Author's Note

I'd like to thank MadMaxtheBlack for the inspiration of my story, and also for giving me permission to use the totally cool name of his special operations task force, the Coming Dawn. Also as a forewarning, I've been making a LOT of mistakes that I'm already in the process of rectifying with a rewrite, but that's taking awhile, sorry in advance.

Prologue

Princess Solaris Celestia, Raiser of the Sun, Defender of Harmony, and Co-Ruler of Equestria, steps into the command center, causing all the ponies in the room except those clustered around the table to pause and salute. She nods to acknowledge the salutes, and they resume their semi-hectic activities. Stepping up to the table, she acknowledges the salute of the gray-coated unicorn with a nod before stating tersely, "Captain Pahnzer, report,"

"Yes, your Highness," he replies. "At 1400 hours today we had a large magical disturbance in the airspace above Canterlot. A large creature that appeared to be a dragon was observed falling from the sky towards South Market. City guards were dispatched to cordon off the area and investigate the scene until such time as a ready response team could be sent. In this case, mine."

"When they arrived on the scene, they found this creature standing over the corpse of what appears at this time to be a wildly mutated changeling, or as the creature called it, a Swarm Queen. The creature in question was wearing some form of armor utilizing high amounts of magic in its function. It was observed actually absorbing magic that had been used against it. After a short altercation, we failed to contain it, and in the ensuing chase it used some kind of advanced mobility component of its armor to outrun and lose pursuers." He moves a crystal forward and pushes magic through his horn into the crystal causing an image to materialize.

Princess Celestia considers the image in front of her intently. The creature displayed is obviously bipedal, but that is about all that can be discerned thanks to the all-encompassing dark gray armor it wears. The most visually-striking part of the creature is the helmet. A solid reflective surface of some sort covers the front part of the helm, and what appears to be a stylized skull covers the forward portions. Underneath that, the chest plate is fronted by a round circle approximately 6 inches across where one would expect an insignia to be, but this one appears blank. Overlapping plates surrounding the empty insignia seem angled to deflect attacks as much as to stop them. Additionally, two recessed nozzles seem to aim down from just under the upper chest, probably part of the mobility component. Some kind of chain-mail under-layer runs down its arms, with plating covering the mid-point of the upper arm. Elbow pads, some boxlike structures protecting the forearms, and metal studded gloves complete the protection on the creature's forearms. Around its waist sits a . . . well, she can only assume it is a belt, composed of a metal plate that covers his frontal region with flange points in key spots to allow for some flexibility. On the sides are additional plates covering the outside of the thighs with various pouches covering the portion along its waist region. Just above those, apparently attached to latch points on the bottom of the chest plate, are two sheathed blades. From under the 'belt' the chain-mail under-layer continues with plates wrapping around key points on the lower thigh, with knee-high boots, again with strategically placed flex points.

"This is a shot of the creature from behind; note the armor along its spine." Pahnzer continues, as he pushes another crystal forward and powers it, showing a frozen image of the creature from behind as it holds some kind of shield in front of itself. But what grabbed Celestia's attention were the wings. They seemed to be held at full extension, fanned out with the telltale colors of magic rippling along their front edges, but the most striking thing about them is the fact that they seemed to be crystalline in nature, almost like what a resident of the fabled crystal empire might have looked like, if the crystal empire had pegusai. And they were huge, easily twice the size of a regular pegasus's, though that was probably due to the creature's larger body structure. Almost fading into the background between the wings, was a row of glowing crystals marching down the spine of the creature armor.

Celestia glances at the unicorn, "Are those . . .?"

Pahnzer responds to the unspoken question. "We believe so, Your Highness. Those stones on the back of its armor seem to store and feed magic into the creature as needed, bypassing the need for a horn to utilize magic. However, it has not as yet displayed the ability to actually project, only to utilize it in its own physical presence."

Celestia shakes her head, considering the image silently for a few moments before shaking her head. "This kind of crystalline research is years ahead of everypony. Any idea what species it is? Or even where it's from?"

"At this point in time, we're unsure of species, and with the amount of magic inherent in the armor, scan spells failed to return anything meaningful. As for its origins, we can only speculate on its own words, and I quote: 'I trust you'll treat her remains with respect. I know your command will take her armor for study, but she fought her way across 200 miles and two worlds before she fell, and even then, she died a hero.' After which point we arrived on the scene and it employed a light emitting crystal to temporarily blind everypony as it made its escape."

Tilting her head to one side for a few seconds, Celestia considers his words before replying, "Another world? Hmmm. And where is the body in question, Captain?"

"In the morgue, your Highness, awaiting your decision," he replies.

Nodding her head, Celestia replies, "Very good, I think we can do that, try to be gentle with the remains, but we'll need to see that armor. I assume it was similar in design to this one's?"

Captain Pahnzer nods his head "Yes, your Highness, it was, except adapted to the specifics of a pegasus."

Celestia takes a moment to collect herself, before replying. "His 'friend' was a pegasus?"

"Yes, Your Highness, although her flesh was too badly damaged to determine her cutie mark. However, we found this design on the armor's exterior; we've kept it quiet, until you could be informed." With that he slides a folded slip of paper over with his magic.

Taking the paper in her own magic, Celestia opens the slip of paper and looks at the mark drawn upon it, her pupils shrinking. On the page is the image of the crescent moon, wreathed in storm clouds, very reminiscent of her sister's, yet not. "I can honestly say I don't know what this means, but in the meantime, keep it quiet, just get that armor, we need to know what we're facing. Where's the 'Swarm Queen's' body now?"

"Yes, your Highness. We've moved the remains of the changeling to a secure location at . . . " Pahnzer continues detailing information about the encounter and subsequent actions taken. But Celestia's eyes continue to ponder the slip of paper held before her, considering the implications. Another world. Another reality most likely, and the first insignia encountered is a different version of her Sister's. Nightmare Moon was defeated here, but who's to say she wasn't victorious somewhere else? Coincidence most likely, and maybe she was being paranoid, but she couldn't shake a certain feeling of unease. She'd have dispatch a letter to her student to assemble the elements; their presence might be needed.