The room had fallen into a pointed silence, one of many faces. In the case of Twilight, Captain Armor, and Major Fancy, it was a silence of patient expectation; conversely, in the case of Rainbow and Moon Dancer, it was a silence of stunned disbelief. Even the previously aloof Flash Sentry had actively tuned in to the situation, holding his sunglasses down on his face. He was observing Rainbow closely, gauging her reaction.

After all, if I’m gonna be working with her, she better be bringing the right stuff to the table. Flash’s eyes rolled almost dismissively.

Rainbow’s head was spinning. Me? Elite program? I- she tried desperately to put her jumble of thoughts in order. I mean, that means faster Pillions, which means better opportunities to show my stuff. But it might also mean…

She turned her head until her cerise eyes met the purple ones of Moon Dancer. I don’t know if I can leave you behind, Moony. And if I did I couldn’t ask you to wait for me, that wouldn’t be fair. If only we could- Wait a sec! Maybe…

Rainbow finally spoke up. “Alright, I suppose I can be persuaded to join up,” her face now sported her hallmark grin, “I do have one condition though.”

“We’ve been allowed a modicum of flexibility, Ensign Dash. So just name it and I’ll see what I can do,” Captain Armor affirmed with a smirk of his own.

“I know you’ve obviously already got your very own super-nerd unicorn here,” she gestured with a hoof to Twilight, “but I’m not going anywhere unless I can bring my own.” Rainbow turned back to Moon Dancer, and cast a gentle, more genuine smile at her. “And that’s only if you want to, babe.”

Moon Dancer was taken aback, “Rainbow, I-” she shook her head in an attempt to resolve her nerves. “I think it would be a wonderful opportunity. And I don’t think I’d feel comfortable if you took off on your own, especially with the way things are out there, so… Okay, let’s go, together.” She gave her marefriend a resolute look, accompanied by a thought, we will talk about this later, though.

Both mares - in tandem - then turned their heads to the Major, whom they realized would have to put his stamp of approval on all of this. “Very well ladies,” the Major spoke up first, “I can have the transfer forms drawn up first thing in the morning. Your presence will be missed in this facility, but we all know your talents will find better use elsewhere out there.”

Suddenly, Twilight, who had been silent the whole time, decided to chip in. “That’s actually kind of funny.” When Rainbow and Moon both looked at her quizzically, she continued. “What I mean is, I was intending to invite Moon Dancer to be part of my R&D team, but I guess this saves some trouble.”

“Now then-” Shining’s voice brought the room back to business “-that was quicker and easier than expected. I suppose we’ll be on our way,” he slipped Rainbow a sheet of paper, “pack your things and meet us at the location and time as specified here tomorrow. Sentry, let’s move. Twiley-”

“I’ll be just a few minutes, big brother,” Twilight interjected. “Me and Dr. Dancer have some catching up to do.”

“Alright then,” the white stallion headed or the door, with Flash Sentry in tow. The orange pegasus gave Rainbow a pointed look as he passed by her, as if he were still sizing her up. Rainbow’s feathers bristled as she glared back at him.

“I suppose I have a schedule to rework. Ladies-” Fancy nodded curtly with a small smile toward both Twilight and Moondancer “-Ensign-” he shot a small salute to Rainbow who saluted back “-at your leisure.”

Upon all the stallions leaving the room, Twilight found herself looking between Moon Dancer and Rainbow Dash. “So, all that back there… you two are together, huh?”

The young couple blushed and looked away. Moon Dancer took it upon herself to answer her old friend’s query. “Well, I- that is- yes.”

Twilight’s face broke out in a smile. “That’s great! How long?”

“Oh, only a couple of months...” Moon Dancer trailed off shyly.

“That’s nice,” Twilight said warmly. “Now, you simply have to tell me all about the SR-04. Any information could be beneficial for future projects!”

Moon Dancer perked up at this, and entered into an animated discussion all about the technologies they had been developing in Cloudsdale over the past months - with a marked focus on the Pillions.

Rainbow simply stood back and watched as her marefriend’s face lit up radiantly. She’s absolutely adorable when she’s in her nerdy element.

Moon Dancer’s Home - Later That Evening

“Rainbow, we really need to talk about this.”

“What’s there to talk about, Moon? We took the offer, we’re leaving tomorrow, you’ll be working on new weaponry that I’ll get to pilot. Sounds pretty simple to me,” Rainbow listed dismissively.

Moon Dancer pushed up from her spot on the couch leaning up against Rainbow. “Dashie, that’s not all there is and you know it,” she admonished. “You heard about that group calling themselves the Titus Legion based on Satellite Seven. That area’s probably going to devolve into a warzone, and we might end up there! Also, let’s not forget the chance of you being sent to fight the Mustang Principality down on Equestria. Captain Armor said this was a ‘frontline project’, they’re most certainly going to throw you out on the battlefield the first opportunity they get. I just want to make sure you’re aware of the risks before you-”

She was silenced by Rainbow bringing a hoof over her lips. “I know all of that, babe, but I just don’t want to waste the one opportunity I’ve got to really make a difference. Yes, I admit that the threat of war from two factions is frightening. But if I have to take the risk of fighting these battles to give us a free and safe home to live in, then I’ll damn well do it.” Rainbow paused to look into her mare’s eyes, “I know you’ll have my back out there, and I’ll do all I can to keep you safe, because you’re precious to me...”

“I love you, Moon Dancer.”

Moon Dancer was visibly stirred by this proclamation, this was the first time Rainbow had said those words to her. Oh my gosh, what do I do?

Deciding on what - at the time - seemed to be an acceptable course of action, Moon Dancer leaned into Rainbow and kissed her, deeply and passionately. In that moment neither mare had ever felt so alive, so in tune with the truth of their own existence. After a long, endless, moment stuck together, they both pulled back simultaneously, opened their eyes and just stared into each other.

“I love you too, Rainbow Dash.”

For a while after this moment, they just sat there, cuddled up against each other on the couch. Comfortable in the warmth of their love for each other.

They stayed this way, until Rainbow’s stomach let out a hearty growl, disrupting their blissful silence.

“Say, babe, how ‘bout we hit up that sweet seafood place downtown. It’s gonna be our last dinner on Cloudsdale for a while, so let’s make it a good one,” suggested Rainbow.

“Sure thing, honey,” affirmed Moon Dancer, “we should get moving now, before it gets too late.”

The pair lifted themselves from the couch and made their way for the door, resolute to enjoy all the time they had together.

“And after, we can back and spend our last night on Cloudsdale in a comfortable bed,” Rainbow waggled her eyebrows suggestively at her marefriend, “I don’t want my last memory here to be of some hard-as-nails barracks.”

Moon Dancer just leaned further into her pegasus love. “Count on it, Dashie.”

They were completely confident, now, that whatever they would have to face up against out in space, they could face it together.

Space near Satellite Seven - Designation: “Romane”

Amid the Equestrian-sphere space, one sizable vessel cut through the emptiness of the void. This was the Cruiser-class Titus Legion Warship AL-079, given the designation ‘Alden’. On the bridge of the vessel, some important decisions were about to be made.

“Captain Leadwing,” began the mysterious Lieutenant Illusion as she stepped onto the bridge, “we’ve received word from our spies near Cloudsdale of an unknown class of Coalition ship docked at the Satellite. We should investigate.”

“Lieutenant, are you mad?” The green pegasus stallion raised a brow at her incredulously. “We’re a little far from there aren’t we? There are other ships much closer, it would be impractical to send us to-”

At that instant, the bridge’s communication hub blared to life. Upon seeing who was calling, the Captain answered it.

“Colonel Blueblood, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

The regal, white unicorn now up on the screen scowled. “Dispense with the pleasantries, Captain. You’ve no doubt received our intel regarding Satellite Five. You are to set course for that space and intercept the Coalition vessel currently docked there. They possess some… information on a new weapon, which will prove very useful to us.”

Leadwing was taken aback at this order. “Uh, yes sir. I understand. We’ll depart at once.”

“Very well, Captain Leadwing. Good luck,” his eyes acknowledged the blue mare also present, “Lieutenant.”

*blip*

Leadwing just glared at Illusion, “damn mare, how the hell did you-”

“Now, now, Captain,” the Lieutenant interrupted, “you know a good magician never reveals her secrets.” She simply smirked as she turned tail and headed for the elevator to the officer’s quarters.

Captain Leadwing just slumped back into his seat, he’d had enough interruptions for one day.

Cloudsdale Spaceport - the next day

“Dashie, are you sure this is the place?” Moon Dancer questioned as she looked up at the large Coalition vessel docked at the spaceport.

Her companion released her luggage handle from her mouth momentarily, turning her head to look at her marefriend quizzically. “Bit of a silly question, don’t ya think babe? It makes sense they would send us to their ship, since we’ve got a new facility to head off to, I’d imagine.”

“You’re right,” Moon Dancer blushed brightly, “silly question, sorry for asking.” She looked down, embarrassed.

“Hey,” Rainbow stepped up to her, lifting her chin up with a wing so their eyes could meet. “Never apologize for being curious, Moony. It’s one of the things I love about you, after all.” A smile was offered, and a smile was returned.

The two mares continued their approach, eventually being stopped by a young earth pony mare in sea green fatigues. “Ma’ams, I’m going to need to see some identification before I can let you pass.”

Rainbow and Moon revealed their cards to the young soldier, who nodded and gestured them past. “Captain Armor and Dr. Sparkle are expecting you.”

As they walked past, Rainbow exhaled a deep breath, calming any nerves that may have been acting up, whether she would admit it or not. I suppose there’s no turning back now, let’s see what they have in store for us.

Moon Dancer, meanwhile, was having more trouble calming herself, she was a mare who could be rather, excitable, at the best of times. But Rainbow was confident that once they got started with whatever it was they’d be doing, her mare would find herself in her element. And a confident, collected Moon Dancer is a sexy Moon Dancer. Lucky me. Rainbow’s trademark smirk was back on her face, yep, we can handle anything they throw at us. She thought to herself confidently as she looked up at the large ship they were about to board.

It was unlike anything Rainbow had ever seen, being a mostly white vessel red paneling, and blue detail bordering the orange-shaded exhaust ports. There were two long, slender wing-like attachments jutting upward and outward from the top end of the ship near the bridge, as well as three long runway-like platforms jutting out from certain points on the bow - and one on the rear. These were most likely launch platforms for Pillions, and she’d probably be seeing a lot of them if they had an extended stay on the vessel. The ship was certainly not lacking in armaments as well, with several turrets, railguns, and cannons dotted around the outside.

Upon entering the ship, they were met in the commons lounge by none other than Doctor Twilight Sparkle, who smiled at the new arrivals warmly.

“Hello again you two, welcome to the CCS Aegis. I’ve requested to be your tour guide for the ship, as well as showing you the ultimate reason you’re both here. If you would follow me.”

Twilight led Moon Dancer and Rainbow throughout the ship, at a leisurely pace. Their first destination was the crew’s quarters, where they were shown to one specific, mostly unfurnished room.

“I hope you two don’t mind, but we’re a little short on available space here and we figured you wouldn’t mind sharing a room - we did get you a slightly larger bed, too - you know, considering...” Twilight trailed off awkwardly.

Moon and Rainbow shared a smirking glance between them. It was Moon Dancer who spoke up, “I think we’ll manage, Twilight, thank you. Truly.”

“Oh good! Now, let’s continue.”

The tour once more commenced, with Twilight showing showing the two other mares all about the ship, to the mess hall and cafeteria, conference area, the bridge, training centers, storage units, and fuel and engineering stations - much to Moon Dancer’s delight.

“The final stop on our tour is probably the most important - hence why I saved it for last. Prepare to be amazed,” Twilight stated jokingly.

She tapped some buttons on the keypad on the wall, causing the large door they were standing at to slide open slowly.

All eyes were immediately drawn to the large Pillion standing at rest next to the opposite wall, cutting a more impressive figure than any Pillion either Rainbow Dash or Moon Dancer had ever seen. But the most striking feature was on the head, which appeared to have a face of sorts, with two neon green eyes. Both newcomers stood in awe of the massive feat of engineering before them.

Twilight smiled wide and gestured toward the large Pillion. “Ladies, may I present the focus of the project. Our prototype model that is H-SL-1, the first in its series, the product of what we’ve dubbed… Project Harmony!”

Author's Note

There we have it, our Gundam analogue has been introduced, now we can really get cookin' in the coming chapters. Also, yes, the Aegis is based on the Nahel Argama, in terms of design.

Chapter title was taken from this gorgeous song, mostly because I felt it fit the atmosphere of what I feel is the most important scene in this chapter, plot-wise.