it didn't also spread into coat color."

Crystal scoffed. "How did you imagine it, red stripes? Maybe if you were part zebra. But if you want my honest opinion? Be glad it didn't. That would be a visual nightmare. An eyesore." She peeked out from behind the easel. "But the red highlighting your mane and feathers? It's nice, a solemn and noble reminder of a friend."

"Don't get me wrong- I admire the red highlights in your mane and feathers- a solemn and noble reminder of a friend- but there does exist such thing as 'an eyesore'. You? You're fine as is. No need for any excessiveness."

Went to Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, met Twilight, and so on? (and Twilight dies of- uh- disease?)

GUUUUUMP

DEFINITELY TAKING THAT PART OF THE PROMPT UP

... SOMEWHAT

Spoiler: Twilight gets pregnant and dies of AIDs later.

Military career- goes to guard around the Northeast Passage. Somehow finds the 7th Element, Justice.

God... that's lame.

I shall see if there's a better alternative. Or ask the Writer's Group.

Quick list of Elements:

Magic/Friendship

Honesty

Loyalty

Generosity

Laughter

Kindness

Other ideas!

Patience

Tolerance

Persistence

Will get teased about Twilight only being around Astral to study him academically.

"Hey, if you like the sky so much, why don't you just fly up there? Oh, right, you can't!"

"Just ignore them, Astral," Twilight grumbled.

"I know, I know."

"She's just playin' you, Audacious! Just watch! She might be able to figure out how fix those wings of yours, but when she gets famous for it, she'll leave you for some better stallion!"

Twilight turned, furious. "I would not!"

"Twilight, sit down, they're not worth your time."

"After all, what else could the Princess's student hope to do to get attention? What're you gonna do? Call in Princess Celestia to stand up for you?"

"Buckin' bookworm!"

(Aftermath, present)

"You... really did. You actually impaled him with your horn."

"I nearly killed him, too. And even then, Twilight and I couldn't just leave someone to die. At least, I couldn't. Not when it was my horn that did the damage."

"If Twilight wasn't the Princess's student, I would've been expelled right there. Maybe even a court trial."

(Aftermath, flashback, Twilight)

"I... I'm sorry, Astral. I don't think we should see each other anymore. It... just causes more problems. And it's a really important time in my life. I... I should focus on my studies more. Focus more on learning the curriculum. There'll be time in the future for theories and experiments. But right now, I should focus on the things that will take me on that path."

(Aftermath, flashback, Celestia)

"Astral Audacious, you are fortunate to be with Twilight Sparkle, my personal student, whom I trust very much. Were it not for her, your sentence may be much heavier. As it is, considering what Twilight has told me, you have done little wrong. Yet it is still a gravely serious subject. I advise you to see Twilight no more after this night.

"I will commend the way you handled yourself, however. I might recommend you to the Royal Guard after you graduate. The Royal Guard needs good ponies, Astral Audacious. Perhaps, as you defended yourself and Twilight, you could be counted on to defend Equestria."

(Northeast, getting attacked)

The griffons came over the border and attacked us.

Really, it's why we were there in the first place. To ward off griffon aggression.

(Getting his wings)

"Quick... take my magic."

"What?!"

"I... I don't think I'm going to be needing it much longer."

"No! No, you'll be fine!"

"It's ge- getting really bad..."

"Bu-besides, how am I even supposed to do it?"

"You're smart, Audie, figure it out... I know you can..."

"Magic cancellation atmosphere! Something might go wrong!"

"I don't have anything to lose. And besides... we're right next to each other, plus it's the transfer of magic, right? You're not creating it. So it's different, right?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Audie... Audie... are the... are the griffons going to take this place?"

I shook my head. "No, they'll never take this... We're still... still in Equestria."

"Then... at least I know I'm still home."

He was audibly giving his final breaths, and I decided it would be best to honor his final request. I conjured up a spell, feeling it through, and to my surprise, it worked.

I felt new life in myself. I felt something new in my wings. Power.

(Short time later)

I looked down the battlefield and saw a cannon prepping to fire. From my spot, it looked like it was pointed right at us. "Move! We got to move!"

I just reacted. All that was going through my head was that we might be right in its line of fire. I dragged them along in my magic and just lunged forward.

Where we were standing was immediately obliterated by an explosion. We were breathing heavily.

"What the... what the hay?!"

I looked around- we were far enough from it that we were all alive. And it only took a split second.

Everyone looked at me.

"Astral... can you fly?"

I hesitated to respond. "I-I-I think I can. Now."

"Wha-... how?!"

'Cloud storage business' - using airships?

Gets into studying astronomy?

(Between Radiant and Astral)

"You know, after I finish my time with the Royal Guard, I'd like to get into the cloud business."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. I've talked to some ponies in Cloudsdale. Cloud delivery. Cloud storage. Good business."

"Huh."

"What about you?"

"I was thinking of going into astronomy, like my dad. You know, just be up high, look up at the stars."

"Is part of it because you can't use your wings?"

"What?"

"Oh, don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. I'm just wondering if you want to be an astronomer so you could be 'in' the sky because you can't fly. I heard that the observatories near Canterlot are so high up on the mountain peak that they're above the cloud layer. Almost like you're flying."

I considered what he said. "Maybe."

"Well, once we get back, you're free to tag along with me when I get into the business. Just floating along on an airship, day or night. Would be handy having a pegasus with you to clear the clouds. Airships have a lot of surface area up top. Set up your stuff there. Lots of stuff you could do on an airship flight."

(Optional segment)

"Your father- astronomer or astrologer?"

"Well he initially studied astrology, but he became an astronomer- he's an open-thinking, scientific kind of guy. Runs in the family."

========

Random Plot Points, Chapter 2

========

(Twilight, on reminder of their relationship)

"We were just... stupid teenagers back then, Astral."

"And you used to tell me how you knew about love because Cadance always took care of you. I knew you, Twilight. You didn't make any mistakes."

"Well, now we can be stupid adults," Astral said with a slight grin. "Chasing an old romance that didn't deserve to die out."

The New Lunar (Constitutional) Republic

The New Lunar (Constitutional) Republic

By: The Grey Pegasus

"So, really, Madam Luna, how was it like for you? Leaving your home? Your sister?"

"I look back at my experience and I still feel exhilarated. Breathtaken, and I feel the air of the era within me..."

:::::

I think of the air of Buckston Harbor. I remember breathing it in and thinking, 'this is the air of freedom!'.

Oh, surely, you did.

But of course. There I stood, right off of a Braytish transport ship. Buckston Harbor, under the control of the Brayts for months by that point, was a relief after weeks on the sea. A journey I had endured by thinking what I had to gain throigh the experience. Such as freedom from you. Well worth the unsteadiness I felt in my legs once on dry land.

"And now... I have absolutely no clue where to go."

Anywhere was better, actually. My wings had been cramped under clothing for the duration of the voyage. It was much easier to hide my wings rather than my horn. And a horn was of much more use than wings, so leaving it in plain sight was an easy decision.

My mane could also use some work. But my mane could wait until I could let it go ethreal again. As it was, I was stuck in a Braytish controlled city. I had managed to escape out of Canterlot, or London, whichever you prefer, and now I was in another.

But the Amareican colonists were making headway, and finding them was simply a matter of getting out of the city.

:::::

"... Simplicity was a rarity that I had to appreciate any time it presented itself," Luna said. "After all, hardly anything was simple during those times."

"Yes, I can only imagine what the reactions were to finding that you, Luna of Braytish royalty, was in their midst," Celestia said.

"Lots of celebrating?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

Luna shrugged. "Bluntly, yes."

:::::

"It's Luna!"

It was early April, 1776. I was attacked with cheers as I stood in the midst of the ponies of the Second Continental Congress in Fillydelphia.

"Surely you have words for us, Madam Luna!"

:::::

Luna paused in her story as she stared Celestia in the eye. "As they asked me for words, I responded in kind. I told them of the atrocities of Parliament, how I believed in their cause, and... spoke lowly of you."

"As I would expect," Celestia said. "I would only expect the same treatment as I gave your name when you left Equland."

"But of course, I held myself to more duties than just a figurehead—"

"And yet you didn't accept the presidency after the war?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I felt that doing so would be against the idea of rejecting the 'diving right of kings' that our Founding Fathers had consigned themselves to later on when we got to discussing government," Luna answered. "Now, as I was saying—"

"How much did your speeches deflame the Queen?"

Luna's face fell flat. "Quite so. I believe I was telling a story?"

"Poor Braytish filly," Applejack shook her head, "Don't know how to just sit down and listen to a good Amareican tale."

Twilight was taken aback. "Apologies, I as a scholoar, am attempting to gather information from a primary source. I believe I'm entitled to asking questions when I feel it is necessary?"

"You produce students as obnoxious as yourself, Celestia," Luna said.

"So what did your speeches hold?"

"Oh, just great rousing speeches about now, that becuase I was present, the great nation of Amareica was to become a great new lunar republic!" Luna said, rolling her eyes. "How we were eventually going to gain our freedom, and soon afterwards, rise up against the tyranny of the Equlish, of Celestia and her solar empire!"

Celestia just met the words with a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" Twikight asked, increasingly curious. "What other bold words did you have to say to your nation?"

"Would you really believe all that I said?" Luna asked blankly. She scoffed. "I said no such things. I'm sure ponies expected me to say such things, but they would be incredibly hopeful. By the gods, it took us the rest of the century to get our government off the ground..."

"And yet you believed Amareica to be greater than Braytain?"

"But of course. After we got past our Articles of Confederation period and got to our Constitution, it was much better! Protecting the commoner from injustices of those higher up." Luna glared at her sister.

Although there is a point I'd like to revisit," Rarity said. "You turned down the presidency—for what?"

"To let someone more in tune with the commoners in the position," Luna shrugged. "What's a republic when led by someone previously hailed as a deity? Seemed pointless to me at the time, absorbed by the ideals of the ponies of the Congress. At the time, I thought, who better to represent a nation different from Equland than Mister Washington?"

"A griffon?" Twilight asked.

"So? He was an Amareican from Virgineighia. A good leader. Charismatic. Why not?"

"Have you never strove for the presidency since?"

Luna shrugged again. "I hold a permanent seat in our government and serve as an ambassador every now and then. I find it humbling."

"And yet you felt bitterness against Queen Celestia because she gained more attention than you, yet you didn't take the opportunity for the highest seat of the new nation?"

"After spending time here, it just... didn't feel right."

"But why have you not reconciled with your sister until... now?"

"I'm not sure you understand my frustrations when I left, Miss Sparkle. And after our victory, I was caught in the processes of making a new nation that would not make the mistakes of Equland. Compared to debating our great Constitution, speaking with my sister was the least of my concern. May I return to my story? I do quite like telling it."

"By all means, Miss Luna," Fluttershy said.

:::::

I resigned myself to the politics—

Can we just skip the boring politics?

—Uh... I suppose so, Miss Dash? I suppose the next notable thing to happen was the day we celebrate today. Once the Declaration was presented to Congress, they let me read it!

... Really, there's not much story after this.

:::::

"And that is why, to this day, a good public speaking voice no longer called the Royal Canterlot Voice in our vocabulary!"

"You're the head of the Amareican Historical Society, correct?" Twilight asked. "Can you tell me more about the early years of your... republic?"

"Perhaps later, I can. When's the fireworks?"

"10 o'clock!" Pinkie exclaimed happily.

"But-but what about the aftermath of the war? How much did you take part in the struggle to better the country? Your whole 'Articles of Confederation' thing? What about the story of the Constitution? The different ponies and griffons that you met?"

Luna waved a hoof. "Yes, yes, I personally knew them all. The president, the drafters of the Declaration, even Mister Poor Rich, quite charming a fellow. I knew a lot. You are a student of my sister. Surely you've read all this already."

"But to hear it from yourself! A pony that has lived through it! Uh, uh, what about 1812? What about..."

"Your student is very inquistive, Celestia."

"She is. Don't you admire her efforts to further her knowledge?"

"I do. I sincerely commend you on finding such a pony to take under your tutelage."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

"... How do you feel about the evolution of ideals in your country?" Twilight continued rambling, seemingly unaware that Luna had stopped paying attention. "What are your thoughts about socialism and communism? Actually, what are your thoughts about the Great War? Queen Celestia told me she asked for help, yet you never even responded personally. Is that true? It's been eight years since the War ended; I'm sure that you could bear to tell if this is true."

"All I care is that it's been six years since the passage of the 18th Amendment," Applejack complained.

"Hooray for the Constitution," Rainbow said.

"But Luna said it's the greatest thing she knew ever written."

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle, it's the Fourth of July! Away with the petty nonsense of history and historical accuracy!" Luna took out a large parchment of rolled paper, unraveled it, and levitated it in front of Celestia's face. "Look, sister, read it! Our Declaration of independence!"

Celestia was surprised with her vision suddenly blocked. "Um, Luna, how old is this document?"

"It's a personal copy I've kept since 1776!" Luna began rubbing it over Celestia's muzzle as if smoothening out creases. "Preserved in perfect condition by use of spells! Can you smell it, Celestia? The smell of freedom! So much freedom! I also have a copy of the Constitution with me! Shall I rub that in your face as well?"

"Uh, no, not really, I'd prefer not to..."

Twilight looked on but decided not to speak against the antics of the two siblings. After all, she had a brother and knew well that sometimes, things like this just had to happen.

"You can almost taste it! Taste it, Celly—"

"I, um, would prefer not to—"

"Taste it!"

"Uh... Hm. 18th century. So many memories—"

"So many memories indeed!" Luna quit scrubbing the Declaration of Independence on Celestia's face and just waved it in the air. "That on this great day, a century and a half ago—"

"I lost my sister?"

"To the greater cause that was the independence of the United States of Amareica!"

AToR - Description v2

The war's everywhere. For those out in that storm, they're soaked in it. The wet work. Dirty work. And those at home? Well, they're just away from the rain, inside the safety of their homes. But that doesn't mean they don't hear the rain. The war's everywhere. The war's in the paper on the front porch or on the orders posted outside the tent.

For the Princesses, the war's right in their faces. Celestia deals with keeping Equestria running. Luna gladly took up all of the foreign affairs after Celestia dropped it when war broke out. Didn't think it was worth continuing the fight against the weather for her sunny day. Luna's pretty deep in it. Wades in the flood. She runs the show.

And for Twilight Sparkle and her friends? It's in front of them too. Being the 'Princess of the Common Pony' tends to do that. Constant reports from the battle front. Constant letters and concerns from the home front. It can be hard to speak for the common pony sitting in a palace watching it all happen. Yet they're up to their muzzles in it.

... Until they really put themselves muzzles deep in it. Dropped their titles. Dropped the power of authority. Picked up their old mantles; just one of the common folk. Picked up the power of rifles.

Leaves of paper with direct intelligence reports were pretty close, even for halfway across the world, but leaves of trees with bullet holes is as close as anyone would get. The war's a storm raging outside of their home Equestria, and they just stepped out into it.

NTE [C1]

Nearing The Edge

By: Callsign Eagle

Unknown Waters

By: The Grey Pegasus

Baltimare Harbor

Eastern Sea

January 1, 1013

0400 Hours

Gulls were cawing.

Bells of the coastal and maritime sort were ringing.

"Dammit, Tide, why the hay does it have to be us?"

Captain Starry Skies was not usually an irritable mare, especially when it comes to orders. Especially when it comes to orders supposedly directly from the Princesses. Frigate captains in general were not usually irritable ponies.

Whether paradoxically because it came from the Princesses or just because she hadn't had any sleep after a rare bout of fantastic drinking to celebrate the new year, it wouldn't matter, because the dark blue pegasus was going to sail out whether she liked it or not. At least she had her lieutenant to drag her to the ship.

"I don't know, Star," Lieutenant Low Tide replied, rolling his eyes. "Maybe it's because we're in a strategic position on the eastern seaboard and you're the captain of the RES Constellation, the fastest and most heavily-armed frigate in the Royal Navy?"

"Don't remind me," Skies groaned. The duo of officers continued walking briskly along the docks, headed for their own. The majestic ships of gracefully curved wood and woven sails were the finest in the Royal Equestrian Navy. Skies wished they'd put some steam ships to use though. After all, they had trains. Why not steam ships?

Nonetheless, Equestria more than managed with their sailing ships. And the two had reached their own, barely visible in the lantern light. Painted with the hues of the deep blue sea and ocean skies was the RES Constellation, one of six of Equestria's latest frigate class. It wasn't really much of a frigate by older ratings, being considerably heavier armed than older frigates, but it wasn't a ship-of-the-line from ages ago either. It was a nice balance that allowed Equestria to sufficiently project their power with utmost haste when necessary.

As the two stopped before the gangplank, Tide looked over to the mare. "Well, if you don't want me talking, here's the letter itself." The blue earth pony took an envelope from the inside of his coat and handed it over to his commanding officer.

Most of her weariness from the previous hours shaken off during the walk, Skies headed up to board her ship just behind her second in command.

"Captain on deck!" Tide called once she had stepped into view of the sailors. The crew saluted their captain on the call.

"At ease. Return to your work." With that, Skies headed towards the captain's quarters in the rear, where she would at once begin her work begrudgingly. "Lieutenant, manage the sailors, get us on a course out."

"Aye, captain." Tide separated from her and went about his task.

Skies, meanwhile, closed the door behind her. Her quarters, lit by only light coming in from the row of windows at the rear, was not at all lit in the early winter morning. Lighting a lantern with her dragonfire lighter, Skies sat at her desk and read the message.

To Captain Starry Skies of the RES Constellation,

Although it is early in the morning and no doubt celebrations of the new year are going on, we believe that all have felt the odd occurrence this morning. While my sister, Celestia, coordinates with her student on what they might find out, I have been put in charge of actively searching for answers through everything at our disposal.

Strangely, I do not feel the same connection with the moon any longer. Therefore, I will not risk observing the world through it. Alas, I can not divulge any information about our land that you may already know of, nor any information that will aid your mission. I will, however, warn you that we have felt strong magic at work.

Should there be trouble or danger beyond Equestria's borders, the task has been placed upon you, as well as other ship captains, to patrol the waters that you are ordinarily assigned to. Take a small squadron of ships and sail out immediately.

As you may have ascertained from the directness of this message, there being no time to pass through the petty procedures of the Admiralty, this matter is most pressing and I place my trust in all of our captains to take upon this task to the best of their capacity.

To you, specifically, Captain Skies, as a commander of one of Equestria's six most important frigates, I understand the weight of the task I have placed upon you, but I shall wish the best upon you. I hope that, if anything should occur, you shall not find yourself in danger.

Best of luck,

Princess Luna

"... Fantastic."

:::::

The January air was cool, and it would be even colder once they set out. Skies stood at the helm. "Lieutenant Tide, what ships are available to join us on our patrol?"

"Sister ship Equestria, 36-gun Vanhoover, and 24-gun Timberwolf. That's Equestria over there," Tide pointed to another ship, light flames appearing on deck. "Looks like they're trying to keep warm"

"Let's do the same. It'll be cold, at least until the sun comes up."

Unicorns flashed signals to each other, and soon, the four Equestrian ships were sailing out of Baltimare Harbor. The crews aboard all the ships were busy as they managed their boat. The sailors worked fervently as they worked the sails, managed supplies, and even just checked the cannons. No one was expecting to be sent out that particular night. Only after sailing for a bit did the sailors get a break.

"Lieutenant, remind me of our ship's armament after our refit at Buckston?"

"We managed to pack 52 guns onboard the last time I checked, Captain. Somepony managed to pack two 32-pounders up there." He motioned towards the bow. "Enough to give trouble a run for their money."

"Mm," Skies hummed in agreement. The ship rocked in the sea, waves crashing against the sides of the boat. Wind washed across the deck. "Somehow, I don't recall the sea being this rough so close in."

"Feels like we're already far out in the Eastern Sea."

"How strange..." The mare paused as she thought about her mission again. "Lieutenant, this might seem a bit crazy, but... about that magic... do you think it did something to the world?"

"Uh, pardon me, Captain?"

Skies leaned on the wheel. "In the detailing of our mission, Princess Luna mentioned very strange magic acting throughout Equestria. How much do you think it did to the world? What strange disaster do you think awaits us?"

"I'd... rather not think of it."

"Imagine, if suddenly, because of some crazy magic, the world just changed around us."

Tide was naturally bewildered at the suggestion, and although he didn't want to entertain the thought, he wasn't one to put off his captain's normally reasonable, good judgement. "Do you think that's the case?"

The captain shrugged. "We've got a whole patrol to find out."

:::::

When the sun came up, nopony expected it to suddenly get considerably warm. Not amazingly hot, but considering it was still January, it still seemed a lot warmer than it should have been.

Tide noticed his captain shifting strangely as she held the helm. "Captain, something wrong?"

"I've been sailing since I was a filly, Lieutenant. This isn't the Eastern Sea."

The lieutenant was taken aback by such a bold statement. "Isn't?" he emphasized. "Are you sure?"

"Completely."

"Then... where are we?"

"I don't know."

Tide began looking at the ocean around him ominously, unsure of both Skies's statement and what to do next. "So... now what? Should we tell the others?"

"Yes. Immediately. Inform the other ships that I don't believe we are actually sailing in the Eastern Sea. Remain on alert for anything strange."

Tide did as he was told, delegating the task to a few pegasi. They flew off to the other three ships with their captain's message and returned with a mix of doubt and agreement.

"Have the gun crews start drilling. I want to be prepared if we encounter anything dangerous," Skies ordered. Her lieutenant again left her to delegate the task. Meanwhile, she stood silently at the helm, thinking about her own statement.

If this was not her sea, then where were they? Did they sail out of Equestria, never to return because of some strange portal? Did the world around them just change, and instead, be attacked and not return for incapability to fight back against whatever did? Perhaps the griffons across the sea were also on edge, and strange things should occur afterwards.

Truth be told, if her best case scenario involved finding griffons, things were very strange indeed. Not that she had anything against griffons—one of her father's close friends was a griffon. But hoping for griffons in some ponies' eyes were incredibly unusual indeed. Not to mention hostilities between them always seemed to rise.

"Captain, anything else?" Tide had returned from his task. Amidst the creaking wood of the ship and the ruffling of the sails, she could her the gun crews on the deck below preparing to begin their task.

"Check our stunsails. If trouble should find us, I'd rather run."

Again, Tide left her to send her message to the sailors. It was at that moment that she looked up and saw a strange shape flying far above. She thought she heard some sort of thunder-like clap as it passed by, but she wasn't sure about it between the sounds on the deck of the ship and her own nerves possibly imagining things.

On the lieutenant's return, Skies immediately left the helm to him and began asking around if anyone else saw the object above. She received confirmations from her own ship, and again from crews of the other ships she flew to. Aboard the Equestria, the captains had a meeting.

"What do we do?" Equestria's captain said, putting up the most obvious question for all to answer. "Unless we're all somehow hallucinating, it's headed for Equestria, and we don't know what it is or what it intends to do."

"We'll send a report," Skies said. She placed her dragonfire lighter on the table between them. "Then we'll continue our mission."

"What about encounters? I'm worried about the capability of our ships to handle any aggressors. I fear the case where we won't be able to," the Timberwolf's captain said.

"Then we'll have to hope we can approach them diplomatically," Vanhoover's captain answered. "But in the case of that happening, which one of us would want to take upon that task?"

"We could have some dice tell us."

"Aye." Equestria's captain put his face in his hooves as he leaned on the table. "A fine idea, but too reckless. We need a pony fit for the job, not randomly picked from the lot."

"Then the question is which of us would be the best to handle such a diplomatic meeting," Skies said.

"Indeed it is, Captain. We shall discuss each of our traits now and come to a decision afterwards."

For Skies, it already felt that the task was laid upon her. As a filly, she was exposed to the griffon culture through her father's friend, as well as visiting the land a few times. It wasn't much, but it was the fact of dealing with another race that meant something.

During her life in the academy, she pursued the study of other cultures. As an officer in the Equestrian Royal Navy, she would doubtlessly encounter others in her work. There was also her first assignment as a lieutenant. Aboard another frigate, Pranceton, she had traveled to Saddle Arabia with Princess Celestia on board, no less. She remained aboard that ship for a while, traveling again to Saddle Arabia on numerous other occasions. Sometimes as protection for merchant shipping.

And battle, whether skirmishes with another navy or pirates. She'd had a few brushes with them as well. Constellation had endured its share of combat, its strong construction proving its worth every time.

And lastly, she was the only pegasus.

To her, she felt that the result of who was going to be chosen was inevitable.

:::::

Somewhere in the Ocean

January 1, 1013

1812 Hours

Messages were coming through to them through dragonfire. There were already strange reports of new beings. They were now, most assuredly, dropped into unknown waters. Skies wondered where their easterly heading would take them.

"Ship sighted!"

One of the lookouts had finally brought them to the moment they were all waiting for. Skies flew up herself to take a look through a telescope.

What she saw jarred her. It was a metal ship, not unlike one of the newer steam ships being proposed. Except even sleeker. It did not appear to carry cargo, but instead its deck remained mostly clean, bar a single white object sticking up from its bow, a superstructure that seemed to blend with the ship, and what seemed to be smokestacks. It had a flag on a mast, and Skies could identify the colors of red, blue, and white. She presumed it was the flag of its nation of origin.

Another meeting was called on Equestria.

"Captain Skies, I believe it is almost time for your task," one of the captains said.

"Yes, yes, I think so. We should see if the ship will respond to signal flags."

"Equestria is the closest ship. I'll have it done right now." He sent for a pony to attempt communication.

"We'll need to approach this with caution. Should we send along unicorn marines or leave it to pegasi?"

"If hostilities should erupt, I don't know what you will encounter. Unicorns would be good, however, if you shall need to retreat, they will slow you. Unfortunately, that would leave you with the pegasi, in the interest of minimizing casualties and expediting our squadron's retreat."

Skies nodded. They shouldn't get overconfident about the abilities of magic. Not in a tenuous situation as such.

"Captain!" a sailor called out. The unicorn ran up to them. "Or, rather, captains, the ship seems to have responded with our greeting. We have informed them that we don't seek hostilities, and they have said the same. What shall we do next?"

The three other captains looked to Skies, and she looked back at all three of them. "Never before have I felt such fear," was all she could say. She turned to the unicorn. "Have you introduced ourselves? Have they introduced themselves?"

"Not yet. Shall we?"

"Do so," Equestria's captain ordered. "Send, 'This is the Royal Equestrian Navy ship Equestria, 52 guns, shall we send one of our own with assurance of safety?"

The four captains watched as signal flags were brought up and down, sending their message. The wait was tense. There was a pause as the other ship seemed to think over its message. They received the reply shortly.

"This is the United States Navy ship Hopper."

Then another pause.

"... guided missile destroyer, we will receive one of your own aboard to open talks."

"... What in Equestria is a guided missile destroyer?"

"A warship, I presume." They turned to Skies. "It's up to you now."

Understandably, she was hesitant, but it was her duty, and she flew back to Constellation to prepare to board the other ship. Tide approached her. "What should we do in your absence, Captain?"

"Prepare the stunsails, just in case. Get the gun crews ready, although I don't think it would do much good. Get me some marines to accompany me."

When they set off, the sun, no longer able to assume it was Celestia's, was nearing the horizon. As Skies flew closer to the ship, she could begin identifying some recognizable features, which were essentially just smokestacks and windows. There was a large '70' painted on the bow.

Everything else was so alien. Even the new beings on board. They were like minotaurs, but thinner. Primates, it seemed. Yet so much more advanced then them.

"Please come aboard on our stern deck," a loudspeaker instructed her, jolting her in surprise. She looked to the stern, where there was a large open area. White lines were painted on like rune lines for a spell. Skies saw that the meeting party was congregating there.

Skies and her few marines hesitantly stepped down close to the edge of the stern deck.

They faced their other-worldly counterparts quietly. In both groups, members were shifting glances at each other, unsure of what to think. They were all shocked to silence.

The one in charge stepped up first to speak. "I'm Commander Peters of the United States Navy. On behalf of my crew, I welcome you to the USS Hopper."

Skies stepped forward to reply. "I'm Captain Skies of the Royal Equestrian Navy. Thank you for receiving me."

Peters knelt down and held his hand out. Skies lifted her hoof up, and the man slowly grabbed it and shook it in greeting.

First contact was going over swell. Both crews, however, seemed like they wanted to break the ice first.

Or glaciers, as it may have felt like.

"Our race is identified as humans. What about you?"

"Equines," Skies answered. "Then, within those, we have pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies."

The Equestrian party received considerably more stares after that statement. Peters nodded slowly. "Are there any... other beings we should know about?"

"On this route, we would normally encounter griffons, in the land to the east of us."

The human nodded again. "But according to our satellite information, the only land east of here is the North American continent. Directly east is either the United States or Canada."

Skies fell silent. The world she knew was no longer.

Peters could see the shock on the Equestrian's faces, which were strangely as expressive as humans. "Should we... talk about something else right now? Until you feel comfortable enough to begin discussing the overall situation?"

Skies nodded in response. She sent off one of her marines to report back that everything was going well so far. Then she began trying to converse casually. "The ship that hailed you was the Equestria," Skies said. "However, I'm the captain of its sister ship, Constellation."

"We haven't encountered sailing ships in our world for nearly a century and a half," Peters replied. "At least, not as naval vessels."

"We still have Constitution, sir," one of the human crew members said. "She's still commissioned. That's got to count for something."

"It's a historical ship," Peters explained. "Constitution is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world. She's just over two hundred years old right now."

"That is... impressive. Constellation is just barely three years old."

Peters looked at the squadron of four sailing ships in the distance. Hopper was closing the distance quickly. "I'm not sure you're going to be needing them much longer."

"I got a buddy that went on Constitution's first sail in two hundred years, three years ago," the same sailor from before said. "Said the experience was like nothing other. You said your ship was one of those bigger ones?"

Skies nodded. "Equestria is the one closest, but Constellation is essentially the same ship. They're the best heavy frigates we have, which is why they sent us to patrol the waters."

The humans started talking amongst themselves. "You think Old Ironsides could best one of them?"

"Don't know. They look exactly the same."

"Any sailing ship is going to look the same to us these days."

"Maybe to you. You ever actually visit Constitution? She's also a heavy frigate, and looks exactly like it."

"No. But I know we have a USS Constellation sitting in Baltimore."

"That was the one they weren't sure if it was the original Constellation, right?"

Skies was getting confused listening to the argument. "Wait, what ship in Baltimare?"

Everyone's conversations stopped dead in their tracks. "No, Baltimore. It's a city."

Skies nodded incredulously. "Yes, well, Baltimare is one of our cities. We just left there this morning."

The humans started talking between themselves again. "Baltimare. You've got to be kidding."

"You sure they scrapped Constellation?"

"What are you talking about?!" Skies said. She understood that everyone was on edge, and they were just relieving it in casual conversations, but it seemed that it was having strange results.

"Nothing," the sailor chuckled. "We're just wondering if you happen to have one of our old ships."

"Well I watched my ship get built on the Baltimare dry docks... so I'd say no..."

"... Baltimare dry docks? Are you sure? Do you have, say, any ships built in some place called... Fillydelphia?" the sailor suggested, still trying to grasp that this was all real.

"Equestria was built there. The first ship of our type was built in Buckston. Anything else?"

"... I'm done."

"I'm sure I'll see more interesting ships get built in our docks after this..." Skies looked to Peters. "Speaking of, Commander, what exactly is a guided missile destroyer?"

"It's one of our modern warships," he answered. "They're sort of similar in role to your frigates. Hopper is part of a new class that's not even a decade old. She was commissioned herself just three years ago."

"I suppose I should just wait until later to understand your ships."

"Considering our ship in service named Constellation is a massive aircraft carrier, I think it would be best that you did. Should we use this as a transition into discussing the situation at hand? I've been getting reports here and there about contact with your kind, and I think we should add our own meeting to it soon."

"It's only our future that rests on these impressions. Let's begin."

:::::

RES Constellation

Western Pacific Ocean

January 1, 1013 CP/2000 AD

2005 Hours

Skies was settling back in her quarters. Tide was leaning against the wall.

"So all went well?"

"We didn't make any enemies."

"I guess that's good."

"For encountering a warship, which, by the way, is incredibly lucky, we also didn't have any shooting break out. Everyone kept their heads straight."

"That's also good."

"I was given a brief overview of their world. It's amazing that we ran into a warship in the first place, instead of, say, a commerce ship. Actually, the entire situation is amazing."

"How so?"

"Well, considering a large landmass of completely new beings just appeared in the middle of the ocean of a world with a single dominant species, I'm frightened of the geographical, ecological, sociological, and et cetralogical ramifications of the situation."

"Everyone really has it bad, don't they?"

Skies looked around her room. "I don't think we're going to be seeing much more of this in the near future."

"We're shoved out of the age of sail. They're introduced to magic. Some things will stay the same though." Tide walked up to his captain and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll stick around with you. Equestria will always need a good navy and good sailors."

"And should other things stay the same, Equestria might need to put them to use. There was a report of a griffon skirmish with an Equestrian ship earlier. The humans told me."

"And we received a message confirming it. But don't worry. Sail or steel, you've got your crew and that'll never change."

"Maybe the gun crews. Not sure what the rest of them will do. Probably have to go back for a few years of training." Whether Skies was being humorous or serious, her tone didn't hint at it.

"As long as they give us a shiny new ship made with Equestrian hooves, I think we'll be fine."

NTE [C2]

By the Princess's Orders

By: The Grey Pegasus

RES Constellation

Eastern Pacific Ocean

[Month-day], 2005

0949 Hours

Ocean waves crashed by outside.

Wooden timbers creaked quietly.

Captain Starry Skies looked around herself. Wooden walls. Wooden frames.

Every time she examined her surroundings, she became irritated. Five years ago, she had wistfully looked upon the walls, expecting a new ship in her future. A new ship that she would have grown accustomed to and eventually became at home in, just as she had with the Constellation.

Except it never happened. And for the past three years, she no longer felt comforted by her familiar ship. She was frustrated. And at times afraid. Equestria's enemies were milling about outside their borders with technology from the humans. The enemy had spared nothing in the attempt to wipe out the Equestrians, but they had not done the same. Instead, she sat inside the heavy frigate, once the pride and glory of the Equestrian Royal Navy and now... technically still was, with no true way to fight the enemy.

Sure, the navy had bought a few patrol vessels for border purposes, and even that was accomplished through extreme pressure on the Princesses. But for any true combat ships, Equestria had done nothing. At most, they had upgraded the wooden ships with some modern modules and barely adequate armament.

"Captain Skies, you are requested up on the deck."

The midnight blue pegasus sighed as the message came through the intercom, one thing they had bothered putting in the ships. Dropping a hoof and her weight onto the intercom's button, she replied a weary, "Acknowledged."

Slowly, she dragged herself off of her cot and onto the wooden floor. Her hooves landed with a solid thud. Putting on a coat, she made her way to the door out of the captain's quarters.

Exiting the door, she was still under a roof. With all of the new things the Equestrians were inevitably learning, the navy had requested that roofs be built over the mid deck and most of the stern deck, where she made her way to. It was an abomination, she thought. The ship was beautiful once, but now, now they were trying too hard to cling onto the past while trying to deal with the present.

Or rather, the Princesses were. Most officers with functional brains had wanted to switch over to modern ships for the past few years, after the sentiment for their canvas sails had worn off. Even the Admiralty were leaning towards modernizing, for the logical reason of it being the only way they could continue to perform their work as a navy.

"Captain Skies."

Skies blinked. It was Lieutenant Low Tide, standing around a chart table. Around the makeshift room there were a few other ponies, notably a few working radios. "Yes, what is it, Lieutenant?"

"A patrolling pegasus notified us of an unidentified, unscheduled ship passing by here," the blue earth pony tapped on the map on the table, "heading with a bearing west. Reported to be a private vessel. We're the nearest ship in the area and they want us to intercept and investigate."

Skies just sighed again. "Alright. Get it done. How long until we close the distance?"

"Given the last reported location and heading... forty minutes."

Skies nodded. "Notify the gun crews. Ready a boarding party."

Tide leaned on the table and looked at his CO, and evident from his relatively bored expression, as he had done a few times in the past. "Same routine?"

"Same routine."

:::::

Patrols were nothing new for them. Patrols for pirating and smuggling were nothing new for them. Even when they first arrived five years ago, it was nothing new to them. But in the new world, it was just so... unfulfilling. But she swore to serve the Princess, which was a swear to serve her ponies, and if this was how she was to perform that duty, then she had to live with it.

Skies was below decks, wandering in the first gun deck. About half of the cannons had been removed. The other half of the gun ports were taken up by new artillery pieces. They were modified surplus field pieces bought from the Americans when the Princess finally caved to upgrading the wooden ships' fire power to something remotely usable. Much care had gone into designing recoil mechanisms as to not wreck the ship upon firing.

For Skies, the new guns were probably one of the only things she didn't mind about the upgraded Constellation. The ship was a weapon, plain and simple, and if this is what it took to up-gun the ship, then so be it. The gun decks were also made more livable, with heaters and better insulation.

She wondered how Equestrians had managed to even stomach having to upgrade the Constellation like this. Sometimes, when the ship creaked, Skies imagined that it was speaking to her, asking to let it stop sailing and be removed from active duty. Maybe even be restored to its actual former glory. Not the convoluted mess it was now. The ship performed as best as a wooden ship could in the age of guided missiles, and Skies could never be happy as long as she commanded the Constellation. She loved the ship with all her heart, but it was being pushed much farther than it should have ever been.

Pegasi of the boarding party were coming up from the lower crew decks, readying themselves on the top deck. Skies received nods of acknowledgement from them as they passed by while she blankly stared on. After the last of them came, she gave the same basic instructions she had given time after time to the gun crews. Be prepared to fire warning shots, then be prepared to fire to sink.

:::::

The relatively small ship calmly tumbled through the Pacific Ocean. Starry Skies stood on the open front deck feeling the sun's warmth. It was not Celestia's sun, but she had grown to love it as she had their own.

"Star?"

Slightly off guard, she turned to her side, finding her lieutenant. "Low."

"We're going to be within range in five minutes." Tide held up binoculars to his eyes. "There it is, out over there." He offered it to his captain and pointed.

Skies took it and searched the seas. She found the boat miles away. "Have we made radio contact with them yet?"

"We began ten minutes ago. We suspect that they're smugglers." The lieutenant took the binoculars back as he answered.

"Suppliers of the black market from the Americans? Pony or human?"

"Equestrian, we know so far. I don't remember ever encountering a human on these patrols."

Skies nodded. "Those ponies like to do deals at sea. The humans ship it out, meet up with an Equestrian ship, and do their business. Reduces interspecies issues that may be encountered in port."

"If they happen to be working for the black market, they should be loaded up with contraband, since they're headed for Equestria" Tide reasoned. "Unlucky day for them."

"Lieutenant Wintergreen, set off at once."

"Alright, fellas, you heard 'em, let's go!"

"Or a lucky day for us." Skies watched as a few pegasi took of from the deck, readying to confront the other ship. "Let's see what this is about."

:::::

Constellation had positioned itself alongside the vessel. It was another wooden sailing ship, and by how weathered it appeared, was from the olden days like Constellation. Given Equestria's penchant to isolate itself from the rest of the world, these merchant vessels were just other relics in use, since acquiring any modern ships required ludicrous hoops to jump through; after all, if small items in the black market were forbidden, what more were ships?

And being an older ship type, both sides knew how the game went. Navy pegasi in one group, crew members in the other, and a civilized talk on the deck behind the main mast.

"Sir," one of the crew, an earth pony, greeted. "I am Captain Clipper, welcome aboard the Ocean Breeze. We were told that we were sailing through these waters without permission?"

The commanding officer of the boarding party, a green pegasus, stepped forward. "Exactly that, Captain. Under Equestrian Navy procedures, we'll need to see your shipping manifest and you will have to consent to a search of your ship. That wouldn't be a problem, now, would it?"

Clipper shook his head. "No, not at all." He turned to one of his aides. "You heard the officer, shipping manifest."

Just as the pony nodded, the officer interrupted. "And a ship plan. You should have your ship's layout somewhere, correct?"

"Oh, yes, yes," the earth pony replied. Turning to the pony he gave the original order to, "Ship plan as well."

The pony nodded once more and went off with haste.

"I suppose you take us for black market operators?" Clipper asked the officer.

"You could simply stop playing the game now," the pegasus replied. "It would save you much trouble." He looked back at the rest of the marines standing ready. "After all, there isn't any way out of this."

"Well, by all means, sir, you're free to try and find evidence to hold against us that fits your case. We may not have the right to be in this area, but I assure you, that part is a simple misunderstanding. The winds don't always like to cooperate."

The officer shook his head slightly. "Same thing every time."

There was the sound of hoofsteps returning, and it was Clipper's aide from earlier.

"Well, sir, here are the requested items. Search the ship as you please," Clipper said calmly.

The pegasus turned to his marines behind him. "Sergeant Crosswind, you and your ponies guard the deck. Sergeant Harper, go over and get us unicorns from Constellation."

The two other pegasi gave him affirmatives. One stayed with a few ponies on the ship, the other took a team back to bring over unicorns from their ship just a little ways away. A younger pegasus came up to the officer. "Lieutenant Wintergreen? I have a question, sir."

"What is it?" Wintergreen started walking off to the side of the ship where Constellation was sailing alongside, the private in tow.

"So what happens if we find them smuggling things from overseas?"

"We arrest the crew, seize the ship, take it back to port, and lock up all the illegal cargo."

"Just like that?"

"Come on, son, you signed up to serve the Princesses. If anypony's been getting it into your head to take a souvenir for yourself, get it out, because that isn't what the Princesses told us to do." They watched as pegasi took off from Constellation with some unicorns. "And if you try to do it, make sure I don't see it."

Five pegasi landed with five unicorns. Sergeant Harper approached Wintergreen. "Sir? We're ready to start the search."

"Very well," he replied to the mare. "I'll be here on the deck. Report back when you're done."

Harper turned back to her troops. "Okay, ponies, let's go!"

:::::

Down below in the bottom deck, two unicorns were preparing to scan the area as other pegasi searched the cargo around with lights and the naked eye. Though both unicorns weren't particularly old, one was clearly younger than the other. "Alright private, this is your first time on a search, correct?" the older one asked.

"Yes, Corporal, it is."

"You know the basic search spells?"

"Read about them and practiced a bit, Corporal."

"Okay, let's do it together then. Basic search spell, the first one we do according to procedure. It was in page 52 of the manual. Know what I'm talking about?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Let's start."

Their horns lit and they walked about the room. "Say, Corporal, black market operators usually hide things below the bottom deck, right?" the younger one asked.

"That's right. But right now, we're just searching for items on this deck. That search comes later."

"Can't they mask traces of those items or hidden compartments?"

"Not if we do our job right, they can't."

The private kept walking along one side of the deck while his corporal searched the other. "And we're supposed to feel something if we find something, right?"

"That's right." There was a short silence as they reached the end. "Found nothing in the first magical search spell. Now we search under our hooves."

Again, they found nothing. "But just because we found nothing doesn't mean they're not hiding anything, right, Corporal?"

"I've been on a few searches in the past where we did lots of magical sweeps but didn't find a trapdoor until we brought on the anti-magic field crystal. So we're not certain about anything until we go through all the checks."

The private quietly sighed. He had signed up for the marines to help carry out the Princesses' will and keep his home safe against the new world, but he didn't expect to be landed in a position as dull as this. He knew that the spells they were taught to use weren't just for searches, but were in fact created for battlefield use. Things like searching out traps, or hidden enemies, or-

"Hey, you ready for the next sweep?" the corporal asked, taking the younger unicorn out from his mental trance.

"Yeah, yeah." His horn lit with another spell, ready to walk the length of the deck again and probably find nothing. He followed the strides of the other unicorn, still careful to feel around the floor for anything out of place. They were supposed to be doing a search for trapdoors, according to procedure.

"Anything?" the corporal asked.

"No, still nothing, Corporal."

"Nothing on my end either."

The private sighed as he took a few last steps towards the end- "Wait. I think I found something." He moved around his head as if feeling if anything was tugging at it.

The corporal walked over and casted a spell. "What are you feeling? I don't feel anything."

"I... I don't know. There's something under the floorboards."

The older unicorn's horn stopped glowing, while his expression glared at his companion. "Are you casting the right spell?"

"I- " The private paused. "I..."

"What spell did you cast?"

"I don't know! I was just thinking about search spells and then you snapped me out of it and- "

"Well what were you last thinking?!"

"Uh- uh- something about hidden attackers or something?"

"You must be feeling some fish or something in the sea," the corporal scoffed, but his horn lit again.

His expression changed momentarily. "Somepony get me the lieutenant!"

TV [OS]

Twilight Sparkle looked down.

Then she felt her gut twist into an even tighter knot than it already was.

It was a strange thing. It was a mix of many things. Rainbow going on and on about how it's good for one's self to take a flight somewhere up into the sky all alone, as far as one could be from anypony else. There was her own curiosity about what was up above them all the time. To get closer to Celestia's celestial ball of light, or Luna's lunar body. To see and be with the wonders of the heavens above.

'I don't remember why I ever thought this was a good idea. I don't remember how I agreed with myself to this.'

Twilight didn't quite expect it to get so... eery, lonely, and... dark. Upon a small cloud she had conjured up for herself to stand on and catch her breath, she observed the world glow below her.

Even the sight took her down from her trembling stance down to her knees. Sitting, she continued to stare at her vast surroundings. Off to her sides, the globe dipped down, dropping to a darkening blue, and above the curving horizon was just black. Just... dark.

She gulped down air, the height getting to her even more. She had remembered that air became thinner the higher one went, and so she had cast a spell on herself earlier to counteract altitude. With every nervous breath she took air rushed into her lungs furiously. She didn't feel it, actually, but she knew what was happening.

It was amplified as she was the only audible sound in her vicinity. The silence pressed against her ears. She felt herself as a lonely speck in a very large universe.

And yet, sitting upon her tiny cloud, she wondered, 'What's higher up?'

Twilight didn't know and it wasn't the time to find out. She hadn't really prepared for such a journey.

Besides preparation, she wasn't up to it in the first place. She felt her spine chill every time she saw land, be it below her or straight ahead at the horizon. She felt herself chill from how high up she was.

Twilight didn't really like heights. Sure, she had been an alicorn for a while by now, but she hadn't been used to the 'wings' thing her entire life. Her natural instincts- her inborn senses- told her that height was bad. Within her brain, her genetics were screaming at her that being really high up was not good for a unicorn's health.

Naturally, she safely cast aside those warnings for survival, given that they didn't really apply to her anymore. Or at least attempted to consciously cast them aside. Still, she consciously knew that subconsciously she was still not at agreeable terms with her current situation.

'42,000 meters... 42,000 meters...' "I'm in the stratosphere... I've been in the stratosphere... since more than 10,000 meters ago..."

Yes, thinking statistically would get her head straight and composure settled down. Recite the facts. Remind herself that she knew what spot she was in and that knowledge was power. And with that power, she still had control over her situation.

"... The air is extremely thin... and oxygen in breathable form is actually starting to decompose at these heights... ha ha..."

Okay, well, mostly had control over her situation. Twilight knew she had stepped into the trap of analyzing a fairly precarious scenario, which really just served to accentuate the kind of spot she had flew herself into. She had control over that, and she chose to inform herself of where she was.

It comforted her to know how insane of a position she was in, if that made sense to herself. She looked down at the dot that was Ponyville. Or what might have been Ponyville. It was hard to tell against the slightly larger and darker green spot that might have been the Everfree Forest.

"Ha ha, yeah, that's quite a drop."

Twilight hovered a hoof in front of her gaze, moving it over the landscape below. With a single slight motion of her hoof, she spanned the Canterlot Mountain Range. Bringing her eyes farther up revealed the Frozen North, where the Crystal Empire lay. For the alicorn, the wintery land seemed quite warm at that moment.

The glowing blue line of the edge of the horizon brought her eyes farther up. The curvature of the earth still continued to impress her. The thin line of the atmosphere curving away reminded her of the emotions running within her at that moment. A thin fence between the comforts of familiarity and safety, and the thrill of somewhere new and bold and definitely frightening.

Twilight sighed, and it mentally clicked in her head that it was only by magic that she was actually breathing.

"Well... flying up here was kind of hard... since wing magic does work by manipulating the air around it. I'm not sure if evolution ever intended for ponies to go up this high..."

Upon her little cloud, Twilight took one last chance to take in her surroundings. The Eastern Sea was not far away at all. Every city on the coast she felt like she could reach out and touch.

Twilight truly felt like a princess right then. With just a lift of a hoof, she could reach out to any pony in Equestria from her small floating throne in the heavens. Everywhere below her was her land, and even farther out, she could still reach out and touch. She could touch the world.

But even with the world so vast, her own home called for her. The humble surroundings she had settled within with the ones she was close with. From far above, they were as small as anyone else could be, but to her, they were so much more. Twilight couldn't resist craning her neck around one last time.

"I wonder if this is how Celestia feels... So powerful... yet somewhat disconnected... I used to wonder before, but now, don't think I can fathom how important to her getting Luna back was."

Twilight looked up. The black void opened up to her again. Somewhere out there was Luna's moon. Even farther from Equestria than her small cloud in the stratosphere. So far from home.

Twilight peered over the edge of her cloud.

"I think it's time to go home."

1,000 Years, 7,000 Meters Per Second [OS]

1,000 Years, 7,000 Meters Per Second

By: The Grey Pegasus

There was no sound.

All was quiet except for her breathing and her thoughts.

Down at the ground, they built skyscrapers. To ponies on the ground, those skyscrapers reached for the heavens. For winged creatures like Celestia, they were merely stepping stones to the skies.

Canterlot was a great city upon the side of a high mountain, and palace spires pointed towards the heavens. The city of unicorn nobles looked down across Equestria, their eyes looking over all of the land they owned. But for Celestia, it was only an earthly throne. Now, she looked down at the Earth, her eyes searching across the land she shared with all creation.

Looking straight ahead, Celestia was met no longer with just the vast land stretching ahead, but also the vast darkness of the universe of infinite size. Even more so on the dark side of the Earth with the Sun hidden away by her home. It wasn't a common thought, to think of the terrestrial rock as covering the Sun. But to be so high up and away, it was all she could think of.

Celestia saw the world fall away as the earth rolled away into space. This was her planet. They were but a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things. Even herself. And for but a few hours, the alicorn had chosen to escape her small speck of dust for some time to meditate by herself.

It was a tradition of Celestia's to go up and take some time alone. Down on the ground, Equestria always felt so big. So many petty things to worry about. It was a difficult life, albeit one she had grown accustomed to. No, she did not intend on neglecting her duties every time she took such a flight. Instead, Celestia viewed it as a way to return everything to a proper perspective. That the multitude of lives on the blue marble below her interconnected in so many ways, and that those webs of lives created the vast picture of life she saw before her right then.

Celestia twirled effortlessly as she orbited the Earth, wings relaxed against her sides. With proper maneuvering and application of magic, she stopped her movement, looking away from the planet. She left just on the onset of dusk. The flight up to low earth orbit had brought her nearly across the globe, and she felt her sun ready to peek around the corner.

Oh, the Sun. Celestia was connected with it for as long as she could remember. So long ago, so very young, she remembered her desire to experience her sun...

"Oh Celestia, what are you thinking now?"

It was the light voice of Celestia's dearest sister, Luna. They were barely matured at the time. No longer fillies, but not quite grown mares yet. Celestia turned to answer.

"We're supposed to be the masters of the Sun and Moon. Have you ever wondered what they're really like? It just feels... so... potent."

Luna considered. "I have, Tia, but what about it?"

"I want to know. To experience it. To find myself next to it and know the truth of the Sun."

"The truth, Tia?"

"Just look around us. All the life... given by the sun."

Luna nuzzled up to Celestia. "And I believe there is no better caretaker of the Sun than you, Tia."

Celestia walked forward, engrossed in her thoughts.

"Sister?"

"I just... want to know." Celestia turned to her younger sister with a smile. "Maybe... I could..."

"But Tia, they say it's not possible," Luna said, her expression falling. "That it is something ponykind is not meant to experience."

"They say I am to be the regent of the sun," Celestia replied. "Perhaps it is different for me."

"Oh, Tia..." Luna's face began turning into a frown, if only concerned for her sister's safety.

Celestia sensed it. "Do not worry, Luna. I will return safely."

"But you do not even know how long the journey may be. And the Pegasi- they have told tales of what happens to ponies that try to fly towards the Sun. They do not even near it. They are unable to; as if the universe itself is telling us that it is not meant to be. That any flier is stopped by being unable to physically go on, and that they are forced to return to the earth."

"But we are alicorns," Celestia said. "And connected with those celestial bodies. Maybe it is different. Luna, I will see what the universe will say to me. I will not be gone for very long."

And with that, Celestia took to the skies, deciding to go on a flight of discovery on a whim. She recalled the tales of the Pegasi. How it got harder to breathe as one flew higher up. She casted a spell that she figured would work. And she prayed.

Her powerful wings, already some of the largest in Equestria, effortlessly flapped herself to higher and higher altitudes. It was only a few minutes of flight, but Celestia did not expect the air to become so cold as she left the clouds below. Nervous chills did not help either. She did not expect to feel so lonely so high up. She did not even expect such a flight to be so quick. How long had it been? Mere minutes?

But the Sun enticed her. Its rays continued shining down upon her. Celestia's breathing grew heavier as she exerted herself to go even higher. She recalled her lessons in flight. How flight was limited by one's magic potential. And as an alicorn, that potential was very, very great.

Celestia flapped harder and harder. But it was soon evident that all her flapping would not get her anywhere. Not only that, but it was getting even harder to breath.

'No... am I... am I not worthy either?'

The thought passed through Celestia's mind as she finally fell to exhaustion, then fell to the gravitational pull of the earth. She fell, and fell. Her tired body closed tight as she rushed downwards.

Then she felt a strange sensation. She only registered it for a few moments until she felt herself break through some sort of barrier. But she didn't hear anything. She was clueless as to what happened, but she was still not slowing down. Instead, there was a new feeling building up in her wings. Celestia barely registered that as well before she felt flight magic burst from her wings.

'What... just happened?'

Celestia didn't know how long it took her to fall back down, but she knew she regained her senses as she saw the clouds approach. She opened her wings and felt herself glide on the outpouring of flight magic.

"Tia!"

It was Luna. In a moment, Celestia found her younger sister flying alongside her. It wasn't long before they were both back on the ground.

"Tia, what happened?" Luna held her sister square in her hooves. "There was this great sound, and also this great light! What had occurred in the skies?"

Celestia's expression remained flat. "I do not know, Luna. Just that... I too, was not able to reach the sun."

Luna brought her elder sister into an embrace. "Do not worry, Tia. Perhaps in the future, you will find a way."

Celestia felt the warmth of her sun upon her head as she rounded the horizon. The Sun was a brilliant white from orbit. And she felt its warmth much more than when on the surface of the Earth. The rays shone so bright, and they reflected off of her white coat. Her body just felt like it could sink into the Sun's warm embrace. She felt even more livened up then, after leaving the slightly desolate darkness of the Earth's shadow.

It never failed. The memory of her first attempt to reach for the sun would always return. How could it not? But what struck her even more was what Luna told her.

Never would she have expected that such future motivation would manifest in the form of Luna herself...

"LUUUUUNAAAAAA!"

Celestia sobbed as she stared at the moon. And not just the moon, but the new image imprinted upon it.

That abomination had robbed her of the pony she had cared most about. How?

Celestia wondered about how would she live on. She knew not what Luna's fate was, but she knew her own. Possibly an eternity living with the consequence of her failure to protect her.

"No..."

Celestia lifted her head to look towards the white moon through her teary eyes. It may have been careless. It was not at all thought out. It was impulsive. But she struggled to get herself up to her hooves, then pushed off of the ground with all of her might.

The palace had been ravaged by their battle, but the crater left by Celestia's takeoff was the most substantial of them all. Compared to her first attempt, she had years of experience gained in flight. She had learned how to control her flight magic more effectively.

The air pushed against her muzzle, but she didn't care. With one last powerful pump of her wings, Celestia broke past that barrier once more. From that point, it was up to her unicorn magic to control the flight magic. She was going fast, but not yet fast enough. No, there was still faster.

Then magic snapped from her wings. Now Celestia was determined. She fed even more of her immense magic into the stream. The more magic she could put through her wings, the more lift she gained from the thinning air and the faster she could fly. The second sound barrier quickly rippled past her.

Celestia could feel the atmosphere around her. She was high up. So very high up. And she had just passed where she was stopped her first time around.

'There exists no barriers between two sisters...'

Higher and higher she went. At some point, Celestia felt less like she was flying and more like she had thrown herself at such a great speed, that gravity and air drag had simply let go of her.

And it didn't get any easier. It only got worse.

The exertion Celestia was putting on herself, combined with her emotional grief, was tiring her. Especially her lungs. But something was feeling wrong.

She was having great difficulty breathing, and not just from exhaustion. Her wings, no matter how much magic she put through them, were giving less and less control over her flight. She flapped and flapped, but Celestia did not feel as if she was truly flying anymore. Where was she? The night was so dark. And it felt like her own vision was darkening. Her head was starting to feel light.

The loss of control surprised Celestia. In her broken mental state and light-headed sensation, she began panicking. The panicking only made it even worse. She had thought she had casted the spell to breathe in extremely thin air. No, she did. She was sure of it. She did it for Luna.

So what was it now? Celestia was running out of breath. She couldn't control her flight. And she could no longer tell which way she was going. She flailed her wings helplessly, as if hoping that her flight magic could gain some sort of traction anywhere.

Eventually, the helpless flailing spread to her legs. Then her head. The last thing she remembered was focusing on the moon, which she had never seen in such a clearer white.

'I'm sorry, Luna...'

Celestia stared deep into the white of the Sun. Even the heat of the star struggled to thaw her heart every time the memory surfaced. Her full underside was revealed towards the Sun, but inside, it felt chilly. Every time she recalled the memory, the cold throes of the tragedy reached inside of her.

Her heart felt as cold as the morning she woke up, crashed down somewhere far away from their castle. Yet her coat felt warm, also similar to how she felt this morning.

It would be a while before she learned why she felt, and in some places looked, like she had been lit on fire after she had fallen unconscious, but she didn't care too much at the time. In her anguish, Celestia managed to ignore even her burnt feathers as an immediate problem.

Later on, she would look back at that night and wonder how she didn't die from what had happened.

Regardless of the aftermath of that flight, Celestia released the breath she was holding inside of her from recalling the more stressful emotional memory of losing Luna. She sought to regain control of her emotions and bring herself back to the present. Allow her sun to give its warmth to her.

Before, she would even spin around and turn her back towards the Sun to ease her chilling spine, but she had since learned to grasp control over herself when reminiscing that specific memory.

Besides, the memories afterwards were filled with more feelings of triumph than despair. They always brought a smile to Celestia. The journey she embarked on was difficult, but she did it for Luna, and that made everything right. As the sun shined on her body, Celestia craned her head up and saw the Earth at the top of her vision. It was a blue and green marvelous sphere, and that was one of the first great truths about the universe she had learned about...

"Star Swirl, I require your assistance."

Celestia approached the unicorn wizard with an air of determination. It had only been a few days since her loss of Luna. She had taken that time to grieve and berate herself. She had countless sessions with important figures concerning the loss of the second alicorn on Equestria's thrones. And she had reflected on her failed journey to reach out to the moon.

Star Swirl turned to face her. "Of your many recent concerns, with what do you ask my assistance for on this day?"

"I need a mind like yours to help me in finding a way to fly to the moon."

The unicorn froze in place. "Fly to the moon?"

"I have already asked General Firefly for her expertise, but the task will require a great amount of magic as well. And your intelligence in general will be of great use."

"I see," Star Swirl said. "When would you prefer that we begin?"

"Officially, later, but I would like to take the moment to speak with you now that I am here. Recount a few details of my experience."

"Very well. Continue."

"As I fly higher up, it changes," Celestia said, walking towards a window. "I have long used the method of unicorn magic augmented flight, as well as breathing spells to allow me to fly in the thinner air. But that night, I flew further than I had ever before. I reached a point where I was no longer flying and I could no longer breathe."

Star Swirl nodded sagely. "I see. What else can you tell me about those altitudes? Anything you saw?"

Celestia bit her lip. "No... It was dark. Even in Luna's magnificent night... I could not see very much."

The unicorn smiled. "Well, my Princess, you are a very intelligent pony yourself. Advancement will require more details. You seek to achieve an immense goal. It will require a vastly large amount of details. Only then will we have sufficient knowledge to work from."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Very well. I have plenty of hours to myself for a considerable length of time. I will go and repeat my actions from that night today, while it is still daytime."

With that, Celestia walked out of the wizard's room. First, the alicorn headed for her room to retrieve an item that would be of use. Once there, she opened up a chest of belongings and took a necklace with a few hoof-sized crystals. The necklace was created for a pony to wear underwater; the crystals were enchanted to hold air and would act as an extension of one's lungs. Celestia recalled that hers would hold enough for a few hours, more than enough to last her experiment. She removed her golden chestpiece and replaced it with the necklace.

Afterwards, the alicorn walked to the courtyard, where the afternoon sun was high above. General Firefly had agreed to help the Princess in her ventures, though as a pegasus, she could only do so much. It would be up to Celestia to do much of the experimentation.

Celestia looked upwards and traced a line down from the sun to a random spot high in the sky. She would make that spot her target. The deep blue sky was void of any clouds. She took a deep breath, then strongly flapped her wings, rocketing her upwards.

Faster and faster she pushed herself. Effortlessly, she broke the sound barrier. Not long after that, she outflew her pegasus magic, leaving behind another spectacular explosion. She focused her unicorn magic through her wings, propelling her even faster.

Air compressed ahead of her, and she felt the tip of her muzzle warm up. Hot, even. She had a passing thought about how it might have affected her ability to fly faster. Still, Celestia felt that the ordeal was much easier this time, surmising that it was because she was physically refreshed and psychologically calmer.

The minutes actually felt slower than from that fateful night, but Celestia counted the ascent as taking around three minutes at the longest before she started having the sensation of no control again. At the same time, she also felt as if she could pour immense power through her wings and fly even faster than before, without any air drag stopping her. So she did, sending her even higher up, into the realm where she would lose control, even faster.

The alicorn felt the onset of panic but immediately forced herself to focus. She started to hyperventilate in anticipation. And quickly, her breathing slowed as she felt herself calm down.

With the necklace giving her air to breath, she did not have to worry about her head feeling light. She felt... mostly normal, if cold. Very chilly, in fact. And yet, she was still going higher and higher... while her ability to control her flying through her unicorn magic was disappearing more and more.

Her heart rate, already fast from her physical exertion, now lent its effects to mental concerns. Again, the threat of losing focus loomed in Celestia's face as she continued to uncontrollably rise further from the earth. A fear that she would somehow not be able to return.

At that moment, she wondered if it was the same feeling of helplessness Luna might have had. It caused sadness to well up inside of her, and at the same time, connecting herself to her sister gave her the will to face her fear.

'Focus, Celestia. Luna would want you to focus. To return safely.'

Celestia remembered the first time she flew high up. Luna was so worried.

Through sheer will, Celestia calmed her breathing and stopped all attempts at using her magic to fly. Now was not the time for panic. It was the time for observation and learning about what she had gotten herself into.

For the first time in her flight, Celestia focused on her surroundings and felt herself in awe. It was no longer bright like the day... but everywhere, it was black like the night. The horizon was different- unlike the horizon she knew on the ground, this one instead glowed blue. But if the sky was the backdrop of the horizon on the ground, then what was this dark backdrop of the horizon of the sky?

The Earth glowed below her. Glowed, she thought, compared to the backdrop of darkness if she looked straight. Around her, she could see the edges of the vast lands on which she and her subjects lived upon. And even further, perhaps to the far edges of the vast lands of their neighboring countries.

A chill went down her spine as she suddenly felt small. A powerful alicorn... humbled by the truth of nature. Well, that, and it was absolutely freezing.

With her mouth agape, she looked around. The world... it just seemed to end. Like she was on a large disk, with edges far away and nothing past them. And those edges glowed blue, a border against the abyss.

Celestia smiled as she remembered that specific moment. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into, and even more, she didn't know that there were still more wonders of nature waiting ahead.

She slowly twirled herself around with a precise application of magic. She stopped herself facing the Earth below. She was passing over a large continent, almost halfway around the world from her home. Places she had very rarely visited. The thought occurred to her that visiting such places was much easier now. It wouldn't take her much time to just fly over herself. And now that Luna was home, perhaps she could put her flights to different uses.

Distances became strange to Celestia after her experiences. It all depended on the context. At the beginning of the millennium without Luna, different countries were far. As the years passed, it didn't seem so. 'Far' became the moon.

Nowadays, she used relative distances interchangeably. Right now, she considered herself truly far away from anything. Not as far as Luna and the moon was, yet it was still considerably far.

Or to be technically correct, how high she was above the Earth. That, at least, was something she quickly realized that first flight...

"The world is round... And larger than the impressive size I had already imagined it to be..."

Celestia took her first thought and passed it through her mind once more. A round world...

She looked around again, and this time, barely made out a slight curvature on the edges.

"Maybe round... like an overturned plate?"

There were some ponies that theorized about the true nature of their world. Some even searched for evidence that the world was a sphere. Celestia was never sure what to think of the theories, but now, she was giving them some consideration.

"If it is a sphere, then just how big is the world?"

The thought shook Celestia. She wasn't sure she could imagine something that great of a size. Yet, even with these new ideas, she wondered what it would mean in her journey to reach the moon.

'Perhaps now is not the time to ponder such a question. I should try and learn more from my surroundings.'

Celestia's studious side began to show itself as she began experimenting in her new environment. Although she was shivering from the cold, she still kept her mind on track.

'I cannot fly in any way anymore. Maybe very, very slight movements, but very difficult. How would I go about controlling myself up here then?'

Celestia continued to try and contort herself into different positions. She tried pulling herself with her magic. Yet all she accomplished was leaving herself flailing around, confused. All that was happening to her was... floating around aimlessly while also tangling up her limbs in an attempt to move around. Was she drifting along? Gliding through the strange sky she now found herself in?

It was incredibly jarring, but her incredible will to remain calm and on task overshadowed her insecurities.

"I can control the Sun's path across the heavens, but I cannot control my own?"

Celestia growled in frustration before realizing what she just said. Her eyes moved to look at the Sun. Its warm rays really did look enticing as she froze in the high atmosphere.

"What would happen if I tried to move it now?..."

She grabbed ahold of her sun with her special magic as she usually did, then tried to give a very light, experimental nudge.

Nothing.

The alicorn's face contorted into an expression of confusion. She didn't understand. She knew she controlled the day, and actually as of recent events, the night as well, but when she attempted to move the sun, nothing happened.

'I will have to examine this further when I am back on the ground.'

And speaking of the ground-

'... How do I get back down?'

The thought was first spoken in her mind very calmly, as if asking a very simple question. Her studious expression quickly changed into alarm when she realized-

'How do I get back down?!'

Celestia's first reaction was to begin flapping her wings, but she stopped it almost as soon as she started. Her second reaction was to put unicorn magic through them, but she stopped herself short again.

She was left looking down at Equestria, wondering how she would return. She couldn't even make out where the towns were. Or where Canterlot was. They weren't exactly large settlements, but she never thought them as so tiny, that she would at some point consider them insubstantial.

Yet here she was, looking for some landmarks and failing to find any.

'Had I really flown so fast that I threw myself away from Equestria?'

Celestia bit her lip in anticipation. She decided to mediate about her situation. She had to return home. For Luna.

The minutes went by. Five. Ten.

It was around fifteen that Celestia noticed that something looked different. It felt... like the earth was closer.

Celestia decided to hold onto that strange sensation. Maybe something would come of it.

And after a few more minutes, she realized what was happening.

She was falling. And she was falling fast.

Celestia opened her wings and started trying to feel for some purchase on air. Something to slow herself down.

No luck. The glowing blue edge of the world was now pushing away the black abyss.

Faster. And faster.

But then her wings felt something. Celestia tried to stop her fall, but it was as if she was trying to grip ice while sliding at an incredible speed.

Celestia fell even further. She fought to push away her panic and remain level-headed. The air was getting thicker. Even her hind hooves could feel the air rushing by. She began flapping her wings. And she flapped furiously, because she could feel the tips of her hooves heating up.

In fact, it became so uncomfortable after the first few seconds, that she flipped herself over to face downwards.

And after a few more seconds, it turned out that it was not a very good idea.

'Hot! Hot!'

Celestia then turned so her stomach was facing downward, giving her wings the most area to work with. She also casted a shield spell to prevent herself from being singed as she plowed through the air at supersonic speeds.

And in a moment, Celestia came to a conclusion that it was counter-productive, now that her wings were also shielded from acting upon the air. At least, that's what she assumed.

It wasn't easy for her to think as she watched the ground approach faster than she had ever done so before.

Celestia reduced the size of the shield to just cover her body, leaving her wings out to their purpose. Powerful flexing of her flight muscles worked to slow down her incredible speed; she strained to push her wings and fight against her immense downward speed. And at the same time, she was working through the heat her wings were experiencing.

And soon enough, still high above the ground, her speed slowed to a more familiar level of 'fast' as the air pushed up against her without any effort from her.

Celestia relaxed herself and let gravity take over from there. Maybe she didn't need to put in all that work earlier.

Maybe she should just enjoy the moment. Celestia always did love flying. Many that knew her personally would say to others that her love of flying was nearly unmatched except by the most dedicated of pegasi, and even then, she still considered herself unmatched.

Flying was a wonderful experience, and she knew many with wings would agree.

And right now, she accepted gracefully falling as well, and she wondered how many with wings would also agree.

Celestia returned herself to the present after that part of her memory. The first fall was the most frightening. Despite her appearance at that point in history- a fully matured alicorn- she couldn't help but look back at that first flight and think how inexperienced and naive she was. Even a century later, she already thought that about her past self.

If distance was one value Celestia had different perspectives on, time was another. Few ever did put long lengths of time in proper perspective.

As for Celestia, she learned it the hard way. One thousand years she was without Luna. Her sister's embraces. Her sister's voice. Her sister's comforting presence.

Celestia sighed as she looked at the world in front of her. Civilization had gone a long way since her first flights. There were actually visible signs of civilization from space now. Artificial constructs so great in size, usually cities but there have been some other things, that they managed to make a visible mark on the Earth.

And yet, even then, the Earth felt so indifferent to the passage of time. She may have been old, but she was young compared to the Earth. And yet, throughout the eons, it just spun and spun and spun, seemingly without care as to what happened on its surface.

When she thought about it that way, Equestria eventually forgetting Luna's importance throughout the millennia of her banishment felt insignificant. It felt wrong to Celestia, that ponies eventually did not see Luna the same way as those did during their time. And yet, here was her entire planet, drifting through a universe so immense that it made everything that ever occurred on the Earth feel insignificant.

The thought used to keep Celestia up at night, accompanying her longing for her sister, but she got over it. After all, despite how insignificant they might be, that was just in the perspective of everything. However, Celestia came to the conclusion that her perspective was equally as significant, and so whatever happened in her time on Earth was significant.

And because Celestia's own perspective mattered, Luna mattered, and that was good enough for her, no matter what anything else thought of Luna.

And for the ones around Celestia, her happiness was important, and that was enough of a reason for them...

"Firefly, I thank you again for taking this time to fly with me."

"It is no matter, Princess; anything for you. But if I may ask, what do you believe I could contribute to your enormous task?"

General Firefly was one of the most skilled pegasi in Equestria, and certainly the easiest to reach for Celestia. The pink mare had a wonderful aura of life, and Celestia felt her joy in flying as they flew together, lazily making their way across the sky.

"I am only one pony," Celestia answered as she flew inverted, staring up deep into the sky. "Though wise and experienced I might be, this new goal I seek is beyond even my own wisdom. As you know, Star Swirl and his intelligent apprentice Clover the Clever assist me in my task as well, but they are unicorns. You, however, are a pegasus, and so you are naturally in touch with matters regarding flight and the sky."

Firefly nodded, but was still unsure. "But you've flown higher than anypony has ever had. I am still unsure if I will be of any assistance."

"As I said, I am only one pony, and you are the pegasus I have chosen to aid me in my journey," Celestia answered. "Two minds..." Celestia paused as she remembered the rightful half of her pair, lost to a seemingly unreachable place, "... are greater than one."

Firefly must have felt Celestia's thoughts in that pause, as she firmly nodded and accepted her role. "Then I will try my best to help you, Princess. What currently concerns you about the matter that you want me to help you with?"

Celestia went straight to the point. "When I fly high enough, I can no longer use my wings to control my flight. Even unicorn magic coursed through my wings have no effect. I have since determined that the air is much too thin or becomes non-existent at extremely high altitudes."

The pegasus rolled around Celestia, switching sides as made the maneuver to loosen her muscles. "Interesting. We have known the limitations because of the thin air to breathe and fly upon, but the air completely disappears? Fascinating."

"And so it seems that even with my great magic, I cannot simply fly to the moon," Celestia said. "After I had left the air behind, I remained in the abyss of a dark, black sky without any way to control myself. I should mention, however, that the view is beautiful from so high up. The world, as I saw it, was a circle. Round, I think, even."

"Round?" Firefly echoed. "I will take your word about the view; I can only imagine how far you could see."

"Well, it is also incredibly cold," Celestia added. "And it was quite jarring to have lost control over my direction."

"Could you not use your unicorn magic to do anything?" Firefly asked.

"I could not think of any way," Celestia replied. "I even tried to move the sun during my time there, but I could not manipulate it. It was very puzzling."

"Have you told Clover these details yet? She is very intelligent in many practices."

"I have, and she continues her meticulous work. But I also chose to discuss it with you, as perhaps your pegasus heritage will help shine a new light on this mystery from a different perspective."

Firefly paused, mulling over what Celestia had told her. She flew over Celestia, facing downwards to look at her conversation partner. "If you tried to move the sun, does that not mean levitation magic is in play?"

Celestia considered the question. "I... I believe it should be. But when I tried to move it in the manner that I normally do, it had no effect."

"But if you could grab onto it, could you not move yourself?" Firefly suggested.

"No, it does not work like that. At least, it shouldn't. I felt no effect upon my body when I attempted to move the sun. And unicorn magic does not function in that way- I cannot grab an object and pull myself towards it. I can only grab objects and pull them towards myself."

"So you cannot simply grab ahold of the moon and pull yourself towards it?"

"No. And despite the moon being an object that my magic can affect, I can only move the moon across the sky, not move it closer. It is set in its path."

"But is there not a spell that allows a unicorn to levitate themselves?"

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "There is. But I am not sure how that would apply."

"What if, when you can no longer use flight magic, you resort to such levitation magic instead?" Firefly suggested.

The alicorn was struck into silence. It could solve the problem if it worked. But that's how problem-solving went- a good idea comes up and seems like the solution, but one couldn't simply rush to it as if it was the solution. It had to be considered. Tested.

But it did seem like it was a solution.

"How difficult is the spell to perform?" Firefly said, as Celestia was not able to form a reply. "In fact, how does the spell work?"

"That is... a good suggestion, and those are good questions," Celestia answered. "Levitating one's self requires enough effort to lift one's self, so that is one consideration. The process also requires a continuous expenditure of magic, so it is also physically straining.

"As for how it works..." Celestia thought about her studies and the studies of many unicorns. "When levitating other objects, the anchor point is the unicorn, but when levitating one's self, the unicorn cannot move relative to themselves. They move relative to the ground, and so the ground is treated as the anchor point."

"I know that when a unicorn levitates an object, they can only reach so far," Firefly said. "I have always thought that unicorns never levitated themselves so high because of their uneasiness to the heights, but is it because of these reasons also?"

Celestia flew out from underneath Firefly and repositioned herself alongside the pegasus. "A combination of all factors, yes. I am wondering what effects these will have if I attempt to use it when at a high altitude."

No Rest [1]

No Rest For the Weary

Operation Gold Obelisk

Griffon Capital, Talos

2100 Hours

Overcast, heavy rain

It is suspected that there will be a high-ranking general in the Claw skyscraper tonight. He is thought to have intelligence about a secret Griffon mission that command would like to know about. Specter team will provide overwatch fire for Arrowhead team, who will drop from rooftop to the fortieth story of skyscraper to capture VIP griffon, or if he is not required, to dispose of him. Enemies have not been alerted to presence, but weapons are free. How you execute is entirely up to you, Innocence and Command will not be able to send support or even be contacted during ops. Don’t get caught.

The rain battered down from the gloomy skies, reducing visibility to a short thirty meters. The droplets battered down on a certain fire-red mare as she crept along the outside of the ventilation shaft, keeping it between her and the Griffon patrol on the roof.

“I tally four. Two on the rocks, one near the lip and the other coming for us.”

“No noises,” Orion whispered. “Knives only.”

The non-reflective blades slid silently out of their sheaths, clutched in pairs of very capable hooves.

“Yelena, take the lip, make sure he doesn’t fall over and alert the ground. Lynx, closest one.” Green lights lit up in her HUD. “Wait for next flare...”

Lightning flashed. In the bright light, the three leapt from behind cover, racing towards their targets with silent flaps of their wings.

Orion saw her Griffon detect them. The stages were always the same, first uncertainty, then realisation, bewilderment and finally fear. He reached for his radio to squawk, when Orion’s blade landed with a ‘thud’ right in his throat. The mare spun, ripping the blade out in a gory spray and embedding it in his friend’s sternum.

Orion straightened.

The thunder roared.

“Check in?”

“Clean.”

“Clean. On me.”

Lynx had one hoof holding a vent open, another on her Vector sweeping the area. Orion hefted the bodies and dumped them in.

“Figure a week?” She closed the cover, locking it with zip-ties.

“We’ll be long gone ‘fore they start to smell,” Lynx smirked.

The duo trotted over to Yelena, who had already set up the sniper’s nest. A small tarp covered the area, keeping it relatively dry for the two high powered rifles. A XM500 and a L115A5, along with a spotter’s telescope.

Orion settled in behind the XM500. Lynx took the L115A5.

“Distance?”

Yelena scanned the glass building in the valley below. “Adjust for a kilometer. Engagement between the fortieth floor to the top.”

The scope clicked, and Orion hugged the rifle. “Give the infiltration team the go. Specter has set up overwatch.” She sighted in on the roof, seeing the blue dots.

“Heads up, mission is go. We’ll cover you, but you gotta light up targets for us...”

:::::

"Alright, Arrowhead, that's our signal. We are go."

Four pegasi stood atop the roof of a skyscraper. Through the optic over their left eye, they found friendly markers over on another rooftop far away.

"I still don't know why they had to get a separate sniper team," a white pegasus remarked.

"Buck up, Sharpie, they're just promoting interservice cooperation," a grey pegasus answered. "Match, ready?"

"Ready when you are, Stardust," a darker gray pegasus replied. "Let's go hunting."

"Comet, Sharp, ready on those grippers," Stardust said as he looked down the side of the building. "We don't want any noise on entry."

"Ready, Cap," a dull blue pegasus answered.

"Weapons ready?"

"Since when aren't they?" Match said with a hint of a smile.

"Exactly," Stardust agreed. He turned his gaze back to the blue markers through the rain. "Specter, Arrowhead ready for insertion. Confirm synced data feed."

"Confirmed."

Stardust addressed his team. "We drop under the fortieth floor, let them take out any targets, then infiltrate."

"Copy."

"Let's rock."

The four pegasi leapt off the roof, disappearing into the mist, falling with the raindrops around them.

"Target ahead."

On cue, they flared their wings and stopped right under the large glass windows of the floor.

Match signaled to his squad. "I'll take a look." Cautiously, he peered up into the windows. Two griffons were on guard in the hall a little ways to the side. "Specter, targets marked. Take 'em out."

"Copy. Stand by."

Bullets piercing glass were barely heard amidst the weather. Peering into the glass, he found both dead.

"We're clear. Dust, let's go."

The two grey pegasi moved up the window and brandished knives. On mental command, the edges glowed with magic.

"Comet, Sharp, ready."

The other two moved up and attached grippers to the window. On signal, the other two plunged their knives into the glass, Match above and Stardust below, each moving around in a semicircle until a clean cut was made. Stardust motioned for Match to give the glass a tap.

Complying, the pegasus used his weight to pop circle of glass into the building, carefully supported by Comet and Sharp. Gently as possible, they laid it on the floor.

"Arrowhead, weapons check."

"Locked and loaded."

"All clear."

"Clear, Captain."

"Specter, we are in."

:::::

“Roger, confirm clean insertion,” Orion murmured as the four dots entered the building. “Target was last spotted on that level, south-western side, about five minutes ago.”

A small PDA sat in front of the trio, displaying a blueprint feed of the building. Targets would show up, and either Lynx or Orion would sight in, depending on their location.

“Arrowhead, hold. Elevator has two hostiles.” The four dots stacked up at the corner of their corridor and the elevator lobby. “Lynx?”

“Bad shot," Lynx said. "Needs to penetrate walls twice. Can’t confirm will penetrate and still hit with the 115. Both are yours.”

Orion scoped in. The integrated HUD synced, showing the Griffons as light red shadows past the concrete.

“Favor, Arrowhead. Lead, could you duck your head for a second.” The blue outline looked around, before quickly dropping. The twin high speed shells struck the concrete where the pegasus’ head was a second before, overpenetrating the wall and making quick work of the heads of the guards.

“General is through that door," Yelena said. "Be warned, when we were here earlier this morning, we spotted him moving with no fewer than four elite Shockers.” She was referring to the heavily armed Griffon infantry, the best choice for protection. “Sniper Fire will also be marginal, the wall is reinforced with rebar, no telling where the shots will go if they penetrate and bounce.”

“They could blow the wall,” Orion idly suggested, adjusting her sights.

:::::

"Hey, Captain, still happy working with them?" Sharp quipped.

"You kiddin'?" Stardust answered. "I'd go down for any lady," he grinned, eliciting rolling eyes from his comrades.

"Yeah, until your wife finds out, I bet."

Stardust gave Sharp a light punch. "Copy, Specter, we can handle ourselves."

"Ready to go hot, Dust?" Match asked his friend in a whisper. He checked his rifle, a Mark 14 EBR.

"You going auto?" Stardust asked as he checked his own weapon, identical to Match's.

"Nope."

"Alright. Sharpie, Comet, you two got the target."

"Fantastic," Sharpie grinned. His hooves rested on his SCAR-L, but they all knew he'd much rather get in the faces of the enemy. He was quick to pounce like that.

"Hey Cap," Comet spoke as he checked his L85A2 and a revolver, "Specter suggests we blow the wall if we want sniper support."

"No, let's not," Match answered. "Stay as quiet as we can."

"Negative, Specter, we'll handle it on our own," Stardust radioed. "Optics to magnetics, let's see what's inside," Stardust ordered.

"Just like they said," Comet noted. "Rebar in the walls, four Shockers standing guard in this small room. Door to the target is right past them. Breach?"

Stardust nodded and Sharp and Comet got to work placing special breaching devices. Instead of explosives, it used a pulse of magic to knock the door right out from under it. Relatively silent and efficient.

"Floor's awfully quiet for a general here," Sharp remarked.

"Likes his privacy," Stardust said as he positioned himself by the door. "This floor's sparse with guards, but floors above and below are crawling with them. Over this city block, an entire regiment. Don't want to wake that up."

"Because infiltrating the capital city is a good way to avoid that."

"Well, that regiment would be inside an entire building if we weren't in the capital, so take your pick."

"Okay, Cap, ready for breaching."

"Line up around the door. Mark your targets. Aim for headshots," Match told them. "Our subsonics might not pierce their body armor."

They all gave affirmatives and stacked around the door. In their optics, they marked their targets.

"Cap, on your call," Comet said, one hoof resting on a detonator.

"3... 2... 1... Blow it."

There was a solid thud as magic pulsed from the devices placed on the door. A split second later, the four pegasi peeked around the doorframe, quickly taking their shots.

Multiple shots hissed from their suppressed rifles, not taking chances with leaving any of the heavily armored griffons alive.

They rushed in, going up to the fallen griffons, and confirmed their kills.

"Nice and smooth, Arrowhead," Stardust said. "Specter, we're outside the suspected location of the target. Keep our backs clear."

:::::

“Ayeffirmative.” Orion watched the building. She quickly swapped the magazine for a fresh one, leaving not much to chance.

“Hey, Ri. Check out the ground,” Yelena whispered.

Orion looked over the lip of the building. This far away, even she could spot the problem immediately. “Who kicked the nest?”

The ground floor was swarming. Well, not really swarming, but four troop carriers was nothing to scoff at. The unit was disciplined, proceeding up the steps orderly but with intent.

“Stay quiet, they might just be here for something else.”

Lynx and Yelena stared at her.

“What? It’s possible!”

A heavily armed helicopter flew overhead, close enough to make their cover shiver.

“... Yeah you’re right. Call it in, I think we’ve been compromised. Ask them what they’ll have us do.”

:::::

“Arrowhead, accelerate the schedule. We have forty, count forty enemy troops headed possibly your way, and one armed helicopter. How engage?”

“Just leave us an exit.” Stardust kept watch over Comet as the other pegasus worked. “You heard the lady, get crackin’.”

“On it, Cap.”

“Are we still taking a prisoner?” Sharp asked.

“Well take care of that when we get there,” Stardust answered. “Right now, we go according to plan.”

“Breaching device set, Captain,” Comet notified them.

“You two are up. Me and Match are right behind you.” The four assembled around the door once more. “Do it.”

The door was kicked from its hinges and Sharp scrambled in first. As expected, the lone griffon inside didn’t even see it coming. The first strike was to his chest, the second to his head. The griffon was dazed, allowing Sharp to grab a hold of him. “Comet!”

The second pegasus, who had followed behind closely, drew his revolver and fired at the griffon. There was no report of a gunshot—it was loaded with special non-lethal rounds. Instead, on contact, the griffon fell limp, but remained conscious.

Stardust walked up to him. “Good evening, general. I think you have an idea what we’re here for.” The pegasus walked past the griffon, hearing a mumbled reply. “Match, you deal with this guy. Sharpie, Comet, sweep the room. We’re short on time.”

The room contained scattered files, maps, and all sorts of items that were definitely not for Equestrian eyes. “Specter, by any chance, is there anything in particular you want from this goon? Because it’s a gold mine, and we only have enough time for a few nuggets.”

:::::

“Negative, no particular.” Orion grunted as the heavy bolt cycled. Both her and Lynx had be pilling bullets into targets. Already, two of the four transports were on fire, shots from the XM500 igniting their engine blocks. “Suggest take photos of everything and let intel sieve later.”

“Disable the lifts!”

“Gotcha.” Orion lifted her rifle, sighting in on the motor winches at the top of the building, highlighted by Yelena. Her rounds punched straight through, destroying them.

“Lift lobby, 38th floor,” Lynx reported calmly as her L115A5 chuffed, making another bloody spray. “They’re proceeding on claw, some have taken flight.”

“Check the chopper?”

Yelena swiveled. “Circling. I don’t think it can open fire without causing collateral damage.”

“Yet. They won’t take this lying down...”

:::::

“Already on it,” Comet said. He was already busy with a camera scanning through documents even before the suggestion came through.

“Match?” Stardust called.

“Griffon won’t talk,” his friend replied. “We don’t have time for him.”

“Let’s look through the room. Go through drawers. Filing cabinets. Just take something that looks important.”

“I love working without any prior intelligence…” Sharp remarked.

Stardust went over to the desk over to the side. Lavishly furnished, he noted. Rummaging through the drawers, he didn’t find much, but he did find a metal box that might have been of interest. He took that with him.

There was a cabinet drawer on the bottom of the desk. Locked. Deciding there was no time for any fanciful unlocking, he took his rifle and shot through the hinges.

“Cap, they’re getting close,” Comet said. “Think they’ll find that hole in the window we cut?”

“Let’s not take chances.” Stardust grabbed whatever was in the locked drawer and ran back to his team. “Pick this guy up.”

Sharp tried to make an objection, but could think of nothing to say. So he just did as ordered and slumped the angry yet motionless griffon on his back.

“You doing what I think you’re doing?” Match asked.

“Probably,” Stardust answered.

“Why don’t we just do it ourselves?”

“Ah, he deserves more than that. We ready to make an exit?”

The others gave affirmatives.

“Specter, is our exit clear? Is our entrance compromised or is it still viable for exit?”

:::::

“Affirmative, they’re coming up the stairs though.” Orion reloaded. “Your concern will be the chopper, he’s patrolling your airspace. Recommend using elevator shaft to cover escape to roof, then fly vertically upwards into the clouds. Rendezvous at exfil location Echo.”

“The midair one?”

“Why not, we are all pegasi, aren’t we?” Orion disengaged her rifle. “Pack up the non-essentials, let’s prep to move.”

Yelena snapped the recovery beacon, setting it to Echo. It sent a ultra-low frequency burst back to the Innocence.

:::::

“Hold up a bit, Specter, we got one more request from you.”

The four were scrambling back towards their exit, griffon general with them. They could hear the wind and rain from outside—they were getting close. One more turn of a corner and it was a straight run.

Stardust signaled for them to halt, then motioned for Sharp to drop the general on the hard surface of the cut out circle of glass.

With an audible grunt, the general was unceremoniously dropped. Stardust leaned down to him. “See this, general? This was our entrance. It’ll be your exit as well unless you decide to tell us something important.”

“I will die loyal to my country, with no regret,” the griffon muttered.

Stardust shrugged. “Well, it was worth a try. Prop him up against the hole.”

“With pleasure,” Match grinned, knowing exactly what was coming. “Come on, you fat fuck.”

They caught a glimpse of the griffon’s eyes going wide from surprise, but he kept his beak shut. His expression turned to pain as his neck was dropped onto the bottom of the circular hole. He gave more sounds of discomfort as he was still paralyzed.

“Specter, if you’re still there, target marked. Arrowhead, let’s make our exit.”

They ran off towards the elevator shafts, leaving the griffon to fate.

“That was your plan, Captain?” Sharp asked.

“That’s right, Lieutenant,” Stardust answered. “We’ll let him live in fear, confusion, and uncertainty for the last few moments of his life.”

“Specter was packing up. You sure we should’ve done that?”

“Come on, Sharpie, I don’t think you’re giving other services enough credit. We all want these fuckin’ griffons dead. They’ll make it happen.”

They reached the elevators. Stardust and Match pried one of the doors open and the team promptly flew in. “Think we’ll encounter any resistance, Cap?” Comet asked.

“I’d like to ask you your gut feeling on that, 2nd Lieutenant Crosser. We’re all Scouts here; you tell me.”

“You two Captains are the vets,” Comet said. “Experience to make that judgment.”

“Well here’s something. This is the griffon capital. Let’s not underestimate them. Always expect the worst.”

:::::

“Lynx. Execute.” The L115A5 chuffed once. Once was enough.

“Specter is disengaging and exfiltrating.” Orion hefted the XM500, taking flight.

:::::

The four pegasi broke through to the roof. “Clear shot up. Let’s gain some distance from this place.”

However, as they looked up, they knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

:::::

“How’s the skies look like?” Orion asked over the heavy rain. The three had began a steady and slow climb upwards.

“We’re in the clear.” Yelena scanned the clouds. “Arrowhead...”

Orion looked over.

A squadron of Griffon was descending from the cloud cover to engage the ponies. Below them, the chopper was alerted, heading upwards quickly.

“Specter, set up.” Orion hovered midair.

“You sure? The recoil...”

Orion hugged the XM500. “We’ll have to deal with it. They aren’t going to make it with a squadron on top and a chopper below.”

:::::

“Switch to aerial. We’re engaging.”

Their optics switched overlay modes to aerial, ready to assist them in combat.

“Cap, we got a helo on our ass,” Comet remarked.

“No shit,” Match replied.

“Let’s make quick work of these griffons,” Stardust ordered. “Sidearms out, weapons free.”

“Captain,” Sharp said, “Do these griffons have flight equipment?”

“Magnetics say they do,” Stardust replied. As he did, bullets whistled past him. “They’re engaging!”

One was headed straight for him, visible only through the optic. Timing it perfectly, he flipped himself as the griffon came upon him, drew his knife, and expertly slashed at his assailant. The griffon made no effort to recover.

“Okay, splash one.”

The four pegasi kept up the twisting fight, both against each other and the weather. It was a dogfight, fought by pegasi and griffons in the midst of a storm. Three-dimensional fighting was an art to be mastered, and the pegasi were trained in said art much better than the griffons. With an effective combination of both ground tactics and aerial combat tactics, the four pegasi held off the more numerous griffons.

Over the course of barely two minutes, the Equestrians turned the fight in their favor.

“Arrowhead, ammo check,” Stardust radioed.

“Three mags left,” Match answered.

“Two full,” Sharp said.

“Hell, I’ve got one in my gun and one in reserve before I’m winchester, Cap,” Comet said.

“I see you coming below me,” Match said. “Catch.”

A single magazine for their pistol was dropped through the cloud, right where Comet was flying towards. “Thanks Captain. Griffons regrouping?”

“We should too,” Stardust said. “Helo’s nearly here. We can’t run—guns will cut us down.”

“So we stand and fight off at least six griffons and a helo?”

“Yeah,” Match said. “It’ll be fun. We brought grenades, right?”

:::::

“Six Griffons, one helo,” Yelena confirmed.

Orion pulled the trigger. The XM500 recoiled, knocking her back a distance. She recovered in time to see a dead Griffon spiral down.

Lynx’s L115A5 had less recoil, and she stayed roughly in position as the rifle chuffed. However, less recoil meant less power. “Damn it, missed the target.”

“Lynx, you got the Griffons.” Orion spun upside down, pointing downwards. “Yelena, scan the helo, give me things to shoot!”

Immediately the outline lit up. Orion wasted no time as she sighted in and pulled the trigger. The first shell pinged off the armored hull of the helo. Readjusting, the second burst through the canopy, embedding itself in between the legs of the pilot.

“Last bullet,” Orion grunted, keeping the rifle steady.

The trigger clicked, launching the round. It spiraled through the air, on course…

The bullet slammed into the rotor mast, ricocheting and entering the engine on its way out. immediately, the helo started whining. Not a kill, but it’ll buy some time.

“Keep heading upwards,” Orion ordered. The trio restarted their steady climb upwards, disappearing into the clouds not long after.

:::::

“Looks like Specter’s just given us some last support.”

“Come on,” Stardust told his team, “Let’s clean this up. Griffons first, then the helo.”

They tracked the griffons as they flew around, making themselves hard targets. “Match, if you don’t mind, now would be a good time to do your stuff.”

“Keep ‘em occupied,” Match said. “And off me would be nice.” He split off from the group, presumably to perch himself on a cloud.

“You heard him—we’re playing bait.”

They flew off in a different direction, and quickly, the griffons latched on.

Stardust was the lucky one to get two on his tail. As he flew, gunfire pierced the air. He knew they were both shooting at him. But he did wish they had tracers to make it easier to tell. “Match…”

“One down.”

Stardust looked back to find one griffon gone. Taking matters into his own hooves, he spun fully and closed his wings, dropping. It was slightly awkward to pull out the rifle into firing position, but when the sights were trained onto the target, he pulled the trigger.

A burst of fire erupted as the marker in the optics passed through the gunsight. The griffon began losing altitude. “Alright, splash one. Comet, Sharpie, how are you two?”

“Captain Grade’s already done.”

“Nice work, Match.” He waited for a response. “Match?”

“Yeah, one big problem here!”

In his friend’s direction was the chopper.

“Hold on, we’re coming!” Stardust barely reached their position when one of its engines burst into flames and shrapnel. ”Shit!”

Match flew up next to him. “Damn. Too fucking close. The hell happened tho—wait—is that—“

“Dammit, dammit, dammit, fffuuuuu—“

“Comet!”

They sped towards the falling marker. But again, they were beaten by someone else. Sharp flew back up to them, carrying a pained Comet.

“2nd Lieutenant, what happened?” Stardust asked the blue pegasus.

Comet winced in pain. “Well, it turns out trying to surprise attack a helo while it’s shooting isn’t smart. Least it sucked in the grenade.”

“Wounds?”

“I’m a lucky stallion, Cap. 20 millimeter hole in my wing, couple of shrapnel. ‘Bout it. Can’t fly, as you might’ve saw. Nerves must be shocked.

“Alright, soldier, let’s get out of here.”

:::::

The clouds lit up periodically, as lightning flashed. Within that white light, a set of red and green flashed and two white circles hovered in the air.

Orion crouched at the ramp of the hovering V-22 Osprey, keeping a trained eye out for Arrowhead. Inside the craft, Yelena and Lynx were repacking and cleaning the rifles.

“Captain, we can’t hang around much longer. The weather is clearing up, and we need to keep inside cloud cover.”

“Give Arrowhead a couple more minutes," Orion answered the pilot, who shrugged and waited. “They’re either coming, or dead.”

:::::

“Extraction, 2 klicks out,” Sharp noted.

“They’re waiting on us,” Stardust said. “Comet, you still awake?”

“Not dead, Cap,” the pegasus in question replied.

“Don’t be lying about what your ARCANE diagnosis says.”

“Hole in my wing, and a couple of shrapnel. Promise I’m not dying.”

“We’re almost there. Match, how about you get over there and tell them our situation.”

“On it.” Match sped ahead and headed for the V-22.

:::::

“There.” Orion watched the blue dot resolve itself.

The stallion alighted cleanly on the ramp, “We’ve got one wounded. Should be about 1 klick out.”

“Then we better get moving,” Orion answered, watching the remaining dots come out through the clouds.

Stardust landed on the open ramp first. After quickly shaking the rain from his mane and wings, he turned to assist getting Comet down. “Someone get us a medkit. Sharp, check up on his wounds, see that they’re really not critical.”

“Yes, sir.”

Meanwhile, he walked up to Match. “Thanks for getting over here.”

Match shrugged. “Wasn’t much. You want me to deal with Comet while you go and debrief with Specter?”

Stardust mulled it over. “Alright. Get me all the things we looted.”

:::::

The half-hour ride back out to sea was uneventful. Orion leaned out the door, looking for the landing lights on the pitch-black ocean.

“1 o’clock. Put us down, pilot.”

The Osprey came in, landing on the dark rear deck of the ship. Immediately, the floor began lowering itself, dropping the helo into the cavernous hangar bay of the Innocence Eternal. A roof slid into place, sealing the ship up once again.

Orion grabbed her rifle kit and left the Osprey, sliding past a bunch of medical personnel. The three of them disappeared into one of the many doorways leading to the hanger, entering the warship proper.

They moved in the general direction of their bunks. It wasn’t very far, but with the ponies moving around the tight confines, a five minute stroll became a fifteen minutes hassle. Finally, they reached their individual bunks.

Orion was closing the door when a cyan hoof stopped her.

“Yes, Yelena?”

“The eggheads will be looking at the intel, so debrief at 0800 hours tomorrow. Conference room C. Don’t be late," the cyan mare grinned, bringing up an old incident. Orion smiled back, show a bit more teeth than usual, before closing her door fully.

“Another day, another mission.” The XM500 went into the small armory cupboard, joining a small arsenal of other weapons. Orion quickly stripped down out of her fatigues, tossing the wet uniform onto the floor. Decorum suggested putting something simple on, but she couldn’t be bothered. Orion sprawled out on the small bed, closing her eyes.

The subsonic thrum of the ship’s engines quickly lulled her to sleep.

:::::

Stardust and Match left the hangar deck. Sharp had offered to accompany Comet on the way to the medical center, reasoning that the captains needed the rest more than him.

"Hey Match, you know what we forgot this time?" Stardust said, wearily.

"What?"

Stardust ran a hoof through his dark grey spiked back mane. "Our hats. We fuckin' forgot our hats."

Match just smiled. "Dammit, we did forget our boonies. The rain didn't forget to come though."

"Always the damn rain."

The two tired stallions walked down the corridors to the section reserved for their unit. "Notices for mission debriefs will be posted."

"Yeah. Get up early and get to where we need to be."

The two neared their rooms. Somehow, the ship had enough space for the luxury of separate accommodations. Small ones, but personal nonetheless and with just enough space to work.

Stardust sluggishly opened the door to his, the metal door creaking on its hinges. "'Night, Match," he told his gunmetal gray friend entering the room besides his.

"'Night, buddy."

With a tired sigh, Stardust stepped into his and closed the door. There was the bunk off in the back, a few drawers and cabinets to the left side, and a sizable desk to the right. The grey pegasus dropped into the seat by the desk.

The Mk14 EBR was the first to go on the desk. It clattered down, and he made quick work of inspecting it and prepping it for storage in the locker across the desk behind him. Sidearm was next. He threw off his combat gear and left it out on the ground to dry.

Finally, he was left with his pack. Although he was incredibly tired, he was still curious as to what he might have found.

The first was the metal box from the desk. He cracked it open, finding three memory cards inside; however, there were slots for four. He dumped the contents, searching the inside of the box more. Underneath the foam padding that protected the cards were a few notes. Preferring not to process any of it, he put it all back in and left it for tomorrow.

Still curious, he checked to see what else he got, much of it from the locked cabinet. Among the various items, there was another metal tin, larger in size. Opening it, he found cigars.

"You know what? I'll end my day on that." Closing the tin, he went over to his bunk and rolled on.

No Rest [2]

No Rest For the Weary

[2]-[Chapter Title]

Script Version

Note: ‘Zebratown’ is used here.

No Rest For the Weary

< 2 >

Orion was up before the sun rose. In her experience, the breakfast queue was always short at that time.

“Morning, Captain,” the chef greeted her as she entered the mess. “Late night?”

“You bet.” Orion collected the offered tray, before moving to a table to eat. She buried her muzzle in the pancakes, savouring the fluffy texture, knowing full well that it was likely she would be away from the ship and these pancakes for a extended period.

“Hey. You’re up early.” Lynx slid into the opposite bench, wearing her trademark pink and blue headphones around her neck. The form fitting sweatshirt she wore showed evidence of running.

“Surprising.” Yelena dropped in as well.

Orion finished the pancakes, picking up the apple. “Well, you know how Bastion is.” She pointed at Lynx with the apple. “No less than perfection, ladies,” Orion growled, doing her best impersonation of the CO.

Lynx giggled into her juice packet. Yelena just rolled her eyes.

“In any case, we’ve got maybe two hours? Wanna run?”

Orion shrugged. “Why not? Let me get changed, meet you in the gym.”

A shrill bell went off.

“Critical mission brief for Team Arrowhead and Team Specter in Conference Room C. Report immediately. This is not a drill.”

Orion, Yelena and Lynx looked at each other.

Lynx broke the silence, voicing what was on their minds. “That can’t be good.”

The door flew open as the three mares raced out of the mess hall. Ponies pressed themselves against the walls as they galloped past, headed for their bunks.

Orion burst into her room. Instantly, she flung open her cupboard, pulling on a fresh set of fatigues. A combat vest slung into position, and she loaded up on several .45 ACP magazines for her Vector SMG. The XM500 case took its usual position on her back.

By the time she exited her room, Lynx and Yelena were around the corridor. A red light strip came alive, lighting the way ahead of the team and giving advance warning to any ponies in their way.

“Room A... B… C! Here!” Yelena skidded to a stop.

The door slid open effortlessly.

“Specter. Enter.” Bastion looked up. A grizzled pony pushing sixty years of age, Bastion was as good as commanders went. “We’re waiting for Arrowhead, but go ahead and start reading your files. This mission is going to be tough on both of you.”

“Beg pardon, sir, but can I ask about the other teams?”

“Valhalla and Caprice are running ops in the Northern and Southern section of Talos respectively. Exodus is critically wounded, in medbay. Foxtrot has not returned, presumed KIA.”

:::::

“Aw, for fuck’s sake, what now,” Stardust mumbled as he opened the door to the conference room. He carried no equipment with him, but he and Match smelled of a mix of a shower and cordite and lead.

“New day, new mission,” Match said.

The two grey pegasi stepped into the room, the three mares from yesterday already present. “The other two of our team should be here shortly.” Stardust kept walking towards the table. “So, are we still debriefing or is this critical enough that we’re just going to step into whatever this is?”

Just as he finished asking, the door opened behind them, revealing a white pegasus and a frustrated-looking blue pegasus.

“Lieutenant Skystreak, 2nd Lieutenant Crosser, let’s go. You didn’t miss anything yet. Comet, how’s your wing?”

Comet tested his right wing. “Bit sore, Cap, but they did enough to get me cleared for flight.”

“Sharpie?”

“He’ll be good to go, Captain. We flew a bit this morning to get ourselves woken up.” Sharp looked at the other three mares in the room slightly suspiciously. “So, shall we get started?”

“You got anything else to say, Lieutenant?”

Sharp paused. “No sir. Just wondering why us and not some other detachment, or some other team altogether.”

“It’s the price of kicking ass too effectively. Be proud of it.” Stardust turned his attention back to the rest. “Let’s get started then.”

Orion eyed Arrowhead Team. It wasn’t the fact that they didn’t know each other, all teams were bound to rub against each other sooner or later.

No, Orion just felt like the Stallions across the room were… Different.

In a bad way.

“Alright teams.” The projector spun up. “Your mission yesterday was a success. You got us the intel we needed. However, that intel is nothing but damning.”

A couple of images flashed onto the screen. Orion ran a trained eye over the contents.

“Maps?” She whispered. “Canterlot, Ponyville, Stalliongrad, Cloudsdale...”

“Check out the list,” Yelena whispered back. “Shipment plans.”

“I don’t like this...” Lynx shivered. The other two mares looked at each other with a worried expression. When Lynx shivers, something bad was going on.

“The intel you recovered mentions the word ‘HYDRA’ several times, too many to be insignificant. We believe that this HYDRA is a weapon of sorts, and this correlates with the maps and timetables recorded by 2nd Lieutenant Crosser. However, this link is unconfirmed, as well as the nature of HYDRA.”

Another click. A new slide.

“The last frame captured some information about the possible storage locations of HYDRA. We’ve already had Valhalla and Caprice toss two of the reported locations, though. No trace of anything resembling a weapon.”

Another click.

“This is your target and the last location we determined. The old GriFEx Stock Exchange. They’re storing the HYDRA in there, along with several other stockpiles of weapons. You need to infiltrate the region, find samples of HYDRA and any more intelligence concerning this weapon, and exfil cleanly.”

“Sir.”

Bastion turned. “Yes, Captain?”

“Do we need two teams?”

“The Stock Exchange is crawling with troops. Expect to meet more than Griffons this time.” The topic was closed, and Orion knew it. She sat down, crossing her hooves.

“Any questions?”

“What’s the region like?” Stardust asked. “What are we expecting? How are we planning to operate?”

“Or how loud should we expect to get?” Match asked.

“Close quarters, urban. Expect to see some dragons, smaller ones, possibly D.dogs. Keep your head on. Go loud if you need to, but your best bet is to stay quiet.”

“That’s just bloody fantastic,” Sharp grumbled.

“Someone missed his morning tea,” Stardust commented. “In any case, we stay silent, we reduce our problems.”

“Let’s get maps and floor plans up,” Comet suggested. “Get that into our heads now.”

The requested items were pulled up onto the screen and the four stallions studied them intently. After a minute of scanning, Stardust leaned back. “Alright. Oh—and something for the analysts.”

From a pocket, he pulled out the metal case from the night before. “Three memory cards, couple of notes inside.” He set it down on the table. “Now, when do we move out?”

“Sir, Specter team requesting usage of our Exos.” Orion asked.

“Basis?”

“We’ll be going in close with Dragons and D.dogs, sir. Our armor won’t take a hit from either. We need the extra mobility and offensive strength.”

Bastion considered it. “Alright. you’re clear. Head down and tech up. Arrowhead,” He turned to the stallions, “Time to go. I’ll have an Osprey on deck in fifteen minutes. Grab what you need and report.”

Orion gathered up her rifle, now depleted of its use, being a close combat situation. “Specters, machine room, stat.” They left the conference room in a hurry.

They took a fast route, dropping down staircases and ladderways into the bowels of the ship.

They entered a thick steel door, with the words ‘Specter’ laser etched into the surface. “Alright, suit up.”

The spindly metallic hydraulic struts slipped into place about Orion. A familiar weight settled on her back, the battery pack and onboard computer units, all compressed into a package not much bigger than a novel. Thin armor plating covered most of the vital areas, though those wouldn’t stop much.

“Loadout?” Lynx asked from across the room.

“Close range, grab one SMG and a shotgun each. I’ll take the SMAW, two of you decide who’s bringing the det charges and who’s holding the drone.” Orion hooked the metallic tube into place on her right, the HK CAWS and the Vector slipping neatly onto her right. The weight was substantial, but she comfortably carried the loadout. “Pack the unexpected loadout, we’re going in blind.”

She grabbed a gas mask, a respirator, small medpack, flares, anything that may come in useful later. This all entered the left saddlebag, whilst ammo and rockets sat in the right.

“Take the lift, we’ll avoid ponies.” Orion strapped down and jumped several times, ensuring the items were all not going to fall apart. The Exo hissed quietly, working its magic. Her last act was to slide down her visor, obscuring the top half of her face.

The open elevator groaned as it took the weight of three fully armed troops, bringing the team directly up into the hanger. “Hey, what do you think Arrow is packing?” Yelena leaned over.

“They were going quiet, but I don’t know,” Orion shrugged. “We taking the underwater route?”

“I guess so, we’ll have the Osprey drop us directly over the river, then we’ll swim in through the sewers and pop out in the basement, moving upwards and into the main trading hall.” The maps showed up in her HUD.

The lift ground to a stop. “Alright then.” The doors slid open and Orion stepped out. The Exo looked foreign, and some of the hangar crew turned and looked. Steel clinked against steel as the trio found their Osprey.

“Load up, Specters.” Orion settled into one of the drop seats. “Gonna be a long one.”

:::::

The four stallions set down the hall at a quickened pace. “Exos,” Comet commented. “Ain’t that great for them. So what’s our plan, Cap?”

“Still sticking to the shadows as much as we can. Sure, an exo would be great for your wing, but so is not getting shot at in the first place.”

“Gee… thaaanks.”

“You know the drill,” Stardust said casually. “Crosser, you’re on tech. Sharpie, we don’t know if we might go loud. You’re on demo and weapons. Match, you know what you’re doing.”

“Anything special you want us to bring?” Sharp asked.

“Since we’re going silent, CARDs," Stardust said, referring to their standard issue Cloaking Armed Reconnaissance Dress. "Specter goes loud, we can use that as a distraction.”

“So while they fight it out, we’re hiding away?” Sharp quipped.

“You know it isn’t like that, Lieutenant. You know how we fight. Brute force comes last. If you’re so inclined to go guns blazing though, you’re more than free to go ask to tag along with them.”

“I’ll decline the offer, thank you very much.”

“I want you all in the armory in two minutes,” Stardust said as he entered his room. Closing the door behind him, he gathered the mission essentials. Rifle, sidearm, whatever he had left the night before. It wasn’t exactly sticking to procedure, what they did last night, but what’s done was done.

Inside one of the closets was a uniform in what appeared to be plain urban camo. In fact, it was much more complex than that. Its fabric would provide them with active camouflage on a thought.

Stardust slipped it on and this time, remembered to bring along his boonie hat as well, also covered in active camo fabric. He picked up the head mounted optic from the previous night off his desk and left for the armory, having gotten everything he could from his quarters.

In the armory, he found Comet working on his equipment. “Cap, you want the mini-drone or not?”

“Bring it along,” Stardust said. “Never know if we’ll have to use it.”

“Sure thing.” The blue pegasus turned and searched for the item in the various storage around them.

Stardust went over to the table and placed his own equipment down. Glancing over at Comet’s gear, he found the pegasus’s usual L85A2, and around it, various attachments not yet attached. Next to it was a silver revolver. It was chambered for .357 Magnum, but the gun scarcely fired them. Because beside said revolver was a case filled with various non-lethal ammunition. Stun or sleep, to cover the general gist of the different ammo types.

Still scattered next to the weapons was the agreed-upon standard M1911. Nothing special of note. Laid down next to it was a small tablet, which was really Comet’s specialty on the team. He was their tech specialist, and they couldn’t ask for better.

And finally, dropped down next to it was a mini-drone. “Found it, Cap. Now to get this all packed up. You want me bringing along breachers?”

“If you’ve got room,” Stardust answered. “If not, leave it to Sharpie.”

“If so, how many grenades you want me hauling around?” Sharp asked, walking in. His SCAR-L gave a solid thunk as he placed it down on the table. “Rifle grenades, hoof grenades, how many?”

“As much as you can carry without getting bogged down, Lieutenant,” Stardust told him.

“Number I can carry without getting bogged down or without making noise?”

Stardust rolled his eyes. “Just get ready, Sharpie.”

The white pegasus began taking supplies from the supply cabinets. “You want a shotgun with me?”

“Might as well,” Stardust said as he himself grabbed grenades.

The door to the armory opened one more time. “Dusty, grab me a mid-range optic,” Match requested.

“Right here.” The requested optic was given.

“How much high-velocity you think we should bring?”

“Two-thirds,” Stardust answered. “We won’t need much subsonics. But we’ll need the HVs if we get into a firefight.”

“Fair enough.” Match also went back and grabbed a UMP and its suppressor. “What do you think Specter’s up to?”

“No clue. But at least it lightens our load, since I think they’re going to be carrying an armory.”

“Hey Cap,” Comet asked, “Did we grab anything telling us what HYDRA is? You know, just in case we can prepare in any way?”

“Can’t be sure. Could be nuclear, energy, or hell, it could be chemical. Maybe psychological.”

“Psychological?”

“Just throwing things out there.”

The four pegasi joined together at the table, finalizing their loadouts. Comet and Sharp put on helmets with a mounting point for their unified optics. Stardust and Match wore their own optics on supports, on top of which they placed their hats.

“Equipment check. Basic field kit?” All gave affirmatives.

“Specialized loadouts?” Again, all were ready.

“Check optics. Confirm data link.”

The four flipped their optics into position, hanging in front of their left eye. Comet checked their status. “Synchronized, Cap.”

“Alright. Check active camo.” A quick test proved that each one of theirs was working. Stardust flipped his optic back over to the left side of his head. “Arrowhead, ready?”

They all gave affirmatives.

“Let’s move out.”

:::::

The Osprey ride was uneventful, as usual.

“Cloak up, pilot.” The pilot reached over and toggled a switch, sending a charge through the photoreactive panels on the skin of the plane. They shimmered, and faded from view.

The Osprey came in fast, following the winding river. In the early morning, there were very little enemies out and about to notice the slight ripple on the water of the river, or the fact that a door seemed to open out of nowhere and release three ponies, before sealing up again.

Orion waited for the bubbles to dissipate, before looking around the murky river. The weight of her gear kept her on the riverbed, which was more of a boon than a hindrance.

Lynx tapped her shoulder, turning the party towards a particular tunnel. Even with the magnifying force of the Exos, walking was slow underwater.

Twenty minutes passed in the submerged tunnels. Their flashlights played over the smooth walls.

A shimmer of light. As one, the three crouched, moving even more slowly towards the opening. On a gesture, Orion surfaced slowly, looking around the dimly lit room. Seeing no resistance, she pulled herself up, gear and all.

“We’re under the Exchange, there should be an access ladder somewhere around here, that’ll leave us in the vehicle parking bay.”

The Vectors came out, clips checked and firing mechanisms reset. Orion flicked hers a few times, ridding it of excess water.

“Is somebody there?”

The three mares spun. Immediately, the SMGs barked, painting the inquisitive Griffon red.

“Move out, hurry.” Orion dragged the body in and dumped it into the sewer.

“Are we going in loud?”

“We’ll remain silent as long as possible.” The trio galloped down the tunnels. Quickly, they ran across the remainder of the Griffon patrol.

Orion tackled the middle one, bringing him down onto the hard floor and unloading into his face. Behind her, Lynx gutted her target, while Yelena rose off the bloody floor.

The ladder wasn’t hard to find. As Orion scaled the structure, she swapped out for the CAWS. The ladder dumped them, as promised, inside the vehicle bay, in one corner behind a Transport. Orion lay down under the Transport and paused.

“Yelena, send up the drone and take a look around.” Orion heard the sound of the hoofball sized robot taking off, before fading from view and going silent. “This is Specter. We’re inside the target building. How copy Arrowhead?”

:::::

The four stallions watched as the mares made their leap into the water. “Certainly not the fastest way in,” Sharp commented.

“Well, mares do like getting wet,” Stardust joked as the Osprey lurched to take them to their own drop point.

“And we like it fast and straight in,” Match said, eliciting grins or eye rolls while he kept a straight face.

Stardust stood. “That being the case, ready up. We drop in two minutes.”

The cloaked Osprey gained altitude as it flew closer to the stock exchange. “Prepare for drop, 10 seconds.”

As the message came through from the intercom, the ramp dropped down. “Arrowhead, 5 seconds! Camo on! Expect contacts on the roof!” Stardust told his team. Their bodies shimmered as their camo activated.

They ran off the ramp, wings closed. The stock exchange was marked in their vision and they began tallying the griffons waiting up top.

“Dusty, tally four MG nests, two triple-A positions, and a few other positions,” Match noted over the radio.

“Do not engage. Weapons tight. We want a silent entry. Sneak past ‘em.”

“200 meters from the roof,” Sharp said.

“Soft landing,” Stardust commanded. “Drop near the stairwell. Careful—two guards.” They flared their wings, allowing themselves to slow down and land lightly on the roof.

“What do we do, Cap?” Comet asked.

“You and me, Comet. I brought my own tranq rounds. Load short-term effect.” Stardust unholstered his own dulled black Redhawk, popping the cylinder open and checking that he had already loaded the specified ammunition type. “Line up for shots.”

The younger pegasus positioned himself next to his commander and aimed on the target Stardust didn’t. “On you, Cap.”

“Fire.” The revolvers hissed and immediately, the two griffons dropped. The team approached the fallen griffons cautiously. Checking the two, they confirmed they were knocked out and took the darts from their necks. “They’re the lucky ones today. Live another day and have no memory of being knocked out. Hopefully no one notices them dozing off for a five minute power nap.”

The door to the stairwell opened easily enough and the stallions slipped in. They deactivated their camo while they paused their movements.

“Hey, Cap, if you give me a moment, I can hack into their comms,” Comet said.

Stardust nodded. “Do it. Alright—let’s figure out our next move.”

“Weapons storage is likely in the trading floor,” Match said.

“We could also look through other rooms to gather intel,” Sharp suggested. “It’s our job, after all.”

“Specter entered through a subsurface route,” Stardust noted. “They might be closer to the main floor than we are unless we book it down there.”

“The question here, Captain Rapture,” Sharp said, “Is do you trust Specter to do the job right?”

“100 bits you wouldn’t last a night with one of them,” Comet quipped.

Sharp turned to the tech specialist, still tapping away at his tablet. “The fuck, Crosser?”

“You’re the one that seems intimidated by them. Or something. Want me to raise the wager?”

“Put some faith into them Lieutenant,” Match said. “We’re all spooks here. Once we get back radio contact, we’ll work it out.”

“Sharpie’s night endeavors aside, we should get moving shortly,” Stardust said. “Comet, how’s the comms going?”

“I’m in.” With a final motion of Comet’s hooves, griffon radio feeds started coming through their earpieces.

“How are we on time?” Stardust asked.

“Specter hasn’t reported in yet,” Match replied. “Seven minutes since their drop.”

“Okay. We got time, but we need a floor plan. Can’t waste our time aimlessly wandering looking for intel.”

“And where do we find one?”

“Well, griffons made this place a makeshift warehouse. They’ve got to have management somewhere. And management is probably in one of the largest possible rooms.”

“Fourth floor,” Sharp said. “Got a conference room and banks of computers right across the hall.”

Stardust inspected the map in his vision. “It’s just asking for trouble. If we go down there, we need to commit ourselves to a larger task.”

“Recon the area, see if we could get a layout of the stockpiles,” Match said.

“Sounds good. Let’s get on it while Specter gets over here. Camo up.” The four stallions had made their way down to the fourth floor undetected. The stairwell, fortunately, opened into a nondescript hallway. Carefully opening the door, Stardust peeked out. Finding no griffons in sight, he slipped out, the rest following.

“Down this hallway, make a right,” Sharp instructed.

“Noted.” Stardust lead them down the hallway, hoofsteps barely audible. However, as they neared a corner, they heard voices approaching. Switching his single optic to magnetics, he found two guards coming closer.

“Dusty, what do we do? Take ‘em out?” Match asked. Stardust unsheathed his knife, and Match took it as a signal to do the same. While Stardust hugged the corner, Match crouched in the middle to get a better angle on the farther guard.

As the two griffons passed the corner, Stardust took his target down on his side while Match tackled the other to the other corner, knife plunging at the same time.

“This is Specter. We’re inside the target building. How copy Arrowhead?”

“Tad bit later than us to the party, Specter,” Stardust answered as he dragged the body down the hallway, planning to hide it in a room or closet.

“Dusty, don’t forget to search these guys,” Match reminded him.

“We’re near the trading floor and presumed center of operations,” Stardust said as he rummaged through the griffon’s items. “Your location?”

:::::

“Looks like the supply garage. Only one lift, and one ramp.” Orion fiddled with the controls, sending the drone up and over the truck. Immediately, enemies lit up on the LCD screen. “Will secure exfiltration options while we’re here.”

“Short range jammer is up. They can’t squawk.”

The drone was equipped with a fifty calibre long rifle, which Orion proceeded to use to blow the brains out of several of the Griffons.

“Go loud, ladies.” She sprang up, spraying with the CAWS. Lead buckshot rained down on the unsuspecting guards, and coming from three CAWSs, there wasn’t much left of those who didn’t manage to take cover.

A leap carried the mare over behind another truck, giving her opportunities to flank. The shotgun clicked on empty, and Orion reloaded quickly.

Without radios to coordinate the defense or call for help, and under the combined and suppressive fire from three different directions, the defenders fell one by one. The last Griffon turned and tried to flee, realising that his comms were not working.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Orion threw her knife, strength compounded by the Exo, lodging it right in the spinal column of the retreating Griffon.

The garage fell silent.

Orion scanned the large room one last time, hoof on the trigger.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Confirmed. Clear.”

“Yelena, find transport. Lynx, on me.” Orion reloaded her shotgun, moving swiftly to the elevator doors. The thin aluminium doors were puckered with bullet holes and splattered with blood, but the carriage still worked.

“Found a Humvee, it’s working and there’s a large gun mounted on top.”

“Bring it over to the elevator, then stack up.” Orion fixed a package to the ceiling, a small one barely bigger than a soda can.

With a rumble, the four wheeled vehicle reversed up to the door, to the left of Orion. Yelena hopped out, and the three piled into the lift.

Orion punched the button for the first floor. “This’ll dump us out in a service corridor that has a section of shared wall with the main Exchange room, where HYDRA should be.”

“Alright then.” Orion pulled out her Vector. “Do you think there’ll be enemies?”

“Unlikely. This is just a service corridor. They’re much more likely to be in the main room and all other corridors. Arrowhead will definitely see more.”

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Lynx went first, sweeping left and eyeballing the long empty corridor. Pallets were arranged neatly, their contents covered in packing film. Yelena executed the lights, plunging the corridor into darkness.

“We’ll wait for Arrowhead here.” Orion set up, lying down on the floor behind a pallet with her gun trained on the far corner. “Check your Exos.”

“Enough juice for a few more hours,” Lynx echoed out, looking at the readouts.

“We’ll only get in their way if we burst in guns blazing," Orion whispered. "Let them find any intel, then HYDRA. We’ll be their exfil plan.”

“Gonna be a long while.” Yelena rummaged around in her pack, pulling out a packet of oats.

No Rest [3]

No Rest For the Weary

[3]-[Chapter Title]

Script Version

Note: ‘Zebratown’ is used here.

No Rest For the Weary

< 3 >

“Cap, I don’t know how you expect us to get to the nerve center of this place,” Comet said. “It might be early in the morning, but there’s already going to be too damn many.”

“Unless we kill our way through, of course,” Sharp suggested.

“Don’t want to kick the hornet’s nest while we’re in the nest,” Stardust said. “Comet, you sure about how many griffons are already milling about?

“Cap, we turn this next hallway ahead of us, and we can make it to a hallway overlooking the trading floor. We can make our judgements from there.”

“Good enough.” They turned the next corner, also devoid of any griffons. “Let’s take a look.”

At the end of the hallway, they could see windows. And outside the windows, they found what they expected to be the upper walls of the trading floor below. Stardust peeked around the corner. “Two contacts, thirty-five meters, moving away. We’re clear.”

The pegasi slipped over to the window. Down below them were banks of screens, numerous, numerous desks, and what could only be described as a warehouse where there was space.

“Shit, Cap, we’re going to need to find something telling us what’s where if we’re going to get anywhere.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Are the crates marked?”

“Might have some shipping papers attached to some of them,” Match said. “Not going to do us any good up here.”

“If we make our way through the griffons fast enough, we might be able to get to the operations center, get down there, and exfil before they realize something’s up,” Sharp said.

“Not that many griffons up right now. Most are probably asleep.”

“Well…” Stardust considered. “Ain’t exactly a ghost town, but it’ll have to do. Arrowhead, make a course for the operations center. Weapons free.”

The four set off at a quickened pace down the hall, headed for their original destination. As they passed one intersecting hallway, a griffon was walking down it, barely twenty meters away. They passed in front undetected. “Sharpie, watch our six. That bird gets too close, execute.”

“Copy.”

The four kept up the pace to the hallway intersecting theirs and passing by the back wall of the trading floor. There was the sound of a suppressed round firing and a bolt cycling. “Target neutralized.”

A quick check back revealed the griffon bleeding out on the floor. They reached the corner without any further distractions. “Place is starting to wake up,” Stardust noted. “Everyone get in firing positions, we’re making lots of shots here.”

“It won’t take long for one to stumble over a hall of dead bodies,” Match said.

“Then we get in and out quick,” Stardust said. “By the time they notice, we’re making our way to the trading floor.”

“They’ll be on alert for our entire time here.”

“It wasn’t going to matter anyways,” Comet said. “Griffons just noticed there might be something suspicious going on in the basement levels,” he said, listening to the enemy comms.

“We’ll make this quick then.” Stardust peeked into the hallway again. “Group of three, over there. Mark and execute.”

Within four seconds, the command was carried out. Turning the other way, there were much more griffons. “Just kill ‘em all.”

Their rifles began spitting bullets, each one catching a griffon. Some tried to scream for help, and they might have gotten it off. But within twenty seconds, the hall was cleared. “Let’s go, let’s go! Operations center on the right, middle of this hallway.”

“Cap, comms just got busy. We kicked the nest.”

“Let’s get out of this area fast then.” They came upon the conference room. “Magnetics shows seven griffons, two dogs, and… that’s a dragon.”

“Make these shots count,” Match simply said.

“Door’s not reinforced,” Sharp said. “Breach?”

“Stack up. Sharpie, get the door down.”

“Aye, Captain.” The three others positioned themselves around the door. Sharp flew into the door, bringing it down with his weight. Immediately, the other three poured in, executing the surprised targets. Care was taken to get the dogs and dragons with shots to the head.

Stardust looked around. “Alright, we’re in.” The room was filled with various computers and documents. “Comet, can you get anything from here?”

“Can hack into their computers. See what I can get.”

“Do it. Match, search these corpses. Especially the dogs and dragon. Let’s see if they know what’s up. Sharp, guard outside. Kill anything that gets close. I’ll look through and see what they have out right now. Get to it.”

While he rummaged through the various documents, he radioed it in. “Specter, Arrowhead, we’ve broken into their operations center and we’re searching for intel and seeing if there’s a map of the shipments below. We’ve intercepted comms and they might be onto your position. What’s your status?”

:::::

“Sleeping tightly,” Orion radioed back, keeping an eye on the corridor. So far, no enemies had bothered to investigate, but Orion had the feeling that was about to change.

“Drones away.” Yelena handed Orion a control. Lynx kept her Vector trained down the hallway.

The drone flew down the hallway, fading from view.

“Ventilation shaft?”

“Big enough.”

The .50 made short work of the grille, allowing the drone to sail through into the tunnel beyond.

Orion reorientated the drone. Flying it along the shaft was hard enough, the wings frequently scraping the walls.

“Left at this fork, and another right.”

The drone dipped, following directions. It emerged overlooking the trading room.

“Arrowhead, there are enemy troops headed your way from the trading room,” Orion reported, watching the ghostly white figures pass through the doors at the opposite end of the room. “Pick up the pace. Grab your intel, head down and find HYDRA. Give us the signal once you’ve found a sample.”

Yelena pulled out a PDA. “The barracks is swarming, Arrowhead.” The live satellite feed wasn’t assuring. “We’ve got ten minutes, tops, ‘fore they swarm us.”

:::::

“That’s just great,” Sharp grumbled.

“Comet, no time for window shopping. We need something telling us where those shipments are.”

“Just go it, Cap.” An image was pulled into their optics. “They’re sectioned by desks. Pick any from those farthest ones to the middle.” He motioned to the window.

“Those crates all HYDRA?”

“According to this, sir.”

“Match, you get anything off them?”

“Just that it’s apparently secret enough that even they don’t know,” Match said. “Orders are basically ‘handle with care’. Not even explained.”

“Well, I’m guessing they’re not too happy about that either. Sharpie, we clear to move out?”

“Aye, Captain,” the lieutenant said. “Hall’s still clear.”

Stardust grabbed what documents were spread out, finding nothing that revealed the nature of the weapon. “Comet, grab what you got from the database. We’re leaving.”

“Already done, Cap.”

The four made their exit. They ran for the hallway and stairwell from which they entered the floor. “Contacts, up ahead,” Match whispered.

Their camo kept them hidden from the eyes of the unobservant griffons. “Execute.”

Quick work was made of the enemy squad, allowing them a clear path to the stairs down. “Cap, some shipments should be right out of the stairwell.”

“Noted.” As fast as they could, they made it down to the trading floor. “Guards are all around. MG nests in various desks.”

“We have to get one of the crates open,” Match said.

Sharp scoffed. “Bloody hell, we don’t even know what’s in the damn things.”

“We’re gonna have to find out.” Stardust lead them through the shipments, finding a spot in the middle. On the crate next to them, a label informed them that it was their objective. “Sharpie, Comet, get that crate open. Match, we’re covering.”

Sharp motioned for Comet to get over next to him. “Knives. Cut shallow.”

They took out their knives. The blades began glowing with magic, allowing faster cuts through the wood. Meanwhile, the two captains rested their rifles on surrounding crates. The desk near them was empty, but another one slightly farther away had an MG position.

“Shit, Dusty, look up front.” Where Match was looking, squads of griffons were assembling.

“They’re going to sweep the area,” Comet said while he worked. “Their comms are frantic.”

“You two almost through?” Stardust asked.

“Just now,” Sharp said as he lifted the lid off. “It’s a metal box, Captain. Magnetics won’t let us see through it.”

“How does it open?”

“Might be a latch on the side,” Comet said as he started cutting the side of the crate.

“Make it quick.” The two captains kept their rifles pointed at the approaching griffons.

:::::

“They’re playing with fire in there,” Orion murmured, maneuvering the drone into a better position.

Suddenly, something caught Orion’s eye. The drone twitched, zooming in. A particularly well-muscled Griffon barged past the assembled ranks, followed by a well-armored D.dog.

The onboard programming began to match the faces. Orion waited as hundreds of known Griffons were compared.

The console beeped. A match.

“Oh shit,” Orion breathed, as she stared at the glowing red words. “Trouble.”

“Who is he?”

“Spec ops spook. Gregor. ‘The Light’.” Orion watched Gregor pull something roughly off the harness of one of the assembled soldiers.

The pin flew out and the grenade skittered into the room.

Orion spotted the blue band. “Shit, EMP!”

:::::

Stardust spotted the grenade go out. There was nothing they could do as their optics fizzled out and their camo dropped. “Oh shit.”

He looked up back to the operations center, where griffons were setting up, clearly noticing them. “Bigger oh shit.”

He flipped the optic out of his eye’s way, as the others had already done. Although they no longer had a synced data feed, they still had their ARCANEs to pick up the slack on everything else.

“Dusty, we gotta cover for them. Comet, how much longer?”

“Trying to find the right side of the crate, Cap…”

“Okay, Match, who first?” Stardust asked as they unscrewed suppressors.

“Windows.”

“Going loud on your shot.”

Match aimed in on the window. “Fire.”

Gunfire erupted from the floor, and the fight had begun. Bullets impacted the crates, sending splinters around them. “We’re gonna get surrounded here, Match. I’m not too keen with the idea of throwing explosives in a room full of weapons.”

“Specter, we need a minute. Give us a distraction.”

:::::

“Aye, distraction it is!” Orion stood up. Her CAWS clicked. Orion rose up to two hooves.

“There’s an MG nest right behind this wall,” Lynx reported. “Highlighting Griffons.”

Three ghostly figures appeared in the wall.

Orion cocked her hoof. The hydraulics whined for a second.

“Execute.”

At her will, Orion punched through the concrete wall, the Exo giving her more than enough multiplicative force to turn concrete to dust. Her hoof wrapped around the neck of the Griffon, twisting it violently and ending his life.

“Blow the wall!”

Preset det cord detonated, blowing a hole big enough to allow three ponies to jump through at the same time. It couldn’t be more perfect. They were entering at a right angle to the Griffons, who turned their attention away from the four stallions in the center of the room to the dust storm in the corner to their left.

Orion rolled, coming up in a crouched position. Her CAWS barked repeatedly, turning soldiers into red mush with each burst. Yelena mounted the now liberated MG, lighting up the scores of troops.

Lynx vaulted into an MG nest, bucking the Griffon clean across the room. She took cover as a hailstorm of bullets slammed into the thick wooden desk.

Orion felt a sudden spike of heat across her right hindleg. Gathering energy, she lunged into cover behind another wooden desk. Checking to see that no Griffon could easily flank her, Orion looked down at the armor plating there. Sure enough, there was a neat hole in the metal, and red rivulets ran down the Exo hydraulics.

“More coming in from the front!” Yelena screamed over the gunfire. Orion canned the pain for now, rising again. She pulled the pin off a grenade, lobbing it high and into the narrow entranceway. There was a muffled explosion, and bloody feathers flew past her.

But, as surprising the attack was, they were still outnumbered. All three mares sported various wounds, none serious enough to incapacitate.

“Minute’s up, Arrowhead, how much longer you gonna need?” Orion shouted across the room.

:::::

“Got it open, Cap!” Comet lifted the hinged lid on the case. Inside were numerous metal cylinders, about half the length of their leg and just as thick. “And I don’t want to know what’s inside this right now.”

“We making our exit now, Captain?” Sharp asked as he suppressed the griffons up front.

“Toss out a smoke. We’re leaving.”

“Smoke out!” The grenade was thrown, giving them a smokescreen to run through.

Stardust let the others go ahead of him. “Specter, we’re headed towards your pos—“

He was interrupted as he was violently tackled into a crate next to him. A quick thought of ‘oh fuck’, and he moved his head out of the way of talons.

He wasn’t free yet though, as his leg was grabbed and he was thrown into another desk. “Ah… son of a bitch…”

“Dusty, where are you?”

He didn’t answer as a large griffon came upon him through the smoke. “Just go! I’ll get over there!” He felt a shot nick his wing as he took cover behind a crate.

A soldier’s silhouette appeared through the smoke next to him. HV rounds cut cleanly through his flesh, and Stardust made a dash to escape.

It didn’t work out very well because the next thing he knew, he was tackled against a crate again. “Oh, for fuck’s—“

He was interrupted as his head was slammed against the wood.

“Dusty?!”

“Bit fucking—“ Another interruption, and he made out the sound of the growling chuckle of a griffon on top of him.

“Heh heh… I’ve heard of you. What’s the name? Stardust Rapture? 1st RSD?”

“Kill this bast—“

Another slam against the wood.

“Hold up, we’re comin’ for ya! Specter, give us a moment!”

:::::

Orion could move faster than anypony else in the squad, thanks to the Exo. This she put into good use now as she sprang out of cover again. She zipped past the retreating—now turning—Arrowheads, making a beeline for Gregor.

“Move aside, punk!” Orion’s hindhoof made strong contact with the armored side of the Griffon, launching him with sheer kinetic force off of his victim. “I’ve had enough of this damn place!”

Orion drew the SMAW. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Arrowhead move off.

“Eat this!”

The rocket lanced out, entering the enemy fortification and detonating. The ensuing blast shrouded the area in dense smoke. Orion used the time to recover, moving backwards. It was now a retreating battle, with the Specters withdrawing in tighter circles until they were all in the corridor.

“Blow the escape charge!” Yelena tapped Orion’s shoulder three times.

The little detonator came up, and Orion pressed the button, simultaneously waving to the Griffons approaching.

Down below, the can shaped object flared. Thin blue lines of fire burnt a neat circle around the teams. When the circles connected, the entire chunk of floor dropped, with the team on it.

A brief respite.

“Humvee, load up. Yelena drive, Lynx on the gun!” Orion shouted.

“Dusty?” Match asked.

“None worse for wear. Face fucking hurts. Comet, you have the package?”

“Secure, Cap,” Comet answered. “In my bag.”

“Let’s get the hell out of this place. Specter, where’s extraction?”

“Head for the beach exfil point! Once we hit the road, turn right and follow the river!” Orion looked at the map.

The vehicle peeled out of the garage, jumping the barrier and landing on the road. Its tyres screeched as Yelena floored it. Orion reloaded the SMAW and popped open her hatch.

“We got company!” Lynx swiveled the turret and began chattering away.

Other Humvees followed, careening along the road. A well aimed burst shredded the tyres of one, sending it into the river, out of control.

“Tank! They got a tank coming over the bridge!” Yelena shouted.

Orion aimed the SMAW. The light rocket leapt out of its tube, impaling the armored vehicle and detonating against the armor.

“Definitely rustled his jimmies.” The Humvee roared past as the tank rumbled back to life.

“Take this turn onto the highway!” They skidded onto the sliproad, entering traffic. Yelena spun the wheel, swerving in and out of traffic.

Orion turned around. Behind them, the enemy was still chasing. “Air support for them!” Lynx ducked as a strafe from a flying Griffon wrecked the turret MG.

Orion wasn’t so lucky. The high calibre bullet entered her shoulder, blasting her back against the rim of the hatch. She slid back down into the vehicle, dazed by the pain. The loaded SMAW clattered to the floor next to her.

“That fast mover will be trouble.” Yelena gripped the wheel.

“Match, top cover. Sharpie, get back here and help me cover our rear. Get that SMAW. Comet, check on her wound.”

Within the tight confines of the vehicle, they moved into position. Just as Stardust opened the rear, a shrill whistle went past them.

“Cap, I got our optics back up.” The 2nd Lieutenant went over to check on the mare. “Ma’am, how’s your wound? Critical or not?”

“Wonderful.” Stardust flipped his electronic optic back over his eye and, looking far back, the tank was speeding ahead on the highway in pursuit. “Got company. Take out that tank.”

“What, from the front?!” Sharp exclaimed.

“Just disable it! We just need a technical knock out!” Amidst incoming MG fire, another tank round screeched past them. “That motivating enough for you?!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it!” Sharp stuck his head out and leaned to the side, bringing the rocket to bear. “Gun or tracks?!”

“Well can you hit the gun?!”

“On a bit more steady platform, probably, yeah.” As added emphasis, the Humvee lurched as it ran over something.

“His fault for getting in my sights while he was flying in front of us!” Match yelled.

Lynx nudged aside the stallion, ripping open a medpack and grabbing a specialised screwdriver. She released the perforated armor plate, revealing the jagged wound. A few seconds of digging removed the bullet.

“It could be worse. The explosive fuse didn’t go off.” She gestured to the bent tip, before tossing it out of the window. “But she’s going to bleed out unless she get medical attention stat.”

A entire pack of cotton wads jammed up the wound. Lynx used some bandages to hold that in place.

“Turning!” Yelena jerked the wheel, narrowly avoiding an enemy Humvee going the wrong way. “Five mikes out, get rid of that tank!”

Lynx grabbed the final rocket from Orion’s pack. “Tsk tsk, NE rocket?”

Shimmying over, the mare quickly replaced the preloaded rocket. “That’s a thermobaric rocket!” She shouted over the vehicles. “Just hit the tank anywhere!”

“Got it!” The stallion leaned out and fired. The rocket impacted its front hull, but what was left after the smoke was a flaming, knocked out tank. “Good enough for me.”

“Match, how’s it going up there?”

“Still workin’. Toss me a mag of HV.”

“Cap, we got issues. Gettin’ real familiar with their helos. 2 o’clock.”

Stardust growled. “Any more bright ideas? Anyone?”

“Just one, Captain!” Yelena swerved, avoiding a rocket. They passed under the helicopter, doing 120 kilometers per hour.

“This exit!” Lynx pointed.

They pulled off the highway, now onto a coastal road. Wide. Embankments on either side.

The perfect killing zone.

“Specter to Viper 2-3, engage enemy helicopters to our six.”

“Roger that, Specter. Rolling the uranium carpet.”

The Osprey uncloaked roughly seventy meters ahead of them. The minigun on its belly opened up, hosing the helicopters down with a shower of Depleted Uranium rounds.

“Woohoo!” Lynx shouted, pumping her hoof. “Air superiority, motherfuckers!”

Yelena pulled the Humvee over, grinding to a halt. The Osprey touched down not to far away.

“Hurry to the Osprey!” Yelena hooked a leg of the comatose Orion over her shoulder, dragging the mare out of the car. Lynx primed a thermite charge in the abandoned vehicle.

The engines whined, and the massive aircraft rose into the sky, shimmering and fading from view.

:::::

The teams settled in the Osprey. They glanced at the two other mares as they attended to their commander.

“You know, I’m still not entirely sure I like working with them,” Sharp said to his team.

“Really, Sharpie, after all that, that’s all you have to say?” Stardust said as he began looking through the documents he had snatched. “I know we don’t know them, but based on their performance, I have no problems working with them.”

“Would’ve been nice to know where our aerial assets were…”

“We have to inform tech that the current EMP shielding has been surpassed,” Comet said. “Fried a lot of the systems. Couldn’t get them back up when I rebooted them.”

“You know,” Stardust started, “it’s just work, Lieutenant. I ain’t askin’ you to get real nice with ‘em and go and fuck ‘em.”

Match chuckled. “You should.”

“Bed ‘em,” Comet slyly grinned.

“Oh, you’re all real funny,” Sharp said, unamused.

“Didn’t Comet already put money on it?” Stardust asked. “Know what? I will too. Thousand bits you can’t get it done within a week.”

“What the bloody hell?! Are you serious about this?!”

“And if you don’t, free drinks for us, courtesy of you, for three nights.”

“He’s got you, LT,” Comet chuckled. “Would you feel less intimidated if they weren’t wearing the exos?”

“You know, paying tabs doesn’t seem like a bad alternative,” Sharp grumbled. “And Crosser—I outrank you. Don’t push me.”

“And Cap outranks you. And I’m on his side.”

Sharp grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, you know it’s your loss, Sharpie. I think we’ve offered a good deal,” Stardust jested. He changed the subject. “Comet, let’s see what we got.”

Comet unslung his pack and put it down. He searched through the contents before pulling out a black cylinder. “Well, shit, Cap, what do you make of this thing?”

There were minimal markings on the metal case. Only a few seams near the ends, but the case was otherwise smooth. Nothing indicated what was contained inside. “Can’t tell. Could be anything. There might have been something on the inside of its containers, but we’ll have to get the recording off of our optics for that.”

“I think that’s enough of trying to figure it out,” Match said. “We should just let the labs back at Innocence do it. I don’t like the idea of just holding and staring at a secret weapon.”

“Yeah. Let’s stow it. Osprey should have some safe containers around here somewhere.”

Stardust got up and searched the Osprey, passing by Specter while he did.

Yelena carefully removed armor plating from the Exos, tossing them into separate piles for fine, dinged and perforated. They still wore the skeletal hydraulics, if just to be able to keep moving properly.

Lynx leaned back near the wall, cradling Orion’s head. Her forehooves applied pressure on the wound.

“Another successful mission, wouldn’t you say, Ri?” Lynx whispered.

“I ain’t dying,” Orion murmured back, “That’s gotta count for something.”

“Do you like the Arrowheads?”

“I don’t mind them being around. They can be useful at times.”

Yelena sorted the last of the platings. “We need thicker armor. Those barely stopped the 7.62s. And we need another drone.”

“Coming in for a landing.”

Orion looked around. “That was quick.”

“Odd,” Yelena agreed, “Innocence probably had to move or something.”

The helo stopped with an audible thump. A familiar feeling of slow motion falling. When the ramp dropped, Bastion was waiting at the end of it. “Did you su...”

He eyed Orion, being support by Lynx down the ramp. “How’s the wound, Orion?”

“I’ll live, sir. It could have been worse, the HE bullet didn’t detonate or fragment.”

“The Innocence is heading for Zebratown. Intel retrieved by Vahalla suggests that whatever HYDRA is, they plan to deploy it in civilian populations of countries that have stayed neutral. You did get a sample, right?”

“Right here, sir,” Stardust said, carrying a box. “Still no piece of intel telling us what it is; we’ll have to find that out on our own.”

“Very well,” Bastion said. “We’ll take it over to the analysts immediately.” He motioned for ponies to take it from Stardust.

“Debrief, sir?”

“Same room, one hour.”

“Yes, sir.” Stardust turned back to his team. “Arrowhead, let’s unpack and settle back in.” He reentered the Osprey to retrieve his own items, in the process, finding Specter. “I don’t suppose you’ll need any help from us. We’ll see you in debriefing.”

“You’re going to the medbay.” Lynx guided Orion towards the appropriate door. Orion relented, allowing the purple mare to guide her.

“What do you think HYDRA is?”

“Could be biological or chemical.” Lynx shrugged. “Nowadays, they prefer their territories undamaged, so it’s unlikely that it is a nuke of any sort.”

“Orion.” A unicorn greeted the trio.

“Effigy.” Orion stopped the unicorn. “How’s Vahalla?”

“Nothing special, no injuries yet.” The mare smiled. “Can’t say the same for you.”

“Hell naw, we’re used to it.”

“Grats for bringing in HYDRA.”

“That’ll be Arrowhead’s honor. We were just there to exfil them.”

“All teams debrief in an hour, y’all know that?”

Orion looked at Lynx. “Not the all teams part.”

:::::

One hour later, Arrowhead made their way down to the conference rooms.

They found the hallways clogged with ponies.

“So that’s what they meant by all,” Stardust said.

“Watch it, Cap, Sharpie might faint having to be around all of these other guys,” Comet teased.

“Crosser…” Sharp hit the blue pegasus in the back of his head.

“So, anyone know what this is all about? I just know we’re redeploying.”

“Well, if it’s about finding out what HYDRA is, those analysts work fast,” Stardust remarked.

“They made the plans before we got here,” Match noted.

“Guess it can’t be any simpler than a complete debrief then.”

“‘Simpler,’” Sharp said.

“Relatively.”

“Hey Cap, think Specter will be here?”

“Are you asking if all of Specter will be here? In that case, I’d say yes. No bullet or medical reports are going to stop our type from getting some place important like this. If she won’t get here herself, someone’s gonna make sure she does.”

“Warriors of the Innocence. Settle down. Got some serious news.”

Orion settled in at the back of the room.

“The intel brought in by Vahalla indicates that the Griffons are targeting major civilian populations, but thanks to the efforts of both Arrowhead and Specter, their list has dwindled due to the lack of their weapon.”

The black canister sat forebodingly on the table.

“All attempts at discovering what this is has been fruitless. That thing won’t open. But we do have a list of new targets.”

The screen flashed. All eyes on the screen.

“Zebratown is the closest to us. We’ve notified command and they’ve seeked approval from the Zebra authorities to send in Equestrian forces to secure the HYDRA. The Innocence will rendezvous with the fourth amphibious assault fleet and land via the beaches.”

“Where’s the weapon gonna be?”

“It’s being secured in an underground bank vault in the Trust building.” A video began playing, showing a grainy feed. Several Griffons hauled a particularly large box into the vault, followed by some Zebras holding weapons.

“Separatists,” somepony hissed. “Damn traitors.”

“For now, get some rest, all of you. It’s gonna take a couple of hours to reach the rendezvous. Dismissed.”

Orion rose from her seat, following the crowd filing out of the room. “Specters, machine room. Let’s this time to repair the Exos and rest.”

:::::

“So, what do you think of it, Cap?” Comet asked.

“Good presentation, but I think they should upgrade to holographic projectors.” Stardust’s off-topic response left the other three speechless. “Dear Princess Twilight, your intelligence officers request an upgrade to Innocence’s presentation systems…”

“And the mission, Captain?” Sharp asked.

“We’ll see. Right now, I want to know how hard Gryphonian counter-intel is going to be hunting us.”

“Could be deploying them with all shipments of HYDRA now,” Match said.

“Wouldn’t expect any less of them. And they’ll be much more careful this time. And they’ll probably skip the face-bashing part.”

“So, anything you want us to do right now, Cap?”

“They told us to rest. I say study what you can about the target region. 3R’s got good info on Zebratown. Also, Sharpie, your second mission starts today.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

:::::

The acrid smell of oxidiser filtered out of the vents as Yelena welded armor plating together, forming thicker sandwiches.

Orion laid down in one of the bunks. These weren’t as comfortable as their rooms, but repair work had to be done together. She released the fluids from the hydraulic systems, oiling down the moving parts before reassembling them.

Lynx checked the armory. The new drone twitched erratically in her hooves, uncalibrated as it was.

“Took them long enough to send down the new gear,” she groused. “It’s only been four hours.”

“Relax, Lynx.” Orion raised a hoof. “At least they sent it to us.”

“Whoo, the platings are done.” Yelena raised her mask, a coat of sweat covering her in a shiny film.

“Got about another half hour to the rendezvous.” Orion laid aside the hydraulics. “I’m gonna grab...”

Red lights flickered on. The PA system blared.

“General Quarters, General Quarters. All hooves, man your battle stations, this is not a drill. I say again, all hooves, man your battle stations. This is not a drill.”

“Let’s get topside!” Orion took a left at the door. Another passageway, and she opened the hatch to the outside. A walkway passed just inside the hull of the Innocence, another way to get around the ship. Already, it was crowded with sailors.

“Excuse me, coming through.” Lynx bumped past several red-jackets.

They stood at the railing, peering out to sea. In the distance, several pillars of black smoke left little to the imagination.

“Holy...” Orion whispered.

1kY7kMpS - New Horizons

There was no sound.

All was quiet except for her breathing and her thoughts.

Down at the ground, they built skyscrapers. To ponies on the ground, those skyscrapers reached for the heavens. For winged creatures like Celestia, they were merely stepping stones to the skies.

Celestia twirled effortlessly as she orbited the Earth, wings relaxed against her sides. With proper maneuvering and application of magic, she stopped her movement, looking away from the planet. She left just a an hour before sunset. The flight up to low earth orbit had brought her far across the globe. Celestia found herself deep into the night side of Earth, but up ahead, the atmosphere of the Earth glowed a dull orange, refracting the sunlight.

Oh, the Sun. Celestia was connected with it for as long as she could remember. So long ago, so very young, she remembered her desire to experience her sun...

"Oh Celestia, what are you thinking now?"

It was the light voice of Celestia's dearest sister, Luna. They were barely matured at the time. No longer fillies, but not quite grown mares yet. Celestia turned to answer.

"We are supposed to be the masters of the Sun and Moon. Have you ever wondered what they're really like? It just feels... so... potent."

Luna considered. "I have, Tia, but what about it?"

"I want to know. To experience it. To find myself next to it and know the truth of the Sun."

"The truth, Tia?"

"Just look around us. All the life... given by the sun."

Luna nuzzled up to Celestia. "And I believe there is no better caretaker of the Sun than you, Tia."

Celestia walked forward, engrossed in her thoughts.

"Sister?"

"I just... want to know." Celestia turned to her younger sister with a smile. "Maybe... I could..."

"But Tia, they say it's not possible," Luna said, her expression falling. "That it is something ponykind is not meant to experience."

"They say I am to be the regent of the sun," Celestia replied. "Perhaps it is different for me."

"Oh, Tia..." Luna's face began turning into a frown, if only concerned for her sister's safety.

Celestia sensed it. "Do not worry, Luna. I will return safely."

"But we are alicorns," Celestia said. "And connected with those celestial bodies. Maybe it is different. Luna, I will see what the universe will say to me. I will not be gone for very long."

Celestia flapped harder and harder. But it was soon evident that all her flapping would not get her anywhere. Not only that, but it was getting even harder to breath.

'No... am I... am I not worthy either?'

'What... just happened?'

"Tia!"

It was Luna. In a moment, Celestia found her younger sister flying alongside her. It wasn't long before they were both back on the ground.

"Tia, what happened?" Luna held her sister square in her hooves. "There was this great sound, and also this great light! What had occurred in the skies?"

Celestia's expression remained flat. "I do not know, Luna. Just that... I too, was not able to reach the sun."

Luna brought her elder sister into an embrace. "Do not worry, Tia. Perhaps in the future, you will find a way."

Celestia saw the edge of the globe as a orange and blue lining as she orbited farther east. The Sun, when she rose over the horizon, would appear as a brilliant white from orbit. And she felt its warmth much more than when on the surface of the Earth. The rays shone so bright, and they reflected off of her white coat. Her body just felt like it could sink into the Sun's warm embrace. She felt even more livened up then, knowing she was close to leaving the slightly desolate darkness of the Earth's shadow.

It never failed. The memory of her first attempt to reach for the sun would always return. How could it not? But what struck her even more was what Luna told her.

Never would she have expected that such future motivation would manifest in the form of Luna herself...

"LUUUUUNAAAAAA!"

Celestia sobbed as she stared at the moon. And not just the moon, but the new image imprinted upon it.

That abomination had robbed her of the pony she had cared most about. How?

Celestia wondered about how would she live on. She knew not what Luna's fate was, but she knew her own. Possibly an eternity living with the consequence of her failure to protect her.

"No..."

Celestia could feel the atmosphere around her. She was high up. So very high up. And she had just passed where she was stopped her first time around.

'There exists no barriers between two sisters...'

Higher and higher she went. At some point, Celestia felt less like she was flying and more like she had thrown herself at such a great speed, that gravity and air drag had simply let go of her.

And it didn't get any easier. It only got worse.

The exertion Celestia was putting on herself, combined with her emotional grief, was tiring her. Especially her lungs. But something was feeling wrong.

Eventually, the helpless flailing spread to her legs. Then her head. The last thing she remembered was focusing on the moon, which she had never seen in such a clearer white.

'I'm sorry, Luna...'

Celestia stared deep into the white of the Sun as it rose above the horizon. Even the heat of the star struggled to thaw her heart every time the memory surfaced. Her full underside was revealed towards the Sun, but inside, it felt chilly. Every time she recalled the memory, the cold throes of the tragedy reached inside of her.

Her heart felt as cold as the morning she woke up, crashed down somewhere far away from their castle. Yet her coat felt warm, also similar to how she felt this morning.

Later on, she would look back at that night and wonder how she didn't die from what had happened. The day after, she had healed all of her injuries, which included broken bones in places, but otherwise did not think much of her unconscious crash into the terrain.

Before, she would even spin around and turn her back towards the Sun to ease her chilling spine, but she had since learned to grasp control over herself when reminiscing that specific memory.

"Star Swirl, I require your assistance."

Star Swirl turned to face her. "Of your many recent concerns, Princess, with what do you ask my assistance for on this day?"

"I need a mind like yours to help me in finding a way to fly to the moon."

The unicorn froze in place. "Fly to the moon?"

"I have already asked General Firefly for her expertise, but I believe that the task will require a great amount of magic as well. And your intelligence in general will be of great use."

"I see," Star Swirl said. "When would you prefer that we begin?"

"Officially, later, but I would like to take the moment to speak with you now that I am here. Recount a few details of my experience."

"Very well. Continue."

"As I fly higher up, it changes," Celestia said, walking towards a window. "I have long used the method of unicorn magic to achieve faster and higher flight, as well as breathing spells to allow me to fly in the thinner air. But that night, I flew further than I had ever before. I reached a point where I was no longer flying and I could no longer breathe."

Star Swirl nodded sagely. "I see. What else can you tell me about those altitudes? Anything you saw?"

Celestia bit her lip. "No... It was dark. Even in Luna's magnificent night... I could not see very much."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Very well. I have plenty of hours to myself for a considerable length of time. I will go and repeat my actions from that night today, while it is still daytime."

Air compressed ahead of her, and she felt the tip of her muzzle and hooves warm up. Hot, even. She had a passing thought about how the air drag might have affected her ability to fly faster. Still, Celestia felt that the ordeal was much easier this time, surmising that it was because she was physically refreshed and psychologically calmer.

The alicorn felt the onset of panic but immediately forced herself to focus. She started to hyperventilate in anticipation. And quickly, her breathing slowed as she felt herself calm down.

'Focus, Celestia. Luna would want you to focus. To return safely.'

Celestia remembered the first time she flew high up. Luna was so worried.

For the first time in her flight, Celestia focused on her surroundings and felt herself in awe. It was no longer simply bright like the day... but everywhere above, it was black like the night. The horizon was different- unlike the horizon she knew on the ground, this one instead glowed blue. But if the sky was the backdrop of the horizon on the ground, then what was this dark backdrop of the horizon of the sky?

A chill went down her spine as she suddenly felt small. A powerful alicorn... humbled by the truth of nature. Well, that, and it was absolutely freezing.

With her mouth agape, she looked around. The world... it just seemed to end. Like she was on a large disk, with edges far away and nothing past them. And those edges were a radiant blue, a border against the abyss.

Celestia smiled as she remembered that specific moment. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into, and even more, she didn't know that there were still more wonders of nature waiting ahead.

She slowly twirled herself around with a precise application of magic. She stopped herself facing the Earth below. She was passing over a large continent, somewhere halfway around the world from her home. Places she had very rarely visited. The thought occurred to her that visiting such places was much easier now. It wouldn't take her much time to just fly over herself. And now that Luna was home, perhaps she could put her flights to different uses.

Nowadays, she used relative distances interchangeably. Right now, she considered herself truly far away from anything. Not as far as Luna and the Moon was, yet it was still considerably far.

Or to be technically correct, how high she was above the Earth. That, at least, was something she quickly realized that first flight...

"The world is round... And larger than the impressive size I had already imagined it to be..."

Celestia took her first thought and passed it through her mind once more. A round world...

She looked around again, and this time, barely made out a slight curvature on the edges.

"Maybe round... like an overturned plate?"

There were some ponies that theorized about the true nature of their world. Some even searched for evidence that the world was a sphere, much as the same as the sun and moon were widely believed to be. A few came to conclusive measurements with mathematical proof. Celestia was never sure what to think of the theories, but now, she was giving them some consideration.

"If it is a sphere, then just how big is the world?"

The thought shook Celestia. She wasn't sure she could imagine something that great of a size. Evidently, the ponies that calculated the size of the Earth had an easier time than her coming to terms with that idea. Maybe.

Yet, even with these new ideas, she wondered what it would mean in her journey to reach the moon.

'Perhaps now is not the time to ponder such a question. I should try and learn more from my surroundings.'

Celestia's studious side began to show itself as she began experimenting in her new environment. Although she was shivering from the cold, she still kept her mind on track.

'I cannot fly in any way anymore. Maybe very, very slight movements, but very difficult. How would I go about controlling myself up here then?'

It was incredibly jarring, but her incredible will to remain calm and on task overshadowed her insecurities.

"I can control the Sun's path across the heavens, but I cannot control my own?"

Celestia growled in frustration before realizing what she just said. Her eyes moved to look at the Sun. Its warm rays really did look enticing as she froze in the high atmosphere.

"What would happen if I tried to move it now?..."

She grabbed ahold of her sun with her special magic as she usually did, then tried to give a very light, experimental nudge.

Nothing.

'I will have to examine this further when I am back on the ground.'

And speaking of the ground-

'... How do I get back down?'

The thought was first spoken in her mind very calmly, as if asking a very simple question. Her studious expression quickly changed into alarm when she realized-

'How do I get back down?!'

She was left looking down at Equestria, wondering how she would return. She couldn't even make out where the towns were. Or where her castle was. They weren't exactly large settlements, but she never thought them as so tiny, that she would at some point consider them insubstantial.

Yet here she was, looking for some landmarks and failing to find any.

'Had I really flown so fast that I threw myself away from Equestria?'

Celestia bit her lip in anticipation. She decided to meditate about her situation. She had to return home. For Luna.

In her short meditation Celestia noticed that something felt different. It felt... like the earth was closer.

Celestia decided to hold onto that strange sensation. Maybe something would come of it.

And after about a minute, she realized what was happening.

She was falling. And she was falling fast.

Celestia opened her wings and started trying to feel for some purchase on air. Something to slow herself down.

No luck. The glowing blue edge of the world was now pushing away the black abyss.

Faster. And faster.

But then her wings felt something. Celestia tried to stop her fall, but it was as if she was trying to grip ice while sliding at an incredible speed.

In fact, it became so uncomfortable after the first few seconds, that she flipped herself over to face downwards.

And after a few more seconds, it turned out that it was not a very good idea.

'Hot! Hot!'

And in a moment, Celestia came to a conclusion that it was counter-productive, now that her wings were also shielded from acting upon the air. At least, that's what she assumed.

It wasn't easy for her to think as she watched the ground approach faster than she had ever done so before.

And soon enough, still high above the ground, her speed slowed to a more familiar level of 'fast' as the air pushed up against her without any effort from her.

Celestia relaxed herself and let gravity take over from there. Maybe she didn't need to put in all that work earlier.

Flying was a wonderful experience, and she knew many with wings would agree.

And right now, she accepted gracefully falling as well, and she wondered how many with wings would also agree.

1kY7kMpS - Halfway to Anywhere

If distance was one value Celestia had different perspectives on, time was another. Few ever did put long lengths of time in proper perspective.

As for Celestia, she learned it the hard way. One thousand years she was without Luna. Her sister's embraces. Her sister's voice. Her sister's comforting presence.

The thought used to keep Celestia up at night, accompanying her longing for her sister, but she got over it. After all, despite how insignificant they might be, that was just in the perspective of everything. However, Celestia came to the conclusion that her own perspective was equally as significant, and so whatever happened in her time on Earth was significant.

And because Celestia's own perspective mattered, Luna mattered, and that was good enough for her, no matter what anything else thought of Luna.

And for the ones around Celestia, her happiness was important, and that was enough of a reason for them...

"Firefly, I thank you again for taking this time to fly with me."

"It is no matter, Princess; anything for you. But if I may ask, what do you believe I could contribute to your enormous task?"

General Firefly was one of the most skilled pegasi in Equestria, and certainly the easiest to reach for Celestia. The pink mare had a wonderful aura of life, and she flew as if the sky was hers, something that no one could take from her. Celestia shared her joy in flying as they flew together, lazily making their way across the sky.

Firefly nodded, but was still unsure. "But you've flown higher than anypony has ever had. I am still unsure if I will be of any assistance."

"Round?" Firefly echoed. "I will take your word about the view; I can only imagine how far you could see."

"Well, it is also incredibly cold," Celestia added. "And it was quite jarring to have lost control over my direction. However, it seemed that since I flew so fast, I threw myself at a speed so quickly that I continued to drift upward for a short time."

"I’d imagine so, Princess. Lack of air drag would mean you could go on forever if you were not pulled back down to the earth. Could you not use your unicorn magic to do anything?" Firefly asked.

"I could not think of any way," Celestia replied. "I even tried to move the sun during my time there, but I could not manipulate it. It was very puzzling."

"Have you told Clover these details yet? She is very intelligent in many practices."

"I have, and she continues her meticulous work. But I also chose to discuss it with you, as perhaps your pegasus heritage will help shine a new light on this mystery from a different perspective."

Celestia considered the question. "I... I believe it should be. But when I tried to move it in the manner that I normally do, it had no effect."

"But if you could grab onto it, could you not move yourself?" Firefly suggested.

"No, telekinesis does not work like that. At least, it should not. I felt no effect upon my body when I attempted to move the sun. And unicorn magic does not function in that way- I cannot grab an object and pull myself towards it. I can only grab objects and move them relative to myself."

"So you cannot simply grab ahold of the moon and pull yourself towards it?"

"No. And despite the moon being an object that my magic can affect, I can only move the moon across the sky, not move it closer. It is set in its path."

"But is there not a spell that allows a unicorn to levitate themselves?"

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "There is. But I am not sure how that would apply."

"What if, when you can no longer use flight magic, you resort to such levitation magic instead?" Firefly suggested.

But it did seem like it was a solution.

"How difficult is the spell to perform?" Firefly said, as Celestia was not able to form a reply. "In fact, how does the spell work?"

Celestia flew out from underneath Firefly and repositioned herself alongside the pegasus. "A combination of all factors, yes. I should note that levitation of one's self is more difficult vertically than horizontally. I am wondering what effects these will have if I attempt to use it when at a high altitude."

"Your magic is strong, Princess. Can you not simply use such levitation to bring yourself to the moon?" Firefly thought about another point. "In fact, since you have such great magical potential, can you not simply teleport yourself to the moon?"

"According to Luna, she had always thought about the possibility," Celestia answered. "But she was unsure how far the distance was. Teleportation over a vast distance is both exhausting and difficult to perform. If the moon is, in fact, so distant, then such a solution may not be easy to come by."

"Trial and error?"

"Although spells have been developed that return one's self to their origin, I do not think it would be a reliable or safe path to take. And it is the same answer to levitating myself to the moon. I do not know how far it is.”

“Do you even know what to expect if it turns out you can fly to the moon?” Firefly asked.

Celestia looked away. The pegasus had a point. She was trying to achieve a goal without even being sure as to what was at the end. The moon was said to be a stone in the sky, but that was it. “I suppose these are questions that I must search the answers to over time, and have others help me in solving the universe’s mysteries.”

“Pegasi learn to fly in small hops,” Firefly said. “But at least we know where we’re flying to.”

“Then I’ll have to explore the unknown and learn. Then I’ll know.”

Celestia remained still during her entire time reminiscing. In that time, her position in orbit had moved so that the Earth was no longer straight in front of her, but she was instead starting to peek over it under the sun and into the great beyond. Before the next flight, she didn’t think of it as ‘peeking over’, but instead staring at the edge.

Oh, how wrong she was.

She looked back at her acquaintance with Firefly with fondness. The mare always aimed to please. Her legacy to Equestria was, of course, the Wonderbolts, a showcase of the love of flight.

Firefly’s legacy to Celestia, however, was bringing her one step closer to the moon. Or, as it felt at the time, halfway to anywhere...

The wind whistled past Celestia’s ears.

Her heart beat in her ears and her breathing was deep and methodical.

It was her next flight deep into the sky. This time, however, she was armed with the idea of a new method to control her movement once the air had disappeared. She had left the ground at an astonishing speed; anyone watching would think she was trying to leave the world right then.

Celestia didn’t plan on it this time, but she kept the idea seated in her mind. It was about mid-morning when she left, giving her ample daytime for her journey of discovery.

Before leaving, she consulted Clover the Clever, who suggested that she take along some parchment and a stick of charcoal or two to write some notes about what she observed; Clover thought that ink would have been much too messy to use in flight. Celestia also brought along the latest map they had available, both as a navigation aid and to see if there were any corrections she could make.

Based on Celestia’s previous flight, they had plenty to learn about the world, and anything to further their knowledge about the world they lived in was welcome.

Celestia thought that the saddlebags would hinder her ability to fly by adding extra drag, but it didn’t seem to be the case. She continued to rocket upwards without any trouble, nor any discomfort from the bags.

Soon enough, she rose above the horizon and her unicorn magic-enhanced wings became ineffective. It was time to try out the new idea.

Celestia cast the self-levitation spell. Her magic enveloped her body, and immediately, she felt herself gain control of her orientation.

“Ha! Ha ha!” She continued to laugh in joy as she twirled around, looking at her surroundings. She was able to focus on the sights, now that she was in control of where she was facing.

Next, she attempted to move around in some direction. Curious, she tried to move herself higher up.

It occurred to Celestia that after a minute of applying magic, she’d have no way of knowing if it was working. Due to her vast magical potential, she wasn’t one to be easily tired, but she knew for a fact that over time, travel by pegasus magic flight was much less intensive than by whatever methods unicorns had access to.

For now, she would have to experiment close to the Earth. ‘Close’, in a relative sense, as she was high up enough that her home was a barely visible dot on the land.

‘At least I have learned to identify where home is from so high up...’

Celestia looked to the edge of the world. Clover asked the alicorn to record her findings, so why not start with finding out what was at the end of the world? At least she was close enough that she could fall back down to the ground if needed.

Right?

Steeling her nerves, Celestia applied the self-levitation magic and began moving in what seemed like an eastward direction. She watched the ground as she continued to move herself along, but Celestia wasn’t sure if she could tell if she was moving. Movement in the horizontal plane was not too strenuous, so she figured that she could keep it up for a while.

And for a while she did.

After what may have been half an hour, she had definitely moved over the land, but she did not feel any closer to the edge of the world.

‘It has not been very long. I should keep going. The world is very large, after all.’

Celestia kept up the application of her magic almost absentmindedly. At the same time, she decided that it was as good of a time as any to take out some parchment and begin taking notes.

As she pulled herself through the sky with her magic, Celestia took note of the world below. The shape of the landmasses. The seas.

She cocked her head and pulled out her map.

‘I don’t... believe any of these have been charted.’

Celestia looked behind her in what seemed like a westward direction and found the coastline of Equestria. From there, she began her cartography work.

All the while, she kept pulling herself farther eastward.

Celestia smiled fondly as she looked at the Earth below her. If she were on the ground, it would be about mid-morning. The terminator between day and night was visible behind her, if barely. Beyond it, the Earth darkened, almost to a complete blackness. Celestia looked at it now as a fact of nature, something that simply was.

Although as of this moment, she had left the dark of the Earth, falling around the planet ever eastward, she couldn’t help but remember her first encounter with the line of twilight.

Celestia remembered her naive self’s emotions. It absolutely terrified her…

There was no sound except for Celestia’s own breathing as she continued to move towards the edge of the Earth.

At least, Celestia thought it was the edge.

It wasn’t making any sense to her. She had been watching it closely and what she watched absolutely baffled her. Over the course of about ten minutes, she saw lands roll away into darkness.

They seemed to disappear into the abyss!

If that were true, though, then Equestria would meet the same fate!

... Or would it?

Celestia wasn’t sure, but at the rate it was happening, Equestria still had hours if she estimated the rate of movement by the land, combined with her new knowledge of lands she had passed over.

Perhaps about twelve hours.

At that estimate, Celestia’s expression went from wide-eyed concern to puzzlement. At twelve hours, the day ended, the sun set, and the dark of the night came upon them.

The dark of the night, that is, with Luna’s moon providing some luminance.

Then a second thought occurred to her. Where was Luna’s moon?

Celestia thought about the process. It was normally brought up during the night, but in actuality, it could be brought up at any time.

In fact, such was the case with both heavenly bodies. And for the first time that she could remember, she really questioned why the sun and moon traveled across the sky, the same direction every cycle. From east to west.

They traveled under the land, right? That was the accepted belief. But what exactly did 'under the land' mean? What was 'under the land'?

Celestia decided that continuing on in her flight would be her course of action. It was a journey of discovery after all.

After ten minutes, she was near. And... all felt the same. Celestia was still pulling herself along all the same as before. The darkness frightened her, but she built up her courage to go on.

Nearer. And nearer. Celestia kept up the self-levitation spell, pulling herself across the surface.

She was beginning to have doubts. What if the underside was something not meant for ponykind? What if it led to some other realm? What if, if she continued, she would never return home? Lost to eternity. She would not have reached Luna, and when Luna returned, she would not be Luna. She would still be Nightmare Moon, the abomination that robbed her of her sister.

The doubt was building up so strongly in Celestia that her will to go on was disappearing.

Until she saw it rise above the dark horizon.

The Moon, and on it, the image of a mare imprinted on its face. It shone brightly in the darkness, a light in the dark of the night.

“Luna?...”

Celestia felt so scared. She was so far from anywhere she knew. She didn't even know where she was flying to.

Celestia felt so alone. She felt forgettable, as if crossing that dark border would mean she would cease to exist.

And at that moment, Celestia also felt whole, for in her solitude/solidarity, she was accompanied by her sister. Both alone in an endless abyss, looking down at the land below where everyone went on living their lives.

“I will not stop, Luna. I will find a way.”

The sight of the Moon brought Celestia’s determination to a level higher than ever. Now, she was sure that she would venture on, despite the darkness. Should Celestia need comforting, all she needed to do was look up to her sister.

With that settled, Celestia set herself to go into that deep night.

The alicorn resolved to simply go forward as she had been doing. Which, strangely, she could not sense any difference between when she had started and the current moment- for what she estimated was almost an hour, she had simply commanded her magic to move her forward. No changes in altitude. She approached the border between light and dark with no difference in orientation that she could feel.

Further into the darkness she went. Soon enough, the last rays of the Sun disappeared around the horizon, leaving Celestia alone to herself and what she assumed was the dark underside of the Earth.

To help calm her anxiety, Celestia oriented herself to face the bright Moon. Astronomers said that it was bright because the light of the Sun shone on it, and its surface was such that it reflected the intense sunlight back.

Celestia took some comfort in that fact. It was another way that she and Luna were connected.

"Oh, Luna," Celestia spoke as she looked at the Sun. "Help me through this. It's so dark. I hope I can return to Equestria safely."

Celestia stared at the moon a little longer, then noticed the surrounding backdrop.

Stars.

So many of them dotted the scene before Celestia.

"Night," Celestia smiled. "It's... like night."

Celestia wondered if star charts would have been of use to her right then. She cast a spell to provide herself some light to allow herself to continue taking notes with her writing materials.

'Perhaps with more knowledge, I can make use of star charts to aid my navigation. As of now, however, I don't believe they would have been of much use.'

Absentmindedly, Celestia kept her levitation magic running, continuing to pull her over the land at a speed she no longer knew. Going straight felt like the right thing to do. If the Sun and Moon traveled underneath the land to return to the same starting positions, then eventually she must appear on the other side again, she reasoned.

And soon enough, her hypothesis was proven correct. Celestia's mouth opened in a happy smile upon seeing the Sun peek its rays over the horizon. She was going home.

Around ten minutes later, Celestia caught sight of the world’s edge below her again. Except this time, new land seemed to be coming up from the darkness.

‘No, that is how one would try to rationalize it… If the world is actually round, then that would mean… as the Sun goes across the sky, it actually goes around the world? That would mean… there are even more lands we did not know about. And if it is daytime on one side… then it is nighttime on the other?’

Celestia pictured the world as a large ball, just as some of those astronomers suggested. She figured that when she returned home, she would have to speak with them. Celestia expected them to be ecstatic about the prospect of such findings.

She was suddenly curious about how long she had been gone. They told the time by observing the position of the sun above them, but in her position, that was not an option. She only had her instinct to go upon, and her estimate was around an hour and a half.

The thought remained with Celestia as she passed over into daytime.

Although she was now back in the land of the light, worry remained that she still did not know where she was. Even referring to her map, Celestia could not recognize any of the landforms.

‘I only traveled in a straight line… where could I be?’

Celestia recalled the angle of the sun from when she left and concluded that she should just keep moving forward. With natural light now available to her once more, the alicorn resumed her note taking without aid from her horn’s light. Before, she drew landforms, trying to help create a new, larger map of the world.

Now she drew the world, trying to trace the path she took and calculate her position. Hopefully she could figure out where she was relative to Equestria.

Celestia tried and tried for a few minutes, but finally admitted defeat that her own mind was not up to the task, at least not with what little she could cite as fact. After stowing away the parchment and charcoal sticks in her saddlebags, she began her plan to descend. To do so, she change the force she was applying on herself, stopping with her forward application of magic and instead directing her telekinetic pull downwards.

The horizon began rising higher, and Celestia figured that she must have begun her fall. However, she also noted that the ground below her was moving… fairly quickly.

‘How did I apply the self-levitation magic again?...”

Was she moving herself forward or was she adding speed to her movement forward?

A minute or so went by before Celestia felt air begin moving past her wings. The alicorn quickly followed her instinct and began controlling her orientation through the normal pegasus methods. She oriented herself in such a way that she presented the largest area of her wings against her direction of descent.

Faster and faster Celestia went. She could feel the air being caught in her wings and against her body.

Heat began building up again, and with that, Celestia hid herself behind a shield. As she continued falling, she saw the air hitting her shield glow hot. It was only brief, but she took note of the occurrance.

Celestia knew that air did not take too kindly to fast moving objects, and so she figured that hiding behind her shield was an acceptable course of action, even without showing her wings to the airstream. The air would slow her down to manageable flight speeds of its own accord.

She listened to her instincts, feeling her inertia. When she felt it was right, Celestia dissipated her shield and began flying naturally.

The land Celestia had descended to was an arid desert. Her sun shone high above the dry land, and Celestia felt its warmth, something she missed after the cold of the high atmosphere. It may have been empty, but it also helped her locate some sort of settlement more easily. There was one such city ahead of her.

Celestia flew down, intending to land just outside of its borders.

When her hooves set down on the sand, she found a few figures standing some distance away.

They looked like ponies. Except a little different in form.

They saw her figure and began to back away. Celestia called out after them. “Do not be afraid! I come with no intentions of harm! I have descended from high up in the sky and I am lost. I am trying to find my way home!”

The figures nodded slowly. Celestia approached them carefully. She held a brief conversation with them, then they pointed Celestia towards the city. They said it was towards their capital.

After a little bit of flying, she found herself at the entrance. Guards met the strange figure, but Celestia was taken in without much incident.

And that was how she started a relationship with the Saddle Arabians.

The Arabians aided Celestia in navigating her way home. Though there were no maps large enough to work off of, they were able to work from Celestia’s details of time, direction, description of the lands’ movement, and location of the sun.

After a quick hop back into the aether directed northeast, Celestia found Equestria’s western borders and from there, was able to find her way back. She returned from her grand adventure with a weary mind, more than happy to set hoof back home.

“Clover! How long was I gone?! Has it been a day? The passage of time escapes me.”

Clover stuck her head out of a nearby window. “Judging by the position of the sun, no more than six hours.”

“Six… hours?”

Clover noted the look of surprise, confusion, and awe in her princess’s face. “What did you find?”

Celestia removed her saddlebag slowly placing it on a table. As she took out the sheets of parchment she wrote on, “Only what may be the most magnificent discoveries for ponykind yet…”

1kY7kMpS - 600,000 Meters

1,000 Years, 7,000 Meters Per Second

By: The Grey Pegasus

There was no sound.

All was quiet except for her breathing and her thoughts.

Down at the ground, they built skyscrapers. To ponies on the ground, those skyscrapers reached for the heavens. For winged creatures like Celestia, they were merely stepping stones to the skies.

Looking straight ahead, Celestia was met no longer with just the vast land stretching ahead, but also the vast darkness of the universe of infinite size. Even more so on the dark side of the Earth, the Sun hidden away by her home. It wasn't a common thought, to think of the terrestrial rock as covering the Sun. But to be so high up and away—it was all she could think of.

Celestia saw the world fall away as the Earth rolled away into space. This was her planet. They were but a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things. Even herself. And for but a few hours, the alicorn had chosen to escape her small speck of dust for some time to meditate by herself.

Celestia twirled effortlessly as she orbited the Earth, wings relaxed against her sides. With proper maneuvering and application of magic, she stopped her movement, looking away from the planet. She left just an hour before sunset. The flight up to low Earth orbit had brought her far across the globe. Celestia found herself deep into the night side, but if she craned her head up, the atmosphere of the Earth glowed a dull orange, refracting the sunlight.

Oh, the Sun. Celestia was connected with it for as long as she could remember. So long ago, so very young, she remembered her desire to experience her sun...

"Oh Celestia, what are you thinking now?"

It was the light voice of Celestia's dearest sister, Luna. They were barely matured at the time. No longer fillies, but not quite grown mares yet. Celestia turned to answer.

"We are supposed to be the masters of the Sun and Moon. Have you ever wondered what they're really like? It just feels... so... potent."

Luna considered. "I have, Tia, but what about it?"

"I want to know. To experience it. To find myself next to it and know the truth of the Sun."

"The truth, Tia?"

"Just look around us. All the life... given by the Sun."

Luna nuzzled up to Celestia. "And I believe there is no better caretaker of the Sun than you, Tia."

Celestia walked forward, engrossed in her thoughts.

"Sister?"

"I just... want to know." Celestia turned to her younger sister with a smile. "Maybe... I could..."

"But Tia, they say it's not possible," Luna said, her expression falling. "That it is something ponykind is not meant to experience."

"They say I am to be the regent of the Sun," Celestia replied. "Perhaps it is different for me."

"Oh, Tia..." Luna's face began turning into a frown, if only concerned for her sister's safety.

Celestia sensed it. "Do not worry, Luna. I will return safely."

"But you do not even know how long the journey may be. And the Pegasi—they have told tales of what happens to ponies that try to fly towards the Sun. They do not even near it. They are unable to; as if the universe itself is telling us that it is not meant to be. That any flier is stopped by being unable to physically go on, and that they are forced to return to the earth."

"But we are alicorns," Celestia said. "And connected with those heavenly bodies. Maybe it will be different. Luna, I will see what the universe will say to me. I will not be gone for very long."

And with that, Celestia took to the skies, deciding to go on a flight of discovery on a whim. She recalled the tales of the Pegasi. How it got harder to breathe as one flew higher up. She cast a spell that she figured would work. And she prayed.

Celestia flapped harder and harder. But it was soon evident that all her flapping would not get her anywhere. Not only that, but it was getting even harder to breathe.

'No... am I... am I not worthy either?'

The thought passed through Celestia's mind as she finally fell to exhaustion, then fell to the gravitational pull of the earth. She fell, and fell. Her tired body closed tight as she rushed downwards.

'What... just happened?'

"Tia!"

It was Luna. In a moment, Celestia found her younger sister flying alongside her. It wasn't long before they were both back on the ground.

"Tia, what happened?" Luna held her sister square in her hooves. "There was this great sound, and also this great light! What had occurred in the skies?"

Celestia's expression remained flat. "I do not know, Luna. Just that... I too, was not able to reach the sun."

Luna brought her elder sister into an embrace. "Do not worry, Tia. Perhaps in the future, you will find a way."

Celestia saw the edge of the globe as an orange and blue lining as she orbited farther east. The Sun, when she rose over the horizon, would appear as a brilliant white from orbit. And she felt its warmth much more than when on the surface of the Earth. The rays shone so bright, and they reflected off of her white coat. Her body just felt like it could sink into the Sun's warm embrace. She felt even more livened up then, knowing she was close to leaving the slightly desolate darkness of the Earth's shadow.

It never failed. The memory of her first attempt to reach for the sun would always return. How could it not? But what struck her even more was what Luna told her.

Never would she have expected that such future motivation would manifest in the form of Luna herself...

"LUUUUUNAAAAAA!"

Celestia sobbed as she stared at the Moon. And not just the Moon, but the new image imprinted upon it.

That abomination had robbed her of the pony she had cared most about. How?

Celestia wondered about how would she live on. She knew not what Luna's fate was, but she knew her own. Possibly an eternity living with the consequence of her failure to protect her.

"No..."

The air pushed against her muzzle and hooves, but she didn't care. With one last powerful pump of her wings, Celestia broke past that barrier once more. From that point, it was up to her unicorn magic to control the flight magic that was being torn from her wings by her incredible speed. She was going fast, but not yet fast enough. No, there was still faster.

Excessive levels of magic continued to exit her wings. Now Celestia was determined. She fed even more of her immense magic into the stream. The more magic she could put through her wings, the more lift she gained from the thinning air and the faster she propelled herself forward. The second sound barrier quickly rippled past her.

Celestia could feel the atmosphere around her. She was high up. So very high up. And she had just passed where she was stopped her first time around. But nothing was going to stop her this time.

'There exists no barriers between two sisters...'

Higher and higher she went. At some point, Celestia felt less like she was flying and more like she had thrown herself at such a great speed, that gravity and air drag had simply let go of her.

And it didn't get any easier. It only got worse.

The exertion Celestia was putting on herself, combined with her emotional grief, was tiring her. Especially her lungs. But something was feeling wrong.

She was having great difficulty breathing, and not just from exhaustion. Her wings, no matter how much magic she put through them, were providing less and less control over her flight. She began to flap her wings furiously, but Celestia did not feel as if she was truly flying anymore. Where was she? The night was so dark. And it felt like her own vision was darkening. Her head was starting to feel light.

The loss of control surprised Celestia. In her broken mental state and light-headed sensation, she began panicking. The panicking only made it even worse. She thought she had casted the spell to breathe in extremely thin air. No, she did. She was sure of it. She did it for Luna.

Eventually, the helpless flailing spread to her legs. Then her head. The last thing she remembered was focusing on the Moon, which she had never seen in such a clearer white.

'I'm sorry, Luna...'

Her heart felt as cold as the morning she woke up, crashed down somewhere far away from their castle. Yet her coat felt warm, also similar to how she felt this morning.

It would be a while before she learned why she felt, and in some places looked, like she had been lit on fire after she had fallen unconscious, but she didn't care too much at the time. In her anguish, Celestia managed to ignore even her burnt feathers as an immediate problem.

Later on, she would look back at that night and wonder how she didn't die from what had happened. The day after, she had healed all of her injuries, which included broken bones in places, but otherwise did not think much of her unconscious crash into the terrain.

Before, she would even spin around and turn her back towards the Sun to ease her chilling spine, but she had since learned to grasp control over herself when reminiscing that specific memory.

Besides, the memories afterwards were filled with more feelings of triumph than despair. They always brought a smile to Celestia. The journey she embarked on was difficult, but she did it for Luna, and that made everything right. As the Sun shined on her body, Celestia looked down saw the Earth filling the bottom of her vision. Beyond the dawn terminator, sunlight lit up a blue and green marvelous sphere, and that was one of the first great truths about the universe she had learned about...

"Star Swirl, I require your assistance."

Star Swirl turned to face her. "Of your many recent concerns, Princess, with what do you ask my assistance for on this day?"

"I need a mind like yours to help me in finding a way to fly to the Moon."

The unicorn froze in place. "Fly to the Moon?"

"I have already asked General Firefly for her expertise, but I believe that the task will require a great amount of magic as well. And your intelligence in general will be of great use."

"I see," Star Swirl said. "When would you prefer that we begin?"

"Officially, later, but I would like to take the moment to speak with you now that I am here. Recount a few details of my experience."

"Very well. Continue."

Star Swirl nodded sagely. "I see. What else can you tell me about those altitudes? Anything you saw?"

Celestia bit her lip. "No... It was dark. Even in Luna's magnificent night... I could not see very much."

The unicorn smiled. "Well, my Princess, you are a very intelligent pony yourself. Advancement will require more details. You seek to achieve an incredibly ambitious plan. It will require a vastly large amount of details. Only then will we have sufficient knowledge to work from."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Very well. I have plenty of hours to myself for a considerable length of time. I will go and repeat my actions from that night today, while it is still daytime."

Faster and faster she pushed herself. Effortlessly, she broke the sound barrier. Not long after that, she outflew her wing magic, leaving behind another spectacular explosion. She focused magic through her wings, propelling her even faster.

The minutes actually felt slower than from that fateful night. Celestia counted the ascent as taking around three minutes at the longest before she started having the sensation of losing control again. At the same time, she also felt as if she could pour immense power through her wings and fly even faster than before, without any air drag stopping her. So she did, sending her even higher up, into the aether where she would lose control, even faster.

The alicorn felt the onset of panic but immediately forced herself to focus. She started to hyperventilate in anticipation, yet her breathing slowed as she calmed herself down.

With the necklace giving her air to breathe, she did not have to worry about her head feeling light. She felt... mostly normal, if cold. Very chilly, in fact. And yet, she was still going higher and higher... while her ability to control her flying through her unicorn powers was disappearing more and more.

'Focus, Celestia. Luna would want you to focus. To return safely.'

Celestia remembered the first time she flew high up. Luna was so worried.

"Do not worry, Celestia," she told herself. "This is a journey of discovery you have chosen to embark on for Luna, and once the final goal is achieved, we shall find ourselves together again."

Through sheer will, Celestia calmed her mind and stopped all attempts at using her magic to fly. Now was not the time for panic. It was the time for observation and learning about what she had gotten herself into.

For the first time in her flight, Celestia focused on her surroundings and felt herself in awe. It was no longer simply bright like the day... but *everywhere above, it was black like the night. The horizon was different—unlike the horizon she knew on the ground, this one instead glowed blue. But if the sky was the backdrop of the horizon on the ground, then what was this dark backdrop of the horizon of the sky?*

A chill went down her spine as she suddenly felt small. A powerful alicorn... humbled by the truth of nature. Well, that, and it was absolutely freezing.

She wondered why her sun, a pure, blazing white, could not warm her.

Nonetheless, with her mouth agape, she looked around. The world... it just seemed to end. Like she was on a large disk, with edges far away and nothing past them. And those edges were a radiant blue, a border against the abyss.

Celestia smiled as she remembered that specific moment. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into, and even more, she didn't know that there were still more wonders of nature waiting ahead.

She slowly twirled herself around with a precise application of magic, stopping herself facing the Earth below. She was passing over a large continent, somewhere halfway around the world from her home. Places she had very rarely visited. The thought occurred to her that visiting such places was much easier now. It wouldn't take her much time to just fly over herself. And now that Luna was home, perhaps she could put her flights to different uses.

Nowadays, she used relative distances interchangeably. Right now, she considered herself truly far away from anything. Not as far as Luna and the Moon was, yet it was still considerably far.

Or to be technically correct, how high she was above the Earth. That, at least, was something she quickly realized that first flight...

"The world is round... And larger than the impressive size I had already imagined it to be..."

Celestia took her first thought and passed it through her mind once more. A round world...

She looked around again, and this time, barely made out a slight curvature on the edges.

"Maybe round... like an overturned plate?"

There were some ponies that theorized about the true nature of their world. Some even searched for evidence that the world was a sphere, much as the same as the Sun and Moon were widely believed to be. A few came to conclusive measurements with mathematical proof. Celestia was never sure what to think of the theories, but now, she was giving them some consideration.

"If it is a sphere, then just how big is the world?"

Yet, even with these new ideas, she wondered what it would mean in her journey to reach the moon.

'Perhaps now is not the time to ponder such a question. I should try and learn more from my surroundings.'

Celestia's studious side began to show itself as she began experimenting in her new environment. Although she was shivering from the cold, she still kept her mind on track.

'I cannot fly in any way anymore. Maybe very, very slight movements, but very difficult. How would I go about controlling myself up here then?'

Celestia continued to try and contort herself into different positions. She tried pulling herself with her magic. Yet all she accomplished was leaving herself flailing around, confused. All that was happening to her was... floating around aimlessly while also tangling up her limbs in an attempt to move around. Was she just drifting along? Gliding through the strange aether she now found herself in?

It was incredibly jarring, but her incredible will to remain calm and on task overshadowed her insecurities.

"I can control the Sun's path across the heavens, but I cannot control my own?"

Celestia growled in frustration before realizing what she just said. Her eyes moved to look at the Sun. Its warm rays really did look enticing as she froze in the high atmosphere.

"What would happen if I tried to move it now?..."

She grabbed ahold of her sun with her special magic as she usually did, then tried to give a very light, experimental nudge.

Nothing.

The alicorn's face contorted into an expression of confusion. She didn't understand. She knew she controlled the day, and actually, as of recent events, the night as well, but when she attempted to move the Sun, nothing happened.

'I will have to examine this further when I am back on the ground.'

And speaking of the ground—

'... How do I get back down?'

The thought was first spoken in her mind very calmly, as if asking a very simple question. Her studious expression quickly changed into alarm when she realized—

'How do I get back down?!'

Celestia's first reaction was to begin flapping her wings, but she stopped almost as soon as she started. Her second reaction was to try to put magic through them, but she stopped herself short again.

Yet here she was, looking for some landmarks and failing to find any.

'Had I really flown so fast that I threw myself away from Equestria?'

Celestia bit her lip in anticipation. She decided to meditate about her situation. She had to return home. For Luna.

During her short meditation, Celestia noticed that something felt different. It felt... like the earth was closer.

Celestia decided to hold onto that strange sensation. Maybe something would come of it.

And after about a minute, she realized what was happening.

She was falling. And she was falling fast.

Celestia opened her wings and started trying to feel for some purchase on air. Something to slow herself down.

No luck. The glowing blue edge of the world was now pushing away the black abyss.

Faster. And faster.

But then her wings felt something. Celestia tried to stop her fall, but it was as if she was trying to grip ice while sliding at an incredible speed.

In fact, it became so uncomfortable after the first few seconds, that she flipped herself over to face downwards.

And after a few more seconds, it turned out that it was not a very good idea.

'Hot! Hot!'

And in a moment, Celestia came to a conclusion that it was counter-productive, now that her wings were also shielded from acting upon the air. At least, that's what she assumed.

It wasn't easy for her to think as she watched the ground approach faster than she had ever done so before.

And soon enough, still high above the ground, her speed slowed to a more familiar level of 'fast' as the air pushed up against her without any effort from her.

Celestia relaxed herself and let gravity take over from there. Maybe she didn't need to put in all that work earlier.

Flying was a wonderful experience, and she knew many with wings would agree.

And right now, she accepted gracefully falling as well, and she wondered how many with wings would also agree.

Celestia returned herself to the present after that part of her memory. The first fall was the most frightening. Despite her appearance at that point in history—a fully matured alicorn—she couldn't help but look back at that first flight and think how inexperienced and naive she was. Even a century later, she already thought that about her past self.

If distance was one value Celestia had different perspectives on, time was another. Few ever did put long lengths of time in proper perspective.

As for Celestia, she learned it the hard way. One thousand years she was without Luna. Her sister's embraces. Her sister's voice. Her sister's comforting presence.

When she thought about it that way, Equestria eventually forgetting Luna's importance throughout the millennium of her banishment felt insignificant. It felt wrong to Celestia, that ponies eventually did not see Luna the same way as those did during their time. And yet, here was her entire planet, drifting through a universe so immense that it made everything that ever occurred on the Earth feel insignificant.

The thought used to keep Celestia up at night, accompanying her longing for her sister, but she got over it. After all, despite how insignificant they might be, that was just in the perspective of everything. However, Celestia came to the conclusion that her own perspective was equally as significant, and so whatever happened in her time on Earth was significant.

And because Celestia's own perspective mattered, Luna mattered, and that was good enough for her, no matter what anything else thought of Luna.

And for the ones around Celestia, her happiness was important, and that was enough of a reason for them...

"Firefly, I thank you again for taking this time to fly with me."

"It is no matter, Princess; anything for you. But if I may ask, what do you believe I could contribute to your enormous task?"

Firefly nodded, but was still unsure. "But you've flown higher than anypony has ever had. I am still unsure if I will be of any assistance."

"Round?" Firefly echoed. "I will take your word about the view; I can only imagine how far you could see."

"I’d imagine so, Princess. Lack of air drag would mean you could go on forever if you were not pulled back down to the earth. Could you not use your unicorn magic to do anything?" Firefly asked.

"I could not think of any way," Celestia replied. "I even tried to move the Sun during my time there, but I could not manipulate it. It was very puzzling."

"Have you told Clover these details yet? She is very intelligent in many practices."

"I have, and she continues her meticulous work. But I also chose to discuss it with you, as perhaps your pegasus heritage will help shine a new light on this mystery from a different perspective."

Firefly paused, mulling over what Celestia had told her. She flew over Celestia, facing downwards to look at her conversation partner. "If you tried to move the Sun, does that not mean telekinesis is in play?"

Celestia considered the question. "I... I believe it should be. But when I tried to move it in the manner that I normally do, it had no effect."

"But if you could grab onto it, could you not move yourself?" Firefly suggested.

"No, telekinesis does not work like that. At least, it should not. I felt no effect upon my body when I attempted to move the Sun. And unicorn magic does not function in that way—I cannot grab an object and pull myself towards it. I can only grab objects and move them relative to myself."

"So you cannot simply grab ahold of the Moon and pull yourself towards it?"

"No. And despite the Moon being an object that my magic can affect, I can only move the Moon across the sky, not move it closer. It is set in its path."

"But is there not a spell that allows a unicorn to levitate themselves?"

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "There is. But I am not sure how that would apply."

"What if, when you can no longer use flight magic, you resort to such levitation magic instead?" Firefly suggested.

The alicorn was struck into silence. It could solve the problem if it worked. But that's how problem-solving went—a good idea comes up and seems like the solution, but one couldn't simply rush to it as if it was the solution. It had to be considered. Tested.

But it did seem like it was a solution.

"How difficult is the spell to perform?" Firefly said, as Celestia was not able to form a reply. "In fact, how does the spell work?"

"That is... a good suggestion, and those are good questions," Celestia answered. "Levitating one's self requires enough effort to lift one's self, so that is one consideration. The process also requires a continuous expenditure of magic, so it is also physically straining.

"Your magic is strong, Princess. Can you not simply use such levitation to bring yourself to the Moon?" Firefly thought about another point. "In fact, since you have such great magical potential, can you not simply teleport yourself to the Moon?"

"According to Luna, she had always thought about the possibility," Celestia answered. "But she was unsure how far the distance was. Teleportation over a vast distance is both exhausting and difficult to perform. If the Moon is, in fact, so distant, then such a solution may not be easy to come by."

"Trial and error?"

“Do you even know what to expect if it turns out you can fly to the Moon?” Firefly asked.

Celestia looked away. The pegasus had a point. She was trying to achieve a goal without even being sure as to what was at the end. The Moon was said to be a stone in the sky, but that was it. “I suppose these are questions that I must search the answers to over time, and have others help me in solving the universe’s mysteries.”

“Pegasi learn to fly in small hops,” Firefly said. “But at least we know where we are flying to.”

“Then I will have to explore the unknown and learn. And then I will know where I am flying to.”

Celestia remained still during her entire time reminiscing, not adjusting her orientation. In that time, her position in orbit had moved so that the Earth was no longer straight in front of her, but she was instead starting to peek over it, under the sun, and into the great beyond. Before the next flight, she didn’t think of it as ‘peeking over’, but instead staring at the edge.

Oh, how wrong she was.

She looked back at her acquaintance with Firefly with fondness. The mare always aimed to please. Her legacy to Equestria was, of course, the Wonderbolts, a showcase of the love of flight.

Firefly’s legacy to Celestia, however, was bringing her one step closer to the moon. Or, as it felt at the time, halfway to anywhere...

The wind whistled past Celestia’s ears.

Her heart beat in her ears, her breathing deep and methodical.

It was her next flight deep into the sky. This time, however, she was armed with the idea of a new method to control her movement once the air had disappeared. She had left the ground at an astonishing speed; anyone watching would have thought she was trying to leave the world right then.

Celestia didn’t plan on it this time, but she kept the idea seated in her mind. It was about mid-morning when she left, giving her ample daytime for her journey of discovery.

Based on Celestia’s previous flight, they had plenty to learn about the world, and anything to further their knowledge about the world they lived in was welcome.

Celestia wondered if the saddlebags would hinder her ability to fly by adding extra drag, but it didn’t seem to be the case. She continued to rocket upwards without any trouble, nor any discomfort from the bags.

Soon enough, she rose above the horizon and her unicorn magic-enhanced wings became ineffective. It was time to try out the new idea.

Celestia cast the self-levitation spell. Her magic enveloped her body, and immediately, she felt herself gain control of her orientation.

“Ha! Ha ha!” She continued to laugh in joy as she twirled around, looking at her surroundings. She was able to focus on the sights, now that she was in control of where she was facing.

Next, she attempted to move around in some direction. Curious, she tried to move herself higher up.

It occurred to Celestia that after a minute of applying magic, she’d have no way of knowing if it was working. Due to her vast magical potential, she wasn’t one to be easily tired, but she knew for a fact that over time, travel by pegasus flight magic was much less intensive than by whatever methods unicorns had access to.

For now, she would have to experiment close to the Earth. ‘Close’, in a relative sense, as she was high up enough that her home was a barely visible dot on the land.

‘At least I have learned to identify where home is from so high up...’

Right?

Steeling her nerves, Celestia applied the self-levitation magic and began moving in what seemed like an eastward direction. She watched the ground as she continued to move herself along, but Celestia wasn’t sure if she could tell if she was moving. However, she quickly determined that she was in fact moving, once she noticed that her ethereal mane had strayed behind her. That was good to know.

Movement in the horizontal plane was not too strenuous, so Celestia figured that she could keep it up for a while.

And for a while she did.

After what may have been half an hour, she had definitely moved over the land, but she did not feel any closer to the edge of the world.

‘It has not been very long. I should keep going. The world is very large, after all.’

Celestia kept up the application of her magic almost absentmindedly. At the same time, she decided that it was as good of a time as any to take out some parchment and begin taking notes.

As she pulled herself through the aether with her magic, Celestia took note of the world below. The shape of the landmasses. The seas.

She cocked her head and pulled out her map.

‘I don’t... believe any of these have been charted.’

Celestia looked behind her in what seemed like a westward direction and found the coastline of Equestria. From there, she began her cartography work.

All the while, she kept pulling herself farther eastward.

Celestia smiled fondly as she looked at the Earth below her. If she were on the ground, it would be about mid-morning. The terminator, the separation between day and night, was still visible behind her, if barely. Beyond it, the Earth darkened, almost to a complete blackness. Celestia looked at it now as a fact of nature, something that simply was.

Although as of this moment, having left the dark of the Earth and falling around the planet ever eastward, she couldn’t help but remember her first encounter with the line of twilight.

Celestia remembered her naive self’s emotions. It absolutely terrified her...

Celestia’s continued to move towards the edge of the Earth in silence.

At least, Celestia thought it was the edge.

It wasn’t making any sense to her. She had been watching it closely and what she watched absolutely baffled her. Over the course of about ten minutes, she saw lands roll away into darkness.

They seemed to disappear into the abyss!

If that were true, though, then Equestria would meet the same fate!

... Or would it?

Celestia wasn’t sure, but at the rate it was happening, Equestria still had hours if she estimated the rate of movement by the land, combined with her new knowledge of lands she had passed over.

Perhaps about twelve hours.

At that estimate, Celestia’s expression went from wide-eyed concern to puzzlement. At twelve hours, the day ended, the Sun set, and the dark of the night came upon them.

The dark of the night, that is, with Luna’s moon providing some luminance.

Then a second thought occurred to her. Where was Luna’s moon?

Celestia thought about the process. It was normally brought up during the night, but in actuality, it could be brought up at any time.

In fact, such was the case with both heavenly bodies. And for the first time that she could remember, she really questioned why the Sun and Moon traveled across the sky, the same direction every cycle. From east to west.

They traveled under the land, right? That was the accepted belief. But what exactly did 'under the land' mean? What was 'under the land'?

Celestia decided that continuing on in her flight would be her course of action. It was a journey of discovery after all.

After ten minutes, she was near. And... all felt the same. Celestia was still pulling herself along as she had been doing. The darkness frightened her, but she built up her courage to go on.

Nearer. And nearer. Celestia kept up the self-levitation spell, pulling herself across the surface.

She was beginning to have doubts. What if the underside was something not meant for ponykind? What if it led to some other realm? What if, if she continued to think, she would never return home? Lost for an eternity. She would not have reached Luna, and when Luna returned, she would not be Luna. She would still be Nightmare Moon, the abomination that robbed her of her sister. A danger to Equestria.

The doubt was building up so strongly in Celestia that her will to go on was disappearing. As if her hope of living through it could not even be helped by a prayer.

Until she saw it rise above the dark horizon.

The Moon, and on it, the image of a mare imprinted on its face. It shone brightly in the darkness, a light in the dark of the night.

“Luna?...”

Celestia felt so scared. She was so far from anywhere she knew. She didn't even know where she was flying to.

Celestia felt so alone. She felt forgettable, as if crossing that dark border would mean she would cease to exist.

And at that moment, Celestia also felt whole, for in her solitude, she was accompanied by her sister. Both alone in an endless abyss, looking down at the land below where everyone went on living their lives.

“I will not stop, Luna. I will find a way.”

With that settled, Celestia set herself to go into that deep night.

The alicorn resolved to simply go forward as she had been doing. Which, strangely, she could not sense any difference between when she had started and the current moment—for what she estimated was almost an hour, she had simply commanded her magic to move her forward. No changes in altitude. She approached the border between light and dark with no difference in orientation that she could feel.

Further into the darkness she went. Soon enough, the last rays of the Sun disappeared around the horizon, leaving Celestia alone to herself and what she assumed was the dark underside of the Earth.

Celestia took some comfort in that fact. It was another way that she and Luna were connected.

"Oh, Luna," Celestia spoke as she looked at the Moon. "Help me through this. It's so dark. I hope I can return to Equestria safely."

Celestia stared at the moon a little longer, then noticed the surrounding backdrop.

Stars.

So many of them dotted the scene before Celestia.

"Night," Celestia smiled. "It's... like night."

Celestia wondered if star charts would have been of use to her right then. She cast a spell to provide herself some light to allow herself to continue taking notes with her writing materials.

'Perhaps with more knowledge, I can make use of star charts to aid my navigation. As of now, however, I do not believe they would have been of much use.'

And soon enough, her hypothesis was proven correct. Celestia's mouth opened in a happy smile upon seeing the Sun peek its rays over the horizon. She was going home.

Around ten minutes later, Celestia caught sight of the world’s edge below her again. Except this time, new land seemed to be coming up from the darkness.

‘No, that is how one would try to rationalize it... If the world is actually round, then that would mean... as the Sun goes across the sky, it actually goes around the world? That would mean... there are even more lands we did not know about. And if it is daytime on one side... then it is nighttime on the other?’

She was suddenly curious about how long she had been gone. They told the time by observing the position of the sun above them, but in her position, that was not an option. She had only her instinct to go upon, and her estimate was around an hour and a half.

The thought remained with Celestia as she passed over into daytime. The necklace only having a limited supply of air was another cause for concern.

Although she was now back in the land of the light, worry remained that she still did not know where she was. Even referring to her map, Celestia could not recognize any of the landforms.

‘I only traveled in a straight line... where could I be?’

Before, she drew landforms, trying to help create a new, larger map of the world. Now she drew the world, trying to trace the path she took and calculate her position. Hopefully she could figure out where she was relative to Equestria.

The horizon began rising higher, and Celestia figured that she must have begun her fall. However, she also noted that the ground below her was moving... fairly quickly.

‘How did I apply the self-levitation magic again?...'

Was she moving herself forward or was she adding speed to her movement forward?

Faster and faster Celestia went. She could feel the air being caught in her wings and against her body.

She listened to her instincts, feeling her inertia. When she felt it was right, Celestia dissipated her shield and began flying naturally.

Celestia flew down, intending to land just outside of its borders.

When her hooves set down on the sand, she found a few figures standing some distance away.

They looked like ponies. Except a little different in form.

The figures nodded slowly. Celestia approached them carefully. She held a brief conversation with them, then they pointed Celestia towards the city. They said it was their capital.

After a little bit of flying, she found herself at the entrance. Guards met the strange figure, but Celestia was taken in without much incident.

And that was how she started a relationship with the Saddle Arabians.

“Clover! How long was I gone?! Has it been a day? The passage of time escapes me.”

Clover stuck her head out of a nearby window. “Judging by the position of the sun, no more than six hours.”

“Six... hours?”

Clover noted the look of surprise, confusion, and awe in her princess’s face. “What did you find?”

Celestia removed her saddlebag slowly placing it on a table. As she took out the sheets of parchment she wrote on, “Only what may be the most magnificent discoveries for ponykind yet...”

Celestia felt a chill go down her spine for a second time in today’s flight. Except this was not one of fear and sorrow, but one of great wonder. That one flight had accomplished so much.

It was what enabled Celestia to discover true orbital spaceflight. Simply falling around the world, without any further effort from her. With a small application of self-levitation magic to reorient herself, Celestia bathed her full underside in the sun, seemingly careless to anything else in the world behind her. A few times, she even took naps while in orbit—she just let physics lead her along.

From that one journey, scholars were able to create a proper picture of the world. To model it in such a way that they felt satisfied all the strange anomalies in their former calculations. As the month went on, their work provided a new image of the universe, albeit one that Celestia expected would have caused quite a shock.

Certainly, the disruption in self-centric thinking was sure to shake ponies, including herself...

“Princess, I believe we have finally unraveled the truth to this mystery!”

A few ponies were gathered around a table for Celestia’s weekly assembly in her mission to eventually fly to the Moon. They turned towards the excited voice, finding Clover the Clever. The unicorn had been working with various scholars of different practices as her contribution to Celestia’s mission.

“It will be very confusing at first, but as I explain, I hope it will become clear,” Clover continued. She projected an image of a sphere with her magic, then began drawing on it with another spell. “According to your descriptions, you flew towards the eastern coast of Equestria.”

A line was traced along the sphere to simulate Celestia’s path, starting at a point about halfway up from the middle of the sphere.

“You may have expected to simply return to the point you started at by traveling in a circle.”

The line went around the top of the sphere, closing in a ring.

“But in actuality, that is not the case when you fly straight while remaining level to the ground.”

The first line was erased, and a new line began tracing Celestia’s path. It circled around the sphere, bisecting it perfectly.

“But if that were true,” Celestia said, “then why did I have to fly eastward from Saddle Arabia?”

“This solution was provided by some unconventional thinkers, based on your descriptions of lands moving in and out of darkness,” Clover replied. She graduated the sphere with vertical lines to help show the effect. Then she put it in a slow rotation.

Celestia’s path was traced again. The origin point was represented Equestria. As the path moved on, ‘Equestria’ continued to rotate with the world, while Celestia’s path remained straight. As the line made a complete circumnavigation of the sphere, the ending point was west of the origin.

“This also implies that the day cycle is controlled by the Earth’s rotation, not the Sun literally moving across the sky.”

Celestia was dumbfounded, and the ponies around her murmured in skepticism. “But I control the Sun. I have displayed my control over it!”

“We still believe you, Princess,” Clover replied calmly. “The ones I have spoken with have supplied an alternate explanation to your control of the heavenly bodies. You said that the first time you flew high up, you attempted to move the Sun to no avail. We believe it is because the Sun is actually an immoveable object.

“Instead, as this display suggests, the day-night cycle is due to the rotation of the Earth. So, when you are on Earth, you can influence its rotation.”

Celestia put a hoof to her chin, mulling over the theory. “It... is plausible. Even if the explanation has changed, my ability remains the same. What about the Moon?”

“Oh, that is still an object that you move along its path in the heavens. As an added note, the idea that the Sun is an fixed object has spread amongst the astronomical community. They have found additional explanations for the changing positions of stars and planets in the sky over time.”

Celestia’s expression remained thoughtful. “Although I am not sure if this is directly relatable to flying to the Moon, I am curious to hear it.”

Clover nodded, then reduced the size of the magic sphere. Around it, she placed smaller spheres, representing the objects they found in the sky that were determined to be different from stars. Some moved in different inclinations, determined from the strange paths they took in the night sky over time. “They have theorized that the Earth is simply one of the planets circling the Sun. An interesting proposition. It seems to hold truth.”

Celestia nodded, following the unicorn's explanation. "Fascinating."

Clover bowed. "Thank you, Princess."

Celestia continued to face the Sun. They had learned much more since then. New minds, new mathematical concepts, new magical methods...

A millennium was a long time for progress to be made.

Whenever Celestia grabbed ahold of the sun now, she remembered how truly massive the star was. Every day, she latched onto the sun with her magical grasp and turned the Earth a little further.

She did experiment later that one week about what would happen if she didn't go through the 'sunrise' routine.

Much to her great surprise, and at the same time, partially to her expectations, the day went on as normal!

A part of her was thrilled that she could feasibly sleep in without any ill effects on the world. The more she knew!

In any case, such a discovery certainly changed Celestia's way of thinking. If the size of the world made her feel small, then learning that they were not the center of everything made her feel even more humbled. Yet, even then, Celestia couldn't help but feel that it was... right.

Of course, even after the presentation of the movements of their planet and the other heavenly bodies, there was still much needed progress to be made in the area of spaceflight. Celestia’s one circumnavigation of the Earth ended with her feeling a little bit worn after exerting magic for that length of time. And that was while she still had relatively easy access to land.

If distance across land was a quantity not always put into proper perspective, distance across space was something vastly underestimated. Celestia was powerful, but she was not infinitely so. Fortunately, a certain pony managed to help her along the right path once more...

“Have you considered how you will make the journey to the Moon, Princess? They say it is very far away.”

Firefly again accompanied Celestia in the sky for a conversation. However, this time, they were gliding along at a few thousand meters, under the starry blanket of Luna's sky and the soft radiance of the Moon, with her image watching over them.

"I suppose I could just use my self-levitation magic to travel there," Celestia replied. "However, it seems that it is an inefficient method of travel. Unicorns were not meant to travel vast distances like so. It is the Pegasi that are the ones who have the ability to travel far, through flight."

"But this is different, Princess," Firefly said. "If it is completely empty space when you reach such altitudes, as you say, then our wings are of no use. It would be a task left to those with magic to achieve, for the potential abilities of magic continue to be explored."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, that is true. Although, the thought has occurred to me—if I can fly at such great speeds in the atmosphere, once the air disappears and I am thrown as far as my momentum can take me, would it be possible to throw myself away from the earth at such a speed that I reach the moon?"

Firefly's expression turned pensive as she rolled inverted to look up at the Moon. "It may be, Princess. But for you to attain such speeds, you need air to fly through, do you not? Unless you instead throw yourself with your magic?"

"I can increase my speed with the self-levitation spell, but I am not sure how fast I will have to go," Celestia answered. "If the Moon is incredibly distant, then I will have to expend a great amount of magic to bring myself to such a speed so that I will be thrown far enough."

"You believe that it would be much easier to build up your speed with your pegasus magic?"

"Magic from the wings is different from magic from the horn," Celestia answered. "Magic from the wings is much more easy to coerce, and so is less exhausting over time compared to magic from the horn, which requires focus. Magic from the wings cooperates easily with one's will. Through the horn, it is not as simple."

"I see," Firefly responded. "You seek an easier method of flight through space first, before traveling to the Moon?"

Celestia twirled around, facing the Moon with Firefly. "I eagerly await the moment in which I can be reunited with Luna, even if just through contact with her prison. But it is a long journey through parts unknown. Preparations must be taken. Despite my longing, I cannot be hasty."

"Then... you will just have to fly up more and more until your work opens up our eyes to a satisfactory solution," Firefly declared.

"It is so," Celestia said. "I suppose I could begin exploring... spaceflight... methods by further examination of my wings."

"You say you want to travel faster, yes?" Firefly asked.

"Of course."

"Then why not spend more time in the air to gain speed?" Firefly suggested. "If the world is a sphere, then at some point, you could be going quickly enough to throw yourself away from the surface, even tangentially."

Celestia did not respond immediately, picturing Firefly's suggestion. "I suppose it could work. It would allow me to attain greater speeds, but what if it is not enough?"

"Then you would simply fall back down to the earth, would you not?" Firefly answered. "Although, if you were going incredibly fast, as your forward velocity is not lost due to absence of air, maybe you would somehow 'fall' around the Earth?"

"I... can see what you mean," Celestia replied. "It is certainly an interesting thought. Continuous movement over the surface without any effort. I wonder how fast I must go to do so." Her facial expression changed into one of pleasant ponderation.

“I know some pegasi well-versed in the mathematics of flight. I will go consult them and the astronomers Clover knows.” Firefly turned her head to look at her Princess, seeing the alicorn's smile. It brought one to herself. "This idea excites you."

"Things we did not know we are now learning. The loss of Luna is a great tragedy, yet she continues to lead us into these new wonders."

"It is your dedication to your sister that leads us, Princess."

"Yes, but I cannot ignore that my motivation is because of that dedication. Luna knew I loved to fly. If only she knew the new thrills of flight I have discovered because of her."

"And there will be many more to come, I am sure."

Celestia looked back at that time affectionately. Despite the loss of her sister, she was never without family. For as she showed her dedication to Luna, the ponies around the princess showed their dedication to her. Although Celestia lost the closest pony to her, she was never short of others to share the joys of her triumphs and the frustrations of new problems. She may have been a ruler to many, but to others, she was a part of their family.

Still, Equestria would not run itself. Celestia still faced being the sole ruler of her land. Everyday, she faced the burden of taking care of her country without Luna to aid her. She would learn eventually, she knew, but it wasn’t the same. Despite the multitude of advisors, Celestia could never feel free form her work.

Against the pressures of her life, Celestia sought a way to escape it all for even a few hours.

Some said tranquility could be found by surrounding one's self with nature.

Celestia found it by experiencing all nature had to offer at once. Forests, jungles, fields, snow-capped mountains, deserts, and the vast oceans—she saw it all. And if she looked away, a field of stars in the grand universe.

It turned out that Firefly’s prediction of falling around the Earth was true. It was the most serenity Celestia could gain for herself. To be alone, far away from the pressures in Equestria. And the only companion she could see was the Moon.

In many cases, Celestia did not go up only for herself, but to be with Luna, alone together in orbit around the Earth. No one could bother them at any time while Celestia was up there.

As for her continued mission of eventually flying to the Moon, it took a few more years before she saw it through. Before it came advances in spells. In tools.

Celestia’s most prized possession of that era was her golden neckpiece. With the help of Star Swirl and Clover, they imbued advanced orbital maneuvering spells into it. Such enchantments included the simple air-containment spell, except Celestia’s neckpiece held weeks of air. Another important spell allowed her to divert the propagation of the self-levitation spell—instead of having to focus and channel it through her horn, all Celestia had to do now was will herself to move and it would flow out from her wings as if she were in normal flight. It changed the properties of the spell somewhat, but overall, it felt much more natural.

It also enhanced her senses, allowing her to accurately determine her movement in all axes and planes. Even in free-fall in orbit, Celestia could feel the tiniest of movement towards or away from the ground. She could feel how much force she was exerting through her wings, allowing her to determine its effects on her orbit. It even contained a spell that permitted her to see an outline of her path ahead of her, letting Celestia know just where she was headed and how much she may have to correct her course.

The neckpiece felt like almost everything to her. It was the manifestation of her joy of flight. It was her bridge to Luna. It was her testament to her journey of many discoveries and the work of ponies that helped her achieve spaceflight. Over the years, newer attire was presented to her, newer jewelry, but through an entire millennium it remained as an unchanging part of her...

“... Go make some friends!”

Celestia had just sent off a letter to her student, who had just discovered a prophecy set in motion a millennium ago. The time had come. Her millennium of wait had ended. Now, all that remained were but hours. Celestia did not have to leave for the Summer Sun Celebrations for some time, and decided to try to calm her tense nerves in a way that always helped her to do so. Her heart was beating quickly for what was to come, and it was not going to slow until it was over. She might as well put all her pent-up tension to some use.

The alicorn went about the process of removing all of her ornamental pieces, bar her neckpiece. Then she stepped outside facing eastward, taking off for the skies in a thunderous boom, her anticipation and joy fueling the first flap of her wings.

Celestia felt her way through the air, a mental altimeter ticking as she rose in height. Her airspeed climbed as fast as her altitude. First the sound barrier. Then her wings' magic limit. She was already so far away from Canterlot that not many were likely to notice.

Flight magic was normally passive, in a sense—it acted through the wings as air passed by, and the magic would flow out at its natural rate, providing lift and propulsion. Faster flight required more exertion by the pegasus, increasing the magic flow up until a point where one hit the limit of their wings’ capability to control the flow. In simple terms, maximum speed was linked with one’s own potential; some ponies simply had more.

Yet once one manages to pass that point, the result was the same for anyone. Magic would explode from one’s wings in a spectacular manner and propel one’s self at even greater speeds. Reaching such a point requires a great enough speed that the magic stream, resulting from the high-speed airflow, is practically ripped from the magic-channeling organ. It usually also requires great discipline. Usually.

Celestia was disciplined to do such a thing on a daily basis. Her own flying ability was so immense that she broke Mach 1 almost effortlessly; her wing magic capability allowed her to surpass that speed without any further help from advanced techniques. Yet that wasn’t fast enough for her destination today.

With her unicorn powers, she throttled more of her magic from her reservoir through her wings, sending her through the air ever faster. At the same time, she pitched downwards, flying almost horizontal at an extremely high altitude. Her wings were tight against her body; the air passing over the outside of her closed wings was more than enough for the magic to work on. The presentation of a smaller, more aerodynamic shape was essential to flight at her intended speeds. The air was so thin that Celestia could bring herself to hypersonic velocities before noticeable resistance from air drag set in.

Her muzzle and the tips of her hooves began warming up as she continued to zoom through the stratosphere, accelerating towards orbital speed, faster than 7,000 meters per second. Even with the air so thin, she could hear it moving past her ears. She was already above the Eastern Sea, and she was nearing the Gryphon homelands.

Using the Gryphon’s coastline as an aid to her own sense of speed, Celestia pitched upwards, the immense force of the magic from her wings giving her a significant increase in vertical velocity. The change in net velocity would allow her momentum to carry her through the mesosphere.

Once she felt herself cross the stratopause and lose normal flight control, Celestia relaxed herself and exhaled. The acceleration portion was always the hardest. Now was the coasting portion, in which she simply waited to reach apoapsis, the highest point on her trajectory. The heat buildup from both her immense speed and from her physical exertion remained in her, causing some discomfort; there was simply not enough air around her for it to radiate to.

She spread her wings and another spell enchanted into her neckpiece took effect to draw her body heat outwards in controlled amounts, ensuring that she did not cause injury to herself through excessive internal heat. Immediately, she began feeling better, allowing her to take the moment to herself in silence.

Only breathing. No sound of the air.

It was mid-morning when she left. Twilight must have been planning to leave for Ponyville right then.

A smile came to Celestia’s face, imagining how unhappy the unicorn was when assigned her task. But she knew that would all work out for the better, without any uncertainty.

Celestia’s natural, ingrained flight instruments were refined over centuries of experience, and the orbital maneuvering spells in her neckpiece tuned them to even keener levels. With little focus, she could feel her distance and movement relative to the Earth vertically. She could feel the minuscule changes as gravity decelerated her in that axis of movement.

When Celestia felt that her vertical speed was close to zero, she oriented herself in the direction of her intended acceleration. She eased herself forward, controlling the magic output from her wings, allowing acceleration of her body through the orbital maneuvering spell contained in her neckpiece. The increase in velocity served to change her sub-orbital trajectory by raising her periapsis, the lowest point of her trajectory, to an approximately equal altitude, establishing a proper orbit.

The process of orbital insertion took only seconds.

The flight brought Celestia far enough east that the dusk terminator was just ahead. Her heart continued racing from anticipation of Nightmare Moon's return, and with Nightmare Moon, Luna. She continued her fall around the world without any further thoughts, slipping past the twilight zone and into the night.

Then, the Moon came into view. Celestia looked upon the imprinted image of the mare she recognized as her sister.

Celestia waited until the Sun's rays disappeared behind the Earth. She needed the dark of the Earth's shadow to feel alone. To be able share the moment between herself and Luna.

"It's not much longer, sister," Celestia said.

The Moon remained silent, as it always had.

"I've waited one thousand years for your return. Now, I wait only hours."

Celestia brought her head down. "I've missed you, Luna. I hope, that when I get you back, you'll know that I have always been there for you."

Celestia faced the Moon and the figure once more. "I embarked on a great journey to reach out to you. I knew nothing about the universe we lived in when I began. Yet, I tried to reach out to you as fast as I could.

"I have given great thanks to the ponies that got me this far in such a short time. It took longer to actually achieve the end goal, but I still did it within the decade. You were an inspiration, Luna. You helped us achieve so much. Yet... I wish it didn't have to be this way.

"Days, weeks, years, centuries... Patiently I waited. I hope you knew that I continued to fly up here to visit you. Equestria may have forgotten you, but I never did.

"We were meant to rule together, sister. I have sent my student out to prepare for your coming. It will not be easy for her. As much as it was a journey of discovery for me, so it will be for her.

"And once the final goal is achieved, then we will find ourselves together again."

Celestia remembered the chills she felt afterwards. She was so nervous. A millennium was such a long time, she almost couldn't fathom that it was real. She continued the rest of that orbit in silence, trying to get some warmth once she passed into the light of the Sun. And then she stayed for another revolution.

And Celestia still felt cold at that time. She even remembered tightening her wings to herself, to see if the Sun's radiation could make her feel any warmer. Once it became clear that it was not working, she spread her wings open again. After all, she didn't want to appear to Luna while sick.

Then she remembered contemplating going through the re-entry process without a shield, just to see if the heat could do anything to calm her senses.

Finally, Celestia decided that her millennium of relying on herself was long enough, and instead remembered her faith in Twilight Sparkle.

Everything would be alright.

And everything did turn out alright.

Celestia remembered the first embrace she shared with Luna fondly. No longer did she have to connect with Luna through the vast distance of space, or the rock of the Moon. No, now Luna was actually there with her.

However, the greatest moment for Celestia was when Luna told her that she felt her sister's presence every time.

That, at last, brought Celestia closure.

And yet, after so long, Celestia couldn't stop coming up to low Earth orbit. It had become a routine. It helped her loosen her muscles. Clear her mind. It also continued to bring her joy—it brought her even more joy, actually. For every time Celestia looked upon the moon, its face was clear, no longer marred by the image of a mistake that cost both of them so much.

Celestia always loved flying, and now she could take full joy in what she did.

She even shared it with Luna. The first time, Luna was incredibly unsure, yet Celestia sensed she was also incredibly curious. Excited as well.

Luna was never as good as a flier as Celestia, so the older sister took it upon herself to fly both of them up that day. During the scenic coast up to the circularization point, Luna looked down at the world below her with wonder. It prompted her to ask her sister what the world was like during the time that she was gone.

Celestia simply answered that the world experienced great wonders, and at times, great sadness. The world was many things, Celestia said.

Luna said she expected all of that already. Surely Celestia's millennium of experience granted her greater wisdom.

And Luna was right.

Because Celestia's wisdom had grown, she simply waited for nature to reveal itself to her younger sister.

It was that look on Luna's face. The same one that Celestia knew she had on her own face a thousand years earlier when the world revealed its one simplest truth.

She just didn't expect it to be so big.

It brought Celestia joy when Luna enjoyed the experience of orbital flight. Luna even had the courage to experience re-entry herself. To both, it was the satisfaction of being able to fly alongside each other again. They re-entered Equestria during a clear night, passing over Ponyville and Canterlot.

Celestia relished flying with Luna home to Canterlot under her sister's beautiful sky that night.

However, Luna later noted couldn't share the same level of pleasure that Celestia received. Luna said that she always felt a little uncomfortably hot while sun-side. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but just that it was slightly discomforting every time.

All it meant was that Luna did not accompany Celestia very frequently, and that was fine.

Speaking of being with Luna, Celestia noted her position over the Earth. She was floating past vast swaths of green fields, mountain ranges, forests, and deserts.

It was a little bit past midday over where she was. It was time to begin re-entry maneuvers, if she was to land precisely back home. She and Luna had accepted an invitation, and she wasn't one to be late.

Celestia observed the position of the sun and her position over the Earth. From it, she worked out how much she would need to adjust in her trajectory in order to land as close to Canterlot as possible. She rolled around, twitching her wings in such ways that they pushed her ever so slightly. A small change in angle now could mean the difference of miles down below.

Once satisfied with her accuracy, Celestia oriented her body so that it faced towards her direction of travel. She released magic from her wings, magic pushing her ever so slightly backwards. She sensed her momentum change and saw her ethereal mane stray forward as her wings continued to decelerate her through the orbital maneuvering spell.

Once she had determined that she had sufficiently slowed herself down, Celestia set in for the coast down from 600 kilometers.

Celestia remained alert for the next half an hour, in case she had to make adjustments to her descent profile. Yet it was completely routine, and Celestia had no trouble in determining what came next in the process.

She preemptively spread her wings, so that when she finally lowered down into the atmosphere enough, it would give her ample time to bleed off some speed, even in extremely thin air. It was a much better descent plan than hitting the thicker layers of the lower atmosphere at higher hypersonic speeds.

And soon enough, Celestia lowered down into the stratosphere. She could feel particles of air on her wings. Even in the thin atmosphere, air compression eventually began warming Celestia's wings ever so slightly as she continued to soar over the land at an astonishing speed. Yet she felt calm as ever.

Equestria's western coastline came into view. She could recognize it easily, since it had not yet reached the terminator. It wasn't going to be much longer before she arrived over Canterlot. Fifteen minutes at the longest.

By this time, the heat buildup was beginning to rise higher than Celestia could be bothered to deal with, and so it was then that she raised the shield spell. Air began hitting the shield in greater volume. It heated up to a point where it became a plasma, lighting up the dusk around her.

After a few more minutes, she caught sight of gleaming in the distance. On closer inspection, they were golden spires on the side of a mountain. Spires of the majestic unicorn city reflecting the last rays of sunset before the sun completely dipped below the horizon.

Canterlot appeared to get closer and closer.

Celestia gave a triumphant smirk. Another perfect approach.

The air roared around Celestia now as it was continued to be shunted aside or compressed ahead of her. She estimated that by the time she was very close to Canterlot, however, her airspeed would be slow enough that she could return to winged flight.

More minutes flew by until finally, Canterlot was clearly visible ahead of her, as was Ponyville.

Celestia wondered if she could cut down on her travel time. After all, she didn't know what time it was exactly. She hoped she would still have enough time to arrive at the time it said on the invitation. Minutes were all she asked for.

Although she was still traveling faster than terminal velocity, she was at least only in the realm of supersonic now. Celestia knew she had good control of her flight at those speeds.

Celestia oriented herself for winged flight, then dropped the shield.

:::::

"Hello, Tia. I see you barely made it in time."

"Yes, I figured that I was cutting it close. So I decided to fly directly to Ponyville instead after re-ent—"

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! I'm so glad you could make it!"

"But of course, Twilight. We wouldn't have missed your invitation for the world."

"Hm, you should've scheduled your flight a little bit earlier, Tia. You smell of ozone. Burnt ozone. Cleaning yourself up would have been the considerate thing to do."

"Luna, I would have if I had time, but the schedule was a little tight..."

"You didn't even get to put your other ornamental attire on..."

"... Oh. Um, I, uh... just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be late..."

"You are lucky that the... OMS is enchanted into your neckpiece. Else I would consider you completely naked."

"It's alright, Celestia. I can understand if your schedule got in your way. And besides, Rainbow Dash doesn't always get the chance to clean up after her flights either... Wait, where did you fly that Luna smelled burnt ozone?"

"Don't worry about it, Twilight. It's of little concern to you. Now let's go in and have a nice dinner, shall we?"

"Hey, Twilight!"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Did you see that shooting star just now? It looked so close! It looked awesome! And there were those really loud booms, too..."

"Uh, no... Actually, the booms... maybe. Celestia? Luna? Did you?"

"I... may not have been looking in that direction when it passed by... Nor did I hear anything… !"

"Celestia?"

"Uh... Nope! I saw nor heard nothing!"

DST [OS]

Daylight Saving Time

By: The Grey Pegasus

Celestia's sun shone brightly near the top of the blue sky.

There was the murmur of a large crowd of ponies, all in their own conversations.

"Hello, Luna. Are you ready?"

Luna looked up at the daytime sky. It was about to get dark.

For a few minutes only, though.

"I suppose so," Luna answered. "But... we have only done this once before. And it was a long time ago; we were very young."

Celestia stood by her sister. "It will be alright. You looked over the instructions for the ceremony, correct?"

"I did. It is just nerves, I suppose."

Today was a special day. It was an event that was to happen very rarely, three hundred thirty-four years, to be exact. It was by instruction of some periodical rituals they were told to adhere to when they were very young, just growing into their roles as the keepers of the heavenly bodies.

They had only performed it together once. However, although Luna had not even directly participated in most of the past proceedings due to her banishment, she was always a part of it.

Even if she hadn't been the one moving the moon, Luna was still part of the process because of the fact that she was trapped in the moon. And in that strange, confusing millennium of her banishment, despite being constantly at odds with herself or her Nightmare self or Nightmare, however such thing worked, she would always recognize when the warmth of her sister embraced her. It was comforting; her sister was powerful like that, and Luna was grateful.

Solar eclipses were an incredibly special thing. And to the two alicorns, it was a great display of the siblings being in true harmony together.

"Well, the majority of the ceremony is performed by you," Celestia noted. "I understand your apprehension. I myself never quite became comfortable with performing it."

"Experience is on your side, however," Luna said.

"Three times. That’s not exactly ‘experience’, Luna. And it was never intended that I perform it."

"I suppose that is true, Celestia." Luna gave a short sigh. "Will you be alright during the eclipse? We do not know how our matured powers will react to it."

"Of course I will be fine," Celestia replied. "We know what will happen. Nothing severe. You'll just feel a slight surge in your magic, briefly, and then it will be over."

Luna scoffed. "Slight surge. Are you sure about that?”

“It’ll be fine, Luna,” Celestia assured her. “You won’t hurt me.”

Luna sighed. With that statement, Celestia directly addressed her worry. It was one of her greatest fears, especially looking at the circumstances of the incident. The two sisters, keepers of the Sun and Moon, at odds with each other, and now in the eclipse ceremony, the two celestial bodies were to interact with each other.

“Shall we proceed?” Celestia asked.

Luna released her worries and smiled in return. “Let us.”

Brass horns announced their entrance as they walked onto the stage.

Luna looked over to her sister, who simply nodded. She took it as the approval to proceed with leading the ceremony.

“Citizens of Equestria, today we celebrate a rare event- the Solar Eclipse Ceremony!” Luna began. “This Ceremony is performed only every three hundred thirty-four years, and has been performed only three times in my absence. It is with great joy and your honor, that I may lead this rare occasion today!”

Hooves thundered in applause.

“And now, witness the Sun and Moon take the sky together, and the Sun give way to the Moon, to symbolize a balance of power. A harmony.”

Luna looked aside at Celestia, who again smiled and nodded to urge her to continue forward.

The lunar princess looked back at the crowd, then upwards at the sky. She flapped her wings to begin her rise into the air. Celestia would stay down below, emphasizing her role of conceding to her sister during the ceremony.

Luna felt the Moon in her magical grasp. She nudged it along its path, which in a few moments would take it in front of Celestia’s Sun.

Those few moments passed, and the world began dimming. Celestia closed her eyes, sensing the sunlight fade.

Everyone watched in awe as the Moon’s black silhouette began crossing over the Sun. It was a slow process, the lunar rock crawling through the sky.

And soon enough, totality.

The world was as dark as night.

Luna remained in the air through the process. She felt the ponies watch her as she guided the Moon during the ceremony.

Celestia below stood silently, admiring the serenity of the event. Three times before, it was left to her to perform the ritual. In fact, it was usually one with a pretense (?) of fear- of the threat of Nightmare Moon looming over them, seemingly a hint that the evil alicorn was not truly gone.

But no more. Luna had returned, and the Solar Eclipse Ceremony was finally what it was intended to be- a display of harmony.

She searched the front of the crowd and found her former student, Twilight Sparkle, standing amidst her group of friends. The expression of awe planted on the young alicorn’s face was admirable, but Celestia could sense that underneath that face, Twilight was enjoying the occasion not only for its significance and rarity, but also the notes she could take and increase her knowledge.

Celestia felt like chuckling. Twilight was quirky to an amusing extent.

Celestia looked up at the sky to finally share in the sensation of awe. The Sun’s corona formed a slim halo around the Moon’s edge. The actual luminance was faint, but it was nonetheless the most visible sign of the Sun’s presence.

Hushed voices came from the crowd as they admired the sight for the duration of the total eclipse. It was to last mere minutes, and soon enough, Luna’s guiding of the Moon would lead it past the Sun.

Sunlight began returning to the world, slowly, as the Moon left its position from in front of the Sun.

While the Moon continued to leave its position from the top of the sky, Luna looked down at her sister, feeling proud of herself.

Celestia returned the gaze. She smiled back.

Then her head drooped. And her legs buckled. And she fell onto the floor of the stage.

"Celestia!"

The crowd murmured in response. Luna saw it, and did her best to appear calm. Inciting fear in the crowd, despite it filling herself up, was not ideal. By the time, Luna had landed on the stage, the Sun was fully revealed in the sky.

Luna formally addressed the crowd. "Thank you all! That concludes the Solar Eclipse Ceremony. And do not be alarmed, we will attend to my sister, who seems to have fainted."

With that statement made, she approached her unconscious sister swiftly.

And to be expected, not more than a few seconds later, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were beside them.

"Luna, what happened?!" Twilight asked, concerned as much as Luna was. It was evident she wasn't exactly buying the 'fainted' bit.

"I... I cannot be sure yet," Luna answered. Again, she looked at the crowd. "First, let us take her inside the Palace, out of sight."

Luna took Celestia's limp form into her magical grasp and moved to carry her older sister away. They began to make their way around and away from the crowd.

"I... I loved it, Princess!"

"It truly was a magnificent sight!"

"Yes, yes, thank you very much," Luna replied to the crowd, still walking away. Walking, that is, at a slightly hurried pace. But she was doing all she could to maintain an image of composure.

Around her, Twilight Sparkle and her Council of Friendship conversed in hushed tones.

Fluttershy was one to bring up something of possible note. "Um, Twilight? Is it just me, or does the sun... feel a little bit... weaker?"

"I... I'm not sure," Twilight replied. She looked at the Sun. Certainly, she would not be able to easily tell if it was dimmer in any way. "What makes you say that?"

"It feels... maybe a bit brisker than before?"

"I don't think we can really say if that's because of the Sun. After all, we just had about fifteen minutes of the Sun not fully shining down on us. Maybe it needs some time to warm up the air again."

"Perhaps it is linked with Celestia having fainted?" Rarity suggested.

Fluttershy look at the Sun again, then replied to both. "Maybe."

All the while, Luna listened to their conversation and took notes.

<<+>>

Celestia groaned as she woke up, laid down on a couch.

“Tia, what happened?” Luna was quick to ask.

Celestia’s head was spinning. She wasn’t feeling great in the rest of her body. Her joints hurt. Her head felt light. Her magic felt somewhat strained. She gasped as she focused on the pain in her chest.

Luna reacted quickly at her sister’s sign of pain. “Tia, are you alright?” she exclaimed softly.

Celestia took a breath. “I don’t feel so good,” she breathed.

"What ails you, Tia?"

Celestia's eyes rolled around, dizzy, and in doing so, found that Twilight and her friends were also present. She tried to assess what she was feeling. Again, when she focused on the pain in her chest, she winced. "I... I am not sure."

"Is it physical or magical?" Twilight asked.

"That... that is an excellent question, Twilight," Celestia said. "I... don't know. There is pain... in my chest... but where exactly or why... I don't know."

Luna and Twilight stepped back.

"Do you think you can identify her sickness yourself?" Twilight asked.

Luna nodded. "That might be a good start, yes."

The two alicorns approached Celestia once more. "Tia, I am just going to see if I can find what is wrong with you."

Celestia nodded.

Luna began searching Celestia's body. She thought that maybe there was something wrong with Celestia's magical essence, but she couldn't be sure why, or if it was just a side effect. Magic and the body were connected.

Luna could only make a note of it, but otherwise, it was inconclusive. She looked at Twilight and shook her head. "I'm not sure if I found anything of note. I will call for some doctors."

"What about us, Luna?" Twilight asked. "What should the rest of us do?"

"Any way we can help?" Applejack asked.

"For now, I believe you should stay with Celestia to comfort her," Luna answered. "Ease her mind."

The Element bearers looked amongst themselves and nodded in agreement.

"We can take Celestia to her room," Twilight offered.

"Yes, that would be helpful. Thank you."

Twilight nodded and beckoned Rarity to help lift Celestia up and carry her.

Luna parted from the group and made her way to find some doctors. At the least, she could start with the palace's own doctor. However, there was a foreboding feeling that she would need more.

<<+>>

"He says it is magical in nature." Luna sighed as she told the others of the diagnosis. "But otherwise, he cannot identify what exactly."

"Well, I suppose the next logical course of action is to call for other professionals of magic," Twilight suggested. "I'm sure if a proper team is assembled, they can find out what it is exactly. You should start with my friend Moondancer- she's as much of a scholar as I am."

"And what about you, Twilight?" Rainbow said, half in jest, half serious. "I mean, I don't think you're just going to sit there while Princess Celestia needs help."

"But of course," Twilight said. "I've been considering it over the past hour and a half. After all, one of the greatest libraries in existence is just a short flight away. The Star- "

"- Swirl the Bearded Library," Spike said in unison. "Well, if anything could help, it's probably Twilight looking through a bunch of books."

Twilight smiled. "And you know it, Spike."

"Oh boy, do I know it."

"We can hold the fort down here, sugarcube," Applejack said. The other four nodded in agreement.

"I know you might think it might be better for you to be here for Celestia," Fluttershy said. "But Spike made a good point. If anyone could find something that can help, it's you."

"Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I mean, you have a super motivational factor to do it."

It may have seemed a bit grim, but Pinkie did have a point.

"I will accompany you," Luna said. "I too, believe it would be useful if I helped you search for information. It may also provide Celestia with some comfort knowing that I am not simply sitting around." She looked back at her sister, resting in bed. "After, of course, assembling a team that will assess her state of health while we are gone."

"Then it's settled," Twilight said. "Luna and I will go out and try and do some work on our end. Everypony else, stay put and give Celestia some support."

Everyone nodded in agreement, with Rainbow and Pinkie adding in a salute. Twilight moved to leave through the window, Spike perched upon her back.

Luna stopped her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight, I know you are very dedicated to tasks such as these. However, we may need to stay with her through the night. She may need the most help as the night grows deeper.”

“Why is that?”

“Our powers have some link with our respective astral bodies," Luna explained. "They grow slightly the closer our respective astral body is to us; conversely, our magic slightly weakens the farther it is. She will be weakest during that time. It would be good if she had ponies present to comfort her. Give her strength from elsewhere, as it were.”

Twilight nodded, keeping it in mind, although Luna was likely to remind them of it later. "I understand."

The purple alicorn flared her wings, then made an exit.

<<+>>

"Ugh, I'm not even sure where to start," Twilight remarked as she walked along the rows of bookshelves. "And not for the abundance of material to look through."

"You gotta admit it's a pretty big part of it though," Spike noted. "Still, you always seem to have a way of finding the right books."

"I know, Spike, but I have to narrow down the topic further. Well, I guess I'll just start somewhere."

Spike put a claw to his chin. "Do you think finding some stuff about the Solar Eclipse Ceremony might help?"

Twilight paused. "That's not a bad idea, Spike. I was considering starting with magical afflictions, but... maybe you're on to something here."

Spike silently pumped his claw in victory. "You might also want to ask Luna about it later."

"Oh, definitely. I hope she gets here soon."

In the meantime, the two occupied themselves by searching for information on the ceremony that took place earlier. In about twenty minutes, Twilight found something of note.

"Hey, listen to this, Spike."

Spike walked over to her. "What is it?"

"This book is a very, very old collection of instructions for Celestia and Luna, going into the intricacies of every ritual they could perform. It says here that it was entirely possible for the eclipse ritual to serve as a 'transfer of power'- a way to show balance."

"Which means..."

"It's actually possible for their connections to the astral bodies to switch," Twilight said. "The Moon would gain enough energy to be as bright as the Sun, while the Sun would fade to essentially become the Moon. Of course, this isn't an essential part of the ritual, but I don't know. Maybe it could mean something, since Celestia said she felt weak."

"Definitely something you should ask Luna."

As if on cue, the lunar princess joined them. "Twilight Sparkle. Spike. Have you found anything of use? I know it has not been very long, but..."

Twilight held up the book she was reading. "Actually, we have some questions for you."

"For me?" Luna was curious, and it spread to her facial expression as she recognized the book. "Of course."

"This book says that the Solar Eclipse Ceremony can serve as a 'transfer of power' between the two of you," Twilight said. "Did you know this?"

"But of course," Luna answered. "The implications... are not the best, but there are numerous reasons for a transfer of power. Regardless, we brought it up with each other briefly prior to today's events. In fact, even without a purposeful transfer, the Moon passing over the Sun causes a brief increase in the Moon's energy." Luna sighed. "In fact, I was worried for her that it might be dangerous."

"So both of you knew that the Sun and Moon's magic interact like that during the ritual?"

"Yes, but Celestia assured me that everything would be fine. However, we only did this once before, and we were not yet fully matured. I told Celestia this, but she still believed it would be fine. It's what we were told, after all- that nothing wrong should happen if we went about the ritual without doing anything further than performing the display."

"Is it possible that they were wrong, though?" Twilight suggested. "Your mentors were unicorns. I respect their intelligence, but it's possible they couldn't predict what would happen once it was performed by two matured alicorns."

"That is what I would believe," Luna answered, "if this is indeed the cause of Celestia's suffering."

A thoughtful look found its way to her face. Luna walked over to the window and closed her eyes, sensing out her Moon. "I will see if the Moon had stolen any power from the Sun. If it did, perhaps there is some sort of... effects of an... 'incomplete' ritual."

Twilight and Spike looked between themselves, then observed Luna quietly.

After perhaps five minutes of waiting, Luna stepped away from the window.

"So?" Twilight asked.

Luna turned to the two and shrugged, disappointed. "I found nothing. Although perhaps that is a good thing."

"Maybe." Twilight levitated over a pencil and notepad she was using to take notes. "I'll just keep it as a note, and maybe keep the book out just in case I think of something."

"Of course," Luna said. "But now the question is, where should we begin again?"

Twilight sighed. "Well, I was considering starting with magical ailments. Maybe the doctor missed something."

Luna began walking to the section that held those books. "It is possible. And, after all, it is why we are here."

<<+>>

Hours had passed. Luna and Twilight and Spike took turns returning to Celestia to check up on her while the other continued their research.

But every time they visited Celestia, they were told by the experts- they had not figured out what was affecting Celestia. All they knew was that it was not a physical ailment. However, being one of a magical nature just made it harder.

Twilight had even gone down to the Everfree to ask for Zecora's help. The zebra agreed, but even after hours of her own work, even she couldn't determine the cause.

So Luna and Twilight were still stuck where they started. Or close to.

"It's something new," Twilight said. "It has to be."

Luna sighed as she flipped a page in the book in front of her. "It may be. If it is, then we will have to examine Celestia deeper, unless the other ponies have made progress on her in the past hour." She looked up. "I hope doing so would not further worsen her condition. She already seems to be getting slightly weaker as the day went on."

"Why don't you two just allow the Sun to remain up until we find out what is wrong with Celestia?" Spike asked.

Luna tightened her mouth grimly. "We do not wish to interfere with the day-night cycle if it is possible. And if we did so, it may cause panic amongst the Equestrian populace. As it is, we've been trying to keep Celestia's sickness low-key, and we've succeeded thus far. Celestia herself told me to carry on the day-night cycle as normal, when I went back the last time. She does not wish to scare our ponies, and she sees no reason to do so now."

Twilight looked out of the window. "It's almost sunset."

"I suppose I must go about setting the Sun and raising the Moon, then," Luna said. As she stood, she stumbled slightly. She took a deep breath.

"Luna, are you alright?"

Luna took another breath. "Yes, yes. I am fine. Maybe I am just a bit... tired." She paused. "Although, strangely, I think I feel quite the opposite. Unexpected."

Twilight and Spike shared a quick glance. Spike shrugged.

"Okay then," Twilight said.

Luna walked over to the window. Her head moved in the motions that would bring the Sun down below the horizon, then the Moon up. In minutes, the orange sky became a soft blue.

Luna took another deep breath. "Well, it is done." She turned back to Twilight. "The Sun has now set. I believe I mentioned earlier that we should stop our work for the day and return to Celestia."

Twilight nodded. "Right. Spike, let's clean up a bit."

As the two went about their work tidying up where they worked, mainly consisting of piles of books, Luna paused in her stance. She walked to a bookshelf to lean on it, then sat down on her haunches. She felt... strange.

Twilight noticed. "Luna, are you sure you're alright?"

"I feel... strange," Luna remarked to herself. "I feel... empowered?" She looked outside. The sky was illuminated by light from her Moon, still low in the sky, just barely above the horizon.

"Didn't you say that your powers increase as your respective bodies draw closer to you?" Twilight said. "Which means you're slightly stronger during the night?"

"Yes, yes," Luna said. "But... this is different. It is... more intense."

Luna's head jolted up, looking at Twilight. She froze. Then she stood, her breaths heaving.

In fact, it started looking like she was losing control over herself.

"Twilight! Assemble your friends," Luna said, her head knocking against a bookcase. "And we need to imprison me! Lock me away!” Luna cried, tears breaking in desperation.

“What- what are you talking about, Luna?!”

“I am dangerous!"

With that, magic began bursting from the lunar alicorn. First it was some sparks. Then some streams; wisps of... black. Her ethereal mane began flaring wildly, as if a fight was taking place inside of Luna.

Twilight was frozen in place as she watched the agonizing process of her friend become her enemy. Then that pony looked at her and Spike. The windows could be heard shutting.

For a moment, she recalled Luna's last words.

“Oh.”

She grabbed Spike with her magic and bolted, her wings launching them towards the exit from a standstill.

"Come back, Twilight Sparkle! Do not make this difficult! I am only here for your Princesses!"

"Oh, this is bad," Twilight said, stating the obvious as she sped past the bookshelves.

"Twilight, what the heck?!" Spike exclaimed, clutching her back as they made their escape. "What is she doing here?!"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! But I guess it really did have something to with the Solar Eclipse Ceremony!"

"But how?!"

"Um... I'm guessing that maybe Nightmare Moon left a part of herself in the moon in case things went wrong during the Summer Sun Celebration," Twilight said. "And now, during the Solar Eclipse Ceremony, she absorbed power from the Sun."

"She hid from Celestia and Luna for this long?! Especially Luna?!" Spike exclaimed, unwilling to accept what they just saw.

"I told you, Spike, I'm guessing!"

Twilight flew past the doors to the entrance of the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing, slamming the doors shut behind her.

She heard hoofsteps down the hallway. It was one of the guards. Twilight ran up to him. "Excuse me, we need your help!"

The guard looked at her and immediately, Twilight and Spike realized that it was... not what they expected. The guard flared his wings in a threatening display, showing the two his bat-like wings. The look in his eyes was... evil.

Twilight pumped her wings, sending them away from the guard and down the hallway. "Note to self- Luna's thestral guards are under Nightmare's control. Makes sense."

"Twilight, he's chasing us!"

Without hesitation, Twilight flipped over and shot a beam of magic back at the pursuing pony. It hit, knocking him out of flight and into the floor unconscious. "We need to warn Celestia! And the others!"

Twilight found another window to escape through and flew out, immediately teleporting outside of Celestia's room once she was clear of the library. She barged through the door, the guards outside not stopping her, not even having the opportunity to.

"Twilight!" her friends exclaimed upon her sudden entrance.

"Princess Celestia is resting," Fluttershy said as the alicorn approached. "You should be quiet."

"Where's Luna?" Rarity asked.

Twilight reached the side of Celestia's bed. She urgently put her hooves on the sun princess and began shaking Celestia's body. "Celestia! Celestia, wake up!"

Her friends weren't sure what she was doing, but if Twilight was trying to wake Celestia up over letting her rest, it had to have been important.

Celestia's eyes cracked open. "What is it, Twilight?" she breathed.

"Luna- she- "

There was a slight commotion by the door. "Princess Luna!" Rarity said.

Everyone turned to the figure at the door. It was... Luna.

"No," Twilight whispered. "No!" she exclaimed loudly as the lunar alicorn approached. "That isn't Luna! That's- "

She was interrupted by suddenly being thrown out of the window, along with the rest of her friends.

<<+>>

Celestia became alert at the sudden commotion. However, she was weary, and didn't fully process what had just happened.

At that moment, Luna was walking towards her. But Twilight... "Luna?"

"Hello, Celestia," the other alicorn replied. She made it to the side of Celestia's bed. "It's your time."

Nightmare Moon revealed herself, brandishing an onyx blade. It came down swiftly.

And met metal.

Celestia gasped at what just occurred. She reacted, that's what happened, and now her mind was catching up. In that moment, she had conjured up her own magic sword to defend herself. Her sword, forged with part of the energy of the sun, glowed softly- just enough to properly light up the face of the alicorn standing over her. "Nightmare!"

Nightmare's eyes were wide as her mind, too, caught up with what just happened. However, hers was slightly slower, partially because Luna was causing her to trip up. "Where do you even keep that sword."

Celestia's eyes narrowed. "It has a connection with any of my ceremonial dress- as long as I wear a single piece, I can call Hyperion."

Nightmare's expression became flat for a moment. "Well that explains your strange habit of wearing your crown to bed. Luna is feeling quite satisfied about that fact, now that she knows."

As Nightmare prepared for another attack, she was thrown aside by a burst of magic.

In less than a second, Celestia was out of the door. She felt absolutely drained, but escaping death was cause enough for her to find new resolve. She could not teleport out- no, she felt too weak. In fact, conjuring and brandishing her sword had cost her energy already. Fortunately, she was a fast flier- the fastest there was, but in her weakened state, she remained vigilant about the very definite possibility of her attacker catching up to her.

She slammed into a wall hard while trying to make a turn. However, she quickly got back up, and the air where she just stood was forcefully shoved back as the alicorn launched off again.

Celestia slowed for the next turn. And then, she halted herself immediately, bringing up her sword to parry another attack by the dark alicorn.

"You're fast, Celestia," Nightmare noted, pushing her blade down against Celestia's. "The fastest flier there is, Luna says. It's fortunate for me that you've been weakened greatly- I'm not sure if I would have been able to catch up."

Celestia tried to hold back against another forceful shove. "A shame, I suppose. Fighting me at my weakest? You must doubt your abilities, Nightmare."

Nightmare Moon lifted her sword in rage.

Then she was kicked away from Celestia.

Celestia was practically dragged up off of the ground by a purple hoof. "Come on, Celestia, time to leave!"

"She is... strong, Twilight," Celestia said as they roared through the halls. Her wavering voice continued. "We need... help. We also need... somewhere safe to plan- get us... to the throne room."

Twilight reacted quickly to an assailant that attempted to attack them from an intersecting hallway. She could hear the armor clang against the shield she quickly put up. "Luna's guards are possessed or something. We'll need a lot of help."

Twilight made another turn onto a different hallway. At the end, a set of large doors.

As soon as Twilight passed the doors, they shut behind the two alicorns. Celestia cast a lock that would keep Nightmare out, if only momentarily.

Twilight laid her mentor on the throne. "We need a plan."

"The doors will not keep out Nightmare Moon for long." Celestia's horn lit, as she used her magic for something. "I can call the guards from this room. They will be able to aid us against Nightmare's other forces."

"But that only buys us some time, Celestia," Twilight said. "And only if we're running- not while we're sitting, locked up in a room."

Twilight noted the sword Celestia was carrying, which was at that moment, resting against Celestia's throne. She picked it up with her telekinesis and felt the magic imbued in the sword. She could see small wisps of flame appear from the surface. "Celestia, what is this sword?"

Celestia took a deep breath. "This sword... is Hyperion. It was forged... not long after Nightmare Moon's original defeat... It is imbued with essence of the Sun. It has the ability to pierce skin or sword... whichever the user wishes to. I created it... with the ability... to banish darkness."

Twilight processed what she was just told. "So this sword... can defeat Nightmare Moon?"

"One of the prime intentions behind its creation... I vowed to have many plans to defeat her upon her return."

The door thundered as Nightmare attempted to open it. "You may as well open this door now, Celestia! You are only delaying the inevitable!"

Twilight brandished the sword, moving to the center of the throne room. "Then I'll use it."

Nightmare broke through the magical locks of the door. Immediately, she saw the obstacle between her and Celestia. "Twilight Sparkle. I could spare you if I wished to exert myself."

"You're not touching her, Nightmare," Twilight countered.

"... But it seems as if you'd rather die along with your beloved teacher." Nightmare brought out her own sword, and what little light there was reflected off of its smooth, black surface. "I suspect this will be easier anyways. Perhaps the suffering of watching will even kill off Celestia for me."

Nightmare became a cloud of smoke as she rushed into Twilight. The clang of metal filled the room as Twilight parried. They began swinging at each other, and parrying, and in between, attacking with magic.

Twilight shoved Nightmare off of her hooves with a burst of magic, then lunged forward after her. The dark alicorn, however, simply turned into smoke, reappearing behind Twilight.

Twilight spun and met the sword thrust. She fell to the ground, rolling onto her hooves.

"You were taught by your brother Shining Armor, I hear," Nightmare said. "Respectable. But not enough."

The attacks came faster, and in a moment, Twilight was thrown against a pillar. She heaved as she caught her breath. Then she rolled away as Nightmare charged at her. Twilight lifted the sword to defend against another downward slash, once Nightmare had quickly reoriented herself.

The purple alicorn got back up in a fighting stance, positioning herself between Nightmare Moon and Celestia. Hyperion was still held at the ready. "I won't let you win, Nightmare."

"I begin to tire of your antics," Nightmare said. Again, she charged forward.

The black sword hit the golden one forcefully, causing Twilight to stumble. Given that slight opening in Twilight's defenses, Nightmare shoved her aside with an intense burst of magic, sending the alicorn to the side.

Twilight was thrown with so much force that she broke through the window, and as such, was thrown out of the fight.

<<+>>

Celestia released a small gasp as she saw Twilight be thrown out of the throne room.

"Still alive after watching that?" Nightmare said. "Very well then. Perhaps you will be easier to defeat than her."

Nightmare Moon's horn lit as she covered the throne room in a spell that would lock Celestia in. And Celestia knew it.

Celestia steeled herself, pushing herself off of her throne and walking down onto the main floor. Her magic felt strained as she used it, yet she was able to firmly grab Hyperion and hold it by her. "You underestimate me, Nightmare. It will be your undoing."

Nightmare calmly walked over, then forcefully swung her sword at Celestia. The defense held, but it was not firm. "Is that so, Celestia?"

Nightmare looked at the clock in the room. "That clock says you have a little over three hours at most to live."

"I'd wager it's longer than that," Celestia growled. She lifted her sword again. Its blade released a pulse of fire.

"We'll see about that."

The two swords met.

<<+>>

AToR - Description v1

What do I think of the war? It's a complicated mess, that's what it is. It's not just because of what happened here – there's tangles in politics back home, between the Princesses. But I understand what you're asking for; now's not the time for political commentary. Just as well – there are some things we in Royal Intelligence can't publicize under orders, and sometimes, even we don't know ourselves.

Now, as for your question, country-side, it's a curious war. As far as I can recall, this is the first time Equestria is projecting its military power to maintain peace in the global stage – the first major opportunity it's gotten to, and they took it, for whatever reason. If one takes a look at the situation, this wasn't even our problem in the first place – this place was just ripe for war when Equestria arrived. We just happened to find the matches that struck not just to light, but downright exploded. Not even the rain during the wet season this place gets could stop the fires of rage.

Granted, Equestria partially went in feeling somewhat responsible for the massive outbreak of war. Now Luna's got us dug in here fighting in defense of this country, or region. She says even though they lit the match that blew up the powder keg, we found the matchbox in the first place. When Twilight Sparkle sent out ponies to study foreign lands, no one expected them to find the metaphorical matchbox buried in the ground. When everyone figured out what they found were... geez.

Speaking of Twilight Sparkle, I think it's worth talking about how she stepped down from her position as Princess and de facto Director. Joined the ranks with her friends as a plain old unicorn. Now we got the former bearers of the Elements of Harmony in country. And ponies say some ponies never walk the walk. Oh, they've walked the walk. Days upon days of walking.

As for specifics about them, I haven't heard much. I just know they're alive and living the same lives as many others. You know, the life of a soldier. They're just normal ponies like the rest of us at the end of the day. If they weren't, the government would've kept them at home – wouldn't have let them set a hoof in this place.

Basically, right now, they could be walking in a jungle, be getting shot at, be kicking back and having some laughs, hell, they could be getting interviewed by journalists too.

Wait, what's that? What do I think about the roots of the war? With regard to the artifacts? Alright, let me put it this way.

[url=]Interview continues on next page.[/url]