Reflections: A Broken Mirror Story

by Striker1959

Chapters

Endeavor
The Void
Destiny
Into the Light
Rush
Interlude I
Third Earth
Cold
Blaze Squad
Siege
Titans
Scorched
Sunburnt
The Queen is Dead
The Ties That Bind
Rise
Royal
Crown Prince
Torch
Storm
Citadel
High Command
Undying
Paris
No Man's Land
Interlude IV
Ride of the Endeavor
Finality
Prologue: Alpha One
Interlude II
Claudis

Endeavor

Canterlot Castle, six months after Kovac’s assault
Archer

Five months. Five long, grueling months. That's how long I spent attached to Fireteam Osiris. And now that I’m home, I can finally begin to prepare for the next step in this journey. I was sitting outside the throne room going over some of the files for Operation Reflection: Princess Amore’s plan to find Dusk. As it turns out, he somehow survived going through the Nexus portal, and that was proving to be a bit of a problem. Apparently the memory orb that I had used six months ago imprinted his magical ‘fingerprint’ over my own, and as such the only way to tell the two of us apart was if we were standing next to each other. That in itself is the problem, as you can’t have one pony in two places at once. While Dusk obviously isn’t, the rules that govern existence don’t seem to care and reality has become, as Amore put it, unstable. To fix that, we need Dusk’s help to restore my own magic to its rightful state.

Admittedly I couldn’t help but think about how weak the idea seemed, given that a nuclear detonation was involved, but Amore had herself and the rest of the Royal Court convinced that Dusk was still alive. But how did I get here? Well for starters Dusk left me his group of misfits called the Ghosts. Did I keep them? Nope, I folded them into my father’s organization. But through that brief experience I learned something important. Thanks to his connections, Dusk had a set of power armor made for me. In fact, the same set that Osman said belonged to no-one in particular was meant for me.

The month after I underwent the augmentation procedures, and after I was back on my feet, I was attached to a Spartan fireteam for three months to train and get accustomed to the changes that my body underwent. I even took a ‘name’ for when I had the helmet on, taking it from my suit of armor. ‘Spartan Atlas’... That’s what Buck, Locke, and the others called me whenever we were in the field. I ended up keeping the latter half of the name, going by it after I returned to Equis and undertook some missions with the Northern Guard.

“Archer, are you paying attention?”

I finally sat up and paid heed to the voice in my helmet’s speakers. “You were saying something Grey?” I asked the AI that was inhabiting my suit alongside me.

“I was,” the AI replied as the grey ball that represented it flashed to life across the head-up display of my helmet. “I wanted to know if you’ve read Dart’s letter yet.”

“No, I haven’t. Go ahead and pull it up.”

Hi Archer. I guess it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I heard that you’d come back from your deployment with Osiris and went right to work with your dad. I’ve got to admit, it was something to see the headline ‘Atlas Strikes!’ plastered across my morning paper, with a picture of you dragging a drug-dealer out of a night club. But anyway, that’s not why I’m writing. I saw the doctor this morning and it’s official. I’m having a filly! I think I’ll call her Dawn… But enough of that. Next time I see you we can chat more.

I couldn’t help but smile once I finished reading the mint-green mare’s note. At least all was still going well for somepony… All I’ve done for months is train and prepare for the meeting that I was about to walk into. And when the guards finally opened the door and motioned to me, I knew right away that it was show time. As I stepped into the throne room, all the players were there: Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, General Meteor Shower, Blueblood, and Amore.

“Miss Archer, thank you for joining us on such short notice” Luna said, trying to sound as gracious as possible.

I pulled off my helmet and shrugged. “Well, I didn’t think that I had a choice.” As I looked at the assembled court, my gaze stopped on Celestia. She looked concerned, much more so than I thought would be reasonable given the fact that we were simply having a meeting. “Is something wrong, Princess?”

Celestia must have realized that her look was telling, because when I asked it disappeared rather quickly. “No, we just need to get this show on the road.”

Meteor Shower took the initiative and turned on a holotank that was sitting in the middle of the floor. It started glowing blue, and a large image of a starship appeared to loom over the throne room. “This is the UNSC Halcyon, the lead ship of a class of light cruisers of the same name. Thanks to Admiral Osman, she was pulled out of storage and transferred to us along with brand new reactors and a slipspace drive. While you were away, Archer, we’ve managed to get the ship back in full working order, as well as modifying the slipspace drive.”

“And just what is all of this for?” I asked.

“For Operation Reflection” Amore said. “Thanks to Twilight’s research and experiments with the quantum mirrors, we were able to devise a way to modify the slipspace drive that ONI gave us so it can function as a quantum portal projector, of course in addition to its standard functions.”

Well, I guess I should’ve seen this coming… Amore would’ve come up with a new way to travel around reality eventually. I just would’ve expected it to take more than five months of actual work. “Have any of these changes been tested yet?”

Amore was about to say something, but Celestia held up her hand. “Technically, that’s still classified.”

While hearing that didn’t alleviate my concerns over tampering with an already dangerous piece of human-designed technology, Amore looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. “Are you kidding me?!” She exclaimed. “How can you tell the pony that is supposed to lead this expedition that the tests we’ve run are classified?”

“Because it is, Amore, and Archer is technically not a member of the Equestrian military” Celestia retorted.

Meteor finally stepped between the two Princesses. “Look, we aren’t scheduled to launch for another month. I’m sure we’ll—”

BOOM!

The General was cut off when a large explosion rocked the castle. “Uh… what was that?” I heard Twilight ask.

I looked to Celestia and the look on her face from when I walked in had returned. “That was our time running out.”

The castle shook again, and a chunk of marble fell from the ceiling. Everything seemed to slow down as I watched it tumble towards Princess Sparkle, and all except Meteor Shower stayed locked in their respective places. He managed to tackle her out of the way, and the brick smacked into the back of his head. As he crumpled to the ground, everything sped back up again and I found myself on my knees turning the old stallion onto his back.

Celestia was right next to me and seemed relieved as she put her fingers to the General’s neck. “He’s alive, just unconscious.”

“And he’ll probably have a massive headache when he wakes up”, Blueblood retorted as he helped Celestia to her feet.

As Luna scooped up the unconscious General, a stray thought crossed my mind. Thinking back to my time with Osiris, I remember how Locke always said to trust my instincts. And right now, my instincts were screaming that something was very wrong. I finally just came out and said it. “You knew something was going to happen, didn’t you?” I said, directing the question at the Solar Diarch.

While the other still-standing ponies looked rather shocked at my blunt and somewhat rude question, Celestia actually nodded. “I did, but I thought that we’d have more time.”

“More time for what?” Luna asked as more explosions rocked the castle.

“More time to prepare”, Celestia retorted. “We need to launch Endeavor, and we need to do it now.”

“Wait, Endeavor?” I asked. “What’s Endeavor supposed to be?”

“It’s the Halcyon, we renamed it after it arrived.” Celestia replied. More bricks were falling loose from the castle structure, and the Princess only shook her head. “Listen to me, Dusk is the key to all of this.”

As her horn started to glow, I quickly pulled my helmet back on as Blueblood and Amore crowded around me. “I still don’t know what ‘all of this’ is supposed to mean!” I yelled.

Celestia nodded. “I know that you don’t… but you will.”

I was blinded for a brief moment by the flash that came off of the Princess’ horn. But as I blinked rapidly to clear the spots from my vision, I realized that I wasn’t standing in the throne room anymore.

“We’re on Endeavor…” Amore muttered as she approached one of active bridge consoles. “Celestia must have teleported us up.”

“Well no shit!” Blueblood exclaimed as he took a seat at the helm, stopping as he looked out the viewscreen. “Uh… where are the stars?” He asked.

Amore and I both looked out into space, and sure enough, everything around Equis was just pitch black. “Archer?” Greyscale said over my armor’s speakers. “Pull me.”

It took a second, but I realized what the AI wanted me to do. With a fluid motion that came mostly from muscle memory at this point, I pulled the datachip from the back of my helmet and slammed it home into the holotank next to the helm. The lights flashed, going from blue to grey, and a three-dimensional silver orb developed instantly within the confines of the tank’s projector. “That’s better…” The AI said. “Well I can say with the utmost certainty that Prince Blueblood is correct with his observation.”

“Then can you tell us the why, Grey?” I asked as I sat down in the Captain’s chair.

“For starters it appears that the stars are being blocked out by some sort of barrier comprised of an unknown energy.I’m taking copious sensor readings, and it also appears that the energy is also attacking Canterlot.”

“Damn…” Blueblood muttered.

“Damn indeed” The AI replied. “Hold on, I’m receiving an incoming message from the Paris.”

The bridge speaker crackled for a moment before smoothing out. “This is Admiral Baxter to all ships. Break orbit and scatter. I repeat, break orbit and scatter. This is not a drill!”

“Greyscale, prepare to jump” Amore ordered as she placed a golden amulet in a slot on her bridge station.

“Of course, plotting random—”

“No!” Amore yelled. “Celestia told us to find Dusk, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“Understood”, the AI replied. “Prepare for void transit.”

The chair I was in vibrated slightly before a massive green portal opened in front of us that grew larger as we approached it. All of the sudden a second portal opened right next to it, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “Grey… what is that?”

As the shape of the other cruiser passed us, both Blueblood and Amore dropped what they were doing and looked out the starboard viewscreens. “Endeavor to all ships, belay that order.”

We didn’t hear anything else as the Endeavor entered the portal. As the lights danced against the viewscreens, Greyscale made a sound quite similar to somepony clearing their throat. “Well, Archer… that was us.”

***

Location: Unknown
Subject: Dusk Light

Most ponies (or humans, for that matter) may not realize how slowly time ticks by. They might notice if they looked at a calendar, but for the most part they pay no heed.

Me?

Well, I’ve been dragging myself through every waking moment for the past six months. I should’ve died in Canterlot, but I didn’t. Instead I woke up in the hospital ward of the building that has been home for the last six months, with a snapped-off horn and wounds that would’ve killed an adult dragon. Yet here I am… bruised, but alive. I don’t know where or when I am, and I have no clue where home is.

By now, most ponies might have up and killed themselves. But I got lucky… the humans that found me have been rather friendly. They patched me up and put a roof over my head. All they asked was to learn about me and my species in return. At first I didn’t know what to think, but after one of the military officers gave me access to their archives, specifically interactions with other species and cultures in relation to something called the ‘Stargate Program’, I felt a bit more relaxed. To an extent I’ve even come to trust these humans, with one General O’Neill proving to be the closest thing to a best friend around here.

‘Here’ is obviously subjective. The humans call this place ‘The Pentagon’. I guess when you make a five-sided building to house your military command structure, a creative name isn’t high on the list of priorities.

“So, have you found anything interesting, Dusk?”

I looked up from the desk that I had taken over and saw the General walking into the otherwise empty office with two cups of coffee and an older woman following him. “Well, it’s all quite interesting, General”

The General rolled his eyes and sat down on one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. “Did you at least find the stuff about the alien worms that took over human bodies and claimed to be gods yet?”

For a moment I thought that the General was trying to be funny, but after a silent moment I came to the conclusion (once again) that this was him trying to be serious yet engaging at the same time. “You mean the Goa’uld?” I asked. Silently the General nodded, to which I shrugged. “Well, I did… about three months ago.”

The General nodded, then bobbed his head around slightly and leaned back into his chair. “So, what are you on now?”

I turned back to the pile of papers on my desk and shrugged. “From the looks of it, a lot of equations and math… for whatever reason I found this filed under ‘Destiny’ in the archive, but there’s a whole hell of a lot more stuff there.”

“What made you want to look at that stuff?” The General asked, his expression seeming to shift to a more serious tone.

“Well, it was one of the biggest files in the archive, so I figured I’d dive in and see what it's all about.” I said in return. The woman sitting next to the General seemed to be reminiscing, while O’Neill had furrowed his brow. “Is something wrong?”

O’Neill shook off his stupor rather quickly. “No, not at all. It's just… look, I’m still a bit raw over the whole Destiny mission.”

I sat up at that. “Why?”

“Long story short, about two years ago, the official funding towards the project was pulled,” the General explained, “We’re still working on it, but we’ve had to fold what we were doing in relation to Destiny in with other active projects. Add in the lack of communication from the expedition…”

“I think I understand.”

“Thanks…” O’Neill got up, “You know, I think I’m going to take a walk.”

The General ended up abandoning his charge as he hurried out the door, who turned back to me with a sheepish grin. “Did I say something wrong?” I asked.

The older woman shook her head. “Jack made bringing the Destiny expedition home a personal mission of his… there just hasn’t been much progress over the last few years.”

For a moment I wanted to ask how long the pair had been married but I quickly wrote the thought off. There was a far more logical explanation, I just don’t know it. “So what do you know about Destiny?”

The woman shrugged. “Well, about seven years ago, my son solved the power equation that the expedition had been struggling with. He was picked up after that… and I haven’t spoken to Eli for six years.”

“So you were talking to your son until about a year into his time with the expedition?” I asked. “Where exactly did they go?”

“For that first question, yes we have spoken. The communication stones—”

I held up my hand once I heard the woman refer to the strange technology that allowed minds to trade places. “So he’s far enough away where you need to use those weird paperweights to talk to him… and the equation, that helped them figure out how much power they’d need to power the stargate. Right?”

The woman nodded. “I don’t think I caught your name...”

“It’s Dusk.” I closed the folder on the desk in front of me. “And you?”

The woman shook my hand as I got up from my chair. “Marian Wallace. It’s a —”

“All personnel, we are at condition red!” A voice yelled over the loudspeaker.

I brushed passed Ms. Wallace. “Stay here.” I didn’t even look back as I rushed out into the hallway. As I tore off down to the control room, red lights began flashing. Armed guards began rushing about, but none of them seemed to know what was going on.

As I threw open the door to the control room, I nearly knocked General O’Neill to the ground. “Hey, watch it!”

I held up my hands. “Right, sorry!”

One of the technicians handed the General a clipboard. “It’s confirmed, sir.”

I tried to peek over O’Neill’s shoulder as he read the papers, but it was of no use. My next effort led me to the computers lining the room, but with heads and bodies blocking my view to the screens I had to admit defeat and try the direct approach. “General”, I gave up on any pretense of subtlety, “What’s going on?”

O’Neill handed the clipboard back to the technician as a grave frown developed on his face. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re under attack.”

Author's Note

Updated with Calamity's edits 3/7/18

Of course Dusk is alive, that's been established. But hey, he's on the other end of existence! Huh, I wonder who we'll pick up for this band of misfits along the way?

...OK, I do already know because I wrote that far, but still. We'll be picking up some supporting crew members for the Endeavor and her mission. But believe me when I say that this won't end with a return to Canterlot, oh no it won't... It'll only get far bigger from there.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

The Void

HMS Endeavor, Mission Clock at 0:10
Archer

Outside the view screens, the changing colors had long given way to massive orbs of various colors. Even the dots only resembled stars… They were other kinds of massive glowing orbs. “What are those things?” I wondered aloud as I ran my gloved fingers along my helmet.

The holotank flashed, and Grey’s own spherical avatar appeared. “Those are other universes, Archer,” the AI replied. “In fact, we are presently on a direct course to what Amore’s map has marked as Dusk’s location, and should be there moment-” Grey stopped. “We have a problem.”

“What sort of problem?” Amore asked from her seat at the helm next to Blueblood.

Greyscale’s avatar disappeared and was replaced by a chart with a red curve. “I’ve been running calculations based off of the drive system’s performance, and I’ve discovered that the drive is still active and is building up energy.”

I studied the chart for a moment before I cocked an eyebrow. “Then what’s the problem? It looks like the energy level will taper off.”

“The problem is this”, Grey said as a blue dot started blinking towards the bottom of the curve. “That point is the critical mass for the slipspace drive. If we reach that -”

“Then the drive will explode”, Amore said, cutting off the AI.

The graph disappeared and was replaced by Grey’s sphere. “Indeed. We must jump out of the void and to our destination now. Otherwise this mission is doomed to failure.”

“How long do you need?” Blueblood asked as he turned around.

“Stand by…” Grey replied. “Jumping in three… Two…”

“Warning, collision imminent!” An automated alarm exclaimed, just before the deck shook violently.

Outside the view screens, light flashed bright white before dying down. Off in the distance was an honest to goodness star. “Helm is dead and it looks like we’re drifting…” Blueblood pointed out. “Did we really just hit something?”

Amore started pouring over status reports coming in from automated systems across Endeavor. “I don’t know… I don’t see any signs of damage.”

“But we’re not at our destination”, Grey said. “According to the navigation system, we’re on the outskirts of a star system and destination is in the inner rim. Hmm… I wonder…”

“Wonder what?” I asked.

“That’s it!” Greyscale exclaimed. “We dragged something along with us in the transit!”

“Then what tagged along?” Amore asked.

As I turned to look out the front viewscreen, something blocked out light coming from the distant star. “Is that it?” I asked, pointing at the object.

Both Amore and Blueblood turned to look at what I was pointing at, and if I didn’t know any better I’d say that Blueblood’s jaw came unhinged. “Is that another ship?” Amore wondered aloud.

“As a matter of fact it is”, Grey replied, his avatar being replaced by a translucent image of the other vessel. It was a long, slender shape reminiscent of a spear that widened as the distance from the tip grew. At the end, the ship spread out into a pair of inverted ‘wings’, with a large pyramid-like superstructure growing upwards from the rest of the craft. “It comes in at 747 meters long, 518 meters at its widest point… And, well, it certainly looks rather rough. There are a number of compartments that appear to have lost pressure, and I’m seeing a few different hull breaches. Certainly, it’s a smaller ship, but its power reserves greatly outstrip our own reactors… I wonder how it got into the void?”

“Well, it obviously got out of a universe somehow”, Amore observed. “Greyscale, just how old is that ship?”

“Unknown”, The AI replied. “Although the inhabitants might have some answers…”

“Inhabitants? There’s life on that ship?” I exclaimed.

The visual representation of the ship shrunk to make room for Grey’s avatar. “Indeed. I’m reading a mass of human life signs consistent with those in cryogenic stasis.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s humans on that thing?” Blueblood said.

“It appears so.”

“Then just how are we going to get aboard that thing?” Blueblood asked. “From the sounds of it no one is awake to open the front door.”

“Like I said there are a few hull breaches…” It didn’t take much for me to realize where the AI was going with his thought. “Archer? Prepare for extra vehicular activity.”

***

Thunk!

“All right Grey, I’m in”, I said over the comms, having just dropped through a shielded hull breach in what I would call ‘the roof’.

“Copy that Archer. Keep us in the loop”, the AI said over the radio.

I started walking towards the marker that Grey had programmed into the compass on my helmet. After a few moments, valanced lights in the walls started lighting up, one after the other, until the entire corridor was fully lit. As I continued on, I noticed some vents emitting rapidly-dissipating fog. “Likely just condensation…” I muttered. After about five more minutes of walking through what seemed to be an endless hallway, I came across a door. A quick glance at the compass showed that the humans were likely on the other side. I looked off to my right and saw a panel with a yellow light on it that topped off an even larger button. I didn’t even think as I slapped the button, and was immediately rewarded by the whirring of gears before the door in front of me opened. Lining the walls of the room were a series of pods, and as I walked up to one I realized that I had found what I had come here for. “Grey, I’ve found some of the cryo pods. They’re still active from the looks of things.”

“Then see if you can deactivate one. Maybe we can get a better idea of what happened to their ship if we talk to one of them.”

I stepped up to one of the pods and looked down at the control panel, quickly realizing that we had a problem. “Grey, I can’t read any of this. If these symbols are supposed to be some sort of language, I don’t even know where to start. And what if these humans don’t speak Equish?”

“Well, then you’ll just have to make due. You’re essentially in a first contact scenario, assuming that you can open the pods, of course… Might I suggest the tried and true method of pressing buttons to see what happens?”

At least the AI wasn’t plugged into my suit, otherwise he’d tell that I rolled my eyes rather quickly. “Well, in that case…” I looked down at the panel, picked a random button, and pressed it. The pod immediately started making noise before the blue sheen that the pod cast over its occupant dissolved, and the hatch slid upward into the ceiling. “Looks like I got it on the first go.”

The human occupant, a younger man with greasy black hair, stirred to consciousness quickly and immediately realized that I was standing in front of him. “Oh shit”, he muttered.

While he was obviously scared to an extent, I felt a bit relieved. “Wow, you actually do speak Equish!”

The human’s fear immediately disappeared and was replaced with an expression I’d ascribe to confusion. “You can speak English?”

For a moment I didn’t know what the human was referring to, but once I thought back to Dusk’s story about the first encounter of the crew of the HMS Paris I realized what was going on. “Right… To be honest with you, I don’t think we’re the first two having a conversation like this, and I doubt we’ll be the last.”

“What?”

“You know what, hold on a second.” Like I’d done hundreds, if not thousands, of times before, I reached up and slid my helmet off. Judging by the human’s look changing to that of shock, I could safely say that he wasn’t expecting a face quite like mine.

“You’re a… You’re a horse?” He asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Pony is more like it, but I can see why you would think so”, I said as I stepped out of the human’s way. “Now do you want to stretch your legs a bit or not?”

I didn’t even have to ask, as the human rocketed away from his pod and stopped at a console next to the door. “You just let me out, right?”

I nodded. “Honestly I just hit a random button on the pod and it shut down.”

“Well that’s a problem…” He muttered as he tapped away at the console. “The release should’ve kicked in by now.”

“What release?” I asked.

“There was a program set in the computer to deactivate all of the pods after three years”, The human explained. “But I can’t even find a trace of it. It’s almost like it was deleted.”

I shrugged as if on reflex. “Well, I don’t know how anything on this tub works, and the only other thing I touched was the door panel out in the hall. And that’s discounting the fact that I can’t read your language.”

“Well, it isn’t our language”, The human replied. “It’s Ancient… Literally, that’s our translation for what they were called. I don’t even have a full grasp of it, just enough to know how to find or work stuff.”

“Sounds like an interesting problem.”

The human nodded, pressed one of the keys next to the display, and the other pods in the room started making noise before they shut down. “It can be… But I think you’ll have to talk to more than just me at this point.”

***

Twenty Minutes Later…

It took five minutes for the humans to get themselves situated, and another five for this ‘Eli’ character to lead me to the bridge. Once we were there some armed soldiers arrived with the group’s leader, Colonel Young, who demanded to know who I was and what I was doing on his ship. Admittedly, I was a bit shocked at first, but after Eli said that the past few encounters with aliens didn’t go so well, I couldn’t rightly blame any of these people. So in the span of ten minutes, I told Young and those on the bridge who I was, why the large ship outside was there, and what we were up to. I even explained how we dragged their ship along with us when we jumped from the void into the universe proper. At first no one wanted to believe what I had said, but when a scientist named Rush pulled up the ship’s sensor logs and saw that there was a massive amount of data, including a point from where the ship passed through the barrier that separated the universe from the void, what I had said became accepted as truth.

“So do we know where we are?” Young finally asked.

“The best I can tell you is that we’re at edge of the star system where our map took us”, I said. “I know that we’re headed for a planet in the inner rim, and we’re on the outskirts of the system.”

“Well, I believe I can help answer that question”, Grey’s voice said over the speakers embedded in my armor. “Based off of my readings, I can say two things with the utmost certainty. First I can say that this is the universe that this ‘Destiny’ originated in, I just don’t know how long they were drifting in the void for. Second, we are in the Sol system.”

“And who was that?” Young asked.

“My name is Greyscale. I’m the AI aboard the Endeavor.”

“So you said that we’re in the Sol System…” Young muttered.

“But that means we’re home”, Eli pointed out. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“No-one said that it was a bad thing, Eli”, Rush replied. “But we don’t know how long we were actually gone… And so far, I can’t seem to find any timestamps in Destiny’s systems. There’s entries, sure, but no discernable dates to go with them. It’s almost as if Destiny wasn’t tracking time.”

“The systems aboard your vessel may not have been able to”, Grey stated. “From our brief transit, my own data seem to indicate that time and the laws of physics don’t fully apply in the void, and when they do seem to take effect, they aren’t consistent.”

“Then it’s likely a characteristic of the environment”, Rush admitted as he went back to his console. “Is it just me or does it look like there’s some sort of subspace interference?”

Eli punched a few of the keys and nodded. “It almost looks like a jamming signal.”

“Destiny, this is Amore on the Endeavor. We’re seeing it over here too. Give us a moment and we’ll see about cutting through… Oh no.”

“What’s the ‘oh no’ for?” I asked.

“Stand by Destiny, I’m linking a transmission into Endeavor’s comms.”

The speakers went silent for a moment before they screeched to life again. “I repeat. Daedalus and Hammond, if you can hear this, return to Earth immediately. We’re under attack!”

“Those are ships, aren’t they?” I asked.

Young nodded. “Two of our cruisers. But if they aren’t receiving a message, they’ll likely keep doing what they’re doing unless they realize that something is wrong.”

“Then we need to get in there”, Rush stated. “If Earth is under attack and the orders aren’t getting out, then we’re the only ship capable of responding.”

“How long will take us to get there?” Young asked.

Rush shrugged and tapped away at his console. “At sublight… We’re looking at an eight hour trip. FTL is out the question unless we want one of the drive cores to blow.”

“Destiny, we might have a solution”, Amore said over the radio as a slipspace portal opened in front of the ship.

“That’s a hyperspace window…” Young muttered. “Rush, can we do it?”

“I don’t see why not”, The scientist replied.

“Then make it happen”, Young ordered as he hit a button on the arm of his chair. “This is Colonel Young to all personnel… Prepare for battle.”

***

Earth, The Pentagon
Dusk

“Walter, do you have anything yet?” O’Neill yelled over the dull roar that occupied the control room.

“Still nothing on subspace”, The bald man replied. “Sir, the Lucian Alliance must be jamming us. It’s the only other thing that makes sense.”

O’Neill shook his head in disbelief. “Then keep trying!” He stepped away from his spot in front of a row of monitors. “What do we have on that Ha’tak over New York Harbor?”

“It still isn’t firing, but those gliders are keeping the airports locked down”, One of the female technicians replied.

“What about orbital sensors, are those still down?” O’Neill asked.

“From the looks of it, they are”, Walter called out from his station.

I finally walked over to where O’Neill had been standing and stared at a screen labeled ‘New York’. It was a radar scan of the city, with the large Ha’tak floating over the harbor blinking red. But as soon as I blinked it disappeared. “General, I think that your radar broke. The ship over New York isn’t there anymore.”

“What?” O’Neill said as he turned to the monitor. “That can’t be right. Walter, what’s wrong with my monitor?”

The bald human typed in some commands to his computer and shrugged. “Uh… Nothing sir. I’m not seeing it here either.”

“Could they be jamming the radar?” I asked.

“If they were we wouldn’t see anything up there.” Walter replied before pressing something on his earpiece. “General, NYPD is reporting that the ‘alien ship’ has been shot down.”

“By what?” O’Neill exclaimed. “We don’t even-”

“This is Colonel Young calling Homeworld Command. Can anyone hear me?”

I looked over at the General, who now looked incredibly perplexed at the sudden burst from the speakers. “Walter…” He groaned.

“Homeworld Command, this is the Destiny. Please respond.”

“It’s definitely real, sir, and it’s coming on Ancient subspace frequencies.”

O’Neil’s facial expression took a one-eighty at what felt like the speed of light. No longer did he look worried, but he actually looked like a child opening a present on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “Son of a bitch… Walter, put him on the screen.”

Before me on the monitors, the image changed, replacing the radar with the video feed of an older, somewhat ragged looking man. “General O’Neil, glad to see you’re still there.”

“And you’re not on the other side of the universe anymore, Young.” O’Neil replied. “You know, a phone call wouldn’t have hurt.”

“Sorry about that, General. We didn’t exactly have the time.”

O’Neill nodded. “So then, I take it that we can thank you for the assistance in New York?”

This ‘Young’ shook his head. “It wasn’t us sir. We come with some new friends.”

He stepped out of the way and I thought that my eyes would bulge right out of my head. Standing behind Young was a pony in black and yellow power armor, specifically the spare set that Osman had brought before Kovac’s attack on Canterlot. But the mare wasn’t wearing a helmet, and her brown hair had been let down from it’s usual ponytail. “Archer?”

“I guess Amore wasn’t totally crazy after all… Glad to see you’re still alive Dusk.”

“So you did get the augmentations…” I muttered. “Did you at least get the training I asked Osman to set up?”

Archer nodded. “Spent three months with Fireteam Osiris and I’ve kept myself sharp working with Dad in the two months since I came home.”

“General, I’ve got orbital sensors back.” Walter called out. “I’ve got one Ancient starship… And an even larger one of unknown classification.”

The video feed shrunk, and a scan of a large cruiser was placed on it. “That’s a Halcyon”, I said. “It’s a light cruiser that the humans back home designed.”

“If that’s a light cruiser, I’d love to see your definition of a battleship”, O’Neill muttered.

The image of the cruiser disappeared, and was replaced with another video feed, this one from the bridge of the same ship that showed a pink unicorn standing there. “Amore… I take it that if Destiny didn’t do anything, your MAC must be in working order?”

The former princess nodded. “You can thank us later. The four other sensor contacts over the ocean east of New York appear to have jumped to slipspace.”

“So then they’ll be back…” O’Neil stated.

“I don’t know for certain, but I wouldn’t be surprised-”

Suddenly the feed from both ships in orbit cut out, and the screen returned to the radar readout of New York. “Walter, what just happened?”

As all eyes turned to the bald man, the best he could do was shrug. “Honestly, sir? I’ve got no idea.”

Author's Note

Hey, will you look at that? The crew found Dusk! WOO! And next up is some space battles! There's still a lot of writing that's been done already (in honesty I'm already in the fifteenth chapter), but I want someone to look them over before I hit the publish button.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Destiny

Ancient Starship ‘Destiny’, Mission Clock at 0:40
Archer

“Brody, what just happened?” Young asked.

The longer-haired man threw his hands up in defeat. “Not a clue. The communications array looks like it’s still working.”

I finally decided to bring up an important thought. “What if that ship that was destroyed wasn’t the only one with jamming equipment?”

The humans around the bridge all seemed to perk up at that and turn to Colonel Young. “The girl could be onto something”, Rush said. “What do we do?”

As I glanced out the view screens that lined the front of the bridge, I noticed something… Endeavor was moving “I think something is up.” I said as I pointed at the cruiser.

Young turned to watch as Endeavor began banking right, passing over the long hull of the Destiny. “You’re probably right. Turn us-”

BFFT!

One of the monitors at the back of the bridge suddenly exploded in a hail of sparks, and outside I noticed that the shields began to flare under streaks of yellow pulses. “We’re taking fire!” Rush called out as he slid into the seat at his station. “It’s coming from the aft quarter.”

“Turn us around, bring the weapons online!” Young called out as he slid back into his chair.

As Destiny began to turn away from the planet to face the attacking ships, the comms crackled to life once more. “Destiny, this is Endeavor. Do you read?”

Young quickly hit one of the buttons built into the armrest of his chair. “We’re here, go ahead.”

“Listen, those ships are back and they’re sending us some friends”, Amore said. “Can you guys handle those fighters long enough for us to engage the big ones?”

“We’ll see what we can do, Destiny out”, Young hit the same button once more before pointing at Eli. “Target the gliders as soon as they come in range.”

“Gliders?” Eli asked, looking a bit confused.

“The fighters, Eli, just focus on those fighters”, Young said as he sat back in the chair. “How are the shields looking?”

“Holding at about seventy percent”, Rush called out.

“Colonel, once we start firing I wouldn’t expect them to stay there.”

“We’re well aware, Mr. Brody”, Rush replied.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Young shake his head. “Just get me those weapons!”

After a few more seconds Destiny finished it’s maneuver and everyone on the bridge could see the four pyramid-shaped ships firing bolts of yellow energy at us and the Endeavor. In return, the cruiser was already making use of its point-defense guns, sending dozens of high-explosive rounds towards all four of the opposing ships, with the occasional trail of a missile as it left a launcher that was otherwise unseen.

But in a surprising turn, the guns of Endeavor suddenly stopped firing and the nose of the cruiser dipped slightly. “What are they doing?” Young asked.

I heard Rush groan and turned to him. “Care to share with the rest of the class, Rush?”

“It appears that Endeavor has been boarded”, The scientist replied. “I’ve got sensors back and I’m seeing a cargo ship locked onto one of the airlocks. I can only assume that they’ve managed to cut Endeavor’s power.”

“How many of your friends are on that thing?” Young asked me.

I turned to the Colonel and shook my head. “Besides me? Just Amore, Blueblood and our AI. They won’t be able to hold Endeavor alone.”

“Then we can’t let the Lucian Alliance take that ship…” Young said as he got up from his chair. “Rush, you have the bridge.”

As I followed the Colonel back out into the hallway, he fished out his radio and clicked it on. “Lieutenant Scott, I need you and Sergeant Greer to meet me at the shuttle.”

“Copy that sir, we’re on our way.”

So these humans have a smaller ship at their disposal… “I take it that you’re planning something Colonel?”

As we came upon an elevator, Young hit the control panel and nodded. “You could say that.”

***

Five Minutes Later

I have to admit, these people continue to surprise me. On one hand, they have access to a method to get aboard Endeavor. On the other, a squad of five heavily armed and armored soldiers were right alongside the two soldiers that Young had summoned, and the leader of said squad brought all of the equipment that the Colonel would need for this little excursion. But as the shuttle shook and locked onto the bridge airlock, the low hum of the engines died and was replaced by the sounds of rifles and pistols being primed to fire. I wasn’t the first off the craft, that duty fell to Colonel Young. As the final airlock door slid open and the group filed onto Endeavor’s bridge, it was already apparent that we had arrived just in time. Amore was fighting with the helm controls, while Blueblood was at the rear of the bridge, trying hopelessly to patch a blown console back together.

“Princess, Archer has returned”, Grey’s voice rang out across the bridge.

The pink unicorn seemed relieved as she turned and made her way over to the group of soldiers and myself. “I take it that you all figured out that we’ve got a problem?”

Colonel Young nodded. “You’ve got a Lucian Alliance transport locked onto an airlock towards the rear of the ship, and that same ship probably brought along some unwanted guests.”

Amore nodded and led us all to the holotable that sat in the middle of the room. “You’ve hit the nail on the head Colonel. Internal sensors have counted thirty unwelcome jerks, likely responsible for our loss of helm and weapons control. Of course as you’re aware the Lucian Alliance ships stopped firing on both Destiny and Endeavor, so I’m inclined to believe that they may be attempting to board your ship as well.”

“Destiny’s proximity sensors would’ve gone off if something locked onto the hull and was trying to cut through, so I doubt it”, Young retorted. “Endeavor is the more important target because of the danger it represents to the Lucian Alliance ships. But if this ship is disabled, or otherwise under Alliance control-”

“Then they can just go to town on Earth”, Blueblood said as he joined us. “Long story short we need to get these guys off the ship, otherwise we’re in for a bad time.”

As I studied the red dots milling about the rear of the ship on the holographic display, an idea came to mind. “They’re all in the engineering compartment, right? Well couldn’t we vent it into space?”

“We could, if we still had control of that section of the ship”, Grey said as his avatar popped into existence over the table. “I’m still attempting to regain access to the systems in the engineering compartment, but it is almost as if the systems down there simply aren’t present. With that in mind I believe that our enemies may have disconnected the main data bus to the bridge. The only other option in our case would be localized control.”

“But if somepony goes in and vents the atmosphere, they won’t be able to get out”, Blueblood pointed out. “How exactly do we expect to pull this off?”

“Are you forgetting that my armor is vacuum rated?” I asked.

Blueblood was silent for a moment before he seemed to come up with another problem. “It’s still you against thirty. Even you can’t work and fight at the same time Archer.”

“Then might I point out a solution?” Grey asked.

“Please, feel free to share”, Blueblood admitted.

The diagram of the ship disappeared, and live footage from the armory replaced it. On the screen was a dark-blue pony, already half-naked as he pulled on a tech suit. “It appears that Commander Dusk was transported aboard by some sort of teleportation device. As I speak he’s equipping the armor that was brought aboard for him.”

“Can you get a hold of him?” Amore asked.

“I’m sorry Princess, but the security camera is the only thing in the aft sections that I have control of”, the AI said. “At best I can monitor his progress.”

“Amore, can you teleport me back there?”

Amore looked at me and nodded. “I can, but I get the feeling that I’ll burn myself out doing it.”

“Then do it”, I spat, scowling under my visor. As Amore’s horn began to crackle, I turned to Young. “Take over if she hits the floor.”

I saw Young nod before everything disappeared in a flash of light. In the instant it took for the light to fade I felt my boots thud down against the deck plates, and view screens were replaced by racks of rifles and bins of ammunition.

“Archer?” I turned around and saw Dusk stepping off the armor bay with helmet in his hand. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’ve been boarded”, I said, brushing past Dusk and picking up a battle rifle off of the rack. “Thirty Lucian Alliance soldiers have taken control of the engineering section. I need your help so I can vent the section’s atmosphere.”

“Let's back up for a minute and forget about the whole ‘we’ve been boarded’ thing. Unless I’m mistaken I outrank-”

“You were officially declared dead ten hours after the Havoc went off”, I spat, marching over and getting right in Dusk’s face. “So as far as I’m concerned, your word means jackshit. Now are you going to help me or not?”

Dusk shrugged and pulled his helmet on. “I don’t think your father would forgive me if he found out I let you fly solo with this crazy plan.” I could imagine that he was wearing that same cocky grin under that helmet by this point. “Count me in.”

***

Aboard the HMS Endeavor
Dusk

The armory was on the main access corridor that lead to the engineering section, easily about one thousand feet from the bulkhead. But as we were going, I wasn’t thinking about the ships floating in the void, or the fact that we were likely going to get into a firefight in the engineering spaces surrounded by all sorts of sensitive equipment. No, I was thinking about a mint-green mare that I had left behind. “Archer… Is Dart all right?”

Archer stopped in the middle of her march and turned to face me. “Other than slowly blowing up like a balloon, she’s fine. Already has a name for the kid picked out.”

Once I processed Archer’s last sentence I realized exactly what she meant by ‘blowing up like a balloon’. “She’s pregnant?” I asked.

Archer was already in mid-turn when I put my question forward. “Of course she is. You knew about it and put it in your will… Didn’t you?”

Thinking back to the half-hour I had spent with Osman before leaving for Canterlot, I shook my head. “Well, it’s news to me. Hell, I didn’t even write a will. I did record something with Serin but that was it.”

“Then it must have been the Fragment…” Archer muttered.

“Fragment? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Amore’s research into the paradox Dusk”, Archer replied. “Look, we can talk more about it later. But the short version is that you’ve got a daughter coming.”

As Archer turned and started walking again, I had to force my feet to move. After going over what the young mare had just told me, they felt heavy and stiff. I even felt my cheek get a bit wet and my eyes got cloudy, but I quickly forced my emotions back down and capped them off. Right now, I’ve got a job to do, and none of what Archer just told me will matter if I’m dead.

As the bulkhead at the end of the hall slid open, Archer quickly shouldered her rifle and pointed at one side of the door. As I slid up against the wall and clicked off the safety on my pistol, I saw four red dots on my motion tracker. “I’ve got contacts”, Archer replied. “Eyes on four soldiers at ground level, at least three up in the catwalks.”

I looked over at Archer and nodded. “Do you have a plan?” I asked.

“There’s a large armored hatch where the third reactor should be. We’re going to seal the compartment, shut off the life support and gravity, then pop that thing open.” She explained. “If everything falls together as I’m hoping, those soldiers will get sucked out into space and anyone who doesn’t will suffocate.”

I slowly nodded. “Sounds rather brutal.”

Archer shrugged. “It’s either that or break something important in a firefight.”

As the two of us stepped out of cover I could see the genius to Archer’s plan. There’s less conflict, less risk of a stray bullet hitting one of the reactors, and we eliminate the hostiles aboard the cruiser. Ahead of us was the main engineering control console, which had been opened up. Even from twenty feet I could see that one massive cable had been unplugged. Beyond that… Well, that’s where the Lucian Alliance soldiers that had spotted us were standing.

BRRRANG!

Archer’s rifle quickly spat three rounds at the soldier standing on the left, and he quickly collapsed to the deck. “Keep me covered!” Archer yelled as she slid down to her knees and stopped at the cable.

I figured that the soldiers on the ground would have started firing, but they instead took cover down in a maintenance trench. Up above us the three soldiers began shooting, and I swung my pistol skywards at the first one that I saw.

BANG!

It took one round from my Magnum to cut a swath through the soldier’s skull, and he instantly slumped forward over the catwalk’s railing. “Just how long is this going to take?” I asked as I swung my pistol in the direction of the two soldiers that were scrambling away from their comrade. “Less than a minute!” Archer yelled as she got out from under the console. She pressed a key and I felt my feet leave the floor. “That’s the gravity… Life support is shut down… And our entrance is sealed. Cargo door is ten seconds from opening!”

I quickly brought up the control screen to my armor and activated the magnetic soles to my boots… But instead of being pulled down, I kept floating. “Archer, why aren’t my boots locking down?”

As the air began to rush out of the large room, I saw Archer float past me. “I don’t know, mine aren’t either!”

I started getting pulled forward and saw the three soldiers on the floor. I realized what we were heading to. “Is your suit sealed?” I asked.

“Is yours?” Archer retorted, likely realizing what I was getting at.

Once the planet beneath us became visible through the open hatch, I nodded. “Then hold on to your teeth!”

I can’t speak for Archer, but I certainly accelerated out the hatch into the vacuum of space. Tumbling in the zero gravity, I counted a dozen bodies of freezing soldiers, in addition to three hulks of burning black and yellow metal and the Destiny, which was pumping round after round of yellow energy into the final Lucian Alliance ship. Suddenly, my radio burst to life. “Dusk, this is Amore. Where the hell are you? We’re not seeing any lifesigns in the engineering section.”

“Uh… I went for a walk?” I said, trying to sound nonchalant as I finally spotted Archer. “Look, I’ll call you back.” With a flick of the wrist I felt the boosters built into my armor fire, pushing me towards Archer.

I didn’t so much push as I did slam into the armored mare in a zero-g tackle. “Can you watch it?” Archer called over my radio.

“And let you fumble around in zero gravity towards an impending doom? Not a chance!” I retorted. “Now, do you have any ideas on how to get out of this wonderful problem?”

“Well, we can survive a crash landing from up here, can’t we?” Archer asked.

“Of course, but only if we had something to put between us and the atmosphere”, I pointed out. “What else do you have in that noggin of yours?”

“Nothing that could get us out of this one”, Archer replied. “I never dealt with anything quite like this during my training.”

“So we’re probably-” As I opened my mouth there was a blinding flash of light, followed immediately by the feeling of smacking into metal deck plates. “-screwed?” We were aboard a ship, that much was clear. But as I got up and hauled Archer to her feet, I realized that it wasn’t any ship that I recognized.

“You must be this ‘Dusk’ character I’ve been hearing about.” I turned around and faced the rest of what was clearly the bridge of a starship, and found myself standing half a head over an older bald man with his hand outstretched. “I’m Colonel Caldwell, commander of the Daedalus.”

I tugged my helmet off and grabbed the human’s hand. “So if you’re here… You got the distress call from Homeworld Command?”

“No, but we did pick up a massive pulse of static over our comms”, Caldwell replied. “I take it that we can thank your friends for the smoke signal?”

Archer pulled her own helmet off and nodded. “The transit from the void was probably responsible.”

“What’s the void?” Another human asked from her seat at one of the two forward consoles.

Archer seemed to mull over her thoughts for a moment before she stopped bouncing her head from side to side. “I’ll just give you a short version. We punched a hole straight into your universe at the edge of the system.”

“Colonel, it looks like the last Lucian ship is bugging out”, the same human called from her post. “They’re moving away from the Ancient ship, off into deep space.”

Caldwell nodded and returned to his chair. “Captain Meyers, please make that ship go away.”

I turned to look out the front view screen in time to see two bright blue beams arc out from the side of the ship and slam into the Lucian Alliance ship. The first beam caught against the shields, while the second smashed through them and cut through the hull. A third shot hit home, and the entire vessel erupted in a fiery explosion. “Looks like that’s the last of them, sir. I’ve got no other contacts on sensors”, the Captain stated.

“So we’re all set then”, I observed, turning to face the Colonel. “Earth has been saved, you’ve got a long-lost expedition and a new ship, and I doubt that the Lucian Alliance will be trying something that bold anytime soon.”

Caldwell nodded. “While that may be true, I get the feeling that this day isn’t over yet.”

Listening to Caldwell I couldn’t help but think that he was right… We’ve dealt with one problem, and now we’re on to the next one.

Author's Note

So I'm releasing this chapter a bit early, but we're still moving along! We're slowly working our way to the mid-season finale, and if all goes well it should be out in time for Valentine's day. Next time we'll delve into some politics, but nothing too fancy...

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Into the Light

The White House, Mission Clock at 3:50
Archer

We’ve been on Earth for two hours, having abandoned our armor for more formal attire just before we arrived at the center of power for one of the largest nations on Earth. Apparently the existence of aliens with a grudge against the ‘tau’ri’, another name for these humans, has been a state secret for over twenty years. Every time these aliens threatened Earth in the past they were beaten back, and the populace was none the wiser. But after the Lucian Alliance attack on New York, that secrecy is pointless from the perspective of the leader of this American nation, a man by the name of Landry. So for two hours he had been hosting a marathon press conference with the various leaders from Homeworld Command. Right off the bat he committed to declassifying the program and releasing any information that wasn’t sensitive to the public, but that didn’t make any of these reporters calm down. And through monitoring the human’s so called ‘social media’ it was becoming clear that cynicism and fear was the rule of the day.

Off to the side of the waiting room, Dusk was finishing off his attire. Thanks to General O’Neill, he had gotten his hands on a strapping black suit, and had finally put on the tie as the President stepped aside from the podium to allow O’Neill to speak.

“So what’s the word on the street Archer?” Dusk asked.

I shrugged and handed him the tablet that I had been using. “I gotta hand it to these humans, they sure know how to be negative.”

“Considering they seem to think that all aliens must want to kill them, I can’t blame them…” Dusk said. “Maybe they need to hear some good news for a change.”

As Dusk walked over to the door I got up and followed him. As he opened it to the flashes of cameras and the din of reporters doing their thing, everything stopped for a brief moment before every eye and camera in the audience was turned towards the two of us. “Ah, perfect timing”, O’Neill said from the podium. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Commander Dusk and Commander Archer of the Equestrian Navy. Considering many of you are in a bit of a shock, I think some friendly faces might be a good change of pace.”

Dusk seemed to take the introduction in stride, and took to the podium almost immediately. “Good afternoon everyone, as the General said, my name is Dusk. Now I’m sure that many of you have some questions, so I’m going to answer a few. But before we get into that, I do have something to say…” As I stepped back and took a place next to the General, Dusk quickly straightened out his tie and seemed to relax. “In the six months since I first arrived here on Earth General O’Neill has proved that we were right to place our trust in humanity. If not for this man and his team, I’d likely be dead. I also know how many of you feel. People across this world are frightened, and rightfully so. In your first public exposure to alien existence you were attacked. But believe me, not every being out in those stars is your enemy. My people came to your aid because you came to help Equis when we needed it most. Humanity has earned the respect and friendship of not only my species, but myself personally… With that in mind, I think I’ve made you all wait long enough. Who has questions?”

At once every hand in the room shot up, and Dusk pointed at one at random. “Commander, what do you know about the Lucian Alliance? Are they going to attack Earth again?”

“I’d say that’s unlikely.” Dusk said. “The Lucian Alliance has a set number of capital ships. Those five Ha’taks that were destroyed can’t be replaced because they simply don’t have the facilities to build more. In fact, their entire stock of starships are from abandoned supply depots after the System Lords fell. They’re probably sitting back going over how stupid their plan was.”

“So they’re not coming back?” The reporter asked.

“They won’t get the chance.” O’Neill called out before he took a place at the podium next to Dusk. “Two of our battlecruisers have spent the last three hours launching retaliatory strikes on any known Lucian Alliance stronghold they can get to. While I don’t yet have final damage assessments, at this point we haven’t suffered any casualties.”

O’Neill stepped back and Dusk slid back to take up the podium. “With that in mind, what other questions do we have?”
“Just why would you help us?” A woman yelled from the back of the room.

Even from behind the stallion, I could see Dusk smile at the question. “You know, I ask myself that every day. A lot of it comes down to how my culture views personal relationships… While I’ve admittedly thought some of the ideas of our leaders to be a bit naive at times, we’ve been raised to cherish any sort of friendship. And in the interest of making sure that our friends would be around to help us if something happens, we sent our only ship to aid you… Believe me, the friendship that your species has shown us is completely worth the effort on our part.”

***

The Oval Office, Ten Minutes Later

“Commander Dusk, I must admit that your little speech has done more than I could’ve hoped.” The President said as he led us into his office. “Given the circumstances I’d expect that there would be riots in the streets by now.”

Dusk nodded and took a seat on one of the couches. “Then I take it that my line of bullshit did something good?”

I took a seat next to the President and saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. “We’ve never met your species before but judging by the reaction from the public, they seem to think that your kind really are humanity’s best friends.”

Dusk simply grabbed a pen and a pad of paper off the table that separated the two couches and started scribbling down something. “If my species exists in this reality, then you’ll find Equis in a star system at these coordinates.” He finished writing and handed the paper to the President. “The best pony to talk to would be Celestia, she’s the mare who runs the country that I call home. If anyone would be willing to forge an alliance with humanity it would be her.”

“Thank you Commander…” The President said, folding the paper and tucking it away into his suit jacket. “In the meantime declassifying the unsensitive aspects of the Stargate program will keep the public distracted for some time, so we’ll at least have a chance to see what we find.”

“With that out of the way, I’ve got a question for Archer.” Dusk said as his gaze turned towards me. “Just how did you find me?”

“Right after Canterlot, Amore managed to reproduce a map of reality that Starswirl the Bearded designed. She did… Something to it and programed it to search for your magical signature. Once she did that, the map pointed at both me and this reality.” I explained. “The memory orb I used… it did more than let me live out a selection of your memories. It overwrote my own natural magic to resemble yours.”

“That’s how Kovac found you when he attacked the Grotto.” Dusk replied.

I nodded. “Well, because you were still alive, reality seemed to start becoming unstable. The best guess that Amore came up with, and I don’t care what she said about her research, is that because there were two ostensibly identical magical signatures inhabiting two distinctly separate locations at a given point in time. Where one pony can’t be in two places at once, reality began to react because of a perceived violation of the laws that govern existence.”

“That mare is something else…” Dusk muttered as he slumped back into the couch cushions. “If that really is the case, why aren’t either of us suffering the effects of entropic cascade failure? We’ve been in incredibly close proximity for hours and neither of us seem to be in excruciating pain. Now maybe the effect is being felt by my counterpart in this universe, assuming he or she even exists, and assuming of course that the effect isn’t delayed by distance at all. So long story short I have to agree with you about Amore’s theory.”

While it was good to know that Dusk at least agreed with me, one question came to mind. “What’s entropic cascade failure?”

Dusk shrugged. “Sam Carter could probably explain it better than I could, considering she explained the theory in one of her reports that I read. But regardless of the holes that you and I are seeing in Amore’s line of thinking we still need to solve the present duplication of my own magical signature… So what’s the plan?”

“Amore brought the memory orb along. From what she can tell it’s holding my magical fingerprint, but neither of us can activate the orb because it’s in some sort of lockout. We need you to unlock it.”

Dusk nodded. “Right, because I created it… I can do that.”

POP!

I turned around and saw that the sound of a teleportation spell wasn’t a hallucination, and that Amore had decided to join us. “Do you know why I need your help with this?” She asked, waving the memory orb around.

Dusk had already gotten up and made his way over to Amore. “Just let me see that…” He said, snatching the marble-colored orb from the Princess. He rolled it over in his hands until he found the thumb-sized notch. He quickly jammed his thumb home, and the orb started pulsing in a light shade of blue. “Archer, catch!”

Dusk lobbed the orb high enough to arc over the couch, and I was able to catch it simply by stretching my right hand out. For a brief moment I felt a tingling in my hand, and the sensation quickly moved down my arm before disappearing. “Uh… Was it supposed to do that?” I asked.

“You mean feel all tingly and whatnot?” Dusk asked in return. “If that’s the case, then yes. Simply put the orb just restored your magical fingerprint to the default… Which in this case is your own natural magic.”

“Then what did you do?” Amore asked.

“All I did was unlock the orb. Once Archer used it the first time it locked out, a safety feature I created it with to ensure that it couldn’t just be passed around should it have been captured.” Dusk explained. “So the good news is that your potential reality-ending problem has been solved.”

“Excellent!” Amore seemingly chirped. “Now, if you’ll excuse us Mr. President, I need to take my friends back to the Endeavor for a more private conversation.”

I didn’t hear the report of the teleportation spell this time, but instead felt the instant acceleration and saw the flash of pink light that precipitated the change of scenery. As I got up from the captain’s chair that Amore kindly dropped me in, Grey’s avatar flashed to life at the helm’s holotank. “Archer, Dusk, welcome aboard! You’ll both be pleased to know that I’ve completed my simulations.”

“What simulations?” Dusk asked.

Grey’s avatar was replaced by a chart similar to the one he had shown a few hours ago. “Based off of my simulations using the data generated by our transit through the void, I can conclude with an eighty percent certainty that our drive will not survive another trip through the void itself. Simply put, it appears that the rapid heating that the drive experienced during our first transit has significantly reduced the projected point of failure unless the core is realigned in a shipyard.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Dusk retorted.

“It means we will have to jump from universe to universe to reach our home”, the AI answered. “There’s also another consideration… The appearance of an identical Endeavor from a portal as we were departing. With that in mind I can only assume that we need to re enter our reality at that exact point in time.”

“That in itself is a problem”, Amore said, injecting herself into the conversation. “We don’t have a fine enough control of the modified slipspace drive to make sure that we can do just that.”

“So as we work our way home, we try to find out how to do just that”, Dusk retorted. “It’s a simple solution Amore… But I get the feeling that there’s more to this than just that issue. For instance, where’s the crew?”

Amore shook her head and sat down on the armrest of the captain’s chair. “Well Dusk… There’s a bit of a story to tell there.”

***

HMS Endeavor, Mission Clock at 16:50
Dusk

All night I had one question that kept coursing through my mind… Who or what had attacked Canterlot, and how did Celestia know that something was coming? As I finished a series of laps around the main hangar I managed to finally push a reasonable conclusion to the forefront; I don’t have enough information to go off of. Simply expecting to come up with an answer is out of the question at the moment.

“Dusk, where are you?” Amore’s voice rang out over the PA system.

I walked over to a panel on the wall and hit the button blinking ‘respond’. “I’m in the hangar, what’s up?”

“I’ve got a communique from the Destiny coming through. Colonel Young is looking for you.”

For a moment I mulled over the point that Amore had made before making up my mind. “Put it through to me down here.”

The panel made a clicking noise before a brief burst of static erupted. “Dusk, this is Colonel Young… We’ve got a problem that we could use a hand with.”

“Well we’ve got some time, what do you need?” I asked.

“About two hours ago one of the people under my command disappeared, we’ve got a missing shuttle and our sensors have been disabled.”

“Give me a second Colonel…” I pressed a yellow blinking button on the panel and Amore’s face appeared on the screen. “Amore, are we picking anything up on our sensors? We’re looking for a small shuttle.”

“Just a moment... Yes, we’ve got a contact about 260 kilometers away heading straight for the system’s star.”, Amore replied.

I pressed both the yellow button and the blinking ‘ready’ key, linking the Colonel into the ship’s PA. “Colonel, we’ve found your shuttle. It’s heading for the star at the heart of the system.”

“Shit… We won’t be able to catch that shuttle, at least not anytime soon. Any chance your ship can reach that shuttle?”

“Damn right we can… Amore, plot a microjump, get us in front of that shuttle.” I ordered. “We’ll catch your shuttle Colonel, Dusk out.”

Author's Note

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Rush

HMS Endeavor, Mission Clock at 17:00
Dusk

In the short time it took for Endeavor to execute a successful micro jump, Archer came down to join me in the hangar. “Do we even know who took the shuttle?” Archer asked.

“I would assume that Colonel Young must know, but he didn’t tell me”, I said to the mare. “When you met him, did you run into anyone that screamed ‘I’m gonna steal a ship’?”

“Even if I did, I don’t know the crew at all.”

I didn’t say anything. At this point anyone could be on the shuttle, and whatever the reason the pilot had it likely wasn’t good. “Dusk, Archer, stand by. The shuttle is coming right to you!” Amore wasn’t wrong, as the shuttle swept into the hangar through the shield before skidding to a halt on its landing skids.

Archer ended up taking the lead, beating me to the rear hatch and hitting the release. Once it slid open she hopped up into the craft without any hesitation. “Rush?” I heard her say.

I managed to get into the craft and saw Archer staring at an older human, standing by the pilot’s station with a gun in his hand. “Archer… I take it that Colonel Young asked you to come find me?”

“He actually asked me”, I said, cutting Archer off. “Rush, right?” The human nodded while tightening his grip on is pistol. “Look, Young asked for my help because I’m technically the boss around here.”

“Are you kidding me?” Archer muttered.

I simply pointed at Archer before turning my attention back to Rush. “Obviously something is wrong. You stole a ship and you seem to be trying to crush that gun of yours… What’s wrong?”

Rush cracked a smile and silently chuckled. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me”, I spat right back.

Rush shrugged and leaned against the back of the pilot’s chair. “The Destiny was launched with a mission. Its creators found some sort of structure in the cosmic background radiation, and as a result it and a number of other ships were sent out across the stars in order to learn. Since we came aboard I discovered what the ship’s purpose was… And that mission of discovery became my life’s work. Now let me ask you something Dusk, how long has it been since we last contacted Earth?”

The answer came rather easily, considering General O’Neill had discussed it with me. “Like what, five years?” I offered.

“Maybe for them”, Rush replied. “But for us, it was closer to five hundred years. We were in stasis the whole time, all while Destiny kept going along its course until we crossed over into the void six months ago according to the ship’s logs. We were just lucky that we encountered the Endeavor when we did, otherwise we’d all still be drifting.”

“But that would mean that there’s a second Destiny out there.” I said, recognizing the ramifications of what Rush was saying.

“Exactly. And you know what the ship learned over those centuries?” Rush asked. I didn’t get the chance to respond as he shook his head. “That there’s nothing there. All of that time, everyone we lost, and there’s nothing to show for it.”

“You’ve got an alien starship, don’t you?” I asked in return. “You mean to tell me that you can’t learn from just what’s on Destiny? To get across the universe would take millions of years, and from what I understand the Destiny is just that old. There has to be something there.”

“Not with all of the hell I’ve caused!” Rush spat back at me. “We lost a lot of people… I was more concerned with Destiny’s mission while the rest of them wanted to go home. Its honestly been a waste, both in lives and time… And all of that is on me.”

While I noticed a flash of light out of the corner of my eye, I paid it no mind. “So what was this supposed to do Rush? Flying this bucket into a star doesn’t bring back anyone who died, and it doesn’t give you back time. All that you’re showing is some serious weakness.”

As two other pairs of footfalls made themselves known on the shuttle deckplate, Rush seemed to recognize who had joined us. “Well Colonel, I doubt that you have a problem with where I’m going.”

“I don’t even know what this is about Rush.” Said the now familiar voice of Colonel Young. “Just put the gun down…”

“Sorry Colonel, but not today.” As Rush’s arm moved up he cocked the hammer back on his pistol and stuck it right to the side of his head.

“No, Rush-”

BANG!

As Rush crumpled to the ground, I felt an unusual sensation, something that I’d describe as tingling. As a female human brushed past me and slid down next to Rush’s body, I turned to look at Colonel Young. He looked shocked, and understandably so considering what he had just witnessed. But once he noticed me looking at him his gaze turned to me, and morphed from shock to confusion. “Is something wrong Colonel?”

“Colonel, there’s nothing wrong with Rush”, I heard the woman call out. “Just a lump from where the pistol was…”

I turned around, noticing that Archer was staring at me now, and saw the gun on the deck. It took all of two steps for me to reach it, and as I knelt down to pick it up I could already see a problem. The end of the pistol had bulged and split apart, almost as if something had blocked the pistol’s barrel. “Have any of you ever seen something quite like this?” I asked as I turned around and held the gun up. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the woman was staring at me as well, and both Young and Archer seemed to have their gazes fixed on me. “Uh… What’s wrong?”

Archer simply pointed at me. “Your eyes…” She muttered.

“My eyes?” I wondered aloud. “What do you-” The woman off to the side tapped me on the shoulder before handing me a small mirror out of her medical bag. I looked down and at first what I was seeing didn’t register. But after a double-take I could see what has everyone spooked. My eyes were glowing a pale gold. As I looked back down at the pistol and back to the mirror in my other hand a theory began to develop. Looking over at Rush, who was clearly just unconscious at this point as opposed to dead, was all the evidence that I needed to see. “Son of a bitch… Archer, I think I can use my magic again.”

***

Endeavor Infirmary, Half an Hour Later

It took a few minutes to really get a handle on Rush’s suicide attempt. Obviously it had failed, but through that I learned something rather important. Just because my horn had been snapped off, I could still use my own innate magic. To say that it was a welcome surprise is an understatement, especially considering that I hadn’t had any luck in my attempts to reconnect with my unicorn-specific abilities for months.

In the intervening time since we moved Rush to the Endeavor’s infirmary I managed to ‘shut off’ my magic, at least outwardly. The whole ‘glowing eyes’ thing seemed to be an indicator that my magic was working as it should. All it took was properly directed focus to manipulate it. Lucky for me, the same old magical basics that I picked up as a child still worked as they were meant to. But experimenting and getting used to my magic again would have to wait due to more pressing concerns.

“Dusk?” I heard Archer say. “Are you alright?”

I shook off the fog and nodded. “I’m just thinking Archer… But yes, I’m fine.”

We were standing out in the hall, having given Young’s medic the space to examine Rush in light of his episode. Off to my right the door slid open and the Colonel stuck his head out. “TJ’s all set. Come on in.”

Rush had been laid out on the bed only a few feet away from the door, specifically at Archer’s suggestion should someone out in the hall needed to come running. Rush must have woken up after we brought him up to the Infirmary, because he was sitting up in bed staring at the wall opposite of him. “How are you feeling Rush?” I asked.

“Well I do have a decent headache… Something that I believe I can thank you for”, the scientist replied.

“In all honesty I didn’t think I still had it in me”, I admitted, thinking back to the spell I used on Rush’s pistol. “So what happens now?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I’d assume some sort of psychiatric facility”, Rush said, glaring at Colonel Young while he said it.

“And just what am I supposed to do Rush?” Young asked. “You tried to kill yourself-”

“Oh, like you care!” Rush spat.

“You’re still my responsibility!” Young yelled back. “All things considered I wouldn’t be doing my job if I left you to your own devices.”

Hearing that drew something of an epiphany. “What if he came with me?”

Young heard that and turned around looking like he had heard a rather stupid suggestion. “What?” He asked.

“I said what if he came with me”, I repeated. “Look, you’re concerned that he can’t be left alone. But is throwing him in a mental hospital going to do anything for him? With all of the hell down on Earth right now, do you really want Rush out in the public sphere where he could theoretically start a riot with what he knows? He needs a structured environment, and I think I can give Rush just that.”

Listening to what I said must have gotten the Colonel thinking, because he no longer looked like he had been insulted. He seemed to be thinking, and considering the circumstances that seemed like a good thing. “I think I need to leave that up to Rush.”

I nodded and stepped over to the door panel. “In that case I think we need some privacy”, I said as I hit the door button.

Young and his medic didn’t say anything as they stepped out into the hall, but I did get a look from Archer that screamed ‘you better know what you’re doing’. After she passed through I hit the button again and the door slid shut. “Why do you want me to come with you?” Rush asked.

I took the opportunity to step away from the door and sat down at the end of the bed that Rush was on. “Because I’ve been where you are before. Lost, feeling like you don’t have a purpose and that nothing is worth it. That road you’re walking is long, cold and very lonely… And I’d never wish that fate on my worst enemy.”

“Do you really believe that?” Rush asked.

I nodded in return. “Of course I do. If I didn’t think I couldn’t be of some help for you Rush, then I wouldn’t have offered you anything.” As Rush looked down at his hands, seemingly deep in thought I decided it was best to ask one final question. “So will you join us or not?”

Author's Note

Good news everyone! We've hit our midseason finale here at Striker's Production House of Horrors! Better known to the public as my desk! Next week is the Interlude before break, and I'm bringing back an old face... Well, maybe four. Three of them were definitely dead last I checked. Don't worry, we'll get around to explaining that headache later on.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Interlude I

Outside Canterlot Castle, Concurrent to the Launch of HMS Endeavor
???

Canterlot. I’ve only been in this city once or twice in my lifetime, the first when I graduated basic training and the second was for my assignment to the picket. Every time the city had been bright, bustling and alive… Tonight it’s an abandoned wasteland. According to Dawn the city had been evacuated when the city fell under attack, but this doesn’t look like a city under siege.

“No…” I heard the mare draped over my shoulder sob. “No, no, no, no…”

Now I don’t know WHY Dawn sent me for this mind-fuck of a trip, but judging by our brief conversation this mare was important for some reason, and getting her out of Canterlot was the only thing that mattered. Do I know why? No. Do I care? Well, kinda. But for the time being I’ll just have to make due. “Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “Just a little while longer and I’ll have you out of the city.”

“No…” The mare sobbed again.

I just rolled my eyes as I kept up a brisk stride down Main Street towards the city limits. But glancing over my shoulder I saw something that made my heart drop like a stone; There was a seafoam-coated unicorn clad in dark blue and gold robes, along with two of what I would assume to be guards flanking him as he made his way towards us. “Awe shit…” I turned forward and went to pick up the pace, but ahead of me was a griffon and two ponies; a black-furred pegasus and a bone-white unicorn. “Uh… Hi?”

“You must be Lieutenant Spark…” The Griffon observed as his unicorn companion blasted me back onto my ass, sending my charge rolling to the ground as I fell. “I believe that you found a long missing piece of my property… Although she’s looking decidedly smaller than we were led to believe.”

“Faust clearly beat us to the punch.” The seafoam unicorn observed as he finally stood over the two of us. “Although I know for a fact that she never had any designs for naval officer that survived the Last Day on sheer luck alone…”

“Well you can thank Dawn for that.” I spat, noticing a sudden perk of attention from the mare I was ordered to rescue out of the corner of my eye.

“I thought we were here to prevent her from being born…” The pegasi observed. “Just how could she have been the one playing god?”

“You forget that Faust has sequestered herself outside of the regular flow of time.” The apparent leader chided. “She clearly made excellent use of that quirk… It’s now clear that her agent that I’ve had run-ins with over the years is in fact Dawn.”

“What are you talking about?” I heard my companion croak out.

The seafoam unicorn knelt down to get closer to the mare, and with a wicked smirk on his muzzle I could make out a slight chuckle. “Why Ms. Dart, you don’t even know the importance that your child holds, do you? One so young with so much experience, yet so naive… It would be amusing if it wasn’t so pathetic.”

The mare, Dart, looked just as confused as I felt. But after the two of us exchanged glances we wordlessly opted to remain silent. “Lord Euripides? What are your orders?” The other unicorn asked.

“Kill them both.” The stallion said as he got up and started walking away.

I turned over to look up at the trio that now were aiming previously unseen pistols at myself and my companion. But looking at the unicorn, something clicked. His eyes, a rare shade of turquoise. The same shade that my own eyes held. In an instant I remembered where I had seen those eyes once before, on a day that I consider one of the darkest and saddest of my life. “Kovac…” I muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

The unicorn paused, and his companions both offered sideways glances at the stallion. “What did you just say?” He growled.

“Kovac. That’s your name, isn’t it?” I said as I slowly made my way to my feet. “Goddess, what happened to you?”

“Father…” The stallion muttered, clearly making the same connection that I had made. “And here I thought that you had died in Poneva centuries ago.”

“Centuries? You don’t look a day over thirty.” I countered. “How… Goddess, Kovac. What happened? I would’ve never expected to find you in a place like this.”

“I survived!” He spat, suddenly looking very angry. “I took the wasteland for what it was, adapted to its hellscape. And I was rewarded with strength and power that no simple pony like you could have ever imagined!”

Goddess, these are the ravings of a stallion who’s lost his grip on reality… And no matter the clear familiar connection that both of us share my own flesh and blood has me at the end of a gun. In a move that felt fluid and well practiced, I unhooked my revolver from it’s holster and mirrored Kovac’s stance towards his griffon companion. “I’m sorry, but I have a job to do. Son or not I’m not going to die here without a fight.”

“Then it’s a fight you’re gonna have.” Kovac spat as he cocked the hammer back on his pistol. For a few brief moments the street was silent, and all I could hear was the thrumming of my own heart in my ears.

“Polaris, engage!” Somepony out of sight yelled, immediately punctuated by the bursts of rifle fire from somewhere down the street.

The destruction that the gunfire presented was all I needed to help Dart to her feet, and thankfully she was readily moving under her own power this time. The two of us blew past Kovac and made for the open storefront that a small group of soldiers had impressed into use as a firing position. Vaulting over the open streetside counter, I found myself tumbling to a stop at the feet of a tall and darkly armored… Thing. “Uh… What are you supposed to be?”

The creature shook it’s helmeted head. “I thought most of the military was at least familiar with what humans looked like.” He observed

“What? Look, I’m not from around here!” I replied as I pushed myself against the back of the counter. “Some green Alicorn had the brilliant idea of ripping me out of a radioactive hellscape and dropped me in another far less cancerous hellscape!”

“Less cancerous… Wait, are you a wastelander?” The human asked.

I shrugged. “Sure, if that’s what we’re calling it!”

“What did you say your name was again?” Dart asked as she scooted up next to me.

“Lieutenant Spark, Equestrian Royal Navy. First Officer of the patrol picket E-201.” I replied. Out of the corner of my eye though, the mare looked stunned. “Something wrong?”

“You said E-201?” Dart questioned.

I nodded. “Ya, I did.”

“But that means… Aw, fuck it. We don’t have time for this bullshit!” Dart exclaimed.

As the shooting stopped I heard one of the soldiers sigh. “Looks like they didn’t either.”

Getting up, I poked my head over the top of the counter and saw a decidedly empty street. “Where’d they go?”

“Teleported out from the looks of it.” The stallion murmured as he turned to look down at Dart. “What happened to you?”

Dart shook her head as some tears began clouding up her eyes. “I don’t know… I was taking a nap, and when I woke up Spark was trying to wake me up, and she was gone…”

“She? You found out the sex of the baby?” The stallion asked.

“Just this morning.” Dart replied as she wiped her tears away. “And that’s where this gets even more confusing. Those stallions were out to kill her, and Spark knew her name.”

Now it was my turn to look confused again. “Say what now?”

“Dawn, that was the name I picked out for her.” Dart explained. “It can’t be a coincidence that a mare named Dawn is the one who dropped you into this mess.”

“Dart, that seems a bit like a projection to me…” The human observed. “Are you sure about that?”

“Maybe this has something to do with that Faust character that they mentioned?” I offered, thinking back to what felt like a nonsensical statement that Euripides had made.

“Faust… Oh no.” The stallion muttered.

“Comet, what is it?” The human asked.

“If I remember my ancient correctly, Faust was the supposed ‘allmother’. The all-powerful deity that gave birth to both Princesses.” The stallion explained. “There’s just way too many coincidences here for me to be comfortable.”

The human nodded. “Alright, so what do we do?”

“First Home Battalion has a command post set up about a mile and a half outside the city limits.” The stallion explained. “We push for the CP and see if we can get in contact with either Princess. Supposedly this involves their mother, so they might know what to do.”

At that Dart seemed rather invigorated, and decidedly more commanding. “Alright… You heard the stallion. Let’s get moving Polaris!”

Author's Note

Hey, look E-201 fans! Spark is back thanks to some universe-hopping shenanigans! And even though it's like 9:30 at night, we're still good because this still counts as Saturday! Anyway, the next couple of weeks are going to be used to 1) find more proofreaders because 2) I've written a mountain of stuff and it's a war crime to ask the gang to go through all of that alone. I'm a good Striker, not a war criminal... So I'm hoping that we'll be back on the publishing schedule by April 1st.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Third Earth

HMS Endeavor, Mission Clock at 20:00
Dusk

If I should say anything, it’s this; direct transits between different universes takes far more time than I’d expect. Personally I’d have expected seeing a nearly instantaneous trip, but it actually took us half an hour. As we the tunnel of shifting lights died and gave way to stars and blackness I noticed Rush get up from where he had seated himself at the helm. “Something wrong Doc?” I asked.

“Well I’ve been thinking… You all launched this ship with a drive capable of passing through barriers between universes, and it wasn’t tested at all?” Rush asked. “Doesn’t that seem a bit unwise?”

“The Endeavor is completely safe Nicholas.” Amore said as she got up from her own seat. “If it was running with an unsafe drive system then I doubt we’d still be here… But if it makes you feel better I’ll get you the schematics and notes.”

Rush seemed satisfied at that and strode over to one of the sensor consoles, where after a few moments his face scrunched up into a puzzled look. “Is anyone else seeing this?”

“Seeing what?” Blueblood called from the helm. “All I can see out there is debris.”

“Well that’s exactly it. Just where did it all come from?” Rush asked in return.

I saw Blueblood shrug and turn back to his controls. “Look, I’m just here to press buttons and look like I’m flying this bucket.”

Off to Blueblood’s left the holotank flickered to life and Grey’s spherical avatar came to life. “If I may, judging by current sensor readings it doesn’t look like the stagnant.”

“So it’s some really old space junk then.” I observed.

“Indeed it has been.” The AI said. “If my models are accurate, the debris out there has been adrift for a period in excess of two centuries.”

Rush must have kept doing something with the sensors, because I heard him mutter something inaudible. “What do you got Rush?”

“Well I’ve done some analysis of what the debris is made of… I can tell what it’s made of, and long range sensors are picking up a massive concentration of the material.” Rush turned away from the console with an expression I could only define as peculiar. “There’s some sort of structure on the planet to our aft. It’s made almost entirely of the same alloy that makes up the debris field.”

Over the helm a hologram changed, showing the planet with a blinking red dot. “I’ve marked the location of the structure.” Grey’s disembodied voice rang out.

Looking at the map that the AI had projected made something in the back of my head start reacting… Reminiscent of the unmistakable sensation I felt after using dark magic during the wasteland expedition a decade ago. But to feel that by just looking at a hologram? That’s different. “Does anyone else feel that?” I wondered aloud.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Amore seemed a bit confused at my unexpected question. “Feel what?” She asked in return.

“Well you obviously don’t know what I’m talking about…” I muttered as I looked around the bridge. “Hey, where’s Archer?”

“I believe she’s in the armory.” Grey said.

I nodded once I heard the AI’s answer and hit the comm button on the right arm of my chair. “Bridge to armory, please respond.”

It took a moment but the speaker in my chair chattered to life. “Archer here, what’s up?”

“Start gearing up, we’re going on a field trip.” I flipped the off switch on the panel and got out of my chair. “Amore, you’re in charge until we get back. Rush, go get that shuttle of yours ready. Archer and I will meet you in the hangar.”

***

Over the Unknown Planet, Thirty Minutes Later

“So why did you decide to bring Rush along?” Archer whispered from her seat next to me in the shuttle.

“It gives him something to do.” I whispered back.

“I can hear you.” Rush called out from his seat at the controls. “Anyway, we’ll be landing shortly just outside the structure. What do you need me to do?”

I pulled my helmet on and got up from my seat. “You’re our eyes in the sky. Just keep in touch.”

As I hit the door release, Archer handed me a submachine gun before hopping out of the opening. I didn’t waste time and dropped off the edge of the deckplate towards the sandy ground below us. “I got a way in.” Archer called out.

A quick glance towards the side of the dark-colored pyramid was all I needed to know what Archer was talking about. “That looks a bit like a hull breach, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe this is just a crashed starship.” Archer offered as she stepped into the dark interior. As I followed her in, the lights on her helmet flickered to life. “It could explain the debris we ran into in orbit.”

After a few more steps the motion tracker on my heads up display began lighting up, and on instinct I shouldered my weapon. “I’ve got contacts.” I turned my own helmet light on and slowly started turning on my heels. “What are you thinking kid?”

Backing up I ended up bumping into Archer. “Whoever they are, they’re moving quick. I can’t get a good count on targets.”

“Do you see anything yet?” I replied.

Suddenly the chamber we were standing in lit up in a pale glow. In the dim light I could make out shapes of at least a dozen bipedal figures all pointing what appeared to be rifles. As they got closer I could make out the details of scales and shades of green. “I think so…” Archer muttered.

Suddenly the group I was staring at parted and a different creature stepped forward. It certainly wasn’t lizard-like by any stretch, but it wore a more decorative ensemble of red armor with a dark undersuit. “Alright, ditch the helmets.” The creature ordered, and I judged the creature to be a female.

“What’s the play Dusk?” Archer asked.

I shook my head, lowered my gun and latched it onto my right thigh. “Do what she says Archer.” With guns aimed at me I tilted my head forward and pulled my helmet off with little resistance.

The female stepped forward and snatched both mine and Archer’s helmets before taking a step back. “All right, start walking.”

I turned and started walking lock-step with Archer down the newly lit corridor. “So she seems friendly…” I muttered.

“Quiet!”

Archer just rolled her eyes. “Look, did we do something wrong?” She asked.

“You’re trespassing in the lair of our lord Mumm-Ra.” The female spat as she shoved against Archer’s back. “So where’d your ship go? It disappeared before we could intercept it.”

“It’s probably back in orbit by now. Which admittedly is probably a bit safer than down here…”

As we stepped out of the corridor and into a larger chamber the armed lizard creatures began to fan out, while the female stepped between Archer and myself as she shepherded us towards a platform at the bottom of a ramp. Standing there was a large and imposing armored figure that easily was twice my height. “Pumyra, these are the intruders?”

So that’s the female’s name… At least there’s something that I can put to that face. “They are, my lord. However their transport escaped capture.”

“Like I said out in the hall it’s probably already in orbit.” I retorted. “And if my crew is following protocol then they’ll level this building if they don’t hear from us for more than an hour.” Granted that was a complete bluff, but these two don’t need to know that.

“Curious…” The larger individual droned. “I don’t recognize your species. Tell me, where are you from?”

“Oh you know, first star to the right and straight on until morning.” Archer chirped.

“Mumm-Ra asked you a question. Answer it!” Pumyra barked.

“What? I thought my friend here offered a succinct answer.” I said, trying to sound as artificially pompous as possible.

Maybe this Pumyra character was going to smack the back of my head, because her boss held up his armored hand and I heard a shuffle of feet as she put some distance between the two of us. “Sarcasm won’t serve you well here.”

“So the pyramid with the evil vibe is the exception to my usual shenanigans… Got it!” As the large likely evil figure stepped forward to tower over me I started wondering if I’d be regretting my impudence. But where I’m probably already in a hole I decided to feign disgust. “Awe jeez dude, you need a breath mint!”

Of course I shouldn’t be surprised that this beast wrapped his armored hand around my head and effortlessly picked me up off the ground. “Well if you won’t give me the answers that I seek, I will simply take them.”

I felt the grip of the hand loosen slightly, but that was replaced by the sudden sensation of the fur on the back of my neck standing up under an intense static charge. Then the tingling along my spine started and the alarms started going off in the back of my mind, the same feeling that I had a short time ago on the Endeavor’s bridge. Suddenly the sensation of a giant fist around my head disappeared and I noticed that I was standing in a cloud of purple mist in only the bodysuit that was under my armor. “What the hell?” I muttered.

“Such power… I haven’t encountered an individual like you in many years.” The disembodied voice of Mumm-Ra boomed. “Are there others like you?”

That's when I realized what was going on; Mumm-Ra was probing my mind. “Maybe there are, but you won’t find them.”

“It’s just a matter of time until I get my answers.”

“Well that sucks, because unless I’m mistaken you aren’t getting too far.” I retorted.

“And just how do you know that?”

Suddenly the mist disappeared and I dropped to the floor, having ‘returned’ to the chamber. I looked up at Mumm-Ra and saw that the armored monster had fell to his knees. “Because I’m one lucky son of a bitch!”

As I turned and started moving my helmet fell into my hands courtesy of Archer. “Come on, let's go!” By the time I slid my helmet on Archer already had her pistol in her hand and used it to club the lizard that was blocking the door into the corridor.

“STOP THEM!” Mumm-Ra roared, his voice echoing about the chamber and the corridor.

As we ran I pulled up the radio on my heads up display. “Ground Team to Rush, you there?”

“I’m here.”

I took the opportunity to pull my submachine gun off of my thigh. “We’re in need of a quick exit. How soon can you hit the ground?”

“I won’t be able to, I’m lining up for a strafing run. Panthro, wait don’t-”

“Rush, who are you talking to?” Archer asked.

For a moment there was silence over the radio before I heard a barely audible sigh. “Look, I found some friends. I’ll lay down cover fire and they’ll grab you. Rush out.”

“Did I miss something here?” Archer called out as we passed through the hull breach that we found. “A suicidal scientist who’s only been working with us for less than a day and clearly isn’t the most social went and made friends?”

I wheeled around and shouldered my gun. “I’ll just take what I can get!”

Bratatat!

While the burst of gunfire didn’t hit anything, it did enough to force Pumyra to duck her head as she ran out into the open. But she was still a ways away from us as a ship blew in over us and stopped in a hover a few feet behind us. “You think those are Rush’s friends?” Archer wondered aloud.

I turned away from Pumyra and looked at the ship. The boarding ramp was down and someone was making their way down it. “Well it doesn’t look like they’re gunning to kill us.” I turned back and saw that Pumyra was halfway between us and the pyramid. “Now get going, I’ll keep you covered.” Taking the opportunity I rushed towards the still-charging female. She lunged towards me with a knife, and I dropped to my knees to let the knife swipe above the horn on my helmet. Once it passed I leapt back to my feet and smacked my opponent with the stock of my weapon.

Pumyra landed on the ground face-up. “You’ll pay for that!” She growled, scrambling back to her feet and grappling onto the chestplate of my armor. It’s at that point that I saw her eyes. While they held the intensity of unbridled rage, there was something else. Her irises, they were the same shade of purple as the ‘mist’ that I saw when Mumm-Ra was trying to get into my head.

“You’re not in control…” I breathlessly said. “Mumm-Ra, he got in your head. He was trying to make me into whatever you’re supposed to be.”

“No, without my master I would be dead.” Pumyra snapped. “He saved me, made me whole again. And once I kill you in his name!”

That must be it. Mumm-Ra must have revived Pumyra, which allowed him to exert his influence over her at the same time… But that also means that she’d have intel on his capabilities. “And you’ll make a fine prisoner.” I spat back, shoving Pumyra off me before smacking her face into my knee. The blow instantly knocked her out, and with the lizard-creatures now pouring out of the pyramid I hoisted her over my shoulder, turned around and sprinted to the waiting ship. “Start taking off!” I yelled over the whine if the engines.

“Dusk, what are you doing?” Acher yelled.

I ignored her as I leapt up onto the ramp that was rising away from the sand with the rest of the ship. Once my boots hit metal I pushed off and propelled myself into the brightly lit interior. “I’m making sure that we have intel to work with.” I called out as I dropped Pumyra to the deck.

“Do you honestly think that you’ll get anything out of that traitor?”

When I turned around I was facing the individual who had come down the ramp when the craft landed. One thing immediately came to mind as I finally recognized the orange black-striped fur, reminiscent of a tiger. “I do know a few tricks Stripes.”

“Stripes? My name is-”

“Tygra, we could use you up here!” Someone called from one of the forward compartments.

This ‘Tygra’ seemed rather annoyed but left Archer and I to our devices as he hiked off towards what I would assume to be the cockpit. “So what are you planning?” Archer asked.

Well I have a rough idea, but I don’t see a reason to show my hand just yet. “Well once we get back on Endeavor, I’m gonna go change into something less intimidating. While I do that lock our friend here up in the bridge airlock.”

“Why the airlock on the bridge?”

“There aren’t enough of us on the ship to guard the brig. If Pumyra is locked up in the airlock we’ll be able watch her.”

Archer pulled her helmet off and nodded. “Just keep an eye on her for now, I’ll go keep our new friends company.”

The heavy footfalls of Archer’s armored boots echoed across the deck as I turned my attention back to the unconscious body at my feet. As I kept watch I shut off the speakers in my helmet and clicked on my radio. “Rush, you there?”

The radio silently squeaked before Rush’s voice came across the speakers. “I’m here, what’s up?”

“You’re gonna beat us back to Endeavor, right?”

“I should… Why?”

“Make sure you bring a medical kit up to the bridge.” I replied as I studied the bruise on Pumyra’s cheek. “I’m gonna need it.”

Author's Note

Well would you look at that. Another chapter! About time, right? It's only been two months since I went and published a chapter, right? Well it's time to get back into the swing of things. In the mean time, we'll see you all next week for a new chapter!

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Cold

HMS Endeavor, Mission Clock at 21:15
Dusk

When I thought of something less intimidating than power armor the last thing I’d expect to find in the armory was a captain’s uniform. “I guess it’s time to make an impression…” I muttered to myself before hitting the door button for the bridge. The door slid open to reveal the ten assembled ponies, cats and human all surrounding the holotable. “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

Amore was the first one to pay me any mind. “Don’t worry about it Dusk, we were just all getting acquainted. I believe you know Tygra?”

I glanced at the cat in question and nodded. “Judging by what you said back on your ship, I take it that at least some of you have had some dealing with Pumyra.”

Some looks made their way among the cats before the one standing next to Amore nodded. “Pumyra was one of us at one point… But after Thundera fell she was twisted and became an agent of Mumm-Ra. She betrayed us and handed him a powerful artifact in the process.”

“It’s goes without saying that we’re all still a bit raw over it.” Tygra added.

“Fair enough, in similar circumstances I’d probably still be sore myself.” I said. “But now onto a bigger question. Who is this ‘Mumm-Ra’? I know the name, but how dangerous is this guy?”

“Incredibly, and that’s probably putting it a bit lightly.” The large imposing figure that Rush identified as Panthro explained. “He’s a warmonger bent on dominating every species on Third Earth. The only thing we have going right now is that he isn’t at full power.”

“Then let's solve that.” I offered. “Greyscale?”

The AI’s avatar appeared over the table and managed to elicit some looks of surprise and confusion from the cats. “I’m online sir.”

“What do you have on that structure?”

Over the table blue holographic representation of the pyramid developed. “Based off of my scans it appears that there is a rather strong shield of some sort protecting it. As such bombardment with missiles or the point defense guns would likely prove ineffective.”

I nodded and looked over at the cat standing next to Amore. “Too bad for Mumm-Ra that we’ve got a trump card. Greyscale, give me a firing solution for the MAC.”

“While I can give you a firing solution, that is the best that I can do.” The AI answered, easily taking the wind out of my sails.

“And why is that?” I asked.

A diagram of the ship appeared over the holotable with the MAC and the associated systems all marked as grey. “It appears that one of the main power conduits down in the engineering section was disabled when the Lucian Alliance boarded us yesterday, and it has yet to be repaired.”

“Damnit…” I muttered. “Archer? Take Amore and Blueblood. I want that MAC back online.”

“But neither of us know the specifics to the MAC or it’s systems.” Archer pointed out.

“Grey will walk you through the repair.” I groaned in return. “Now get going!”

As Amore stepped away from the holotable I saw Panthro step back as well. “I’ll go see what I can do.”

After a few seconds I heard the door slide open, and then closed after the third pair of footsteps walked out into the corridor. “So what now?” Tygra asked.
“Now that they’re out of the way I can get to work.” I said as I nodded at Rush. “Grab the medical kit and get the defibrillator ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Greyscale, initiate a twenty second vent cycle on the bridge airlock. Keep those outer doors closed and keep an eye on the occupant’s lifesigns.” I ordered, making an about face and marching over to the airlock’s inner door.

“Do you realize what you’re doing?” Amore’s companion asked.

“Damn right I do. Get ready Rush!”

As I looked through the glass I could see that Pumyra must have woken up at one point, because she was against the bottom of the door and banging on it. “Damnit, you’re gonna kill her!”

“That’s the idea.” I checked the status panel next to the door, the readout now saying ‘cycle complete’. After another moment the banging stopped. “Grey, what do you got?”

“The prisoner’s life signs are fading.” The AI replied. “I’m detecting a heartbeat but no respiratory activity, compartment temperature is now at -100 degrees celsius.”

I felt someone grab the collar of my jacket and whip me around. “You’re insane!”

Tygra managed to haul the other cat off me rather quickly. “Lion-O, just calm down!”

“Sir, I’m no longer detecting lifesigns.” Grey announced.

I turned back around and hit the release. There was a rush of air into the airlock as the door hissed open, allowing the lifeless cat to slump over. Rush beat me to the punch, dragging the lifeless body out of the opening before the airlock doors resealed. “Get ready Rush…” I knelt down and lifted Pumyra’s left eyelid open. For a split second her iris was purple, but immediately faded to a brilliant hazel color. “All right, hit her!” I yelled as I put scrambled back to my feet.

Rush didn’t bother trying to move the cat’s armor out of the way. He instead slapped the paddles against the metal chestplate and released over one hundred volts of electricity. Pumyra convulsed for a moment before relaxing against the deck. Rush quickly tossed the defibrillator off to the side and pressed two of his fingers to the side of Pumrya’s neck. “I’ve got a pulse…” He then moved his hand and held it palm-up over her mouth. “And she’s breathing.”

That was all I needed to hear to relax. “Good…” I turned around and for a moment forgot for that five of our guests had watched the whole ordeal. I looked to the two younger members of the group. “Listen, you two go down to the infirmary and break out some blankets. I’ve got a feeling that our friend here is going to be a bit cold when she wakes up.”

As the two young cats took off, they were followed by the only standing female, leaving Tygra and Lion-O standing and watching. “Just what makes you think she’ll be cold?” Tygra asked.

“Pumyra was just exposed to hard vacuum. That’s cold enough where even momentary exposure could induce hypothermia.” I explained. “She easily was exposed for ten seconds at minimum.”

“Then tell me this…” Lion-O said, stepping forward in an attempt to likely intimidate me. “Why did you do it?”

“Did you ever see the purple coloring in Pumyra’s eyes?” I asked. “When we were fighting I saw it. It was the same color as Mumm-Ra’s magic, and now it’s gone.”

“We did something similar to this with one of our officers.” Rush said as he got to his feet. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to actually go through with something quite like this.”

I shrugged in response. “Well if Mumm-Ra can revive and brainwash a living being, I can do that and break the control.”

“And just what made you think of that?” Tygra asked.

“When we were fighting down on the planet Pumyra said something about killing me so Mumm-Ra could make a general out of me.” I said as I knelt down next to the stirring cat. “It wasn’t too much of a stretch to put two and two together in that Mumm-Ra did something similar to her.”

Suddenly Pumyra’s eyes sprung open and she sat up panting like she had run a mile. “Whiskers, it’s cold!” She yelled as she started shivering.

I unzipped my jacket, pulled it off and threw it around the cat’s shoulders. “Just take it easy, you’re alright.”

Pumyra must have recognized my voice because her head almost spun right off with how fast she turned. “Didn’t I try to kill you?”

“And you failed miserably.” I said softly. “Believe me, you weren’t the first to fail at it. Now how do you feel? Other than cold of course, considering that we already established that fact.”

Pumyra was silent for a moment as she started down at her feet. “There’s nothing there…” I heard her whisper.

“You mean a lack of an imposing presence in your mind? Everything seems to be clearer?” I asked in return.

The cat nodded. “How did you know?”

“I’ve dealt with my fair share of brainwashed peons in my time.” I said, patting the cat’s shoulder. “You think you can stand?” Pumrya didn’t nod or say anything, instead stumbling as she tried to get to her feet. I looked at Rush, pointed and wrapped Pumyra’s arm over my shoulder. “Alright, one, two…” Rush didn’t wait for the last count before he started getting up. By the time the three of us were on our feet, Pumyra was starting to look rather dizzy. “You OK?”

Pumyra nodded. “Just a bit light-headed.”

I felt Rush tap my arm, and I leaned back around Pumyra’s head. “Infirmary then?”

I nodded. “Where else would we go?”

***

Endeavor Infirmary, One Hour Later

When we showed up in the infirmary I was glad to see that the young cats had gathered just about every blanket off the various infirmary beds and piled them by the door. But as soon as we showed up Amore took Pumyra off of Rush and I before herding both of us out into the hall with the cats that had come down earlier, Cheetara, Wilykit and Wilykat. It was a good forty five minutes before the former princess let any of us into the infirmary. As Amore put it, ‘Give us some privacy!’. When she finally let us back in she had managed to get Pumyra out of her armor and into a set of scrubs that she had dug out of the store room, and had wrapped the cat under a pile of at least three heavy blankets. Only Lion-O joined the rest of my crew in the infirmary, his own companions opting to avoid the infirmary all together.

Since being let in there had been an uncomfortable silence that no one seemed to want to break. Finally Archer had enough and broke the ice. “Wonderful weather we’re having.” She innocently observed.

While weather didn’t do us any good in the artificially supported environment of the Endeavor, Archer’s question successfully broke the tension in the room. In an unexpected turn Pumyra actually smiled, something that I didn’t expect to see given her present situation. “I guess it is…” She muttered.

“So how are you feeling?” Blueblood asked.

“I could be worse.” Pumyra answered.

“You’re right. You could be worse.” Amore observed. “Dusk, you do know that you could’ve killed her, right?”

“Well I technically did.” I retorted. “Pumyra was dead for all of what? Thirty seconds?”

Amore rolled her eyes. “So why did you bring her aboard in the first place?”

“Because we need intel.” I said, turning my attention to Pumyra. “So what exactly were you doing for Mumm-Ra?”

“He recently made me one of his generals.” Pumyra offered.

“Was there anything specific he had you working on? Maybe something recent?” Archer asked, probably figuring where I was going with my questions.

“I was told to get his army ready to move. We had units returning to the pyramid to regroup, but I don’t know what he was planning to do with them.” She answered.

“So there’s a force of evil gathering his army for… Who knows what.” I said as I sat down on the edge of the bed. “Grey, can you monitor that pyramid?”

“I’ll get right on it sir.” The AI’s bodiless voice said.

“There is something else we should talk about.” Amore said as she picked up a tablet and tapped away at it, and a hologram grew from the small projector attached to it showing three separate charts. “I was going over some or sensor logs that we picked up, and I found something.” Two of the charts lit up after she said that. “This chart here on the left is the reading that our sensors took of the energy that was surrounding Equis when we first left. And this one here on the right is the background radiation of the Void.”

As I studied the charts an important thought came to mind. “Those look rather similar.” I observed.

“That’s what I said, and then I pulled up your armor’s sensor logs.” Amore said as the final chart lit up. “These are readings that your suit picked up when you confronted Mumm-Ra.”

I don’t think I was the only one a bit shook by the data that Amore was laying out. While the intensity scales for each chart were drastically different, the energy itself was identical. “Could Mumm-Ra be responsible for the attack on Equis?” Archer asked.

“I don’t know…” Pumyra said. “I know he’s powerful but this… I just don’t know.”

“Well there’s obviously a connection.” I said. “Pumyra you’re our resident hands-on expert on Mumm-Ra, and we know he’s gathering his army. Even if he isn’t responsible, he’s still a threat we can’t ignore.”

“I’ll go let the others know what’s happening.” Lion-O said, finally breaking his silence just before he left the infirmary.

“So what happens now?” Pumyra asked. “Am I still your prisoner?”

“Not even close.” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “I don’t know what your history with Lion-O and the rest of those cats is, but I doubt they’ll be all that willing to let you tag along with them. So I’ve got an offer for you…”

“Here we go again...” Blueblood muttered.

“What?” I asked as I turned to look at the prince. “There’s still only five of us and an AI, and we still need to run this ship.” I turned back to Pumyra and tried to smile. “I want you to join us Pumyra. We need all the help we can get, and I don’t think that staying up here is all that appealing to you.”

“You’re right.” Pumyra replied. “I have no problem joining your little group on a trial basis, only because I don’t know any of you yet. But I do have one question.”

I nodded. “What is it?”

“What do you call yourselves?” The cat asked.

It took a moment, but I finally realized what Pumyra meant. We’ve been at this for about a day and we’re really just a nameless bunch of misfits. But then it hit me. We didn’t need to come up with a new name, but we could revive an old one. “Well Pumyra… Welcome to Blaze Squad.”

Author's Note

Damn, Dusk is stone-cold, isn't he? As time goes on we'll see a bit more to that side of him...

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Blaze Squad

Endeavor Training Deck, Mission Clock at 30:15
Dusk

Actually getting decent sleep was a first considering the events of the last few days. Of course I didn’t really get much of a choice. Pumyra caught a glare from Tygra as the rest of my team was filing out of the infirmary, and it was enough to put her on edge… How she wasn’t already twitchy is beyond me. So I inevitably ended up on ‘guard duty’, a more polite term for crashing on one of the many open beds in the infirmary.

Come morning another problem arose; I still don’t have a good feel for what most of the crew is really capable of. Sure I’ve seen Archer in action and she handled herself fine, but beyond that I don’t know a damn thing about what I’m dealing with so far as talent and ability is concerned. So after digging out a set of fatigues that fit our new probationary teammate, I made the call to gather the team down on the training deck, really just a conversion of part of one of the large hollow spaces in the Halcyon’s honeycomb design. The deck itself was easily accessible from the main armory, and was topped off by a balconies on both sides of the vast chamber.

“So are you going to finally explain what we’re doing here?” Amore asked.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I need to know what all of you are capable of. I kinda have a good feel for Archer, considering we’ve already run two ops together… But I don’t have jack on the rest of you.”

“So how do you define capable?” Rush asked.

“At bare minimum you need to be able to defend yourselves.” I answered. “So to figure that out… Who wants to take a swing at me?” To be honest I wasn’t at all that surprised to see Pumyra step out of line towards me, but I didn’t expect her to sweep her leg and trip me. As I looked up at the cat from my face-up place on the floor I swear that I saw Pumyra smirk. “Alright, what did I do?”

“Well there was that whole airlock thing…” She said with an unusually sweet tone.

“I guess that’s a fair reason to want to kick my ass.” I admitted. “But there is something that I think you should know Pumyra.”

“And what’s that?”
Digging down I started to channel my magic, and for the first time Pumyra saw the whole glowing-eye deal that I’ve got going. “I don’t play fair.” I managed to pull a teleportation spell out, and I reappeared about ten feet in the air above the deck. As I fell I tucked forward and landed on my feet right in front of my sparring partner.

She didn’t get a chance to put some distance between the two of us before I lunged forward and shoulder-checked her. Pumyra stumbled but didn’t hit the ground. “So no holding back then?”

Not wasting any time Pumyra charged at me As she took a swipe aimed at my face I stepped back and shielded my face with my forearm. Immediately I felt a stinging, and as I lowered my arm I saw four red cuts bisecting my forearm. “Well… Looks like the cat has some claws to her.” I muttered. Pumyra tried to take another swipe, but I teleported back out of her reach and charged forward. Aiming a punch towards her shoulder I saw a something moving fast out of the corner of my eye.

Before I could even blink something caught me right in the cheek and I was on my back for a second time. Off to my right I could tell that Pumyra had hit the deck at the same time. “Well that was something…” She groaned.

“You’re right, it was.” I said as I got to my feet, hauling the cat up with me. “So who’s next?”

***

City of Vanhoover, Approximately Thirty Hours Ago
Cosmo, Leader of the Northern Guard

“Cosmo, wake up!”

My eyes flew open and I realized that I had fallen asleep on the couch in my living room with my wife standing over me. “Trixie? What’s wrong?”

“The whole unit is mobilizing. They’re grabbing everything that hasn’t been nailed down!” She yelled.

I sat up, forcing my exhaustion down. “On whose orders?”

“I don’t know!”

I got up and made for the door, grabbing my gun belt and jacket as I passed them on the coat rack by the door. Out in the hall there were dozens of marines and agents milling about with crates and loaded carts. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” I yelled.

One of the marines, a colt named Porter, walked up and handed me a folded piece of paper. “Orders from Canterlot. We’re to prep for an immediate expeditionary deployment.”

“Expeditionary? Damnit, we’re mercs. Not some invasion force!” I yelled as I unfolded the letter.

Cosmo,
You’re to prepare your forces for an immediate deployment in support of Operation Reflection and the deployment of HMS Endeavor. Your forces have been ordered to take all that they can carry. That includes food, medical supplies, ammunition, weapons and support equipment. Deployment will be by portal, and you will establish a beachhead and prepare for the arrival of Endeavor.
Regards,
Princess Celestia

“Deployment by portal? What the hell does she mean by that?” I asked Porter.

“I don’t know sir.” The marine officer replied. “But we’re just bringing the last of our equipment downstairs, and then we’ll be ready to leave.”

“Do we even know where we’re heading?” I asked as I clipped on my gun belt.

“Not at all sir.” Porter said as we stepped onto the elevator.

As the elevator began to descend to the ground level a thought came to mind. “How is Celestia creating this portal?”

“What do you mean?” Trixie asked.

“Well the Nexus was destroyed.” I explained, “If I’m thinking the same type of portal, how is she creating it?” When the door opened on the ground floor I could hear the crackling of electricity outside of the open lobby door. “On second thought, I really don’t care…”

***

HMS Endeavor Bridge, Present Day
Dusk

“Alright, what did you need Grey?” I asked as I led my team onto the bridge.

“I’ve detected a strong energy signature down on the planet in the ruins of what appears to be a city of some sort.” The AI replied as the holotable lit up with a map of the city. “The energy matches historical readings of Nexus-generated portals.”

“Check your readings again Grey.” Archer ordered as she took a place next to the holotable. “The Nexus is gone, how the hell could we be looking at a Nexus portal?”

“Well we are…” The AI groaned. “I’ve checked the readings three times and have run two separate diagnostics on the Endeavor’s sensor array. That portal down there is consistent with that of the Nexus.”

Behind us Lion-O led his entourage onto the bridge, and they quickly surrounded the holotable. “And just what’s this Nexus?”

“Think of the Nexus as a point where different universes intersected. Beyond that we don’t know much else about it, other than it was supposedly destroyed six months ago.” I explained.

“Obviously it wasn’t.” Amore pointed out.

“Hey, that’s Thundera!” Tygra exclaimed.

“Sir, scanning the portal confirms it. The destination is our home universe.” Greyscale added. “On top of that I’ve confirmed that a number Equestrian lifesigns have already cleared the portal and are fanning out.”

“Grey, I need a live feed.” I ordered. The image over the holotable changed to that of a color video. It was focused on a small group of ponies that were directing others that were performing a myriad of unknown tasks. “Can you clean this up Grey?”

The AI didn’t speak, but acted. Everything came into focus and I instantly recognized the ponies that were the focus of the feed. “Mom, Dad? They’re here?!” Archer exclaimed.

“It appears that the entire Northern Guard is present, and the portal has closed. Should I attempt to open a line of communication?” Grey asked.

“Don’t bother, I’m on it.” I said as I pulled up the communications controls and punched in the Northern Guard’s radio frequency. “This is Alpha One calling Ranger, please respond.”

On the video feed I saw Cosmo fish something out of his jacket before he looked over at his mother. “This is Ranger, can you repeat your last?”

“Damn it Cosmo, I put a roof over your head!”

“Holy shit… Dusk? Is that really you?”

“It is.” I said, starting to feel a bit relieved. “Now then, what’s your status?”

“All Northern Guard assets are present and accounted for, and I’ve got teams distributing food amongst some locals we found hiding in the ruins down here… I should probably mention that they speak Equish.”

“We’re already well aware of the continuation of that old ‘cosmic coincidence’ thing.” I replied. “Now what are you doing here?”

“Celestia-” Suddenly the radio cut out and on the video feed I could see Cosmo fiddling with his radio before something erupted into a cloud of smoke that obscured our visual of the Northern Guard leadership.

“Dad!” Archer yelled.

I shut off the feed and smacked a red button on the side of the holotable, setting off alarms and red flashing lights. “ Grey I need to know what hit them!” I yelled as I tried to get the radio working again.

“I don’t know sir.”

“Shit…” I groaned. “Rush, go get the shuttle-”

“The shuttle’s power cells are almost depleted.” Rush said, cutting me off. “Until I can get them recharged it’s staying in the hangar.”

“Damnit!” I yelled as I slammed the holotable.

“Dusk, we need a plan.” Archer quickly pointed out.

“There’s some vests and rifles in the shuttle.” Rush added. “Lion-O, any chance we can get a ride?”

The cat nodded and motioned to Tygra. “Go get the ship ready to take off.”

Amore quickly slapped the side of my arm. “Dusk? We still need a plan.”

Well it’s now or never, I do need to say something. “Archer, Pumyra, on me. We’ll grab the gear out of the shuttle and head down.”

“You still haven’t told us what the plan is!”

As I made my way off the bridge with my compatriots, I turned to Amore and shrugged. “You’ll be the first to know once I figure it out.”

***

Ruins of Thundera
Cosmo

“Damnit, we’re getting our asses handed to us!” Phalanx yelled over the din of rifle reports. “I can’t even see what’s shooting at us!”

I tried looking up over the piece of masonry that we had taken cover behind, but the impact of a bolt of energy force me to duck back down. “Has anyone been able to raise Dusk again?”

“I got nothing boss!” Felix called out from his position across what appeared to be a street. “I think we’re being jammed.”

“Does anyone have some good news?” I asked.

“We’re not dead.” Trixie offered as she handed me another magazine for my pistol.

“Incoming!” Someone yelled over the roar of the firefight.

BOOM!

“Holy shit, what the hell was that?!” I screamed, banging the side of my head in a vain effort to get the ringing from whatever exploded to stop.

Off to my right an armored pegasus slammed feet-first into the ground. “They’ve got some sort of artillery piece a few clicks outside of the ruins. We need to find cover now!” Cloud forcefully insisted.

“Damnit…” I muttered as I flicked on my short range radio. “All points, this is Ranger. Pull back to the palace to the northeast. First Squad will cover the retreat!”

“What the hell do you expect us to do about these assholes?!” Sky yelled from her hiding spot in the rubble off to my left.

“We just need to buy everyone some time to dig in!” I called back.

“Shit, take-”

BOOM!

The second blast knocked me, Trixie, and the cover we were hiding behind back easily about fifteen feet. We would’ve likely been trapped if Cloud wasn’t there to toss the slab off of us, all while the shields built into his armor flared under a barrage of energy bolts. “You good?”

Trixie and I both quickly scrambled over to a pile of rubble. “I could be better. Looks like that gun has us zeroed!”

Cloud simply whipped around and let loose with his gauntlet-mounted pulse repeaters. “No shit! Now would be a good time for a miracle boss!”

***

Thunderan Ruins, Mission Clock at 31:30
Dusk

POP!

“Hey Cosmo. What’s new?”

The head mercenary himself turned up to face me, and took a moment to stare. “Where’s your horn?”

I just deadpanned and gripped the bridge of my muzzle. “It's been six months, just about everyone thought I was dead, and the first thing you ask about is my horn?”

“Well… Why wouldn’t I? We’re talking about something on the top of your damn head!” Cosmo insisted. “And another thing, what the hell is that?”

He was pointing at the weapon that I had pilfered from the storage compartment on the shuttle. “This is an MP7.”

“Fine, as long is kills whatever’s shooting at us!” Cosmo quipped.

“Let me see what I can do.” I offered as I clicked on my radio. “Tygra, what do you see?”

“I’m seeing infantry in the old market, and a heavy mortar outside of the city.” The cat said as the ship he was flying blasted past overhead.

“All right, drop the rest of my team. We’ll take care of the market, you lot get the mortar.”

“Got it. Now how am I supposed to get your backup on the ground? I don’t have anywhere I can land.” Tygra retorted.

I looked at Cosmo, shrugged, and hit the radio again. “Then they’ll just have to jump.”

“What?” Pumyra yelled over the channel as the cat’s ship swung in over where Cosmo and I were standing.

“You’ll be fine.” I groaned.

“Well does you apparently new friend have an unbreakable skeleton?” Cosmo asked. That itself put the brakes onto my line of thinking, and as Archer dragged Pumyra off the end of the ramp about thirty feet in the air everything began to slow down as my senses went into overdrive. “Cloud, catch!” I heard my old friend yell.

From the other side of the pile of rubble a figure in blue and gold armor rocket up, caught both Archer and Pumyra, then brought them right down to terra firma with the fine control of a gymnast. “Thanks for flying Air Tempest!” Cloud said as he put the pair down and stepped back.

Archer looked at Cloud, then to her father and seemed to light up. “I’m gone for two days and you’re already gone and got yourself cornered in a warzone. Good going Dad!”

“We can go over that later.” Cosmo said, his face going from a somewhat happy expression to something far more serious. “We’re falling back to the palace. I could use a hand holding the line while the rest of the Guard withdraws.”

“You’re retreating?” Pumyra asked.

“What else would you have me do? We’re at a distinct tactical disadvantage, and we’re in no position to actually engage those shooters.” Cosmo spat. “We need to buy as much time as we can so the marines can get dug in. Then we can worry about those scaley bastards!”

“Scaly bastards…” I muttered. “Wait, Mumm-Ra’s soldiers are lizards.”

“Who the hell is that?” Cloud asked.

“It isn’t important right now.” I retorted as I flicked the channel button on my radio. “Endeavor, this is Dusk. Can you confirm whether or not there are any civilians left outside of what looks like sort of palace?”

“I’ve got nothing. Bar your group and another about half a mile from your position, there’s no one else that I can see.” Rush said over the radio.

For a moment I glanced at Cosmo before returning to the radio. “Rush, patch me into all open allied comms.”

“You’re on!”

“This is Dusk to all units, stand by. Endeavor, stand by for fire support. Pattern base delta zero one hundred meters from my position. Be advised, fire mission is danger close.”

Archer tapped her father’s shoulder and jarred her thumb so it pointed away from where we were taking fire. “We’re gonna want to get the lead out.”

Cosmo instantly put the pieces together and got on his own radio. “This is Ranger to all Northern Guard unit, find cover now!” He stuffed his pistol back into it’s holster on his thigh and nodded to Cloud. “Fighting retreat, let’s go!”
“We won’t be able move fast enough boss! What do we do?” Cloud yelled over the din of his repeaters.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Because we’re in the killbox!” Cloud exclaimed.

“What are you talking about?” I questioned. “Base delta zero is the code for artillery support!”

“And you just made the call for it from a heavy naval asset!” Cloud yelled. “Base delta zero is the order to level everything within a half mile radius of the coordinates, and we’re inside the killbox!”

“Endeavor to Dusk, missles have launched, thirty seconds to impact. You need to get clear!”I heard Blueblood yell over the radio.

Overhead I heard the drone of turbines and dust that was in the street was kicked about. As I looked up I realized that our way out had arrived. “Cosmo, it’s just Sky, Cloud, Trixie and Felix with you?” He nodded and I grabbed both Archer and Pumyra. “Then grab whoever can’t fly!” Around me there was a flash of light as I dragged Pumyra and Archer up to the ramp of Tygra’s ship with a teleportation spell.

POP!

As I dragged my cohorts up the ramp and into the ship Cosmo joined us, with Cloud being the last one to get aboard. “GO!” Archer screamed. Under our feet I felt the ship rock backwards as the thrusters fired. The ramp closed rather quickly, but within moments of the hatch sealing shut a series of dull thuds could be heard throughout the ship.

They came rapidly, and disappeared just about as soon as they came. “Well that was fun…” Cloud muttered as he took off his helmet.

“Are you still there Dusk?” Rush called over the radio.

“We’re still Rush, I’ll check back in later.” I shut the radio off and took the moment to lean against the inner wall of the ship.

“What are you thinking Dusk?” Archer asked.

I shrugged as I turned my attention to the younger mare. “Well… I’m going to have to apologize to whoever’s in charge for leveling part of their city. Which of course brings up a rather important question.”

“And what exactly would that be?” Cosmo asked.

I shrugged half-heartedly. “Who runs this joint?”

Author's Note

Well good going genius! Maybe Dusk should leave the calls for fire support to somepony who knows what they're doing. Now this chapter did get a bit of a rewrite... As I wrote the first fifteen of these about nine months ago, looking at it again I felt that the scene where Dusk was reunited with Cosmo and his associates was rather lacking... So what you see is the third rewrite of that scene in particular.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Siege

City of Thundera, Mission Clock at 33:00
Dusk

“I’m sorry, but you’re an idiot!” After running down what had led to the missile bombardment with Lion-O, who until now I didn’t realize was the de facto leader of this entire species, I had been standing in the ruins of the palace throne room while he and his ‘brother’ Tygra gave me a verbal beat-down that I hadn’t had since before I left the military.

By this point I had finally reached a breaking point, because if I’m being honest I HATE being on the receiving end of lectures. “Well it worked out in the end, didn’t it?” I spat. “Mumm-Ra’s soldiers didn’t get anything out of their raid and no one on our side of the line got hurt.”

“But we can’t even confirm that there were lizards in the market district where there’s nothing left!” Tygra yelled. “Better yet, who the hell are you to decide to launch any sort of attack on our territory?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I mistook it for abandoned ruins!” I yelled back. “Now I’ll admit I do need to get back up to speed on our current military doctrine and codes. But what does it matter now?”

Tygra seemed ready to say more, but Lion-O stopped him. “Dusk, look. I can’t complain about the results but the execution was far from ideal. We need to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. But until you can a handle on things I think you’ll need someone with a bit more experience to back you up.”

“Then do you have any suggestions?” I asked. “Because I know the files of most of the Northern Guard agents. Believe me, they don’t have the training to handle a full-scale military operation.”

“They got here somehow.” Tygra pointed out. “Could you use the same method to find someone who fits the bill?”

“Not without the Nexus we can’t.” I countered.

“Well… What if something like this ‘nexus’ existed in this universe?” Lion-O asked.

“It could… You’d just have to find it. And the universe is BIG, so good luck finding it easily.” I said. At that point I simply stormed out of the throne room in a huff.

“So how’d it go?”

I glanced off to my left and saw that Pumyra was leaning against the doorframe. “Well they didn’t have me executed.”

“I guess that’s a good start.” Pumyra said as we started walking down the stairs to the plaza below the palace. “How are you doing?”

“Well I could be better.” As my feet hit the broken cobblestones of the plaza I sighed. “This was just a mess. I didn’t bother trying to figure out what was going on before I called you and Archer in, and then I put us all in jeopardy by ordering the Endeavor to level the market district. That discounts the fact that I didn’t even realize what I ordered them to do! Now there’s the potential for a military conflict and I’m the colt that every other pony here is looking to for leadership.”

“Do you think that you can handle it?” Pumyra asked.

I shook my head. “Maybe… I just don’t know. I’m really not trusting my judgement at the moment.”

“Endeavor to Dusk, you there?” Rush’s voice chimed out over my radio.

I fished out the small device and clicked the transmitter. “I’m here, go ahead.”

“We’re picking up another energy surge down there. Grey seems to think that it’s another portal.” Rush explained. “Can you go check it out?”

“Just where-”

SHOOM!

“Nevermind, I’m looking right at it.” I said, putting the radio back into my vest pocket. As the flickering white tear in the fabric of the universe began to shrink, there was a blur of color as something came flying through it and smacked through one of the palace walls. The portal closed immediately after the blur hit its mark. “Want to go see who showed up?”

***

Somewhere Outside of Canterlot, Some Time Ago
Meteor Shower

“Come on, keep it moving!” I heard a guard shout over the murmurs of panicked Canterlot elite.

“Ugh… What did I miss?” I groaned as I spoke, the pounding pain in the back of my head growing slowly and steadily.

I felt someone prop me against a face of rock and I finally opened my eyes. We were on one of the footpaths that led down along the cliffs away from Canterlot. “Oh thank Faust, you’re awake.” Celestia said.

As I rubbed the back of my head it came away wet with some dried blood. “What hit me?” I asked.

“Just a brick, nothing too fancy.” Luna said as she crowded in next to her sister. “How are you feeling General?”

“Do you really want to know?” I offered.

Luna rolled her eyes. “At least he’s still pleasant.”

Celestia glared at Luna for a moment before she turned her attention back to me. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

I thought for a moment before it came back to me. “We were under attack… But what attacked us?”

“We still don’t know for sure. All we know is that we were dealing with some sort of dark magic.” Celestia explained.

“Could it be Tirek?”

“Even if it was Tirek he would’ve already attacked us.” Luna pointed out.

“Wonderful… Where do we stand on response?”

“Meteor, we don’t even know how to respond.” Celestia said. “So until we can figure that out I’m far more concerned with protecting the civilians from harm.”

“Then wouldn’t it be a good idea to work on stopping this madness?” I countered.

“Meteor…”

“Don’t give me that tone Tia. You and I both know that we need a plan, and fast.”

“Then allow me to offer a solution.”

That new voice got me to perk up. In an instant I felt my splitting headache disappear, and in that same moment I could feel a new weight drape itself across my body. Once all was said and done it took another few moments for me to figure out that my suit had given way to a black and gold set of armor. “Well this is new…” I said, looking down at my new attire.

“And just who the hell are you?!” I heard Luna exclaim.

The source of her ire quickly became clear. A unicorn mare, wearing some rather tribal-looking armor, with hood pulled up to obscure most of her face. “I’m nothing more than an emissary Luna, one that was sent to help develop the solution that you seek.”

“Faust sent you, didn’t she?”

“She did, and of course your mother sends her regards to all three of you.” The mare said. As soon as she said that a portal behind her opened. “Now get going General, your grandson will need your help.”

As I stepped towards the portal I heard Luna clear her throat. “And just why would mother be concerned with all three of us?” She asked.

“Well why wouldn’t she send greetings to her daughters and son-in-law?” The mare asked.

“Son-in… You and Meteor are married?” Luna exclaimed.

“No we’re not!” Celestia said, a slight blush becoming visible on her cheeks.

“But you consummate your relationship and sired a child by the General. By Equestrian law you two are married.” The mare retorted.

“Wait, I’m an aunt?” Luna wondered aloud.

“Great aunt too.” The mystery mare added.

“Great… It’s Dusk, isn’t it?” Said Luna as she deadpanned.

I didn’t say anything as I turned back to the portal. “Well I catch you two later!”

“Here, let me help you!”

Suddenly I felt something slam into my back and throw me through the portal. The next thing I remember after that was crashing through a stone wall, right before skidding to a stop on my heels. “Son of a bitch…” I muttered. In the future, I should probably avoid in keeping secrets from angry siblings, in-laws or not.

“What makes you think that was someone?” I heard a female voice ask from outside my makeshift door.

I turned around to two faces, one incredibly familiar. “Because I have a feeling that there’s an all-knowing deity watching out for me.”

“Dusk?” I muttered.

My grandson, who I noticed was now missing his entire horn, simply nodded. “Glad you could make it Gramps.”

***

Northern Guard Camp, A.K.A. Thundera Market District
Half an Hour Later
Dusk

While leveling part of the city isn’t necessarily a good thing, it created a vast open space that the Northern Guard put to good use. They set up their larger tents and equipment, while setting up a number of fold-out hesco barriers that they filled with the rubble from the ruined buildings, making walls that bordered the center of the quickly-established complex. Since we had left the ship Rush had managed to recharge the cells of the shuttle, and used it to bring Northern Guard crews back to Endeavor so they could pilot down the handful of Pelicans that were aboard with vehicles and munitions to bolster the already substantial equipment that the Northern Guard had brought. By the time we had arrived with my newly-arrived Grandfather the central command tent had already been set up.

“So that’s what we’ve got.” I said, putting down the tablet that was used to establish an uplink with the Endeavor. “The last of Mumm-Ra’s soldiers have finally showed up and it appears they’re all getting ready to move out. We don’t know where they’re going for sure but after talking to Lion-O I’d bet they’re coming here.”

“Then we dig in and establish fortifications along the ruins of the city wall. In addition to that we’ll position artillery batteries in the palace courtyard.” Gramps replied, marking the locations for the positions on the holotable that had been set up at the heart of the operation. “Cosmo, go have your ponies get started on the front line positions.” As Cosmo left the tent I took stock of those present. Besides myself and Gramps, there were Archer, Pumyra, and Rush. “I take it there’s more that needs to be discussed.”

“Well of course there is.” Archer pointed out. “Last time I saw you, you were unconscious after getting smacked by a chunk of stone.”

“True, and the last I saw of you Archer was your jaw heading for the floor.” Gramps retorted. “As for what I’m doing here, you can thank Faust for that... Although getting thrown through was Luna’s doing.”

“Then are the Princesses alright?” Archer asked in return. “Better yet what was attacking the city?”

“They are, last I saw them they were leading ponies down the mountain out of Canterlot. As for what was attacking, all we know for sure is that we’re dealing with dark magic of some sort.” Gramps explained. “Although I do have to admit that this connection to Mumm-Ra that you all have discovered is concerning…”

“Then what do you think we should do?” I asked.

“Well we should stick around until we know what Mumm-Ra is doing, and hopefully learn something about him in the meantime.” Gramps said.

“Sounds like another reason to go to the Cleric archives.” Pumyra pointed out.

Before we had the opportunity to go anywhere the flap that acted as the door to the tent was pulled open. “What was that about the archives?” Lion-O asked as he stepped inside. He stared at Gramps for a moment before he turned his attention to me. “And who are you?”

“I’m the stallion that’s going to save your asses. Now how about you tell me who you are.” Gramps said pointedly.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Gramps has only been here for half an hour and he’s already throwing his weight around. “Might I point out that we still don’t know what Mumm-Ra’s plans are?”

Both Gramps and Lion-O both looked like they wanted to say something, but they were cut off when the holotable flickered and Grey’s avatar joined us. “Dusk, we have a situation.”

Without even asking all eyes in the room turned to the AI’s holographic representation. “What’s wrong Grey?”

“It appears that Mumm-Ra’s army has disappeared.” Grey said.

“An army doesn’t just disappear.” Gramps pointed out. “So where’d they go?”

“That’s just it, I’ve located the lead elements of Mumm-Ra’s forces about a five hour march from your current position.” The AI replied. “And at the moment they’re closing on your location.”

“Looks like we don’t need to guess or educate ourselves anymore.” Archer pointed out.

“And now it looks like we won’t have all of our defenses ready…” Gramps muttered. “Grey, is the Endeavor capable of atmospheric flight?”

“To a limited extent it is. We can hold station, but maneuvering will be heavily limited.”

“Then get in here.” Gramps ordered before he flicked on his radio. “This is the General. We’ve spotted hostile forces inbound, prepare for battle!”

***

Five Hours Later…

Lucky for both myself an Archer the armor racks aboard Endeavor are removable, and after gathering some of Porter’s marines we had all of our equipment on solid ground inside of two hours. It didn’t take much to convince everyone to ditch the equipment that we had landed with and go for the heavier, more durable stuff. Going around the city fully clad in Mjolnir armor certainly turned some heads of the locals, but with the whispers of what they believed to be their impending doom they seemed far less concerned with me. Of course I wasn’t the only one getting the looks. While Archer got her fair share, some of the local guards that Tygra was slowly rearming seemed to be steering clear of Pumyra. With what I know about her past in mind, I think it’s safe to assume that her people still don’t trust her yet.

Even with the black Equestrian-marked BDU that she was wearing, the looks of disapproval and disgust from the cats spoke volumes of how they felt. It didn’t matter what she was wearing, they still thought she was a traitor. “Just don’t think about it.” I said as we walked back into the camp.

“Don’t think about what?” Pumyra asked, trying to play off her downtrodden demeanor.

“I’ll have you know that I do have eyes of my own.” I replied. “Your people will come around eventually. They just need to see how you’ve changed.”

“That’s easy for you to say…” Pumyra muttered.

“Does that make it any less true?” I asked as the two of us entered the command tent.

“Whatever you’re talking about, I’m just going to assume that Dusk is right.” Gramps said as he walked in behind us. “Now is your team ready to go?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” I said as we all gathered around the holotable. “Now what do you need us to do?”

“It's rather simple. You’re backing up the Thundercats while they make a run at Mumm-Ra. You just keep his soldiers off of them.” Gramps explained. “The rest of us will try to hold the line.”

“Are we sure that taking Mumm-Ra out will stop the offensive?” Archer asked.

“It likely would.” Pumyra added. “Why keep fighting if your immortal leader is dead? If his soldiers see him die that would crush their morale.”

“Which is exactly what I’m hoping to accomplish.” Gramps said. “It's the only option that stands a chance of working given the present situation, because I’m sure by now that you all know that we’ve vastly outnumbered.”

The holotable flickered and a map of the outskirts of Thundera grew from the blue light. Approximately a mile away was a mob of large armored walkers and foot soldiers approaching the entrenched marines and Northern Guard agents at foot of the ruined city walls. “Just in case this isn’t clear, are we boned?”

The rather blunt and somewhat vulgar question that Archer posed left both Gramps and myself stunned. “I guess we are…” But I stopped once everything around me slowed to a stop and every pony in the tent started looking rather grey. “What the fuck?”

“Why hello…” I turned around and saw a cloaked, sickly looking figure standing behind me. “Do you remember me?”

It took a moment but I quickly recognized the voice. “Mumm-Ra… How are you in my head?”

“My power isn’t limited to those standing next to me.” Mumm-Ra croaked. “That should tell you that you cannot hope to survive the onslaught of my army.”

I couldn’t help but shake my head. “I’ve dealt with worse than whatever you can toss around.” I retorted. “Now how about you tell me why you’re here. What do you want?”

“Why I want you to join me.” The projection of the dark influence said.

“And what happens if I refuse?” I asked.

Mumm-Ra shrugged as his form dissolved and the world around me began to move again. “Then you’ll be the second one to die.”

Author's Note

Sorry this one's a day late, but here we are in the next chapter of this installment of mine. But next week we hit the finale of this story arc, and face down the first real villain on the journey back to Equestria. Questions will be answered and raised, so stay tuned!

We've also got a new cover that went up yesterday thanks to my buddy Marik. So there's that tidbit too...

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Titans

Outskirts of Thundera, Mission Clock at 39:00
Dusk

Standing on the top of the battered stone wall we could see the entire field that spread out towards the borders of Thundera. Out across the field were countless large mechanical weapons of war, accompanied by a slew of infantry. “So wasn’t Endeavor supposed to be backing us up?” I heard Archer ask from somewhere behind me.

“Just wait for it.” Gramps retorted as he stepped into the periphery of my vision and leaned against the parapets. “Whenever you’re ready Endeavor.”

As Gramps said that the afternoon sun began to dim, before giving way to a massive shadow over the entire field. Down in the trenches I could hear some barely audible gasps as Endeavor became visible right over the city. “I take it that you had Amore rig the shields up to act as some sort of cloak?” I asked as I turned my attention to the massive cruiser hovering a few hundred feet above us.d

“What was your first clue?” Gramps retorted.

I turned back to the field and saw the first of a dozen fifty millimeter tracer rounds crash into one of the columns of war mechs. The first two immediately erupted into fireballs, and the whooshing of liquid fuel igniting could be barely heard above the hum of Endeavor’s engines. As the mechs collapsed to the ground the entire front line of the lizard army stopped dead. “Blaze Squad, get ready to move.”

My words were followed by the sounds of magazines sliding home and safeties clicking off. “We’re just on deck to back Lion-O up, so where would we go?” Archer asked.

“I’d just rather that we be ready in case we’re needed.” I retorted. Off in the distance I could see the forms of Lion-O and his companions staring down the army of Lizards. “Pumyra, do you think Mumm-Ra will actually make an appearance?”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t.” Pumyra said. “His army has us all-” She stopped as a silver and black tank raced forward through the lines of the Lizard army, skidding to a stop well before reaching Lion-O. “Well that’s it. He’s here.”

The tank opened up and from our perch everyone could make out the tall armored form of Mumm-Ra towering above his opponents. “Don’t think I forgot about you Commander.” Mumm-Ra’s voice whispered in my ear.

“Did you hear that?” I wondered aloud.

“Hear what?” Gramps asked.

“Mumm-Ra. He’s projecting himself.” Pumyra replied. “Don’t worry, I heard him too. You’re not crazy.”

“But did you hear this?”

CRACK!

The sudden blow against the back of my helmet knocked me forward, and as I smacked into the parapet I dropped my rifle down the side of the wall. “Oh shit!” I heard Archer yell.

“Damnit, why can’t the bad guys stay dead?”

I felt Pumyra drag me back, and as I turned around I could see exactly what had both Gramps and Archer so worried. It was a ghost from our distant past, metal facial reconstructions and all. “De Witt…” I growled.

“He’s not the only one.” Another voice added.

As I got to my feet I saw that opposite of De Witt was another blast from the past. “West Wind? I saw Kovac blow your head off!” As I yelled I noticed something important; from our restricted position the two old enemies had us surrounded. “Wait a minute… This has to be Mumm-Ra’s doing.”

“Ding ding ding, we’ve got a winner!” West Wind shouted as he started clapping. “Come on, let’s give the genius a round of applause!”

“Mumm-Ra must have revived them.” Pumyra whispered.

“Ya, no shit.” I muttered back.

“What do we do Dusk?” Archer asked.

For a moment I paused to review the situation. We had two ostensibly powerful individuals ready to throw down, and for all we know Mumm-Ra might have juiced up both of them. But there was only one thing to do. “Blaze Squad, engage!” I shouted as I lunged at West Wind.

Pumyra was right with me as I slammed into West Wind’s torso. Neither of us hit the floor, only sliding a few feet. As Pumyra tried to land a punch on West Wind, the pegasus grabbed her arm and tossed her to the ground with what looked like little effort. “Come on Dusk, you’re gonna let some lackey try to take me?”

“Shut your fucking trap!” I yelled as I wheeled back, before delivering a full-boot kick to the center of West Wind’s chest. The pegasus staggered back out of my reach under the blow before he managed to catch his bearings.

“And what makes you-” West Wind stopped dead as a long silver blade erupted from the center of his chest. “Ah hell.”

Pumyra ripped the knife out and wheeled around the wounded pegasus, coming to a stop off to my left. “So what’s wrong with this picture?” She asked.

It didn’t take much to figure out what Pumyra meant. Where she had stabbed West Wind there was no blood. Instead through the tear in his jacket there was a pale purple glow. “Son of a bitch, these boneheads are magical constructs!”

“Do you think that make me any less tough?” West Wind asked me.

I took the knife from Pumyra and shrugged. “We’re about to find out.” West Wind tried to step back as I lunged forward, but I was simply too quick for the pegasus. The knife hit home right in the top of his right shoulder. As the blade tore clear there wasn’t any blood or torn flesh, but a burst of purple light.

West Wind couldn’t remain standing at that point and collapsed to the ground in a rather unceremonious manner. “Do you really think that this is going to stop me?” He groaned.

“You’re the one-”

UMPH!

Suddenly something slammed into me from behind. It took a few seconds but when I finally caught my bearings I noticed that the wall was far below me, while in the corner of my eye I could make out the grey hull of the Endeavor. “Tell me Commander, are you afraid of heights?” De Witt yelled.

In the bottom corner of my HUD I could see two things. One was a flashing message ‘thrusters ready’, while the other was a quickly growing yellow dot on my motion tracker. “I’m not, but you should be!”

As the two of us were rocked by both a sonic boom and the massive impact of familiar armored pegasus I fell free of De Witt’s grasp and started falling back towards the ground, now at least a thousand feet below. “Shit!” I kicked the thrusters in and instead of falling straight down I was pushed into the hull of the Endeavor. As I slid down along the upper slope I realized that I was quickly running out of ground to stop on. But I still had Pumyra’s knife, and thank Celestia that it was tough enough to slow me down, and my feet came to a rest off the side of the upper hull slope. “That was close…” I muttered as I hauled myself to my feet.

“Dusk, are you alright?” Archer yelled over the radio.

“I’m fine.” I assured her. “Are you all still good down there?”

“Not even a little. Dusk, West Wind keeps getting back up every time we hit him… You have any ideas?”

I turned my head skyward to watch the aerial sparring match that Cloud Runner had thrown himself into with De Witt… Although it looked far more like a slug-fest between the armored pony and the magical griffon construct. “I’ve got nothing Archer. Whatever these two are, I don’t think we can readily put them down.”

“Well they’re dark magic, aren’t they?” Pumyra asked. “So allow me to pose a question. Who on this battlefield is the only one that’s really fluent in it?”

“Mumm-Ra…” I muttered as I peered off the edge of the hull, down at a series of red and purple flashes out in the field. “Does Lion-O have a radio on him?”

“I doubt it!”

“Then let’s hope he’s smart enough to duck!” As the thruster warning flashed on my HUD once more I dove off the side of Endeavor and blasted towards what was likely a titanic battle between two arch enemies. As I picked up speed the shield indicator flashed, and along my arms I could see the shields flickering as they ran up to 120% capacity. Rapidly gaining speed I finally could make out the cat and the demon locked in a duel, one that Lion-O didn’t seem to be winning. But he must have figured that something was up, because he leapt back and dropped to the ground. Mumm-Ra didn’t bother moving, and I slammed shoulder-first right into his chest before bouncing off him and crashing into the ground a few feet away from where he stood.

“Why Commander Dusk, is that the best that you can do?” Mumm-Ra taunted.

As I got back to my feet I felt a hand grab onto my right shoulder. “What the hell was that!?” Lion-O yelled.

“That was supposed to knock tall dark and brooding on his ass!” I replied. “Look, we need to finish this fight. Mumm-Ra has constructs hitting us on the wall and we can’t take them out! We finish him, then those constructs will probably fade.”

“Wait, constructs?” Lion-O asked.

“I’ll explain later!” I yelled as I pulled Lion-O out of the path of one of Mumm-Ra’s blasts. “Right now we’ve got work to do!”

BOOM!

While distracted by responding to Lion-O a second bolt of black magic scored a hit at both of our feet, tossing the two of us backwards. As I came to a stop the alarms in my helmet dedicated to the shields started blaring at a far more rapid pace than I had heard before. I glanced up and internally groaned. Instead of a flashing bar representing the depleted shields, inside the bar were two flashing red letters; emitter malfunction. “You alright?” Lion-O called out.

As I got to my feet I pulled my helmet off and tossed it to the side. “I’ll live. What about you?”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lion-O rolling his shoulder around. “I could say the same. Now do you have any bright ideas?”

I threw up a magical shield bubble as Mumm-Ra tossed another bolt of his dark energy at the two of us. “We need to punch through that armor first, and I know just how to do it!”

“With what? You’re unarmed!”

I shrugged and hit the comm button on my left gauntlet. “Endeavor, I need a fire mission on my position!”

“Is that wise Commander?” I heard Grey ask over the channel.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s smart, just do it!” I forced Lion-O down and pumped more power into my shield. I could feel it fluxuate as Mumm-Ra hammered on it with his charged fists, and as I forced the strength of the barrier up in response I felt a bead of sweat run down from my temple.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The shield nearly fell as four missiles slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and debris in addition to delivering massive shockwaves as they erupted into balls of fire and shrapnel. Once the ringing stopped I dropped my shield and dragged the king back to his feet. “Do you think that did it?”

Suddenly the dust was blasted clear and a battered Mumm-Ra could be seen towering over the two of us. “Do you need an answer to that question?” I groaned.

As Mumm-Ra started swinging his sword down the two of us split, and it slammed down into the dirt where we were standing only moments before. “Commander, I was going to wait to kill you. But I obviously need to kill both of you pests right now!”

The dark master started pulling back on his sword, but it was caught in the ground and he couldn’t seem to pick it up, leaving the flat side of the massive blade facing skyward. In that moment I came up with an incredibly bad idea, and used the blade as a jumping-off point to scramble up and over Mumm-Ra, wrapping one of my arms around his neck to hold me on his back. “Then how about I annoy you some more!” With my free hand I smacked a bolt of golden electricity into the back of Mumm-Ra’s helmet.

GRAGH!!!

Mumm-Ra started bucking around the moment my bolt hit him, likely trying to toss me off him. But as he took one arm and tried to reach back to grab me, he left the one arm with it’s massive gauntlet exposed. Lion-O clearly saw that there was some significance to that piece of his armor and started slashing at it with his own blade. “What are you- STOP THAT!”

As he tried to get clear of Lion-O I delivered another bolt of magic into the back of his helmet. Mumm-Ra ended up standing fast, and continued to try to swat me off him. But at one last clink of metal against metal I saw Lion-O leap back with a rounded green stone clearly in his hand. “Hey, look what I found!” Lion-O yelled, waving the stone as if to taunt Mumm-Ra.

Clearly Mumm-Ra wasn’t all that happy to see what Lion-O was holding, as he stopped trying to get me of his back and dropped to his knee. As his armor began to dissolve into what I could only describe as black smoke, he made some noise that sounded like a primal growl. “You’ll pay for this Thundercat!”

“No he won’t!” I retorted as I dropped off Mumm-Ra’s back and threw another bolt of magical energy into the dark lord’s back. That blast forced the now unarmored (and slightly shorter) down onto his hands and knees as Mumm-Ra seemed to struggle to stay up.

Of course Mumm-Ra couldn’t stay up and collapsed, panting as white wisps of vapor and smoke started coming off of his blue flesh. Behind us I heard the thuds of two sets of feet. “You two best watch yourselves!” I heard West Wind yell.

But Lion-O didn’t seem to pay much mind to the pegasi’s warning. As he lifted his sword and rested it on his shoulder I could see his expression solidify in something close to a scowl. “No… Not today!” As he lifted his sword above his head I saw both West Wind and De Witt brush past me as they tried to stop the Lord of the Thundercats-

BANG!

-Only for both sides of the confrontation to fail miserably as a rifle spoke and a round slammed into the side of Mumm-Ra’s head. He didn’t even make a noise. Hell, there wasn’t even any blood, only the instant change of flesh to dust that began to blow away on the breeze. Both Lion-O and I turned to the source of the commotion, and at least I was rather happy with what I was looking at. Pumyra, missing the armor and undersuit from both her arms while looking like she had just gone ten rounds against a professional boxer, was holding the still-smoking rifle that had been turned on our foe.

“...Well that was anticlimactic.” I muttered. But I noticed something important. As Mumm-Ra’s body kept blowing away both De Witt and West Wind were still standing around, the pegasus glaring at me while the griffon had his attention turned to Pumyra. “Shouldn’t you two have disappeared?”

“Did you ever consider that neither of us are here because of Mumm-Ra?” De Witt asked.

“Honestly? The thought never crossed my mind.” I retorted as I took up a fighting stance. “So what are you two doing here? Are you just out for some other-worldly revenge?”

“You could say that…” West Wind droned.

“Just know that there is more at work here than you know.” De Witt added. Suddenly the pair started to fade, and I heard De Witt chuckle. “We will meet again Commander. You can count on that.” And with that both De Witt and West Wind disappeared, not even leaving behind a trace of their presence.

“I guess now we just need to worry about that army…” I muttered.

“No we don’t.” Pumyra said as she wove her rifle in the direction of Mumm-Ra’s army of Lizards. “They’re retreating.” Pumyra wasn’t kidding. As I turned my gaze towards the massed lines of infantry and war machines I could clearly tell that the lot of them were turning tail. “So what do we do now?”

Author's Note

And there's the end of this second story arc, and we've recruited another member to the Blaze Squad roster! Next week we start out with one more stop, and then we're home free... Home free being back into another cluster-f.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Scorched

Thundera, Mission Clock at 49:00
Dusk

The last thing that Pumyra asked was, if I recall correctly, ‘what do we do now?’. As circumstances had it the ‘what’ involved a lot of breaking camp and transporting the Northern Guard to the Endeavor. A full night’s sleep was also on the agenda, something that I readily took up before being pulled back to Thundera for a meeting. I had ditched my armor so it could be repaired, and instead donned the gear that Rush had introduced. But even though we were in the palace for a meeting, no one had the slightest idea what we were meeting about.

“So… We don’t know anything?”

“For the third time no, we don’t.”

Finally the throne room door opened and a guard waved the three of us inside. Lion-O obviously capped the throne, flanked by Tygra. Gramps was already in the room, standing at the foot of the throne staring at the three of us as we approached. “Sorry about all the secrecy. We wanted to make sure that this meeting stayed private.” Lion-O said as he got up from his throne.

“And just what is this about?” Archer asked.

He question was answered as Lion-O fished three red enameled medallions out of the pouch on his hip. They were embossed with a black shadow of a predatory cat of some kind, the same symbol that every single guard and associate of the king was wearing. “Normally these are given to those of our people who serve the crown as a badge of office. I decided to make an exception for you three, where you all helped us in dealing with Mumm-Ra.”

“Consider it an honorary title.” Tygra said as he joined the king. “Although some of your have earned that more than others…”

Lion-O elbowed Tigra on reflex, but he never broke his kind-hearted expression. “Without all of you, I doubt that we would have survived yesterday’s battle… I guess I’m trying to say thank you. For everything.”

“Not a problem, it’s what we’re here for.” I offered as I pinned the medallion to the vacant space on my vest. “Now as much as I’d love to hang out, we do need to get moving.”

“Right, I understand.” Lion-O said as he turned his attention to Pumyra. “I don’t what you’re-”

“I’m going with them.” Pumyra said as she cut off the king.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Pumyra retorted and she turned on her heel and marched out of the throne room, leaving both Archer and I looking rather perplexed at her sudden change in attitude.

***

HMS Endeavor, Thirty Minutes Later

By the time we had returned to the ship it was already well along her return trip to orbit. Cosmo’s ponies had quickly found roles aboard the cruiser, and as I walked onto the bridge I was happy to see that a proper bridge crew had formed in our absence. “Looks like your meeting went well.” Amore observed as she abdicated the big chair to me.

“Well we got medals. That has to be good for something.” I said as I sat down.

“It’s certainly good for you ego at the very least.” Amore countered as she handed me a tablet. “Anyway, all systems are reading green. We can make the next jump on your word Dusk.”

“Do you have an idea on where we’re heading?” I asked.

Amore nodded and the tablet changed to show a crude map. “We’ve got at least one more jump to make before we get home. Of course we can’t go just yet…”

“Right, the fine control issue.” I said, thinking back to the last time the trip home had come up in conversation. “Have you made any progress?”

“Rush is working on it. Now that Cloud is here, he’s got an extra brain that he’s been putting to work on solving it. That being said he hasn’t got anything solid as of yet.”

“That’s because we’ll have to make a jump to test the new control code.” Rush said as he strolled onto the bridge, an unarmored Cloud close on his heel.

“We have to make a jump, so it’s as good as an opportunity as any.” Cloud added.

I started to ask a question, but Rush held his hand out. “Yes, we saved a copy of the original control program for the drive, just in case we need to go back to it.”

“I didn’t know mind reading was one of your talents Rush.” I observed.

“Well it was a predictable question.” Rush countered. “Any commanding officer would want to make sure that the old ways are still an option.”

“Good man.” I said as I patted Rush’s arm.

As Rush made his way to the helm Amore stepped in close. “Is Pumyra staying?” She asked.

That brought a memory to mind, specifically what a certain feline crewmate had said some time ago. “Pumyra? Front and center!”

She didn’t wait to step in front of me. “What’s up?”

“Where you’re still here I’d assume that you decided to stick with us.” I said. “I guess that means you’re all done with your whole ‘trial basis’ bit?”

“I think I was pretty clear back in Thundera.” Pumyra retorted. “Look, I don’t believe I belong in Thundera, at least not any more. In the few calm moments I’ve felt more at home with all of you than I did with my own people.”

“Well we’re happy to have you.” Amore said as a smile crossed her face.

“At least someone is…” Pumyra muttered as she claimed an open seat at one of the sensor consoles.

“Alright, we’ve just cleared the atmosphere.” Rush called from the helm.

I nodded and leaned back in my chair. “Then take us out.”

As the starscape outside the bridge gave way to swirling arrays of light I felt a bit uneasy. While we were leaving behind one defeated enemy, who knows- “Oh shit, we’ve got a problem!” Rush called out.

Suddenly the drive shut down and stars once more replaced the swirling tunnel of light. “What just happened?” I asked.

“It appears that the transit is complete…” Grey said as his avatar popped up over the helm. “Doctor Rush’s program appears to have increased efficiency of the drive core, hence why a jump at normal power transited us so quickly.”

“That’s one hell of an efficiency boost.” I observed.

“You’re telling me.” Rush added as he got up from the helm. “I need go over the data we’ve collected from that jump, see if I can figure out exactly what I did.”

I nodded at Rush as I got out of my own chair and strolled over to the helm. “Grey, can you tell where we are?”

“One moment sir… It appears that we're in Equis’ star system. It isn’t our universe but it’s certainly familiar-”

“Is something wrong Grey?” Amore asked, the AI having suddenly stopped mid sentence.

“I’ve found Equis…” The AI replied. As the ship began to bank the planet began to come into view. Judging by how the background conversations all seemed to stop I think I can safely wager that everyone on the bridge was seeing the same thing that I was.

“No, you must be mistaken.” I insisted.

“I’m not sir.” As the brown and grey orb fully came into view, Grey made a sound akin to someone clearing their throat. “We’re looking at a dead world.”

***

Ten Minutes Later…
Archer

“So no one has any explanation?” The General asked from his side of the holotable. “We just happened to jump into the orbit of a dead duplicate of Equis?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Dusk replied. “The atmosphere is breathable, and that’s about it. There’s no signs of any sort of life down there.”

“Well what could’ve done this? Could it have been some sort of nuclear weapons?” Blueblood asked.

“We’d be detecting residual radiation if that were the case.” Rush pointed out. “The only other thing we’ve picked up on is a large pockets of organically-based ash circulating in the atmosphere.”

“How can you even tell if the ash came from something organic?”

“Sensors are picking up a large amount of basic biological markers in the ash pockets.” Rush said. “Large amounts of calcium, carbon, water vapor, iron oxide…”

“I get it.” Meteor said. “That’s all what you would find in a pony’s body.”

Rush nodded. “Look, I don’t relish saying this… But something incinerated every living being on that planet.”

“You’d need a lot of energy to do that.” Amore observed.

“And who or whatever is responsible for what we’re looking at likely had plenty of energy to spare.” Rush replied.

“How long will it take for the drive to recharge?” Dusk asked.

Rush shrugged. “A few hours at least. Even then I still need to review the data that was generated during the jump.”

“Greyscale, you can do it faster so get on it.” Dusk ordered. “Archer, take Rush and Amore. We’ve got time to spare so I want samples from the surface.”

“Are you serious?” Amore asked.

“I am.” Dusk retorted. “Now all three of you go gear up, you’ve got work to do.”

***

Planet’s Surface, Half an Hour Later…

“Respirators?”

“Check.”

“Weapons?”

“I don’t see what we need them for, but check.”

“Radios?”

“Charged and working.”

Amore nodded as she fixed her mask into place. “Then I guess we’re ready to go.” For the last few minutes Amore had been running down the list of equipment that we had brought with us on the shuttle. After checking and rechecking our equipment Amore finally seemed ready to pop the rear hatch open so we could get moving.

Rush ended up taking the honor and hitting the release, letting in the humid and sticky air from outside the shuttle. “What’s with the humidity?”

“No idea.” Amore said as she stepped off the shuttle. “But I’d love to know how that is still standing.” She said as she pointed at a stone hut a few dozen feet away.

As we got closer I noticed an odd detail given where we were. “It doesn’t even look scorched.” I observed.

“Hey, she’s right.” Rush said as we finally came within arm’s reach of the structure.

Amore ran her fingers over the stone. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

“Neither does the wood door.” Rush said as he rounded the corner. “It looks brand new.”

Both Amore and I hurried over to the corner of the structure and saw that Rush was right. It was a wood door, and it was definitely brand new by the looks of it. “By Celestia’s beard… Who built this thing?”

Suddenly the door was flung open from the inside, and a hooded head could be seen. “Don’t just stand there, get in here!”

“Uh…” Amore seemed confused at the sudden appearance of what was clearly a living pony.

“Damnit, get in here before she comes back!” The stallion yelled as he reached out and dragged Amore inside.

“Whoa, take it easy!” I said as I pulled my pistol out of my holster and stepped inside. Rush came in behind me and shut the door. “Now do you mind telling… Us…” As I studied the pony he instantly started ringing bells. I’ve seen him somewhere before.

“What do you want me to tell you?” The stallion asked as he threw his hood back, revealing a long grey mane.

“I remember you now. You’re the Mountaineer!” I exclaimed as I thought back to my exposure to Dusk’s memory orb.

The stallion looked at me with an air of surprise. “How’d you know that?”

“Dusk’s memory orb. That’s where I saw you.” I replied.

“Dusk… Wait a minute, the Commander?” The Mountaineer asked. “The one I ran into in Chicacolt?”

“Ya, the one you helped with those cloudships.” I said, grinning ear to ear. “Oh man, he thought you died in that crash. Dusk is gonna be psyched!”

“The Commander is alive? And he’s here?”

“He’s in orbit on the Endeavor.” Rush explained. “He sent us down here to gather some samples so we could learn a bit more about what happened to this planet.”

“Oh dear, that means that the shadows are moving.” The Mountaineer said as he stepped over to a shelf and picked up the one large tome that was occupying it. As he flipped through the pages he let a sigh of what sounded like relief pass his lips. “Good, Faust sent her agent.”

“Who’s Faust?” Rush asked.

“Faust is the legendary mother of Celestia and Luna, the two co-rulers of Equestria.” Amore explained. “But most of us considered her to be a myth…”

“Faust is no myth. Believe me, I’ve met her and her associate.” The Mountaineer said as he closed the book. “But anyway, we’ve got work to do. I believe you need help modifying Endeavor’s drive so you can get back exactly when you left and maintain the timeline, correct?”

“Well, yes… But how’d you know that?” Amore asked.

“I know a lot more than you’d guess Amore.” The Mountaineer said as he put the book back on the shelf. “In fact, Mountaineer isn’t even my name.”

“Then what is it?” I asked.

The old stallion turned around, and I could tell that he had a twinkle in his eye. “Why child, I thought that it would be obvious! You may not recognize me, but history knows me as Starswirl the Bearded.”

Author's Note

Well would you look at that, Starswirl the Bearded! He'll become an important source of knowledge as time goes on... But next week we get more of the Dead World!

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Sunburnt

Endeavor Mess Hall, Mission Clock at 49:40
Dusk

Food. It’s easily one of the most important things that living beings need in order to survive. It’s also an important part of many social interactions. And where I hadn’t had many social encounters with members of my own species until recently, then I can safely say that I need to take the opportunity. There were some faces that I recognized, and I was recognized by them in turn, but only Cosmo had room at his table for me.

“Well you sure know how to pick em’.” Cosmo observed, having just listened to me explain where the new recruits to Blaze Squad had come from.

“I guess I do, don’t I?” I asked rhetorically. “But enough about me. How have Porter’s ponies managed to fit in with your group?”

“Better than I would have expected.” Cosmo admitted. “They all do tight, efficient work.” I didn’t get to offer a response, as the rest of Cosmo’s usual entourage finally arrived and joined the two of us. When all was said and done there was only one of the nine seats around the circular table left unoccupied.

“Did we miss anything interesting?” Phalanx asked as he cracked the seal on his water bottle.

“Nope. Dusk just got here.”

“Does he know about the kid?” Constellation asked, directing the question at Cosmo instead of simply asking me.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I’m right here, and yes I know that I’ve got a kid coming.”

“Well as long as you don’t turn out to be a deadbeat dad, you and I will get along just fine.” Constellation replied, all while she seemed to finally relax.

“...Is that all that you wanted to tell me?” I asked.

Constellation nodded with a slight smile. “Someone had to say it.”

“Good to-” Suddenly a tablet clattered onto the table in front of me, and Blueblood muscled himself between myself and Phalanx. “Nice manners.”

“Not now, we’ve got a big problem.” Blueblood said. “Tell me, what do you think that is?” He said as he pointed at the tablet.

With no other clear recourse I picked up the tablet and read the data that was on it. They were results of atmospheric scans. Everything looked normal except one red box with white letters. “Hydrogen based plasma… What is this supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Dusk, that’s stellar matter. The same stuff that stars are made of!”

“What would that be doing in an atmosphere?” I heard Cosmo ask.

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a theory… This Equis wasn’t destroyed by a natural catastrophe. It was destroyed by a single pony.” Blueblood explained.

“A single pony…” Cosmo muttered.

“Oh shit.”

“Now you see why I’m worried?” Blueblood asked.

I nodded as I got up. “Has Archer’s team been recalled?”

Blueblood shook his head. “The plasma in the atmosphere is interfering with the comms. We can’t make contact.”

“Then someone needs to go down there!” Cosmo yelled.

Cosmo was, of course, right. We can’t contact Archer, but sending a Pelican down to the surface would put other ponies at risk. “Blueblood, you’re in command until I get back.”

“And just how do you think you’re getting down there?” Blueblood asked.

At the door I turned and flashed a cocky grin. “I’m gonna take the express elevator.”

***

Surface of Alternate Equis, Concurrent to Previous Events…
Archer

“It’s really him!” Amore said, seemingly fan-maring over the pony in front of us. “It’s really Starswirl!”

While I knew some of the history of Equestria, Rush clearly was lost. “Just who is Starswirl?” He asked.

“Only the most influential mage in all of Equestrian history!” Amore screeched. “His notes have formed the base of modern magical theory for centuries! And here he is, alive!”

Rush rolled his eyes and seemed to ignore Amore’s attitude. “When you let us in you said something about someone coming back.”

That brought the entire atmosphere of the makeshift cabin down a few notches. “She calls herself Daybreaker. From what I can tell she’s responsible for the current condition of this planet.”

“One pony did all of this?” I asked.

Starswirl nodded. “Daybreaker is an analog of Nightmare Moon, forming from this reality’s version of Princess Celestia. She’s the only living being that I’ve encountered here, and based off of that encounter I can safely say that she single-handedly scorched the entire planet using hydrogen that was actively engaged in nuclear fusion.”

“Just how does one individual do that? You’d have to transport the material across millions of miles of space.” Rush pointed out.

“Celestia doesn’t need to pull it that far. All she needs to do is open a portal to the surface of the sun, and she’d be good to go.” Starswirl explained.

“You said that you’ve run into her? As in she’s here?” I asked.

“Exactly, and that brings me to a question. Do you have a way off of this planet?”

“We can take the shuttle back to Endeavor.” Rush replied.

“Is that craft ready to take off?” Starswirl asked.

“Probably not. It would take us a few minutes to get airborne.”

“Then she’ll be right on top of us before we can escape… Any other ideas?” Starswirl asked.

For a few seconds there was silence, before Amore finally spoke up. “I could stay behind, try to hold her off long enough for you all to get away.”

“That’s madness. You can’t hope to stand a chance against that monster!” Starswirl chided.

“Well I don’t see any better options, do you?”

Starswirl just shook his head in disbelief. “Apparently pony-kind hasn’t gotten any smarter in my absence…” He muttered.

STARSWIRL! COME OUT HERE SO I CAN FRY YOU!

“Shit, she’s here!”

But Amore seemed to maintain a level head, the polar opposite of the old wizard’s now frantic appearance. “Like I said, I’ll deal with her. Just get to the shuttle.”

“Alright you two, on me!” I ordered, kicking the door out off its hinges with my weapon trained out towards the fallen monarch.

For a moment, Daybreaker seemed interested in the three of us as we hurried towards the shuttle. But that changed when she saw Amore step out behind us. “Well this is a blast from the past… Princess Amore of the Crystal Empire.” Daybreaker droned as we hurried along.

“So what do I call you now? Daybreaker?” Amore asked, coming across as rather nonchalant.

At that point I stopped paying attention and turned to the shuttle, ducking into the open rear door behind Rush and Starswirl. “So how do you fly this thing?” Starswirl hurriedly asked.

Rush slid into the center chair and powered up the shuttle by flicking a series of switches on the control panel that hung down from the ceiling off to the left of his head. “Just let me worry about that.” He retorted.

BANG!
THUNK!

The whole shuttle shook briefly as something smacked against the back door. “What the hell was that?” Rush asked.

I was closest to the rear hatch, but all I could see was a cloud of tan dust. “I have no idea.”

***

Dusk

I guess drop pods make good express elevators, don’t they? Of course that’s aside from the blistering heat and the lack of simple ergonomics, but that’s neither here nor there at the moment. The hatch had already blown clear off the pod, smacking against the back of what I would assume to be the Ancient shuttle, all while the impact against the sandy-ridden ground had kicked up a massive dust cloud that kept me from seeing much outside of a few feet. But what I could see was Amore, on the ground with a cut on her cheek, and an inferno-haired alicorn standing above her with a shocked-looking gaze glued right in my direction. “Amore, get out of here.”

“Dusk? What are you-”

“I said go. I’ve got this.” I assured her. The princess didn’t waste much time, clambering to her feet and making off towards the shuttle through the dust. “So… Just who the hell are you?” I asked.

The alicorn seemed conflicted for a moment, maybe even choked up before she finally got a word out. “Dusk?” I heard her mutter.

I nodded curtly. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

But the mare seemed to soften, almost as if she was fighting back the urge to cry, or yell, or maybe just incernerate me. I just couldn’t really tell what was actually going through her head from how she was acting. “Dusk…” I heard her mutter a second time.

But as the shuttle’s engines whined and the craft took to the sky, that cloud of dust that was obscuring everything was blown away. At that point I could actually make out the mare’s features, and it didn’t take much to confirm who I was looking at. “Celestia.” I replied.

“It’s really you.” She admitted, all while her mane flickered back and forth from blazing inferno to its normal rainbow hue like a bad light bulb.

I nodded. “So what happened here?” I asked.

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head, trying to play it safe and roll with what the crazed monarch was laying out. “It’s all… Well, fuzzy.”

“Then I’ll help you remember.” Celestia replied as she held out her hand.

For a moment I hesitated before finally deciding to continue to go along with this charade. It’s me versus an all-powerful god, so how much harm could keeping her calm do? Taking her hand had something of an unexpected result though, as everything around me flashed white before settling down in the interior of some office, likely in Canterlot Castle from the looks of things. But both myself and the Princess were glowing, something to add to the list of unexpected results. “Just what-”

“Just watch.” I heard the Princess mutter.

Wumpth!

Turning around at the sound of a closing door, I found myself staring at a near-mirror image of myself. He even had the same broken horn, but was decked out in a red Royal Guard dress uniform. Looking around the room, I could hear a dejected-sounding sigh. “It’s just not the same…”

On the other side of the office the door cracked open and a mare in Guard armor stuck her head in. “General? Your meeting is here.”

“Thank you Corporal. Send her in.”

The Corporal stepped out of the way and in stepped two ponies. I recognized Princess Sparkle immediately, but the dark-purple mare with the shattered horn was new to me. “Commander Light, it’s been a long time.”

“Long enough to become a General, your majesty.” My doppleganger said, gesturing for the two chairs that were in front of the desk opposite of the trio. “Now come on, have a seat. We need to talk.”

As seats were taken up, the Princess’ companion finally piped up. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. It’s nothing you did Commander Shadow… Or do you prefer going by Fizzlepop? I’m still not totally clear on that.”

“Just Fizz.” The mare replied.

“Alright Fizz… Before I even get into the weeds I’m going to briefly explain some background. Somehow the Storm King knew of my family’s connection to Celestia. My Grandfather, both of my parents, and my pregnant fiance… His personal guards executed them all and them came after me in Baltimare. Commander Porter’s Marines got to me in time to rescue me, but not before those bastards took my horn off.” My doppleganger explained, gesturing to the vacant and scarred tissue that was obscured by his locks.

“General, I’m-”

But my doppleganger cut off the mare. “I know it’s nothing you did. It was the Storm King’s orders, that much we know for certain. But that’s why I’ve been taking such a personal interest in him. Because he took just about everything from me.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why you called Fizzlepop in.” Twilight pointed out.

My doppleganger nodded at that. “It’s because I don’t believe that the Storm King is dead.”

“But he was turned to stone and shattered to bits.” Twilight protested.

“I understand that Princess, but magic-based crystals can be repaired. The Storm King is no different.”

“You’d still need to get the pieces out of the castle vault.” Fizz retorted. But it only took a few moments for her to put two and two together from my doppleganger’s expression. “They’re missing, aren’t they?”

My doppleganger nodded. “I’ve personally confirmed their presence in the vault daily for the last six months. They were still there when I did my inspection yesterday morning, but sometime overnight someone broke into the vault. The Storm King’s remains have been stolen.”

“Then what are you doing about it?” Twilight asked.

“That’s why I called your friend in Princess. I’m putting together a team to go after the Storm King. Fizzlepop is the foremost expert on him that we have… So what do you say Fizz? Are you in?”

“Well, of course.” The mare said. “But what are you going to do when you find him?”

“The Storm King?” My doppleganger asked offhandedly. Fizzlepop didn’t say anything, simple opting to nod the affirmative. “Well… If I’m being honest, I’m going to personally take his fucking head off.”

At that the entire scene dropped away and I found myself standing in front of the deranged former Princess once more surrounded by the sands of the scorched planet. “That’s how it all started.” She softly said. “A desire for revenge. You and Fizzlepop spent two years tracking down the Storm King. And in the end it killed you… When I lost you, I… I couldn’t bear it. I went after the Storm King myself.”

I paused for a moment and came to an assumption. Just as my doppleganger had been blinded by revenge, so had this alternate Celestia. And it was that final straw that broke her. But I found myself intrigued, and finally I put that question to a fateful three words. “Show me more.”

Author's Note

So how's that for a bit of a mind-fuck? I know I've touched on the familiar relations between Dusk and Celestia very lightly before, but from here on we'll be seeing more and more of it playing a role in Reflections.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

The Queen is Dead

Endeavor’s Bridge, Mission Clock at 52:00
Archer

“So let’s see if I have this straight. Dusk went down to the surface once Blueblood figured out a rough idea of what happened down there, and the four of you left him alone with a psychotic goddess that may have incinterated the entire planet.” Meteor Shower rattled off. “Now maybe I’m missing something, but who thought that just leaving Dusk down there was a bright idea?”

“Well if it was up to me I wouldn’t have left him. But he told me to go. What else would you have me do?” Amore retorted from across the holotable, clearly insulted by the General’s assertion.

“So if Dusk told you to go jump out the airlock you’d do it?” Meteor countered. “Just because he told you to do it doesn’t mean it was the right call. And last I checked he isn’t the one in charge around here!”

“Well neither are you!” Amore shouted, shaking her fist angrily across the table.

If I didn’t know any better I would’ve guessed that her and the General would’ve jumped the table and started hurling punches. However for the sake of our bridge equipment, Starswirl finally did something more than standing off to the side taking up space, and he create a pale purple barrier straight across the centerline of the table to prevent that possibility. “Both of you stop it! Especially you Meteor.”

“Me?”

“Yes you!” Starswirl countered. “For the supposed Royal Consort, you’re really doing a piss-poor job of maintaining proper decorum.”

Wait, Royal Consort? “What did you just call him?” I asked.

“Royal Consort.” Starswirl replied, now looking slightly confused. “What, none of you noticed the appearance-altering magic he’s using?”

At that Meteor’s expression changed instantly. It wasn’t anger anymore, but a look of abject horror. Almost like he just watched someone die. “How did you-”

“Please, just because you could hide that trace from the average pony doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t pick up on it.”

What came next was easily a shock to everyone bar the General himself. With a shimmer, those aged marks around his eyes and grey hair disappeared, replaced by shiny black hair and features that were far less worn from the passage of time. “Holy shit…” I heard Blueblood mutter.

“So where I was right, I assume you picked up that aging trick from the Book of Faust?” Starswirl asked.

Meteor nodded before recasting whatever spell he had been using, returning himself to his former appearance. “I did… And that’s all I’m saying on it for now.”

“But how did you-”

“Amore! That’s all I’m saying on it!” Meteor snapped.

“So… Getting back to business… What do we do about Dusk?”

“Well if Daybreaker had incinerated him, I think that we would’ve noticed something by now.” Starswirl offered. “The issue I see is getting Dusk off the planet’s surface. I doubt that Daybreaker will simply let us go down and pick him up, and an assault would likely end in vaporization.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

Starswirl shrugged. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything else we can do. All we can do without risking anyone else is to move on.”

“That’s nuts! We’ve already gone through hell to get Dusk back, and you suggest that calling it quits on him is all we can do?” Amore snapped.

“And trying to get Dusk back will risk the hundreds of ponies that are aboard. With everything else that is likely going on, are their lives worth risking for the sake of one pony?” Starswirl countered.

“They are, but you won’t have to risk them.” Came a new voice from behind the lot of us.

Turning around I found myself facing down a pale green unicorn mare, clad in a sage green cloak that was draped around her shoulders. Looking at her one thought came to mind, and I was more than willing to voice it. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Hey, wait a minute… I remember you from Canterlot.” The General said. “You’re Faust’s lackey.”

“Her name is Dawn.” Starswirl added. “She’s some orphan that Faust took in years ago. Although I’d love to know what you’re doing here now…”

“Dusk is in trouble again, and you will need him back up here. I’ll see to it that he gets back aboard but once he’s here you need to go. Understood?”

“Why, what’s going to happen?” I asked.

“Daybreaker will likely retaliate in a rather destructive manner.” Dawn replied. “Now if you’ll all excuse me, I do believe there’s an express elevator with my name on it.” As she whirled and started walking off the bridge, I swore that I saw the edge of a wing under her cloak. But an even more important point came to mind. Dawn was the name that Dart had picked out for her daughter, and something in the back of my mind kept screaming that it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Did anyone else notice that wing?” I heard Blueblood ask, so I obviously wasn’t crazy when I thought I saw a feathered appendage.

“Ya, I did… Starswirl, you seem to know a bit more about Dawn. Just who were her parents?” Meteor asked.

“No clue.” The mage replied. “When Faust introduced us a few years ago I asked that same question, but she wouldn’t say. All that she told me is that she was an orphan that she had taken in.”

“Right… Well you and I both obviously know how the whole Alicorn thing works. She obviously isn’t one of yours, so who’s is she?”

Listening to just the context of what the General was getting at, I quickly added that to what I already knew. Meteor clearly knew something about how Alicorns reproduced, or simply came to exist. “General… I think Dawn is one of yours.”

“You don’t even know what we’re talking about.” The General snapped.

“You’re obviously talking about one of your descendants.” I countered. “Look, you two both know more about… Whatever it is that has to do with Dawn and Alicorns, but that’s way too coincidental for her to have been named Dawn.”

“Archer, just what are you getting at?” Amore asked.

“Dawn was the name that Dart picked out for her daughter.” I replied, casting a passing gaze over the assembled group. “General, I think it’s obvious who Dawn’s parents are.”

“That’s crazy.” The General countered.

I shook my head. “General, I don’t think it’s that crazy… She’s got her mother’s fur and her father’s eyes. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter; Faust’s so-called ‘agent’ and your still unborn great-granddaughter are the same pony.”

***

Surface of the Dead World
Dusk

How long was I down here? Hours? Days? Hell, maybe only a few minutes? At this point that was a question I found myself asking, after having been bombarded with memories stretching across a few years. Yet I was still able to make a determination after watching the downfall of an entire planet; I had gotten in WAY over my head. For the first time in a long time I actually felt scared. I had been running a facade against a clearly broken and psychotic goddess… And I had nowhere to go. “I… That was some heavy stuff.” I admitted out loud.

But looking at Celestia I noticed that her mane was flickering again, and she looked decidedly more angry. “You’re not my Dusk.”

“Uh…” I droned as I started stepping backwards away from the goddess. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh you do!” Celestia spat, her hair now fully replaced by the flaming mane that I had first encountered. “You’re some Changeling trying to get to me. Well it’s not going to work!”

Wait, she thinks I’m a Changeling? “Are you serious?” I asked. “How could I be a Changeling when YOU vaporized all life on the planet?!”

Now that assertion proved quickly to be a mistake as Celestia knocked me to the ground with barely a move on her part. “Shut up!” She angrily shouted.

As Celestia tossed another bolt of magic, I reflexively threw up a shield. While the shield held the force of the blow sent me skidding back a few feet from where I first fell. “What if I don’t feel like it?” I offered as I got to my knees.

SHUT UP!

Two more blows smacked against my shield, and through that golden haze I could make out some distinct cracks emanating out from from where the crazed goddess kept hitting it. “Well you’ve got to do better than that!” I chided as I tried pushing more magic into the shield.

That final jab was all it took, and with one tremendous blow my shield shattered. The feedback from my failed spell left me with the phantom sensation of a horn that was tingling after being hit with a pulse of magic. “Oh, I can do worlds better…” That last line certainly started to make me worry, and that worry quickly grew into a fear of god as Celestia opened a portal, the other end of which was casting blinding light and searing heat all across the sands. It was definitely hot, that much I could say for certain as some of the sand began to crystalize. But through all of that fear I realized something; while I was hot, I was far from burning to death from what was likely the full-force of the sun itself. “DIE ALREADY!” Celestia screamed.

Getting to my feet I made note of how that heat and light was reacting to me. While it was certainly uncomfortable, that raw energy seemed to coalesce around my hands. “You know what? I’m not feeling it!” I retorted as I hurled that energy square at Celestia’s face. The sudden blast of searing energy broke the mare’s concentration, and her portal closed leaving the area around us cooling ever so slowly. “And something tells me that you’re feeling it not either!”

The crazed mare responded by lunging at me, with a wild look more akin to a feral beast than a once-regal Princess. But she only got halfway from where she stood to me before some mare just… Teleported between us and sent Celestia flying with nothing more than a backhand. “Well she’s certainly feeling something.”

I couldn’t help but study this newly arrived mare. She was decked out in some tribal-looking armor with a sage green cloak to match her mane. Her fur was a far lighter shade, looking more akin to spearmint. But what really caught my attention was the wings tucked under her cloak, just barely noticeable as it fluttered around. And that was in addition to a horn that capped her skull. “That’s fine and dandy, but who the hell are you?” I asked as I approached the mare.

She turned around, offering a soft and warm smile. “I’m Dawn. Faust sent me-”

“Who sent you?” I asked, someone confused by the mare’s explanation.

“Faust? You know, Faust the Eternal? The All-Mother? That red alicorn chick that is in all the really old ancient equestrian textbooks?”

Admittedly Dawn’s points didn’t ring any bells. “Well that must be the one thing I never really studied, because you’re still making any sense.”

“Alright, whatever.” The mare said, admitting defeat. “Either way we still have THAT to deal with.” She said, pointing at a still-enraged solar diarch.

“Right, and the two of us are supposed to be able to beat a goddess.” I retorted, cracking my knuckles as I took up a place next to Dawn.

“Well as I see it we’ve got a goddess and a demigod on our side, while Daybreaker only has herself. I’d say we’ve got the advantage.” Dawn retorted.

But for a moment I paused. What exactly did she mean by demigod? “I’m sorry, but I’m no demigod.”

Dawn simply rolled her eyes. “Then remind me to smack Meteor around for not bringing you up on your heritage.”

“Look lady, I still have no-”

“Look out!”

I was lucky to have Dawn here, otherwise that second set of eyes wouldn’t have alerted me to an approaching right hook from the psychotic former ruler that we were staring down. “Just die already!” The mare screamed.

“Sorry-” I stepped back and wailed Celestia with my shoulder. As I bounced off her Dawn stepped in over Celestia, know down on one of her kees, and slammed her fist into the side of the former ruler’s face. That left me with the final hit, and I brought my knee up into her jaw hard. “-but that’s not happening. At least not today.”

Staring down at the defeated monarch, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Celestia's whole world fell apart and she seemed to accept that she was the one to blame. But through all that she couldn’t stop from lashing out in rage at just about anything that moved. “I’m sorry that it had to end this way.” Dawn softly said.

But in an instant the sunlight began to rapidly dim, and Celestia developed an evil smile. “But it’s not over… It’ll never be over!”

Looking skyward a sudden wall of abject horror slammed into me. The sun was turning black, with visible cracks in that shell that was obstructing the light that it was giving off. “What did you do?” I asked, still glued on the sun.

“Isn’t it obvious? I made sure that you and your friends will die here.” Celestia spat. “That’s right, those friends all nicely tucked away in that giant metal coffin that they so nicely provided.”

“But you’re killing yourself too!” Dawn protested.

“Dawn, just what did she do?” I asked, finally turning to face the two mares.

For obvious reasons Dawn looked just as concerned as I likely did. “She set in motion a transient astronomical event.”

“Transient astronomical… Wait, a supernova?!” I exclaimed.

Dawn nodded. “As of right now we’ve got less than three minutes until that star takes out everything within a tenth of a light year.”

“Then what the hell do we do?!” I yelled.

“Just hang on!” Dawn replied, grabbing onto me tight followed by an immediate sensation of falling. That feeling only lasted for a few seconds before I felt my boots slam against solid metal deckplates with a resounding thud.

“What just-”

“I teleported us back to the Endeavor.” Dawn replied as her and I strode up to the helm. “Blueblood, time to get in gear!” She shouted, taking up the seat on the Prince’s right.

“Where the hell did you- Wait a minute… Do you have something to do with that?” He asked, pointing out the forward viewscreen at the dying sun.

“No, for once it’s not my fault.” Dawn replied. “Now we need to jump out of here, otherwise we’re all ash!”

“Do you even know what’s going on?” I heard Rush call from one of the stations behind the two of us.

“The sun is going supernova, and we need to get the hell out of here within the next two minutes or we’re all dead!”

“Jesus… How did this happen?!” Rush yelled.

“We pissed off a god, that’s what!”

“We? I did most of the leg work!” I snapped as I made my way to the holotable. “You were down there for what, a minute or two? That hardly counts as a team effort!”

“You want to take the credit for this great mess we’re in? Then be my guest!” Dawn retorted. “Greyscale, activate protocol Gemini One.”

As the AI’s lifeless orb grew out of the helm’s holotank, I could almost make out an uncharacteristic growl. “How the hell do you know about that?”

“Because I made sure it was put there, now do it!”

If Greyscale could roll his eyes I’d imagine that’s what he was doing. “Understood. Protocol executed, fast power-up of slipspace drive is complete. What’s our destination?”

“Any point at least twenty light years away from that star.”

From my spot at the holotable a holographic screen popped up, with Cloud on the other end in the engine room. “Bridge, this is engineering. What the hell did you morons up there do? The slipspace drive just went to full power and I’ve got alarms and warnings lighting up every board!”

“What?!” I turned around to look at Dawn, hoping she would face me but in reality she remained glued to her spot at the helm. “Dawn, you better know what you’re doing!”

As a slipspace rupture opened directly ahead I could make out a nod. “Damn right I do!”

“Awe hell…” I quickly wheeled back to the holotable and brought up the ship-wide PA. “Bridge to all hands, brace for acceleration!”

As the Endeavor cleared the aperture the whole ship began to shake violently from side to side. “Sirs, I can’t maintain a stable transit!” Grey called out from his holotank.

“What’s our distance from Equis?” Dawn asked.

“But-”

“How far away are we?!”

"Fifteen and counting.” Grey replied. “But I really don’t-”

“Just hold it together Grey, we’ll make it!” Dawn insisted.

“Bridge, this is engineering. The drive core is way in the red, we’re evacuating!”

“Dawn, you need to drop us out of slipspace!” I shouted, trying to get helm control transfered to the holotable.

“We can make it!”

“No, we can’t!” I spat as I managed to get helm control locked out of the mare’s station and transferred over to me. “Grey, get us out of this mess!”

“Aye sir!” The shaking of the deck immediately stopped as Endeavor cleared slipspace. “We’ve cleared FTL, but I’m reading power surges all over the ship.”

Dawn at this point had already gotten up from her chair, having shoved me out of the way to get at the holotable. “Grey, how far are we?”

“Approximately twenty nine light years. We should be-”

“No, we’re not. We still need to worry about the radiation! Divert those power surges into the shield emitters and readjust them to compensate for increased gamma radiation.”

“Will that actually do it?” I asked.

“In theory it should.” Rush said as he joined us at the holotable. “But you’re diverting power surges into the shields. Can the emitters handle that?”

Dawn nodded. “They were test up to two hundred percent of their regular power input for twenty four hours, and can handle more at a decreasing interval of fifty percent of the rated time per hundred increase on the power rating.”

“Well can the conduits feeding the emitters handle that load?” I asked.

As a conduit in the ceiling directly above us suddenly began to glow red, it became evidently clear that Dawn hadn’t considered that problem. “Oh shit… Get back!”

Rush and I were tossed to either end of the bridge, followed immediately by a blinding flash of light and a third thud. It took a moment to get my bearings but judging by the crater in the ceiling and the profusely bleeding alicorn on the floor, we had just given up one problem for another far more immediate one.

Author's Note

Dear lord, I'm way behind here on getting these chapters published. My appologies, but I've been incredibly busy the last few weeks. But hopefully I'll be solving that problem and getting the lead out on the editing and writing again.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

The Ties That Bind

Endeavor’s Infirmary, Mission Clock at 53:15
Dusk

You never stop learning. That old adage continues to play itself out time and time again for me. In this case I learned something new about one of my new compatriots; Pumyra was rather good at stitching wounds. Once we got Dawn down into the infirmary she made short work of the bleeding and gashes that the shrapnel dealt the still unconscious mare. After that one of Cosmo’s doctors took over leaving me and the cat to watch over Dawn.

“So you said that she knew about some program built into the ship’s AI?” Pumyra asked, breaking the silence.

I nodded. “She said that she made sure that something called Gemini One was built into his program. It did something to Endeavor’s slipspace drive…”

At that Greyscale’s avatar joined us from an emitter built into the wall. “The program in question was a fast-boot protocol for the drive core. Not only am I surprised that someone managed to write one that didn’t blow up the drive core, but the only two living beings that were involved were Doctor Halsey and Princess Amore. How Ms. Dawn knew of a program that even I was unaware of is rather disconcerting.”

“Wait, you didn’t know it was there?”

Greys’s avatar flickered in response. “Ms. Dawn’s query revealed a plethora of files and programs that were previously hidden behind administrative privilege. Gemini One is just one of thousands that were installed into my core matrices. There’s a program for just about every contingency that I could possibly invision.”

“Sounds like Dawn has been busy.” Pumyra observed.

“Then why is it that I didn’t hear anything about her until today?” I countered. “And were these programs the only things that Dawn had her hands in?”

“While our knowledge of Ms. Dawn is very limited, I believe it would be safe to assume that she may have been involved in far more than just my programing.” Grey pointed out.

“Well you won’t be able to ask her until she wakes up.”

“Ah, Doctor Suture… I take it that you’ve got news?” I asked.

The mare nodded. “We’ve got Dawn stable, and she will recover. However a blood transfusion will greatly aid her recovery.”

“So you need a suitable donor. Alright, start testing everypony on board.”

But Suture shook her head. “I’m not going to need to do that… I’ve already identified a match, but it gets more complicated. I’ve found an organic marker that’s present in Dawn’s blood. It’s definitely genetic in nature, and attempts to introduce other samples in the lab have led to a complete rejection of the transfused material.”

“But you said that you already had a match, right?”

The doctor nodded. “Commander, the only way for this transfusion to work is to introduce a blood sample from a direct relative who has the marker.”

“So like a sibling?” Pumyra asked.

“No, like a parent.” Suture replied. “Commander Dusk, you have the marker in your blood. I don’t know how but Dawn… She’s your child.”

***

Endeavor’ Port Side Hanger, Half an Hour Later…
Archer

“Commander, thanks for coming so quickly.” One of the marines said as I approached the hangar entrance.

I nodded. “So what’s happening now? You said something about a major disturbance?”

The marine nodded in turn and hit the door release. “It’s Commander Dusk sir… Although I believe his results speak for themselves.”

It bears noting that there’s two hangars in the middle section of the Endeavor, one port and the other starboard with a sizable storage and repair area running right down the middle of the ship. That held all of the ground vehicles on the ship, while the port hangar held the launch-ready fighters… Minus the two that had been torn to pieces, and the third on the flight line that Dusk was actively tearing into. “What in Celestia’s beard is he doing?!” I frantically asked.

“I have no idea, I just know I can’t handle him on my own!” The marine insisted.

If one marine can’t handle an enraged high-powered equine then neither could I, at least not without some serious backup. “Trooper, get the General down here. I’ll see what I can do to calm him down!” Now my clearly crazy decision obviously left the marine shocked, but with my back to him I have no idea if he kept standing there or went to do what I told him.

Dusk, on the other hand, was doing a damn fine job of shredding the human-supplied Sabres that sat on the flight line in the hanger. The first one had starboard side cannon ripped clean from it’s housing while leaving a gaping hole down the forward quarter of the fuselage. The second one had it’s nose bashed off by that same cannon, the once straight barrel and mechanism sitting in a clattered heap alongside the shattered sensor package. But between the second and third fighters Dusk must’ve given up, because when I finally caught up to him he was bashing his knuckles into the side of the fuselage. Judging by the blood that smeared the metal skin he must’ve split them wide open, and I confirmed that relatively quickly when I saw the blood dripping off his right hand as he drew back to throw another punch.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I shouted.

Dusk finally took notice that someone other than him was in the hangar. “Archer?” He asked as he turned to face me. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you’re off your rocker.” I retorted, pointing at his bleeding hands. “What the hell are you thinking?”

“Admittedly I really haven’t been.” Dusk replied as he dealt another hard blow against the side of the Sabre. “I just needed to do SOMETHING to distract myself.”

I just shook my head. “And this is what you came up with? Trashing fighters? That’s pathetic.”

Dusk shrugged. “I thought I just said that I hadn’t been thinking?”

“Then tell me why. Why are you going off all half-cocked like this?!”

“It’s just…” Dusk stopped for a moment and shook his head. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it. Alright?”

“What the hell?!”

I turned around to face the new arrival in the hangar, and while it wasn’t the General that I had sent for, Dawn would have to do for the time being. “Hey, you think you can help me get through to Dusk? He seems to have gone off the deep end.”

“That’s something of an understatement.” Dawn observed.

As I turned back to Dusk I expected him to turn back to his beating on the fighter. But instead he stopped, having leaned his head against the side of the craft. And if I didn’t know any better I’d say that he had a tear going down his cheek. “Dusk, are you alright?”

“I told you that I don’t want to talk about it.” He managed to grunt out.

But Dawn obviously saw right through Dusk’s attitude and understood what was at the heart of the problem. “The Doctor told you who I am, didn’t he?”

Dusk nodded, and I quickly realized that my earlier suspicions about Dawn were dead-center. “Wait, so you are his kid?”

That quip got both pairs of eyes to focus on me. “You knew?” Dusk asked.

I quickly shook my head. “I had a suspicion, but nothing concrete. How’d you find out?”

“Blood test.” Dusk retorted. “The doc ran through the samples that he had on file for the crew, and mine has the same protein marker that Dawn’s does. The closest match that he could get was a parent.”

“And he was the only one on board.” Dawn added. “Dusk, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“Then how did you want me to find out? Wine and dine your mother and I so you could drop this bombshell?” Dusk snapped. “Apparently both your mother and I lose out on the opportunity to raise our own child. Our own flesh and blood! And all because what? Some all-powerful deity decided that snatching you was in the best interests of the universe? Come on, that’s complete bullshit!”

“Ya, you’re right.” Dawn replied. “I was told nearly every day for twenty years that both of my parents had died, and under no circumstances should I interfere with what you’ve been up to. But imagine my shock when I find out that both of my parents are not only alive, but Canterlot was under attack because some asshole wanted to make sure that I was never born!”

Now it was Dusk’s turn to look confused. “Wait, what?!”

“I know, right?” Dawn said, seemingly oblivious to Dusk’s surprise. “I mean come on, I’ve never met Euripides for Faust’s sake!”

“Who the fuck is Euripides?!” Dusk yelled.

That finally drove the point home to Dawn. “The former Archmage of the Alicorn Imperium? Only other known surviving Alicorn from the Imperium era?”

“You might as well be speaking gibberish.” Dusk retorted.

Dawn stopped for a moment and seemed to mull over her thoughts. “Well I’d rather only tell this story once… Meet me on the bridge in ten minutes.”

With that last word Dawn teleported away, leaving Dusk and myself standing in the hangar staring at where the Alicorn mare once stood. “So… Are you done here?” I asked offhandedly.

“I think I am.” Dusk replied. “Now she said meet her on the bridge in ten?”

“Yup.”

As Dusk walked past me I saw him nod. “Alright, I’ll meet you up there.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Just where are you going now?”

Dusk kept walking and held up both of his still-bleeding hands. “I could go for some stitches!”

***

Endeavor’s Bridge, Ten Minutes Later
Dusk

In hindsight busting both of my knuckles wide open was not a wise method of dealing with stress. Trashing a few fighters also wasn’t wise, if only the death-glare that Gramps gave me was any indication.

“Sorry for the delay-” Dawn said as she swept onto the bridge. “-I was just getting a few things squared away. Greyscale? Be a dear and pull up the files I just uploaded.”

“Aye aye.” The AI chirped.

On the holotable at the center of the bridge a visage of a seafoam-coated Alicorn grew from the emitter. “Awe fuck…” I heard Gramps groan.

“You recognize him?” Phalanx asked.

Gramps nodded. “Euripides. He’s some Alicorn mage. I tangled with him years ago when I was securing the unclaimed Alicorn Amulets.”

“He’s not just some mage. He’s was the Archmage of the Alicorn Imperium.” Dawn explained. “He was among the survivors that journeyed into the Wastes after Faust discovered a possible solution to the Curse of the Mongrels. Between when they disappeared about ten thousand years ago and the beginning of this century there had been no sign of them anywhere on Equis.”

“The first sighting of the red amulet… That was around the same time if memory serves.” Gramps observed. “I take it that’s the connection that you’re referring to?”

“Indeed.” Dawn replied. “When the red amulet was first discovered Faust got her first hint… But after you engaged Euripides-”

“It confirmed that he was still around.” I finished. “So let me ask, but why is this guy think attacking Canterlot will help him get to you?”

“Well I’m already out of Euripides’ hands at this point, but he doesn’t find out that I’m gone until he finds Mom. After that from what we can tell he decided to go for broke and trash Canterlot.” Dawn said in return. “I’ve already got a stallion on the ground to keep Mom safe until we get there-”

“Wait, you already have someone in the city?” Archer asked.

Dawn nodded. “You two know him as Spark. He was the former first officer aboard E-201. I grabbed him from Poneva just before some irradiated Changelings made a meal of him.”

“But he was on the Chicacolt… Wasn’t he?” I asked.

Dawn shook her head. “That was actually me. After I dropped him off I used an illusion spell and went back to take the place of the prisoner that those raiders were using to run the boilers. In all honesty it wasn’t the boilers that blew up… I decided that blowing the guts of the Chicacolt out with magic would be a better option. Left me with a lot fewer burns and shrapnel wounds.”

So ‘Spark’ was really my daughter? That’s rather… Earth Shattering. “Alright, once we deal with Canterlot you and I are going to have a long talk about what you’ve been up to.”

“Uh…” Dawn droned, now looking slightly nervous at the prospect.

I did the only thing that came to mind and rolled my eyes. “Grey, can we make the jump for home?” I asked.

“Affirmative Commander. We can jump on command.” The AI replied.

I nodded and made my way to the command chair. As I sat down I hit the button for shipwide comms. “This is Commander Dusk… All hands, man your battle stations!”

Author's Note

Well Jesus H. Christ, this took me long enough to edit, didn't it? Well enjoy, we're returning to Canterlot next time boy and girls!

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Rise

Endeavor’s Bridge, Mission Clock at 54:00
Dusk

As the Endeavor cleared the portal, out the forward viewscreen we could see the ship as it was days ago when it first departed. While I hadn’t been aboard, I could tell that Amore and Archer were both disconcerted by the sight before us.

“This is Admiral Baxter to all ships. Break orbit and scatter. I repeat, break orbit and scatter. This is not a drill!”

While the older counterpart to Endeavor closed I triggered the fleetwide comms from the panel at my right arm. “Endeavor to all ships, belay that order.”.

“I’m sorry, but can someone explain to me what the fuck just happened?!” Baxter called out over the comms.

“It’ll be in my report Admiral. Now all ships come about and form up.” I flicked off the comms and pointed at the back of Blueblood’s head. “Helm, establish geosynchronous orbit over Canterlot. Tactical, power up all point defense batteries. Scan for unknown sensor contacts in range and stand by to open fire.”

“Dusk, Redoubtable and Coral Sea are signaling. They’re picking up a radiation spike.” Archer called out. Directly ahead the unmistakable shape of a slipspace portal tore open and three sleek black ships came sliding out and started firing, at least if the green pinprick flashes of light were any indication.

As the deck plates shook ever so slightly, I got my confirmation. “All batteries fire at will!” I ordered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the muted flashes of fifty millimeter PDGs as they began sending their metal destructive projectiles towards the unknown vessels. “Does anypony have something on those ships?”

“They’re some sort of drones!” Rush called out from the sensor console. “No life support, no signs of artificial gravity, no inertial dampening, and a massive energy signature. Anyone alive on that thing would’ve been smashed into a paste when they dropped out.”

“Rush, what parts of that were actually important?” I asked.

“Probably that energy reading.” Rush replied. “Either those ships can dump all of that energy into their weapons and cut through our shields, or they can lay down an infinite amount of flak and prevent us from deploying landing craft.”

“Alright, angle us so the port side is between the Redoubtable and those ships. Target those power signatures with all port side batteries.” I turned away from the forward part of the bridge and fingered the comm to life. “Bridge to Blue Leader.”

“Blue Leader here.”

“The board is green. Hit those ships with everything you’ve got and then run like hell!”

“Understood Commander. Blue Squadron deploying.”

While the ship banked, a group of fighters streaked past the front of the bridge. “We’ve achieved geosynchronous orbit over Canterlot.” Greyscale announced. “Local tactical networks are listing the transponders for Polaris Squad and one unknown signal approximately one city block away from the castle and closing.”

“Who the hell gave the order for Polaris to deploy?” I heard Gramps ask.

“That’s a damn good question… Grey, get me comms.”

“Copy, I have Polaris Leader on for you now.” The AI replied.

“This is Polaris Actual, repeat your last. Did you say Alpha One?”

I flipped the comm switch back on. “He did Polaris Actual. HMS Endeavor is on station and ready to assist.”

“Solid copy. Listen, I need a sensor scan of the Castle. Make it quick.”

I didn’t even reply, simply pointing to Rush over my shoulder. “I’m on it.” The doctor replied. He was silent for a moment before he made a noise that sounded like a rather inquisitive grunt. “Well this is odd… I’m picking up a lifesign and an odd energy signature in the castle at the same location.”

“Oh no…” I heard Dawn mutter behind me. She must’ve gotten into the comms, because I got an alert on my own comms panel that the transmitter had moved to the holotable. “Polaris Leader, I need you to hold position until reinforcements arrive. Do you understand me? Find a place to hunker down and wait.”

“I’m sorry, you want us to do what?”

“I said hunker down. Until we get down there you won’t have the firepower to take Euripides on.” Dawn retorted. “You have your orders Commander.”

I got out of my chair and spun around to face Dawn. “Are you sure that Euripides is down there?”

“Damn right I am.” The alicorn replied. “He’d only have one reason to go to the castle after he failed to eliminate me, and that’s the Alicorn Amulet that’s in the castle vault.”

“Wait, the one Gramps used at Carniola?”

Dawn nodded. “Now to him the amulet is useless. But if he has it-”

“Then we can’t use it against him.” Gramps finished as he walked up to the holotable. “For an Alicorn the amulet acts as a limiter. But for any other pony, regardless of subspecies, it offers a ten fold boost to their own natural abilities. For me or you, our own magic capabilities would spike. Think about it like going from a little torpedo boat up to a battleship.”

“And without the amulet that’s one less heavy hitter that Euripides would have to deal with.” I observed. “So we get in there, grab the amulet from the vault and then engage… Admittedly it’ll probably be far more complicated than how I’m making it sound, but I think I made my point.”

The deckplates shuddered once more, and Gramps nodded. “We’re not going to be able to get a large force down to the surface until those ships are dealt with.”

“We don’t need a large force General.” Dawn countered. “As long as a handful of us get in and get the amulet, we’ll be able to hold out against Euripides.”

“The shuttle has a cloak. Maybe we could use that?” I offered.

Gramps nodded again with the shudder of the ship. “That could work… Dusk, take a team and go down there with Dawn. As soon as I get things settled up here I’ll join you in Canterlot.”

I nodded and as Gramps made for the command chair I flicked the comms panel on the holotable to shipwide. “Archer, Pumyra and Starswirl. Get your shoes on, we’re going for a walk.” Flicking the comms off I turned to Rush. “Doc, I’m gonna need you’re piloting skills.”

“Got it, I’ll go get the shuttle powered up.” Rush said as he tagged in one of the marines to cover the sensor console.

“Dusk?” Gramps inquired. “Do you think that you’ll be able to handle Euripides?”

I shrugged. “I know next to nothing about the stallion and I’ve never met him. You tell me, do you think I can handle him?” Gramps didn’t say anything, but looked down at the holotable. “I’ll take that as a no…”

“The last time I stared Euripides down I almost didn’t come home.” Gramps finally said. “Just be careful down there.”

***

Somewhere above Canterlot, Twenty Minutes Later
Archer

When Dawn said that we were going to be facing down an Alicorn I started to panic, and keeping my helmet on was the only way to hide it. I don’t care if we need some magical artifact, how are we supposed to go toe to toe with an alicorn? Granted I’m biased, but I don’t think we can.

“Archer, we’re twenty seconds from ground!” Dusk called out as he hit the release for the rear hatch, causing it to slide open and whip the entire cabin into a frenzy. “Get your game face on kid!” Getting up from the bench that lined the left side of the shuttle I unhooked the submachine gun from the magnetic holder on my armor’s thigh plate.

Once the shuttle was slowing to a stop above the empty street I rushed forward and dropped to the pavement below. The streets were empty aside from the group of black-clad special forces troopers that had hunkered down behind a news stand. But one of them, a trooper in a navy blue jumpsuit and a black tactical vest stood out, and I immediately recognized the cream-colored stallion. “Spark?!”

“Who the bloody hell are you?” The stallion called as I made my way over.

“Doesn’t matter Lieutenant.” Dusk said as he brushed forward. “It’s good to finally meet you Spark.”

“Son of… Commander Dusk? Spark muttered in that weird accent of his. “What the frack are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry about that. Did you get Dart out of the city?” Dusk asked.

Spark nodded. “Handed her off to Crossbow Team about ten minutes ago. After that I got told to go with Polaris to the Castle. Something about some amulet that we need to secure.”

“I’m assuming that Celestia was referring to the Alicorn Amulet?” Comet said as he walked up. “The one that the General used during the Carniola Campaign?”

Dusk nodded. “The problem is that you’ve got an Alicorn between you and the castle vault… Which is why we’re here.”

“Did you say Alicorn?” Comet asked.

“His name is Euripides. Former Archmage of the Alicorn Imperium.” Dawn explained. “Look, we could just stand here and keep talking or we could get the lead out. The longer we stand here the greater the risk that Euripides gets the amulet before we do.”

“So what, he becomes even more powerful?” One of the troopers asked.

“No, but we can’t use the amulet against him if he has control of it.” Dusk replied.

“Shit, so we’re running the clock… Alright Polaris, lock and load!” Comet ordered.

“Archer, take point!” Dusk called out, much to my own unseen displeasure.

I nodded and while shouldering my weapon I began making towards the open castle gate. As the seconds slowly ticked by I quickly closed the gap and rounded the corner onto the castle grounds, only to find myself face to face with a black and red synth. “CONTACT!”

BRATATAT!

A short burst from my SMG tore the robot’s head to pieces and sent it to the ground in a crumpled, sparking heap. But when my shields began to flare under the strikes of blue laser bolts, I quickly realized that getting out of the wide open killing field that I was inhabiting would be in my best interests. Tearing across the walkway I slammed into the castle’s main door and broke the left half of the large wooden double doors off its hinges and to the ground with a loud crash.

“Why this is unexpected…”

It took a moment to process, but I realized that someone new had just directed that comment at me. Spinning right on my heels I found myself staring down a seafom-coated stallion decked out in some rather unusual looking robes. While I recognized him from Dawn’s image back on the Endeavor, the tips of his wings and the horn on his head were a dead giveaway as to who I was facing. “You must be Euripides…” I observed, trying to sound as calm as possible over my flaring nerves.

The archmage seemed slightly surprised if the twitch of his face was any indicator. “A lesser being knows of me? Now that is a surprise… Tell me child, where did you learn of me?”

“I have my sources.” I quipped as a series of boots smacking against paving stones made their presence known.

As the ponies I was with filed in behind me Euripides’ face seemed to shift into a scowl. “Ah, the bastard and his pretender ilk… So Faust once more has attempted to meddle in affairs beyond her comprehension.”

“Really? Seems to me that you’re projecting a bit.” Dusk countered. ‘

At that Euripides smirked. “Well it matters not. I already have what I came here for.”

The entryway went silent at the comment, but Euripides smirk melted away as soon as the words passed his lips. “He’s bluffing, he doesn’t have the amulet.” I observed.

I got another minor look of surprise out of Euripides for my comment. “I didn’t think that lower beings were capable of such accurate observations…”

“Well I wouldn’t call myself a lower being.” I countered, shifting my feet into a defensive stance ever so slightly.

“We’ll see about that…” In a flash Euripides disappeared, only for a massive blow to land on the back of my helmet that sent me crashing into the ground.

My landing was immediately followed by the sounds of rifle safeties being flipped off. “Weapons free!” Comet shouted.

Judging by the sudden screams of pain as ponies were tossed around like ragdolls, the first few seconds of the engagement with the Archmage wasn’t going well. But rolling over onto my back I saw Dawn finally step into the fray, ditching her dark green cloak and drawing a short sword that had been strapped to the back of her belt. “Get to the vault!” She shouted, taking a hard swing at Euripides, only to be countered by a blade a pure magic.

“What about you?” Dusk called back.

Breaking the clash, Dawn pedaled back away from Euripides. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle this clown!” With that Dawn surged forward and smashed into Euripides, sailing with him over my head and out through the wall behind me into the castle’s courtyard.

“I’m thinking I am gonna worry…” Dusk muttered as he helped me get to my feet. “Who else is still combat capable?”

I could see quickly what Dusk meant. Most of Polaris had been soundly bloodied by Euripides, with limbs bent in odd directions and blood flowing from gashes. “Just me and Spark from the looks of it.” Tremble called as he dusted himself off. “Dusk, we’re gonna need a medic.”

Dusk nodded and jarred his thumb over his shoulder at Pumyra, before pointing to Comet. “Pumyra, stick with Commander Tremble. Spark, Archer, I want you two to go back up Dawn. Rush is with me, we’re going for the vault.”

“You saw what that monster did, what are we supposed to do? He’s got us way outclassed!” Spark protested.

“You’re right, he does.” Dusk admitted. “But I don’t need you to take him down. Just watch Dawn’s back and support her where you can.”

“Alright…” Spark sighed. “I’d say something profound, but I’ve got nothin’.”

Dusk smirked and nodded. “Fair enough.”

***

HMS Endeavor, in Orbit Above Equis
Gen. Meteor Shower

“Where are my shields!” I shouted over the din of an exploding light fixture.

“Holding at fifteen percent General!” One of the bridge officers called out. “Repair crews are still working on recharging them, but they haven’t made any headway with rerouting the power to the projectors.”

Suddenly a console to the rear of the bridge exploded, and red alert notices popped up on my command console. “Someone tell me that this is a joke!”

“I wish it was.” Cloud Runner replied. “We’ve lost power to all port side weapons emplacements!”

“Helm bring us about one hundred eighty degrees, starboard rotation. Tactical, switch to starboard weapons and fire at will!”

“Blue Leader to Endeavor, we’ve expended our ordinance. Effect on hostile targets was minimal. We need to rearm if we’re gonna keep this up.”

I flicked on the comm panel. “Blue Leader, you’re going to have to divert to a base on the planet’s surface. Our shields are failing and we’ve got power conduits failing all over the ship. I can’t guarantee we’d be to launch you for another sortie at this time.”

For a brief moment the comms were silent before the squadron commander returned from whatever conversation he was having on the side. “Understood Endeavor. Blue Squadron diverting to Dodge City AFB. We’ll be back in theater as soon as possible.”

“Understood Blue Leader.” I said, flicking off the comms. “Damnit… Does anyone at least have any good news?”

“So far the ship’s armor is holding against whatever gets through the shields. But beyond that…” Cloud Runner said as he walked up to the chair. “Well, I’ve got nothing.”

“What about the rest of the fleet?” I asked.

But Cloud shook his head. “They had to pull back. Redoubtable is running on auxiliary power, Paris’ shield generator was destroyed and they’re dealing with a number of hull breaches, and Coral Sea is dead in space. Last report from a few minutes ago indicated that Redoubtable was pulling off the surviving crew, but they’re only expecting about quarter to half of her complement to still be alive.”

“Damnit… What about long range comms? Are they still being jammed?” Cloud’s nod only confirmed my suspicion.

“General I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, but we need to withdraw.” Cloud stated firmly. “We’re in no shape to take on whatever those things are, and the rest of the fleet certainly isn’t.”

“Well I’m-”

“General, we’ve just lost primary engines!” An officer yelled. “Shit, shut down the secondaries!”

“Someone mind telling me what the hell is going on over there?” I asked as I turned to the engineering section of the bridge.

“The shutters on the secondary engines went to 50%, but output stayed at 100%. That’ll blow the whole apart if we don’t shut them down!”

Suddenly a grey-colored sphere jumped out of the small holotank built into the side of my chair. “General, I’ve isolated the cause of our problems.” Greyscale stated, sounding rather matter-of-fact for an AI. “I also have a solution… Although I doubt that anyone would like it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well let’s hear it.”

“The reason that we have been unsuccessful in damaging the hostile drone vessels is simply because we’ve been firing blanks, for lack of a better way of putting it. All normal railgun ammunition is still loaded, however empty sabot casings have been feed to the guns instead. As for the shields and engines, the repair teams haven’t and will not be able to make any progress as there’s nothing wrong with the hardware.” The AI explained. “From what I can tell we were hit with a projectile carrying a small computer core and transmitter when the drone ships opened fire. That projectile transmitted a virus that’s wreaking havoc with our computers.”

“And this is where you get to the solution that I don’t like?” I asked.

The AI blinked, almost like it was his equivalent of a nod. “In order to solve this problem, I need to purge the computers and restore all of the original programing. While I do have the coding saved, for the process to work every system directly connected to the main computer would need to be shut down. Shields, engines, weapons, and communications will all be affected.”

Now that by its definition is a bad idea, especially where we’re in the middle of a firefight. “How long would this take?” I asked.

“It’ll only take me about fifteen seconds, but with the current situation that leaves us vulnerable to significant damage.” The AI replied. “Either way General, we’re in a bad spot.

“General, are you honestly considering running with this?” Cloud asked.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. “Cloud, we’re screwed either way. Do it Greyscale.”

“Understood General.” The AI replied.

Outside the view screens I saw a flicker of golden light as the shields shut down, immediately followed by the deck being tossed around from side to side beneath my feet from the impacts on the hull. “We’ve got hull breaches on decks fifteen, twenty two and twenty nine! Sealing affected sections!”

“Evacuate and vent!” I yelled. “Greyscale?!”

“Ten seconds General!” The AI replied.

The decks continued to shudder. “MAC coil two has been compromised!”

“Kill power to the main cannon, stand by to divert to engine reignition!” I ordered. “Greyscale, what do have for me?!”

“Just about-” I stopped paying attention when I saw a flurry of green bolts growing larger in the viewscreen as they approached the bridge. My heart stopped cold at the sight, seeing death hurtling towards me and the ponies under me at an incomprehensible speed, only to be stopped cold by the sudden flares of golden light. “General, we’re back online!” Greyscale called.

“Weapons, shields and engines are all reading one hundred percent!” An officer called out.

“Damn straight…” I muttered. “We’ve got business in Canterlot, so let’s finish this. All batteries open fire!” To my relief, the streams of fifty millimeter rounds against the drone ships finally did something noticeable, sparking and tearing into hull armor.

“Well we’re doing something to them!” Cloud yelled. “I’m reading power fluxuations on all three of those ships.”

“Helm, bring us to point blank range! Prime archer pods, set for impact detonation!” As the center and right drone ship grew larger in the view screens, I could see their armor slowly crumple under the barrage of destruction being sewn by the Endeavor’s weapons. Just from what I’m seeing, it’s pretty clear that we’ve got things handled up here… But I do know one thing. I’m far from the center of this crisis.

***

Canterlot Castle Grounds
Archer

Even through my armor I could feel the shockwaves of every blow that Dawn and Euripides met shake my very bones. Watching two Alicorns duke it out was simply nerve racking, and far more nightmarish in pony than I could’ve ever imagined. I could only imagine how Spark, unarmored and otherwise normal, was faring through this shitshow.

“I’ve got to say, this is the last way I expected my day to go!” Spark blurted as he slid down behind the wall I was using for cover.

“How did you expect it to turn out?” I asked as I poked my head up over the top of the wall.

“Honestly? I was somewhere between freezing to death and getting eaten alive.” Spark replied dryly.

I couldn’t help but turn my attention to Spark, and while my helmet was hiding my face I could feel that my own expression was one of shock. “When we get out of this, you and I are having a long conversation about what you’ve been up to.”

“So what, wine and dine then?” Spark retorted with a smirk. “Hate to break it to you love, but I am a bit rusty.”

Son of a… He’s flirting with me! In the middle of a warzone! “Uh… Ok.” I dumbly stated. Without any further comment I turned my attention back to Dawn just in time to see her get slammed into the ground by Euripides. “Shit! Cover me!”

“Archer, what-” But I didn’t catch the rest of Spark’s protest as I vaulted over the wall and charged right at the archmage.

The result was as anypony would’ve expected; Euripides grabbed me by the throat and used my own momentum to slam me face up into the dirt. My shields flared and dropped to zero under the impact, and I swore that I felt my torso’s armor crack under the impact. “Well I must admit it’s been many years since I last faced a lesser being that was so bold. You’re also a lot tougher than the rest of your kind… I wonder, does that durability make you stupid, or did you have some grand plan for how you wanted that move to play out?” The Archmage asked.

“Honestly I’m not one to think things through first.” I retorted as I struggled under the Archmage’s boot. “I think I get it from my mother, what with her history of poor decision-making and all?”

“For a warrior you’re rather chatty…” Euripides observed. “Tell me, how hard would it be for me to quiet you?”

I shrugged as I tried to get leverage on the alicorn’s boot. “Eh, I don’t know. You’d probably have better luck dividing by zero.”

Euripides just rolled his eyes. “No matter, I’ll just kill you, the wretched pest and your damnable sex toy that’s still cowering. Then I’ll vaporize this whole city, and one by one I’ll eliminate every single one of you lesser dogs!”

Suddenly my motion tracker flared up, with a new yellow dot showing directly above me and dropping towards the ground fast. “Oh I don’t know about that…”

But my own snide remark didn’t go far, as Euripides whipped around, grabbed his attacker by the throat and slammed her face-first into the ground. Judging by light hues of a rainbow-colored mane sticking out from under a scratched golden helmet, the sudden appearance of Princess Celestia was something that Euripides must have been expecting. “Really now Celestia, is that the best you could think to do? Divebomb me?”

***

Canterlot Castle Grounds
Dusk

“Talk about pathetic!” I heard Euripides snarl as I stepped out into the courtyard. I’ll admit, I certainly wasn’t prepared to see Euripides gloating over three beaten ponies.

“Do you think you’ll be able take him?” Rush asked.

In my right hand I fingered the amulet that we’d recovered from the castle vault. “I don’t know… But we’ll find out.” I deftly tipped my head forward and slipped the amulet’s chain over my head in one fluid motion, instantly feeling a massive surge of power course through every fiber of my being. Rush stepped back on what appeared to be a reflex. Whatever he was seeing must’ve spooked him. “Something wrong?”

“Is it odd that I just felt that?” He asked.

I could only guess that the sudden power surge that I experienced must’ve done something to the air around me. Whatever it was, I shook my head and stepped down into the courtyard. “Euripides!” I yelled. “How about you pick on somepony your own size!”

Judging from the sudden scowl and focus of attention, I’d say that Euripides must’ve noticed that something was off. “Why am I not surprised? Of course the heir to the mongrel throne is too stubborn to know when to quit.”

“Well last I checked my thick skull was one of my endearing qualities.” I chided.

“Then what makes you think you’ll best me after I defeated three of your allies?” Euripides asked.

I shrugged as I felt a cocky grin grow across my face. “Because I’m the one to beat.”

In the blink of an eye Euripides disappeared, only to reappear right in front of me. I managed to duck under his punch only to get caught by a knee to my chest as I tried to roll out of the way. I ended up getting tossed back against the now-closed castle door in time to see Euripides’ eyes glowing. “Burn you welch!”

From the Archmage’s fingers came streams of blue-white lighting. Almost on instinct I reacted, blocking the blast at where it would strike me with my hands. With my entire body tingling, I started trying to focus the energy that Euripides was throwing at me, forming it into a bright blue ball of energy. While he stopped very quickly once he figured out what I was doing, in my own estimation I had more than enough of his magic clenched up to do some damage. “Ya… I don’t think so.” Euripides didn’t have any time to move out of the way before the concentrated sphere of energy caught him square in the chest and sent him sailing backwards.

To my surprise Euripides managed to roll back to his feet at the end of his crash-and-burn. And even more surprising is that he looked, well… Surprised. “Just how in the world did you do that?” He muttered.

Euripides tossed another bolt of lightning, only for me to catch it and slam it into the ground in a shower of blue-white sparks. “I’ve honestly got no idea.” I admitted. “But let's see what else I can do, shall we?” I just thought fire and my hands both erupted into a powerful orange glow.

The two of us rushed forward, but this time I didn’t get caught flat-footed. Euripides’ attempt to land a punch on my face ended with me grabbing that fist, and twisting it in my blazing-hot grip. “What are you?!” The Archmage growled.

“You don’t already know?” I mockingly asked, shaking my head. “Well guess what? You’re about to find out.” I let go of Euripides and socked him with an uppercut that sent him to the ground with a sizable burn on the underside of his muzzle.

“You wrench!” Euripides groaned. “Do you even know what you dare interfere in?”

I shrugged as I pulled the amulet off. “I usually don’t give a rat’s ass about the little details. Why? What’s it to you?”

Euripides just angrily smirked. “Why it’s everything you mongrel, and I promise you that if you don’t already know-” Suddenly Euripides disappeared. “-you’ll soon find out.” Finished his now disembodied voice.

As Euripides disappeared, it suddenly began to become far lighter. Whatever had been blocking out the sun was slowly dissipating, letting the sun’s rays once more reach Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. “Is that it?” I heard Archer ask, having gotten to her feet while I was occupied.

Looking back at the group, I mentally made a few observations. Spark looked more relieved than I had thought possible, Dawn looked rather frustrated, Archer looked concerned… While Celestia, having only been here for such a short period of time had a look on her face that I didn’t know what to make of. “I don’t-”

Celestia suddenly rushed forward, having dropped her helmet on the ground, and wrapped me in a bear hug tight enough to choke the air from my lungs. “Thank goodness you’re all right!”

Beyond the sudden inability to breath, I instinctively started tapping on the Princess’ back as rapidly as I could, before she suddenly broke her grip. “Jesus Christ!”

“Who?” Spark asked offhandedly.

“It’s a human euphemism.” I quickly answered, turning my attention back to the Princess. “Alright, what the hell was that?”

Celestia bobbed her head a bit, almost as if she was silently tossing around ideas before suddenly stopping. “Admittedly I’ve waited a long time to do that.”

Ok, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that sounds like a crazy justification for inadvertently trying to crush me. “Uh… What?”

“Right, you wouldn’t understand…” Celestia admitted. “Well to answer Archer’s question, no, that wasn’t it.”

“You mean Euripides?” I asked.

Celestia nodded knowingly. “Yes, him… But that brings me to my point. Dusk, it’s high time that you and I have a very important conversation.”

Author's Note

See, two chapters in one day. I can work miracles, can't I? Consider it catch up for my lack of updates.

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Royal

Canterlot Castle, Eight Hours after Endeavor’s Return
Archer

For once I think that I may have shocked the intelligence officers that were tasked with debriefing me after this latest crisis. Judging by how they started things off they seemed to believe that our interview wouldn’t take long. Suffice to say they were woefully wrong, and our interview stretched well to the late hours of the afternoon. Every intelligence officer I passed on the way to the main dining room all had the same expression of shock, likely at the sheer depth of information they had received that would somehow need to be included in their reports. What actually confused me was the rapt attention that many of the castle staff were paying to some papers they were holding. But by the time I reached the dining hall I put those musings to the side and slid into an open chair.

“Hey Archer, you look bored.”

Turning my head up I saw Spark, having found a shower and a clean set of clothes, slipping into the chair off to my left. “How’d it go with the spooks?” I asked.

Spark chuckled. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say they thought I was crazy.”

“I’d think that’s a safe bet.” I offered. In reality most of the analysts were probably thinking along the same lines as the ponies that interviewed Spark. I did notice a decided absence of servers approaching us and asking us what we’d want to chow on. “Is it just me, or does it seem like the entire staff decided to take five?”

“I’m no expert on castle protocols-” Spark droned “-but you’re right… Something is definitely off. None of the servants I passed were paying attention to anything except some papers they were reading.”

“Good to know I’m not crazy.” I observed. “You want to bet on what’s got these ponies so interested?”

Spark shook his head. “Not on your life.” As he said that, Dusk quietly slid into one of the chairs directly across from us. “Hey Commander long time… What the fuck are you wearing?”

Spark was certainly more observant than I was, because he picked up on Dusk’s rather dressy black and gold garb well before I could’ve hoped to. Suddenly it clicked what he was wearing. “Dusk? Why does it look like you stole something out of Prince Armor’s wardrobe?”

“Ya… You’re right. What’s with the fancy threads boss?” Spark asked.

Dusk’s head just sunk down. “I really don’t want to-”

“Ah, Your Highness!” One of the servants called out as he approached. “Apologies for keeping you and your associates waiting. What can get for you?”

If I was shocked and confused at the servant’s words, so was Spark. Dusk simply sighed. “Any chance you’ve got any ninety percent rubbing alcohol?”

“Rubbing alcohol sir?” The servant asked.

“Ya… It’s probably the only thing strong enough to help me forget the last six or seven hours.” Dusk groaned.

“...I’ll just get you a lemonade then.” The servant said, briskly walking away from the clearly frustrated stallion.

“Did that colt just say ‘Your Highness’?” Spark asked.

To my shock, Dusk nodded. “I’m assuming that you two have been living under the rock known as Equestrian Intelligence for the better part of the day then?”

“I think that most of them are probably thinking of us as the rock.” I offered.

Dusk nodded. “That reminds me, I should take care of that… Kibitz!”

An older mustached stallion suddenly approached from out of my line of sight. “Yes sir?”

“Tell Equestrian Intelligence to instruct their agents to file their interview recordings instead of full-blow reports. And make sure that if the agent has any observations that they add them in notes submitted with the recordings. That should do fine considering the mountain of stuff that’s getting dropped on them at the moment.” Dusk said, sounding somewhat tired as he spoke.

“Anything else sir?” The stallion asked.

Dusk shook his head. “That should be all Kibitz.” As the stallion disappeared from sight I heard Dusk sigh. “That’s a perk I could get used to…”

“I still don’t even know what’s going on!” I protested.

“Oh right… Kibitz!” Dusk called out.

The stallion returned far quicker than I would’ve thought possible for one his age. “Yes sir?”

“Do you have one of those announcements that the court released earlier? I really just don’t want to explain this whole royalty thing yet…”

“I assume that would be because you don’t know how?” Kibitz asked as he fished something out of his coat.

Dusk nodded. “You can read me like a book already… You and I are gonna get along just fine.”

As Kibitz again took his leave Dusk handed me the papers that the stallion had given him. “Kibitz said it best. I honestly don’t know how to explain it… So I’ll just let the publicists take care of it for now.”

With no other way to get answers out of Dusk, I turned over the paper in my hand and started reading.

Dear Subjects,

For many years I have not been honest with you. Long has it been believed that the Royal Family only extended to my sister Luna and those who joined the throne by their ascension. Almost fifty years ago, well before Luna’s return, I married a young stallion and had a child. Many of you know that stallion as General Meteor Shower, one of the greatest champions that Equestria has seen in hundreds of years. And while our son Sonar has mostly stayed out of public life, our grandson Dusk has not. Ideally we would have made this announcement years ago, but the time never felt right. This morning’s events have shown me that there hasn’t been, or ever will be, a right time to make this announcement. Storm clouds are gathering once more over Equestria, and in the absence of certainty I find that we need a beacon of hope to light our way once more. So it is with my great honor that I announce the long overdue coronation of Dusk Light, Crown Prince of Equestria.

Warmest Regards,
Princess Celestia

While I hadn’t read anything that the Princess had written before, what Dusk handed me certainly read like something that a benevolent leader would say to her people. The other piece of paper was the date and time of the start of the coronation and its subsequent events; tomorrow morning at 9:00 sharp. “So… I guess you just wanted to get away from this personal hell that the Princess has created?”

Dusk nodded. “The whole time we were talking she had some mare, Rarity if I remember the name right, measuring me for a full set of vestments for tomorrow. This is just the first one that she managed to finish before I snuck out Celestia’s study.”

“And how many of these-”

“I need three full sets just for tomorrow.” Dusk said, cutting Spark off. “And here’s the kicker. They’re all identical and I need to change between the different events.”

“That seems rather wasteful…” I observed.

“I know, right?!” Dusk exclaimed. “I mean come on, is somepony gonna notice the microscopic fleck of dust on my pants that I’ve only had on for an hour?”

“Ah, Your Highness!” A bubbly-sounding mare called out, much to Dusk’s apparent displeasure. As the purple-maned unicorn finally stepped into view, I noticed she was holding a black colored bundle that matched Dusk’s clothing perfectly. “So I was thinking-”

“Really now? You were thinking Rarity?” Dusk said in a tone of mock-surprise.

The mare just rolled her eyes and practically picked Dusk up out of the chair, draping the fabric she was carrying around his shoulders. “As a matter of fact I was. Specifically that capes are in this year.” She said, sounding rather matter-of-fact in doing so.

Dusk certainly pulled the look off, that’s for sure. “Well you definitely look the Crown Prince part…” I observed.

“At least somepony-” Dusk suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and was staring off down the dining room at something that I couldn’t see from where I was sitting. Suddenly he just broke off into a run towards whatever he saw, immediately followed by some rather stallion-like giggling.

Getting up from my chair, I could see why Dusk took off. Dart finally managed to find him. Of course before I could say a word, my radio beeped to life. “Blaze Squad, this is Meteor Shower. Meet me in the War Room. Emergency meeting in five.”

***

Castle War Room, Six Minutes Later
Archer

“General, I’m telling you that having Redoubtable and Paris put down for repairs at Ghost Base is pointless!” Admiral Baxter protested as the small entourage that I had gathered filed into the War Room. “You know as well as I do-”

“It doesn’t matter Tim. You’ve known we were planning on moving ship repairs to Ghost for the last two years.” Meteor countered. “We’ve got ten berths there capable of handling ships as large as a Halcyon. You’ll be fine.”

“But the base isn’t even staffed. How the hell are we supposed to get the fleet patched up?!”

“That’s what we’re going to be discussing.” Meteor replied, motioning to the holotable in the center of the room. “Anyway, it looks like everypony is here. Grab a chair and kick back, we’ve got a lot to discuss.”

“Like what? I thought we kicked ass this morning.” Pumyra offered as she claimed a spot on one of the open benches.

“The child is right Meteor.” Starswirl said from somewhere behind me. “I may have been aboard the Endeavor, but I do believe that we did triumph over Euripides.”

“It wasn’t without cost.” The General countered. “The Coral Sea isn’t worth salvaging, and we lost one hundred ninety seven naval officers during this morning’s events. In the grand scheme of things Euripides barely lifted a finger. That’s unacceptable.”

“So what do you expect us to do about it?” Dusk asked.

“It’s simple. We’re going to change our strategy.” The General said as he hit some keys on his control panel. “Now then, a handful of you might remember the old Enclave base in the Badlands. About eight years ago we started a rebuilding effort at the base. Like I was saying when you all walked in, there are now ten cruiser-sized drydocks at the facility, and the damage that we dealt during the war has all been repaired. However once we completed the work we kept the equipment for the base stored until such a time that we felt it time to activate the facility. After the events of the last few days I believe that the time to bring what we’re calling Ghost Base into service is now.”

“So you’ve got a bunch of drydocks and an empty base. Mind telling me what we’re doing here?” Dusk questioned.

“Simple. Blaze Squadron is going to escort the supply convoy out of Canterlot tomorrow morning during the coronation. Now normally I wouldn’t bother an escort, but primarily the squad will be protecting the support equipment for the Atlas and Illustrious.” Explained the General, as the hologram changed to outlines of two wedge-shaped starships, easily half Endeavor’s size if the measurements were any indication. “I sent the order an hour ago. Captains Sentry and Sandstorm will be detaching from the UNSC’s fleet in the Epsilon Eridani system. They’ll be in orbit by this time tomorrow.”

“Stellar Forces finally decided on a destroyer design?” Dusk observed.

The General nodded. “Finalized and laid down just after you disappeared. They’ve been on shakedown with the Third Fleet for the last three months, and right now they’re the only two remotely combat capable starships we have at our disposal.”

“What are you planning to do with them when they get here?”

The General just smiled. “That’s something we can worry about later Dusk. For now, that’s all I’ve got for you lot. Now go get some rest, tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

Author's Note

Ya, that's right. Dusk is Crown Prince of Equestria. Someone cue up the outrage machine now that we get a reluctant royal now part of the equation. A royal that, might I add, is going to be acting far from royal until the very last chapter.

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Crown Prince

Canterlot Armory, 8:55 AM the Following Morning
Archer

“Alright, get the lead out you pansies!” I shouted over the burbling of idling motors. “We’ve got a schedule to keep here!”

“Is your squad all here Commander?” The Convoy’s Officer asked as he approached.

He actually brought up a good point. “Hey, where the hell is Pumyra?” I shouted. Come to think of it I hadn’t seen the cat all morning.

“Uh, Commander Archer?”

I turned around and had a blast from the past of sort. “Mahan, long time no see! What’s up?”

“Actually, not much.” The stallion admitted. “I got ordered to sub in for one of your operators for the escort mission. Guard Captain Jellico said something about some cat getting pulled by Prince Dusk for bodyguard duty.”

Figures that this is the first I’ve heard of this. “Well that explains where Pumyra is… Alright. Saddle up gang, let’s get rolling!”

***

Canterlot Castle Throne Room
Prince Dusk

“Alright, no pressure… I can do this.” I muttered to myself. I was standing outside the main doors to the throne room, waiting for them to open to let me make the long walk towards the throne.

“Dusk, you alright?” Pumyra asked from off to the side with the attendants.

I shrugged. “I’m only about to make an appearance that the whole world is going to be watching. Don’t worry, no pressure or anything.”

As the doors opened Pumyra returned a smug look. “Well go make a good first impression then.”

As I slowly started walking down the aisle lined with ponies of nearly every class and standing, I kept thinking back to the rather crash-course rehearsals we did long into the night the previous evening. The oath that Luna drilled into my head for hours. Cadence whacking the backs of my feet with a yardstick for walking out of step. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that the three of them got some sort of sick enjoyment out of my discomfort.

Approaching the dias I saw that the castle’s craftsponies had pulled an overnight shift. While there was plenty of room on the dias for other thrones, the respective princess’ seating being removed and rearranged dependent on the function, or if more of the royal house would be in attendance at specific court events, a third one centered the tall staircase. Black and gold, with my rising sun cutie mark carved into it’s back.

On the left sat Luna’s throne, and the right sat Celestia’s. However they were only there for show, at least if what they had told me last night was any indication. Just like I practiced I stopped at the foot of the dias, giving the attendants enough time to bring me a specially embossed sword. Like the throne, it had my cutie mark carved into it. I took the hilt in my right hand, and rested the blade on my open left palm.

That was my cue to start ascending the dias; fifteen steps to the top, stopping shy of the summit to kneel, leaning my head forward on the now-vertical weapon. Any chatter that was going around the room suddenly stopped, and the entire throne room went deadly silent. “Do you know why you are here?” Luna asked.

“I do, Your Majesty.” I replied, pulling the words right from memory. “I, Dusk Light, present myself of my own free will to answer the call of the Crown. I swear to defend and uphold the great nation of Equestria, and to make sure that all those who bask in Equestria’s light are ensured life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The room remained silent, bare the barely audible clipping of heels on the marble of the dias. As the sensation of a cold piece of metal sliding down around the top of my head. I slowly stood up, turned around and took one step back up the dias. The move was met with raunchous applause from every corner of the throne room. “Come now, the people await.” Luna whispered.

Both Princesses swept off to the balcony behind the thrones, with me right on their heels. Celestia led the way, and from my spot at the back of the group I could see an even larger crowd lining the palace grounds. “Citizens of Equestria! I present to you your Crown Prince!” Celestia yelled, her voice amplified by hidden microphones and speakers so the entire crowd outside could hear her.

Stepping up to the podium, with the speech I had planned with Twilight last night sitting there ready for me, the crowd erupted. But I ignored it as I glanced down at my speech. It was the last thing that I did last night before turning in, and I hated it. Since the war ended ten years ago I’ve made plenty of speeches and given plenty of talks. But I’ve always just gone from my gut with some notes on points to cover. But Celestia and Luna both insisted that I write something out, and that annoyed me even further. So when I vaporized the paper with the touch of an magically charged finger that brushed over it, seemingly by accident, I swore I felt the back of my head become incredibly hot under both sister’s glares.

It took another few seconds for the crowd to finally calm down, but once they did I knew it was time to go for broke. “Now I suppose now is the time for me to say something profound?” I said, making it sound like I was directing the statement as a question to the crowd. “Well I’ve got nothing, so this speech will have to do.” Throughout the crowd I heard chuckles, giggles, and a few laughs. A good sign all things considered. “If any of you knew me when I was a child, and asked me where I thought I’d be when I grew up… Well, standing here addressing the entire world wouldn’t have even made the list of likely outcomes for me. To be honest until the last few years I didn’t really appreciate, let alone recognize, the importance of my heritage. For most of my life I was raised in the halls of a military family. I grew up a soldier, and for the longest time I never knew anything else. But if the events of the last few days mean anything, it’s that my Grandmother was right. There was never going to be a right time to spring this not only the public, but to myself as well. And if the events of yesterday morning are any indication we now stare at the beginnings of another crisis. One that no one could’ve hoped to predict, given the ancient nature of the threat we now face. But it isn’t some army, some fleet or some aliens that scare me. It is the chance that we forget what makes our society great. But I promise you that I will do whatever is necessary to protect the liberty of our great experiment, and no matter what Equestria will never fall so long as I still stand!”

Now when I first took the podium there had been applause, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the absolute roar that slammed my ears once I finished speaking. It was almost like the entire city erupted into cheers and applause simultaneously. As I turned to walk back into the palace, Luna nudged me. Once we were inside and the doors closed, the roar was deafened enough where I could hear her. “Under any other circumstance I would’ve gutted you for that stunt you pulled out there.” She scolded.

“But neither of can complain with the results.” Celestia added. “That was… Significantly better that what you had written.”

“What can I say? I specialize in doing things off the cuff.” I offered as I started to descend from the dias to the now-empty throne room. “So… I believe that the luncheon with the nobles is next?”

***

Canterlot Castle Guest Quarters, Five Hours Later
Dusk

Royalty. For my whole life I’ve been taught to defend it; that the Equestrian Crown must be protected at all costs. What had been left out of those lessons were my connections to the crown. See, almost fifty years ago at this point my grandfather, Meteor Shower, and the solar diarch herself decided that a bareback bump-and-grid would be a good way to kill time… Admittedly that’s a gross oversimplification, but that’s also a line of thinking that I’m not all that keen to explore. Also worthy of note is that my excellent ‘selective hearing’ skills must come from Celestia, because when she said that I was going to FINALLY be coronated, she obviously didn’t listen when I said keep it low key. Either that or a few thousand ponies and diplomats of various species from across the face of Equis is her definition of low key.

Honestly I didn’t bother asking, but this whole little shindig made great cover so Archer could take the rest of the team out of the city and head to the old Enclave outpost in the Badlands. What a better time to leave with all of the equipment needed to get it up and running when every other living being for miles is too busy with the spectacle of a coronation? Maybe that’s why Celestia seemingly went overboard… Hell if I know. The only thing really bugging me right now is the need to change into a THIRD set of clothes for this gala that was being thrown.

“You still haven’t said why you wanted me here.” My bodyguard piped up from behind me as I finished straightening out the crimson vestments that I had been given.

I finally turned away from the mirror I had been staring into to face my armored bodyguard; the Thundarian member of the reincarnated Blaze Squad, Pumyra. “Wait, I didn’t give you the file to read?” I asked.

Pumyra shook her head. “I didn’t know there was any reading involved.”

Looking off to the side I saw the manila folder with Thunderian lettering on the corner tab. “My bad…” I admitted as I grabbed the document and handed it to the cat. “Now that’s a translated copy I had done up for you, but Captain Jellico made it a point to give me the original this morning.

As the two of us started making for the door I saw Pumyra flipping through the pages of the report. “I didn’t know that the Royal Guard had an issue with petty grudges…” She murmured.

“Gramps didn’t either.” I retorted, referring to the report. “Admittedly it seemed rather odd that the Captain of the Guard would make it a point to give me a nearly fifty year old incident report.”

“And you’re afraid that one of the Captain’s guards will try to off you.” Pumyra offered.

I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s likely, but Jellico handing me that file is enough to make me a bit wary of his intentions…”

“So what do you think he’s up to?”

“Most likely this is some sort of test.” I replied. “As far as Captain Jellico is concerned I’m an unknown quantity, and if he and his staff are responsible for protecting me then he needs to know as much as he can about me.”

A short walk down the hall from the guest room led the two of us to the main ballroom. At the top of the stairs the usher stopped us with his hand. “Announcing his highness, Prince Dusk Light!”

Seemingly the entire room stopped at that and turned to stare up at me. “Gee, thanks…” I muttered as I started down the stairs.

By the time I was at the bottom plenty of nobles and castle staff were already there to meet me, crowding around me like a living wall that peppered me with the occasional whisper or off-handed comment. “Marry me!” I heard one of the mares suddenly yell out.

“Sorry, I’m already taken.” I called back, hoping that the mare would get the message. I had seen similar responses to Blueblood and Shining Armor over the years, but I didn’t expect that to come within hours of Celestia’s revelations and my own coronation.

“At least you’re still honest.” I heard someone say off to my side.

Turning to the right I saw that same green-and-white mane that I had grown very familiar with over the years. “You look stunning as always my dear.” I said as I gently took Dart’s hand.

“Why thank you.” Dart said as she swung herself under my arm. As we kept walking through the crowd she did gently nudge me. “I thought that Blaze Squad was assigned to the escort mission.”

“I’ll explain later.” I quietly replied. “But for the moment, let's just say that I’d rather have someone that I trust watching my back.”

“Your Highness!” Somepony rather familiar shouted from behind me.

“Captain Jellico…” I said as I turned around. “What can I do for you?”

The young guard captain offered a smile in return. “I was hoping that I could borrow you for a few minutes. We really haven’t had a chance to chat at all.”

I glanced around the hall and saw an unoccupied table not far from where I was standing. “Sure thing Captain, come have a seat.”

Jellico’s smile disappeared as soon as we sat down. “Right off the bat, sorry for dropping that report in your lap like I did earlier… Admittedly that’s the best way I could think of bringing you up to speed, although I didn’t think you’d bring in an outside bodyguard because of it.”

“So what were you hoping I would do?” I countered.

“That you would come talk to me so we can have a conversation, and that report was the best way to start it.” Jellico explained. “Look, my concern is that I’m seeing a lot of the same behaviors that predated the attack on your grandfather. Where it’s my responsibility to ensure your safety I want to make sure we get ahead of this and prevent a problem with the guard down the road.”

“What attack is he talking about?” Dart asked.

“When Gramps first joined the Guard, there was an assassination attempt on him and the Princess by the senior leadership. That incident left a gap in the ranks that he was promoted to fill.” I explained. “He essentially went from recruit to head of the Solar Guard in the space of two hours.”

“Was that reasonable?” Pumyra asked, finally adding something to our conversation.

“Not even close.” I admitted. “But it’s not like the Princess had much of a choice. Her entire personal guard’s command contingent went rogue.”

“Your High-”

“Call me Dusk. Until the last two days I’ve never gone by anything else.” I said, cutting off the Captain.

Jellico nodded. “Then where do we start Dusk?”

I shrugged in return, and realized that to best nip this disloyalty problem now I needed to know who I was asking to carry out my orders. “Well Captain… Lets start at the top.”

Author's Note

So... How bout that speech? Admittedly I spent two days writing that a few months ago, and it hit me right after I saw the Prelude to Axanar video on youtube. So kick back and enjoy, I've been slacking on the updates and really wanted to get them rolling.

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Torch

Equestrian Badlands, Ghost Base, Day after Coronation
Archer

Sleeping outside isn’t something I’ve done in a long time… Last time that happened was a camping trip when I was little. But where the base doesn’t have bunks set up yet I didn’t have much of a choice. Luckily for the lot of us, Mahan was smart enough to bring some instant coffee along. Where I had only gotten two hours of sleep last night, having been ordering technicians around until the wee hours of the morning, I decided that the paper cup full of the black liquid was good enough to keep me going at bare minimum.

Endeavor was the last of the ships to finally arrive at the base and settle into one of the drydocks. Even the two new destroyers had arrived, settling in just as the support crews finished setting up the vast array of diagnostics computers built specifically for the Atlas and Illustrious. “So did the engineers finish their timelines for the repairs yet?” Spark asked as he joined me on the top of the base’s wall that overlooked the drydocks.

“If memory serves, Endeavor is going to take about a day or two, Redoubtable is about a week out, and Paris is easily six weeks to be fully repaired. The engineers just don’t know for sure on that one… There’s so much wrong with it, they’re not going to have an accurate guess until she’s fully broken down.” I explained, thinking back to the reports that I had read just before we arrived the previous evening.

“You think the Admiral will pull his crew off?”

I shook my head. “Baxter and his crew have been through hell on that ship, and it got them home every time. Call me crazy but I think they’ll want a hand in patching her up.”

“I know the sentiment…” Spark admitted. “So… You knew about the picket I was attached to. What happened to her? What happened to the rest of the crew?”

“Just going off of what I saw in Dusk’s memory orb, they were either dead or attempted to journey south into the heartland on foot after they abandoned Poneva.” I explained. “Steadfast’s body was the only one Dusk or anyone on his team at the time recovered… They found his corpse frozen in the big chair.”

“I see…” Spark muttered. “That means I’m all that's left.”

“Are you going to be OK?” I asked.

Spark just shook his head. “I don’t know… Maybe? I mean first I find out that my son is a psychopath tied off on the leash of a veritable god, and now I know what happened to the rest of my crew? Honestly Archer, I’ve got a lot on plate right now.”

“Well at risk of sounding like a heartless bitch, I don’t envy you.” I offered.

Spark just chuckled. “I wouldn’t still be standing here if I thought you were being a bitch about it. Besides, I don’t envy me either. The truth is that the stuff on my plate sucks ass.”

“I think that all of us are in the same boat with you. We’ve got a shitty hand, and we have to face down an ancient being of nearly unknown power with it.” I offered. “Trust me Spark, there’s no envy floating around on this little piece of paradise.”

“Alright, fair enough.” Spark admitted. “Now about why I’m actually up here… Are you actually going to run the morning briefing, or are we going to just let anarchy hold the line until we can figure out which way is up?”

While letting anarchy run wild is admittedly tempting, I’m sure I’d never hear the end of it if I allowed it to happen. “Are all the important ponies waiting downstairs?”

“They are, Crown Prince included.” Spark said as the two of us started down the stairs.

“So Dusk got out of Canterlot then… Good for him.” As the two of us entered the large store room that was acting as our temporary meeting space I easily picked Dusk out of the small crowd. With the black and gold vestments he was still wearing, it was hard to miss him. “Sorry for keeping you all waiting. My sanity needed a dose of coffee to get going again.” Some quiet chuckles echoed around the room at my quip. A good sign if any… If the ponies were still aware enough to chuckle, then we’ll at least be able to keep going with the base. “Now then, where do we stand?”

“Atlas and Illustrious are one hundred percent.” Captain Sentry called out. “We’re just waiting for our orders.”

“Well it turns out Endeavor wasn’t all that bad. The repair teams should have her back in order by lunchtime.” Amore added. “However she still needs a permanent crew. Your father and his ponies can’t pinch hit forever.”

“Well I already found her a proper Captain.” Dusk said, motioning to the guard standing at his side.

Said guard looked rather surprised. “You mean me?” The stallion asked. “But sir, what about-”

“Jellico, don’t sweat it.” Dusk replied. “I can get the guard squared away easily enough. “But right now Endeavor needs a proper captain. One who’s organized, quick on his feet and give a shit about doing the job right. As of now you’re the only pony I’d trust to put in that chair for the long haul.”

“Of course sir.” The captain replied.

“I take it that the rest of the fleet is still a crapshoot?” I asked, directing the question towards Captain Fleetfoot and Admiral Baxter.

“So far the engineers aren’t liking what they’re finding on the Paris.” Baxter admitted. “As of half an hour ago that six week estimate for repairs is in the trash. They’re telling me at least a week before they can give me a rough estimate, let alone a set timeline for the repairs.”

“Same on my end.” Fleetfoot said. “The repair crews are finding a lot more damage on the Redoubtable as they pull stuff apart. Best guess they gave me is two weeks to a month to get her combat ready again.”

“Well we can pull the slack in easily enough.” Illustrious’ Captain offered. “Just Illustrious is twice as capable as any frigate we could hope to put on the battle line. So as I see it we’ve still got a net increase in fleet capabilities.”

“Sandstorm, I told you once already. Shakedowns aren’t a good measure of either of the new ships. The only way we’ll know for sure what they can do is to go into battle with them.” The Admiral pointed out. “And last I checked we’re in a rather quiet neighborhood… Unless more of those drone ships show up.”

“I think that brings us to a good question.” Dusk pointed out. “Who built those ships, and where did they launch from? I went over Endeavor’s sensor logs this morning. Those were regular slipspace aperture that those things dropped out of.”

“I’ll admit, it’s a fair question.” Baxter replied. “But the vector those things came in on doesn’t make any sense. It’s a straight shot to the galactic boundary, and the UNSC’s deep space probe network confirmed that there’s no stellar bodies along that trajectory. Wherever those things launched from, they must’ve come in on that vector to make sure we couldn’t identify their point of origin.”

“Were we able to recover any computers from their debris?” Dusk asked.

Baxter shook his head. “Looks like they were built with some sort of failsafe. The things melted down when the drone ships blew apart. We can’t get anything out of them.”

“So we’ve got a boatload of nothing, bar knowing who’s probably responsible for them…” Dusk observed. “Well this is going to make these next orders a lot more important then.”

As Dusk stepped out of the group and walked towards me, I couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow. “What orders?”

“I’ve got two orders, and a promotion. I’ll start with that one first.” Dusk said as he handed me a bone white envelope, as well as a star pin. “Archer, I hereby draft you into the Equestrian military and promote you the rank of Brigadier General.”

“Uh… Brigadier?” I asked. Admittedly I didn’t have a problem with the whole ‘draft’ part… But unless my understanding of proper military progression is flawed you don’t go straight from draftee to general.

Dusk nodded. “As far as high command is concerned that’s the equivalent rank you hold with the Northern Guard… Now as for my orders. The first one is simple.” He said as he turned around to face the group. “Under the order of the crown, I’m hereby temporarily consolidating Stellar Forces and all other personnel presently on this base into Task Force Torch. The objective of the task force is simple; we defeat Euripides using any means necessary.”

“Ok… What’s the second one?” Baxter asked.

“While the task force will answer to me, Brigadier General Archer is hereby placed in command of the task force. What she says is law, as if I gave the order myself. Do I make myself clear?” Dusk replied.

“Crystal sir.” Baxter replied, looking rather uncomfortable.

“Good…” Dusk said. “Now then General, assemble your command staff and meet me on the bridge of the Endeavor in one hour.”

Wait, he’s giving me an hour to identify junior officers? “Uh… That’s a bit of a tall order. I still need to-”

“Archer, you have plenty of fine ponies on this base that you have first-hand experience with.” Dusk said as he cut me off. “Now I trust your judgement… The question now is do you trust yours?”

***

Bridge of the Endeavor, One Hour Later
Dusk

Looking around the bridge holotable at the assembled ponies and few humans, I knew I was right to put my faith in Archer. Right off the bat she grabbed Baxter to be her right-hand, a smart choice given his decades of experience. Her father Cosmo, Constellation, Rush, Commander Tremble,Lieutenant Spark and a Sergeant Mahan rounded out her team of advisers. “You put together a good team Archer.”

“So why exactly are we here Dusk?” Baxter asked.

“I was hoping that Dawn would be here to help me, but she’s still occupied with her mother at the moment…” I admitted. “However I need to bring you all up to speed on what led us here, so the notes I have will have to do.”

“Alright, now maybe it’s because I’ve been out of the loop but who’s Dawn?”

Baxter brought up a good point… He has been out of the loop. “Well I’m sure you’ll hear about how Dart and I blew up eventually but long story short Faust screwed the two of us out of raising our daughter, and turned her into her personal assassin to boot.” The bridge went quiet once I said it. Admittedly it is some heavy stuff to toss out at free-random, but it made my point. “Now Dawn is the resident expert on Euripides and the Alicorn Imperium, which is why I wanted her here… But like I said, my notes will have to make do.”

Out of the holotable came a familiar small orb of light. “Your notes are all loaded Dusk. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks Greyscale.” I said as I hit the blinking ‘ready’ button on the console, and a copy of a sketch that I had found in the Book of Faust grew out of the holotable. “Now it bears mentioning that the conflict that we’re staring at now has roots that predate even the earliest surviving records of pre-Equestrian culture. The root of our problem started with the downfall of the Alicorn Imperium, a theocratic regime of pureblood alicorns that ruled the planet centuries before the first of the pony tribes even coalesced. The conception of Celestia and Luna triggered a curse that was old even by Imperium standards, and it left the entire race infertile. Within the year anarchy was the rule of the day, and a massive civil war broke out. Faust’s notes aren’t clear on who fought on what side, but the end result was the death of nearly every Alicorn and mass destruction across the entire surface of Equis. Hell, entire landmasses were created and destroyed. What was overall a post-industrial level of society that spread across the planet was cut down to a something more equivalent to pre-stone age development. It took centuries for society to even remotely begin to grow again.”

“That… Wow.” Baxter muttered. “At least we only have to deal with one of those bastards.”

“And therein lies our problem.” I retorted. “We know next to nothing about either Euripides or his upbringing. There are a lot of blanks in the book that Faust left behind. But there was a mention-” I paused as Greyscale brought up a copy of the page in question “-of the bunker that the few Alicorns survived the fall of the Imperium in. Faust spent ten years there and gathered copies of just about every record left in the Imperium’s capital. After Euripides and the mages left, Faust and Starswirl abandoned the bunker soon after. When they left Faust collapsed the entryway to the bunker.”

“Well, I guess where we’re fighting an ancient bad guy, some archeology will probably help us solve it…” Spark observed. “Does the book have any maps or anything?”

“Even if it does, weren’t you listening?” Mahan asked. “I mean look at these notes. Ghastly Gorge, the Canterlot Mountains, Carniola, Manehattan Bay… They were all created during the fall. Imagine what landmarks were destroyed. Any maps that predated the fall would be inaccurate and unusable.”

“You’re right on the money Mahan.” I said. “So to get this treasure trove of intelligence, we’ve got some hunting to do. Now then… We’re going to need some ideas on where to start.”

“There are maps in that book, aren’t there?” Baxter asked. I nodded, but stayed quiet. “Alright. We also know which landforms were created during the fall. We could probably run some computer simulations to figure out what Equis looked like before the Imperium fell. Then we can try and match up the maps in the book with the simulations.”

Now that’s one good idea if I’ve ever heard one. “That could work… Then we’ll just need to figure out what countries we’ll have to deal with to get access to the bunker site. How long will you need?”

“If I may sir-” Greyscale interrupted. “-I’ve already run a simulation that matches up with the maps. I have the location of the old Imperium capital and bunker.”

“Well that’s great! Where is it?” Archer asked.

“That… Well, that’s the problem.” Greyscale admitted, replacing the copies of the pages with a hologram of the globe, the location of the bunker and capital marked with a red dot. “What was the Imperium capital is not only occupied, but it is in clearly unfriendly territory.”

I studied the map and finally shrugged. “Why, where is it Grey?”

The AI was quiet for a moment before finally speaking up. “The Imperium capital… Well, it’s now the Court of the Storm King.”

Author's Note

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Storm

Endeavor’s Bridge, Twenty Minutes after Briefing
Archer

Dusk had been pacing the bridge for most of the last half hour since ordering the launch of some communications drone. He didn’t say where it was going, but I had a rough idea. He had been pouring over every piece of intelligence that we had on the Storm King… Which, admittedly, wasn’t all that much. But he seemed to know something… I don’t know what, but when Dawn finally arrived with Dart in tow, she seemed to think that it had something to do with his encounter on the dead world with Daybreaker.

“Uh, sirs?” An officer called out. “We’re receiving a transmission from the communications drone.”

“Put it up.” Dusk ordered. When the hologram finally developed my suspicions were proved to be correct. “Ah… The Storm King decided to answer this time.”

The saytr on the other end of the hologram frowned. “Well your robot was rather persistent… So what can I do for the new Crown Prince?”

Dusk shrugged. “Well Barrow, for starters you can tell me why you called off your planned invasion about ten years ago.”

It took me a second to realize what Dusk had called the Storm King. Where’d he get Barrow from? Looking at the Storm King he looked floored, so some part of that must’ve been spot on. “What did you call me?” The King finally asked.

“Well Barrow was your birth name if memory serves.” Dusk admitted. “Believe me when I say that you didn’t as good of a job as you thought when it came to ensuring your history remained secret. But hey, it was a top notch effort.”

“For a pony who until recently hasn’t been in the public eye much, you certainly seem to know quite a lot about me…” The Storm King admitted. “Obviously you don’t care too much about old military plans that were tossed, but you care enough to put in some significant research. Why?”

“Because I want an audience with you in your court.” Dusk replied. “Are you willing to allow me a visit?”

“Of course I am, but on one condition.”

“Before you even ask, yes. I will more than willing to tell you how I learned of your history and your canceled invasion plans.” Dusk admitted.

“Then I think we’ll have quite the fruitful discussion Your Highness…” The Storm King observed. “I look forward to meeting you.”

Immediately on that the transmission cut out. “So who’s going with you?” I asked.

“No one, I need to do this alone.” Dusk replied. “If I show up with an armed fire team, the entire meeting could go sideways.”

Now as much as I agree with the sentiment, going into hostile territory alone is a step off the deep end. Especially when it involves a despot that only Dusk seems to have adequate knowledge of. “Dusk, at least let me have someone go with you as a bodyguard or something.

But for whatever reason Dusk seemed convinced to what he had to do. “Sorry Archer, but I’ve made up my mind. I’m going alone.” Dusk punched a few buttons on the holotable and a comm line opened up. “Flight deck, this is Dusk. Prep a Broadsword for me, I’m going to be wheels up in five.” Obviously I couldn’t stop Dusk from leaving. But as he walked off the bridge, I got a sinking feeling that something rotten was afoot.

Twenty Minutes Later...

“-and the engines haulout is all set. We’re back at one hundred percent General.” Endeavor’s new Captain reported.

“Alright, good to know. Glad you’re settling in well Jellico.” I observed.

“I didn’t really-” The Captain stopped as the doors to the bridge behind me slid open. “-have much… Who the hell are you two?”

Turning around I saw that Dawn and Starswirl had finally arrived. “Hey, glad you two decided to join us.”

“Now’s not the time. Where’s my father?” Dawn asked.

“Uh… He went off to a meeting with the Storm King. He was going to try and get us access to the old Imperium bunker that’s beneath his city.” I replied.

“Oh no…” Dawn muttered. “This is bad. This is very bad!” She protested.

“Why, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“The book that he took copies of the pages from. It’s not an original.” Starswirl replied. “That’s where we were. We were going through the book, and that’s how we found out.”

Wait, the all-important Book of Faust isn’t original? “So what, it’s a forgery?” I asked.

Starswirl shook his head. “No it’s a copy that had a number of pages added. For instance, the maps and references to the bunker under the Capital. Faust made sure to avoid any mentions of the bunker because she didn’t want it compromised.”

“Wait, compromised? What do you mean?” Jellico asked.

“The entrance isn’t collapsed. The entire bunker is inaccessible because it’s isolated in a pocket dimension. That’s how it survived the fall of the Imperium.” Starswirl explained. “That’s also why Dawn here is in her mid twenties, instead of the premature birth that Faust removed a few days ago.”

“Archer, my father can easily get into that bunker. We can’t let that happen.” Dawn implored. “If he does, then there’s nothing to prevent Euripides from reaching Faust and the hundreds of Alicorn artifacts that she’s accumulated.”

From what these two are describing, and judging by how concerned the two of them are I could only draw one conclusion. “It’s not a bunker, at least not anymore. Faust assembled a veritable armory.” Dawn wordlessly nodded, and I slapped the comms to life. “This is General Archer to the Atlas and Illustrious. Prepare for takeoff.”

“Aye General, what’s our heading?” I heard Captain Sandstorm ask.

“Escort duty for Endeavor.” I replied.

“Alright, you all heard the mare. Let's get this bucket airborne!” Jellico yelled as he made for the Captain’s chair.

“Wait, what the hell are you doing? We don’t need to scramble half the fleet!” Starswirl protested.

But whatever his thinking was, the old stallion was wrong as far as I was concerned. “I’m sorry, but if that bunker gets opened before we get there we’ll need every bit of firepower we can muster to try and keep Euripides out of it… And if that doesn’t work we need to be able to destroy the bunker.”

“This is still madness. You’ll be leading most of your forces into a three-way shooting match.” Starswirl pointed out.

By this point I’d made my decision. “Last I checked, war is madness Starswirl. If I’m going to be stuck fighting in one, then I do it on my terms.”

***

The Storm King’s Court, Concurrent to Fleet Deployment
Dusk

Landing the Broadsword in the middle of the plaza at the foot of the Storm King’s palace was bound to draw unwanted attention. The locals stopped their daily activities and started crowding around the fighter, likely not knowing why I was here. But as the Storm King’s massive guards came marching out of the palace flanking the King, the crowd immediately dispersed. “Ah, Prince Dusk. So kind of you to join us!” The Storm King declared as he descended from the entrance to his palace.

“Well thank you for having me.” I replied halfheartedly. “I do apologize for my… Unorthodox manner of requesting to speak with you, Your Excellency, but it was imperative that we spoke.”

“Obviously it was for you to have done as much research as you have…” The King observed. “Now come, walk with me. We have much to discuss.”

Following the ape-like figure up the stairs I noticed that one of his guards seemed to be sizing me up. “I take it that your help hasn’t seen many Equestrians…”

“Aside from their Commander, no they haven’t. And they certainly haven’t seen Equestrian Royalty before...” The Storm King replied.

“Admittedly I’m not so used to it myself.”

“Then why are you here?” The Storm King asked as we reached the top of the stairs. “I have a feeling that you want something…”

“And you would be right.” I admitted. “Now tell me, what do you know about an Alicorn named Euripides?”

The Storm King cocked an eyebrow, seeming intrigued. “Where did you learn that name?”

“Well, apparently that old coot really doesn’t like me or my daughter all that much…
And he’s had his hand in the major crises going back at least a decade.” I replied. “And considering you seem to know who he is, you must know the heritage of your capital.”

“I know it had something to do with the Imperium, at least if the artifacts we’ve accumulated mean anything.” The King replied.

“Well then, I think I know something that we both can benefit from…” I said. “You see, the bunker that the Imperium survivors took shelter in lies under your citadel. They lived there for years and accumulated most, if not all, of the records of the Imperium in that time. Now I need everything I can find on Euripides if I’m going to beat him, and that bunker is the best place to start.”

“But what’s in it for us? This seems rather one sided…”

“All I want is the information on Euripides. I’ll copy it, and then the bunker and its contents are yours.” I countered. “Now… Do we have a deal?”

“Hmm…” The Storm King hummed as we walked into the throne room. “As long as my Commander accompanies you, you’ll have all the access you need to the bunker.”

I nodded as a slight smile crossed my lips. “Thank you Your Highness.”

While I did turn to walk out of the throne room, the Storm King cleared his throat rather loudly, prompting me to turn back to him. “And Dusk? If you’re lying to me… I promise that you’ll never leave here alive.”

***

Meanwhile, on the bridge of HMS Endeavor…
Archer

“Jellico, what’s our status?”

“We’re holding just outside of the Storm King’s territory. Alert fighters are ready to launch on orders, and Marines are standing by for hot deployment.”

I nodded as I glanced at the map suspended in pale blue light over the holotable. “What about comms? Have we been able to raise Dusk at all?”

“I wish…” Jellico sighed. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that something is jamming communications going into the area.”

“What about radar contacts? Are we seeing anything?”

Jellico shook his head. “Nothing, not even a flicker.”

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a bit worried. While we know that someone tampered with the Book of Faust, that doesn’t mean that Euripides is watching Dusk’s every move… Although admittedly I wouldn’t put it past the alicorn. “Then run a diagnostic on the scanners… I seriously doubt that there’s nothing out there.”

“General, everything is still showing green. Are you sure-”

“Incoming missile!”

BANG!

The deck violently shook against the sudden impact. “Where did that come from?!” I yelled over the dull roar of call to general quarters.

“Bearing was zero, zero, zero. We only detected the missile fifty feet off the bow. So far I don’t know where it launched from!” One of the gunnery officers yelled.

“Give me a volley of rounds on that heading, now!” I could feel the dull thump of a dozen cannons firing off ahead of the Endeavor, and for a few seconds I could see the trail that they left before the glowing rounds vanished. “Can someone tell me where my rounds went?”

“I don’t know sir… They’re just gone!”

“Archer-” Greyscale chimed as his avatar glowed into existence. “I think we can safely assume that we’re facing down a cloaked vessel.”

“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” Jellico asked.

But I put it together rather quickly. “It’s means that whatever it is, it doesn’t have shields up… All batteries, open fire!”

The drumming of point defense guns immediately restarted, and streams of tracers immediately flew forward before disappearing under a now shimmering field easily the length of a frigate. “General, I’ve got sensor contacts! Five large bogies approaching the target area!”

As the ship ahead of us crashed to the ground in flaming death throes, I keyed up the fleet-wide comms. “All points this is Endeavor. Advance to target, launch alert fighters and prepare ground teams for deployment!”

“You hear the mare helm, all ahead at best possible speed.” Jellico ordered as we turned back to the holotable. “Alright Archer, what now?”

“Well I guess it isn’t obvious…” I observed. “Get me Blaze Squad.”

***

Under the Storm King’s Fortress
Dusk

If I had to guess what I’d be looking for, I probably would’ve wagered a collapsed tunnel of some sort in the middle of some cave system. Yet the bowels of the Storm King’s seat of power were not only clean, but they were very well built. Following the map however led my escort and I to a solid concrete wall.

“So much for your bunker…” Tempest chided.

I shook my head and rapped my knuckle against the wall. “That doesn’t feel right…”

“What do mean?”

I gestured for the mare to feel the wall for herself. “That doesn’t feel like concrete, does it?”

Tempest obliged and grew a quizzical expression across her face the moment her hand made contact with the wall. “You’re right, it doesn’t… Almost feels like some sort of clay or putty. What could do that?”

“I don’t know, but I think you spoke too soon.” I said as I ran my fingers over the section of wall, feeling out a distinct border between the hard and gritty concrete and the smooth texture of whatever it is we were examining.

“What do you mean? We still don’t know if this is actually the way into this bunker of yours.”

I nodded. “True, but we’re definitely on to something…” I quickly fished a pad and scanner out of the inside pocket of my jacket and flicked them both on. “Whatever this stuff is, this scanner is saying that there’s nothing there… It has to be some sort of illusion spell.”

“But an illusion wouldn’t be solid.” Tempest replied.

“We’re dealing a civilization far more advanced than anything on Equis right now, so I’d wager it’s a possibility… But we break it the same way. Feel around for the center of the matrix and split it.”

Off to the side I could see Tempest roll her eyes. “And just how do you plan on doing that?”

I shrugged. “With your help Fizz. Come on, put your-”

“What did you call me?”

It took me a second, but I realized what I called Tempest. “I called you Fizz.” I said, steeling my nerves against what could readily dive into dangerous territory. “You know, short for Fizzlepop Berrytwist? Your real name? Am I ringing any bells here or am I just making you want to stuff a knife in my throat?”

“I… How?” Tempest asked, suddenly looking rather frightened.

Well it’s pretty clear I’m not getting stabbed, so I grabbed the mare’s right hand tightly. “Look, I just threw you for a hell of a loop. But I know you Fizz. Right now you’re wondering how the hell I think you have the capacity to deal with complex magic like this when all you’ve dealt with for years is brute force… Well just look at this as another brute force application and you’ll do just fine.”

Tempest was quiet for a moment before she finally seemed to make up her mind. “You’re definitely a bit south of normal.”

“I hear it’s one of my endearing qualities.” I replied as I placed my hand on the wall. “Now come on, follow my lead.”Once Tempest had her hand on the wall, it started glowing pale blue in concert with the golden glow of mine.

Breaking a spell can be done in two ways. Either casting a second spell to deactivate the matrix, or simply breaking the matrix. Without knowing what that second spell is, breaking the matrix will have to do. With an illusion, searching for the matrix is a matter of feeling around the illusion until you feel the charge of magic you’re using start to drain, at which point you’ve found the matrix as it’s recharging itself on the magic you use to find it. Once found, you pour raw magic into the matrix until it fails, as it can only absorb so much magical energy.

What readily worried me is how quickly the two of us found the matrix, easily a circle one foot across towards the center of what was the likely entrance to the bunker. “Why the hell is it so big?” This should just be a tunnel entrance…”

“What’s that mean? I’m a bit rusty on my illusion spells.” Tempest pointed out.

“It means we’re talking about a spell a hell of a lot larger than you need to hide the bunker entrance… Step back Fizz, you’ll burn yourself out trying to bust this open.”

As the mare stepped back and out of sight, I tossed my instruments to the ground and placed the now free hand on the spell matrix. Then I cut loose, putting as much raw energy into the matrix as I could. The wall began to flicker yellow very quickly, and I started feeling waves of heat wash over my face with every pulse before finally-

CRACK!

The matrix broke, dissolving immediately to reveal a grey metal sliding door. “Well I didn’t see this coming…”

“I thought you said that the bunker entry was a tunnel.”

“I did.” I said to Tempest as the door slid open. “Come on, let's take a look.”

Walking through the door was like stepping forward in time. We were in a large chamber, with screens lining the far wall. Along the floor were dozens of computer panels and display cases loaded with contents so spotless I would’ve thought they were brand new.

“Dusk, look at this.” Tempest said, pointing out a display case off to our left. “It says ‘Artifact Recovered from Aszod Shipyard, Human Calendar May 4, 2554”

In the case was a battered Mjoinir helmet of some sort, with a shattered visor and burn marks on nearly every surface. “That was Spartan’s helmet… But what the hell is that doing in here? And how is it here? This bunker has been sealed for millennia and Reach fell almost twenty years ago.”

“Ya… Tell that to tall, dark and brooding.” Tempest said, gesturing to a massive case on the wall directly behind the case.

“Holy shit…” The case that Tempest pointed out was massive, and held the familiar shape of one of the power-armor equipped super soldiers that served Humanity. The plaque read ‘Spartan S-052. Listed missing during Fall of Reach. Recovered from deep space debris field August 15, 2552 in critical condition. In maintained stasis for enactment of Resurgence Contingency.’

“What the hell is going on here?” Tempest asked. “Artifacts from a planet that was razed decades ago, a dead soldier, and from the looks of it a lot of rather modern weapons? I thought this was an Alicorn Imperium bunker.”

“It is.” A female voice bellowed out. It’s source stood, a red-maned Alicorn at the head of the room beneath the monitors. “And congratulations Dusk, you’ve royally fucked up this time.”

Author's Note

And there we have it. FINALLY got around to editing another chapter. WOO! Took me long enough. Anyway, enjoy away, I'll get to editing the next chapter sometime this weekend.

Citadel

Alicorn Imperium Bunker
Dusk

“Just who the hell are you?”

The alicorn mare rolled her eyes as she made her way over to the wall next to the case and punched a series of keys. As the display case hissed open and it’s occupant started to stir she turned her attention to Tempest and I. “I’m Faust. And you are a damned idiot!” The mare shouted. “Do you realize how badly you just messed up here?!”

“What did I mess up?! I just followed your map!”

“I didn’t put a map in the damn book because I didn’t want this exact thing to happen!”

“Can you both stop yelling?!” Tempest hollered. “I don’t think Dusk expected anyone to be in here after all this time, so do you care to tell us what the hell is going on?”

“You just unlocked the proverbial gun safe for Euripides.” Faust replied.

“Oh… Fuck.”

“Fuck- wait, give me just a second.” Faust pushed me out of the way to give the still groggy Spartan a steady shoulder to lean on. “Now where was I… Oh, yes. Fuck indeed. Now I’ve already removed all of the Imperium artifacts and information, but we still can’t let Euripides have this bunker.”

“So what do we do? We can’t hold him off.”

“Simple, we destroy the bunker… Or at least the Endeavor does.” Faust nonchalantly said. “We just need to get out of here with the data core so it can’t be used against us and we’ll be golden.”

“Data core? For what?” Tempest asked.

Faust quickly fished a small hard drive-like piece of hardware out of her jacket pocket. “This. It contains every piece of information on the Velos Initiative. If Euripides gets his hands on this all of Equis will be in grave danger.”

Velos Initiative? I know I’m not versed in the minutia of Alicorn history but if Faust is holding on to a hard drive, then it must be VERY important. “Then do you care to explain why you’ve been keeping this walking tank to yourself?”

“I guess that’s one thing you could call me…” The Spartan mumbled as he slid his helmet off, revealing an unkempt and pock-marked face. “But I’m not dead, am I?”

“Nope.” I replied, cutting Faust off. “This lovely mare decided to… Well, I don’t know exactly what Faust did. Point is you’re not dead but you could easily end up the other way around.”

“What?”

Faust finally pushed me out of the way and hefted a massive machine gun into the Spartan’s hands. “Dusk is trying to say that you’re going to need this.”

While the obvious question of where Faust found the machine gun didn’t have a clear answer, she wasn’t wrong. “Look big guy, we could all either stay down here and die or we can get the hell out of here and talk through the specifics later. Personally I’d say let's go already, but I tend to be biased towards living.”

The Spartan glanced past me for a second, likely recognizing the helmet in the display case behind the three of us. “That was Six’s helmet…” He muttered. “We lost, didn’t we?”

Faust nodded. “Reach lasted another two weeks after Upper Cut was finished.”

“Well, no reason to stay here then.” He said as he slid his helmet back on. “Let's get the hell of here.”

The four of us immediately made for the door, pausing only as Faust closed it behind us and bent one of the locking pins. “So how exactly in the Endeavor going to take out the bunker?”

“If Dawn is sticking to the contingency plans we developed she’s probably in the middle of refitting a pod’s worth of Archer missiles for bunker busting.” Faust said as we started our walk back towards the dungeon entrance.

“Did you say Archer missiles?”

“I did Jorge.”

“And just where did a bunch of alien horses get human munitions?”

Faust shrugged. “If my understanding is correct, your friend Serin got the Endeavor and all of the munitions for her.”

Jorge must’ve wanted an answer, because he immediately took to the front of the pack and blocked our way forward. “Serin? As in Serin-019? She died during augmentations years ago.”

“Hate to break to you big man, but she didn’t.” I countered. “Apparently a bunch of washouts actually survived, but she’s the most powerful one these days running ONI.”

“You know her?”

I nodded. “I consider her one of my closest friends these days.”

While none of us could see Jorge’s face under his helmet, I could imagine what was going through his head. “Alright, but when we’re done here you and I are having a long talk.”

We started walking again almost immediately, and I finally registered the weight of Jorge’s words. They weren’t a request, they were hard and immovable like a promise. “Wouldn’t have it any other way big man…”

***

Outside the Storm King’s Palace
Spark

“What the hell are those things…” Rush muttered as he studied the palace entrance through a set of binoculars.

“They almost look like those synths that came up in that briefing the other day…” Pumyra observed.

I had been at the briefing the day we arrived too, and internally I certainly thought that my companions were on the right track. But whatever these thing were they were far bulkier than what we were shown in the briefing. With clearly visible armored wings and far more organic movements I couldn’t help but think that we were looking at flesh and blood soldiers. “Blaze Leader to Endeavor, we’ve got eyes on the palace but there’s a lot of company down there… We’re outnumbered and outgunned.”

“Copy that Blaze Squad. Push the palace gates, we’ve got a fix on Dusk’s transponder and from what we can tell he’s on his way out. He’s going to need an exit.”

“Copy that Endeavor, Blaze Leader out.” I shook my head in disbelief. If Archer knew what we were looking at she would probably be just as apprehensive.

“Archer seriously wants us to push the front door? Is she crazy?”

“You’ve known her longer Rush… Now come-” I stopped cold, as the palace doors suddenly were blown off their hinges. Standing in that doorway was a large armored figure toting a gun easily half my size. Tracers started spitting out of it’s barrel and from behind the imposing figure I could see Dusk tossing bolts of golden magic at the assembled opposition. “You know what? I’m liking these odds.”

***

The Palace Gates
Dusk

“I’m really not liking these odds!” I shouted as I ducked back behind Jorge. “What the hell are those things anyway?!”

“They look like Combat Synths. They’re armored and flight capable versions of the standard model.” Faust called out.

“Wait, these are the combat versions? Then what the hell was I fighting?!”

“Repurposed maintenance and upkeep units.”

It took a second, but it finally clicked. “We were fighting the Imperium’s robot janitors?!”

“Hey, do you mind? I’d rather not do this on my own!” Jorge yelled.

The Spartan brought up a fair point and I slid out from behind his bulk and tossed a bolt of golden magic at the nearest Synth, causing it’s head to explode in a shower of sparks. “Alright, let's get the hell out of here!”

The Spartan led down the stairs of the palace as he chattered away with his massive gun, while I blasted any of the Synths that got too close… At least until we got to the bottom of the stairs and the robotic soldiers suddenly stopped and stepped off to both sides of the courtyard. “Who the hell is that?” Jorge asked.

On the far side of the courtyard was the last pony I wanted to see. “Hey Euripides, didn’t you get the message back in Canterlot? Buzz the fuck off already!”

“I’m not here to bother with insects today. Now then Faust, can the adults talk without your insolent children getting in the way?”

“You’re not going to get the Velos flight plans.” The Alicorn mare said as she stepped out in front of Jorge and I.

“Just get out of my way Faust, I want into that bunker.”

“I can’t let you do that Euripides. You’d lay waste to Equis.”

“Is it waste if I simply act to reclaim our land?”

“I’m sorry, but it isn’t your land anymore asshole!” I countered.

“He’s right Euripides. We gave up our claim to this world when we nearly destroyed it.” Faust added. “And you are not going to have that bunker, period.”

Overhead came the dull hum of engines and I realized that a cruiser-sized unit had moved into position over the citadel. “Where the hell did you get that?!” I heard Jorge yell.

But as three missiles streamed out of launchers on the underside of the hull, and Euripides started hollering something, I happened to look back at Tempest and the citadel. “Just where’d everyone else go?”

She suddenly came to that same realization too, but neither of us had time to react before the missiles slammed through solid ground and shook the entire area violently as they went off in the bunker. “Well I think those assholes had the right idea.” Tempest said, pointing out the now obvious absence of Euripides and his entourage of killer robots.

Yet in there place were three faces that were the last ones I wanted to see down here. “Spark? What the fuck are you doing here?!?”

“Uh… At this point I’ve got no idea.”

Chunks of the upper parts of the citadel were already smacking down into the courtyard. “Faust, how the hell are we getting out of here?” I yelled.

“Shit, look out!”

But the warning came too late, and I felt something crack against the back of my head before everything immediately went back.

***

HMS Endeavor Infirmary, One Hour Later...
Archer

“And what’s the final verdict?”

Constellation shrugged. “Dusk is going to have one massive headache, but I don’t see anything else wrong… Talk about one hell of a debut, eh?”

I shook my head. “You mean finding out Dawn modified ordinance without any of our knowledge and I sent a team down to the fortress that didn’t need to be there? Ya, that’s one hell of a debut alright. And of course there’s no sign of the Storm King or any of his forces, and somepony is going to need to explain this shitshow to Princess Celestia.”

“I take it that you’re not looking forward to that?”

“No, no I’m not.” I admitted. “Her advisers are going to have a field day… I’m officially an officer for less than two days and I’ve already been at the front of an international incident. The sooner Dusk wakes up, the sooner I can use his ass a shield. As far as I’m concerned this whole shitshow was his fault anyway…”

“Well thanks for the vote of confidence Archer.” Dusk groaned as he sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. “Now what the hell happened? Did everypony get out in one piece?”

I nodded. “You can thank Faust.”

Dusk snorted in what seemed like amusement. “We certainly can… Now where is she?”

“Oh… In her lab.”

“Since when did you give Faust a lab?”

Thinking back to the short exchange I had with the Alicorn made my blood start to boil. “I didn’t. She walked into one of the empty cargo bays and dumped all of her stuff in there.”

Now it was Dusk’s turn to look angry. “Who the fuck does she think she is?!”

“Hell if I know. But she’s got Dawn and that Spartan as her private security, so I can’t do shit about it.”

Dusk forced himself to his feet and started making for the door. “We’ll see about that…”

***

Dusk

Walking into this deck’s starboard cargo bay, I could see what Archer meant when she said that Faust had taken over. Rows of loaded shelves took up half of the cargo bay, with large tables, chairs and rows of computers taking up the other. “This is remarkable…” I heard Rush say as Archer and I approached.

“Doctor, this is far from remarkable. It’s a potential catastrophe. Now can you use this to figure out where Velos could’ve ended up?” Faust asked as she tapped on a printed star chart.

“Absolutely. Give me a day or so and I’ll have some possibilities for you.”

“Uh, Rush? You mind telling me what the hell you’re doing with Faust?” I asked, finally drawing the attention of the scientist, the Alicorn and her two guards.

“Answering the question of where Euripides is getting his ships.” Rush said as he slid the chart around so I could read it. “The Velos Support Fleet, that’s where he got his ships.”

Wait, Velos Support Fleet? “The Imperium was space capable?”

“Only sleeper ships and system defense vessels.” Faust replied. “That was the Velos Initiative. If the Imperium fell one of those sleeper ships would take whatever survivors reached it and would abandon Equis for another world.”

“But how’d they get slipspace drives?”

“I don’t know, and that’s enough of a concern to justify locating the Velos colony.”

“Then here’s another good question… Why would Euripides need the flight plans if he already has the ships?” I asked.

“It’s possible they were ships that either survived the fall of the Imperium, or they were parts of the supply flotilla that was sent out about ten years in advance of the Velos’ launch. The mission planners would’ve put a rendezvous with with Velos Fleet into the flight plan, but it wasn’t finalized until about a month before everything fell. Those ships would’ve already have been out of communications range by launch. The mission planners would’ve known where the rendezvous would likely be and that’s it.”

“Is this where you tell me you have the only copy of the flight plans?”

Faust nodded. “As long as we have the plans, Euripides can’t find the Velos or any surviving Alicorns.”

Which would also mean that he is the only Alicorn we’d have to contend with for the time being. Cut that brings up another important question. “Just how many made it onto the Velos?”

Faust seemed to tense up at the question. “Two thousand souls… But when they launched no one recorded who got on the ship. The Imperium was falling so they only took a head count to know how many ponies got aboard.”

“There could be hundreds more of them…” Archer muttered.

“You’re going to have enough of a problem handling Euripides, but if even one Alicorn made it onto the Velos that’s a possible recruit that he could gain. Equestria would go from a razor-thin chance of winning to certain defeat.”

“And if there was more than one… He’d wipe us all out.” I realized aloud.

“Now do you understand what I’m going?”

“Ya, I do… So keep doing it.” I retorted. “Archer, send word to Baxter. Tell him I’m giving him twenty four hours to finish repairs on Paris and Redoubtable. Tell them to strip parts off of the Coral Sea if they have to, but they’ve got that long to get space worthy and combat ready.”

“How the hell do you expect them to do that? There’s weeks worth of work to do just to get the hulls air tight again!”

I shook my head. “Then tell Baxter to figure something out. In the meantime I need to go to Canterlot. Someone needs to tell the Princess what happened out here and it might as well be me.”

Author's Note

Welp, finally back with another update. These things don't edit themselves you know, but enjoy!

High Command

Canterlot Castle War Room, One Hour Later…
Dusk

Alright, I may have undersold my little trip to Canterlot because as it turns out there’s plenty of other reasons to go… First and foremost, bringing Fizz there so she can be debriefed by the intelligence ponies. Anything she could tell them about the Storm King would likely be helpful, considering he and his entire entourage vanished while we were in the bunker. Second on that list would be debriefing the High Command, and judging by the immediate confrontation I had with Luna when we landed I was rather glad that I had brought Jellico along.

“So you think it has something to do with the fleet?” Jellico asked as we approached the War Room doors.

“That’s my best guess…” I replied as we walked in to the assembled members of the High Command.

“Good Afternoon Your Highness.” One of the officers said. “I’m Admiral Beatie, Chief of Naval Operations.”

“Can I ask what this is about?” I said as I sat down in one of the open chairs in front of the officers.

“What is this about?” Beatie said, almost snorting in amusement. “Why this is about you throwing protocols to the wind and hijacking all of our stellar assets!”

“Excuse me? Do you have a problem with my order Admiral?”

Beatie shook his head. “You never gave a damn order!”

Now it’s either that Beatie is playing stupid or we do have a rather serious communication lapse on our hands. “Jellico, what the hell is he talking about?”

“I have no idea… I gave your orders to Lieutenant Tarsus and told him to deliver them right before we left for the shipyard.”

“Lieutenant Tarsus? The same one who’s been missing for about a day?”

Now it was Jellico’s turn to look concerned. “Tarsus is missing?”

Beatie nodded. “He didn’t show up for his shift this morning. Same with a number of other officers. The Guard has been searching the city all day. Of course it’s rather convenient that you say that a missing officer was responsible for delivering these supposed orders…”

“Well if you didn’t notice Jellico was on the Endeavor and I was in the Storm King’s Citadel. How were we-”

“Hold on, you were where?”

“The Storm King’s Citadel. I sent a message while I was en route. Some mare picked up and said she’d deliver the message to you lot.”

Behind us I heard the door swing open. “Beatie, what’s going on?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.” The Admiral replied. “Did you know that you’re grandson co opted our fleet for some task force?”

“As a matter of fact I did. I went over the orders just to make sure they on everything before they were sent down the chain. Why?”

“Because until the Prince arrived we had no idea that any orders existed.” Beatie explained.

“Who was supposed to deliver them?”

“Lieutenant Tarsus, one of the guards that was declared missing this morning. But if you’re saying that you saw them yourself-”

“Then why didn’t Tarsus get them to your office?” Gramps said as he finished. “Does anyone have this colt’s file? I know he took the post a few weeks ago but I haven’t met the Lieutenant yet.”

“We’ve got it right here.” Beatie said as he punched the Lieutenant’s portrait up onto the screens that lined the ceiling. For a second he was quiet, but when he looked at Gramps he seemed concerned. “I something wrong Meteor?”

I turned to see for myself and Gramp’s look of horror was clear as day. “Beatie, pull up a second file. You’ll find it in disbarred section. Stallion’s name is Sureshot.”

“Why exactly are we-”

“Just do it Beatie!” Gramps snapped. Almost immediately the picture of Lieutenant Tarsus was joined by an identical gunmetal grey unicorn. “Damnit… It’s Sureshot alright.”

“I thought he was reported as killed during the war with the Minotaur Kingdom?”

Gramps shook his head. “Read my report again Captain, because I said I presumed he was dead without finding a body. It’s either he’s alive and hasn’t aged a day or this has something to do with Euripides.”

“I’d be more inclined to go with the latter… Where was the Lieutenant last seen?” I asked.

“Uh… Says here the Market District after his last shift ended.” Beatie answered.

“Has anyone gone to check it out? Maybe ask around?”

Beatie shook his head. “Not to my knowledge.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “How long ago did we find that out?”

“About a half hour after the Lieutenant was reported missing.”

Now this is just outright shoddy police work. “You’re telling me that you’ve known where Tarsus was last seen, but no one thought to go ask around in the Market District if he’s been seen? Has the Guard’s standards to investigative work really gone that far down the drain?”

“Your Highness, if you haven’t noticed everypony in this city has been stretched thin for about a week. Those ponies need sleep at some point.”

“Fine, then I’ll go take a look.”

“Not dressed like that you won’t.” Gramps sneered.

I finally remembered that I was still wearing my dress clothes. “Alright then, what do suggest?”

***

Canterlot Market District, One Hour Later…

“I still don’t see how that’s any better…” Pumyra observed.

She was right. In the time it took for her to be called in and basically glued to my hip, Gramps went and found the most polished and decorated set of armor he could find. And just where he found this brass-colored monstrosity was beyond me. “Neither do I, but apparently looking like some ancient general is considered suitable… What is it the humans called those people? Romans or something like that?”

Pumyra chuckled. “You’re asking the wrong cat.”

“Fair enough. Now where did the report say Tarsus was last seen?”

“Some place called Cliffside.”

If my memory serves Cliffside is an old bar that was redone after the attack on Canterlot a number of years ago. These days it looks more like a proper restaurant than a hole in the wall, but the appearance of a Prince still caught the attention of every pony in the establishment. The hostess seemed to be panicking the moment she saw me. “Oh, Your High-”

“Look, can we not do this now? I just need to speak with the bartender.”

The mare immediately stepped out of my way and pointed to the pale blue stallion standing behind the bar. He didn’t seem to pay much mind to who he was looking at, at least when you stacked his expression up against the other patrons. “What’s your poison?” The Bartender asked.

“I’m actually looking for someone.” I said as I fished a picture of the Lieutenant out of a pouch on my belt. “Tell me, when’s the last time you’ve seen Lieutenant Tarsus?”

“That’s not Lieutenant Tarsus…”

“Wait, what?”

“That’s Sureshot… My father used to tell me stories about him. Said he went mad after some new pony joined the guard years ago.”

“But you told some guards you’d seen him last, didn’t you?” Pumyra asked.

The bartender looked confused. “You two are the first to come to me asking if I’d seen that stallion.”

“Then what’s the truth here?!”

“Pumyra, stop.” I said, stepping between her and the counter. “He’s telling the truth… Which means we’ve been played somehow.” I fished out my communicator and flicked it on. “Admiral Beatie?”

“Beatie here. Have you found something?”

“You could say that… Listen, I need the names of the officers who reported that they met with this bartender.”

“Of course, just give me… What the hell? The report isn’t in the system anymore.”

“And I’ve got a good idea why… Shut down all external access to the defense mainframe and start sweeping it for signs of intrusion.”

“But that’ll blind us!”

“Then tell anypony that’s effected that they’ll have to contact the castle directly to get information for the time being. Sureshot was never confirmed as being here, and I’ve got a feeling that somepony is planting false data in the network. We’re being played Admiral, and until we know who’s responsible and why we to act accordingly.”

“Dusk, I think I found Sureshot.”

Looking out the open door to the street, Pumyra was clearly onto something. As we made our way outside it became clear that Sureshot was standing there, but he looked far from a prim and proper guard. What used to be a chest plate had been melted and seemingly fused to Sureshot’s chest alongside some sort of flashing implant. “Captain Sureshot?”

The pony perked up and finally seemed to recognize his surroundings. “I’m in Canterlot… How’d I get here?”

Slowly I made my way up to the former Guard. “I don’t know Captain. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Uh… There was a battle, and… Meteor. He left me for dead.” The stallion suddenly looked confused, before grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me. “What have I done? I tried to kill a kid damnit! He was just a kid! And… Oh god, Celestia.”

I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit this had quickly crossed into weird territory. If anything Sureshot seemed to be suffering a mental breakdown… But why now? As suddenly as I came to that question a squad of guards surrounded myself and Sureshot with weapons raised. “Sureshot, let my grandson go!”

But Sureshot didn’t seem to care about the rifles that were pointed at his head. But as tears started streaming down his face I came to a conclusion. “Stand down, he’s with me!”

“WHAT!” Gramps roared from his spot at my side.

“I said he’s with me.” I calmly replied as I took out my communicator. “Endeavor, this Alpha One.”

“Go for Endeavor.”

“I need medical VTOL on my position. I have someone here I’m gonna need Faust to take a look at.”

“Acknowledged. Darkstar Two-Four Heavy is being vectored now, ETA is six minutes.”

“Understood Endeavor, Alpha One out.”

Gramps finally ripped me out of Sureshot’s panicked Grip and pinned me up against the wall of the bar. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Getting this stallion some help. Does Sureshot look like he’s all there to you? Or are you missing the glaringly obvious? There’s something seriously wrong with him, he needs help, and personally I want to know what the hell is up with that big-ass implant. I know you’ve got a problem with him having tried to kill you-”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence as Sureshot wrapped Gramps in a bear-hug and buried his face in his shoulder. “I’m sorry…” Was all I could hear the stallion utter, but judging by the look of absolute confusion on Gramps’ face it was rather clear he didn’t understand what was going on.

And I’m being entirely honest with myself, I don’t know either.

***

HMS Endeavor, Two Hours Later

Faust met us in the hangar and immediately dragged Sureshot up to her ‘lab’. Myself, Pumyra and Gramps had been reduced to observers as she laid him on what looked like a morgue table and started poking and prodding away at the distressed stallion.

We stood watching for the better part of an hour and a half before Faust started putting what looked like electrodes on Sureshot’s temples, and hooked those off-white wires into some strange looking computer. “So… What exactly are you doing?”

“Right now I’m trying to determine how early on this neurological damage started…”

“I’m sorry, but neurological damage?” Gramps asked.

Faust nodded as she punched away at her device. “He’s had all the control implants placed and is definitely suffering the effects of long term use, but the scar tissue on those is so old I can’t tell when they were put in. The only way to tell is to scan Sureshot’s memory engrams to see where the degradation from the implants start.”

“Faust, that doesn’t answer the question.” I pointed out. “We don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

It took Faust a moment before she understood what I said. “Oh, right… Well, the Imperium had control implants they would use on slaves and criminals that proved hard to control. Plant them in various spots in the body and bind themselves to the host’s nervous system. They can be shut off and turned on at will to allow an individual with the controller to effect direct control over all of the subject’s functions, basically turning the individual into a drone and turning the body into a prison. You’re trapped in your own body with no control over anything. However long-term use can cause severe neurological damage, and in many cases the overuse of the implants led to the subject’s mind breaking. From what I can tell Sureshot is right on that edge, but the receiver implant has failed… Probably because it was overtaxed trying to control Sureshot, the holoemitter that’s been stuffed in his chest, and what looks like some sort of data module.”

“Out of curiosity, what’s on that data module?” I asked.

Faust deftly tossed me a tablet displaying all the records of Lieutenant Tarsus. “It seems that was linked to the defense mainframe. Once the receiver died, it lost its ability to link to the mainframe.”

“Which would explain why Beatie couldn’t find any of the files related to Tarsus when I called him… Sureshot was probably bait for a trap.”

“Then why not spring the trap anyway? We were exposed and right where we were meant to be.” Pumyra pointed out.

“It probably wasn’t a trap. Euripides was probably trying to send you a message.” Faust replied before her eyes caught something on her screen. “Or maybe he was just throwing out his trash so we would find it and see what he’s capable of.”

A hologram of Faust’s readout started glowing in pale blue light over the table that Sureshot was lying on. “Faust, you’re gonna have to explain what this means.” Gramps admitted after studying the data for a few moments.

“For starters Sureshot has had these implants in his body since he was at least sixteen, and they’ve been functioning constantly since around twenty five… Which would’ve been about a year before you met him Meteor. That would also mean that Euripides was trying to kill you before you and my daughter became involved.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Look, can you get that shit out of Sureshot?” I asked.

Faust nodded. “I’ll have it all removed within the hour, and I can repair a decent amount of the neurological damage. But there’s damage I can’t fix, and I sure as hell can’t fix the decades of psychological trauma that Sureshot has been living with. Honestly I don’t think he’ll be able to be left alone, at least until we can make sure he’s stable.”

“What is he going to need?”

“A damn good therapist for starters, and a caretaker. Meteor, if you’re thinking-”

“Of what, taking him in? Not a good idea. It doesn’t matter what the reality of his situation is I’ve got too much bad blood for Sureshot. But I’m not going to let him suffer as a casualty in a war that I’ve been stuck in since I was a child. If he needs a place to live, a therapist, a caretaker, anything, I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“That’s rather noble of you Gramps.” I observed.

“It’s also the right thing to do… Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go make arrangements for Sureshot’s care.”

Gramps quickly left, leaving Pumyra and I alone with Faust. “Seems like he’s got a lot to think about…” Pumyra observed.

“Meteor has good reason to think.” Faust replied. “Anyway, now that you two are here and the reason you came is dealt with I have a favor to ask.”

“Uh… Ok, shoot.”

Out from the shadows behind Faust two figures stepped into focus. I recognized Dawn immediately, but I definitely don’t remember a second Thunderan coming back with us. “This is Bengali, Dawn found him while doing reconnaissance for me.”

I immediately turned to Pumyra. “Do you know him?”

“I’m pretty sure I’d remember a Bengal cat.” Pumyra admitted.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t remember Bengali. One of the problems with multiverse travel is ending up in the right time, which is nearly impossible without an anchorpoint.”

“Wait, he’s from a different point in time too?”

The cat nodded. “If the stories my parents told me are accurate, it’s been about twenty years since you left Pumyra.”

“Look, this is giving me a headache.” Pumyra snapped “What do you want kid?”

“Straight to the point… Alright, the King has been missing for a few years, and I need your help to find him.”

“But why us?”

Bengali seemed to develop a look of concern, and for entirely good reason. “Because I believe that he’s being held by Mumm-Ra.”

Author's Note

Well there's a cliffhanger ending now, isn't there? This is actually as far as I've gotten with writing before going in to do a rewrite on the next few chapters. This also is going to act as a jumping off point to another short story I'm planning, Lost and Damned, which will examine part of Sureshot's recovery now that he's in friendly hands.

Undying

HMS Endeavor, Main Observation Lounge
Dusk

It took the better part of an hour to gather the entourage that was present during the events in Thundera, but for the breadth of that time I was watching Pumyra stare out the lounge windows across the vast ocean the cruiser was hovering over. She was deep in thought and for good reason. I’ve seen adversaries crop up time and time again after I had believed they were dead, but this wasn’t another case where there was a chance I was wrong. She had shot Mumm-Ra in the head, and I was there to see the whole thing play out.

“Alright, now that everyone is here we should get down to business.” Faust said, catching the collective attention of the room. “By now you all understand why we’re here. Bengali here has reason to believe that Mumm-Ra is alive. If he is still in play, then we need to act decisively. I don’t need to tell you lot that he’s powerful, but if Mumm-Ra stays on the board then it’ll only be a matter of time before we will have to contend with him and Euripides simultaneously. So with everything quiet for the moment we need to take Mumm-Ra out now before he manages to reamass his power.”

“Uh, question. What’s with all this ‘we’ stuff?” Felix asked.

“Because I will be accompanying the group that goes with Bengali.”

“Then why ask me for a favor?” I pointed out. “Seems to me you’re more than capable of handling this whole Mumm-Ra thing yourself.”

“Because I can’t fight Mumm-Ra and protect the Thunderans at the same time. Nor can I locate Lion-O while Mumm-Ra and his forces are at work, and we will need Lion-O’s experience with mystical artifacts if there’s to be any chance we can lock Mumm-Ra away permanently.”

“Can you at least tell me how Mumm-Ra is still alive?” Pumyra finally asked as she turned away from the window.

“He likely managed to reconstitute himself. From what Starswirl learned during his travels his body isn’t flesh and blood anymore. It seems that during his original imprisonment his body died while his power maintained his physical form. From what I can tell he can’t be killed, but there are artifacts on Third Earth that can trap him again.”

“Then what did shooting him in the head do?”

“More than likely it destabilized his power and drained him. It would take decades for him to return to full strength.”

“Oh come on, that’s bullshit.” Cosmo spat. “You don’t have hard evidence, so you’re guessing.”

But Faust simply shrugged. “Would you rather have me sugar coat it? Because I can’t think of a good way to do that. At bare minimum some of us are going to have to go deal with this problem, and it will be very dangerous.”

“Then why are we going? We’ve got way more important concerns right now!”

“Cosmo, if we were talking about anyone else I’d be in corner one hundred percent, but Faust is right.” I said, likely cutting off whatever answer Faust had in mind. “I’ve gone toe to toe with Mumm-Ra, you haven’t. He is nothing to sneer at, and he certainly could be a major threat. Euripides can at least send his lackies across all of reality seemingly at will. What’s to stop him from bringing Mumm-Ra here and doubling his firepower?”

Cosmo still wasn’t convinced, and I doubt any amount of talking would help him understand the reasoning we were tangling with. “Really Dusk?” He finally asked. “What makes you think this Mumm-Ra would align himself with Euripides?”

“Because he’ll want revenge against me, and probably Dusk.” Pumyra added. “Take it from someone with first hand knowledge, Mumm-Ra does not take defeat lightly, regardless of how minor. It won’t matter if he and Euripides have interests that don’t align, if Mumm-Ra gets an opportunity for revenge he will take it regardless of the cost.”

“So he’s a superpowered ego-maniac? Just great…” Cosmo muttered. “All right, so who’s going?”

“I’ve already figured that out Cosmo.” I said. “Just me, Pumyra, Faust and Bengali. The fewer of us that go, the likely that our absence will immediately be noticed.”

“You’ll have to add Dawn and Jorge to list Dusk, but your point is sound. Of course there’s no reason to worry about our absence attracting attention.” Faust added.

“And why would that be?”

“Because I already informed both of my daughters that you and Pumyra would be out of contact for a few days while you accompanied me on an expedition.”

Of course Faust already has the details covered, so I shouldn’t be all that surprised. “When do we leave?” I asked.

Faust abruptly rose from her chair and started heading for the door. “Right now.”

***

The Slums of Thundera, Some Time Later…

As whatever magic Faust used to bring us back to Thundera crackled away, I started recognizing some of the buildings from our previous visit a few days ago. Now, the passage of far more time on this end meant there was far less rubble lying around, but the city still felt deserted. “Alright, this is right where you left from Dawn.” I heard Faust say.

And that logically brought up an interesting question. “Did Dawn happen to run into Bengali while she was here? And what exactly was she doing here anyway?”

“Post-stabilization damage assessments.” My daughter replied. “Reality definitely stabilized after you got home, but the original points in time that the universes originally lined up against shifted. I checked every one that you stopped off in, and excluding this one the shift was only off by a few days.”

“What do the eggheads call that, time dilation?” I muttered.

“I’d be lying if I said I understood a word of that, but what’s with the massive discrepancy?” Jorge asked as he shifted his cloak to better hide the armor he wore underneath it.

“Couldn’t find a reason big man.” Dawn answered. “At least those muggers seem to have run off…”

“You rescued Bengali from muggers?”

Dawn nodded. “Yup. Got him to safety, he recognized I was an Equestrian and started babbling on about what he had been doing to locate the King, yada yada. One thing led to another and I decided to bring him back to talk to Faust.”

Forcing parental instincts that had been triggered by Dawn’s explanation to the side I turned my attention to Bengali. “So where are we going first?”

“Well, home. That’s where I have everything… And my parents have probably been worried sick. I don’t usually take off for more than a few hours without mentioning what I’m up to.” The white cat admitted.

As Bengali led us into the more active parts of the city, I couldn’t help but wonder what else had changed. Most of these buildings appear brand new, or at least newer. But there were a lot more Thunderans about, mixed with other species I didn’t recognize from the last visit. A handful seemed to pay some mind to us, but for the most part our group was ignored. But as we cleared through a familiar gate into the plaza outside the palace entrance, I grabbed Bengali’s shoulder and led the group to a halt. “I thought you said you were going home?”

“Uh, this is home.” Bengali said. “Members of the royal family do tend to live in the palace.”

“Then who exactly are your parents?” Pumyra asked, finally managing to say something.

“Get away from my son!”

Everything began unfolding rapidly. Jorge flung off his cloak, blasted to the front of the group and hefted his chain gun up. Dawn had her cloak turned back and pulled some bow and arrow out of thin air… All while the rest of us were standing there looking like buffoons. “I wouldn’t if I were you, drop your weapons!”

“Unless you have a death wish, I’d do what the walking tank says.” Dawn added.

After a few moments I finally came to my senses and threw back my hood. “Jorge, Dawn, stand down!” I shouted as I put myself between them and the horde of guards that had assembled so far. As I turned to face the guards, I immediately recognized the cat that was in charge. “Tygra?”

“What the… Stand down, they’re friendly.” The now older cat made his way past his guards to get within arm’s reach of us. “It’s been too damn long Dusk.”

“Let’s worry about the formalities later, shall we?” Faust said as she forced her way to the front. “I’m going to need access to the antiquities section of the archives immediately.”

Tygra cocked an eyebrow and glanced over at me. “Who is she?”

I had to think about it for a moment. “Well… Faust here is technically my great grandmother.”

“Technically?”

“Ya… She’s family, although I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing yet.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Normally I’d say so, but since we left the bullshit keeps getting worse. At this point I would have to say we’re somewhere between apocalyptic and extinction level threats.”

Tygra looked somewhat confused. “And how long has this been going on?”

“Well we saw you last what, a week ago? So I’d have to say it started about an hour after that.” Judging by the changing expression on Tygra’s face I’d say he was floored. “I think we better trade notes…”

***

Castle Throne Room, Ten Minutes Later

“So… Any questions?” I asked once I finished my spiel.

Tygra, obviously, was the only other Thunderan present. “Just one… She’s your daughter?” He said, pointing at Dawn.

“Yup.”

“Doesn’t that come across a bit weird? That your daughter is almost half your age?”

“Eh, kinda. I still haven’t hit the crippling emotional repercussions yet… Although my ‘dad sense’, assuming that’s actually a thing, seems to keep flaring up.”

“Wait, what?” Dawn asked.

“Well I can’t help but get a bit suspicious after hearing you and a boy were off on your own.”

“Are you kidding me?!”

I shrugged. “I kinda wish I was.”

“I think we’re getting a bit off track… I know that you lot are the reason Bengali has been missing, and thank you for bringing him home. But I get the impression you wouldn’t bring a soldier in power armor with a massive cannon along if something else wasn’t going on.” Tygra observed.

“And you would be right. We’re here about Mumm-Ra.” Faust replied.

“Ugh…” Tygra said as he gripped the bridge of his nose. “I take it you must’ve talked with Bengali.”

“But father-”

“Ben, please.” Tygra said, seeming far calmer than normal. “We haven’t seen any sign of Mumm Ra since before you were born. And you’re running on a hunch that he could be responsible for your Uncle’s disappearance without-”

But Faust cut the cat off. “While you’re right that your son is lacking hard evidence that he’s responsible for your brother’s disappearance, Bengali is certainly correct that Mumm Ra is still alive. He hasn’t been flesh and blood for centuries, just energy. And he most certainly is reconstituting himself.”

“And just how do you know that? Pumyra put a bullet through his head.”

“Because Pumyra wasn’t the first to strike Mumm-Ra down.” Faust stated in a matter-of-fact manner. “He escaped a few centuries after his original imprisonment, and my husband struck him down. But he was around for long enough to notice his power coalescing and sealed him away in his sarcophagus again.”

“Hey, that would’ve been something to know!” I snapped.

“That’s why I’m telling you now. This is the place to share that information.” Faust countered. “In your archives there are plans for a spirit chamber of some sort. I need to get those plans so I can fabricate one.”

“Ok… But what’s to stop Mumm-Ra from escaping again in the future? If what you’re telling me is true he’s already escaped imprisonment twice already. And better yet, how do you trap him in this ‘spirit chamber’ anyway?”

“That’s where we’ll need your brother’s help, and while I work on assembling the chamber Dusk and Pumyra will go find him.”

“Wait, what?” Pumyra asked.

“Yes, you and Dusk will go find Lion-O. His experience with those power stones of his is going to be vital. They defeated Mumm-Ra once before, so they can do it again. If he’s weaker it’ll make it far easier for me to trap force his essence into the chamber.”

But Tygra rolled his eyes. “You still haven’t answered my first question.”

He was right. What would stop Mumm-Ra from escaping again? “Could we nuke the chamber and vaporize the bastard?” Jorge asked.

“Eh… Maybe, but I wouldn’t count it as a guaranteed method.”

“Mumm-Ra would still be vulnerable in the chamber though, at least as long as he’s trapped… What’s to stop us from chucking the whole thing into a black hole?” I offered.

The Thunderans in the room looked confused, likely not entirely familiar with the destructive astronomical phenomenon, but by the looks of everyone else I hit on a golden idea. “Keep that in mind Dusk.”

By that point Tygra seemed convinced and started leading our group to the archives, Pumyra pulled me off to the side. “You do realize that we’re in over our heads here, right?”

I shrugged. “I don’t see how that’s something new.”

“We don’t have anything to go on, and neither of us are trackers. How do you think we’re going to find Lion-O? It seems that he’s a rather big part of the plan that Faust hasn’t clued us completely into.”

“You’re not wrong… But I don’t see any better options.”

Pumyra just shook her head in disbelief. “You’re certainly Mister Positive…”

“Oh come on, what would you have me do? Bitch and moan? Just look at it like this; there’s probably someone out there dealing with something a lot worse than what we’re stuck with.”

Well, at least I hope so...

Author's Note

And we continue to move on, while I slowly finish up the writing in this story arc. By the time this is over we'll have more repercussions that'll feed into Lost and Damned before I move onto a Rush-centric story arc. Stay tuned for more!

Paris

Ruins of Mumm-Ra’s Ship
Four Hours Later…

“You sure starting here is a good idea?” Pumyra asked as we walked down off the Feliner.

I shrugged. “If Mumm-Ra has Lion-O, then the best place to start looking would be Mumm-Ra’s proverbial back yard.”

“And if Mumm-Ra just so happens to be home?”

I glanced over my shoulder at the Spartan that was following us down the ramp. “That’s why Jorge is here.”

“You sure I’m here to actually do something, or am I just here for moral support?”

“Why not both?” I countered. “Anyway… Pumyra, you know the layout here. What’s the best way to get in discretely?”

Pumyra instead motioned to a large gaping hole in the hull. “Probably the conveniently located entrance.”

Walking up to the hull breach I started taking mental notes. The damage was recent, at least by ancient spaceship standards. There was no sign of corrosion on the perimeter of the breach, but without knowing something more about what Mumm-Ra’s ship was made of there’s no easy way to make some sort of educated assessment. “Jorge, you might know a bit more about starships. What do you think this hull is made of?”

The Spartan grabbed the edge of the hull and tried to flex it around. “Feels almost like a titanium alloy. Little to no give, incredibly hard by all appearances… But this stuff is warm.”

“What?”

“I can feel it through my armor. Go ahead, feel for yourself.”

A quick touch was all I needed to do two things. Confirm that someone very recently had blow a hole in this ship, and that the metal was still hot enough to singe the fur on the back of my hand slightly. “What the hell did this?”

“Probably whoever left the bloody footprints.” Jorge said as he pointed out the small smears of fresh blood lining the floor of the hallway inside the ship. “Whoever it was probably cut one of their feet on some of this glass.”

“Wait, glass?” I looked down and sure enough we were standing in a pile of glassy sand. “Well, son of a bitch. So I vote we follow the blood smears.”

“Without knowing who or what they belong to?” Pumyra asked, sounding somewhat insulted by the idea.

“You have any better ideas? No? Ok, we’ll go with my plan.” I said as I stepped through the hull breach.

It didn’t take long for the three of us to come to a large, rather familiar chamber, although the blood smears veered right and went around the perimeter of Mumm Ra’s command center. “Oh great, we’re back where this shitshow started.” Pumyra softly chided.

“I’ve got a contact, center of the room.” Jorge said as he hefted his chain gun to the ready. “Hooded figure, appears to be unarmed.”

“Oh fuck.” Pumyra spat. She was right to be worried, as sitting on a throne in the center of the command center was a decrepit looking figure. “It’s Mumm-Ra.”

“Looks like he’s sleeping…” Jorge observed.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not gonna matter big guy. We’ve just stepped into it big time.”

“So did that guy.” Pumyra said, pointing to a cloaked figure on the far side of the chamber.

“I’m not as weak as you would presume”

All three of us started looking around, but I had recognized the voice. “Well, Mumm-Ra ain’t napping!” I said, just as Mumm-Ra rose from his throne. “Jorge, suppressing fire! Keep Mumm-Ra-” I was cut off by a blast of red lightning that came from the direction of the other hooded figure in the chamber. “Ok, definitely suppress that bastard.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because Mumm-Ra is bound to be pissed off.”

“Right, I’m on it!” Jorge replied, immediately letting loose controlled bursts from his chain gun.

“And what exactly are we going to do?”

“You’re going to hold on.” I retorted as I grabbed Pumyra. The teleportation spell quickly brought us across the chamber, right alongside the hooded figure. “Alright, who the hell are you?” I demanded, drawing my pistol and aiming it at the figure.

I could make out a beard in the shadows under that hood, briefly illuminated by a flash of light from the center of the chamber. “Pumyra? I never thought I’d see you again...”

“Lion-O?” I asked, lowering my weapon. “Damn, you got old.”

“And neither of you have aged a day.” The cat replied. “No matter, we can worry about those details later. Right now-”

“Take cover!” Pumyra yelled.

The three of us managed to duck just as Jorge came sailing overhead and into the wall next to us. “Yup, you definitely brought me for the moral support.” The Spartan groaned.

“Ok, new plan. Let’s get the hell out of here!” Pumyra yelled.

“Agreed.” I said as I pulled my radio out. “Dawn, we’re coming out hot. Have Tygra get the ship ready for dustoff!”

“Copy that, we’re on it.”

“Jorge, we’re going to make a fighting withdrawal. We’ll alternate fire between you and me. Lion-O, Pumyra? Make for the Feliner. We’ll cover your retreat.”

“Well there’s a problem.” Jorge pointed out. “What am I supposed to cover you with? Oh, and just for the record someone owes me a new chaingun!”

“Then all three of you just move!” I shouted. By this point Mumm-Ra had powered up and was no longer that frail looking body we had seen sitting on the throne. But he wasn’t moving around much either, pacing around the central part of the chamber as he waited for me to get in arms reach… So I ended up stopping short. “You’re still not at full strength, are you?”

“It matters not. I’ll still flatten you like a bug under my heel!” Mumm-Ra roared.

But judging by the fact that Mumm-Ra would only stray so far from his throne, I was doubting that he could. “Your throne… That’s what’s helping you regenerate, isn’t it? For right now that thing is your lifeline.” Mumm-Ra took a swing at me, but his fist just couldn’t get close enough to land a hit, instead sailing past my muzzle. “That would also explain why you kicked Jorge’s ass. He got too close to you.”

“Shut up and fight me!”

I shook my head and started making for the exit. “I’m not thinking so, at least not right now. Wouldn’t be that fair of a fight anyway. Just know this Mumm-Ra; you’re days are numbered.”

The demon kept yelling, and I could hear him as I made my way back towards the hull breach as he ranted on about claiming his revenge or something like that. “You know, I thought there would be more than just shouting.” Pumyra observed as I passed through the hull breach.

“Well Mumm-Ra can’t get too far away from his throne. My guess is he’d either depower or disappear, but either way that’s what he’s using to regenerate.” I explained. “If we had the ordinance we could hit this place from orbit, at least buy Faust some time to get that spirit urn built.”

“Great, now he thinks we should nuke this place from orbit.” Jorge droned while we reboarded the Feliner.

“Oh come on Jorge, we don’t have-” Suddenly the deck jeered violently upwards, before stopping a good three seconds later. It was enough to send us all tumbling to the ground, only to start sliding around violently as the Feliner began to maneuver quite hard. “Some warning would’ve been nice Tygra!”

CREEEEEK!

The sudden sound of tearing metal woke me up to what was obviously a problem. The Feliner was now very obviously off in a bad way, and it was rather likely that we would be experiencing an earth-air interface and said interface’s infinite coefficient of friction. In other words…

“Brace for impact!”

Ten Minutes later…

“So just so we’re clear, everyone’s in one piece?” Tygra asked for the third time.

“You got the same answer the last two times.” Jorge countered as he slid out of the Feliner’s starboard engine nacelle. “Yes, we’re all still in one piece. And no, no one is missing any limbs. You happy?”

Tygra glared at Jorge for a moment before nodding. “Not exactly… Did you at least figure out what took out my ship?”

Jorge nodded and handed Tygra what looked like a tracker head to a heat seeking missile. “Small SAM right up your tailpipe. Blew the turbine clear to hell, and from the looks of it the shrapnel tore up just about everything else inside the nacelle. Unless you can replace that entire unit, we’re probably not going anywhere.”

“I don’t remember Mumm-Ra’s ship having working air defenses.” Pumyra added as she took the seeker from Tygra.

“It’s been twenty years for these guys. That’s more than enough time to reinforce a position.” I pointed out. “Regardless, we need to get out of here. Any ideas?”

“We’ll have to hope the radio is still working and get a hold of Thundera.” Tygra said. “We’ve recovered some other ships over the years, so one of those could be sent out.”

“Well that’s time we don’t have.” Jorge said, pointing towards the horizon. “We’ve got incoming contacts!”

Well that sucks… “Pumyra, grab the rifles and ammo. We’ll have to hope what we brought will do for now. Tygra, go get on that radio!” Pumyra must’ve read my mind, because I caught the DMR she tossed me right before it hit my face.

“Just what is that supposed to do? Help is hours away at minimum!”

“If we’re lucky Faust already has a-”

“Wait, those are Warthogs!” Jorge called out. “Son of a bitch, they’ve even got a Mammoth!”

My radio suddenly gurgled to life. “Prince Dusk this is Admiral Baxter, do you copy?”

“Baxter? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Princess’ orders. HMS Paris is at your disposal.”

You know what? Screw it, I don’t really want to know the details right now. As the Paris came into view overhead from behind me, I started feeling a lot better. “Well then Admiral, you can start by packing up shop. We’re moving out.”

“Sir?”

While I’d rather go after Mumm-Ra now that we have support from the Paris, I knew deep down I couldn’t risk confrontation. “We’re not forcing the engagement Admiral. We’re not ready, at least not yet.” But with that being said, I’m still hoping that’ll change quite soon…

***

Bridge of the HMS Paris, One Hour Later

It took plenty of time to wrangle the Mammoth and what was left of the Feliner into the main hangar aboard the Paris. It also took just as much time to come to an important realization; Lion-O needed a shower. Badly. Copious amounts of deodorant probably wouldn’t hurt either, but then again when you’ve been practically living off the grid for who knows how long some of those problems might readily be forgiven.

“Now just so we’re clear, we can’t engage until Faust has her trump card ready to play, and even then you still don’t know how to play said card?” Baxter droned, basically summing up the conversation that we had while waiting for the rest of my group to arrive. “Dusk, you’re putting an awful lot of faith in this woman. Is it worth it?”

“Tim…” I knew where Baxter was going with the question. We know so little about Faust is it worth trusting her? “You’re not wrong to ask, but I don’t see any other options at our disposal.”

“And I get that Dusk. Now you would still know better on this one, but what if Faust isn’t what she seems?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it Tim.” It wasn’t that much longer before the rest of the entourage finally filed onto the bridge. “Well I’m going to assume you’ve all found the showers, and at least some of you decided to find a change of clothes too…” I said, noting that Lion-O had ditched his armor for some Marine’s training uniform.

“Look, that’s not important. We need to start planning our strike against Mumm-Ra.” Lion-O retorted. “His forces have established outpost along Thundera’s border, and they’ve been stockpiling munitions at staging grounds nearby for the better part of the last six months.”

“Do you have the locations?” Baxter asked

“Of course I do.”

Baxter nodded as a wry smile crept across his face. “Well if you have the locations, go give them to my navigator. This is a warship after all.”

Lion-O seemed to finally realize that last bit, and hurried off to go find the navigator. “So you’re thinking we hit their ammo dumps.” I observed.

“Exactly.” Baxter replied. “You said we can’t force an engagement yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to piss Mumm-Ra off. That way when we do go to force the engagement, he’s more likely to come out to play.”

“So arrive, raise hell, leave?” I asked.

“In that order.” said Baxter.

“Sir, we’re picking up radio chatter on one of the lower bands. Unknown origin.”

Baxter glanced over at the communications officer and nodded. “Put it through to my station.”

BZZZTTT…. “-overun! Repeat, outer wall-” BZZZTTT….

“Well that can’t be good.” I observed. “Tim, that has to be Thundera.”

“Agreed… Helm, set course Thundera and give me best possible speed.” Baxter called out before grabbing the interphone off the side of the holotable. “Now hear this, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations!”

I glanced over at Pumyra and pointed to the door. “Come on, we need to go gear up.”

“And just what exactly do you plan on doing?” Pumyra asked as we both walked off the bridge.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I retorted. “We’re going to show those Marines how its done.”

Author's Note

So... Yeah. Mumm-Ra can't do shit yet, as he's the equivalent of a dog on a leash. Of course that won't be the case by the time we get down to a proper showdown. In the meantime writing for this arc is about done, I'm just wrapping up the Faust angle to it. Because yes, there's a Faust angle. I'm also going to try and do some more updates on the Codex over the next few days.

No Man's Land

Somewhere over Thundera

“Alright, who the hell are we?!” I shouted to the crowded troop compartment.

“We’re Marines!”

“I can’t fucking hear you!”

“WE’RE MARINES!”

“Now then, does someone want to tell me what the hell we’re gonna do?”

“We’re gonna go kick alien ass!” One of the Marines shouted.

“See, this guy gets it!” I said, pointing at the soldier.

“Ten seconds to ground!” The pilot called over the intercom.

As the door opened I made sure to click off the safety on my SAW. “Alright, get tactical Marines!”

We hit the dirt in the central market district of Thundera, and we quickly saw it was profoundly deserted. “Akright, let’s secure this landing zone! Spread out and find cover!” Pumyra shouted before grabbing the machine gun team as it hopped off the Pelican. “See that flat-roofed building off in the center? Set your guns up on top, I want fields of fire covering this whole plaza!”

“I didn’t think you were a soldier…” Tygra observed as he and Lion-O joined us.

“Had to take a crash course in field command once we finally got to Canterlot… That is of course on top of the training I already had.”

Right, Pumyra was one of Mumm-Ra’s generals before we met. “Well this just got awkward.” I observed.

“Little bit painful too…” Pumyra muttered.

“I take it you don’t like thinking about… You know, it?” Lion-O tried to diplomatically observe.

“Ya, you’re right. I don’t like thinking about how I got wound up and sent to try and kill the leader of my people. Don’t worry though, I’ve already got a way to cope.”

“Damn right you do love.” Said a red fox as he stepped in and literally swept Pumyra off her feet.

“Felix? The fuck are you doing here?”

“Uh, what does it look like?” The fox replied rather blank-facedly.

Pumyra roller her eyes and got back to her feet. “Now’s not the time to flirt… Not that I mind, it’s just that we’re in a warzone.”

“Ah, and here I was worried that we’d never get to another date.”

Ok, I’ve just about had enough of the flirting. “Alright you two delinquents I can smell the hormones over here. Felix, keep it in your pants for now. And Pumyra… Really?”

“What?”

“You know what, we’ll talk about it later. Felix, what are you actually here for?” I asked.

Felix unholstered his target designator and twirled it around in his hand. “I’m your JTAC for this one Dusk. Someone has to tell the Paris what to shoot at.”

“This is Noble Five, anyone read?”

“Go ahead Jorge.” I replied.

“We’re on top of the outer wall. We’ve got a number of dead soldiers from both sides and signs of struggle, but no signs of friendlies. We’re going to sweep the interior of the wall and see if anyone got cut off from the rest of the Thunderans.”

“Copy that Jorge, keep me informed.” I clicked off the radio and looked around the plaza. There was no signs of life aside from the Marines, and in a city that could be somewhat nerve wracking. “Lion-O, Tygra, did you have some sort of evacuation plans in place?

“We did.” Tygra replied. “The units on the wall were meant to act in a delaying action during a civilian evacuation.”

“Yeah, well they probably bugged out… At least that’s my guess.” I muttered.

“Paris to Alpha One, be advised we have eyes on friendly forces engaged at the palace gates not far from your position. You should be able to come in from behind and catch the enemy in a pincers. We’re sending the waypoint to your HUD.”

So the city isn’t deserted then. That’s good to know. “Copy that Paris, we’ll move to engage. Alpha One out.”

“Alright Marines, let’s get the lead out! Double time!” Pumyra shouted.

“We’re taking point.” I said to the cats. “If your soldiers are still engaged, seeing some friendly faces before a bunch of alien soldiers will probably help us avoid some friendly fire.” Both Lion-O and Tygra nodded.

It took the better part of ten minutes to maneuver through the city towards the palace gates, all the while the din of energy weapon discharges kept growing louder and louder. Just before we rounded the corner to the main gate, Jorge finally arrived on the opposite side of the intersection with his fireteam, and a large contingent of Thunderan soldiers. “Sorry we’re late!” The Spartan called out.

“No, you’re just in time.” I called back as I peered around the corner. “I count twenty lizards in the open.”

“Copy that.” Jorge said as he hefted his new chaingun to the ready. “Alright Noble, on me!”

“Alpha, let’s rock and roll!”

By this point one of the lizards must have heard us, because some of them immediately started shooting as we rounded the corner to engage. Jorge immediately cut loose with his chaingun at the crowd of soldiers, and at least half dropped to the ground in bloody piles once his burst stopped. The other half? Well they decided to charge. That was their first, and subsequently last, mistake. Lion-O speared the first one that got into reach, while Tygra proceeded to blast the next closest one with his pistol. I pulled my knife and proceeded to stab the third lizard in the gut, while the soldiers moped up the remaining lizards in a din of rifle fire.

“We’re clear!” Jorge called out.

The Thunderan soldiers that were being besieged by the Lizards definitely looked like they were happy to see us. And considering Dawn was with them, and that she looked utterly exhausted, I’d wager we showed up at just the right time. “Hey Dad, thanks for coming. I’m just gonna-” Dawn suddenly started falling to the ground before one of the soldiers grabbed her.

“What the hell happened?” I once I took Dawn away from the soldier.

“No clue.” The soldier admitted. “I know she was doing something in the archives, but when the attack started she came out looking exhausted.”

“Must be something to do with Faust then…” I muttered.

“It was something to do with me.” Faust said, having finally made her way through the line of soldiers carrying an odd looking lantern. “I needed her help to finish the urn in time, but Dawn still doesn’t have the reserve strength to handle such a massive use of magic.”

“Well was beating my daughter up worth it?” I asked.

Faust nodded. “We’ve got the urn, now I just need to unleash it on Mumm-Ra.”

“What about his soldiers? They’re still in the city.” Lion-O pointed out.

“Please, that’s mop-up for the Marines. You’ve already taken out half of them anyway, considering they happened to get behind the wall by using some sort of airship.”

“Then where’d the civilians go?” I asked. “The whole city is deserted.”

“They’re hiding in the caves in the hills around the city waiting for the all-clear signal. There’s a number of underground escape tunnels that have been built since Thundera’s repopulation.” Faust explained.

“That assumes that any of those scalies are even left in the city, the main gate was wide open when my team swept the wall.” Jorge added. “Either way, we need to secure the city.”

I nodded. “Agreed. Jorge, organize the Marines and the locals into mixed search teams. I want one Thunderan with each team if possible. They know the city, so they’ll be the best to lead the security teams.” As Jorge began ordering the soldiers about, Pumyra stepped in. “What’s up?”

“Something’s off…” The cat whispered. “It feels like we’re being watched.”

“How would you know that?”

Pumyra shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s just a nagging feeling I’ve got. Look, I got the same feeling every time I turned my back on Mumm-Ra.”

“Alright, give me a hand with Dawn then.” I said as I hosted my daughter up over one of my shoulders.

Pumyra quickly got under Dawn’s other shoulder. “So what do you think?”

Normally I wouldn’t know what to think, but with a big grey warship floating overhead, it didn’t take much thought to come to the conclusion of what we had to do. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to the one place that can confirm whether you’re crazy or not.”

***

HMS Paris, Half an Hour Later…

“So what exactly are you looking for?” Baxter asked as he finally came in over our shoulders.

“Wish I knew Tim.” I admitted. “So far we haven’t seen anything unusual using the external cameras.”

Baxter studied our screen for a moment before saying anything again. “Did you try using the FLIR systems?”

“What’s FLIR?” Pumyra asked.

“Forward looking infrared.” Baxter replied as he turned on the thermal imaging equipment. “Now if you give me just one second, I’ll try activating the old security protocol…”

Now it was my turn to ask a question. “What security protocol?”

“Remember how we first met years ago? Paris was in the middle of some god-forsaken rainforest and you and your team came in on that ship of yours? We only saw you coming because we wrote a motion tracker program to tie into the FLIR on our external cameras and got the alert.”

Huh. Just over ten years and I never knew that. “That’s helpful… Now what are we picking up?”

“Mind if I get in here?”

Pumyra and I both moved off to the sides to let Baxter at the computer. “Lets see… Marines, Marines, Marines and… Wait, what’s that?”

Sure enough there was a figure tailing one of the security teams in the slums of Thundera. “What team is that?”

“Can’t tell with this system, hold on.” Baxter flicked a switch on the side of the screen, and the image was replaced with a map of the city, with all the markers the motion detector program was picking up superimposed over it. Almost immediately he hit the transmitter. “India 1-1, this is Paris. Check your six, we’ve got an unknown contact trailing you.”

Suddenly Pumyra pushed Baxter away from the transmitter. “India 1-1, get out of there now!”

“Pumyra, what the hell was that for?”

“Shit, Paris we’ve got trouble! Large thunderan carrying some sort of axe, he definitely ain’t friendly!”

“We need to get down there!” Pumyra insisted.

“Pumyra, we don’t even know who that is that India-”

“It doesn’t matter Dusk!” Pumyra shouted. “Whoever that is, Mumm-Ra brought them back and sent them with the raid.”

“Woah, back up. Brought them back? Pumrya, you’re making it sound like Mumm-Ra just pulled someone out of thin air.” Baxter said as he butted in.

But it made sense, for some reason. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s how Mumm-Ra got control over you. He crafted a new body for your soul… Son of a bitch, you died didn’t you?”

Pumyra started looking a little bit teary-eyed, but she nodded. “Look, I think I can sense Mumm-Ra’s magic because of what he did to me. When I was looking at that screen something in the back of my head was screaming Mumm-Ra.”

“In all fairness, this hard for me to believe.” Baxter admitted.

But I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter Tim, my gut is telling me she’s right.” Without much thought I grabbed Pumyra and pulled her in close. “Tim, get everyone you can to India’s position. We’ll try hold that axe-toting psycho off!”

“Dusk, what are you-”

POP!

“-doing?”

“Teleporting us.” I said, turning down the street to see the broken bodies of India on the ground, with one massive cat standing over them with a bloody axe. “Fuck, we’re too late.”

The cat turned to face us, hefting his axe over his shoulder. “You dare challenge Claudis?”

“Oh shit, Dusk we should run.” Pumyra said, sounding somewhat panicked.

“So he’s big. Whatever, we can still take him Pumyra.” I retorted.

“No you don’t get it! That’s KING Claudis! We’re strong enough to take him on!”

“I don’t care if he’s the King of Trottingham, we’re-”

“Look out!”

Pumyra quickly tackled me out of the way of Cladis’ axe, and it lodge in the cobblestone where we had just been standing. “Oh come on, it’s a just a fucking axe! I can take him?”

“Father?!”

Suddenly, as I looked down the street to see Lion-O and Tygra standing there it hit me. “That’s their father… Fuck!”

“Dusk? I think we’ve got a bigger problem.”

Pumyra was right. Standing over us was Claudis, and that axe of his was held high. And judging by the murderous look in his eyes, we were in the worst place in the world to be.

Author's Note

Well, they're fucked. At least by all normal measures. But that's not going to stop us, because the big battle is still down the road!

Interlude IV

Vanhoover Waterfront
Cosmo

“Could today be any better?” I wondered aloud.

“Well we could always be in our daughter’s shoes…” My wife Trixie pointed out.

I just rolled my eyes. “Please, it’s not like she’d be off having a good time right now. You don’t go make General and then get to put your feet up.”

By the time we reached some small nameless cafe overlooking the docks, Sky and Cloud had both finally managed to arrive. “We’re not too late, are we?” Cloud asked.

I shook my head as I sat down. “Nah, and even if you were who cares?” The waiter was already on point, considering how often the four of us stopped at this little hole in the wall, and had our usual round of drinks ready. “You sure you don’t want me to pay you this time?”

The waiter, some mare named Quartz, shook her head. “Nah, we make enough money off the rest of your guys Cosmo.

I nodded and quickly took a swig from my beer. “So how’s Sandstorm been?”

Sky and Cloud both exchanged looks before Sky sighed in defeat. “He’s been off the wall since he found out his ‘uncle’ is the crown prince. You know what he did yesterday? He went to the library to try and dig up everything he could on Light Industries so he could learn more about Dusk.”

“Well he’s never had any shortage of contact with Dusk… What’s with the sudden interest?” Trixie asked.

Sky just shrugged. “How much does he really know about Dusk? He knows that he was an industrialist, but all the sudden he gets named crown prince? Might as well have blown his mind.”

“At least it’s better than what he did this morning…” Cloud muttered.

I cocked an eyebrow. “What did he do?”

“So he calls up the Light offices and gets Halsey, right? Once he realized it was Halsey he just started peppering her with all sorts of questions about Dusk. I ended up picking up to see what was going on, and thank Celestia that Halsey is good with kids. I almost got dizzy just listening to Sandstorm.”

BRING BRING!

I rolled my eyes.”I better get that.” I said as I fished out my phone. “This is Cosmo.”

“Cosmo, it’s Faust.”

“Yeah… Wait, didn’t Archer say you took over one of her cargo bays? She was complaining about that last night.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sky and Cloud both perk up, as did Trixie if the sudden shift off to my side was any indicator.

“Yes, I guess she would complain about that. Look, I’m going to get straight to it. I need your team’s help.”

“Ok… I can get some of my guys together-”

“No Cosmo, I need YOUR team. Sky, Cloud and yourself. Felix is already here.”

I stopped for a moment and glanced at Sky and Cloud. “Last I checked my ‘team’ is semi-retired.”

“Well tell them to get over it, and yes I know you’re sitting right across from them Cosmo.”

“Well you tell whoever the hell that is that we still don’t know what she wants!” Cloud suddenly yelled. Obviously the phone was loud enough that he and Sky could hear what Faust was saying.

“Alright… What do you want?” I finally asked. “It’s a little bit unusual to get a call like this from god knows where.”

“Simple, I need your luck. Your team has done the impossible before, and I need the impossible now.”

“What’s so impossible that you need me?”

“Well Cosmo… I need your help to kill a god.”

Author's Note

And there you have it, another interlude down.

Ride of the Endeavor

HMS Paris, Five Hours Later…
Dusk

I was standing on the hangar deck along with Faust as she maintained her portal back to Equestria. From that rainbow colored swirl stepped four figures that I was well acquainted with. “Good to see you Cosmo.”

Cosmo just grabbed my hand. “And here I was worried you were gonna leave us out of this little party.”

“Well if I knew bringing you four in was the plan, I would’ve just had you tag along to begin with.” I countered as we made for the elevator. “So how have you guys been anyway?”

I could tell by looking at Cloud and Sky that they were dealing with something that was rather annoying. “You don’t want to know right now.” My future brother-in-law finally admitted.

Stepping into the elevator, I still couldn’t help but be confused. “So what, you’re planning on telling me later then?”

“Preferably before you get a phone call.” Sky added.

I nodded and turned to Faust. “Is everyone on the bridge?”

“All the cats, Felix, Baxter. Basically everyone except us.”

As the door opened on to the bridge it was good to see that Faust was right. But what was happening didn’t look like a meeting, it looked like chaos. “Tim, what the hell is going on?” I asked.

“We’ve got multiple aerial contacts inbound, including one massive one. They’re twenty minutes out at their current speed.

“Do you have a visual?”

“We should right about-” The holotable suddenly shifted to a massive image of a diamond-shaped ship floating over the desert. “-now… Oh fuck.”

“That’s Mumm-Ra’s pyramid… And it’s flying.” Tygra observed.

“I think need to keep in mind that his pyramid was just a crashed spaceship. Obviously someone has been busy if that thing is flying again.” Lion-O added.

“Dusk, you’re in charge here. What’s your call?” Baxter asked. “That thing easily has us outsized, probably outgunned too.”

“And we’re the only ship available.” I countered. “Helm, lay in an intercept course. Tactical, begin preparing MAC firing solutions.”

“Ok… So fight it is.” Baxter said as he picked up the intercom. “General Quarters, all hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill.”

“We still need to know the plan.” Faust said as she started punching up scans of Mumm-Ra’s ship.

Lucky me, I’m good at planning on the fly. “Alright, first things first is our entry and exfil point. We’ll use the MAC to blow a hole in that ship’s hull and we’ll take a Pelican in with both teams, Thundercats and Northern Guard. Once aboard we’ll move in force to the command center. We’ll get into the command center and clear it we hit Mumm-Ra with our big guns. That’ll be myself, Lion-O, Faust, Dawn and Cloud. While we’re doing that Jorge is going to lead a third team, consisting of him and Pumyra to try and download a copy of Mumm-Ra’s computers. They’ll be the first team out. Once they clear, our small fries will pull back. That’s Tygra, Cheetara, and the rest of the Northern Guard. That’ll leave us heavies to wage a fighting withdrawal in an attempt to draw out Mumm-Ra. Once we get him back to the extraction point, Faust will break out that spirit urn of hers and turn it on Mumm-Ra. After that it’ll just be a matter of getting off the ship, hit it with a bunch of nukes and go home.”

“That still assumes that Paris is able to hang in a firefight with that ship.” Baxter pointed out. “And to top that off we’ve only got one Shiva class warhead on board. If we use it, it needs to get past any point defense grids and shields otherwise it’ll be for naught.”

I nodded in agreement. “We’ll have to leave it to Jorge’s team to bring down the defenses then.”

“Why exactly are you having me go with Jorge?” Pumyra asked.

“You know Mumm-Ra’s ship, so you’ll know where to go to get the data we want.” I replied.

Pumyra seemed to accept my explanation and nodded. “When do we leave?”

I turned slightly and motioned to the elevator. “How about right now?”

***

Ten minutes later…

“Paris to Alpha One, what’s your status?”

I looked around the loaded Pelican before going for my radio. “We’re ready here Paris. Kick the door at your discretion.”

“Copy that, stand by.”

BOOM!

“What the hell was that?!” Tygra asked.

“That was Paris kicking the door wide open for us.” I said as the Pelican jolted and dropped out of the bottom of the hangar bay. “Alright, once we hit the ground we’re going to be on our own. We’ll have no support, so we need to play this to the letter.”

“Almost makes me wish you got the Armor of Omens to work…” Tygra said, directing the comment at Lion-O.

“Yeah, that would be helpful wouldn’t it?” Lion-O admitted.

Not that I knew what they were talking about, but it sounds like some sort of advantage we can use. “Mind sharing with the rest of the class?” I asked as the Pelican began to bank to the right.

“This gauntlet is supposed to deploy some sort of powered armor, but even with all of the power stones I can’t get the armor to deploy.”

I nodded as I looked over the golden gauntlet from my seat at the rear of the compartment. “That does sound like it would be helpful… Too bad.”

“Strike team, get ready to drop!” The pilot called over the intercom. The rear hatch swung upwards almost immediately to reveal the smashed interior of Mumm-Ra’s ship.

“Alright, lets go to work!” I shouted over the sounds of air ripping through the cabin. As such I ended up to be the first one to get my feet on the deckplates of Mumm-Ra’s ship. Aside from some blood splatters on the walls I didn’t see any lizards around. Likely any that had been in the compartment got vaporized by the MAC strike. It took only seconds for the Pelican to break off as the remainder of it’s passengers disembarked. “Pumyra, Jorge, get moving. Everyone else on me.”

Walking through the hallways bathed in flickering light, I began to get the impression that the MAC had done some serious damage to the internal systems. Yet it felt like the ship was still perfectly airborne. “Is anyone else a little creeped out right now?” Cloud asked from his spot at the back of the line.

“How so?” I called back.

“Well for starters there’s no sign of the crew.” He pointed out. “I doubt the MAC would’ve killed anyone outside of that external compartment cluster judging by the lack of damage we’re seeing.”

“Noble to Alpha, we’ve run into a problem.” Pumyra called over the radio, with the echos of chaingun fire in the background. “We’re cut off from one of the ancillary computer access terminals, and there isn’t another one in this section. We’re going to need some help getting at it.”

“Copy that Noble.” I glanced back and my eyes settled on the first cat I saw. “Lion-O, go find Pumyra and Jorge. Once you’re done with them double back to meet up with us.”

“Got it, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Lion-O replied before taking off back the way we came.

“I hope that we just didn’t make a mistake…” Faust whispered as she came up behind me.

“Oh come on, we’ll be fine. We’ve still got five heavy hitters. Even if Lion-O doesn’t get back in time we’ll probably be fine.” I offered in reply. As we kept moving we eventually came upon a large balcony overlooking a large chamber. Peering over the edge it looked like we were above the ship’s command center. But there was no sign of Mumm-Ra. In fact there was no sign of anyone or anything in the chamber, not even a throne like what we had seen on our last visit.

“Dad, behind us!”

I whipped around just in time to see Mumm-Ra blast the entire group off the balcony to the floor below. And boy did hitting that deck HURT., and it probably wasn’t helped by the fifty some odd foot fall to the floor. “Alright, that was a dick move!” I said as I got to my feet. Staring up at Mumm-Ra as he floated down to the deck. “I know you’re an asshole and whatnot, but did you HAVE to do that?!”

“I don’t think he cares Dusk.” Cloud said as he got to his feet. “Who else is up?”

I looked around quickly and noticed two things. First, beyond Cloud and myself everyone else seemed to have been knocked out by the fall. Second, Faust was missing. It was like she didn’t take the fall along with the rest of us. “Uh… No one.” I admitted as I turned back to face Mumm-Ra.

“So it’s just us versus impossible odds?” Cloud said as his wings started crackling with electricity.

As Mumm-Ra drew a large purple sword, I knew the answer. “Break right!”

Cloud zoomed off to the side, while I dashed left. It was a simple tactic to try and break Mumm-Ra’s attention between two separate targets. But as a blast of energy caught my side and sent me careening into the wall, I could see why that wasn’t working. Mumm-Ra hadn’t even looked at me, and instead had grabbed Cloud’s leg. As the thrusters on his armor flared as he tried to gain altitude, Mumm-Ra kept putting on more force before finally pulling Cloud right out of the sky. The pegasus flared his wings and tried striking the giant with his own lightning bolts, but it was all for naught as he got tossed. Tossed, I might add, right at me. As Cloud’s armored body slammed into me I remembered hearing footsteps as I hit the ground, shortly before feeling something strike the back of my head and descending into darkness

***

Concurrently aboard the HMS Endeavor
Archer

“So you’re telling me that Celestia is the one who gave the order?” For the better part of a day we had been trying to figure out why and where the Paris had gone during the night. We simply woke up and the ship in question was gone.

“That’s correct.” Admiral Beatie replied, his face on the monitor grimacing. “She didn’t even come to either of us, she just went right to Baxter and gave the order personally. At least that’s what she told me. And with her engines now up to Endeavor’s spec, who knows what friggin universe they’re even in!”

“General, the Paris just jumped back in!” The sensor officer called out from his station. “Admiral Baxter is already on his way over, I’ve got a request for docking at the bridge airlock.”

I glanced back at Beatie’s image before nodding. “Permission granted. Beatie, I’ll see if I can’t get some answers. Baxter has to know what’s going on.”

“Of course, good luck General. Beatie out.”

Baxter was already walking out of the airlock alongside Faust as the screen above the holotable went blank. “We’ve got a major problem.” Baxter said as he plugged a datachip into the bridge holotable. An image of a large, yet damaged, diamond shaped ship flickered into view. “Dusk and his strike team have been captured by Mumm-Ra.”

Now I’m no expert, but that’s not a good thing to hear. At all. “Ok… I take it you came back to develop a plan?”

“No, we need Endeavor and it’s tracking equipment to locate Dusk.” Faust explained.

“Shortly after the strike team boarded Mumm-Ra’s ship, they started jamming our communications and made for orbit. We pursued, but were unable to catch the ship before it jumped out. As of right now we have no way of locating Dusk without using Endeavor and her tracking equipment.”

I nodded and hit the shipwide intercom. “Amore, I need you and Rush on the bridge.”

“Archer, we need to get moving immediately.” Faust insisted. “How soon can Endeavor make orbit?”

“You have to give me a few minutes to get everything rolling Faust…” Suddenly a thought occurred. “Why weren’t you with Dusk or his team? It was your mission.”

“What, and let Mumm-Ra capture two Alicorns? No way, I wasn’t sticking around without options at my disposal.”

“You were with Dusk’s team then?” Faust nodded and I grabbed the bridge of my muzzle in frustration. “Great… Comms, get Admiral Beatie on the line.”

A few moments later Beatie’s face popped back into view on the comms panel over the holotable. “That was fast, what did you find?”

“Dusk and his strike team have been captured, Endeavor is deploying in pursuit.” I replied. “Get down to the shipyard Admiral, I’m ceding command of Task Force Torch to you until Baxter and I return.”

“Wait, you’re taking me with you?” Baxter asked, looking somewhat confused.

I nodded. “Someone needs to command Endeavor while I lead the rescue team, and that person is you Baxter.”

“Can I just ask how the hell Dusk got captured?” Beatie questioned.

I shrugged as I stared up at the screen. “I don’t know, but I’m thinking that Faust is partially to blame.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Shut it you coward!” I snapped, the stress of my morning finally catching up with me. “You could’ve very well have stayed and tried to help but instead you ditched your own flesh and blood, so I don’t want to fucking hear it!”

“Uh… Should I be concerned?” Beatie asked.

“Slightly.” I admitted. “Now get going, you’ve got work to do Admiral.” The screen went blank and I once again went to the intercom. “All available ODSTs and Polaris Squad, gear up. Briefing in the main hangar in twenty.”

“Helm, clear all moorings and prepare for departure, x-axis climb of thirty degrees on full burn.” Baxter added as he made for the command chair.

Once again, I found myself going off to clean up some other pony’s mistakes… Lovely.

Endeavor’s Starboard Hangar, Twenty Minutes Later…

All said about twenty fully equipped ODSTs had assembled alongside, as it turned out, the only shipboard member of Polaris Squad. “What’s the word Archer?” Commander Tremble asked.

“Alright, we’ve got a rescue mission. The Crown Prince has been captured and we’re the only ship capable of mounting a rescue attempt because we’re the only ship with the gear dedicated to tracking the Crown Prince… Yes, that’s just about as creepy as it sounds, but don’t get stuck on it.”

“So what are we doing General? Feet first drop?” One of the ODSTs asked.

“No, we’re boarding a hostile ship via Pelican while under fire. It’s the only way to make sure we all get in and out in one piece. We’re going in with three birds, one for us, one for the Prince’s strike team and a spare in case we need it.” I stopped for a moment before deciding to go on with my briefing. “You all need to be aware we’re possibly dealing with an Omega-tier threat. Use of any and all deadly force is authorized, and I stress any.”

“So creative killing is alright then?”

“If you want to call it that.” I admitted.

The ODSTs all started nodding. “What’s our role here General?”

“You’re all responsible for holding our landing zone. Tremble, myself and Faust are the rescue party.” There was a number of groans but I held my hand up. “If we don’t have a way out then there’s no point in launching a rescue mission. And keep in mind that we’re boarding a ship full of hostile aliens, so there’ll be plenty for you all to do.”

“Bridge to Archer, we’re in visual range of the hostile vessel. Tacnet is picking up active Equestrian transponders aboard that thing.”

“Alright, you heard the Admiral! Let’s get the lead out!” I shouted, pulling on the helmet to my armor. We had a pony to save.

***

Aboard Mumm-Ra’s Ship
Dusk

“Anyone catch that license plate?” I groaned as I sat up off the floor. It was clear by looking around that the lot of us had been tossed in some sort of holding cell, capped off on the far end by an energy shield of some sort.

“Yeah, I did.” Cloud said as he helped me to my feet. “I think it said Tempest, but I could be mistaken.”

I looked around at the assembled group and realized that we still missing a few faces. “Has anyone seen Jorge or Pumyra?”

Cloud shook his head. “Haven’t seen Lion-O or Faust either.”

Tygra, of course, was also missing. “What about Tygra?”

“Lizards took him away about an hour ago, I’d guess for interrogation.”

I nodded. “Alright, next order of business. How are we getting out of here?”

“Not conventionally, that much is clear.” Dawn said as she chimed in. “These walls are shielded like nothing I’ve ever seen before. We tried cutting through them, but nothing worked. Everything just bounced off.”

“That must be why we all still have our gear.” I observed. “With the shielding, there’s no need to disarm us. We can’t do jack anyway.” Suddenly the shield dropped, and some lizards came around the corner, tossed Tygra into the cell and reset the shields. To say he didn’t look pleasant would be an understatement, as blood was coating part of his face.

Cheetara was the first one over to the fallen cat, and propped him up against the cell wall. “Well, Mumm-Ra’s pissed.” He groaned.

“How so?” Sky asked as she slid in next to the cat and pulled out her first aid kit.

“Well for starters he thinks we did something to the engines.” Tygra explained. “I guess he left Third Earth, and now we’re who knows where.”

“Which means rescue is unlikely…” Cosmo observed. “We’re gonna have to break out of here ourselves, repair the engines and make a jump back to Third-”

BOOM!

“-Earth? What the hell was that?” Cosmo asked.

As soon as he asked, Cosmo’s radio crackled to life. “Atlas to Northern Guard strike team, does anyone read?”

“Atlas, this is Ranger. We read you loud and clear. Where are you?”

“Main hangar, about five hundred meters from your position. I’m heading your way now. What’s your situation?”

CREEEAAAK!

“I’m not sure… Although judging by some of the sounds this ship is making I think we’ll want to get out of here sooner rather than later.”

I knew what Cosmo was getting at. The sudden creaking noise. Likely Mumm-Ra didn’t bother to do any heavy structural repairs, so the ship very well could be starting to shake itself to pieces. But as the deck plates shuddered I noticed that the shield that capped off the cell flickered. “Did anyone else see that?” I asked.

“Yeah…” Dawn said. “Dad, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

I nodded, and stepped up to the shields. “On three. One… Two… Three!”

BZZZTTT!

The two of us stuck our hands into the shield and started putting magical electricity through the flickering construct. It took only a few scant seconds for the emitters to erupt into a shower of sparks as they failed. “Alright, let’s move!” I shouted at the group.

Sky ended up helping Tygra to his feet, followed by Cheetara and the rest of the Northern Guard. It was quick work, but Cosmo led the way towards the sounds of rifle fire and pulses from laser rifles. “Atlas, be advised that the strike team is foot mobile. I repeat, strike team is foot mobile.”

“Copy that Ranger-” The radio suddenly cut out as three lizards rounded the corner with weapons drawn.

“I got em!” Cloud shouted as he vaulted over the top of the group. He landed behind the lizards, smashing two of their heads together, and knocking the other to the ground with a swift kick to the back of it’s knee. That third lizard went down, tried to get back up, but failed as he received a kick to the back of the head from the armored pegasus. “We’re clear!”

We had to keep moving for obvious reasons, but ahead of us was the hangar. And that door was slowly being pried open by two Spartans, before a third figure in golden armor stepped in and stuck a massive beam between the two halves of the door. As we got closer I realized that the armor was stylized, surprisingly, as a lion. “Well I’ll be damned, Lion-O got the armor working.” Tygra managed to grunt as we hurried through the propped-open door.

As the last one through, I got pulled aside by the three armored figures. “Archer, glad you decided to drop in. Hope it wasn’t too much trouble.” I observed.

Archer motioned me to follow and the four of us began making our way towards the three pelicans that were sitting on the hangar floor. “We need to get off this bucket, now.”

“But we still need to take out Mumm-Ra.” I pointed out.

“Then worry about it after we’re off the ship that’s coming apart under fire from point defense guns.” Archer countered. “Dusk, this ship is dying. We can mop up what’s left after we’re all off.”

I looked around the hangar and counted at least twenty ODSTs alongside the rest of my strike team, missing members included. “Alright, you win… Saddle up you bunch of fillies, this party is over!” I shouted.

The ODSTs immediately began making for the Pelicans, some abandoning firefights they were in with the locals while others provided cover for the strike team as they made for the transports. In a matter of seconds it was all over, and I realized I was the last one standing on the deck as Mumm-Ra finally came into view out of the main corridor.

“Dusk, come on! We’ve got to go!” Archer called.

At this point there was material falling from the ceiling, so the Pelican ended up being the only safe place to go. Scrambling inside I hit the retract button and slid into one of the seats. But out in the hangar, Mumm-Ra just stood and stared at me as the hatch came up. I knew what it meant without much doubt. This fight wasn’t over yet.

Author's Note

And next up, we finally get down to the fight you've probably been waiting for!

Finality

HMS Endeavor Armory, ten minutes later.

“Dusk, come on.” Archer insisted. “The ship broke apart, there’s no way anyone or anything could’ve survived that.

I stepped off the armor rack and grabbed my helmet, shaking my head while I did so. “Look Archer I’m here for a reason. And that’s to take out Mumm-Ra, so I intend to do just that.”

“And you think going through a debris field in zero gravity is going to give you what you’re looking for?”

“Archer, look. That bastard is still out there.” I said as I finally pulled on my helmet. “I’m going to take Faust’s spirit urn, go bottle this bastard up and then we can go find a black hole to chuck him down.”

“Doesn’t that cross you as a little bit extreme?” Archer asked.

“Maybe it is.” I admitted. “But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I’ve already told you what I’m doing, now come to terms with it.” Archer obviously wasn’t pleased as she followed me to the hangar, but there was little she could do to make me change my mind. But as her radio buzzed to life, something started feeling off.

“Archer here, go ahead.”

“General, we’ve lost contact with the main hangar. How close are you?”

“I’m just outside it, and how’d you-” The door suddenly opened and a handful of ODSTs scrambled through. “-lose contact? Gentlemen, what the hell is going on?”

“We’ve been boarded!” The leader responded. “It’s that Mumm-Ra asshole, he’s kicking the crap out of the rest of my guys!”

It took one glance at Archer to convince her that now might be a good time to call for backup. “Bridge, alert all crew that we’ve been boarded! Lock down the hangar deck immediately!”

“I’m getting in there!” I countered, Archer just waved me off and I went charging headlong into the hangar. The troopers weren’t lying, Mumm-Ra was on the deck and he was cutting a swath through the assembled fireteam of ODSTs. “Hey asshole, pick on someone your own size!” I shouted as I pulled out my pistol and started shooting.

Mumm-Ra ended up tossing the ODST he had picked up and made his way towards me under a hail of bullets from my own weapon and those of the ODSTs that were still standing. “You were hoping this wasn’t going to come to pass, weren’t you Dusk?” Mumm-Ra chided as he slammed his sword into the deck in front of me.

I backpedaled away, reloaded and started firing again. “Please, I’ve been itching to finish your ass off!” I retorted. Mumm-Ra suddenly rushed forward and checked me into the bulkhead that made up the wall of the hangar deck. My shields flared under the impact, so I doubt that Mumm-Ra is holding back at this point.

Before Mumm-Ra could swing his blade down one of the ODSTs clambered onto his back and started blasting away with his submachine gun. “Dusk, run!” The soldier shouted.

As Mumm-Ra grabbed the soldier off his back and slammed him into the ground, I realized who I was staring at. It was Commander Tremble. His helmet went clattering across the floor, revealing his longer graying hair. But for all the luck that soldier had, for everything he had been through, nothing was stopping Mumm-Ra’s blade as it plunged down through Don’s shoulder blade. Mumm-Ra ended up picking up the sword, sliding Don down it before flicking it and sending Don flying at the other ODSTs. “Those are your soldiers? Weak fleshings who can’t handle a hit?”

“Flesh and blood isn’t a weakness.” I countered, watching as the ODSTs dragged Don off towards the far hangar entrance. I judged their distance as a heat alarm started flashing on my HUD. I didn’t put much effort into it but I managed to conjure up a ball of flaming plasma, this time being protected from the heat by my armor.

It caught Mumm-Ra square in the chest, staggering the large demon. But where he’s made of energy any hope of seeing it burn through him was pointless. The flames quickly died down, leaving a far angrier looking monster standing over me. “You may not view it as a weakness, but clearly I’m the opposite of the worldly connections you so crave.”

This time Mumm-Ra hit me blade-on with his sword. My shields collapsed under the sharp impact, leaving the armor plating to protect me from the hit. However it didn’t protect me from the momentum it imparted on my body and I went flying across the hangar, bounced off of a Broadsword and tumbled to the ground. Alarms were flashing all across my HUD.

SHIELD EMITTER DAMAGED

ARMOR INTEGRITY DOWN TO 85%

Those two large bold alerts kept flashing until I tapped the side of my helmet to hide them. I glanced over at my shoulder and saw that the sword hit had cut all the way through my left shoulder pad, but the suit underneath was completely intact. Glancing over my shoulder to confirm that the ODSTs had cleared the hangar I pulled up my radio. “Greyscale? Drop the shields and vent the main hangar into space.”

“Sir, I must protest. That is a highly unwise decision and one that is likely-”

“Grey, just do it!” I shouted, cutting off the AI.

I didn’t hear anything else from the intelligence, but I immediately saw his handiwork as the hangar depressurized and ripped myself and Mumm-Ra into the vacuum of space. As I started tumbled away from the ship my thrusters burst to life, and across my HUD a message that read ‘EVA Mode Enabled’ very briefly appeared. That left me with the maneuvering capability.

But Mumm-Ra apparently wasn’t helpless, and as he hit me from behind I ended up careening into a large chunk of his ship. As I turned over and stared at the demon, I noticed that while a being of pure energy doesn’t obviously need oxygen, his maneuvering was incredibly limited. I wasn't sure of what mechanism that Mumm-Ra was using but it didn’t matter. I now had an advantage and I intended to use it.

As I looped over the top of Mumm-Ra’s next slash, my radio chimed to life. “Dusk, are you alright?”

“Just fine Archer.” I said as I dove past an uppercut from Mumm-Ra’s purple blade. “I’m just a little bit busy right now!”

“Well then how are you going to beat this guy?!” Archer yelled.

“I’m probably not going to beat him without some serious help. See if Lion-O’s armor is vacuum rated, and if it is send him out with the spirit urn. I’ll try to keep Mumm-Ra busy until he can get out here!”

Of course keeping a maniac busy means you have to indulge their constant bloodlust, and in my case that might be best served by keeping my distance and letting Mumm-Ra chase after me. So as I rocketed away, I was somewhat relieved to see that Mumm-Ra was chasing after me. As I made for the debris field that was once the monster’s ship I had to start really putting my superior maneuvering ability to work.

Diving through chunks of corridor, rolling over the tops of broken hull plating, occasionally having to blast apart the larger chunks of starship with well-placed magic. It was a constant fight to stay ahead of Mumm-Ra. Lather, rinse, repeat. The same old maneuvers, they repeated over and over. Eventually I’d fall into a pattern that Mumm-Ra would catch onto and he’d find a way to close the gap between us.

As I came out of another section of hull I quickly checked over my shoulder. Mumm-Ra was gone. “This can’t be good…” I muttered.

I wasn’t wrong, and quickly felt something slam into my midsection and slam me into a large chunk of starship with enough force to dent the hull plating. Looking up, Mumm-Ra was standing over me with sword held high. I ended up closing my eyes on instinct as the blade started coming down, but as the point where I logically should’ve been hit came and went, I opened my eyes to see my saving grace had arrived.

Lion-O had blocked the sword with his own, and was doing a damn fine job of holding Mumm-Ra at bay. “Anytime now Dusk!” Came the cat’s voice over my radio.

I scrambled to my feet, hit the mags to lock me to the hull plating and backpedaled away from the locked swords. I spied the spirit urn that Faust had built strapped to the back of the cat’s armor, probably the worst place for it to be where we needed to use it. As I rocketed towards it, Mumm-Ra managed to break his sword free of Lion-O’s block and managed to drop the hit into my back, sending me back down into the hull plating. But I bounced off, and was able to stabilize myself by grabbing the urn. “Hey, did Faust tell you how to use this thing?” I asked as I unhooked it.

“Sorry Dusk, there wasn’t time for a crash course in using weird mystical artifacts.” Lion-O replied.

“Then we need to get back to the Endeavor!” As I said that, a marker appeared on my HUD, and turning towards it brought the looming form of the Endeavor into view. Getting out of the debris field was easier than it was to get into it. There was a straight shot right for the main hangar, but without any obstacles it would be easy for Mumm Ra to catch up. Overfiring my thrusters gave me the speed, but a glance over my shoulder confirmed that Mumm-Ra was closing fast. That was before a wave of lightning sailed past my head and caught the monster square in the face.

“We’ve got you covered Dusk!” I heard Cloud yell over the radio as I closed on the main hangar.

The landing didn’t go as well as I would like… In fact I’d call it a crash as opposed to an actual landing. Once the artificial gravity made its presence known I tumbled to the deck before skidding to a stop at Cloud’s feet. “Where’s Faust?” I asked as the pegasus helped me to my feet.

“No clue, why?”

Lion-O finally joined in as he skidded to a halt on the hangar deck. “We need to know how to activate the urn she built, and fast!”

Cloud nodded before stepping between us and the newly-arrived Mumm-Ra. “Figure it out, I’ll keep ugly occupied.”

Cloud immediately rocketed towards Mumm-Ra and tossed another lightning blast, but I didn’t see the results as I turned my attention to the urn. “Alright, Faust said something about power stones being important. That ring any bells to you?”

As Lion-O’s armor folded back into it’s gauntlet, he motioned to a number of stones in the back of the gauntlet’s hand plate. “That would be these. Why, what are you thinking?”

I studied the urn for a moment and noticed slots in some of the side beams that were the same shape as three of the stones. “I think those stones are supposed to go in these…” I said, pointing out the enclaves.

“And just where did Faust figure out how to make this thing again?” Lion-O asked as he quickly started pulling the stones from his gauntlet and loading them into their respective enclaves.

“The archives back in Thundera if I’m correct. Why?”

As Lion-O put the last stone into the side of the urn, it began to shimmer in a rainbow band of light. “How’d she know that the information was in the archives?”

As Cloud sailed overhead and crashed to the deck behind us, I grabbed the urn and tried to take the top of it off. “No clue, and frankly I don’t care right now!”

“Any last words?” Mumm-Ra asked as he finally loomed over the two of us.

“Go to hell asshole!”

SCHOOM!

The red laser that blasted Mumm-Ra in the chest definitely left a mark, as it toppled the beast to the deck plates. Judging that Cloud was toting an M6E that he must’ve scavenged from one of the weapons containers that dotted the hangar deck, it was a safe assumption that he was responsible for the blast.

“What was that?!” Lion-O exclaimed.

“That was me dumping an entire energy cell into that bastard.” Cloud said as he dumped the Spartan Laser. “Now did you figure out how that thing is supposed to work yet? Because Mumm-Ra is getting up.”

Cloud was right. Although he was smoking from the massive blast that caught him in the chest, Mumm-Ra was slowly rising to his feet. “Shit, pour it on Cloud!” I yelled. The pegasus didn’t wait and immediately began blasting away with his gauntlet-mounted pulse cannons. I quickly turned my attention back to the urn.

“Wait, can we pull the lid off?”

Lion-O’s quick observation was correct. A quick twist showed that the lid moved, even if ever so slightly. “Cloud, get back!” I shouted. The pegasus wordlessly strafed backwards while he kept pouring out fire. Mumm-Ra was back on his feet, fighting to keep the pulse cannon blasts away from his face and what was clearly a wound on his chest.

With one deft motion I managed to slide the lid right out of the urn, and immediately a ray of rainbow colored light shot out and seemed to wrap itself around Mumm-Ra. “NOOOO!” Under the flaring rainbow of colors Mumm-Ra began to seemingly flicker back and forth between solid and ghostly. “I WILL NOT BE DENIED!” But Mumm-Ra started to seemingly shrink as his ghostly state seemed to win out over his mass, and he soon reverted to a frail appearance before finally seeming to dissolve into black mist that started pooling in the urn. In a matter of moments that black mist finally coalesced in the urn, the light died and I did the remaining sensible thing and slammed the lid down hard.

The hangar was quiet, quiet to a point where one could hear a pin drop. The silence was broken as the doors on either end of the hangar opened and armed marines began filing in behind Archer and Faust. I slowly got back to my own feet, turning the urn over in my hands as I did so. For something that looked so frail, the average pony would have trouble wrapping their head around what the vessel imprisoned.

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Archer asked once she approached and eyed the urn in my hands.

And for the first time in what probably amounted to years, I felt I could safely say one thing. “Yes Archer, it’s over… It’s finally over.”

Thundera, Fourteen Hours Later…

The return to Thundera was far from quiet. In fact it was quite the auspicious occasion, as defeating an enemy hell-bent on your extinction is somewhat historic. And when it comes down to historic events, the logical conclusion is apparently to throw a massive party. Personally I’m just glad I got some sleep on the flight back, because I doubt I’d get any shuteye with how outright LOUD the city had become in such a short period of time. Of course being part of the small group that helped imprison an ancient evil has some level of notoriety that comes with it. Right off the bat it felt like everyone was either trying to buy me a drink or wanted me to meet their kids. That didn’t stop it from feeling out of place, even though the admiration was definitely well earned. Eventually I decided that I’d had enough and ended up hiding out in a quiet part of the palace.

“Dad, what are you doing in here?”

Dawn had apparently noticed I missing and came and found me. “Just wandering Dawn. Needed to clear my head a bit.” As we walked through the halls of the palace we came across a workshop, where as it turned out Lion-O must’ve come to a similar conclusion that I had and sought out some solitude. “I take it you got sick of the crowds too?”

Lion-O looked up from a rifle he was tinkering with and nodded. “The crowds will be there later. I’ve got enough on my mind, so I figured I could use the distraction.”

I pulled out a stool and took a seat next to the king at his workbench. “We just beat Mumm-Ra, what else is bugging you? Is it just getting back into the leadership thing after being out of it for a while?”

Lion-O shook his head. “No, it’s about what I asked you back on the Endeavor. How did Faust know where to find the information on building that urn?”

It was a fair question. Just how did Faust know where to look? “Dawn, you’ve known her longer. Does Faust usually pull solutions out of thin air?”

“Oh please, her plans have plans for crying out loud.” Dawn droned. “Faust has so much stuff in her own private arsenal, I wouldn’t be half surprised if she ran out of room and stuffed those plans in someone else’s proverbial closet.”

“Uh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“It’s these scrolls that Faust took out of the archives.” Cheetara replied, tossing one of the scrolls to the king. “I can’t make heads or tails of these. They’re some sort of drawings, but I can’t understand any of the writing.”

Lion-O pushed the rifle he was working on off to the side and unfurled the scroll across the workbench. Right away I picked up on why Cheetara was having trouble with understanding the drawings, and it came right down to the writing. “This looks like Old Equestrian… No wonder you can’t make heads or tails of it, you’re dealing with a completely different alphabet.”

“Oh no, that’s not Old Equestrian.” Dawn said as she managed to squeeze past me to get at the workbench. “These are Alicorn symbols, immediate post-fall dialects. But they were added on after this was printed…”

“Seems we’ve found the proverbial closet…” I muttered. “Dawn, can you read any of this?”

“A little bit. Most of these are dimensions that somepony scribbled onto this… But this up here, it looks like graffiti.” Dawn ran her finger under the writing before a confused look crossed her muzzle. “All that’s come before shall come again… What’s that supposed to mean?” She muttered.

“I don’t know… You tell me.” I retorted.

“Without asking Faust, I’ve got nothing.” Dawn replied.

“But would it be wise to ask her?” Cheetara asked. “The only way she could’ve known that these drawings were in our archives is if she put them there herself. Who knows what else she has hidden away in the archives!”

“Dad, normally I’m all for Faust, but Cheetara is right… I don’t think I’d get a straight answer from Faust about any of this if I went to her. This whole thing just feels wrong…”

“It’s like she knew.” Lion-O finally seemed to admit. “She must’ve known Mumm-Ra would come back…”

The cat was right, of course. “She knew Mumm-Ra was still alive before we got here. I thought she got the information from Bengali… But she mentioned that Starswirl tangled with Mumm-Ra before. That must’ve been her first clue.”

“And from that she would’ve come up with some sort of plan.” Dawn added. “Dad… She must’ve known about this for centuries, maybe even millenia.”

“That brings me back to my point, what else does Faust have hidden away?” Cheetara asked.

Both cats had excellent points, and it all lead to one common conclusion. “We can’t trust Faust, period…” I muttered.

“Isn’t that a bit extreme?” Dawn asked.

I shook my head. “No, no it’s not. If Faust is holding out on us there’s no way we can easily trust what she tells us. For all we know we could run into a situation where her holding onto critical details could put us squarely on the wrong side. Now tell me this, could Starswirl give us some insight?”

Dawn paused for a moment to think before nodding. “Yeah, he could. Him and Faust have been on shaky ground as long as I’ve known him.”

“Then go track him down and see if he can shed some light on our current mystery.”

Dawn nodded again, before disappearing in a flash of light. “What just happened?” Lion-O asked.

“She teleported, us unicorns and alicorns have that little trick tucked away in case we need it.” I said as I got up from the workbench. “Cheetara, how long would it take for you to do a search of the archives for anything similar to this scroll?”

“Probably not all that long. The regular scrolls and books look nothing like Faust’s.”

“Then get cracking. It won’t hurt to find what else she’s hiding.” Cheetara nodded before heading off, leaving myself and Lion-O the only two left in the workshop.

“So what do we do?”

I did have to think about that one for a moment, admittedly. “Well… They are throwing a party for our sake.” I admitted. “I think it’s time the two of us reappeared.”

***

Aboard HMS Endeavor
Dawn

Knowing that Starswirl had last been on the Endeavor, I decided that starting there would be my best bet in finding him. Even better, members of the crew had seen him rather recently. But as I made my way to the starboard cargo bay, I remembered that was where Faust had set up shop.Walking into the bay, I was greeted by the site of the old wizard and a red-maned alicorn both hovering over a familiar-looking urn.

“You should’ve told me.” Starswirl said, apparently topping off part of a conversation he and Faust were having.

“And what would you have done? Told Dusk I was holding out on him? He doesn’t need to know everything Star!”

“Damnit Faust, you’re trying to get him to win your private war for you!” Starswirl yelled.

“It’s not my private war!”

“Like hell it is! You and your idiot little brother just can’t let it go!”

Wait, idiot little brother? What the hell is Starswirl talking about? “Uh, are you telling me that Faust and Euripides are related?”

Finally opening my mouth led both Starswirl and Faust to notice that they indeed had a visitor. “Dawn, how long were you standing there?” Faust asked.

“Long enough to know that Dad is right about you.” I replied as I felt the heat of anger starting to warm my cheeks. “You hold out on him, and why? Because you don’t want him to know this little war of yours is really just one bad family feud?!”

“Dawn, it’s far more complicated than that.” Faust insisted.

But Starswirl snorted. “Please, the girl is spot on. The whole reason this fight is going on is because you and Euripides have to completely separate world views!”

While Starswirl and Faust went back to arguing I took the opportunity to take off. I felt… Well, broken. Faust had raised me, and here she is actively working to manipulate my own father. And for what, some sibling squabble? At the end of the day it’s a mute point because Dad was right; we can’t trust Faust.

Author's Note

And there you have it folks, another story arc down! And it's pretty obvious that Faust can't be taken at face value, considering that she's hiding plenty from Dusk and company. We'll expand on that in the next story arc, but I really wanted to get these out for you all to read.

Prologue: Alpha One

Somewhere over Canterlot
Cloud Runner, AKA Tempest

“Tempest to Warlord, south side of the city is clear.” I said as I finished my dash over the south end of Canterlot. From below the gloss-black coating on my new set of human-issued Mjolnir must have been invisible, entirely indistinguishable from the night sky.

“Copy that Tempest we’ll… Wait, stand by.”

Whatever had interrupted Constellation came quickly, she barely had a second to tell me to wait before disappearing from the comms. “Uh, Warlord? What’s going on?”

Yet instead of the old mare returning to the radio, a new call came in on our band. “This is Commander Comet, ESF Polaris Squad. Canterlot Castle is under attack and the perimeter has been breached, we need support!”

I didn’t wait to kick in my armor’s thrusters and rolled to point at the castle. To my surprise it was entirely dark, lit only by the flashes of rifles and other energy weapons across its dark facade. “Tempest to Northern Guard, converge on the castle!”

“Cloud, what’s going on?” Constellation called, likely hearing the last half of my radio call.

“It’s game time Consti.” I curtly replied. “Now go tell Dusk that it’s time to go to war.”

***

Meanwhile, back at the Grotto…
Archer

After what felt like an eternity I was finally back in that familiar smoke-filled room… But looking around I noticed something rather important.

There was no smoke, simply the image of Dusk standing and watching me. “So now you know…” He said.

“Yup, Kovac is a psychopath that has seemingly unlimited resources and an unknown number of robotic lackeys. What else is new?”

“Well I wish I could debate you on this, but I can’t. Kovac is making his move as we speak. We’re out of time.”

Well that’s just peachy, isn’t it? “I take it that he brought his toy soldiers with him?”

Dusk nodded. “Cloud won’t be able to hold them off for long so you need to move. Now go, stop Kovac!”

In the blink of an eye I found myself slumped down against the wall of Dusk’s armory, having ditched that smoke-filled ‘room’ that I’d become rather familiar with over the last few days. “Damn… How long was I out?” I mumbled as I got to my feet. However long ago I ended up going for this ‘visit’ probably isn’t all that important with a mad one-eyed stallion running amok. By the time I was grabbing a rifle off the rack, a group of armored ponies was already of the same mind as they rushed in to grab their own weapons.

“So have any of you heard what’s going on?” One of the soldiers asked.

The apparent leader of the group shook his head as I watched from outside their periphery. “I know it has something to do with Kovac but that’s about it.”

“Great, so more end of the world bullshit!”

“Can it Claybar, you know the drill. Get the guns, hit the hangar and then we roll out. Doesn’t matter where Kovac is, we’ll just bring the hurt right to him.”

By then I decided that I had heard enough, and decided to head for the hangar where this response to Kovac was gathering. Given the power armor and some obscenely large guns, I could take a wild guess at the expected plan.

Chew bubblegum. Kick ass. Maybe get some sort of chopper involved. The point here is that Kovac will suffer immensely for whatever he was up to. Finding Dusk was easy enough, as he was standing at the bottom of a sloop’s ramp with Constellation as they poured over a tablet. “-and you said Polaris Squad put out the call for reinforcements?”

Constellation nodded. “You got it. And that was the last we heard from our agents that were in the city.”

Dusk suddenly took notice of my presence and cracked a smile. “You ready to go bust some heads Archer?”

I nodded as Dusk led me up into the passenger compartment of the sloop. “As ready as I could hope to be.”

“Good, at least one of us is…” Dusk muttered as he took a seat by the door. “So far Kovac hasn’t set off the Havoc, so we at least have that going for us.”

“Then level with me Dusk.” I said as soldiers began marching up the boarding ramp and into the compartment. “What do we have going for us?”

***

Canterlot Castle
Meteor Shower

“What the hell do you mean we’ve got nothing?!?”

“I mean exactly what I said General.” Comet spat in retort to my own harsh lines. “We have no communications, no reinforcements, no intel, nothing. We’re fucked!”

“I’ll second that.” A human called out as he rushed into the war room.

“Commander Tremble, where the hell have you been?” I asked.

“Dealing with our visitors. Only had a chance to break off once Tempest showed up.”

“Tempest… Cloud Runner is in play?” I muttered, turning to the holotable at the center of the room. “That means somepony must know that something happening up here.”

“I would assume it must be the UNSC. Apparently Admiral Osman personally reequipped him, but that’s not why I’m here.” The commander said as he plugged a small chip into the side of the holotable. After a few seconds a still from his helmet’s camera rose up from the table’s surface. “Crossbow engaged this guy right here, along with an entourage of his robots.”

Personally I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Son of a bitch… That’s Kovac.”

“You know him?”

“Knew him, and thought that he was dead.” I replied. “We all thought that Dusk killed him during Operation Scorpion.”

“Well, you see what he’s carrying?” Tremble asked, pointing at the silver cylinder that was in Kovac’s hand, with a green LED strip shining brightly on both ends of it.

I studied it for a moment, and a feeling of dread slowly washed over me. “Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”

“I wish I could…” Tremble muttered. “He’s got a Havoc warhead, and it’s armed.”

“Wait, he’s got a nuke?!” One of the guards yelled in surprise.

“Does the man need to repeat himself? Yes, the crazy unicorn has a nuke!” Comet yelled.

“But how the hell did he get it?” I asked. “It’s not like we have any nuclear warheads in our arsenal, and Osman’s own records of equipment transfers to the Enclave didn’t list anything remotely as destructive as a Havoc…” For a moment I stopped to think. About a week ago these synths first made their appearance at an old property of mine, Manehattan Wire. And if the intelligence reports have been accurate, some force had been establishing site security there for the better part of the last two years. “Unless somepony else had one.”

“What?” Commander Tremble asked.

“You heard me. What if somepony else had one of these warheads?” I retorted. But as I was going on, I began putting some of the pieces together. Admiral Osman had already reequipped Cloud Runner… Furthermore she’s been a near constant presence here on Equis for the better part of the last decade. I had until now wrote it off as an attempt to atone for her actions during the war, but one important tidbit of information finally clicked into place.

And on all of those visits that I had run into her, there was one pony that was always with her.

“Dusk…” I muttered. “That warhead was his.”

“Uh… What?” Comet exclaimed, echoing the sentiment of confusion that was circulating around the warroom.

“Don’t you get it? Kovac went after Dusk first, during that party at Blueblood’s. He was upset, Specter showed up, who I might add has been reported as dead for eight years, and then Cosmo cornered him… Dusk knew that Kovac wasn’t dead. He’s been waiting for him to make a move and if my hunch is correct he hid the last quantum mirror in Manehattan Wire, probably hoping to define the eventual engagement.”
“But where does the warhead come in?” Comet asked.

I glanced at Tremble and nodded. “You know a lot more about these things than we do. Aren’t they variable yield?”

The aging human nodded. “If memory serves, you could get the detonation yield down into the kiloton range.”

“So you could level the factory without causing extensive damage outside of the site boundary. You could either engage Kovac and use the nuke as a last-ditch solution, or simply confirm his presence and use it to off him without putting others at risk.” I couldn’t help but feel somewhat impressed. “You know, if we weren’t dealing with a weapon of mass destruction I’d probably consider giving Dusk a medal for creativity…”

“We are dealing with a WMD, so put a pin in that idea.” Tremble curtly replied. “Now what do we do about this Kovac guy? Better yet why would he bring a nuke into Canterlot?”

“Well if he’s trying to off the Princesses, he’s in the wrong place… Tia and Luna are in the Griffon Kingdom for a trade summit. Maybe it’s some sort of payback for the loss we dealt him… Wait, Don, where did you run into Kovac again?”

“Ground floor foyer, solar wing of the palace. Why?”

“Right next to the entrance… What if he intends to take that thing down to the Nexus?”

“You mean that cave with all the freaki-deeki magic-” Comet stopped on the spot, obviously seeing where I was going. “Oh shit. Uh, didn’t we try to measure the energy that pit was putting out?”

I nodded, glancing quickly around the room before returning my attention to the two Special Forces commanders. “We did. Fried the instruments, but we got enough data to try to find an equivalent in energy output…”

“And if I remember correctly that data was very similar to readings that the UNSC took of protostars.”

“Right. A very unstable and unpredictable protostar…”

Now Commander Tremble was starting to look concerned. “So how bad is it going to get if this Kovac guy detonates that Havoc down there?”

All I could do was shrug. “At bare minimum he could take this entire mountain and turn it into a mile deep crater…”

“Well that’s definitely not good.”

“And at worst he could create an explosion on par with a nova that could wipe out a sizable chunk of the solar system.”

Hearing that made Tremble’s face turn from a dull shade to near bone white. “My god…”

Well now I definitely have to say something. “Allow me to make it perfectly clear. It doesn’t matter where we run to or where we hide. So long as anyone is on this mountain, there’s a damn good chance that they’ll end up dead.”

“Alright… Then what do we do?”

“General, I’ve got radar contacts!” One of the guards called out.

***

Somewhere over Canterlot
Dusk

“Commander, our screens up here just lit up.” The pilot called out over the intercom. “We’ve got a radar lock. Looks like the city’s short range sensors are still up and running.”

Just the short range, eh? Looks like Kovac didn’t think that jamming them was worth the effort… “Canterlot Control, this is Alpha One. Can anyone hear me?”

For a short moment my radio was filled with static, but that immediately died when someone picked up a transmitter on the other end of my call. “Dusk, you motherfucking son of a fucking bitch!”

“Ah, Commander Tremble… How you been?”

“How have I been? I just ran into your buddy with that nuke of yours. You tell me how I’ve been!”

“Oh, joy… Kovac is there. Did one of you at least off him?”

Whatever was going on in the war room, Don was clearly taken away from the transmitter. “Dusk, it’s Meteor… Where are you?”

“Inbound with air support and reinforcements, we’re just looking for a place to touch down.”

“So I can take it then that you were also responsible for those airstrikes on the factory a few days ago?”

“Well if it involved robots toting laser rifles and gratuitous use of high explosive ordinance, then yes.” I admitted.

For a moment there was silence, likely Gramps trying to maintain some level of self control as all hell broke loose around him. “Alright, let's get down to business. We need to secure the castle, then we worry about Kovac. What exactly can you do to help?”

“Well I’ve got four sloops ready to drop a full company of my marines, with another making the march up to the castle on foot. The lead elements of those units are at least fifteen minutes from the city limits as of right-”

“Hang on!” The pilot suddenly shouted as the sloop banked hard to the left, sending me tumbling to the floor from my seat.

“Dusk, what just happened?”

“I don’t know, what’s with the evasive maneuvers?” I asked as I got to my feet, directing the question at the pilot who was now broadcasting over my channel.

“Group of drop pods sir. I didn’t see them until they were almost on top of us.”

“Drop pods? From where?”

“No clue sir, but they touched down in the palace garden. I’m already seeing flashes up here. Whoever it is, they’ve been engaged.”

“Gramps, you catch that? I’m thinking that’s our landing zone.”

“Damn right I did. I’ll send Crossbow and Polaris.”

“Alright you bunch of pansies, you know the deal!” I shouted as the forward hatch slid open behind me. “That garden is our door. Now let's go kick it off it’s fucking hinges!” Turning around I could see that the pilot was already well on the way to putting the sloop on the ground. I could see three drop pods that had crashed down into the courtyard, and it was very evident that a small team was exchanging fire with laser rifle-toting robots. As the bay light turned green and I hopped out onto the grass below, I quickly recognized one of the soldiers clad in silver and red armor.

“Captain, looks like backup is here!” One of the Spartans shouted over the din of his rifle.

I slid down next to the drop-pod hatch that Palmer’s team was using for cover. “Hey Palmer, fancy seeing you here. So who are your friends?”

I would assume that Palmer was doing a double-take under her helmet. “I thought that your armor was roasted?”

“Oh, that was the old set.” I said as I got to my knee to peer over the top of the wreckage-turned-barricade. “Osman’s been pretty good to me, so getting a new set wasn’t that much trouble.”

“Call me crazy, but I doubt that all Serin gave you was that suit of armor.” One of Palmer’s teammates, a tall Spartan clad in blue heavily built armor pointed out.

“Well I don’t really have factories to supply my army, and Osman must still REALLY feel bad about helping out West Wind.” I said as I ducked back down behind the cover. By now the first platoon of Marines was already on the ground, and Archer had joined the four of us armored titans behind the main piece of material that was protecting us from the blue laser pulses that were being hurled towards us.

“So what’s the plan?” Archer asked as she gave her pistol a quick visual once-over.

I shrugged, unclipped a grenade from my belt, armed it and tossed it blindly over our barricade. “Well-”

BOOM!

“-we were just getting to that.” I quickly glanced over at Palmer. “You’ve been on the ground longer. Any thoughts?”

“Fred, you’ve been doing all the shooting.” Palmer said, deflecting the question on to tall, blue and brooding. “What do you think?”

As the tall Spartan ducked down I finally saw the black and blue logo on the collar of his chestplate. A bird of prey under a star, with a roman numeral for ‘2’ in the bottom right corner. “From the looks of it those things are focusing on whatever is a threat. If I’m shooting, they’re all focused on me. If there’s two of us, they split their fire.”

“What if they’re distracted?” Archer offered. “If their backs are turned we might be able to get to the castle without getting shot at.”

I would ask if Archer was volunteering to test her obviously shaky theory, most sane ponies wouldn’t take that risk. Also of note, most sane ponies aren’t walking tanks. “Alright, I’ll draw their fire. You four keep me covered!”

“Dusk, wait!”

As if it was something shocking I ended up ignoring Archer’s plea and vaulted over the chunk of drop pod that was blocking the synth’s shots. A handful of those blue beams of blazing-hot light slammed and died against my armor’s shielding, but they did nothing to stop my dash towards the castle. What did successfully stop me was a massive impact on my left side that sent me flying across the open garden and into the castle walls that surrounded it. In the split second it took for me to come to my senses there was already a mechanical-looking maw reaching to clamp down on my head.

“Oh shit!” I yelled, grasping both parts of the maw and holding it open as it slowly advanced around my head. “I could use some help over here!”

“And didn’t I tell you to wait?!” Archer yelled back from outside my periphery, likely duking it out with some of the rather numerous (and annoying) robotic soldiers.

All while this was going on, a faint orange glow lit up in the mechanical maw, and I quickly figured out what was coming next. “You did and in hindsight I probably should’ve. Now if you could just help me, that would be great. I’d rather not turn out extra crispy!”

Over the sound of thuds and gunshots, I did manage to make out a groan from Archer. “Too bad Dusk, you’re on your own!”

With that, one option came to mind… And like when you think you’re being watched I had a sinking feeling that something was amiss. As I started dropping down to my knees that feeling not only became worse, but became more clear as I saw the synth-dragon’s maw start to rapidly slam shut.

CRACK!

Even though my horn was armored the maw of the mechanical dragon seemed to ignore that, and I felt a searing pain along the upper quarter of my horn preceding that fateful sound of bone and armor cracking. But through that rather intense distraction I realized that I had to do SOMETHING, and on instinct I unhooked my pistol from my thigh, clicked off the safety and stuck the end of the firearm into the exposed side of the Synth-Dragon’s jaw.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three bullets flying at near supersonic velocity tend to do plenty of damage, especially at point blank. This time was no exception as they cut through the alloys that made up the dragon’s jaw and sent it clattering to the ground and leaving the now dismembered joint sparking, all while the dragon fell backwards and crashed into the ground.

“Dusk, are you alright?!” Archer yelled as she finally ran over and helped me get to my feet.

At first I didn’t say anything, but tried to remove my helmet. That didn’t go far, as the moment I tugged on it the entire length of my horn started crying out in agonizing pain. “Honestly? I don’t know.” As I finally looked around the courtyard I saw plenty of synths now in pieces on the ground. “Well… I guess you weren’t messing around.” I said as I took notice of the copious amounts of grease that coated Archer’s gauntlets.

“You didn’t really leave me with much of a choice.” Archer countered as she turned and started walking for the shattered door that led to the interior of the castle. “Now are you coming? We still have work to do.”

***

Canterlot Castle Interior, ten minutes later
Archer

Actually navigating through the castle was a lot worse than I would have expected. Guards had haphazardly thrown up tables as makeshift barricades, there was still the occasional synth milling about, and there were plenty of dead and wounded guards that we kept coming across. But even with all of the broken treasures, blood and iron, there was no sign of Kovac…

“Dusk, over here!” A familiar voice called out, and as the two of us found ourselves in a trashed foyer, I quickly realized from the gaping hole that occupied the same space as a previously hidden door that we were running short on time. Off to the side of the door was my father, kneeling down next to a pony that I had long considered an uncle. “Help me find the helmet release!”

I stayed back to give the two ponies space, and Dusk quickly had Cloud Runner’s helmet off and clattering across the floor. “Cloud, what happened?”

“What do you think?” He groaned as he struggled to get to his feet, using both my father and Dusk for leverage. “Kovac steamrolled us. Again!”

“Well then where’s the rest of Polaris team?” Dad asked.

Cloud shrugged. “Well I know for a fact that Private Fletcher is right there.” He said, pointing at a pile of ash in the far corner of the room. “As for Comet and the others, I’ve got no idea.”

Suddenly something lit up on Dusk’s arm, and he lifted it up to read what was showing up on the tac pad that was built into the armor. “Oh no…”

“What is it?” Dad asked.

“Cosmo, you need to start evacuating the castle. Hell evacuate the city if you can.” Dusk said, all while he dropped the partially-used magazine out of his pistol and slid in a fresh one. “Kovac just armed the warhead.”

“Oh fuck…”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!” I said, shoving past the two older stallions and into the old passageway.

“Archer, wait!” I heard Dad yell after me, but I ignored him. Kovac had armed a weapon of mass destruction, and dealing with that was a hell of a lot more important than whatever pleading my father was going to try and lather on.

Bounding down the stone stairs, it only took a few seconds to finally reach the wide-open Nexus chamber. At the bottom I saw Kovac, with the Havoc warhead at his feet, standing with his back to me as he stared at the pool that marked the center of the chamber. I did the only sensible thing and drew my weapon, aiming it right at the back of the franken-unicorn’s head. “Step away from the warhead and put your hands up!” I shouted.

Dusk was immediately at my side, having swung his rifle off his back at some point between the foyer and the Nexus chamber. “You heard the mare Kovac, now do it!”

Now I may be crazy, but I don’t think that either I or Dusk was prepared for what we saw when Kovac turned around. His eyes… His eyes, they were pitch black. “It doesn’t matter now Dusk. All is as it’s supposed to be.” He said, slowly raising his hand towards the two of us.

BANG!

Dusk’s aim turned out to be spot on, punching a hole through Kovac’s head under his horn, sending him falling down into the pool. “Uh… What the hell was that?” I asked after a few tense moments of silence.

“I have no idea.” Dusk said, swinging his rifle back onto his back and marching over to the Havoc warhead. Kneeling down he turned it over and I heard him sigh. “Shit…”

“What is it?” I asked as I walked over.

Dusk got out of the way so I could see the countdown timer. “We’ve got less than two minutes until this thing vaporizes the castle, possibly the entire planet.”

“Could we get it to a Pelican and have it flown out of the city?” I suggested.

Dusk shook his head. “Not in time to get it to a safe distance…” He finally seemed to come to a conclusion, and started tugging at his helmet.

“What are you-”

CRAAACK!

“Agh!” Dusk shouted as his helmet jolted upwards as it tore free of his head…

“By Celestia’s beard…” Along with half of his horn, leaving Dusk bleeding and clearly pained.

He tossed his helmet to the ground, and shook his head to clear some of blood from his face. “Archer, you need to go.” Dusk insisted.

“What?!”

“You’re not a unicorn. There’s no way you can even try to contain this blast.”

“And you think that you can?” I countered, pointing out the chunks of his horn that were missing.

“I’m the best chance we’ve got kid.” Dusk said while he casted a small inverted shield around the warhead. He seemed pained, for rather obvious reasons, as he poured more and more magic into the barrier. “Now get going.”

“But Dusk-”

“I SAID GO!”

There was no changing Dusk’s mind. As I turned to run I realized that I knew exactly where this change came from. Dusk had figured out that he was going to die, no matter what he did. Somehow, some way, he resigned himself to his fate. Clearing the top of the passage I saw Meteor Shower finally entering the foyer. “Move, move, move!” I screamed.

The assorted Guards and Operators didn’t need any explanation and tore off into the hallway. But as I ran, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. One of the Solar Guards, dragging himself along the ground, one of his legs clearly broken. I stopped and wheeled around, scooping up the wounded soldier. “Archer, what are you-”

“Don’t stop!” I yelled, practically hobbling as I dragged the soldier along. But suddenly I felt the ground shake, and I knew exactly what that meant.

“ARCHER!” I heard my father yell.

At that point I started running on autopilot as everything seemed to slow down around me. Turning my head I saw a cloud of black smoke and dust making it’s way down the corridor towards me. Instead of just dropping the soldier I tossed him to the ground and threw myself on top of him, clenching my eyes shut as I waited for the inevitable.

***

Canterlot Castle, Eighteen Hours Later
Archer

The better part of the last day feels like a blur. Go here, answer some mundane question, go there and answer some more. It feels like I’ve been room to room overnight answering questions of some of these military brass type, at one point even getting into a grilling territory. Even the Princesses had their time with me, but of every single pony I had sat down with through the night and well into this afternoon the questions were all the same. What happened? Who was Kovac? Where did the nuke come from? How long have I know about the nuke? Why did Dusk stay behind? What do I know about the Nexus?

I broke off right after daybreak and visited the collapsed portion of the castle, now a pile of rubble and a hole in the side of the mountain, only for Blueblood to find me and inadvertently deliver me right back into the hands of Equestrian Intelligence, specifically some stallion going by Trigger. That one was the last meeting I had, and while the questions were the same I think that this Colonel could tell I was burnt out and cut me loose. He said something about me not being any use to him if I passed out. But I didn’t pay much attention, and instead found my way to some dining hall dedicated for the castle’s guard detachment. For some reason the cook didn’t question what some soot-coated mare was doing in a clearly restricted-access part of the castle, but he ended up whipping up a simple hayburger and sitting me down in the far corner where he could see me.

“Why?” I heard somepony ask as I finished the first half of my burger.

I looked up and saw a earth pony standing over me, clad in blue hospital scrubs while he supported his weight on a cane. “Excuse me?”

“Why did you save me?”

It took a few seconds but I finally put two and two together. “I’m sorry, where are my manners?” I said, getting up and pulling the chair opposite of me out for the stallion. “I’m Archer by the way.”

As I sat back down I noticed that the stallion nodded. “I know… I’ve been hearing your name around the barracks for hours. But why? Why stop to help me?”

“Well… What was your name again?”

“Oh, uh, Mahan.”

“Well Mahan… I don’t know.” I admitted. “I just… I saw you trying to drag yourself along the ground and something just clicked. I couldn’t just leave you.”

“But you don’t even know me. Hell, you’re not even one of us. What made you even think of stopping?”

“Like I said, I don’t know.” I replied. “This last week has been insane for me by any measure. If you came to me at the start of this whole crazy ride I would’ve thought you were crazy to suggest that a simple interview would devolve into shooting, death, destruction and somehow fit in a nuclear warhead.”

Mahan slowly nodded. “That sounds…”

“Different?”

“For lack of a better word, yes. Yes it does.” Mahan replied. “So… Do you want to talk about it?”

“You know what? Why the hell not.” I admitted. “Sit back and relax Mahan, because we’re gonna be here for a while.”

***

Location Unknown…
???

Watching the images on the wall I could tell that I had done it now. The red-haired alicorn had her back to me as she watched. There was Dusk, a pony that for my entire life I had been told was off-limits, just about to die as his shield around a nuclear weapon began to fail, only for me to teleport in, take over the shield and toss him through the destabilized nexus portal that had opened as a result of the explosion as black ash blasted out from the barely intact shield. “How many times did I tell you that Dusk was off limits?” The Alicorn matron asked.

“Honestly I’ve lost track.” I admitted, staring down at the ground to avoid the goddesses’ gaze. It’s not like I hadn’t lost track. Faust had practically drilled that into me nearly every day of my life for as long as I could remember… And in the span of thirty seconds I threw all of that out the window to break her single golden rule.

I had never actually done something this stupid before, but as Faust put her hand on my shoulder I looked up and saw that same soft smile that I had grown to know very well. “Good job.”

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. “Uh… What?”

“I said good job.” Faust replied.

“You’re not mad?” I asked, still confused.

“I raised two mares that now rule over a country. In my experience the use of reverse psychology tends to help me get exactly what I need.”

I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but what I began to put together is that I had been tricked. Manipulated. Bamboozled. They all fit the bill, and no number of adjectives could really help me feel any better. Oh no, it was doing a fine job of pissing me off. “So you’ve lied to me for years… There better be a damn good explanation for this.”

“Oh there is Dawn.” Faust assured me. “Now then… I think it’s high time I tell you about your parents.”

Author's Note

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!

The first chapter in Reflections. After many months of drafting and planning, the ball is finally rolling on the next story in the Mirrorverse. As this goes on you'll all eventually see how much of a chess game that the entire story of Dusk has been, and it's a chess game well beyond his control. There will be multiverse! There will be plenty of that wonderful pew pew to go around! Ancient History will be uncovered! There's even a literal heart-stopping moment or two! Maybe we'll even figure out why am I using so many exclamation points! All of that in more in newest installment to the Mirrorverse!

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Interlude II

Outside the Canterlot City Limits
Lt. Spark

During the walk to the command post, Comet mentioned that it was only just after breakfast. Considering it looked more like the dead of night I couldn’t help but feel unnerved. The whole environment started screaming of Poneva City, with the only things missing being snow and cannibalistic changelings. As we marched into the command post proper, past a machine gun nest manned by golden-armored royal guards, I remembered how quickly things had changed for me in the space of a few hours. The best example I could see was the green mare leading the charge into the command post with a fire opposite of that of her behavior only a half an hour ago.

“CELESTIA? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!”

Dart’s sudden outburst made myself and plenty of the other ponies present jump. “My ears!” Comet protested, having been right next to the mare during her sudden explosion.

“Fuck your ears Comet, I’ve got business with the high bitch!” Dart snapped. Now if I didn’t know any better I’d say that she was boiling mad. I honestly don’t know about what, but if it’s enough to send the mare into a blind rage then it must be something rather important.

Well the Princess’ ears must have been ringing, because at that Celestia stepped out of the tent at the center of the camp. “Dart, what the-”

SMACK!

The camp suddenly became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Dart had backhanded Celestia the moment that she was in arm’s reach. It was inconceivable to show a Princess disrespect, but to outright lay a hand on her in anger? If I didn’t know any better I’d say that explains why every guard in the camp has a dumb look on their faces. “Dart, what-”

“You bitch! Where’s my daughter? And don’t give me the ‘I don’t know’ line of shit. You know exactly what’s going on, so start talking-” Dart suddenly upholstered the pistol that she had been given and stuffed it up under the Princess’ chin “-or you’re going to be missing a few chunks of your face!”

“Dart, stand down!” Comet yelled as his soldiers all trained their weapons on her.

But Dart shook her head. “Who… Is… Faust?” The mare slowly and methodially said.

“Dart, I…” But before she could continue her thought Celestia seemed to admit something internally. “Faust is my mother.”

That seemed to shock some sense into the green mare. “What?” She muttered, her pistol dropping slightly away from the Princess’ chin.

Celestia nodded and lightly pushed Dart’s pistol to the side. “I know you’re upset… Hell, you’ve got every right in the world to be. But Dawn is far more important than you realize. She’s the reason that the Archmage returned.”

“Wait, what Archmage?” I asked. Admittedly I was now incredibly confused. “Your Highness, what’s going on here?”

“A lot more than you know Lieutenant.” The Princess answered. “Regardless, I have new orders for you all. Polaris Team, you and the Lieutenant are going to head for the castle and secure an overwatch position on the main entrance. Dawn should be on her way back by now with reinforcements that can help you engage the Archmage.”

“What about Dart?” Comet asked. “I mean, come on! She put a gun to your head!”

“I don’t blame her.” The Princess retorted. “If I was in her kind of pain I’d do far worse. For now… Well, we’ll go talk. She deserves to know the truth.”

Author's Note

Well it's a short interlude, but next week we're on to the next arc.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

Claudis

The Slums of Thundera

“Oh fuck me!” Pumyra and I tried to scramble out of the way, but Claudis swung his axe like a club and hit the two of us with the flat side of the broad weapon, sending us flying down the street, stopping at the feet of Lion-O and Tygra.

“Uh, why does that look like Father?” Tygra asked as he started fidgeting with his gun.

“The answer to that question is ‘because Mumm-Ra’!” I shouted as I got to my feet. “And I don’t care if that is your dad, because that son of a bitch just wiped out a whole fireteam!”

Claudis smirked. “And just what do you intend to do about it?”

“I intend to kick your ass!” I shouted as I charged the large cat. But in my desire to avenge Fireteam India, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. So as Claudis grabbed me by the neck and slammed me into the ground I had no right to be surprised. Yet in that moment I was, at least to an extent. I had thought to rush the large cat, knock the axe out of his hand and blast him in the face with some lightning… But I entirely forgot to take size into account. Size that Claudis used to grab me off the ground while I was still out of reach and toss me headlong towards the three dumbstruck cats that were standing in the street behind me.

“Dusk, you’re an idiot!” I heard Pumyra manage to grunt out from her unfortunate spot in the bottom of the pile of limbs.

I tried to get to my feet, but by the time I was on my back Claudis was already on us, and his axe was coming down fast… So I did the only thing I could do and threw up a shield over the mangled pile of limbs I was caught up in. “Ya, I know!” I retorted while straining under Claudis’ constant blows. As the large cat reared to bring another strike down, I dropped the shield and blasted his hands with a bolt of lightning. The blast forced Claudis to drop his axe, and consequently gave me an opening to sweep his legs out from under him.

Before I could do anything else, someone grabbed my collar and started dragging me away from the fallen cat. “You know I can stand!”

It turned out it was Pumyra that had dragged me down around the corner of the intersection a few dozen feet away from where we’d ended up on the ground. “And I really don’t care, we need to run. Let the Paris blast Claudis with high explosive shells, because we can’t take him!”

I looked across the intersection at where Lion-O and Tygra had taken cover. “You knew her before I did. Was Pumyra always this panicky?”

“Hey!”

“Not really. Headstrong, angry, and she was predisposed to ignore plans when it came to dealing with rat slavers.” Lion-O called out. “Panicking? That’s definitely new.”

“Ya, well you’re not exactly a hulking pile of pure muscle!” Pumyra countered.

Now it makes sense, Pumyra developed a fear of things that were bigger than her. Doesn’t matter where it came from, at least at the moment. “Alpha One to Paris, I need fire support on my location. High explosive air burst shells if possible.”

“Negative Alpha One, fire support is unavailable at this time. We can’t get into a position to get a clear shot of where you are.”

“Damnit… Anyone have any suggestions? And no, running isn’t an option.” As Claudis finally stepped into view hefting that axe of his over his shoulder, it became clear that we were out of time to debate. I did the only logical thing and tossed a bolt of lighting that caught the cat square in the face. “Pour it on!” While Tygra and Pumyra couldn’t readily do much, Lion-O could, as he pulled his sword and let loose with his own brand of magic-based retort.

As the two of us just kept blasting Claudis with electricity, two more sources of magical hellfire joined the mix. “We’re not too late, are we?” Dawn asked.

“I thought I left you on the Paris?”

“You did.” Dawn admitted. “Just call this my second wind!”

Whatever the magical strength of two alicorns, a cat with a magical sword and myself were doing obviously began to work, as Claudis dropped his axe from his shoulder and appeared to struggle to stay on his feet. Suddenly Dawn stopped, stepped into the maelstrom, grabbed Claudis’ axe and brought it down right into the cat’s chest.

The three of us that were still firing stopped and watched in utter disbelief. Dawn had clearly taken some hits when she stepped into the firing line, but looked unphased. “Any last words asshole?”

Claudis just smirked as he grabbed Dawn by the throat and got back to his feet. “You should’ve gone for the head!” The large cat suddenly slammed Dawn into the cobblestone and started stomping away while she tried desperately to get out from under the barrage.

And watching that whole display? Well it did a damn good job of REALLY pissing me off. Just who the hell did this cat think he was curb stomping MY daughter? Instinctively I reared my arm back like I was going to toss a ball of lightning, but as my hand flew forward I realized it wasn’t lightning.

It was fire.

As that ball of flaming plasma caught Claudis square in the chest and started melting his armor, it didn’t take Faust long to realize that something was terribly wrong. Maybe it was because the other cats had collapsed, or maybe it was because I was starting to feel light-headed myself, but as she put out the flaming hole in Claudis’ chest I started to head for the ground myself. The last thing I remember before finally blacking out was the distinct smell of scorched flesh, and the sight of Claudis’ exposed ribcage.

***

HMS Paris, some time later…

By the time I woke up I could tell I had been moved to the med bay on the Paris. “Glad you’re awake.” Pumyra said as she sat up in the bed next to me.

I rolled off to the side and realized that my combat gear had been taken off and replaced with a training uniform. “What the hell happened?”

“You don’t know?”

I shook my head. “I remember tossing some sort of fireball… Which I’ll admit I didn’t know I could do that.”

“Oh, that was more than a fireball. Just the heat it gave off knocked most of us out. Hell, the last thing I remember was Claudis screaming before I went under.”

Cripes, what the hell did I do? I’ve never been able to toss fire before, let alone something hot enough to knock others unconscious just from the sudden onset of heat exhaustion. “I don’t remember Claudis screaming…”

“Oh, he was screaming.” Pumyra retorted. “In fact they have him next door. He was screaming on and off all night.”

“All night? How long have I been out?”

Pumyra shrugged. “Twelve hours, give or take a few minutes.”

I got out of bed and made for the door. I had to see exactly what I did to be certain I understood the ramifications. The ICU was right across the hall from the ward’s door, and through that window I could see Lion-O and Tygra both hovering over Claudis as Faust seemed to be working on his chest. And oh boy, was it one hell of a mess. Between the streaks of raw and burnt flesh I could tell that Faust must’ve already patched the hole I left. But as I walked in and Lion-O started glaring, I started to feel a little bit unwanted… So I asked the only question I could.

“How’s he doing?”

“That’s all you have to say?” Lion-O growled.

“In Dusk’s defense he’s never previously shown the ability to conjure superheated stellar plasma and project it.” Faust offered off-handedly. “Although his grandmother can do the same trick, so I guess it was only a matter of time before Dusk stumbled upon it.”

Wait, she said superheated stellar plasma… “Are you saying I threw a miniature star at Claudis?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Faust said as she stepped back from Claudis’ chest, revealing fresh tissue where his armor had once been. “You need to remember that you are part Alicorn, so your own abilities will only increase with time as you learn to properly manipulate your powers.”

“Wait, so that’s what knocked us all out?” Tygra asked.

“It’s also why Dusk was the last one to go down as he inherited some of the Alicorn’s natural heat resistance, which according to Dawn is something he’s already exhibited while redirecting Daybreaker’s own magic.”

“Alright… Is Claudis still going to try and kill us all? And what about Fireteam India?” I asked.

Faust shook her head. “Breaking Mumm-Ra’s control was easy. As for Fireteam India, we managed to resuscitate the entire team, but they’re looking at months of recovery and physical therapy before they’re even able to be considered for active duty again. Claudis… Goddess, he butchered them.”

“I know, I was there Faust.” I countered. “Now then… Let’s address the elephant in the room. We need information on Mumm-Ra that’s up to date. Claudis likely has it.”

“But he’s in no condition to talk.”

“Doesn’t matter. Wake him up.”

Faust glanced at Lion-O and Tygra before waving her hand over Claudis’ forehead. His eyes snapped open and the large cat started clutching at his chest. “What… What happened?”

“I’d imagine you remember getting a hole melted through your chest.” I offered.

“Dusk!” Lion-O snapped.

But I held my hand up. “Look, I know you remember me. You tried to kill my daughter Claudis… But for now I can get past that. I need your help, and I need it badly.”

“Mumm-Ra… You want to go after that monster, don’t you?”

I nodded. “That’s why I’m here. When I ran into him last, he could only go so far away from his throne and I need to know why.”

“Probably because he used up so much of his power on me.” The cat replied with a grimmance. “He’s still not at full strength, and I doubt that reviving me helped his situation at all. Now I need to know something from you… Where am I?”

“You’re aboard the HMS Paris, a warship in the Equestrian Royal Navy.”

Claudis looked around, taking note of some of the medical instruments such as the EKG that he was hooked up to, and the IV that was stuck firmly in his arm. “What are these things?” He asked.

Lion-O cut in almost immediately. “Technology, medical technology to be specific.”

“You mean like those trinkets you toyed with?”

Lion-O shook his head. “No, those turned out to be weapons. Some of this technology helped save your life.”

“Wait, so you were toying around with weapons?!”

“In my defense I didn’t figure out what half of that stuff was until we rebuilt Thundera.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good defense.”

“What? It’s not like anyone got hurt… At least outside of some singed eyebrows.”

I couldn’t help but clutch the bridge of my muzzle. “Yup, you’re definitely helping your case… Alright, changing the subject. Anyone opposed? No? Alright. Now we need to deal with Mumm-Ra. I’m thinking a massed assault by the Paris and the Marines should clear out hostiles and let me get in with that spirit urn thing so I can finally bottle him up.”

I got a number of blank stares before Faust finally stepped in. “And that’s it? You go in and take out Mumm-Ra just because?”

“Well… Ya. Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

“While that’s true, we’re a bit outgunned at this point Dusk. To pull this off we need reinforcements.” Faust explained.

I nodded. “OK… Who are we calling in? Blue Team? Red Team? Majestic?”

“No…” Faust said as she shook her head. “We need experts in dealing with overwhelming negative odds while coming out unscathed. We need the Northern Guard.”

Author's Note

Well there's that firefight and reunion out of the way. Now I think it's time we go check in on Cosmo and see what he's been up to since Dusk left...