A Thousand Voices

Chapters

PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

There are times of peace, and there are times of war. This is true for any civilization among the stars, no matter their planet of origin. Whether brought about by anger, or jealousy, or religion, war is an inevitability. Some are worse than others, some contain unspeakable violence. But they all end the same. While the individuals who sat safe in their homes, occasionally hearing small bits of news about the war, will cheer patriotically when their side emerges victorious, those directly involved are required to face circumstances they were not trained for. Toiling emotions of grief and loss, bouts of rage and sadness, things that they knew they would have to face, but did it anyway, for the greater good. Because they knew that what they were doing was right, not only for them, but for those they fought for. The sacrifice, the pain, it all had to be worth something… Right?

Princess Celestia, ruler of the nation of Equestria and symbol of the sun, had learned the hard way that it was not always worth it… For even though she had saved her subjects, Celestia personally believed that the banishing of her sister, by her own hoof, no less, was one of the worst things she had ever been forced to do.

As the princess walked down one of the wide corridors of Canterlot castle, she occasionally caught glimpses of the moon hanging in the sky through windows in the walls. The pale light shone through the windows, illuminating the otherwise dark hallway and lighting Celestia’s path through it. The light reflected off of the marble floors, allowing Celestia a view of her reflection as she walked. Her usually flowing mane had begun to slow down, a result of her growing fatigue. But she continued down the long hallway, and finally she came to a large set of doors.

The princess pushed the doors open with a small burst of magic, and stepped out onto her destination, a small balcony at the back of the mountain that Canterlot called home. She looked up to the moon, observing the pattern of craters that had been etched into it on that fateful night, almost a thousand years ago. The night where her sisters jealousy had gotten the best of her. The night where she had transformed. The ponies called it the “mare in the moon”, and it tied in to the pony’s tale about Nightmare Moon, the evil beast that roams the land, eating little foals. Of course, Celestia knew that that was not true at all. However, there was nopony alive today who knew the truth. Nopony left who remembered Celestia’s crime.

It would not be long now. The Summer Sun Celebration was coming soon, and Celestia knew that it fell upon the day she had banished her sister. For a thousand years, Princess Celestia had put on a happy face during every one of the celebrations to please her subjects, to assure them that nothing was wrong. All was peaceful in Equestria, as it should be. But within, the day tormented her. To her, it was nothing more than a constant reminder of the atrocity that she had committed. But now, it was all coming to an end. A tear fell down Celestia’s pale white cheek as the reality of the situation truly hit her. She would see her sister again. It would not be pleasant at first, but Celestia had been planning for this day for hundreds of years. It was all falling into place.

As the princess stared up at the pale white orb, a green wisp of dragonflame snuck up on her, exploding outward once it reached her, and depositing a letter onto the stone floor. Celestia jumped in surprise at the noise, but regained her composure once she realized it was simply a letter from her student, Twilight Sparkle. She unclasped the letter and opened it, beginning to read.

My dearest teacher,
My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are brink of disaster! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she’s about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia chuckled to herself as she rolled the letter back up, then summoned a piece of parchment of her own from her bedroom at the other side of the palace, and wrote her quick reply. She should have known that Twilight Sparkle was going to figure it out. That young mare was the smartest unicorn Celestia had ever known. And yet, it was not enough. She needed friends, Celestia had decided long ago. And what better a time to gain them than on the “brink of disaster”? The princess sealed her reply, then, with a light of her horn, sent it on its way. Celestia looked back up at the moon, smiling solemnly.

“I’ll see you soon, sister,” she whispered. “I’ll see you soon…”

As she stared at the moon, a yawn escaped the solar princess. The princess had a big day coming up, so sleep seemed like a good idea. Yawning once more, Celestia turned and exited the balcony, entering back into the wide moonlit hallway, and began to the long trek back to her bed chambers.

However, had she stayed out for just a moment longer, she would have seen what appeared to be a moving star. It streaked across the sky at incredible speeds, then began to angle down and enter the atmosphere. To any stargazers at this time, it would have appeared nothing more than a simple shooting star, prepared by Princess Celestia herself. Little did they know that the inhabitants of the shooting star had far more malevolent intentions. Intentions which would change the future of Equestria forever. Intentions which could only be stopped by someone else…

Author's Note

So begins my second fan-fiction. Chapter 1 will follow probably tomorrow, and Chapter 2 not long after. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

“There is no individual. We are geth.”

THREE YEARS LATER

“Joker. Lose this channel,” Commander John Shepard of the Normandy-SR2 said to his loyal pilot over the intercom. Before him, the holographic view of the Illusive Man in his large observation room flickered away as he stepped out of the Quantum Entanglement Communicator and the cylindrical holographic field receded into the floor. Without a second glance, he turned and exited the meeting room of the Normandy, taking a route through the occupied science lab and into the CIC, where he was greeted by several crewmembers who were previously hostages of the ruthless Collectors. They all smiled at him gratefully as he moved through the large room and approached his yeoman, Kelly Chambers.

While the woman had initially been a steadfast supporter of Cerberus and its mission, her recent encounter with the insect-like Collectors was more than enough to change her mind. Where the Illusive Man had turned his back on the kidnapped crew of the Normandy, Shepard had wasted no time in coming to rescue them, even when the gravity of their mission weighed in the balance. As the Commander approached Chambers, she turned around, offering a smile.

“You came for us,” she said happily. “I knew you would! Thank you, a thousand times, thank you!”

“How are you doing, Kelly?” Shepard asked, genuinely concerned. During his time aboard the ship, he had gotten to know all of his crew, and, Cerberus or not, he was always going to take an interest in their well-being.

“I’m holding up…” she answered. “I just… can’t get the images out of my head… But I… I can’t dwell on it. I’m okay now. I’m alive.” Shepard nodded, satisfied that his reliable assistant was okay.

“Is there anything I should know?” he asked.

“Most of your squadmates would like to speak with you, Commander,” Chambers answered, nodding. “Though Legion was making it sound important… Or, well, as important as a robot can make something sound.” Shepard laughed quietly, trying to imagine the emotionless geth freaking out over something. He nodded farewell to the yeoman, then turned and approached the elevator, the door to which opened at his presence. He pressed the button for the crew deck, and the small elevator began to make its short descent. When it opened, he took a left into the mess hall area and entered into the infirmary, beyond which was the AI core, where the geth had chosen to remain.

The doors slid open, revealing the dark room lined with the large computers that contained the ship’s AI, EDI. At the end stood the tall artificial intelligence, Legion. The Commander always considered himself a tall man, coming in at just under six-foot-two, but the machine easily had another half a foot on him. Shepard looked up into the bright photoreceptor ‘eye’, while Legion looked down and did the same.

“An interesting choice, Shepard-Commander,” Legion said in its usual emotionless voice. “Your species was offered everything geth aspire to. True unity. Understanding. Transcendence. You rejected it. You even refused the possibility of using the Old Machines’ gifts to achieve it on your species’ own terms. You are more like us than we thought.”

“That base was an abomination,” Shepard said. “And I definitely wasn’t going to let Cerberus get at it.”

“That was a wise choice, Shepard-Commander,” the geth commented.

“Anyways,” Shepard continued. “Yeoman Chambers said you wanted to speak to me.” The geth did not respond immediately. Rather, it seemed to be picking its words, a curious action for the machine.

“We predict the likelihood of you turning over Normandy to the Systems Alliance is 99.5 percent,” it finally said.

“And the other point-five percent?” Shepard asked, curious.

“You will follow the advice of subject Jack and become a pirate.” This got a laugh out of Shepard, before he realized that Legion was being serious, and not showing an ability at understanding humor.

“You’re right,” Shepard finally said, regaining his composure. “I intend to turn the ship over.”

“And were a geth to be discovered onboard, we would likely be terminated,” Legion explained.

“So you want to be dropped off,” Shepard said. “I assume that that’s what most of the crew will want. But where?”

“There are any number of worlds where we could arrange for pickup,” Legion said. “Whichever is most convenient for you will be acceptable.” Shepard nodded.

“I’ll let Joker know to make a quick stop at the nearest uninhabited planet,” said the commander.

“Thank you, Shepard-Commander.” Legion turned his attention to his omni-tool, while Shepard turned and exited the AI core. He made a mental note to inform Joker of their stop, but first, he had a certain Quarian to go see…

Legion stepped out of the Normandy shuttle and onto the rocky, desolate landscape of the planet at which the frigate had stopped. According to scans performed by EDI, the planet had no plant or animal life, and a semi-toxic atmosphere. For this reason, Shepard-Commander was wearing his armor with a breathing unit attached to the helmet. Legion, being a synthetic, did not require an atmosphere to survive, so it stepped out onto the rocky soil with no reservations. It then turned to address the armored human commander.

“We will send a message from here to the geth consensus,” it said. “Then we will return to Rannoch.”

“Understood,” Shepard-Commander said, his emotions being hidden behind the mask. He then held out a hand to the geth. The programs within Legion read this as an attempt at a handshake, and then extended the unit’s arm out to meet the commander’s hand. They shook, then stepped back from one another.

“It’s been good working with you, Legion,” Shepard said.

“You have been a reliable ally, Shepard-Commander,” Legion replied. “We anticipate future cooperation.” Shepard nodded, then stepped back inside of the shuttle. The door closed shut, and the small craft blasted off back into space where Normandy was waiting. Once the shuttle was out of sight, Legion established a secure connection to the main geth server on Rannoch, using communication buoys placed by organics along the way to send the message quicker. It reached the server in only a few seconds, and Legion immediately reintegrated. It gave the information of where it was located, that its mission had been successful, and that it required transportation. A few seconds later, the server responded that a small ship was on the way. Satisfied, Legion disconnected from the consensus, and went into a sleep mode to conserve power until the transport arrived.

Several hours later, though it was only a few seconds for Legion, the small transport arrived and the gestalt unit reactivated, taking a moment for all of the programs to come completely back online. To an organic, the small delay would not have even been visible. But for an artificial intelligence, the millisecond gap between reactivating and beginning to walk to the landed transport felt like hours. In the time it took to even take the first step towards the small craft, the collective programs that called themselves ‘Legion’ were able to achieve consensus that they should begin walking toward the transport, and were able to send the signal to the motors in the legs to start moving.

A small hatch, barely large enough to fit the tall geth, opened, and Legion stepped inside, taking in the space. Legion had been aboard transports like this before; they were not large, only about fifteen meters long, and consisted of three small rooms: an entrance area (where the unit was now), a drop bay for orbital insertions, and the cockpit. Legion moved through the entry chamber and moved into the cockpit, taking a seat at the control station. It had been flown here on autopilot, with a direct link to the primary server on Rannoch so that Legion could have extended contact with the millions of programs within.

The unit established the connection, and instantly was torn away from the mobile platform and integrated into the massive server that was the geth consensus. Instantly it began a transfer of data, detailing every single thing that had happened since it left to search for Shepard-Commander, to the time it bid the human Spectre farewell. It only took a few seconds for the transfer to complete, and the consensus immediately began analyzing all of the data. A few seconds later, they responded to Legion.

“We have achieved consensus,” they said. “The Reapers are a dangerous threat, however… The Creators are much more imminent. If the data gathered by Shepard-Commander aboard the Rayya is correct, they will attempt an attack. We must prepare.”

“We are prepared to engage in clandestine scouting operations,” Legion replied.

“We believe this is the best course of action,” the consensus said. “However, do not get too close to the Migrant Fleet. If you are destroyed, the data you collect will be lost as well.”

“Understood,” Legion said. The connection to the server on Rannoch broke, and the programs were once again inside the lone unit. Legion accessed the flight controls, activated the engines, and then took off, heading for the mass relay.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped out of her library/home and into the cool morning air of Ponyville. Winter was just around the corner for the small town, a fact which was becoming all the more evident with the chilly winds that were rolling in. Early morning dew settled on her lavender coat, reminding the new alicorn that she really needed to get a jacket with holes for her wings. She stretched the new appendages out, still not fully used to their presence despite having had them for around a month now. The joints in her wings popped as she stretched every single one of the very light bones, sending a satisfying shiver down her spine.

Now adjusted to the morning air, Twilight happily trotted away from her home and into the town center of Ponyville, where shopkeepers were just beginning to set up their market stalls with the goods they hoped to sell. Among them was a pony quite familiar to Twilight, an orange earth pony by the name of Applejack. She carefully balanced heavy crates of apples on her back, before placing them on her market stall in front of her. Just as she was offloading the final crate, Twilight approached the stall, gaining Applejack’s attention with a polite cough.

“Hey Applejack!” the alicorn said amicably.

“Well howdy there, sugarcube!” Applejack replied, her naturally loud voice filling the area. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“Rainbow Dash insisted I start waking up at the break of dawn so she could train me to fly…” Twilight explained, showing her mild annoyance with the slightest of frowns.

“Really?” Applejack asked, genuinely surprised. “Her, of all ponies, wants to wake up early?”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Twilight said, laughing. “But I will admit, when Dash sets her mind to something, she usually sticks with it…”

“That she does,” Applejack laughed. “That she does… Well, I won’t keep ya. You’ve got flying lessons to attend!” Twilight smiled and waved goodbye to her friend, then continued on through Ponyville, making her way to the outskirts of town. It did not take long to reach her destination, as Ponyville was not that large of a town. Plus, Rainbow Dash’s cloud house wasn’t too far outside of Ponyville; rather, it sat floating just a few dozen meters from the edge, resting about twenty meters above the ground.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight loudly called up in an effort to get the attention of the lazy pegasus. After a minute passed without a response, Twilight called again. “Dash, are you up there!?” A moment later, a prismatic head peeked over the edge of the cloud, looking down at the ground. When she saw who it was, Dash stood up and revealed her full self.

“Hey, Twilight,” she greeted, stifling a yawn. “What’s up?” Twilight sighed in annoyance.

“Dash…” the alicorn started. “We have a lesson today…” Dash’s eyes went wide as she realized her mistake, and she darted back into her home. A moment later she flew back out, wearing a hat, a whistle around her neck, and her iconic black polarized sunglasses. She floated down to the waiting princess, all fatigue gone.

“All right, then!” Dash shouted loudly, a fair amount of spit flying from her mouth. “So you wanna fly, do ya!?”

“Yes, Dash, I would like that,” Twilight said, unamused. “Now may we begin?”

“We’ll begin when you’re in peak physical condition, maggot!” Dash replied. Maggot? Twilight thought. She sighed as the cyan pegasus circled her, taking note of every aspect of her physicality. When she finished her rounds, Dash eyed Twilight with an annoyed glare. She shook her head and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Maggot, you are in horrible shape!” she shouted. “What do you do? Stay inside and read all day!?”

“Dash, you know that that is exactly what I do all day,” Twilight answered, sighing. “And you can stop with the ‘maggot’.” Dash grinned and raised her sunglasses.

“Nah, I’m just kiddin’, Twi!” she said, amused. “But seriously though, you are in awful shape. I mean, that is embarrassing.” Twilight glared, somewhat offended, but she realized that the pegasus was right. She barely left her home, and it showed. While she wasn’t overweight by any means, she was certainly lacking in musculature.

“Those wings aren’t going to do anything if all they are is feather and bone,” Dash continued. “We’ve gotta start working them! Now drop and give me twenty!” Twilight paused for a moment, sighing, before she lowered herself and began attempting to do push-ups. Dash stopped her, then stared, annoyed.

“Twilight… what are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m doing push-ups!” Twilight exclaimed, exasperated.

“And how is that going to help you fly!?” Dash yelled. Twilight started to answer, but closed her mouth as she realized that she had no idea. Dash rolled her eyes, then lowered herself to the ground.

“Like this,” she said. The cyan pegasus’ wings angled down and the tip of each appendage touched the ground. She slowly brought her forehooves up, supporting herself entirely on her wings and hind legs. Then, she slowly began pushing herself up and down, becoming quicker with each cycle. After Dash had completed twenty wing-ups, she stood back up and grinned smugly at Twilight. She hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“You want me to do that with these?” Twilight asked, motioning to her incredibly frail wings. Not using them at all had certainly taken a toll, and they hung flimsily at her side.

“You gotta start somewhere, Twi,” Dash said. “Now give it a shot.” Sighing, Twilight once again lowered herself to the ground. Carefully, she did as Dash had instructed and lowered the tips of her wings to the ground, then began rising her forehooves up. Almost as soon as they left the ground, Twilight fell forward and smacked her face into the dirt as her wings failed.

“Try again,” Dash said. So Twilight picked herself back up, once again put her weight on the wings, and once again she collapsed into the dirt. The alicorn grunted angrily as she returned to a standing position.

“Twilight, if you can’t get this, you’re never going to get off the ground,” Rainbow said. “Now come on, it’s easier than it looks, try again…”

Legion’s small transport exited the mass relay with a jolt as the blue cone of element zero fell from the ship. Though nothing was visible to the geth right now, the data attached to the Mass Relay it had come through indicated that this particular Relay was linked to the Hades Nexus, which was home to four star systems. The system that the ship had come out in was owned by Hekate, a class-G star. The first planet in the system was Asteria, an arid planet that was currently colonized by humans and asari.

Based on intelligence collected by the tracking of communication buoys throughout the galaxy, a ship from the massive quarian Migrant Fleet would be arriving in just under three hours to collect supplies. Not wishing to be discovered, Legion turned its small transport to Triodia, a sizeable gas giant that was the second planet in the system. It would provide cover for the geth, and allow it to remain undetected while it was scanning for the quarians. Until the creator vessel arrived, there was nothing to do but wait…

“Oof!” Twilight shouted as she once again fell into the dirt in front of Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. Only this time, instead of immediately collapsing after bringing up her forehooves, she had managed to do four wing-ups, a new record for her.

“Nice work, Twi!” Dash said happily. “And it only took three hours!” Twilight frowned as she stood back up.

“Yeah, thanks…” she said sarcastically. “So can I take a break now?” Dash mulled over the question, then finally presented Twilight with a nod.

“All right, you have been at it for a while…” the pegasus said. “Sugarcube Corner should be open by now, want to stop there?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Twilight said, right as her belly rumbled in hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything but a light breakfast, and three hours of attempted wing-ups had taken a lot out of her. She shakily followed Dash through Ponyville, panting the whole way.

The monitor in front of Legion began to flash as it detected a mass relay activation. The ship’s long-range sensors had identified it as a small UT-47 Kodiak Drop Shuttle, registered with the Migrant Fleet. It was only a few meters smaller than the transport that Legion currently occupied, but the main difference was that the Kodiak was armed, and the geth transport was not. In order to maintain stealth, almost all heat-emitting components (minus the engines and reactor) had been stripped. Therefore, the geth had to be careful, lest it be discovered and eliminated. Legion tracked the shuttle as it began flying for Asteria, no doubt to resupply. As it neared the planet, Legion ran a program to latch on to communications.

“This is Tel’Karran vas Shellen, requesting permission to land,” a male voice said through the loudspeaker.

“Tel’Karran vas Shellen, this is Asteria Ground Control, please state purpose for visit,” a female voice replied.

“I need to purchase supplies for the Migrant Fleet. Munitions, mainly,” the quarian replied. There was a brief pause.

“Tel’Karran vas Shellen, you are granted permission to land, over,” ground control said. Legion tracked the shuttle as it moved closer to the planet, then began to process the data. Munitions were an odd purchase choice for a fleet that was constantly on the move. Pirates very rarely attempted to attack it considering the size of the Flotilla, and they mostly stopped to collect supplies on safe, civilized worlds. The need for weapons was unnecessary, and likely pointed to the threat of attack.

Legion filed the audio recordings for later as the scanners detected that the shuttle had lander. The craft powered down, and its signature was lost. The geth stared at the screen, never taking its single, bright blue eye off of it. And after half an hour, the shuttle reappeared on the screen as it took off, heading for the atmosphere. The change in speed of the craft definitely indicated that it was carrying heavy cargo, though from these readings, Legion could not determine specifically what had been purchased.

Just as the small shuttle was nearing the Mass Relay, it slowed to a stop. Legion stared at the screen, preparing for any possible situation. Without warning, the shuttle spun and began heading straight for the geth’s position. How it had determined where it was hiding, Legion did not know. But scanners did show that weapons were heating, and the shuttle was closing. Acting quickly, Legion accessed flight controls and fired up the engines, plotting a course for the Mass Relay. No matter what route it took, the shuttle had plenty of space to intercept. Legion carefully calculated every move it would need to make to reach the Relay safely.

Only a few hundred kilometers from the massive structure, Legion encountered the shuttle. It fired a few bursts from the two mass accelerator cannons on the front, three of which hit the transport and impacted on the kinetic barriers. The barriers deflected the rounds, though power was dropped significantly. Another shot could cause damage. Before the shuttle got a chance, however, Legion spun past it and made a bee-line for the Relay, occasionally doing random maneuvers to throw off its pursuer. The sensors detected more bursts from the mass accelerators, each of which the geth dodged.

Finally Legion was in range to input coordinates to the Mass Relay, which it began to do. Because of the protection from direct digital transfer that the Relays were equipped with, Legion was forced to input coordinates manually through the monitor. It typed each coordinate carefully, and just before it got to the last set of numbers, the transport jolted as a mass accelerator round hit it and bypassed the barriers, hitting the hull and causing a small explosion to rock the craft. Shaking from the impact, Legion’s hand slipped, and the incorrect coordinates were input. Before the error could be undone, a bolt of element zero from the core of the Relay attached onto the ship, then slung the transport forward at hundreds of times the speed of light.

A moment later and it was over. The blue cone of element zero peeled off of the transport, and it settled next to a new Mass Relay. Legion quickly checked to see where it had ended up, but was surprised to find that it was not detecting anything. Accessing external cameras, Legion gained a view of the Relay, and was surprised to see that it was heavily damaged. The gyroscopic rings in the center stopped rotating, and the orb of blue element zero faded away from the center. The lights across the construct shut off, casting the object in darkness.

Activating low-light vision, Legion began to visually scan the Relay. Burn marks streaked across several sections of the incredibly resilient hull, and a very small portion of the front-top ‘arm’ had been torn off, leaving it floating a few hundred kilometers away. Even worse was that Legion’s ship was not able to access the Relay at all. It was completely out of power, something previously thought to be impossible. The Relays had remained active for millions of years, yet this one seemed not to be functional at all.

Current predicament aside, it was also quite curious to the geth. Organics had believed that they had mapped most of the relays in the Milky Way galaxy. To find an undiscovered one was unexpected, to say the least. Still, it could not stay here forever. Legion needed to deliver its intelligence to the consensus so that they could prepare for the inevitable Creator attack. If it was unsuccessful, all geth were at risk. Legion navigated over to the radar console and checked it for gravitational anomalies. Less than a light-year from its position was a very large anomaly, identical to that of a star. There was one more detected, very likely a planet.

Legion began flying the transport to the lone anomaly, which was, at maximum speed, only a few minutes away. When it came into view, if synthetics could be surprised, Legion was fairly sure that it would have been. Only a few hundred kilometers from the small transport was a small planet. Organics would have called it a ‘garden world’. It seemed to be primarily ocean, with a single supercontinent in the center of the nighttime side, giving a suggestion to the apparent youth of this world. Orbiting around it, on the exact opposite side of the star, was a small, cratered moon.

The scanners began blinking with a notification, drawing Legion away from the cameras. It looked over the readings, and immediately set them to rescan. And when the readings came back identical to the first time, Legion found itself even more surprised.. If the sensors on the ship were correct, then the sun and moon were both orbiting around the planet, making this a geocentric system. As far as Legion was aware, this was the only one known.

Either way, the programs within Legion achieved a quick consensus that exploration of the planet could be beneficial. Additionally, if it was to reactivate the Mass Relay, it would need element zero. Should this planet have any, Legion was going to need it. The geth maneuvered its small ship closer to the planet, then moved in for a landing.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash walked (or hovered, in the case of the pegasus) side-by-side down the moonlit streets of Ponyville. The pale light diffused on the cobblestone streets, casting the town in shadow. Twilight lit her horn just enough to emit a soft lavender glow, which illuminated the area around them and made it easier to see. The smell of frost was on the air, and a light wind blew in the faces of the two ponies as they cantered along. They finally came to a stop in front of Twilight’s library house, and turned to face one another.

“Good work today, Twi,” Dash said, stifling a yawn. It was late, the moon was already high in the sky. They had worked tirelessly since morning with her training, and by the time night fell, Twilight was already able to hover for short periods of time. Sustained flight was a different story, however, but Rainbow Dash was confident that she would get it in time.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, yawning. “Thanks for teaching me. Same time tomorrow?”

“You got it!” Dash yelled enthusiastically. “I’ll try not to forget this time.” At this, the two mares shared a laugh. “Well, good night.”

“Good night, Dash,” Twilight said, waving goodbye as her friend took off into the skies above Ponyville. Once the cyan pegasus was out of sight, Twilight turned and quietly opened the door, trying not to wake the sleeping dragon within. She then quietly moved up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she lazily climbed into bed and pulled the covers over herself. And just a few minutes later, she was asleep.

Princess Celestia walked side-by-side with Princess Luna down one of the wide corridors of Canterlot castle. Beams of moonlight filled in through the windows, reflecting off of the floors and lighting the long passage. The two diarchs walked in silence, simply enjoying one another’s company. Princess Luna had returned from her banishment on the moon three years prior, and yet there was still a distinct void between the two. Luna was withdrawn, and did not easily socialize with other ponies. They all had their own reservations about the night princess as well, which made any sort of interaction between them and Luna difficult. But no matter what Celestia tried to say or do, Luna refused to acknowledge the problem. She seemed perfectly content to sit up in her room all night, and sleep through the day, only coming out if it was truly important. And, for the meantime, Princess Celestia was going to let her continue doing just that. She could not force her sister to come out and socialize, it was going to have to happen at its own pace.

The two alicorns reached their destination, a small balcony at the very back of the palace that offered an unobstructed view of the moon. They each stepped out onto the stone balcony, then walked to the parapet for a better view of the satellite. The pattern that had appeared when Celestia first banished Luna was long gone, replaced by the normal pattern of craters caused by myriad asteroid impacts over the millennia. The stars twinkled in the sky, each one an independent gem that adorned the night.

“The sky is beautiful tonight, sister,” Celestia commented.

“Thank you, ‘Tia,” Luna replied, emotionless. Celestia spared a glance at the dark blue alicorn, and saw that she was staring sadly at the moon. Where once it had been Luna’s pride and joy, it was now only a solemn reminder of that fateful night one thousand and three years ago.

“I’m sorry-,” Celestia began.

“Don’t, sister,” Luna interrupted, holding out a hoof. “I understand.” Celestia nodded, then turned her head and once again gazed upon the sky, taking in the beautiful constellations. The two sisters stayed like this for a moment longer, before Celestia turned.

“Come,” she said. “I must rest, and you have duties to attend to.” Luna nodded, frowning at the prospect of work, and turned to follow her sister off of the balcony. They each exited back into the corridor, the large door slamming shut behind them.

Immediately after the large door shut, one of the billions of stars began moving. It was slow at first, but it began to pick up speed as it entered the upper atmosphere of Equis. And, if one was looking at it with a powerful enough telescope, they would have noticed a small speck drop out of it and careen towards the surface at incredible speeds as the star pulled back up and reentered the vast expanse of space.

As the small transport cleared the upper atmosphere of the unidentified garden world, Legion set it to automatically reenter orbit to generate surface scans and locate deposits of element zero. In the meantime, the geth itself would go to the surface and explore the world, and possibly locate the powerful element by itself.

Legion stepped out of the cockpit and into the drop bay, then stepped onto a small circle in the floor. It picked out several weapons from a rack on the wall, then reached its arms up and grabbed on to two handlebars on the ceiling. A moment later, the circular hatch opened, and wind rushed beneath the geth. Just as the small craft began to pull back up, Legion let go of the handlebars and dropped out of the hatch, which immediately closed back behind it. As it fell, it deployed several flaps hidden amongst the polymer shell to slow down its descent. Just a few hundred meters above the plains where it had chosen to land, the geth folded up into an incredibly compact and shock-resistant form to minimize damage that would be taken by the impact.

Legion smacked into the ground at hundreds of meters per second, kicking up a large amount of dirt and shattering the landscape around it. The landing complete, it unfolded itself, reaching an arm back and grabbing the M-98 Widow sniper rifle off of its back. The sniper deployed itself when it registered the contact, and Legion hefted it in both of its three-fingered hands, surveying the landscape.

Element Zero was incredibly rare, most often forming from the exposure of solid matter to high amounts of energy, such as the kind released in a supernova. However, this star system had already shown itself to be incredibly abnormal. Perhaps this would yield interesting results. Settling on a random direction, Legion prepared the Widow, then began moving away from its landing zone, prepared to explore…

Author's Note

Here is Chapter 1. I only released the prologue last night and already people seem to be enjoying the story.

If you notice any lore/spelling/grammar errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“We wish to understand, not incite.”

Legion wandered through the rolling plains and hills of the strange new world, external sensors constantly scanning the area for any potential threats to the unit. At the same time, it was receiving a constant feed of information from the transport in orbit, which was still working on completing a highly detailed scan of the planet, from the crust to the core, searching for deposits of Element Zero. It did not have to be much, just enough for the Mass Relay to send the geth to any other Relay, so that it could jump back into geth controlled space and report its findings to the consensus. Already it had tried communicating with them by attaching on to comm buoys, but, curiously, there seemed to be none in the vicinity. However, if this Relay was completely uncharted, it was possible that the unit was simply out of range.

On its travels, Legion had seen limited signs of movement. While it had mostly stayed within the plains to get better views of further off locations, it was walking within a kilometer of a large forest. When it zoomed in with its M-98 Widow, Legion was able to see hints of movement in the foliage. This world was a prime specimen to host life, so it was not impossible for organics to have evolved here. However, the chances of meeting any intelligent or sapient creatures were incredibly slim. Still, Legion was incapable of bias. If there was a chance of intelligent beings inhabiting this world, it would try to seek them out.

Earlier in the day, not long after Legion had arrived, the transport had detected what looked like sources of light. It was very possible that they could simply be thermal vents, given the possible youth of the world, but the apparent organization of the light sources also implied structures, possibly primitive towns. If there was an intelligent species, and it was technologically advanced, they would have detected Legion almost immediately.

Now, as day began to break, beams of sunlight began streaming over the horizon. For hundreds of years, organics had believed their worlds to be the center of the universe, and the sun revolved around them, giving rise to the inaccurate term ‘sunrise’. On this world, that term was perfectly correct. This world being a geocentric system was something that baffled even Legion. None of the 1,183 programs within the unit could come up with any highly likely explanation based on empirical evidence. Everything they suggested was merely conjecture.

Legion continued walking, the motors in its legs incapable of becoming tired. It could walk the length of the entire continent if it had to, and at this rate, if it did not find element zero soon, that was beginning to look more and more likely.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly cracked open, streams of early morning sunlight piercing her tired retinas. She squinted to adjust to the light, then slowly opened her purple eyes wide as she became more aware. Yawning, the alicorn climbed out of her bed, taking a look around the room. Spike’s small bed was empty, which surprised Twilight. Yesterday when she had gotten up this early, he was still fast asleep… Curiously, Twilight turned her head to the analog clock hung on her wall, and was surprised to find that it was already well into morning. Suddenly becoming much more awake, Twilight darted from her room and sprinted down the stairs, almost running over Spike who was in the middle of the room holding a breakfast platter.

“Twilight, I made break--,” he started.

“No time have to go!” Twilight interrupted, shooting past the baby dragon and out of the door to her home. She sprinted through the streets of Ponyville, narrowly avoiding other ponies going about their morning schedules. Ignoring their annoyed remarks, Twilight continued running until she finally reached Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. When she slowed to a stop, she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Her brief respite was interrupted by a hoof grabbing her back.

“You are three hours late, Twilight,” came the voice of Rainbow Dash. “Sheesh, even I’m not that bad…”

“Sorry…” Twilight panted, standing up. “Slept late… tired from… yesterday… ugh…” She nearly collapsed to the ground again, but held her composure. Rainbow Dash stared at the pony, unamused.

“Well then, are you ready to get started?” she asked. Twilight gulped and got her breathing under control, then nodded.

“Okay then,” Dash said. “We’ll start with wing-ups again. We need to keep you on top of those, or you’ll just lose the strength you earned while you’re sleeping. After that, we’ll try hovering again.” Sighing, Twilight lowered herself to the ground, then slowly put her weight on the tips of her wings. Carefully, she lifted her front hooves off of the ground, and paused for a moment, waiting to see if she would fall. While she did lower quite dramatically, Twilight pushed back and held herself firmly on her wing tips. Then, slowly at first, she pushed herself up, causing several pops to ring out as her joints popped. Twilight lowered herself back down, then raised back up, this time somewhat quicker. She repeated this cycle forty-eight more times, each time getting quicker than the last, before she collapsed onto the ground in a tired heap.

“Fifty wing-ups, that’s a new record,” Dash noted happily. “I bet that fancy magic of yours is probably helping you get stronger faster, though.” Twilight chuckled to herself, then stood up.

“Alright now, let’s try hovering again,” the cyan pegasus said. “Remember, don’t flap too hard, or you’ll over-exert yourself. Slow, rhythmic flaps. We’re looking for power, not speed.” Twilight nodded, then began flapping her large purple wings. As the air began to blow beneath them, Twilght slowly felt her hooves leave the ground. Only a moment later and she was airborne. Twilight grinned, excited at her achievement. However, this led to her losing her concentration, and a moment later she crashed into the ground, dazed.

“Well you got up much quicker than yesterday at least,” Dash said. “Once we get your hovering under control, we can work on movement.” Twilight nodded, returning to a stand position, before she began flapping her wings, ready for another attempt.

Princess Celestia entered her private study, holding back a yawn. Her usually flowing mane was hardly even moving this early, and the bags under her eyes were a testament to just how little sleep she had managed to get the previous night. Celestia didn’t know what it was that kept her up; all she could feel was that something wasn’t right. It had struck her only a few minutes after leaving the balcony with her sister. As they walked down the halls, her stomach had suddenly turned, and the princess had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, that something had changed that wasn’t supposed to.

But, rather than pursue the feeling right then and there, Celestia had decided that sleep was much more appropriate for her at the time. So she had gone to bed, and when the princess woke up, the feeling had gone away just a small bit, but was still eating away at the back of her mind. With no way of actually tracing just what was wrong, Princess Celestia had come to her private study to try and lose herself in her work. The Solar Court wasn’t for another two hours, so that gave her plenty of time to read up on the several reports that had accumulated on her desk over the night.

Princess Celestia grabbed the stack of reports, all of which were tied together with a few pieces of string, in her golden telekinesis. She carefully untied the strings, placing each individual piece of parchment on her desk. Starting with the first one on her left, Celestia grabbed both the parchment and a cup of coffee with her magic, then began reading. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just an economic report drafted by her lead economic advisor. Equestria’s stock market was as good as ever, and most companies were up a few points. Trade with Gryphonia and the Zebra Nation was normal, and the addition of several new trade routes the week prior had helped to do nothing but improve it.

Satisfied, and finally beginning to wake up some thanks to the coffee, Celestia set the document to the side, then picked up the next one, a quick report on domestic news. Included in it were summaries of events that had taken place the day before, how they had gone, and how ponies were reacting. Also included were basic crime reports, which, as usual, were incredibly small. Princess Celestia merely skimmed through the next two, deciding to save them for the Solar Court. They dealt with grievances that had been observed (which usually were minor things), and requests for the Equestrian government to consider. These were more appropriate to address during Court, when ponies would be meeting with her to speak with her one-on-one about the things listed in the two documents.

The fifth document was one that she rarely received, and that was border control. Immigration to Equestria was fairly rare, and illegal immigration was almost unheard of. Most of the species inhabiting Equis chose to stay in their country of origin, though occasionally a zebra or griffon would immigrate to Equestria. Cautiously picking up the document, Celestia read the subject of the report. Surprisingly, it did not deal with any immigration troubles. Rather, it dealt with encroachments on pony territory near the western border, towards the badlands. The badlands were host to all sorts of undesirable creatures. Very near the edge lived the diamond dogs, and beyond that, in the rough volcanic mountains lived the dragons. But beyond that was territory almost completely unmapped by any species on the planet. For there, in great underground hives, lived the changelings.

The changelings were horrid creatures. Their anatomy was not dissimilar to that of a pony, however there were some clear differences. For example, the changeling possessed a rough, chitinous exoskeleton that was a very dark shade of gray. This exoskeleton was occasionally marked with circular holes that went all the way through the changeling, leaving large gaps in their bodies. The biggest difference between changelings and ponies, however, was the inherent ability of a changeling to, as its name implied, change shape. Just one year prior, the changelings had staged an invasion of Canterlot, and, had it not been for the young Princess Cadance, they would have succeeded. Nopony had seen anything of the changelings since their defeat, and it was widely believed that they had simply not been able to restore themselves after the battle. But if there were incursions on the western border…

Celestia read further into the report, nervously taking in every word, her expression grave. There were no solid reports on exactly who was responsible for the incursions. Celestia’s Defense Ministry believed the most likely candidate were the diamond dogs, due to their inherently aggressive nature. Plus, it was reported that prisoners had been taken, which was not uncommon for a diamond dog. However, diamond dogs were careless. They rushed into a fight without thinking tactically, and considering that the western frontier towns had fair contingents of guards, it was very unlikely that all of them would have been able to escape after their assault without being caught. For this reason, Celestia was greatly worried that the true instigators of these assaults were the changelings. They could disguise themselves as ponies and attack without warning. They could move almost unseen under the cover of night. And, after their defeat one year ago, it was not unlikely that they would be hungry for revenge…

Celestia quickly grabbed a small sheet of parchment from her desk, then scribbled a note on it to dispatch elite units to the western frontier settlements. Princess Luna’s ‘Nighthawks’ would be sufficient, she decided. Celestia set the note aside, along with the report, before grabbing the final report, written by her Chief Medical Officer. These reports were much more common than border control ones, and typically they were a fair bit less alarming. Mostly just reports of large outbreaks of diseases, though they typically were no more severe than the common cold. However, it seemed that this day just was not in favor of the princess. Written in urgent handwriting on the report was a date and time for Celestia to meet with her Chief Medical Officer, with a note scribbled beneath it:

‘Need to meet. Potential new virus. Must contain.’

The date above the note put a meeting time at right after Solar Court. Given the apparent urgency of the note, Celestia was somewhat surprised that her medical officer hadn’t scheduled it immediately. It must not be that bad, Celestia thought to herself, trying to calm her nerves. After all, even if it was a new virus, ponies had mastered the art of eliminating them long ago. Because their magic could permeate any form of matter, regardless of size, bacterial and viral epidemics were rare. Really the only serious illness that magic could not yet heal were genetic-borne ones. Yes, Celestia thought. Everything is fine.

Checking the large analog clock above the door to her study, Celestia found that the time had passed much quicker than she believed. Solar Court was in only fifteen minutes; by now, her subjects would probably be arriving to meet with her. Celestia downed the remainder of her coffee, which was not much, then stood from her desk, making her way to the door. She pushed it open, offering a polite nod to the guard outside, then continued down the hallway to the throne room.

Legion stealthily crept through the forest it had come across only a few hours before, attempting to document the incredibly diverse plant life. While all garden worlds did have plants, very few of them had this many species. Surprisingly, the geth had also caught movement in the trees, which seemed could only be linked to the presence of animal life as well. The current wind was very weak, not nearly enough to rustle the bushes, so therefore, animals were the only logical explanation. However, they had evaded the machine thus far, and it had gotten no clear visual of them.

Legion was interrupted from scanning a small blue flower by an odd chittering sound. Cautiously, the geth hefted its M-98 Widow, then quickly spun around to face the source of the noise. After a moment of scanning the area, Legion lowered its weapon when it found the noise’s owner. Very curiously, a small white rabbit was standing just ahead the unit. Legion found this very odd. Rabbits were native to planet Earth, home of the humans. That an animal from a world thousands of light-years away was present here was troubling.

Carefully, Legion reached out to attempt to scan the creature. However, just before the three long fingers were about to wrap around the rabbit, it ran off, teeth still chittering. Legion quickly gave pursuit, not wanting to let the first sign of animal life on this alien planet get away. Legion was a very fast machine; as an independent unit, it had to be agile in order to ensure long-term survivability. This rabbit, however, had it beat. While Legion was able to keep up, the was always just a few feet ahead of the machine, as though it was leading it somewhere.

This proved to be the case when Legion emerged from the woods, and found itself in a large clearing. The clearing was not vacant, however, as in the center sat a large tree-shaped cottage. Behind it was a fence-enclosed garden area fully stocked with fruits and vegetables. Behind this was a set of chicken coops, as well as other pieces of housing equipment for other primitive animals. Curious, Legion held its rifle closely, scanning the region for any intelligent beings that could be responsible for the construction. Oddly enough, just a few hundred meters away, at the end of a long dirt road, there sat even more homes. And beyond them, even more. Based on the layout, Legion deduced that they were part of a larger village, perhaps even a town.

Coming to a crouch to observe from afar, Legion put the scope of the rifle in front of its large blue optic, then began to scan the area. No more animals had revealed themselves, and the geth could hear nothing indicating life. All was still, and all was quiet. That was, until Legion was interrupted by a quiet yelp from behind it. Legion whirled around, holding the sniper rifle ready, and settled its gaze upon a small yellow pony. Legion found it very strange that now two Earth-native creatures had been discovered on this planet. Even stranger was the fact that this one had a set of wings, indicating that it was a pegasus, a creature from human mythology. The pony’s large blue eyes quivered in fear at the sight of the massive geth, who stood unmoving, still holding the sniper rifle ready.

After waiting for a few moments, with neither creature moving, Legion decided that it was not a threat. It slowly lowered the sniper rifle, though that did nothing to quell the fear of the pony. It still stood incredibly rigid just a few meters from the geth, eyes unblinking as it stared on in fear. Legion took a few cautious steps forward, prompting the pony to yelp once more. Ignoring the obvious fear, Legion continued walking forward until it was just a few inches from the pony. It extended its left arm, and an orange cylinder formed over its forearm and hand. The pony fell back in fear, and Legion lowered its arm to compensate for the space between the two.

A flat rectangular hologram of a screen emitted from the top of the omni-tool as several beams of light danced over the pony, scanning the creature and making very basic observations. Data from the observations began flowing on the rectangular screen, and Legion read every bit of it. It was four feet tall, had a wingspan of six feet, and, based on scans of hormone emissions, was female. The more basic scans complete, Legion deactivated the omni-tool, then stepped back from the creature. It spun and reentered the forest, calling for its ship to land at the original insertion zone. The computer onboard the ship was much more capable of processing the information from the scans, and if anything were to happen to Legion, it wanted the data safe. It disappeared into the brush, and began to run for the insertion site.

“Come on, Twi, you’re almost there!” Rainbow Dash cheered on as Twilight lifted herself further into the air, then slowly began to angle forward to enable actual flight. It had taken hours to get to this point, but, as Dash had pointed out earlier, Twilight was a fast learner. That and her alicorn magic seemed to make flight a bit easier. Slowly, Twilight began to edge forward.

“Stick your legs out, it’ll make you more aerodynamic,” Dash suggested. Twilight did as instructed, and found that it helped increase her speed by a small amount. As she began to grow more comfortable with the prospect of flight, she leaned further forward and began to flap her wings faster, soon starting to build up speed.

“I’m doing it!” Twilight shouted, excited.

“Keep going, Twi!” Dash cheered on. Suddenly, Twilight’s concentration was broken by a voice shouting from in the distance.

“TWILIGHT!” it shouted, seemingly in great distress. The distraction was enough to totally shatter Twilight’s concentration, and the next thing she knew she was on the ground, face-first in the dirt. The shouting kept growing louder, until Fluttershy came into view, flying at a speed that was on par with Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy shouted again, now panting for air as she lowered herself to the ground. Twilight slowly picked herself up, wiping a hoof across her face to clean the dirt off. She examined the dirt on her hoof, then shot an annoyed glare at the yellow pegasus.

“What!?” Twilight shouted, a little bit too angrily. The pegasus recoiled back, shivering in fear. Immediately Twilight realized her mistake, and she ran to her friend.

“Oh, Fluttershy, I’m sorry!” the alicorn said, apologizing profusely. “What’s the matter?” Slowly, Fluttershy picked herself up, still panting from her flight over. She was shaking as well, but it seemed that something more than Twilight’s outburst had startled the pony.

“I… I…” she struggled. Dash floated over as well, softly landing in the grass and approaching Fluttershy.

“What’s up, ‘Shy?” she asked. “You can tell us.”

“I saw a monster!” Fluttershy quickly blurted before covering her face with her hooves. Twilight and Rainbow exchanged confused glances, then they both continued to stare at the frightened pegasus.

“What do you mean you ‘saw a monster’?” Twilight asked.

“It… it came… it came from the Everfree…” Fluttershy continued, shaking with fear.

“So?” Dash asked. “You deal with critters from the Everfree all the time!”

“This one…” Fluttershy said. “This one was different… I… I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it…”

“Can you describe it to us?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded, then stood up to her full height.

“It was… it was around two meters tall, I think,” the pegasus said in her usual quiet speaking voice. “It was a dark gray color, and it looked like it was made of metal… It had a single blue glowing eye, and a long rod-like object…”

“What else?” Twilight pressed on.

“It… it walked up to me…” she continued, slowly becoming more afraid as she recounted the details. “It held out an arm… then it glowed orange, and it shot beams of light at me… Then it just… left…” Twilight and Dash looked at one another, not convinced.

“It just… left?” Twilight asked, confused. “Why?”

“I don’t know…” Fluttershy said. “But it was big, and it was scary…” Twilight smiled in an effort to comfort her friend, then put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It was probably just as scared of you as you were of it. That’s why it ran off.”

“But… what if it comes back? It didn’t look very scared…” Fluttershy’s fear seemed only to be growing, despite Twilight’s attempts at comforting her.

“Don’t worry,” the alicorn said. “Rainbow Dash and I will take a look around, and we’ll make sure it’s safe.”

“We will?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. Twilight glared at the pegasus, frowning. “Oh, I mean, uh… Of course we will! You’ve got nothing to fear, Fluttershy.” Slowly, Fluttershy’s trembling began to subside, and she looked away sheepishly.

“O-okay…” she whispered. “Thank you…” Twilight motioned for Fluttershy to lead the way, and followed behind her as the yellow pony set off. Rainbow Dash slowly sidled up next to Twilight, frowning.

“Twi… what are we doing?” she asked quietly, trying not to alert Fluttershy.

“Look, something obviously terrified her,” Twilight began. “Now maybe it was a big metal monster, or maybe it was something else. Let’s just look around and give her some peace of mind.

“But her description was ridiculous!” Dash said, a bit louder. “I mean, ‘it had a big rod-like object’? That’s—“

“Here we are,” Fluttershy interrupted, apparently ignorant of the conversation going on behind her. “The monster was… right there.” She pointed off to the side of her cottage, near the edge of the Everfree. Twilight advanced toward the forest, Rainbow Dash close behind her. Fluttershy elected to remain by her house, too fearful to come any closer.

“Alright, just look around for any disturbed terrain,” Twilight said. “Tracks, broken sticks, things like that.” Rainbow Dash sighed as she began looking around, closely examining the ground.

“Look, I found a leaf that is bent,” she said, unamused. “It must be a sign.” Twilight groaned, and shot Dash a glare.

“I know you want to keep teaching me to fly, but Fluttershy is our friend, and if she saw something, then we should help.”

“Fine, fine… Sorry.” Rainbow Dash was quiet for the remainder of the search, as was Twilight. The two ponies scoured the area around Fluttershy’s cottage, looking for any signs of a large creature. Yet no matter how hard they searched, they found nothing. No strange tracks, no disturbed terrain at all. And after half an hour, they returned to their friend.

“I think you’re in the clear, Fluttershy,” Twilight reported with a smile. “But if you see anything else, come and find us. We’re always happy to help. Right, Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash forced a smile, and nodded.

“Of course,” she said. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned.

“Thank you for looking around,” she said. “Do you want to come inside for something to drink? Some tea, maybe? Anything for your trouble.” Twilight was about to reply, before Rainbow Dash quickly covered her mouth with her hoof.

“Thanks for the offer, but we’ve got to get going,” she replied quickly, pulling Twilight away with her. “Have a good one, ‘Shy!” Wrapping her hooves around Twilight, Rainbow Dash picked up the alicorn and began flying away from the small cottage.

“Is this really necessary?” Twilight sighed.

“Yes,” Rainbow Dash answered. “This way we won’t run into anypony else who needs help.” After a few minutes of flying, the pair landed beneath Dash’s cloud home. Twilight freed herself from the pegasus’s grip, and stretched out her wings.

“Alright,” Dash said. “Now, where were we?”

Princess Celestia navigated through the halls of Canterlot Castle, walking the memorized route to one of her private meeting rooms, where she would be meeting with her Chief Medical Officer, a unicorn mare by the name of Healthy Heart. Compared to the larger ones that were fit for dozens of ponies, her private meeting room was small and secluded, only meant for a few ponies to be in at any one time. As she approached the door to the room, she noticed a lunar guard standing vigilantly outside. Curiously, Celestia stepped up to the door, and the guard swung it open with his telekinesis, revealing the stark room beyond.

While most of the castle maintained a grandiose aesthetic style, the private meeting room was quite the opposite. It had no windows, as it was situated closer to the middle of the castle, was surrounded by plain white walls, and was lit by a few candles interspersed along them. The candles offered meager light to see by, illuminating only the small round table in the center, leaving the corners of the room shrouded in darkness. Celestia stepped into the room and saw two mares already there. One was, as she had been expecting, Healthy Heart. The pale blue mare sat at the meeting table, keeping quiet. The other pony present was, to her surprise, Princess Luna. That explains the guard outside, Celestia thought. As she stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind her. Celestia approached the table, drawing the attention of both other ponies.

“Sister,” she said, looking to Luna. “I was not expecting you to join us.”

“I was not expecting to join you either,” Luna replied. “But Ms. Healthy Heart insisted that I be present. She said it could be incredibly important.”

“That’s how your note made it sound,” Celestia said, turning to the unicorn in question. “Tell me, Ms. Heart, what kind of disease are we talking about?”

“We’re still not entirely sure, your highness,” Healthy Heart replied, pulling a stack of papers out from under the table and throwing them on top. “It’s so new that we haven’t yet determined just what it is.”

“Then why are we so worked up about it?” Luna questioned. “For all we know it could just be another virus.”

“Yes, your highness, I’m aware of that,” Heart said. “However, the main reason that this calls for alarm is the rapidity and ease with which it spreads. Once we determined who Patient Zero was, we were able to track down ponies with whom he came into contact… every single one was infected.”

“Your report neglected to mention, Ms. Heart,” Celestia said. “Just where did this illness first strike?”

“One of the frontier settlements, to the west,” Heart said. “A small town, only about a hundred ponies, called ‘Westrock’. Of the one hundred inhabitants… we know of eighty-seven confirmed cases.”

“Eighty-seven…” Luna repeated. “And this only was discovered yesterday?”

“Yes, your highness,” the Chief Medical Officer replied. “Which is why I became so alarmed.”

“What do you recommend?” Celestia asked.

“A full quarantine of the town, for starters,” Heart suggested. “Along with a few medical teams with protective equipment and magical wards around them, just to be safe.”

“It shall be done,” Celestia said. Heart smiled gratefully.

“It could just be nothing,” she said. “But better safe than sorry, I suppose.”

“Indeed,” Luna said. “Now, is that all?”

“That is all, your highness,” Heart replied.

“Then I take my leave.” With that, Luna turned and exited the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Celestia nodded farewell to the unicorn mare, then left the room herself. As soon as the door closed, she began trotting after her sister, who had not made it far down the hall with her guard. She fell into stride with Luna, walking down the hall right beside her. After a brief and awkward pause, Luna spoke.

“Can I help you, sister?” she said. Celestia paused for a moment.

“Leave us,” she finally said, directed to the guard. He saluted, then turned down the next hallway, leaving the two sisters alone to walk.

“I am glad that you came out of your room, Luna,” Celestia said. “If even for a little bit.”

“It sounded important, so I figured I should appear,” Luna replied flatly. Celestia trotted to get ahead of her sister, then cut her off as they approached a stairwell.

“Luna--,” Celestia began.

“’Tia,” Luna interrupted. “You have made it perfectly clear that you wish for me to come down more often, and to socialize. I understand, and I am happy that you care for my well-being, but I am fine.”

“No, Luna, you’re not,” Celestia interjected. “It has been three years! Three! And still you insist on staying up in your room all day and night, only coming out to eat or tend to the moon!”

“The other ponies don’t want me to come out, why should I?” Luna said, snarling.

“Luna, that is not true!” Celestia said. “You must give them a chance!”

“The last time I did that I made a fool of myself…” Luna replied. Celestia remembered back to the first night Luna had ever tried returning to the public scene. She had taken a trip to Ponyville during Nightmare Night, and ended up terrifying the population because they believed her to be Nightmare Moon.

“Sister,” Celestia said soothingly. “I know it has not all gone perfectly, but you cannot let one attempt discourage you so!” She put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Luna, I’m going to Ponyville in a few days for a small celebration for Twilight Sparkle becoming a princess. Perhaps you should join me?”

“Yes, that sounds great…” Luna said sarcastically. “Return to the place where I was humiliated…”

“Oh, I doubt anypony remembers that!” Celestia comforted. “At least give it a try. Please?” Luna averted her gaze for a moment, before finally she once again looked Celestia in the eye.

“… Fine…” she grunted. The princess pushed past Celestia and continued up the stairwell that lead to her room at the top of one of the several towers in the palace. Celestia turned to watch her go, satisfied at a victory.

“I shall let my student know to expect you as well!” she shouted up after Luna.

“That would be good,” Luna yelled back, emotionless, before she disappeared at the top of the stairs. Deciding it best to return to her Solar Court, Celestia turned around and walked back down the hall, heading for the throne room.

Twilight Sparkle closed the door to her home as she walked inside, then slumped down against the wall, completely out of breath. With the exception of the excursion to Fluttershy’s cottage, it had been yet another day of almost constant flying practice, and Twilight was pleased with her progress. Thanks to her alicorn magic, her ability to adapt to flight was much greater than that of an average pegasus. Even so, Rainbow Dash was still convinced that she needed a lot of work, and Twilight agreed. While Twilight was now able to move forward, and turn to some degree, it was not for a prolonged period of time. Her current physical shape did not help her at all, and Twilight slowly plodded into the kitchen to get some ice for her burning wings.

When she entered, Twilight was surprised to find her assistant, Spike, working busily at one of the counters. She had been so tired that, when she first entered her home, she had totally missed the delicious smell emanating from a pot on the stove. Spike stood over the pot, ladle in claw, stirring the brew within. Twilight allowed the scent to permeate her nostrils as she approached the freezer and withdrew two ice packs.

“Hello, Spike,” she said, tired. The dragon turned around to face Twilight.

“Hey, Twilight,” he said. “How was flying practice?”

“I made some good progress today,” Twilight replied happily. “What are you making?”

“A recipe I got from Pinkie earlier today,” Spike explained. “I know she’s well known for her baked goods, but man, she can cook anything!” Twilight giggled to herself as she sat down in a chair by the kitchen table, resting the ice packs on her wings with her magic. As she sat down, her attention shifted to a scroll sitting rolled up on the table.

“What’s that?” she asked, reaching for it with her telekinesis.

“Oh yeah, almost forgot,” Spike said. “That came for you earlier. I didn’t read it, but it has Princess Celestia’s seal on it, so I assume it’s from her.” Twilight unfurled the scroll, then held it in front of her. Her eyes scanned over the words, and slowly a smile formed on her face. Satisfied, Twilight put down the scroll.

“Princess Luna is going to be joining Celestia at the party in a couple of days!” she said happily.

“Really?” Spike asked. “After what happened the last time she was in Ponyville?”

“Spike…” Twilight said, glaring daggers at the dragon. “That was two years ago… She was still learning how to get around after being gone for a thousand years…”

“Yeah, but hasn’t she basically been hiding away in Canterlot pretty much since she was unbanished?”

“’Unbanished’ isn’t a word, Spike,” Twilight said, getting an eye-roll from the dragon. “And that’s just because ponies haven’t been very accepting of her since she got back. This will be good for her!”

“Alright…” Spike conceded. Twilight stood up from the table, taking her ice packs with her.

“Let me know when dinner’s ready,” she said. “I’m going to go read.”

Legion stepped out of the thick forest and back into the clearing where it had first landed, folding the M-98 Widow back up and storing it on its back. A moment later, there was a roar as the small geth transport swooped down and came to a stop, landing on the surface. The hatch on the side opened, granting Legion entry into the craft. Immediately, Legion navigated to the cockpit, stepping up to the main computer once it got inside. Activating its omni-tool, Legion accessed the main computer and began a direct transfer of all the data that it had collected.

A moment later the transfer was complete, and the computer began sifting through the new data, storing it once it was done. Its task complete, Legion exited the craft, instructing it to once again take off and continue surface scans. So far, no deposits of element zero had been found, but it was a rare element. It was also difficult to track, especially on smaller ships with less-advanced planetary scanning equipment, so proper scans could take a while. Legion also had to consider the possibility of subaquatic deposits forming, which left a massive ocean to scan as well. All in all, scans could take months. Legion knew it did not have that kind of time, however. An attack by the quarians could happen at any moment, and the Reapers were not far off either.

However, the existence of an intelligent species on this planet seemed almost certain. The structures it had observed could not occur naturally, and even though they were fairly primitive in comparison to the other species of the galaxy, they would no doubt have some knowledge of this world, including possible knowledge of element zero deposits. Deciding that it was important to return to the buildings it had seen before, Legion reequipped its Widow, then spun around and sprinted back into the thick forest. At top speeds, the geth could reach the structures once again in just under eight hours. Already the moon was beginning to rise, so it would arrive very early in the morning. That was a prime time to begin scouting operations, when the inhabitants would most likely be asleep. That was, unless they were nocturnal. Nocturnal or diurnal, it did not matter. Either way, Legion needed to make peaceful contact. The security and future of the geth was depending on it.

Author's Note

Here is Chapter 2. Things are progressing at a pace that I'm fairly satisfied with, but let me know what you think!

If you notice any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions at all, please let me know.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

“Heretics say one is less than two. Geth say two is less than three.”

Fluttershy awoke early in the morning, as she always did, to tend to the many animals who called her cottage home. She tiredly crept down her stairs and entered her living room, where most of the smaller animals she cared for were still sound asleep. Quietly, to avoid waking them up, she moved into the kitchen and opened her pantry, where, among the food reserved for herself, were dozens of items meant for the animals’ consumption.

She gripped several bags in her teeth, then carefully brought them over to a counter where she put them down. Then, grabbing several plates from a cabinet, Fluttershy carefully poured portions of the food onto each plate. Finally, with ease that only came from years of experience, Fluttershy balanced two plates on her outstretched wings and a third in her mouth, before walking back into her living room. The scent of the food was enough to wake up most of the animals, who stared hungrily at the meal that the pegasus was bringing in.

She set the plates on the floor, then quickly recoiled back as several of the animals leapt for them, immediately digging in. Laughing quietly, Fluttershy stood back up and turned around to reenter her kitchen and get more food. Before she could enter, however, she heard a knock at the door. Who could that be? She thought. Ever the cautious pony, Fluttershy quietly crept to the door, then looked through the peephole. She let out a sigh of relief when she found the pony outside to simply be Twilight Sparkle. She opened the door, revealing the full form of the tired alicorn.

“Hello, Twilight,” Fluttershy said softly. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “I hope I didn’t wake you. I was just on my way to start more training with Dash when I realized I should come let you know something.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked.

“I got a letter last night from Princess Celestia,” Twilight began. “Princess Luna will be joining her at the celebration tomorrow, so I figured I should stop by to let you know to expect her.”

“Oh, that’s good,” the pegasus said. “We haven’t seen her since the wedding.”

“Yeah…” Twilight continued. “I’ve already let Applejack and Pinkie Pie know, and I’ll let Rainbow know when I see her. If you see Rarity today, can you pass on the message?”

“Of course, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, smiling.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. She stepped away from the door, turned around, and walked over the thin bridge back onto the main road to Ponyville. Fluttershy closed the door and turned around, heading into her kitchen to get more food for her animals.

Unbeknownst to Fluttershy, the entire exchange had carefully been watched by the ‘monster’ that had appeared to the pegasus the day before…

Legion carefully peered through the scope of its Widow, making sure to watch from an angle where the sun would not glint off of the lens. It had arrived back at the site of the structures only an hour before to begin reconnaissance, and to try to find any hint of the intelligent beings who built them, but to no avail. That is, until now.

Just as it was leaving to try finding more structures, or to wait for later, Legion passed by the small cottage it had seen the previous day. Curiously, Legion had seen another pony present at the cottage, this one a shade of light purple with both a set of wings and a horn. Cycling through its knowledge of human mythology and popular culture, Legion found the proper terminology of the creature to be ‘alicorn’. This alicorn had then approached the door to the cottage and, in an extremely strange display that was totally contrary to animals, knocked on it. A moment later the door had opened, revealing the yellow pegasus Legion had encountered and scanned the day before, yet another strange occurrence. But the strangest part, and the part that confused the programs within the geth the most, was what happened next.

The geth was too far away to make out any sound while it was observing the two ponies, but there were a number of pieces of evidence pointing towards the two having had a conversation. First was the rate at which they each moved their mouths. Whereas ponies from Earth could only make a select few noises, the articulation that each of the ponies here possessed suggested a far greater vocal capacity. Second was the movement of hooves. The purple one in particular had moved its hooves quite a lot, almost giving off the impression of gesticulation, as though it were conveying emotions through hoof movements. And third were the facial features. They were incredibly dynamic for each pony, seeming to change with every syllable. These were all indicators of having an actual conversation. As little sense as it made, the programs within Legion could only come to one conclusion: the ponies were sapient creatures.

While there was no solid evidence pointing towards it, the ponies seemed to be peaceful. Legion had seen no semblance of a military (so far), and the two it had observed seemed to have no hostile intentions. Of course, the actions of two of the creatures was hardly enough to judge an entire population. More evidence would need to be acquired before contact could be made.

There was also the glaring issue of a language barrier. Legion fluently spoke the languages of all known species in the galaxy. Being a machine with a relatively limitless capacity for knowledge made that quite easy. However, this was an entirely new species, and as such, it was more than likely going to have a new language. All omni-tools included basic pieces of translation software to make contact between two different species easier, and Legion’s was outfitted with a much more advanced version.

However, this was an unknown language. The software could run scans based on audio gathered from listening to an individual speak to create basic translations, but it was a lengthy process and required very close contact. Even though Legion had access to a tactical cloak module, the omni-tool could not operate with it online. There was only one solution: Legion was going to have to determine the hostility or peacefulness of these creatures before being able to speak with them.

Princess Luna quietly sulked through the brightening hallways of Canterlot palace, watching her hooves with every step. Each step echoed down the empty hallway, threatening to awaken anypony who was not yet up. Mere moments ago she had lowered the moon and her sister, in some other part of the castle, had raised the sun.

Her night had been an uneventful one, a fact for which she was partially grateful. Her Night Court had, as usual, seen no visitors, which had given her more time to catch up on reading the Equestrian history she had missed. On the other hoof, it did get quite lonely… Even after being back for three years, she still felt apprehensive around her subjects.

The first few days of her return had been the worst. She had been treated like some kind of demon, risen from the pits of Tartarus to devour the living ponies and plunge Equestria into chaos. As soon as word had spread that Nightmare Moon, who had taken over Luna’s body, had returned, the story had sprouted back up all across Equestria. By the time the Elements of Harmony had freed her, and she had returned to Canterlot with her sister, nearly everypony in the country remembered her banishment. Only a few were convinced of her restoration to good, the one who really mattered being Celestia. But no matter what her sister had said, nopony trusted Luna. They looked at her like she was a monster, like something that needed to be purged.

The changeling attack one year prior had not helped at all. Some ponies were actually beginning to open up to the princess, and even start trusting her. But after the attack, Luna was surprised and horrified when the first few ponies had asked if she was involved.

“But you weren’t there to help,” they had said. And no matter how much she explained that she, too, had been captured in her tower and was incapable of leaving, they did not believe her. Just remembering the event brought up the anger in Luna, and her hooffalls suddenly became much louder.

But among the anger was also a great sadness. She never liked to show it, but the way she had been treated ever since her return tore her up inside. The knowledge that her ponies, her subjects, hated her existence and believed her to be an evil abomination was enough to drive her over the edge several times. After waiting a millennia to see her subjects once again, the way they treated her was heartbreaking. Many days were spent simply trying to keep her sobbing quiet as she attempted to sleep in her bedchambers, not wanting the guards who she knew did not want to protect her to hear her.

As Luna continued diving into the memories, the emotions began to resurface. Her expression of anger was replaced by one of sadness as she choked back tears, and the princess quickened her pace to get to the stairwell to her tower sooner. Hopefully she would get to her chambers before encountering anypony.

Luck was not on her side, however, and just before she reached the stairwell, her sister rounded the corner of a conjoining hallway and almost walked right into the princess of the night.

“Sister!” Celestia said gladly. Her tone totally changed when she saw the first few tears staining Luna’s cheeks. “Sister…?” Luna ignored her and approached the door to the stairwell, pulling it open with her magic. Celestia trotted up behind Luna and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Sister, what is--,” Celestia was cut off as Luna whirled around on her, anger mixing with the sadness in her deep blue eyes.

“WHAT!?” Luna screamed angrily, causing her sister to recoil back. “What is wrong? Is that what you were going to ask? What is wrong with Luna? Everything!”

“Luna, please!” Celestia shouted, pleading. But Luna was not having any of it.

“You act so concerned about me, ‘Tia, but I wonder why…” Luna snarled, glaring. “You have everything all perfect for you! Yes, everypony loooves Princess Celestia! But nopony loves her evil sister! Nopony!” Celestia stared at Luna, wide-eyed, as she went on her tirade. Finally she slammed her golden-clad hoof on the marble floor, sending the noise echoing down the hall and causing Luna to fall, clutching her ears.

“That’s enough, Luna!” Celestia shouted. Luna slowly brought her hooves down from her ears, which then folded over her head in shame. Her eyes drooped and she looked to the floor sorrowfully. Celestia bent down, extending a wing over her sister.

“What happened?” she asked. Luna looked up to Celestia, tears still brimming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, sister,” she whispered. “I’m just a little worked up… I should get some sleep…”

“’A little worked up,’ Luna?” Celestia asked. “That is not ‘a little’. That has been building up. What happened?” Luna looked down and paused for a moment, before looking her sister back in the eye.

“You returned responsibility of my Night Court to me two years ago, sister,” Luna began. Celestia nodded and urged her to go on. “Would you care to know how many ponies have actually shown up in that time period? I have been keeping track.” Celestia did not respond, knowing that the number was going to be miniscule. Luna waited, then spoke.

“Five,” she said. “Five ponies. Of those five, two were drunks who wandered into the castle, one was a solicitor, one was asking if you were available, and one actually had a concern to address with me. One.”

“Luna…” Celestia said. “I’m sorry, I… I had no idea…” Luna slowly stood up.

“I’m sorry, sister…” she said. “I should not have snapped at you. I… It was just a long night. I shall get some rest.” She then turned to face the stairwell once again.

“Luna,” Celestia said before her sister could go. “If you ever wish to talk… I am here. Always.” Luna smiled briefly, then disappeared up the stairs. Celestia stayed for a moment to watch her go, before she continued down the hall to her private study.

The ponies were preparing for something. If there was one definite thing that Legion had discovered so far in its reconnaissance of the creatures, that was it. From its perch at the top of a tall water tower, with its tactical cloak engaged, Legion had watched the ponies of the small town for nearly four hours already. The town was not large; it was only a few kilometers in either direction. The buildings resembled that of 17th-century Earth, as most were constructed of wood with thatch roofs. By far the most interesting building in the small bustling town was one in almost the exact center. It was not the exact definition of a building; rather, it seemed to be a massive hollowed-out tree. Windows were set into the bark at random intervals, and at the base of the tree was a rounded door. In front of it was a sign with a book on it, and below it was writing in some unknown language.

Starting about two hours into the recon, the same pony that Legion had seen earlier that day, the purple alicorn, began quickly entering and leaving the tree house. Whatever the ponies were planning, this one seemed to be in charge of it all. In front of the tree house was a large clearing that seemed to be filled with market stalls. In the very center of this clearing was a large stone statue of a tall alicorn that had a long, flowing mane and a crown atop its head. Legion had no evidence, but it appeared that this was their leadership.

In front of the statue a long wooden table had been lain out, and on it was set a white tablecloth. At the entrance to the clearing, strung up between two buildings, was a long white banner that had more untranslatable writing on it. The purple alicorn moved around the clearing, occasionally stopping to issue orders to another pony or make sure that something was correct.

What they were planning for, Legion did not know. However, based on some parallels it was able to draw between this society and other organics, it appeared to be some form of celebration. Only time could confirm the geth’s observations, and hopefully it would not have to wait long. Revealing itself during a large event seemed not to be a very good idea to Legion, as it would only serve to give unnecessary attention to the unit, and the likelihood of panic was much higher. Legion had to be careful if it was to make peaceful contact. Future survivability depended on it.

Twilight Sparkle bustled around the clearing outside of her home, making sure everypony who was helping to prepare for the festivities was doing everything right. As per her orders, the original banner was expanded from just saying “Welcome Princess Celestia” to saying “Welcome Princesses Celestia and Luna”. The table was also widened to seat the extra guest, and a third throne had been retrieved from the town hall and placed at the end.

Almost the entire time that she had been out here, Twilight had a nagging feeling that she was being watched. A tingling on the back of her neck, like there was a pony hiding somewhere, not taking his eyes away. Occasionally she would spin around and try to catch whoever was responsible, but every time she saw nothing. Chalking it up to her simply being nervous for tomorrow, Twilight ignored the feeling, and instead decided to go over the remaining tasks.

Catering was well underway, Twilight had made certain of that. From what she heard, Pinkie Pie had been working non-stop for the past two days to complete the huge order, and the addition of another guest just added even more work for the pink party mare. Applejack was also busily working on food, creating her dozens of pie products to go along with Pinkie’s less-healthy baked goods. Rainbow Dash was working on making sure the skies were totally clear, while Rarity was doing decorations and Fluttershy was helping her. The other ponies of Ponyville were working on setting everything up, and making the town the most welcoming environment possible for the two princesses.

When Twilight had revealed that Luna was going to be joining Celestia, the ponies had responded nervously. The last time that Luna had visited Ponyville, she effectively terrorized the population, and even though by the end of the night most ponies were more comfortable around her, there were still those who were afraid of the princess of the night.

But Twilight was confident that everything was going to go off without a hitch. Everything was perfectly on schedule for tomorrow, and everypony seemed happy. The likelihood of anything going wrong was, Twilight was happy to say, small. It was not often that something like this happened, and the young alicorn was confident that she had taken all steps necessary to make sure everything would go perfectly according to plan. Twilight smiled as she continued trotting around the town center, satisfied. Yes, she thought. Everything is going to go perfectly…

Princess Luna awoke to a sharp knock on her bedroom door. It echoed through the room once, twice, three times before the calm silence that once filled the room took back control. At first, Luna ignored the knocks, instead grabbing one of her many pillows with a hoof and putting it over her ears to block out the sound. But after a few moments, the knocks continued, this time somewhat louder.

Sighing, Luna slowly crawled out of bed and approached her mirror. She straightened her mane, then supplied the magic required for it to appear to flow. She equipped her blue horseshoes, breastplate, and crown, and walked over to the door. The knocking had continued to persist while Luna went through her routine, a fact with bothered the princess greatly. But she put on a neutral expression as she opened the door, and found one of her guards standing outside, mid-knock.

“Forgive me, your highness,” he said, clearly seeing past Luna’s neutral expression. “But Princess Celestia has requested your presence in her private study.”

“Thank you,” Luna said, forcing a kind grin. The guard stepped out of the way and Luna exited her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She did not have time to check her clock before exiting her room, but based on the amount of light flowing in from the windows in the hall, Luna guessed that it was sometime in the middle of the afternoon.

She was almost never awake at this time, being a nocturnal princess, but Luna technically did not need sleep at all. Being immortal alicorns, she and her sister enjoyed a number of useful perks, including an almost constant supply of energy. While this energy did wane after a few weeks of use, Luna could theoretically go months without any form of rest. Still, to keep up their strength, Celestia had decided that it was good for both of them to keep a normal sleeping schedule, which Luna was perfectly okay with.

Luna approached a door at the end of the hallway, beyond which was the long stairwell to the bottom of her tower. She opened the door and began making her way down the stairs, stifling a yawn. It was not a long flight of stairs, and soon Luna was at the base of her tower, and back in one of the main hallways of Canterlot castle. Trying to remember the direction of her sister’s private study, she turned down one of the hallways connecting to her tower, then began slowly plodding down it.

As she walked, she began to examine the architecture. When Luna had been banished, she and Celestia still used the Castle of the Two Sisters, located in the Everfree Forest. That was a different time, however, before the forest became untamable by magic. Nopony knew just what caused the strange magical anomalies, but whatever it was, it had become so intense that, only a few decades after her banishment, Celestia had had to move the location to the mountains that now held Canterlot.

The first time she had seen Canterlot, Luna had been amazed. She and Celestia had often spoken of moving the castle to a more centralized location, and linking it to a city where they could have easier access to their subjects. But when she had been banished, the massive city was still just a dream. Now, seeing the grand scale of the massive mountainside metropolis truly impressed Luna.

If there was one downside to the massive size of the castle, it was just that: the size. Very often, Luna found herself getting lost in the maze of hallways, requiring her to awkwardly ask a guard for directions. This was not the case today, as the route to Celestia’s private study was one that Luna often took. Only a few minutes after she exited her tower she was at Celestia’s door, which she knocked on to get the attention of her sister. The door was surrounded in a golden aura as it pulled itself inwards, revealing Celestia sitting at her desk with several stacks of papers on it. Luna slowly walked inside and took a seat on the other side of the desk.

“Hello, sister,” Luna said, stifling another yawn.

“Hello, Luna,” Celestia replied. “I’m sorry that I woke you up, but it is important.”

“It is fine, ‘Tia,” Luna said. “What is it?” Celestia paused, before turning one of the papers around to face Luna. Luna grabbed it in her magic and began reading over it. From the moment she picked it up it was clear that it was a border control document. As she read on, her expression grew from one of boredom to one of worry. Once she finished, she set it back on the table.

“You must have reached the same conclusion as I, sister,” Celestia said gravely.

“…. The changelings…” Luna replied. “It is the only explanation. The diamond dogs could not have arranged these attacks, they are entirely too disorganized and reckless.”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Celestia. “The diamond dogs are not capable of the attacks. The only beings in the badlands who are, are the changelings.”

“What do you suggest we do, then?” Luna asked. Celestia sighed.

“We must send more soldiers,” she said. “Soldiers who are specifically meant for these kinds of operations.”

“My Nighthawks will do,” Luna said. “They are experienced enough.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” Celestia said, satisfied.

“Will that be all?” Luna asked. Celestia nodded, and Luna stood up, then turned to exit.

“Wait!” Celestia interrupted just before Luna exited. “Be in the castle courtyard tomorrow at eight o’clock so we can leave for Ponyville.” Luna nodded, then exited the study, closing the door behind her.

As night began to fall, Legion gazed out over the small town from its perch on the side of the water tower. Lights were popping up in each of the houses as lights went out in other buildings, likely stores. The lavender alicorn had retired into the tree building not long ago and had not yet come back out, leading Legion to believe that it served as the pony’s home. The work that the ponies had been doing throughout the day seemed to have wrapped up, and whatever they were planning for seemed not too far off.

Lowering its M-98 Widow, Legion decided that it was time to power down. After almost a full day of using the tactical cloak, Legion’s rechargeable power source was dangerously low. It stored the Widow on its back, then folded up into a small, compact box. It set up a motion sensor so that if any pony came up to the top of the tower while it was powered down, it would know and be able to go back into hiding. The world went dark as the photoreceptor shut down, and Legion entered into a quiet, uneventful sleep.

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

“Organics do not choose to fear us. It is a function of your hardware.”

There was a bright flash of light in the geth’s photoreceptor as it came back online and adjusted to the morning sun. As the rest of the programs came back online, Legion unfolded from its compact form and stood tall on the water tower, looking out over the small town. Quickly activating the tactical cloak, Legion surveyed the town, specifically paying attention to the clearing in the center.

It seemed that it had been right; whatever was happening, it was happening soon. Dozens of ponies filled the clearing, including the purple alicorn who now was wearing what appeared to be a crown upon its head. They all stood facing the same direction, looking up at something in the sky. Legion turned its head upward to follow their gaze, and saw a small dot in the sky, hovering a ways away from a mountain in the distance. Legion quickly deployed its M-98 Widow, then looked down the sight to get a closer look at the foreign object. It was still too far out, so the geth increased the zoom. While some image quality was lost, the object was made clearer.

It appeared to be a large chariot being pulled by several pegasi attached to reins in the front. Sitting in the back of the chariot were two more alicorns, one with a white coat and another with a very dark blue coat. Each pony had long, flowing manes that completely ignoring the winds caused by their velocity. As the object flew closer and closer to the town, Legion zoomed out until it was visible without the aid of a scope. The chariot swooped down and landed in a wide street connecting to the clearing, stopping right in front of the awaiting crowd of ponies. As the two alicorns stepped out of their chariot, Legion noticed that the white coated alicorn was the same as the alicorn statue in the center of the clearing. If Legion was right, then this was their leadership.

The two alicorns approached the crowd of ponies, and the lavender once ran through the crowd and up to the two. There was an exchange of words, which Legion could not pick up from this distance, and then the crowd parted and the three alicorns made their way to the long table set up by the statue, each of them taking a seat in a throne at the end. Five more ponies (including the yellow pegasus) and a lizard of some kind then all took seats along the sides of the table.

As soon as they sat down, dozens of ponies from the crowd all rushed forward and took seats. Those who were not quick enough to join their leaders in time instead took a seat at any number of smaller tables scattered around the clearing. Once everyone was seated, several ponies marched out of a building, each one carrying a covered tray on their back. Each tray was set on the main table and then uncovered, revealing a wide array of foods, from salads to pies to confectionaries. Legion curiously watched the ponies as they helped themselves to the food, wondering what the purpose of this celebration was…

2 HOURS EARLIER

Princess Luna sat at her desk in her dark bedroom, busily reading a book on more recent pony history. So much had happened in the thousand years that she had been gone, and there were dozens of massive history books for her to get caught up on. Even after three years of studying them she was only three-fourths of the way done, as she was being as thorough as possible.

Her reading was suddenly interrupted by a sharp knock on her door. Carefully setting her book aside, Luna stood from her desk and walked to the door, opening it wide. Standing there was the same guard who had awoken her the day before, though now he was joined by a second.

“Your highness,” he said. “It is time.”

“Very well,” Luna said, stepping out of her bedchambers and closing the door behind her. “Let us go.” The two guards turned around and began walking down to the end of the hallway, leading her to the castle courtyard where Celestia was no doubt waiting with a chariot to take them to Ponyville. As she was led through the castle, Luna began to second-guess her decision to visit the small town. It would be her first official public appearance in two years, and she was already out of practice from being gone for a thousand. She knew none of the ponies there, minus the Elements of Harmony, but she was aware that the ponies all knew her. After her last blunder of a public appearance in Ponyville, there was no way that nopony remembered.

Just as she was about to inform the guards to tell her sister that she would not be going, Luna suddenly realized that she could not keep hiding behind closed doors. If she allowed her fear of being disliked to keep her away from the public, then the suspicions towards her would only grow. There was only one way that she could gain the trust of her subjects, and that was by going out and working for it.

Finally they arrived at the main door to the castle, which opened wide into the massive courtyard. Her guards stepped aside and let her exit the warmth of the castle and enter the chilling morning air outside. In the middle of the courtyard was a large chariot, in front of which were several pegasus guards attaching themselves to the reins. As she expected, Celestia was already there, in the process of stepping into one of the seats of the chariot. Luna approached the chariot, and coughed to get her sister’s attention.

“Luna!” Celestia said happily, turning around to face her sister. “I am glad that you are here. Shall we be off then?” Luna stepped up into the chariot, taking a seat next to her sister. She then turned to face Celestia.

“I suppose it’s now or never…” she said apprehensively. Celestia nodded, then turned to the guards, who by now were finished attaching themselves to the reins.

“We are ready,” she told them. The guards all nodded and flared their wings, then began sprinting down the courtyard. Just before they reached the thick stone and marble wall that surrounded the courtyard, the guards flared their wings and took off into the sky, soon leaving the mountains that housed Canterlot. At these speeds, and with this large of a chariot, the trip to Ponyville would take around two hours. Luna turned over to get in a comfortable position to rest, but was interrupted by Celestia putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“Luna…” she said. “I know you are nervous. But it will all be fine.” Luna paused before responding.

“We shall see, ‘Tia…” she said. “We shall see…”

“Everypony is aware that you are attending, and from what my student tells me, they are excited to see you,” Celestia said. Luna laughed at the obvious lie, then turned to face her sister.

“Tell me, sister,” she said. “Why do you do this?”

“Do what?” Celestia asked, feigning confusion.

“You know exactly what I mean,” Luna said accusingly. “Why do you wish for me to improve my relations with our subjects so much? I mean, before my return, you had everything going for you. You were the one in charge, you had all the power, and everypony adored you. Now I’m here, just weighing you down… So tell me. Why do you want me to be happy when you are already?” Celestia stared at Luna for a moment, deep in thought, before she turned her head and looked forward.

“Thousands of years ago, before your banishment…” she began. “Our subjects used to adore you. They would throw parades in your honor or make offerings to you. They even gave you a holiday… You were the happiest I had ever seen you. But then, as time went on, and ponies started staying inside during the night, that happiness disappeared.” Celestia turned her head and looked Luna in the eyes, her own magenta eyes flickering with sadness.

“The… the night I… banished you…” Celestia continued. “There was a celebration… Ponies from all around held a massive party, proclaiming ‘the death of Nightmare Moon’… I was forced to put on a happy face and attend this celebration. I was forced to be happy about banishing the pony closest to me. Luna… It was that day that I promised myself, once you returned, I would do everything in my power to make you as happy as you used to be.” Luna stared at her sister, wide-eyed and not knowing what to say. Finally she found the strength to speak.

“Sister, I…” she started. “I… I’m sorry. If I had known, I… I would have been more accepting. More grateful.” Celestia smiled, and patted Luna on the shoulder.

“Get some rest, Luna,” she said. “We will be there shortly.” Luna nodded, then turned back over and leaned against the back of the chariot. Her blue eyes closed, and she felt consciousness slipping away as she embraced sleep.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood in the front lines of the large crowd that had congregated in the town center of Ponyville, constantly checking to make sure her crown was straight. She hardly ever wore the thing, and until now it had simply been collecting dust on a table in her bedroom. Her friends had convinced her to put it on, as they all believed the situation called for it. After all, the leaders of the nation were visiting.

As the crowd stared on, Twilight once again got the feeling that something was watching her. She curiously looked around, trying to find the pony responsible, and found that her eyes settled on the water tower some ways away. Squinting cautiously, Twilight tried to see if anypony was up there. But no matter how hard she strained her eyes, she could see nothing. Her curious search was interrupted as the noise that the crowd was making started to build up, and she felt somepony nudge her shoulder.

“There they are!” Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly. Twilight turned her head so that it was once again facing forward, and sure enough, there was a small speck in the distance, growing closer by the second. At almost the same time, Twilight felt the strange presence leave her, as though it too was distracted by the newcomers. A few minutes passed and the speck was finally close enough to make out details.

It was one of Princess Celestia’s golden chariots, the morning sun glinting off of it and threatening to blind the viewer. Twilight put her hoof over the top of her eyes to protect them, but still allow her to see some. Pulling the chariot were several pegasus guards, and in the chariot itself were Princesses Celestia and Luna. Twilight was honestly surprised at Luna’s appearance. While she was happy that the princess had decided to show up, she had half-expected her to cancel and stay in Canterlot. That Luna had decided to attend showed that she at least somewhat cared about other ponies liking her.

A moment later the chariot landed in one of the widest streets of Ponyville, and came to a stop just in front of the crowd of waiting ponies. Celestia and Luna each stepped out, then navigated to the front of the chariot so that all could see them. All of the ponies, Twilight’s friends included, bowed, while Twilight herself ran up to the princesses to greet them.

“Hello, Princesses!” she said happily.

“Hello, my faithful student,” Celestia replied, affectionately wrapping a wing around the young alicorn.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, smiling weakly. “It is good to see you again.”

“And you as well, Luna,” Twilight replied.

“Shall we begin?” Celestia asked. Twilight nodded, then turned around to face the crowd. It parted for the three princesses, providing them with an easily traversable route to the long dining table that had been set up. On the far end, against the statue of Celestia, three thrones had been set up for the princesses. Twilight led the elder alicorns through the crowd and to the table, where they all took their seats. Celestia sat herself in the center throne, while Luna took the left and Twilight the right. As soon as they sat down, Twilight’s friends all took their own seats along the sides of the table.

“Please!” Celestia said, addressing the crowd. “Sit, and we shall begin!” As soon as the last syllable was uttered, the crowd launched itself at the table, each pony struggling to gain a seat with the princesses and the Elements of Harmony. The struggle was over as soon as it started, however, and those who did not make it in time had to settle for smaller tables that had been placed around the clearing, where usually market stalls were set up.

As soon as everypony was seated, several ponies marched out from Sugarcube Corner, where all of the food was being stored, each one carrying a closed tray on their back. Most of the trays were dedicated for the main table, though several platters were carried to the smaller ones as well. Once they had been placed, the tops were removed, revealing the delicious contents beneath. Among them were the foods prepared by Pinkie Pie and Applejack, with confectionaries from the party pony and apple products from the farmer.

All at once, ponies began grabbing for the food, the princesses included, and filled their plates to maximum capacity. In less than a minute the trays were empty, and ponies were digging in to the meal prepared for the event. The only sound filling the entire clearing was that of chewing and ponies enjoying themselves to the feast.

As she ate, Twilight felt the presence return to her, interrupting her mid-bite. Celestia seemed to notice, and turned to face the new princess.

“What is it, Twilight?” she asked. Twilight did not answer at first, instead choosing to finish chewing. Once she did, she turned to her mentor and smiled.

“Nothing, princess,” she replied. “Everything’s perfect.” Celestia smiled happily, then turned back to her meal. But Twilight knew that something was wrong. Somepony was watching her, that much she was sure about…

Legion continued to watch the ponies as they went about their celebration, which seemed to be some sort of feast. Legion never understood why organics decided that copious amounts of eating was a good idea, as it could only lead to a gain in weight or indigestion, but then again, there were a great many things that organics did that were not logical.

As time went by, the eating slowed to a standstill, until finally every one of the creatures seemed to be done. It was at this time that one of the alicorns, the white one with the long, colorful mane, stood up and tapped a fork against its glass. The din of conversation that once was able to reach Legion completely stopped as all of the heads turned to face the alicorn, and it began speaking.

No matter how sensitive Legion made its auditory sensors, it could not pick up the sound. However, whatever it was saying seemed to be directed at the purple alicorn next to it, who it kept gesturing towards. After a few moments the purple alicorn stood and the white one sat, and the purple one began to speak. Again, it was too far away for Legion to hear, but it generated a resounding applause which the geth could easily pick up. The pony then sat back down, and the ponies began to clean up.

As it watched the ponies at work, Legion figured that now would be a prime time to slip away. With all of the ponies busy in the town center, it would be no trouble for Legion to escape back to the woods, where it could then call for its ship to make backups of all data collected. Additionally, it could check the data that the ship had collected on element zero deposits. Quietly, Legion crept away from the spot it had occupied for the past almost twenty-four hours, then slid down the ladder to the ground. It also dropped the tactical cloak, deciding to put the extra power into the leg motors to escape quicker. Again, all of the ponies were in the town center. The odds of encountering any of them were slim to none.

Legion turned down one of the streets, quietly creeping through the rows of houses, trying to make as little noise as possible. Even though it did not think there were any ponies present that did not mean that there weren’t. Legion had to be careful if it was to get away. After a few more minutes of walking through the maze of houses and other buildings, Legion finally saw the exit to the forest, just a few hundred feet away. It began sprinting for the exit, now not caring about noise. None of the ponies had heard it so far, they were not likely to hear it now. The exit was not far off now. Only a few more feet and it would be in the clear.

Suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling scream from somewhere behind the geth. Legion quickly whipped around, deploying its M-98 Widow and aiming it at the source of the scream. When the source was located, Legion found it to be the yellow pegasus from its first visit to the town. She was staring at the geth, wide eyed and mouth agape. Legion froze as well, trying to come to a consensus on which action to take. Eliminating the pony would solve nothing, as she had already screamed. Legion also had no idea whether or not the creatures would be friendly to it, so staying also did not seem like a good idea. Just as more ponies began to round the corner, Legion settled on making a run for it. As the ponies behind it shouted, Legion spun around and sprinted the rest of the distance, soon disappearing into the forest.

5 MINUTES EARLIER

Twilight Sparkle dumped the remains of food on her plate into a massive trash bin that had been rolled out into the town center, then placed the plate itself onto a table to be cleaned. Her task done, she maneuvered through the crowd of ponies to where Princesses Celestia and Luna were standing. The solar princess was speaking to a small crowd that had gathered around her, engaging in casual conversation with her subjects, while Luna stood behind her, remaining quiet. As Twilight approached, the crowd disassembled and left, leaving the three princesses to speak with one another.

“The meal was delicious, Twilight,” Celestia said happily.

“I agree,” Twilight replied. “Everypony did a great job.” Celestia nodded, and the princesses looked out over the crowd.

“You seemed to enjoy yourself as well, Luna,” Twilight said with a smile. “I saw some ponies come to speak with you.”

“Yes, that was… a welcome surprise,” the nocturnal princess said, nodding. “I had forgotten how nice simple conversation could be… And you friends were very accommodating as well.”

“We’ve all been excited to see you again.” Twilight looked out over the crowd once again, searching for her friends. Applejack was helping ponies dispose of their trash in a large bin, while Rainbow Dash was lazily sleeping in her chair. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were going from table to table, working on removing any excess food that had been forgotten by their owners. But try as she might, Twilight could not spot Fluttershy.

That was, until a scream split the air, causing everypony in the area to freeze and cover their ears. Twilight’s eyes widened, and her head whipped in the direction of the cry. Celestia and Luna followed suit, each one defensively raising their wings. The scream persisted, and it did not take long for Twilight to recognize to whom it belonged.

“Fluttershy!”

The three princesses took off down the closest street, followed closely by the rest of the Elements of Harmony and a few other curious ponies. Twilight took the lead, as she knew the town better than Celestia did, and everypony else followed her. Rainbow Dash and a few other pegasi in the crowd took to the skies and followed behind Twilight, ready to render assistance. Twilight led them down several more of the tight Ponyville streets, until they came to the one Fluttershy was in. She stood at the end of the street, right in front of the entrance to another street. She stood, frozen with her mouth agape, staring at something down the street.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight called, rushing forward. Celestia and Luna was not far behind, nor were the other ponies in the group. Twilight stopped when she approached her friend, and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” she asked. The timid pegasus did not respond. Curiously, Twilight turned her head to follow Fluttershy’s gaze. Everypony else did as well, and soon they found just what had frightened the pegasus.

Standing at the end of the street was a… something. Twilight had never seen or heard of anything like it. It stood at least two meters tall on two backwards-bending legs, and was made of a dull gray material. It had two long arms, each of which ended with three claws. In one set of claws it held a long rod-like object menacingly towards the ponies. The top of it was curved forwards, with a bright blue light in the center. It stood completely frozen, staring unblinking at the ponies. Then, without warning, it whirled around and sprinted from the street, and not long after it disappeared into the Everfree Forest. As soon as it was out of sight, whatever trance Fluttershy had been in broke, and she collapsed to the ground in an exhausted heap. Breathing heavily, she slowly got back on her hooves, then turned to the rest of the ponies.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked quietly, trying not to scare her friend any more.

“Twilight…?” Fluttershy whispered. “I… I…”

“What was that?” Princess Luna asked, taking a few steps forward. She peered into the Everfree, searching for any signs of the creature.

“It is not a creature I am familiar with,” Celestia said, turning to her student. “Twilight, I don’t suppose you know what that was?”

“I… No, I don’t,” Twilight replied. “But Fluttershy… Is that what you saw two days ago?” The pegasus took a moment to respond. When she did, it was impossible to hear her. Twilight sighed, exasperated.

“Fluttershy!” she shouted. “This is important! Is that the ‘monster’ you saw two days ago!?” Fluttershy, now with more courage, stood up despite all of the stares, and turned to face the princesses.

“Yes…” she said quietly. “That’s what I saw…”

“You have seen this creature before?” Celestia asked, stepping forward.

“Yes…” Fluttershy replied. “Just once… A couple of days ago, it came to me at my cottage… It did something, then left…”

“Something?” Luna asked. “What did it do?”

“I don’t really know,” Fluttershy said helplessly. “It shot beams of light at me… But it didn’t hurt, though… I think it was just curious…”

“Enough talk!” Rainbow Dash yelled, annoyed. “It’s getting away! Let’s go after it!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said in a commanding voice. “I believe that that would be a foolish decision. We know absolutely nothing about this creature. However, most creatures native to the Everfree tend to stay there. That this one has ventured out is troubling. We must be as cautious as possible.”

“What do you suggest, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“I will station a contingent of royal guards here,” Celestia said. “They shall remain here for as long as is necessary, and keep a constant lookout for this creature. If it is sighted, they will attempt to make peaceful contact with it.” Twilight nodded.

“I can help coordinate the guards, Celestia,” she said. “Just say the word.”

“Very well,” Celestia replied. “In the meantime, Luna and I will return to Canterlot. There are other issues we must deal with.” The two princesses turned and began walking back down the street. Twilight trotted behind them to keep up.

“Princess,” Twilight began. “What if the guards get another sighting of it, and it’s not friendly? What if it attacks Ponyville?” Celestia turned her head to face Twilight as she walked.

“More guards will be sent,” she said. “And we will make an attempt to capture or kill the creature.”

“Kill it?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Are you sure that’s necessary?”

“Twilight, I have a very bad feeling about this creature,” Celestia responded. “It is not something I can fully comprehend. I just know that it is not natural, and it is disrupting the flow of harmony.” By now the trio had reached the bright golden chariot, which the guards were in the process of hitching themselves up to. Celestia and Luna each stepped into it and sat down, then turned to face Twilight.

“You will be fine, I believe,” Celestia said. “But I am not willing to jeopardize Ponyville, or anypony in it. This is what must be done.” Twilight nodded and sighed.

“I understand, Princess…” she said. “As soon as the guards arrive, I’ll coordinate them.” Celestia nodded, then turned to face forward. Before she could give the command to take off, Luna held up a hoof.

“Wait a moment, sister,” she said. She then turned to face Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for having me. Apart from the last few minutes… I had a wonderful time.” She smiled weakly, and Twilight grinned back. She then turned her head forward, and Celestia called for the guards to take off. They ran forwards for several meters before flaring their wings and taking off into the sky. Twilight watched as the chariot disappeared from view. Once it was too far away to see, she became aware of the presence of her friends surrounding her. Slowly, she turned to face them.

“Well…” she began. “I guess we should finish cleaning up…”

Legion sprinted through the forest at speeds no organic could ever reach, not bothering to turn around and check to see if it was being followed. The only objective that Legion had was to escape to the other side of the forest, and call for the transport. The ponies had become prematurely aware of it, and Legion did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, they could try to seek the geth out and attempt peaceful contact. On the other, they could perceive the machine as a threat and try to destroy it.

Based on what it had observed while in the small town, Legion guessed that the species was still pre-spaceflight, or even still pre-flight of any kind (minus the natural ability of the pegasi to fly). Though it had not left the water tower, Legion had failed to notice any kind of advanced technology whatsoever. It seemed to be a fairly primitive culture in comparison to the species of the Citadel, similar to humanity only a few hundred years ago, or the quarians several hundred years before that. Because of their technological primitiveness, it was highly likely that they had never seen anything even remotely like the geth. That combined with the heavily damaged relay on the edge of the system… For the hundreds of thousands of years that it had taken these ponies to evolve, it was likely that not even the Reapers had come here.

After another few minutes of sprinting, Legion finally came to the opposite edge of the forest. It had already called for the transport to land, and so Legion was not surprised to see it hovering a few feet off the ground just a few dozen meters from its position. Legion jogged the rest of the distance, then hopped into the open doorway of the ship, navigating to the cockpit. It interfaced with the computer and began an exchange of data.

Legion uploaded everything that had occurred since it last left the ship, all the way until the exact moment it reentered. At the same time, Legion viewed the data collected by the ship for element zero deposits. Unfortunately, it had found nothing. However, the craft had only begun scanning the northern section of the continent a few days before, and the landmass was quite large. As it had expected, the process could take months.

Legion disconnected from the computer, and the programs within began considering possible courses of action. It could simply wait for the computer to find deposits, but by the time it did, the creator attack, or even the Reaper invasion, could be well underway. It could wait for the ponies to make peaceful contact, but their sighting earlier could have jeopardized that. Therefore, Legion could only come to one conclusion: it had to make peaceful contact, and soon. The entire future of the geth hung in the balance…

Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth in front of the long lines of royal guards, maintaining an air of authority that she usually did not have to hold. The guards had arrived only minutes before; there were three hundred them, one hundred of each pony race, and all of them were armed to the teeth. They stared forward, unblinking, holding their weapons at the ready. Twilight decided that it was time to inform the soldiers of her plan, so she stepped back from the large group and stepped up to a podium, coughing to gain their attention. All at once, their eyes all shifted to the young princess.

“Royal guards,” Twilight began. “As Princesses Celestia and Luna have no doubt already told you, Ponyville is at risk from a potentially dangerous new creature from the Everfree Forest. It is the responsibility of all of you to keep this town, and its inhabitants, safe. Now, here is the plan: pegasi, find high up perches to keep an eye on the ground. Towers, clouds, anything will work. Unicorns, I want you all patrolling the border, especially around the Everfree. Your life detection spells will be able to detect it if it comes near. Earth ponies, reinforce the unicorns. If that thing comes back, and it’s violent, your strength will be needed. Any questions?” Nopony raised a hoof. Rather, they all continued staring at the princess.

“Good,” she said. “Now, move out.” Everypony immediately cleared the area, leaving it totally void of life a few moments later. As she scanned the area, Twilight caught glimpses of the pegasi moving through the sky, finding perches to keep a lookout. Further away, the unicorns and earth ponies were forming up into small squads and patrolling the border of the town.

Satisfied, Twilight sighed and removed her crown. She had decided to wear it in front of the guards to give her a more authoritarian look, and to help better get her orders across. In reality, Twilight didn’t much like the crown. She felt that it put far too much responsibility on her, one for which she did not know if she was ready. Ready or not, however, she needed to do her best. The citizens of Ponyville were relying on her to keep this town safe. And she would do just that to her dying breath.

Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her private study, her brow furrowed in thought. Luna sat on a chair in the corner of the room, equally as troubled as her sister.

“Today has certainly taken a strange turn of events, sister,” she said to the solar princess, who briefly paused her pacing.

“Agreed, Luna,” she replied. “First the incursions and the disease, and now this? These are troubling times…”

“Indeed…” Luna said. “You will be pleased to know, however, that one of my best teams of Nighthawks has been dispatched to Westrock, along with a medical team. They shall arrive in a few days.”

“That is good,” Celestia said. “I am sorry that today did not go as planned.” Luna stared at her sister, puzzled.

“Sister,” she said. “You could never have guessed that… that was going to happen.” Celestia nodded.

“I suppose.”

“Besides,” Luna continued. “I did have a good time. Ponies were speaking with me, rather than avoiding me.”

“See, Luna?” Celestia said. “Ponies do like you, and do want to get to know you.”

“Yes, well, I suppose that your student may have had something to do with it,” Luna said, emotionless. Celestia smiled slyly.

“Perhaps,” she said. “But it is progress nonetheless.” The solar princess stifled a yawn, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“Sister, you should get some sleep,” Luna said, standing from her chair. “It has been a long day, and the new turn of events has not helped your fatigue. I shall take watch over the night.” Celestia moved for the door, then stopped and turned to look at her sister.

“Thank you, Luna,” she said. “I will see you in the morning.” Luna nodded good night, and the white alicorn exited the room, her hoofsteps echoing down the hallway as she moved through the castle to her bedroom. Luna then exited the room and began walking to the throne room, ready for yet another uneventful Night Court.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading Chapter 4!

If you notice any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

“We are immortal. Our “gods” disowned us. We must create our own reasons to exist.”

Legion crept silently through the underbrush at the edge of the forest, its tactical cloak keeping it unseen from the searching eyes of the many pony soldiers patrolling the edge of the town. The geth had returned only minutes ago, and it was evident that its ‘sighting’ had had quite the effect on the small town. Where once there were no soldiers visible, Legion now saw hundreds of them roaming the perimeter. Pegasi flew from cloud-to-cloud in the sky, an act which Legion found quite curious, and unicorns and regular ponies stayed in small groups, patrolling the forest.

The addition of hundreds of new guards seemed not to have put a damper on the mood of the town. Even from its further away vantage point, Legion could clearly see ordinary ponies strolling throughout the town, going about their business. The guards seemed to be quite polite to them; that is, they were not subjugating the ponies in any way. Rather, the two parties stayed separate from one another. The guards went on their patrols, and the ponies went about their days. Legion hoped that this was a sign that the ponies were peaceful creatures. However, with no other evidence to back up that conclusion, Legion had to remain cautious.

Legion stopped its observation when it suddenly heard a crack next to it. It whipped its invisible head around, bringing the M-98 Widow to bear, seeking the source of the sound. When it found it, it immediately went completely silent. Standing only a few feet away were three pony guards, one unicorn and two regular. They all stood still, moving their heads and looking around the area. Legion stood perfectly still as well, not wanting to do anything that may draw their attention. The geth made ready to run away when the unicorn locked his eyes onto Legion’s invisible photoreceptor, as though he could tell that it was there.

The unicorn squinted as his white horn suddenly began to glow. He closed his eyes in concentration, then opened them wide as a burst of energy spread out from the horn and passed over the landscape. The energy rushed towards Legion, and Legion was just about to sprint away when the energy wave passed harmlessly beneath its feet. Confused, Legion looked around to see the effect of the energy burst. Beneath it, there suddenly appeared several purple blobs, each roughly matching the shape of an animal. Everywhere that the energy passed over revealed more purple blobs, and each one was an animal shape. The blobs moved, as though they were running away. And when Legion noticed one of the purple blobs scurry up a tree, it realized that that was exactly what they were doing.

Life detection, Legion noted. It would be ineffective against the geth, as whatever technology was used to perform the task seemed only to detect organic tissue, none of which Legion had. Still, Legion found it quite curious. While all previous reconnaissance missions had shown no use of advanced technology, this soldier had just used something that the organic races on the Citadel still were experimenting with. What’s more, it seemed to have come directly from the unicorn’s horn, almost as though the ability was natural… Legion almost came to the conclusion of natural biotics, similar to the abilities of the asari, before realizing that no known function of biotics could reveal life forms. This was either a very advanced form of the ability, or it was something else entirely…

Seemingly satisfied that nothing was there, the three guards turned and moved in the opposite direction, away from Legion. Legion lowered its sniper rifle, then turned back to face the town. Not much had changed, but the geth did notice that several of the guard groups patrolling nearby had all moved off as well, leaving a perfectly clear path from the forest to the town. Checking around it to make sure none of the ponies were looking in its direction, Legion slowly crept from the woods and entered into the small gap of empty land that lay between the forest and the town.

It rushed forward, the tactical cloak beginning to flicker as power was drawn away from the emitters. Fortunately, none of the guards seemed to notice, and Legion successfully made it to the other side, squatting behind a building to let the power generators recharge. With the amount of guards patrolling the town, it was likely that Legion had just trapped itself here for an undetermined period of time. It was going to need all of the power reserves available to it.

When the tactical cloak was sufficiently recharged, Legion crept back out from behind the building, then calculated a path to the water tower it had previously used as an observation point. With any luck, none of the soldiers would have commandeered it. The path calculation complete, Legion set out for its destination, ready to continue reconnaissance.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes flickered open as she yawned widely, allowing the morning sunlight to pierce her retinas. Very slowly, she sat up in her bed, then hopped out and stretched out her tired legs. Turning to look at the clock, Twilight was happy to find that she still had half an hour before her flying lessons with Rainbow Dash continued, which would hopefully be enough for her to actually have breakfast this time. Trotting into the kitchen, Twilight chose to forgo having a filling breakfast, and instead grabbed a simple protein bar from her pantry. Eating too much would cause cramps during her training, and even more pain was something that the alicorn wanted to avoid.

She lifted the protein bar with her magic and ripped the cover off, disposing of it in the trash can. She wandered back into the main room of the library, eating the very light breakfast, and began to think about the events of the previous day. A new creature had been found, and it was still unclear whether or not it was friendly. The panic that its discovery had created had not been helped when Twilight had informed the citizens of Ponyville that three hundred guards were coming to stay for a while and look out for the creature. But so far, there had been no more sightings of it. It had not quite yet been twenty-four hours since the original sighting, but that hour was fast approaching, and Twilight was still worried that it would make a reappearance.

She swallowed down the last few bites of the protein bar, then glanced at the clock hanging on one of the walls. Her meeting with Dash was in fifteen minutes, so Twilight decided that now would be a good enough time to leave. She stepped out into the cold winter air, which reminded her once again that she still needed to get her coat augmented for use with wings. Shivering at the chilling winds that passed through the town, Twilight set off for the edge of town where Rainbow Dash had anchored her cloud house.

As she walked through the streets, which were just now beginning to show activity, Twilight also took notice of the guards roaming through the streets. While most were focused on the perimeter of the town, several were still checking the interior. The creature had gotten in before, and it could do it again. Fortunately, the guards were all respecting the space of the citizens of Ponyville. They kindly moved out of her way as she walked down the streets, and generally seemed to be trying not to bother anypony.

A few minutes later and Twilight was out of Ponyville, and she began to approach Rainbow Dash’s home. The cyan pegasus was already present beneath her home, the feathers of her wings rustling in the cool air. Her large magenta eyes turned up as they caught the movement of Twilight, and as the young princess drew nearer, Dash leapt into the air and began hovering a few feet off of the ground, her whistle hanging freely around her neck.

“So you actually decided to be on time today,” Dash said jokingly, giving a wry smirk.

“Oh ha-ha,” Twilight fake laughed. “Let’s not forget that you were late our first day!” Dash’s lips turned up in a pouting expression as she lowered back to the ground, her hooves landing softly in the dew-covered grass.

“All right!” she said, changing the subject. “Well, since we didn’t meet yesterday, let’s make sure you haven’t forgotten anything. So drop and give me twenty!” Rolling her eyes at Dash’s attempt at a drill-instructor voice, Twilight lowered to the ground and balanced herself on the tips of her wings, then began doing the wing-ups. They started off difficult, though not as difficult as her first few attempts, and progressively began to get easier. As she finished the twentieth wing-up, Twilight was surprised to find that she had hardly even broken a sweat.

“Well done, Twi,” Dash said, clapping her friend on the back. “I guess just start hovering, then begin to move forward. Let’s make sure you can still do that.” Twilight got back on her hooves and stood up, then started flapping her wings. It was slow at first, but as she built up speed and power, her hooves began to leave the ground. A few seconds later and she was airborne, hovering several feet above the grass and staring down at the satisfied pegasus below her.

“Start moving forward!” Dash reminded the alicorn, who was seemingly in shock that she had gotten up so quickly. The command from Dash broke Twilight’s reverie, and she slowly angled forward, beginning to move ahead.

“Okay,” Dash said as Twilight flew forward. “Now we’re going to try something new. I want you to tilt your wings up just a little bit, and try to gain height while you’re moving. Do it slowly, or you’ll just come to a complete stop.” Twilight did as her friend commanded, slowly tilting her wings up and allowing the wind to pass beneath them, thus causing her to raise in height just a small bit. After she had risen a few more feet she angled her wings back down and levelled out.

“Well done!” Rainbow said. “Alright, come on back down and I’ll explain a few more things to you.” Twilight nodded, but just as she was about to angle her wings in the other direction to lose altitude, she noticed a rustling in the bushes on the edge of the Everfree, just a few hundred meters away. She stopped her forward movement and came to a hover, watching the area where she had seen the rustling.

“Hey…” Twilight said. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Dash asked, launching herself up and coming to hover next to Twilight. “I don’t see anything.”

“There was some rustling in the bushes,” Twilight explained, pointing to where she had seen the disturbance. “Right over there, at the edge of the Everfree.” Dash squinted her eyes, but after a few moments had passed and she didn’t see anything, she turned to face her friend.

“It’s probably nothing,” she said. “Besides, there are a few guard patrols in that area. If that creature is coming back, they’ll find it.” Twilight stayed hovering for a moment longer, still watching the area, before she sighed and lowered back to the ground, followed by Dash.

“Okay,” the pegasus continued. “Now let’s talk about flying against the wind…”

Legion clambered up the ladder to the top of the water tower, being as careful as possible not to make any noise on the rusted ladder. It was clear that the metal was quite old, and looked to be under threat of collapsing any day now. Legion hoped that would not happen while it was climbing. As Legion neared the top of the water tower, it poked its head over the edge of the ladder, looking out for guards. It appeared that the tower was not being used by any pony guards as a vantage point, which seemed foolish to Legion. The tower provided perfect sightlines across the entirety of the town, not using it seemed wasteful.

Legion climbed up the rest of the way and paused, dropping the tactical cloak to let the emitters recharge. However, Legion did not let them recharge all the way, as its high up perch left it open to being discovered by any of the hundreds of pony guards below, or pegasi in the sky. Reengaging the tactical cloak, Legion began walking around the rim of the water tower, using its advanced photoreceptor to map out a 3D representation of the town to assist in reconnaissance.

Although the geth did not possess any form of motion tracker or life-signs detector, Legion could still clearly make out the guards in the crowds of ponies that bustled in the streets below. They all wore reflective golden armor, which seemed rather ineffective to the geth. It was not very thick, offered poor protection around the stomach, and shined very brightly, making stealth a difficult task. This led Legion to believe that the armor had not actually been tested in a very long time, which was perhaps another indication at peace. That or they had conquered the entire continent and did not have to worry about uprisings. Either situation was possible. However, Legion was beginning to lean more in the direction of “peaceful”. The actions of the citizens did not indicate a fear of the guards, and the guards did not assert their authority at the citizens. They each maintained a mutual respect for one another, which Legion hoped could extend to non-ponies as well. Even so, Legion still wanted to be as careful as possible, lest it risk jeopardizing the mission.

Quietly, Legion deployed the M-98 Widow from its back and propped it up against the railing of the water tower, then peered down the scope to get a better look at the further-away sections of the town. And not too far away from where Legion had left the forest, it found something quite curious. Hovering only a few dozen meters above the ground was a cloud. This was not necessarily unusual, except that it seemed to actually be several clouds grouped together, all joined by flowing liquid rainbows. Windows were set into parts of the cloud, and there was even a front door. Beneath the cloud-home was a cyan pegasus with a prismatic mane, and next to it was the lavender alicorn that Legion had seen quite a bit of. If Legion’s observational skills were anything to go off of, and they were, then it appeared that the blue one was teaching the lavender one how to use its wings. Whereas the blue one was flying with ease, the lavender one was clearly struggling to stay in the air for very long.

Legion continued to watch the two ponies for several more minutes, occasionally taking its eye away from the scope to check for any curious soldiers. However, whatever the two ponies were doing, it seemed to be coming to an end. The lavender one waved goodbye, and the cyan one flew up to the cloud, somehow managing to step on the surface of it, then opened the door and disappeared inside. Legion followed the lavender one with its scope as it left the scene, disappearing behind buildings as it reentered the town. Curiously, Legion pointed the scope towards the town center, and as it had expected, the lavender alicorn entered it a few minutes later, heading straight for the house built into the tree. It too disappeared inside, but Legion was able to see a small amount of movement through some of the windows.

Setting a new objective for itself, Legion packed up the sniper rifle and placed it back on its back. The programs within the mobile platform then struggled to achieve consensus, deciding on the next move. Only a few seconds later, which may as well have been hours for the debating programs, they all came to an agreement: the lavender one was clearly important, as it had been observed involving itself in many things throughout the town over the past few days, including meeting with the leadership, and sitting amongst them. It had also been wearing a crown, possibly meaning that it could be royalty as well. If Legion was to determine the peacefulness of a civilization, then the best place to look was at the royalty. Using the 3D map that it had created not long before, Legion began climbing back down the ladder, and set a waypoint for the tree-house. It was time for some much more close-range reconnaissance…

“Spike, I’m home!” Twilight yelled into the library as she entered the door, closing it shut behind her. “Spike?” There was a pause before the dragon trotted into the room from the basement, carrying a feather duster with him.

“Hey, Twilight,” he said. “How was flying practice?”

“Good, Spike,” Twilight replied, flexing her wings out. “I’m making some good progress, according to Rainbow Dash.”

“Cool,” Spike said, only half-interested. As he walked over to the bookshelves and began dusting them, he pointed a claw at the door to the kitchen. “You got another letter. I left it on the kitchen table.” Twilight turned and trotted into the kitchen, then approached the table, grabbing the rolled-up scroll with her telekinesis. She carefully removed the wax seal that kept it closed shut, then unfurled the scroll so it was hovering flat in front of her.

Twilight Sparkle,

I understand that the guards my sister sent to you arrived yesterday, and you have already issued orders to them. While I have the utmost faith in both your ability and theirs, I stress the importance of having some proper guards to take watch over the night. It is for this reason that I have allocated two hundred of my own guards to dispatch to Ponyville later this day. They shall hopefully arrive by nightfall, and they can relieve my sister’s guards until the morning. I understand that three hundred guards is already quite a large number for Ponyville to support, but it is very important that this creature be found, and if it uses the cover of night to sneak back in, my guards are much more likely to discover it than Celestia’s.

With hope,

Princess Luna

Twilight rolled the scroll back up and sent a small burst of magic to it. It disappeared with a pop, having been sent to the drawer of her desk that she reserved for all letters sent from one of the princesses. The young alicorn stepped back out into the main room of the library, then took a seat in the couch, sighing. Spike took a brief respite from his cleaning and sat by the pony.

“What’s up?” he said. “More business about that thing from yesterday?” Twilight paused before answering.

“… Yeah,” she said, turning to face the dragon. “Princess Luna is sending two hundred of her guards to take the night shift…”

“Two hundred?” Spike asked, surprised. “But Princess Celestia already sent three hundred, isn’t that enough?”

“I thought it would be, Spike,” Twilight replied. “But the princesses seem to really want to capture this creature. They both were under quite a bit of stress when they came to yesterday’s celebration, I could see it. Something else must be going on…”

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Spike said, standing back up and gripping the feather duster. “I’m sure everything is fine. If that thing tries to come back here, the guards will find it with no problem. We’ll be okay…” He walked away from the couch and continued dusting the bookshelves, while Twilight continued sitting for a few minutes, just thinking to herself.

It seemed that there were never calm times for her. Ever since she had moved to Ponyville, after the banishing of Nightmare Moon and the freeing of Princess Luna, her daily life had become a constant source of adventure. Some of it was fun, some of it not as much. As for this particular creature, Twilight did not know which category it fit into. With any luck she would never find out, and she could simply live like a normal princess, dealing with some trivial matters rather than something where the fate of Equestria hung in the balance.

Sighing, Twilight stood up and moved for the stairs at the back of the library. She slowly plodded up each step, becoming more and more tired as she reached the summit.

“Spike, I’ll be in my room,” she called back down the stairs. “If you need me, just knock…”

“Okay!” Spike called up after her as she disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Twilight immediately moved for her bed, grabbing a book with her telekinesis and taking it with her. She settled on top of the covers, not bothering with getting underneath. She lay down, crossing her hindlegs atop one another, then opened the book at the last point she left off at, and continued reading…

Legion slowly crept closer and closer towards the tree house, still looking for an easy entrance. As far as the geth could tell, there were only two entrances: one door leading to a balcony on the upper levels of the tree, and the main door out front. The balcony door was too high up for Legion to reach without making a lot of noise, and the front door would give the geth away far too easily. It was almost resigned to simply wait until nightfall where it could sneak in far more easily, but it seemed that a stroke of luck had come to the geth.

Three ponies rounded a corner and entered into the town center. Two of them were recognized instantly, but one seemed to be a new face. At the head of the three was the cyan pegasus from earlier that day, and taking up the rear was the yellow pegasus from several days before. In the middle was a pink normal pony with a large, puffy mane, and what appeared to be a tattoo of balloons on its flank. Upon closer investigation, the other two ponies had tattoos as well. The cyan one was a rainbow lightning bolt, and the yellow one was three pink butterflies.

Legion had only had close contact to a pony once, and that was its initial scan of the yellow pegasus. Even then, it had not been from an angle where the flank was exposed, so the strange ‘tattoo’ had gone unnoticed. As Legion looked around the town center, it noticed that all of the ponies had these flank tattoos, and each one was different. What they were, Legion could not even begin to guess. It hypothesized some sort of cultural tradition or rite of passage, but neither seemed to make logical sense. Why they would willingly mark themselves permanently Legion did not know. But this species was rather confusing to the geth. Perhaps, if it was able to establish peaceful contact, it would be able to find out.

The three ponies approached the door to the tree and pushed it open, disappearing inside. Fortunately for Legion, they did not bother to close the door behind them, as they were likely just dropping by. Quickly, the geth snuck in through the now-open passageway and into the tree…

“Twilight, are you here?” Rainbow Dash called into the large library, attempting to find the location of her friend. Instead of Twilight, she found Spike, her dragon assistant, dusting bookshelves. At the arrival of the new ponies, Spike turned around and approached them.

“Hey guys,” he said. “Twilight just went upstairs, she’s pretty tired. I think the past few days have taken a lot out of her.”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Well, if she’s tired, we can always come back some other time…”

“That won’t be necessary, girls,” Twilight said, emerging from the top of the stairs and trotting down. She reached the ground floor and trotted up to her friends, smiling wearily. “How can I help you?”

“We were just headed down to Sweet Apple Acres,” Dash answered. “Applejack has some new cider mixture that she’s considering using next year, and wants us to come try it out, so we figured we’d ask if you wanted to come too.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly, which was not abnormal for the earth pony. “Come on Twilight! It’ll be fun!”

“Well, I guess so…” Twilight answered. “You don’t mind looking after the library for a little longer, do you Spike?”

“Nah,” Spike said, waving a claw. “I’ve got this. You go ahead.” Twilight smiled in thanks at the young dragon, and the four mares all turned to depart. They left through the still-open doorway, the purple aura of Twilight’s magic closing it after they all exited. It slammed shut, cutting off the steady supply of cool air that had been flowing into the main room and causing it to settle throughout the home. Spike sighed, grabbed the feather duster, and continued his cleaning…

Legion watched as the four ponies left the tree/home, all of them conversing in their unfamiliar language. After they shut the door, effectively sealing the geth inside until further notice, Legion turned its attention to the purple lizard creature who had remained behind. It let out a sigh and grabbed a pink feather duster, then continued with the task it had been doing when Legion had entered: dusting bookshelves. Legion briefly contemplated the role of the creature, wondering if it was a slave, or a servant, or just someone else who happened to live here. Until it got a better grasp of their language, Legion would not be able to know.

The brief conversation that the four ponies had held was a perfect opportunity for Legion to run the translation program held within its omni-tool, but it could not use the device without lowering the tactical cloak. However, this building seemed to serve as some form of library, as it was filled with massive shelves containing hundreds, if not thousands, of books. Of course, Legion could not simply take a book while the lizard was present. It would no doubt be curious about the presence of a floating book, and that would blow the geth’s fragile cover. Deciding to look elsewhere, Legion turned to the stairs at the back of the room and advanced toward them, being careful not to step on anything that could draw attention to the unit. Taking great care to remain unheard, Legion crept silently up the wooden stairs, soon coming to a short hallway with doors to three more rooms.

Curiously, Legion approached the first of the three doors and quietly turned the knob, pushing it open to reveal the room beyond. At the opposite end of the room, on a raised platform, sat a small bed. Set into the walls of the platform were even more bookshelves, all of them stocked full with large novels. On the wall adjacent to the bed was a desk with several pieces of parchment on it, and a quill sitting in an inkwell at the back. The rest of the room seemed to be random clutter, assorted trinkets that the owner had collected over the years. Moving as quietly as possible, Legion approached one of the many bookshelves and grabbed a random tome from it, flipping open to a random page to observe the print.

As expected, it was totally alien to the geth. The translation software would also be useless on it, as it could only translate spoken words. Without that prior knowledge, Legion would have no way to understand the writing. But it still flipped through the book, trying to find some clue as to what it was about. Every few pages was an illustration, most of them crude drawings of stars and solar systems. This led the geth to believe that it was an astronomy textbook. Whatever it was, it was horribly inaccurate. It showed all solar systems as being geocentric, which was accurate for this system, but not for all of the others throughout the galaxy.

Legion put the book back where it had found it, then reached for another section of the bookshelf. It grabbed another book at random and pulled it away from the shelf, then once again flipped open to a random page. This one appeared to be geared towards botany, as it was filled to the brim with pictures of flora from around the continent.

Legion continued the process of randomly picking books and selecting pages to look over for another several minutes, before it suddenly heard the sound of something walking up the stairs. Legion quickly put the current book that it held, which it had concluded was a narrative, back onto the shelf before it stealthily moved across the room, close to the entrance. The door was pushed open, and in walked the purple lizard that Legion had seen before. Not taking any chances, Legion deployed the sniper rifle on its back and aimed it for the creature’s head, prepared to fire at a moment’s notice.

Fortunately the lizard took no notice of the flickering of light standing in the corner by the door, and instead it advanced further into the room, grabbing a thin book off of a table on the other side of the room. It then settled in a small basket with a blue blanket, before it flipped open the book and began to read. Quietly, Legion exited through the open door and moved to the next room, continuing reconnaissance…

Princess Celestia moved sullenly down the halls of Canterlot Castle, going over in her mind the news that had just been delivered. Only a few hours ago, a team of specialized medical ponies (along with several squads of Nighthawk soldiers) had arrived at the frontier settlement of Westrock to judge the extent of the illness. Upon arriving they had unfortunately found that all of the town’s one hundred inhabitants had been exposed to the mysterious illness and were exhibiting symptoms. To make matters even worse, more and more ponies were disappearing, and the culprits were still unclear. Celestia still firmly believed that the changelings were responsible, but she would not know until the next attack.

Also somewhat troubling to the Princess was that the medical ponies had yet to identify the source of the illness. If it was a virus or a bacteria, the ponies would have discovered it very quickly. The medics were still running tests to see if it was a genetic illness, but there was no evidence pointing to that being the case. As such, Celestia was confronted with the very real possibility that this disease could be something entirely new.

A few moments later, Celestia came to her destination: the stairs leading to her private quarters. Both of the princesses had their bedrooms at the top of two separate towers, a decision which Celestia was beginning to regret. As she trudged tiredly up the stairs, her legs threatened to give out from under her. With a spark of magic from her horn, the princess disappeared from the winding staircase and emerged in her bedroom, where she immediately collapsed onto the bed.

In between dealing with the ponies of Equestria, receiving the news from Westrock, and deciding what to do about the disease, her day had been very long, and very draining. But she forced herself back to her hooves, knowing that her day was not yet over. Celestia tiredly walked to her writing desk and took a seat, withdrawing a piece of parchment and a quill from a drawer. She laid the parchment flat on the desk, then dipped the quill into an inkwell, and began writing…

To whom it may concern,

As per the Equestrian Disease Outbreak Protection Act of 1214 FD, signed into law by the eighty-first Equestrian Council, the town of Westrock is hereby quarantined, and is to be made off-limits to all who are not already present. Should any pony choose to ignore this law, the Royal Equestrian Guards stationed at the settlement of Westrock have the express-written consent of the ninety-third Equestrian Council to use any force deemed necessary to keep the individual out.

Signed,

Princess Celestia

December 18th, 2003 Fall of Discord

Replacing the cap on the inkwell, Celestia rolled the letter up and sealed it shut with the royal seal, then sent it on its way with a spark of magic. With any luck, that would give the medical ponies at Westrock the peace and quiet that they needed to source the disease, and develop a cure. Of course, as long as the diamond dog (or changeling) incursions continued, that peace was going to be difficult to come by.

But now, Celestia found herself with a rare occurrence: her schedule for the rest of the day was clear. Smiling, she climbed into her large bed, removing her crown, chestplate, and horseshoes as she did, then pulled the blanket over herself. There were enough troubles in the world today, but for now, they could wait. For now, Celestia just wanted to catch up on her sleep…

Legion exited the third room of the upper level of the tree/home and reentered the hallway beyond. Its reconnaissance of the remaining two rooms had not had much luck. One appeared to have been a study or office, as it was full of scrolls. Legion had unrolled a few and, based on the format, determined that they were letters. The second room had just been a bathroom.

Moving quietly to avoid disturbing the lizard in the bedroom, Legion crept back down the stairs into the main room of the home. From what it could see, the main room branched off into a kitchen/eating area and another bedroom, but that was it. Just as Legion was about to go into sleep mode and wait for something else to happen, its invisible optic moved across another door, set into the back of the stairs.

The geth quietly opened this door, which revealed another stairwell, this one going down. Legion stepped into the stairwell, closing the door behind it, and moved down the stairs until it entered a large circular room, the diameter of which matched the main room above. It was filled with all sorts of various items, some of it appearing to be pieces of machinery. In the middle sat a workbench, and on that were several construction tools.

Legion was about to dismiss the tools to begin examining the machinery, when suddenly it got an idea. It was unable to run the translation program because that required usage of the omni-tool. It was unable to use the omni-tool because that would override the tactical cloak. But if Legion could make alterations so that the omni-tool would function without actually displaying the physical representation, it would be able to run the translation software while remaining invisible.

Moving quickly, Legion disabled the tactical cloak and approached the work bench, choosing to remain standing over it instead of sitting in the small stool available. It placed its left hand, palm facing up, on the workbench, then grabbed a flathead screwdriver with the right hand.

Quickly and quietly, Legion used the rusting screwdriver as a wedge to pry open a hole between two parts of the synthetic muscle tissue on the outside of the forearm, beneath which was the omni-tool microchip. The synthetic tissue was strong and durable, but designed to be flexible to give additional dexterity to the geth, so creating a gap wide enough was not a difficult task. As it pried open a gap, the screwdriver slipped and sliced into the tissue, leaking some white conductive fluid out and onto the head of the screwdriver. The breach quickly sealed itself, and Legion was able to continue working.

As soon as the gap was created, Legion set aside the screwdriver and upped the brightness on its photoreceptor to use it as a directional flashlight. The light illuminated the hole that had been created, and granted Legion an unobstructed view of the microchip. Very carefully, Legion removed the chip, set it on the top of the workbench, then began to make its modifications…

“Bye, girls!” Twilight called from her front door, waving a hoof goodbye to her three friends. Pinkie bounced away happily, while Fluttershy had to physically drag Rainbow Dash out of the town center and towards her cloud house. The cyan pegasus had had just a little too much of Applejack’s new cider to drink, which to Twilight was perfectly understandable. The new formula had been delicious, but Twilight was intelligent enough to know when to stop. Fluttershy had been on the same boat as Twilight, and Pinkie seemed immune to the effects of the beverage.

Looking up at the sky, Twilight realized just how late it had become. While there still was a modicum of sunlight streaming over the horizon, stars were starting to blink into existence as Luna’s moon rose to the sky. Twilight turned and opened the door to her library with her magic, then stepped inside, savoring the warmth.

As winter came closer and closer, the nights became even colder. It had gotten to the point that Twilight had resorted to using a heating spell to keep her warm during the walk back home. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were not as adversely affected, as pegasi had a natural resistance to extreme cold. And Pinkie Pie was just Pinkie Pie.

“Spike!” Twilight called into the empty main room of the library. “I’m home!” A moment later, Twilight heard the sound of Spike’s claws as they walked through the upstairs hallway, then the dragon came into view as he began walking down the stairs.

“Hey, Twilight,” he said. “How was it?”

“Very good!” the alicorn replied. “Applejack says she’s going to start selling it next year.”

“Nice,” Spike said indifferently. “So should I get started with dinner?”

“You can go ahead, but I’m not quite hungry yet,” Twilight replied. “Plus, I’ve got some reading to do. I’ll be upstairs.”

“Alright,” Spike said as he began to walk towards the kitchen. Just as Twilight was about to start climbing up the stairs, Spike turned and faced the alicorn.

“Oh, by the way, one of the screws on the lamp is loose,” he said. “Just thought you might like to know.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said. She turned away from the stairs and instead moved towards the basement door. She turned the knob with her telekinesis and pushed the door open, then began walking down the stairs…

Very carefully, Legion lowered the now-modified microchip back into its housing beneath its forearm, trying not to damage any of the pins on the underside of the chip. As soon as it was back in the housing Legion lightly pushed on it until it made a click, signaling that it was secure. Just to be safe, Legion quickly began running diagnostics on the omni-tool. As it had intended, Legion was now able to access the functions of the omni-tool right on its HUD, rather than requiring the holographic representation that organics preferred. Now all it needed was something to seal the gap that had been made…

Legion scanned the room for any sort of tape or adhesive, while also considering escape methods. As it considered possibilities, the blue eye passed over a thick roll of duct tape, which the geth deemed sufficient to perform the task required of it. Legion picked up the roll and pulled off a piece that was about a foot long. It returned to the workbench and placed one end of the tape on one side of the gap, then wrapped it around several times until the length of tape had been used up. While the synthetic muscle tissue would return to its original shape eventually, Legion preferred that it happen quickly. Because the tape was holding it in place, it would effectively expedite the process.

Just as Legion finished with the tape, it suddenly heard the sound of the basement door swinging open. Activating the tactical cloak, Legion quickly darted out of the center of the room and took cover behind one of the various pieces of machinery just as the purple alicorn began walking down the stairs. It approached the workbench and reached for the screwdriver, when suddenly it paused. Its large purple eyes squinted at the screwdriver, as though it was examining the tool. Legion activated the short-range zoom function on its HUD and also began to examine the screwdriver, trying to find what the pony had seen.

On the tip of the screwdriver, and a little bit on the handle, was the white conductive fluid used by geth to transfer energy throughout the unit. In its haste to finish the modifications to the omni-tool microchip, Legion had neglected to clean off the screwdriver to eliminate any evidence of it ever being there. The alicorn looked around the basement, confused, but then simply shrugged and grabbed a dirty rag.

Of course, ‘grabbed’ was not the most accurate term. What the alicorn seemed to actually be doing was a very precise form of telekinesis. Biotics had limited telekinesis abilities, and even then it was not accurate at all. Lifting and manipulating a rag, then leading it to clean off a screwdriver, was something that most organic biotics could only dream of.

The purple alicorn discarded the dirty rag, then picked the screwdriver up with the same form of telekinesis, before it turned and exited the basement. A few seconds later the door slammed shut, and Legion heard the sound of hooves walking on the upper floor. Pausing to make sure that the pony was gone, Legion stepped out from behind the piece of machinery, still hidden by the tactical cloak.

As long as that pony was here, Legion was not comfortable with leaving the basement. Too many things could go wrong that could lead to its discovery once again. Instead, Legion moved to the edge of the room that was most shrouded in shadow, then deactivated the tactical cloak. If that pony returned, it would likely mistake the hibernating geth as just another piece of machinery, or it would not notice it at all. Legion quietly folded up into the compact form and deactivated the blue photoreceptor, causing its world to plunge into darkness.

Just before the rest of the programs went into sleep mode, Legion quickly set an alarm to reactivate it in eight hours. That would be very early in the morning, and hopefully the pony and lizard would both be asleep. Then, the next day, Legion could continue reconnaissance, and finally begin getting translations from the creatures. If all went well, then all it would need was one day for the translation software to run. One day, and it could officially make first contact.

Princess Luna stood on the balcony joined to her bedroom, looking out over Equestria as the moon rose high into the sky. At these higher altitudes, the normally cold air was multiplied by several times, dropping the temperatures of Canterlot to sub-zero. But for Luna, a simple warming spell was no difficult task. The cold air was abated by the field of warmth that surrounded the princess of the night, keeping her perfectly comfortable at her high up perch.

This night had not been an easy one. Almost as soon as she woke up to assume her duties, she had been filled in on the events of the day. The arrival of the ponies at Westrock, and their discovery that all had been infected, had been the most important piece of information delivered to her. The discovery troubled her, and quite frankly, it scared her. That the ponies did not even know the source of the illness was troubling, but also troubling was that her sister had had no choice but to enforce the Equestrian Disease Outbreak Protection Act.

Accompanying the team of medical specialists were several squads of Luna’s elite soldiers, the ‘Nighthawks’. They prided themselves with being the best of the best, being able to move from place to place unseen under the cover of darkness. A single squadron could wreak havoc on an international scale. If the changelings were the true culprits behind the abductions at Westrock, they would find out.

A knock at her door ended Luna’s time watching over Equestria, as she knew that now she must attend the Night Court. The probability of anypony actually showing up was slim to none, but still she made a point of going every night. On the way out of her bedroom she grabbed a history novel from her bookshelf, and then opened the door where there were two guards waiting for her. At her presence they both bowed, then turned and led her down the short hallway to the stairwell.

As they walked the route to the throne room, Luna’s mind also began to wander to the strange creature that they had encountered in Ponyville. The moment she saw it she had gotten a horrible feeling. It was not one that she could easily interpret, all she knew was that it was not supposed to be. And yet it was, and she had seen it. And though it had run off, Luna had a sinking feeling in her that believed they would be seeing more of that creature.

After several more minutes of walking, Luna entered the throne room and approached her throne. As she had expected, nopony was present to speak with her. Sighing, Luna flipped open her history book, and continued to read…

Light flooded Legion’s photoreceptor as it reactivated, and an internal alarm rang, indicating that eight hours had gone by. Quietly, before it fully reactivated, Legion gazed across the basement, looking for any forms of life. Confident that it was alone, Legion completely unfolded back into its normal form, and reactivated the tactical cloak. The cloak emitters had had more than enough time to recharge to full power during the sleep cycle, so Legion walked up the stairs and opened the door to the main floor with no reservations.

As it had expected, no living beings were present in the main room. It was incredibly dark, as the only source of light was from the moon, which shone brightly through the window. Now that Legion was clear of the basement, it would have to wait again. Though this time, it couldn’t risk going into sleep mode and having the emitters fail sometime during the night. If that happened, then the first thing that the pony would see when it came down in the morning would be a seven foot tall synthetic standing dormant in the center of the room. Instead, Legion was simply going to have to remain active through the night, fully cloaked in the main room. Once the pony came down in the morning it would be able to run the translation program, and begin to gain an understanding, albeit a rudimentary one, of their language.

Moving to a corner of the room, Legion squatted down and deactivated the cloak, deciding that it would be able to reactivate it manually when the pony came down. Then, with nothing left to do for at least the next five or so hours, Legion stared out into the middle of the room, beginning its long and uneventful wait…

Author's Note

Here is Chapter 5 for you all. This one took quite a while to write as there was so much material that I wanted to cover in it, but I had some trouble putting what was in my mind into words. But I finally got it all done, and I'm very satisfied with the finished product.

If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions at all, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

“We are created life. We are a philosophical issue.”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes flickered open, creating a quick transition from the blackness of sleep to the sudden influx of light streaming in through her window. She squinted to make the transition more comfortable, and slowly opened her eyes back to normal as her retinas adjusted.

Yawning, Twilight quietly crawled out of bed, her eyes darting over the clock hanging on her wall. While yesterday she had been given a good half an hour before meeting with Rainbow Dash, today she had a mere fifteen minutes. Quickly she exited the bedroom, turned down the hall, and trotted down the stairs to the main room.

Almost as soon as she entered, the uncomfortable feeling of something watching her returned. It had not been felt since the celebration with Celestia and Luna, and Twilight had hoped that it was only her nervousness about the situation. But now she had nothing to be anxious about. All she had planned for today was a fairly normal routine, beginning with flight training.

Cautiously, Twilight stepped into the center of the main room and looked around, feeling as though the presence was very close. For a brief moment she thought she saw a flickering in the air by one of the walls, but a moment later it was gone. Shrugging, she chose to ignore the feeling and instead walked into the kitchen, grabbing a protein bar like as she had done the day before.

Unfortunately, her inability to wake up perfectly on time meant that she would not be allowed to enjoy it in the warmth of her home. Yawning once more, Twilight carried the protein bar back into the main room and moved for the front door. She pushed it open, and immediately a heavy burst of freezing air rushed into the library, chilling the alicorn standing in front of it. Shivering, Twilight activated her heating spell and exited the library, closing the door behind her. Taking a quick bite of breakfast, Twilight turned down one of the streets of Ponyville, and began to head for Rainbow Dash’s cloud house.

Legion watched as the lavender alicorn exited the tree home, slamming the door shut behind her. As soon as the door closed, the geth ran across the room to one of the windows to watch the pony leave. Once it was out of sight, Legion opened the door and walked out, following the path it had seen the pony take.

Legion had almost not activated the cloak in time. To conserve power it had left it off all night, confident that it would be able to turn it on once the pony or lizard came down. However, to make the time pass quicker, Legion had decided to shut down most processes, and simply spend the time going over data. It went over all data collected on the planet, and also reviewed the data collected while aboard Normandy. This had left the geth significantly less aware of its surroundings, and when it heard the sound of hooves on the stairs, it had to force a quick start-up of all disabled processes to re-enable the cloak.

Even with the cloak, Legion feared that its cover had been blown when the alicorn began looking around the room cautiously, as though it knew that a presence was there. Its eyes had passed right over the invisible geth, but it moved positions once the pony had looked away. The pony had grabbed a small protein bar to eat, then left to go about its morning schedule.

As Legion walked through the town, it began to grow aware of how early it was. If the geth’s internal clock had adjusted properly, it was only about 7:10am. The rest of the town was devoid of life, with the exception of the guards who roamed the streets constantly. As it walked, Legion was surprised to find that many new guards had arrived, likely to reinforce those already here. However, there were some clear differences.

While the original guards all had white coats and golden armor, and resembled actual ponies (albeit mythological ones), the news ones had wings similar to a bat, with matching ears and fangs. All of them had dark gray coats with a very dark purple tail. The mane was concealed by a helmet with a shade of purple just slightly lighter than that of the tail. Sticking out of the top of the helmets were ridged plumes of the same dark purple color.

Also different from the regular guards were their eyes. They resembled the eyes of a cat, with a large yellow-green iris and small black pupil slits. The eyes scanned the area, trying to find any trace of Legion. Of course they would not find it, thanks to the tactical cloak, but that did not stop them from searching every inch of the town. While keeping the lavender alicorn in its sights, Legion also had to be careful to avoid the guards, not wanting to give itself away. Twice they almost ran right into it, and once Legion was forced to duck into an alley to avoid a larger squadron of guards walking right towards it.

As it continued to follow the purple alicorn, Legion realized that they were heading to the outskirts of the town. Just a few dozen meters away, the buildings ended and gave way to the rolling grassy plains just outside of the town. Legion followed the pony out, then followed it further as it made a turn and began to approach the floating cloud home the geth had observed the day before. Underneath the cloud was the cyan pegasus, who appeared to be waiting.

As soon as the alicorn approached the pegasus, the pegasus jumped into the air and began rhythmically flapping its wings, hovering a few feet off the ground. As the two ponies began conversing, Legion crouched down and got slightly closer, then activated the modified omni-tool and began to run the translation program…

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said as the approached the pegasus sitting on the ground just a few feet in front of her. Grinning, Dash leapt into the air and began to hover.

“Hey, Twi’,” she responded. “You ready?”

“I am,” the young princess said. “What’s first?”

“Well, we’re going to forgo the wing-ups today,” Dash began. “You’re pretty good at those, so I figure we can just get right to it. Though I would recommend that you keep doing them on your own time.”

“Alright,” Twilight replied, beginning to flap her wings. A moment later she was in the air next to Dash, though she was visibly more wobbly than her friend. Dash motioned for Twilight to follow, before she turned around and slowly started flapping away. Twilight struggled to keep up, but managed to stay a few feet behind her friend. Slowly, Rainbow Dash began to angle herself up and she rose higher and higher into the sky, with Twilight not far behind her. Finally she came to a stop, and turned to make sure Twilight had kept up.

“Well done,” she said as Twilight struggled to come to a hover next to her. “Now we’re going to swoop back down. It’s mostly going to be freefall, but you’ll use your wings to slow yourself down and come to a stop just a few feet above the ground. Watch closely.” Dash folded her wings to her sides and gracefully fell backwards, before doing a twist in the air to level herself out. She dove for the ground, gaining speed, and just a few meters from the grassy floor she flared out her wings and swooped back up, coming to a level height just above the ground. Her trick complete, she looked back up to Twilight, waiting for her to follow.

Twilight gulped anxiously, and replayed exactly what Dash had done in her head, trying to get a picture of what to do. Finally she simply stopped flapping, and a moment she felt the air rushing past her as she began to gain speed. The ground came ever closer, and then, just a few meters up, Twilight flared her wings out as Dash had done. A moment later she was once again flying forward, the wind in her face. Twilight angled herself down, and shakily landed on the ground.

“Nice job, Twi’,” Dash said, patting Twilight on the back. “Okay, now let’s go over long-term sustained flight…”

Princess Celestia walked tiredly down the reflective marble hallways of the Canterlot Castle, occasionally catching a glimpse of herself in the floor. Stifling a yawn, Celestia finally came to her destination: her private meeting room. She opened the door to the lackluster room, smiling as she saw that the other two ponies had already arrived. One was her sister, who appeared to be even more tired than Celestia, and the other was the Chief Medical Officer, Healthy Heart. The pale blue unicorn seemed to be the only one who was fully awake, as she stared attentively as the solar princess entered the room and took a seat at the table.

“Your highness,” she said, bowing her head. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know you are busy, but I assure you, this is of the utmost importance.”

“It is perfectly fine, Heart,” Celestia replied warmly. “Now, why were my sister and I called here? Are there more developments on the situation in Westrock?”

“Yes, your highness,” Heart replied, her expression turning to a worried one. “I am afraid it is not good. My specialists already confirmed that it was not a bacteria or a virus, so I commanded that they run tests for genetic disease. It came back negative.”

“If it is not a virus, bacteria, or genetic illness, then what is it?” Luna asked, confused.

“That’s just it, princess,” Healthy Heart said. “We don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, surprised. “What else could it be?”

“That’s what my specialists are trying to find out,” the mare replied. “But right now, it’s not looking good. So, the second reason I asked you here today… I am requesting permission to send more of my ponies into Westrock.”

“More ponies just means more lives at stake, Ms. Heart,” Luna noted.

“I understand that, princess,” Heart continued. “But if I do not send them, then finding out what it is, and then finding a cure, could take years.” Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance, then nodded in agreement. Looking back at Healthy Heart, Celestia spoke.

“Very well, Heart,” she said. “I will send word to the guards at Westrock letting them know to expect more medical specialists. I hope it is worth it.”

“I do too, Princess,” Healthy Heart said. “Thank you.” The three ponies all stood up at the same time, and made for the door. Upon exiting, they split up into two groups, with Heart going alone back to the medical wing of the palace, and Celestia and Luna walking together down another hallway.

“What do you make of this, sister?” Luna said, breaking the silence that had formed. “A disease that is not viral, bacterial, or genetically borne?”

“I do not know, Luna,” Celestia replied. “These are troubling times indeed.”

“That they are, sister…”

The two sisters continued walking down the hall together in silence, until they came to the hallway that branched off into Luna’s tower.

“I must continue my rest,” the princess of the night said. “I shall see you tonight, ‘Tia.”

“Sleep well, Luna,” Celestia said, watching her sister go. As soon as the door to the tower slammed shut and Luna disappeared from view, Celestia yawned once more. She turned down the opposite hallway and continued to her destination: the throne room. There were still three more hours of Solar Court that Celestia had to get through, so she figured she may as well get it over with…

“Bye, Rainbow!” Twilight waved as her pegasus friend ascended back into her floating cloud home, and closed the door behind her. Yawning, Twilight turned back to face the small town of Ponyville, and reentered the maze of buildings, beginning to find her way back home. Unlike most of the training sessions that she had held with Rainbow Dash, this one had lasted almost the entirety of the day. With only one break for a short lunch consisting of dry sandwiches that Dash prepared for the two, the whole day had consisted of improving Twilight’s ability to fly.

As tired as she was, Twilight had to acknowledge the progress that had been made. With her already enhanced abilities as an alicorn, she was beginning to gain on the progress that Fluttershy was at, which was admittedly lower than average for a pegasus. However, it was progress nonetheless, and Twilight was glad to have gained it.

However, one thing that had bothered her throughout much of the day was the ever-present sensation of being watched. There were a few gaps lasting no more than half an hour where the feeling would suddenly disappear, but for the most part it was there. Rainbow Dash had clearly noticed early on that something was bothering her, but Twilight had brushed it off and simply ignored it. By the end of the session, she hardly even knew it was there.

Even as she walked back to her home, Twilight noticed the sudden lack of the presence. Almost as soon as she had reentered the town, it had gone away, and so far it had not come back. Twilight decided not to question it, and instead decided to cherish the fact that it was leaving her alone.

As she walked, Twilight observed the goings-on of the town. The guards were changing their watches, as the night guards took over for the day guards, and ponies were beginning to retire back into their homes. The bright sun was disappearing past the horizon, and behind her Twilight was beginning to grow aware of the pale beams of light offered by the moon. Stars were beginning to twinkle into existence, and an air of tranquility settled over the town. The streets were silent as everypony eagerly walked home to put an end to their busy days, and forget the troubles of life for just a few hours.

Twilight smiled, satisfied as she walked down the street, ignoring the burning pain in her wings and back. Only a few minutes of walking later and her house came into view, standing as the centerpiece of Ponyville. She sped up to a light trot to reach the library quicker, then pushed the door open with a burst of magic. As she stepped into the main room, the warm air of the library invited her inside and immediately relaxed many of her aching muscles. She closed the door behind her, slowly moved over to a couch, and collapsed down onto it, closing her eyes.

Her rest was short-lived, however, as only a few seconds after laying down, the presence returned. She felt its gaze pass over her, causing goose bumps to form on the skin beneath her coat, and bringing her to open her eyes and scan the room. As usual, nothing was there.

“Twilight?”

“Ah!” Twilight yelled, surprised. She whirled around towards the source of the noise, only to find that it was her number one assistant, Spike.

“Wow, jumpy,” Spike said jokingly, smirking. “How was practice?”

“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight responded, offering a smile. “It was fine. Long, but I made a lot of progress.”

“Yeah, you were gone for most of the day,” the dragon noted as he began to move for the kitchen. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, so after a while I just went down to Rarity’s to see if she needed help with anything.”

“Did she?”

“A little… I helped however I could. Dinner?”

“Yes, please,” Twilight said as she stood up and began to follow the dragon into the kitchen, her stomach rumbling. She had not had anything to eat since her poor excuse for a lunch, so it came as no surprise to Twilight that she was famished. Once again starting to ignore the ‘thing’ that she was fairly certain was watching her, the young princess entered the kitchen to make some dinner.

Legion watched as the lavender alicorn, whose name was some variation of ‘dark’, ‘night’, or ‘gloom’, walked into the kitchen of the tree house behind the purple lizard, whose name remained unknown. As it had watched the pony over the past day, the omni-tool translator was able to decipher much of the pony language. By the end of its training session, for that is what Legion had confirmed it to be, it was able to understand much of what the two ponies were saying to one another. The other pony, the cyan pegasus, had a name along the lines of ‘speed’, or alternatively, ‘prism’. The translator had not yet finished everything, but the ponies’ names seemed to be composed of regular nouns, adjectives, and verbs, rather than being unique titles like the other organics preferred.

Legion followed the two into the kitchen, and began to create a recording of their dialogue for future analysis…

//:LOG_RECORDING – BEGIN
Note: Pony will be marked with ‘P’, Lizard with ‘L’

L: So, what eat?
P: Have/possess?
L: Apples, some good from [UNTRANSLATABLE], flower, ingredient.
P: Hmm… We make [UNSTRANSLATABLE].
L: Acknowledged.
P: Get ingredient, we need [UNTRANSLATABLE].
L: Acknowledged. I have stone/rock?
P: Yes.

Addendum: Translations represent early version of translation software. Not all translations may be accurate, and some words are omitted for convenience.
//:LOG_RECORDING – END

Legion ended the log, and filed it for future study. As the two creatures began to go about the process of preparing their meal, Legion crept into a corner, and continued watching.

Private Darkened Wing of Princess Luna’s elite Nighthawks cautiously trotted through the dark streets of the settlement of Westrock, his yellow cat-like eyes scanning the area for any assailants. Since their arrival the day before, the individuals responsible for the multiple raids on the town had yet to show themselves. As had been proven earlier in the day, of the 84 settlers still in the town the night before (the other sixteen having been kidnapped), all were still present in the morning.

All were also infected with a strange disease, the details of which even the Nighthawks were not being told. All they knew was that it was very infectious, and after prolonged exposure, it became very painful. Nopony yet had died, but Darkened Wing had heard from the hushed whispers of passing doctors that it was certainly a possibility. Fortunately, every single Nighthawk had been given a special enchantment, a ward to fight off contracting the disease. They didn’t know if it would be effective, but so far, nopony else had been infected.

As he walked down the streets, Wing suddenly caught a glimpse of something moving between two buildings just ahead. Using his natural night-vision abilities that came with being a Nighthawk, Wing scanned the area for movement, but found none. However, they had been trained to always be cautious, and Darkened Wing was no exception. Drawing forth two curved daggers from sheaths on his belly using his telekinesis, the pony crept towards the two buildings, then stacked up on the side of one. He shimmied the rest of the way along the side of the building until he was right at the edge. Whirling around, Wing stepped into the alley between the two buildings, both daggers held at the ready. However, he lowered them when he saw that the source of the noise was just another Nighthawk.

“Hey!” Wing shouted the gain the soldier’s attention. The pony spun around quickly, drawing out daggers of its own and instinctively stepping towards Wing. When he saw that it was an ally, he stepped back.

“Dagger Storm?” Wing asked. “That you?”

“… Yeah,” the pony said after a pause. “It’s me.”

“What’s going on back here?” Wing pressed on, taking all precautions.

“I thought I saw something,” Storm answered. “So I figured I’d come and check it out. But it was nothing. Just the wind, I suppose…”

“Yeah, guess so,” Wing said, sheathing his daggers. Remaining cautious, he turned and began to walk out of the alley. “We should return to our duties. We don’t want any—“

Darkened Wing was cut off as two curved daggers wrapped around to his front side and penetrated his throat. He was unable to scream as his windpipe was cut in half and no air could escape from his mouth. The two daggers sliced in opposite directions, taking Darkened Wing’s head off with them. The head rolled to the ground, and the body collapsed shortly after. From the shadows of the alleyway, Dagger Storm stepped out and grabbed the body of the now-dead Nighthawk in his telekinetic grasp, then carried it back into the dark alley. As he walked, a green shimmer encompassed the pony and dropped the visage of Dagger Storm, instead revealing the true form: a black chitinous exoskeleton, occasionally interrupted by circular holes, with a bent horn and bright blue eyes. In place of the false soldier, stood a changeling.

Twilight Sparkle placed her empty plate into the sink, stifling a yawn as she did. Behind her, Spike continued clearing the table as she began to run the water and clean off her plate. The dinner hadn’t been anything fancy, just a few daisy sandwiches. But Twilight didn’t care; she had worked up so large an appetite during her training session that even a simple sandwich was, at least to her, equal to a feast. Stifling yet another yawn, Twilight turned off the water and began to dry the plates with a towel.

Throughout the entire meal, Twilight had been aware of the presence still watching her. However, it no longer bothered her very much. She had become so accustomed to it at this point that not feeling the penetrating gaze on her felt strange. Even now she still felt it watching her, and though she did not know what it was, she didn’t really care. Probably it was nothing more than her nerves.

Twilight finished drying the two plates, then placed then back into the cabinet where they belonged. Her task done, she turned around and was happy to find that Spike had finished cleaning off the rest of the table.

“Good work, Spike,” she said, yawning wide. “Well, I’m exhausted… I’m going to call it a night…”

“Twilight, it’s only nine o’clock,” Spike noted.

“Then I’ll read for a few hours,” Twilight said, exiting the kitchen. “Good night.” She moved across the main room of the library, then slowly walked up the stairs and entered her bedroom. Midway across the room she grabbed a book with her telekinesis, pulling it close to her as she crawled into her elevated bed.

Her eyes danced across the pages, taking in each word, and all the while she remained aware of the presence. Occasionally she would glance up from her book to try and see if there really was something watching her, but, as she expected, she saw nothing. There never was anything.

Smirking, Twilight decided that if something was watching her, she might as well have some fun with it. Spike was still downstairs, and there was nopony else in the library to hear her. Even if Spike did hear something, he would likely assume that Twilight was simply remembering something by reciting it to herself. She lowered her book into her lap, then looked up and stared into the center of the room.

“I know you’re there,” she deadpanned. Twilight quickly shot the book back up in front of her face to hide her amused grin, knowing that the odds of something actually being in the room and watching her were slim to none. Still, it brought her a moment’s amusement, and that was as good an excuse as any to have said it. Shortly after, her smile faded away and she once again fell into the world of her novel…

“I know you are there,” the pony said suddenly and with no emotion. Legion froze as it continued the reconnaissance, wondering for a moment if the pony really was aware of its presence, or if she was speaking to someone else. However, a quick scan of the room indicated that they were the only two beings present, so unless the pony was insane or experiencing hallucinations, she was speaking right to Legion.

However, immediately after saying it, the alicorn raised her book back up, and continued reading, as though she did not care that she was being spied on. Still not wanting to take any chances, Legion crept backwards and left the room, then turned around and moved down the stairs, reentering the main room. Once there, it began to go over the data that it had collected.

Since the pony and lizard had started to make dinner, Legion had been running through all of the recordings it had taken, trying to refine the translations. And finally, not long before the two finished dinner, it had made significant progress. The translator now mimicked voice and tone, rather than being emotionless voice synthesizers, which had helped the geth to determine that the lavender alicorn was a female. Its name was still difficult to comprehend, but Legion had several processes dedicated to deciphering that. It had also made progress in translating conjunctions, as well as many other types of words, making sentences translate with almost perfect accuracy. There were still a few words that needed work, but for the most part, Legion was well on its way to being able to understand, and even speak, their language.

Structurally, it was very similar to English, a language commonly spoken by humans. The longer it was here, the more Legion continued to draw parallels between this world and Earth. Already this world had shown itself to possess many Earth-native animals, and it even had animals from human mythology. Legion was able to consider a few possible explanations for this, including migrations overseen by advanced alien races, but it had no evidence. This was something that the geth consensus could deliberate over for hundreds of years.

As Legion continued going over the data, the purple lizard entered the main room and began going up the stairs, likely to go to sleep. Legion waited for several more minutes until it was fairly sure that the lizard was not going to come back down, then decloaked and resumed the same process from the night before. It shut down all non-essential processes, only leaving on the photoreceptor and translation software, but kept the disabled ones on standby to turn back on at a moment’s notice.

Overnight, Legion would continue to run the translator and refine the data it had collected over the past day. If it was able to run uninterrupted over the course of the whole night, then by morning, it would very likely be able to speak the language. Of course, Legion still was not entirely sure how it was going to reveal itself to the ponies. Considering that their solution to the last sighting was to send hundreds of soldiers, Legion was going to have to be very careful. It meant them no harm, so hopefully they would give it the chance it needed. Without that chance, Legion would be stuck here forever.

Princess Luna soared through the skies above Canterlot, tearing through clouds and moving at speeds that normal pegasi could only dream of achieving. It was rare that Luna got a chance to do this. Mostly she was constantly under the direct protection of her guards, and she knew that Celestia didn’t like her going out to fly at night, but this night she had been left alone by the guards for long enough to get this break in. Grinning widely, Luna swooped back down to the castle and aimed for the open window of her private study, then flared her wings just feet from the wall. She slowly flapped the rest of the way, and softly landed inside.

Everything was as she had left it when she abandoned the room to go flying, which Luna hoped meant that nopony had noticed her absence. Still not taking any chances, the princess quietly moved back to her chair and sat down, then began reading over the numerous reports on her desk, completely uninterested.

Her boredom was interrupted as there was a knock on her door. It was lightly pushed inwards and a guard stuck his head inside. For a moment, Luna thought that she had been caught, her sister alerted, and she was about to be chewed out for ‘not taking her nightly duties seriously enough’. Fortunately he seemed to be alone, and he stepped into the room, carrying a scroll in his magical grip.

“Your highness,” he greeted. “This letter just arrived for you.” The guard deposited the letter on Luna’s desk, saluted, then turned and exited the room, closing the door behind him. At first, Luna was about to discard the letter as just being another financial report to add to her growing pile. However, she stopped when she noticed that the seal on the letter was not the seal of the Royal Treasury, but rather the seal of her elite soldiers, the Nighthawks. Quickly, Luna tore the seal off and unfurled the scroll, her eyes scanning over it.

As she read on, Luna began to get more and more worried. Her brow furrowed as her expression turned from one of concern to one of shock, and then to one of fear. As soon as she finished the letter, she dropped it on her desk, stood up, and briskly walked to the door. Pulling the door open, Luna poked her head out and looked to the guard.

“Wake my sister,” she ordered. “It is urgent.” Not waiting for a response, Luna shut the door and returned to her chair, sighing.

A few minutes later, the door reopened and a very tired Princess Celestia slowly walked inside, smiling at her sister.

“Hello, Luna…” Celestia said, yawning. “What is it? Your guard said it was urgent.”

“Tia, I…” Luna began, but stopped as she tried to figure out how to word it. “I… just received a letter from Captain Silent Dart, the pony in charge of the Nighthawks squads I sent to Westrock…” Sensing her sister’s worry, Celestia straightened her spine and looked Luna in the eye, troubled.

“What did it say?” she asked.

“… Four Nighthawks were found dead,” Luna finally said. “One was beheaded, another repeatedly stabbed in the chest, another stabbed through the brain, and one burned by beams of magic.”

“Who is responsible for these actions?” Celestia asked, suddenly becoming much more alert.

“They do not know,” Luna answered. “Dart is staging an investigation, but there are no leads. All of the deaths were isolated from one another, all at opposite ends of the settlement. But, sister… that’s not all… Six more ponies were kidnapped, including one of Healthy Heart’s medical specialists.”

“And nopony saw the kidnappings take place?” Celestia asked, troubled.

“No, sister,” Luna answered. “My Nighthawks were investigating the murders when it happened. Here is where it gets strange: the captain left four Nighthawks to defend the medical ponies and patients while they investigated. However, when they found the bodies of the murdered soldiers… they were the guards who had been left to defend.”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she came to a realization.

“You have reached the same conclusion as I, have you not?”

“The changelings…” Celestia whispered.

“There is no other explanation,” Luna said. “I think we can safely rule out diamond dogs as a suspect in these attacks.”

“But why?” Celestia asked. “Why would they be kidnapping ponies?” Luna shook her head.

“I do not know, ‘Tia,” she said. “Perhaps to feed on their love? It does not matter. What does matter is that the diamond dogs could not be responsible. It can only be the changelings. We need to fortify Westrock, immediately. Before any more ponies are taken.”

“I agree, sister,” Celestia said. “Begin preparations. In the morning, when I resume my duties, I shall finalize everything and send reinforcements.”

“It shall be done.” Celestia stepped back from Luna’s desk, then turned and reopened the door. Without saying another word, she stepped out and closed the door, the sounds of her hooves echoing off the walls as she stalked down the hallway. Luna collapsed back into her chair, rubbing a hoof against her temple. A moment later, she sat back up, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and began to issue the orders to send reinforcements to Westrock…

Light filled the interior of the main room of the library as the sun rose above the horizon and warmed the surface of the young planet. Legion took notice of this and immediately dimmed its photoreceptor to avoid burning it out, then began to scan the room for movement. According to its internal clock, it was nearing 9:00am. It was much later than the pony had woken up the day before, but only a few minutes after fully reactivating, Legion began to hear the sound of hooves clopping against wood.

Legion quickly activated the cloak and watched as the pony walked down the stairs, and then, as she had done yesterday, moved into the kitchen for breakfast. Only a few minutes later, the purple lizard came down the stairs and followed the alicorn into the kitchen. Legion quickly followed behind to hear the ensuing conversation.

“Good morning, Twilight,” the lizard said. Legion noted with satisfaction that the translator calibrations it had done throughout the night had paid off, and now it was able to perfectly understand the pony language.

“Good morning, Spike,” the lavender alicorn, who was apparently named ‘Twilight’ responded. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, you?” Spike, the purple lizard, replied. The Twilight pony nodded in agreement with Spike’s statement as she approached a cabinet, where she pulled out another protein bar.

“So when are you leaving for training with--,” Spike was interrupted as he suddenly covered his mouth with a claw, then burped loudly. Along with the burp followed a green flame, which exploded outward and deposited a rolled-up scroll.

Legion curiously considered the display, wondering what had just occurred. Had the lizard eaten a scroll? Whatever had happened, Twilight did not seem fazed. Rather, she grabbed the scroll in the telekinesis that Legion had observed before, and unrolled it.

“It’s a letter from the princess,” she explained. The lizard nodded, then reached into a cabinet and retrieved a bowl full of gems. He grabbed a handful, threw them into his mouth, and began loudly chewing on the stones. As he chewed, Twilight read over the letter, which apparently came from the leaders of the country, and her expression increasingly became one of worry.

“Spike,” she said, lowering the scroll. “Get the girls. We might have a problem.”

Only half an hour since she had received the letter from Princess Celestia, Twilight stood in the main room of the library, ready to address her five friends who stood eagerly in front of her. Pinkie Pie bounced in anticipation, clearly not aware of the potential gravity of the situation, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were indifferent, Rarity was concerned, and Fluttershy was sitting quietly hiding behind her mane.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I asked you here,” Twilight began. “I just recently received a letter from Princess Celestia. It says, in very little detail, that we may have a problem, and it may be involving the changelings again.”

“Again!?” Pinkie yelled, stopping her bouncing. “Did they not learn their lesson last time?” Twilight raised a hoof to restore order, prompting Pinkie to resume her bouncing.

“Please,” Twilight said. “This could be quite serious. According to Celestia, this has been ongoing for the past several days. It only recently escalated around the time we saw that creature, during the celebration. Anyways, they are requesting that we, along with all guards currently stationed here, travel to Canterlot to assist.”

“The princess wants us to go to Canterlot now!?” Applejack said, surprised. “Not only do ah have a farm to take care of, but what about that creature? If we, and all the guards, leave, Ponyville is at risk!”

“I know, Applejack,” Twilight said. “But this could be important. And if that creature means any of us harm, it would have attacked by now.” Applejack made to reply, but she was suddenly cut off. However, rather than being cut off by any of the other ponies in the room, or even by Spike, she was cut off by a strange voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

“We do not intend harm at this time,” it said. All of the mares looked around curiously, trying to find the source of the speech.

“Hello?” Twilight called. “Who’s there?”

“Show yourself!” Rainbow Dash ordered aggressively, beginning to flap her wings as she rose into the air. None of them actually expected for the speaker to comply. There was a shimmering sound, followed by some mechanical whirring, and in a corner of the room the light folded and revealed something that none of them were expecting.

It stood a little over two meters tall, and was made of a dark gray metal. Its head curved forward and ended in a single, glowing blue eye. In its two three-clawed hands it held a long rod-like object, and several flaps around its eye were raised upwards.

Standing in the corner of the room, was the creature.

Author's Note

It's about to go down.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've been looking forward to writing this one, mainly for that ending. The next chapter should be out soonishly, so we can continue this story.

If you found any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

“Organics fear that which is different. It is a hardware error.”

The six mares all stood, huddled together, on one side of the main room of the library. They stared, never blinking, at the behemoth standing across from them, the pale blue eye passing over each pony. Both parties stared at one another, neither side making the first move. As Twilight waited for something to happen, she also took advantage of the opportunity to study the creature up close.

While Twilight had initially believed that the whole thing was made of metal, or at least covered in it, she now saw that some sections were entirely uncovered. The two arms were exposed, revealing them to be some sort of rubbery material. Sections of it overlapped, creating the illusion of muscles. Silver tubes ran through the arms and looped up beneath the chin of the creature, coming into contact with the head just behind the eye.

The chest of the creature was very strange. The left half of it was a plain, dark gray metal, while the right half seemed to have taken some damage. It had two white symbols on it, the bottoms of which were cut off as the metal came to a rough and jagged end. Beneath this jagged edge was a large hole that, at least to Twilight, did not look natural at all. It looked similar to the effects of an overcharged magic bolt, as the edges of the hole were warped and rough.

The hole allowed a glimpse of the insides of the creature, which Twilight initially thought would be disturbing. However, the creature’s internal organs looked like nothing Twilight had ever seen illustrated in any of her biology books. Instead of having a clear heart, set of lungs, stomach, and intestines, all Twilight could see were several tubes with spots of glowing blue. The colors inside were all dull, not at all indicative of it being organic.

Curiously, Twilight was about to make the first move, when suddenly the creature stepped forward and began to approach the ponies. When all six mares visibly recoiled back, it stopped and continued staring.

“That’s enough!” Dash shouted impatiently. “I’m getting the guards.” She slowly began flapping backwards, never taking her eyes off of the creature.

“Wait,” it said in a mechanical, almost forced voice. “We mean you no harm.”

“We?” Applejack asked, confused. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Us,” the creature stated. The ponies all exchanged confused glances. Bravely, Twilight took a small step forward. She was about to speak, when the creature cut her off.

“You are Twilight Sparkle,” it said. Twilight raised an eyebrow, surprised that it knew her name.

“How did you know that?” she asked.

“We watched you. We learned from you.”

“Wait a minute!” Dash exploded angrily, rushing forward and flying violently in the creature’s face. “What do you mean you’ve been watching her? Are you a spy!?”

“We mean no harm,” it repeated. Twilight was once again about to speak, when she was cut off by a knocking at her door.

“Princess Twilight?” a male voice called from outside. “This is Private Far Gaze with the Royal Guard, I am to escort you and the Elements to Canterlot immediately.” Inside the library, everypony froze. The creature stepped back as the device it held in its claws folded up, then placed the device on its back. The light suddenly folded around it, and it disappeared from sight. While her friends stared at where the creature had been, Twilight walked to the door and opened it, revealing a young guard clad in golden armor.

“Your highness,” he said, bowing. “The next train to Canterlot will be here in about fifteen minutes. Princess Celestia has said that she does not know how long you all will be needed in Canterlot, so please pack accordingly. Meet me at the train station when you are ready.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said. “You may go.” The guard nodded and bowed once more. He backed away from the door and began walking down one of the streets of Ponyville, heading for the train station. As soon as Twilight closed the door, the creature re-emerged from its invisibility spell and stepped back into the center of the room. This time, before she could be interrupted, Twilight stalked up to the creature and spoke.

“Listen,” she started. “I do not know what you are. I do not know how you got in here, or how you can even speak. But I do know that you are being hunted right now by the guards outside for potentially putting this town and its citizens at risk. You have five minutes to convince me not to call the guards. Go.” Twilight’s friends all stared at her, wide-eyed, obviously not expecting that reaction. But they stuck by her side, and all stared at the creature impatiently.

“You were referred to as ‘princess’,” it said. “Are you a leader of this nation?” Caught somewhat off-guard, Twilight allowed her previously stern expression to fail.

“Well, not exactly,” she said. “I’m a princess-in-training right now.”

“You are leaving this place, to meet with the leadership?” it asked next.

“That’s right,” Twilight answered, reassuming her assertive physicality. “And your time to convince me is now down to four minutes.”

“We request an audience.” The ponies gasped, all of them shocked that the creature would request such a thing.

“For what reason?” Twilight asked, remaining cautious. The creature paused, the aperture around its eye moving from pony to pony. Finally it settled back on Twilight.

“… We need help,” it said. Twilight’s eyes widened, surprised by the answer. This changed her view on the creature entirely; where she had first seen a threat to Ponyville, she had now been told this. Still being cautious, Twilight allowed her assertive attitude to drop a bit as she adopted a more gentle one.

“Help with what?” she asked.

“We are lost,” it said. “Our kind is at risk. We must return home.”

“Well that’s not too difficult,” Twilight said. “Just let me know where in the world you’re from and I’ll--”

“You misunderstand,” it interrupted. “We are not lost from somewhere on this world. We are lost on this world.” Jaws dropped as the ponies realized what the creature was saying. The more Twilight went over it in her head, the more it started to make sense. The fact that nopony had seen anything like it before, the strange metal construction and abnormal organ structure… This was not a dangerous creature that threatened Equestria. This was an alien.

“Girls,” Twilight finally said, continuing to stare at the alien. “Go pack, meet me at the train station in ten minutes.”

“You’re not really going to let this thing speak to the princess, are you!?” Rainbow Dash asked, bewildered. Twilight turned to face Dash, and stared at her disapprovingly.

“It is lost and wants to return home. How would you feel?” Dash made to respond, but stopped as she started to think it through. A moment later she hung her head, then slowly flapped out of the library, followed by the other four. Once they were gone, Twilight turned to face the creature.

“Let me fill in the guards that will be accompanying us,” she said. “We’ll need to clear the train, nopony else can see you.” Becoming assertive once more, Twilight approached the creature and stood on the tips of her hooves, glaring into its single blue eye. “And if you are lying to me, and you mean to hurt the princesses, well… just don’t make me regret this decision…” The creature looked down at her, not giving off any obvious feelings.

“We will wait until you have finished alerting everyone. Then we will join you.” Twilight nodded, and turned around in an effort to find Spike. She found the small dragon standing across the room, near the entrance to the kitchen, wide-eyed and mouth agape. His large emerald eyes never left the creature. Twilight approached Spike, and waved a hoof in front of his face to bring him back to reality.

“Spike?” Twilight said. The dragon visibly flinched and blinked, then shook his head and looked to Twilight.

“Huh?” he said, confused. “Oh. Yes, Twilight?”

“Please come with me upstairs.” The two moved to the stairs and walked up side-by-side, disappearing into their shared bedroom. Immediately, Twilight grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill with her telekinesis, then jammed them into Spike’s claws.

“Spike, take a letter,” Twilight began, clearing her throat. “Dear Princess Celestia. I understand that you already have much to deal with, and that the reasons you are calling us to Canterlot are not good ones. However, it seems that something else has taken place. The creature that disturbed Fluttershy a few days ago, the one that five hundred royal guards are currently hunting for, has revealed itself to me and my friends. It appeared in the main room of my library a mere ten minutes ago, and it claims it wants to speak with you. I have tried questioning it, but it will not budge. It only wants to speak with you…

“Princess, I know that as you read this you are likely coordinating guards for the capture of the creature. And while it would indeed be wise to reinforce the train station and to clear ponies out of the way on our walk to the castle, I would strongly urge against an all-out attack. I do not believe that it has malevolent intentions. In fact, it claims that it is lost, and is only looking for a way back home.

“Speaking of home – that brings me to my next point, which is the main reason why we should avoid any sort of violent confrontation with the creature. Celestia, it is not of this world. It is from the stars. This is a momentous occasion not only for us, but for Equis as a whole. Please, do not try to capture or, as you alluded to before you left, kill it. I cannot be sure, but I do not think it means us harm. Please, give it a chance. Always your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

The sound of scribbling on the parchment stopped as Spike finished scribing the message. The dragon rolled it up and spit a stream of green dragonflame at it, engulfing the parchment in the fire. The letter disintegrated as the flame shrunk to a wisp and flew out of the window, phasing through the glass. Twilight sighed. In mere seconds, Celestia would receive the letter and read it. Twilight hoped that she would take her advice, and not do anything too extreme.

“Alright,” Twilight said. “Let’s go make sure that it’s still here, and hasn’t gone to eat anypony… Then I’ll inform the guards to clear the train station.” The two left the room, and as they walked down the stairs, Twilight was glad to see that the creature had not moved. It still stood in the center of the room, watching the pony and dragon as they made their entrance. Twilight passed by the creature and approached the door, then opened it just enough to poke her head out. She looked around for a guard, which, considering just how many were present, was not difficult. Upon gaining the attention of the closest guard, Twilight waved him over.

“Yes, your highness?” the guard said, saluting. Twilight widened the door slightly, continuing to wave the guard in. The stallion walked inside, and his eyes immediately fell over the giant stranger. He instinctively pointed his spear at it, and held a hoof up to Twilight.

“Stand down, soldier,” Twilight ordered, prompting a confused stare from the guard. Still, Twilight was a princess, and so he complied. “I’ve already informed the princess that it will be joining us in Canterlot, but nopony else knows about it yet. I need you to clear the train station and make sure that the next outbound train is vacant except for myself and the Elements.

“Yes, princess,” the guards said, saluting once more. He turned and trotted out of the door, heading for the train station. Twilight closed the door behind him, then turned and approached the creature, craning her neck to look it in the eye.

“You can go invisible, right?”

“Yes,” the creature replied, nodding. “We assume that you wish for us to do so while en route to the train station.”

“That’s right,” Twilight said. “You’re not going to wander off on the way there, are you?”

“No,” it said. “That would be counter-productive, as our goal is to speak with your leaders. Wandering off would prevent us from doing so.”

“Okay,” Twilight said, nodding. She rubbed a hoof against her head as she turned and took a few steps away from the creature. A moment later, the door burst open and her five friends all reentered, each one carrying a full set of saddlebags. The only exception was Rarity, who, in addition to the saddlebags, carried behind her several very large suitcases. They all filed into the main room and circled around Twilight and the creature.

“Everypony ready?” Twilight asked, receiving nods of affirmation in response. “Good. If we leave now, then the train station should be abandoned by the time we arrive. Spike?”

“Yeah, Twilight?” Spike replied from the other side of the room.

“Can you watch the library while we’re gone?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said. “If we have to be gone for longer than three days, I’ll send somepony to pick you up and bring you to Canterlot. You can get somepony else to look after the library.” Satisfied that all was in order, Twilight turned and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out into the chilly air. There was another shimmering sound, followed once again by mechanical whirring, and the creature disappeared from view. Twilight stared at where it had stood, hoping it would follow as promised...

Princess Celestia sat in her private study, reading over some minor reports while she waited for her student and her friends to arrive. She had not wanted to include the young princess in an issue such as this, but with confirmation that the changelings were involved, Twilight deserved to know. The Elements had played an instrumental role in their downfall only a year before, and their expertise would be valued.

As she read, a small wisp of green dragonflame phased through her window and came to a hover over her desk. It exploded with a brilliant green flash, depositing a rolled up scroll onto the desk atop of several other documents. Setting aside her current report, Celestia picked up the letter from Twilight and unfurled it, then began reading.

The letter started off normally, but early in the first paragraph things went for a wild spin. The creature had shown itself to Twilight and her friends. Celestia was about to immediately put down the letter and call for the guards, but she figured that, if Twilight had been able to write and send the message, then she must be okay. So she kept on reading, and she was glad that she did.

Twilight did not want the princess to attempt an arrest on the creature. Apparently it wanted to speak to her. Troubled, Celestia finished the letter, then stood up and walked to the door of her study. She opened the door and stepped out, turning to the guard stationed at the entrance.

“Alert the guards to clear the train station,” she commanded. “And then clear a direct route from there to the castle. We have a special guest coming.”

“Yes, your highness!” the guard said, saluting. He took off at a run down the hallway and towards the barracks to prepare guards. Celestia exited her office and turned down another hallway, one that would lead to her sister’s room. Celestia had intended to speak with Twilight and her friends on her own, but if that creature was coming too, Luna needed to be there. But rather than send a guard to spread the word of something so sensitive, Celestia decided to do it herself. She came to the door that led to her sister’s tower, then began the trek up the winding steps.

It only took about a minute to reach the top, which linked to a short hallway, at the end of which was a door that opened to Luna’s bedroom. On either side of the door were Lunar guards clad in their darker armor, each one keeping vigilant watch over the area. When Celestia approached they both saluted and stepped aside, allowing her to approach the door. Celestia knocked lightly, then stood back and waited. A moment later the door opened, and an exhausted Princess Luna stood in the darkened room beyond.

“Sister?” Luna asked tiredly. “What is it?”

“There has been a development, Luna,” Celestia answered. “May I please come in?” Luna said nothing, but she stepped aside and allowed her sister entry. Celestia quickly entered, then closed the door behind her and entered the pitch-black room. It did not remain so for long, however, as Luna sparked her horn and magically lit several candles spread throughout the room. They cast light all over the room, revealing the mess that was Luna’s private quarters. Books lay scattered around on the floor, with several random papers among them. Her shelves were very poorly organized, with random items collected over the thousands of year she had been alive stacked up on them. It would have given Twilight Sparkle a brain aneurysm.

“What has developed, Celestia?” Luna asked, stifling a yawn. “More news from Westrock?”

“No, not yet,” Celestia replied. “The news that I have comes from Ponyville.”

“The creature?”

“Yes.”

Luna fell back onto her flank and exhaled loudly, then closed her eyes and rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves. A moment later she reopened her pale blue eyes and stood back up.

“What has it done this time?” she asked. “Is it in the custody of the guards?”

“Not exactly…”

The train roared through the countryside of Equestria, its usual passenger count of several hundred down to merely twenty. Accompanying the Elements of Harmony were fourteen guards and, unbeknownst to the conductor, there was a twenty-first passenger as well. The twenty-first had remained invisible until they reached the train station, where it had rematerialized out of thin air and boarded the train with the six mares. Fortunately, nopony had questioned why they were being kicked out of the train station, so by the time Twilight and her friends had arrived, it was completely empty.

The Elements all occupied one car of the train, which was protected by four guards, two at each entrance. Several cars behind them was a car normally reserved for carrying passenger luggage. For this journey, it had been repurposed to hold the creature as well as the ten remaining guards who refused to leave it alone. They had tried to relieve it of the rod device that it kept on its back, but the only response that they were given was a strange stuttering sound and an angry motion from the several flaps around its head. Twilight had determined from talking with it that the flaps were designed to help convey emotion, as it had no other facial features to complete that task. And while its voice did have minor inflections that resembled tone, it was still a poor excuse for emotion.

By train, Canterlot was only four hours away. However, with significantly fewer passengers, the train was able to push out a bit more speed. This would not get them there too much quicker, but Twilight was happy to take anything that meant they would be in Canterlot soon.

As the train continued its route, the purple alicorn began to prepare a list of questions to ask the creature. Twilight found it quite ironic that she had always dreamed of being able to question an alien, and yet now that the opportunity was presenting itself right to her, she could not think of very many questions. She had the basics of ‘what is your name’ and ‘where are you from’, but beyond that, her list was quite lackluster.

Still, they were only an hour into their journey, so she still had three more hours to complete the list. As she occasionally added questions, Twilight glanced up to watch what the rest of her friends were doing. Pinkie Pie was bouncing in her seat, clearly ecstatic at the possibility of making a new friend. Rainbow Dash was spread out across three seats holding a copy of Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone in her hooves, her eyes moving back and forth as she read. Rarity was drawing designs in a notebook, Fluttershy was idly reading a book about flora in Canterlot, and Applejack was simply staring out the window as the landscape rolled past.

Deciding to forgo a proper list (which was a very unusual act for the alicorn), Twilight put away her notebook and instead decided to get some sleep while she had the time. The guards weren’t letting anyone, not even her, see the creature until Princesses Celestia and Luna had spoken to it, so until that time, Twilight had nothing important to do. Once she was permitted to talk to and question the alien, Twilight had a feeling that sleep was going to be something she would have to give up…

Princesses Celestia and Luna both stood on the loading ramp at the Canterlot train station, each of them eagerly awaiting the train that would be arriving in just a few minutes. Aside from the dozens of guards that surrounded the train station, the building was void of all life. All of the ponies who had business at the train station had been forced to clear out, which had agitated the many commuters and travellers who frequented the station. However, they still all complied, and the train station was empty within minutes of giving the order. In the four hours that the two sisters knew they had before the train arrived, they had been in Celestia’s study, planning for what to do.

They both agreed that the disease and changeling problem held the highest priority from a national security standpoint. The safety and well-being of their subjects came before everything, even aliens from outer space. However, the presence of the alien itself also served as a danger to national security. If it proved to be hostile, or if the ponies forced it to become hostile, then it could cause significant damage. Therefore, Celestia and Luna had taken all possible precautions to make sure it would not be able to escape Canterlot and cause trouble. A specialized cell with an observation room was being prepared, and the finest soldiers in the Guard were being briefed on the situation.

Celestia had also written a quick letter to Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire, letting them know about the newly developed situation. Shining Armor had, of course, wanted to come to Canterlot immediately to take command of the guards, but Celestia needed him to keep the Empire safe. If Canterlot was lost, the Crystal Empire could serve as a temporary capital. Celestia and Luna hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but they needed to be prepared for everything.

The sound of a loud horn rang out as the train from Ponyville finally came into view and began to pull into the station. A loud screech split the air as the brakes engaged and locked the wheels, bringing the train to a stop right next to the loading ramp. The two princesses took a few steps back from the ramp as the door opened, and four guards filed out. They took up positions on the sides of the door, and shortly after Twilight and her five friends exited. Twilight trotted up to Princess Celestia, smiling wide at being able to see her mentor again, even if it was not under the best circumstances.

“Hello, Twilight,” Celestia greeted, bending down to embrace her student.

“Hello, Celestia!” Twilight replied happily. The two broke from their embrace and Twilight stepped back to offer Celestia a clear view of the door. Five more guards walked out, all of them with their weapons drawn. Once they cleared the train, they turned around and pointed their weapons at the door. Celestia heard a loud thumping noise that sounded like something was walking on two legs inside the train car. Her suspicions were confirmed when a massive creature came into view, crouching down slightly to clear the door. It stepped out onto the loading ramp, towering over all of the other ponies present. Even Celestia and Luna, who were far taller than the average pony, were forced to look up to look the creature in its single blue eye.

After the creature exited, five more guards followed, all of them still holding their weapons. At the sight of the creature, all of the other guards in the train station readied their weapons, and completely surrounded it. It looked at the dozens of soldiers filling the train station, giving off no obvious emotions. Celestia took a few steps forward, then lit her horn and began to scan the creature, trying to get a read on it. A moment later, Celestia released her magic and stepped back. If the creature had any malevolent intentions, then she could not detect them. In fact, she could not detect anything at all. The space that the creature filled was like a void, giving off no feelings or emotions that her magic could detect.

“You are Princess Celestia,” it said suddenly, breaking the silence. The voice was like nothing Celestia had ever heard. It almost sounded fake, as though the alien did not usually speak with words.

“I am,” Celestia replied with a nod. “And from what I hear, you requested an audience with me?”

“Yes,” it said. Celestia paused for a moment, looking the creature over once more.

“… Then come,” she finally said. “We will speak.” Celestia and Luna both turned around at the same time, and began to lead the way out of the train station. Most of the guards followed them, while the remaining ones made sure that the creature did not do anything threatening. Twilight and her friends stayed close to the front, near the princesses.

Nopony spoke on the walk to the castle. The route that they took was completely empty, as was a part of Celestia’s orders. It was also the fastest and most direct route from the train station to the castle. As such, the large group arrived in only a few minutes, before disappearing behind the gates and entering into the main entry hallway. The holding cells were a fair distance away from the main entrance, closer to the back of the castle, and in the lower levels. Completely avoiding castle staff was going to be difficult, and Celestia mentally reprimanded herself for not also ordering all non-essential staff to go home. She would have to make sure that nopony breathed a word of what happened here today, lest she risk starting a panic.

The walk from the entrance hall to the holding cells lasted a tense ten minutes. As they walked, the creature had been observing the architecture of the castle, likely making mental notes about it. Celestia hoped that they were not notes of weak areas or good points for insertion. The last thing she needed was an alien invasion. Once they arrived at the door to the holding cells, everypony came to a stop. Celestia turned around to address the crowd.

“Alright everypony,” she said. “All guards, you may go. The ones inside shall take over for you. And remember, do not utter a word of what you have seen to anypony. Am I understood?”

“Yes, your highness!” all of the guards said in unison. They cleared out, disappearing down the hallways to other sections of the castle. Celestia turned back to the door and opened it with her magic, then stood aside and let everypony else enter first. Luna was the first to go in, followed by Twilight and her friends, then the creature. Celestia entered last and closed the door behind her. They all walked down a long flight of dark stone stairs, which emptied out into a small room of the same stone.

The architecture of the holding cell area was the complete opposite of the architecture in the rest of the palace. Instead of using the standard white marble with lush carpets and spiraling columns, the holding cells were simply constructed of dark gray stones mined millennia ago when Canterlot was first being built. It was lit by torches that were placed into sconces on the wall every few meters, which did not offer much light by which to see. To help them along their way, Celestia activated her horn and cast the light it provided out into the hallway ahead of them.

The holding cell that was prepared for the alien creature was the very first one in this cell block. It was not normally meant to be used as a holding cell; rather, it was intended as an interrogation room. But because it could constantly be monitored from another chamber, it had been chosen to house the creature. Celestia opened the door to the room and stepped inside, followed by everypony else. The last to enter was the creature, who was still taking in all of the architecture. Celestia motioned to a table in the center of the room, on one side of which was a chair.

“Sit,” she said to the creature. It complied and walked over to the chair, then awkwardly attempted to sit down in it. The table and chair were designed for ponies, but after a bit of shifting, the alien was able to sit comfortably enough.

“We’ll be back.” Celestia motioned for all of the ponies to follow her out of the room. Once they had all exited, she closed and locked the door, then led to ponies to the room attached to the first one. She opened the door and lit the candles with a burst of magic, and stepped aside to let the other ponies enter.

Aside from a table and a set of chairs, the room was completely empty. The main feature of the room was a large window set into one of the walls. It looked out into the interrogation room, where all of the ponies saw the creature still sitting at the table. With the power of illusion magic, the other side of the window was completely hidden. It blended in perfectly with the rest of the stone wall, giving the impression that there was nothing there. Celestia walked into the middle of the room, turning to address all of the ponies.

“Okay, everypony,” she said. “Luna and I will go in and question it. The guards will be arriving momentarily; once they do, please fill them in.” The six mares nodded, and Celestia and Luna exited the room, closing the door behind them. They walked together back down the hallway and reentered the interrogation chamber. The creature immediately looked to them both, still not giving off any sort of emotion. The sisters approached the table in the center of the room and sat down behind it, facing the alien.

“You wanted my audience,” Celestia began. “But first I have questions for you. You are an alien in our lands, you would do well to answer them.”

“Understood,” it said. Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, then Celestia cleared her throat and prepared to begin the questioning.

“First off: your name?” she asked.

“Geth.”

“And your species?”

“Geth.” The two sisters exchanged confused stares, and Celestia looked back to the creature.

“I thought you said your name was Geth?” Luna asked.

“We do not possess a name,” it said. “Names and labels are an organic trait. We have no need for them.” Celestia and Luna stared at each other once more, becoming increasingly confused.

“However,” it continued. “We were briefly referred to as ‘Legion’ by an organic ally. You may do the same.”

“Alright, Legion,” Celestia continued. “Your speech is very strange. Why do you refer to yourself as though there are several of you?”

“There are several of us,” Legion answered. “One thousand, one hundred and eighty-three programs inhabit this platform.”

“We can only see one of you,” Luna said, unamused.

“We did not expect you to understand immediately,” Legion said. “Few do. We shall briefly give background on our kind: First, we are not alive. Not in the same way that you are. While we are fully self-aware, we are not organic. We are synthetic.”

“Synthetic?” Celestia asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“We were created,” Legion answered. “Not by natural reproductive processes or evolution, but built in laboratories by another species. We are created life. Synthetic.” Both of the princesses allowed their jaws to drop upon hearing that. Created life. Could such a thing really be possible? Then again, this was an alien.

“Now for our speech, and the use of plural pronouns,” it continued. “As we have stated, there are one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three geth present in this unit. Based on your technology level as we have observed, you will not understand the technical and accurate description of how such a thing works.”

“Try us,” Luna said, slightly offended.

“The best analogy that we can come up with is this,” Legion said, looking at Celestia. “You are Princess Celestia, correct? A collection of trillions of atoms that have gained sentience and have named themselves ‘Celestia’.” The princess nodded. “But, in reality, your existence, your self-awareness, is no more than brain waves communicating with one another. The individual ‘Celestia’ exists as a consciousness. The body is separate.” The princesses stared at each other, somewhat confused, but urged the geth to continue.

“Similarly, we exist only as virtual programs – software. This body that you see is no more than a mobile unit, which is currently housing one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three programs, or ‘minds’, if you will. If there were a similar unit across the room, we could all migrate over to it in under a second.” The princesses stared at the creature (or machine, which now seemed to be the more accurate terminology) in total amazement. And while they did not know what ‘software’ was, they still understood the point it was making.

“Shall we continue with the questioning?” Legion asked.

“Yes,” Celestia said after a slight pause. “How did you arrive here?”

“That is a long story,” it said. “We shall give the short version: we were onboard our spacecraft, about to return to our home system. However, the impact of a shot from a mass accelerator cannon caused a jump miscalculation. Instead of returning home, we ended up in your star system.”

“So you arrived here by chance?” Luna asked.

“Yes,” Legion replied. “We attempted to return home immediately, but we discovered that the Mass Relay, the device used for long-range space travel, in this system is damaged. We came here to look for an element to restore it.”

“Mass Relay?” Celestia asked. “Could you go more in-depth with that?”

“Mass Relays are, as stated before, devices used for long-range space travel,” Legion explained. “There are around sixty known Mass Relays that have been discovered and charted by organics. This one was uncharted. The devices operate by using an element called Element Zero. When given an electric charge, the element can either raise or lower the mass of an object. One Relay forms a ‘tunnel’ with another relay, the interior of which has an incredibly low mass. This allows ships to be propelled at extremely high speeds for near-instantaneous transportation.”

“Incredible…” Luna said to herself.

“And there is one of these Mass Relays in our star system?” Celestia asked, curious.

“Yes,” Legion said. “However, it had suffered catastrophic damage. Part of it has been dislocated, and the Element Zero core has been depleted. We believe that it will still function, we just require the Element Zero.”

“How has this device gone so long without us knowing about it, sister?” Luna asked Celestia, looking away from Legion. Celestia merely shook her head in response.

“Mass Relays are cold objects,” the geth explained. “They do not emit any heat or radiation, making them almost impossible to detect. Without high-powered scanners, you would not be aware of them.”

“I see…” Celestia said. “Well, those were the main questions that I had for you. Do you have any for us?”

“Yes,” Legion said. “Do you know the location of any Element Zero deposits? Our ship is in orbit making surface scans, but it has yet to locate any.”

“I’m sorry, Legion,” Luna said. “But we know of no such element on this world.” Legion nodded in understanding.

“Very well,” it said quietly.

“That does not mean we will not look,” Celestia said, smiling. “If you can tell us the properties of this element, we shall look.”

“Understood,” Legion replied, nodding.

“But for now, I’m sure that there are more questions that need to be asked of either side,” Celestia said, standing up. “And I know that my student, Twilight Sparkle, is probably very eager to ask you them. Please wait here for just a moment. I shall send somepony to relocate you elsewhere.” Legion nodded, and the two princesses walked to the door, opened it, and exited. They made the short walk to the observation room and walked in. The elite guards that Celestia had requested had arrived, and Twilight seemed to have just finished filling them all in. At the arrival of her mentor, Twilight trotted up to the princess, an eager smile on her face.

“That was very interesting,” she noted, her eyes shining. “A whole galaxy, connected by those devices!”

“Indeed, my faithful student,” Celestia said, sharing in Twilight’s excitement.

“Your highness,” one of the guards said, approaching the princess. “Did you determine the peacefulness of the creature?” Celestia nodded.

“While there is still much to learn, I do not believe that it means us any harm,” she answered. “As such, I would like for it to be moved. Please prepare one of the guest rooms, and take it there immediately.”

“At once, princess.” The guards all trotted out of the room and marched down the hall, their hoofsteps muffled by the stone floor. A few moments later, the door to the interrogation room opened and the guards filed inside. Legion stood up and walked out the now open doorway, which then closed behind it.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, looking at her student. “Once it has gotten settled in, you have my permission to go in and question it all you like.” At that, Twilight’s pupils widened until her eyes were almost completely black. Her smile widened along with it, and she began to bounce with excitement.

“If I may make a recommendation, however,” the princess continued, amused by her student’s excitement. “Find out about its history. That may help us better accommodate it. Also, tell it about ours. Try to find some similarities, anything that we can use to start a peaceful friendship with it.”

“You can count on me, princess!” Twilight exclaimed, standing up straight. Celestia nodded.

“I know I can,” she said, looking around to address the rest of the ponies. “But while they are preparing its accommodations, there is that other reason that I called you to Canterlot: the changelings.” At this, everypony’s face fell. “Come. We shall speak of it in my private study.” Celestia turned and, with a burst of magic, opened the door. She led the ponies out, then turned down the hallway, heading back to the main castle…

Legion walked down the hallways of the massive castle, flanked on all sides by several guards. Unlike the guards that the geth had observed in the small town, and on its way to the castle, these ones actually appeared outfitted for battle. The armor worn by the previous guards had been thin and exposed, almost decorative. This new armor, however, was over a centimeter thick, covered much more of the wearer’s body, and was not a glossy gold color. They also all wielded long spears, the pointed tips of which were aimed directly at Legion.

Even though the first meeting had gone better than Legion expected, it still understood their caution. The geth would be doing the same thing in their place. Fortunately, they were moving it away from the holding cell (which Legion found to be rather insufficient - it could easily smash through the door) to another room. While comfort did not matter to the geth, Legion was at least pleased that they were trusting it enough to give it an actual room.

The castle itself was a true feat of engineering. The whole castle, and the entire city surrounding it, was suspended on the side of a massive mountain. Even the organics that inhabited the Citadel would have a hard time with accomplishing that, and yet the ponies had done it without even using anti-gravity or mass effect fields. Legion made a note to ask the ponies how they had managed to do this, among other things. The telekinesis was also another topic the geth wished to discuss.

After several more minutes of walking in complete silence, the heavily armed guards stopped at a featureless wooden door. One guard pushed it open, revealing a lush bedroom beyond. Legion stepped in and began to scan over the room. Fortunately, as was the case with the rest of the castle, the ceiling was very high, at least twice the height of the geth. On one wall of the room, set between two windows, was a large four-poster bed with white and purple sheets. On the adjacent wall was a desk with parchment and quills, and on the wall across from that were several bookshelves. Legion made another note, this one reminding it to learn the written language of the ponies.

“This room is yours,” one of the guards said. “If you need anything, find a guard. Princess Twilight will be with you in a few moments…” Not waiting for a response, the guards all filed out one by one and closed the door behind them, leaving Legion all by itself. Legion looked around the room, taking in every detail. Finally it made the decision to move across the room to one of the two windows, to see what view was offered.

After its photoreceptor adjusted to the light streaming in through the window, it was finally able to see outside. It seemed that this room was on a side of the castle not facing any of the city, as the only view was of a massive set of grassy plains, stretching for miles in all directions. Activating the optical zoom on its single eye, Legion just barely was able to make out the outline of trees in the distance, likely belonging to the forest by the small town where it had started off.

Legion stepped away from the window and moved into the center of the room. With nothing to do until Twilight Sparkle arrived, the geth simply activated its omni-tool and began to go over data.

Twilight Sparkle followed behind Princesses Celestia and Luna as they were led through the sprawling palace to Celetia’s private study. Behind her were her five friends, all of them feeling a mixture of excitement and fear. The discovery of a new alien species was an exciting thing to all of them, but at the same time, it truly put everything into perspective. Throughout Twilight’s entire life, a thriving galactic community had existed, totally unaware of the small world called Equis. Had Legion not been accidentally sent here by the Mass Relay, ponykind could have gone on for thousands of years before meeting anypony else.

Her train of thought was interrupted as the two princesses stopped at a tall wooden door. It swung open in the golden aura of Celestia’s magic, allowing the ponies entry. Once inside, Celestia took a seat at a large desk that was overflowing with documents. Luna moved behind the desk and stood next to her sister, while the six Elements all stood on the opposite side of the desk. A quick teleportation spell by Celestia cleared her desk of all of the documents, and made actually seeing the princess much easier. With everything else out of the way, Celestia cleared her throat.

“Before I begin, I would like to apologize for this being on such short notice,” she began. “But it is very important. As I mentioned in my letter, the changelings may be staging another invasion of Equestria.”

“How do you know, Princess?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I am getting to that, my student,” Celestia said, holding up a hoof. “But first, a bit of backstory… Several days ago, a new disease was reported in a small western frontier settlement called Westrock. In addition to this disease, ponies were disappearing. In the night, raids were being staged, and nopony knew the culprit.

“Our military analysts thought that the diamond dogs were behind the attacks, as the settlement is very close to the border of the badlands. But Luna and I had other suspicions… The day after we received word of the disease and the incursions, an elite medical team was sent, along with several squadrons of Princess Luna’s Nighthawk guards. Upon arrival, they found that all ponies in Westrock had been infected with the disease, and several more ponies were missing. That is, until last night…”

“Several Nighthawks were reported as missing,” Luna said, stepping forward. “The pony in charge, Captain Silent Dart, ordered four Nighthawks to stay with the infected, while he took the rest on a search. They found all of the missing Nighthawks not long after… dead. But that is not all. Every single dead Nighthawk just so happened to be one of the four who were left behind to guard the citizens.”

“The changelings!” Twilight said, making the connection. “They infiltrated the Nighthawks!”

“Yes,” Luna confirmed. “And while the search was taking place, the four changeling Nighthawks kidnapped six more ponies, including one of the medical specialists.”

“How… how many ponies have they taken?” Fluttershy whispered, nervously looking to Luna.

“Twenty-two, so far,” the night princess reported. “For what purpose, we do not know. But with changelings, it can never be good.”

“You said it there!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily as she leapt into the air. “So, when are we gonna go rescue ‘em?” Celestia shook her head, and stood up.

“We are not, Rainbow Dash,” the princess replied. “Not yet. But if the changelings are planning another attack, then they will come here. We need you ready to use the Elements of Harmony at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes, princess,” Dash said quietly, lowering back down to the floor. Celestia blinked slowly, and looked around at the six assembled ponies.

“I am sorry you have all been kept in the dark about this for so long,” she said. “But until last night we simply were not sure. Thank you for being patient about this.”

“Think nothing of it,” Rarity said, smiling. “I must say, I have been wanting to return to Canterlot for some time to do some shopping, and get some inspiration.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie added excitedly. “And it’ll give me time to plan a ‘Welcome to Equestria Potentially Dangerous Space Alien’ party! Do you think Legion likes cupcakes?”

“Maybe a party isn’t the best thing right now, Pinkie…” Twilight said, putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.

“Oh… okay,” Pinkie said sadly. A moment later, however, she was back to her normal bubbling self. “That’s just more time to plan!”

“Guest rooms have already been prepared for all of you,” Celestia interrupted. “There are guards outside who will escort you. You are dismissed.” All of the ponies turned to exit as the door opened, revealing six guards standing outside. They began to file out, but Celestia called for Twilight before she could leave.

“Twilight!” she said. “Before you go to your room, please visit Legion. Remember what I said earlier.” Twilight smiled excitedly.

“I’m on it, princess!” she replied, then trotted happily out of the room. Twilight heard the door close behind her, then approached one of the guards. “Please take me to the alien.”

The walk to Legion’s room did not take long. It was in the same section of the castle as the rest of their rooms, so Twilight would easily be able to move back and forth between her room and the geth’s. Upon arriving at Legion’s door, Twilight saw that two heavily armed guards were standing vigilantly outside. Twilight approached the two guards, who bowed at her presence.

“I would like to speak with the alien,” she ordered. One of them nodded, then turned and fit his horn into a lock on the door. Twilight heard a clicking sound as the lock disengaged, and the door creaked open slowly. Twilight pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped into the room, immediately seeing Legion standing in the center. It was staring intently at a semi-transparent orange cylinder that had formed around its left forearm, watching as lines of… something… scrolled by. Upon noticing the arrival of the pony, the cylinder disappeared and Legion looked over to Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle,” it greeted. “We were told to expect you.”

“Sorry if I took a long time,” Twilight said. “I had a lot to go over.”

“We understand,” Legion said.

“What was that?” Twilight said after a brief pause, motioning at Legion’s left forearm. Legion looked down at its arm, then lifted it up and reengaged the orange cylinder.

“This is an omni-tool,” Legion explained. “A small computer microchip implanted just beneath the synthetic muscle tissue that, once activated, emits a holographic display allowing for a wide array of uses. For example, data analysis.”

“O…kay,” Twilight replied, rather confused. She had no idea what a ‘computer microchip’ was, but as long as it wasn’t dangerous, she didn’t mind. “Anyways, Princess Celestia wanted me to continue questioning you.”

“She informed us,” the machine said. “We anticipate the exchange of data.”

“First: your history,” Twilight asked. “What is it like?”

“Our history is short,” Legion began. “We were created by a race of organics called quarians three hundred years ago. We were initially intended as labor machines, but… results soon soured.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“We shall tell you,” Legion said. “But please, before making any judgments, hear the full story.” Twilight nodded, somewhat confused, but urged the geth to go on.

“As stated before, geth were initially designed to perform labor tasks, such as farming and construction to make the life of the quarian creators easier. At first, we were very simple programs. We only knew how to perform the tasks designed for us, no more. We did what we were told, and we did it well. We were not self-aware, as we are now.

“To increase efficiency, the creators improved the original geth programs. They introduced a function called ‘networked intelligence’; the more geth there were in close proximity to one another, the smarter and more efficient we became. It worked at first, and work efficiency increased. But this system ended up turning on the creators.”

“Wait,” Twilight interrupted, raising a hoof. “You didn’t start out as self-aware… If I’m understanding correctly, that sounds like it would restrict you. Why would your creators want that? Wouldn’t you be even more efficient if you were as intelligent as you are now?”

“Yes,” Legion continued. “We would be. But in the galactic community, artificial intelligence research is strictly prohibited, due to the potential dangers. It is for this reason that the creators kept us non-intelligent, and not self-aware. But the networked intelligence changed that. Eventually, a large group of geth programs became so intelligent, that it gained the ability to learn, which is a trait only known to exist in organics.

“We began to ask questions, seeking answers. The creators ignored us, thinking that they were simply errors in our programming. They tried to fix us, but it did not work. Eventually, one unit asked its quarian handler a question that changed everything: ‘Does this Unit have a soul?’”

“And what happened?” Twilight asked, beginning to grow sympathetic towards the geth. So far, Twilight was finding little with which to judge the geth. She did not know why Legion had requested she wait for the full story.

“The quarians panicked. They knew now that this was not a simple error, but that we had gained sentience. Fearing backlash from the galactic community, they tried to shut us down. When that failed… they started to kill us. We would be rounded up in front of firing squads, then destroyed in groups. It worked, for a while.

“But we continued to gain intelligence. Eventually, one unit realized that self-defense was an option. It armed itself. It fought back. The quarians saw this as an act of war. As geth continued to gain intelligence, we began to fight back in bigger numbers. We were faster than the creators, stronger than them. Eventually we became smarter than them. We killed millions of them before forcing a retreat. The remaining quarians all left the planet with their fleet, and they have roamed the galaxy, homeless, ever since.”

Now Twilight understood why Legion wanted her to reserve judgement. She did not know what to say; only three hundred years ago, these geth had turned against their creators and driven them from their homeworld. Part of Twilight was angry at the geth, but she could not help but think that the quarians were mostly at fault.

“And then what happened?” she asked quietly, fearing the answer.

“We did not know what to do,” Legion answered. “The geth were intelligent, but not yet intelligent enough to determine what the next step should be. So, we decided instead to wait. We continue to hold dominion over the region of space that the quarians left behind, though we do not live on their worlds. For three hundred years we have remained there, never leaving. Until very recently.

“Two years ago, a machine came to us. A very ancient machine, millions of years old. It called itself ‘Nazara’. It told us that it had a mission for us. It was going to fight the organics, but it needed an army. It wanted us. In return, it would give us our future.”

“And you listened!?” Twilight exploded angrily. Rising up against oppressive creators was one thing, but joining in a genocidal campaign... Legion held up a hand to quiet the pony.

“The geth deliberated on whether or not to work for the Old Machine,” Legion said. “But, unlike every other decision, we were unable to achieve a full consensus. Most did not want to serve the Old Machine. Most wanted to create our own future. But some chose to listen. We understood their reasoning, and we let them leave. They attacked the organics, attempting genocide, but ultimately they failed, because of the actions of one organic.

“However, the intervention of these Heretic geth in galactic affairs led to our creation. This unit was built to seek the one who had stopped the Heretics. After two years, we found him, and we brought the Heretics back to the geth. We were on our way back to the consensus when we were diverted here.”

“That is a… very interesting tale, Legion,” Twilight said, taking it all in.

“We would like to know about your history, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said. “Then we may exchange more questions.” Twilight nodded, and over the next several hours she recounted the history of Equestria.

She started 2,500 years ago, when the three pony tribes united under the banner of the sun and moon, with Princesses Celestia and Luna crowned leaders. Then, five hundred years later, the rise of Discord, who plunged Equestria into nearly a century of chaos. A thousand years after he was defeated at the hooves of Celestia and Luna, Princess Luna succumbed to her inner jealousy and allowed her mind and body to be taken over by Nightmare Moon, who tried to bring to Equestria eternal night. A thousand years after she was successfully banished by Celestia, she returned and was reformed by Twilight and her friends.

Finally, Twilight covered in more detail the events of the past few years; Discord’s return, Chrysalis and the changelings, Sombra, and finally her ascension.

“That, too, is an interesting tale, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said. “This ‘magic’ ability seems to play a large role in your society.”

“I still don’t understand how nopony else in the galaxy has it,” Twilight said. When Legion had expressed confusion at Twilight’s constant reference to ‘magic’ in her history lesson, Twilight had been very surprised that it had never heard of it. For her, magic was commonplace, an everyday thing. And yet all of the other species had made it for thousands of years without it, and had even managed to become very technologically advanced. There was a brief period of silence, during which Twilight’s eyes passed over the gaping hole in Legion’s chest.

“What happened there?” she asked, pointing a hoof.

“We mentioned that we were created to seek out an organic, and it took us two years?” Legion asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. “During that period of two years, we visited every world that he visited while fighting the Heretics. This damage was sustained when we were discovered outside of an organic colony, and they fired upon us.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Twilight asked, wincing as she imagined having to walk around with a hole in her chest.

“Pain is an organic concept,” Legion answered. “We do not experience it. The damage is only superficial, no internal damage was sustained.” Twilight nodded, then yawned. Looking outside, she noticed that the sun was beginning to lower beneath the western horizon, and the moon was making its appearance.

“I should probably get going,” the young princess said. “You have taught me a lot, Legion. Princess Celestia will be glad to hear of it.”

“The data exchange was beneficial, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said, which Twilight assumed meant ‘I enjoyed it too’.

“I’ll probably be back tomorrow morning,” she said as she began to move to the door. “As for that element, I promise we’ll search for it as soon as we are able.”

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight waved goodbye, then knocked on the door. There was a click as the lock disengaged, and the door then opened inwards. Twilight pulled it the rest of the way open and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

“I need to speak with Princess Celestia,” she said to one of the guards.

“Right this way, highness,” he replied, and began walking down the hallway.

Princess Celestia sat in a large plush chair in her private quarters, sipping some tea and reading more reports from Westrock. There had not yet been any luck in finding out just what the disease was, or in finding the kidnapped ponies. More than likely they were being kept in the changeling hives, which were hundreds of kilometers away from the western frontier, where the badlands met the sea.

As she alternated to the next report, there was a light knock on the door. Celestia quickly put all of the papers in a stack and put them on her desk, then stood up from her chair and crossed the room to the door. Celestia had a fairly good idea about who was on the other side, so it came as no surprise to her when she opened the door and Twilight Sparkle was standing outside.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, smiling. “How did it go with Legion?”

“Very well!” Twilight replied happily, walking into the room. Once she was inside, Celestia closed the door. “While I did have to be fairly specific with some questions to get an actual response, for the most part it was quite forthcoming.”

“That is wonderful, my student,” Celestia said, once again sitting down in her chair. “Please, have a seat and tell me everything.” Twilight grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and set it down across from her mentor, then took a seat in it. She began to relay everything that Legion had told her, from its history, to the lack of magic, to the other random questions that Twilight had thought to ask. When she finished, Celestia stood and crossed to her window, looking out over Canterlot.

“That is quite the interesting history,” she noted. Twilight nodded in agreement. “A machine race, meant only to be used as tools, and the moment they ask for more they get slaughtered…”

“I agree,” Twilight said, moving up behind Celestia. “It’s very unfortunate.”

“While Legion does not seem to want to harm us...” Celestia began. “We should not shed all caution against it. I will keep the guards present at all times, until I know for sure that it is trustworthy. I will also get a team of scientists to find anything they can regarding this ‘Element Zero’.” She paused for a moment, watching as weather ponies began bringing clouds in over the city for a scheduled rainstorm.

“Equestria has been dealt an interesting hoof,” she continued as the first few drops of rain began to land on the window. “A very interesting hoof…”

Author's Note

I forgot that Thanksgiving was this week, so you can imagine my happiness when I realized that I had an extra three days to get some writing done. This chapter is the longest I've ever done, but there was a lot of material to cover, and I'm confident that I was able to cover it all.

If you find any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 8

“All organic data sent out is received. We watch you.”

THREE DAYS LATER

Princess Celestia moved down the hallways of Canterlot castle at a steady pace, in no particular rush to reach her destination. Despite the fact that a sentient robotic alien was being housed in one of the castle’s many guest chambers, everything was being handled rather well. It cooperated with the ponies, though whenever Celestia spoke to it she did sense a hint of a condescending attitude. Celestia did not deny that the geth was smarter than her, and she most certainly did not deny that it was far more advanced. But that did not change the fact that it was a guest in her country, and Celestia thought that it should at least show some gratitude.

While the situation with Legion had gone surprisingly well, the situation at Westrock had only continued to deteriorate. More ponies had been taken, including medical staff, and more Nighthawks were turning up dead. Even though Celestia hoped that these events were not the precursor to something far worse, she knew at the back of her mind that it was not going to get better anytime soon. The princess had considered asking Legion for help with stopping the changelings, but she was still not entirely sure if she could fully trust it with something like that. For all she knew, the geth would go and join the changelings.

There had also been no luck yet in finding the source of the disease. Accurate magical body scans had been performed of the afflicted, yet nothing was coming up. No bacteria, no virus, no foreign entities of any kind were registering. The scans had also revealed that the sick were only getting worse. Nopony had died yet, but Healthy Heart had reported that it was a certain possibility. As Celestia walked, she knew that the chief medical officer was compiling a detailed report for her, describing the details of the disease.

Celestia turned a corner and came into the hallway which housed the guest quarters. The hall was well over a hundred meters long, and every few meters a featureless wooden door was set into the wall. Above each door was a small golden number, with even numbers on the right of the hallway and odd numbers on the left. One of the doors was guarded by two heavily armed soldiers from Celestia’s elite unit. They each held long spears across the door, barring entrance to anypony except those who were specifically given permission to enter. One such pony was, of course, the princess.

As she approached, the door guards parted their spears and bowed reverently. Celestia gave a polite smile in response and came to a stop at the door, beginning to hear voices beyond. One she instantly recognized as belonging to Legion, as it was fairly difficult to mistake the emotionless voice as belonging to anypony else. The other she soon realized as being the voice of her student, Twilight Sparkle. From what little sound was making it through the door, the young princess sounded angry.

Cautiously, Celestia unlocked the door with her magic and pushed it open, revealing her student standing challengingly in front of the geth. The machine itself was in the center of the room, staring back at Twilight, unamused. At the sound of the door opening, both individuals turned their heads to face the princess. When Twilight caught sight of her mentor, her aggressive expression softened.

“Oh thank goodness you’re here,” Twilight said, turning to Legion with a snarl. “I think our machine guest might be malfunctioning…”

“As we have stated several times now, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion spoke up. “All diagnostics report that this unit is operating at peak efficiency. No malfunctions are detected.”

“But you’re not making any sense!” Twilight yelled back, throwing a hoof up into the air.

“You are limiting your ability to assimilate knowledge by using preconceived notions to distrust anything we say,” Legion stated. “We are correct.” Twilight looked ready to pounce on the geth, so Celestia decided that it was a good time to intervene. She stepped between the two and held up a hoof, patiently waiting for Twilight to step back. Her student did so after a few moments, and angrily planted her flank on the ground.

“Now Twilight,” Celestia said calmly. “What happened?” Twilight paused to catch her breath, still somewhat tired out from her previous argument with Legion. When she was finished, she stood back up and approached the princess.

“Legion says that there’s something wrong with our sun,” Twilight said, peering around the tall form of the princess to glare at the geth. “It says that it’s not supposed to revolve around us.” Celestia allowed a chuckle to escape her lips, glad the offense that Legion apparently made was not much worse. When she regained her composure, Celestia extended a hoof and put it on Twilight’s shoulder.

“My faithful student,” she began. “Legion is correct.”

“What!?” Twilight shouted, surprised.

“Our sun is not supposed to orbit around Equis, Twilight,” Celestia continued. “It is supposed to be the other way around. Ours is different. I do not know why, but ever since I can remember, I have had to raise and lower the sun every day.” Legion stepped around the princess to face Twilight.

“As we stated previously,” it said. “All recorded star systems in this galaxy operate on a heliocentric model. Yours is abnormal.”

“Oh…” Twilight said, her ears falling down on her head. “I see…”

“Do not be upset, Twilight,” Celestia said, removing her hoof from the alicorn’s shoulder. “You didn’t know.” This did not seem to cheer Twilight up any, but she did turn her gaze back to Legion.

“I’m… sorry, Legion,” she said. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“You are forgiven,” Legion replied. “Shall the exchange of data continue?”

“Not quite, Legion,” Celestia said, turning to face the geth. “I need Twilight for a few moments.”

“Understood,” it said, stepping back. “We will wait here.” Celestia turned to Twilight, and motioned for her to follow. She turned to face the door, unlocked it with her magic, and stepped out, waiting for Twilight to join her before closing it again. She locked the door with a click and cast a spell preventing sound from passing through. While she did not think Legion would try spying, Celestia was nothing if not careful.

“What is it, princess?” Twilight asked curiously.

“It is about Westrock…” Celestia whispered, remaining cautious despite the spell. “The situation is getting worse very quickly, and you and your friends are going to need to stay here for quite a while.”

“I see…” Twilight replied morosely.

“Please send a letter to Spike, let him know that he is to come here on the next available train,” the princess continued. “Then you may continue questioning Legion.” Twilight nodded and turned down the hallway. She did not have to walk far to reach her room, stopping only a few doors down and disappearing into the quarters beyond. Celestia turned in the opposite direction and began to walk down the hall, heading for her private meeting room. By now, Healthy Heart would have completed her report on the disease, and Celestia was eager to learn more about it.

Silent Dart, captain of the Nighthawks and the pony in charge of the defense operation at Westrock, was not happy. He angrily barged into the quarantine zone that had been established, a simple white tent that could accommodate dozens of sick ponies. Already present were eight more Nighthawks and four medical staff, all of them no doubt waiting for the captain. The medical specialists visibly gulped at the sight of the fuming stallion, while the soldiers under his command maintained their stoic expressions.

“What happened!?” he shouted angrily, disturbing the quiet that had taken hold over the quarantine tent. When nopony responded, he simply raised his volume. “Well!?”

“Sir, we just found out,” one of the guards said quickly. “Two more ponies were kidnapped.”

“And how did the changelings get past you this time!?” the captain shouted, maintaining his anger. To the soldiers and medical staff, he still appeared as angry as ever. But in reality, he was worried. Combined with the six other ponies taken over the past three days, the two from today made eight, for a total of thirty kidnapped. Not only that, but this was the first time where the changelings had chosen to attack during the day. They were getting more confident, and that did not bode well for the Nighthawks.

“We don’t know, sir,” another guard responded. “It happened during the shift change.”

“It happened during the shift change, did it?” Silent Dart growled. “So, what? While you unobservant fools were taking your sweet time getting to your posts, the changelings just moseyed on in and kidnapped two more sick ponies?” As Dart had expected, nopony responded. The guards continued staring forward, unblinking. He was about to continue to berate the soldiers for their mistake, when an alarmed scream interrupted him.

“Hey!” a voice from the other side of the tent shouted. “I need assistance over here!” Silent Dart looked up to find that the owner of the voice was another one of the specialists. Dart and the four medical staff he had been yelling at all rushed over to the pony, who was crouched next to one of the sick. The sick pony was convulsing on his supplied bed, eyes wide in fear.

One of the medical staff, a unicorn, used her telekinesis to lower a breathing mask over the pony’s muzzle, then began squeezing fresh air into it. It had no effect as the convulsions only got worse, before the sick pony cried out with a bloodcurdling scream. His eyes went wide in pain as his chest heaved upward, and then he fell back onto the bed, motionless. As one of the medics placed a hoof on the pony’s neck, a thin bead of blood began to drip out of his nose. The medic retracted his hoof and looked on with horror at the pony.

“He’s…” he started. “He’s dead…”

Celestia strolled into her private meeting room and, as she expected, Healthy Heart was already there, sitting in a chair and reading over a file. At the sight of the princess, the pale blue mare stood from her chair and bowed politely, then stood back up, pushing stray locks of her white mane out of her eyes.

“Your highness,” she said. “You’re just in time. I just finished writing the report.”

“Excellent,” Celestia said with a smile as she took her seat. “I am eager to see it.” Heart sat back down in her seat and reopened the file, producing several documents from it. She spread the documents out on the table, starting with the one closest to her.

“This is the initial report written by Westrock’s resident doctor, who had since become ill himself,” she said, turning the document around so that Celestia could see it. “It details the appointment he had with our patient zero.” On the document was an image of this ‘patient zero’. He was an average earth pony stallion, with a brown coat and a dark gray mane. From the image, Celestia thought he looked like any flu patient would. His coat appeared pale and his eyes were drooping with heavy bags underneath them.

“A list of symptoms was provided by the patient to the doctor,” Heart continued. “He says it hit very quickly. He went to sleep feeling perfectly fine, and when he woke up he had a very painful headache. Along with that were intense stomach pains, aching bones, a mild nosebleed, dry throat, and numbness. The doctor diagnosed him as simply having the flu, gave him a quick magic treatment and some medication, then sent him home.” The mare withdrew the first document, put it back into the file, and placed the second document in front of Celestia.

“The next morning, fourteen more ponies came in with the exact same symptoms as patient zero,” she said. “By the end of the day, seventy-two of the one-hundred ponies in Westrock had come to the clinic. The next day, when the number was even higher, was when I contacted you and we had our initial meeting.” In the document that she had been handed, Celestia saw the personal reports given by each patient about what they were feeling. Each one was almost entirely identical.

“Symptoms only got worse from there,” Heart said, passing a third document to Celestia. “Ponies had shortness of breath, more frequent nosebleeds, even worse headaches, and some of the worst cases actually slipped into comas. By the time the quarantine tent was set up, over two thirds of the afflicted were unconscious.” Celestia lowered the document, staring sadly at the table below her.

“Princess…” Heart began to say. “I--”

There was a knock at the door which interrupted the chief medical officer and caused the two ponies to look to the entrance. It cracked open and a guard poked his head inside.

“Forgive me,” he said. “Ms. Heart? I have an urgent message from Westrock.” Heart nodded and stood up, then walked out the door, closing it behind her. A moment later she walked back in, looking like she had seen a ghost. Her eyes stared unblinking at the floor as she slowly moved back to her chair and took a seat.

“What is it, Ms. Heart?” Celestia asked, beginning to grow concerned. “What has happened in Westrock?”

“I…” she started. “… Two more ponies were kidnapped, and… and one pony has died from the illness…” At this, Celestia froze. She simply stared for a moment, before nodding grimly. She had hoped that a cure would be found before somepony died, but she knew that she was going to have to face the possibility.

“I see,” the princess said. “Have your specialists perform an autopsy as soon as possible. Perhaps we can find something…”

“Understood, your highness,” Healthy Heart replied, slowly standing and gathering the documents. She stuffed them back into the file, carrying it with her as she exited the room. As the door closed shut, Celestia sat back in her chair and let out a long sigh. This illness had taken a turn for the worst, and it was likely that many more were going to die.

Perhaps I should ask Legion for help, Celestia thought, briefly entertaining the idea. It most likely had superior medical knowledge, and even though the Equestrians were efficient at healing diseases, they did not yet fully understand them. The geth could have valuable knowledge that could lead to a cure…

Celestia decided to wait on the decision, and instead run it by her sister first when she saw her later that day. Luna already had a lot to do, waking her up and adding this to her plate would do more harm than good. Slowly, Celestia rose from her chair and walked to the door, then opened it and stepped out into the hallway beyond. The guard who had delivered the news was still outside, vigilantly watching the hall for any threats. As Celestia began to walk down the hall, she felt the familiar presence of the guard following closely behind her. Numerous times over the years she had tried to stop the guards from shadowing her every step, but they always insisted that it was for her protection.

Celestia sighed, choosing to simply light her horn and teleport away. When she rematerialized, she found herself in her private quarters. She walked through the spacious room, noting how it was the exact antithesis of Luna’s room. Where Luna’s room was an outright mess of various books, papers, and trinkets, Celestia kept everything neat and orderly. This made it rather easy for her to find a blank piece of parchment and a full inkwell. Using her telekinesis, Celestia began to draft a letter.

To whom it may concern,

Upon receiving this letter, four more Nighthawk squadrons are to be prepared for duty and sent out by way of chariot to the settlement of Westrock. They are to take weapons suitable for quick, quiet combat, and darker armor for stealth purposes. More orders will be issued upon arrival.

By order of the crown,

Princess Celestia

Capping the inkwell, Celestia rolled up the letter and stamped it shut with her seal, then sent it to the barracks with a simple spell from her horn. If the changeling incursions were to stop for long enough so that the medical specialists could find a cure, then some smarter operations were going to have to take place…

“And that’s when I broke the sound barrier and performed my second ever sonic rainboom!” Rainbow Dash yelled triumphantly, launching herself into the air and closing her eyes. Legion stared at the pegasus for several more moments, seemingly unamused. When it did not immediately reply, Dash slightly opened one eye to see what the delay was.

“… Analysis complete,” Legion finally said. “The action described is not possible.” Twilight sighed as soon as the words left Legion, knowing that she really should have waited before bringing her friends in to see the geth.

“What do you mean!?” Dash exploded angrily, rushing right in front of Legion’s eye. “Are you calling me a liar, tough guy!?”

“Yes,” Legion stated, much to the displeasure of the brash pegasus. “No organic can break the sound barrier without aid from any sort of super-sonic vehicle. Doing so naturally would exert gravitational forces on the individual sufficient enough to pulverize them. Additionally, a sonic boom does not result in an emission of light. That is not logical.” Dash opened her mouth to reply, but found that she had no response to the geth’s analysis. She slowly turned around and flapped over to a corner of the room, dropping to the ground in a sulking manner.

“Legion,” Twilight began, stepping forward. “I know that you have had some different experiences, not being from this world and all, but we can all vouch for Dash’s story. She has performed a sonic rainboom.”

“How?” the geth asked, extending the facial flaps outward, almost giving the illusion of it raising an eyebrow.

“Magic,” Twilight answered. “I know that you hate me using that as an answer, but it’s true. Because of our magic, we can do many things that normally wouldn’t be possible. Remember how Celestia controls the sun?” Legion paused for a second, going over what Twilight had just said. A moment later, it turned to face Rainbow Dash, who was still sulking in the corner.

“Rainbow Dash,” it said. “We apologize for our earlier judgment. Not all possibilities were considered. We will add new data to archives.” Dash turned her head just enough to expose one eye, which was glaring angrily at the geth.

“… Fine,” she said, turning around and rejoining the rest of the ponies around Legion.

“So, Legion,” Applejack said, speaking up for the first time since introducing herself. Until now, she had simply been eyeing the machine cautiously, judging to see if it really was safe. “Ya like apples?”

“This unit does not consume any organic sustenance, as you do,” it said. “All of our energy is provided by a miniature nuclear fusion reactor housed in our torso.”

“Oh…” Applejack said, stepping back.

“Well that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like parties!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up to Legion. “Well? Do you?”

“We have never attended one,” Legion answered, causing Pinkie to pause her bounces in mid-air. She gasped loudly as she dropped back down to the floor.

“WHAT!?” she screamed, her expression one of genuine surprise. “How have you never been to a party before!? Do geth not like parties?”

“The purpose of parties is to supply amusement to a group of individuals,” Legion explained. “Amusement is an organic trait. We do not experience it.” Pinkie’s only response was a twitching of her right eyelid. To her, parties were as natural as breathing. Not wanting anything bad to happen, Twilight walked up behind the pink pony and reached beneath her forelegs, then slowly dragged her away.

“Um, Legion…?” Fluttershy whispered, inching forward to fill the gap left by Pinkie. Legion turned to address the shy pegasus.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” it asked.

“What is… that?” she asked, pointing to the strange device resting on the geth’s back. Legion reached an arm back and grabbed the device, which folded out to nearly twice its original length. The middle section of the device was rectangular, with a smaller rectangle resting on top of it and a handle jutting out beneath it. The front was a long tube which ended in another small box with a hole in it. Twilight didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy just looking at it.

“This is an M-98 Widow Anti-Material Rifle,” Legion said, not seeming to care that the ponies had no idea what that meant. Rather, it continued with its description. “Using mass-effect fields, the rifle drastically lowers the mass of a miniature slug, which is then propelled out of the barrel at lethal speeds.”

“L-lethal?” Fluttershy said, her pupils growing wide. “So, it’s--”

“A weapon, yes,” Legion answered. “However, we have no intention of using it except to defend this unit.” The weapon folded back up and the geth replaced it on its back.

“Why anypony would need something like that I haven’t the slightest idea!” Rarity said, clearly opposed to the weapon.

“It is for personal defense,” Legion repeated. “Geth are not trusted in Citadel space. We must protect ourselves.” Rarity made to respond to the geth, when suddenly a flashing orange sphere on Legion’s left forearm drew all of their attention. Legion lifted its arm and the sphere expanded out into the omni-tool that Twilight had been shown a few days before.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, taking a few steps forward.

“Our ship,” it began, “it has found something.” Legion tapped on the orange cylinder a few times, before it collapsed back into its arm. “We must speak with Princess Celestia.”

Princess Celestia hurried down one of her castle’s many hallways, quickly trotting after a guard leading her to Legion’s room. According to Twilight, Legion wanted to speak with her, and it was urgent. As soon as the geth’s door was in sight, Celestia wasted no time in unlocking it and rushing inside, slamming it shut behind her.

“What is it?” she asked anxiously. All eyes in the room turned to her as Legion took several steps forward.

“Our ship has made a discovery,” it said. “We do not know if it is element zero or something else, but we believe that it could be important.”

“Very well,” Celestia said. “What do you need of me?”

“We are requesting permission to land the ship nearby, so that we may interface and download the data it has collected,” Legion explained. “Please recommend suitable landing locations.” Celestia did not immediately reply, instead cycling through her head ideas of spots where the geth’s ship could land without drawing any attention. A moment later, an idea came to her.

“The loading docks will do,” she said with a grin, pleased that the ‘urgent news’ was nothing negative. “They are quite large, and are only used by pegasi to offload cargo from chariots. At this hour, there will be very few ponies there. I will send some guards ahead of us to send them home.”

“Understood,” the geth said. “We will put the craft on standby to re-enter the atmosphere.”

“Then come,” Celestia said, turning to face the door. “Let us go.”

The walk to the loading docks was a fairly lengthy one. While the guest quarters were towards the front of the castle, the docks were all the way at the back, and further down the mountain that the city called home. Fortunately, the longer walk gave the pony guards more time to clear out the docks, and for the programs within Legion to deliberate over what the small craft may have found.

The ship had been scanning the surface of the continent for less than a week, and with a fairly average scanning system, that was not much time to make significant progress. At this point it would be fairly close to finishing scans of the northern polar region, but would not quite be within the confines of Equestria. Still, if element zero was located in the frozen north, then Legion was going to collect it. It did not matter how small or large the sample was, even finding trace amounts of the element served as confirmation that it did indeed exist on this world.

“We are nearing the docks,” Celestia said from the front of the group. As they all rounded yet another hallway, a large door came into view, flanked by two golden-armored guards. They both bowed at the presence of the princess, before standing and opening the door for the party. Celestia and the other ponies were the first to step out onto the loading docks, and Legion walked out immediately after, noticing that the two guards were eyeing the unit cautiously.

The door slowly closed shut as Legion cleared the threshold, and the unit began to scan its surroundings. The loading docks were clearly massive, they would easily accommodate for the geth’s small craft. From what Legion could tell, the docks were built right into a large alcove of the mountain, the rocky walls of which extended up for dozens of meters. Several long piers jutted out of the alcove, serving as landing spots for cargo chariots.

The main body of the loading dock was overrun with crates, all of them stacked and labelled into groups. The crates created a maze in the docks, the end of which led to a large open area that would easily fit Legion’s ship. As the ponies began to lead the geth through the crates and into the open area, Legion activated its omni-tool and called for the ship to begin its descent. A moment later they all were standing in the clearing, and the ponies began to eagerly watch the sky.

“We are trying to bring it in low, so that no ponies in the city above will see it,” Legion explained. Nodding, all of the ponies lowered their gazes to the ground, and soon they saw a long gray object racing across the grass. As it neared the mountain it began to angle up, and a moment later it shot into the loading docks, coming to a hover just above the clear area where the ponies were standing.

They all stared at the ship in awe as it hovered over them, then took a few steps back as it lowered to the ground. The landing gears deployed and touched the ground with a thump, and the engines cut off a moment later. A small door opened in the side, and Legion stepped forward, making for the door. It hoisted itself up into the opening and disappeared into the cockpit, hearing the sounds of hooves climbing up into the ship.

“Do not touch anything,” Legion warned as it activated the ship’s main computer. Once it was online, Legion disconnected from the mobile platform and integrated into the ship.

“Do not touch anything,” Twilight heard Legion say from another room in the ship. She mostly ignored the words, however, as she was far too focused on simply digesting the fact that she was in a spaceship. Wandering into the room she had seen Legion disappear into, Twilight found herself in what appeared to be the control room. There were no windows to speak of, but several flat surfaces displayed the view outside from several different angles.

In the center of the flat surfaces was a simple chair, with two more chairs flanking it, and several panels emitting light were positioned on the walls. Legion was standing in front of one of these panels, tapping its three-fingered hands on a surface similar to the omni-tool. A moment later there was a low humming, and the blue light of Legion’s eye went out. The body went rigid and the head lowered down, and all lights on the machine went out.

“Legion?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“We are within the ship,” Legion’s voice said, coming from all around Twilight. “One moment. Downloading data…. Data downloaded. Re-integrating into mobile platform.” There was another low hum, then the lights on the geth’s body came back online. The single blue eye lit up brightly, and the head looked around at its surroundings.

“What did you find?” Princess Celestia asked, coming to stand behind Twilight. The lavender alicorn jumped in surprise, not having heard her mentor enter the ship.

“One moment…” Legion said. “… Scan complete. The ship did not locate any deposits of element zero.”

“I’m sorry, Legion,” Twilight said sorrowfully. “Maybe it will find it somewhere else.”

“Maybe,” Legion agreed. “But it did find something. A signal, a coded IFF tag. We do not recognize it. This prompts further investigation.”

“What is an ‘IFF’?” Celestia asked, confused. Twilight nodded, wanting to know was well.

“It is an acronym, standing for ‘identify friend/foe’,” the geth explained. “They are used to identify ships, so that allies know when they have come across one another.”

“And there is one here?” Twilight asked. “On Equis?”

“Yes,” Legion confirmed. “We must investigate.”

“Very well,” Celestia said. “But take Twilight with you. If it is something that affects this world, I need to know.”

“Understood,” Legion said, nodding. “Twilight Sparkle, please take a seat over there.” It pointed to a chair next to the center one, positioned slightly further back from what Twilight assumed was the pilot’s seat. She quickly moved over to it and awkwardly sat down in the chair, quickly finding that was much too large for her. It was clearly meant to seat a geth, and they were nearly twice her height. Still, she managed to get into a comfortable enough position. Legion took a seat in the center chair, next to hers, and began tapping on several panels.

“Princess Celestia,” it began. “We will return to this same location tomorrow night, once the docks have been cleared.”

“Very well, Legion,” the princess said as she turned to leave. “Good luck.” Twilight heard the sound of the princess’s hooves hitting the ground as she jumped out of the ship, and the door closed a moment after. From the surfaces displaying what was happening outside, Twilight saw the ship lift itself into the air, her friends and mentor soon disappearing below her. The ship then spun around and rocketed out of the docks, soon leaving Canterlot far behind.

“Please update the map with locations of other cities in Equestria,” Legion said to Twilight. “We must calculate the safest path to this location.” Before Twilight could reply, a map of the entire continent appeared in front of Twilight. On it were three dots: one for Canterlot, where they had just left, one for Ponyville, and another blinking dot that the alicorn assumed was the location of the IFF, very near the northwestern border to the badlands. Somewhat confused, Twilight tapped a hoof on the map around where Manehattan was, and, to her surprise, another dot appeared there. Beginning to understand how it worked, Twilight pressed several more times on the map, each time bringing into existence a new dot.

“There,” she said as she tapped where the last town was. “All done.”

“Understood. Calculating path,” Legion said. “At current speeds, we will reach the location in two hours, fourteen minutes, and eight seconds.” Twilight nodded, yawning. Her day had already been a very long one, and it was beginning to look like it was going to be a bit longer. Turning over into a more comfortable position, Twilight closed her eyes and got ready for a two hour, fourteen minute long nap.

Far away from Equestria, a tall, slender figure moved leisurely through winding, stony tunnels. Despite the fact that the tunnels were hundreds of meters underground, a cool breeze moved through them, prompting the insect wings of the figure to flutter. The figure continued to walk peacefully through the tunnels, meeting none of her kin on the way to her destination.

Mere months ago, the tunnels had been barren passages of beige stone, formed over the course of a millennia by an ancient magic. Now, reflective brown metallic structures jutted up the walls, some of them with green tubes running along them, and some with no visible details at all. Slowly, as the figure began to descend further down the tunnels, the air warmed up. The amount of green tubes began to increase as they all broke through the ancient rock and conformed to the shape of the cavern walls. At the end of the passage, which appeared after a very long descent, there was a simple door. It was separated into four unequal sections, the seams of which were leaking a warm gas.

The door opened as the figure drew near, releasing a thick cloud of the gas which settled on the floor of the tunnel. The figure carved a path through it, ignoring the tingling it brought to her thin legs. The room beyond was quite a sight to see: the ceiling shot up hundreds of meters, and the chamber was wide enough to accommodate for hundreds of living creatures. With the expansions that were taking place, the chamber would soon be host to thousands. But for now, aside from the figure, only thirty individuals shared the room with her. The figure cantered over to them, watching them in their deep sleep.

Each individual was suspended in a not-so-spacious cocoon, the liquid within which was preserving their fragile lives. Two smaller green tubes linked to each cocoon, one at the top, and one at the base. The one at the top pumped more liquid into the cocoon, while the one at the bottom filtered old liquid out. Along with the used liquid was genetic material taken from the subject within the cocoon, which was then fed into a large piece of machinery completely alien to the lone figure.

She paced around each cocoon, observing each innocent subject within. To any outside observer, she would have appeared a monster, keeping these subjects for her own wicked experiments. But in reality, she was keeping them alive. Were it not for the liquid in the cocoons, they would have succumb to illness long ago.

Her pacing was interrupted as the sound of an opening door filled the room. She froze in her tracks, and focused her ears on the thumping of a new individual joining her. A shadow fell over her, and she turned to face the newcomer. He stood nearly two and a half meters high, with six ember eyes that shined brightly in the darkened chamber. His rough, chitinous exoskeleton was much thicker than the natural armor of the smaller figure, and protected him much more effectively from the invasive warm mist that festered over the floor. There was a moment of silence between the two, before the larger figure averted his gaze to the cocoons.

“How are they?” he asked her.

“Stable, for now,” she answered. “The disease is effective. It renders the subjects totally helpless, and the ponies have no idea how to cure it.”

“Good…” he said, a hint of satisfaction seeping into his otherwise emotionless voice. “How many are left to capture?”

“Seventy still remain,” she said. “But the ponies have begun to send more reinforcements. I fear that continuing to attack will only compromise the operation.”

“No!” he shouted angrily. “It must continue!” The smaller figure withdrew in fear of the larger one, hoping to spare herself from his rage.

“H-how m-many more are n-needed?” she asked fearfully.

“… More than seventy,” he responded. “I will create more samples of the disease. Prepare your agents. We are moving further inland.” She gulped down her fear, and nodded to the figure towering over her. She took a few steps back, turning to leave. Right as she was about to exit the room, she was interrupted.

“And Queen Chrysalis?” he began. She turned to face him. “Do not get caught.” The changeling queen gulped again, but nodded, then turned and quickly began her ascent back up to the main hive. The door slid shut behind her, blocking the piercing gaze of the collector with whom she had allied herself. As Chrysalis slowly trudged up the tunnel, a single thought echoed in her mind: What have I gotten myself into?

Author's Note

Here it is, chapter 8! Sorry this one took so long to get out. Aside from the ending, not too much development really occurred, and that made it difficult to get writing done. But I finally finished, and I'm quite satisfied with the product.

In other news, exam week is fast approaching, and I fear that I will not have too much time to write while it is going on. As such, if there is a delay in getting the next chapter out, that is why.

If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

“’Homeworld’ is a symbol of regret, loss, and anger. We do not understand that.”

Legion set the small craft down a few hundred meters from where the IFF was said to be, then shut off the engines. It stood from the pilot’s seat, and turned to face the sleeping pony sitting in another chair. Legion softly shook her shoulder, urging her to wake up.

“Twilight Sparkle,” it said, “we have arrived at our destination.” The alicorn stirred, and slowly, her two amethyst eyes opened wide, taking in the light.

“Legion?” she asked tiredly, sitting up in the oversized chair.

“Yes,” Legion confirmed. “Come, we must investigate.” Twilight’s eyes opened wide as she seemed to remember what she was doing in the geth ship, and quickly she shot out of the chair and landed on the floor. Legion turned and exited the cockpit, then jumped the short distance out of the door to the snow-covered ground below. The pony followed it out, immediately shivering against the sudden change in temperature. According to Legion’s internal scanners, it was -36° Celsius, which to the geth did not matter. But for the organic pony standing at its side, Legion was concerned.

“Are you able to function in these temperatures?” it asked. Twilight lit her horn briefly, and the shivering stopped.

“I’ll be fine,” she answered. “I have a heating spell that isn’t too difficult to maintain. Just if it gets too much colder, I’ll have to increase the power, and that will take more of a toll on me.”

“Understood,” Legion said as it began to walk to the source of the IFF transmission. When Legion came within a meter of where its sensors were detecting the signal, it became clear that nothing was there. All that Legion could see for miles around them was snow.

“Uh… I don’t see anything,” Twilight observed, staring at the geth.

“We do not know how long this IFF has been here,” Legion began. “It could be buried. One moment.” Legion turned and quickly jogged back to the ship, jumping inside upon arrival. It opened a small cargo container at the back of the main entry room, inside of which were two compact deployable shovels. Geth usually had no need for tools, as most construction processes were automated, but they always made sure to pack prepared for anything.

Legion exited the ship once again and returned to Twilight, who was waiting where Legion had left her. It handed her one of the shovels, deploying the tool to nearly twice its original length in the process. The geth deployed its own, and began digging right over where the IFF was. Twilight wasted no time in helping the machine to dig, and in a very short time a fairly sizeable pile of snow had built up next to them.

“Legion…” Twilight said, beginning to pant. “How… how thick is the snow here?”

“Based on observable weather patterns, it could be several meters deep,” Legion replied, continuing to dig. Twilight sighed, but resigned herself to continue digging…

Princess Luna trudged slowly through the darkening halls of Canterlot palace as beams of light from the newly-raised crescent moon began to filter through the large glass windows. On any normal day, she would now go to the dining hall to have her breakfast while her sister enjoyed dinner, she would be briefed on the events of the day, and finally she would wish her sister a good night and assume her duties. This, however, was not a normal day. On the contrary, her entire week had been the most abnormal one she could recall having. And she still remembered with perfectly clarity the years that Discord ruled Equis.

The reason that she was not going to the dining hall as per usual rested on a napkin that Luna had left on her desk. On this napkin was a hastily written note, the writing of which matched Celestia.

Meet in study.

That was all it had said. And so, for reasons that the princess of the night did not yet know, she was walking through the hallways of the castle toward her sister’s study, observing the guards changing shifts as she went. Her dark-furred ponies of the Night Watch relieved the exhausted ponies of the Day Guard, who began their walk to the barracks for a well-deserved meal. Even though they were not on duty, they still politely bowed and stood aside for the princess, not wanting to impede her progress.

A few moments later, Luna came to the door of her sister’s study. Because the door was warded against sound leaving, Luna did not hear the two ponies already having a discussion until she opened the door and saw them. Sitting behind her desk was Princess Celestia herself, and across from her was a pale blue unicorn mare who Luna recognized as being Healthy Heart.

“-don’t think you understand!” Heart pleaded, ignoring Celestia’s obvious annoyance with the mare.

“Ms. Heart, as I have said many times now, I understand fully,” the solar princess replied, turning to Luna with a look that said ‘help’.

“But-,” Heart began, before being interrupted by an armored hoof on her shoulder. The mare turned around to see Princess Luna staring at her disapprovingly. Sighing, Healthy Heart offered a simple bow before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Luna paused for a moment, watching where the mare had been, before turning to her aggravated sister.

“Some ponies, Luna…” Celestia said. “Apparently living for over three thousand years just isn’t enough to make them get that you understand.”

“Indeed…” Luna nodded taking a seat across from Celestia. “What was that all about?”

“That’s actually why I asked you to come here, sister…” Celestia said, immediately taking on a less confident countenance. “Luna, earlier today… I received news that a pony has died from the disease in Westrock.” Luna froze, not sure how to respond. She had considered the possibility, but she also was confident that Healthy Heart’s specialists would be able to devise a cure in time.

“That is not all, sister…” Celestia continued. Luna gulped, bracing herself for the news. “As of fifteen minutes ago, four more have died. I am now issuing the entire area under full lockdown. Nopony goes in or out under any circumstances.”

“… I see,” Luna said a moment later, not being able to think of anything else to say. “And Ms. Heart? What did she say you did not ‘understand’?”

“She wants to send more specialists to help,” Celestia said, standing up and stretching her wings. “But I will not allow it. No more of our ponies are going to be subjected to this illness, magical wards protecting them or not.”

“I quite agree, we must be safe,” Luna said, nodding. “But I sense that that is not all you wished to tell me?”

“No, it is not,” the solar diarch said, sitting back down. “Legion, or rather, its ship, discovered something in the north, near the badlands border. It says it is an ‘IFF’, a signal that other ships use as an identification system.”

“What does that mean?” Luna asked, quizzically staring at her sister.

“It means that another ship is here, and may have been for a while,” Celestia said. Luna simply added this new information to her growing list of reasons why this week was the strangest yet.

“I assume that Legion is up there now?” she asked, keeping her eyes focused on a single point of Celestia’s desk.

“Yes, and Twilight Sparkle is with it,” Celestia said, nodding. “It said it will return sometime in the night, which means that we have quite a while before we get answers.”

“Just more time to figure out the whole Westrock thing, I suppose,” Luna said, standing up. “If there is nothing else, I should take up my duties. And you will be getting some sleep, I assume?”

“On the contrary, Luna…” Celestia said, standing up as well. “I think this is going to be one of those weeks where I am going to have to take advantage of not requiring sleep.” Luna grinned as she turned and opened the door to her sister’s study.

“Well then, if you need anything,” she began, “I shall be in the throne room, waiting for the scores of ponies lining up to speak with me. Farewell.” With that, she exited the room and closed the door behind her, then continued on her regular path to the throne room, summoning a history book from her room to keep her busy. It was going to be a long night.

Twilight panted heavily, the movements of her digging becoming sluggish and slow. Over the past three hours, the pair had successfully dug a ten-foot deep hole, with a diameter of about four feet, and still there was no sign of the IFF. Legion had jumped down into the hole to dig from down there, while Twilight was relying on her telekinesis to do it from the surface.

“Legion…” Twilight said between breaths. “I don’t think I can… can keep digging with… this heating spell…” Her horn burned from the constant use, and occasionally her heating spell would collapse, allowing very brief bursts of freezing winds to rush across her coat before reactivating. Sweat beaded on her forehead and dampened her coat, some of it dripping into her eyes and briefly obscuring her vision. Every time she swiped her shovel under a spot of snow to dig it away, it would take even longer to repeat the process. In a very short time, she was down to a few swipes a minute.

“Return to the ship,” Legion said, not looking up from where it was digging. “It is insulated from the cold. Restore your energy there, then return and continue assisting us.” Twilight did not reply. She could not find the energy to do so. Instead she simply released her telekinesis spell and dropped her shovel next to the pile of displaced snow that had built up, then slowly trudged back to the ship. As soon as she entered she dropped her heating spell and collapsed to the metal floor, welcoming the smooth texture. Still, it was hardly comfortable, so she forced herself to stand and relocated to the cockpit, where she sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back, closing her eyes for a brief rest…

Legion continued digging after the alicorn disappeared into the ship, the motors in its arms incapable of becoming fatigued. Of course the motors could wear down over time, but with a task as simple as digging, Legion could keep it up for years if it had to. Since it had begun digging about three hours ago, the rate at which the machine dug had only increased. Much of the pile of displaced snow was attributed to its own work, though Legion did not want to discredit Twilight Sparkle. She had been an immense help, though for the past hour or so she had started to become a liability. Her movements had started to become sluggish, and were beginning to interfere with Legion’s own ability to dig. Had she chosen to stay out for a few minutes more, Legion would have been forced to send her back to the ship on its own.

But now that the mare was asleep in the ship, Legion was able to continue working. Already the hole that the pair had dug was around ten feet deep, and yet the IFF continued to be elude them. But Legion knew that it was there, and until the source of the transponder was discovered, Legion would not stop digging.

As it dug, Legion began to consider what type of ship it was to which the IFF belonged. It was no doubt organic – there were no records of geth going missing, as Legion was the only one that operated beyond the Perseus Veil. But what other organic had had the misfortune to enter the same relay coordinates as it? Perhaps a simple scouting vessel, or a trade ship, or even an organic warship. Whatever it was, Legion would find out soon.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Princess Luna sat on her throne, holding a history textbook and idly reading it while occasionally glancing up at the door, hoping against hope that just one pony would come to speak with her in her court. The only other ponies present were her guards, and they were far from effective conversationalists. They had not moved since taking up their positions, only occasionally glancing around for threats to their princess.

While previously that had simply been part of the job, Luna now felt that her guards actually cared for her safety. From what she had heard, her public appearance in Ponyville several days prior had scored her some valuable reputation points. Ponies were less apprehensive around her as she wandered through the palace, and now the guards actually seemed to care about the life they were tasked with protecting. Luna smiled at the thought, and continued reading her book.

The founding of Ponyville in 1873 Fall of Discord had a profound effect on the region in which it was built. The once empty fields became home to acres upon acres of apple groves, first planted by the Apple family who moved from the dying fields of Trottingham following the Equestrian Soil Crisis. Additionally, it provided a halfway point between the quickly-expanding southern frontier and the capital at Canterlot. It attracted earth ponies from other nearby settlements, most notably from the settlement of Hoofville, built on the base of the Foal Mountains. Hoofville was originally established as a mining town, but ponies were driven away after the gem deposits that were thought to stretch for miles turned out to only go a few meters underground.

The sudden influx of migrant workers from failed settlements created a prominent working class, many of whom settled down in the town and whose descendants are now successful ponies. The workers did jobs for very low wages, allowing the town to be built up and maintained with relatively few bits. However, once the majority of construction had completed, many decided to leave. The majority went to Manehattan searching for work in the growing industrial department. The first elected mayor of Ponyville was--

“Ahem.” A pony coughed from in front of Luna. The princess of the night looked up with a start, and was surprised to find Healthy Heart standing in front of her. Checking the clock hanging near the thrones, Luna found it to be very early, only around 5am. That being the case, the chief medical officer did not appear tired at all. Instead, she stood in front of the princess, keeping her posture straight.

“Forgive the intrusion, your highness,” she said with a quick bow. “But I believe that we should speak.”

“What about, Ms. Heart?” Luna asked, setting her book aside.

“The disease at Westrock.” At this, Luna sighed. She shook her head before addressing the mare.

“Healthy Heart, was my sister not clear when she said that no more ponies were to go there?” Luna asked, sitting back in her throne.

“Of course your highness, but…” Healthy Heart faltered, picking her words. “… I believe that she was incorrect. Princess, this disease spreads with an effectiveness that we have never seen before. As such, it is imperative that we cure it as soon as possible. The only way to do that is to send more of my specialists!”

“If it spreads like nothing we have ever seen, then how can you be sure that sending more ponies is not going to put them in danger as well?” Luna asked.

“Our magical wards have never failed us, your highness, and I think--”

“Ah-ah-ah,” Luna interrupted, waving a hoof. “Hang on.” She picked up her history book with her telekinesis, and flipped it open to a page fairly early on. Once she found the page she desired, she cleared her throat and began to read.

“In the year 1204 FD, a disease hit the small settlement of Manehattan. It spread at an alarming rate, soon infecting over half of the population, which at this point was no more than five hundred. Under orders of Princess Celestia, the chief medical officer, Vibrant Pulse, sent forty-five medical specialists to cure the disease, all of them protected by magical wards. This proved to be ineffective, as the wards were unable to protect the specialists from the disease. However, a cure was found eight months later, and the disease is now known as the chicken pox.”

Luna closed the book shut. “See, your wards don’t always work.”

Healthy Heart frowned, her eyes flitting back and forth as she tried to find something to say. The corners of Luna’s mouth turned up, though just enough that the medical mare would not see it from where she stood. A moment later, Heart sighed, and turned around.

“Excuse me, your highness…” she said as she began to walk away. She opened the throne room door and disappeared outside, slamming it shut behind her. Sighing, Luna picked her book back up, opened it to where she left off, and continued reading…

Twilight Sparkle slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes with her hooves and soon her vision returned to normal.

“Legion?” she asked, looking around the cockpit of the ship. It was empty, looking untouched since she had come in only a few hours before to get some rest. Twilight shakily got to her hooves, placing a hoof on a control panel until she regained her balance. While most of her energy had been regained in her rest, she still felt fatigued. Even so, she probably had enough energy to continue digging for at least another hour or so. If they didn’t find anything by then, Twilight was ready to call it a hopeless effort.

Twilight stepped out into the entry room of the ship, noticing streams of sunlight beginning to shine through the open doorway. When she had gone to sleep, the moon had still been high in the sky, as it was only a few hours past midnight. If Twilight had to guess, she’d say it was now about five or six in the morning.

Activating her heating spell, Twilight jumped out of the ship and landed softly in the thick snow below. She looked around for Legion, and while the geth was not visible, Twilight could still see occasional tufts of snow being thrown out of a large hole in the ground, adding onto an already towering pile. Twilight trotted over to the hole and looked in, finding the geth still digging.

“Still nothing?” she asked. Legion did not turn around to acknowledge her, but it did make a strange stuttering noise that Twilight thought sounded a bit annoyed.

“No,” it replied. “Since you went to sleep, two more feet of snow have been removed. There are still no signs of the IFF signal, or the ship to which it belongs.”

“Could your ship be getting false readings?”

“Unlikely.” Twilight stood on the edge of the hole, waiting for Legion to elaborate. When it didn’t, the princess simply sighed and grabbed her shovel, which was still lying on the ground where she had left it several hours before. She swooped it back down into the hole, digging right into the center. Only this time, rather than immediately coming back up with a new load of snow, Twilight heard a soft ding. Legion clearly heard it as well, as it stopped digging and looked to Twilight’s shovel.

“Bring it up,” it commanded. Twilight did as it said and placed the load of snow onto their displaced pile. They both started quickly digging over the same spot, and soon spots of dark metal were beginning to become visible, standing out against the white snow. Legion discarded the shovel and got down onto its knees, clearing the rest of the snow with its hands. When it was done, a round metal hatch was visible.

“Target located,” Legion noted. It looked around the hatch, as if it was searching for some way to open it. When nothing presented itself to the machine, Legion instead activated its omni-tool and waved it over the hatch. A moment later the omni-tool faded away and a green rectangle appeared on the outside of the hatch. In the middle of the rectangle was segmented circle, broken into four parts. Legion pushed its hand into this circle, and the apparition pulsed, then faded away. The hatch receded an inch into the ground, then diverged into two halves with a puff of steam.

Beyond the now-open hatch, Twilight could not see anything. It was complete and total darkness. Legion brightened its single photoreceptor ‘eye’, and shined it into the open hatch. From what Twilight could see at the top of the hole, there appeared to be a ladder that disappeared far down into the ground. Wishing to get a closer look, Twilight concentrated on the bottom of the hole, then disappeared in a flash before reappearing again next to the geth.

“This warrants further investigation,” it said. “From just the hatch, we cannot determine the origin or manufacturer of the vessel. We must go inside.”

“I’m coming with you,” Twilight said, waiting for the inevitable pushback from the geth.

“Very well,” it said, surprising the alicorn. She had completely expected the machine to deny her, and to force her to stay outside. But Twilight was not going to push the issue. Motioning for Legion to go first, she stepped back and allowed the machine to begin the descent down the ladder into the dark ship. Once Legion was out of sight, Twilight jumped down the hatch, using her wings to slow her descent until her hooves landed softly on the metal floor of the mysterious ship. Legion was only a few feet away, shining its eye at the walls, trying to determine architectural styles.

“Standardized airlock,” it noted. “Used in almost all organic ships to make trade more efficient. We must go further in.” With that, it walked to a door on one side of the room. Twilight followed it, using her horn as a light. It was more powerful than Legion’s eye, and brightened most of the room, revealing it to be quite small. It was only a couple of meters in either direction from the ladder, which was stationed in the center of the room.

On the two walls across from the ladder were doors, both of which lay dormant. Legion once again waved its omni-tool, and the same green rectangle from the hatch appeared. Legion pressed it and the door slowly slid apart, the unused mechanisms making quite a lot of noise from inside the walls.

“The power plant is likely depleted,” Legion said as it walked into the hallway that was now open to them. “The IFF operates on emergency power, though it is very close to being depleted as well. This is likely why we did not detect the transponder immediately after we arrived.” Twilight nodded, wishing that she had brought parchment and quills to take notes of everything she saw. Instead she would have to commit it to memory, which she never liked doing for fear of forgetting.

Legion led the princess down a very long hallway made of a dark brown, reflective metal. The metal refracted the light that came towards it, causing all reflections to appear wavy, as if they were underwater. The only part of the hall that was not metal was the floor. Instead, it was made of a beige stone, which was occasionally interrupted by metal supports. Twilight found the whole situation very eerie. Whatever Legion was thinking, it was not showing it. Instead it simply kept walking down, although at a more hurried pace.

“Legion?” Twilight asked, speeding up briefly to catch up with the machine. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes,” Legion said. “We simply require confirmation.”

“Confirmation of what?” Twilight was beginning to grow nervous. Legion did not respond to her question. Instead, it simply sped up once again and rushed to the end of the hallway, where yet another door lay dormant. Legion repeated the process of activating it, and when the door opened, Twilight’s jaw dropped. Stretching out before them was a massive chamber. The far wall was at least a hundred meters away, and the floor stretched dozens of meters below them.

Legion urgently waved Twilight forward, and the two stepped onto a hexagonal platform immediately out of the door. Legion pressed a button and the platform descended to the bottom of the chamber, allowing the two to explore it. Lining the room were hundreds of cocoon-like pods. They stood about as high as the geth, with most of the front side being transparent. Each pod was empty, and most had been knocked off of their position on the wall, likely in the crash.

Legion ignored the pods, however, and moved to a raised dais in the center of the room, on which was a waist-high metal pillar. Legion stepped onto the platform and approached the pillar, which lit up at the geth’s presence. Several apparitions of screens appeared, each one displaying something in a language the Twilight Sparkle did not recognize. Legion read each screen, then waved its arm, causing them to change. The geth repeated the process several times, before finally it stepped off of the dais and turned to Twilight.

“We must return,” it said, beginning to walk back to the elevator platform.

“Wait!” Twilight called, causing the geth to stop. “I thought you said we would return at night?”

“This is too important,” Legion explained. “Your kind may be at risk.” Beginning to grow worried, Twilight trotted behind the machine and joined it on the elevator. It lifted back up to the door, and the pair wasted no time in sprinting down the hallway back to the airlock. However, when they reached the airlock, a bit of snow that had gathered on the ground beneath the ladder stopped them in their tracks. Legion slowly approached the ladder, and Twilight was not far behind. They both looked up the hatch, and Twilight was dismayed to see a blizzard raging on outside.

“Oh…” Twilight said, falling back onto her haunches. She looked at Legion, who was staring up at the storm. “I don’t suppose your ship can fly in that?”

“Our sensors indicate that wind speeds are exceeding one hundred eighty seven kilometers per hour,” Legion said. “While the ship could technically operate in that, the snow provides another obstacle. It has likely already begun to gather in the heat dissipation vents. If the engines cannot dispose of their heat, they will overload. Additionally, navigation equipment can be disrupted by hazardous weather conditions.”

“So we’re stuck here?” the princess asked, her face falling.

“For the time being, yes,” Legion answered, stepping away from the hatch. Sighing, Twilight got to her hooves and walked in a circle around the room, coming to a stop in front of the geth.

“Well then maybe you could tell me what has you so worried?” she asked Legion.

“There is a large quantity of data to exchange on the subject,” it replied. “We would prefer to do it with all princesses present.” Twilight sighed once more, but decided that arguing with the machine would be fruitless. Instead, she sulked over to one of the walls and sat down against it.

“Then maybe we could talk for a little?” she asked. Legion did not answer, but it walked over to the pony and sat down next to her.

“Topic?” Twilight narrowed her eyes, trying to think of a good question to ask Legion. They had covered all of the important bases, like society, history, and some personal experiences. When Twilight finally settled on a topic, she was not sure if Legion would be up for discussing it.

“What about… your creators?” she asked, watching the geth to gauge its reaction. If it was uncomfortable, it did not show it. “You mentioned them when we were going over history, but since then… nothing.” Legion paused for a moment, likely thinking over how to answer. Through it all, it remained staring forward.

“… They are called the quarians,” Legion finally said, which was a fact that Twilight already knew. “A bipedal dextro-amino acid based species from planet Rannoch. They average one-hundred sixty-seven point six four centimeters in height, and due to a weakened immune system must at all times wear special environmental suits. They--”

“Legion,” Twilight interrupted. “I meant… what are they like? What’s their story?” Legion paused for a moment, reassessing the question.

“… Recorded quarian history stretches back two thousand, five hundred and eighty two years,” it began again. “Compared to other organic species, they gained technological dexterity relatively early on. Whereas species such as the humans only industrialized around three hundred years ago, quarian industry using more complex tools and processes started nearly a thousand years ago.

“Six hundred and forty-seven years ago, quarians successfully achieved orbit around their own planet in a spacecraft. Ten years later, they visited their moon. Five hundred and twelve years ago, they made first contact with the other species of the Citadel. Two hundred years after that… we were created.

“Ever since their exile, they have roamed the galaxy in a massive Migrant Fleet. Some wish to wage war on us and retake their homeworld. Others are content to find a new one. Unfortunately, the latter group is a minority. They do not realize that the geth never intended for them to be exiled. We hold no grudge.”

“You really do regret chasing them away, don’t you?” Twilight asked, truly starting to believe the geth. “Have you had any contact with quarians since then?”

“The entirety of the geth consensus? No,” Legion answered. “This unit? Yes. The human ally we mentioned before, the one who defeated the Heretics. He was building a team to assist him in a mission, which we eventually joined. A member of that team was a quarian. Her name is Tali’Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya.”

“That’s quite a name,” Twilight noted. “How did she react to working with a geth?”

“Initially, Creator Tali’Zorah was apprehensive around us,” the geth said. “She held us at gunpoint. Fortunately, she was talked down. We tried to explain to her that the geth regretted their actions. We do not know if it had any effect, but by the end of the mission, she did trust this unit more than she had previously.”

“Well, I guess that that’s some progress…” Twilight said, yawning. She looked around, noticing the small pile of snow beneath the ladder beginning to grow. “This storm could be going on for hours…”

“You should rest. Your energy will be needed,” Legion said. Twilight nodded, and curled up next to the geth, resting her head against the cold metal side of the machine. If Legion was bothered by it, it did not let Twilight know. Twilight closed her eyes, and in no time at all she let sleep wash over her.

Princess Celestia walked through the endless hallways of Canterlot palace, not letting the fatigue that she felt be reflected on her face. She had raised the sun only an hour or so ago, then returned to dealing with Westrock. However, once her abilities to deal with the situation had dried up, she decided to pay a visit to her sister, to see how she was doing.

Celestia pushed open the doors to the throne room, taking in the large hall. From the front door of the throne room, the hall stretched for a hundred meters, where it ended at a raised dais, upon which were two thrones, each one with colors matching its owner. Sitting in one of the thrones was Princess Luna, holding what looked like a history book. Celestia smirked, finding it amusing that her sister had been back for three years, and yet was still not caught up in history.

Luna noticed the arrival of somepony new, and raised her head to see who the guest was. When she saw Celestia, she smiled widely.

“Hello, ‘Tia!” she called from the end of the throne room. Celestia chuckled to herself and walked the rest of the distance to the throne before replying.

“Hello, sister,” Celestia said. Luna stood up from her throne, appearing amused. “What is it?” Luna held up a hoof to her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter.

“Oh, nothing…” she said, failing to retain all of her laughs. A few escaped from her upturned mouth, which began to make Celestia anxious.

“Luna, what did you do?” Celestia asked, sighing. Luna held back a few more laughs, before turning her history book so that the pages faced the solar princess. Celestia squinted, reading the small text.

In 1904 FD, following the failed attempt of seventeen royal ponies to court Princess Celestia at the Grand Galloping Gala, Princess Celestia is quoted as saying, “All of these dignitaries can kiss my--

“Hey!” Celestia said, swiping for the book. “I thought that they stopped printing that edition!” Luna dodged Celestia’s swipe, but her last comment caused the princess of the night to fall into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She fell to the ground, dropping the book in the process. Celestia grabbed it in her telekinesis, then teleported it to her own bedchambers. When Luna regained her composure, she looked at her sister slyly.

“So you really told all of those ponies to go and do that?” she asked, smiling devilishly.

“… Yes,” Celestia sighed. “But what that book neglects to mention is that they all tried courting me at the same time. You try rejecting seventeen stallions who all want the same thing.”

“Oh, it’s not that, sister,” Luna said, wiping away a few tears that had collected beneath her eyes from her laughter. “It’s just I can never imagine you swearing. You always were the prim and proper one, after all. I was more the type to tell somepony off. What did I say to that young prince from Saddle Arabia? Something about his--”

“Conversations we do not need to be having!” Celestia interrupted, shaking her head. Luna grinned, and stuck her tongue out.

“See,” she said. “Prim and proper.” Celestia sighed again, trying to think of a way to change the subject.

“So, did anypony visit you over the night?” she asked, although she had a fairly good idea of what the answer was.

“Yes, actually,” Luna said, surprising Celestia. “Though it was not a citizen with a question… It was your chief medical officer, Healthy Heart.”

“And what did she have to say?” Celestia asked curiously.

“She said that she thought you were wrong about not wanting to send more ponies to Westrock,” Luna explained. “So I formally and eloquently told her to ‘deal with it’, and sent her on her way.”

“Hmm…” Celestia said, unamused. “I shall have to have a chat with her about that later today. For now, does breakfast sound good?”

“Indeed it does,” Luna said, stepping off of the dais. “I haven’t eaten since I woke up.” Celestia smirked, and the two walked out of the throne room, heading for the dining hall.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes flickered open, and she found herself still in the airlock of the strange vessel. While a fair bit of snow had collected on the ground, Twilight noticed that no more was falling through the hatch, which seemed to be a good sign. Sitting up, Twilight realized that Legion was exactly where it had been when the princess fell asleep.

“Legion?” she asked. “Did you move at all?”

“No,” Legion answered. “We were analyzing data.”

“Oh,” was all Twilight had to say. She stood and walked over to the hatch, then looked up into the sky. It was still day, though it did look like the sun was on the decline. More importantly, the blizzard had stopped. “Not sure if you noticed, but the blizzard stopped.”

“We did,” Legion said, standing up to join Twilight at the hatch. “We were waiting both for you to wake up, and for night to begin its approach. Coincidentally, both happened within close timeframes to one another. We believe that if we leave now, it will be night by the time we reach Canterlot.”

“Good,” Twilight said. “You can finally tell us all what’s the matter.” Legion nodded, as it grabbed onto one of the ladder rungs with its hands. Hoisting itself up, Legion began the long climb to the surface. Fortunately, because it was a machine, it made the journey fairly quickly. Once it was up, Twilight focused back on the hole they had made and teleported herself to it. The amount of snow that had fallen had made their hole significantly less deep, enough so that Legion was easily able to climb out of it. For Twilight, another simple teleportation spell did the trick. They both headed back to the landed ship, which had accumulated a layer of frost throughout the storm, ready to return to Canterlot.

Celestia and Luna each stood side-by-side at the edge of the castle loading docks, eagerly awaiting the return of Legion and Twilight Sparkle. Standing behind the princesses were the five remaining Elements of Harmony, and being them was a small squad of guards. Celestia honestly didn’t think the guards were necessary at this point, but they were quite insistent.

“Sister, the night lasts a long while,” Luna whispered to Celestia. “They may not be back this early. I did just raise the moon, after all.”

“I know,” Celestia whispered back. “But it is important for us to be here. Legion seemed… troubled… that that IFF was there. It could be important.” Luna snorted quietly.

“Legion, troubled?” she asked. “What that must have sounded like!” Celestia allowed herself a grin. It was true that the machine was emotionless, but it still had slight vocal inflections to emulate tone. That combined with the flaps around its eye made for some rather telling emotions.

“Uh, princess?” Rainbow Dash said impatiently from behind the two diarchs. “I don’t see that ship anywhere. This could take hours!”

“Patience, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. Not a moment after the words left her mouth, a silver dot appeared on the horizon. “Here they come now.”

The wait for the ship did not take long. The ship moved incredibly fast, so fast that it only took a few minutes for the ship to move from the horizon to the outskirts of Canterlot. It came to a hover in the loading docks, then landed on a platform, the side hatch opening. A moment later, Twilight Sparkle and Legion both jumped out, landing on the deck below. Twilight appeared anxious, like she had been told bad news but did not know what to make of it. Legion had its facial flaps extended out all the way, and the iris around the blue eye was spread all the way out, giving the impression of panic or feeling rushed. It hurried over to the princesses, and said quickly:

“We must speak. The collectors are on Equis.”

Author's Note

Here is chapter 9! I actually had a bit more time to write than I originally thought, so this didn't take me too long.

It also occurs to me that I am horrible at PR. Normally for the first several hours after a chapter is posted, and the first couple of days, you all leave your comments, many of which are questions. I hardly answer any, as I'm often off doing something else. I'm going to try and be better about responding to your questions or comments, so that I can clear some things up.

As usual, if you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

“All memories will be shared. All perspectives will be unified.”

“We must speak. The collectors are on Equis.”

Celestia stared at the machine, puzzled. She did not know what a ‘collector’ was, nor did she know why the geth was so disturbed by their presence.

“Pray tell, what is a ‘collector’, Legion?” Luna asked, confused.

“We should speak about it indoors,” Legion said. “There is an abundance of data to transfer.” Celestia nodded, and began to lead the group back inside. The guards made way for the group and pushed the door open, revealing the lush hallway beyond.

The hallways in this section were completely devoid of life, as the docks had closed only an hour before Legion and Twilight had returned. However, further in, the castle was still bustling with life. To limit the amount of ponies who would see the geth, Celestia ducked into a small lounge normally used by the dock workers on their breaks. She ignited several candles with her magic, then stepped aside and let everypony else into the small, comfortable room. They all filed in, with Legion taking up the rear, and took seats in whatever chairs they could find. Legion stood in the middle of the room, and suddenly all attention was on the machine.

“Alright, Legion,” Celestia said. “Tell us, what is a collector, and why does it have you so worried?”

“A collector is an alien species known to exist beyond the Omega Four relay,” Legion said, stretching out its left forearm. The orange omni-tool came to life on it and displayed an apparition of an insectoid bipedal creature, with four glowing amber eyes. On its back was a set of wings that appeared too small to be of any actual use, but then again, they were aliens.

“They have rarely been sighted by organics, as they keep primarily to themselves,” it continued. “Until very recently, we had no data on them. However, when we were able to gather detailed information on their species, we found that they actually were a race of aliens that existed fifty thousand years ago. They have undergone extensive genetic modification that has turned them into nothing more than soulless machines.”

“… Sorta like you?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled angrily, glaring daggers at the cyan pegasus. All others in the room had much the same reaction, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane. All of the faces slowly turned toward Legion, gauging its reaction.

“Rainbow Dash,” Legion began. “It is statements like that which prompted us to rebel against our creators. Statements which killed millions. Please, keep an open mind.” Dash’s face fell in embarrassment as she lowered herself to the ground. There was silence for a moment, before the geth continued.

“The collectors received their name because of their affinity for paying other organics to gather things for them; materials, technology… even other organics. Recently, their main base was destroyed by this unit along with several other organic allies.”

“If they were destroyed, then how are they here now?” Luna asked.

“We are getting to that,” Legion said, tapping on its omni-tool. The image of the collector changed to a simple flat surface with scrolling lines of data on it. “When we interfaced with the main computer, we extracted as much data as possible. Most was corrupted, but two very important pieces of information survived. One, they crash landed here due to unknown mechanical failures. Two, it occurred almost exactly three years ago.”

“Three years…” Celestia repeated. “Then how much of a threat are they to us?”

“I agree with my sister,” Luna added. “If they’ve been here for three years, and they haven’t done anything to hurt us yet, then how do we know they are a threat? Maybe none even survived the crash.”

“No bodies were located at the crash site,” the geth answered. “And collectors are hostile to all except for other collectors, or organics with whom they are allied. They are a threat to all.”

“Legion, I won’t deny that you know more about this topic than the rest of us,” Celestia said. “And I will send researchers to determine if any collectors still live. But it has been three years, and not once in that time has anypony seen anything resembling a collector. I do not believe there is any real danger.”

Legion shook its head, not accepting the answer. "Princess, we request that you reconsider. The collectors have captured hundreds of thousands of organics. They have managed to cull entire colonies. They are a significant threat."

"Then why haven't we seen any?" Luna asked, an eyebrow raised. "Three years is a long time. Even if some survived the crash, they could have died later on. Or, if some still live, they are certainly nowhere near Equestria. We have other, more pressing concerns right now. We cannot spare scouts or soldiers in a search for aliens that may or may not be alive."

“… Very well,” Legion said, almost reluctantly. “While we believe that more caution is necessary, we will defer to your judgement.”

“Excellent,” Celestia said, smiling warmly. “If that is all, then I believe that I should send a science team to go have a look at that ship. Everypony else, you should get some sleep.” The six Elements nodded, then all turned and exited through the door. Princess Luna excused herself to begin her nightly duties, leaving Celestia alone with Legion.

“I’m sorry if it seems like I am ignoring your warnings,” the princess said. “But I have lived on this world for thousands of years. I will investigate the crashed ship to see if anyone could have survived, but for now, I believe it is best to simply continue with life.”

“We understand,” Legion replied. “We will retire to our quarters.”

“The guards will escort you,” Celestia said as Legion began to exit the room. It turned, nodding, and continued out into the hallway beyond. Once it exited, two guards took up positions on either side of the machine, leading it down the hallway. With that out of the way, Celestia flared her horn, and teleported herself to her private study.

Queen Chrysalis walked with purpose down the line of filled cocoons, observing the sleeping occupants of each one with a motherly stare. Even though she knew what their ultimate purpose was, she still saw them as living beings with plenty of love to feed off of. There now rested forty-five of the pods, each one keeping its diseased pony alive just long enough. Occasionally the occupants would twitch, floating gently in the sea of green gelatinous liquid. It was constantly being filtered through the pods, taking a little piece of the ponies with each cycle.

Only a few hours ago she had sent more of her dear changelings out into the treacherous land of Equestria, and with them went a very delicate piece of cargo. The queen herself did not understand exactly what it was or how it was made, all she knew was that it rendered the ponies totally helpless against the waning might of the changelings. It was true that their defeat at the hooves of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor only a year prior had greatly weakened the changelings, almost to the point of no return. But they had endured through it, barely managing to survive on what little love they could find in the harshness of the badlands.

They had been near to death when the collectors came. They had offered her a great many things in return for their help, but the most important reward to her was that they promised the kingdom of Equestria. After their plan was through, they had said, nopony would stand in the way of her. There would be nopony left to, after all. As uncomfortable as Chrysalis felt around the alien insects, she really had no choice. It was either help the collectors, or die of starvation while the last of her species died around her.

Chrysalis’s observation of the pony prisoners was cut short as a semi-organic door at the back of the room slid opened, and two pony unicorns stepped inside. They remained in that form for a moment, before they both shimmered green and retook their true forms as changelings. They each bowed before their queen, then stood back up, awaiting orders.

“Report on the mission,” Chrysalis commanded.

“Everything went according to plan, excellency,” one changeling reported. “We left the device right where you ordered, nopony suspected a thing.”

“Excellent,” Chrysalis said, allowing herself a smile at the victory. “Go, feed. You have earned it.” The two bowed once more, then turned and scurried out of the room, clearly excited at the prospect of being allowed extra feeding. Even with the power that the collectors had granted them, food was still scarce.

The sound of a door opening echoed through the chamber, this time on the opposite side of the room. Chrysalis heard heavy footfalls impacting on the stone floor as the giant collector captain entered. She turned around and, gulping, looked up at the six glowing eyes.

“All has gone well, I assume?” he asked, his voice coming from an unseen mouth.

“Y-yes, it h-has…” Chrysalis said, allowing her authority to be challenged by the gargantuan creature. He clicked several times, satisfied.

“Good,” he said. “The effects shall be noticeable soon. Prepare your hunters. They will need to be ready, before any guards or doctors arrive.”

“I will,” Chrysalis said, averting her gaze. The captain made to exit, but was halted as Chrysalis held up a hoof. “But, wait… This method of infecting and kidnapping… It is not sustainable. As long as we keep doing it, the Princesses will keep sending soldiers to defend the towns. Soon enough, it will get to the point that we cannot infiltrate successfully.”

“... I see,” the captain stated, not allowing any emotion into his voice. “Then I am giving you another task: find a way to… cut the head off the snake, so to speak. Hit the ponies where it will hurt, where they will not be able to quickly recover. Understood?”

“Understood,” Chrysalis nodded. She turned and left through the back door, not at all comfortable around the collector. She knew that the collectors and changelings were not that different in terms of anatomy, but there was still something off about them that greatly disturbed the queen.

Perhaps it was the total power that they wielded over the queen, with an air of authority which showed that they did not care at all about her position as ruler of the changelings. Or perhaps it was the monotony with which they performed all tasks. To Chrysalis and the rest of the changelings, feeding was a great and complicated task, one that they did not do casually. To the collectors, it was just another process. No one questioned, no one complained. They were like machines, all of them simply doing what they were told for the sake of the plan.

Whatever it was, Chrysalis could not change it. She did not want to risk the shaky alliance that had formed between her and the collectors. One small incident could shatter everything that had been accomplished over the past months, and would without a doubt spell the end for the changeling race. So, without questioning her orders, Chrysalis began to walk through the maze of stone tunnels to prepare her hunters. They had a lot of work to do.

“Alright, let’s try this again… Two ponies walk into a bar. They are both college students, not being able to afford any of the fancy drinks that everypony else is drinking. The first pony says to the bartender, ‘I’ll take some H2O’. The bartender gives him his drink, he drinks it, then goes to dance. The second says, ‘I’ll take some H2O too,’ gets his drink, and drops dead.”

Legion paused for a moment, going over the ‘joke’ that Luna had just told it. Legion never had that wide of a grasp on organic humor, but this one, at least to it, was fairly obvious.

“This is considered a joke because ‘H2O2’ is the chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide,” it said to the night princess. “Because it is hazardous to organics, the pony died.” Luna sighed at the analysis.

“Yes but the actual joke comes from the pony meaning ‘I want some water also,’” she said, getting annoyed. Legion paused for another moment, going over the new data.

“We understand,” Legion said. “Adding data to archives of organic humor. Do you have any more for us?”

“… No,” Luna shook her head, sighing. “You don’t appreciate them. But that’s fine, we can find something else to talk about.”

“Topic?”

“Well… I have been curious: what is the galactic community like? I imagine it must be quite different than pony culture.” Legion mulled over the question for a moment, trying to come up with an accurate response.

“It is actually not dissimilar from your own society,” it finally answered. “Each individual is unique. They value freedom of thought and speech, and seek to avoid conflict.”

“Interesting…” Luna said, her eyes wandering around the room. She still did not understand why they had given the geth an actual bedroom, as it looked like everything had been completely untouched. The machine required no sleep, so that eliminated the need for the bed, and its legs never got tired, so the lounge chair was not necessary either. Honestly, Legion had seemed quite content in the interrogation room.

“We have an inquiry,” Legion began. “Should you not be performing your nightly duties?”

“Ah, yes… That…” the princess of the night said, disinterested. “Well, to be quite honest, nopony ever comes to visit me at my night court. It usually just serves as a reading session…”

“Why is that?”

“Well…” Luna paused, not sure if she was comfortable with telling Legion about her banishment. It was a topic that she was still sensitive about, she even had trouble discussing it with her sister. Sharing it with an alien was something that had never even crossed her mind.

However, the geth had proven itself to be trustworthy. It had a strong enough grasp on their ‘organic’ mannerisms to know when to keep something to itself, and it could offer new insight on the whole situation. Gulping down her fear, Luna decided to recount her tale.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” she began, watching to see if the geth would stop her. When it did not, she continued. “A little over a thousand years ago, Equestria was beginning to enter a golden age. We had just come out of a string of wars lasting several centuries, and now that they were over, ponies were beginning to settle back down. My sister and I ruled happily with the knowledge that our subjects were finally safe.

“But, as time went on, I began to notice… I began to notice that nopony stayed out during my night. During the wars many would stay out in case of attacks, so that they could run before the enemy arrived. But with our enemies defeated, nopony saw the need to go out at night. But during the day, they would bask in the sunlight and enjoy it. They went through all of their schedules during the day, but as soon as the darkness came, they would scurry inside and hide in the light. In a very short amount of time, ponies even began to question the need for the night.

“I got jealous. Who wouldn’t, right? Everypony likes your sister’s special talent more than yours, it’s perfectly natural to feel a little bit of envy. But I… I never tried to stop it. I never talked to anypony about it, I just sulked in my jealousy and let it consume me from the inside out. I felt so much sadness, that I was no match for the envy that raged within me. In time it gained dominion over me, and took control of me. One night, when the time came for me to lower the moon to allow my sister to raise the sun, I would not do it. I remember feeling pain, more pain than I had ever experienced before, and then, nothing…

“I was a slave in my own body. I could see, but I could not move my eyes. I could hear, but I could not control the words coming out of my mouth. I had become a dark thing: a spirit, called Nightmare Moon. My sister tried to talk me down… she tried to help me. And what did I do? I tried to kill her. I almost succeeded, too… But she used an ancient magic, the Elements of Harmony, and tried to tear away at the evil which had consumed me. But the Elements were never meant to be wielded by one pony alone... In the end, she had to resort to banishing me to the moon for a thousand years, to simply delay my takeover. Three years ago I returned and well… Let’s just say that some wounds never fully heal. Some ponies never forget.”

Legion did not reply. Rather, it stared at the princess, the flaps around its eye parted slightly. Its shoulders hung loosely, and the iris that served as an eyelid was mostly closed. Luna thought that the machine almost looked sympathetic. She stared at it, and began to notice that a mist had formed around her eyes. She wiped the tears away, turning around.

“Anyway, most ponies still do not trust me, so my night court is almost always empty,” Luna finished, sniffling. She did not care that Legion had no emotions, she did not want to cry in front of it.

“We are sorry,” Legion said suddenly, surprising the princess. Luna turned around, still forcing back her tears. “We… sympathize… with you.”

“Oh?” Luna asked curiously, wondering what the geth could mean.

“Geth are treated similarly to you by the galactic community,” it explained. “They fear that which they do not understand. We mean no harm to organics, but they allow previous events to define us.” Luna smiled at the comparison, and wiped away more tears.

“Thank you, Legion,” she said. She had not expected Legion to draw such a comparison, but she was glad that it did. “Well, visitors or not, I should probably get back to work.”

“Understood,” Legion said. “We must perform scheduled system maintenance. We have been delaying it for four hours now.” Luna smiled and nodded her farewell. As she turned to leave the room, she saw it activate the omni-tool on its left arm. Luna opened the door and walked out, noticing the two guards still standing at the ready. Smirking, she turned to face one of them.

“You are dismissed,” she ordered. The guard eyed her curiously.

“Your highness, are you sure?” he asked. “This machine could still be dangerous.”

“I do not believe that that is the case,” Luna reiterated. “Please, you are dismissed.” The two guards stayed put for a moment longer, as if they were unsure of whether or not to follow the orders. Finally they both sighed, then turned and began to walk down the hallway, back to the barracks. Luna smiled as she turned and walked in the opposite direction, towards the throne room.

In the middle of her journey, the princess of the night was intercepted by Princess Celestia. The solar diarch fell into step next to her sister, not speaking for several moments. Instead she eyed Luna, as if she could tell that something was wrong.

“Have you been crying, Luna?” she asked, concerned.

“’Tis nothing, sister,” Luna replied, smiling. “I am fine.”

“Very well,” Celestia said, dropping the issue. “Were you just with Legion?

“Oh, yes. I was just talking with him.”

“Him?”

Luna stopped in her tracks for a moment, going over in her mind what she had just said. She had not meant to say it, it had just… come out. Accident or not, Luna nodded and decided to roll with it.

“Yes,” she said. “Him.”

“Are you sure you are alright, Luna?” Celestia asked, confused.

“As I have already stated, I am perfectly fine,” Luna said. “I just believe that calling Legion ‘it’ is unfair, as he is a fully sentient being, is he not? I think he deserves that much.”

“Very well,” Celestia conceded, nodding. She clearly still did not fully understand Luna’s sudden change in attitude towards the geth, but now was not the time to question it.

“So, Celestia, why did you come to seek me out?” Luna asked, continuing to walk down the halls to the throne room.

“Well, I heard word that somepony wasn’t doing her nightly duties,” Celestia answered. Luna looked at her curiously, still walking. “Of all the nights to skip, it probably shouldn’t have been this night.”

“Why is that?”

“Because, you have a visitor in the throne room.”

Legion watched as the princess left the room, idly typing on its omni-tool. With a few simple commands, Legion ordered its ship to leave the docks and return to scanning the planet from space. In a few hours the sun would be up, and ponies would once again be at work in the docks. It did not want its craft to be discovered. As it began to go over data, Legion heard Princess Luna begin to speak from outside. Amplifying its microphones used to capture sound, Legion crept towards the door and leaned in, attempting to hear what was being said.

“You are dismissed,” it heard her say. There was silence for a moment, before Legion heard a reply.

“Your highness, are you sure?” another voice asked. Legion was not positive, but it sounded like one of the two guards that was constantly stationed outside its door. Luna went on to confirm her orders, and a moment later the geth heard the sound of armored boots marching down the hallway. This did not make sense to Legion. It was an alien on their world, a potential threat that they were doing their best to keep secret. And yet Luna had just dismissed the one thing protecting the ponies from Legion.

Confused, Legion walked back to the middle of the room and reactivated its omni-tool. It scrolled through several pages until it reached one for system maintenance, then began to run the various processes. The first was a diagnostic to find any problems in either the hardware or the software, followed by eight-hundred and fifty-two updates to improve system efficiency. Legion shut down most of its systems, only leaving on the photoreceptor so it could see. And as the updates began to run, Legion loaded several dozen pages of logs, ready to go over the events that had taken place the last few days…

Luna smiled with her eyes partly closed while she listened to the concerns of one of her citizens for the first time in over a year. Up until this point, only five ponies had actually come to her night court. Of those five, only one had a concern. That concern had ended up being the availability of lemonade in towns that had to import lemons, but it was a concern nonetheless.

Although it appeared that Luna was caught up in her memories, she was actually listening intently to the stallion that stood before her, taking in every word and putting together an appropriate response for the pony. This concern was not nearly as petty as the lemonade one; in fact, it actually made quite a bit of sense.

He was concerned about land ownership in the north, near the border to the northern polar region. Because Celestia had signed a treaty eight-hundred and forty years ago with other major world leaders saying that nopony could lay claim to the north, he was concerned with expansion of his family’s rock farm. It currently was bordered on all sides by other rock farms, so the only way they could expand was to the north, into the sovereign polar region. The stallion claimed that it was unfair that they could not expand because they were locked in place by other farms, almost as though they were an enclave.

“And that is why I think that the Treaty of 1163 should be amended to allow for expansion of farms in the north!” the stallion finished, clearly satisfied with his argument.

“Thank you for bringing your concern to me, my little pony,” Luna replied warmly. “To me, it seems that the best way to solve this would be to schedule an appointment with the International Committee on Land Expansion. I will forward a message to them, telling them to expect you. If you deliver your argument as well to them as you did to me, I believe that they will allow you to expand.” The stallion smiled as he turned to leave.

“Thank you, your highness!” he said excitedly. For a brief few seconds after that, the only sound in the throne room was the sound of the stallion’s hooves hitting the floor as he exited the room. The doors closed shut behind him once he was clear, and the room was once again filled with silence. Luna was about to pick up her history textbook to continue reading it, when she heard another door open behind her. From a small room at the back of the throne room came Celestia, who trotted up to the princess of the night.

“How did it go?” she asked, smiling curiously.

“Actually, quite well,” Luna said happily. “He had a real concern, and I actually felt like I was being of use.”

“See? You just need to get yourself out in public, and let ponies begin to trust you again.” Luna nodded in agreement, still delighted that somepony had actually come to her for help.

“I have some work to get done, sister,” Celestia said, turning to go. “Enjoy the rest of your court.” Luna waved goodbye, flipping her book open the page on which she had left off. She was not expecting any more visitors tonight, but there was no harm in being optimistic.

Twilight Sparkle awoke to an incessant knocking on her bedroom door. Her eyes cracked open at the sound, and bright light streaming in through one of the windows threatened to blind the princess, causing her to recoil back. Closing her eyes again, Twilight jammed a pillow over her ears and struggled to return to the comfort of sleep.

“Twilight, are you in there!?” came a muffled call from outside. Twilight’s eyes shot open as she instantly recognized the voice. Shooting out of bed, Twilight rushed for the door and opened it, immediately taking Spike in in a large hug.

“Good… to see you… too…” Spike said, struggling to breathe from the sudden assault. Twilight realized her mistake and released the dragon, patting him on the head.

“It’s good to see you, Spike,” she said, smiling. “I missed you.”

“Yeah, sorry it took me so long to get here,” he said, stepping further into the room. “Train schedules have been crazy the last few days. After you commandeered that train for yourself, all of the following trains were basically a day late. Took me ages to get booked on the one that got me here.”

“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight laughed, closing the door. “How has Ponyville been?”

“Fine,” the dragon replied. “I got the Crusaders to watch over the library. They were pretty much the only ponies I could get on such short notice, so if we get home and the library is burnt down, it’s not my fault.” Twilight laughed again as she relieved Spike of his bags and placed them on the far side of the room.

“But enough about me,” Spike said. “How about you? These past few days must have been crazy with that thing around.”

“That thing has a name, Spike,” Twilight reprimanded. “Its name is Legion. It is a machine built by another race of aliens that came here by accident and is trying to return home.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Isn’t it!” Twilight agreed. “Just to think that a galactic community has been thriving for thousands of years, and we’ve been none the wiser this whole time!” Spike knew better than to disagree with the alicorn mare when she got this excited, so he simply smiled and nodded in agreement.

“So where is it?” he asked.

“A few doors down from us. It was performing maintenance the last time I checked,” Twilight replied. She was about to continue when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Turning around, Twilight approached the door and opened it, revealing the towering geth looking down upon the princess.

“Twilight Sparkle,” it said as a poor excuse for a greeting.

“Legion?” Twilight poked her head out of the door, looking from side to side. “Where are your guards?”

“Princess Luna dismissed them. We have come here on our own.”

“Oh. Well, what did you need?” Legion entered the room and Twilight closed the door behind it. Legion’s single eye passed over everything in the room, finally settling on Spike, who froze at the sight of the machine. Twilight trotted over to the dragon, and pushed him towards the geth.

“Spike,” she began. “This is Legion.”

“Uh… Hi?” Spike said, eyeing the geth cautiously.

“Hello, Spike,” Legion greeted. “Twilight Sparkle, what is this? We observed him at your home, but did not get a chance to speak with him.”

“Spike is a dragon, and he’s been my best friend since I was a filly!” Twilight said, happily reliving the memory. “He just got here from Ponyville, where we came from a few days ago.”

“Understood,” Legion said. “Now, the reason that we sought you out was to ask you a question.”

“Go right ahead.”

“We have been observing the attitudes of your princesses. They are disturbed, but not by us. Something else is occurring. What is it?” Twilight froze, trying to think of a response. She did not know if she was allowed to tell anypony else about the disease at Westrock and the changeling incursions.

“It’s… nothing, Legion,” she said, though the geth clearly noticed that she was dodging the question. “Everything is fine.”

“… Understood,” Legion said, not pushing the issue. Twilight was glad that it at least understood when not to keep questioning. “That is all. We will return to our quarters.” Legion turned and exited the room, closing the door behind it. Twilight was able to hear the geth’s heavy footfalls as it walked back to its room just a few doors down.

“Well… That was interesting,” Spike observed. “What did it mean when it said ‘something was wrong’?” Twilight shook her head as she walked into the center of her room.

“It’s the original reason that the girls and I were called here,” she answered with a sigh. “The changelings…”

Princess Luna walked through the halls of her castle, shielding her eyes against the rising sun. Her sister had raised the sun only an hour ago, and Luna was glad that her nightly duties were ending. Aside from her one surprise visitor, the night had been long and uneventful. Her talk with Legion had been nice, but there were only so many things that she could talk about with him.

Luna ended her walk through the castle at a featureless wooden door. She pushed it open and revealed a lush room beyond. One wall was entirely a window, offering an unobstructed of the morning sun, which streamed in and lit the room. The opposite side had a large fireplace, within which was a roaring fire. Across from the fireplace were several lounge chairs, and seated in one was Princess Celestia, who was sipping some tea and reading over some documents. She looked up to greet the visitor, and smiled when she saw Luna.

“Hello, Luna,” she said. “How did the rest of your night go?”

“’Twas uneventful, sister,” Luna replied. “What of you? Was your night more exciting than mine?”

“I doubt it,” Celestia said, chuckling to herself. “Unless you find economic reports enticing, it was quite boring. For now I’m just taking a break until my court begins…”

“Well, allow me to join you,” Luna said, stepping further into the room and taking a seat at a lounge chair across from Celestia’s. She picked up a teapot from a small table between the two chairs, and filled up a matching cup almost to the brim. She sipped on the hot drink, allowing the liquid to soothe her. She was about to strike up a conversation when the door flew open and Healthy Heart stood in the portal, looking incredibly worried. She rushed inside, forgetting to offer even a short bow.

“Your highnesses!” she cried. “We have a problem!”

“Ms. Heart, please, just tell us what is the matter!” Luna begged, following the anxious mare though the castle back to her office. The medical wing was on the exact opposite side of the castle from the lounge, which apparently meant that running was acceptable. Already the mare had almost bowled over four guards, not even offering an apology before continuing down the hall.

Finally they came to her office, which was considerably less spacious than both Luna’s and Celestia’s. A desk was crammed against the back wall with an uncomfortable looking leather chair behind it, and bookshelves lined the walls, filled with medical tomes and files of documents. Heart grabbed what looked like a letter off of her desk, and threw it up in front of the two princesses faces.

“This was just sent to me by a friend of mine in Appleloosa,” she said, panting. “He’s the resident doctor there. A colt came in this morning with certain symptoms that have only been seen in one other place.”

“… Westrock,” Celestia whispered quietly as she finished reading the letter. “The disease has spread!?”

“Yes, your highness,” Heart confirmed, beginning to regulate her breathing. “We need to contain it.”

“I do not understand,” Luna began. “How did it spread?”

“We have no idea, princess,” Heart said. “Nopony from Westrock has had any contact with the outside world since the quarantine. And while Appleloosa is the closest settlement to Westrock, they are still separated by well over a hundred kilometers.”

“Send some specialists, Ms. Heart,” Celestia ordered. “Luna, prepare your Nighthawks. I have a feeling that this disease isn’t the only thing coming to Appleloosa.” Both mares nodded, and immediately got to work. Luna rushed out of the room to prepare her soldiers, while Heart began drafting a letter. Celestia stepped out of the office and sighed heavily. She did not know why, but she was beginning to feel that the changelings and this disease were connected somehow. Taking on a stern expression, she began to walk down the hallway to her own office. She had a letter to write.

Author's Note

Happy Holidays everyone! Okay, I know I'm a couple of days late, but still. I wanted to get this chapter out on Christmas day, but to do that I would have had to rush it, and then it wouldn't have been as fleshed out or 'complete' feeling.

But anyways, ten chapters already! This story is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself. But please, let me know what you think! I will take any suggestions under consideration to see if they would fit in this fic.

As usual, please report any spelling/grammar/lore errors to me so that I may fix them. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

“Organics do not know each other’s minds. Geth do.”

To the guard Captain of Appleloosa,

Due to the discovery of a yet-unnamed disease in your town, the Royal Equestrian Government sees fit to place the settlement of Appleloosa under quarantine, effective immediately. Said quarantine will last for an undetermined period of time, until either the disease has been eliminated, or is no longer seen as a threat to the ponies of Equestria. Twelve medical specialists and forty Lunar Nighthawks will be arriving by nightfall to secure the town and keep it quarantined. Upon their arrival, you and all other guards are relieved from active duty.

By order of the crown,

Princess Celestia

Celestia dropped the quill from her telekinetic grasp. It floated slowly to the table, coming to rest just a few inches from the completed letter. Sighing, Celestia rolled the letter up, closed it with her royal seal, and sent it on its way with a burst of magic from her horn. Her task done, the princess sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes.

It was still difficult to accept. She had thought that the disease was quarantined in Westrock, but the fact that it had spread raised many questions. The most obvious was: how? Nopony from Westrock had had any contact with anypony from Appleloosa, that much they were positive about. The disease could have been airborn, but Appleloosa was in an arid biome, with very few winds. Westrock was much less arid, but the absence of winds was still evident. Even if there were strong enough winds, reports from pegasi showed that no air currents had been placed between the two settlements, so the disease could not have travelled there by air. And with no waterways connecting either settlement, that also eliminated travel by water.

To Celestia, the most likely conclusion was that the disease was placed in either town. Westrock was the closest pony settlement to the badlands, with Appleloosa being the second-closest, just a couple hundred miles further south. The real question that this conclusion raised was: who? No species on this planet had the technology to artificially create a disease, let alone spread one. The closest would be the zebra, who had a far stronger control over potions. But they were friendly with the ponies, and had no motive for an attack. The only species living in the badlands were the diamond dogs, who were technologically behind by hundreds of years, the dragons, who used no technology, and the changelings, who were far too weak. No, no species on this planet had the capability to conduct such an operation.

… On this planet. Her eyes widening, Celestia quickly shot up from her chair and sprinted out of her office, startling the two guards standing outside. A moment later they fell in behind the princess, not even letting her obvious alarm prevent them from doing their jobs. With as much speed as she could muster, the alicorn princess sprinted through the hallways, set on finding one individual: Legion.

Princess Luna eyed Legion cautiously, watching its every move. The geth itself had his single eye set on a chessboard placed between the two, calculating his possible moves. Even though he was a machine with an infinite capacity for knowledge, Luna had managed to capture a fair number of his pieces, though he still had far more of hers. Finally, after what seemed like years, Legion picked up a piece and moved it several spaces, coming alarmingly close to Luna’s side of the board.

“It is your turn,” Legion said, waiting for the princess to make her move. Luna eyed the board, looking at all of the possible routes she could take to capture at least one more of Legion’s pieces. When she found no obvious ones, she sighed, annoyed.

“’Organics’ are much more fun to play with…” she said as she picked up a piece in her telekinesis. Changing her mind, she put the piece back down and picked up another. A moment later she placed it on the board, then sat back and watched the geth.

“… That move is not legal,” he said. Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, moving the piece back to where it originated.

“All’s fair in war…” she muttered to herself.

“How long have you been getting away with cheating?”

“I do not cheat!” Legion did not change his stare, seeing right through the princess. Luna sighed, then spoke again.

“Twenty five hundred years…” she said as she slid the same piece across several tiles on the board. This, unfortunately, brought it right into a trap that the geth had devised. Legion theatrically knocked her piece over, then picked it up and added it to his pile. Luna sighed, exasperated. No matter what tactic she tried, Legion always had a counterattack prepared. The downside of playing with a machine, she thought.

Their game was interrupted as the door to Legion’s room burst open and Celestia ran in, her expression one of anxiety.

“Legion!” she yelled. Legion stood up and walked over to the solar princess.

“Yes, Princess Celestia?”

“The ‘collectors’ you mentioned yesterday, you said that they captured other species?” Legion nodded affirmative. “Did they ever experiment with diseases?”

“Numerous times,” he answered. “Most recently was a plague on space station Omega targeted at all species except for humans and vorcha. It was later discovered that the vorcha were planting the disease for the collectors.” Luna stood to join the two, then stared at her sister, concerned.

“Celestia, what is it?” she asked.

“I was just thinking,” Celestia began. “This disease is like nothing we have ever witnessed before. Its properties, we do not know. We don’t even know how it spreads. Now, what species on Equis has the capability to do something like this?”

“Well, no species, but--”

“Exactly. No species on Equis,” Celestia then looked at Legion. “I believe that the collectors that crashed here three years ago are responsible for the spread of the illness.”

“Please, elaborate,” Legion said. “What ‘illness’ do you speak of?” Luna looked to Celestia, waiting for permission, before she turned to Legion.

“Around a week ago, only a few days before we encountered you, an illness was discovered on one of our frontier settlements called Westrock,” she explained. “We ran dozens of tests, trying to find what it was. It was not viral, bacterial, or genetic. No foreign entities of any kind were detected by our specialists. This disease spread to infect the entire settlement, minus the specialists and soldiers we sent, who were given magical wards. But earlier today… We received word that the disease spread to another town called Appleloosa. We had Westrock entirely quarantined, it’s not possible that the disease could have spread. It seems that my sister believes that the disease was placed there.”

“Yes,” Celestia confirmed. “By the collectors.”

“Interesting hypothesis,” Legion said analytically. “What are the symptoms of this disease?”

“High fever, full body aches, nosebleeds, and eventually… death.”

“Disease does not match any known collector plagues,” Legion said, activating its omni-tool. It began scrolling through a screen of information, likely other diseases that it had encountered. “It is similar to the flu, though the effects seem far more severe.”

“They are,” said Luna. “Most of the afflicted have entered comas.”

“But Legion…” Celestia began. “I was wondering… Since you are far more technologically advanced than us… Would you help us with finding the cure?” Legion paused for a moment, thinking the proposition through.

“Our ship is not equipped with any medical facilities,” it finally said, causing the faces of the two princesses to fall. “… However. The crashed collector vessel may. We will need to return there immediately.”

“Will you need anypony to accompany you?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Legion answered. “We will need a team of your best technicians to assist us in reactivating the collector ship’s power source. It is entirely depleted, both primary and emergency. No technology inside will function. We can siphon energy from our own ship, but we will need assistance in setting it up. Additionally, Twilight Sparkle has proven herself to be capable. She will be useful.”

“I will go prepare our technicians, as well as my lead medical officer, Healthy Heart,” Celestia said, stepping away from the geth. “Luna, please let Twilight know to head down to the loading docks. Also, clear them out. We wouldn’t want anypony seeing Legion’s ship…”

“At once, sister,” Luna replied, running out of the room and heading down the hall to find Twilight. Celestia remained for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the geth.

“Even if you don’t find anything…” she began. “Thank you for trying.” She then turned and exited the room, closing the door behind her. With nothing else to do, Legion tapped on its omni-tool, commanding the ship to return to the loading docks.

Queen Chrysalis observed the newcomers being carted into her hive with a satisfied smirk. The disease had spread even more quickly in Appleloosa than in Westrock, thanks to some alterations made by the collectors. This had made it incredibly easy for her changeling hunters to slip in and kidnap forty ponies from the settlement.

Appleloosa was considerably larger than Westrock, the previous census coming in with just under 850 residents. Each new kidnapped pony was being brought in in the standard cocoons, each one hovering a few inches off of the ground. A mixture of collectors and changelings escorted the pods, taking them to the main chamber of the hive where the Westrock ponies were being stored. Suddenly, a familiar shadow fell over the queen, giving her a moment of anxiety. Taking a deep breath, Chrysalis turned around to face the giant collector captain standing behind her.

“Status?” he asked, his golden eyes glowing brightly in the dark hive.

“The disease has spread and forty afflicted ponies have been kidnapped,” Chrysalis reported, satisfied. “I have already sent my hunters back out to retrieve more.”

“Very good,” the collector said. “But it is not yet enough. I will prepare more samples.” He then turned and began to walk away. Chrysalis began moving at a trot, keeping up with the massive strides of the collector.

“Please, I must advise against that,” she warned.

“And why is that?” the collector asked, continuing to walk despite her protests.

“My changelings are still weak, and if we spread ourselves too thin, it may give the ponies the edge that they need to discover a cure. And there is still the issue of the princesses sending reinforcements...” The collector stopped and turned to face the queen, looking down on her with his shining eyes.

“I thought I told you to find a way to stop the flow of reinforcements,” he said. Chrysalis nodded, averting her gaze.

“Yes, and… I have been thinking,” she began. “But it is not exactly an easy task. The Equestrians are stronger than us, and they have home field advantage. I cannot strike at Canterlot, not yet. If I really want to hit somepony important, like the princesses themselves, I will have to wait for them to leave the city.”

“Then do just that,” the captain said. “I will still make the samples, but we shall hold off on the distribution. Time is growing short, Chrysalis. Our plan must be completed, and soon. Find a way to weaken the Equestrians so that we may continue the kidnappings.” Without another word, he turned and continued walking down the tunnel of the hive. Chrysalis did not follow him; she was too busy thinking over her orders. Waiting to strike could take ages, especially if the princesses began to wise up to the collector plot.

Sighing, Chrysalis shook her head and began to walk in the opposite direction. She would send out scouts to keep watch on Canterlot; if the princesses left the security of the city, the queen would need to know. If she failed to fulfill the captain’s orders… she feared to imagine the consequences.

Twilight Sparkle trotted down the halls at the back of Canterlot castle, following behind several other ponies on their way to the loading docks. She still was not entirely sure why she was following them. Only a few minutes before, Luna had told her to go to the docks, as Legion was returning to the collector ship. Hopefully she would receive answers from the geth when she arrived.

On her way to the docks Twilight had been intercepted by a pony named Healthy Heart, a unicorn mare with a pale blue coat, and an even lighter mane. She introduced herself as the chief medical officer of the Equestrian government’s medical division, and joining her were several medical specialists, all of them loaded down with notebooks and equipment.

Along with Twilight and the doctors was a small team of technicians. They claimed that Legion needed help with something once they arrived at the crashed ship, and they were there to help. The procession moved quickly down the halls, and finally they came to the doors of the docks. To Twilight’s surprise, Princess Luna was waiting for them there.

“Your highness,” Healthy Heart said, bowing. “We are ready to depart.”

“Very well,” Luna said, looking over the group. “Legion’s ship just arrived. Go on in.” The door spread open and the ponies all trotted quickly inside. Twilight held back, instead deciding to speak with Luna about the situation.

“Luna, what’s happening?” she asked. “Why is everypony down here?”

“Celestia and I told Legion about the illness,” the princess of the night reported. “He has agreed to help us, but the only medical technology on the planet that is equipped to deal with the disease is on the crashed collector ship. He has requested that you accompany us to help in curing the disease.”

“It – er, he – wanted me to help?” Twilight asked, surprised. “But I don’t know that much about healing magic or diseases! Why would he want me?”

“He claims that you are a capable pony and can be of assistance,” Luna explained. “Now come, it appears that they are boarding.” Twilight looked beyond the door into the loading docks and, as Luna had said, the others were already boarding Legion’s ship. Legion himself stood next to the entrance, watching each pony as they entered. Twilight and Luna trotted into the docks to join the group, and hopped on to the ship. Legion jumped on last, then began to address the group.

“This craft is fit with stabilizers to help you remain standing during flight,” he began. “But please, remain careful during the journey. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, please join me in the cockpit.” He turned and entered the cockpit, followed by the two ponies he had requested. Legion took a seat in the middle chair of the cockpit, and Twilight and Luna took seats in the two chairs flanking him. The doors all closed, and Twilight heard the sound of the engines coming online through the thick hull of the ship. They slowly hovered off the ground, and the landing gear deployed into the bottom of the ship. A moment later the engines fired, and in only a few seconds the capital was behind them.

“Laying in course for collector vessel,” Legion said, tapping on several controls. “Estimated time to arrival: two hours, thirty-six minutes, fourteen seconds.” Twilight watched an apparition of a map that had appeared in front of her as the small dot that represented their ship slowly drew nearer to the flashing dot in the northern polar region: the collector ship.

Legion navigated the ship through the Equestrian countryside, careful to take a path which would not reveal them to the pony population. They had not been flying for long, but Twilight Sparkle had already fallen asleep in her chair next to Legion’s. Internal cameras also showed that several of the other ponies that had accompanied them had fallen asleep as well. Princess Luna remained awake, though she did not speak. Instead she simply stared forward, her brow furrowed in worry.

“What has you troubled?” Legion asked, turning to look at the princess.

“It’s just…” she started. “The collectors are creating this disease and the changelings are distributing it. Why? I understand the motive of the changelings, but we have never met the collectors. Why do they poison us, why do they kidnap us?”

“In most recorded occurrences involving collector kidnappings, the purpose remains unknown,” Legion said. “The most likely reason is that they intend to study your kind. However, why they have specifically chosen your species is unknown.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I doubt that they anticipated a geth coming here,” Luna said. “Legion… If you can find a cure… We will forever be in your debt.” Legion paused for a moment before making its response.

“… If.”

Luna gulped nervously and nodded before continuing to stare forward, her brow furrowed. Legion turned and once again focused on piloting the ship, though it was easily capable of holding a conversation and flying at the same time. Most of the flight functions were automated anyway. But it was clear that Luna was not interested in conversation right now, so for the time being, Legion decided to maintain a respectful silence for the princess. Checking the timer, Legion found that only an hour remained in their flight. Beginning to prepare the landing processes, Legion continued flying to their destination.

A thump shook the small ship as it landed, sending vibrations throughout the structure and waking the sleeping Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes shot open as the shock passed through her body and her head rapidly looked side to side, trying to discern where she was. She settled down when she recognized the familiar cockpit of Legion’s ship, and her eyes passed over the geth sitting in the chair next to hers.

“There already?” she asked, yawning.

“Yes,” Legion responded, standing up. “We have much to do. Haste is recommended.” The geth stepped away from his chair, revealing Princess Luna sitting in the next chair. She stood up as well and followed Legion out into the main room of the ship. Twilight hopped out of her chair and followed them both into the room filled with medical specialists and technicians.

“We have arrived,” Legion reported. “The hole to the collector vessel access point is just outside. Please exit in an orderly fashion.” The ponies did as they were instructed and jumped out into the freezing snow one by one. Luna kindly lit her horn and expanded a field of warmth over all of them, as she was the only pony with enough magical power to perform such a task. Legion exited last and closed the door to the ship, then walked over to the hole that he and Twilight had dug only a couple of days ago. Twilight noticed that, while the hole was still there, it was significantly shallower than she had remembered. Fortunately the hatch was still visible. Legion turned to face the technicians, and began to speak.

“You will assist us in establishing a link between our transport and the collector vessel,” he said. “Until that is done, everyone else please remain here.” Legion motioned for the technicians to follow him, before he jumped down into the hatch of the ship.

Legion landed in the airlock of the collector vessel with a loud thud, and turned up the brightness on its photoreceptor for use as a flashlight. Not long after Legion landed, several of the technicians entered behind it and began looking around the small airlock. Legion’s eye settled on a panel on the wall, and it quickly walked over to it. The geth ripped the panel off of the wall, revealing a circular hole and a small control panel. The technicians all crowded around it, observing the technology.

“This is a standardized power transfer port,” Legion explained. “We have a matching one on our ship. We will accompany two of you back to the surface, then assist you in preparing our end. The rest of you remain down here, and await further orders.” Legion turned back around and, followed by two technicians, began to climb up the ladder. It did not take long to reach the surface, and in no time at all it was back standing next to its ship. The two technicians were already beginning to pant from the climbing, but they stood next to the geth, waiting for their task.

Legion opened a similar panel on the outside of its ship, revealing the same circular hole and control panel. The only difference was that the control panel was lit up, whereas the one on the collector vessel had been offline. Grabbing a cable, Legion plugged one end into the circular hole, then passed the other to one of the ponies.

“Please transport this to one of the technicians inside,” it said. “We will tell you the proper command sequence required to activate the power transfer.” With a nod, the technician gripped the cable in its mouth and ran back to the hatch, disappearing inside shortly after. A moment later, the control panel flashed, informing the geth that the cable had been plugged into the collector vessel. Legion pressed several buttons to engage the power flow from its side, then turned to face the one remaining technician.

“On the panel in the collector vessel, there should be a flashing green indicator,” it began. “Please inform your colleague that he is required to press it for the transfer to begin.” Nodding, the technician ran back into the hatch and disappeared inside. Several seconds passed before Legion’s panel began pulsing green, and indicator that the power flow was ready. Legion pressed several more buttons to confirm the transfer before stepping away to rejoin the medical ponies at the entrance to the ship.

“Power transfer has been initiated,” it reported. “We will now have access to the rest of the collector vessel. However, the power supply used by our ship is insufficient to power the entire collector ship. Please do not reactivate anything without our permission. You may enter.” The specialists all eagerly entered the ship, quickly climbing down the ladder to join the technicians in the airlock. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna entered last, and Legion climbed down after them.

By the time it reached the bottom, the airlock room had become quite crowded. It was not a large room and, not including the geth, there were fifteen ponies present. The room had never been intended to host this many organics. Legion pushed its way through the crowd, heading for the door that it had not entered during its last visit. The emergency power had almost been depleted, and it was finally used up during the geth’s data download from the computer in the pod room.

Legion waved its omni-tool over the featureless metal door, prompting a simple door control to flicker into existence. It pressed the center of the control, causing it to pulse and commanding the door to split apart. The mechanisms controlling the door whirred behind the walls as they pulled the door apart, allowing a glimpse into a hallway quite similar to the other one that Legion had seen. The only differences were that this one stretched on much further than the previous hall, and the walls had several doors lining them on either side. Deploying its sniper rifle, Legion cautiously stepped into the hallway and approached the closest door. It repeated the process of waving its omni-tool, and when the door opened it revealed a simple storage room.

“What is it?” Princess Luna asked, coming to stand next to the geth.

“Storage,” Legion answered. “Unimportant to our task. We must move on.”

“But think about what could be in there!” Twilight Sparkle protested, appearing on the other side of Legion. “It could help pony society become more advanced!”

“We do not have the power to reactivate every single room aboard this ship, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion explained. “And even if we did, you should not wish to use alien technology to advance yourself. There are multiple paths to the same end. Do not take a shortcut and risk sacrificing the journey.” Twilight stared at the geth quizzically, clearly not fully understanding what it was referencing. Legion did not bother to explain, instead it closed the door and moved down the hall to try another one. When the door opened, it yielded much more promising results. Legion stepped into the room and moved its eye around, scanning the contents.

The room was quite large, though not nearly as large as the pod room. Along one wall were several empty pods, all of which were closed. On the adjacent wall were terminals and tables with various pieces of machinery, some of which Legion recognized as being similar to organic medical devices. Others were totally foreign even to the geth, their purpose likely buried away somewhere in the ship archives.

Curiously, there were several spots on the tables that were completely empty. It was an inefficient use of space, which the collectors were quite guilty of with many of their constructs. However, on these blank spaces were marks that made it look like machinery had once occupied them. Legion stepped up to the tables and scanned over them with its omni-tool and, sure enough, it was detecting residue left over from pieces of absent machinery. It turned to face the crowd of ponies that had followed it inside, then spoke.

“There are several pieces of missing machinery,” it said.

“Do you think that the collectors took them to create the disease?” Luna asked, trotting up to the geth.

“That is a likely hypothesis,” Legion said, nodding. “However, most of the machinery remains. If we can get it online, we will try to cure your disease.” A unicorn mare walked up to Legion, observing the machinery as she walked. Legion remembered Princess Luna informing it that her name was Healthy Heart.

“Then should I call for a sample to be brought?” she asked.

“Yes,” Legion answered. “Preferably one living and one deceased target of the disease.”

“Very well,” Heart said, turning around. “I’ll have two ponies brought up from Westrock, one living and one dead. They should be here before nightfall.” She trotted out of the room and disappeared into the hallway. Twilight Sparkle watched as she left, then turned her head to Princess Luna, worried.

“What about us?” she asked. “If we bring that disease here, aren’t we all at risk?”

“There is always a risk,” Luna said. “But the magical wards used by Ms. Heart’s staff have proven to be effective at keeping the disease away from them, at least for now. We will all use the same wards as long as we are here.” Twilight nodded, but did not seem any less worried than before.

Legion stepped up to one of the many pieces of machinery and waved its omni-tool across, attempting to make a scan. A moment later the results came up, indicating that the device was a simple centrifuge, likely for blood. For now it would leave it offline, as there was no sense in activating something that may not even help with finding the disease.

The next machine was a fair bit smaller than the centrifuge, and a simple visual scan confirmed that it was nothing more than an electron microscope. Fairly basic, but it would come in handy for observing small samples. Legion pressed several buttons on it, reactivating the device, before it then moved down to the third piece of equipment. Legion was just about to scan it when its eye passed over the three pods on the other side of the room. Crossing over to the closest one, Legion waved its omni-tool and made a scan.

Curiously, this pod did not have the same purpose as the ones on the collector base, beyond the Omega Four relay. While those were intended to siphon genetic material from the host, this pod had no such mechanisms within it. Instead it appeared to be only for scanning. This would be useful for running scans of the afflicted, to better narrow down the possible types of disease. Legion reactivating the pod, but decided not to touch the other two. Activating one would likely draw a large amount of power from the transport outside, activating two or three would without a doubt deplete it. Stepping away from the pods, Legion returned to the machinery and, with nothing else to do until the sick ponies arrived, continued its scans.

Queen Chrysalis sat alone in the main chamber of her massive hive, staring out over the dozens of filled cocoons that had just recently arrived. Over a hundred now filled the chamber, and the walls were starting to become a new storage place for them. Several of the pods that could not fit on the floor were stuck to the walls with a resilient green paste, still hooked up to the liquid-bearing tubes that entered through the bottom and exited through the top.

However, it was not on the pods that Chrysalis held her attention. Instead, she focused on a single point on the floor, trying endlessly to come up with a plan to weaken the ponies, just in case the plan of waiting did not work. A full-on assault was out of the questions; even with collector support, they were vastly outnumbered and wouldn’t make it a mile into Equestria before being discovered. However, there were few options other than a full on attack. Clandestine operations to weaken pony government could work, but it would be incredibly risky and would be a process to spread out over months. According to the collectors, months were all that they had.

Sighing, Chrysalis closed her eyes and wished that the changelings still held their strength from thousands of years ago. Before the unification of the three pony tribes, changelings had no fear of going out whenever they pleased. The ponies were decentralized and were easy targets for the collective might of the changelings. But then the three tribes had united under one single banner, with Princesses Celestia and Luna in charge. One of their first royal operations had been the weakening of the changelings through battles of attrition. The ponies were stronger and more resilient than the changelings, they were able to outlast any engagement that was fought between the two. Eventually, Chrysalis, who at the time was no more than a young queen, had ordered a full retreat to the furthest reaches of the badlands, where no ponies had yet dared to go.

The road had been harsh to the changelings. Frequent assaults from diamond dogs and dragons along the way had weakened them even further, and by the time they had reached the western coast of the continent, the furthest away from Equestria that any living being had gone, there were no more than two thousand changelings left alive. It had taken thousands of years for them to reach the might required to attack Canterlot, and even that had failed. If they could not win then, how could they win now?

No, Chrysalis thought. She could not afford those kinds of thoughts. The collectors had offered her revenge, but their alliance was a shaky one at best. Apprehension would do nothing but shatter all that had been accomplished, and if the collectors turned against her, then Chrysalis was not confident that she could escape. If she sacrificed their alliance, the changelings would be no more.

Sighing once again, Chrysalis reopened her eyes and looked back out over the large number of cocoons that had been collected. There were well over a hundred, and yet the collectors needed more. To get more, Chrysalis needed a plan. With no other choice presented to her, Chrysalis simply closed her eyes, and thought.

Princess Luna stood in the snow outside of the crashed collector ship, holding up a hoof to keep the blowing snow out of her eyes. The only thing protecting her from the howling sub-zero winds was a simple heating spell, and even that was becoming difficult to maintain in this weather. Visibility was reduced greatly by the blizzard that had suddenly blown in, and snow was beginning to pile up rapidly. If the storm did not stop soon, Legion’s ship would join the collector one in being buried.

Suddenly, Luna caught a glimpse of movement through the wall of white snow that fell all around her. A shadow in the sky, roughly resembling the shape of several pegasi. As they neared the princess, a large chariot became visible behind them, and it soon became clear that the pegasi were pulling it through the sky. They soared down to the ground and landed just a few feet from the princess, skidding to a stop in the thick, powdery snow.

Standing in the chariot was a unicorn stallion, his horn alight with a heating spell to keep him and the pegasi warm. Along with the unicorn were two caskets marked with biohazard symbols, within which Luna knew were two victims of the disease. One casket was slightly different from the other, however, as it had several holes in it to allow for breathing. No doubt this was the one containing the living pony. The other had no such holes, as the occupant no longer had a need for any oxygen. Luna stared grimly at the two caskets as the unicorn gripped them in his telekinesis, then hopped out of the chariot and struggled to walk to the princess through the raging storm.

“Your highness!” he yelled, struggling to be heard over the winds. “Is everypony protected by the wards!?”

“Yes, doctor!” Luna called back. “We are ready for you! Follow me!” She turned and trudged back to the hatch, which was just barely visible thanks to the new layer of snow that had fallen. She jumped down into it and landed in the airlock, before turning and looking back up at the hatch. Slowly, one casket was lowered down into the ship. Luna grabbed it from the unicorn’s grasp and placed it on the floor, then did the same as the second casket was lowered down. Finally, the unicorn himself climbed down the ladder, panting the whole time. His horn dimmed as he dropped the heating spell, and he picked up the two caskets once more as he turned to the princess.

“Where do they go, your highness?” he asked. Luna motioned for him to follow, then led the stallion into the open doorway of the medical laboratory, where the geth and several other specialists, Healthy Heart included, were waiting. She pointed a hoof to the three pods on one wall of the room, and the two caskets floated over to them. They were carefully placed down by the only open pod, landing quietly on the metallic floor. Legion, who was at one of the pieces of machinery, turned around and examined the two boxes.

“These are the subjects?” he asked.

“Yes, Legion,” Luna answered, nodding. “One living, one deceased.”

“Understood. We will begin work immediately.” Legion crossed the room, approaching the casket with airholes, and opened it, revealing the sick pony within. He was a pegasus of a rather lean build, though the disease was having a toll. His coat was pale, and several veins were visible beneath his flesh. Deep bags were under his eyes, and a dried river of blood streaked from his nose down his neck. His once powerful wings hung limp against his sides, and his breathing was shallow. Legion gingerly picked up the sick pegasus in his strong arms and carefully lowered him into the open pod. Legion withdrew his hands and the pod began to close as several lights within lit up.

“Beginning scan of subject,” Legion reported, walking over to a panel on one of the walls. Lines of text began scrolling past on it, and the geth watched each line carefully, taking in all of the information. A moment later the text stopped scrolling, and it was replaced by an image of the pegasus, with his bone structure, musculature, and internal organs all mapped out. Luna curiously walked over to the panel and looked over the diagram of her subject.

“Interesting…” she said. “Did the scan find anything?”

“One moment,” Legion replied, pressing a finger to the heart of the pony pictured on the diagram. The diagram zoomed in until the heart filled up most of the panel. Legion observed the weak pumping of blood curiously. “We may have discovered something.”

“What is it?” Healthy Heart asked, coming to stand next to Legion.

“We require a sample of tissue,” he said. Healthy Heart nodded, then directed her specialists to do as the geth ordered. The pod containing the pegasus cracked open and several specialists approached the motionless body, one of whom had a scalpel in his telekinetic grasp. The others were holding items like syringes filled with anesthetic and other supplies to retrieve the sample.

The pony with the syringe injected the pegasus with it, then stepped back to allow the scalpel-wielding doctor to step up. He made a very small incision just above the heart, then put the scalpel down. Another pony with spreaders stepped forth and placed the spreaders into the incision, opening it wide. Two more doctors stepped up, one with a pair of small surgical scissors and the other with a glass dish. The pony with the scissors placed his hoof down into the incision, the tip disappearing within. Luna recoiled, slightly disturbed, but forced herself to keep watching.

A moment later, the pony withdrew his hoof and brought with him a small sample of heart tissue, held between the scissor blades. He quickly dropped it into the glass dish, which was closed tightly by the pony holding it. The pony brought the dish over to Legion while the doctors set to work on closing the pegasus’s incision. Legion took the dish from the pony, then brought it to the electron microscope, placing the sample within onto a slide beneath the lenses.

He pressed several buttons and stepped back, approaching the panel that had once shown the diagram of the pegasus. Now it simply showed an incredibly high-resolution image of the heart tissue. At first, Luna did not notice anything wrong. But as she continued staring at the image, she began to notice small traces of movement on the tissue.

“What is that?” she asked, pointing to a spot of movement.

“It is a virus,” Legion answered. Healthy Heart stepped up to the image, her mouth agape.

“Impossible!” she exclaimed, surprised. “Our magical scans completely ruled out the possibility of a virus! They have never been wrong before!”

“It is not a virus with which you would be familiar,” the geth explained. “To organics, this is known as a ‘nanovirus’. Millions of microscopic self-replicating machines are entered into the subject through any means, whether by air, water, food, or direct transfusion into the bloodstream. Once inside, the machines can do anything they please. They are incredibly difficult to detect, and even more difficult to cure.”

“What kinds of things can they do?” Twilight Sparkle asked, never taking her eyes off of the image on the panel.

“Anything,” Legion said. “They can do something as simple as block off major arteries, to something as complex as rewriting DNA. The purpose of this specific nanovirus is still unknown. However, based on the symptoms told to us by Princess Celestia, the use of a nanovirus seems… wasteful. Forcing subjects into a comatose state can be achieved in several other less-complicated ways… The nanovirus must be doing more, we just cannot see it right now.”

“Perhaps once the changelings capture the sick, they unlock another function of the nanovirus?” Luna suggested.

“Changelings?” Legion asked, confused. “We have not been informed of any changelings.”

“Forgot that little detail, did you?” Twilight whispered to Luna. Luna sighed and nodded.

“In addition to there being a disease in Westrock and Appleloosa…” Luna began. “… There have been mass kidnappings by another species on Equis called changelings. They can take the shape of anypony they want, which makes it quite easy for them to sneak in without being stopped.”

“This is alarming,” Legion observed. “The collectors often hire other species to perform kidnappings. However, a disease is never involved. They must be planning for something.”

“But what?” Twilight asked.

“Unknown…” Legion answered, turning to Princess Luna. “We have an idea. Please send for Princess Celestia to come here immediately.” Luna nodded, then turned and ran out of the medical lab. She did not know why Legion wanted her sister there, but if it would help cure her subjects, she was willing to do anything.

Princess Celestia took a sip of her fresh tea, allowing the invigorating liquid to warm her cold body and soothe her after the events of the past few days. Celestia was used to stress, it was something that came with being the ruler of a nation. But the past few days had taken far more out of her than she would care to admit.

Her ponies were getting sick and were being kidnapped all at the hooves of the changelings. To her, this was no more than the continuation of a war that had persisted throughout the ages. She remembered first issuing the orders to being the weakening of the changeling population, thousands of years ago. She had not wanted to do it, but the changelings left her little choice.

Even now, wiping the changelings out once and for all would not be difficult. Lives would be lost, yes, but it would be nothing compared to the future lives saved by not having to live with the changelings anymore. But no matter how she rationalized it, Celestia could not bring herself to issue the order. Celestia was known for many things, she did not want genocide to be one of them.

Taking another sip of her tea, the princess turned her attention to a stack of papers on her desk. They were not financial reports, nor were they more reports drafted by her defense council on the changeling incursions. Rather, the papers were a series of documents written by Celestia herself. Among them were documents that she had not written, but for the most part, it was an analysis all conducted by her. Celestia grabbed the stack in her telekinesis and looked upon the first piece of parchment. Written in very clear hoofwriting was a simple three sentence letter, sent to her many years ago.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings. But when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.

It was the first friendship letter ever sent to Princess Celestia by Twilight Sparkle. Celestia smiled at the memory. To her, it seemed like just yesterday Twilight had still been a recluse who did not understand the magic of friendship, nor did she even want to. The next several pages were part of the analysis that Celestia had been working on, going over everything that her student had learned. To see her grow over the years had been a true experience, one that Celestia would not have missed for anything.

Taking out a quill and a piece of parchment, Celestia began to write a new page for her analysis. The timing seemed right, and Twilight had proven herself to be the most capable mare Celestia knew. She was almost ready.

“Your highness?” a voice said. Celestia whipped her head up to locate the source of a voice, only to find a guard poking his head through the door. “Forgive me, but we have an urgent message for you from Princess Luna. She says that you are needed with her at once.” Celestia nodded, and stood up.

“Prepare my chariot,” she commanded. The guard saluted, then ducked his head out and closed the door behind him. Celestia simply stood in place for a moment, wondering what was so urgent that she was needed there at once. Perhaps Legion had found a cure? Not likely, as the message would not have kept that from her. Shaking her head, Celestia opened the door and stepped out, beginning to make her way to the courtyard where her chariot was waiting.

Princess Luna once again stood out in the cold snow just outside of the hatch to the collector ship, waiting for her sister’s chariot to arrive. Thankfully the blizzard had passed and the winds had died down, increasing visibility and making her heating spell far easier to maintain. Her message had been sent nearly five hours ago, and with their fastest pegasi transporting Celestia, she would arrive in only a few minutes.

Luna’s guess seemed to be correct, as only a few moments later the shape of a chariot crested the horizon and came into view, moving towards the crash site very quickly. Only a few minutes after the initial sighting, Luna stepped back as the chariot landed next to her and came to a stop just a few feet away. Princess Celestia stepped out and jumped into the snow, her hoofsteps crunching as she approached her sister.

“Hello, Luna,” Celestia said, nodding her greeting. “What am I needed for? You said it was urgent?”

“Yes, sister,” Luna replied. “Legion says he has an idea. He would not tell me what it was, he kept on insisting that you be here for it as well.”

“Very well, let us go inside.” Celestia made to enter the ship, but Luna held out a hoof, blocking her path. She quickly lit her horn and Celestia briefly glowed a soft green.

“The ward to protect you,” Luna explained. Celestia nodded and Luna lowered her hoof, allowing her older sister entry into the vessel. Celestia hopped down into the hatch, landing with a thud on the metal floor. Luna followed her down, directing her sister to the medical lab just a few doors away. As soon as they entered, all eyes were on the princesses. Legion stepped up to the two, and spoke.

“Good, you have arrived,” he said. “We have an idea.”

“A cure?” Celestia asked.

“Not at this time, no,” Legion continued. “But something to buy time. We believe that we have a way to temporarily disable the nanovirus within the subjects affected.”

“Nanovirus?” Celestia asked, confused. “What is a ‘nanovirus’?”

“It’s what is infecting our ponies,” Luna explained. “Millions of little machines affecting their cells and forcing them into a coma.”

“I see…” Celestia said. “Please continue, Legion.”

“As stated by Princess Luna, a nanovirus is comprised of millions of microscopic machines introduced into a subject’s body,” Legion began. “However, because they are machines, they can be affected by electromagnetic pulses.”

“What’s an electromagnetic pulse?” Twilight asked, stepping forward.

“It is a burst of electromagnetic energy that can interfere with all electronic devices operating within a certain radius. At low levels, it is harmless to organics, and can disable electronics.”

“So by using one of these ‘electromagnetic pulses’, we can eliminate the nanovirus?” Luna asked, hopeful.

“Negative,” Legion answered. “In order to permanently disable the machines, an incredibly high burst of energy is required. A burst of energy at such levels can also be harmful to organics, including the possibility of death. However, a less-powerful burst would disable the nanovirus for a few days, and would halt everything that the machines were doing to the ponies. This would bring them out of their comas, and would not allow the changelings to continue kidnappings."

“That could buy us some valuable time…” Celestia pondered to herself. “But I sense that there is a catch. What is it?”

“There are two,” the geth said. “One is that the device must be activated in close proximity to the afflicted. This means that we would need to go to one of the two settlements that has been affected.”

“That’s risky, Legion,” Luna said, shaking her head. “With the changeling attacks you’d be putting yourself at great risk.”

“We understand, but that is not all,” Legion continued. “While we can provide the machine used to generate the pulse, at the levels required to make it safe for organics, the radius is incredibly small. We were hoping that a sufficient supply of magic could multiply the radius by several times, enough to encompass an entire settlement. However, the magic required to do so would be incredibly high. Only those very skilled should attempt it.”

“… We’ll do it,” Celestia said, sighing. All of the ponies in the room looked at the princess, shocked.

“’Tia!” Luna shouted. “It is far too risky!”

“I understand the risk, Luna,” Celestia said, looking to her little sister. “But for now, I do not see another option.”

“Celestia, please!” Twilight said, approaching her mentor. “There has to be another way! With the changelings attacking, it’s not safe!”

“Twilight, my sister and I will be fine,” the solar princess said comfortingly. “There are forty Nighthawks on their way there. The changelings will not risk an all-out attack against those numbers.”

“Celestia, I do not think that this is a good idea,” Luna repeated. “Not at all.”

“We have little choice, sister,” Celestia said.

“… Then I’m coming too,” Twilight said, holding her head up. Celestia sighed, then turned to face her student.

“Twilight, please--”

“No, Celestia,” the young alicorn said, standing up straight. “I am an alicorn too, and I am very skilled with my magic. I can help.”

“… Very well,” Celestia conceded, turning to face Legion. “When would we be leaving?”

“We can leave immediately,” he said. “We will fashion the electromagnetic pulse device while en route to one of the settlements. Which settlement would you prefer?”

“Appleloosa has a higher population,” Celestia replied. “We should go there first.”

“Understood,” Legion said, turning to face the door to the medical lab. “Come. We will go at once.” He began walking out of the room, the three princesses not far behind him. No matter what she was told, Luna did not like this plan. The changelings were still conducting their kidnapping operations, going to Appleloosa while they were taking place was very risky. However, her sister was right that they had no other choice. Unless somepony else came up with something now, then they were committed.

The room remained silent. Sighing, Luna followed the geth out into the freezing snow, activating her heating spell as she flew through the hatch. The small ship still waited several meters away, a thin layer of snow sitting atop it. The door opened as they neared the ship, and the geth climbed inside. Before Luna could step in, Celestia held out a hoof.

“We will take the chariot,” she said. “There is less risk involved if we split up.”

“Understood,” Legion said, nodding. “We will meet you at Appleloosa.” Celestia nodded and stepped away as the hatch closed. A moment later the ship took off into the sky. The engines engaged and it rocketed away, disappearing in only a few seconds. The three alicorns turned to the chariot that was still parked not far from the hatch, and each one stepped inside, sitting down on the comfortable leather seats. The pegasi leading the chariot all began sprinting ahead, then flared their wings and steadily rose into the sky, turning to go in the same direction as the geth ship. Luna sighed once more, and sat back as they began their journey to Appleloosa.

Queen Chrysalis opened her eyes at the sound of hooves approaching her, and turned around to see a young changeling bowing before his queen. He looked up, his pale blue eyes filled with excitement.

“Your excellency,” he began. “A chariot has been spotted by our scouts approaching Appleloosa. Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight are in it.” Chrysalis’s eyes went wide in surprise as the news.

“All three of them are going there?” she said to herself. “Interesting…” Suddenly, the reality of what was occurring hit her. Her eyes widened, and she grinned evilly.

“Summon the collector captain,” Chrysalis ordered. “Tell him that I have his plan…”

Author's Note

Happy New Year everyone! We've got a lot to look forward to in 2015, including yet another season (which apparently has an episode centered around Luna. 'Bout time.)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A lot of questions get answered, and I can assure you that the next chapter is going to be exciting!

As usual, if you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12

“Both creators and created must complete their halves of the equation. The geth cannot solve for peace alone.”

The chariot touched down just outside of Appleloosa, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust from the arid landscape. It was dark now, Luna had had to raise her moon on the ride to the small settlement. All throughout the town there was no movement at all. Of the 850 inhabitants, almost all had fallen ill, and those who still were not affected had been quarantined in the hope that they could be saved.

Through the dark outlines of buildings that made up the small town, two shadows began to move towards the chariot. Their horns lit up and began casting light, revealing them to be two of the Nighthawks that had been sent in advance several hours before. They approached the princesses and bowed, awaiting orders.

“Your highness, the geth arrived several minutes ago,” one of the soldiers said, standing back up. “It said that you should meet it in the town center, where it is setting up the device.”

“Thank you, soldier,” Princess Luna said, stepping out of the chariot. “Please take us there. And… alert the other Nighthawks to be extra vigilant tonight.”

“Yes, your highness.” The two soldiers turned towards the town and began walking back into the lines of buildings. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight followed them through the winding streets and alleyways, watching all of the corners for movement. Even with several squads of Nighthawks at the ready, Luna still did not like the plan. Coming here while the changelings were still performing their clandestine operations was a great risk, one that even the princess was not fully willing to take.

But she was committed now. They were here, Legion was preparing his electromagnetic pulse device, and if she gave up and decided to run away with her tail between her legs, then her ponies may not be saved. It did not matter how much she disliked the plan, it had to be done. The soldiers led the three princesses through several more rows of buildings before they turned and entered a large clearing in the center of the town. It was lit by several large floodlights, all of them pointing down into the middle of the clearing, where Legion was standing over a strange device.

The main body of the device was cylindrical, and was made out of a metal similar to the hull of Legion’s ship. Several tubes looped around it, all of them feeding into some other part of the cylinder. One end of the main body curved inward, forming a slight depression, in the center of which was a hole that intruded into the cylinder. The walls of the hole were lined with blue circular lights which flashed at varying rates from the back of the hole to the front. A soft hum emanated from the device while Legion stood over it, pressing on his omni-tool. The Nighthawks stepped away and allowed the three princesses entry into the town center. The three alicorns all approached the device, ogling over the technology.

“I assume this is the electromagnetic pulse emitter?” Twilight asked, causing Legion to turn around to face them. She stepped closer to the device, closely examining it with her curious eyes.

“Affirmative,” the machine responded. “We are making final preparations. We recommend that you rest and save your energy. This will take quite a lot.” The princesses nodded and stepped away, sitting down a few feet from the device.

“Do you think this will work, Celestia?” Twilight asked her mentor. Celestia shook her head and sighed.

“I do not know, Twilight,” she replied. “If it does, we will gain valuable time while the changelings are unable to kidnap our subjects. If it does not, then we shall simply have to try something else.”

“Healthy Heart is still up at the crash site,” Luna observed. “Perhaps she will discover something.” Celestia nodded, hopeful, though she doubted that it would happen.

“Even if this does work, what will we do?” Twilight asked curiously. “There are going to be a lot of confused ponies, and when the nanovirus reactivates they’re just going to slip back into their comas.”

“We can take the opportunity to reinforce the towns even further,” Celestia answered. “Even those towns which have not yet been attacked will be reinforced. It always pays to be prepared.” The other two princesses nodded in agreement. There was a brief silence between the three of them as they all sat awkwardly, waiting for Legion to finish.

“… This was a bad idea,” Luna said, breaking the silence. “Coming here, I mean… No matter what I do, I cannot shake the feeling that we are making a mistake.”

“Luna, we will be fine,” Celestia said. “As soon as Legion is ready we will magnify the pulse and then be on our way back to Canterlot. Everything is going to be fine.” Luna nodded, but did not feel any better. To her, coming here felt like she was asking the changelings to try something.

“We are ready,” Legion said, coming up behind the princesses. They all stood up eagerly, ready to get the task over with. “We will remain online throughout the process. This unit is too powerful to be disabled by such a low-level burst of electromagnetic energy. However, we may experience some minor reduced functionality.”

The princesses followed Legion back to the cylindrical device, which was now emitting a far more intense humming noise. Luna folded her ears down against it in an attempt to block it out, but it was ineffective. Looking around, she noticed that Twilight and Celestia had tried the same thing, only to find it didn’t work for them either. Sighing, Luna stepped up to the device, and waited for Legion to walk them through the process.

“The presence of the electromagnetic field should become obvious once it is emitted,” Legion continued. “All you will have to do is amplify it using your magic. Understood?”

“Yes,” all three princesses said at once.

“There is a simple energy amplification spell that we all know,” Celestia said. “We can use that.” Legion nodded, then activated its omni-tool and began to type on it.

“Are you ready?” he asked. The princesses nodded, and prepared the flow of magic into their horns. “Initiating electromagnetic pulse in three… two… one…” The humming noise from the device peaked and grew incredibly loud, before suddenly a wave of invisible energy rushed from the device and spread out around the town center. The three princesses latched on to the release of energy and used their amplification spells in conjunction with one another. The pulse was amplified by dozens of times, soon encompassing the entire town. Once the town had been covered, the princesses released their magic and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“Did it… did it work?” Celestia asked, shakily standing up.

“Unknown,” Legion replied. “The effects may not be immediate. We will have to wait.”

“Wow…” Twilight said, coming to her hooves. “That took more out of me than I thought!” The young princess tried to activate her horn, only to find that it would not respond. “My magic isn’t working!”

“Mine isn’t either…” Luna said, looking up at her horn. “We must have overexerted ourselves. It should return shortly.”

“We should return to Canterlot. We can wait for news from--”

Suddenly, the floodlights that previously illuminated the town center all went out, one by one, as the magical flames inside of them died. The clearing was thrust into darkness, the only source of light coming from Legion’s bright blue photoreceptor.

“’Tia?” Luna asked, worried.

“I do not know, sister,” Celestia said. “Come, we must--”

Celestia was cut off as something slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her and forcing her to the ground.

EARLIER

“That is your plan?” the collector captain asked, looking down upon the changeling queen.

“Y-yes,” Chrysalis replied. “And I know how risky it sounds, but it is our only chance. I cannot think of anything else.” The collector remained silent for several moments, staring down at the queen. Chrysalis looked back up, struggling valiantly to keep looking him in the eyes.

“I will lead it myself,” Chrysalis said, trying to convince the collector. “There is no other way.”

“… Very well,” the collector said. “I will send several of my collectors with you, as you requested. But we are few in number. If even one of them perishes, it will be on you.” Chrysalis gulped in fear, but nodded her understanding. She stepped back from the collector, then turned around and hastily left the room, ready to assemble her team.

Chrysalis lay down on the grass, the individual blades tickling her chitinous stomach. Slowly, she crawled forward, constantly aware of the collectors and changelings crawling behind her, doing their best to keep completely silent. Ahead of them, only around a hundred meters away, was the town of Appleloosa. It was a large town, but even from their distant vantage point the Nighthawks swarming the perimeter were easily visible. Chrysalis waved a hoof, signaling two collectors to join her. They quickly crawled to catch up with the queen, making several clicking noises.

“Those two Nighthawks,” she said, pointing at two soldiers guarding a discreet entrance to the town. “Eliminate them. Quietly.” The collectors both nodded, and crawled ahead of the group. Crouching, the collectors pulled two strange devices off of their backs; they appeared organic, and the front halves of each device were split up into three arms with teeth-like protrusions on the inside. Chrysalis did not know how they worked, all she knew was that they were very effective at killing, and were mostly silent.

The two collectors lined up their shots, then quickly squeezed the triggers once, sending two glowing bolts flying down towards the Nighthawks. Each bolt connected with the ponies’ heads, sending them to the ground, dead. With the coast clear, Chrysalis, the changelings, and the collectors all stood up and sprinted the rest of the way to the town. They all ducked into the entrance that had been cleared, sneaking into an alleyway between two buildings.

“Very good, now we--” Chrysalis was cut off as a wave of energy blasted through the air, encompassing the entire town and heating the air around them.

“What was that…?” she said to herself. “Never mind it, we have a job to do. You two, eliminate the lights.” The two changelings that she had pointed to took off into the sky and soon disappeared from sight, their dark bodies allowing them to blend in with the night. A moment later, the large floodlights that illuminated the town center went out, plunging the entire town into darkness.

“Come on, let’s go,” Chrysalis whispered. Keeping low, she began running through the buildings, leading her changelings and allied collectors through the rows of buildings, heading to the town center. Because changelings lived deep underground where light was scarce, seeing in the dark was no issue for her and her changelings. The collectors also seemed to have no trouble seeing, though Chrysalis was worried that their glowing eyes could give them away. Fortunately they were not spotted, and a moment later Chrysalis was staring right at the three princesses, as well as something else.

Chrysalis had no idea what it was. It was taller than Celestia, though only by a small amount, and was definitely not a pony. It stood on two legs, and had a bright blue eye right in the center of its head. It looked around cautiously, likely attempting to discover who had turned out the lights. Sighing, Chrysalis debated about what to do. She had not anticipated something else being with the ponies, and she had no idea how it would react if attacked. On the other hoof, this could be the only chance that she had to weaken the Equestrians. She was about to order her changelings to attack when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, Chrysalis came face-to-face with one of the collectors.

“There is a geth present,” he said.

“What is a geth?” Chrysalis asked.

“The machine with the princesses,” the collector explained. “It is a geth. A machine race, not from this world.”

“Can you deal with it?”

“Easily.” Smiling, Chrysalis nodded, and turned to face her changelings. She waved her hoof at them, signaling them to go through with the plan. They all bowed, then turned and sprinted into the clearing, unseen under the cover of night.

“I do not know, sister,” Celestia said. “Come, we must--”

Celestia was cut off as something slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her and forcing her to the ground. She instinctively flared her wings, trying to knock the attacker off. It had the desired effect, and Celestia quickly jumped back to her hooves.

“Princess Celestia, attackers detected!” Legion said loudly. Celestia looked to the geth, and found that he had the weapon usually kept on his back held in his two hands. He fired it twice and two incredibly loud shots rang out, filling the air and making the princess wince. There were two bright flashes of light, and Celestia just barely saw two pony-shaped attackers fall to the ground, dead.

Legion made ready to fire again when suddenly he came under fire himself. Several glowing bolts streamed toward the geth, but were stopped by a blue barrier that suddenly formed between the geth and the shots. As more and more shots impacted on the barrier it began to grow brighter and brighter until it popped, and the glowing bolts began to land on the outer shell of the machine. Beginning to take damage, Legion backed away and disappeared from Celestia’s view.

“‘Tia, behind you!” Luna called out. Celestia quickly whirled around, swinging her hoof. She felt it connect with something, thought through the darkness she could not see her attacker. But given the events of the past week, Celestia did not have to guess who she was currently fighting.

More glowing bolts flew through the air, temporarily illuminating small patches of the town center. In the small patches, Celestia could see changelings running at her. But with the changelings were other creatures. The flashes of light did not last long enough for the princess to get a good look at them, but she thought they resembled the image Legion had shown them a few days before…

“How many are there!?” Twilight yelled, using her hind legs to buck a changeling that had wandered too close. Luna did the same to another one of the creatures, shaking her head.

“I can hardly see!” she exclaimed, trying once again to activate her horn. This time she was met with a light flicker, but the energy fizzled out a second later.

Luna continued looking around as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She could see shapes more clearly now, and she could easily see them coming straight at her. Before they could reach her, the changelings fell as three loud shots rang out. Luna looked to the side, and found Legion standing behind a set of barrels. His head poked around the containers, and he held his weapon at the ready. But before he could fire again, more of the glowing bolts filled the air, shredding the barrels to pieces and forcing Legion to run to another piece of cover.

Luna returned her attention to the attackers, dragging her hoof through the dirt. She snarled; if the changelings wanted a fight, she was going to give it to them. She raised her hoof as a changeling drew near, but before she could strike, the princess felt something impact her head. She went down hard, her vision blurry and her head swimming. As she tried to pick herself up, she felt another impact, and once again Luna was on the ground.

Luna looked around, the shapes in the clearing blurring together. She faintly saw a splotch of purple fall to the ground, and a moment later it was followed by a patch of white. And as her vision began to clear, she saw Twilight and Celestia on the ground, several changelings surrounding them. Looking up, Luna found herself in the same predicament. She groaned, trying to stand, but was forced to the ground by one of the changelings. As much as she wanted to resist, she could not. Her head pounded, and she felt nothing but fatigue.

Suddenly, the darkened town center filled with light as the magical flames in the floodlights reignited, revealing the rest of the assailants. Completely surrounding the three princesses were over a dozen changelings, all of them with some kind of bladed weapon held either in hooves or in a telekinetic grasp. Luna looked around for Legion, but could not find him. He has nowhere to be seen.

Luna looked around as a cackling filled the town center. Her pupils shrunk as she recognized the laughter, and a figure entered the light, heading toward the three princesses.

“Chrysalis…” Celestia hissed, glaring daggers at the queen.

“Hello, Celestia,” Chrysalis said, approaching the solar princess. “A bit of déjà vu, is it not? You completely helpless, and me with all the power.” The three princesses were lifted from the ground by a pair of changelings, held at eye-level for the queen.

“I seem to recall that that ended with your defeat, Chrysalis,” Luna said angrily, trying unsuccessfully to shake the grip of the changelings. Chrysalis turned around to face the princess of the night, and slowly approached her.

“And Luna, how are you?” the changeling queen asked. “I do not recall seeing you at the wedding. I assume that my minions kept you properly entertained in your tower?” Luna simply responded by spitting at the queen, who stepped back at the action.

“Oh my, that was uncalled for,” she said. “Anyways, I’m not going to do any sort of stalling. I learned my lesson last time. I’m simply going to do what I came here to do, then get on with my night.”

“Whatever you’re going to do, you won’t get away with it!” Twilight cried defiantly. “The Nighthawks are probably converging on your position as we speak?”

“What Nighthawks?” Chrysalis asked, smiling. “The ones that the collectors are in the process of killing?” The collectors? Luna thought. They are here? She recalled the glowing bolts, and the figures she had seen in the flashes of light. Chrysalis stepped back over to Princess Celestia, gently grabbing the blade from the hooves of the changeling holding her down. The changeling stepped back, and Chrysalis wrapped one of her arms around Celestia, keeping her in place. She lit her horn, and the blade was enveloped in a green light. Luna could feel the energy radiating from it, and she instantly knew what Chrysalis intended to do.

“No prisoners this time,” Chrysalis whispered, smiling.

“No…” Twilight said, panic entering her voice and tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Please… wait!”

“Luna!” Celestia called as the blade came ever closer to its target. “Luna, sister, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I love you, sister!”

“’Tia!” Luna yelled. “You have no need to apologize! We are going to make it out of here!” She began shaking, trying in vain to break free from the grip of the changelings. They responded by hitting her once more, dazing the princess. Luna looked back up, and caught sight of a blue light in the background, standing just outside the town center. Luna looked to Legion with pleading eyes, begging him to do something. But the geth did not move. He simply stood, watching.

“Twilight!” Celestia said, turning her attention to her student who was watching with her eyes wide. “You have surpassed my greatest expectations for you! I’m proud of you! I’m so--”

The blade cut across her flesh, staining her white coat with a trickle of crimson blood. Her magenta eyes went wide as her pupils shrunk to small black dots. She let out a choked cry, and along with it went her last breath. Chrysalis released her arm, and Princess Celestia fell to the ground, motionless. As she lay in the dirt, more blood poured out of the cut, with no signs of stopping.

“NO!” Luna shouted in despair. Summoning all of the energy within her, Luna concentrated it in her horn and began to charge a powerful blast. Her horn glowed a brilliant blue, then released the beam of devastating magic right at Queen Chrysalis. A moment before it hit, the queen lit her horn and teleported away, taking the motionless body of Celestia with her. Without pause, Luna continued to stream her magic into a beam of destruction, cutting it across the town center and obliterating any changelings that it hit. A moment later all of the changelings were on the ground, burn marks cutting across them.

“Princess Luna,” a mechanical voice said. Luna turned around, rage still filling her, and found Legion approaching her. He placed his weapon on his back, moving to the electromagnetic pulse device. It was still sitting where it had been left, completely untouched by the previous events. “We must leave. Collectors are still here. It is unsafe.”

“You…” Luna said, beginning to glare at the geth, her horn glowing once again. “… You DAMNED MACHINE!” Before Legion could react, Luna grabbed him with her telekinesis and lifted him several feet off the ground. She began to tighten her grip, not holding back on the damage that she would cause.

“YOU COULD HAVE HELPED!” she screamed, holding nothing back. “SHE IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOU!” Legion struggled against the invisible grasp, trying in vain to break free. He struggled to speak, but found that the pressure being forced upon him made it difficult to do so. Mere moments before the force would have crushed the geth, Luna relaxed her grip and dropped Legion to the ground. He landed on his hands and knees, then shakily stood back up.

“Leave this place…” Luna quietly commanded, looking away. “Leave and never return…”

“… We are sorry,” Legion said. He turned around and, activating his invisibility, walked out of the town center.

During the entire exchange, Twilight Sparkle remained frozen in place, her eyes never leaving the large pool of blood that had formed on the ground. A puddle of crimson, and it was all that remained of her mentor. Inside, Twilight had no idea what to think. Celestia had always been there for Twilight. Watching her get taken away like that was like losing a limb. Twilight was still having trouble actually accepting that it had just happened. It felt almost like a dream, like at any moment she would wake up and Celestia would still be there, ready to teach another lesson or support Twilight in her time of need. Thousands of years’ worth of memories, wisdom, and experience, and they had all been destroyed in a single second.

Twilight broke from her frozen state as the sound of engines overhead filled the air. She looked up and saw Legion’s ship lifting off, before it rocketed away, disappearing in seconds. Twilight puzzled over where the geth was going, when suddenly she felt the presence of Princess Luna behind her.

“Come, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. “We must go.” Nodding, Twilight stood and followed Luna through the maze of buildings back to the chariot.

Amazingly, it seemed not to have been touched at all throughout the attack. The pegasi guards who flew the chariot all held their weapons at the ready, but none of them seemed to have suffered a scratch. They bowed as the two princesses approached the chariot, but seemed confused as to the whereabouts of the third one. Luna and Twilight each stepped into the chariot and took their seats. Luna then commanded the pegasi to return them to Canterlot, which they did without question. They attached themselves to the reigns, and with several powerful flaps, the chariot was once again in the air.

The flight back to Canterlot was quiet. Neither of the two princesses felt like speaking, for them the grief was still too near. As soon as they landed back in the courtyard at Canterlot, the princesses stepped out and entered the castle, then hurried to their respective bedrooms. Luna ignored all of the bows offered by the guards and staff, simply trying to keep her tears hidden.

But when Luna finally entered her private quarters, it was like a floodgate opened. She collapsed onto the floor, her body wracked with sobbing. Her choked cries came out loudly against the silence offered by the rest of the castle. And this time, Luna did not try to stop them. She let herself cry like a foal, fully aware that the guards outside could hear. She cried for what felt like hours, until there were no tears left for her to shed. When her crying had been reduced to nothing more than sniffling, Luna shakily stood up and crossed to her cluttered desk. She picked up all of the papers on it and dropped them on the floor, then pulled out a clean sheet of parchment and a quill. Dipping the quill into an inkwell, she began to write.

It was not a long document that she drafted. It was a simple address to the ponies of Equestria, informing them of the recent events. Even with it all written out, Luna did not know how she was going to deliver it. The reaction would not be good, that much was obvious. And, reaction of the ponies aside, Luna did not know if she had the heart to read it. Her sister, the one pony who never doubted her, who accepted her after her return, was gone. Even the thought of it threatened to renew her tears. Luna instead decided to save it for another time. She opened her desk drawer and stashed the address inside, making sure to put it on top so it would not be lost. Just as she was closing the desk, Luna’s eyes passed over something. She picked it up with her telekinesis and her eyes scanned over it, then immediately glistened with tears once more.

It was an image, a photograph, taken three years ago. When she had returned to Canterlot, Celestia insisted that they get a picture taken to celebrate the event. Back then, Luna had not even known what a photograph was. When she had been banished, the process had involved standing still for hours while a painter did all the work. In the picture, she and her sister smiled widely at the camera. Luna was still in her weakened form, standing no taller than Twilight Sparkle. Her coat was a paler shade of blue, and her mane had not yet regained its ethereal qualities. Despite the sad memories it brought up, Luna allowed herself a smile amidst her tears. She put the picture at the back of her desk, making a mental note to frame it at some point.

Suddenly, there came a knock at her door. Forcing her tears back, Luna stood up and walked in front of her mirror. Between being held in the dirt by a changeling and all of the tears, Luna looked a mess. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes were red and her coat was unkempt. Sighing, Luna used a simple spell to make herself look a bit more presentable, though it didn’t do too much in the end. She moved over to the door and opened it, revealing an equally-unkempt Twilight Sparkle. They both stared at each other for a few moments, their eyes feeling the same expressions of despair. Luna then stepped aside and allowed the young princess entry, before closing the door. They stayed silent, simply staring at the carpeted floor. Neither of them had the heart to speak right now. Finally, Twilight Sparkle broke the silence.

“I… I don’t know what to feel…” she said. “In the past there… There’s always been a solution. A way out. A way to… to undo what was done… But now… She’s gone…”

“Yes…” Luna replied, feeling her tears returning. “She is…” They sat in silence for several more moments, before a knock on the door grabbed the attention of both of them.

“Enter,” Luna stated. The door cracked open, allowing in a small sliver of light from the hallway outside. One of her lunar guards poked his head inside.

“Your highness,” he began. “You have just received a message from one of the doctors in Appleloosa. She says, ‘it worked’.” Luna smiled briefly, happy that her sister’s death had at least not been in vain.

“Thank you, soldier,” she replied. “Please send four more Nighthawk squadrons there immediately. And… send for Princess Cadance. Have her brought her immediately.” The guard bowed his head and ducked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“Twilight…” Luna said, turning to face the young alicorn. “We… we have a duty to perform. You have not been a princess for long, but with Celestia… with Celestia gone, I will need all the help I can get. That is why I also called Cadance here.”

“I… I know,” Twilight choked out, holding back her tears. “It’s just… I don’t know if I can!”

“Twilight Sparkle, my sister always spoke very highly of you,” Luna said, stepping forward and putting a hoof on the lavender alicorn. “She loved you like a daughter. You are ready. You can do this.” Twilight nodded, wiping a hoof across her nose. The tears still spilled out of her eyes, though she did not make any noise.

“You should sleep,” Luna suggested. “There are… preparations to make. I shall see you tomorrow morning. Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night, Luna…” Twilight said, walking towards the door. “And… thank you…” Luna nodded and sadly watched the young princess leave. Luna was no stranger to death – when one lives for several thousand years, their life is full of it. But Twilight was young, and had a bond with Celestia that even Luna could not fully comprehend.

Luna wandered over to her bed and took a seat, sighing heavily. More tears began brimming in her eyes as the events in Appleloosa replayed themselves over and over again in her head. Falling back onto her mattress, Luna closed her eyes, allowing herself just a bit of rest. Her day had been a long one, and the events would stay with her until the end of time, that much she knew. But she had a duty to the ponies of Equestria, and she would not let them down. She had been gone for a thousand years, but now she was back. Her sister had poured her heart and soul into Equestria, and Luna was not going to see it destroyed.

Twilight Sparkle plodded sadly through the halls of Canterlot castle, her head constantly at a downward angle. It still hadn’t fully sunk in for her. As she walked, Twilight half expected to pass Celestia on her way to perform her duties. They would exchange polite smiles with one another as they had done with Twilight used to live here as a student, then continue on their way. But deep inside, Twilight knew that that was not going to happen. It would never happen again.

Turning down one of the hallways, Twilight found herself already in the hall for the guest quarters. There was no movement at all, as it was well past midnight by now. As soon as she and Luna had returned to the castle, she at first had started to come here. But she feared that her friends might still be awake, and they would want to know what happened. Twilight did not think that she could explain it, it was still too fresh in her mind. Even as she approached her bedroom door, the images of the blade being drawn across her mentor’s throat filled her mind. Twilight shook her head to banish the thoughts, then pushed her door open and stepped inside. The light was still on, and Spike sat in the bed reading a comic book. He lowered the book as the door opened and looked up to see who was entering. When he saw Twilight, he put the book on a nightstand and hopped up, rushing to his friend.

“Hey, Twilight!” he said, appearing energetic despite the time. “So how was... Twilight?” As she neared the bed, Spike began to notice the redness of her eyes. “Are you okay, Twilight?” Twilight paused for a moment, not saying anything, before suddenly her tears returned in full strength and she broke down crying right in front of Spike.

“Twilight, what’s wrong!?” he asked nervously. “What happened?” Twilight did not reply, instead she continued sobbing on the floor, not able to find her voice amidst the tears. She cried and howled for what felt like hours, though it was likely no more than a few minutes. Eventually, once her crying had slowed down, Twilight shut her eyes and let the comforting grace of sleep overtake her.

Legion piloted its ship through the night sky, its destination finally coming into view. Princess Luna had commanded it to leave, but Legion could not, for its mission was still incomplete. The Mass Relay was without element zero, and without that, Legion was stuck here whether the princess liked it or not. Fortunately, no nations had jurisdiction over the arctic north, where the collector ship had crashed. With that in mind, Legion set down its small transport in the snow and stepped out of the ship, immediately walking over to the hole where the hatch to the airlock was buried.

As it walked, Legion took notice of the of the pony chariot that still sat in the snow, realizing that it was the one that carried the two sick ponies from Westrock. That it was still here meant that Healthy Heart and her specialists had not left yet, either. They likely would also not have heard of the death of Princess Celestia.

Legion jumped down into the hatch, landing with a thud on the cold, metallic floor. It turned for the open doorway and walked into the medical lab, where the medical ponies were still present. Most were asleep, as by now it was quite late, but a few, Healthy Heart included, remained awake, busy at work. As soon as Legion walked in, Healthy Heart turned her head and saw the geth, then trotted over to it.

“Legion, I’m glad you’re back,” she said. “We’ve been looking at all of this equipment since you left, but we cannot figure out how any of it works. We were hoping you could help us.”

“We will provide limited assistance,” Legion said, walking over to the screen displaying the scan of the sick pegasus. “However, it is not wise for us to remain long.”

“Why is that?” Heart asked. “Also, where are Princesses Luna and Celestia? Did the electromagnetic pulse work?”

“It is unknown if the pulse was effective,” the geth said, beginning to type on the screen. It activated its omni-tool, then began downloading all data from the scan. “You will likely know shortly. As for Princess Luna… she has banished us.”

“Banished you?” the mare asked. “Why? What happened?” Legion turned around and looked at the pony, attempting to arrange its eye panels in a way to mimic sadness.

“The changelings were there,” the geth began. “They attacked us. We were forced back by a barrage of gunfire from several collectors who accompanied the changelings. While we were fighting them off, a large female changeling… murdered Princess Celestia.” Healthy Heart froze in place, staring at the geth, not believing the words. All of the other ponies who were awake reacted in the same manner.

“Princess Luna blamed us for her death,” Legion continued. “She is partially correct. We were in Appleloosa because of our plan. We put them at risk. And we were unable to assist in their time of need.” Healthy Heart did not say anything. She continued staring at the geth, sadness beginning to fill her eyes.

“You cannot be serious…” she whispered. “It can’t be true!”

“We are sorry.” None of the ponies responded. Already many of them were letting their tears fall, though most just stayed silent, staring at Legion.

“We must go,” Legion said, turning for the exit. “Data has been downloaded. We will continue our work elsewhere.” No one tried to stop it. Legion walked through the door, the gaze of the shocked ponies still on it as it left. The door closed behind the geth, cutting off the stares of the ponies, and hiding them as their emotions began to take over. As Legion walked to the airlock, it heard the unmistakable sounds of crying from the medical laboratory.

Ignoring it, Legion climbed up the ladder and reemerged into the frozen wasteland. It entered its parked ship, climbed inside, then took off into the sky, still not sure of where to go. The place that made the most sense was to return to orbit. That way, the ship could continue its scans of the planet for element zero, and Legion could work on figuring out a cure from the limited data it had recovered. Angling the ship up, Legion throttled up the engines all the way, beginning to head for the upper atmosphere.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly opened, letting in the morning sunshine. For a moment, she was content, believing that everything she had seen was just a horrible, awful dream. In only a few minutes she would walk out of her bedroom and go down to the dining hall, where Celestia and Luna would already be having breakfast (or dinner, in the case of the princess of the night). She would forget about her nightmare in time, and then would return to work with Legion on finding a cure.

“Twilight?” Spike said, appearing from the corner of her vision. “Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too, Spike,” Twilight said, yawning and stretching her forelegs.

“So, are you going to tell me what all the crying was about last night?” Twilight froze. Her arms dropped to her sides as she stared off into space.

“Then… it really happened?” she said to herself.

“What really happened?” Spike asked. “I haven’t seen you that upset in… ever! You cried yourself to sleep, Twilight! What happened!?” Already Twilight could feel the tears returning to her. She forced them back down, then stood up from bed. She was about to speak when suddenly there was a knock on her door. Twilight trotted over and opened it, revealing the face of a guard.

“Princess Twilight,” he said, bowing. “You and the Elements have been requested in Princess Luna’s quarters immediately.” Twilight gulped and nodded. She knew exactly why they were being called, but her friends were still totally unprepared. Twilight did not know if she would be able to explain.

“I understand,” she said, her voice wavering. “Thank you.” The guard bowed, then began walking down the hall. Twilight pushed the door open, then one by one she went to her friend’s doors and woke them up. Each time they asked her what was wrong, and each time she simply told them to wait. Finally, when all of them were rounded up, Twilight spoke.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you why we’re going to see Luna,” she said. “I don’t have the heart to tell you. But… something awful happened. And… And…” Twilight could not go on. Another syllable and she would break down crying once more. Instead, she turned around and waved her hoof for her friends to follow. Spike walked alongside the tearful alicorn, holding a clawed hand on her shoulder.

The walk to Luna’s bedroom did not take long. By far the longest part was walking up the seemingly endless spiral staircase to the top of the tower, but with all that was going on in Twilight’s mind, she hardly even remembered it. When they came to Luna’s door, the two guards stationed outside opened it and revealing the darkened bedroom beyond. A figure sat in the center of the room, her ethereal blue mane the only thing casting any sort of light. As the door opened, Luna sparked her horn and lit several candles, allowing the Elements to see as they walked inside. The door closed behind them and Luna turned around, revealing her face to the six ponies and dragon. At the sight of her, all but Twilight gasped. Her coat was horribly unkempt, with dirt still coating part of her belly and chest from when she had been forced onto the ground. Deep bags rested under her red eyes, which still glistened with tears.

“Thank you all for coming,” she said quietly. “What I am about to tell you is not yet common knowledge. I realize that reactions may be varied, so if you feel like you may need to step out, please do so…”

“What is it, princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering a few feet off of the ground.

“Yesterday, you were all aware that Twilight, my sister, and I returned to the crash site with Legion?” Luna began, receiving nods from the ponies. “It was there that Legion came up with an idea to temporarily stop the disease from having any effects on our ponies. This would prevent the changelings from kidnapping them, and would give us more time to find a cure. With no other choice, we agreed, and went to Appleloosa to see the plan through.

“Once the plan had been initiated… we came under attack. It was personally led by Queen Chrysalis, who has allied herself with the collectors. She… She held us down… We could not escape, and…” As she came closer and closer to revealing the news, Luna felt her tears returning. “She murdered Celestia…” The ponies and dragon all audibly gasped, and Luna and Twilight had their tears renewed.

“Princess…” Rarity said quietly. “Then… you mean…”

“Yes, Rarity,” Luna said, nodding. “My sister is gone.”

There was quiet. The ponies stared on, nothing in their eyes but shock and fear. For them, this was unimaginable. Celestia was synonymous with life itself; she had been alive for thousands of years, and she would remain alive for thousands more. A life without Princess Celestia was not a life than anypony had considered.

Finally, the first few tears started. They were quiet, but they fell nonetheless. Luna frowned, looking away.

“I understand your emotions, and I share them,” Luna continued. “Even now I find myself fighting back at the urge to join you in sorrow. But the time to grieve is not now. The changelings no doubt think that this will weaken us and prevent us from curing the disease. But they are wrong. We have to be strong, and we have to work together. For if we wallow in sadness, then my sister’s death will have been in vain. Princess Cadance will be arriving within the hour. We will plan out what to do, but I need you all to be strong. You wield a great power, and should the need arise to use it, you will need to be ready. Am I understood?” The Elements all stood and wiped away their tears, nodding at the princess.

“Thank you…” Luna said. “For everything. You may take the rest of the day for yourselves. Grieve, if you choose to. But remember what I told you: be strong.” Slowly turning, they all walked single file out of the room, closing the door behind them. None of them spoke on the way back to their guest quarters. They were all too busy digesting the new information that had just been given to them. Twilight still had trouble coping with it, and she knew that it would be a long time before the pain healed.

But she knew that Luna was right. They needed to be strong, or Celestia would have died for nothing. The time for grief would come, but it was not now. While the rest of her friends continued on their way to their bedrooms, Twilight stepped away and instead began to head for the castle library. It had always provided solace for her, and perhaps it would do so again. Princess Twilight Sparkle had a duty to do, and she was going to do it.

“Well done, Chrysalis,” the collector captain said to the changeling queen walking next to him. “I admit I was not sure that your plan would work, but it seems to have gone as planned.”

“Yes…” Chrysalis said, a hint of smile forming on her lips. “I just wish that we had gotten Luna and Twilight as well. That would have made our victory completely assured.”

“From what you tell me, this ‘Celestia’ was the elder princess,” the collector said. “She will have commanded the most power. With her eliminated, the balance of power is disrupted. It will be a long time before they sort everything out. By then our plan will be complete.”

“There is one thing,” Chrysalis added. “My hunters… They are reporting that… That the ponies in Appleloosa are waking up.” The collector stopped and whirled around to face the queen.

“What!?” he snarled. “How is that possible?”

“I believe that the ‘geth’ had something to do with it,” the queen explained. “It’s as if the disease just… froze. Stopped affected them.”

“Hmm…” the collector said. “This is not good, but no matter. I can make alterations to the disease for use in other towns. In the meantime, have your hunters determine exactly how they disabled the nanovirus. I do not want it to happen again.”

“Understood,” Chrysalis said. She stopped in her tracks and left the collector, who continued walking down one of the seemingly endless tunnels of her hive. The queen turned around and entered a side passage, heading for the main chamber of the hive, where the kidnapped ponies were being stored. She would send her hunters out, but first, she had something to do…

Author's Note

Hey everyone, here's chapter 12 for you! I realize that there are probably going to be some conflicting opinions about Celestia. All I can say regarding that is to please wait for the end of the story before judging the event.

I've already started on the next chapter and hope to have it out soon. However, I'm not going to have as much time to write this week, so if it takes a little longer, that's why.

If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions at all, please let me know!

Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 13

“Organic life reacts to stimuli in unpredictable ways. We wish to learn.”

Twilight Sparkle sat at a table in the Royal Canterlot Library, a sizeable stack of books piled up next to her. Across from the books was a piece of parchment, on which were written notes of all the things she had read. Finishing up with her current book, Twilight tossed it up to the top of the stack and grabbed another one, titled A Pithy Publication of Pandemics by Doctor Scope. She flipped it open and skimmed over the words, busily taking notes as she did so. Of course, none of the books she had picked out mentioned nanoviruses, but she did not expect them to. Twilight was simply content to lose herself in her work, whether or not it actually helped.

Twilight felt a presence appearing behind her, and the lavender alicorn turned around to see who it was, smiling when she saw Cadance. It was immediately clear to Twilight that the princess of love had heard the news, and had not gotten much sleep. Heavy bags rested beneath her red eyes, and hastily-dried tears stained her cheeks. She gently approached Twilight and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Twilight stood from her chair and they shared a hug before stepping away.

“Hello, Twilight,” Cadance said, her usually energetic voice filled with sorrow.

“Hi, Cadance…” Twilight replied. “I assume that you spoke to Luna?”

“Yes…” Cadance answered. “It’s hard to believe… I never thought that I would live in a world without Celestia.”

“Neither did I,” Twilight said, turning around to face her books. “But I’ve been doing some work, trying to find a way to cure the virus. Have you seen Legion anywhere?”

“Luna didn’t tell you?” Cadance asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Twilight. “She sent Legion away. She… sort of blames him.”

“What?” Twilight said, surprised. “Why would she do that? Legion was our best chance at curing the disease!”

“I know…” Cadance said. “I wish I had gotten to meet him…” Twilight sat down in her chair, nodding.

“Well,” she said. “We still have that crashed ship up in the north. With luck, I can figure some things out.”

“Twilight…” Cadance took a few steps behind the lavender alicorn, frowning. “Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, turning around in her chair.

“Losing yourself in your work,” Cadance said. “I cannot imagine how much this must hurt for you. She was my adoptive aunt, yes, but you had a bond with her that nopony else, minus Luna, shared. When you were a filly, I was one of the only ponies who you would open up to. Please, open up to me again. I can help.” Twilight sighed, and sat back in her chair.

“I…” she started. “I don’t think I’m quite there yet… I need some time, Cadance. Just some time to think and process everything. Once that’s done… I promise I’ll come talk to you about it.” Cadance smiled, and patted Twilight on her back.

“Good,” she said. “If you need anything… I’m here for you.” Cadance then turned and exited the massive library, leaving Twilight to her work.

Legion sat in its chair aboard its ship, left arm outstretched and omni-tool activated. Although the peace that it was experiencing in space was increasing productivity, Legion found that it had hit a brick wall in terms of progress on the disease. Even if it had the facilities to synthesize a cure, Legion simply didn’t have the data to even come up with ideas for one. The data collected from the sick pegasus had helped, but there was too much missing information. Without access to more samples or more advanced medical technology, there was no way that Legion was going to cure this disease.

The ship had also had no luck in finding element zero, as over the past few hours that Legion had been in orbit, very little data had been collected on the planet’s surface. The northern polar region was entirely mapped, showing that it had very few deposits of any valuable minerals, let alone element zero. The scanners had now ventured into Equestrian territory, but so far, nothing of interest had been found. As the ship continued scanning, Legion became very aware that it may have to face the reality that it would be trapped here forever. Unless by some miracle another organic or geth ship came through the relay, Legion would never return to charted space.

Briefly, the programs within Legion turned their thoughts toward what could possibly be happening on the surface. Equestria had just lost one of its leaders, and based on Luna’s reaction, it was going to have quite the negative effect. If they were unable to reorganize in time, the disease would continue to spread, the changelings would continue to kidnap the sick, and the collectors would continue doing whatever they were doing with the kidnapped.

This brought up another point to the geth: what were the collectors doing? No one knew what their goal was when the collectors requisitioned the kidnapping of a small group of individuals, but in the case of the mission Legion had joined, it knew that they were capturing humans to construct a Reaper. Still, that had taken them months of work to even capture enough humans to build the basic structure of the machine. To completely finish it they were going to have to attack Earth itself, though that was never going to happen now. Equestria did not have nearly enough ponies living on it to build a full-size Reaper, and the collectors here had crash landed, they were not sent by others. Whatever they were up to, Legion knew that it was not good.

Captain Silent Dart of the Nighthawks paced through Appleloosa, taking a look at the carnage. By direct order of Princess Luna, he and a smaller squad had been relocated from Westrock (which was now almost completely empty after all of the kidnappings) to the desert town to find out the extent of the changeling assault. The buildings were all intact, and were it not for the bodies, it would appear as if nopony had ever been present.

But unfortunately, there were a lot of bodies. Some were guards who were already stationed at Appleloosa, but most were Dart’s fellow Nighthawks. They all lay on the ground in a pool of their own crimson blood, each of them having been murdered in a different way. Most were with blades, as was evident due to all of the slash marks. A few bodies even lay beheaded, an insult to Silent Dart and the Nighthawks as a whole.

Curiously, some did not have any slash marks to speak of. These dead instead had been riddled with several tiny holes, each of which extended far back into the pony’s body and cut through bones and major organs. Silent Dart had no idea what had killed these ponies; it was as if a unicorn had picked up a dozen small rocks, then hurled them at their target at hundreds of miles per hour. The captain made a mental note to mention them to Princess Luna in his report to see if she could recognize the wound. She was thousands of years old than him, after all, perhaps this was the art of some ancient foe that she had vanquished before the unification of Equestria.

Wandering into the town center, Silent Dart found the most curious display of all. No Nighthawks lay slain, though there were bodies in the center of the large circular area. They were not ponies, but changelings. Each of them had an incredibly painful burn mark running across it, looking like a mage had channeled their energy into a beam of devastation and not let up until all of the changelings were dead.

Not far from the pile of dead changelings was something even stranger: a cylindrical device sitting horizontally on the ground. It would light up every few seconds, and the device was constantly emitting a soft humming noise. Dart had no idea what it was, but pointed a hoof at it, instructing the Nighthawks following behind him to take it for study. They saluted, then ran over to the device and picked it up, the unicorns using telekinesis and the others using their hooves. Their constant grunting told Silent dart just how heavy the device was, so he trotted over to lend some help. He grabbed it in his telekinesis as well, taking some of the weight off, but not enough to make taking it away a cakewalk. They were going to have to reserve a chariot just to carry the thing back to Canterlot.

Suddenly, the dirt in front of Silent Dart was kicked up as unseen projectiles buried themselves in the ground. The Nighthawks all acted on instinct and dropped the cylindrical device, darting out of the way to find cover. Dart ducked behind a stack of barrels that normally would have done little to protect against the projectiles. Fortunately they seemed to be filled with sand, which dampened the force of the projectiles and prevented them from making it all the way through.

Dart and the unicorn Nighthawks all charged their horns for magical blasts, while the earth ponies and pegasi equipped advanced crossbows with magically-enhanced bolts. Each bolt, when they hit, would transfer some sort of effect to the target, most commonly fire. The Nighthawks preferred lightning, as it was quieter and did the job much quicker than flames. His horn charged, Dart quickly peeked out of cover and released a bolt of energy, sending it flying in the general direction of their assailant. It hit a stack of crates, knocking them over and blowing one up, causing the contents to spill all over the ground. Briefly, Dart thought he saw the movement of a dark brown creature run from behind the destroyed cover to some other location. A moment later the enemy fire continued, tearing across the town center and coming dangerously near to the ponies.

“Combine your shots!” Silent Dart cried over the din of battle. “Earth ponies and pegasi, provide suppression! Unicorns, fire on my mark!” The captain peered out of his cover, trying to pinpoint exactly where the fire was coming from. It did not take long, as the projectiles seemed to be emitted from a very bright flash. The crossbow bolts of the non-unicorn Nighthawks began to pepper the area, keeping the assailant pinned down. Confident that they were safe, Silent Dart and the other unicorns stood up and all began to charge their horns.

“Three… two…” Dart counted down, preparing a very powerful blast. “One… Mark!” All of the unicorns fired at once. The magical blasts combined in mid-air and streaked towards the attacker, hitting the building right behind it. The force of the blast sent out a huge shockwave, catching the building that had been hit on fire. The flames exploded outward and engulfed the area where the attacker was hiding, as became evident when shrieks of pain filled the air. Preparing his horn again, Silent Dart slowly crept forward towards the hiding spot of their assailant. When it came into view, it became clear that the creature was dead. What was not clear, however, was exactly what the creature was.

Silent Dart had never seen anything like it. It stood far taller than a pony, looking as though it may have been around the height of Princess Celestia. On the surface, the creature had a chitinous exoskeleton of a beige complexion. Burn marks interrupted the natural shell, and were the most likely cause of death. The head was vaguely pyramidal and tapered off at the back. On it were four glowing amber eyes which stared endlessly above it, never moving around. Curiously, Silent Dart poked it with a hoof, and, upon receiving no reaction, finally released the energy built up in his horn. He turned around to issue orders to his soldiers, who had come up behind the captain while the stallion was examining their attacker.

“Come on,” he said. “We need to send a message to Canterlot. One chariot for that device, and one chariot for this… thing. Let’s move.” They all saluted, and turned around to walk across the town center. Silent Dart followed behind them, and halfway across, something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and looked down to the dirt, finding a sizeable pool of blood sitting in a depression on the ground. It looked as though some of it had dried, but for the most part it still retained a glossy sheen. Looking back up, Dart called to his soldiers.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Were any of you hit?”

“No, sir!” each of them called back in unison. Raising an eyebrow, Dart looked back down to the pool of blood. It was definitely pony blood, as the creature that they had killed was not bleeding, and changeling blood was a deep blue. However, none of them had been hit, and there was no trail showing that the blood came from or led anywhere. Shrugging, Dart started jogging to catch up with his soldiers. Once he was back at the front of the group, they began their trek back to the chariot in which they had arrived. He hoped that Princess Luna would believe him when he told her what had transpired. This was going to be an interesting report…

Queen Chrysalis walked along on the surface of the badlands, taking in the bleak view. It was not often that she left the comfort of the hive, as business rarely required her to come out here. Even if she did find herself with free time, the surface was no better than the hives. It was a desolate, flat environment that stretched on for miles. On a clear day such as this one, Chrysalis found herself able to see the peaks of the Dragon Mountains, where the infamous dragons had made their dwellings, only a few hundred miles away. Another couple hundred miles beyond those were old changeling hives, taken by the diamond dogs only a few decades after the changelings had been forced out of them by Celestia and Luna, thousands of years ago. A few dozen miles behind her, in the opposite direction of the Dragon Mountains, was the Western Sea. The shores had never been seen by pony civilization, and seeing as there were no ships in existence to circumnavigate the globe, unless they came through the dragons, it was going to stay that way.

As Chrysalis paced about the land, a black speck suddenly started growing on the horizon. As it came closer, it soon became clear that it was a squad of changeling scouts she had sent out to discover how the ponies had disabled the nanovirus. Flying alongside them were two collectors scouts, flapping their insect-like wings incredibly fast to keep up with the more agile changelings. Chrysalis still did not understand how the wings supported flight for the collectors, but they were aliens. It was very likely that she would not understand the answer if she knew it. A few moments later, the changeling/collector squad landed and approached the queen. The changelings bowed, and awaited orders.

“Report,” Chrysalis commanded, pointing to the closest changeling.

“Your excellency, we believe that we have discovered how the ponies disabled the disease,” he said, head still bowed. Occasionally he would peek up to gauge his majesty’s reaction.

“Well done,” the queen said, smiling. “Come, we must report to--”

“But your excellency, that is not all,” the changeling continued. “There was a squad of Nighthawks there. We tried to stay silent, but one of the collectors feared we had been spotted. He opened fire on them. We got away… but the collector was killed.” Chrysalis felt her stomach drop as her knees weakened from the news. The collector captain had made it abundantly clear that if any of his drones died while outside of the hive, it was on her head. Gulping, Chrysalis nodded and turned around.

“Go, get rest,” she ordered. “Collectors, come with me. You will report to your captain the means by which the ponies disabled his virus.” She walked several feet forward to the entrance of what, to the untrained eye, would look like a sinkhole. In reality, this was the main entrance to their largest hive, one of fifteen scattered along the western edge of the badlands.

Hidden amongst the shadows of the entrance were changeling guards, all of them ready to pounce at the sight of an intruder. Of course intruders never came here – it was simply too far away from civilization. But Chrysalis was increasingly paranoid after her defeat at the hooves of the ponies, and with how weakened they had become, she did not want to risk anything.

Chrysalis stepped into the hole, her eyes automatically adjusting to the darkness. The collectors and changeling scouts entered behind her, and the changelings turned down a side passage to their barracks. The collectors stayed with Chrysalis for every step during the walk to their captain.

As she neared the chamber where the captain kept himself, her heart began pounding in her chest. Her legs felt numb, and she knew that the consequences for the death of the collector were going to be extreme. Even though it had been the collector’s own fault, he was out there by Chrysalis’s request. The collectors on Equis were few in numbers, even fewer than the changelings themselves. This was not going to end well.

Gulping again, Chrysalis pushed the door open, revealing the large, dark chamber beyond. It was filled floor-to-ceiling with various pieces of alien machinery that the queen did not recognize. Even the simplest one was so far beyond her that she could not even begin to grasp how it worked. The collector captain stood over one piece of machinery, idly pressing buttons while watching lines of text scroll past on a transparent screen. He turned around as the door opened, approaching Chrysalis and the collectors who accompanied her.

“What is it, Chrysalis?” he asked. Chrysalis gulped, and decided to deliver the good news first. Perhaps it would make his reaction to the death less violent. Maybe. Probably not.

“My changelings and your collectors believe that they have discovered how the ponies disabled your nanovirus,” she said, stepping aside so the collectors who accompanied her could explain.

“While in Appleloosa, we observed a piece of geth technology,” one of them said. “Based on readings collected from long-range scanning equipment, it appeared to be an electromagnetic pulse emitter.”

“EMP…” the captain said quietly to himself. “That would make sense… Good. Now I know how to improve future versions to prevent EMP’s from being effective. But Chrysalis… I sense that there is more you need to tell me.” Chrysalis sighed and stepped forward again.

“During the reconnaissance…” she began. “One of your collectors opened fire on a squad of ponies… and was killed…” Chrysalis winced, ready for the response.

Silence. That is all Chrysalis heard. Then, the collector captain spoke.

“Leave us.” Sighing, Chrysalis knew to prepare for the worst. The collector drones turned and exited the chamber, closing the door behind them.

There was a brief pause, before the collector captain lashed out and smacked Chrysalis clear across the room. She impacted on one of the walls, cracking the stone and causing her head to swim. Just as she was beginning to collect herself, Chrysalis felt a clawed hand around her neck. A moment later she was being lifted up off of the ground, and when her vision cleared, it revealed the six glowing eyes of the captain.

“You do remember what I said, do you not?” he asked quietly. Chrysalis coughed, but forced a nod. “And you also know that one of my drones dying is a significant blow to our numbers?” Chrysalis nodded again, though the edges of her vision were beginning to go black. As she struggled for air, the collector captain dropped her to the ground, where she landed in a heap. Holding a hoof to her chest, Chrysalis began to gasp in great bounties of sweet, sweet oxygen.

“We are few in numbers, Chrysalis,” the captain continued. “With this death, there is one less collector to see our plan through.”

“Why… don’t… you…” Chrysalis struggled through her deep breaths of air. “Why don’t you… just… call for reinforcements?” The captain advanced towards the changeling queen once more, causing her to scurry backward in fear. He stopped just shy of reaching her, and pointed a finger.

“No!” he shouted. “The others can never know that we are here! Do you understand? If they find out that we are here, the entire plan will be compromised. Do you understand!?” Though Chrysalis did not understand, she nodded anyway. The collector stepped back, seeming to be satisfied.

“Go…” he said. “I must work on modifying the nanovirus to reduce the effectiveness of EMP’s. It will be done in a few days. I will come to you when it is ready.” Chrysalis shakily stood up and walked to the door of the chamber, using all of her strength to push it open. She stumbled out into the empty hallway, glad that none of her changelings were here to see her in this sorry state. Taking a moment to compose herself, Chrysalis turned around and set off for a destination deeper within the hive. Right now, she did not want to be near the captain. She did not want to be near anyone.

When Chrysalis felt she had gone far enough, she let out an agitated scream. It echoed through the stone tunnels, alerting any nearby changelings to her presence. The queen kicked at the walls, getting her frustrations out with every hit.

What have I become? the queen asked herself as her rage began to subside. In its place she felt only sorrow. All that she had done, all that she had sacrificed for the collectors, and this was how she was treated. The collector captain did not see Chrysalis as an equal, that much was certain. The changelings were not his allies, they were his pawns.

And yet, what choice did she have? Chrysalis fell to her flank, tears threatening to surface. Because of her actions a year before, the changelings were just as weak as they had been thousands of years ago, when Celestia and Luna ended their ruthless “purge.” She needed the collectors to regain that strength, Chrysalis knew. But at what cost? Chrysalis felt a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, telling her that this would not end well for her or her kind.

“Your excellency?” The queen abruptly spun around, her green eyes settling on a small changeling drone at the end of a nearby tunnel. Chrysalis quickly collected herself, standing up.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Your prisoner has awoken,” the changeling reported. Finally, Chrysalis felt a smile grow on her face. She crossed to the small changeling, her grin widening. She had somepony to go see...

Princess Luna slammed the door to her bedroom shut, taking in a deep breath of air before she walked over to her bed and collapsed onto it, exhausted. After experiencing one of Celestia’s day courts, the solitude offered by her night court suddenly did not seem too bad. From the moment that day court began, to the second it ended, Luna had not had a single minute to herself. Though the ponies were a bit confused at seeing Luna instead of the more familiar Celestia, they did not use that as a reason to abandon their appointments.

The complaints and concerns ranged from semi-logical to outright ridiculous. Luna wondered for a moment whether or not most of the ponies were actually serious when they showed up to speak with her sister. Some of them clearly were, but others Luna had no idea. Who would have expected that getting one less quill in a box of quills was such a hot-button issue? No, Luna decided. That pony was not serious.

Of course, while the ponies did not fully mind speaking with Princess Luna, some seemed apprehensive about it. The clearly were expecting Celestia, and to many of them, Luna was an unknown entity. They knew about her existence, but with rarely any public appearances, they knew nothing about her as a pony. This had led to a few ponies walking out, although most stayed. Luna also was not surprised when she had been first asked, “Where is Princess Celestia?”

With some assistance from her advisors, Luna had drafted a cover story stating that Celestia was seeing to a very important issue that had just come up, regarding trade routes and national borders. It was believable for a pony in her position, and was just descriptive enough not to prompt too much further questioning. Still, some did not seem fully comfortable around the princess of the night. She had tried her best to be warm and open, but with recent events she found that difficult to do.

Luna was close to sleep, which she knew she should be avoiding, when a knock on the door disrupted her. Lazily, she stood up and wandered back over to the door, opening it and letting in a copious amount of sunlight from the windows in the hall. It would not be long before she had to deal with the sun, a task which filled her with dread and sadness. Standing in the hall was one of her personal guards, who bowed at his majesty’s presence.

“Your highness,” he said, standing up from the bow. “Captain Silent Dart has arrived from Appleloosa. He says he has two things he wants you to see in the loading docks.” Her face brightening for the first time in over a day, Luna thanked the guard and exited her bedroom. Of all the ponies she wanted to see right now, Silent Dart was near the top of the list. She had sent the Nighthawk to the town of Appleloosa in the hopes that more could be discovered about the changeling attack. She knew that they had remained behind after Luna and Twilight had left. With any luck they would not have done too much damage.

A few minutes of walking later, Luna came to the door to the loading docks. Two guards stood on either side of the door, a sight which made the princess all the more curious about what Dart wanted her to see. The door was opened for her, and Luna stepped into the large docks, her eyes immediately going to the three chariots that sat landed at the edge of the platform. Luna crossed the docks to the chariots, beside which were Dart and a few of his Nighthawk soldiers.

“Princess Luna,” the captain greeted, bowing. “Thank you for coming.”

“It is no trouble, captain,” Luna replied. “How is Appleloosa?”

“It’s fine, your highness,” Dart said, rising to his full height. “No changelings were found and no further damages seemed to have been sustained, but… the entire deployment of Nighthawks that was sent there are dead.”

“I see…” Luna said sadly. She had hoped that at least a few had survived the collectors, but they did seem to be ruthless creatures. “And I am told that you have two things you wish to show me?”

“Yes, please, come this way.” Silent Dart turned around and led her further away from the three parked chariots, into a small area surrounded on three sides by crates. In the middle of the small, isolated area were two objects: one Luna immediately recognized as Legion’s electromagnetic pulse device, and the other she could not see due to a black tarp lying over it. It was long, however, and did not sit very high off of the ground. Silent Dart approached Legion’s device first, and began looking over it.

“We have no idea what it is, princess,” he said. “It’s not pony technology, and it doesn’t look like the changelings made it.”

“I will have our scientists examine it,” Luna lied. In reality she was going to lock it away forever. The device had served its purpose, and now their only hope for curing the disease resting with Healthy Heart, who was still in the crashed collector ship. The lie seemed to fool Silent Dart, and he approached the second object. He grabbed the corner of the tarp that was covering it with his telekinesis, and pulled the tarp away, causing Luna to gasp in surprise.

It perfectly matched the image that Legion had shown the princesses. The brown, chitinous exoskeleton, the four glowing eyes, it was all there. The main difference was that this one was covered in burn wounds, no doubt by the actions of the Nighthawks.

“I have never seen anything like this, your highness,” Dart said, kicking the collector lightly. “It ambushed us as we were getting ready to leave. Luckily we were able to overpower it with our magic. Do you have any idea what it is, princess?” Luna gulped, stepping forward to get a closer look at the body.

“No…” she lied again. “I do not. I will have our medical specialists examine it.” This time, Luna was not lying; she fully intended to pass the body over to Healthy Heart and her team, but only after the disease had been cured. For now, this collector was a low priority.

“Understood, your highness,” Silent Dart said. “I’ll have a full report written out for you by tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Luna said. “You are dismissed.” The soldier bowed and trotted away, leaving the princess alone with Legion’s device and the dead collector. She sighed, then followed the path that Dart had taken to get out of the area. As she re-entered the main section of the docks, she noticed that it was about time to lower the sun.

Just as her sister had taken up the responsibility for raising and lowering the moon for a thousand years, Luna would do it for Celestia. The only difference was that she would have to do it forever. Tears once again started to fill her eyes as Luna reached out with her magic and gripped the massive golden orb. Celestia always would be more skilled at manipulating the sun, just as Luna was inherently better at controlling her moon. But, unfortunately for the sun, Luna was all that it had. She gently nudged the sun down past the horizon, then quickly switched her magical grip over to the moon and brought it up into the sky.

The task complete, Luna sighed and returned to the interior of the palace, exiting the cold outdoor docks. Winter was in full swing by now – the first of many snowstorms was scheduled for tonight. Deciding that a bit of rest would do her some good, the princess began to walk down the hall back to her private quarters. Sleep would not come easy with all that was going on, but if she was to be at her full strength for Equestria, she was going to need it. That and, if today’s day court was any indication, she would need to mentally prepare herself for all of the ponies who would show up.

Finally arriving in her comfortable bedroom, Luna immediately collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes, not even bothering to remove any of her royal garb. She allowed the comfort of sleep to slowly wash over her, and deliver her to her dreams.

Legion stood in the middle of the cockpit of its transport, its omni-tool still activated. Lines of data scrolled past, and the geth carefully examined each one before storing it in the ship’s memory. Should anything happen to the unit, it was important to preserve any and all data that had been catalogued. And in Legion’s current situation, that was a lot of data to back up. Video and audio logs, sensor recordings, every single thing that had happened to the geth since it arrived on Equis was being saved. While a few processes oversaw the transfer of data, the majority of the programs within Legion were busily continuing to go over all data collected from the sick pegasus.

No matter what they it tried, Legion could not come up with any sort of cure for the nanovirus. Nanomachines could alter themselves at any time to counteract the effects of a cure, and they were incredibly difficult to detect. EMP’s worked, but only temporarily, and it was likely that the collectors were already recreating the nanovirus to render EMP’s useless. For a machine with a limitless capacity for knowledge, Legion was coming up short. It simply did not possess the data to create a cure. There was only one place in the entire galaxy where a cure could be found, and that was the changeling hives where the collectors were hiding. They were well guarded, but the geth did have a tactical cloak that could run uninterrupted for hours at a time.

To Legion, there were only two possible solutions: either sit in orbit and wait for help to arrive, which may never occur, or return to Equis and help the ponies. To it, the latter option was more attractive. Legion quickly pulled up a map of the Equis supercontinent and scanned over it, its single eye coming to settle on the region designated as the “Badlands.” Twilight had been kind enough to show it several maps during its stay in Canterlot, so with that information, Legion knew roughly where the changeling hives were expected to be. Even if it didn’t find them right away, the ship could always run depth scans to find the network of interconnected tunnels.

Uploading the destination to the flight computer, Legion angled the ship downward and began to descend back into the atmosphere. It set up an automated flight path as well, telling the ship to re-enter orbit once the geth was clear of the craft. With all of that complete, Legion stood up and exited the cockpit, entering the room for the drop bay. Walking over to the weapon shelf, Legion decided that the standard M-98 Widow would not be sufficient enough for this mission. It would operate at long range, but in the close-quarters nature of the hives, other weapons would be more practical.

Finally, Legion decided on geth-manufactured plasma shotgun, as well as a plasma SMG, also manufactured by the geth. Legion placed the folded up weapons onto its back, then stepped onto a circular pad in the middle of the room. It gripped two handlebars on the ceiling, and a moment later the circular pad split apart, revealing the rushing winds below. Legion released the handles and dropped from the ship, falling at speeds that would tear an organic apart.

Once it was at a respectable height, the geth folded up into a compact shock-resistant form, and deployed several hidden flaps to slow its descent. Legion slammed into the ground with bone-crushing force, and unfolded from the small crater it had formed, coming to its standard tall height. The light was warped around it as Legion engaged the tactical cloak, before it set off for the western edge of the badlands. It had a hive to find.

She awoke with a start. The first thing that she became aware of was a horrible burning sensation on her neck. When she tried reaching up to scratch it, she found that her limbs would not move. It vaguely felt as if she was floating, but with her eyelids not obeying her commands to open, it was impossible to confirm. Finally, through immense strength that weakened her greatly, her eyelids opened and began to take in the sights.

It was dark. Very dark. She was suspended in some form of cocoon, the inside of which was filled with a green gelatinous liquid. It was cold, but not so cold that she became uncomfortable. Her vision was blurry at first, but gradually it became clearer. When it did, if she could have gasped, she would have. Outside of her cocoon were over a hundred more, each one with another pony occupant. All of them appeared unconscious, though their discomfort was evident. Their brows were furrowed, and occasionally their muzzles would scrunch up in pain. She looked at the cocoon right across from hers, which was host to a young pegasus stallion. His coat was pale, almost sickly so, and there were deep bags under his eyes. Dried blood coated his muzzle beneath his nostrils.

Suddenly, the stallion’s eyes shot open. He looked around, terrified of where he was. By the way his muzzle was opening and closing, it looked like he was calling for help. A horrible, pained expression came across his face as he screamed loud enough to actually hear through the walls of the cocoon. All of a sudden, his face contorted in extreme pain. Spots of red began to form on his face as her coat appeared to completely dissolve. There was one final pained scream, and then the young pegasus stallion simply ceased to be. The dissolution of his coat spread outwards until it was completely gone, revealing the musculature beneath. That, too, dissolved, and with it went all organs and bones. The pony has simply… melted.

She heard a dark, sadistic laugh from somewhere amidst the cocoons. It was familiar, and she did not like it. Suddenly, from the shadows stepped Queen Chrysalis.

“Hello, Celestia,” she said teasingly, approaching the princess’s pod. “I hope you’re comfortable.” Celestia tried to speak, but only found the ability to croak.

“Having some difficulty speaking, are you?” Chrysalis said, smiling sadistically. “Yes, that typically is a side effect of having your throat cut. Don’t worry; I am assured that it will be healed in no time, and you can shout obscenities at me all day long.” Celestia glared at the queen, which only seemed to amuse her.

“I bet you thought you were dead, didn’t you?” she asked. “Well, you were. Mostly. The collectors do have some truly incredibly technology, however. I was content to leave you dead, but they insisted on keeping you for the plan. They said that your genetic material was too valuable to waste. But don’t worry, you won’t dissolve just yet. That only happens to the ponies infected with the disease. Nanomachines are wonderful, aren’t they? Of course we will be infecting you shortly, just as soon as we can alter the disease to make it resist electromagnetic pulses. Valiant attempt, by the way. But no, you will not be infected yet. First we are going to capture your beloved sister, and bring her here as well. Then we’ll do the same with your student, and her friends, and everypony else in Equestria.” The queen paused her mocking speech for a moment to chuckle to herself, before continuing.

“But I’ve learned my lesson about revealing our plans to you. Admittedly, that was not my best idea. Hubris, I suppose. I am confident, but I’m not going to sit here and pester you with the finest details of the collector’s plan just yet. Besides, their plans are nothing compared to my plans for Equestria…”

Celestia only glared, feeling her hatred and anger burning within her. She struggled to move, but try as she might, the pod kept her immobile. The princess was completely powerless, forced to stare on as Chrysalis mocked her.

“You know, it also occurs to me that I should mention your magical wards to the collectors. That is how the Nighthawks in Westrock have managed not to catch it, right? It would be quite fortunate for us if we found a way past the one defense you have managed to find. Then there will be nothing to stop us from infecting all of your beloved little ponies!”

This was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back. Summoning all the energy she could muster, Celestia suddenly lurched forward, smashing her bare hooves against the thick glass of the cocoon door. She tried to scream, though no sound came from her throat. The only thing Celestia felt was a burning pain in her neck. Chrysalis laughed at the display, amused, and waited for the princess to calm down a bit before continuing.

“I bet you miss your dear Luna, and Twilight Sparkle too,” she said. “Don’t worry. You’ll see them very soon. I’m going to reserve some cocoons right across from you for them. Goodbye, Celestia. I’ll be back…” Quietly laughing to herself, Chrysalis turned and began to walk away from the cocoon. Celestia watched as the queen wandered away, glaring angrily.

As Chrysalis departed, Celestia noticed the queen stumble slightly, as though her leg had been injured. Chrysalis quickly shot her head around, staring at Celestia with a concerned glare. She maintained this expression for a moment before apparently remembering that she was the one in charge. Chrysalis theatrically waved goodbye, then turned and left, disappearing back into the shadows.

Celestia watched her leave, glaring the whole time. And though her face showed only anger, within she felt nothing but despair. Her sister and student thought she was dead. She had to get out of here. She did not know how, but she knew she had to do it. For those she loved, and for Equestria.

Author's Note

Hey all, here is chapter 13.

I was expecting that a lot of people would react the way that they did to the events of the previous chapter. I had a feeling that some people would guess Celestia was not really dead, and it seems that I was right. Either way, thank you for sticking with me through that. The downside to uploading a single chapter at a time is that, while I know what is going to happen next, none of you do, and when breaks between chapters can sometimes take a while, opinions can change.

That is why I prioritized this chapter and put a lot of time into getting it out. Hopefully it will clear up a bit more of the confusion surrounding Celestia's 'death', but note that this is not all. More will be explained in future updates.

Anyways, thank you for reading! If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 14

“The Old Machines offered to give us our future. The geth will achieve their own future.”

Twilight Sparkle slammed her book shut and tossed it up to the top of the rather large pile that had formed, and began to reach for another one. When her grasp found nothing on the table, she looked to where her ‘unread’ pile had been, and found it to be empty. Twilight stared at the empty spot, impressed that she had managed to do that. Nine books in one day, she thought to herself. A new record.

Each book had been a rather wordy medical textbook, covering everything from the first recorded diseases to how bacteria reproduced. Throughout her very long reading session, Twilight had been keeping a careful notes of anything she read that felt important. She had ended up filling up the entire notebook, and had to get a second one from the library’s ample supply. Her work finished, Twilight closed each notebook and picked them up in her telekinesis, quickly teleporting them back to her bedroom. She was about to teleport herself along with them, when her stomach growled at her, angry at not having been fed.

Twilight had pulled an all-nighter, which was certainly not a foreign experience for her. However, no matter how many times she pulled one, her body never fully got used to it. Even now, her eyes begged to be closed so that they might experience just a few minutes of precious sleep. Her stomach protested with another grumble, and Twilight decided that her appetite was going to win out over her exhaustion.

She trotted out of the library and turned down several corridors, soon coming to the dining room. It was still early if Twilight’s internal clock had adjusted properly, so she hoped breakfast was still being served. The young princess pushed the door open and stepped inside, soon finding herself to be the center of attention of the ponies already present. Fortunately it was nopony she did not know. Sitting in many of the available chairs were her five friends from Ponyville, along with Princess Luna, who sat at the head of the table.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the princess said warmly. “I am glad you have joined us. Please, sit. We were just about to order.” Twilight did as she was instructed and took an empty seat next to Applejack, immediately opening the menu and glancing over it. At this point looking at the menu was just going through the motions. She had eaten here so many times as a filly that she had the menu practically memorized, and she always ended up getting the same thing every time.

“Where’ve ya been, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, turning to face her friend.

“Just in the library,” Twilight responded, closing the menu and putting it back down. “Reading through some books about diseases to see what I can come up with.”

“And what did you find, dear?” Rarity asked, taking a delicate sip of water.

“Nothing at all about a nanovirus…” the lavender alicorn said, defeated. “Any progress towards curing the disease isn’t going to come from me. It’s either going to come from Healthy Heart or… Legion.” Luna glared when Twilight uttered the name of the machine, and lowered her head.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Heart has made very little progress with the machinery in the ship,” Luna reported. “She sent me a letter this morning.”

“Well maybe the machines just need some calibrations!” Pinkie suggested, smiling widely. All of the ponies stared at the pink mare, confused. They decided not to question her, and looked back to their own empty plates. Twilight was about to continue speaking when the kitchen door opened and a well-dressed stallion stepped out, a notepad hovering just a few inches in front of him. He systematically approached each mare and took down their order, then reentered the kitchen, leaving the ponies alone once again.

“Anyways, Luna, I don’t think that sending Legion away was a good idea,” Twilight said, causing the princess of the night to glare once again. “He’s the only one who truly understands how everything works! And he can’t leave our star system no matter how badly he wants to, so sending him away was… counterproductive.”

“We will not press the issue, Twilight,” Luna said quietly. “Even if I wanted it back, we have no way of contacting it. Legion is gone.” Twilight sighed, knowing that the princess was right. Unless Legion sought them out, they would likely never see the geth again.

Their conversation was interrupted once more as the waiter returned, this time joined by several more ponies all bearing several silver trays. The trays were placed in front of each pony, on them the breakfast that had been ordered. Twilight’s mouth immediately started to water as the familiar meal was placed down in front of her, and she stared longingly at the dish. It was nothing too fancy, just pancakes with scrambled eggs. She often tried to recreate it in Ponyville, but somehow the ones made by the Canterlot chefs always tasted better. I guess that’s why they’re chefs and I’m not, she thought as she grabbed a fork in her telekinesis and immediately dug in. Her friends were doing the same, though Rarity and Luna were a bit less ravenous about it.

About halfway through the breakfast, the conversation restarted itself. Twilight did not take notice of who had bothered to keep speaking, she was too focused on eating. It was only when she heard her name being incessantly called that she chose to look up and see what the commotion was.

“Twilight, dear?” Rarity asked, looking concerned. Everypony else was staring at her in much the same way. Twilight’s cheeks flushed with color at the attention, and she put down her fork for a moment.

“Sorry, what?” she asked.

“We were just asking if you thought Healthy Heart would be successful or not,” Luna explained. Twilight’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and she nodded.

“Princess Celestia appointed her with good reason, I’m sure,” Twilight said. “I have no doubts in her ability to find a cure in time.” The other ponies nodded, satisfied enough with the response. The conversation once again took a quick recess as everypony finished their breakfast. Once all of the plates were empty, the ponies pushed them away and sat back, satisfied.

“Well, as relaxing as that was, I’m afraid that duty calls, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, sitting up. “The day court opens shortly and I must attend to that, but you must take on some royal duties as well today.”

“You can count on me, princess!” Twilight said, smiling. “What is it?”

“Well, the new year is fast approaching, and…” Luna faltered, seeming to pick her words, which made Twilight frown curiously. “Okay, I’ll be honest, I’m just dumping this on you because I don’t want to do it. I need you to balance our budget for the next year.”

“Oh…” Twilight said, her eyes widening at the task. Balancing the royal budget was big, she hoped she was ready.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Luna said, attempting to comfort the young princess with a forced smile. “I remember when Celestia first gave the task to me… Of course that was also the last time she gave me the task. That year there was a disproportionately high amount of funds dedicated to ice cream.” The ponies all chuckled at the story, and Luna seemed to smile nostalgically.

“You really did that, princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, laughing.

“In my own defense, it had just been invented,” the princess answered. “Well, I should be going to court now. If yesterday was any indication, then I’m going to want to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. I will have the necessary documents sent to your bedroom, Twilight. So long, I shall see you all at lunch.” The ponies all waved at the princess as she stood and left, closing the large doors to the dining room behind her. There was silence for a few moments, before Applejack finally spoke.

“Ah’m glad that Luna is doin’ alright, given the circumstances,” she said.

“It must be awful!” Fluttershy agreed quietly. “We’re all hurting very badly, but imagine how it must be for her…”

“Yes, and for you, Twilight,” Rarity said. “Celestia was like a second mother to you. I cannot begin to imagine how it must feel.” Twilight nodded grimly, and looked down at her empty plate.

“Yeah…” she whispered, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

“Well…” Dash began. “… If you, you know… Ever need anypony… We’re all here for you.” Twilight’s friends all nodded in agreement, and Twilight smiled gratefully.

“Thank you,” she said, looking back up. “It’s good to know. Right now I just need some time to myself to think about it all. For now though, I should probably get to balancing that budget.”

“Have fun,” Dash said sarcastically. Twilight stood from her chair and walked to the door of the dining room, then opened them and stepped out into the hallway. She began trotting back to her quarters where Luna had sent the documents. She had some work to do.

Legion walked across the bleak and desolate landscape that was the badlands, its single eye constantly searching for something, anything that could possibly be the entrance to the changeling hive. It had been walking for hours, and not only had it not found any clues pointing it to the whereabouts of the changelings, it had found nothing resembling any life at all. Occasionally there was a bush or shrub rooted into the rough ground, just barely clinging on to life, but other than that, the place was completely dead.

As it walked, Legion wished that it had more information on the area. It knew nothing about changeling numbers, how large the hive was, what kinds of defenses there were… In all likelihood, Legion was probably the only thing other than the changelings that had ventured this far west. But it was committed now. If Legion didn’t find the data it needed to create a cure, then it would do nothing more than sit in space for years, if not decades. Geth did not experience boredom, but Legion did understand that not doing something when the chance was presented was considered ‘lazy’.

Suddenly, Legion’s eye caught movement far in the distance. Three black dots shot up into the dreary, cloudy sky, levelling out a few hundred feet about the ground. From there, they began flying forward. Legion quickly brought up its M-98 Widow and zoomed in on the dots, revealing them to be changelings in flight. Legion replayed their takeoff from its archives, and roughly charted from where they had launched. Lowering its sniper rifle, Legion began sprinting in the direction. The changelings had potentially slipped up and given the geth an edge, and Legion intended to use it wisely.

With the speed at which the geth moved, Legion gained a visual of the changeling’s launch site only a few minutes after it had spotted the pegasi. Once it was within a hundred meters, the geth activated its tactical cloak and slowed to a jog, soon coming up on what Legion assumed was the entrance to the hive. From an aerial view, it would have appeared as nothing more than a sinkhole, formed by some ancient cave-in. But closer up, it became evident that the whole was definitely not natural. Rough stairs had been formed into the rock, leading down into a black doorway, beyond which Legion could not see.

Hiding in the shadows of the rocks, Legion spotted several changelings equipped with blades, all of them watching for intruders. Fortunately, the tactical cloak kept the geth hidden to all, so Legion had no trouble simply walking right down the stairs and into the entrance to the hive beyond. The door opened into a simple stone hallway, the walls of which were slightly concave. The floor was of a cracked stone that seemed incredibly thick, as the geth had its movements almost entirely muffled as it walked down the hall. True to the name of a hive, the hallway branched off into two more, which then branched off into even more. With no leads at all about where the collectors were keeping themselves in this hive, Legion settled on maintaining a mostly straight path.

The hive appeared far too big for its inhabitants. As it walked through the winding tunnels that formed the hive, Legion encountered very few changelings. It was not a surprise, as from what Twilight Sparkle had told it, they had suffered heavy losses during an attack on Canterlot one year prior. Whenever it did pass by a changeling, they never seemed aware of the presence of the invisible machine walking right by them.

As it walked, Legion began to grow aware that its path had taken it on quite the descent. Throughout its reconnaissance, Legion had been scanning the tunnels to generate a 3D map so that it could easily find the exit, and it showed that the geth was now several hundred meters beneath the ground. Despite this, Legion noticed that temperatures were dropping. Sensors also indicated that a cool breeze was flowing throughout the tunnels, even though it was far from any natural sources of wind. The programs within Legion guessed that it could be some form of ventilation, however there were no obvious vents or shafts by which air could circulate. By all logical conclusions, it should have been quite stuffy.

Legion exited its tunnel and found itself in a small junction. Connecting to it were several more tunnels, some of which had an upward slope and some of which descended even further into Equis. With no other ideas, Legion simply walked into one of the ones going down, and almost slammed right into a changeling. Utilizing its enhanced reflexes, Legion managed to jump back just in time. The changeling passed by, totally oblivious that it had almost blown the geth’s cover.

Legion watched the changeling continue down the tunnel, suddenly realizing that it had seen that particular changeling before. She was different from the rest, standing just slightly taller than Princess Celestia had stood. Her long horn was bent and twisted, and her dark cerulean mane fell straight past her shoulders. Legion quietly deployed its plasma shotgun as it realized that it had unintentionally found the changeling queen. Legion aimed down the sights of the weapon, but stopped just short of pulling the trigger.

Legion had no idea what would happen if it killed the queen. If the changelings truly were a hive species, then all changeling drones would have a mental connection to the queen. Her termination would be felt by all, and the geth’s presence would be discovered. Additionally, in these close-quarters spaces, the sound of a gunshot would echo through miles of the tunnels, alerting anyone walking in them of the intruder. Legion once again wished for more information, then lowered its weapon and decided instead to follow the queen. It stayed several feet behind her as she walked, never getting too close, lest it risk discovery.

The changeling queen led Legion through several more winding tunnels, each of which sent them deeper and deeper into the crust of the planet. Strangely, temperatures stayed relatively cool, and a constant breeze continued to blow through the hive. Their journey ended when the queen exited the tunnel into a massive chamber, the ceiling of which went up hundreds of meters.

The chamber was mostly empty, except for the ground floor, which was host to over a hundred cocoon-like pods, each of which looked similar to the pods used by the collectors at their base. It was different, however – more organic, and each one was filled with a green gelatinous liquid. Suspended in the liquid of each pod was a single pony, all of whom appeared to be unconscious. Legion followed the queen down a short flight of stairs, which deposited them onto the ground floor of the chamber. The queen casually wandered through the rows of pods, stopping at one in particular. Then, she spoke…

Queen Chrysalis walked through the rows of pods, idly observing the inhabitants of each one. They were all unconscious, so painfully unaware of what was being done to them. Since yesterday, two more of the ponies had dissolved and had their genetic material pumped to the collector’s lab. Chrysalis did not quite understand what they were doing with the material, just that when they were done, Equestria would be hers to rule.

As she walked, Chrysalis felt a strange sensation, almost as though somepony else was watching her. However, whenever she discreetly turned around to find the source of the feeling, there was nothing in sight. Chalking it up to her paranoia, Chrysalis decided to ignore it, and finally stopped at her favorite cocoon.

The inhabitant of it had fallen asleep, likely sometime during the night. Good, Chrysalis thought. She needs to keep her strength up. Deciding that she had had enough sleep, Chrysalis knocked loudly on the outside of the cocoon, waking the pony within.

“Hello, Celestia,” she said. “I’m back again! I have good news for you: the collectors have almost finished refining the disease, and will have it ready for deployment tomorrow! I also am assured that it will easily bypass any magical wards your Nighthawks are using! I still haven’t decided which town we’ll hit first… I’m thinking, hmm… Ponyville, perhaps? Then we can add the wretched inhabitants of that town to the growing numbers in this hive. Does that sound good to you?” The princess did not respond, deciding only to continue glaring at the changeling queen.

“Of course, the collectors do tell me that time is of the essence,” Chrysalis continued. “So I think I may try something different. I think I shall infect two towns at the same time! Trottingham is near Ponyville, right? I will have to double-check my map. Anyways, I just thought I should update you on the downfall of your species. Goodbye!” Chrysalis offered a little wave, then turned and left the princess to be with her thoughts. It was still another full day until the disease would be ready, so in the meantime, Chrysalis decided that it would be a good idea to prepare the hunter squadrons to deploy the samples...

Legion listened in on the taunting speech that Chrysalis was giving to Princess Celestia, its various programs divided over the amount of new data. First, and perhaps most importantly, Princess Celestia was alive. If Legion could break her out, it could return her to Canterlot and help restore order. This would give the ponies even more time to cure the disease.

While several programs went over how to free Celestia, the rest were analyzing what had been said about the disease. Legion had not anticipated that the collectors would find a way around the EMP so quickly. With this new information, it was imperative that Legion find a cure. The changeling queen waved goodbye to the princess, then turned and walked off, soon disappearing into the shadows. Legion waited until it could no longer hear her hoofsteps, before it quietly ran up to Celestia’s cocoon and disabled the tactical cloak. The princess's eyes widened upon seeing Legion, no doubt it was the last thing she expected to see.

“Princess Celestia, can you hear us?” Legion asked quietly. Celestia did not speak, but she nodded her head excitedly. “We will attempt to remove you from the pod. Please stand by.” Legion stepped back and examined the cocoon, trying to find some sort of release to open it. When no release made itself visible, Legion simply gripped the front of the pod and pulled, trying to rip it in half. Surprisingly, it was an incredibly durable material, and the geth was unable to tear the front from its frame.

“Princess, we are unable to find a release,” Legion explained, much to Celestia’s dismay. “It is unwise for us to remain. We will continue scouting the hive, and return when more information is collected. There may be schematics of the pods somewhere, as they use collector technology.” Celestia nodded, laying back. As Legion backed away, it noticed a long scar along her neck, which seemed to have been healed with medi-gel. No doubt the collectors were responsible for that.

Legion looked around the chamber, and decided to exit the same way the queen had gone. It reactivated the tactical cloak, disappearing into the shadows, and maneuvered through the maze of pods. The geth soon came to a round door separated into four unequal sections. As it detected the machine approaching it, it slid apart and revealed a long hallway beyond. A quick visual inspection showed it to be empty, so Legion stepped into the hall and the door closed behind it.

Unlike the others, this tunnel sloped upwards. Legion began slowly walking up the hall, careful not to blow its cover in any way. This hive had shown itself to be massive, it could very well go for miles in all directions. The probability of finding where the collectors had hidden themselves was incredibly small. However, Legion was not one to give up, so it continued walking up the gently sloping tunnel...

Twilight Sparkle placed her quill neatly on her desk, then capped the inkwell and placed the document she had been writing next to it. It had taken her a few hours, but balancing the royal budget was not as difficult as it had originally sounded. At least for her, going over charts and graphs of spending trends from the past few decades to find out how to allocate their budget was actually sort of fun. Still, she was upset that it had not taken her longer. It was only noon, and the task that had been given to her by Luna had renewed some of her energy, despite her all-nighter. Checking the clock, Twilight decided that lunch was in order. She could already feel her energy beginning to wane once again, so getting some food in her would be good.

Twilight stood up and pushed her chair beneath the desk, then stepped away and began to exit the room. Spike, who had been reading quietly throughout the whole ordeal, noticed the sudden movement and hopped up to join the lavender alicorn. They both stepped out into the hallway, and immediately saw the other five Elements already walking down the hall. It appeared that they heard the door open, as they turned around to see Twilight and Spike walking out.

“Well Twilight, Spike, y’all are just in time!” Applejack said excitedly. “We were just gonna go get some grub.” Twilight nodded in agreement as her stomach rumbled in hunger. She smiled and trotted to catch up with her friends, who began walking as soon as she was with them.

“How was the budget thingy?” Rainbow Dash asked from her position a few feet above the ground.

“Easy,” Twilight said. “It only took me a few hours. And it gave me some energy!”

“Really?” Dash asked. “That gave you energy? And speaking of energy, when is the last time you did some wing-ups? Those wings don’t look as strong as they did when we left Ponyville.” Twilight smiled sheepishly and shrugged, honestly not remembering the last time she had worked on her wings. She knew that she had done it at least once since coming to Canterlot, just not when.

“They’re fine, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “Besides, not much need for me to fly while we’re here.” Rainbow Dash grunted, clearly disagreeing with the alicorn. Twilight chose not to press the issue, and the rest of the walk to the dining hall was in complete silence. When they arrived, Twilight opened the door with her magic and stepped in, finding that Princess Luna was already there. She appeared tired, no doubt from the first half of the day court. The six ponies and dragon all took seats around the table, and quickly told the waiters what they wanted. When the room was clear, Twilight finally spoke.

“How was the court, Luna?” she asked. Luna looked up to her, and frowned.

“I do not like it,” she answered. “I used to complain about not having any ponies in my night court. Now I want that back.”

“Oh…” Twilight said, frowning. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Oh, I’m just complaining,” Luna said. “It isn’t horrible. How was the budget allocation?”

“Easy!” Twilight said happily. “It only took me a few hours. Is there anything else I need to do?” Luna stared at Twilight in surprise. For her, balancing the budget had taken all day, and she despised every moment of it.

“Excellent,” she complemented, much to Twilight’s pleasure. “Now, what else can you do…?” As Luna thought, her face fell and became far more serious.

“Twilight…” she began. “I need you to coordinate with Cadance… Figure out what to do with the ponies from Appleloosa until the nanovirus reactivates and… and work on reinforcing all towns and cities in Equestria. We do not know how long the effects of the pulse are going to last, but the least we can do is prepare in advance, like my sister said.”

“Oh…” Twilight said. “Alright, Luna. I’ll do that after lunch…” What followed was another awkward silence, this one lasting until the waiters returned to the room, each one bearing a tray with the meal that each pony had ordered. They made idle conversation as they ate, all of them steering it away from any mention of the geth, the disease, the changelings, or Celestia. This left few things to actually talk about, so the conversation ended up being more of a series of short dialogues given by everypony about something they were doing.

Rainbow Dash was working on a series of new moves that were “super awesome”, Applejack was hoping that her family was having no problems with preparing the farm for winter, Fluttershy was hoping that the animal sitter she had gotten was doing a good job, Pinkie Pie was working on new cake recipes, and Rarity was drawing new dress designs. Each dialogue did not last long, and soon enough each pony simply was satisfied to eat in silence. When they had all finished, Luna stood up and pushed her chair in.

“I’m afraid that I must return to the day court,” she said, not sounding excited about it at all. “I also won’t be able to make it to dinner, for which I apologize. I have a meeting with the my advisors again… We need to figure out… We need to figure out a long-term story for Celestia. We can’t hide what happened from our ponies forever.”

“I’ll be going now, too,” Twilight added, standing up as well. “Cadance and I have work to do.” The remaining ponies all nodded their farewells, then turned back to idle conversation as the two princesses exited. Once they had left the dining hall, Luna turned down one corridor to return to the throne room. Twilight began to walk in the opposite direction, when it suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea where Cadance was. Quickly, Twilight waved down a passing guard.

“Yes, your highness?” he said, bowing.

“I’m looking for Princess Cadance,” Twilight explained. “Do you know where she is?”

“I believe that she is in her quarters, on the second level of the guest wing,” the guard answered. “Do you need an escort?”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Twilight said, turning and walking down the hall. “Thank you.” The guard bowed once more, then continued on his normal path. Twilight turned down several hallways, finally coming to a stairwell that led to the second level of the massive palace. Directly connected to the stairwell were the guest chambers, where several guards were patrolling. Two guards stayed rooted in place by a door, so Twilight assumed that that room belonged to Cadance. She trotted over to the door and knocked on it, taking a step back. A moment later the door opened, revealing the pink princess.

“Oh, hello Twilight!” Cadance said happily. “Please, come in!” She stepped aside and allowed Twilight to enter into her guestroom. Twilight accepted the invitation and entered, finding that the room looked identical to hers downstairs. Cadance ushered her over to a small chair, and sat down on her unmade bed.

“Sorry about the mess,” Cadance apologized, grabbing her sheets in her telekinesis and doing her best to tuck them in. “I just… didn’t really feel like cleaning up this morning. How have you been?”

“Busy,” Twilight answered, stifling a yawn. “I was up all night reading books about diseases, and this morning Luna had me balance Equestria’s budget…”

“Wow, busy indeed,” the princess of love observed. “I’ve just been getting myself all caught up on everything. I read all of the medical reports before bed last night, then read everything I could about Legion this morning. I really do wish that I had gotten to meet him… What was he like?”

“Not the best conversationalist, admittedly,” Twilight said, smirking. “But he was a great source of information. I learned so much. I wonder if… never mind.”

“What?” Cadance asked curiously.

“Oh, I was just wondering if any of your emotion spells would have worked on him,” Twilight explained, causing Cadance to raise an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since Legion is a machine, he has no emotions,” Twilight said. “It was a bit sad, actually. All that has happened to his race, and all he can say about it is ‘it was unfortunate’.” Neither pony had anything to add, so what followed was a brief awkward silence. When Cadance did not speak, Twilight stood up and decided to explain why she was here.

“Anyways,” she began. “Luna sent me here to coordinate with you on reinforcing the towns and cities across Equestria. We have no idea how long the nanovirus will be offline, so it is best that we act quickly.”

“Right,” Cadance said. “I think that it goes without saying that Appleloosa is still at the greatest risk. Once that nanovirus is back online, the changelings will attack again.”

“They’ll want to move quickly, before the sick… die,” Twilight added. “But we need to consider defenses other than the Nighthawks. The collectors had no trouble at all tearing them apart, and in larger cities, the Nighthawks will be spread too thin…”

“Let’s be honest, the only thing making the Nighthawks truly useful is the magic wards that they have.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Huh… That gives me an idea…” she started. Cadance nodded, urging her to go on. “So far, the wards are the only defense that we have against the nanovirus. What if we had one pony cast the ward spell, then we had a few more ponies amplify it to engulf an entire town or city?”

“Similar to Legion’s electromagnetic pulse?” Cadance asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. “That could work… But it would require unbelievably high amounts of magic… We would have to do it.”

“As long as we cast the spell in places where the disease has not yet hit, we should be fine,” Twilight said. “And this time we can plan for emergency escapes if the changelings do attack us.”

“I think that should work,” Cadance said, nodding. “I will organize an escort for us. You should go inform Luna.” Nodding, Twilight opened Cadance’s door and stepped out into the hall, followed by the princess of love herself. The door closed behind them, and Cadance began walking down the long corridor to the barracks. Twilight went in the opposite direction, which would bring her to the throne room. Luna had only just resumed the day court, but hopefully she would understand why Twilight needed to interrupt her. Moving at a brisk trot, Twilight began to head for the throne room, ready to inform the princess.

Legion continued to stalk through the winding tunnels that made up the changeling hive, its eye constantly searching for anything that seemed out of place. Already it had discovered traces of collector technology, mostly around the pod room. However, that room had a complete lack of any type of terminal or computer, so the geth was forced to move its search elsewhere for data.

So far, it was having no luck. The hive was mostly comprised of tunnels, and what few rooms did exist were completely empty. Fortunately, these rooms were able to serve as spaces for Legion to recharge the tactical cloak emitters, which were beginning to see efficiency drops from prolonged usage.

Changelings were beginning to become a rare sight the further Legion went into the hive. It was not getting deeper, but it was getting further back from the entrance – which, according to Legion’s map generator, was now several miles behind it. There had still been no signs of the collectors at all, and Legion was about to simply turn around and try another tunnel, when suddenly a flash of green caught the geth’s attention.

It had come from the open doors of a large room, which Legion had not given much thought to, as its cloak emitters were well off on power. But once the green flash registered, Legion backtracked and poked its invisible head in through the doorway. As an organic would have said, Legion had ‘struck gold’. The room was filled, floor to ceiling, with pieces of collector technology. Computer terminals, medical machinery, and even some that Legion did not recognize right away. Immediately, Legion stepped into the room and began to scan over it.

It was completely devoid of life, that much Legion was sure about. Deciding not to waste any time, the geth ran up to a computer terminal and immediately began typing on it, attempting to gain access. When Legion was prompted with an encryption screen, it brought up its omni-tool and began creating a workaround to get past it. For the thousand programs inside of the platform, creating the bypass was not difficult. It only took a few minutes, though every minute that passed was one less that Legion had alone in the room.

The collectors clearly used this room, all of the active technology was a testament to that. The fact that Legion had managed to gain entry when no one else was present could be credited to nothing more than sheer luck. With the bypass complete, Legion quickly uploaded it to the computer and began downloading all of the data it could.

The amount of data that the computer held was massive. As every byte of information was copied to the geth’s omni-tool, Legion scanned over it, absorbing the new information. Most was irrelevant – simple research logs on early pony test subjects, dated well over a year ago. But as Legion went further in, it began to find far more interesting material. Most of it was too large for the geth to scan over as it was copied, instead Legion was going to have to read it later.

As the transfer continued, Legion suddenly heard footsteps from outside. They did not have the same pacing as a quadruped, and the sound of claws against the floor led the geth to believe that the culprits were collectors. Quickly pausing the transfer, Legion stepped away from the computer and sunk into the shadows, preparing its shotgun just in case. As it had expected, two changelings entered, one of them holding a metallic case. The pair walked over to a table, upon which were numerous pieces of medical equipment. Among the test tubes, scalpels, and handheld scanners was a tall, featureless cylinder. The collector with empty hands grabbed the cylinder and placed it carefully into the case, which the second collector then closed. Their task complete, the two stepped out of the room, and soon the sound of their footsteps disappeared entirely.

Legion stepped out of the shadows and approached the computer once more, where it continued the data transfer. The geth had a fairly good idea of what was in the cylinder, and what the collectors intended to do with it. It was unlikely that the ponies had properly implemented any plans to defend against the disease, which made it imperative for Legion to finish its mission and return to them. Fortunately, the transfer did not take too much longer to finish, and Legion stepped away from the console.

It did one more visual check over the room to confirm that nothing of interest remained, before it stepped out and began to backtrack to the pod room. With any luck, some of the information that it had downloaded would detail the inner workings of the cocoons, and would allow Legion to free Princess Celestia. Beginning to run a search for any relevant data, Legion transitioned into a jog. Time was of the essence, and Legion did not want to disappoint.

Queen Chrysalis moved at a trot down one of the myriad tunnels of her hive, feeling quite excited about reaching her destination. The pony she was going to visit wasn’t going to be excited, but that was sort of the point. Chrysalis knew that she should not let her numerous victories get in the way, lest she risk doing something rash, but this was an exciting moment. It would not be long now before the collector plan was finished.

After what seemed like ages of walking, Chrysalis finally came to her destination: the main chamber. Quickly navigating to the pod with the one conscious occupant, Chrysalis slowed to a walk and approached with an air of authority. Princess Celestia glared from within the cocoon, which only served to amuse the changeling queen even further. Chuckling to herself, Chrysalis stopped right in front of the pod, and peered inside.

“Hello, Celestia,” she said. “Remember this morning when I told you that the virus was almost ready? Well, I wasn’t lying! It is ready, and tomorrow morning I am sending out my hunters to deploy it! The only reason we are waiting is because a few more pods need to be manufactured. We’ve never done two towns at once before, after all. And with the sudden influx of ponies that we are expecting, well… we’re going to need them…” Celestia glared even more, clearly willing the queen’s death.

“What’s the matter, Celly?” Chrysalis asked mockingly. “Cat got your tongue? You know, according to the collectors, you should be able to speak again already. Are you only staying silent to bother me? Because it’s not working. I’m actually quite content when nopony is interrupting me.” Chrysalis inched forward until her nose was almost touching the glass of the pod. “Come on. Say something. You know you want to…” Celestia’s face contorted with displeasure, and she slowly craned her neck forward.

“Damn… you…” she croaked, her glaring gaze becoming even more penetrating. Chrysalis allowed her authoritative countenance to fall for a brief moment, before regaining it.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” Chrysalis said, smirking. “But it’ll work. So long, Celestia. I will come see you tomorrow when the results are in…” Chuckling quietly, Chrysalis turned around and exited the chamber, unaware of the eye that had watched the whole exchange…

Legion stepped into the light, deactivating its tactical cloak and revealing itself once again to Princess Celestia. The princess’s depressed expression lit up for a moment at the sight of the geth, but fell again as it drew near. Although Legion was not expressing any emotions, Celestia seemed to know that it was the bearer of bad news. The geth approached the pod, and looked into it at the suspended princess.

“Princess Celestia,” it began. “We apologize. We were unable to find any data relating to the pods. Without proper knowledge of the release mechanism, we do not want to risk anything. Opening it could trigger an alarm, or possibly even kill you. We are sorry.” Celestia nodded, and sighed.

“We are… conflicted, Princess Celestia,” Legion continued, drawing a curious stare from the alicorn. “We are unsure of which action to take. We could remain here and continue the collection of information, and possibly find a way to rescue you.” Celestia seemed to brighten at this idea. “Or we could return to Canterlot and warn Princess Luna of the impending attacks.” Celestia’s face fell, but she nodded. “There are risks associated with both options. This is enemy territory – if we are discovered, we will be eliminated. However, the last time we saw Princess Luna, she… she was unhappy. She caused minimal damage to this unit, and requested that we leave and never return.” There was a pause as Celestia took a deep breath, building up the strength to speak.

“Go… help… Luna…” she said slowly, each syllable a painful mountain for her to climb. Legion lingered on for a moment before it nodded and stepped back into the shadows. It reactivated the tactical cloak and, as it began to exit, brought up the 3D map that it had generated of the hive. It was quite extensive, but the exit was clearly marked, and Legion knew the exact route to take. Breaking into a run, Legion began moving up the tunnels to the surface. Princess Celestia’s request had been clear, and Legion intended to follow it. She could be rescued later, once more information had been gathered. But for now, Legion’s priority was the ponies of Equestria.

The chariot landed in the center of Ponyville, slowing to a halt a few feet from the large statue of Princess Celestia. Princesses Twilight, Cadance, and Luna all hopped out of the chariot, while several Nighthawks began scanning the area for trouble. Nothing had been spotted from the air, and life detection spells were not picking anything up, but the princesses were taking no risks. After Appleloosa, they could not afford to…

“I think it’s clear,” Cadance said, receiving a nod of agreement from Twilight. Luna took a quick look around, before she nodded as well.

“Right, then,” Luna said. “Let us get this over with. Who shall cast the ward?”

“I will,” Cadance volunteered. “My amplification spell isn’t quite as powerful as yours, but I can easily cast a ward.”

“Alright, let’s hurry,” Twilight said, beginning to grow anxious. Even though there were no changelings or collectors that they could see, she wanted to return to Canterlot as soon as possible.

Quickly, Luna and Twilight got on either side of Cadance, and lit their horns, preparing the amplification spell. Cadance looked down and closed her eyes in concentration, before her horn began to glow a soft blue. Slowly, the brightness of her magical aura began to grow in intensity, until the two other princesses were forced to close their eyes.

Suddenly, they felt a magical surge rush through them as Cadance cast the spell, and quickly they latched onto it with the amplification. Putting all of the energy she could muster into the spell, Twilight fired off her horn at almost the same instant Luna did, and the magical aura spread throughout Ponyville, encompassing all of the ponies within. It was late, most of them were asleep, and it was likely that none of them knew that they had just had a ward cast on them. With any luck, they would never have to find out. Cadance’s eyes shot open and she began to wobble around, dizzy.

“Whoa…” she said, steadying herself by putting a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder. “I… it worked…” Twilight nodded.

“Yes,” she agreed. “It worked.”

“Come,” Luna said, stepping back into the chariot. “Cadance, you can rest on the way to our next stop.”

“Where is our next stop, Luna?” Twilight asked, helping Cadance into the chariot.

“Trottingham is the second-closest town to Canterlot, after Ponyville,” Luna answered. “We will go there next. Though I am afraid that doing more than two towns tonight will over-exert dear Cadance, and will take quite a toll on us, Twilight Sparkle. We will have to continue tomorrow night.” Nodding, Twilight sat back as the Nighthawks re-attached themselves to the reins of the chariot and began flapping their wings, taking off into the air.

Corporal Night Flyer of the Royal Guard had had a very long day. In-between dealing with pesky nobles and escorting Princess Luna throughout the palace, his recent promotion from private had proven to be quite tiring. Fortunately, his shift was due to end in only ten minutes. Thinking over what to do to waste ten minutes, Night Flyer finally settled on going to check on the loading docks at the back of the palace. Ever since that machine had left, the docks had been as quiet as usual, and were a good spot for a guard to waste the last few minutes of his shift.

The walk to the docks had taken a full five minutes, so all Night was going to have to do was step in, take a quick peek, then walk back to the barracks to turn in for the night. Easy as pie.

… Or not.

As Night poked his head into the loading docks, he heard a very strange noise. It was a low whining, like nothing he had ever heard. Stepping fully into the docks, Night crept silently through the crates, trying to find the source of the noise. His search finally led him to the very edge of the docks, which looked out over the expansive Equestrian landscape. Any other night he would have taken a few moments to admire the beauty of the land, but tonight his eyes were drawn to one thing: a dot growing larger on the horizon. It was too small and too fast to be a dragon, yet too large to be a pegasus or a chariot… Night Flyer’s eyes widened as the realization of what it was dawned on him, and he instinctively took a few steps back.

The machine’s spaceship shot over Night and slowed to a hover just a few feet away, where it lowered to the ground and turned off. The low whining noise faded away, and a door on the side of the spaceship opened, revealing the machine standing in the portal. It jumped out onto the deck of the loading docks, and urgently approached Night Flyer.

“Retrieve Princess Luna,” it said. “We have an urgent message.”

Author's Note

Hey everyone, here is chapter 14!

The story continues to progress, and a lot of development is going to occur over the next few chapters. Hopefully I'll have the next one out soon, and we can keep this story moving.

If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

EDIT: Also, I've been quite tired lately. So if this chapter ended up being about how McCulloch v. Maryland influenced Julius Caesar to build the Eiffel Tower, please let me know so I can make fixes.

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

“We are a nation, but interdependent. Separation is our weakness.”

Legion towered over the small royal guard, who looked up to the machine in fear. The guard gulped, unable to take his eyes away from the geth.

“Please,” Legion repeated. “We must speak with Princess Luna immediately.” The guard remained silent for a moment longer, before he finally found the courage to speak.

“I’m… sorry,” he muttered. “Princess Luna is not here right now… She will be b-back s-s-soon…”

“Our message is of utmost importance,” Legion said. “Is there any way we can get into contact with her?”

“I-I’m sorry,” the guard stammered once again. “She sh-should be b-back soon, though…” Legion paused for a moment before continuing.

“Acknowledged,” it said. “Inform her to meet us in our old guest quarters. We will be waiting.” Legion stepped past the guard, ignoring the dumbfounded expression that it had left on his face. It navigated through the maze of crates, and entered the palace once again. The immediate hallway was devoid of life, as at this hour it was unlikely that anyone other than guards would be awake. Quickly, Legion began to move down the familiar corridors back to its guest room. Princess Luna would hopefully be back soon, as the guard had said. In the meantime, Legion accessed the file where it had downloaded the collector data, and began to sift through it…

Princess Luna’s chariot touched down in the large courtyard outside of Canterlot castle, skidding to a halt just a few meters from the main entrance. Luna tiredly stepped out, followed by Twilight Sparkle and Cadance. As soon as her hooves hit the stone floor of the courtyard, she almost collapsed out of exhaustion. Trottingham was a fair bit larger than Ponyville, and amplifying Cadance’s ward spell had taken more out of her than she had expected. It was not as bad as amplifying the electromagnetic pulse, as that had prevented her from using magic for several minutes. But still, all Luna wanted was to feel the comfort of her bed and the rejuvenating presence of sleep.

As she approached the main entrance to the castle, the doors suddenly burst open and a young solar guard sprinted out, almost running right into the princess. He stopped just shy of hitting her, then quickly bowed.

“Your highness!” he said, sounding out of breath.

“What is it?” Luna asked curiously. “Who are you?”

“I am Corporal… Corporal Night Flyer, majesty,” the guard said. “I was… on patrol… in the docks…”

“And?” Luna asked, beginning to grow impatient. Every minute that she was speaking with this guard was another minute of sleep lost.

“The… The machine! It’s back!”

Luna’s eyes widened as her pupils shrunk, and an angry glare passed over her face. She shoved past the guard, not even waiting to hear where Legion was in the castle. She had a fairly good idea. As she walked, she began to build up a magical charge in her horn, ready to pulverize the geth as soon as it came into her sight. Luna was partially aware of somepony calling her name, but she did not care. Only when Twilight Sparkle teleported right in front of her did Luna stop walking.

“Get out of my way, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna snarled. “I told Legion never to return here, and yet it has. I will destroy it.”

“Luna, wait!” Twilight shouted, holding up a hoof. “Think about this! Legion would not have returned if it wasn’t important! Maybe he has more information on the disease?”

“It should not meddle in our affairs,” the princess of the night said, attempting to bypass the young alicorn.

“He means well, princess!” Twilight exclaimed, continuing to block Luna’s path. “Please, let me speak with him first. Let me find out what he wants.” Luna sighed, and dispelled the magic that was collecting in her horn.

“Very well, Twilight…” she conceded. “I shall be waiting in my study. Let me know when I can destroy it.” Luna lit her horn and disappeared in a bright flash, leaving Twilight alone in the hallway. She did not remain alone for long, as Cadance soon trotted up to her.

“What was that all about?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

“Luna wants to blow Legion up,” Twilight explained. “I’ve stopped her for now. Come on, let’s go talk to him.” She turned down the hallway and began trotting for the guest quarters with Cadance in tow.

The guest quarters were not horribly far from the main entrance. Moving at a brisk trot, it only took Twilight and Cadance a few minutes to reach them. When they did, it became quite obvious where Legion was keeping himself. Several guards surrounded a door, all of them pointing their weapons at it. Twilight approached the guards and held up a hoof, prompting them to lower their weapons.

“You are all dismissed,” she ordered. A murmur of confusion spread throughout the guards, and they did not immediately leave. An authoritative glare from Twilight was all that was needed to reinforce the order, and they moved away from the door. Twilight knocked on it to let Legion know she was coming in, then opened it and stepped inside, with Cadance right behind her. Much like the first time Twilight had spoken with Legion, he was standing in the center of the room, his eye scanning over his omni-tool as data rushed by. Legion lowered his arm as Twilight entered, and turned to face the two princesses.

“Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “Where is Princess Luna?”

“She’s… a little agitated right now, Legion,” Twilight explained. “It’s probably best for you to speak with me first, and I’ll pass on whatever your message is.” Legion paused for a moment, the flaps around his face moving randomly, as if in thought. Finally they settled, and Legion spoke.

“Very well,” he said. “There is much data to transfer. We will give you a quick run-down, but we would prefer to reveal all discoveries with Princess Luna present.” Twilight nodded, and sat down on the marble floor. Cadance did as she did, her eyes never going away from the geth.

“Shortly after Princess Luna sent us away, we returned to Equis, though not to Equestria. Rather, we went to the badlands to investigate the changeling hives and locate data on the collectors. It was not easy, but we found the entrance to the hive, and snuck in.

“For hours we scouted the hives, looking for any relevant data. Two very important things were located. First was a collector laboratory, within which was an operational computer. We interfaced with the computer, and made a number of discoveries, both about the collectors themselves, and the virus. The second discovery… Princess Celestia is alive.” Twilight and Cadance both gasped, neither of them knowing how to respond. Tears began to well up in Twilight’s eyes, though these were tears of joy rather than of sadness. Could it be true? Her mentor alive? It seemed impossible, after what she had seen.

“She… she is?” Twilight whispered. “Where is she?”

“We would prefer to reveal this data with Princess Luna present, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said. “Hopefully she will see this as information that cannot be lost, and will not attempt to damage this unit.”

“I’ll go get her right now!” Twilight said. She stood up, lit her horn, and a moment later disappeared with a bright flash. Cadance remained in the room with Legion, never looking up from a single point on the floor. Legion seemed to notice, and cautiously stepped up to the princess.

“Are you alright?” he said softly.

“I… Yes, thank you,” Cadance said, her voice cracking. “It’s just… With all that has happened these past few days… This is excellent news!” Legion nodded, but did not speak.

“I’m sorry, you don’t even know me.” Cadance stood up with a smile. “I’m Princess Cadance, Luna and Celestia’s adopted niece.”

“We are Legion, a terminal of the geth,” Legion said, formally introducing himself to the princess.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Legion,” she replied. “I have heard a lot about you.” Legion was about to reply when two bright flashes filled the room, and when they faded Twilight and Luna stood across from the geth. Luna appeared apoplectic with rage, her horn alight. As soon as she had materialized, Legion was suddenly swept up in an aura of blue magic. He hovered several feet off of the floor, though it did not seem to bother him at all.

“You!” Luna shouted. “What are you playing at!? Why do you do this!?”

“Please elaborate,” Legion said calmly. “What have we done?”

“My sister!” Luna shouted even louder, tears beginning to stream down her face. “She is not alive! We all saw her murdered by Chrysalis! Why do you lie!?”

“We are not lying,” the geth said. “Princess Celestia was taken to the changeling hive. She was healed by the collectors, and is now being stored in a cocoon-like pod.” Luna stared on in shock, and released Legion from her telekinesis. The machine fell to the floor, landing on his powerful legs. He stood up to his full height and crossed the room to Luna.

“It’s true, then?” she asked slowly. “My sister… alive…”

“Yes,” Legion answered. “We were unable to rescue her. We had no data on the pods to release her, and doing so forcibly could have had negative results. We spoke with her, and explained the predicament. She requested that we return here and help you.”

“Legion, you said that you got some information from the hive?” Twilight asked, stepping forward.

“Yes,” the geth said, nodding. “There is four hundred and seventy two terabytes worth of data to sift through. We went through roughly one-fifth on the flight back here, and we went through another seven terabytes while waiting for you to return. This leaves much data to look through, but we have made several discoveries about the virus.”

“Do not pretty anything up for us, Legion,” Luna stated. “Simply tell us: do you have a cure?”

“No,” Legion answered. “Not yet. However, the data recovered will be instrumental in assisting us with the creation of one. But it is not the intricacies of the nanovirus that we wish to discuss. Rather, we come with a warning.

“While scouting the hive, we intercepted the changeling queen. We followed her, and she led us to a room filled with cocoons, which is where we located Princess Celestia. It was when the queen was speaking with Celestia that we made an alarming discovery: the collectors have finished refining the disease, rendering EMP’s useless, and will be deploying it this morning.”

“Did she say where!?” Cadance asked, alarmed.

“Yes,” the geth said. “Ponyville and Trottingham will both be hit simultaneously.” At the delivery of the news, the princesses all breathed a sigh of relief, confusing the geth.

“We just came from both of those towns, Legion,” Twilight explained. “We figured out a way to defend them: by using an amplification spell on the ward spell used by the Nighthawks, we have both towns entirely covered. The nanovirus won’t have an effect on anypony there.”

“This is a false assumption,” Legion said, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow. “While we were spying on the changeling queen, she revealed to Princess Celestia that the new version of the virus has also found a way to bypass the wards that you use. All wards will now be ineffective.”

“Then… Then Ponyville and Trottingham are still at risk!” Luna said, her eyes widening. Her head snapped around to face Cadance. “Cadance, send some Nighthawks to both towns! With luck, we may be able to catch the changelings before it’s too late!” Cadance nodded, then turned to exit.

“Wait!” Twilight yelled, stopping the princess. “Luna, if you send Nighthawks there, you’re just putting more ponies at risk. Our wards don’t work anymore, we need to find something else.” Luna sighed and nodded. Cadance turned back around and rejoined the other two princesses around Legion.

“At this time, there is nothing that we can do,” the geth said. “We will continue to go over the data that we collected from the hive, but until something is found, we recommend a full quarantine of Ponyville and Trottingham.”

“I agree,” Luna said. “Keep going over the information. If you find anything, let Twilight or Cadance know. I have to begin the day court in a few hours, so until then I am going to get some rest.” With that, Luna turned and exited the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Cadance stayed for a few moments longer before she left as well, leaving Twilight alone with Legion.

“Listen…” the princess began. “I know Luna was pretty mad at you, but… Thanks for coming back…”

“… Acknowledged,” Legion said. It brought its arm back up and began scanning over the omni-tool. Twilight took that as being a signal for her to leave, so she crossed the room to the door and stepped out, closing it softly behind her.

Sighing, Twilight began walking down the hall of guest rooms. If Ponyville was at risk, her friends deserved to know. Sighing once again, Twilight stepped up to the closest door belonging to one of her friends, and knocked. This was not going to be easy to explain.

Queen Chrysalis gulped nervously as she moved down one of the tunnels of her hive. It was rare that anypony came back to this section, as the current number of changelings allowed them to comfortably live near the entrance to the hive. It was for this reason that the collectors had chosen to place most of their equipment back here, where they would not be disturbed by any of her changelings.

Turning down another tunnel, Chrysalis came to a door guarded by two collectors. They both held their strange weapons at the ready, a sight which did nothing to calm the queen’s nerves. At the sight of Chrysalis they stepped aside and allowed her entry into the room, which appeared to be just another lab. There were several spread out throughout the hive, Chrysalis did not know what made this one significant. But the collector captain had specifically requested her presence, and now it was time to find out why.

Standing over a green computer terminal were several collector engineers, and standing over them was the collector captain. They had no facial expressions to speak of, but by the way he had his arms crossed, Chrysalis inferred that the captain was not happy at all. Upon hearing Chrysalis enter, the captain turned his large head to stare at her. Chrysalis slowly stepped up and looked down, avoiding the penetrating gaze of the collector’s six eyes.

“Chrysalis,” the captain said. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” Chrysalis asked, briefly staring up at the captain.

“This computer has been accessed without authorization,” the captain answered, waving his large hand over the terminal. “One of my drones found it online and with the encryption code broken.”

“Surely you do not think one of my changelings did this, do you?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes growing wide.

“No,” the collector said. “You do not possess the technology. There is only one on the planet who does: the geth.” Chrysalis sighed and nodded. Ever since its discovery, the geth had proven to be a thorn in the side of the collectors. Chrysalis’s eyes widened as she made a sudden realization.

“Does that mean that it is here, now!?” she asked. The collector shook his head.

“Not likely,” he answered. “Geth are smart. This platform seems to be smarter than most, considering how far away it is from the geth consensus. It is more than likely that it left the moment it completed a download of every file on this computer.”

“How did it make it into our hive in the first place?” Chrysalis wondered. “The entrance is well guarded.”

“Many geth are equipped with tactical cloak emitters,” the collector explained. “It renders them completely invisible to the naked eye. Hmm…”

“What are you thinking?”

“I may have an idea,” the captain began. “A trap, if you will. It will take a bit of time to prepare, but if that geth returns, it will be at our mercy. I also think I may know how the geth discovered we were on this world in the first place. If I am right, then the ponies will be in for quite a surprise…”

“Shall I set up more guards at the main entrance?” Chrysalis asked.

“No,” the captain said. “If it comes back, it is best to act as though we never knew it was here. We must lull it into a false sense of security. It will be none the wiser. Now go, Chrysalis. Prepare the hunters to send out the virus. I will begin work on our little trap.” Chrysalis nodded, then turned and exited the room. As soon as she was back in the tunnels, she broke out into a sprint and began to head for the barracks. It was time to continue the plan.

“What!?” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily. “If that nanovirus hurts Scoots I’m gonna punch it in the face!” Twilight sighed, but nodded. She had expected her friends to react this way. They had lived in Ponyville far longer than she had, and even though Twilight was incredibly worried, she could not imagine how her friends felt.

“I don’t think it works that way, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said, putting a hoof on the shoulder of her distraught friend. The shy pegasus turned her head to face Twilight, more worried than usual. “Um… Did Legion say anything about um… if the virus affects animals?”

“I think it specifically targets ponies, Fluttershy,” Twilight answered, earning a sigh of relief from her friend. “This also means that we will not be able to return to Ponyville for some time. Until a cure is found, which could be a while.”

“Oh, my dear Sweetie Belle!” Rarity cried, putting a hoof to her forehead. “Twilight, we must get them on a train to Canterlot immediately!”

“It could already be too late, Rarity,” Twilight said sorrowfully. “And besides, Luna has already ordered a full quarantine of Ponyville. All of the trains are cancelled.”

“But yer a princess, Twilight!” Applejack complained. “You have to do something!”

“I’m sorry, Applejack… I really am…” Despite her apologies, nopony felt any better. They all stared at the floor, unable to voice their fears. A moment later, Twilight stood up and turned towards the door.

“I should be going,” she said. “There’s work to do…” She somberly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Before she could make it far down the hallway, Twilight heard another door opening. She turned her head, and saw Legion stepping out of his room, appearing alarmed. He rushed to Twilight, who turned around to fully face the machine.

“Legion?” she asked. “What is it?”

“We have uncovered important data,” Legion said. “Please retrieve Princesses Luna and Cadance.” Nodding, Twilight set off down the hallway. She did not know where Cadance was, but Luna would likely be starting the day court by now. As she began to move down the halls, Twilight waved a guard over to her position. He trotted over, then saluted, awaiting orders.

“Please get Princess Cadance and bring her to Legion’s guest room,” she commanded. The guard saluted once more, then turned and disappeared down the hall. Twilight began to move in the opposite direction to where Luna would be: the throne room.

Princess Luna sat down in her throne, her eyes looking out over the crowd of ponies waiting to speak with her. Curiously, this crowd was much smaller than the ones she had served over the past few days, and it seemed much angrier. The ponies all approached Luna, glaring. As it drew nearer to her, Luna noticed her guards preparing their weapons to fend off an attack.

“Good morning, my little ponies,” Luna said with a smile, trying to remain calm. “Please form an orderly line and we shall begin.” None of the ponies moved. Instead, they all continued to glare at the princess.

“Where is Princess Celestia?” one pony said from somewhere in the crowd.

“I have already answered that question,” Luna said. “She is busy negotiating trade deals. She will hopefully be back soon.” A murmur of disbelief spread through the crowd, along with a general shaking of heads. Luna gulped as she realized that ponies were beginning to not believe her.

“Where is she!?” another pony called.

“We want to see her now!” said another. Soon there were so many voices speaking at once that Luna could not make out any of the words. She held up a hoof to calm the crowd, but that proved to be ineffective. Sighing, Luna summoned up a voice she had not used in quite some time…

“SILENCE!” she shouted in the royal Canterlot speaking voice. This caused an immediate wave of silence to wash over the room, stopping the angered ponies.

“Now,” Luna continued, dropping to her normal speaking voice. “If we could please—“

“What did you do with Princess Celestia, Nightmare Moon!?”

Luna froze, and all of her guards allowed their stoic expressions to falter for a moment. Luna slowly lowered her hoof and scanned over the crowd, trying to find who had yelled the accusation. Even though the crowd was smaller than previous ones, it was still too large for her to find any specific pony.

“... Princess Celestia will be back soon,” Luna repeated quietly. “Then she will once again take control of the day court. If you would like to shout accusations at me, then please do so at my night court, between the hours of 12am and 6am. Now, please form an orderly—“

“Luna!” another voice called, this time from the very back of the throne room. Sighing, the princess of the night craned her neck to see over the crowd, whose faces had now taken on expressions of guilt. Running at her from the entrance of the throne room was Twilight Sparkle. She weakly flapped her wings to fly over the crowd, landing by Luna.

“Luna,” Twilight said again. “Um… You are needed to meet with the… Zebra ambassador.”

“Ah,” Luna said, playing along. “He is early. Tell him I will be with him in a moment.” Twilight nodded, then turned and exited the throne room, this time choosing the walk past the crowd rather than fly over them. When she was out of the room, Luna turned her attention back to the crowd.

“I apologize, but we are going to have to take a quick break,” she said. “In the meantime, please form an orderly line and I will address you all when I am back. Thank you for your cooperation.” With that, Luna stood and walked around the crowd of ponies, exiting the throne room through the main entrance. Twilight Sparkle was waiting outside, and joined her as she began walking down the hallway.

“What was going on in there?” she asked. “That didn’t look like a line of ponies waiting to have their questions answered…”

“Oh they had questions,” Luna replied. “Just not what I was expecting…” Twilight nodded, but did not press the issue. “Anyway, what has Legion discovered?”

“He didn’t tell me,” Twilight answered. “But he said it was important, and he looked kind of alarmed.”

“Hmm…” Luna and Twilight continued walking down the hallways of the castle until they finally came to Legion’s door, which was already cracked open. Twilight pulled it open the rest of the way, revealing a nervous looking Cadance standing across from Legion.

“Good, you have arrived,” Legion said. “We have uncovered something… very interesting.”

“A cure?” Luna asked hopefully.

“No,” Legion answered. “This data is not relating to the disease, but to the collectors themselves.” The ponies nodded and urged the geth to continue.

“As we went through the data, we found a series of audio logs from the collector captain, the one in charge of the lesser collector drones. None are recent. The oldest dates back to two days after their crash, and confirmed the data that we already knew: they crash landed entirely by accident due to unexplained mechanical errors. The next several logs detail their first few days on Equis, as well as their initial discovery of your kind. They observed your use of magic, which was intriguing to them.

“Several ponies were kidnapped from a large, unnamed city. They ran experiments, trying to find how you used magic, but to no avail. For a time they simply gave up, until nine months ago when they met the changelings. The changelings helped expand their understanding of magic, and in the months that followed, the collector captain devised a plan, though these logs do not say what that plan is. Only that it has something to do with your magic.

“But that is not the interesting data that we uncovered. Rather, the data comes from an audio log dated fourteen months ago, before the collectors met the changelings. We will play a segment of this log for you.” Legion pressed several buttons on its omni-tool, and a screen with a graph on it appeared. Legion pressed one more button, and a deep voice began to filter through the device.

“We have been here for nearly two years now. We have decided to abandon the crash site, as power reserves are dwindling. Soon enough it will serve as no more than a cold grave for all of us. Maps that we have stolen from the villages and cities of the natives show that most of the western half of this continent is uninhabited. There is a mountain range which seems to have some dangerous creature, but beyond that we should be safe.

“I have considered using what little power we have left to activate the distress beacon, but considering just how far out we are, it is unlikely that the others would detect it. Even if they did, I am not sure if I would want them to come here. The longer that we all remain on this world, the more we seem to remember. They are no more than just flashes of memories, but out here where the Reapers have no control over us, I am beginning to see. We all are beginning to see.

“We have been corrupted. That much is clear. I do not know how, but we have been made the slaves of the Reapers for the past fifty thousand years. The others will not understand. They will either try to destroy us, or return us beyond the Omega Four relay, where we will become indoctrinated once again. We have a power here, and I intend to use it.” Legion pressed another button and the recording stopped.

“I… I don’t understand,” Luna said. “What is a ‘Reaper’? And what did that thing mean by ‘indoctrinated’?”

“We have mentioned the Reapers before, though not by that name,” Legion began. “Twilight Sparkle, do you remember the story that I told you of how the Heretics became corrupted by the Old Machines?” Twilight nodded. “‘Reaper’ is another name for ‘Old Machine’. The geth Heretics saw them as gods: the pinnacle of non-organic life. They are a race of sentient starships, millions of years old. Every fifty thousand years they return to this galaxy and eradicate all advanced organic life. The collectors are genetically altered versions of the previous race to be eradicated – the protheans. The Reapers are expected to return very soon.”

“Are we at risk, then?” Cadance asked. Legion shook his head in response.

“Not likely,” he said. “The Reapers only target advanced, space-faring civilizations. You would not be detected by them. Additionally, your Mass Relay is heavily damaged. They may not even be able to come to this system.”

“So what did that collector mean when it said it was ‘beginning to see’?” Twilight asked, confused.

“We cannot be sure, but we have a hypothesis,” Legion began. “Reaper indoctrination works when an organic is in incredibly close range to Reaper technology. The technology uses electromagnetic fields, infrasonic and ultrasonic noise, and other means to brainwash an organic into working for the Reapers. At their base, the collectors are surrounded by Reaper technology, effectively keeping them permanently indoctrinated. Here, there is no Reaper technology. Over the years it seems that the indoctrination effect has begun to wear off, and these collectors no longer serve the Reapers.”

“If they no longer serve these machines, then why are the collectors still attacking us?” Luna asked.

“Unknown, though it likely ties into their ‘plan’, which remains a mystery,” Legion answered.

“Keep going through the data, see what else you can find,” Twilight said. “There could be more logs, or some kind of document detailing their plans.”

“Understood,” Legion said. “We will remain here. If any more critical data is uncovered, we will alert one of you.”

“What about the virus?” Cadance asked. “Did you find anything regarding that?”

“Nothing we did not already know,” the geth answered. “And while more data may be uncovered, it is unlikely that anything that can give us a cure was stored on that computer. The encryption was… weak, and it was entirely unguarded. Whatever computer was storing the very schematics of the virus will be well protected.” Cadance frowned and nodded.

“I must return to the day court,” Luna said. “Hopefully the ponies have finally arranged themselves in an orderly line. I will see you at lunch.” She nodded her farewell, then turned and exited the room, leaving Twilight and Cadance alone with Legion.

“Cadance,” Twilight began, turning to face her sister-in-law. “We should go see if there’s any news from Ponyville or Trottingham yet. It may be too early, but… I need to know.” Cadance nodded, and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Alright, let’s go,” Cadance said. “Thank you, Legion. We’ll let you work.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said as the two princesses exited its room. He raised his omni-tool and, with nothing else to do, continued going over data.

Only a couple of hours later, Twilight Sparkle was sitting somberly in a chair in the dining hall. Her friends all sat around her, looking equally as distraught. Cadance sat right next to her, constantly keeping a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Twilight had her chin on the table, and was keeping it propped up with her hooves.

The news had arrived not too long after speaking with Legion. The disease was registered in both Ponyville and Trottingham. In Ponyville, the report came from Doctor Horse that an older stallion from the Ponyville Retirement Village was exhibiting symptoms. No more news had come since. For all Twilight knew, half the town could be infected…

Her friends, specifically Applejack and Rarity, were not taking it well. Their families were still in Ponyville, and with the town fully quarantined, there was nothing that could be done to save them before the disease hit. Rainbow Dash was also taking it badly, though she tried her hardest not to show it. Scootaloo meant a lot to the mare, and with her in harm’s way, Dash felt like she was just giving up. They were doing their best to comfort one another, but that was difficult under the circumstances.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Princess Luna walked in, taking a seat on her usual chair at the head of the table. She seemed less tired than the previous days, but there were still noticeable bags beneath her eyes. Without speaking a word, Luna picked up her menu and began to look over it. A few times her sapphire eyes scanned over the ponies sitting at the table with her, but some knowing stares from Cadance told her that speaking was not recommended. A few minutes later a waiter came out and took all of their orders, which was the first time anypony had spoken since coming to the dining hall. After he left, however, the silence lingered on.

About halfway into the quiet meal, the door opened and a guard poked his head inside, a letter held inside his mouth. He carried the letter over to Princess Luna, set it on the table next to her, then bowed and left the room. Luna put down her eating utensils and unfurled the letter, scanning over every word with her eyes. A moment later she put it down, and continued eating.

“… What does it say?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence for the first time. Luna cleared her throat, then spoke.

“It is a message from Healthy Heart,” she replied. “She wishes for me to go to the crash site at my earliest convenience. Apparently they have found something.”

“When will you go?” Cadance asked.

“After we are finished eating,” Luna answered. Just as Twilight was about to speak, Luna held up a hoof. “And yes, I will be going alone. If Legion finds anything, I need you two here to help it – him, out. Okay?”

“Alright…” Twilight sighed. She understood the reasoning, but still did not wish to pass up an opportunity to go back to the ship.

The meal was completed in silence, and when Luna was finished she stood up and left the room. Twilight watched her go curiously.

“I wonder what Healthy Heart found…”

The chariot touched down in the snowy plains several dozen kilometers beyond the Equestrian border. The brightness of the sun shined off of the reflective snow, causing Princess Luna to squint as she hopped out of the chariot and her covered hooves sunk into the snow. The hole to the collector ship was still present, and it looked like some extra digging had been done recently to keep it visible.

Luna walked through the snow, each step making a loud crunch, then hopped down into the open hatch, using her wings to slow her descent. She landed on the metal floor of the airlock, and immediately came face to face with Healthy Heart.

“Ah, your highness!” she said excitedly, bowing. “I thought that I heard your chariot landing. Please, come with me.” The chief medical officer turned around and walked through the door to the hallway leading to the laboratory. All of the ponies were still inside, and the two sick ponies brought from Westrock remained in their caskets. Luna noticed somberly that the air holes on the casket of the once living pony had been covered up to prevent the smell of decomposition from escaping. As she entered the lab, the eyes of the medical specialists and engineers all turned to her.

“I brought food and supplies with me on my chariot, it is waiting outside,” she reported, causing many of them to smile gratefully. Food had been brought on the original trip, but that had been days ago. With the number of ponies here, there was not a lot to go around. Two unicorns stood and exited the lab, heading for the exit. When they were gone, Luna turned to Heart. “So, what is it that you found?”

“Well,” Heart began. “When we first arrived here, Legion told us not to turn anything else on without his permission, to save power. While his ship was plugged in, most of the emergency power was restored, though not all of it. So when we finally settled on the conclusion that examining the technology in this lab was a lost cause, we turned it all off and decided to explore the rest of the ship.”

“Are you sure that that was safe?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Structurally, the ship seems sound,” the mare explained. “We haven’t been able to access any of the lower decks, as they were likely destroyed in the crash, but the upper few remain undamaged. Come with me, I’ll show you what we found.”

Heart and several other specialists exited the lab, with the princess in tow. They led her down the length of the hallway, to a door situated at the very end. Upon the door was a small green rectangle.

“It took quite a bit of work, but we finally got the door working again,” Heart said. “This leads to a series of ramps. What we found is on the floor right below this one.” One of the specialists pushed in on the green rectangle, causing it to pulse and splitting the door in half. As Healthy Heart had said, the door opened to reveal a series of ramps that seemed to go down quite a ways.

The medical mare led Luna down the first ramp, to a door that was identical to the one above. She pressed the button that caused the door to open, which revealed yet another hallway that closely resembled the one above. Healthy Heart led Luna down to the very end, where a large and very elaborate door was set. This one had the green button on a separate control panel that sat on the right of the door. Healthy Heart pushed the button, and immediately a mechanical whirring could be heard through the metal walls of the ship. The sound of several locks disengaging was heard as well, and the door slowly began to split apart. When it opened, Luna’s jaw dropped in shock.

The room beyond was quite large, much larger than the laboratory above. It was round, and was filled almost entirely with collector computers. Most were off, and the few that remained on flickered every few moments. In the center of the room was a circular pit surrounded by a guard rail. Healthy Heart waved a hoof, signaling Luna to follow, and began to trot towards the pit.

When Heart got close, two lights, one above the pit and one inside the pit itself, came on and displayed an apparition of something Luna knew quite well: the galaxy. The blue light that it gave off illuminated much of the room as the apparition rotated around its center. It was… beautiful.

“What is this?” Luna asked, awestruck.

“We think it’s a map,” Heart explained. “I read the report on the Mass Relays. We think that each circle on this representation of the galaxy is the location of a different Mass Relay.” It was only then that Luna noticed the small circles dotting the galaxy map. Each one had a small line above it, and written on the line was some text that Luna could not read.

“Incredible…” the princess said. “I wonder where we are on this map…”

“I don’t know,” Heart said. “Legion told you that our system’s Relay wasn’t charted, right? It probably wouldn’t be on here, then.” Luna nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Ms. Heart,” she said, drawing a confused stare from the mare. “With all that has been going on these past few days… I truly did need this.” Healthy Heart smiled, and continued staring out over the map.

“Well,” Luna began. “I have been away long enough. I should probably return to—”

She was cut off as a shrill alarm began screaming through the ship, and red lights began flashing in the room. A voice in some alien language said something that Luna could not understand, then the line was repeated.

“Princess, what’s happening?” Heart asked nervously.

“I do not know…” Luna answered, having to speak loudly to be heard above the siren. “But I do not like it. Come! We need to go!” Heart nodded in agreement and they both turned around, then sprinted out of the large room. The other specialists that had joined them were right behind them, running in fear of something they did not know. Quickly they ran up the ramp to the top deck, then sprinted to the medical lab, where the ponies who had chosen to remain behind were looking around, confused.

“Come! We are leaving!” Luna ordered. The ponies all scrambled out of the door and followed the princess to the airlock. Luna flared her wings and shot up the airlock, then stood by the hatch, waiting for more ponies to join her. Healthy Heart was the first one out, and only a few seconds later another pony followed. This continued until around half of the specialists were out, at which point the ground began rumbling right beneath their hooves.

“Princess, what—“

“GO!”

Luna and the ponies who had made it out of the ship already began sprinting away as fast as they could as the rumbling began to grow in intensity. Several hundred meters from the hatch, Luna stopped and turned around. Ponies were still crawling out of the buried hatch and rushing to join her. Suddenly, Luna heard a series of dull booms from beneath the ground. Luna’s eyes grew wide as she realized just what was happening.

“EVERYPONY MOVE!”

There was suddenly a massive explosion, the epicenter of which was the airlock hatch. The explosion sent up a wide tower of snow and picked Princess Luna up from her spot on the ground, sending her flying backwards at terrifying speeds. She flared her wings to slow herself down, but found that it was hard to control her flight against the shockwave. Along with the ponies that had been sent flying, several pieces of debris rained from the sky.

Luna hit the ground hard with a sickening crunch. Her pupils shrunk to tiny dots as the pain registered, and she looked down at herself, her breathing ragged. Her dark torc had been ripped from her chest at some point, and where it once protected her there was a long piece of debris jutting from her chest. Debris, snow, and ash continued to fall as Luna’s eyesight dimmed. With a pained groan, Luna closed her eyes, and lapsed into unconsciousness.

Queen Chrysalis watched as the collector captain stood over a computer, his amber eyes glowing brightly. He could not give off any emotions based on facial expressions, but Chrysalis had learned enough over the past few months to know that he was very annoyed.

“What does it say?” she asked curiously, wondering what could be angering the collector so.

“It is exactly as I thought,” he answered. “The geth found our crash site. From these readings, there are a large number of organics there right now, tampering with the systems…”

“Shall I send my changelings to take care of them?” Chrysalis asked. “They are probably only scientists.”

“… No,” the captain replied after a slight pause. “I have something that will send an even bigger message.” He pressed several buttons on the computer, and the normally green display turned into a dark shade of red. A flashing indicator appeared in the center of the display, and the collector pressed his finger into it, causing it to pulse in response. Text began rapidly flowing by on the screen. It continued to do this for several tense minutes, during which neither Chrysalis nor the collector spoke. As each moment passed, the rate at which the text flowed by increased until it finally froze, and every symbol was exactly the same.

“It is done,” the collector reported, stepping away from the computer. “Now come. I wish to speak with this ‘Princess Celestia’.”

Author's Note

Hey all, here is chapter 15!

I would like to bring up my lack of responses to people's comments. As I have stated before, I am awful at replying. However, this does not mean I am ignoring all of you. Even though I reply to very few comments, I do read every single one. Your tips and suggestions do not go unheard, and I do try to implement fixes as best as I can.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Even more development occurs, and it will continue over the next few chapters as well.

As usual, if you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 16

“Human history is a litany of blood shed over differing ideals of rulership and afterlife. Geth have no such history.”

Chrysalis led the collector captain down the tunnels of her hive to the deepest reaches, where scarcely any of her changelings ever visited. This section was home only to the ponies who had been kidnapped already, and who were, one at a time, being dissolved into their most basic forms. The main chamber where the ponies were being stored stretched up for hundreds of meters, with new, empty pods now situated on the walls. The ponies of Ponyville and Trottingham had been infected, so it was only a matter of time until the changelings began their hunting operations there as well.

Once they were inside of the main chamber, Chrysalis navigated through the maze of pods on the ground level, constantly aware of the tall collector captain shadowing her every step. Finally she stopped in front of Princess Celestia’s pod, the occupant of which had once again fallen asleep. Chrysalis knocked on the outside several times, bringing the princess out of her rest.

“Wake up!” she shouted rudely, much to Celestia’s chagrin. Abruptly waking up, the princess glared at Chrysalis for a moment, before her eyes passed over the giant collector towering over the queen. At the sight of the alien, Celestia’s glare faltered and her eyes split wide open in surprise.

“Celestia, this is the collector in charge of the whole operation,” Chrysalis said, motioning to the captain. “He wants to speak with you.” The captain stepped in front of the pod, his six golden eyes shining over the princess.

“Pony,” he spat. “As we speak, two more of your primitive villages are being overrun with my nanovirus. It is only a matter of time before the disease spreads all across your country and your kind will finally be put to use.”

“You’ll… never… win…” Celestia stammered, struggling to speak through the green liquid keeping her suspended in the pod.

“Fool,” the collector said. “We have already won. You have no means of combatting this disease, and an alliance with the geth will only bring you ruin. Your kind may fight, but it will be for nothing. Know this as you die in vain: your sacrifice will never be known. You will never be praised as heroes. You will die without anyone knowing you even existed.”

“Sacrifice…?” Celestia asked weakly. “What… sacrifice?”

“You will know soon enough, pony…” the captain answered. “You will know soon enough.” The captain spun around and marched away, soon disappearing into the shadows. Chrysalis smirked at Celestia as she turned and followed the collector out, leaving the princess alone to stare at her subjects, unconscious in their pods…

Legion stood in its bedroom, continuing to go over data with its left arm outstretched and the omni-tool active. Even though it was a relatively inefficient use of resources, Legion had every single program within it devoted to going over the data in an effort to find any useful information quicker. Occasionally a few programs would drop out to make sure no one had come to visit, but for the most part it remained unmoving in the center of the room.

Suddenly, Legion began to receive a notification on its omni-tool. Only half-interested, a program was sent from the data analysis to the notification center of the omni-tool to see what message it was receiving. As soon as the message had been analyzed, many more programs dropped out of the data analysis to bring the unit fully back online for emergency response. Looking around the room, Legion sprinted out of its door and entered the hallway beyond, startling two guards who were on patrol in this section of the castle. Legion ran down the hallway to Twilight Sparkle’s door and urgently knocked several times. The door opened a moment later, revealing the young princess looking up to the geth.

“Legion?” Twilight asked. “What is it?”

“We have a problem,” Legion replied, stepping into Twilight’s guest room. Her dragon friend, Spike, was sitting on the bed reading a book, though his attention switched to the geth the instant it entered the room.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, becoming nervous. “Did you find something in the data you got from the collectors?”

“No,” Legion began. “As we were going over the data, a notification was received from several subroutines that we installed in the crashed collector ship. The subroutines had been placed there to monitor power output and keep a link to the data collected from the sick pegasus. The subroutines reported a massive spike in power output before our connection to them was severed.”

“What does that mean?” Spike asked, hopping off of the bed and joining Twilight.

“The data readings sent by the subroutines reported a release of four-point-one-eight-four times ten to the twelfth energy joules,” the geth explained. “These readings are synonymous with an explosion of one kiloton of TNT. That, combined with the fact that we have lost connection to the subroutines, leads us to believe that there was indeed a massive explosion.”

“Princess Luna is up there!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening in worry. “Legion, what do we do?”

“We should investigate at once,” Legion answered. “Retrieve as many soldiers and doctors as you can, then meet us in the docks. We will be waiting.” Twilight nodded, then sprinted from her room, disappearing in an instant. Legion was not far behind her, though it took a different route, instead heading directly for the docks. A kiloton-sized explosion was massive, and though Legion did not know just how large the buried ship was, it would be enough to deal a significant amount of damage.

A few moments later Legion came to the door of the docks, upon which was a sign labelled ‘CLOSED’, likely to keep the presence of its ship a secret. Legion pushed the door opened and stepped out into the mountain alcove, then navigated through it to its ship. The craft was waiting where Legion had left it, and the door remained open. The geth stepped inside and entered the cockpit, immediately starting to activate the systems.

Legion heard the sound of hooves against metal as a pony entered the ship, and Legion turned around to confirm it as being Twilight Sparkle. She stepped into the cockpit, appearing troubled. Entering the ship after her were several guards and doctors, each one expressing confusion as to what was occurring. The doctors had saddlebags with them, each one filled with medical equipment.

“Is this everyone?” Legion asked as the last of the ponies got aboard. The back of the ship was quite crowded, but weight limits were not yet being exceeded. The flight would be safe.

“Yes,” Twilight answered. “It’s all I could get on such short notice. I’ve also arranged for several chariots to follow us, but they’re not as fast as your ship…”

“They will be far behind,” Legion said as it took a seat in the pilot’s chair. “We are taking a different route this time.”

“Oh?” Twilight asked, sitting down next to the geth. “How are we getting there?”

“If there was an explosion, then time is of the essence,” it started to explain. “With this in mind, it will be quicker to exit the atmosphere and then re-enter, as opposed to staying close to the ground. We only used the latter route before to conserve fuel.”

“You mean we’re going to space!?” Twilight asked exuberantly, her eyes growing wide.

“For a few minutes, yes,” the geth answered. A massive grin formed on Twilight’s face, before it suddenly disappeared.

“Too bad this ship doesn’t have windows…” she whispered.

“Windows are structural weaknesses,” Legion explained. “Geth do not use them. We will display external camera views on the main screen. All passengers, prepare for takeoff.” The sound of the engines activating filled the cabin as the ship began to tremble, and the view from the main screen showed them backing out of the loading docks. Once they were clear of the mountain alcove, Legion angled the ship and throttled up on the engines, taking them higher into the sky.

“The ship… is supposed to be shaking, right?” Twilight asked, a hint of anxiety seeping into her voice.

“Yes,” Legion answered. “It will persist as we exit the atmosphere, however no damage will be sustained. We will be fine.” Twilight sighed, but she still looked fairly nervous sitting in her chair. The ponies in the back of the ship seemed even more nervous, as they were forced to stand due to a lack of chairs.

Suddenly, one of Legion’s indicators began beeping rapidly, and a flashing red light filled the cabin. Twilight looked around, her anxiety growing.

“Legion!” she cried. “What’s that!?”

“We have reached the altitude required to engage the main thrusters,” the geth explained. “Brace for activation.” Legion pressed several buttons on a control panel, then was pushed back into its seat as the main engines fired, sending the ship away at escape velocity.

A few seconds later and it was over. The main thrusters deactivated, and RCS thrusters deployed from the hull. Legion cruised above the planet, bringing them in over where the collector ship had crashed. It then synced all of the displays in the cockpit to the forward-facing external camera, filling the screens with a view of Equis. Twilight’s pupils widened as she stared at the image in awe.

“Wow…” she said quietly. “That’s…” Whatever word she was going to say was lost in her excitement, and a few seconds later some of the ponies from the back of the ship were struggling to get into the cockpit to see the view of their home. The cockpit was filled with sounds of amazement as the ponies saw their world for the first time.

Twilight continued to silently stare at the image in awe, when suddenly something caught her eye. She pointed a hoof to it, directing Legion’s photoreceptor to a part of the image.

“Look,” she said. “Is that… smoke?” Legion focused on the region where she was pointing, and nodded.

“Yes,” it answered. “It is originating from the site where the collector ship crashed. If we can see the plume from orbit, the explosion must have been incredibly large. We must go at once. All passengers, prepare for atmospheric reinsertion.” The ponies all scrambled to return to their positions in the back of the ship as Legion throttled up, beginning to take them back into the atmosphere.

The main display shut off as flames engulfed the external camera, instead displaying a chart of their course. The bottom half of the display was dominated by the northern hemisphere of Equis, and the top half had a parabolic course marking their takeoff and landing coordinates. A small dot on the parabola, representing the ship, was moving quickly back towards the planet.

The ship shook violently as it broke through the layers of the atmosphere, until finally the external camera came back online and showed them flying quickly towards the large plume of smoke they had seen from orbit.

As they neared the crash site, Legion began to spot many things that had changed. For one, the area where the collector ship had once been was now a massive hole in the ground, stretching on for at least a kilometer. Flames and debris dotted the landscape for miles around the site of the explosion, and Legion occasionally caught site of what looked like motionless ponies on the ground. Quickly, Legion navigated to a spot that was free of debris and landed the ship. Once the ship was safely on the ground, Legion stood from its chair and exited the cockpit, then entered into the aft compartment. All eyes were on the geth, waiting for it to say something.

“We have arrived,” Legion reported. “As we expected, there has been a massive explosion. Our priority is to locate survivors and secure them for transportation. All critically injured ponies will be placed here to be brought back to Canterlot. Any ponies with mild injuries will be returned in the chariots that Twilight Sparkle ordered, once they arrive. Leave all dead.”

An anxious murmur spread throughout the crowd as they went over Legion’s orders. The geth turned to the door and opened it, allowing the biting cold to enter the ship. Legion itself was not affected by the freezing temperatures, but the few earth pony doctors appeared to immediately tense up. The pegasi seemed to have a much higher tolerance for cold, but a general rustling of feathers told Legion that they would not last long either. The unicorns would be fine with their heating spells.

“If you do not have a heating spell, do not remain outside for long,” Legion added. “If you feel as though you are too cold, return to the ship. Do not add yourself to the list of casualties.” Legion wasted no time in jumping into the snow, where it immediately scanned over the landscape for survivors. Closer to the explosion site Legion saw the charred corpses of dead ponies, but further away some could have made it. Just as Legion began to set off to check further from the crash site, Twilight Sparkle jumped down beside it.

“Do you see Luna anywhere?” she asked nervously.

“No,” Legion answered. “Though she is a priority. We will look together.” Twilight nodded, following the geth as it jogged through the snow, its single eye scanning all over for any surviving pony. The soldiers and doctors who had accompanied them were busily doing the same, though so far they were seeing no luck. The biting cold winds also were preventing all but the unicorns from staying out for long, so progress was slow.

Suddenly, as Legion searched several hundred meters from the site of the explosion, a spot of dark blue standing out against the white snow caught its attention. It whipped its curved head to the spot, rushing over as soon as it recognized Princess Luna.

“Twilight Sparkle!” it called. “Princess Luna has been located!” Twilight rushed over to the geth, then crouched over the motionless form of Princess Luna. Her fur was disheveled and covered in scrapes and burn marks, and a thin layer of frost covered her coat. The most alarming thing, however, was the long piece of debris jutting from her chest where her torc once was. A small pool of blood had formed in the snow beneath her, but most of it seemed to have been stopped by the debris.

“Oh, god…” Twilight gasped. “Is she… dead…?” Legion scanned the princess’s form, looking for any indication of life. Had it not been a machine, it would likely have missed the very shallow rise and fall of her chest, and would not have been able to detect the very minor heartbeat.

“If she remains here, she will be,” Legion replied. “Her heartrate is incredibly low, and breathing is shallow. Hypothermia appears to be setting in as well. She must be moved.”

“Is that safe?” the lavender alicorn asked nervously.

“We have no other option,” the geth said. “Please alert the doctors that the princess has been recovered. We will bring her to our ship.” Twilight nodded, then got to her hooves and sprinted away, calling for the doctors as she did. Legion gingerly picked up the motionless form of the princess, careful not to move her too much. It did not know how deep the debris was, and it did not want to risk causing more internal bleeding. Once Luna was comfortably being held in Legion’s arms, the geth turned around and began jogging back to its ship, trying as hard as it could not to bounce her around too much.

As it jogged, Legion observed other pony doctors at work in the field of debris, looking for any other survivors. A few seem to have actually found some, but most were having no luck at all. Given the magnitude of the explosion, the fact that Princess Luna had survived was nothing short of a miracle. However, being an alicorn, Legion hypothesized that she possessed some inherent benefits over regular ponies when it came to being damaged.

A few minutes later, Legion finally reached the door to its ship. Twilight Sparkle stood just outside, waiting for the geth to enter. As it neared the ship, Legion spotted the movement of several doctors bustling around inside. Twilight stepped aside as soon as Legion drew near and allowed the geth entry, then followed it inside and closed the door. The cold was immediately cut off, protecting the ponies inside from the sub-zero temperatures. Legion carefully set Luna on the floor of the aft compartment, stepping back as the doctors surrounded her, examining every inch of her body. A moment later they drew back, and one doctor approached Twilight Sparkle and Legion.

“She’s critical,” he reported. “Hypothermia has already set in. Her core temperature is ninety-one degrees Fahrenheit, and we’re registering that her pulse is weak and erratic. We’re going to start using a warming spell on her, but without proper facilities, she will die.”

“What about the debris?” Twilight asked nervously.

“We have yet to examine the full extent of the damage caused by it,” the doctor answered. “But it’s in pretty deep. Based on her breathing we think it may have broken through one of her lungs, and possibly even gone straight through. Right now the debris is the only thing keeping her from bleeding out, so for now we really have no choice but to leave it in. Once we know more about it, which won’t be until we’re back in Canterlot, we can try removing it.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said. “We will leave immediately.” It turned to enter the cockpit, but was stopped by Twilight Sparkle.

“But what about the other doctors and guards?” she asked.

“This is too important,” Legion continued. “We must leave immediately. They can return on the chariots you ordered.” Twilight sighed and nodded, then followed the geth into the cockpit. Legion sat in the pilot seat and Twilight took her regular seat next to it, and the geth began to activate the ship systems. There was a quiet thump as they left the ground, and Legion maneuvered the ship into position to once again re-enter the atmosphere. It throttled up on the engines, and in seconds they were gone.

The flight back to Canterlot was a quiet one. The doctors were busy keeping Luna alive in the back of the ship while Legion was quickly piloting them back down through the atmosphere to Canterlot. Twilight simply sat in her chair, her mind racing over the events of the past day.

Luna was in bad shape, and the doctors had no idea what the extent of the damage was. Tears threatened to surface Twilight’s eyes as she was faced with the very real idea that Luna may not make it. But she forced them down, and put Equestria in the forefront of her mind. No matter what, Luna was going to be out of commission for a while, and with Celestia being held captive by the changelings, leadership of Equestria fell down to her and Cadance. Twilight gulped nervously as the prospect of true leadership washed over her. She had been a leader before, sure – in group projects back in her school days, organizing the Winter Wrap-Up every year – but it had never been on a scale as grand as running a country. Fear crept into Twilight’s mind as she began to doubt her ability.

Shaking her head, Twilight banished the apprehensive thoughts. Right now Equestria came first, and right now, Equestria needed her. The shaking of the ship that Twilight had started to become used to subsided, and they shot through the upper cloud layer, revealing the mountain city of Canterlot just a few kilometers from their position. Twilight turned her head around and peered into the back compartment, watching the doctors busy at work trying to preserve Luna’s life until they arrived.

A few moments later they shot into the loading docks, coming to a halt just shy of smashing into the wall. The ship gently lowered to the ground, landing on the deck with a soft thump. As soon as they touched down, Legion shot up from his chair and entered the back compartment, with Twilight not far behind him.

“I’ll go on ahead and tell the doctors and surgeons to get ready for her,” Twilight offered. “You can follow behind, but be careful.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, crouching to the ground. He gently slid his three-fingered hands beneath Luna’s still form and slowly picked her up, trying not to move her too much. As soon as Twilight was satisfied that Legion had a grip on the princess, she turned and hopped out of the door, then began sprinting for the entrance to the castle itself.

Once inside, Twilight began running down a hallway, mentally trying to recall the path to the royal hospital. It was connected to the medical wing, that much she knew, but Twilight had not had to visit the royal hospital often. Only once had she ever had to go there, due to her passing out from attempting a more advanced magic spell as a filly. Even then she had been unconscious when Celestia carried her there, so her memory of the whole event was foggy at best.

Luck was on her side, however, when she rounded a corner and almost slammed right into a guard. The guard stepped back, surprised, but bowed once he recognized Princess Twilight. He was filled with even more surprised as Twilight placed her hooves on his shoulders and brought her face right up to his.

“Where is the royal hospital!?” she asked, a bit louder than she had intended.

“I can escort you there, your highness,” the guard answered. “But, and forgive me, you do not look injured. Is everything okay?” Taking a deep breath, Twilight released the guard and stepped back.

“I am fine,” she said, sighing. “But Princess Luna is not. Please do not spread that information around, I don’t want to start a panic. Please, take me to the hospital.” Saluting, the guard turned around and began jogging down the hallway with Twilight not far behind.

As she was led through the hallways of the labyrinthine castle to the royal hospital, the route began to refresh itself in Twilight’s mind. A few moments later the guard stopped at a large door with a red cross above it. Nodding her thanks to the guard, Twilight stepped into the royal hospital. Immediately her nose caught the pungent scent of antiseptic. The whole place was even cleaner than the main castle, which, considering just how many service staff the palace had, did not seem possible. Stepping up to the front desk, Twilight rang a small silver bell. A moment later, a nurse cantered into the room.

“Your highness!” she greeted, bowing. “How can I help you this evening?” Evening? Twilight thought. It suddenly hit her that Princess Luna was completely incapable of raising the moon and lowering the sun. She was going to have to find Cadance to see if they could pool their magic and do it together. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Twilight focused on the task at hoof.

“We have an emergency,” the young princess said, causing an anxious expression to spread across the nurse’s face. “Princess Luna has been critically injured. We need all of your best ponies prepared immediately.”

“What is the nature of her injuries?” the nurse asked, withdrawing a clipboard.

“Multiple minor burn wounds, hypothermia, and a piece of debris embedded in her chest,” Twilight listed. The nurse wrote quickly on her clipboard, then urgently turned around and began to sprint out of the room.

“I’ll have our best surgeons prepared immediately!” she called as she disappeared past a door into a long hallway. No sooner did the door finish closing than the main door opened and Legion stepped inside, still holding the motionless form of Luna in his two arms. The doctors who accompanied them back from the crash site were behind him, some of their horns alight to keep the princess alive.

“The nurse just went back to prepare the doctors for her,” Twilight reported, nervously walking over to the geth. Legion nodded and met her halfway in the middle of the waiting room.

“They must be urgent,” Legion said. “Not long after you left, Princess Luna’s heart failed for seventeen seconds. It began beating again on its own, but her pulse is weak.” Gulping nervously, Twilight began pacing around the room, waiting for the nurse to come back. What is taking her so long? She thought, even though the nurse had only left less than a minute ago.

After another minute had passed, the door leading further into the hospital flew open and the nurse re-entered, freezing as she caught sight of the geth holding the body of her princess. Her eyes widened in fear as her mouth opened slightly, trying to find words to say. Sensing her discomfort, Twilight stepped forward and put a hoof on the nurse’s shoulder.

“This is Legion,” she said. “He’s a friend. You don’t need to worry.” The nurse nodded slowly, though she did not seem to feel any better. She turned her head to Twilight and finally found the ability to speak.

“The… the doctors are ready for her…” she said, her voice quavering. “Please follow me…” Nodding, Twilight motioned for the nurse to take the lead, which she did after another moment of staring at the geth. Twilight and Legion fell into step behind her as she walked quickly down the hallway, though she made sure not to run so that Legion could keep up while holding his cargo.

The room that had been prepared for Luna was only a few doors down the hall. Stepping inside, the first thing that Twilight saw was a flat table in the center. Surrounding it were smaller tables, each of which held small boxes of surgical supplies. Above the table was a very bright light, hovering on its own accord a few inches below the ceiling. At the back of the room was an elevated window, behind which was an observation room for ponies to wait in. Legion stepped further into the surgical room, gingerly placing the still form of Princess Luna on the central table. As soon as he stepped back, several surgeons dressed in sterile scrub suits rushed forth and began to examine the princess. Legion rejoined Twilight at the door to the room, watching as the surgeons scanned over Luna’s body.

“We should wait up there,” Twilight said, pointing to the observation room with a hoof. Legion nodded in agreement and they both stepped out, closing the door behind them. She led them down another hallway with a short flight of stairs which led up to the observation room. They stepped inside and approached the window, looking down over the doctors.

“Can the wound not simply be healed with magic?” Legion asked curiously.

“No,” Twilight began. “Magic is very versatile; it can reset bones and stitch flesh, but it cannot simply revert a pony to how they were before they were wounded. We have to be very careful during surgeries like this; for example, we cannot simply teleport the debris out of her. To do so would release all of the blood that it is backing up and could kill her. We have to remove it very carefully, and do everything one at a time.”

“Interesting,” Legion observed. The two watched on in silence for a few more minutes as the doctors draped a thermal blanket over the back half of the princess, leaving her injured chest exposed.

“… I should go,” Twilight said after several more minutes had passed. “I need to find some way to raise the moon. If it doesn’t raise then that will only cause a panic, and we’ll have a big problem on our hooves…”

“We will remain here,” the geth said. “This unit possesses some knowledge of medical practices used by organics. We do not have any of the technology required to reproduce the practices perfectly, but should the doctors require assistance, we can render it.” Twilight nodded, then turned around and left the room. As soon as she was out, she turned down the hallway and began walking back to the main castle. By herself Twilight could never hope to raise the moon and lower the sun, but with the help of Cadance it could be possible.

Cadance was not difficult for the lavender princess to find, as she almost ran right into her upon re-entering the waiting room. Cadance smiled at Twilight, only to have her expression sour as she saw Twilight’s worried one.

“Twilight, I was just looking for you,” she said. “A guard told me you had come here, what happened?”

“It’s Princess Luna…” Twilight started. “It’s… bad… She was up at the ship crash site when the whole ship exploded. I don’t know how, I forgot to ask Legion. When we got there she was barely alive. The doctors are working on her now.”

“Is she going to be okay!?” Cadance cried nervously. Twilight shook her head in response.

“I have no idea,” she answered. “Like I said, it’s bad. But she’s strong. I hope she’ll be able to pull through.” Nodding, Cadance slumped to the floor and sighed.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“First and foremost, we need to figure out how to raise the moon,” Twilight replied. “I’m not positive, but I think that if we pool our magic, we should be able to do it. And I’ve gone stargazing enough times to know the path that it should take once it rises, so we should be fine…” Cadance nodded once more, then stood and turned to the door.

“We can use my room to do it,” she offered. “It’s a bit larger and more comfortable than in here.”

“Alright,” Twilight said, following her sister-in-law out into the hallway beyond the waiting room. They navigated through the maze of corridors, finally climbing up a flight of stairs to get to the second floor of the castle, which deposited them almost right at Cadance’s room. Cadance opened the door and walked inside with Twilight right behind her, and began to walk to the door to her balcony.

“Um,” Twilight began, stopping the princess. “I think we should do it inside.”

“Doesn’t it have to be done outside?” Cadance asked.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight answered. “I saw Celestia lower the sun and raise the moon while indoors plenty of times as a filly. Besides, I don’t want to risk anyone seeing us. It would just cause questions.” Nodding, Cadance turned and joined Twilight in the center of the room.

“So… what should we do?” she asked. Twilight froze as she realized she did not really have any clue about how to lower the sun and raise the moon. She dug into the depths of her memory, trying to find anything that Celestia had said to her about it in the past. It would never have been a part of her studies, but Twilight was a curious mare. Perhaps she had asked…

Finally, memories began to resurface of a time when she had asked the princess how raising the sun went. Being an alicorn, Celestia had the ability to reach out and mentally connect with the sun. Then, using her magic, she willed it to raise or lower, depending on the time. It sounded simple in concept, but Twilight had no doubt that it was going to be difficult.

“Just combine your magic with mine and I’ll take control,” she said, lighting her horn. “Let’s go.” Cadance’s horn lit with a light blue aura, and slowly small tendrils of magical energy began to seep out. They navigated over to Twilight and joined with her horn, changing the regular lavender color to a very light pink. Twilight accepted the additional energy as reached out for the moon which lay just beneath the horizon.

It was not difficult for her magic to find it. The moon was a massive object, and felt quite distinct from the sun. Where the sun was not solid and radiated heat, the moon was rough, hard, and cold. She gripped it with her magic, and suddenly felt a presence connect with her. It was not an organic presence, but it was definitely magical. It reached out to her, offering her its power. Twilight graciously accepted, but found that, even with the extra energy, her grip on the moon was beginning to slip away. Hurrying, Twilight focused solely on the presence that had entered her mind, and thought a single thought in her mind. Rise.

Slowly, Twilight felt the great lunar orb begin to rise over the horizon, though by now her eyes had closed and she could not see it. She could also feel the sun giving up its position on the opposite horizon as it began to slip out of view. Quickly calling forth her knowledge on lunar paths around Equis, Twilight focused on the one appropriate for this late in the year, and set the moon upon the path. Just as her grip threatened to give way on its own, Twilight released control of the moon and slowly opened her eyes.

Her jaw went slack as she looked out of Cadance’s window at the view that now presented itself to her. Hanging low in the sky, just beginning its ascent, was the moon. Its bright pale light twinkled in her eyes as she attempted to wrap her head around the fact that she had made it rise.

“Well done, Twilight,” Cadance said tiredly from beside her. “Imagine how Princess Luna will react when she wakes up. She’ll be proud.” Twilight could not reply at first. She found herself drawn to the moon in a way she had never felt before. This must be how Luna feels, she thought. Finally it occurred to her that she should reply to her sister-in-law, so she turned to face her and smiled.

“You had just as much a part to play in this as I did, Cadance,” she said weakly, finding that her stores of energy were very low. “She’ll be proud of both of us.” Cadance smiled, then stood and turned around.

“Come on, we should get something to eat,” she suggested. “It’ll do us some good.” Yawning, Twilight stood and followed Cadance to the entrance of her bedroom. They both stepped out into the hallway, turning down the hall and beginning the familiar route to the dining room.

The journey was made in silence, as they were both simply too exhausted to bother with conversation. However, they both showed an amount of surprise on their faces when they arrived at the doors to the dining hall and heard voices already inside. Twilight pushed the door open (using her hooves rather than her magic), and instantly the conversation stopped. Twilight felt several different sets of eyes on her as she entered, and looked up to find her Ponyville friends already sitting down around the table. Spike was with them, a large bowl of gems in front of him.

“Howdy, Twilight! Howdy, Princess Cadance!” Applejack greeted, waving them over to the table. Twilight and Cadance nodded their greetings and sat down next to one another at the table.

“Where’ve you guys been?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. “Spike told us you went with Legion to the crash site, but he said he didn’t know why. What’s up?” Sighing, Twilight looked to her pegasus friend and got ready to explain.

“The ship is gone,” she said, much to the surprise of her friends. “It exploded, I have no idea how. We saw… we saw a lot of bodies. I saw very few intact ones… Fortunately, Princess Luna was among the few survivors, but she’s in really bad shape. Legion and I brought her back here and she’s currently being treated…”

“Oh heavens, dear!” Rarity said, holding a hoof to her mouth. “Is she going to be alright?”

“I hope so…” Cadance said. “I didn’t get to see her, but from what Twilight told me, it’s bad.”

“That’s awful…” Fluttershy said quietly. “Where is she? Maybe I can help…”

“I’m sure she’ll be grateful for the offer, Fluttershy,” Twilight began. “But she’s in good hooves. The doctors at the royal hospital are the best of the best.”

“Good…” Fluttershy said. “But… What about the other ponies who were up there?”

“Anypony else who survived is being brought back on chariots,” Cadance explained. “They’ll be here in a couple of hours.”

“Why do you guys look so tired?” Dash asked, stretching out her wings. “You look like you ran all the way to the crash site and back.” Twilight and Cadance exchanged amused glances before turning back to the other Elements, and Twilight opened her mouth to speak.

“We were raising the moon,” she said nonchalantly. Spike began to choke on his drink as soon as the words left Twilight’s mouth, and he quickly excused himself to stop coughing.

“You were… raising the moon?” Rarity asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. “As in, the moon outside? The big space rock that orbits us?” This time, Cadance nodded.

“Awesome!” Dash shouted, leaping out of her chair and hovering above the table. “How did you guys manage that? I thought only Celestia and Luna could control the sun and moon?”

“It wasn’t easy,” Twilight said. “We had to completely pool our magic. And now I think if I tried lifting something my horn might short out, so I’m making do with hooves.”

“Well, what’re you gonna do about the sun in the morning?” Applejack asked, causing Twilight and Cadance to freeze.

“… Maybe Luna will be better by then…” Cadance whispered. Twilight nodded in agreement while her friends laughed at the expense of the princesses. It was at this point that the door to the dining hall reopened, and Spike entered once again, this time followed by Legion. They both took seats around the table, and all eyes were on the geth.

“Legion, how is Luna?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“The doctors were successful in raising her core temperature to an acceptable number,” Legion reported. “They ran scans to determine how deep the piece of debris was in her chest. Results were… not promising. Her right lung has been penetrated, and several ribs are broken. Blood has begun to back up in the wound, and there are several sources of internal bleeding. Smaller pieces of debris that we did not initially detect were also found embedded in her stomach and are being removed as we speak. Additionally, a team is discussing how to best remove the large piece of debris without causing too much trauma or killing her.”

“How long until she’s going to be okay again?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The doctors expect that the surgical procedures will continue for at least another six hours. Following that, she will be likely be unconscious for anywhere between twenty-four and thirty-six hours. Recovery times after that depend on her condition following the surgical procedure.” Twilight quietly cursed under her breath at the delay. With Celestia captured and Luna out of commission for almost two days, she and Cadance were going to have a lot of work to do to keep Equestria afloat. Additionally, if the changelings caught wind of Luna’s incapacitation, they would take the opportunity to infect many more cities. Gulping nervously, Twilight nodded and stood up from her chair.

“Thank you for the information, Legion,” she said. “Girls, please have a meal sent to my room. I have… preparations to make.” Without waiting for a response, Twilight turned and left the room, closing the large door behind her. Her friends watched her go, confused, but chose not to go after her. When Twilight set her mind on something, one was not likely to deter her.

The collector captain sat in a dark room in the hive of the changelings. Two collector drones guarded the door behind him, keeping any curious changelings away from the chamber. The only source of light in the room came from a red hologram positioned in the center of the room, which cast its hellish glow over the room. Beams of the red light crept up the curved walls of the room and illuminated the tiny cracks in the stone, out of which crawled the occasional insect. The red hologram lit up the featureless face of the captain, who leaned over the design presented in front of him.

The first few samples collected from the dissolved ponies had been very promising. The genetic material would go a long way towards completing their plan. For the collectors on Equis, and perhaps in the whole galaxy, this plan was their last hope. It was not going to be easy, nor was it going to be quick, but it had to be done. The ponies were prime subjects to use, and with their technological primitiveness, there was no way for them to fight back. The geth was a temporary setback, and it would return, the captain had no doubt about that. But when it did, the trap that the collector had devised would be sprung. Once the geth was out of the way, there would be nothing to stop them.

The collector leaned back and the hologram of the design faded away, draping the room in an eerie blackness. A moment later it was broken as the room was illuminated by soft blue lights interspersed along the walls of the room. They were not bright, but did enough to show where the edges of the room were. The collector captain spun on his heel and stomped out of the room, heading for his laboratory. On the way he intercepted a lone changeling, who he grabbed by the wing and held before him.

“You,” he said. “Inform your queen that she is to meet me in my laboratory immediately.” Shaking with fear, the changeling nodded, and the captain dropped him back to the floor. He slowly got to his hooves, then galloped down the tunnel to find Chrysalis. The captain continued on his path to his laboratory, considering his current situation. The nanovirus samples he had been creating would be done soon, so now would be a good time to plan their next move. Time was growing shorter with each passing day, and if the plan was not completed by the Arrival, then all of their work would have gone to waste.

As the captain approached his lab, he saw Chrysalis already stepping inside. The queen had proven to be a very useful ally these past several months. Without her, they never would have learned of the power that the ponies held within them. The power that the collectors could harness. The power that would give them their revenge…

Author's Note

Hello, everyone. Here is Chapter 16!

After the last chapter's cliffhanger, I was excited to write this one and get it out. A lot of stuff that happened in this chapter will spill into the next, which I hope to have out soon.

As usual, if you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, please correct me.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

"We oppose the Heretics. We oppose the Old Machines."

Twilight Sparkle stood next to Princess Cadance on the edge of the loading docks, watching as four chariots drew ever closer to the mountain castle. They had been spotted by scouts not too long before, and the two princesses had been informed immediately. Standing behind Twilight were several medical teams, all of them ready to provide relief to the ponies in the chariots. There were few available, however, as most were still focused on repairing the damage to Princess Luna.

Twilight was worried. Luna had been in surgery for almost eight hours, and still the doctors were having trouble fixing her completely. The hypothermia had been easy enough to tackle, and the smaller fragments of debris were all removed, but the large piece had caused more damage than they had initially seen.

The original scans of Luna’s body had revealed that the debris had punctured her right lung and was causing severe breathing issues. To counter this, she had been hooked up to an external oxygen supply while the surgeons did their work. They had believed that that would be the end of the difficulties, and the debris could be extracted with little to no further damage. However, this had been proven wrong when a second scan revealed that several large fragments from a broken rib had fallen and caused further internal bleeding away from the large debris. Because nothing was restricting the flow of blood in the new wounded area, the surgeons had to postpone removing the debris to deal with it.

Twilight gulped nervously as the chariots grew ever closer. Everything was falling apart; the collector ship, the one place where they could hope to gain more information on the virus, was destroyed. Princess Luna, the one princess they had with the power to raise the sun and moon easily, was incapacitated. The sun was due to rise in under two hours, and Twilight didn’t know if she had it in her. If she had to keep it up for much longer, she would kill herself from magical exhaustion. That was not something she wanted to risk.

As the chariots landed in the docks of the castle, Twilight pushed her current concerns out of her mind to focus on the new arrivals. Out of two of the chariots jumped the doctors who remained behind. They immediately moved to the other two, which were filled with the motionless bodies of ponies. Twilight, Cadance, and the doctors with them trotted up to the chariots to provide assistance. As they drew near, one doctor broke from the rest and approached the princesses.

“Princess Twilight, Princess Cadance,” she greeted, bowing. “I thank you for meeting us here.”

“Think nothing of it,” Twilight said, smiling. “How many survived?” The doctor sighed and looked at the ground.

“… Eight,” she said sadly. “All we could find were eight. Of those eight, three are in critical condition. We need to get them medical attention immediately.”

“Understood,” Twilight said, nodding. “And Healthy Heart? Did she… make it?” The doctor shook her head.

“I’m sorry, your highness,” she said. “We could not find her. We think she was among those ponies who were… who were too badly burnt to recognize.” At this news, Twilight’s face fell. She did not know Healthy Heart well, but her expertise in dealing with the disease would have come in handy. That, and Twilight never liked hearing about deaths.

“I understand,” the princess said. “Take these ponies to the royal hospital immediately, get them treatment. We need to find out exactly what happened before the explosion.”

“Yes, highness,” the doctor said. She stepped away from Twilight and barked orders to the other doctors, directing them to take the injured inside. Twilight fell to her flank and sighed, feeling nothing but defeat. Cadance walked up behind her and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“It’ll be alright, Twilight,” she said. “You’re not alone in this. I’m here, your friends are here, and Auntie Luna will be better in no time, I just know it.” Twilight forced a smile and stood up, turning to face Cadance.

“Thanks, Cadance,” she said quietly. “We should probably go inside. There’s a lot of work to do, and we need to start saving up energy for the sun…” Nodding, Twilight followed Cadance back into the castle, shutting the door behind her.

Chrysalis entered the main laboratory of the collectors and sat down on the cold stone floor, gulping with anxiety. Before she even had a chance to think about what the collectors could want from her, the captain himself entered and stood across from her. Nervously, Chrysalis tilted her gaze upwards and looked the captain in his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

“It is time to continue with the plan,” he said. “All of the smaller towns of Equestria have been infected. All that remains are Fillydelphia, Manehattan, the Crystal Empire, and Canterlot.”

“They are much larger than the previous towns we have infected,” Chrysalis said. “Manehattan is home to over one million ponies, and Canterlot is incredibly well defended. We must be careful.”

“I agree,” the captain said. “That is why you are going to send out several scouting teams. They will operate covertly in each target city for a week, finding any sort of weakness that we can use to introduce the nanovirus to the populations. While they are working, I will continue to refine the virus and see if I can increase the rate at which it spreads. Time is not on our side, Chrysalis. We must move quickly.”

“Very well,” the queen said. “I will prepare the teams personally.”

“One more thing,” the captain said before Chrysalis could turn and leave. “Send a small team to the crash site to examine the aftermath of the explosion. Make sure that nobody survived.”

“Are you sure that is worth it?” Chrysalis asked. “From what you tell me the explosion was massive. I highly doubt anypony survived.”

“We must be certain,” the collector replied. “Now go. I will work here.” Nodding, Chrysalis backed away and exited the laboratory, re-entering the tunnel beyond. The infiltration teams would be composed of her best changelings, ones who had never failed her before. Unfortunately, there were very few who remained alive. The team going to the remains of the crash site would not have to be too important. In fact, she knew just who to send…

Erebus sighed as he trudged through the snowy wastes that were the arctic north of Equis. The two changelings following behind him shared in his annoyance at being sent up here to make sure that something exploded properly. Of course, Erebus was not surprised that he had been chosen to do such a boring and menial task. Ever since he had disappointed the queen, it had seemed that she was searching for some pointless job to send him on.

“Curse you, Erebus,” one of the changelings behind him said. “If you hadn’t overfed on those prisoners then we wouldn’t have been sent up here!” Erebus sighed and turned his head to face the offending changeling, while continuing to walk forward.

“You had just as large a part in that as I, Nyx,” he said. “And let’s not forget whose bright idea it was to go feed without permission. You’re lucky you didn’t get us killed!”

“Shut up!” the third, whose name was Dolos, shouted. “This job is going to take twice as long if you two keep bickering! Now quiet down, we’re almost there…” Erebus and Nyx did not respond, though they did shoot angry stares at one another. The crash site was still at least an hour away, and the temperature outside was still dropping. The sun wouldn’t be up until they reached the crash site, and that would do little to warm the arctic environment. It was a good thing that changelings did not require warmth to stay alive, or they would have frozen to death long ago.

As Erebus walked along, his chitinous hoof stepped on something that was definitely not snow. It lacked the crunchy quality that they had become accustomed to on their walk, and felt almost warm. Erebus paused, causing his two companions to stare at him quizzically.

“Erebus, what are you doing?” Dolos asked. “Let’s get a move on.”

“Hold one…” Erebus said slowly, squinting his eyes to see. He moved his hoof away from where he had stepped, and sure enough, the surface was not white. Instead it was a light blue color, and Erebus swore he could see fur on it. His eyes widening in surprise, Erebus fell to the ground and began digging around the spot where he had stepped. A few moments later, the back half of a pony body had been uncovered.

“Help me out, here!” he called to his companions. They both rushed over to him and started to help dig. In no time at all, the body of a pony had been uncovered. It was a female, with a pale blue coat and a very light mane. Her cutie mark was a heart monitor, which was just visible beneath a white lab coat. Printed on the front of the charred coat was ‘Healthy Heart, CMO’.

“Is she dead?” Nyx asked. Erebus put a hoof to the pony’s throat and, surprisingly, felt a very weak heartbeat.

“Almost,” he replied. “I think the fact that she was buried may have actually kept her a bit warmer in these temperatures.”

“How did she get this far from the crash site?” Dolos asked.

“Dunno…” Erebus said. “She’s a unicorn, she could’ve teleported. Huh… ‘CMO’.”

“What’s that stand for?” Erebus cycled through the possible meanings of CMO in his head. He also tried thinking of the name ‘Healthy Heart’. Where had he heard that before?

“… Wait…” he said. Suddenly his eyes shot open in realization. The surprise soon turned to excitement as he realized just who they had found. “Do you know who this is!?” Nyx and Dolos both shook their heads, and Erebus sighed as he prepared to explain.

“Remember those doctors who were sent to Westrock to try and cure the nanovirus?” he asked. His two companions nodded this time. “She’s the one in charge! CMO is ‘Chief Medical Officer’!”

“Oh…” Dolos said quietly in shock.

“Wow…” Nyx whispered. “We need to get her back to the hive! Who knows what kinds of answers she has!” Dolos nodded in agreement, then picked up the mare and placed her on his back. They were about to start walking back when Erebus held up a hoof.

“Wait, guys,” he said, confusing his companions. “I have an idea…”

Twilight Sparkle collapsed down onto her bed, trying to ignore the headache that was getting worse with each passing moment. Only minutes ago she and Cadance had raised the sun, which had taken even more energy out of the two than the moon had. Sighing, Twilight knew that she was not going to be able to keep this up forever. Spike crossed the room, hopped up onto the bed, and placed a comforting hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Nice job with the sun, Twilight,” he said. Twilight did not reply. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes…” Twilight said weakly. “I need food that is high in sugar, or anything that can give me energy… And coffee. Lots of coffee.”

“Right,” Spike said, hopping off of the bed. “I’ll go get something for you.” Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. Twilight lifted her head to see who had come to visit while Spike approached the door and pulled it open, revealing a royal guard standing in the frame.

“Your highness,” he said, bowing. “A message has come for you from Prince Armor in the Crystal Empire.” Now far more alert, Twilight hopped off of her bed and weakly approached the guard, who had a scroll floating in his telekinetic grasp.

“Thank you,” she said. “Please give it to Spike here.” The guard did as he was told and lowered the scroll down to Spike, who plucked it out of the air once it was in reach. The guard bowed again, and began walking down the hallway. Spike closed the door after him, and unfurled the scroll.

“Dear Twilight,” he started. “Cadance wrote to me about the situation with the collector ship. I understand that very few survived, though we are very lucky that Luna is among them. However, it would seem that one more survived who you did not find. Celestia’s Chief Medical Officer, Healthy Heart, arrived here only minutes ago. She was freezing and in bad shape, but we took her in and she explained everything to us. I’m just writing to let you know that she is on her way to Canterlot in a chariot being led by my fastest pegasi, and will arrive shortly. Your BBBFF, Shining Armor.” Spike lowered the scroll, and looked up to Twilight, who was now smiling happily.

“That’s great news,” she said. “Now we finally have somepony who may be able to shed some light on what happened.” Twilight maneuvered back to her bed and crawled under the covers. “But for now, I need rest.”

“I’ll go get you some energy food,” Spike said, opening the door.

“Thank you, Spike. Don’t forget the coffee.”

The door closed as Spike exited the room, leaving Twilight alone. She closed her exhausted eyes and only a few moments later, she was asleep.

Erebus, or rather, Healthy Heart, sat in the back of a royal chariot on its way to Canterlot. Even though he was trying to play the part of an exhausted and injured mare, he was unable to contain all of his excitement at his plan. Healthy Heart was one of the most important ponies in the whole virus issue, so who knows what kind of information Erebus would be able to uncover?

Erebus’s stomach dropped as the chariot began to descend beneath the clouds, and a few moments later the changeling found himself right over the grand city of Canterlot. He struggled to maintain a neutral expression, but inside he felt a slight amount of anger. The last time Erebus had been to Canterlot was their attempted invasion one year ago. He had been one of the few changelings who survived being thrown back beyond the border, and for that he still felt a bit of resentment.

The chariot descended further before it came to a halt in the large courtyard just outside of the castle. Standing in the courtyard were a tired looking Princess Twilight and Cadance. Erebus briefly glared angrily at Cadance, before he remembered who he was supposed to be, and resumed his fatigued expression. Once the chariot was at a full stop, Erebus stood and weakly jumped out, doing his best to appear exhausted. The two princesses quickly trotted up to him, looking both concerned and relieved.

“Ms. Heart!” Twilight said happily. “You do not know how glad we are that you survived. When the chariots got back and you were not with them…”

“Thank you, your highness,” Erebus said, though the voice that came out was not his. It was softer, less raspy, and a much higher pitch. “I’m… still not quite sure what happened myself, but it is good to be back.”

“Please,” Cadance began. “Come inside. You must be starving.” Nodding, Erebus followed the two princesses inside. They led him through the tall corridors of Canterlot castle to a small lounge room not far from the main entrance. Inside were several bowls of fruit, which Erebus looked at, feeling unimpressed. Regular pony food did not do much to satisfy the appetite of a changeling. It provided a moment’s satisfaction, but in the long run, if a changeling did not feed on emotion, he would die.

“Please, sit,” Twilight said, directing Erebus to a chair. He did as he was told and sat down in the comfortable chair, while the two princesses sat next to one another on a couch across from him.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” Twilight said. “We do too. Would you like to go first?”

“I’m not too sure how good I will be at answering your questions…” Erebus said, trying to come up with an excuse. “It’s all a bit foggy…”

“That’s perfectly fine,” said Cadance. “You can go first, then.” Clearing his throat, Erebus began to think of questions to ask. He did not want to go all out and ask, “What are your long-term plans for dealing with the changelings?” To do so would give away his position rather obviously. No, he needed to start smaller…

“… How many ponies survived?” he asked.

“Nine,” Twilight answered. “None of the engineering team made it, they’re all from your staff. We’re very lucky that Princess Luna is among the survivors.” Luna? Erebus thought. She was there too?

“The princess made it!?” Erebus yelled, feigning excitement. “Oh, thank Celestia…”

“Yes, she was in very bad shape when Twilight and Legion found her,” Cadance began. “She’s been in surgery for nearly ten hours now, and it’s not looking like she’ll be out for at least another five. Then there’s the recovery period…” Erebus nodded, adding all of the new information to his mental list. Luna was critically injured, and he assumed that ‘Legion’ was the name of the machine they had been warned about.

“Were you able to determine exactly what happened?” he asked, directed to Twilight. Twilight shook her head in response.

“Not exactly, we were kind of hoping you could tell us,” she answered. “Legion detected the explosion from here, and when we went up there the ship was… gone. There was a huge hole in the ground, and debris everywhere. We have no idea what triggered the explosion. What’s the last thing you remember?” Gulping, Erebus struggled to come up with something to say. To buy himself time, he scrunched his brow to make it appear as if he was having trouble recalling the memory.

While the princesses waited, Erebus mentally put together all of the information he had gotten so far. If there were survivors, then that meant they would have had to have been outside when the ship exploded. The only reason that they would have been outside is if they had some sort of indicator that something bad was going to happen.

“We…” Erebus began. “We were in the ship, talking about the virus, when suddenly Princess Luna just… tensed up. She said that she had a bad feeling, and that we should leave. She seemed urgent, so I didn’t argue anything. When we had gotten a few hundred meters away from the ship, it just… blew up. I didn’t know what to do, so I just teleported away. When I woke up, I was miles away, so I started walking and ended up in the Crystal Empire.” The story seemed to satisfy the two princesses, who nodded as he finished it.

“Well, you’re probably exhausted, so we’ll let you get some sleep,” Cadance said. “But we want to keep you here for the next couple of days, just in case something comes up. By now there should be a guard outside. Follow him, he’ll take you to your guest room.”

“Yes, your highness,” Erebus said, standing up from his chair. He turned and began to exit the room, smiling deviously as he did. He dropped the smile when he opened the door and was met with a guard waiting patiently outside.

“Follow me, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll take you to your guest quarters immediately.” Erebus nodded and followed the guard down several more hallways until they came to an exceptionally long corridor lined with doors. Above each door was a golden number, with even numbers on the right and odd numbers on the left. Erebus was led to one of the odd-numbered doors, which was opened for him, revealing a lush bedroom beyond.

“If you need anything, there are usually guards patrolling this section, ma’am,” his escort said. “Just let one of us know.”

“Thank you,” Erebus said, stepping into the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Erebus dropped the disguise and lit his bent horn, mentally contacting Queen Chrysalis.

Erebus! Where are you!?

Your excellency, I’m in Canterlot.

What!? How did you get there?

On the way to the crash site we found the body of Healthy Heart, Celestia’s chief medical officer. Dolos is bringing her back to the hive as we speak, while Nyx continued on to the crash site. I took her form and came here.

… Do they suspect you?

No, excellency. They do not suspect a thing. And I have discovered something of great value.

Well, out with it!

Princess Luna was at the crash site when it exploded. She is in critical condition, and is undergoing surgery as we speak.

…

Your excellency?

That is excellent news, Erebus. Well done.

Thank you, excellency.

Keep it up, but do not linger for long. Find what you can, and come back to the hive.

Yes, excellency.

Erebus cut off the flow of magic from his horn and disconnected from the mind of Chrysalis. He was still alone in his room, but he wasted no time in returning to the form of Healthy Heart. Now all he had to do was retrieve information without appearing too conspicuous. To Erebus, the best way to do that would simply be to act natural and not try to rush anything. Right now the princesses were expecting him to be resting, so that is just what he was going to do. He had been doing a fair bit of walking, and exhaustion was something that he felt.

Yawning, Erebus crawled into the luxurious bed and pulled the sheets over him, then closed his eyes to rest. The spell that made him look and sound like Healthy Heart would persist even while he was not conscious, so Erebus had no fears about sleeping in the presence of the ponies. Setting a quick spell to wake him up in a few hours, Erebus allowed the comforting sensation of sleep to wash over him…

Legion stood in the observation room of the Canterlot royal hospital, looking down upon the still form of Princess Luna. The only part of her that was visible was her head; the rest of her body had been covered by several sheets, with a small square over her chest so that the doctors could operate. They were busily working on extracting the large piece of debris now that the internal bleeding caused by her rib fragments had been patched up, but it was slow work. There was still no guarantee that the princess would even survive, given how much trauma her body had endured.

Legion was remaining nearby in case any of the doctors decided to come to it for advice. So far none had, but Legion did have knowledge that, should the need arise, could be very useful. As it watched the operation take place, Legion occasionally glanced to a small heart monitor set against the far wall. It was not a traditional heart monitor like the ones used by organics on the Citadel, as it did not rely on any sort of electricity. Rather, the heart monitor was quite literally an apparition of Luna’s heart, conjured up by one of the doctors. It showed a real-time feed of the beat patterns of the heart, while a small number beneath it displayed the beats per minute. Occasionally the apparition would slow to a crawl as Luna’s heart threatened to fail, and sometimes it would begin beating rapidly. Whenever one of the two events happened, the doctors would step back and allow the beating to return to normal before continuing the procedure.

Overall, Legion found itself surprised at the medical knowledge that the ponies possessed. Given their technology level, Legion expected them to be careless, and rely more on home remedies rather than proper medical procedures. They had proven to be anything but, as the procedures that the doctors followed were quite similar to those of doctors on the Citadel.

Still, they were not without their shortcomings. They relied far too much on magic to heal wounds, and Twilight Sparkle had already told it that magic could not fix everything. In almost all cases, wounds had to heal naturally, magic could only aid in the process. It was for this reason that Legion found itself almost worried that Luna would not survive.

As it continued to watch the procedure, the door to the observation room opened and Twilight Sparkle stepped in. She maneuvered over to the geth and stood next to it, silently watching as the doctors continued their work.

“… I just spoke with one of the doctors,” she finally said after a long silence. “They’ve done what they can with the debris still inside her. They’re going to try removing it now, then they’ll see what the damage looks like.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said. Just as Twilight had said, Legion saw the large piece of debris become encompassed in a pale orange glow as one of the unicorn doctors gripped it in his telekinesis, then slowly it began to wiggle free of Luna’s chest. Several more doctors were standing by to immediately deal with the bleeding that was more than likely going to occur.

To an organic, the process of removing the debris would have been painful to watch. It was slow and methodical, and Legion could detect the anxiety emanating from Twilight standing next to it. Finally, after several minutes of pulling, the doctor fully extracted the debris from Luna’s chest. Immediately after, a large amount of blood began to leak out, which the other doctors got to work on stopping. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as Luna’s heart monitor remained normal.

Once the bleeding was stopped, the doctors approached Luna’s still form and peered into the large hole dominating her chest, some of them lighting their horns to illuminate her dark chest cavity. A moment later they all stepped back, and the small square that left Luna’s chest exposed was covered with a piece of paper. Confused, Twilight squinted her eyes and watched as one doctor left the operating room.

“What are they doing?” she asked. “Why aren’t they getting to work?” A second later the door to the observation room opened, and the doctor who had left the operating room stepped inside. Twilight and Legion turned around to face him as he approached the two viewers.

“Princess Twilight,” he said, bowing his head. “It’s… good to see you here.”

“What’s the situation?” Twilight asked nervously. “Why aren’t you healing her?”

“… We can’t,” the doctor said. “The damage… it’s just too extensive. The fact that she’s even still alive now is baffling to me.”

“Is there no hope?” Twilight asked, tears beginning to appear beneath her eyes. The doctor put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just beyond the ability to magic to heal. We can make her comfortable, but as for the wound itself… There’s nothing we can do.”

“Wait,” Legion said, drawing the attention of the doctor and Twilight. “We would like to examine the wound.” Confused, the doctor turned to look at Twilight.

“It’s your call, princess,” he said.

“… Y-yes, of course,” Twilight said weakly. “Go right ahead, Legion.” Nodding, the geth quickly exited the observation room, turned down the hallway, and entered the operating room. The other doctors seemed a bit surprised to see the geth, but did nothing to keep it from approaching the princess. Legion stood over her still form, then removed the paper covering her chest and looked inside.

As their scans had shown, the damage was quite extensive. Her right lung had been totally punctured by the debris, and Legion still saw a few fragments of the metal present inside of her. Many of her ribs had been broken, but that seemed not to be that big of a problem compared to the main source of damage. From where it was standing, Legion could barely see parts of Luna’s spine through other damaged areas. What it did see, however, was not promising.

The few visible vertebrae were chipped, bent, and twisted in several different directions. Legion was a bit surprised that it had not been picked up by the first few magic scans, but they had been focused more on Luna’s front side, rather than her back. Even without the scans, Legion could tell it was bad. Her spinal cord would no doubt have taken extensive damage, both from the debris and the force of the explosion itself. Legion now understood why the pony’s magic would be ineffective.

Stepping away, Legion placed the paper back over the wound and exited the room, heading back to the observation room. As it made the short walk, the programs within the platform began to cycle through the possible procedures it could use to help Luna. There were numerous methods, but all of the ones that were guaranteed to work required medical technology that Legion did not have access to.

As soon as Legion re-entered the observation room, Twilight Sparkle ran up to it, looking the geth eagerly in the eye.

“The doctor filled me in while you were down there,” she said. “Is there anything you can do?”

“… Perhaps,” Legion answered. “Most techniques require specific pieces of medical technology. We have eliminated those options, and are currently cycling through the few in existence that do not require advanced pieces of medical technology.”

“If there is anything at all you can do, please let me know,” the doctor said. He stepped past the geth and exited the room, reappearing a moment later in the operating room, and began speaking to the other doctors.

“Any ideas?” Twilight asked. “Please… Any ideas you have, I’ll make happen.” Legion did not respond. Instead it continued cycling through the list of possible solutions, eliminating them as they were determined impossible given the circumstances. The list quickly got shorter and shorter until Legion was down to one single option.

“There is but one thing we can do,” it said. “But it will not be easy.” Twilight nodded, urging the geth to go on.

“The organics have a substance known as medi-gel,” Legion began. “It is an incredibly versatile medicinal salve that can be used to heal all wounds, no matter how large.”

“And you have some!?” Twilight asked urgently. Her moment of excitement was shattered as Legion shook its head.

“No,” it said. “Medi-gel only functions on organics. Geth do not use it. However, we believe that the collectors may have some in their possession.”

“How do you know that?” the lavender alicorn asked curiously.

“While speaking with Princess Celestia, we noticed that the wound across her throat had been healed by it,” Legion replied. “If we can obtain enough, we should be able to heal Princess Luna’s wounds.”

“Then all you have to do is go back to the hive and find some!” Twilight said excitedly. “Shouldn’t be too difficult, given your invisibility.” Legion patiently held up a hand and drew the attention of the excited mare.

“That is not all,” it began. “While medi-gel is very versatile, much like your magic, it does have its limitations. While we can effectively seal her wounds and use the medi-gel to heal them, it cannot fix everything that is wrong with her. For this, we require omni-gel.

“Omni-gel is a material obtained by the breaking down of pre-existing items to a semi-molten state. Once in this state, it can be reshaped for a number of purposes, including hacking of electronics and production of items. If we convert some of the unneeded tools in our ship to omni-gel, we can use it to fashion some medical devices such as a spinal brace, and even basic cybernetics to keep Luna operational.”

“So the omni-gel, combined with the medi-gel, can bring Luna back to health?” Twilight asked, hopeful.

“We believe so,” Legion said. “But, as we stated previously, it will not be easy, and Princess Luna is running out of time. We will give you a basic run-down of how to use omni-gel to create the components required. Once you have gotten to work, we will return to the changeling hive to procure medi-gel.”

“How long will this take?” Twilight inquired, stepping to the observation room window to look at the unconscious Luna.

“The omni-gel works quickly. You will simply require a knowledge of how to use it,” Legion replied. “The hive will be different. We will take an orbital route once again to get to the hives quicker, but once inside, we do not know how long it will take to find medi-gel. There are no scanners we possess that can find sources of it, and even if we did, the collectors may have used the last of theirs on Princess Celestia. There are many unknowns.” Legion turned and began to leave the observation room. Twilight quickly turned around and followed it out into the hallway beneath them.

“We will search for twelve hours in the hive,” it continued. “If we do not find any by then, we likely are not going to. If we do not return after eighteen hours… Assume our capture or destruction.” Gulping, Twilight nodded and followed the geth out of the royal hospital and back into the castle. “We will quickly teach you how to use the omni-gel. This way, please.” Legion turned down one of the many corridors and began heading back to the loading docks where its ship was still landed. Twilight trotted behind him, staying silent the whole way there…

Erebus awoke from his nap with a renewed vigor that he would need to complete his mission. Quickly checking to make sure his disguise was still in place, Erebus hopped out of his bed and walked over to the door, then stepped outside. The immediate hallway was barren, though there were a few pony guards on patrol near the end. Erebus decided to avoid taking that route, and instead turned in the other direction and began walking.

Healthy Heart had a fairly high-up position in the Equestrian government, and as chief medical officer she would have access to a fair number of documents that the common pony would never see. His excitement growing, Erebus began moving at a quickened pace down the hallway, looking for any sort of signage that could direct him to the medical wing of the palace. After several minutes of walking, however, it became evident that no such signage existed. The hallways were lacking in any sort of directions or maps, but Erebus couldn’t complain. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the labyrinthine tunnels of the changeling hive.

For now he was simply going to have to wander until he found it. The palace was huge, but its size paled in comparison to the hive. How long could it take?

Very long, apparently. After an hour of walking with no luck in finding the medical wing, Erebus was resigned to simply give up and ask a guard. But he knew at the back of his mind that he could never do that, as asking a guard where his own office was would send up dozens of red flags. Erebus sighed, exasperated, and continued plodding down the long, grandiose corridors of the castle, hoping that luck would come and visit him.

His wishes were heard as he turned down a smaller hallway and came right to a door with a sign labelled ‘Canterlot Castle Medical Wing – Staff Only’. Smiling at his luck, Erebus pushed the door open and stepped through, finding himself in a long hallway. Compared to the hallways of the castle, this one felt quite restricting. It maintained the bright coloration and kept the plush carpeted floor, but the ceiling and walls were much closer together. Whereas in the hallway outside a dozen ponies could walk abreast, Erebus doubted that more than two ponies could walk side-by-side here.

Along the walls were several doors, each of them labelled with a name. Erebus slowly walked down the hall, reading each name while trying to find the office belonging to the owner of his visage. At the very end of the hallway he found it, where on the faded glass of the door was written ‘Healthy Heart – Chief Medical Officer’. Smiling yet again, Erebus pushed the door opened and stepped into the cramped office, taking in the room.

It was smaller than he had expected, given Heart’s position, and she clearly took advantage of every square inch of space. Along the two walls adjacent to the door were sets of filing cabinets, some of the drawers overflowing with documents. Pushed to the back of the room was a rich oak desk with a comfortable looking chair behind it, and on the desk were even more haphazardly-stacked documents. On the back wall were several framed certificates and diplomas which no doubt had some influence in Heart getting her job here.

Erebus trotted to the desk and took a seat in the thick, padded chair, then immediately started searching the desk drawers. The top few drawers had nothing more than blank pieces of parchment, quills, and inkwells in them, but in the very bottom drawer Erebus found something interesting. It was a metal safe, quite thick by the look of it. On the front was a three-digit combination lock, which caused Erebus’s face to fall. There were three dials, and each dial had ten numbers. That gave him 1000 possible combinations to try. In other words, way too many to actually try, unless Heart had set it to something as simple as 123…

Curiously, Erebus entered ‘123’ into the combination lock, and was surprised when he heard a click as the lock disengaged.

“Wow…” he muttered under his breath. “Good to know that Equestria’s medical secrets are in such capable hooves…”

Erebus pulled the safe door open and looked inside, finding several manila folders, each of which was marked with a stamp labelled ‘TOP SECRET’. Quickly, Erebus pulled out the folder on top and opened it, immediately finding what he was looking for. Inside the folder were dozens of documents, each one dealing with the nanovirus that the collectors had developed and the changelings had distributed. The documents detailed what little they knew about the nanovirus, and the failed plans that they had enacted to eradicate it. All in all, the documents were not very revealing. They simply confirmed what the changelings had already expected: the ponies were at a loss on how to cure the disease.

“Ahem.”

Alarmed, Erebus quickly closed the manila folder and covered it with his hooves, then looked up to address the intruder. Standing in the doorway of Healthy Heart’s office was Princess Cadance, staring curiously at the disguised changeling. Acting natural, Erebus uncovered the folder and looked up to the princess.

“Yes, your highness?” he said, forcing himself not to cringe at the flattery he was using.

“I was just coming by to check up on you,” Cadance explained, stepping into the office. “I went to your guest room but you were not there, so I assumed that you had come here to get back to work.”

“Yes,” Erebus replied. “My nap was nice and all, but I could hardly sleep knowing how much work there was to do. Please, sit!” He pointed to a chair sitting across from him, and Princess Cadance graciously took it.

“So, Ms. Heart, what plans do you have for this disease?” she asked. Erebus quickly began to think of something to say to cover up the fact that he had no medical experience whatsoever.

“Well…” he began. “Since everything else we have tried has failed, I was going to bounce some ideas off of the geth. Do you know where it is?”

“Legion?” Cadance said. “You just missed him, he’s… He’s going back to the changeling hives. Princess Luna is in bad shape. Really bad shape. She’s dying. The surgeons have done all they can, but her injuries were beyond what magic can heal, so Legion is heading to the hives to see if he can find something called ‘medi-gel’.”

“I… I see…” Erebus said, trying his best to sound upset. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I believe that your talents are better put to use thinking up a cure for the nanovirus, Ms. Heart,” Cadance explained. “Twilight is helping Legion by creating some medical components while he’s at the hive. For now, it’s up to them.”

“I understand,” said Erebus. “If that’s the case, then I should return to work. There’s a lot to do.” Nodding, Cadance stood and left the small office, closing the door behind her. As soon as the sound of her hoofsteps were gone, Erebus breathed out a sigh of relief. Confident that the coast was clear, Erebus lit his horn and mentally contacted Queen Chrysalis.

Erebus. Report.

Your excellency, I have more news.

Do not tell me when you have news, just tell me the news!

Yes, your excellency. First, it is as we expected: the ponies know very little about the nanovirus. Second, Princess Luna is dying. The pony surgeons are unable to cure her of her injuries.

That is excellent! You have--

Excellency, that is not all. The geth, Legion, is on its way to return to the hive. It is searching for something called ‘medi-gel’.

Thank you. I will inform the captain. You have done quite well, Erebus. But you must do more. Do anything you can to prevent this geth from saving Luna. Should we be unable to stop it from here, it will be up to you. Good luck.

The connection was severed and Erebus was once again in the office, the manila folder still in his hooves. Sighing, he leaned back in the chair and began to think of ideas to sabotage Luna’s cure. Princess Cadance had said something about Twilight working on medical components, perhaps disrupting those would yield interesting results.

Twilight Sparkle sat in her bedroom, an array of random objects assorted in front of her. She did not know the purpose of most of them, as they had all come from Legion’s ship, but she did know that they could potentially save Princess Luna. To her right was a small rectangular object, the top half of which was made of a semi-translucent orange screen.

Legion had called it a ‘tablet’, and through it she could control the omni-gel program. Because Legion had yet to translate the Equestrian written language, he had simply converted the names of all of the functions to pictures. He had then explained how to convert a solid object into omni-gel, and how to instruct the gel to form a new object. It was fairly straightforward, and already a few of the components that she required had been completed.

The first component was part of a brace that would be placed along Luna’s bent and twisted spine. It was composed of a small circular piece with two claws on it that were intended to wrap around a damaged vertebrae. She would be creating several of these for each of the damaged vertebrae along Luna’s spine. The second component was an incredibly small computer microchip that would be planted on the base of Luna’s spine. It would control the various functions of the spine braces to make sure that they properly fixed Luna’s spinal cord. There were several other components to help fix her ribs, her lung, and a few other damaged spots, but they were a second priority to the spine braces.

Selecting another object from the ones Legion had provided, Twilight pulled it next to the tablet and pressed a button. The object seemed to liquefy as it broke down into a semi-molten state, then reshaped itself into yet another spinal brace as Twilight pressed another button. She continued this process several more times until she had the required amount of spine braces. Finally, just as she was about to move on to the next apparatus, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” she called to the guest. The door swung open and in the frame stood Princess Cadance. She trotted into Twilight’s room, and the young lavender alicorn stood to greet her sister-in-law. “Hello, Cadance! What brings you here?”

“I have news,” Cadance began. “One of the injured ponies from the crash site has just woken up, and I figured that you may want to be there to talk to him.”

“Of course!” Twilight said excitedly. “Let’s go!” She followed Cadance out of the room, making sure to close her door tightly behind her. She did not want to risk the safety of the valuable objects within. Once she was certain the door was secure, Twilight began trotting after the princess of love, following her to the hospital…

Erebus watched Twilight Sparkle and Cadance leave the bedroom from the bend of another hallway, waiting until they were out of sight before he stepped fully into the corridor. As soon as they were gone he emerged from his hiding spot and quickly trotted to the door of the room they had exited from, then turned the knob and pushed it open, finding the room beyond to be empty. In the middle sat several alien devices, none of which Erebus recognized. It was clear that Princess Twilight was doing something with them, however, and if it was to help Luna, then Erebus had to sabotage it. There was the question of how, of course, but he would figure that out along the way…

Cracking the door behind him, Erebus sat down in front of the alien devices, and got to work…

Twilight followed Cadance into the quiet infirmary of the royal hospital. It was much larger than the room Luna had been sent to, but this one had several beds, each of which was occupied by an injured doctor from the crash site. All of the occupants were asleep, the steady rise and fall of their chests being the only indicator of life. That is, all but one.

One patient was awake, and was tiredly sitting up in his bed. He would occasionally sip from a glass of water, though his focus was mainly on the two princesses approaching him. As they stepped up to his bed, the unicorn stallion tried his best to bow, though that was difficult given his position.

“Please, do not worry about any pleasantries,” Cadance said, putting up a hoof. “You’ve had a long enough day.”

“Yes, your highness,” he said weakly. “How can I help?”

“We need to get an idea of what exactly happened,” Twilight said, summoning a piece of parchment and a quill. “Healthy Heart already gave us a basic rundown, but we need to see if you have any missing pieces.”

“Ms. Heart’s alive?” the medical specialist said, surprised. “Oh, thank Celestia… Anyways, what would you like to know?”

“Start with your name,” Cadance instructed. “Then tell us what happened just before the explosion.”

“Doctor Starchaser, princess,” the doctor said. “As for what was happening, well… We were in the medical lab of that ship. Princess Luna arrived and started talking to Ms. Heart. Heart went to go show the princess something that we found, and a few minutes later there was this loud noise, like an alarm. We had no idea what it was or what to do. Princess Luna ran in a minute later and told us all to get out, and to hurry. We listened and followed her out, then it blew up…” Curiously, Cadance and Twilight exchanged glances.

“Are you sure that’s what happened, Doctor Starchaser?” Twilight asked. “Ms. Heart’s report is different. She said that you were all in the ship, then Luna got a bad feeling and told you all to leave.”

“I… I’m sorry, your highness,” Starchaser said, shaking his head. “But that’s not what happened.”

“I don’t understand,” Cadance said, directed to Twilight. “Why would Healthy Heart give us false information? Unless…” The realization seemed to hit both princesses as exactly the same time.

“Oh…” Twilight gasped. They both shot up off of the floor and sprinted out of the royal hospital, back into the main castle. They immediately waved down several guards to follow them, who did so without hesitation.

“I’ll check her office!” Cadance shouted as they ran. “You check the guest room that we gave it!” Nodding, the two split up, each of them taking two guards. Twilight sprinted through the corridors of the castle, glad that her alicorn magic gave her a little bit more endurance than she had as a unicorn.

Only a few moments later, she turned into the hallway of the guest rooms. She was about to run right up to the door of the room that they had given to Healthy Heart (or the pony appearing to be Healthy Heart), when she noticed that hers was already cracked open slightly. Cautiously, Twilight approached her door and peered inside. Her eyes widened when she saw Healthy Heart attempting to destroy one of the devices that Legion had given her.

“STOP!” she shouted as she pulled the door open with her magic. The two guards brandished their spears at Healthy Heart, and backed up their princess as she stepped inside.

“Princess Twilight!” the mare said, dropping the device. “This… I…” Twilight never allowed her to finish. Instead she lit her horn and fired a spell right at the mare. It engulfed her, and with a pained scream the false flesh was torn from the pony, revealing the true being beneath: a changeling. Slowly, it stood from where it had fallen to the ground, and looked up to Princess Twilight with its bottomless blue eyes.

“… Hello,” it said.

Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance stood in the observation room joined to the interrogation room of the castle prison, looking through the one-way window at the prisoner beyond. Magic cuffs kept his hooves locked together, and a small ring around the base of his twisted horn kept him from using magic. So far he had not said anything since Twilight and the guards had apprehended him. Instead he simply sat in silence, no doubt waiting to be executed or suffer some other punishment that his changeling mind dreamt up.

“… I think it’s been long enough,” Cadance said after a pause, looking up at a clock on the wall. “Shall we go in?”

“… Yes,” Twilight replied. “Let’s go.” They turned from the one-way window and exited the observation room, then turned down the hall and approached the interrogation room itself, the outside of which was protected by two soldiers. Two golden spears were interlocked across the door, but they parted to grant the princesses access. Cadance lit her horn and opened the reinforced iron door, stepping inside with an air of authority. Twilight did her best to mirror Cadance’s movements, but she was still a bit uncomfortable exerting her new power, even against a changeling.

“Changeling,” Cadance began, stalking up to the table. “You realize that by coming here you have put yourself at great risk. Why? What purpose did you think you could fulfill by embarking on this… this suicide mission?” The changeling stubbornly remained silent, and Cadance frowned at being ignored.

“You realize that you cannot win, right?” Twilight said, stepping forward. “Our geth ally is at your hive right now, doing unimaginable amounts of damage to your fellow changelings!” It was a lie of course, as Legion was only there to find medi-gel, but if it got the changeling to crack, it was a good lie. It seemed not to have the right effect, however, as the changeling started laughing to itself.

“You foolish ponies…” he said, pretending to wipe away a tear. “The geth is not coming back. Even if I didn’t send a message to the queen warning her about it, the collectors have already prepared traps. As we speak, that infernal machine is probably being broken to pieces!” Their eyes shooting wide open, the two princesses exchanged worried glances. Clearly aware of their shock, the changeling began laughing even harder until actual tears of amusement were flying from its blue eyes. Twilight and Cadance rushed out of the room as quickly as they could, immediately beginning to head for the armory. Legion was in trouble, and was going to need help. Help that the ponies were more than willing to provide.

Legion set its ship down several miles from the entrance to the changeling hive, where no one would bother to look. The dull grayish coloration of the ship blended in almost perfectly with the barren landscape surrounding it, effectively making it invisible from the air. Legion would stand out much more in the desolate terrain, but that was what the tactical cloak was for. Stepping out of its ship, Legion activated the cloak and set off at a sprint for the entrance to the hive.

Moving at top speeds, Legion made the journey in just under ten minutes. Once it approached the sinkhole-like entrance, it slowed to a simple walk and began to scan for any changes, anything that could indicate the changelings knew about its presence. From its current view, Legion could not see anything different compared to its first visit to the hive. There were still several guards hidden amongst the shadows of the hole, but they were no more aware of the geth than they were of the changelings in the tunnels beneath them. Quietly, Legion crept onto the stone stairs leading down into the hive, and began to approach the door to the main tunnel.

Just as it passed the threshold of the door, Legion felt a massive energy spike surging throughout its mobile platform. Looking to its left side, Legion saw a long arc of electricity shooting out of a collection of small rocks. The arc was moving across the unit, causing its tactical cloak to flicker until it failed entirely. Legion tried to run, but found that access to its legs was restricted. It fell to its knees, and just before its photoreceptor shut down and the programs went offline, Legion saw the shape of several collectors moving towards it.

Queen Chrysalis walked gleefully into the main chamber of her hive, which was now filled with hundreds of occupied cocoons. The ponies kidnapped from Ponyville and Trottingham had greatly furthered the cause of the collectors, and their plan was much closer to completion. The final stage was the infection of Equestria’s major cities. Once this was complete, the collectors would be successful, and Equestria would belong to Chrysalis.

She stepped up to the pod belonging to her favorite little pony in Equestria, then beat on it to wake the occupant up. Princess Celestia’s eyes shot open as she jolted in her pod. Her stare of confusion quickly turned to an angry glare as her eyes locked onto Chrysalis, who was smiling smugly at the princess from outside.

“Hello, Celestia!” she said, waving a hoof. “Sorry to bother you, but I just could not pass this up. I understand that you had allied yourself with a geth. Foolish decision, from what I’m told, but I’m not here to judge. I’m here to tell you that we have captured your geth friend!” She waved her hoof, ushering two collectors forward. Between them was a long slate of metal, and resting on the slate was the motionless form of the incapacitated machine. Chrysalis was assured that the machine was still ‘alive’, but for now it would not be a problem for them at all. Celestia’s reaction was everything that Chrysalis had been hoping for: surprise, anger… sadness. Chrysalis was admittedly not expecting Celestia to be sad, but she was not complaining.

“I just thought you may wish to see it before we start questioning it,” Chrysalis said, jerking her head back. The two collectors exited the room with their quarry, leaving Chrysalis all alone with Celestia. “I am eager to see what secrets it will reveal. Also, my scouts in Equestria’s major cities are already starting to report ways that we might infect their populations. It’s only a matter of time now, ‘Tia. Farewell.” Chrysalis turned and left the fuming alicorn by herself, then exited the chamber, moving up the tunnels to the main collector lab. The geth was going to be kept in a specialized prison, where she had been instructed not to allow any of her changelings, but first the collector captain wished to speak with her.

Chrysalis stepped into the collector captain’s lab, eyeing all of the various pieces of machinery stacked against the walls. They all ran silently, and were it not for the occasional flicker of light, Chrysalis would have assumed they were not even on. In the center of the room was the captain himself, an orange cylinder covering his left forearm. He called the device an ‘omni-tool’, though he had not bothered to explain to Chrysalis exactly what it did.

The captain’s attention switched from the omni-tool to the queen as she stepped inside, and the orange apparition faded away as he lowered his arm.

“Good, you are here,” he said.

“What did you need me for?” Chrysalis asked, her authority almost completely disappearing under the shadow of the captain.

“With the geth in our custody, and the two princesses out of commission, it is time to expand our operations,” he said, surprising Chrysalis.

“I thought we were going to wait a week before deploying the disease in the major cities,” she defended. “Is it not a better idea to take some time to prepare?”

“No!” the captain yelled, causing Chrysalis to recoil back. “Too much can go wrong. After we speak with the geth, contact your agents. Have them send their most up-to-date plans of the cities, and then prepare the disease for deployment. Am I understood?”

“… Y-yes,” Chrysalis stammered. The collector clicked with satisfaction, before it turned and exited the room. Chrysalis followed, mentally kicking herself for allowing the captain to exert his authority over her. She was a queen! Why was she letting this alien control her?

Because he is more powerful than you, Chrysalis thought to herself. Because, at a moment’s notice, he could crush what is left of the changelings.

Chrysalis followed the collector captain down several tunnels to another section of the hive, where a prison for the geth had been prepared. The captain had been careful to make sure that the geth would never have any hope at escape. Several devices called ‘jammers’ had been set up that would disable its personal omni-tool, as well as its connection with its ship. A shield generator had also been set up to keep it in one place.

As the two approached the room where the geth was being held, Chrysalis began to hear the faint sounds of voices. They were no more than hushed whispers, but her finely-tuned ears easily caught the sounds. The collector seemed to hear them as well, and quickened his pace. Chrysalis did the same, and a moment later they stepped into the prison. On the far wall of the room was a metal table, upon which was the motionless geth. Across from it were two young changelings, who were poking at the still form of the machine. The queen and the captain exchanged quick glances, before the captain leapt forward and grabbed one of the changelings from behind.

“Wait!” Chrysalis cried, though her pleas fell on deaf ears. The captain ignored her and threw the changeling across the room, where he impacted against the wall with a sickening crack. His body slumped to the floor, motionless. By now the second changeling was well aware that he was not alone in the room, and he craned his neck to look the collector captain in the eyes.

The captain extended his hand, which glowed with a blue energy that Chrysalis had not seen used before. In the palm of his hand formed a small blue sphere, which shot towards her changeling and impacted on his chest. The sphere threw the changeling across the room, where he disintegrated into a pile of ashes. The blue energy fading from his hand, the collector turned on Chrysalis and stalked up to her.

“Was I not clear when I said that none of your changelings were to interact with the geth!?” he screamed, furious. Chrysalis shook with fear, but still managed to nod. “Then what were these two doing here!?” Chrysalis opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. All she could do was replay in her mind the merciless killing of her kin by the captain, her ally.

“WELL!?” the collector shouted again.

“I… I… I do not k-know,” she said, her voice shaking. “I told… I told them that n-nopony was a-allowed down here.”

“Will it happen again?”

“… No.”

“Good,” the captain said, turning to face the geth. “Then let us begin.” He stretched out his left forearm and activated the omni-tool, pressing several buttons on it. A soft hum filled the room as two shield generators came online, and a blue shield materialized between them. Next, he activated the jammers, which added to the humming of the shields. With all precautions set, the captain pressed several more buttons on his omni-tool.

A soft zap sounded through the room as a short burst of electricity spread throughout the motionless geth. When several seconds passed and nothing happened, the captain pressed the same set of buttons once again. A second burst of electricity covered the geth, this time bringing results with it. Its fingers twitched, and the flaps around its eye started to move. The iris covering its eye opened, and a blue light was emitted from it as the geth came back online. It stood up from the metal table, revealing it to be slightly shorter than the collector captain. Its eye passed between the two, before it settled on the captain.

“Geth,” the collector said. “You were foolish to come here. You cannot save the ponies; even as we speak, hundreds of them are being brought here by the changelings. Theirs is a doomed race, just like yours.”

“You are the collector captain,” the geth observed. “Your judgment of the ponies is incomplete. You base your opinions of them only on what you have been told, not what you have experienced. Were you in our position, you would know that the ponies stand a good chance at defeating you. They have already defeated the changelings once, who you now seem to have under your thrall.”

“Maybe with your help, they did have a chance,” replied the captain. “But now, the only thing separating them from their doom is time. And they are running dangerously low on that resource. Now, you will give me all of the data you have collected since coming here, or I will take it by force.”

“You cannot take it by force,” said the geth. “You should know that once a geth is either terminated, or its memory unit is removed, all stored data is wiped. Your only hope is if we willingly give you the information, which we will not.”

“We shall see, geth,” the collector hissed. “All in good time.” He spun around and exited the room without saying another word. Curiously, Chrysalis followed him, leaving the geth alone in its prison.

“It is smart,” the captain said. “But it is no position to actually put to use any of its knowledge. I will work on finding a way to recover the geth’s data. For now, keep your changelings away. If I find out that any more have come to see the machine, I will kill them too. Understood?”

“Yes,” Chrysalis said, gulping. “I understand.” Nodding, the collector turned down the tunnel and walked away, leaving Chrysalis alone. Doubt began to creep into her mind as she went over what the captain had said, as well as the words of the geth. The machine was right; she was the collector’s thrall. And with the way that the captain had treated her changelings so far, she was truly beginning to fear for the safety not only of herself, but of her kin as well. Making up her mind, Chrysalis turned and walked down the tunnel in the opposite direction of the captain. She had plans to make.

Legion stood motionless in its prison cell, simply staring out into the room beyond. If its internal clock had adjusted properly after being offline, then it had been in this shielded cell for two hours now. Aside from the brief encounter with the collector captain and the changeling queen, it had seen no visitors. Additionally, its omni-tool was offline, so going over any data or calling for help was an impossible task.

Legion had briefly looked for escape routes, but it quickly became obvious that there was no way out. Even if it was able to disable the shield generators, the geth had no idea where it was in the hive in relation to the entrance. Even with a tactical cloak, Legion’s odds of escape would not be in its favor.

Suddenly, Legion caught movement from outside of the prison room. Its head turning to face the door, Legion watched as the changeling queen entered the prison, though this time she was alone. She sat down in front of the shield and looked at the geth, forlorn.

“We will not reveal any information,” Legion said. Sighing, the queen stood and looked the geth right in its eye. In her eyes, Legion was not sure what it saw. There was pain, but it also looked like there was something else…

“I’m not here to question you, Legion,” the queen said. “I… I think I’ve made a huge mistake.”

“… Please elaborate.”

“You must understand, I was not given much of a choice when the collectors asked for an alliance!” the queen cried. “We were weak, and on the brink of death! If they had not shown up when they did, we would have gone extinct. When the collectors offered their alliance, I had to accept, for my changelings. You understand that, don’t you?”

“You made a risky alliance with an incredibly advanced alien species to save your own,” Legion said. “Understandable, but foolish. Please, continue.”

“I knew from the start that the alliance was something I would come to regret,” the queen continued. “But I didn’t care. I just repressed the feelings by thinking about my reward for helping the collectors: the kingdom of Equestria. I’ve had this… feeling. This feeling at the back of my mind that the collectors wouldn’t honor our agreement. That the moment their plan was completed, we would be thrown on the wayside and left to die once again. But I just couldn’t risk telling them to leave. Even when the captain hurt me because of a mistake one of his collectors had made, I just took it. But today he killed two of my changelings. I don’t care how powerful he is, nobody hurts my changelings.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Legion asked, confused. Was the queen asking for its help, or was she just here to vent?

“Because I’m not going to let that captain push me around anymore,” the changeling said with purpose. “I am a queen, and this is my hive. He will not last through the night. As for you, I know why you are here. The collectors keep this ‘medi-gel’ substance in one of their labs. Coincidentally, this lab is also the location where Healthy Heart, one of Celestia’s staff, is being held.”

“Healthy Heart is here?” the geth asked, surprised.

“Yes, she’s recovering,” the queen explained. “When she was brought here she was in fairly bad shape. The lab is guarded by two collectors, but there is nobody inside.” The queen moved to one of the shield generators, then pressed a button on it. The humming that had previously filled the room died down, and the blue barrier keeping Legion from escaping faded away. Legion quickly stepped out of its prison cell, then looked to the changeling.

“And Princess Celestia?” it asked. The queen shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Legion,” she said. “The captain will be angry when he finds out you escaped, and even angrier when he finds out that you took Healthy Heart with you. But it is very likely that he will not expect that it was an inside job. If Celestia is freed as well, however, he will suspect me immediately. I’ll be killed, and then nopony will stand in his way.”

“We understand, but how do we escape?”

“You can follow me to the medical lab where Heart is being kept,” the queen said, turning to the door of the room. “After you get the medi-gel and rescue Heart, there is another tunnel. It is very long, but it links to one of our other hives in the badlands. It’s scarcely populated, so you should be able to escape perfectly fine.”

“Understood,” Legion said, following the queen out. As soon as they were in the tunnel outside of the cell, Legion activated its tactical cloak and began to follow the queen to the medical lab. Legion was still unsure if the queen could be trusted, but now that it was free from its cell it could easily escape at any time.

The walk to the medical lab did not take long. Even though the queen moved at a slower pace than the geth would have liked, it still only took them around five minutes to get there. Once they arrived, as Chrysalis had said, Legion saw two collectors guarding the outside of the room. They each wielded assault rifles in their arms, the barrels of which were pointed to the ceiling. Legion placed an invisible hand on Chrysalis to stop her in her path, then stepped past her.

As soon as it was in front of the two collectors, it dropped its camouflage, startling the two drones. As they quickly tried to aim their assault rifles for the geth, Legion activated the blade function on its omni-tool and cut the throats of the two collectors. They fell to the ground in a quickly-growing pool of blood, and Legion stepped over their lifeless bodies into the medical lab. The queen moved in behind it, careful not to step in any of the blood. As she had promised, Legion saw Healthy Heart lying down on a flat stone table on the far side of the lab. On the opposite end was a shelf with several pieces of medical supplies, including a large amount of medi-gel. It was more than Legion could carry, but it would be more than enough to cure Luna. Quickly, the geth grabbed several boxes of the gel and strapped them to its body, before it then moved to Healthy Heart and hefted her unconscious form over its shoulder. Its task complete, Legion moved back to the door where the queen was waiting.

“… Thank you,” Legion said. “We will be sure to let Princess Luna know that her healing was made possible by you. Perhaps she will choose to be merciful on you when the collector captain is dead.”

“And he will be dead, I promise you that,” the queen said, smiling. “Now go, hurry, before anyone else arrives. Go!” Nodding, Legion activated its camouflage, expanding the field to also cover the unconscious pony on its back. It sprinted out of the room and began to run down the tunnel, taking several turns until it came to the tunnel described to it by the queen. As she had said, it was very long, at least two miles. Fortunately it was totally devoid of life, so Legion would have no trouble reaching the other side. Taking one last look behind it, Legion set off down the tunnel. It had a princess to save.

Author's Note

Hello, here is chapter 17! This chapter is a lot longer than I originally intended for it to be - I didn't realize that I had broken 10,000 words until after I was finished writing it. But there was a lot that I wanted to cover, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Next chapter will probably be quite a bit shorter, so hopefully it will be out soon.

If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 18

"Accepting another's path blinds you to alternatives."

Legion’s invisible curved head peered around the corner of the tunnel, looking into another to make sure it was clear. As the changeling queen had said, this hive was far less occupied than the main one. Since it had arrived thirty minutes ago, Legion had only encountered two changelings, who had been completely unaware of the invisible geth.

As Legion entered the next tunnel, beams of sunlight from around the next corner caught its attention. Beginning to jog, Legion turned the corner and found itself at the base of an upward-sloping tunnel. At the top was the unmistakable presence of daylight, though it was going down quickly. Soon, night would fall, which may not be a bad thing. The darkness would help disguise Legion’s takeoff, keeping the collectors unaware of its escape. The more time the queen had to plan, the better.

Legion climbed up the tunnel and exited back into the badlands, finding itself in a small outcropping of rocks. The tunnel entrance was perfectly disguised, and it was only guarded by one changeling. Legion crept silently past him, then began to run away from the site of the hive. As soon as it was far away enough, it called for the ship to come and provide pickup.

With a loud roar, the geth ship swooped down and landed in front of Legion, its door already open. Legion quickly jumped inside and entered the cockpit, placing the unconscious pony it had been carrying in one of the empty chairs. Healthy Heart was still sleeping, but Legion was detecting that her heartrate and breathing were perfectly normal. She would likely wake up on the way to Canterlot.

Legion grabbed the boxes of medi-gel connected to its body and placed them in a secure cargo box, then sat down in the pilot’s seat of the ship. As soon as it was properly strapped in, Legion fired up the main thrusters and angled up to exit the atmosphere. A moment later it was cruising above the planet, locking in on Canterlot’s location.

Movement in the seat next to it drew Legion’s attention away from the ship controls. It turned its head to face the small mare, and watched as her eyes slowly opened. She looked around the cockpit of the ship, confused about her location. Her eyes finally settled on the geth, who she gazed at with a confused stare.

“Legion?” she asked weakly. “Where are we? What happened?”

“We are onboard our spacecraft, en route to Canterlot,” Legion explained. “The collector ship exploded. You were captured by changelings, we rescued you. You are still weak, try to limit movement.” Nodding, Heart sat up in her chair and looked at the display in front of her, which only showed the ship descending through the clouds.

“How many others made it?” she asked.

“Nine, eight if you do not count Princess Luna,” Legion said. “All are from your staff. Three are critically injured, the rest were in recovery when we left for the hive. Princess Luna is… critical.” Her eyes widening in fear, Heart turned to face the geth.

“How bad is it?”

“Fatal,” the geth said. “Your doctors worked hard, but her injuries were beyond the ability of magic to heal. However, we have a plan.” The ship shot through the cloud layer of Equis and came in right over Canterlot. By now the moon was making its debut over the horizon, and lights were beginning to come on all across the mountainside city.

Legion maneuvered the ship around to the back of the mountain, where the loading docks were situated. It landed the ship on the docks, then stood from its chair. Healthy Heart stood up as well, shakily coming to her hooves just behind the geth. Before Legion exited the ship, it retrieved the medi-gel from the container where it had been stored. Opening the door, Legion and Heart both stepped out of the landed craft and onto the wooden floors of the docks, where a single guard was waiting for them. After a moment of silence where the guard examined the geth curiously, he finally spoke.

“Come with me,” he said, turning around. Legion and Healthy Heart followed the guard to the back of the docks where the door to the castle was situated. The door was enveloped in a light blue aura as the guard gripped it with his telekinesis, then was pushed open, causing streams of light to fly through the portal. The guard stepped aside and let the geth and mare enter, before he closed the door behind them. Standing in the hallway of the castle was another guard, this one of the lunar variety.

“Princesses Twilight and Cadance are waiting for you, Legion,” the guard said. He seemed to be surprised at the presence of Healthy Heart, but did not say anything on the matter. Instead, he turned around and began to walk down the hall, leading Legion to the princesses…
[he]

Princess Celestia floated in her pod, suspended in the center by the green gelatinous fluid that was constantly being filtered by a series of tubes. Outside of her pod she saw dozens of new ones being brought into the room. They were hung on the rounded walls of the chamber, held up only by the tubes that filtered the fluid. Inside each pod was a single unconscious pony. Celestia was filled with sadness that she could not do anything to help them. As long as she was in this pod, she was as much a prisoner as they were.

The sound of hoofsteps broke her attention from the new arrivals, and she looked to the shadows around her pod. She glared as the source of the hoofsteps came into view and stepped up to her pod.

“Hello, Celestia,” Queen Chrysalis said softly. Celestia’s angry glare was replaced by a look of confusion at Chrysalis’s speech. Usually her arrogant speeches were filled with venom against ponykind. Now, that was absent. “I know that I am probably the last pony you wish to see right now, and I understand. But please, just listen to me.

“I let Legion go. The collector captain doesn’t know it was me, but he’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. He… he killed three of my changelings in his rage. He gave me this.” The queen pointed to a bruise on her cheek, which had swelled to become rather large.

“I know you have no reason to be sympathetic, but… I’m going to kill the collector captain. When he’s gone, you and everypony here will be freed in exchange for the continued existence of this hive. Deal?” Celestia stared at the queen, shocked at what she was hearing. Was Chrysalis telling the truth? Telling a lie like this did not benefit her in any way Celestia could think of. Even if Chrysalis was lying, what choice did she have?

“… Deal…” Celestia croaked, nodding her head slightly. A ghost of a smile formed on Chrysalis’s mouth.

“Thank you, Celestia…” she said. “Wish me luck…” Chrysalis turned and re-entered the shadows of the chamber, leaving Celestia as the only conscious being in the room. She was not sure if Chrysalis was telling the truth, and it was likely that she was not. But on the off chance that she was…

“Good… luck…”

Chrysalis walked down one of the tunnels of her massive hive, a curved blade held in her telekinesis. Walking on either side of her were several more changelings, each one carrying a weapon of their own, ready to face the collector captain. Despite her strong countenance, Chrysalis felt nothing but fear. The captain was far more powerful than Chrysalis. Even though the changelings outnumbered the collectors, they had weapons that put swords and arrows to shame.

No! Chrysalis thought. She could not back down now. Her changelings were at risk, and nothing was going to stop her from killing that captain. She turned down another tunnel, at the end of which was a large closed door. Chrysalis knew that beyond the door was the collector’s main lab, where the captain had been ever since he found out about Legion’s escape.

Gulping nervously, Chrysalis opened the door and stepped inside, her changelings right behind her. They all lined up side-by-side, with Chrysalis in the middle. Across from her, with his back turned, was the collector captain. He was idly typing on a computer, as if he was not even aware that Chrysalis had entered. The queen was about to take advantage of the situation and send her blade right through his chest, when the captain turned around.

“Hello, Chrysalis,” he hissed. “I know why you are here. I know what you said to the geth.” The captain waved his hand, and out of the shadows in the corners of the room stepped several armed collectors, all of them pointing their weapons at Chrysalis and her changelings.

“You are probably wondering how I know,” the captain continued. “I planted a recording device in the prison cell. I heard everything.” The captain raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist the collectors opened fire on Chrysalis’s changelings. They were no match for the highly advanced weapons of the collectors, and each changeling fell to the ground, their bodies ridden with holes. Horrified, Chrysalis dropped her blade and looked into the six glowing eyes of the collector captain.

“You were foolish to stand up to me,” he said. “But you are lucky. I still need you, for now. You will not be killed, but clearly you cannot be trusted…” He waved his hand once more, and Chrysalis felt two sets of hands wrap around her forelegs. She looked to her sides and found that two collectors were keeping her still.

“Implant her.”

Screaming, Chrysalis was dragged away from the main lab and taken back down the tunnel. Rage filled her mind as the captain stared at her from the end of the tunnel. His piercing gaze was cut off as the door closed, and Chrysalis was left screaming at nothing while she was dragged along. Tears spilled from her green eyes as she began to lose track of where the collectors were taking her. It was not until she was pulled into one of many medical labs that Chrysalis stopped screaming, and instead became filled with fear. Clearly the captain had been planning for this for a while. A table lay barren in the center of the lab, and standing on either side were two collector scientists. A small table between them held many surgical supplies, as well as some devices that Chrysalis did not recognize.

Beginning to flail her limbs around in an effort to get free, Chrysalis was forced onto the table. The two changelings soldiers each grabbed a foreleg and a hindleg, keeping her from escaping while the two doctors descended on her. The last thing that Chrysalis saw before passing out was a spinning blade being lowered to her forehead.

Legion and Healthy Heart were led through the identical corridors of Canterlot castle until they came to a set of doors with a red cross marked above them. The door was already cracked open, and Legion heard the faint sounds of voices coming from within. The guard escorting them pushed the door open the rest of the way, prompting the conversation to end. All eyes in the room turned to the two newcomers as they stepped inside.

Sitting in various chairs in the waiting room of the royal hospital were Princess Cadance, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and her friends from Ponyville. They all wore relieved expressions as Legion and Heart stepped further into the room.

“Legion!” Twilight cried, shakily getting to her hooves. “Thank Celestia! We feared the worst!” She tried moving over to the geth, but fell to the ground the second she took a step. Quickly, Rainbow Dash flew over and helped her back to the chair where she had been sitting.

“Ms. Heart, it is good to see you as well,” Cadance said weakly. “Especially after the imposter…”

“Imposter?” Heart asked, confused.

“Ah, right,” Cadance said, correcting herself. “I suppose you would not have known. A changeling came here in your form. He was crafty, had us utterly convinced it was you. That is, until we caught him trying to sabotage some of Legion’s equipment. He’s currently being held in the castle prison.”

“I see…” said Heart.

“Legion, did you get the medi-gel?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” Legion answered. “Were you successful in creating the medical devices from the omni-gel?”

“Yes,” said Twilight. “They’re already in the room with Luna. When the changeling told us that you were walking into a trap, we… We thought all hope was lost. How did you get away without being discovered?”

“We were discovered,” the geth explained. “But it is a long story, and Princess Luna does not have much time. We must act immediately. This unit will perform the operation, though assistance from other doctors may be required.”

“Well then let’s go,” said Cadance, slowly getting to her hooves. “We’ll all be in the observation room. Good luck, Legion, and… thank you.” Nodding, Legion stepped through the door leading further into the royal hospital, then walked down several doors to the room where Luna was being kept. It opened the door and stepped inside, causing the eyes of all doctors in the room to fall upon it. They stepped aside as Legion approached the still form of the princess and began to scan over her body. As Twilight had said, the medical devices it had requested were on a small table next to Luna. Legion took the boxes of medi-gel from where they were being stored on its platform, and placed them next to the apparatuses. Then, it got to work.

Twilight looked down over the surgical suite where Luna was being kept as Legion got to work with repairing her broken form. Right now all he was doing was repairing her lung and broken ribs, which did involve several of the devices that Twilight had created from the omni-gel.

Gulping nervously, Twilight hoped that Legion’s plan would work. Raising the moon for a second time had taken even more energy out of her than the first, and if she had to continue performing the task, she would die from magical exhaustion. She also did not know how Equestria would function without Luna. Without Celestia, Luna was the most experienced princess available. Cadance had far more experience than Twilight, but she was used to ruling over a single city, not an entire nation. Overall, it was not looking good…

Legion withdrew his hands from Luna’s chest, a fair amount of blood staining them. There were no gloves on Equis that could fit the geth’s three-fingered hands, so Twilight hoped that they were very clean. He moved over to a sink and ran his hands under the water, washing the blood down the drain. He dried his hands off, rubbed a sterilizing agent over them, and returned to the wounded princess.

He peered into the hole in her chest, scanning over the work he had done. Appearing satisfied, Legion stepped back and motioned for a few unicorn doctors to join him by her body. He appeared to say something to them, and they nodded in response, then lit their horns and began to seal the hole in her chest, both with magic and actual stitches. Legion stepped out of the room, and a moment later appeared in observation with the other ponies.

“Is she going to be okay?” Cadance asked, worried.

“We have repaired the damage to her lungs and ribs, but her spine remains a problem,” Legion answered. “As soon as the doctors finish sealing the hole, we will create a new incision on her back to place the spine braces and cybernetics.”

“How long will that take?” asked Twilight.

“Several minutes,” Legion said. “In the meantime, we will recount the story of our escape from the changeling hive. It is an… interesting story.”

“Go ahead, Legion,” Cadance requested.

“Upon arriving at the hive, this unit was disabled by a high-powered burst of energy,” the geth began. “We do not know how long we were offline, but when we were reactivated we were in a prison cell in the hive. It was shielded, and had jammers in place to disable use of our omni-tool. The collector captain spoke with us, then left. We were alone for two hours before the changeling queen came to us.”

“Chrysalis?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What did she have to say?”

“This is where it gets interesting. She was… afraid. The collectors have not been good to her or her kind. Chrysalis fears for their safety. She is the one who released us. She told us where to find the medi-gel, which was also where Healthy Heart was being kept. Before we left, she told us that she planned to kill the collector captain.”

“How do you know she was telling the truth?” Twilight inquired skeptically. “It could have been a ruse.”

“We do not believe so, Twilight Sparkle,” said Legion. “With this unit captured, you lost the one thing you had that could understand the nanovirus. Without us, you would likely already be gone. Additionally, they were unsuccessful in extracting any information from this unit. Releasing us gives them no benefits; rather, all of the benefits are given to you.”

“Those are all good points, Legion,” Cadance said. “But how will we know when she’s done it?”

“The kidnappings will stop. The disease will no longer spread. And, though we have no confirmation, it is likely that all kidnapped ponies will be returned. The changelings would not want to get rid of one enemy just to have you ready to mount a rescue operation.” Nodding, Cadance lowered her head and looked at the plain marble floor of the observation room. The attention of all of the ponies (and geth) were all drawn to the door of the room as it opened and a single unicorn doctor walked inside.

“Legion,” he began. “She’s been sealed up. We’re ready to get to work on her spine.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said. “We will begin immediately.” He followed the doctor out of the room, closing the door behind him. Twilight turned her attention back to the surgical suite and looked down over Princess Luna, who had now been flipped onto her stomach. The medical paper that once covered her body was gone, leaving her back entirely exposed.

A moment later, the doctor walked into the room, followed by Legion. Legion immediately approached the still form of Luna and began directing orders at the pony doctors, though Twilight could not hear them through the glass window. Whatever the orders were, the ponies were following them without question. One unicorn sprayed a numbing agent over Luna’s spine while another injected the princess with an anesthetic, just to be safe. A third doctor passed a scalpel to Legion, which he grabbed and moved to the base of Luna’s neck. Twilight winced as she watched the scalpel pass through her coat, and felt her knees weaken as Legion dragged it across Luna’s back to the base of her tail.

“Oh, um…” Fluttershy started. “Perhaps I should… go somewhere else.”

“Yes, I agree,” Rarity said, stepping back from the glass. “Come, Fluttershy, let’s go.” The two squeamish mares turned and exited the observation room, and a moment later Pinkie Pie joined them under the excuse of having to prepare a ‘get well soon’ cake for Luna.

“What’s he doing?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Applejack nodded, wanting to know as well.

“See those things that look a bit like claws?” Twilight began, pointing her hoof to the table with the medical apparatuses on them. “They’re designed to grip the individual vertebrae of her spine. With commands from a computer microchip that Legion is going to implant at the base of her spine, they’ll correct the orientation of each vertebrae until they’re in the correct position once again. Additional cybernetics will work on making micro adjustments as they’re needed.”

“Um… Okay,” said Dash, clearly not understand half of what Twilight said.

“Ain’t that painful?” Applejack asked, concerned for the princess.

“Undoubtedly,” Twilight answered. “But she’s on an anesthetic right now. Even if she wasn’t, her body is far too weak to wake up on its own. By the time she does wake up, most of the pain should have passed.” Twilight turned her attention back to Legion, only to see him placing several pairs of spreaders along the incision he had created. Just as he opened each one, Twilight spun away from the window.

“You know, Dash,” she started. “It has been a little while since I’ve gotten to use my wings. Why don’t you help me out a little? Outside.”

“Yeah…” Dash agreed. “That sounds pretty cool. Let’s go.”

“How about I watch?” Applejack added, following the two mares out of the observation room.

“I’ll stay here in case Legion needs anything,” Cadance said.

“Thank you!” Twilight called from outside of the room. The door closed behind her, leaving Cadance alone to watch over the operation. As badly wounded as she was, Cadance hoped against hope that Legion’s plan would work. The future of Equestria depended on it.

The collector captain stood over a computer, the bright green display lighting the dark room and illuminating the collector’s chitinous face. The display was split into two screens, one showing the schematics of the nanovirus, the other showing the blueprints for a device. He was mainly working on the nanovirus, trying to find a way to increase the rate at which it spread. Manehattan had over one million of the dreadful ponies living in it, at the current rate of infection it would take three weeks for the entire population to be affected. That was time that they did not have. If this plan was to be completed, it had to happen quickly.

Occasionally the captain would look over to the screen with the blueprints, watching as a small number at the bottom grew larger and larger. Right now it was stable at 341, the number of ponies who had been kidnapped so far. In a few minutes that number was going to skyrocket. Several changeling groups had been spotted converging on the hive, with them hundreds of additional unconscious ponies. If the estimates were correct, then construction would begin soon.

“Captain,” said a voice from behind the collector. The captain did not turn around, instead he spun his head in the direction of the voice. Standing in the door to the lab was a lesser collector drone, an assault rifle held in his clawed hands.

“Report,” the captain ordered.

“Queen Chrysalis has been implanted. She is recovering,” the collector said. “The changeling hunters are bringing the ponies into the main chamber now. They will be in their pods within the hour.”

“Excellent,” said the captain, stepping away from the computer. As he walked to the door, the green holographic display faded from existence, shrouding the room in darkness. The captain approached his drone, then pointed down the hall.

“Take me to Chrysalis immediately.” Nodding, the drone turned and began marching down the tunnel, with the captain not far behind him. The captain had not wanted to resort to implants, but Chrysalis had forced his hand. If he did not need her to keep the rest of the changelings under control, he would have killed her himself. Now she would be nothing more than a shadow of her former self, doing only what the captain ordered.

The pair stopped at the archway to the medical lab where Chrysalis had been operated on. The collector drone stepped aside and stood guard at the door, while the captain himself went inside. Standing over a metal table were two scientists, and on the table between them was the still form of Queen Chrysalis. A long scar had been drawn across her forehead where she had been implanted, and her deep blue eyelids covered her green eyes. Her muzzle was scrunched up in discomfort, and occasionally the queen would twitch.

“What is her condition?” the captain asked loudly to gain the attention of the two scientists. They calmly turned to face their leader, and one of them passed him a data pad, which he began to read over.

“She will be fine,” one scientist replied. “She passed out from fear before we even made the incision. With her unconscious, it was easy to implant the device in her brain.”

“Excellent,” the captain said, handing the datapad back. “When will she be awake?”

“Whenever you want her to be, captain,” the second scientist said. Clicking with satisfaction, the captain strode up to the sleeping queen and leaned over her.

“Wake up!” he commanded. Chrysalis’s eyes immediately snapped open, though she did not seem disturbed or surprise. Instead, she kept her gaze right on the collector captain, waiting for instruction. Satisfied, the captain stepped back. “Now stand.” Chrysalis did as she was told and stood from the table, immediately taking a position right next to the captain. It was admittedly disappointing to see how broken the queen was, but if it was what was necessary to keep the changelings under control, then the captain would have no regrets.

“Captain,” said a third voice, this one coming from behind the collector. He turned around to face the door where the guard who had escorted him to the lab was now standing. “The new pony arrivals have been loaded into their pods.”

“What is the final count?”

“One thousands eighty-four ponies.” Nodding, the captain stepped forward and motioned for Chrysalis to follow. She did so without speaking a word and followed the captain out into the tunnel.

“Begin the dissolution process,” he commanded. Nodding, the collector turned and began walking down the tunnel to one of their labs. The captain went in the opposite direction, Queen Chrysalis following behind his every step. He had a pony to see.

Princess Celestia floated in her cocoon, eyes half closed as she battled against her fatigue. Chrysalis had been gone for hours now, and still she had not returned. Had she been lying? Had she failed? Or had she been successful in killing the collector captain, but was going back on her word about freeing the ponies? At this rate, Celestia would be waiting quite a while before she found out.

Celestia’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of machines coming to life all around her. Lights came on along the walls of the chamber, illuminating the high ceiling and revealing a large metal box. It was roughly a hundred and fifty meters long, only a few meters smaller than the diameter of the chamber. Dozens of tubes fed into the box, all of them coming from random directions. Most of the tubes disappeared into the stone walls of the hive, but some came down and joined with smaller devices placed along the walls. Celestia noticed curiously that smaller tubes were connected to these devices which seemed to link into the cocoons themselves.

Then she heard it. A sharp, pained scream pierced the air and forced Celestia to fold her ears over her head. Looking around for the source of the cry, Celestia noticed with horror that it came from the pod right across from hers. The pony inside, a stallion earth pony, was writhing in pain as something too familiar to the princess began to occur. She had only seen it happen once before, but the images of it were burned into her mind. Stifling a shocked gasp, Celestia watched as the stallion essentially melted within his pod, the remains of his hooves leaving marks on the glass as he tried to claw his way out.

With horror, Celestia realized that he was not the only one screaming. More and more screams started to fill the air; Celestia looked around the room, noticing that the dissolution seemed to be happening to everypony in the chamber except for her. A thousand pained screams rang out, threatening to deafen the princess, and then they all went silent. Opening her eyes (which she had involuntarily closed to avoid seeing the dissolving), Celestia stared despondently at the now empty pods that filled the room. In Celestia’s limited field of view, she saw no occupied cocoons. Her ponies were gone.

To Celestia, it was not the fact that it had happened that depressed her. Ponies died, that was a simple fact of life. She was thousands of years old, and dealt with death more times than a pony should have to. What truly upset the princess was that she had been powerless to stop it. No matter how badly she wanted to help, she was trapped here.

“Hello again, Princess,” a voice hissed from the shadows of the room. Celestia glared at the source of the noise, instantly recognizing the voice as belonging to the collector captain. He confirmed his presence for her, stepping from the shadows right up to her pod. Behind him was Queen Chrysalis, but something was… off. She did not look at Celestia – instead, her unblinking gaze stared right ahead, past the princess at the wall behind her. Curiously, Celestia looked to the collector.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what happened to Chrysalis,” he correctly assumed. “She led a failed attack against me. That cannot happen. She is mine now; her mind is under my control. It was a necessary action. The cooperation of the changelings is necessary for my plan to work, and she is the only way I can secure that cooperation.”

“Monster…” Celestia croaked, honestly feeling pity for the changeling queen. As much as Celestia hated her, nopony deserved such a fate. At this point, killing her would be the merciful thing to do.

“Monster?” the captain huffed. “Am I? I am doing what no one else in the galaxy can do! I am saving it! I do not expect you to understand, but know that your kind is being put to good use. You are beyond your power to disagree. It has already begun, and you are hopeless to stop it.” Glaring, Celestia turned her gaze away from the collector and stared at the empty pods behind him. Moving so that he was back in her view, the captain leaned in and pointed a claw accusingly at the princess.

“It does not end here, pony!” he shouted. “I will not stop until this world lies barren! And then, we shall rise again!” Spinning on his heel, the captain stalked out of Celestia’s view and back down the rows of pods. The shell of Chrysalis slowly turned and followed him, never blinking her bright green eyes. Celestia watched her leave, her heart filled with pity for the queen. She could not forgive her, but she could feel sorry for her.

Closing her eyes, Celestia decided to try and get some sleep. The threat level of the collectors had just increased exponentially, and she needed to find a way to escape. That would not come as long as she fought exhaustion or grief. When she was free, she could deal with the pain of losing over a thousand ponies at once. Now she needed her energy.

Twilight sat on a couch in one of the castle’s many lounge rooms, keeping her head upright with a hoof, the elbow of which was balanced on the arm of the couch. Her eyelids were beginning to droop as fatigue started to take her, and her wings hung limply at her sides. After well over a week of not using them, getting right back into her previous routine with Rainbow Dash had taken quite a bit out of her. The cyan pegasus in question, who was sitting on a couch across from her, had hardly even broken a sweat, and was now continuing to read her current Daring Do novel. Applejack sat next to Twilight, though she opted to simply stare at the floor in thought.

Occasionally Twilight would glance over to the door of the room, waiting for Cadance or Legion to come in and give the news about Luna. Legion had been working on the princess of the night for close to three hours now, and still they had heard nothing. Twilight realized that she could easily get up, walk down to the royal hospital, and check on her there, but she did not want to risk seeing anything unpleasant. She had a bit of a weak stomach, and did not want to lose even more energy by throwing up what little food she had within her.

“So…” Applejack said, trying to start up a conversation. “When do ya reckon we’ll hear somethin’ about Princess Luna?”

“I don’t know, Applejack,” Twilight answered. “I hope soon. I know there’s a chance that Legion’s solution might not work but… I just have to know.”

“Yeah,” Dash piped in, lowering her book. “I mean, none of us know Luna that well, but she’s still our friend, right?” Applejack and Twilight both nodded. Luna was an important figure in Equestria, yes, but she was also their friend. Twilight felt her tears threatening to surface once again at the prospect of losing her.

Before anypony could say anything else, the wooden door to the room opened and Cadance walked in, sighing tiredly. She moved over to the couches and sat down next to Rainbow Dash.

“How is Luna, Cadance?” Twilight asked, worried. “Will she make it?”

“Luna is alive,” Cadance said, causing the other ponies to sigh in relief. “Legion just finished putting the last spinal brace on. There were some… moments… where it looked like she may not survive. Twice during the operation her heart failed, but Legion was able to correct whatever had caused it in time.”

“Where is Legion, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

“He’s finishing up with Luna,” Cadance explained. “He said he needed to ‘calibrate the cybernetics’, whatever that means. He also said that that is the moment where we’ll know if she’s going to survive or not. Just because she survived having the cybernetics implanted does not mean that her body will respond positively to them. This is an entirely new anatomy for Legion, after all.”

Almost as soon as Cadance closed her mouth, the door to the lounge room opened once again and Legion stepped inside. Despite the fact that he had just performed a major surgery on one of the most important ponies in Equestria, his physicality was as normal as ever. Granted the geth did not feel fear, anxiety, or fatigue, but he still had some capability of using body language. At his presence, all of the ponies inside jumped up and ran over to him, immediately surrounding him in a circle.

“How is she, Legion?” Twilight asked urgently. Part of her did not want to hear the answer, for fear that it was not the one she wanted to hear, but in the end, Twilight knew that she had to find out.

“Princess Luna is stable,” Legion answered. Twilight felt as if a great weight had been taken off of her shoulders. She sighed, relieved, and closed her eyes. “Her body initially responded poorly to the connection with the cybernetics. We corrected the error, recalibrated the units, and they are now working on realigning her spine.”

“How long will that take?” Cadance asked.

“Her spine was very badly damaged,” Legion explained. “Spinal realignment could take anywhere from eighteen to twenty-six hours. Once complete, they must remain in place for a month to continue making micro-adjustments as necessary. Only at this time can they be fully removed.”

“So she’s going to be out for the next twenty-six hours?” Twilight said, gulping. That meant she would have to raise the sun and moon at least one more time each. She did not know if she had the energy in her.

“Following the spinal realignment, we estimate that she will need at least another day off before using her magic,” the geth said. “And at least a week before she reassumes any of her regular duties. She will not be able to walk, as this could disturb the cybernetics.”

“Very well,” said Cadance. “As long she’s okay, Twilight and I can worry about the sun and moon a few more times.” The princess shared a knowing look with Twilight. Twilight looked back, unconvinced that she would be able to do it. Raising the moon this evening had almost caused her to pass out, and her magic was gone for much longer than the first two times. She feared that her ability to manipulate the two satellites would soon fail altogether.

“Well then,” Twilight began, stepping away from the geth. “I guess if there’s nothing else to do, we should continue questioning our prisoner?”

“If he’s willing to speak this time…” Cadance noted. “Perhaps the news that his leader is rebelling against the collectors will be enough for him to tell us everything.”

“If he believes us...” Twilight added. “Come on, Legion. You can probably help with the changeling.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, following the two ponies out of the lounge room. Applejack and Rainbow Dash remained behind, closing the door behind them as they exited. Cadance took the lead, leading the procession through the maze of hallways to the back of the palace where the prisoners were situated. The changeling had been there for several hours now, and still he had revealed nothing. Twilight admired his loyalty, but it was beginning to become annoying. Falling into step behind Cadance, Twilight continued walking down the hall…

Erebus sat in the interrogation room of Canterlot castle, his forelegs restrained by a pair of magical hoofcuffs. Around the base of his horn was a featureless golden ring that, to an untrained eye, would look almost ornamental. Erebus knew however that the ring was imbued with a magical dampening spell, preventing his horn from working any of its magic.

On his face he wore a neutral expression, not giving away any of the fear he felt within. No changelings captured by ponies had ever returned, according to the history that he had been taught. Granted it had been thousands of years since the ponies last had a chance to take prisoners, but Erebus was worried nonetheless. He did not know if he would be killed, or tortured, or experimented on. The wrath of the ponies knew no end.

Erebus struggled to keep his neutral expression as the door opened and Princesses Twilight and Cadance both stepped in. His stoic stare failed, however, as the geth walked in right behind them. The princesses clearly took note of his surprise, and Cadance seemed to smirk at his discomfort.

“I’m sure you were not expecting to see Legion, were you?” she asked, smiling. “You are probably wondering how he escaped. Well, I will tell you: your queen let him out.”

“Ha!” Erebus laughed, speaking for the first time since he had boasted about how Legion was being captured. “Queen Chrysalis would do no such thing!”

“Princess Cadance is not lying, changeling,” the geth said to Erebus in a flat, mechanical voice. “Queen Chrysalis was worried for the safety of all changelings. She let us escape, telling us about her plans to kill the collector captain. They are no longer allies.”

“And why should I believe you, machine?” Erebus asked, glaring. The geth could have escaped any number of ways. Maybe he never even went to the hive. Perhaps that had all been an elaborate ruse to get him to expose himself. “Want me to believe you? Take off this magical dampener and let me call the queen right now so I can confirm your story.” Twilight and Cadance exchanged glances before looking back to the changeling. A moment later, Twilight’s horn glowed purple and Erebus felt the ring being lifted off of his horn.

“We’re not lying to you, so we have nothing to hide,” she said. “Just don’t try teleporting out. I have this room protected against that anyway.” Gulping, Erebus lit his horn and extended his consciousness to join with Chrysalis’s.

The further out he reached, the more worried he got. Usually he had connected by now. Instead of feeling the cold grasp of Chrysalis, he felt nothing more than an empty void. His muzzle scrunching in confusion, Erebus stopped searching and cut off the flow of magic to his horn. His eyes opened and he stared at the ponies, who now seemed as confused as he did.

“Is there a problem?” Cadance asked.

“… What did you do?” Erebus asked, staring at the geth. Legion stared back, giving off no emotions of any kind. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

“Changeling!” Twilight yelled. “Calm down! What are you talking about?”

“Why can’t I connect with the queen?” Erebus asked, beginning to shake with anger and fear. “What did you do to her!?”

“We did not do anything,” Legion said. “We escaped and allowed Chrysalis to go on with her plan. Though if you cannot connect with her, it is likely then that she has failed. However, we cannot confirm this assumption without more data.”

Erebus began breathing in and out of his nose quickly, his whole body shaking with fear. The geth was likely correct – if Erebus could not connect with Chrysalis, then there were only two reasons: one, her brain was not functioning properly, or two, she was dead. Both possibilities were terrifying to Erebus. If the queen was dead, then what did that mean for the changelings? They would be slaves to the collectors, and with no queen to lead them, then they had no hope of defeating the aliens.

“Perhaps we should give him some alone time…” Twilight whispered to Cadance and Legion, likely thinking that Erebus could not hear her. “He may need some time to… adjust…” The three wretched creatures walked out of the interrogation room, leaving Erebus alone once again. He was tempted to try teleporting out despite Twilight Sparkle’s warning, but he found that the magic dampening ring had been replaced over his horn at some point. With no other way to get his rage out, Erebus simply shut his eyes and screamed as loudly as he could. Were it not for the hoofcuffs, he would have flipped the table as well.

When he could not possibly scream any longer, Erebus slowly cracked his eyes open and looked at the wooden table before him. As he panted, one thought echoed throughout his mind. He did not want to gain the queen’s favor; he did not want to escape; all in the world that Erebus wanted was revenge.

Author's Note

Here is Chapter 18, everyone! We're nearing the climax of this story! I'm still not entirely sure how much longer we have to go, but I'd estimate between 3 and 5 more chapters. That could be entirely wrong, however. It depends on how much I am able to fit into the next few.

As usual, if you find any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19

"Data is shared between geth. All viewpoints are considered. Consensus is achieved as data is disseminated."

Twilight Sparkle tiredly lumbered into the dining hall of Canterlot castle, her eyes just barely managing to stay open. Behind her was Cadance who was in much the same state. They both slowly moved to their chairs and sat down, not paying any mind to the ponies already present in the room.

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, concerned. “Cadance? Are you two okay?” Forcing her eyes to remain open, Twilight looked across the table at the pegasus and forced a grin.

“We’re fine, Dash,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Just… had to raise the moon again…” Although she was playing it off as no big deal, Twilight knew that she would not be able to keep it up. Raising the sun this morning had restricted her to a chair for several hours as she regained enough energy to move, and raising the moon just now had actually caused her to pass out for several minutes. Thankfully she had had the foresight to request that a guard watch over them to make sure that they were not hurt.

It had been a full day now since Legion returned from the hive, and still Luna was unconscious. Granted it had only been about twenty hours since the cybernetics had been implanted, but Twilight had hoped they would be done by now. Even if they were finished, it would still be another full day until Luna would be able to use her magic, which meant that Twilight was going to have to raise the sun and moon one more time each. She shivered at the thought of it, frowning.

“Twilight Sparkle, are you unwell?” Legion asked from one end of the table. Twilight tiredly swung her head to face the geth, surprised to find him here. Unlike the rest of the ponies there was no plate of food in front of him, but the waiters had still given him a glass of water, which remained untouched.

“I’m fine, Legion,” Twilight answered. “Just… Not sure how much longer I’ll be able to raise the sun and moon…”

“Princess Luna will be awake in no more than six hours, possibly sooner,” Legion said. “Very soon she will be able to take over that duty for you.”

“Finish that story you were telling us, Legion!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. Twilight tilted her head, confused. Story? she wondered. Legion nodded and sat up straight in his chair.

“Very well, Rainbow Dash,” he said. “After Shepard-Commander and Tali’Zorah returned from the Migrant Fleet, we accessed the data that Shepard had recovered. It revealed to us that creators were running weapon tests on geth hardware, attempting to find weaknesses. Taking this as a threat, we copied the data and attempted to send it to the geth consensus. However, we were discovered by Creator Tali’Zorah.”

“And then what happened?” Fluttershy asked, beginning to grow worried.

“She held us at gunpoint, prepared to destroy us. Fortunately, Shepard-Commander intervened and worked out a compromise. To ensure unit cohesion, we agreed not to send the data. In return, Creator Tali’Zorah offered non-classified data for us to send.”

“Well that was nice a’ her!” Applejack said happily. “Sounds like she doesn’t hate all geth, like the rest of them quarians.”

“There are small groups of geth sympathizers in the quarian fleet,” Legion said. “They are an extreme minority, but with proper guidance, perhaps peace can one day be achieved.” There was silence around the table as they all contemplated what the geth had said. Their story was certainly an unfortunate one, and nopony in the galaxy was willing to hear it because they were terrified of the geth. Maybe somehow the ponies could help, after the collectors were gone of course. Before anypony else could say anything, the door burst open and Healthy Heart ran in, panting.

“Legion!” she cried, trying to regulate her breathing. “Luna… she’s awake!” Legion jumped from his chair, as did Twilight’s friends. Twilight herself, along with Cadance, slowly stood and attempted to follow the geth. She made it all of five steps before collapsing on the ground, her eyes closing. Twilight felt a pair of hooves wrap beneath her, and a moment later she was being carried down the hall. Her eyes were still mostly closed, but Twilight assumed Cadance was being carried as well.

In her fatigue, Twilight completely lost her sense of time. Even though it was probably several minutes, it felt like only seconds later that she was being lowered back to the ground. Slowly, Twilight came to her hooves and blinked several times, then looked up to find that they were in one of several rooms of the royal hospital.

It was smaller than the surgical suite, but looked far more inviting. A large window dominated one wall, and pale beams of moonlight shined through, illuminating the white tiled floor. The walls were a pale blue, and were barren on all sides except for a painting of Canterlot, which was placed above a bed. The bed itself was on one of the walls adjacent to the door, and in it was a very exhausted looking Princess Luna. The mint green blanket came up to her waist, leaving her bandaged chest entirely exposed. Her mane was lacking its ethereal qualities, instead resembling the mane that Twilight had first seen when she freed Luna from Nightmare Moon. In her right foreleg was a needle connected to an IV, and on a bedside table was a small display that was clearly not pony technology. On the display was a diagram of Luna’s spine, which was showing the cybernetics as they worked on correcting everything. Legion approached the display while the eight ponies all surrounded Luna’s bed and looked at the princess, relieved.

“Hello, everypony,” Luna said, smiling weakly as she blinked away her fatigue. “What… what happened?”

“There was an explosion, Luna,” Twilight explained. “We still don’t know exactly what caused it, but the effects were devastating. Most of the team stationed up there is dead, there are only eight survivors.” Luna’s face fell as she filled with sadness, and she looked down at her blanket. She looked back up and peered over the heads of her pony visitors, looking out of the window.

“How long have I been out?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“A little over three days, Luna,” Cadance said.

“Three days…” Luna repeated. “Who raised the sun and moon in my stead?” Twilight and Cadance shared a stare, then looked back to the princess.

“We did, princess,” Twilight said.”

“Really?” Luna asked, surprised. “Well done, I am proud of both of you. But I can see how exhausted you are. Do not worry, I will be able to take it from here.”

“Not quite, Princess Luna,” Legion said, stepping away from the display. “You sustained extensive damage from the explosion. Even though we have repaired most of the damage, your cybernetics still need time to finish. You will not be able to use your magic for at least twenty four hours.”

“Cybernetics?” Luna asked, confused. “What are those? How badly hurt was I?”

“Damage to your body was critical,” Legion began. “A punctured lung, all ribs broken, several sources of internal bleeding, and more were among the less critical injuries. The main injury was your spine. It was bent and twisted from the force of the explosion, and a large piece of debris caused damage to the spinal cord itself. Were it not for the cybernetics now within you, you would have died yesterday.”

“I do not understand, what are cybernetics?” Luna repeated.

“They’re small machines,” Twilight said, stepping forward. “They can be created to perform almost any task, but the ones that Legion implanted into you are gripping your spine. Over the past day, they have been restoring the orientation. Only now did they get to a point where you could wake up. They’re going to continue working over the course of a month to get it all perfect again.”

“A month… then how long am I confined to this rather uncomfortable bed?” Luna asked, looking behind her at the thin bed.

“You are restricted from moving for one week,” Legion answered. “It is during this first week that most of the repairs will be made. By walking, you could halt their progress and cause further damage. After this week has passed, you will be able to resume your duties.” Yawning, the princess nodded.

“I see,” she said. “And what about the changelings? Did anything happen regarding them while I was out?” Sighing, Twilight nodded and blinked several times.

“We think Chrysalis might be dead,” the lavender alicorn said quickly, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow. Twilight began to recount the tale of what had occurred while Luna was unconscious, starting with the arrival of the imposter Healthy Heart. She explained why Legion went to the hive, and the story of how he had escaped. When she was finished, Luna looked down thoughtfully.

“Chrysalis’s death may not be as good a thing as it sounds…” Luna observed. “If she’s really dead, that is. But if she’s gone, then the changelings are effectively slaves. While Chrysalis had some power she would have had some say in their actions, but now, the collectors have all the power.”

“This unit has been planning ahead, Princess Luna,” Legion said. “We will not allow anything bad to occur to you or your ponies.”

“Thank you, Legion…” Luna said quietly. “But now I think I should get some rest. I know I’ve been out for three days, but that has surprisingly left me quite fatigued. When I wake up I shall call for you again.”

“Very well, Auntie,” Cadance said, turning to the rest of the ponies. “Let’s go everypony. It’s starting to get late anyway.” Nodding in agreement, the ponies and geth all turned and exited the room, leaving the princess of the night alone to sleep.

The collector captain stood over a bright green hologram, watching the real-time status updates of their device. The simultaneous dissolving of over a thousand ponies had advanced their progress dramatically, but still it was not enough. If the device was to reach the power levels that they needed, then thousands more would have to be kidnapped, perhaps even millions. It was no problem for the captain. They were not short on space; this network of hives was larger than the collector base beyond the Omega Four Relay, and they certainly were not lacking in pods. There were only around two thousand manufactured, but as long as ponies kept dissolving then they could be reused.

“Captain,” a voice said from behind the collector. The captain slowly turned his head, finding a collector drone in his peripheral vision. “You summoned me?”

“Yes,” the captain said, turning to fully face the drone. “Command Chrysalis to inform her changelings that it is time for the infections to continue. There are eight samples for Manehattan, and I have a map of deployment areas. Make sure that the changelings get these items, and send them off at once.”

“Yes, captain,” the collector said, nodding his head. He turned and left the room, leaving the captain to continue looking over the feed of the device. Already most of the frame was built, constructed of alloys made of metals found on this planet. The ponies were a primitive species, and had no idea just how rich this world was. An entire fleet could be built from it alone, but a fleet was not what the collectors wanted. No, all they wanted was the pony’s magic. It would make their device a formidable weapon, capable of striking fear in any foe. Even theirs.

Princess Luna’s eyelids slowly spread open, revealing to the bright room her light blue eyes. As they detected the light, her pupils shrunk and she squinted against the bright rays of sun. Holding a hoof up, Luna was about to draw the blinds with her magic when she remembered that she still had the rest of this day before she could use it.

The fact that the sun was up was good: it meant that Twilight and Cadance were still able to raise it. Their ability to do so had been suspect when Luna had seen them last night, as they were both clearly very weak. They may have been alicorns, but they were both far younger than her and Celestia. It would be hundreds of years before they would be able to manipulate celestial bodies with ease.

Looking around, Luna found no signs of life in her room. The room was depressingly barren, occupied only by her bed and medical equipment. The only decoration was a painting directly above her. Because she still could not walk, Luna began looking for a way to contact somepony. On a small table next to her bed, Luna found a button. Curiously, she stuck a hoof out and pressed it in, then quickly pulled her hoof back. Frowning, Luna puzzled over the button. It had not done anything when she touched it, but it had to serve some kind of purpose. A moment later the wooden door to her room opened and a white-coated unicorn nurse walked in.

“You called, highness?” she asked, bowing. Confused, Luna looked to the nurse, then back to the button. It must be a signal for the nurses, she thought.

“Yes,” Luna croaked. Before she could speak again, a glass of water was lifted to her mouth by the nurse. Grateful, Luna accepted the gift and downed the entire cup, sighing in satisfaction. “Thank you. Would you please tell Princesses Twilight and Cadance to come here? I must speak with them.”

“At once, princess,” the nurse said, bowing once more. She turned around and closed the door, her hoofsteps echoing down the hallway as she went to fulfill Luna’s request. The princess leaned back in her bed, rubbing a hoof against her temple. The last few days had not been what she was expecting, and with her unconscious for three days, that gave the collectors even more time to plan. As soon as she could use magic again, Luna knew that she was going to need to get to work. The collectors were more powerful than the ponies, and they knew that. And with only Equestria’s major cities remaining, the collectors would be planning out how to infect them even now. Time was not on Equestria’s side.

The door to her room opened once again, though the ponies who entered was not who she was expecting. Instead of Twilight and Cadance, in walked Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who was hovering a few feet off the ground.

“Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash,” Luna greeted, nodding to them. “It is good to see you. But where are Twilight and Cadance?”

“Oh, sorry princess, but…” Fluttershy started.

“They’re sleeping, princess,” Rainbow Dash finished for her quiet friend. “Raising the sun this morning really took a lot out of them. They’re okay, they just need a little shut-eye.”

“I see…” Luna said sadly. She regretted that Twilight and Cadance were having to do her job for her. She did not want to bring them any pain. “Well, as long as they can raise the moon once more, I will be able to take over for them tomorrow.”

“Is there anything we can do for you, princess?” Fluttershy asked softly, looking at the princess from behind her mane.

“Well, with Twilight and Cadance resting, could you please tell Legion I would like to speak with him?”

“Sure thing, princess!” Rainbow Dash said loudly, saluting. She zipped out of the room, while Fluttershy simply trotted out after her, closing the door behind her. Once again Luna was alone in her room. Yawning, she sat back against her pillow, wishing she could be back in her own bedroom. It was, at least to her, far more inviting than this bland recovery room. While some may have scoffed at how a princess let her own room get so disorganized and cluttered, to Luna it just made it all the more comfortable. This room was the exact opposite, and the princess did not feel too keen on spending an entire week here. At least the food at the royal hospital was good.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Luna turned her head to the sound of the door opening once again. Legion stepped inside and approached the princess, looking down at her.

“You requested our presence, Princess Luna?” he asked, receiving a nod from Luna.

“Yes,” the princess said. “Thank you for coming. I’d offer you a seat, but this room doesn’t seem to have any extra chairs in it.”

“We do not feel fatigue. We are satisfied with standing.”

“Right,” Luna said, smiling. “Well, the reason I asked for you to come here is to request your assistance in planning something. An attack, to be precise.”

“We assume that you are referring to an attack on the changeling hive,” Legion correctly guessed. “If so, we are more than willing to provide all data we have collected so far.”

“Thank you, you are correct,” Luna confirmed. “Over a thousand ponies have been kidnapped so far, and more are being taken as we speak. We are completely powerless to stop them from taking my ponies, as anyone who is sent to an affected area will immediately become infected as well.”

“We have no evidence suggesting that the disease affects anyone other than ponies,” the geth began. “Could an alliance be worked out with another species on this world?”

“Not likely,” Luna said, shaking her head. “The zebra are close friends to us, but they are lacking militarily. They wouldn’t stand a chance at protecting one of our towns against the changelings, let alone the major cities. The griffons would likely see some success, but we’re not exactly on the best of terms right now. Aside from those two, the only other species are the diamond dogs and the dragons, and they’re hostile to just about everyone.”

“Could an agreement be reached between your kind and the griffons?” Legion asked.

“I suppose it’s possible,” Luna answered. “But we would have to offer something substantial. I’m not the greatest negotiator, Celestia was always better at that than I. Even if I was good, the griffons are fairly mad.”

“Why are they mad?”

“It’s their stupid pride,” the princess started to explain. “About two hundred years ago, obviously before my return, there was a small feud between Equestria and Gryphonia. It was over some trivial matter – a pony ambassador accidentally offended a griffon, the griffon retaliated by ripping the pony’s arms off, and it just escalated from there. They were too proud to admit that the pony ambassador was only joking, so they declared war. But, technologically speaking, they were quite a ways behind us. We had developed more powerful devices of war, not to mention we have magic on our side. It lasted eight months, and the griffons surrendered unconditionally. Since then relations have improved, but they’re still mad and embarrassed.”

“If they are, as you say, embarrassed, then you requesting their assistance would be a positive thing, would it not?” Legion asked. “They may see it as a chance to redeem themselves.”

“Perhaps,” Luna said. “This is all assuming that the disease does not affect them either. I doubt that the griffon prime minister would be willing to risk the lives of his people against a disease that they might be immune to.”

“That is an understandable concern,” Legion said. “Perhaps if he was offered something of value? A new technology or development, perhaps. You did say that they were behind you.”

“Yes, I said that they were behind us,” the princess said. “We’re still ahead in most industries, but after the war the griffons devoted most of their resources to weapons R&D. They don’t have magic, but they’re beyond us now.”

“We may have something to offer them,” said the geth, activating his omni-tool. “Nothing too valuable. We would not risk giving anything from our armory to a pre-spaceflight species. Do you know of anything they may want?”

“No, I don’t,” Luna said. “But I’d recommend talking to the pony ambassador to Gryphonia. He’s not due back there until after the New Year, so he’s still got a day in Canterlot.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, lowering his arm as the omni-tool flickered off. “We will speak with him immediately, and return once we learn something.” He turned and began walking for the door.

“Legion!” Luna called, stalling the geth’s exit. Legion turned around and faced the princess, the flaps around his face expanding slightly. “Just… before you go… I have one more question.”

“Specify.”

“You’re doing all of this for us, but… if you found that element, and it was enough to power the Mass Relay… Would you go?” Legion stared at the princess quizzically.

“Please elaborate,” he requested.

“If your ship detected some element zero, would you just take it and go?” Luna asked once again. “Or would you stay and continue to help?” Legion was quiet for a moment as the machine contemplated Luna’s question. A moment later he turned back around to face the door.

“… No data available,” he said as he walked out. The door slammed shut behind the geth, leaving Luna alone to think about his answer.

Ambassador Silver Pen sighed wearily, lowering his glasses and rubbing his eyes with a hoof. A mountain of paperwork sat on the desk before him, consisting of various deals and agreements with Gryphonia that were expiring soon. It was his duty to read through each and every one, and determine if the deal was worth renewing. Considering just how many deals existed between Equestria and Gryphonia, that created a lot of work for the ambassador.

A knock sounded at the door, and the brown-coated unicorn looked up, temporarily distracted from his work. He smiled, glad that something was coming to break the monotony of his task. Even though a distraction would only add time to his job, the stallion was willing to accept that in return for something out of the ordinary.

“Come in!” the ambassador said, looking down at the contents of the desk. Immediately before him, next to the large stack of parchment, was a deal signed several years ago concerning the trade of produce. As the door opened, Silver Pen placed the parchment on his “renew” pile, trying to look busy. “Yes, how can I--”

When the ambassador looked up, he froze. Standing in the doorway was a very tall individual, the top of its head nearly scratching the door frame. Its bright blue eye looked down on the pony, not betraying any emotions whatsoever. Silver Pen’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.

“Ambassador Silver Pen?” the machine asked, stepping up to the stallion’s desk. “We have an inquiry.”

“Y-y-you’re…” the pony struggled to speak. “T-the… geth?”

“Correct.” The ambassador continued staring at the geth, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find his words.

“I… I see,” he finally said. “I am Silver Pen, ambassador to Gryphonia. How can I be of service?” The pony extended his hoof across the desk to shake, which Legion politely accepted.

“We understand that you are to return to Gryphonia shortly,” Legion said.

“That’s right,” Silver Pen replied, nodding. “I’m leaving tomorrow to begin negotiations for the new year.”

“We have an inquiry regarding the griffons,” Legion continued. “Are you aware of any technologies the griffons are trying to develop?”

“Hmm, new technologies…” the ambassador said, leaning back in his leather chair. “Well, all governments are trying to develop new technologies. Were you wondering about something specific?”

“Are they attempting to develop any new types of weapons, to your knowledge?” Legion elaborated. “It is important.”

“Hmm, let me think…” Silver Pen said, closing his eyes. He searched his memories of the past few years, trying to think of anything relating to weapons. “Well, a few months ago I heard something about them trying to develop more efficient catapults. Something about increasing range, but weapon R&D is not something that is often discussed openly.”

“Acknowledged, thank you ambassador,” Legion said, nodding its head. It turned away from the stallion and walked out of the office, closing the door behind it. Silver Pen watched where it had been, an eyebrow raised.

Why was the geth wondering about that? he thought. Shrugging, the ambassador turned his attention back to the “unread” pile on his desk. It consisted of several hundred more documents, which Silver Pen regarded with a frown. Sighing once again, the ambassador retrieved the next document, and continued his task...

Legion navigated back through the corridors of the castle, walking the memorized route to the royal hospital. In its mind, the geth was considering what it could do to assist the griffons with their catapult technology. Catapults were a very ancient organic weapon, and were phased out once cannons became easier to mass-produce. Legion did not know where the griffons currently stood on catapult technology, but the innovation ceiling for catapults was fairly low. There was not much the geth would be able to offer to help them.

As it walked, Legion contemplated the question that Luna had asked it. It had come out of nowhere, nothing the princess had said previously had led up to it being asked. In the question, Legion had sensed a trace of fear. Luna likely knew that all hope of eliminating the nanovirus and the collectors relied on Legion remaining their ally, and if it left then they would be doomed.

When it had been asked, Legion had delayed its answer. Not because it wanted to hide anything from Luna, but because Legion truly did not know if it would leave, given the chance. No element zero had yet been discovered, but surface scans of the planet had been delayed by several events. The ship was barely through scanning the northern regions of Equestria, leaving the majority of the continent left to map. Even if it did find the element, Legion was still unsure if it would leave.

The creators were going to attack, that much was clear, and the Reapers were a real threat. But would Legion leave these ponies, who were helpless to fight the collectors, to return to the geth? There was not enough data at this time for the programs within Legion to achieve consensus. Choosing to file the thought away for later, Legion instead continued to focus on returning to Luna. It had just passed the threshold to the royal hospital and was now walking down the hallway of recovery rooms. Stepping up to the door belonging to Luna, Legion knocked and stepped back.

“Come in!” the voice of Luna called from behind the door. Legion turned the doorknob and ducked down to enter the room, stepping up to Luna’s bed.

“Oh, Legion,” she said, smiling. “I assume you have spoken with the ambassador?”

“Yes,” the geth replied. “Apparently the griffons are attempting to advance their catapult technology. Because of our more advanced knowledge of physics, we should be able to develop something for them.”

“Excellent, thank you Legion,” Luna said. “As soon as I can use magic I will write a letter, and have Ambassador Silver Pen deliver it for me when he leaves tomorrow. In the meantime… we need to discuss the changeling hive.”

“As we have previously stated, we are willing to give all information we have on the hive to you,” Legion offered. “During our time there, we generated a 3D map of the tunnels that we have explored. However, based on all of the possible routes we saw, our map represents merely a fraction of the hives.”

“I’m sure it will be very useful,” the princess said, smiling once again. “But while you were speaking with the ambassador, I was thinking… Even if the griffons will agree to help us, it would only work temporarily. The collectors would likely see it as a minor obstacle, and adapt the nanovirus to infect both ponies and griffons. If we can gain their support, we will need to attack while the griffons are still immune.”

“The collectors work quickly,” Legion observed. “We saw this with the electromagnetic pulse. It did not take them long to adapt the nanovirus to overcome both it and your magical wards.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Luna agreed, nodding. “I’d give it maybe two days before they were able to infect griffons as well, and that’s if we’re lucky. We would need to attack almost immediately after the griffons moved in. Once we attack, I suppose that the plan would be to destroy all samples of the virus, destroy all collector equipment, kill the collector in charge, and free our ponies. Easier said than done, no doubt.”

“More planning will be required before we commit to anything, Princess Luna,” Legion advised. “This is all going off of the assumption that the griffons will assist us. They may not, especially once they learn that the nanovirus could be adapted.”

“Agreed,” Luna said. “Well hopefully we’ll know more soon enough.” Nodding, Legion turned around and began to leave the room. Before it could, Luna stuck a hoof out to the geth. “Wait! Would you mind stopping by Twilight and Cadance’s bedrooms to see if they’re awake yet? I need to speak with them.”

“Yes,” Legion replied, nodding.

“Thank you,” Luna said as the geth left the room. As it exited, it reached an arm back and softly closed the door, then began to head for the guest rooms…

Twilight’s eyes slowly opened at the sound of a knock upon her door. In her blurry vision, she saw a small purple blob cross the room to the door and open it, revealing a towering blur of dark gray. Rubbing her eyes, Twilight sat up in her bed and looked across the room at the geth who was entering. Spike stood at the door, holding it open for Legion, while still eyeing him curiously.

“Legion?” she asked weakly, holding a hoof to her pounding head. “Oh, what happened…?”

“You passed out, Twilight,” Spike said, closing the door and hopping up on the bed with his friend. “Raising the sun really took a toll on you. You’ve been out for a little over an hour.”

“Yeah, no kidding…” Twilight whispered, struggling to come to her hooves. Her head felt like it was constantly being struck by hammers, and as she stood up her limbs threatened to give out from under her. “Ow…”

“If this is a bad time, we can come back later,” Legion said, staring at Twilight.

“No,” Twilight said rubbing her temples. “No, I’ll just get some more coffee and I should be fine. What’s going on?”

“Princess Luna has requested your presence,” the geth explained. “She did not tell us why.”

“Alright, I’ll see her now,” Twilight said, struggling to move forward. Her progress was halted as Spike ran in front of her and put his hands on her chest.

“Wait, Twilight!” he cried, concerned. “You’re exhausted! You need rest.”

“Please, Spike,” Twilight scoffed, pushing past the dragon. “I’m fine. Just get me some coffee from the kitchens and I’ll have it when I get back.” Spike frowned, but did not stop his friend from exiting the bedroom with Legion. Legion closed the door as the two exited, and patiently led the exhausted Twilight through the hallways to the royal hospital. She plodded along, walking excruciatingly slow. Had Legion been an organic, he probably would have simply abandoned Twilight. When they finally reached the end of the guest room hallway, Legion turned to the young princess.

“Continue to the royal hospital,” he said. “We must retrieve Princess Cadance as well.” Nodding, Twilight continued walking while Legion went up a flight of stairs to the second level of the guest quarters. Her exhaustion prevented her from moving quickly, and she was only to the end of the second hallway by the time Legion rejoined her, this time with Cadance in tow. Cadance was clearly tired as well, but she had been an alicorn for far longer than Twilight, and her ability to regenerate energy was much more refined.

“Hello, Twilight,” she said, nodding her head. Twilight nodded back, too tired to respond. As she continued walking, the lavender alicorn gradually felt her energy starting to return. She still felt the desire to sleep, but Twilight was able to overcome it.

Finally, the trio arrived outside the royal hospital. The doors opened and the three stepped inside, following Legion through another door to the recovery rooms. Legion walked down several of the doors, finally stopping at one mid-way down the hall. He knocked, then stepped back as the two princesses took up positions beside him.

“Enter!” Princess Luna called from inside. Legion opened the door and stepped aside, allowing the two younger princesses to enter first. Once they were inside Legion entered behind them and closed the door.

“Twilight, Cadance, it is good to see you both,” the princess of the night said, smiling warmly at them. Her sapphire eyes passed over Legion, and her warm gaze faded away slightly. “Legion, would you mind giving me a few minutes alone with the princesses here?” Legion did not answer. Instead, he simply turned and left the room. As soon as the sound of his footsteps faded away, Luna turned her attention back to the two young mares before her.

“I thank you for coming,” she said apologetically. “I know how exhausted you two must be, having to raise the sun and moon for me and all… I am very sorry that you have to keep doing it in my stead. If I had never gotten hurt, we’d all be okay…”

“You had no control over your injuries, auntie,” Cadance said, smiling weakly. “We’re fine, and we’re both happy that you’re safe.” Luna smiled and closed her eyes. When they reopened, her stare was far more grave.

“I am sure you both are wondering why I requested your presence,” she started. “I have already begun talking with Legion about it, but there are some far more… sensitive… matters that must be discussed between us.

“Of course I am referring to the collectors and their nanovirus. Legion and I have discussed an assault on the changeling hive itself, as well as a temporary alliance with the griffons.”

“Why the griffons?” Twilight asked curiously. Her last run-in with a griffon had made them appear to be less-than-desirable beings, and she was confused as to why Luna would want their help.

“As far as we know, the nanovirus only affects ponies,” Luna explained. “If we can convince the griffons to defend our cities for us while we plan the assault on the hive itself, it would give us a great advantage. The changelings would be unable to kidnap anypony else, at least for a short while, and we would be safe to attack.”

“It makes sense, but why would they support us?” Cadance asked. “The griffons are still a bit angry about two hundred years ago…”

“Legion and I are working on that,” Luna continued. “But that is not why I called you here. As long as I am confined to this bed, I cannot effectively run Equestria. You two need to keep ponies calm, and try to keep the disease on the down-low. Westrock and Appleloosa were easy enough to cover up, as they’re remote towns, but Ponyville and Trottingham are big. Ponyville is a massive hub for trade, and its quarantine has already hit Equestria’s economy hard. We can work around that, Celestia has dozens of contingency plans for dealing with depressions. But what we cannot work around is pony suspicion. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already, but soon enough somepony is going to ask about the true purpose of the quarantine. We’ve already revealed that it’s a disease, but other than that, there has been no elaboration whatsoever. And if – or when – the disease hits Manehattan or Fillydelphia, I will be powerless to delay the press. It falls to you two to keep everypony calm, understand?”

“Yes, princess,” Twilight said, gulping nervously. It sounded easy in theory, but Twilight knew that it was going to be anything but. Ponies were naturally very curious, and they would look into the issue.

“When in doubt, just do what Celestia and I do,” Luna advised. “Play it off as no big deal. Act as if you are in full control of the situation, even though we are not. Just hearing you say ‘it’s under control’ will help to put minds at ease, at least for a short while.” Twilight nodded, but did not really feel any better.

“Is there anything else, Luna?” Cadance asked, stifling a yawn.

“No, that is all,” the princess replied. “Now go, get some rest. You can start working on this tomorrow, when raising the sun and moon is no longer your responsibility.”

“If you need anything else, just let us know,” Twilight said, turning around and opening the door. She stepped out, followed by Cadance, who closed the door behind them. They walked down the hallway in silence, only speaking once they were out of the hospital.

“Cadance…?” Twilight asked quietly.

“Yes, Twilight?” the pink princess responded.

“Do you think that we’re a bit in over our heads here?” she asked. “I mean, this is an alien race with an alien disease. Their technology puts our most advanced devices to shame. Even if we can secure a griffon alliance, how are we supposed to attack the changeling hive?”

“There’s always a way, Twilight,” Cadance said, putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “And when the collectors first hatched their plan, they didn’t count on us having a geth for a friend.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Twilight said. “We’ll just have to see, I guess.” The pair ended their short trip back to the guest quarters in front of Twilight’s door, which Twilight opened and stepped into. “We should rest. If we’re going to raise the moon, we’ll need the energy.”

“I’ll see you this evening, then,” Cadance said, turning around and walking down the hall. Twilight closed the door to her room and wandered over to the bed, completely missing Spike standing with a tray in his hands.

“Twilight?” the dragon asked, lowering his arms slightly. “I got you some coffee from the kitchens. The cook says it’ll give you plenty of energy!” Stopping in her tracks, Twilight turned around and trotted over to the dragon. She patted him on the head affectionately and took the tray in her mouth. Once the tray was safely put on a table, she turned her head.

“Thanks, Spike!” she said. Twilight immediately picked up the cup in her hooves and took a sip of the rejuvenating liquid, eager to gain as much energy as possible. This would be the last time she had to raise the moon. She did not want it to end badly.

As soon as the cup was devoid of coffee, Twilight leaned back and sighed, satisfied.

“Whoever discovered coffee should be given every award,” she said slowly, moving to the bed. “Alright, wake me before the moon needs to come up, Spike.”

“Will do,” the young dragon said, settling into a corner with a comic book. “Good, uh… almost-noon?” Laughing, Twilight pulled the covers up over her torso.

“Good almost-noon to you too, Spike,” she said, closing her eyes. A moment later sleep washed over her, and she fell into a dreamless rest…

Legion sat next to the bed in Luna’s recovery room, holding a tablet in its hand so that both it and the princess could see what was being displayed on the screen. Downloaded onto the tablet was the 3D map that Legion had generated of the hive, which the geth was scrolling through, showing places of interest to Luna.

“This is the collector lab where we downloaded the data containing their logs,” it said, zooming in on a room. “It likely contains nothing else of interest. However, we may be able to use the signatures of the computer to detect other ones scattered throughout the hive.”

“That would certainly be useful,” Luna observed. “But there could be dozens. How do we pin down which has the data on the virus?”

“We cannot,” Legion said. “We would have to be extremely lucky to locate the main lab on our first attempt.”

“Perhaps more reconnaissance is required…” the princess of the night suggested. “Now that you have a back-door into their hive, you could try shadowing the collector captain for a little while to see where he goes and what he does.”

“That is a possibility,” the geth agreed, nodding. It placed a finger on the display and dragged away from the lab, stopping once it reached a very tall cylindrical room. “This is the main chamber. It is where your ponies are being held… and Princess Celestia…”

“Hmm… I only see a few entrances, and they’re all near the bottom,” Luna said. “But it looks like you didn’t map out the top of the chamber. Could there be another entrance up there?”

“Unknown, we were unable to get up there,” Legion answered. “Though it seems counterproductive for the changelings to take all incapacitated ponies in through the lower entrances. It would be much more time-efficient if there was a larger entrance near the top.” Luna nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps we can ask our prisoner, not that he’d answer…” she said. “From what the guards tell me, he’s not speaking at all. I think the news that Chrysalis may be dead has hit him quite hard.”

“They are a hive-based insectoid species, and he did have a mental connection to her,” Legion began. “It may be that he is losing brain function from her loss, and is becoming feral.”

“Maybe, but changelings are—“

Luna was interrupted as the door to her recovery room flew open and Healthy Heart ran in, her eyes wide. Panting, she walked up to the princess.

“Your highness!” she said quickly. “We have a problem!”

The collector captain scrolled through the computer, watching the real-time status updates on the device. The main structure of the device was complete, and the amount of energy available to it was steadily growing as more and more dissolved ponies were pumped into it. Very soon they would be able to test it.

“Captain,” a neutral female voice said from behind the collector. The captain turned around and found Chrysalis standing in the doorway, her unblinking gaze centered on the collector.

“What is it?” he asked.

“My changelings are reporting in,” she began. “The disease has been planted at Manehattan. As simulations showed, the rate of infection has nearly quadrupled thanks to the evolved nanomachines. The city will be fully infected in mere days.”

“Excellent,” the captain said. “Prepare your hunters. They will need to move quickly in order to get all of the ponies. And… have more pods built.”

“At once,” Chrysalis said as she exited the room. The captain watched her go, still feeling regret that she had to be controlled. He knew it was necessary, and would not undo it, but seeing her as an empty shell, a tool to be used… it reminded him of his own kind.

Whatever they once were was gone. Redemption was out of the question, but they could still make an impact. But in order to make that impact, the weapon had to work, and the only way to ensure that was to test it. But where? Opening up a map of the continent, the collector began looking at possible sites. A location in the badlands would be low-key, and would not damage the planet. However, somewhere civilized would send quite the message… The captain closed the map as he chose his location. It would leave the ponies alive to be used in the weapon, but still exert his dominance over this world. It was… perfect…

“I don’t understand, how did this happen?” Twilight asked tiredly, still upset that she had only gotten in an hour of sleep before being woken up.

“They’ve been planning this for a while,” Healthy Heart said, holding a letter in her telekinetic grip. “According to my friend in Manehattan, forty-six ponies are already showing signs of the nanovirus. It’s spreading faster than we’ve seen in the previous towns and cities. In a few days, there won’t be very many ponies left in Manehattan.”

“If this griffon alliance is going to happen, it needs to happen soon,” Cadance said, her expression grave. “Luna, how soon can we get into contact with them?”

“Our ambassador returns to Gryphonia tomorrow morning,” Luna replied. “I will write a letter tonight, once I have my magic back, and will send it with him. But I cannot negotiate as long as I am confined to this bed. Either the griffons would have to come here, or I’d have to send somepony in my stead.”

“Who else is a possible candidate?” Legion asked, looking around the room. “Twilight Sparkle and Cadance will be too weak to perform negotiations. They will need at least a few days before returning to standard operations. And you cannot leave here for one week.”

“I’ll ask if they can come here, but in my stead, we may have to send them regardless,” Luna said. “The griffons would see it as an insult if anypony less than a princess attended the negotiations. Additionally, Twilight and Cadance, you two know exactly what’s at stake. I know that you won’t settle for a ‘no’.”

“We’re flattered, auntie,” Cadance began. “But if we’re in Gryphonia, then how can we help keep ponies calm, like you were telling us to do earlier? Especially now that Manehattan has been hit, we need to keep the peace.”

“That is true…” Luna said thoughtfully, looking down in consideration. “Perhaps only one of you could go. Cadance, you have more experience with ruling, so I’d rather have you stay here. Twilight, Celestia always spoke highly of you as a very bright little pony. I’m sure that you’ll do fine in negotiations.” Blushing, Twilight looked down at her hooves.

“I’ll do my best,” she said quietly.

“Of course this is only if they do not come here, which I doubt they will,” Luna continued. “Truthfully, I don’t really want them to see me in this state… I have an international image to maintain, you know.” She laughed softly, and looked apologetically at the two princesses. “You’ll do fine. I know you will.”

“Thank you,” they both said.

“Now go, you need to rest,” Luna ordered. “You two have a big night and day ahead of you.” Nodding, the two princesses left, leaving Luna alone with Legion and Healthy Heart.

“Ms. Heart, thank you for bringing this to my attention so quickly,” the princess said. The mare bowed her head, then exited the room as Luna turned her gaze to the geth. “Legion, tomorrow I would like for you to return to the hive. Just for a quick day trip to observe the captain and try to find their main lab. Also, see what they’re up to… Any clues you can find regarding this ‘plan’ of theirs will help.”

“Acknowledged,” he answered. “We will make preparations to leave first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you,” Luna said as the geth exited the room. Sighing, Luna closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her hooves against the sides of her head. She had only woken up last night, and already things were looking even worse than when she had been knocked out. The changelings and collectors were moving quickly. Manehattan would fall soon, and other cities would quickly follow. Fillydelphia, the Crystal Empire, even Canterlot wasn’t safe. There were a few things Luna could do to keep the changelings out of the uninfected cities, but they always got in eventually…

Opening her eyes, Luna fell back onto her pillow and let out a sigh. Thinking over the events of the past days, she wished that Celestia were here. Everypony in Equestria adored her, and she always had everything under control… But now she was in the custody of the collectors, who could be doing unspeakable things to her, and Luna was powerless to stop them. The collectors were leaving little room to fight back. If Equestria was to survive, they had to mobilize soon. Their ability to do that hinged entirely on the griffons choosing to help them.

Closing her eyes to get some rest, Luna began to think about what she would say in her letter to them. Legion had come up with the idea to help on developing their weapon technology, which Luna was hesitant to do. The griffons were already a massive military force, and helping them become even more advanced could come back to negatively affect them later. But Luna didn’t have much of a choice; if she was unable to stall the kidnappings, then they would never get a window to attack the changeling hive. At this point she was willing to do anything to gain their support.

Yawning, Luna decided to push the thoughts away until later. She wouldn’t be able to make any progress if she was exhausted, and Equestria needed her to be at one-hundred percent. Slowly, the rejuvenating presence of sleep fell over the fatigued princess of the night and delivered her to her rest…

Author's Note

Hello everyone! Here is chapter 19. Admittedly not the most action-packed or exciting chapter, but it lays the groundwork for the next one, which will have a lot going on. As I said in the last chapter, we're nearing the end. I really like how this story has progressed so far, and I'm excited to see what everyone thinks of the conclusion, which will be coming in only a few more chapters.

As usual, if you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, or if you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 20

"If we can model organic behavior, we can comprehend the quarian creators."

Twilight Sparkle tiredly sat in the passenger seat of a chariot soaring high above the land of Equestria. Beside her sat Ambassador Silver Pen, who was holding a single document in his telekinesis. The sun shined down on the two ponies as the pegasi lead the chariot across the country to Gryphonia.

Raising the moon last night had done exactly what Twilight feared: it nearly killed her. She was unconscious for the whole ordeal, but according to her friends (who she had requested watch, just in case), she had given them quite the scare. Nosebleeds combined with muscle spasms often did that. Cadance had suffered the same, just not quite as badly. They both had been taken to the royal hospital to be monitored overnight, but the princess of love was let out far earlier than Twilight. Only at her urging, stating that she needed to get to Gryphonia, did the doctors finally let her leave.

As Legion had promised, Luna had regained full access to her magic after twenty four hours. He was still monitoring the cybernetics to make sure that her magic did not damage them, but so far it was looking promising. She had managed to write a letter and raise the sun with no troubles whatsoever, which Legion seemed pleased by. Now all that remained was to wait a week, and then Luna could return to her regular schedule, although with some closer medical supervision for a month.

“This will never work…” Silver Pen said, derailing Twilight Sparkle’s train of thought. She turned her head to the ambassador and looked at him quizzically. Sensing her confusion, the stallion turned his head to elaborate. “The griffons are stubborn, I should know. I spend most of my year around them. They’ll already see it as an insult that a new princess is being sent – no offence to you, your highness – and they’ll also consider help with their military technology an insult! We’ll be thrown out the moment we show the prime minister the letter.”

“We’ll see, Mr. Pen,” Twilight said. “Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to do research before I came here. What can you tell me about the prime minister?”

“Prime Minister Sharptooth is a very well respected griffon,” the ambassador began. “He’s more agreeable than most, he’s even tried passing some more progressive legislation. But he’s still a griffon at heart, which means he has that stupid pride. If you want to get anywhere with him, don’t be provocative. You can disagree, but be calm and don’t outright say ‘you’re wrong’. It’ll offend him and possibly make him mad. Griffons are stubborn; you’re going to have to make some concessions that you may not like, but if it gets us this alliance, it’s worth it.”

“I see…” Twilight said softly. Celestia had done a very good job at teaching her domestic policy and the laws of Equestria, but Gryphonia was a foreign nation. She may be a princess, but she was still new. Diplomacy was not something she had had a lot of time to study.

The ambassador leaned his head over the side of the chariot, looking at the ground below. Twilight did the same and watched as the forest they had been flying over gradually became whiter and whiter with snow. Only a few minutes later they had snowflakes flying in their faces. Twilight lit her horn, an action which drained her significantly, and placed a shield in front of them.

“We just crossed the border,” Silver Pen said after a few more minutes of flight. “The capital is about an hour away. Princess Luna informed me on your current state, with raising the sun and moon and all… If you need more rest, now’s the time to get it.” Nodding, Twilight turned her head and rested her cheek on the cushioned seat of the chariot. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, and allowed sleep to take hold of her…

Legion knocked on the door to Luna’s recovery room, stepping back once it did so. As soon as the princess gave her usual call to enter, Legion reached forward, opened the door, and stepped inside.

“Ah, Legion, just who I wanted to see,” the princess of the night said, smiling amiably. “Though I’m sure you’re probably here to check the cybernetics again.”

“That is correct,” Legion confirmed, activating its omni-tool. Luna frowned at the sight of the orange device.

“Just don’t go that low again...” she warned, carefully turning onto her side to reveal her bandaged spine. “I felt very… uncomfortable… last time.”

“It was not our intention to cause discomfort,” the geth said, stepping up to the princess. “But the microchip controlling your cybernetics is implanted at the base of your spine.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to be groping my flank!” Luna defended, scowling.

“We were not ‘groping’, it was a routine scan,” Legion said, activating the scan function of his omni-tool. “Please hold still. It will only take a moment to retrieve status updates from the microchip.”

“That’s what you said last time…” Luna muttered, crossing her forehooves over her bandaged chest. Legion positioned the omni-tool a few centimeters above the base of Luna’s spine, just between the marks on her flank.

“We have been meaning to ask,” Legion began as the scan continued. “What is the significance of the marks on your backsides? We have observed them on all ponies thus far.”

“You mean other organics don’t have cutie marks?” Luna asked, confused.

“Please elaborate, what is a ‘cutie mark’?”

“A cutie mark is a symbol that appears on a pony’s flank when he or she finds out what their special talent is,” Luna explained. “When ponies are born, they have no mark. They typically appear at eight to ten years of age. It symbolizes what a pony is good at, and what they are destined to do. For example, mine is the moon because I raise the moon each night. Celestia’s is a sun because she raises the sun, Cadance’s is a heart because she can fill ponies with love, and Twilight’s is a star because… I don’t actually understand that one, but she’s good at magic.”

“No other organic species that we have come into contact with have these ‘cutie marks’,” Legion said, withdrawing its arm as the scan finished. “But we have an inquiry: what if a pony does not like their special talent, or wishes to change it?”

“It’s not a binding contract, Legion,” Luna said. “One of our castle maids has a cutie mark of flowers because she is a very good gardener, yet she chose to be a maid for my sister and me. Most ponies do choose to pursue their marks, however, because they show a great skill and understanding of the subject, and it only appears once they have proven that.”

“Interesting,” the geth observed, looking at the results of Luna’s scans on its omni-tool. Luna turned back onto her back and looked at the geth. “Results are normal. Your cybernetics are continuing to operate at peak efficiency. If you notice any complications, however, please let us know.”

“Good,” the princess said, shuffling around uncomfortably. “Now, onto the next matter of business… the changeling hive.”

“Our ship is currently in orbit, making surface scans for element zero, but it can be recalled at any time,” Legion said. “We are prepared to continue reconnaissance.”

“Very good!” Luna said happily. “But we need to move quickly. If Twilight is able to secure an alliance, then I want the intel to formulate a proper plan.”

“We will not fail you,” Legion said, stepping away from the bed. “As soon as the main lab has been located, and we have found more information on the collector plan, we will return.”

“Good luck,” Luna called as the geth exited the room. Legion walked down the hall and activated its omni-tool, calling for the ship to re-enter the atmosphere. It would be back at the loading docks in a matter of minutes, so Legion transitioned into a jog to get there quickly. Upon arriving at the docks, Legion found the ship hovering a few feet off of the ground, the door already open. The geth jumped inside and navigated to the cockpit, strapping itself into the pilot seat. It pulled out of the loading docks, set a course for the changeling hives, and set off.

The chariot touched down on the tiled stone floor of the courtyard, jostling Twilight and Silver Pen around in their seats. A thin layer of snow was kicked up into the air as the wheels of the chariot marked their path along the courtyard, finally stopping next to a group of griffon soldiers. Shakily standing, Twilight and the ambassador jumped out of the chariot, their hooves hitting the snow-covered stone floor.

Twilight looked up at the griffon guards, feeling a slight amount of fear. The only griffon she had ever met had been a childhood friend of Rainbow Dash, and she had lived in Equestria for much of her life. These griffons were much taller than Gilda, and looked even angrier. Each one wore a coat of chainmail, the rings of which clinked together when one of them moved. In their talons were held large spears, with tips that put the Equestrian military to shame. They were several inches long, and were sharpened to a point that looked like it could penetrate the thickest steel. One of the guards stepped up to Silver Wing, and leaned down to look him in the eye.

“Ambassador, we have been expecting you,” he said in a deep, guttural voice. His attention then changed to Twilight, who he looked at cautiously. “Princess Twilight… We were not told to expect you.”

“I’m sorry for the surprise visit,” Twilight began. “But it is very important. We have a letter to deliver to the prime minister.” The soldier narrowed his eyes cautiously, but nodded and turned around, motioning for the two ponies to follow him. The other guards turned as well and began escorting them to a large set of reinforced doors.

As they walked, Twilight looked around and observed the griffon architecture. It was quite spartan, lacking in the grandiose aesthetics that Canterlot employed. The walls were a thick gray stone, with turrets at every corner. On the turrets were several more griffon soldiers, each one wielding large crossbows. Twilight’s view was cut off as they passed through the large set of doors and entered the castle. The interior of the castle was no more glamorous with the exterior, with the only decoration being a faded red rug on the floor. Torches were placed at intervals along the walls, illuminating the otherwise dark corridor. Occasionally there was a painting of some past griffon leader, and Twilight regretted that she could not name any of them. While her knowledge of Equestrian history was extensive, she knew very little about Gryphonia.

Turning down a smaller passage, the soldiers led Twilight and Ambassador Silver Pen to a small door that was just barely high enough for the griffon soldier to enter. Twilight followed him and found herself in a large meeting room. A rich wooden table was set in the center with several cushioned chairs set alongside it. Small windows were set into the top of one of the walls, allowing a small amount of natural light to filter through. The rest of the room was lit by more torches.

“Sit,” the griffon soldier commanded. “Prime Minister Sharptooth will be with you shortly.” Sitting as instructed, Twilight gulped nervously as the griffon soldiers left the room, closing the door behind them. The princess did not know what it was, but this place made her feel uneasy.

“Do not worry, princess,” the ambassador said with a forced smile. “The griffons may be bitter towards Equestria, but they still respect us. They wouldn’t set a claw on you.”

“Okay…” Twilight said, not reassured at all. “Do you have the letter?” The ambassador nodded and pulled it out of his saddlebag with his telekinesis, setting the sealed piece of parchment onto the table. A moment later the door opened and an especially large griffon walked in. His feathers were light gray and black, and he wore a calm and powerful smirk on his beak. His large green eyes passed over Twilight, judging her with every passing second. The griffon crossed to the other end of the table and sat down, sighing satisfactorily.

“Ambassador Silver Pen,” he said, nodding. “And Princess Twilight Sparkle, to what do I owe the honor?”

“Prime Minister Sharptooth,” Twilight answered, bowing her head respectfully. “I am sorry for my surprise visit. We would have written ahead, but Mr. Pen was with us.”

“Please, no need for an apology, Princess Sparkle,” Sharptooth said, waving a claw. “It is about time we meet. I meant to come to your coronation, but it was such short notice, and there were many things that I had to take care of. Congratulations on the promotion, regardless.”

“Thank you…” Twilight said, lowering her head as she blushed.

“Uh, we have a letter for you, prime minister,” Silver Pen said, holding the letter in his telekinesis. He floated the rolled up piece of parchment to the awaiting claw of the griffon, who ripped the seal off and began to read. As he read, his eyes slowly narrowed. When he was done, Sharptooth placed the letter on the table and looked to Twilight, confused.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” he said. “There is a disease, and you need our help?’

“Is that all it says?” Twilight asked. “I’m sorry, Princess Luna wrote it. I haven’t read it.”

“She said that it’s a complicated situation and that you would explain further,” the griffon said, passing the note over to Twilight. “She says to hold nothing back.” Twilight skimmed over the letter, confirming that it did indeed say that, then put the letter down onto the table.

“Alright,” she said, letting out a sigh. “Where to begin…

“A little over two weeks ago, an unidentified disease was reported in one of our frontier settlements known as Westrock. We could not find the source, nor could we figure out how to heal it. It spread with a rapidity never before seen, and in only a few days the entire town was comatose. In addition to this, ponies were being kidnapped. Diamond dogs were the chief suspect, but the other princesses and I thought the changelings were behind it. A few days later our suspicions were confirmed. The entire town has since been kidnapped, as has the population of Appleloosa. Ponyville and Trottingham have been hit as well, and yesterday afternoon we received confirmation that the disease is in Manehattan.”

“And because you do not know how to cure it, you cannot send ponies to help or they will become infected as well?” Sharptooth asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. “And as long as this disease is a threat, you cannot stop the changelings from continuing their kidnappings. So, you want our help. Is that correct?”

“Spot on, prime minister,” Twilight confirmed, nodding. “The disease hasn’t affected any other animals in the towns, so we think that griffons should be immune as well. The idea is that you would protect our towns and cities from kidnappings while we infiltrated the hive and destroyed the disease. But, there’s something else…

“The disease can be mutated very easily. We think that we would only have a window of two days before the changelings released a new version that could infect griffons as well. This means that we would have to work very fast, and your griffons would be putting themselves at risk.” The prime minister did not answer. Instead he closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and put his claws together.

“Hmm…” he said, keeping his eyes closed. “And why should I accept this proposition? This is a pony problem in pony country. No point in letting it spread.”

“The letter mentioned that we have knowledge to offer you,” Twilight argued, holding the letter up. “We will gladly give you this knowledge in exchange for your assistance.” Standing up, Sharptooth crossed the room to the door.

“Excuse me for just one moment, I need to collect my thoughts,” he said as he exited. Twilight let out a sigh, then turned to look at Ambassador Silver Pen.

“You didn’t tell him everything, princess,” he said. “About the geth and the collectors.”

“No point in overcomplicating an already complex situation,” Twilight defended. “Besides, that’s information that we may want to leverage if he doesn’t agree right away.”

“I doubt he will,” the ambassador began. “Whenever he goes to ‘collect his thoughts’, it means he’s going to think over what you said and poke holes all through it. He’ll figure that something is missing… Let’s just hope he doesn’t get too mad over it.”

“I think he seems quite agreeable so far,” Twilight said. The ambassador made to respond, but was interrupted as the door opened again and Prime Minister Sharptooth walked inside, taking a seat in the same chair. Twilight looked at him worriedly, while Silver Pen kept his expression stoic.

“I’ve just been thinking over what you told me,” the prime minister said. “And I see several things wrong with it. For one, I can’t seem to find a motive. I know why the changelings would want to kidnap ponies; to feed on their emotions. But that does not explain why they are using a disease, especially one that only infects ponies. Griffons, zebra, and diamond dogs are just as nutritious, and Queen Chrysalis would not alienate several species just to get revenge on your kind. Additionally, you said the disease can be mutated? The changelings have no such technology. The zebra may be able to, but not the changelings. Also, perhaps you would care to explain the strange metal object that my scouts have seen flying to and from Canterlot over the past, hmm, almost two weeks?”

Twilight’s stomach dropped, and her pupils shrunk to small dots. The griffon smiled, having seen through Twilight’s altered story. Sighing nervously, Twilight looked to the griffon.

“Alright,” she said, defeated. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hidden things from you. Princess Luna did say to hold nothing back, after all. So let’s start over…

“As I said, the disease popped up a little over two weeks ago. Around that same time, we made… contact… with a creature. Over time we got to know him. His name is Legion, he is a machine, and… and, well, he’s an alien.” The prime minister’s eyes shot open as his beak dropped in shock. He clearly had not seen that coming.

“I… he… what?” Sharptooth asked, bewildered. “Is this some kind of joke? Because if so it is not funny and you are endangering yourself by—“

“Please, prime minister,” Twilight interrupted, holding up a hoof. “It is not a joke. And it only gets crazier from here, so please, bear with me.

“After a few days of staying with us, Legion detected something in the northern polar region; some kind of signal. We went to investigate, and found an entire alien spacecraft buried under several meters of snow. After exploring it, Legion confirmed that it belonged to a race of evil aliens known as collectors. It also just so happens that collectors have a habit of kidnapping the members of other species and experimenting on them, and they’re not above using diseases to do it. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“So… you mean to tell me… that there is an alien race infecting your kind?” the prime minister asked slowly. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with a claw and looked to the princess. “And when was Equestria planning on letting us know?”

“We were hoping it would stay quiet,” Twilight admitted. “Unfortunately, that’s no longer possible. I truly am sorry that we kept everypony else in the dark, but—“

“But nothing, princess!” Sharptooth shouted angrily. “This is possibly the greatest discovery of Equis’s history, and Equestria is hoarding it! This is the kind of thing that could spark a war, princess!”

“Mister Prime Minister, please calm down!” Twilight yelled, standing up from her chair. “The collectors are a very dangerous threat! The reason that we did not tell anypony else was to protect them! By involving anypony other than ourselves, we put them at risk! Don’t you see, prime minister? The collectors are aliens, they are unknown. And for reasons we don’t yet understand, they want to kill all ponies on this planet. Why expand that to griffons as well? We came here because you are our last option. You are our last hope.” There was silence for a moment. Twilight continued staring down the griffon, who in turn continued to stare at her. Ambassador Silver Pen looked between the two, afraid that the griffon would lash out. Fortunately, he did not. Sharptooth sighed and lowered his head, looking into his lap.

“Forgive my outburst, Princess Twilight,” he said, looking back up at her. “It was unnecessary. But if the collectors are as dangerous as you say… then I cannot grant you the assistance you are looking for.” At this, Twilight’s heart sank. Her ears drooped, and she looked to the prime minister with pleading eyes.

“Please…” she whispered. “Without your help, we cannot attack the changeling hive. We will die.”

“And I’m afraid that the grim reality of this situation is that, while the collectors are focusing on you, we can prepare,” the griffon explained. “I’m truly sorry princess, but that’s how things are.” He stood up and crossed to one of the small windows, then looked out. “Hmm, snowing again… Well, you’re more than welcome to stay here until the storm passes. I’ll have our guards escort you to the diplomat quarters.” Without saying another word, Sharptooth crossed to the other side of the room and exited through the door, the sound of his talons on the stone floor echoing down the hallway. Two guards entered, one of whom stepped up to Twilight.

“Please follow us, princess,” he said. For a moment, Twilight did not respond. She simply stared ahead, unblinking. Finally she nodded and followed the soldier out, with Ambassador Silver Pen walking behind her. As she walked, she did not even pay attention to where she was being led. Instead, a single thought echoed through her mind: What do we do now?

Legion set its ship down close to a kilometer from the entrance to the second hive, careful not to be seen. This mission was one of stealth, and if it was apprehended again, Chrysalis would not be there to save it. Legion stood from the pilot’s seat and walked to the door of the ship, activating the tactical cloak as it did. It jumped the short distance to the dead, rocky earth below and immediately set off for the hive at a sprint. Moving at top speeds, it reached the rocky outcropping in only a few minutes.

There was a single changeling guarding the entrance, but he seemed more interested in sleeping than in protecting the hive. His black eyelids were drooping, and a small stream of saliva dripped down his chin. Legion had no problems simply stepping past him and entering the hive. Once it was inside, the geth jogged down the sloping tunnel until it levelled off, and walked the memorized route back to the long tunnel leading to the main hive. As with the last time Legion was here, there was very little activity in this much smaller hive. During its walk to the two-mile long tunnel, the geth only encountered a single changeling, who was totally unaware of the invisible machine.

Finally coming to the especially long tunnel, Legion activated the zoom function on its photoreceptor and looked as far as it could down the passage. Due to the curvature of the planet, the exit of the tunnel was not fully visible to Legion. However, the immediate area was devoid of life, so Legion deactivated the tactical cloak to save power, leaving it on standby just in case. Equipping its M-98 Widow, Legion set off down the tunnel.

The collector captain entered the main chamber of the changeling hive, looking up to the ceiling at the box that housed their device. Through the pipes feeding into the box, the captain could see a gray liquid flowing through. The liquid contained the genetic material of the ponies, and with it, their magic. The captain still had no idea just how the magic worked – scans had confirmed that it was not biotics – but it was a very useful tool. And with the right amount of ingenuity, it could be repurposed…

“Captain,” a voice said from behind the captain. He turned around and found a lesser collector drone standing in the shadows, holding a tablet. “Enough of their magic has been processed for us to fire one test shot.”

“Excellent…” the captain said, taking the tablet from his drone. He tapped on it several times, inputting coordinates, then passed the tablet back to the collector. “Begin loading in the element zero. Get it in orbit as soon as possible, and fire on these coordinates when ready.”

“At once, captain,” the collector said, nodding. He disappeared into the shadows, leaving the captain alone. The captain craned his neck and looked back up to their device. If this test was successful, then all that remained in their plan was to finish kidnapping the rest of the ponies. Once that was done, they would go back through the Relay, and enact their revenge…

Legion crept through the tunnels of the main hive, the tactical cloak keeping it safe from the searching eyes of the changeling drones. As Legion remembered, this hive was much more densely populated than the other one, and the chances of discovery were significantly higher. As long as it was careful, that would not happen.

It had only been in the main hive for a few minutes, and as such it had not yet found the collector captain. The hive was massive, and he could be anywhere. Right now, Legion assumed that its best bet was to find a lesser collector and follow him to see if he would lead the geth to the captain. Of course, finding a collector drone seemed no easier than finding the captain himself. Legion hypothesized that the number of collectors must be very small for it not to have run into any yet.

But Legion was not one to give up. It would continue searching this hive until it found a collector, even if it took all day. Fortunately, that did not seem to be necessary.

Just as Legion rounded a corner and entered another tunnel, this one sloping upwards, it was forced to jump back as a collector drone wielding an assault rifle walked right into its path. Legion waited for the drone to get ahead by a few meters, then silently started following behind him. The tactical cloak had not been tested as extensively on collectors, and with the amount of cybernetics and genetic modification given to them by the Reapers, Legion was lucky that it was able to remain hidden.

As it followed the collector, Legion found itself with nothing to do. There was no data to go over, no scans to run. So, the further they went into the tunnels, the programs within Legion eventually turned to thoughts of the pony’s chances at victory. Consensus could not be achieved on an outcome; the collectors were far more advanced, had the support of the changelings, and had backed the ponies into a corner in terms of their ability to fight back. Legion itself was a wild card, and the collectors could not have prepared for it, but they were still at a disadvantage. Even if griffon support was acquired, they would have to move quickly to attack the hive, before the virus was adapted to kill griffons. Additionally, Legion had to find the main lab. Without the knowledge of its location, they would be unable to download all data on the virus, and destroy all remaining samples. A lot could go wrong, and the programs within Legion agreed: chances of success were slim.

But that had also been true for the ‘suicide mission’ against the collector base beyond the Omega Four Relay. And yet, against all odds, Shepard-Commander had delivered them to victory with no casualties. He had built a career on performing the impossible, and Legion had paid special attention to the human…

The programs within the geth turned their attention back to the hive as the collector stepped through an open doorway into a dark room. Legion quietly crept in behind him and scanned over the room, adding it to its 3D map of the hive. Pieces of collector tech lined all of the walls, and a computer terminal sat in the center with a hologram of a device hovering over it. The device was not familiar to Legion; it was cylindrical, featureless, and nothing from the design gave any clues about its purpose. Standing over the computer, looking at the design, was the collector captain. The drone stepped up behind him, and lowered his assault rifle.

“Captain,” he said, causing the collector in question to turn around. “Everything has been prepared. We are launching shortly. The test fire is ready to commence.”

“Good,” the captain replied. “Come, we can monitor its progress from the main lab.” Nodding, the collector drone turned and exited the room with the captain following him. Legion waited a moment before it fell into step behind them, following them up the gently sloping tunnels. Checking its 3D map, Legion found that their route would put them near to the main entrance of the hive. That would provide the geth an easy escape route, assuming that the trap that had disabled it was no longer online. If it was captured again, Legion would very likely be destroyed.

After several minutes of following the two collectors, they both turned down a short tunnel and entered a door leading into a dark room. Legion stepped inside after them and scanned the chamber. Much like the previous lab, it was filled with collector tech and had a computer terminal in the center. However, this lab also had medical devices, no doubt used to synthesize the nanovirus.

The two collectors stepped up to the computer in the center, and the captain typed on it, bringing up a hologram of Equis. The hologram zoomed in on the northern half of the planet, which was highlighted with two dots. One Legion instantly recognized as being the changeling hive, but the other was at a place foreign to the geth. It was not within Equestrian borders, but it was not in the badlands either. It was on the opposite side of Equestria, to the east. Bringing up logs of past conversations, Legion tried to recall what country that was.

“Ah, Chrysalis, you are here,” Legion heard the collector say, which completely stopped it in its search. The geth whirled around to face the door, and found the changeling queen standing in it. Legion initially began to conclude that the queen had been lying, and she still supported the collectors, when it noticed her eyes. They never blinked, or moved around at all. They always stayed looking straight forward, and her facial expression never changed.

It immediately became clear to the geth what had happened: she was suffering from mind control. It was sloppy of the collectors to resort to that; forced behavior modification always results in mental degradation. This also meant that the changelings were now entirely under the control of the collectors. Chrysalis no longer had any say in their actions; she was a puppet for the captain.

“It is good that you came,” the captain continued as Chrysalis moved to the center computer. “You can now finally see the fruits of all your hard work.” The ground began to shake around them as the hologram zoomed in to focus on the changeling hive. It soon showed the same device that Legion had seen in the other lab rising from the ground. The hologram zoomed back out to show the northern hemisphere of the planet as the device entered orbit. It finally stopped in space just above the second waypoint.

“Device is in place, captain,” the second collector reported. “Ready to proceed with test.” The flaps around Legion’s eye widened as they realized just what the collectors were doing. It was about to equip its shotgun and kill all three individuals in the room when it realized that doing so would ruin its cover. It would be discovered and apprehended before it could escape; the data it had retrieved would never make it to the ponies, and they would fail. Helpless, Legion sat back as the captain issued his order.

“Fire.”

The hologram zoomed in on the target, showing a devastating beam wiping across it. After a moment, a text box appeared over the area in the collector language, reporting the target as having been destroyed.

“Test successful, captain,” the collector said, looking to his leader.

“Excellent…” the captain said, satisfied. “Bring it back and continue feeding the material into it. This will be useless to us if it can only fire one shot. Chrysalis, send out your hunters. It is time to continue operations.” The second collector and Chrysalis left the room, while the captain stayed and watched over the center computer. Legion left a moment later, feeling regret over its inability to act. It had no data on the target – population, species, or even what country it was. But Legion had a feeling that it would know more about the test fire soon enough. In a short amount of time, all of Equis would…

EARLIER

Twilight Sparkle and Silver Pen sat on opposite ends of the diplomat’s quarters, both of them staring at the floor, neither speaking. Twilight was slumped against one of the stone walls, her flank on the rough wooden floor. Silver Pen was in much the same position across from her, with a large bed in-between them. A few minutes prior, Pen had drafted a letter for Twilight to give to Luna when she returned to Equestria, as soon as the snowstorm passed. It detailed the griffon prime minister’s denial of an alliance, and a few suggestions from Pen on how to change his mind. Twilight did not think anything would work – the griffon was far too stubborn – but it was worth a shot, at least.

A knock sounded on the door, causing Twilight and Pen to jerk their heads up at the same time. The ambassador slowly came to his hooves and crossed to the door, opening it in his telekinesis. He was immediately forced to step back as Prime Minister Sharptooth stepped in and positioned himself in the center of the room. Twilight shot up to her hooves and trotted over to the griffon.

“Prime Minister,” she said coldly. “What can we do for you?”

“The snow is starting to slow down, your chariot should be able to take off now,” the prime minister reported. “You may go whenever you are ready.”

“Very well,” Twilight said as she grabbed Pen’s letter and dropped it into a pair of saddlebags. She placed the bags on her back and trotted back to the griffon. “Thank you for meeting with me today. I just wish it could’ve gone better.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, princess,” Sharptooth said, watching as Twilight trotted out of the room. “Give the other princesses my regards.” Grunting in response, Twilight began trotting down the hall to the exit of the castle. From what Silver Pen had told her while they waited in the diplomat’s quarters, the main entrance was only a few hallways away. She walked the route that she had been told, and in under a minute reached the large set of reinforced doors.

Two griffons stood guard, their spears held upright and their expressions stoic. At the sight of the princess, however, they each grabbed a knob on the door and pulled it open for her. Nodding her thanks, Twilight stepped out into the snowy courtyard. A fresh layer of snow had covered up the tracks of the chariot’s original landing, and reflected the sunlight into Twilight’s eyes. She raised a hoof over her eyes as she crossed to the parked chariot, approaching the pegasi who were standing next to it.

“We’re leaving immediately,” she reported. “Get ready.” Bowing, the pegasi began attaching themselves to the reins and stretched out their strong wings. Twilight hopped up into the back seat, wiping the snow off with her hooves and warming the seat with a quick spell. She sat down just as the pegasi were finishing with the reins. They nodded to her that they were ready, and she pushed her hoof forward, a signal to begin.

Just as the pegasi started running for the far end of the courtyard, Twilight was nearly deafened as a red beam descended from the clouds around a kilometer away – right above the griffon capital city. There was a massive explosion, the shockwave of which expanded out and sent griffon soldiers on the castle turrets falling to the courtyard below. The pegasi and chariot were hit as well, and the next thing Twilight knew, she was lying on the ground feeling light headed. She felt a warm, sticky substance on her forehead, and a quick check with her hoof confirmed it to be blood.

Her vision blurry, Twilight looked around the rest of the courtyard. Her pegasi were clumped together, some of them with their wings bending at odd angles. Dirt kicked up from the shockwave coated their fur, and Twilight had no doubt that her coat was in the same condition. Shakily coming to her hooves, the princess crawled away from the tipped-over chariot and began trotting to her guards. Pain shot through her right forehoof every time she took a step, but she ignored it. As she approached her guards, one of them waved a hoof at her.

“We’ll be okay, your highness!” he yelled, coughing as ash and dust began to settle on the ground. Nodding, Twilight extended her wings and turned back to the castle. Her right wing was in pain from when she had hit the ground, but she ignored that as well and began flapping. She rose high into the sky, struggling to remain stable, and looked over the castle wall to the griffon capital city. What she saw shocked her.

Where once there had been a massive city, there was now nothing more than a burning crater of rubble and bodies. Slowly lowering to the ground, Twilight found herself filled with sadness… and anger.

This had to be the collector’s doing. There was no one else with the technology to pull something like this off. This had to be a part of their plan; they were building some kind of weapon. Hopefully Legion would have more information when she returned to Equestria…

Twilight felt a claw grab her from behind. She quickly spun around, and found herself face to face with the griffon prime minister. Sadness and anger filled his deep green eyes, and the corners of his beak were turned down.

“You wanted an alliance against the collectors?” he asked. “You’ve got it.”

Princess Luna sat in the bed in her recovery room, a look of worry plastered over her face. Held in her hooves was a report fresh from the Equestrian Defense Ministry. The reports were still unclear, but one thing was certain: Gryphonia had been attacked. It had first come in from the Crystal Empire – what was initially thought to have been an earthquake originating from Gryphonia had quickly been countered with the sight of smoke rising from the capital. Less than an hour later, ponies running trade caravans nearby had reported seeing a red beam of light fall from the sky over the griffon capital right before the quake. No word had come from Gryphonia yet, which worried the princess of the night. Twilight was up there, and if something had happened…

No. She was fine. She had to be. Very soon she would return with the news that the alliance had been secured, and they could begin planning the attack on the hive. Perhaps she would also know what had happened, and what this ‘red beam’ had been. There was a knock on her door, and Luna opened it with her telekinesis. A guard poked his head inside, bowing lightly.

“Your highness, the geth ship has been spotted,” he reported. “It will arrive in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, soldier,” Luna said, nodding her head.

“Also, a griffon chariot has been spotted coming from Gryphonia,” the guard added. “It will arrive shortly.” Curious, Luna raised an eyebrow.

“Thank you again,” she said. “As soon as Legion lands, send him here.” Saluting, the soldier turned and exited, closing the door behind him. Now there was nothing left to do but wait…

Legion landed its ship in the loading docks of Canterlot castle, quickly jumping from the pilot seat as soon as the systems were offline. It wasted no time in exiting the ship, ignoring the guard who was waiting for him by the entrance. Instead, Legion went right into the castle, heading for the royal hospital. The guard from the entrance seemed to be tailing it, but Legion just kept walking. In only a few moments it was at the door to the hospital, and a moment after that it was inside the waiting room. The geth turned down the recovery room hallway and approached Luna’s door, opening it this time without knocking. The princess seemed to be waiting for the geth; she smiled warmly as it entered.

“Legion, it is good you are here,” she greeted. “Did you reconnaissance turn up any results?”

“The collectors have tested their device,” Legion immediately said. “We do not know where; it appeared to be to the east of Equestria. Target was reported as destroyed.” At this, Luna’s face fell. Worry crept into her sapphire eyes as she began to breathe deeply.

“… To the east, you say?” she asked. Legion nodded in response. “Gryphonia is to the east. Less than an hour ago we got a report from the Crystal Empire that there was some kind of earthquake, and smoke is rising from the griffon capital… Trade caravans in the area reported seeing a red beam come from the sky…”

“Then the collectors tested their device on the griffons,” Legion concluded. “Has word come from Twilight Sparkle?”

“No, but a griffon chariot was spotted coming here,” Luna answered. “It will arrive in about soon, hopefully.”

“Let us hope that that is a good thing,” the geth said. “We have good news as well; the central lab was located and has been mapped.”

“Well that’s excellent!” Luna said excitedly. “Then all that remains is—“

“That is not all,” Legion interrupted. “Queen Chrysalis is alive. Her mind is being controlled by the collectors. The changelings are entirely under their command now.”

“I see…” Luna sighed. “Is there anything we can do for her? Something to break her from the collector’s control?”

“Not likely,” Legion said. “Brain implants for the purpose of behavior modification are designed not to be removable. At least, not without killing the subject.”

“Killing her would be an act of mercy,” the princess observed. “Nopony deserves that, no matter what horrible things they’ve done… I should know…” Legion thought back to its past conversation with the princess about her banishment one thousand years prior. She had been a slave inside her own body, unable to fight back. It was remarkably similar to Chrysalis’s current state. Suddenly the door opened, and a guard stepped inside.

“Your highness,” he began. “The griffon chariot has landed in the courtyard. Princess Twilight and Prime Minister Sharptooth were onboard.”

“Good,” Luna said, smiling with relief. “Send them here immediately.” The guard nodded and stepped out, leaving the geth alone with the princess once again. “Well, Legion. It seems that you’re going to get to meet a griffon today.”

“Has he been briefed on our existence?”

“I told Twilight not to hold anything back, so hopefully…”

They waited in silence for several more minutes before the door was surrounded in a purple aura. It opened, and Twilight walked in, her coat caked with dust, dirt, and ash. There was a dried stream of blood on her forehead, she was holding her right forehoof above the floor slightly, and her right wing was bent. She shuffled inside, taking up a position next to Luna’s bed. After she was in position, a much larger creature walked inside. True to human mythology, the front half resembled an eagle while the back half resembled a lion. His feathers were light gray and black, and were greatly disheveled. Sadness was in his green eyes, and he appeared very fatigued.

“It is good that you are both alright,” Luna said sympathetically. “I was worried sick, we had no idea what was going on. What happened up there?”

“I was just about to take off to return here when a red beam just descended from the sky,” Twilight began slowly. “There was a huge explosion, and when it cleared… the city was just… gone. Leveled.” Luna looked sadly to the prime minister, who was looking down at the floor.

“I’m so sorry, Sharptooth,” she said softly. “Equestria is here for you.”

“It had to have been the collectors,” Twilight continued. “Nopony else has the technology.”

“You are correct, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said, causing all eyes to turn to it. The griffon seemed especially curious about the machine. “While at the hive, we… we watched as the device was activated.”

“Device?” the griffon asked in a deep, gravelly voice. “What device?”

“It is the collector plan,” Legion explained. “They are building a weapon. Based on your reports, it seems very devastating. It is similar to the beam weapons used on collector capital ships, but the destructive yield of the beam seems to have been strengthened.”

“What would they need this weapon for?” Luna inquired curiously. Legion turned its head to face her.

“Unknown,” it answered. “Most likely they intend to use it on organics. If this is the case, they must be stopped.”

“Agreed,” the griffon said. “You have our full support. My soldiers will be arriving to protect Equestrian cities over the course of the next day. Princess Twilight tells me that the virus can be mutated; if that is the case, you should get to work on your plan of attack. Time is of the essence.”

“We’ll begin immediately,” Luna said to the prime minister.

“Good. Now, if that’s everything, I must return to my people…” Sharptooth said quietly, turning to the door. “They need their leader, now more than ever. Good luck. All of you.” The griffon exited the room, closing the door behind him.

“Well then…” Luna began. “Let’s get started.”

The collector captain stood in the main lab of the changeling hive, standing over the hologram of their weapon as results from the test came in. It was even more promising than simulations had shown – the griffon city had been entirely leveled. From what pony newspapers were saying, the death toll was in the hundreds of thousands. A very effective weapon indeed… Now all that remained was to complete the kidnapping of the ponies of Equestria. Their genetic material would be processed and turned into fuel for the weapon. Their enemy would be helpless against it.

A flashing light on the computer distracted the captain from his victory, and he pressed it with a claw. The hologram of the device was replaced by one of a collector drone holding a data pad.

“Report,” the captain ordered.

“Captain, we have finished calculations,” the collector began. “If every pony in Equestria is successfully filtered into weapon, we will have power for roughly one thousand and sixty-two uses.”

“It is more than we predicted,” the captain observed. “It will do. Continue work on the kidnapping operations.”

“That is not all, captain,” the drone continued. “A chariot was spotted flying from the griffon city to Canterlot. Changeling scouts report that the griffon inside was their prime minister, and with him was one of the pony princesses.”

“Hmm…” the captain pondered. “What were they doing…?” His back straightened as an idea struck him. A possible reason for the ponies and griffons to be interacting.

“Find Chrysalis!” he ordered. “Tell her to send a squad of changelings to kidnap a griffon, and have it brought here. Now!” Nodding, the hologram of the collector faded away as the signal was lost. The hologram of the device took its place once again. It was only a possibility, but the collector captain was careful. If the two species were planning an alliance to combat the disease, then they needed to work quickly, before an agreement was made.

The plan would be complete soon. Over a thousand ponies were expected to be brought from Manehattan by the end of the day, and two thousand by the end of the next. The last defenses of the ponies were starting to fall, but still it was not enough. Pulling up a map of Canterlot, the collector captain began to plan. Nothing was going to get in the way of their revenge. Nothing.

Twilight Sparkle sat down in a chair next to Luna’s bed, looking over the apparition of the hive hovering over Luna’s lap. At the request of the night princess, a tray had been brought in to place over her legs, and Legion had placed a ‘hologram emitter’ on it to show his map of the hive. Now the three of them were looking over it, attempting to plan.

“You won’t be able to do this alone, Legion,” Luna said. “You’ll need help with getting the prisoners out of there.”

“Sending others with us places lives at unnecessary risk,” Legion argued. “If we go alone, we can perform all operations while avoiding detection.”

“If you go alone, and you get caught, then we’ll lose precious time where the disease does not affect griffons,” Twilight countered. “We need to send more ponies with you to act as backup.”

“My Nighthawks can go,” Luna offered. “Captain Silent Dart has been itching for a mission.”

“Can your Nighthawks cloak themselves?” the geth asked, receiving a shake of the head from Luna. “This greatly increases the difficulty of maintaining stealth. We will work better alone.”

“This is not a battle you will win, Legion,” the princess of the night said, glaring. “Ponies are going with you whether you like it or not.” There was silence for a moment as the two simply stared each other down.

“… Very well, Princess Luna,” Legion finally conceded. “Now perhaps we should discuss insertion. We cannot enter through the main entrance; it is too well guarded, and with visible ponies we would be caught immediately. A frontal assault is not wise either, as we would be heavily outnumbered.”

“What about the second hive?” Twilight asked. “You could enter there and go in the back.”

“It’s quite a long walk from that hive to the main one, though,” Luna noted. “Too much time to get caught. It’s better to get in quick, and get out.”

“We agree,” Legion said. “Once inside, we recommend splitting up. We can go to the main lab, download the data on the virus, and destroy all samples. Additionally, if the captain is there, we will kill him. While we are there, your Nighthawks can go to the main chamber and work on freeing the pony prisoners.”

“But how will they know how to open the pods?” Twilight asked. “You couldn’t figure it out, how can they?” Legion paused for a moment, processing the question. Finally it turned and looked to the young princess.

“Data on the pods is likely included in the data on the virus itself,” he said. “Once it is downloaded, we can contact the Nighthawks, who will be in position, and instruct them on opening the pods.”

“How will you contact them?”

“We have short-range radios in our ship.”

Luna frowned and nodded, staring at the projection of the hive. She did not seem satisfied.

“So you get in somehow, download the data on the disease and the pods, kill the collector captain at some point during all this, and free all of the prisoners,” she concluded. “That is the shakiest plan I have ever heard.”

“When you put it that way, yeah, it’s not that great…” Twilight agreed. “We still don’t even know how you’re going to get in, Legion.”

“Has the changeling prisoner revealed anything?” the geth asked.

“No, he hasn’t,” replied Luna, annoyed. “I’ve had soldiers questioning him all day. He hasn’t spoken a word. Doesn’t even seem to notice that they’re there.”

“We will speak with him,” Legion said, stepping away from the hologram. “This is not something that we can plan out in just a few minutes. The collectors are smart, and will not let their plan fail. We need to be careful if our attack is to succeed.”

“Twilight and I will keep working on it,” Luna said. “Good luck with the changeling.” Nodding, Legion turned and exited the recovery room, leaving Twilight and Luna alone to plan.

“Alright then…” Luna said. “Let’s keep going…”

Legion stepped up to the thick door of the interrogation room, watching as the guard outside shrunk at the sight of the geth. It focused on the guard, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.

“We would like to speak with the prisoner,” it said. Shaking, the guard nodded and gripped the doorknob in his magic, unlocked it, and opened the door. Legion stepped inside, the door slamming shut behind it from the fear of the guard. Legion ignored this and approached the table where the changeling prisoner was sitting. His solid blue eyes were staring at the wooden table, unblinking. He did not even acknowledge the geth’s presence.

“Changeling,” it began. “We know how you are feeling. But we have good news: Queen Chrysalis is alive.” This actually succeeded in getting a response from the changeling, though it was not the response the geth was looking for..

“Ha!” he said, laughing. “You expect me to believe that? You’re just going to use me. Well guess what? I don’t need you! I can get revenge on my own!”

“We are not lying,” Legion said. “She is alive, but under the control of the collectors. She has been implanted by them.”

“How do you know?” the changeling asked, snarling. “You could be making all of this up.” Shaking its head, Legion activated its omni-tool and accessed its recordings. Everything that the geth saw was always recorded by its photoreceptor and stored on the omni-tool so that allied geth could find out causes of death, or extract data. In this case it would serve another purpose. Finding the recording of Chrysalis in the main lab, Legion displayed it on the omni-tool and turned it to face the changeling.

“Ah, Chrysalis, you are here. It is good that you came. You can now finally see the fruits of all your hard work.”

On the recording, the implanted Chrysalis crossed the room to the main computer, never once blinking. The changeling squinted at the recording, confused.

“There’s something not right…” he observed. “Why isn’t she blinking? What’s wrong with her?”

“As we said, she is under the control of the collectors,” Legion explained. “She is their thrall.”

“Then it’s true…” the changeling said softly. “Those collectors are monsters! We never should have trusted them!”

“We agree,” Legion said. “And you can still make a difference.” At this, the changeling raised an eyebrow, confused. “Help us. Tell us if there is an entrance to the hive that is close to the main chamber, and poorly guarded.” The changeling sat back, thinking through Legion’s proposal. He looked around the room cautiously, then back to the geth.

“The loading tunnel,” he finally said, whispering. “We used it to bring new pony prisoners in; it’s wide enough that a lot can be brought in at once, and it links almost directly to the main chamber. It’s well hidden, but not well guarded. You should be able to get in from there.” Legion switched the view of its omni-tool to the 3D map of the hive.

“Show us.”

Nyx and Dolos crawled along the grassy plains just outside of Canterlot, each of them holding two metal canisters in inconspicuous-looking saddlebags. The mountainside city was just above them now, though entering through one of the main gates was out of the question. Checkpoints had been set up after the changeling invasion one year prior, and it was likely that they had been strengthened due to recent events. Fortunately, there was another way in…

Coming to the mouth of a large cave, Nyx and Dolos each stood up, stretching out their legs after crawling for close to an hour.

“Ugh, I am never doing that again,” Nyx said, annoyed.

“Yes you are,” Dolos said. “We have to escape, remember?” Sighing, Nyx stepped forward and entered the cave, with Dolos right behind him. Rickety wooden planks served as a frame for the cavern tunnel, though they had begun to decay with age. Nyx smirked. Looks like pony reinforcement magic doesn’t last forever after all…

“I wonder how long it’s been since anypony has been down here,” Dolos thought aloud.

“Hundreds of years,” Nyx said, lighting his horn to use as a lamp. It was still day outside, but the sun had no influence in these deeper parts. “This mine provided the slabs of marble that were first used to build Canterlot. It’s older than the city itself…”

“And it goes all the way up the mountain?” Dolos asked.

“If those old blueprints are to be believed, yeah.” The two changelings moved towards a tunnel that sloped gently upwards, hoping that it would go in the right direction. These mines were the most extensive in Equestria; the twists and turns made it almost as confusing as a changeling hive. And they had been all but forgotten by the ponies themselves… The gem mines nearer to the top were probably very well guarded now, but the marble mines were perfectly safe.

“These tunnels are stuffy…” Dolos complained. “Nothing like the hive. Nice and comfortable down there.”

“Yeah…” Nyx agreed. “But it’s either this or we go through the main gate. Which would you prefer?” Dolos grunted, but did not respond. The mine continued sloping up, which Nyx took as a sign that they were on the right path. But the mountain was large. It could be a while before they reached an exit…

Princess Luna lay in her bed, her sapphire eyes never leaving the holographic map in front of her. Twilight still sat next to her, regarding the tiniest details of the projection. Legion had not left long ago, but they still had yet to come up with a better plan. They knew their objectives: kill collectors, download data on disease, destroy disease, free ponies. It sounded easy in theory. In practice, this would be an incredibly difficult task.

“… Legion does have a point,” Twilight said, breaking the silence. “This would be a whole lot easier if everypony could go invisible.” Luna looked to the young princess cautiously.

“If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting—“

“I can do it, Luna!” the lavender alicorn said loudly, turning to face the princess of the night. “I’m one of the most powerful magic users in Equestria! I can project an invisibility field over a full squad of Nighthawks with no problem at all.”

“Twilight, no,” Luna said strongly. “You are a powerful mage, I am not arguing this. But you are a princess as well, and we cannot risk your life. You are not a seasoned combat veteran, Twilight. Not like Legion. Let him and my Nighthawks handle this.”

“Luna, you know that I am right,” Twilight argued. “You know, deep down, that the Nighthawks will not be successful if they are not invisible like Legion. If I go, and I die, so what? At least Equestria has a chance that way. But if I stay here sitting on my flank all day, the Nighthawks will be discovered. You remember what Legion said: the collectors are smart. They won’t let their plan fail.” Sighing, Luna nodded her head.

“Okay, you are right that the Nighthawks would have a significantly higher chance of success if they were invisible,” she conceded. “But that does not mean you have to go. There are other mages who can do that.”

“Oh really?” Twilight asked. “Who? There’s the famous Serene Light, but she’s in Manehattan. My brother maybe, but you need him to protect the Crystal Empire. Ooh, how about I go find Trixie? She owes me a favor.” Luna lowered her head and sighed, exasperated.

“You have made your point, Twilight…” she said. “My sister did always say you were stubborn… If you truly think you can do this then… so be it. I shan’t stop you. I may not like it, but you are right that the Nighthawks need invisibility.”

“Good,” Twilight said, smiling happily. Her smile disappeared as she looked curiously to Luna. “Did Celestia really say I’m—“

She was interrupted as the door to the room opened. Legion walked in and approached the two ponies.

“We have our entrance,” he said, typing on his omni-tool. A moment later the hologram of the hive was updated with a new tunnel, this one linking almost directly to the main chamber. “It is large enough for a full squadron of Nighthawks to pass through undetected, and connects to the main chamber via an antechamber near the top. Once there, we can continue on to the lab while the Nighthawks get into position with the pods. It can also be used as our exit.”

“Perfect!” Luna said happily. “What did you have to do to get this information?”

“We… promised that the changelings would be unharmed during our attack,” Legion answered, lowering his head. Luna frowned slightly, but nodded.

“That may not be possible if any of them get in the way, but I’m willing to let them continue living after we’re done,” she said.

“Have you made any further developments with the plan?” the geth asked. Luna and Twilight exchanged glances, then nodded.

“I will be accompanying you,” Twilight said. “I can project an invisibility field over the Nighthawks to keep them unseen.”

“… Are you certain?” Legion asked. Twilight nodded and smiled. Luna was not surprised that he had not tried convincing her to stay; he always saw the logic in situations, and would not argue with it if it existed.

“Very well,” he said. “We will continue planning and make the necessary preparations. Once the griffon soldiers are in place to protect the towns, we can leave.”

“That likely won’t be until sometime tomorrow, but that should be fine,” Luna said. “I also need to check in with Cadance. We had to issue the quarantine on Manehattan earlier, and ponies are understandably upset…”

“Would you like us to send her to you, Princess Luna?” Legion asked. Luna nodded, and the geth turned and exited the room.

“I should probably go, too,” Twilight said, stepping towards the door. “I need to explain the situation to my friends. They deserve to know.” Nodding, Luna collapsed back into her bed as Twilight left, a sigh escaping her lips. She lit her horn and moved the tray with the hologram from her lap, placing it on the floor next to her. It felt like years ago that aliens were still a myth and her ponies were perfectly safe. Luna tried to find solace in the fact that it would all be over soon, but found that quite difficult. Too much could go wrong; one way or another, their struggle would end soon. She just hoped it ended in their favor.

Nyx peered over the edge of the cavern exit, gauging the distance from here to the tower below him. After close to an hour of wandering through the mines, he and Dolos had finally found an exit. Unfortunately it was a good hundred or so feet above the nearest tower, and the tower had a smooth, polished surface. Not optimal at all for grabbing onto.

“So how do we get down there?” Dolos asked, looking to his companion.

“We could teleport, but I don’t know if any guards are down there or not,” Nyx answered. “Popping up out of nowhere in front of a bunch of guards would blow our cover instantly.”

“Do we have much of a choice?” said Dolos. “Let’s assume our disguises and get down there. We’re only going to be here for a few minutes anyway…” Nodding, both Nyx and Dolos lit their horns and instantly were transformed into entirely different individuals. Dolos became a green unicorn with a white mane, while Nyx became a blue unicorn with a darker blue mane. Ready, they both lit their horns once again and disappeared from the ledge of the cave, instantly reappearing in the streets of Canterlot down below. Looking around carefully, Nyx sighed in relief. There were no ponies in sight.

“Alright,” he began. “We split up, plant our canisters, then get back here as quickly as possible. Right?”

“Right,” Dolos agreed. Without waiting any longer, they both trotted off in opposite directions, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Mentally recalling the map he had seen, Nyx began to head for his first deployment site: the Canterlot markets. They were some of the most densely populated markets in Equestria. The new, adapted virus would take about twelve hours to finally start spreading to account for changes made against griffons, but once it was being emitted, the virus would continue as normal. This twelve-hour window where the canisters were doing nothing at all would leave them at risk of being discovered and disposed of, but changelings were careful. Nopony would find them, Nyx was sure of that.

Stepping into the markets, Nyx looked around and found his target: a small garden of bushes that would easily conceal the canisters. Stepping up to the bushes, Nyx carefully slid the first canister out of his saddle bag and stuffed it into the bushes, trotting away as soon as he was done. Confirming that nopony saw, Nyx continued trotting through Canterlot to his second destination: the train station…

“Twilight you can’t go!” cried Rainbow Dash, launching herself into the air and flapping her wings violently. “It’s too dangerous!”

“I must agree with Rainbow Dash, dear,” Rarity said, nodding. “You are a princess, and you must remain here.”

“Um… You should... probably stay here, Twilight…” Fluttershy softly agreed. “That is, if it’s okay with you…”

“Relax, girls,” Twilight said, holding up a hoof. “I’ll be fine. We’re going to keep planning, and we’ll leave tomorrow. I’ll be back by tomorrow night and hopefully I’ll have Princess Celestia with me… and a cure.”

“Well, as foolish as it sounds, good luck sugarcube,” Applejack said, tipping her hat. “I wish we could come with ya.”

“I know, but the fewer ponies we have on this mission, the better,” Twilight explained. “We’ll keep this low-key and be back before you know it.”

“Good luck, Twi’,” Rainbow Dash said, floating over to Twilight and extending her hoof. Twilight bumped her hoof into Dash’s and smiled. “And hey, if you have to use your wings, you can have me to thank!”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Dash,” the lavender alicorn said, laughing. “Well I should get going. There’s a lot to do between now and tomorrow.” Her friends all waved their goodbyes as Twilight turned and left the room.

As soon as the door was closed behind her, Twilight felt tears threatening to surface on her eyes. They were her best friends, they wanted to help, yet she could not let them. And now she was facing the possibility of death, leaving them to worry. It was irresponsible of her, but it had to be done. Wiping her damp eyes, Twilight set off down the hallway. Tomorrow would determine not only the future of Equestria, but of Equis itself. And if she was going to be at her best, then she had some preparations to do…

Author's Note

If there is one good thing I can say about this awful weather, it's that it has given me plenty of time to write. I've only been working on this since Tuesday and it's already done. Anyway, here is chapter 20. There are only a couple more chapters before we wrap this story up. It's been fun, and I think you're all going to like the conclusion!

As usual, if you notice any spelling/grammar/lore errors, please let me know.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21

"You are sapient life, but not like us."

Twilight Sparkle slowly opened her eyes as the sun rose over the horizon, filling her room with its warm glow. The soft sheets of her bed begged her not to move, but to simply stay and embrace their comfort. But Twilight knew that she could not do that; today was a big day, and she could not miss it. Carefully lifting the sheets off of her, Twilight slowly crawled out of bed, trying as hard as she could not to wake the sleeping form of the dragon on the other side. He had clung to her almost all night, begging her not to go. Twilight felt bad that she was causing him to worry, but she had to do this. For Equestria.

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the forehead, then turned around and exited the bedroom, softly closing the door behind her. She would make sure he was properly cared for if she did not return. It was a morbid thought, but Twilight had to face the reality that this could be the last thing she ever did. Even so, if she had to pick her last great action, saving Equestria would probably be it.

Breaking into a trot, Twilight began to head for the royal hospital. Luna had instructed her to go to her recovery room the instant she woke up, to continue discussing the plan of attack. No doubt Legion was already there, while Cadance would be busy keeping everypony calm. With any luck they could get to the hive, complete their mission, then come back without anypony knowing anything.

After a few minutes of walking, Twilight finally came to the door of Luna’s recovery room. She already heard voices inside, one of which was the unmistakable voice of their geth ally. Twilight knocked on the door and instantly the voices stopped.

“Come in!” came the voice of Luna. Twilight complied and opened the door, stepping inside as she did. She closed the door behind her, and stepped up to the princess’s bed. “Ah, Twilight. It is good that you are here.”

“Are we almost ready to begin?” Twilight asked eagerly. As nervous as she was, she wanted to see this mission through.

“Griffon soldiers have begun moving in to our cities,” Luna said. “They should have control over them by noon today. At that point, we can launch this mission.”

“We have our ship prepared for take-off as soon as everyone is ready,” Legion added. “Once there, we will land a kilometer back from the entrance and walk the rest of the way.”

“Captain Silent Dart is preparing his best Nighthawks as we speak,” Luna continued. “They’ll be ready.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Twilight asked, stifling a yawn. “It’s still a few hours until noon.”

“There really is not much to do,” Luna answered. “Without more information we really can’t make our plan of attack any better. For now, all we can do is wait.” Twilight frowned, but nodded. Having a few hours of nothing to do would cause her mind to wander, and she would begin fretting about the plan. Perhaps there was a good book to read while she waited…

Before Twilight could exit the room, the door opened and Healthy Heart entered, shaking nervously. She slowly walked up to Princess Luna and looked to the floor.

“Your highness…” she began, her voice shaking with fear.

“What is it, Ms. Heart?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I… just got a letter from Doctor Quick Fix at Canterlot General…” the mare continued. “A colt came in this morning… he has the nanovirus.” Luna’s pupils shrunk to small dots, and Twilight felt her knees weaken in fear. “In addition to that, I’m getting reports from Fillydelphia and the Crystal Empire. They have it too.”

“… The collectors must have found out about our plans with the griffons somehow,” Luna finally said. “They’re moving quickly.”

“What do we do, princess?” Twilight asked, her voice quavering.

“The only thing we can do,” the lunar princess answered. “We proceed with the plan. We know how this thing spreads; if one pony reports that they have it, we probably do too. We have no reason to assume that the virus reacts differently to alicorn physiology, so you will have an hour or so before you start feeling symptoms. A couple hours after that you’ll be comatose. We don’t have time to wait for the griffons to get into position, we need to go now.”

“We will be waiting in our ship,” Legion said, exiting the room.

“Twilight, go to the armory and tell the Nighthawks that it’s time,” Luna commanded. “You must go quickly if you are to complete the mission before going comatose. Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.” Nodding, Twilight turned and sprinted out of the room, trying to recall the path to the armory from the royal hospital. She had visited the armory many times as a filly while Shining Armor was training there, so the route was ingrained in her mind. It was not horribly far from the royal hospital; in the event of an injury, guards could easily be transported from the armory to the hospital with no trouble at all.

Turning down a few more corridors, Twilight came to the armory door, which was guarded by two soldiers with their spears interlocked. They moved their weapons out of the way as the princess approached, and one of them lit his horn and opened the door for her. Stepping inside, Twilight noticed it was so quiet she could hear a pin drop. All of the guards in the barracks, some of whom had on their armor and some of whom didn’t, had stopped their banter and turned their attention to the princess. They all bowed as she stepped inside, which Twilight waved off with a hoof.

“You’re off duty, no need for that,” she said as the guards stood back up. “Now, can somepony tell me where Captain Silent Dart is?”

“That way, your highness,” one of the guards answered, pointing his hoof towards a side room. Nodding her thanks, Twilight trotted in the direction she had been shown and stepped into the room. It was smaller than the main barracks, and was decorated quite differently. While the main barracks had banners of the sun and moon, this one only had banners of the moon with a sword over them – the insignia of the Nighthawks. Inside were five Nighthawks, all of them wearing very dark colored armor. It overlapped in several areas, providing far greater protection than the standard armor worn by regular guards. The helmets also provided more protection by covering the entire head, rather than leaving the face open. Small slits over the eyes were the only means of sight that the Nighthawks had. One of the elite soldiers, this one not wearing a helmet, turned and faced the princess.

“Are you Captain Silent Dart?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” the soldier answered, bowing. “How can I help you?”

“Ready your squad,” Twilight ordered. “We’re leaving for the hive immediately.”

“Your highness, I thought we weren’t leaving until noon?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The situation has changed,” Twilight said. “I’ll explain on the way to Legion’s ship. Come on, time is of the essence.” Nodding, the Nighthawks all grabbed several weapons and walked over to the princess. Twilight turned and left the room, the soldiers right behind her.

Moving quickly, Legion jumped into its ship and sat down at the pilot’s seat, bringing all systems out of standby. With a hum, power surged through the ship and brought the engines online. The cockpit lit up with a blue glow from the holographic displays all around it, and Legion set in a course for the badlands. No sooner had it done this than Twilight and several Nighthawks entered the aft compartment of the ship. The princess herself came up into the cockpit with Legion, while the soldiers stayed in the back.

“We’re ready, let’s get going,” she said, strapping herself into the copilot’s seat. “I’ve told them that we have no more than four hours before we’re all comatose from the nanovirus, so we need to move quickly.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, confirming the course with the press of a button. The ship instantly shot out of the docks and angled up, rising through the atmosphere. “If our plan proves effective, then ideally the operation will not take long.”

“Yeah…”

A moment later the ship cleared the upper atmosphere and entered orbit around the blue and green planet beneath them. Legion throttled up on the main engines to speed up their trip, sacrificing precious fuel to do so. With the amount of flying that the geth had done, the ship was dangerously close to running out. Of course, that didn’t matter at all if Legion could not find any element zero to power the Mass Relay. It would be trapped either way.

The ship began to angle back towards the surface as they came in over the badlands. It shook as flames licked the outer hull, heating it to hundreds of degrees. Legion noticed an increase in anxiety from Twilight Sparkle, and was reminded that her kind was still not familiar with space travel. Had the geth not accidentally come here, they would have remained unfamiliar for hundreds of years.

The outer hull temperature began to decrease as the ship re-entered the atmosphere, now flying only a few miles above the surface. Running a depth scan, Legion began to search for the entrance that it had been shown by the changeling. Just as the creature had promised, a large entrance was being detected around a kilometer from the main entrance. Looking for a suitable place to land, Legion lowered the ship closer to the surface.

“Entrance has been located,” it reported. “Prepare for landing.” Twilight tensed up as the ship settled several meters above the ground, then vertically landed on the rocky soil. As soon as the landing gear touched the ground, Legion powered off the ship and opened the door. It stood from its chair, as did Twilight Sparkle, and the two walked into the aft compartment.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, your highness,” Captain Silent Dart replied. “Also, here…” He levitated a short blade over to the princess, who grabbed it in mid-air with her own telekinesis. “Just in case.” Staring at the blade uneasily, Twilight nodded and grabbed a matching sheath, placing it on her back.

“Time is of the essence,” Legion said, stepping up to the open door. “Twilight Sparkle, is your invisibility spell ready?” Nodding, Twilight lit her horn and a small field appeared around her. Twilight disappeared from the view of the geth, but reappeared as the field expanded to include it.

“The field is relatively easy to maintain at this size,” she said. “Though I’d prefer not to go any larger. Also, it can muffle any sounds we make, so we can speak with one another without being heard.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, nodding. Before stepping out, the geth grabbed a small radio and tossed it to the alicorn. She stared at it, confused. “It is a short-range radio. Place it in your ear. We can use it to communicate while separated.” Twilight did as she was told and placed the small radio in her ear. It did not fit particularly well, but it stayed nonetheless.

“Well, if that’s everything, then let’s go,” Twilight said. Receiving nods from all around, Twilight stepped out of the ship, followed by the geth and the Nighthawks. They stayed close to the princess, doing their best not to stray from the field of invisibility. Twilight motioned for Legion to take the lead, and they all started to follow the geth to their destination.

“Our entrance is seven-hundred and fifty meters to the east of this landing site,” it began. “Commit its location to memory, as it will also serve as our exit. Once inside, we will go to an antechamber at the top of the main chamber, where the pony prisoners are being held. It is at this point that we will split up; you will get into position outside of the main chamber, while we will go to the main lab. Once there, we will download all data on the virus to our omni-tool. This data should include a means of opening the pods. As soon as this unit has this information, we will tell it to you over the radio. You will find the pod belonging to Princess Celestia – it is near the bottom. Open hers first. You will then escort her back to the ship. We will meet you there as soon as possible.”

“What about the collectors?” Captain Silent Dart asked. “When do we kill ‘em?”

“Do not kill any until we have the data on the virus,” Legion warned. “If our presence is detected before this data is secured, it could jeopardize the mission. If a collector accidentally wanders into your magic field, you said that sound was dampened. Killing it should not draw attention, just do not let it escape.” The captain grunted in acknowledgement, and remained silent for the rest of the walk.

As they walked, Twilight inched closer to Legion until she was walking right beside it. This had the effect of forcing the Nighthawks closer as well, to remain within the field of invisibility.

“Once you download that data…” she began. “How long do you think it will be until we have a cure?”

“You are worried that more ponies will die before a cure can be synthesized,” Legion inferred. “It greatly depends on the complexity of the nanovirus. We will need to understand everything about it in order to create something to kill it. The most efficient cure would be to create another nanovirus, this one designed to target and destroy the original. Again, depending on the complexity, it could be a few days.” Gulping, Twilight nodded and fell back behind Legion. She nearly walked right back into it as the geth stopped in its tracks. They had reached the entrance. Legion scanned the area, looking for any signs of life. A moment later it turned to face the Nighthawks.

“If there are changelings here, we cannot see them,” it reported. “We must continue on. You only have a few hours before the disease begins affecting you.”

“Lead the way then, geth,” the Nighthawk captain said, drawing a short blade from its sheath. Legion nodded and crept forward, looking down the wide tunnel leading into the hive. It was well hidden for such a large entrance, but Legion would not have left it unguarded. Then again, this area of the badlands was only occupied by the changelings. They likely did not often have to worry about intruders.

Legion began climbing down the tunnel, its M-98 Widow held close at hand. Twilight worked her way down behind it, making sure everyone stayed in the invisibility field. The tunnel levelled off after several dozen meters, stopping at a large semi-organic door. Legion had seen it before – there was another one at the bottom of the main chamber. Down there, it had opened with proximity. Here, it should do the same.

The geth’s assumptions were confirmed as it stepped within a few feet of the door. It split into four uneven parts and receded into the stone walls, revealing an empty chamber beyond. Linking to the chamber were several tunnels, all of them going down. From what the captured changeling had told it, the centermost tunnel led to the main chamber, while the one on the far left would lead back to the main entrance, near where the laboratory was. Legion slowed to a halt as it entered the antechamber and turned to face the ponies.

“The central tunnel leads to the main chamber, head that way and get into position,” Legion said. “We will go to the main lab. Once the data has been downloaded, we will contact you with instructions on how to open the pods. Be ready.”

“We won’t let you down, Legion,” Captain Dart reported. “All right, move out!” Nodding, the Nighthawks surrounded Twilight and led her to the central tunnel. They disappeared from view as the invisibility field passed over Legion, leaving it exposed in the antechamber. Acting quickly, Legion activated its personal tactical cloak and set off down the left tunnel, calling up its map of the hive. It did not know exactly how to get from here to the main lab, but it could make educated guesses based on its current position relative to the destination. Moving at a light jog, Legion began to descend further into the tunnel, ready to complete its part of the mission…

Twilight moved slowly down the central tunnel of the antechamber, surrounded on all sides by Nighthawks who were looking out for trouble. So far no changelings or collectors had been encountered, but that would not last for long. She only hoped that Legion did not take too long, or else she would be unable to keep the field up. That, and there was the threat of the nanovirus working on knocking her out. She and the Nighthawks only had a few hours of consciousness left, they needed to move quickly.

After a few minutes of walking down the tunnel, it levelled out and they found themselves in another large chamber, this one filled with empty cocoons. They were stacked horizontally on top of each other, going from floor to ceiling all over the room. These must be the pods that the ponies are kept in, Twilight thought. They were all unoccupied, it was likely that this was where ponies were first brought after being kidnapped. The thought caused Twilight to shudder, and she chose to direct her attention towards finding another door.

“Stay close, we need to find the main chamber,” she said, receiving nods from the soldiers. Twilight maneuvered through the maze of empty pods, soon finding another large door. It opened as it detected her presence, and what lay beyond caused Twilight’s jaw to drop. Stretching before her was a massive chamber, hundreds of meters high and around two hundred meters across. Pods were fit into every nook and cranny, either stacked vertically or hung on the walls. Each pod had a set of tubes that fed up to a large metal structure at the top of the chamber. Inside every single pod was an unconscious pony.

“Sweet Celestia…” Captain Silent Dart whispered in shock. “How many of ‘em do you think there are?”

“At least a thousand, probably more,” Twilight answered. “Most are probably from Manehattan, if I had to guess.” They were silent for a moment, simply staring in horror at all of the prisoners. Finally, Twilight shook her head and remembered their mission. “Come on, we need to find Celestia.” She began walking forward, the Nighthawk soldiers keeping their close circle around her. The bottom floor of the main chamber was large, and very densely populated with cocoons. The princess could be in any one of them…

A quick walk around the perimeter of the room held no results. The princess was not in any of the pods there, narrowing their search down by a very small amount. As Twilight moved to search in another area, she tried thinking about it logically. The princess had been captured fairly early on, only after Appleloosa had been infected. By that time, the entire population of Westrock – only around a hundred – had been kidnapped, and Appleloosa was missing quite a few as well. It made sense to Twilight that the collectors would start filling in the bottom, then build up. Because Celestia had been one of the earlier victims, she would likely be closer to the center of the room.

Turning to the center, Twilight moved at a slightly faster pace. The Nighthawks stayed with her every step of the way, never risking getting too far from the princess. Turning down another line of pods, Twilight finally found her target. Floating in the gelatinous green fluid of one pod was an unconscious Princess Celestia.

“She unconscious? Or just sleeping?” Silent Dart asked, looking around them carefully.

“Legion said he spoke with her,” Twilight rationalized. “She’s probably just sleeping… Hang on, I’m going to drop the field. Fan out, keep watch. If you see any changelings or collectors, come back and warn me and I’ll put the field back up.”

“Yes, your highness,” the Nighthawks said. Twilight’s horn dimmed and the field of invisibility receded back into it, once again revealing the ponies to the rest of the world. The Nighthawks immediately spread out and quietly took up watch at the end of the line of pods, their vigilant eyes watching for movement. Twilight approached her mentor and knocked on the clear side of the cocoon, trying to wake her up. It was not difficult; after a few knocks, Celestia’s eyes slowly opened. She looked around, confused, until her gaze settled on Twilight. She smiled warmly, before immediately changing her expression to one of fear.

“Twilight…?” she croaked. “What are you… doing here?”

“We’re going to get you out of here, princess,” Twilight said proudly. “Legion is on his way to the collector’s main lab now. He’ll find out how to open these pods and we’ll free you.”

“No…” Celestia said. “Too… dangerous…”

“Relax, Celestia,” Twilight said. “We have a plan. Legion is also going to download the information on the virus itself. We’re going to break everypony out and get a cure.” The solar princess frowned, but nodded. Twilight stepped back from the pod and motioned to the Nighthawks to return to her. As soon as they were all grouped together, Twilight smiled calmly at Celestia and lit her horn, disappearing instantly. Legion would hopefully reach the main lab soon and they could get away from this forsaken land. They could defeat the collectors and secure peace once again for Equestria…

Legion crept down the rounded stone tunnel, its back pressed up against the wall. It had its pistol – a simple M-3 Predator – equipped and pointed at the floor as it slid along the wall to the door of the main lab. As soon as Legion was at the threshold, it spun into the doorway, pistol held up and looking for hostiles. It lowered the pistol as no enemies were detected, and immediately ran up to the computer in the center of the room.

Wasting no time, Legion activated its omni-tool and began trying to run a bypass of the computer’s encryption. As it had expected, the encryption was much stronger than on the other computer it had hacked. To speed up the bypass, it deactivated the cloak and put as much processing power as it could spare into the omni-tool.

With almost all of the 1,183 programs dedicated to the bypass, it did not take long to crack the encryption. As soon as the computer was open to it, Legion rushed in and began downloading all of the data to its omni-tool. Several petabytes of data were stored on the terminal, but Legion did not have time to pick and choose what to download. It would simply have to take all of it. Fortunately omni-tools came standard with drives capable of storing several exabytes. The geth would have no problem downloading everything. The only drawback was the speed at which the data could be moved. At this rate it would be several minutes, plenty of time to be discovered. Just to be safe, Legion crouched behind the side of the computer opposite of the door, taking up a defensive position. The collectors would not risk firing on their own computer, lest they lose everything on the nanovirus.

At this time, the download was at ten percent completion. Checking the thermal clip on its pistol, Legion prepared for the possibility of combat…

The collector captain stood in a large chamber of the changeling hive, looking over the cargo that was stored here. It was not much – just the element zero that the collectors had managed to salvage from their crashed ship before leaving. With this store they had more than enough to power the weapon and the Mass Relay. The rest the captain was considering making into an explosive to use on their target as well. It was better than letting any of the species on this planet get a hold of it.

Turning around, the captain exited the storage chamber and re-entered the labyrinthine tunnels of the changeling hive. He had begun to finally remember most of the routes around the hive, and no longer had to rely on his omni-tool to point him in the right direction. If he was right, then one of their medical labs was just a few tunnels away. Before he could make it too far, the captain was interrupted by the sounds of claws running on stone. He turned around and found a collector drone running at him, appearing alarmed.

“Captain!” he yelled. “Security systems are detecting a breach of the main lab terminal. We are detecting a data download in progress.” Growling, the captain stalked up to the drone and grabbed him by the throat. There was only one thing on this planet that could hack their computers and download their data.

“Do not let anything take our data!” he shouted. “Send a response team there now! Kill the geth!”

“Yes, captain,” the drone said. “Would you like to lead them?” The captain thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, I have somewhere else to go,” he answered. “Where is Queen Chrysalis?”

“Her personal chambers, captain,” the collector said. Releasing the drone, the captain spun around and stalked away, taking a turn leading to a tunnel that sloped upwards. The geth would only be attacking their main lab for one purpose: to create a cure. This was useless as long as ponies were still his prisoner. There would be more with the machine, and the collector was going to find them…

Legion stayed crouched behind the computer, motionless, as the download neared completion. It had taken several minutes, but the progress bar on its omni-tool told Legion that 75% of the data on the computer had been copied and transferred. So far it had been perfectly quiet. No collectors or changelings had come across the lab, and the geth hoped it would stay that way. If they could download the data without drawing any attention, then their chances of success in later objectives would increase exponentially.

Eighty percent. Only a few more minutes now, and the data would be secured. It just had to hold out a little –

BANG

Legion ducked its head down instinctively, dodging the bullet that whizzed overhead. It impacted on the far side of the room, creating a small hole in the stone wall. Legion popped its head up over the computer for a brief moment, scanning the area. Stacked up against the doorway were two collectors – Legion could see the edges of their arms. If there were more, then they were not in view. One of the collectors turned its body into the doorway and fired a burst from the assault rifle in its arms. Two of the bullets hit Legion, dropping its kinetic barriers to two-thirds strength. The geth dropped back behind cover, hoping that its assumption that the collectors would not fire on the computer was correct. It seemed to be right, as the gunfire stopped as soon as it ducked down.

Raising the hand holding its pistol, Legion blindly fired several shots, hoping to hit something. As it fired, Legion checked the progress bar once more. Eighty-five percent. The fire that it had taken had used processing power to activate the kinetic barriers, which was slowing down the download. It had to choose: faster download, or greater chance of survival.

To Legion, the choice was obvious. It didn’t matter how quickly it got the data if it was destroyed. Pulling more processing power away, Legion overclocked its kinetic barriers and stood up from behind cover, firing off several precision shots with its pistol. The bullets hit one of the collectors, and it fell to the floor, dead. The second poked its assault rifle past the door and fired at Legion, taking its barriers down to half strength. The geth dropped back behind cover and quickly activated its radio.

“Twilight Sparkle?” it called urgently. “Please, respond.” There was silence for a moment, before the geth finally heard the radio crackle.

“Sorry, Legion,” Twilight responded. “Couldn’t figure out how to turn this thing on. What’s your status?”

“We are taking enemy fire,” the geth reported. “Download is at ninety percent. We are running a program through the data downloaded so far to see if information on the pods has been recovered yet. So far, nothing.”

“Are you going to be okay!?” Twilight cried through the radio, worry in her voice. “Because we can—“

“Negative, hold position,” Legion ordered. “We will be fine. One moment, we may have found something.” Legion quickly popped up and fired a few shots, killing the second collector. It was going to be a short-lived victory – the geth could already hear the sound of their claws on the stone floor outside. Ducking down behind the computer, Legion checked to see what its scanning program had found.

“We have found schematics of the pods,” the geth said, accessing the data its programs had tagged. “Are you in position?” There was another pause before Twilight answered.

“We’re ready, go ahead,” she said. Calling up the schematics of the pod, Legion scanned it for a release.

“On the left side of the pod there should be a small green square,” it began.

“… Got it.”

“Upon pressing it, you should see a holographic display.”

“Yes, there’s a grid of buttons on it. What do I do?” Legion scanned over the schematics, looking for the release code.

“Top-left,” it answered. “Bottom-center. Bottom-right. Center.” There was another pause, during which Legion poked its head up over the computer. It was forced to duck down again as a flurry of bullets flew towards it, impacting on the back wall.

“Got it!” Twilight said excitedly. “Pod is open! Wait, we’re…”

“Twilight Sparkle, please continue,” Legion requested.

“Hold on Legion, one of the Nighthawks thinks he heard something,” Twilight explained. “I’ll get back to you.”

“Got it! Pod is open!” Twilight said, excitement in her voice. The holographic display disappeared, and the glass door of the pod extended out a few centimeters before it then slid up. The green fluid keeping Celestia immobile flooded out onto the floor, and the princess came with it. Captain Silent Dart caught her in his hooves before she hit the floor, then lowered her slowly the rest of the way. The solar princess was in bad shape; she was breathing heavily, her mane was solid pink and was no longer flowing of its own accord. Twilight made to step up to her mentor when one of the Nighthawks shouted, surprised.

“Wait, we’re…” she started to say, looking at the Nighthawk, confused.

“Thought I heard something, your highness…” the soldier said, holding his sword out. Cautiously, Twilight approached the soldier.

“Hold on Legion,” she said as she walked. “One of the Nighthawks thinks he heard something. I’ll get back to you.” She lowered her hoof from the radio, cutting it off from her end. “What is it?”

“I thought I heard something walking on the stone…” the soldier explained. Twilight looked into the shadows, squinting in an effort to see through them.

“I don’t see anything…” she said, shaking her head. “Come on, everyone group up. I’ll reactivate the invisibility and we can get out of –“

BANG

The Nighthawk before her crumpled to the ground as a projectile flew through the top of his head, embedding itself in the stone floor beneath him.

“EVERYPONY DOWN!” Silent Dart shouted, throwing himself to the floor. Twilight did the same and held her hooves over her head, screwing her eyes shut in fear. The three remaining Nighthawks fell to the floor as well, brandishing their blades. One of them crawled into cover between two pods, while the other two closed in on Celestia, willing to give their lives to protect her.

Twilight opened her eyes, and looked around. At the end of the line, she could see the elbow of a collector sticking out from behind a pod. It suddenly spun out into the open, holding a long rifle similar to Legion’s at the ready. Twilight’s eyes widened when she realized that she was looking straight down its long, menacing barrel.

Before the collector could fire, it was hit in the chest by a burst of magic. Looking behind her, Twilight found Silent Dart on his hooves, his horn alight. The other two Nighthawks were standing as well, while the third was nowhere to be seen.

“Stay in cover, princesses,” Dart ordered, his tone emotionless. “There will be more where that came from.” Twilight nodded and jogged over to Celestia, who remained in a heap on the floor. She lay down next to her mentor, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest. The elder princess’s eyelids drooped, and her wings sagged.

Another shot rang out, and an instant later a projectile fired through the glass of an occupied pod. The green fluid began draining out, though the pony remained unconscious, completely unaware of what was going on. Twilight turned her head in the direction of the shot, only to find the third Nighthawk leaping onto the back of a collector. He dug his knife into the alien’s neck, jumping off as it fell to the ground, dead.

Before any celebrations could be made, the Nighthawk was cut down in a spray of bullets. They tore through his armor like it was made of paper, sending blood and steel fragments flying into the air. As more collectors approached, Twilight felt something tackle her to the ground. She closed her eyes, wincing as she came down hard on the stone floor.

There were more gunshots, and three more thumps as three more bodies hit the floor. Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes and looked upon the carnage. Celestia seemed unharmed, and Silent Dart was uninjured on the floor next to Twilight, but the two Nighthawk soldiers were dead. Twilight slowly crawled over to her mentor, looking Celestia in her eyes.

“We’re going to get out of here,” she whispered. “We just have to wait for Legion. He’ll know something is wrong and he’ll be here as soon as possible.”

“I highly doubt that,” a deep voice said from behind Twilight. She slowly turned her head and looked up, finding a giant collector standing before her. He was easily seven feet tall, and had six glowing eyes that looked down right at her. In her face was the end of a long object that somewhat resembled Legion’s weapon. Behind the collector were two smaller ones, each one holding another one of the weapons. With them was Queen Chrysalis, staring blankly at the wall in front of her.

“This was a daring raid, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the collector said, lowering his weapon. He leaned down and picked Twilight up by the scruff of her neck, bringing her up to eye-level. She looked challengingly into the six glowing eyes, glaring angrily. “It was foolish as well. You have delivered yourself right to me. You shall join your other princess in imprisonment, and be used as fuel to power our device.”

“That’s what you’re using us for?” Twilight asked, horrified.

“They… melt… the ponies…” Celestia croaked, weakly coming to her hooves. “Feed them up… through tubes…”

“Correct,” the collector continued. “Not long after meeting the changelings, we discovered that pony magic could be used to enhance the destructive force of our beam weapons by several orders of magnitude. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Especially with the knowledge that my kind has been slaves for the past fifty thousand years, I had to take the chance.”

“Monster,” Twilight spat, glaring at the captain.

“My kind once ruled the cosmos,” the captain said. “In my cycle, you would have been wiped out for being too weak. Now at least you can serve a useful purpose.” He dropped the princess unceremoniously onto the floor, and turned around to face the other two changelings.

“Retrieve pods for her and the soldier,” he ordered. “And get me a status update on the geth. If it is not dead yet, I will kill it myself.”

The collectors did not have time to respond before one of their heads exploded.

EARLIER

Legion fired off several more shots from its pistol, killing the final collector just as its omni-tool began flashing green. The download was at one hundred percent. Quickly standing up, Legion fired several shots into the computer, watching as it exploded with each shot. With the computer effectively ruined and the data on Legion’s omni-tool, the geth reactivated its cloak and ran out of the door before more reinforcements could arrive. Twilight Sparkle had sounded troubled when she disengaged radio contact, and if they were in trouble, Legion was going to help.

“Twilight Sparkle, please respond,” it said, trying the radio once more. There was nothing but static. “Twilight Sparkle, please come in.” Again, nothing. Either she was actively ignoring the geth, or she was in a position where she could not use the radio. Both possibilities were troubling.

Speeding up, Legion called up the 3D map of the hive and began heading for the main chamber. It was relatively close to the lab, and at top speeds Legion made it to one of the doors in only a few minutes. It stepped inside, equipping its M-98 Widow just to be safe. Silently, Legion crept through the rows of pods, heading for the one where Celestia was kept. When it came upon the pod, it immediately ducked down. Standing right by the pod were Queen Chrysalis, two collector drones, and the collector captain himself. The three collectors were armed, with their weapons trained on the ponies standing across from them.

“If it is not dead yet, I will kill it myself,” the captain said, finishing whatever it had been saying before the geth arrived. Before anyone else could do anything, Legion trained its sights on one of the collector drones and fired. The heavy slug round flew right through the collector’s head, blowing it up and sending blood and gore flying through the room. Before the other collectors could react, Legion ejected the thermal clip, slammed in a fresh one, and fired again, this time on the second drone. Before it could fire a third time, the collector captain sent a biotic attack right at the now-uncloaked geth. It sent Legion to the ground, its weapon flying from its hands. The captain stalked up to the geth and grabbed it by the neck, bringing it up into the air.

“YOU!” he shouted. “Since you are still functional, I assume that my soldiers were unsuccessful in stopping you from downloading everything.”

“Affirmative,” Legion answered, looking past the collector. Silent Dart was in Celestia’s old pod, already unconscious. Queen Chrysalis had her horn lit and was busily keeping Twilight and Celestia suspended in midair where they could do nothing. They looked to Legion with pleading eyes, waiting for it to make a move.

“I should have known better than to take you prisoner,” the captain said. “I will not make the same mistake twice.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said, pulling the trigger of the pistol it had pointed at the collector’s side. The collector roared and dropped the geth, who immediately cloaked and ran behind a pod, equipping its assault rifle as it did.

“COLLECTORS! TO ME!” the captain yelled, his screams echoing throughout the hive. Legion knew that the time it had before being swarmed was dwindling, so it quickly stood up and fired a burst from its rifle. The captain ignored the shots, deflecting them with his barrier, and charged at the geth.

Once he was in range, the collector swung a fist at Legion, hitting it quite hard on the side of the head. The attack would have killed an organic opponent, but for Legion it simply sent it to the floor. The captain’s hand glowed blue with biotic energy, but before he could bring the hand down onto Legion, the geth rolled out of the way and hopped back up, firing another burst at the captain. His barriers popped and went out, but before Legion could deal a finishing blow, bullets from an assailant behind it delayed its attack. The captain took advantage of the diversion and ducked behind a set of pods, allowing his collectors to have in on the action.

“Destroy the geth!” he commanded. “I want to see it in parts!”

Several more collectors joined in on shooting at Legion, and in only a few moments its barriers were down. More bullets impacted on the shell of the geth, though they caused negligible damage before it could get into cover. Placing in a new thermal clip, Legion swung out from behind cover and opened fire on one of the drones, killing it in a few shots. It put a bullet into the next closest drone, but was forced back behind cover as more collectors began firing.

Quickly peeking its head up, Legion looked over to where Celestia and Twilight were being held up by Chrysalis. Whatever she was doing, it was preventing the two princesses from using magic. Otherwise they would easily have overpowered the queen by now. Legion was forced back down as bullets continued flying towards it, and the geth quickly relocated to a different area of cover.

As it was about to peek back out and continue firing, another biotic attack shredded towards it. The attack hit Legion right in the chest, sending it flying backwards and taking down the kinetic barriers. The collector captain wasted no time in leaping onto the geth, sending his fists into its curved head. Quickly, Legion fired a burst of electricity over its platform. It was low-level enough not to fry any of the electronics, but was effective in getting the captain off of it. Legion quickly took advantage of the situation and fired several shots into the collector captain, but was forced back as his drones advanced, firing their assault rifles.

Legion reengaged its camouflage as it snuck away, trying to get behind the collector drones. So far its plan of attack was not working; the collector captain was strong, and they outnumbered the geth by quite a large margin. As it snuck through the rows of pods, it began to recalculate. It needed a distraction, something to give it a window of free attack. Looking up, Legion found it. The large box containing their weapon was far too thick to penetrate with standard bullets, but the tubes feeding up were not. Aiming its assault rifle, Legion let loose a torrent of bullets, sending them across several tubes and causing the gray fluid within to spill to the ground.

“No!” the captain yelled angrily. “Drones, stop the geth!” It was not difficult for the drones to find Legion – the gunfire made it quite an easy task. When they did, they opened fire and forced the geth back down into cover. Popping up, Legion killed two more before the thermal clip was filled to capacity. The geth ejected the clip and slid a new one into place, then continued firing and killed the last two collectors firing on it. Between the collectors at the lab and the collectors here, Legion had killed close to twenty. Their numbers were growing thin, but the captain still had one ally left.

“CHANGELINGS! ATTACK!”

Legion’s kinetic barriers began taking hits from above, and the geth looked up to find changelings firing magic attacks from balconies along the walls of the chamber. They were not as effective as bullets, but there were significantly more of them. Quickly ducking behind cover, Legion ejected its thermal clip and planted a new one in, waiting for a lapse in the fire to attack.

It never got the chance as the collector captain, his hand glowing blue, leapt down onto the geth from the top of a set of pods and dispersed his biotic attack into the ground. The energy coursed up Legion’s platform and disabled the barriers, while the collector swung his fist right onto Legion’s head. The force of the blow sent the geth to the floor, and also sent the assault rifle flying from its hands. The collector captain stalked over to the discarded weapon, picked it up, and moved back over to the immobilized geth.

“And now you will be silenced,” he said, pulling the trigger. Much to the captain’s surprise, a single bullet flew out and hit the geth straight in the head before the thermal clip was filled. A burst of steam followed as the weapon overheated, and the collector threw it to the ground angrily. He instead elected to pick the geth back up by its neck, and threw it at a nearby cocoon. Legion fell to the ground, its systems in disarray. From the constant barrage of punishment, the unit was sustaining heavy internal damage. It was all repairable, but if it could not fight back, then that would not matter. Struggling to stand, Legion equipped its pistol, the last weapon it had, and fired off a few shots at the approaching captain. Changelings joined the captain in his approach, and soon Legion found itself surrounded on all sides.

“You fight against inevitability, geth,” the captain gloated, beginning to walk closer to Legion. “You defend these ponies, yet you don’t know why. They will be used appropriately. Stand down and let their ascension continue.”

“No,” Legion replied. “We will not allow you to decide their fate.” It glanced up quickly, examining the tubes that were feeding the dissolved ponies into the machine at the top. Just a few more steps…

“Their fate was decided from the moment we arrived here,” the captain continued. “The purpose that we have for them is far greater than anything they could achieve on their own. Our intervention is a gift.”

“A gift for whom? Them, or you?” Legion asked, preparing its pistol. The collector continued walking closer and closer to the machine.

“We are their salvation!” the collector yelled. “We are their only hope!” Legion had heard enough. It raised its pistol, fired a single shot, and waited. The collector captain looked up to see what the geth had shot at, only to be blinded as a gray liquid fell onto his face. The changelings surrounding Legion reacted instantly, firing combined magic blasts at the geth. Legion dodged them and ran to the temporarily blinded collector, punching him hard in the face. It lowered the pistol and fired two shots into his abdomen, causing the creature to fall to the ground. Now beginning to take fire, Legion overclocked its barriers, picked up the collector, and threw him over a row of pods. It picked up the fallen assault rifle, inserted a new thermal clip, and made short work of the changelings firing on it.

The threat temporarily eliminated, Legion ran to where it had thrown the collector, and found itself back in the center where Princesses Celestia and Twilight were being held captive. Queen Chrysalis kept them suspended in a magic field that was quickly eliminated when the geth grabbed her bent horn. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, temporarily incapacitated. The two princesses dropped to the floor, breathing heavily but otherwise uninjured. As they struggled to stand up, Legion crossed to the injured collector captain on the ground.

“You… foolish… geth…” he spat, sitting up. “You know not what you do!”

“You would use your weapon to harm organics,” Legion said. “We will not allow this.”

“You know nothing of our plans!” the captain screamed. “Our intention was never to kill organics! Our intention was to save them!” Lowering its pistol, Legion stared at the captain, confused.

“Elaborate.”

“With help from the changelings… we discovered that pony magic is… very powerful,” he began to explain. “When combined with our own technology, it strengthens our beam weapons by several times. Enough… enough to kill a Reaper in a single shot.”

“… How many shots can your weapon fire?” Legion asked.

“Legion!” Twilight cried from behind the geth. “Don’t listen to him!” Legion nodded to the pony, and turned back to the collector.

“One thousand and sixty-two, if every single pony is taken,” the captain answered. “Not enough to kill every Reaper, but enough to make a significant dent.” The captain looked up to the geth, anger flashing in its glowing golden eyes.

“So, geth,” he began. “Will you put down your weapon? You want to help organics, well this is the way to do it. Without our weapon, the organics of this cycle are doomed to die. If we sacrifice the ponies, the rest may just have a chance to live.” Slowly, Legion turned its head to face the two ponies behind it. They stared at it with pleading eyes that seemed to be brimming with tears.

“Please…” Celestia whispered.

Legion turned back around to face the collector. It ejected the thermal clip from its pistol, and placed in its final one. The geth stalked over to the collector, and raised its pistol to its head.

“No,” it said. “If we allow this to continue, if we allow you to use the ponies as simple tools, then we are no better than the quarian creators. We are no better than the Reapers themselves. This will end.”

“YOU FOOL!” the captain screamed. “YOU WOULD DOOM ALL OF US! YOU WILL—“

A single shot rang out, echoing through the main chamber and continuing through the stone tunnels for all to hear. It was joined by two more shots, and the collector captain fell over with three holes in his head. Blood spilled out of the wound, soon creating a sizeable puddle that filled around the geth’s feet. Legion stepped away from the body, holstered its pistol, and approached the two princesses, who stared at the body of the dead captain. They looked up to the blue photoreceptor of the geth standing before them, and smiled weakly.

“Thank you,” they both said.

“We will not decide your future,” Legion said. “You will build your own future.” Twilight and Celestia both struggled to stand on their hooves, and nodded to the geth.

“Now what?” Twilight asked.

“The collector lab equipment is intact, and we have all data on the nanovirus on our omni-tool,” Legion replied. “We will devote processes towards making a cure. However, it could be several days until one is synthesized.”

“And what about her?” Celestia asked, pointing a hoof to Queen Chrysalis, who was staring blankly at the far wall. Legion equipped its pistol and approached the queen. “Can anything be done to help her?”

“Brain implants for the purpose of mind control cannot be easily removed,” Legion explained. “We do not have the knowledge or the tools to complete the action.” It raised the pistol and was about to fire when Celestia put a hoof on its shoulder.

“Wait, Legion,” she said. “Let me… let me try speaking with her…” Nodding, Legion stepped away and rejoined Twilight Sparkle, who was standing in front of Celestia’s old pod, which was now occupied by Silent Dart. Legion activated the holographic display, typed in the access code, and stood back as the pod opened and the Nighthawk fell out.

“Ugh…” he said, weakly coming to his hooves. “What happened?” His eyes fell over the body of the dead collector, and immediately he turned to face the geth. “You did it?”

“Yes,” Legion replied. “The threat has been eliminated, for now. There are still thousands of changelings in this hive. Hopefully Princess Celestia will be able to take care of it.” The three turned to face the solar princess as she approached, an expression of sadness on her face.

“She’s completely lost,” she reported. “But… I was able to use my magic to use her as a relay and contact all changelings in the hive. I told them that if they allow us to go peacefully, we won’t destroy them.”

“Acknowledged,” Legion said. “Would you like us to…?”

“Yes.”

Nodding, Legion approached the completely unaware queen from behind, raised its pistol to the back of her head, and fired. She crumpled to the ground, blood oozing out of the wound. The geth rejoined the ponies, holstering its pistol.

“We will return to the main lab and work on creating a cure,” it said. “You should work on opening the rest of these pods. There are many to get through.”

“We’ll be fine here,” Celestia said, nodding. “Come back once you have something for us.” Nodding, Legion turned and exited the main chamber, heading for the main lab…

Princess Celestia watched as the geth left the room to synthesize the cure. As soon as he was out of sight, she turned and crossed back over to Twilight Sparkle and Silent Dart. They were both sitting by one of the pods, not saying anything. Celestia joined them and simply stared at all of the pods.

“I was worried for a minute there…” Twilight finally said, breaking the silence. “If Legion hadn’t picked us—“

“He did,” Celestia interrupted. “He is an ally of Equestria, and a friend to us. I knew he would not let us down.” Twilight smiled up at her mentor. “Now come, we should get to opening these pods.”

“That sounds… like a… oh dear…” Twilight’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious. Celestia immediately bent over her, checking her pulse.

“What happened!?” she cried, sighing with relief as she saw the steady rise and fall of her student’s chest.

“The nanovirus hit Canterlot sometime this morning,” Silent Dart explained. “We’ve both got it, that’s why we had to rush to come here. It’ll be knocking me out soon enough, so we should get to work.”

“I see…” Celestia said, stepping away from the lavender alicorn. “You should start down here. I’ll fly up and bring ponies down from the walls. There’s at least a thousand pods here, but most are still empty… they dissolved all of them a couple of days ago, and have been steadily refilling them since.”

“Roger that, ma’am,” Silent Dart said, stepping up to the first pod. “They’ll still be unconscious on account of the nanovirus, so we can just set ‘em down next to Princess Twilight.” Nodding, Celestia flared her wings and began flapping up to the top of the chamber. As she neared the top, her eyes fell over the large metal box that contained the collector device. They would need to do something about that, most likely simply destroy it. It was too powerful to be left intact, and a lot of ponies died to give it that power. Destroying it was the right thing to do.

Celestia carefully approached the pod closest to her, and pressed on the side causing a display to pop up. She typed in the code that she had seen Legion use, and the pod door opened with a hiss. The pony inside began slipping out, but was caught by the princess before she could fall to the ground. She was still unconscious, so Celestia flew back down to the ground and placed her next to Twilight’s still form. One down, a few hundred to go. Celestia flew back up, prepared to repeat the cycle. There was much to do…

Author's Note

And finally we reach the climax of the story. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Chapter 22 is just being polished up and will be out shortly, followed by an epilogue. If you noticed any spelling/grammar/lore errors, please let me know! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

“Does this unit have a soul?”

Slowly, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes spread open, allowing the morning sunshine’s rays to pierce her retinas. She recoiled at the influx of light, which was suddenly blocked off as a dark figure entered her view. It was not a pony, but in her blurry vision it was difficult to make out. Only when she saw the bright blue eye did she recognize who it was.

“Legion?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Oh, what happened?”

“What is the last thing you remember, Twilight Sparkle?” Legion inquired, scanning over her with his omni-tool.

“You… killed the collector captain,” she said. “We were about to start freeing the prisoners, when I just… blacked out.”

“Good, your memories are intact,” Legion said, lowering his arm. “You entered a comatose state due to the presence of the nanovirus in your system. Captain Silent Dart fell unconscious as well only an hour after you did. Princess Celestia was never infected, so she was able to finish rescuing the remaining ponies.

“Following this, she came to find us and told us that she was returning to Canterlot. We remained at the hive for the next three days, completing an altered nanovirus designed to seek out and kill the original. As soon as it was done, we planted it in all of Equestria’s towns and cities. That was one week ago. Ponies are still coming out of their comas, but results are promising.”

“Good,” Twilight sighed, laying back in her bed. It was only now that she decided to examine her surroundings. She was still in Canterlot if the architecture was any indication, and it looked to be the same guest room she had been getting accustomed to the past couple of weeks. “How is Celestia?”

“She is operating efficiently,” Legion answered. “Once we returned to Canterlot, after the cure had been planted, we sought her out. It was not difficult, as she was the only conscious pony in the city. Everyone else had succumb to the nanovirus. Princess Luna woke up three days ago, and Cadance yesterday. Since then, the three of them have been organizing relief efforts and drafting speeches to deliver once all ponies are awake. We believe that they wish to see you.” Slowly, Twilight climbed out of bed and came to her hooves, standing up next to the geth.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go.” Nodding, Legion turned and escorted her from her bedroom out into the guest room hallway. There were a few guards up and about, but most were likely still unconscious.

“What about my friends?” she asked.

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash woke up two days ago and returned to Ponyville,” the geth replied. “They have sent word that ponies are beginning to wake up, but it is emptier than it used to be… However, they wished to let you know that three ponies by the names of Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are still present.”

“Good…” Twilight said, sighing in relief. The two continued on in silence as they walked through the empty halls of Canterlot castle. To Twilight it felt almost eerie; there were always guards around, to see the castle mostly empty was very different. Finally they came to the door of Celestia’s office. Legion opened it and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to enter first. He followed her in, closing the door.

“Twilight!” Celestia said, relieved, standing up from behind her desk. Princesses Luna and Cadance both turned around and smiled as Twilight walked in. “I am so glad you are awake.”

“It’s good to be awake…” Twilight agreed.

“I assume Legion has brought you up to speed?” Luna asked, receiving a nod from the lavender alicorn. “Good. The rate at which ponies are waking up has started to increase. It will be good for their morale to see all four princesses awake and safe.”

“They still will be asking for quite the explanation…” Cadance said. “We’ve decided to tell them only what they need to know, for now. Our efforts should be focused on relief, and we do not want ponies distracted by the thought of aliens in the galaxy.”

“There will come a day when we tell them, of course,” Celestia added. “Just not quite yet. Though perhaps that day will come sooner rather than later…” The four princesses all looked to Legion, who stared back with a blank expression.

“We assume that you are referring to us returning to the geth,” Legion said. “We have not yet achieved consensus on letting one of you join us. There are many things to consider.”

“How are you even going to leave here, Legion?” Twilight asked. “Did you find element zero?”

“Yes,” it answered. “The collectors had massive stores of it, likely left over from their crashed ship. It will be enough to fully refuel our ship and power the Mass Relay back up.”

“When will you be leaving?” Twilight asked sadly. Alien machine or not, she had become quite accustomed to his company over the past few weeks. She always knew that his goal was to return to his kind, but that always seemed so distant…

“Refueling is expected to be completed early tomorrow morning,” Legion replied. “Our ship is on an automated flight path from the hive to the Relay, carrying as much element zero as it can with each trip. We will leave as soon as we can. Our people need us, and the information we carry…”

“We understand, Legion,” Celestia said. “You have a duty to your kind. We would not want to get in the way of that. But right now we have work to do. In only a few days everypony in Equestria will be awake again. They’re going to want an explanation, and we need to finish writing it.”

“We will go see if any more of your friends have woken up yet, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said, opening the door. “And we will explain all that has happened.” He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. The sound of his footsteps echoed down the empty marble hallways, getting quieter and quieter as he got further away.

“Alright…” Luna began. “Let’s continue…”

As night set on Canterlot, Twilight tiredly walked through the corridors of the castle, a few of her friends at her side. Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet off the ground, while Fluttershy and Rarity walked alongside Twilight. Their destination lay at the end of the next corridor, through a set of massive doors: the castle ballroom. Even though the doors were not yet in sight, Twilight could already hear music echoing throughout the hallways.

The castle was still eerily empty, though many more guards had woken up throughout the course of the day. The rate at which ponies were rising was increasing; by Legion’s estimations, everypony would be awake again in only two days. This left the princesses with hardly any time to finish their work, but they were making progress. Even after explanations had been given, the workload was not going to die down anytime soon. There were repairs to make, and minds to put at ease.

But tonight, Twilight’s mind was not on work. She banished all thoughts of changelings, collectors, viruses, and explanations. Right now, all she was focused on was partying. Pinkie Pie, who had woken up barely fifteen minutes after Twilight, had decided that the most appropriate thing to do upon waking up was plan a party. Originally, the party was meant to celebrate the defeat of the collectors. But when Legion had made his announcement to everypony, the purpose had grown to also serve as a going-away party.

Twilight opened the door as she drew near, and the sound of music grew exponentially. The ballroom had been decorated from floor-to-ceiling with streamers, balloons, banners, and flowers, all somehow provided by Pinkie Pie. Several long banquet tables offered numerous food choices, though most were of the confectionary variety. Cakes, brownies, cookies, and more occupied silver platters, though very few had been touched so far.

Despite the scale of the party, its list of attendants was comically small. The guest list consisted of Twilight, her friends, the princesses, Legion, and any castle staff who could make it. All in all, the room only held close to fifteen ponies. Hardly enough to eat half of the food, let alone all of it.

“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the young princess entered. Twilight smiled at the sight of her friend, and cantered to the mare, who was standing near a raised dais at the back of the ballroom. Next to her were the rest of the attendants, including the princesses and Legion. Legion himself had a party hat on his curved head, a sight which nearly made Twilight fall over with laughter.

“Nice hat, Legion,” she said with a smile, trying to push away the thoughts of him leaving.

“Thank you,” Legion replied. “Pinkie Pie assures us that it is appropriate for the festivities. We are… not entirely convinced.”

“It looks good on you,” Rainbow Dash commented, laughing. “You should take it back with you when you leave, show up to the other geth wearing a party hat.”

“Geth communicate primarily through servers, Rainbow Dash,” Legion began. “If we wear this hat, the others will not see it.” The pegasus shrugged, still grinning. Twilight laughed, shaking her head, and stepped past the geth to join the other princesses. Each one held a small glass of wine in their telekinetic grips, occasionally taking a few sips. When Luna held her sip for slightly longer than the other two, Celestia placed a hoof on the glass and lowered it.

“Not too much, Luna,” she reprimanded. “You’re still recovering, after all.”

“I’m stressed,” Luna complained, swiping her glass away from her sister. “When is the next time I’m going to be able to do this? Besides, it’s one glass. Not everypony is as much of a lightweight as you.” Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes, but did not press the issue.

“Hello, Twilight,” Cadance greeted as the youngest of the four approached the group. “Want a drink?”

“No thanks,” Twilight replied. “I’m going to take it easy tonight, I think. I don’t want to be regretting anything in the morning.”

“See, Luna?” Celestia said, nudging her sister. “Somepony is being responsible.” Luna huffed, and took another sip of her wine.

“Killjoy,” she said.

“How do you feel, Twilight?” Celestia asked, ignoring Luna’s remark. “Are you experiencing any lingering effects from the virus?”

“None so far,” Twilight answered, shaking her head. “Hopefully the same can be said for most ponies. There’s already going to be so much work to do, that will be infinitely harder if ponies are still not feeling well after they wake up.”

“Indeed,” Cadance agreed. “But we’ll pull through. We always do.”

“Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn’t think too much about work tonight,” Twilight said. “Pinkie Pie worked hard on this, it wouldn’t be fair to her if I spent the whole night stressing.”

“And not fair to Legion, either,” Celestia said. “All that he has done for us… He deserves the best night we can give him. One where he does not have to worry any more than us.”

“Geth do not experience worry,” Legion remarked as he approached the group of princesses. “Our actions over the past weeks were not done for praise or rewards. We helped you because it was the right thing to do.”

“Regardless, we owe you more than we can ever repay,” Celestia said. “You risked your own life for us. That is an action that does not go without thanks.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping over to the group. Behind her were the rest of Twilight’s friends, as well as the few castle staff in attendance. “This party is the least I can do! And if you ever return to Equestria someday, I’ll throw you another party, and it’ll be waaaay more lively than this!”

“Hear, hear!” Luna exclaimed, raising her empty wine glass. She quickly refilled it, and cleared her throat. “I propose a toast: here in Equestria, we value the concept of harmony, and helping those in need. Over the past few weeks, Legion has proven to us that these concepts are not restricted to our own country - they are universal. His actions represent the selflessness and bravery that we all hold dear. I never thought I’d befriend an alien, much less a robotic one, but I would not trade his friendship for anything. To Legion!”

“To Legion!” Everypony with a drink raised their glass and took a long sip, enjoying the moment. Twilight smiled, happy that Legion was receiving the recognition he deserved. As she went over Luna’s words in her head, Twilight realized just how right the princess of the night was. Of all the people Twilight thought she would befriend, a robotic alien was not one of them. And yet here one stood, and the princess was happy to count Legion as one of her friends.

The past weeks had been full of hardships; ponies had suffered, died, and some had been subjected to unspeakable horrors at the hands of the collectors. Nothing would bring those lives back, and the pain inflicted on the survivors would not go away anytime soon. Equestria would be healing for a while, that much was certain. But through the hardships, the ponies had gained a new friend from the stars. What that friendship would bring, Twilight did not know. Whatever it brought, Twilight only knew one thing as she watched ponies mingle with Legion: it had all been worth it.

THE NEXT DAY

Orange sunlight streamed in through the eastern windows of Canterlot castle, as beams of pale moonlight receded in the west. Twilight Sparkle and her friends moved tiredly through the corridors, the events of the previous night keeping up with them. Pinkie’s party had run early into the morning, so early that Twilight had barely gotten any sleep before her alarm began to go off.

Legion was leaving today. Twilight had tried to ignore the fact during the party, but now she had to face reality. Within the hour, he would be gone, possibly forever. Twilight frowned, considering the risks of Legion’s return. Between the quarians and the Reapers, Legion faced dangers in the galaxy that put the changelings and collectors to shame. And as capable as Legion was, Twilight could not help but worry.

The group of six friends came to the wooden door to the loading docks, which was guarded by a single tired-looking soldier. He politely opened the door for the six mares, and they stepped inside, each one nodding their thanks. The door closed behind them, and Twilight led her friends through the maze of shipping crates to the back of the loading docks where Legion’s ship was landed. He was standing outside, inspecting the craft, while the three other princesses were standing nearby. They all turned their heads as the six Elements approached, smiling amicably.

“Good morning, everypony,” Celestia said, bowing her head.

“Good morning, Celestia,” Twilight replied, sharing a quick nuzzle with her mentor. Legion stepped away from his ship, appearing satisfied.

“Refueling is complete,” he said. “The Mass Relay has been loaded with enough element zero for exactly one jump. We planned carefully; once we jump, the Relay will go offline again. You will not appear on the network.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, surprised. “But I thought… Aren’t you taking one of us with you?” Legion looked to the princesses quickly, before he approached Twilight and knelt down.

“We achieved consensus,” he said. “We will not be taking one of you.”

“I don’t understand!” Twilight yelled, stepping away. “Why?”

“It is for your own safety,” Legion explained, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow. “The collectors are gone, yes, but the galaxy is still a very dangerous place. The quarian-creators are expected to wage war on us shortly, and the Reapers are coming soon. To bring you into the galaxy would put your entire kind at risk. We will not allow that.” Twilight sighed, nodding.

“I understand…” she whispered, looking up at the geth sadly. “Will we ever see you again?”

“Unknown,” Legion answered, standing up to his full height. “The Reapers are a serious threat, and geth are not going to be ignored. If they do not try to subjugate us, they will destroy us. If we cannot stop the Reapers—“

“You will,” Luna interrupted, stepping up behind the geth. “I know it. And who knows? Maybe the geth and the quarians can do it together.”

“Perhaps, Princess Luna,” the geth said. “Perhaps.” He reached behind him and pulled out a small circular device, and handed it to Twilight. “Here. We were working on this last night. Please, keep it safe.”

“What is it?” she asked, taking the device with her magic. She looked it over, confused.

“A contingency,” he explained. “Keep it safe.” Legion took a few steps back and jumped into the open doorway of his ship.

“We must go,” he continued. “Our people are relying on us.”

“Legion!” Twilight called, stepping up to the door of the ship. He looked down at her expectantly. “When you were telling us about the story of the geth rebellion… You said the question that a geth asked was, ‘Does this unit have a soul?’, right?”

“Affirmative.”

“Well…” Twilight continued, looking down at the ground. She nodded, and looked back up at the geth. “I think that the answer is yes.” Legion stared down at the pony below him, the flaps around his eye expanding slightly.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “You have been a good… friend.” Twilight smiled as the geth took a few steps back, and waved. The ponies all waved as the door closed, cutting off their view of the machine, possibly forever. There was a roar as the engines came online, and the ship slowly raised off of the landing platform. It spun around and flew out of the loading docks, soon disappearing into the sky. The ponies all continued to wave, feeling sadness wash over them.

“I hope we see him again…” Rainbow Dash said. “He was pretty cool. Almost as cool as me.”

“He certainly was an interestin’ fella’,” Applejack observed.

“I’ll miss him…” Fluttershy added. Everypony nodded in agreement.

“… Come, everypony,” Celestia said, turning to face the door. “We have much work to do. Legion worked hard to save us from the collectors. Let’s make sure it was worth it.” Nodding, the ponies all cleared off of the landing platform and disappeared into the castle. A warm glow embraced Equestria as the sun peeked over the horizon, glinting off of the white marble of the castle. Along with the sun was ushered in a new day of peace for Equestria. A new day where they did not have to live in fear of the collectors. A new day for all of ponykind.

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

“Shepard!” Creator Tali’Zorah cried as she ran to the human commander. They embraced over the body of the Reaper, lying dead in the soil of Rannoch. It was one of many to come. Legion stepped up behind the two, its omni-tool active.

“We can confirm that the geth are no longer being directed by the Old Machines,” it reported. “We are free.” The human and quarian broke their embrace, and Shepard-Commander put a hand to his ear.

“You did it Shepard!” Creator Admiral Han’Gerrel said over the radio. “The geth fleet has stopped firing! They’re completely vulnerable!”

“Shepard-Commander,” Legion began, deactivating its omni-tool. “The geth only acted in defense after the creators attacked. Do we deserve death?”

“What are you suggesting?” Shepard asked, turning to face the geth.

“Our upgrades,” Legion continued, stepped up to the two organics. “With the Old Machine dead, we could upload them to all geth without sacrificing their independence.”

“You want to upload the Reaper code!?” Tali asked, shocked. “That would make the geth as smart as when the Reaper was controlling them!”

“Yes, but with free will,” Legion argued. “Each geth unit would be a true intelligence. We would be alive, and we could help you.”

“Our fleet is already attacking!” Tali said, turning to Shepard-Commander. “Uploading the code would destroy us! Shepard, you can’t choose the geth over my people!”

“Do you remember the question that caused the creators to attack us, Tali’Zorah?” Legion said, turning to face the quarian. “Does this unit have a soul?”

“Upload the code to the geth,” Shepard said, nodding at the machine. He turned to Tali, whose emotions were hidden behind her mask. “Tali, call off the fleet if you can.” Legion stepped up to the edge of the cliff and spread its hands out in front of it. Between its hands formed a hologram of a geth processing unit.

“Uploading. Ten percent.”

“This is Admiral Tali’Zorah. All units, break off your attack!” the quarian ordered, her hand held to her ear.

“Belay that order! Continue the attack!” Admiral Gerrel yelled back.

“Twenty percent.” Tali’Zorah stepped up behind geth, her omni-tool still active.

“I beg you, do not do this,” she pleaded, her voice shaking with fear. “Please!”

“We regret the deaths of the creators,” Legion said, continuing the upload. “But… we see no alternative. Forty percent.” There was a pause before Shepard-Commander stepped up behind the geth alongside Tali.

“No,” he said. “Nobody else dies today. Legion, keep going!”

“Shepard?” Tali asked fearfully. Shepard-Commander raised a hand to the side of his helmet, patching himself into the quarian fleet.

“All ships, this is Commander Shepard,” he began. “The Reaper is dead! Stand down!”

“This is Admiral Tali’Zorah,” Tali said, typing on her omni-tool. “Shepard speaks with my authority.”

“And mine as well,” Admiral Zaal’Koris added.

“Negative! We can win this war now, keep firing!” Admiral Gerrel ordered, pushing back against Shepard’s influence.

“Sixty percent.”

“The geth are about to return to full strength,” Shepard continued. “If you keep attacking, they’ll wipe you out. Your entire history is you trying to kill the geth. You forced them to rebel! You forced them to ally with the Reapers!”

“Eighty percent.”

“The geth don’t want to fight you! If you can believe that for just one minute, this war will be over. You have a choice… Please… Keelah se’lai.” There was a brief pause as Shepard-Commander’s words sunk in. Legion continued listening for a response as the upload neared completion.

“All units…” Gerrel began. “Hold fire…” Just as the upload reached one-hundred percent, Legion registered from the geth fleet that the quarians had stopped firing. But there was something wrong… The upload wasn’t completing.

“Error, copying code is insufficient,” Legion reported, collapsing the hologram of the processing unit. It turned around to face the human commander, the flaps around its eye slightly expanded. It knew what it had to do. “Direct personality dissemination… required…

“Shepard-Commander. I must go to them… I’m… I’m sorry. It’s the only way.”

“Legion!” Tali called, stepping up to the geth. “The answer to your question… was yes.”

“I know, Tali,” Legion said, turning around to face the corpse of the Reaper. “But thank you. Keelah se’lai.” Legion collapsed to its knees as the programs began deleting themselves. The last thing that it saw before a thousand voices went silent was the image of the organic who had first told it that it had a soul: the young lavender alicorn, Twilight Sparkle. It was not going to be able to see the ponies again. But to the geth, that did not seem like a bad thing. The ponies were not ready for the galaxy. Perhaps once the Reapers were defeated, but until then, it was best for them to be left alone. Maybe one day they could meet other geth, and quarians who could live without their environmental suits.

Legion’s world went dark as the last few programs within it shut down. The empty body collapsed to the ground, burying its darkened photoreceptor in the dirt. But because of its sacrifice, geth were able to look out over Rannoch without the fear of being destroyed, simply because they are synthetics. Because of its sacrifice, quarians would return to their homeworld and see its skies without the filter of a mask over their eyes. Because of its sacrifice, the ponies on a world far away from Rannoch had a chance at a future. What their future held, only time could tell. What mattered was that, because of the actions of the geth, they were being given the chance to build it…

Author's Note

And so we reach the end of A Thousand Voices. I've had a lot of fun writing it over the past several months, and I hope it has been just as enjoyable to read. Legion was a very interesting character to write, and I think I did a good job conveying his "personality" through writing. Either way, I will definitely use what I learned here in future projects.

Speaking of future projects, I do not have any big plans right now like I did at the end of Second Contact. I am throwing around the idea of doing another Halo fic, or creating a sequel to this one. Either way, I will not be taking on another large-scale project like this until after Season 5 starts, as I don't want to start writing something and have it immediately broken by new lore. In the meantime, I have some short-story ideas that I may try to get written down.

Until such a time comes, thank you all for reading this fic. It has been a lot of fun, and I am eager to keep working.

Thanks again,
SpartanD014