Twilight and Fluttershy raced through the woods, having passed an area strewn with the remains of timberwolves and strange, tiny metal objects. As they approached a cliff, Twilight saw several patches of burned ground, with a large one directly in the center of them all; whatever they were, they’d fought an alpha and had been smart enough to use fire. As she approached the ashes, however, the charred scent hit her nose and she reeled from the sudden flashback, her mind filled with explosions, fire, and burning timber. Twilight scuttled back, hyperventilating and Fluttershy rushed to her side, rubbing her back.

“Take slow, deep breaths.” She said softly. “It’s okay, there’s nothing here.”

“I-I know, thanks Fluttershy.” Twilight replied, regaining her composure. “I’ll be fine. I think the aliens went into the Palace of the Twin Sisters, though. We have to find them before they find the Tree of Harmony.”

“Yer darn sure we do.” Came a country voice and Twilight and Fluttershy turned to see an orange earth pony wearing a stetson come trotting out of the forest, a snoring blue Pegasus draped over her barrel.

They were her friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were followed almost immediately by a violently pink earth pony named Pinkie Pie and a bed–draggled Rarity. Pinkie dashed over to Twilight and was both hopping and shaking violently.

“What are all of you doing here?” Twilight asked, dumbfounded. “I didn’t think anypony else noticed the ship come down!”

“We didn’t, darling.” Rarity replied, and then indicated the energetic pink pony. “Pinkie just suddenly showed up at each of our houses and made us follow her into the forest because-”

“Because my Pinkie Sense told me that we’ve got funny–looking new space friends we have to go meet, like, right now!” Pinkie Pie interjected quickly, her mouth working quickly to fire off the sentence as fast as possible, as if she was hopped up on too much sugar. “And it’s gonna be a real doozy, too; even doozier than that doozy I had when you tried to figure out how Pinkie Sense works and that was one hayuva doozy!”

“And when did Rainbow Dash decide to go back to sleep?” Twilight asked, and the rest of the girls (except Pinkie) gave a slight cough.

“She, uh… she didn’t, Sugarcube.” Applejack replied, and then glanced awkwardly at Pinkie. “When Pinkie came ta get us up, Dash was sleepin’ like a log and Pinkie was luggin’ her around like a foal with a doll. Not even gonna think about how Pinkie got ta Dash in the first place.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and poked the sleeping Pegasus a few times, causing the speedster to mumble and roll over on Applejack. The farmpony rolled her eyes and promptly bucked Rainbow Dash off her barrel and onto the ground. The jolt from the landing immediately woke the pegasus up.

“Huh, wha… where…” Rainbow Dash looked around blearily, and then confusion crossed her muzzle. “What the…? Uh, why are we in the Everfree Forest?” Then her eyes sharpened and she stood quickly, looking around. “Wait, how am I in the Everfree Forest?! I remember falling asleep in my own bed, in my house, and both are easily fifteen meters off the ground and made of clouds!”

“Pinkie Pie.” Came the unanimous, monotone response save for Pinkie, who gave an excited reply of “Me!” Rainbow Dash facehoofed with a groan.

“Y’know what? Forget I asked, I don’t wanna know.”

“As for your first question, some extraterrestrials landed and are inside the Palace of the Sister Princesses.” Twilight replied, only to receive a dopey look from Rainbow Dash and she sighed, facehoofing. “There are aliens in Princess Celestia’s old castle.”

Rainbow Dash leapt into the air at the word “aliens”.

“Sweet!” She exclaimed excitedly, sleep far from her mind now. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go find ‘em!”

She jetted immediately toward the foggy castle, leaving the rest of the mares behind.

“You’d think she would have learned by now.” Rarity stated, unimpressed and the rest of them nodded and they made their way to the castle.

Fireteam Wisp had entered the ancient castle and decided to split up to search for the concentration of the unusual energy. Aveline wandered the empty corridors in awe at the architecture, Lance hovering over her shoulder and providing light.

“This place is incredible.” She murmured, looking at all the fading tapestries on the wall. “How old do you think it is, Lance?”

“I don’t know, Aveline, how about I check that for you?” He said, and then flew over to a nearby wall. “Pft, architecture’s rudimentary… where’s a nice little barrack when you… oh wow, this is… I wouldn’t believe this data if I hadn’t collected it...”

“Find something interesting?” Aveline asked, and Lance turned to her.

“The bricks I just scanned… they’re not just old, Aveline.” He told her, flying in front of her helmet. “They’re ancient; this whole structure is somewhere well over a thousand years old!”

“So… that means this is Golden Age architecture?” Aveline asked and Lance shook his core.

“No, this structure predates the Golden Age, probably by a few decades, or maybe even a century or three.” He said, and then turned back to the wall. “Kinda weird, really… this whole place matches descriptions of Old Earth castles almost perfectly and yet… there’s no way for it to be as old as it is and have been made by human hands.”

“Maybe they transmatted it here during the Golden Age?” Aveline suggested.

“Discounting the centuries of wear and growth on the stone, it would be easier to just make the whole castle from scratch rather than transport it brick–by–brick.” Lance replied. “And trans-materialization doesn’t work like that, anyway; anything larger than a sparrow tends to… get a little jumbled with each transmat. Take your ship, for example; it’s entirely within the realm possibility for me to transmat the ship around, but pieces of it might come back in different places, or even not at all and then one day you start the ship and it explodes because one of the fuel lines reassembled with a live electrical wire inside it.”

“Right… remind me never to have my ship transmatted.” Aveline said, turning to walk back down the hall.

“Guys, I think I just died and went to heaven.” Gospel said over the comm.

“What is going on?” Aveline asked, not stopping.

“I found what is unmistakably a library.” He replied, awestruck. “There are literally shelves full of books as far as I can see.’

“Well, that is good; it means the dominant species on this planet is literate and well–read… or at least they were.” Aveline said, and then a thought occurred to her. “Samson, what should we do on the off–chance of contact with sentient species?”

“I’ll leave that at your discretion; if you feel like talking, then you are welcome to talk.” He replied and Aveline looked at the gun in her hands.

Samson would most likely open fire at the first sign of contact and she didn’t blame him; all they’ve known in the way of extraterrestrial life was to kill them before they killed you. Life outside the Tower was brutal and none of the alien races in the Sol System seemed interested in diplomacy. She rounded a corner and became aware of the sound of voices at the other end of the hall. They were too far away for her to hear what they were saying, so she crept down the hall.

“Gospel, Samson, what are your locations?” She asked quietly, noting that none of the arrows on the edge of her HUD’s radar indicated they were in that direction.

“I am in the library, looking at books written in an alien language I, sadly, cannot read. Script is trying to translate as we speak.” Gospel replied.

“I’m on a terrace on the third floor; do you have contact?’ Samson asked.

“Maybe. I am going to check it out.” Aveline replied, and she noted her hands become translucent as Lance activated her active camouflage systems.

Twilight led her friends - sans Rainbow Dash - around the castle as they searched for the aliens. She had insisted they stay together because anything capable of incinerating a timberwolf alpha would have no problem taking down a lone pony. They heard rustling come from one corridor and they had nearly died of fright when Rainbow Dash came floating out of the darkness, frustrated.

“You find anything?” Twilight asked and Rainbow shook her head.

“Nope, didn’t see anything at all.”

“Oh, I bet they’re hiding!” Pinkie exclaimed loudly and everypony winced and glared at her. She grinned sheepishly and lowered the tone of her voice. “They won’t stay hidden for long, I’m super good at hide–and–seek; hiding and seeking!”

“I would rather we finished this venture and return home.” Rarity stated grumpily. “I am missing valuable hours of beauty sleep; this complexion does not maintain itself, you know!”

“Ya would be one ta worry ‘bout yer looks when the whole a’ Equestria might be in trouble, Rarity.” Applejack commented as they entered the foyer from the passage they just took.

“One should always look their best when saving the world, Applejack.” Rarity replied, fluffing her mane that she had somehow found time to style into its signature loops as they climbed the steps to the next floor. Twilight growled with frustration at her friends’ inability to remain silent.

“Girls, can we please keep quiet? Celestia knows what-”

“Stop where you are and don’t move.”

All six ponies immediately stopped where they were, the only sound coming from Rainbow’s wings beating to keep her aloft.

“Now, turn around. Slowly.”

The group turned slowly to face the source of the voice and were immediately blinded by a light, preventing them from getting a good view of the source of the voice. Twilight raised her hoof to shield her eyes and tried to make out who was behind the blinding light.

“Who are you, and how do you know our language?” Twilight asked the voice and she heard a slight clicking noise, the figure in the light shifting slightly.

“That is what I would like to know.” The voice, feminine but authoritative, replied. “I suggest you answer me quickly or I will open fire.” Twilight frowned at the light and began to charge her horn for a teleportation spell, but there was a crack and something small exploded into the stone near her hoof, causing Twilight to jump and lose concentration on her spell. “Whatever you attempted to do, do not try it again; that was your only warning, the next one will be higher.”

“U-Um… maybe we could… just talk?” Fluttershy asked demurely, and her friends looked at her. “I-I mean, you don’t really want to hurt anypony, do you?”

The voice was silent for a long moment.

“I think my audio receptors are on the fritz.” Another voice, male by the sound, said, the bright light fluctuating in time with the words. “Did you just say ‘anypony’?”

Fluttershy immediately cowered when she realized the alien was focused on her. She squeaked nervously and incoherently, her voice too low for even Twilight to make out. Not wanting her friends to get hurt, Twilight turned to the light.

“Yes, she did.” Twilight responded in Fluttershy’s place. “Our kind are called ponies, there are three main subspecies.” She took a few tentative steps closer to the strange alien in front of her, stopping when she saw the shape shift aggressively and heard the click again.

“That’s close enough.” The alien told Twilight.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.” Twilight indicated with her hoof to her friends. “That’s Rarity, a unicorn.” She moved her hoof to point at Applejack and Pinkie. “Their names are Applejack and Pinkie Pie; they’re earth ponies.” She indicated the pegasi last. “That’s Rainbow Dash and the one who spoke to you just now is Fluttershy; they’re pegasus, or pegasi plural.” She pointed at herself last. “I used to be a unicorn, but I was transformed into an alicorn, which has the aspects of all three races.” She held her hoof out in greeting. “What are your names, if I might ask?”

She couldn’t tell, but at some point the figure in the light had gone slack, dumbfounded. The stranger was silent for a moment, before doing the last thing Twilight had anticipated.

Both voices began to laugh raucously. After a moment of stunned silence, Pinkie Pie joined them in the laughter, causing the other ponies to look at her in disbelief.

“Oh… oh, that’s a good one, really.” The male voice said again, causing the light to strobe slightly. “Princess of Friendship, that’s just adorable! How has your planet survived if being a friend is worthy of holding a title? If I had sides, they’d be in stitches.”

“Hey! We’ve fought plenty of bad guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

“Indeed, the Magic of Friendship isn’t something to be taken for granted.” Twilight retorted, her own temper rising. “It is a power great enough to cleanse darkness and evil from Equestria!”

“Oh no, they’re going to kill us with good intent, Aveline!” The male voiced retorted, laughing. “How shall we ever hope to survive?”

“Okay, Lance, I do not think they mean us any harm with titles like those.” The female voice said as she slowed her laughter. “I think we can stop blinding them now.”

There was a click and the light reduced in intensity, becoming no brighter than a lantern. Twilight’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden change in lighting and she looked at the stranger now that she could look at her and gasped, recognizing the form immediately.

“You… are you… human?!” She exclaimed and the stranger immediately stopped laughing. “But… but how is that possible?”

The stranger looked at the spiny orb floating in the air next to her, and then immediately pointed an elongated device she was carrying at Twilight, her body language registering alarm.

“How… do you know about humanity?” She practically snarled at the alicorn. “Start talking or I will shoot you.”

Twilight backed up, suddenly very aware of how much danger she was in, but then she heard another click from the passage they’d just come from and another human, wearing a long coat, stepped out of the darkness and bearing a similar elongated weapon that was also pointed directly at Twilight.

“Come on, Princess; we’re really interested in what you have to say.” The newcomer said with a male voice.

“Uh, well, you see…” Twilight began nervously, but then she heard a sound that she recognized as heavy armor plating rubbing against each other from above her and she looked up to see one final human form on the landing, pointing a weapon at her and her friends. “I mean, it’s a pretty long story and… this isn’t really the best place…”

“We’ve got nothing but time.” The figure above her stated. “Either talk or die; your choice.”

Twilight was so scared that her mouth wouldn’t work.

‘Oh no!’ She thought, her mind racing. ‘If I tell them how I know, they won’t believe me and kill us all! What do I do?!’

“Come now, darlings, is this really necessary?” Rarity spoke up and moved confidently in front of Twilight.

“Rarity, what are you doing?!” Twilight whispered desperately to Rarity and the unicorn smiled at her. “They’re going to kill us!”

“Please, let me handle this, dear.” She replied, and then turned back to the humans. “I know you have questions, but this dusty old castle is so dreary, and it is quite late at night. If I promised you that all of your questions would be answered in the morning, would you put away your, eh… weapons and let us go?”

“And how should we know you will keep your word?” The female demanded.

“Rarity’s promise is as good as one a’ mah own and Ah never make a promise Ah can’t keep.” Applejack spoke up, determinately standing in front of Twilight. “If’n that ain’t enough fer ya, y’all can always come with us back ta Ponyville.”

The human in the coat and the one with the cloak both shuddered, as if they were trying not to laugh. They kept their weapons raised, but they were clearly conversing with each other, though the female on the floor of the foyer were still shuddering every now and then from suppressed laughter. However, the human in the coat had tensed up for some reason and shook his head, gesturing violently. After a moment of discussion with each other, they lowered their weapons; the one in the coat doing so reluctantly.

“We’ll go with you to this ‘Ponyville’ and you can explain things there.” The human above them said as he started walking down the stairs, his feet making an unusually heavy thump with every step. “However, be warned that if you try to lead us into a trap or ambush, we will react accordingly.”

The ponies all breathed sighs of relief, with Pinkie Pie cheering and throwing confetti into the air.

“Hurray, new friends!” She exclaimed, jumping excitedly.

They went down the steps toward the humans on ground floor, where they were stopped by the female, who held out her hand.

“My name is Aveline L’freille.” She said, and Twilight smiled and shook her hand. “These are my friends and teammates, Gospel.” She pointed at the coat–wearing human, who looked away for some reason. “And Samson–12.” She pointed at the armored human, who merely nodded in acknowledgement. With that out of the way, they left the castle and began to walk back through the Everfree Forest.

Wedge sat in the pilot’s chair, monitoring the Mischief Maker’s systems to ensure nothing was awry; its directive was not just to be the designated pilot, but to also ensure the Guardians were not stranded on the alien world. It continued monitoring the ship until it heard a faint clopping sound from behind it. Wedge spun the chair and observed the newcomer.

“Unknown life-form detected.” It looked the navy blue creature up and down. “Biometrics do not match known existing species. Warning; do not attempt to assume control of the vessel or this unit shall be forced to retaliate accordingly.”

“You need not worry, metal being.” The alien replied in a regal voice. “We mean thee no harm.”

“Unknown species speaks English; very convenient.” Wedge stated, and then it shifted to an attentive stance. “This unit is model W3-D63, but it insists that you call it ‘Wedge’. Do you have a designation?”

“Well met, Wedge; my name is Luna, Princess of the Night and co–ruler of Equestria.” She replied, bowing slightly and the Frame returned the gesture robotically.

“Greetings, Princess Luna.” Wedge said politely. “Do you have any inquiries for this unit?”

“I have many, dear Wedge.” Luna replied, and took a seat.

“This unit shall answer, as long as queries do not conflict with Prime and Security directives.”

“Understood.” Princess Luna said with a nod. “What is your purpose here?”

“This unit is to assist the Guardians in their current deployment as pilot and custodian.”

Princess Luna nodded. “And what is the ‘Guardians’ purpose here?”

“Query goes against Security Protocol; access denied.” Wedge replied automatically.

“I apologize, I do not wish to pry into sensitive matters.” Luna replied cautiously. “Do the ‘Guardians’ intend a forceful seizure of land from indigenous population?”

“That is at the Guardians’ discretion, though it is highly unlikely. A standard fireteam of Guardians lacks appropriate resources and influence to topple a structured government of any kind.” Wedge replied and Luna breathed a sigh of relief. “Mostly they are on the ground searching for unknown power sources at this time.”

“And where are these ‘power sources’ you speak of?” Luna asked the Frame and it spun its seat to face the nose of the ship and began tapping on a panel. After a moment a holographic display activated and presented what appeared to be an overhead view of Central Equestria.

“An unknown energy was detected permeating in and around the surface of the planet.” A few locations lit up that Luna recognized as being in Ponyville, Canterlot, the old palace where she and Celestia had ruled from, and the Crystal Empire; generally everywhere the Elements of Harmony had been used. “These locations were noted to have large concentrations of this energy, so Titan Samson determined that they should investigate the concentration located outside of established settlements, to diminish odds of First Contact scenario.” All the marked areas dimmed except for the location in the forest and Luna’s breath caught in her chest.

“Can… can you tell me where they are at this moment, Wedge?” Luna asked, and the automata shook its head.

“Negative. Without a global positioning network in orbit, we are currently unable to actively track Guardian movement on the planet.” Wedge replied.

Luna thought for a moment on her next question.

“What would happen should one of my subjects happen upon the Guardians in their search?” She asked Wedge.

“Individual Guardian reactions to alien contact varies, Princess Luna.” Wedge replied. “While it can be said not all alien species are hostile, and First Contact scenarios generally advise against initial use of force, almost all of the current extraterrestrial species inhabiting the Sol System have been known to actively engage in hostilities without provocation and Guardians have become used to initiating combat responses at the first sign of alien contact.”

“I… I am very well aware of the situation in the Sol System.” Luna said. “I should then assume that these ‘Guardians’ are related to the Traveler?”

“Oh, you know of the Traveler? This unit shall prepare a report recommending diplomatic communications to the Speaker.” Wedge stated, intrigued. “You mentioned you were ‘co ruler’; does this mean there is another authority figure with whom Vanguard representatives may speak to?”

“My sister, Princess Celestia.” Luna told the automata and then rose. “It has been delightful speaking with you, Wedge, but I must depart and look in on a good friend of mine; farewell.”

“Farewell, Princess Luna; may the Light of The Traveler guide and protect you.” Wedge said and Luna glanced at the Frame briefly before teleporting off the bridge of the Mischief Maker. Wedge stared at the spot she had departed before he swiveled the chair back and began to monitor the ship’s systems once more.

Author's Note

Grimoire Card acquired: English versus Equish, "The Magic of Friendship"

English versus Equish:
After the discovery of Equus, and the subsequent alliance that followed, Praxic Warlocks almost immediately delved into the mystery of why, in spite of hundreds of thousands of lightyears of distance between the two planets, Common Equestrian - frequently referred to as "Equish" - is so phonetically similar to Common Terran - formerly known as "English" - to the point of being nearly identical in pronunciation. However, while the two languages are phonetically identical, in written text they are only vaguely similar. Inquiring with the local historians, or even with the long-lived Princess Celestia, reveals nothing unusual about its origin; if there had been a connection, it has long been lost to the aeons and is presumed irrecoverable.

"The Magic of Friendship":
Audio Log between Ikora Rey and Executor Hideo.

Hideo: You cannot be serious.

Ikora: Dead serious, Hideo: I don't joke about these things.

Hideo: You want me to believe that these... "ponies", believe their incredible energy is created by friendship?! Preposterous, there is something that they haven't told you.

Ikora: There is much they haven't told us, Executor. I've spoken with Princess Celestia enough times to know that she is well aware of much when it comes to the natural magic of Equestria and no amount of asking will make her drop that dainty smile of hers; she's been alive for far too long and knows there's nothing we can do to make her talk.

Hideo: Then perhaps a show of force would-

Ikora: Go ahead and try, I could use the entertainment and I'm sure she could as well.

Hideo: ...what?

Ikora: I'd like to see you try to raise a weapon against Princess Celestia, it might be funny to see what happens next. (laughs)

Hideo: You're not taking me seriously.

Ikora: Right now? No, I am not taking you seriously.

Hideo: Why not?

Ikora: Because you have no idea what you'd be getting yourself into. I've seen what she can do: hell, I've seen what the Magic of Friendship can do and I'm just going to say, I have never, in all my life, seen something so beautiful and terrible. Pick a fight with Equestria if you want, but don't come crying back to us when you get your asses kicked. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't want to come back at all because you won't have any more leverage in the City, I will make sure of that.

Hideo: ...perhaps I should speak with this Princess Celestia myself.

Ikora: Probably a good idea, Executor.