The Son of Earth

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the capital ship's many hallways. Hushed voices spoke in the shadows, quieting as platoons of guards would march past before starting up again. The cold emptiness of space, separated from the warmth of the ship's interior by a few measly meters of armor and hull plating, was pierced by the thunderous booming of rail cannons. Thousands of kilograms of metal were hurled out of the cylinders in the front of the spaceships, clearing the dark with the gleam of superheated metal traveling tens of kilometers per second. Molten rock and iron rained as the shells found their target, an asteroid drifting in the deep dark. On the bridge of the Arcania, a man and pony watched as these events unfolded.

The man stood firmly on the sheet metal that made up the flooring of the ship's cupola, tracking the points of light as they flew through the empty sky. The pony watched in sheer awe at the stars that were visible, and the raw destructive power of the molten chunks of metal. Turning to the man who stood beside her, she asked why any creature would need this power. The man just nodded and said one word, and the pony understood. They sat for some time, watching the stars and the massive flying metal slugs that blazed past. Occasionally, a wing of fighters, graceful as birds on a summer breeze, would fly past, doing aerobatics and having practice dogfights. Eventually, the show ended, and the sky was once again coated with only a peaceful blanket of stars. They then turned their attention to the world below. Clouds slowly drifted by, over the blues, greens, yellows, and browns that made up the wildly varied landscape. Through the telescope perched in the cupola, one could faintly make out the brown and white shapes of ships sailing on the seas, or looking even closer, one could see the various towns, cities, and villages perched all over the planet.

Eventually, though, one could no longer look at the beauty of the universe and had to return to his work. Bidding the pony adieu and taking the silver band off her leg, he took his leave to return to the busy work of managing a fleet, leaving her alone in the viewing deck. The pony decided to take the time of peace and solace to rest and observe the stars from a new vantage point. While her rest was not made any more comfortable by the thick bandages that were placed around her midsection after her injury, she was all the same able to peer at the magnificent display before her. Stars, nebulae, galactic bands, all were vibrantly visible. The various colors of stars, some a dim red, others a fiery blue, all were visible before her. As she slowly drifted off to sleep in the warm enclosure of the glass dome, she was entirely unaware of the events taking place only two decks below.

"This meeting of the High Council is now in session. All who have grievances, come forward."

A young man stepped forward, a briefcase in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. Clearing his throat, he began to speak. "With all due respect, sir, I do not believe that forming any sort of diplomatic relation with these aliens -" the way he said that word held massive amounts of disgust "- and instead should show them our military prowess through honorable combat. After all, not only would it cement our place at the top of the hierarchy on this planet, --"

He was cut off by a wave of the hand from the Vice Admiral. "Your opinion has been noted," he said commandingly. "You are dismissed." With another wave of his hand, the next civilian came up.

"Sir, we civilians on board the Nelson feel that we aren't getting enough of the monthly food production. We request an increase in our food supplies from six percent to eight point five percent."

The High Admiral sighed. "Vice Admiral, I think I'll take this one. Look, tell Captain Williams that he has enough of the fleet's food supplies. You already have six percent of the food even though you only have four percent of the population, for Christ's sake! What are you even going to do with the rest?"

"We would use it to help bolster our population in the event that we are the only ship left."

"We know that your captain just wants it to have a bartering chip against the rest of the fleet. We also know that he must have paid you handsomely to do this for him. Take your cheap shilling and false excuses and leave this Council at once. Dismissed."

The civilian sighed as he turned around and exited through the massive doors on either side of the hall. When nobody else stepped up to voice a concern, the admiral sighed with relief. "Good. Let us commence the policy council." All the people in the room who were not a part of the High Council respectfully bowed and filed out through the doors. Once the room was clear, the admiral was just about to speak when he was interrupted by panting and hurried footsteps.

"Ah! Mr. Windhelm! So nice of you to join us," the admiral said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We were just about to begin. Please, pull up a chair and get comfortable. After all, it's not as if humanity is on the line," he continued.

"Yeah, yeah, at the end of the day I'm the one who's getting us places," David retorted as he took his seat. "Anyway, what's on today's agenda?"

"I believe we should first discuss the impending issue of our guest," the vice admiral said. "It... She should be returned to her people as soon as possible. We don't want the populace to think that we're suddenly accepting aliens into our society."

"I was thinking similarly. However, in order to gain and retain the good graces of her people, we should do it as showily as possible, while at the same time showing off how powerful but peaceful we are." said one of the lower-ranking council members.

David mused over it in his head for some time before answering. "We will park our fleet right outside of their capital. Sir Lennox, make sure your fighters are ready to fly. Tohno, send out a message to the fleet to prepare to go atmospheric. Captain Wessex, close the gun ports and make sure that our point-defense is offline. We don't want to accidentally shred them when they come to enter our ships."

"Agreed." the council said quietly but in unison.

"Now, about that problem with the Nelson..."

The Council meeting continued for quite some time. The admirals, captains, and other high-ranking officials continued debating over various issues, from resource management to rationing to formations to battle drills to combatting the black market. Eventually, though, the council meeting was winding down. One by one, the Council members wandred out of the room, until it was only the Son of Earth, finishing his coffee as he prepared to leave the room.

"Dreadnought Arcania Bridge Actual, this is Frigate Hawthorne Bridge Actual, reporting in. Aerodynamic shields are at max power."

"Roger, Frigate Hawthorne Bridge Actual. We see your energy signature and can confirm. Fleet, maneuver into entry position B. All fighters, return to hangar bays; we're going in."

The massive metal thruster tubes on the back of the capital ship began to glow as the neon blue exhaust from the ship's drives started rushing out. It lurched forward, beginning to descend towards the planet below. The two other capital ships of the fleet, the Gloria and the Ryuuhou, took their positions next to the massive dreadnought. The fighters, little dots of dark blue being trailed by long strings of light blue, swarmed around the massive hangar bay doors, slipping in as they opened. The frigates trailed behind, prepared to use the capital ships' massive profiles to shield themselves during reentry.

In the viewing cupola of the Arcadia, an entranced unicorn watched as the fleet performed its delicate ballet. A fighter slowly drifted above the massive glass dome, clearly displaying its polished underbelly and intricate markings. The roundel was clearly displayed on the underside of the wing; a winged sword on a red circular background. It sped off into the hangar bay just as Twilight began to mentally note its features. She sighed as she looked out towards the massive ships that were to her side. She counted no less than three vessels, one massive ship and two far smaller ones. The large one had what she could clearly recognize as English letters, even if she could no longer read them, as well as markings in a strange language that looked almost similar to Neighpony script on its side, and had two slimmer, shorter vessels behind it. They all had a faintly orange glow around them, making Twilight wonder what that was. That dilemma was quickly solved, however, as she recognized the familiar magical signature of a shield spell. Soon, all the night sky was colored faintly with orange.

She was so engrossed with the fleet that she barely noticed the seven finely dressed men that had walked up behind her. One of them walked up next to her and sat down. "Mrs... 'Twilight Sparkle?'" he said hesitantly in an obviously artificial voice, a light on the silver ring on his wrist strobing every time he talked. "I am Admiral John C. Nilhem, second in command of this fleet. I am here to inform you that Mr. Wilelm is waiting for you in his office. Please, follow me." The man stood up, and, signalling to the other men, they began to walk out, with Twilight cautiously following. She shied back slightly at the sight of the soldiers with their weapons in their hands, but thankfully the men she was following sped up as they passed.

A few minutes passed as they traversed the kilometers of steel corridor in the ship that led to David's office. Once they arrived, the man in the front of the group showed a small card to the two guards who stood on either side. They nodded and eyed her cautiously as she passed, making her shrink back a bit. Once they were inside, the doors slammed closed. One of them began to speak, although she had no clue what he was saying.

"We have brought her here. What were you planning to do with her, again?"

"Once we enter atmosphere, we shall return her to her people with an honor guard. That should convince her ruler. Also, I'd strongly recommend that you go to your offices; we shall enter atmosphere in about ten minutes." David replied.

"Yes sir. Any other things we must do down there?"

David smiled. "Let's give them a bit of a show; prepare all your troops and their dropships for parade formation, as well as their escorts."

The ship shook as it began to dive into the atmosphere. As the sea of blue surrounded it, its shields began to glow brighter. Suddenly, the front of the shield erupted in flame as the intense heat of atmospheric entry hit. However, this was no concern to the ship; its shields were designed to take far more of a beating. Ten gleaming white contrails followed the fleet as each ship dove deeper into the atmosphere. Eventually, the ships had slowed enough that the fire of atmospheric entry faded away, leaving only the ten starships floating over the surface of the planet, headed straight for Equestria.